We raced out at Grafham Water at the weekend in my last race of the triathlon season. The end of the season is always a special time, and it always was when I was bike racing too. Maybe it explains why I like the autumn so much. Today’s race was a European Triathlon Championships Qualifier for 2014, carrying through fitness from last week’s peak race after trying to recover as best I could. The lack of a nice bath and too much crap food probably didn’t help but I felt pretty good. This was a very relaxed race, with very little stress and much fun. Yes, it’s a qualifier, but it’s also the last race of the season and there’s something particular about crossing under the finish banner of the last race of the year.
The weather out east in Cambridgeshire was fantastic, so it was also the last family camping weekend of the year. We watched the sun going down over Grafham Water as I registered for the race, then set up camp and cooked tea in the early dusk. Chilling out, a warm night and a not crazy early start. Kids bundled into the car and the usual routine of setting up transition at the race site, warming up and missing the race briefing because I lost track of time. It’s always good to read all the race information and check out the routes just in case this happens.
The swim was a lovely start to the day. Cool but not cold as the sun came out. I started behind a big fella that looked a likely candidate for a good draft and I was right, but he disappeared off as I failed to stick his pace. A decent warm up and a bit of a swim helped me get right into my stroke with good awareness of the first buoy and the swimmers around me. I had a good tactical swim moving from draft to draft as the pace changed and as gaps appeared, and was worried that I wasn’t swimming hard enough until the last 500m when my arms began to turn to lead. We turned for the last buoy into the sun and all lost it. I don’t think any of us could see it. There were some swimmers from the previous wave ahead so I headed towards them assuming they knew where they were going, and luckily the final buoy appeared. Turn, start the kick and head straight for shore. Seventh out of the water apparently, which is unusual for me. I don’t think I was particularly fast.
Transition was nearby and was going well until after the mount line. It was a bit narrow, and when jumping on my bike a guy ahead swerved and slowed, I missed my shoe & knocked it off the bike. I stepped back, stepped into it, jumped back on the bike, and someone smacked into the back of me as I started to clip my shoe in. In hindsight I might have been better running to the road and mounting there.
The start of the bike course has a few turns and is a bit twisty, so we all get a bit bunched up as we slow and turn and I got stuck in a small group of 3 or 4 of us swapping places for little gain. On the way back out I sat back behind them at a draft legal distance, & waited for their efforts to either slow or to sort themselves out. They slowed, I pushed my effort back up to where it should have been, overtook the group and got into the rhythm in my own little focus with me & my shadow tapping away tempo. At the turn I had a good gap and spent time picking up riders one by one and only losing a few places to bike specialists. Towards the end I had an exchange with a rider from the earlier wave (I don’t know why he wouldn’t let me go, maybe I look younger than I think?) but eventually I could smell the lake and pushed for transition.
The run was just pain from start to finish. I started hard running out by the lake and then u-turned back, checking out the opposition and the gaps but it was difficult to work out age groups as we weren’t marked up for it. Back through the transition area after a few km and then on out around the other side of the lake on gravelly paths with ups and downs. I picked up places and only lost a couple. The further into the run I got the bigger the gaps ahead and behind me, and the fewer runners to catch. That’s probably a good sign.
The finish line was more than just the finish line for the race, but also the finish line for the season. Always a great feeling. Kim, Jack and Annabel found me collapsed on the grass and got me a bunch of cups of water to pour on my head. Hot day in September! I placed well and qualified comfortably for next year’s European Championships in Austria. Some guys from the club were also racing so we caught up with them. Jess was first lady – she’s been flying all year.
A good race, some good efforts, and a good end to the season. Lovely. Just a couple of “fun” races coming up in the next couple of weeks and some other bits and bobs.