A Series of Fortunate Events - PTC Time Trial Series

 

The Brian Shrine - Getting a bit crowded!

So the Pembrokeshire Triathlon Club Time Trial Series is something I've been meaning to do for a number of years now. Basically there is a time trial for each of individual disciplines of both the Sprint and Olympic triathlon run over the course of the summer, so 6 different time trial events:

Sprint:
- 800m Swim (Pool)
- 20km Bike 
- 5km  Run
Olympic:
- 1500m swim (openwater)
- 40km Bike
- 10km  Run

There is 2 chances to do each of the events above, so 12 events in all. If you managed to do them all, there was a few trophies up for grabs:
- The Sprint Series (1st Place): The combination of your best times in each of the sprint TTs*
- The Olympic Series (1st Place): The combination of your best times in each of the olympic distance TTs
- The Overall Series (1st, 2nd & 3rd): The combination  of your best times in all of the TTs
*Completing all the Olympic TTs makes you ineligible for the Sprint series. This is to prevent anyone making a clean sweep of everything, and to give newcomers a chance of winning something.
- Then there is the individual Club Championship TTs. These are the 2nd round of each of the Olympic TT events which were championships in and off themselves.
Keeping up so far? Good!

There were a few reasons that this was the year for me to give this a bash:

- Having done the 80/20 training plan the past year, I felt really balanced and fresh across all disciplines
- The dates of each of the first trys of these tts, both sprint and olympic, all fell before my 'A' race date, so I thought it would be great to fit them all in while i was still on a focussed training plan.

- There is always a suggestion of 'just try them all, there's always a chance you'll get a trophy out of it" 

SPRINT SERIES - 800m Swim TT (1st Attempt), Milford Haven Swimming Pool 12th of May

Me just before 800m TT, Artist's Impression

I arrived to this TT feeling quite plucky. Jan Hannaford had been kind enough to let me use her endless pool the past 6 months, and between that and the training plan I had been swimming more consistently than I had been for a long time. However there was a bit of caution too. Having swam exclusively in an endless pool for months, the transition to a 'static pool' can feel a bit odd, so I did a few pool swims in the week leading up to get the feel back. I was pleased to see Jack had signed up too, so it meant we could have a bit of a race - I didn't ever think beating him was an option, but there's always a question of how much I could keep him in sight. Talk from him about having done nothing this year, confirmed by strava stats showing I had swim almost 4 times as much as him had me feeling more confident. It was all a bit of a mystery. Training in a completely different kind of pool up to now, I really had no reference for my progress. 

Myself and Jack were going to be in the 3rd heat, and I'm not going to lie - I got myself really psyched up while waiting for it. Too psyched up. Uncomfortably energetic, in fact, and I couldn't stop the adrenaline build up at all. By the time the our heat came around, I was like Scrappy Doo. The race started and I took off like a bat out of hell, a) because of the adrenaline and b) the swim fitness appeared to be there and it actually felt comfortable and c) Jack held pace, which made it a full on race! But the pace was ludricous. Our opening 100m was 1:14 and after 150m I knew I'd made a huge mistake. The adrenaline had burned off and all I was left with was my stupid mortal fitness. There was always a chance that Jack's lack of fitness (though a better swimmer) would catch up to him in the 2nd half of the swim, but Scrappy had run out of steam. He slowly pulled away from me after 200m and there was nothing I could do about it. I still held onto the idea that he may die off in the 2nd half of the swim, but by 500m it was more of a case of trying to holding on to not get lapped by him! Ultimatley I finished at 11:45 - still a respectable time, and a 7 second personal best for me, but 30 seconds behind Jack.

1-0 to Jack!    

SPRINT SERIES - 20km Bike TT (1st Attempt), Herbrandston 18th of May

I had done this TT a couple of years back in 2016 and had really enjoyed it, setting a time of about 32:30 to mark my fitness in the year of the Isoman (the first year I had really embraced turbo training).

 This time however, I was not looking forward to it at all, for a couple of reasons

- The weather had properly picked up especially for the event. It had been forecast but it looked like we were going to get away with it all day, until just after work, the wind picked up to about 35km/ph, gusting at 50! I really had very little confidence on my TT bike on anything other that super flat non-technical roads (after a terrifying speed wobble in 2016), and every year I always have to build up confidence in a few rides in the lead up to events, something I had done in Pembrey last year in the lead up to the 255 triathlon, but hadn't really experienced any windy conditions in my little tt bike experience so far this year. 255 triathlon itself had been incredibly testing bike conditions oon the day, which I had managed well and had given me some confidence in this respect, but that was a year ago and on closed roads so the prospect of doing this today on open roads in these conditions was daunting to say the least. If it had been cancelled, I wouldn't have been remotely disappointed. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that Carwyn was also coming along to do his first ever bike TT, in preparation for his first ever Sprint Distance triathlon, a week after his first ever 800m swim TT, I probably would have just dropped out - something I had done a couple of times in previous years when the weather got a bit sketchy looking.

 - I had just done the Llanelli Sprint Distance triathlon on Sunday - I had an awful blister on the back of my right heel which I was only presuming would be stable in my cycling shoes without any impact, and I wasn't sure how much energy I had in my legs.

