Nerve Damage - Cycling to Kilkenny with JJ

This was a completely different experience to previous attempts at cycling home from Dublin. For a start this was not in the middle of the summer, March in 2013 was effectively still the depths of winter in our fucked up climate. Secondly this wasn't planned with obsessive weather forecast monitoring in search of the perfect day - we had a picked a date we were both available, and we were going no matter what! Thirdly, for the 1st time ever I was cycling with someone else, someone who hadn't cycled in 5 years....

Well that last bit is a lie - JJ actually had cycled to mine the day before, his 20km trek across Dublin surely adequate preparation for this 130km adventure! I met him the last 6km of his trek over to guide him to my place - he told me much later that he was wrecked after that cycle to mine, probably just as well he didn't tell me at the time!

The Plan

JJ's plan for his Berlin cycle at the time was that he was going to use a bike he had acquired from his older brother. It wasn't a bad looking bike by any means, but it had definitely seen better years! I had suggested that he get a bike specifically for purpose, but I was not going to push any agenda - getting a good bike is a bit of an investment, and at this stage we just wanted the get out on the road cycling, I figured he'd realise what he wanted from his bike soon enough...

I was glad I was onboard for JJ's first cycle, as early on I steered him away from mistake I had made on my 1st ever attempt of cycling along familiar driving routes and instead we were going take the route I had taken 2 years before with some slight modifications. The plan was still to get on the N81, but instead of going to Bunclody and then over the Leinster Mountains, we were going to turn off slightly earlier, go around the Leinster Mountains and get to Graiguenamanagh via Myshall and Borris.

I now had an Iphone with a decent GPS app (Navfree - I would highly recommend it) as well as a mobile battery pack that had 4 full charges in it (Powerbee Executive Solar Phone Charger - probably one of the more useful gizmos I've gotten for cycling), so felt we were pretty covered on the disaster front. I also had an action cam now which I thought I would start to use more on these long cycles to get better souvenirs of these trips.

JJ was going to cycle his hand-me-down bike with pretty much no luggage, and as I was cautiously confident from doing this before  I was going on the hybrid, with 2 fully packed panniers (1 with JJ's luggage, 1 with mine). JJ was not so keen on the whole "get up at silly o clock to maximise daylight hours on the bike" philosophy, so we agreed we would get up later in the morning than I usually would, a bit of a risk as the clocks hadn't even moved forward yet.

Also I was paranoid about my mishaps the years before, and thought nutrition was the key - I had been having protein shakes post workout which really helped me recover quickly, so I thought it might be good to take a supply of that along the trip too - pretty ludicrous when I think back on it! We had a few beers the evening before the cycle "so we could get to sleep easier". We were models of appropriate preparation.

The Cycle

We got up and had a hearty breakfast, and with bags packed the night before, we were out the door pretty quickly and on the road. This was probably the 1st time I realised we were actually doing this - I just didn't seem real until then, I was so used to psyching myself up for these things for weeks beforehand!

The early parts of the cycle were fine, apart from the brief stretch of dual carriageway on the way to Saggart, where we just felt exposed. I tried a slightly different route from Saggart to the N81 which ran almost parallel until joining it 5km up the road. This proved to be quiet hilly, the extra descents making the climbs more intense than if we had went the other way (note to self, never cycle that way again.) This was the 1st point of the cycle where JJ started to fall behind quite noticeably, which would result in my slowing down substantially or sometimes stopping completely for him to catch up - I think this would prove crucial for my longevity on this trip!

It was a bitter cold day that day, 6 degrees Celsius I think with strong Northerly winds, which had a real wind chill factor. Luckily for us, we were cycling with the wind -another thing that really aided our lack of fitness at the time. Going up those climbs out of Saggart, I actually felt warm and played with idea of taking off my jacket when we got to the top. Based on some of the experiences we had later that day, I'm really glad I didn't.

JJ was very happy to cycle at a pace he was comfortable with (basically more aware of his self preservation capacity than I was of mine), and I was still of the mindset of cycling at the pace that I do my short distance commutes, so our cycle to Blessington continued as it had began, with me regularly pulling away, slowing down and stopping, with some occasional cycling abreast and chatter, which was a nice change from previous attempts that I had done solo. As a result the journey seemed a bit more manageable to Blessington. I started to think about what a mental challenge it had been doing those solo cycles the years before.

We rolled through Blessington town and continued until we got to the lakeside car park I had stopped at previously, to refuel. At this point, JJ made a funny realisation - the front brakes had fallen off his bike!! Another thing he realised, unfortunately, was that JJ had left his phone back at my house! Oops - this wasn't going to backfire on us, surely!

We had some bottles of lucozade and some snacks, but very quickly for the 1st time we felt the effects of the northerly chilly winds , that had us shaking to the bones, despite the fact we were both well layered up. We were quickly on our way again. JJ was ready before me, so I told him to go on ahead and I would catch up.

Blessington Lake, before the cold got to us!

When I did catch up, I decided to stay behind him, and let him dictate the pace for a bit - it was easier this way, as when I was in front was I had kept pulling away without even realising. In hindsight, this was probably one of the 1st steps I took to understanding what a sustainable touring pace actually was. Occasionally we did switch, but as I still found myself pulling away, JJ led the way mostly to Baltinglass.

