It isn’t very often you enter an event knowing you are going to set a pb apart from your very first one of course. This was the case though in my second race. It wasn’t because my previous event involved my scaling mountain roads and fells. No it was more a result of my own stupidity and forgetfulness. During my first ever triathlon only a few weeks ago, I managed to leave my cycling shoes in the car and so had to watch my 66 year old dad walk off to go and get them with absolutely no idea where I was parked. I properly messed it up. Things could only be better this time around. With that in mind, I was very excited to be racing in my second event at The Grafham Water Triathlon.
Why Grafham Water?
In short, it is local, has flattish land surrounding it and apparently offers pretty good water quality. Getting ill a couple of days after my last event and reading about others experiencing the same fate meant I needed all the encouragement I could take.
I decided to go and recon the cycling route the day before just because I could. It might help me gain those valuable seconds to catapult me from 20th place into the teens perhaps. Marginal gains and all that! There is also a decent coffee house along the way and so it would be a good excuse to pop in and enjoy their beans.
I’d never visited Grafham Water before and was shocked at its size. A bit of reading online showed how it is the third largest reservoir in England, covering over 6 square kilometres. Plenty of space for sailing and swimming. There would also be plenty of space to swim off course if your sighting is shocking, but I tried not to think about that. I shall say no more about the recon other than I was pleased with the bike route and giggled at some of the signs displayed like Jens Voigt’s famous line ‘ Shut Up Legs!’ Click here if you fancy a legendary blast from the past. The coffee hit the spot when homeward bound too.
Arrival & Setting Up At Grafham Water Triathlon
After a hearty breakfast and traffic-free drive to the event, I was relieved to arrive with plenty of time to set up. I’d found my previous event stressful and managed to lose my car keys and break a pair of sunglasses before even noticing that I was cycling shoes-less!
It was quite a surprise seeing the number of cars at this event, which was being hosted by ATW. I’d thought there were lots of competitors at their St Neots race, but this sea of cars took it to a whole new level. Thankfully, I managed to park right at the end of a long row. My thinking was that it would be easier for my dad to find my car in an emergency situation. Hopefully though this wouldn’t be needed this time around.
The usual faffy things were done. Go to the toilet. Go and sign in. Fill out my emergency details and fix them to my race belt. Go to the toilet again. Find the transition area. Dock the bike and gear. Visit the toilet one more time. Is it just me who seems to toilet for king and country on race morning? I hope not. The queues made it a right annoyance.
Despite this, I still managed to triple check I had everything I needed for later on in the race and squeezed into my wet suit without any real difficulty.
Grafham Water Triathlon- The Swim
I was to be competing in the Olympic distance event and so we all gathered by the water’s edge to watch the sprint distance triathletes start first. Luckily for them they got green hats. We got pink. Make what you like of yours truly below. Dashing I certainly am not!
Being a bit of a wuss, I decided to start near the back of the group, as it was a waved start. There would be lots of feet and hands nearer the front and I didn’t fancy many of these in the face at this time on a Sunday. I think I need to toughen up in this area.
Visibility was shocking in the shallows and I discovered that my choppy water training up in The Lake District would come in handy on this outing. It was tricky to take breaths of air without getting a wall of water at the worst possible moment. I did my best and thankfully didn’t consume too much of it.
A hundred metres or so from the shore the visibility suddenly improved and I could see the bottom shelving away below me. Swimmers ahead of me could also be seen, which was wonderful. My sighting is pretty poor in open water still despite some training, so it was useful to have other swimmers to follow. I just hoped they knew where they were going otherwise we were all screwed!
Half way around I had to exit the water, as it was an Aussie style course, where you run and then enter again for another lap. My dad did say afterwards how many looked rather dejected after the first one and didn’t look like they wanted another round of it. Thankfully, I was rather enjoying it and just cracked on. In the end I did the 1500 metre swim in just over 30 minutes. Certainly not record breaking, but good enough to be around mid pack.
The Grafham Water Triathlon- The Bike Leg
There were no major mishaps this time in T1 other than having to have a jolly good wrestle with my wet suit. I was nearly five minutes quicker than last time, but still took well over four minutes this time around. That was a good two to three minutes slower than the other competitors who would eventually finish ahead of me in the final standings. Work to do there it seems.
Soon enough I was running rather ungraciously out of T1 in my cleats and eventually hopped onto my bike. It felt good to be moving and it didn’t take very long to start drying off and warming up after the swim.
My goal this time was to hold around 250 watts for the entire 25 mile route, which I ended up doing. My position on the bike felt excellent and I made up a lot of ground as I caught and passed many others. Nobody passed me along the entire route. This does show that cycling is my strongest discipline, but it also perhaps suggests that my swimming needs work. That’s the coming winter sorted then!
I ended up crawling into T2 behind a long line of cars waiting to get into the car park. It felt like an eternity in the moment, but I probably only lost 20-30 seconds in reality. A time of a few seconds over one hour and five minutes was achieved, which felt like a good result over a course which certainly wasn’t a drag strip.
The Grafham Water Triathlon- Run Leg
An out and back route was used for the run,which crossed the main dam of the reservoir. It was flat, well surfaced and quick. Some people struggle to transition from the bike to the run, but I never seem to find it hard. I hit the ground running so to speak and went through the first two miles in around thirteen and a half minutes.
It all went downhill after this though. I found the short trail section hard and my pace gradually waned during the rest of the run. Several competitors passed me and there was nothing I could do other than watch them float off into the distance. One chap even managed to pass me, who sounded like he was in serious pain. His breathing and sound effects suggested as much.
Eventually I managed to put in some sort of kick and crossed the finish line with a running time of just over 43 minutes and thirty seconds. Still a pb compared to my first triathlon event. A shock me if I’m honest. It felt much harder this time out.
When I visited the toilet after the race, it soon made sense why I had struggled so much in the end. Urine is meant to be almost clear when you are properly hydrated. This was anything but. Once again I hadn’t taken on enough fluid during the bike leg and had paid the price to some degree on the run. Lesson learned for next time.
To Wrap Things Up….
The ATW Grafham Water Triathlon was an excellent event. Both races I’ve participated have been organised by the ATW company and I’ve been impressed. The atmosphere once again was excellent. There were plenty of competitors, the run and bike route were very well marshalled and the commentator was also superb throughout.
My only gripe is being charged £5.00 to park. When you’ve paid the best part of £100 to enter the race, I just think this is taking the biscuit a little.
As for my performance, I was very pleased with my finishing time of 2 hours 29 minutes and thirty two seconds. My overall goal in my first season to break the two and a half hour barrier. Mission accomplished. Twentieth overall in a field of nearly 300 also felt like a superb achievement. That would have been even better if I sped up a little in transition.