Myself and Carwyn drove together there, driving along the course en route. The course starts in Herbrandston and makes it's way out to Tiers Cross where it does two laps to Johnston roundabout and back, before heading back to Herbransdton again on winding rolling roads. The East/ West Tiers Cross-Johnston section looked super exposed to the strong southerly crosswinds and, on the North / South Herbrandston to Tiers Cross section, it looked like gateways might be a bit 'interesting'. This all had a very ominous feeling about it! This feeling did not dissipate on arrival in Herbrandston - everyone had a bit of a "wtf are we doing here" vibe about them. There was lots of nervous remarks  & jokes about the conditions but inwardly I was actually terrified! There was a vague goal of trying to get as close to my personal best as possible, but really the goal was to try finish the thing today without either a) whimping out or b) coming off the bike, which felt like a real possibility today!

The line up was a bit all over the place: Jack and Carwyn were a couple of minutes ahead of me, Catherine Marks was starting a minute ahead of me, and Paul Colman would be starting a minute behind me. Though pushing 60, he is definitely a TT cyclist of a high calibre, and had rocked up with a full aero set up, with full disc wheel and perhaps even more ludicrously a 100mm rim front wheel. Lunatic! I pondered the goal of keeping ahead of him as long as I possibly could, but really the main question rolling in my head was, did he know first aid? I needed to snap out of it and get my head in the game!

Finally and ominously it was my turn to get going. I had the most awful start, taking about 500m to get my standing foot clipped into the pedal, but quickly set about my first goal of catching Catherine as quickly as possible, as a motivator to stay ahead of Paul. I managed to catch her in about 4 minutes, about half way to Tiers Cross. This section was actually okay, with the conditions creating a strong tailwind to Tiers Cross, but the prospect of chasing down Catherine kept my adrenaline up. On to the next person, who I saw to be Carwyn, as we approached Tiers Cross. I rounded the roundabout to Johnston and, my god, the road was exposed to crosswinds here. The bike picked up speed on the long descent from the roundabout as I chased Carwyn down. The winds created a weird series of actions in me, bracing myself tight against the gusts, but then when hit by a gust telling myself to loosen dampen the bike against any 'death wobbles', causing a real flex & release repetition in my upper body muscles. I think I said later that evening that handling the bike had been like wrestling a crocodile!

 I passed Carwyn on this down hill stretch, and was promptly hit by a gust and had a series wobble. This was real white knuckle stuff. The fight or flight response to this absolute rollercoaster was a major shot of adrenaline and I used this to power on. Fear was fuel!

Holdng on for dear life

With this surge in adrenaline the rest of the race was a bit of a blur, catching more people along the way, spotting for Paul's whereabouts on the returns from the roundabouts, trying to figure out if he was catching me or not. The second descent from Tiers Cross produced another death wobble, but the subsequent adrenaline boost fuelled my second lap! This is such a weird relationship to be having with my energy levels. The return to Herbrandston was tough work, having to move as fast as possible against the full brunt of a block headwind. I managed to get another death wobble on a sweeping descent near the refinery entrance and just about managed to pass Jack before the finish line. What a relief. And furthermore, I was surprised to see that Paul had not caught me! Woohoo.

Seeing the results, I was totally shocked to see I was the fastest on the day, with a time of 31:36 (a 1 minute personal best on an already pretty solid time, in those conditions, crazy!!), 23 seconds ahead of Paul and exactly 2 minutes ahead of Jack. This was a real breakthrough ride for me, after really struggling with post speed wobble bike confidence  the last number of years, to see that not only could I handle the bike in the most testing of conditions (as terrifying as it was) , but I could be quick too! It was a major major boost in bike confidence.

Also the sprint series was now getting interesting, I was about 90 seconds ahead of Jack at the top, but I knew his 5k pb was about 90 seconds faster than me. This as starting to be more involving than I was expecting!

SPRINT SERIES - 5km Run TT (1st Attempt), Haverfordwest Cricket Club 24th of May

The lead up to this one was a bit odd. I hadn't run in a week and a half since Llanelli triathlon due to my blister, (which after a period of painful infection had finally fucked off), but I was buoyant after the recent bike TT and the general heightened involvement of beginning to look at all the time permutations in the series. Also, I figured my legs would be quite fresh after 10 days off running. The weather was pretty glorious too, making the buildup to this one quite positive.

However this all changed when I went to do my pre-race warm-up. Oh my, my achilles heel was pretty tight! I could feel it straight away. I proceed to finish my 2km warm-up - it didn't effect my running form, so I was good to continue in my mind. However, the last 10 minutes leading up to the race was preoccupied with keeping doubt at bay, constantly rolling back and forth from ball of foot to heel, to keep my ankles loose and limber.

The goal today was simple - keep Jack in sight. There was no way I could beat him in a running race, but if I could keep finish within a minute of him I'd still be 30 seconds ahead in the series. He mentioned something about shin or calf issues but I took it with a pinch of salt. He'd already played down his swim fitness before handing my ass to me in the 800m, and I also had my own  achilles issues to worry about. There were also a few other new faces today who I figured were there just for the 5km rather than the series. Let them do their thing, I thought - Just. Keep. Jack. In. Sight.

The course is set around the cricket fields and park in Haverfordwest, the first 3km or so a counter clockwise triangle loop of the perimeter road before turning into the park and doing a 2km clockwise loop (which I had ran for my warmup) to the finishline.

So the race started and everyone took off at a very enthusiastic pace. The body's perception of effort is a peculiar thing - the first half a km or so the the left turn at the brasserie actually felt quite good and tempo....y. Then no sooner had I turned the corner than I realised I was absolutely wrecked! I had managed to keep Jack in sight - he was about 5-10 paces ahead - but my pace did not feel sustainable and my achilles protested. Yeesh. This section to the next corner was all slightly uphill - nothing major, 1-2% max - but I felt all of it against a solid headwind.

Then something unexpected (even though it was forewarned) happened. Jack took a hop and a skip and just walked off to the left - out of the race. Oh right! Pressure off, I guess? But my body was saying other things... You don't have to finish - there's another chance later in the summer - give the achilles a rest! I had to shake these thoughts away and ask myself the question that I regularly do when I have these niggles - was it effecting my form? NO. Then keep on running!

The bit where I remember I can't sustain sub-20 minute pace!

With Jack out, there was a massive gap to the next people ahead, who were only faster anyway, so my reference for pace was gone. Jack was literally walking my raceplan back to the finish line! This feeling of being lost in the race didn't last, fortunatley, as I was passed by someone else, who had clearly started the race at a more sustainable pace than me, going a little too quick for me to even think of holding onto. Then Jon Harwood passed me, a bit closer in pace, but still there seemed to be nothing I could do to stop him slowly pulling away - my achilles was on edge and I was pushing it hard enough!

As I turned the corner out of the headwinds onto a more downhill lane, Catherine Marks slowly passed me, at a pace that made me wonder how she was ever behind me at all. It was either the downhill or the fact that my legs were warming up (maybe a bit of both) but the achilles was not so problematic now. Catherine pulled away to a point, maybe 20-25 metres ahead, but then I managed to lock into the pace and keep that gap. I held her in sight as we turned the 3rd corner onto the last side of the road triangle before turning back into the park.

5km run races are PAIN. This is something I only remember every single time I run a 5km, but only after about 3km. I was still keeping Catherine in sight but working real hard now, the longest stretch of the park bit is a big drag of an uphill. It started at about 3.3 km and ended at about 4km, and felt about 5km long. Luckily I had done the warmup here, so I knew at least it ended somewhere. Keeping Catherine in sight was one thing, there was now something else driving me. Craig Jones was next behind me on the run, I saw him over my shoulder on the last few corners, and I could hear him breathing. He was probably 20-30 metres behind me, but it sounded like he was right on my heels and literally breathing down my neck. I don't know if if was the tailwind or what, but it was unnerving and motivating at the same time. 

PAIN

I turned the corner off the drag onto the last stretch, a km or so or flat / downhill running. Catherine ahead, Craig behind, I leaned forward as much as I could to let gravity do it's thing and it became less about running than falling with style.

I crossed the line at 21:10, about 20 seconds behind Catherine and 20 seconds ahead of Craig. I had to be pleased with that time (only 30 seconds off my best 5km), considering my achilles issues and the thought it was not the quickest 5km course.

Things were getting interesting in the series now too. I had posted times in all sprint disciplines and was technically leading the series but:
- Jack hadn't posted a 5km  time, but it was well within his running ability to post a 19:40 or quicker on the 2nd go on this. 
- Jon Harwood, who had missed the 20km bike tt, had posted a 800 swim about 30 seconds slower than me, and today a 5km run time about 30 seconds quicker than me so the next 20km bike tt would be interesting.
- One of the guys who had finished up top, Liam Bradley, was looking like he was going to take on the series, and I was pretty sure he was far and away faster in every discipline.

Dammit, I had done all 3 in the sprint now, but it looked like there was reason to make sure I was at every one of the 2nd round of attempts!

OLYMPIC SERIES - 40km Bike TT (1st Attempt), Carnhedryn 8th of June

This was a time trial I wasn't particularly looking forward to. It was a race that I had dropped out of at least twice in previous years due to dodgy weather conditions on the day and as such one I had never managed to do. It also, in my mind, had sections of road similar to that on which I had a speed wobble that had completley rattled me a number of years ago. There was also 1 descent, just after the long climb back out of Fishguard, that steepened quickly down into a left hand sweeping bend that looked sharper than it was as you accelerated quickly towards it. This was a psychological obstacle I wanted to get over before the race, something only achieved by a reccy of the course.

The course was pretty straight forward. Starting Carnhedryn, not far outside St Davids, it follows the main road all the way to Fishguard where it turns back on itself at the ferry terminal roundabout, and back to Carnhedryn again. On paper it is a pretty straight course, but very rolling and not without it's nuances, with some punchy climbs and fast descents in both directions.  

I travelled up the Saturday before with Carwyn Davies and we cycled the course together. It was a massive block easterly headwind all the way to Fishguard, but there was payoff from the tailwind on the way back. It was a really useful exercise as, despite feathering the brakes on occasion, it really was a course where brakes were not required at all with one exception, THAT descent coming back from Fishguard, where I lost my nerve and over braked, losing about 100m on Carwyn on that section. Ah well, I'd just have to hope that adrenaline would do it's work on the day.

On race day, Carwyn decided not to come as it was too close to Skerries Triathlon (his first ever triathlon) the following Saturday, so I headed up alone, reluctantly. The reluctance was due to the conditions which, just like for the 20km TT, worsened dramatically on the day - a solid 35-40km/h westerley. It was the exact opposite of the conditions I had reccied in on Saturday. So this time it would be riding a tailwind all the way to Fishguard, and battling a headwind back just as the fatigue kicked in.

After my exploits at the 20km time trial, I was starting at the back, with the entire field (possibly a dramatic way of saying the other 8 people) ahead of me to chase down. Jonathan Harwood would be starting a minute ahead of me, Jack a minute ahead of him. My references for pace for Jonathan would have been the 255 triathlon relay last year, where he recorded a slightly faster bike time than me, and the Brawdy Airfield TT a few weeks previously, where he had recorded a time maybe a few seconds quicker. Long story short, we were pretty much the same pace and I couldn't see myself catching him over 40km. Regarding Jack, he was on a road bike, so I felt I could catch the 2 minutes on him, I just didn't know when. 

My strategy was to make the absolute most of the tailwinds on the way to Fishguard, to push me up the punchy climbs in particular, see where I was in the pack, then try battle as hard as I could on the way back. It might sound strategic, but really it's another of saying I was going to cycle as hard as I could, for the whole thing.

One by one everyone got started, a minute apart finally leaving me to do my thing. I started well, clipping in quick and putting completely unsustainable power in early. The tailwind definitely helped, feeling max return for everything I was putting in. The first 5km or so was a lonely place. You get all psyched up up about catching up with people, and then you spend a good 10 minutes before even seeing people. And even then it was deceptive. Coming over the crest of a hill, I would see a line of people on the next climb and got the perception of catching them as I climbed the hill behind, then the next crest they'd seem further away as they got the benfit of the descent before me. It was extremely hard to get a feel for relative progress.

After my first sighting, the chase was really on - hammering up the hills to try make the most of the tailwind, pedalling as fast as I could on the hardest gear on the descent to try catch that extra speed on the descents.... and with the tailwinds did I get some speed!! On one of the longer the descents passing Mathry I hit 70km/h and the bike became REALLY unstable. I persisted with that combo of flexing to brace against wobbles and then trying to tell myself to loosen up to dampen the wobble. It properly got my adrenaline up! Terror: the fuel of champions!

It was shortly after this that I finally started to pass people, 5km after first spotting their dots on the road ahead. Just as well, as I could've easily dwelt on how how sketchy that last descent had actually been. Quite a few people were pretty close together, which really helped keep the intensity level up - pass one, now catch the next. The reccy on the preceding weekend really helped here, giving me confidence to commit to an overtake on fast downhill sweeping bends, particularly when I passed Jack on the last dip before the last climb before the drop to Goodwick - full belt on the aero bars down into a sweeping left before it kicked up for the steepest climb of the day.

I did wonder (or worry?) if I had passed Jack on TT bike advantage alone only for him to soon pass me again on the climb, but focus soon turned to the next target, about 100m ahead ... Jon. He seemed agonisingly close, but on the climb he was probably still about 30 seconds ahead. As he pushed over the top before me the visual gap became more realistic and the chase was on, down the long winding descent to Goodwick. Not sure I've ever sustained such a high effort on a descent, just keeping Jon in sight before the next corner - certainly not gaining, I think we were both going as fast as we possibly could, so there was nothing to be gained but parity. We passed a few more people as the roads flattened out to the roundabout and it was clear Jon was the only person left to pass.

I checked my computer at the turn around. HOLY SHIT - I had done the first 20km in 27 minutes! The benefits of the tailwind had been massive. Now I just wondered if I could keep up the intensity on the way back into the block headwind. I may have been 50% through the distance, but realistically I was only 40% through on time.

After the turnaround point, I slowly but surely caught up to Jon and had the sinking realisation that I would have to pass him on this slow drag out of Goodwick. It's nice to pass people on the flat or on a descent as you're carrying a bit of speed and momentum, but on a climb there's always a worry that you can't sustain the grinding effort to pass, especially when the pace is not that different. I reluctantly made the decision to pass when I was clearly absolutely in his draft zone and had to make a decision, and this worry about effort made me really put the power down on what would ultimatley be a 11 minute climb out of Fishguard. 

Once I got to the top, I was mostly confident I couldn't see him behind me (I never sat right up out of aero position to check) as I approached that one descent I had been worried about. It's actually not that bad a descent, a 10-12% sweeping left bend that you can absolutely do with out braking... But the quick change from 0% to -12% descending and the resultant acceleration always unsettles me (something I could easily overcome with a few practice runs, but not in this case). Anyways, I figured even if Jon was right beside, I was a minute ahead, so I totally relaxed myself and got brake happy here. As well as the general worry about the descent, I was exposed now to the block headwind and was worried about swirling sidewinds affecting stability of the bike on the descent (long story short, I overthink A LOT on the bike - sometimes thinking is overrated!!). In any case, there was no pressure - just get down safely and bring it home!

And that's just what I did. Despite there being 15km left, I felt that I was on the home straight after that descent, ahead in the race and no more worries about the course. You would have thought it would be difficult to keep the work rate up, with no one else to chase down but I actually found it easier (for lack of a better phrase) to work hard here. The need to work hard is more obvious when you're battling gravity up a hill or against a solid headwind. Plus I kept telling myself Jon was on my back wheel for good measure!

The headwind created a few moments of 'snaking' of the bike on the longer straights, but mostly no hairy moments - I just worked HARD. And this caught up to me without about 5km left - I really felt myself running out of steam! Luckily the rolling hills trended flatter along this final section and I was able to hold strong for the finish line, coming in at 1:07:00. What a ride! I was expecting to see Jon following hot on my tail so was surprised to wait another 4 minutes for him to cross the line. So I had finished ahead by 5 minutes, and nearly 10 minutes of Jack.

What a nice way to kick of the Olympic series! I did however quickly manage my elation. Jon had had a hip issue on the return leg, so he would definitely be capable of quicker, and Jack and done his effort on  a road bike, so could gain back 4-5 minute on kit alone. Countering that again, I was still over the moon to have excelled in tricky conditions on a bike I have always maintained (and still do) that I'm not very confident on. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug! 

OLYMPIC SERIES - 10km Run TT (1st Attempt), St David's Airfield 14th of June

I came into this event having only arrived back form Ireland at midnight the previous night, so time to really over think it. In fact I have barely thought about it at all - I was getting a lift with Mel Miles and Karen John and by the time they had showed up to pick me up I hadn't even established where my running kit was. Halfway along the drive to St Davids I realised I hadn't drank any water all day, and i had a pain down the side of my back. So yeah.... super psyched!

The course is two 5km laps around the airfield the St Davids - the first half of each lap is on the concrete paths that wind around the old runway, the 2nd half is completing the other two sides of the rectangle on quiet country lanes. Two laps. Simples.

In terms of competition for the series, Jack was a no-show, but Jonathan Harwood was there - He is generally more or less a pace match in every discipline. Also Dorian was there, I guessed not partaking in the full series, but there to smash a 10k out - his banter was a strange mix of playing down his form while talking up his abilities - a sub 40 runner for sure, but did his form mean it was worth a try trying to hold him? Hmmmm. From the ladies, Catherine Marks was there too, who's always a good pace reference as her run times generally match up to mine. (hers being generally faster)

After some bumbling about it was time to get the race started. My incentive to keep Dorian in sight was driven by the fact I was only 90% confident I knew the course. In understated Pembs Tri TT fashion, 'GO' was shouted and off we went.

10km Run Start

Immediately Dorian took off ahead, but after making an initial gap quickly, I seemed to hold onto him. He was certainly still pulling away, but at no great rate. Running is funny - the first half a km I felt fantastic, and wondered if I had started too cautiously and gave Dorian too much respect, 100m later I was panting and heaving as my initial effort caught up to me. After 1km I could acknowledge I had definitely started quick but had the breathing under control and was settling into a (high) pace. Dorian was still in sight and I was acutely aware of the Catherine and Jonathan being in range behind me. 

Once we had joined the road halfway through the first lap about 2.5km in, I was relying on longer straighter stretches of road to still see Dorian but I had a sense there was a similar gap behind me . I was doing alright! I was working hard, but the running was feeling really good I figured I could continue at this pace.

Then I got to Whitchurch, about 4km in - the corner to turn back to the start of the lap. It didn't look as familiar as I had aniticipated, I stalled, decided it wasn't the corner and kept on staying right. Then I heard a whistle from behind, Catherine indicating I was now going the wrong way!! SHITE!! I had easily lost about 30 seconds here. I ran back about 50m to join behind Catherine, who had been maybe 20 seconds behind me at that point. A bit of adrenaline allowed me to catch her and slowly pass her, but immediatley I knew this was a mistake - that little extra 5% to get back into things was telling. Back ahead, but couldn't pull away anymore. Eesh, the next 5km was going to be tough.

All being said, I still came through on first lap within 5 seconds of my fastest ever 5km and was on course to smash my 10km time by minutes (pb set in 2013 was 43:44, i was on easily for sub 42). I paced with Catherine for a bit, but by the time we approached the road section again I knew I had to let her take the lead. I hoped I could just keep her in sight enough to hold on to a good time. 

However, no sooner had she went ahead, and we had joined the road, my right calf really started playing up. Hard to describe, like it was on verge of cramp, on verge of seizing up. I checked myself, I could still hold form, so could keep going, but Catherine started to pull away. Then left hamstring pulled up too. Form gone, had to stop. Dammit. I walked a little bit, then tried to run again - I wasn't going to happen - I was just going to injure myself. Race over. In walking to the turn off to get the shortcut back to the race start, I was surprised how big the gap was back to Jonathan - I had really been running a great pace to that point. It was so frustrating, but overall I was happy I made the right choice, as I could have really done some damage to continue.

My plan to get all TTs done on 1st attempt had been squashed but it was good to know there was still a second attempt to be had!  

SPRINT SERIES - 800m Swim TT (2nd Attempt), Milford Haven Swimming Pool,  23th of June

This was an interesting experiment for me. About 4 weeks earlier, frustrated that swimming training was not resulting in much gains for me I started looking at altering my stroke slightly. I had found this video that had broken down things nicely for a technique that lent itself to distance. It wasn't wholesale changes and if anyhting got me back to swimming a way i did when in the swimming club.Everybody might take something different from this, but what I took was the timing of the kick to the catch - all of a sudden I was able to swim at a much better pace easier (in sessions). It was still a bit fresh for me, and I had already tried it in Skerries, but the focus on timings meant I hadn't quite pinned down the breathing yet.

The last 800m I went in hell for leather, trusting in my fitness from training, and just saw what would happen (I crashed and burned). This time I went for a strategic approach - I made a session to put on my watch to pace me for the attempt. An opening 100m 6 seconds slower than what i started on last time, but slowing to a faster overall pace than last time but hopefully sustainable becuase of my starting restraint. I knew the time goal was lofty, but at least the 50m bleeps would be something to try keep in reach.

It went pretty well! I didn't hold the prescribed pace at all, but the restraint worked, and I posted a time 10 seconds quicker than previously. I did however end up with a splitting headached at the end of it, that took about 10 minutes to subside. All the focus on the new technique must have had me holding my breath for the last 200m!

One thing that came from this though, competition wise, was now Liam Bradley was very much in for the series too, having posted a ridiculous sub 11 minute time! 

OLYMPIC SERIES - 1500 Swim TT (1st Attempt), Goodwick,  29th of June

Another smashing evening, and probably my favorite race of the series, the 1500m swim - and out and back around the breakwater in fishguard. Even when not fit, the mass start in the water was always great fun. All the big names where there, Jack, Holly, Dave Astins (all of whom trounced me the last time I had shown up for one of these) and Liam Bradley was probably going to make everyone go even faster.

I was really unsure as to how this was going to play out. The swimming was feeling great in training, but I hadn't tried anything like 1500m at effort with this technique, and considering I thought my head was going to explode after the 800 a week earlier, I was wary of a catastrophic failure of strategy today. That being said, I always get excited for this race, and all of these worries went away.

After a bit of confusion as to where the actual startline was, we lined up and "GO" off we went. I purposefully didn't smashing into a big pace at the start, I wanted to get my bearings and relax into it. I saw Dave Astins to my left, between me and the breakwater, but he slowly fell behind. Ahead to my right was Jack, about a body length ahead. I caught up so that I was swimming off shoulder for a bit, and I could sense that Holly was swimming of his right.

Though aware I was in a draft zone, I felt I had more, and pushed on ahead of Jack. Holly paced forward with me and we were now swimming shoulder to shoulder. Oh my, a race was on now, could I really keep this up?! But the pace felt good, and I tried to pace ahead of Holly too. Not easy at all, but I felt really in control of my pace. There was a big gap to who I correctly assumed was Liam, and I assumed Holly was on my feet, just waiting for me to die off!

I rounded the end of the headland really tightly, at which point i reckon I was maybe 20-30 seconds behind Liam. I ddn't think in a million years that I could catch him, but I wanted to keep his kick in sight and spur me on. It was in the 2nd half of the race that I got really paranoid - where was Holly? Is she just on my feet? Is Jack waiting there too? I had a good feel for how far behind Liam i was, but had no sense at all of where the chasers where, i was expecting to see them pass at any second. But the pacing stayed good. Fatigue just didn't kick in - I was at that perfect sweet spot of intensity, and just had to focus on chasing Liam. The breathing was good too, to my surprise - I had settled into a very odd 6 stroke pattern of breathing every 2-2-2 left, 2-2-2 right, 3-3 and repeat which actually worked really well for me.

I finally reached the slipway and ran to the top where the actual finish was. Only then could I see where I was in the race. To my surprise, I had come in a minute before Holly, who was approx another minute ahead of Jack. And Liam was a minute ahead of me - so very spread out in the end, but my time of 22:12 was an 18 second pb on a time I had set 8 years ago, so I was utterly delighted with that.

There was a part of me wondered if I had started more confidently would I have been able to stay in Liam's draft from the start for a faster time, but ultimately I appreciated I had swim about as perfect a 1500m as I could hope for, and part of that might have been my cautious start. It was a great day, and really boosted my swim confidence for the upcoming Wicklow Harbourman which was apporaching that weekend (where in the heat of the race, and probably favourable currents, I took another 90 seconds off my best 1500m!).

Aside from cementing a strong position in the series (where no-one had actually completed everything yet), I was just great to feel strong in all 3 disciplines after a year (or try 3 years) of consistent training

SPRINT SERIES - 20km Bike TT (2nd Attempt), Herbrandston, 6th of July

A week later, with an Olympic triathlon under my belt, it was time for a 2nd pop at the 20km TT. When I initially decided to do these, I didn't have much of an intention of doing anyhting twice if I had already posted a time - but I had something to protect here. While Liam was going to be posting his first 20km time fo the series, Jonathan was a dark horse too. He had done a 800m 30 sec slower than me, but a run 30 seconds quicker than me, so I had to make sure I posted a faster 20km time. I was pretty proud of the time on the 1st go, but felt I had to get myself some insurance before the last 5km attempt also. I definitely was not feeling 100% at all for the race having travelled to ireland for the Olympic Triathlon at the weekend, but felt I had to do it.

It was only slightly less windy than the 1st crazy attempt, but the wind direction was perhaps a bit more favourable, with the crosswinds now being mostly hidden by the hedgebanks on the N-S roads and we'd just have to deal with a tailwind and headwind on the more exposed Tiers Cross to Jonston loop.

The order was a lot more accurate this time, which meant that it would be harder to hunt down people  as a race startegy. I felt a bit uneasy starting at the back. Having no chaser, and having fast people to catch is a pretty lonely place. Personally I didn't think I had a chance of catching Liam, but the only thing that gave me confidence on the chase was that he was on a road bike and I was on the TT bike. 

The TT was precisely as I thought it would be - a lonely place. I had set up the segement as a live segment on my bike computer so I could race my previous attempt. I knew I had to smash the time going outwards to allow for a drop in speed against the headwinds on the way back. 

A Lonely Place

While I had already caught 2 people by Tiers Cross roundabout  last time, I had caught nobody yet with nobody in sight. It was only on the first turnaround at Johnston where I could start to see where people where and only on the second roundabout lap that I started to actually catch people. I couldn't tell if i was catching Liam or not, or how i was doing relative to everyone in the race - i was smashing my previous time, but hard to tell what the headwinds would do on the way back.

Another picture of me, for no particular reason

Finally at the end of roundabouts laps I caught Liam in my sights, I definitely was catching him and the heat was on to get him on the return road to the finish. I just about managed to do so about 1km from the end though nearly came a cropper as some idiot who had just overtaken a bunch of us in the car decided to park on a sweeping downhill bend (across the road from a lay-by, of course, just to highlight the idiocy!)

It was a weird race. The 1st attempt with the odd order had me catch all but 1 of the people ahead of me. With the accurate order I only caught a handful of people so wasn't sure how I did.

1stly I was delighted to see that I had taken over a minute off my previous time, and was fastest again on the day, 3 for 3 on the bike TTs. Secondly I was massivley relieved that I had showed up, as Jonathan had posted a time 30 seconds quicker than my previous - lead protected!!

SPRINT SERIES - 5km Run TT (2nd Attempt), Haverfordwest Cricket Club,  19th of July

I mainly turned up to this to try and improve on my previous 5km time, I thought maybe there was 30 seconds to shave off, but again Jonathan had my overall srpint time within range, and a pb from Jack would also put him ahead. So I was surprised when neither of them turned up! All of a sudden there was nothing to really play for as there was no catching Liam, and there was no way anyone else could catch me. All this was probably just as well, as my achilles and calfs had been playing up pretty much since the start of the season. It had held up for my 5k and for my triathlons but not for my 10k and I could barely train on it. It was a frustrating time and I really didn't know what legs I would have on the day.

I had one goal - pace with Catherine Marks as she always paces way more sensisbly than me, then see if I have anything left in the 2nd half. If I managed to beat her I had a good chance of a pb. The race started and I did just that. It felt very manageable the plan was sound. Even when I rounded the 1st corner (where I'd traditionally realise I've made a huge mistake), I felt fine.

However, another half a km up the road, the calf started playing up. Tried a few more paces, but nope, form gone, had to stop. What a pain. It made it a lot easier to do knowing that there was no competition from the series that day and I had already posted a time previously, but it was equally frustrating to not finish a 2nd running race, and this time ominously way earlier.

Ah well, onwards. I just had to try figure my legs out before the 10km run in 2 weeks time.

  

OLYMPIC SERIES - 40km Bike TT (2nd Attempt), Carnhedryn 27th of July

Again I had already posted a time that I was very happy with in this but there were a number of reasons to partake today.

- the conditions were significantly better today, only the slightest of northerly breezes. The out to fishguard wouldn't have such a silly tailwind, but equally wouldn't be such a battle back.

- Liam was posting his 40km time today and had to keep him honest!

- Jonathan was back today and more on form than earlier in the season on the first attempt

- It was a club championship race! So there was a a chance of silverware for just today. In the back of my mind, I thought some TT specialist would turn up or one of the other lads would show their form. Despite 3 for 3 so far, I never thought of myself as a cyclist and so a cycling trophy didn't feel real, but had to give it  ago. A series trophy seemed off the cards with Liam smashing it up so this seemed my best shot.

- Carwyn was also going to give it a go. He'd only been getting into triathlon this year, and had been frustrated that he didn't pace his 20km right so was keen to see how he did.

Again starting order was more accurate this time and I knew the start was going to be a lonely place. Jonathan was going to be my minute man, and Liam was 2 minutes ahead (though after waiting for traffic, he was only 1 minute 40 ahead). Patiently waited for my mark and off I went, just getting out ahead of a tractor.

It was a lonely place, and without the crazy tailwind of the last attempt, the return for the effort didn't seem there. Curiously though, I caught sight of Jonathan at exactly the same place as last time, probably 100m ahead of me before the fast descent to Fishguard. I pretty much held him for pace  the whole way down, like last time, and made the stark realisation (again) that I'd have to pass him on the climb back out. And that I did, though never sure if the effort was sustainable when you're putting in that extra effort to pass someone who is going pretty much exactly the same pace as you.

Everyone was pretty bunched up on the climb and I passed Carwyn, Simon (Lyndley), and Craig also and caught up to Simon Phillips just at the top. Here i hesitated, as I didn't want to be too close to anyone on the descent just after, which was a quickly accelerating downhill s bend that i never quite got the hang of psychologically more than anything else. So I staying behind him and only passed him as the descent straightened out. Dammit - I had definitely lost some time there, and this was only highlighted when Jonathan re-passed me coming out of the dip. DAMMIT! Doubt started to creep in here. I started to become happy with my lot. If I stay 20m behind Jonathan I'm still ahead of him I thought. 

I stayed behind him for about a minute, not exactly dawdling, in this state of mind before I realised - No! I need to catch Liam!! I can't win 3 out of 3 and not win the chamionship race! Time to pull the socks up! I put in an extra effort i didn't know I had and started to pass Jonathan again - jesus, this did not feel sustainable. The climbs were unrelenting and I needed another hare in my sights to have any chance of pulling away from Jon. And just in time I caught a glimpse of someone else in the distance - Behtan Ousely, on her way to a smashing time. It was not easy reigning her in, and for a long time it felt like it wasn't happening, but slowly it did.

A car got between me and her and nearly screwed up the whole manouvre but ulitmatley helped, their timely overtake of Bethan giving me a draft and a slingshot at just the right time. Catching Bethan had been such an effort that I hadn't noticed that Liam (finally) had come into view. There was only maybe 3km left and he seemed quite a bit ahead still - I was asking myself, does that look like 1minute 40 sec?! It didn't seem on, but I think a combination of some draft benefit from some passing cars and Liam (who had been on a road bike) possibly dying off in the lst few km meant i made huge gains on him, passing him only 30 seconds or so before the finish line.

Woot woot. 40km champion and Overall TT series a little bit open still (mainly depending on Liam not turning up for the 10km run or me turning into Mo Farah for the day). But the pressure was off somewhat - it was nice to get a trophy in, and really wasn't expecting it to be on the bike. Still something, as primarily in swimmer in my mind's eye, that I am very proud of. It just goes to show what you can achieve with consistent training.

On another note Carwyn was pretty buzzing off his attempt and was only bulling that he wasn't able to make the other times to figure in the series.

 

OLYMPIC SERIES - 10km Run TT (2nd Attempt), St David's Airfield 2nd of August

So this was the day of reckoning. Something I simply had to do to complete the series and maybe even get some silverware. I had worked out that I needed to do approximatley 48:30 to guarantee a 2nd place overall series trophy. Beating Liam by over 20 seconds would gain me an Olympic series title (unlikely, considering his 5km time was 3 minutes faster than mine), and the sum of all the times just put him out of reach in the overall series - all he had to do was finish .

Pre-Race Group Photo

 Technically all i had to do was finish for 2nd place in the overall series, especially as Jon didn't show and Jack was already out of the series on account of not finishing the 5k, but I was still having me running issues. I had been completing light plods the ast two weeks, and my only hope was that i managed to hold up for a solid 10km split (my 2nd fastest 10km ever) at the end of my Harbourman attempt. So I had a logic to get there early and get a solid warmup on the bike in the loosen my calfs and achilles up. It seemed like a good idea anyway. Again the plan was to pace off Catherine Marks and I apologised in advance for having to breathe down her neck for a 10km without any attention of passing.

The race started, and I felt good until it didn't. Pacing a conservative start with Catherine before calf pulled tight at about 500m and immediately achilles felt like it was going to explode. Race over, 3 minutes in. Feck. I walked back to the start (not very far) and that was that - go my phone and became race photographer for rest of race. 2 hour round trip for that - ah well.

10 minutes later, crouched behind a bin, as event photographer. Life changes fast

The race confirmed two winners. Liam got the 10k champs, as well as securing the overall series. Because I had not finished all the olympic races, it made me eleigible for the sprint series which I won! Technically Liam was ahead, but his overall series completion made him inelegible. It's not the way i would have liked to have won silverware. I wouldve preffered the 2nd place trophy for overall rather than a trickle down trophy for sprint. But it was good consolation all the same. I felt I deserved for my exploits over the summer, and something I got, so I could only be please with that.

OLYMPIC SERIES - 1500 Swim TT (2nd Attempt), Goodwick,  10th of August

4 Dolphins - Not a Stock Photo!

All the series had been played out really and mathemically nothing could be changed in the series today, but there was still something to play for - a club championship! I didn't necessarily feel any more on or off form than i had for the last 1500m, though the training had definitely tapered off, my programme having finished for the harbourman. But I felt my previous time could be improved on, and there was always a chance.

On the day there was good news and bad news. Good news: Liam, the only person to have beaten me last time was a no-show (though i had been looking forward to the challenge of trying to stay on his feet this time). Bad news: Ellis, who had just beaten Liam at the Little Haven swim the weekend just gone, had decided he'd show up for a race! Damn, well we'd just have to see. Pace off Liam is the same as pacing off Ellis right? Equally adventurous goals?

There were a few other interesting happenings in the lead up. There was clearing a pod of dolphins lingering and feeding in the far end of the harbour. They were well away from the race course (we were the other side of the harbour) but I did wonder what sort of shock was to be had from a giant torpedo shaped creature whizzing by you at 50mph! Then, a more immediate worry, there was a very curious very large male seal bobbing about in the first 500m of our course. We assumed he'd feck off as the race started, but there was a wonder in my mind if he'd like to tango with the race leaders first.

Race start - A Dog's P.O.V.

Anyways, the race got started, and like most worries they didn't amount to anything. I started a little bit quick but nothing crazy and from the start it was Ellis in the lead with myself and Hollie just off his shoulders. I managed to pace up beside Ellis and was swimming shoulder to shoulder to him. Though I acknowledged something - he can leave me for dust at any point, he was just pacing off the next fastest swimmers, all he had to do was win. So I reigned my neck in. It felt doable to push on ahead in the opening 750m, but I knew it would backfire. So it was just Ellis, Holly and myself pacing it out at the front. Probably one of the more relaxing starts to a 1500m I have ever done.

As it happened, I tight line around the breakwater actually had me start the return leg in the lead, but I knew that was going to be shortlived. Actually it turned out to be a disadvantage, i hugged the breakwater too tightly, meaning I wasn't lined up with the slip anymore. Due to this I was not longer on Ellis' shoulder, and as relaxed as I had been, I had nothing to catch him back. And just like that he slowly pulled away. I tried pacing with Holly too, but then realised I was just cooked. She never got that far ahead - I just had nothing to keep pace or try get ahead again.

I finished 3rd overall with a respectable sub 23 minute time. A nice way to end the series before heading off to sunny spain on holidays and starting (apparently) to prepare for my 13km swim in September.

I was really surprised how much I got into the series. It was a great backdrop to the season in general and really kept me engaged in racing for the whole summer and actually helped boost my confidence for individual races during the year. I had only intended to do the minimum 6 - it says a lot that I did turn up for all 12 in the end. It was a shame that the running didn't work out in the end, but hey ho, you can't have it all. I was delighted to get a series trophy out of it and even more dleighted to get 4 for 4 on the bike TTs with a championship on the way. Something I'd never have expected of myself and something I now have to defend next year!

Recieving the 40k Bike TT Award at the Pembs Tri End of Season Bash