On thing I noticed during this stage (apart from the fact that JJ wasn't wearing a helmet!!) was that JJ seemed to be sitting upright a lot and loosening the shoulders quite a lot, he was clearly starting to feel some discomfort. Luckily this stretch was predominantly downhill and we would soon be in Baltinglass for a well deserved lunch break.

When we arrived in Baltinglass, I waited outside while JJ went into the supermarket to sort out some rolls. It didn't seem so cold here while I was waiting, so I cleverly suggested we have our lunch in the riverside park, ignoring the fact that the street I was waiting on was pretty sheltered - oops.

We very quickly realised it was FUCKING FREEZING while sitting in the picnic area of the park, but we stubbornly persisted and had our lunch there, as we just wanted some food in us at the this stage. We even, quite comically, made some protein shakes for ourselves with our shaking numb hands before heading on. I couldn't get over just how quickly we got so cold - we literally had uncontrollable body shakes by the time we got to leaving. My hands really were absolutely numb when I got back on the bike again, it must have taken the following 6km, or 20 minutes cycling, to Rathvilly before even the tingling feeling started to come back, and maybe another 20 minutes before I had full feeling back again.

Rathvilly was quite satisfying for me this time around. Apart from being reassured by that tingling sensation that I wasn't going to lose my fingers to frostbite, I managed to get up the steep hill into the village, were I had felt the hint of cramp 2 years previously. I don't think it was so satisfying for JJ however, who turned to me when we got to the top said, grimly "I think I actually have nerve damage in my ass."

Right so, only 70km to go!

On the windy draggy roads to Tullow, we just got through, it counting down the 20km distance, telling ourselves  we were going to stop to have dinner there (or lunch Mark II?. It was only going to be an hour after our lunch!) I don't think either of us had recovered from our flash-freezing in Baltinglass. Apart from getting the sensation of feeling back, we were struggling to heat up again.

On arrival in Tullow, I realised I could barely remember this place at all from my cycle through it 2 years before. That kind of tells you everything you need to know about Tullow really. However, I will always remember it now for the respite we got from the cold during the pub lunch we had there. It was glorious - we sat by the fire, had 2 pints of Guinness a warm bowl of soup and a hearty main course and really took our time, as our cores heated up again. We were in no rush to leave! During this break, I noticed that my action cam which had been recording pretty much the whole time was a bit low on battery, so I charged it off my power pack. My phone which would be needed for navigation later but which was also tracking the cycle, was at about 60% so I didn't think much about that.

After much hesitation, we left for the cold again. At least the steeply descending main st was a nice launch pad, and we were on our way again. Like I've described before, the roads from Tullow are pretty tedious, but we got through them. One highlight was getting over that hill were I met the wall on my previous attempt. These little victories were great for the psychological boosts! Almost immediately after that hill, we took our right turn for Myshall and we were now in new territory until Graiguenamanagh (though JJ had some familiarity with Borris). My phone was in a handy bike mount so it was pretty handy to get the GPS going and be sure we were going the right way. I was however starting to feel the effects of carrying the panniers for distance, as my hamstrings were tightening and the left knee was starting to feel stiff and sore. Hills were beginning to be a struggle now, but I thought I was confidence I had enough to get me through to the end. JJ probably wasn't feeling the same at this stage, I think he was a lot more uncomfortable than I was.

Following tertiary country roads, we eventually got to Myshall and stopped for 'dessert' and some water. We were actually in reasonably good spirits here, knowing that Borris was about 15km of 45minutes cycling away. I was surprised to see my phone was already down to 30%, but thought it would get us to Borris at least. Again Myshall gave us a nice downhill starting point and away we went.

This stretch of road was a mixed bag with some nice descents the reward for some tedious climbs. As we advanced I knew we would need to be to be looking for a vital turn to get on the road to Borris, so I went to check my GPS - to my dismay the phone was dead! How had it dropped 30% in 10 minutes? I stopped to make sure, while JJ overtook me & I barely had the chance to explain the situation, before he was making distance away from me. I realised the phone was truly dead, and would take a bit to get rebooted by my phone charger, JJ didn't have his phone so I knew I had to catch up with JJ and stop him, before I got the phone up and running again.

I chased after him, over the climbs and descents. With my legs tiring on the uphills and really feeling the weight of the panniers, and despite JJ being in my sights, it must have easily taken 20 - 30 minutes of cycling and burning my legs to catch up with him. I passed plenty of junctions, none of which were signposted. Ironically, as I was in his peripheral vision, I don't think he thought anything was up so never slowed down. Anyways, eventually I caught him and we stopped. The phone had just rebooted (back to 30% bizarrely). After eventually picking up the very weak internet signal, we found out to our dismay that we had missed our left turn and cycled 10km in the wrong direction. This realisation was incredibly demoralising, and took with it about 90% of our remaining willing energy for this trip!! As the phone was on the blink, I left it charging in my back pocket, and we got directions off a passing driver.

Luckily it was straight forward enough to rectify our mistake - just back track about a kilometre, take a right and go through a number of crossroads until we hit a main road, which was bound for Borris. We were back on track again, but that mishap was a massive psychological blow for us. Mercifully the roads were straight with a slight descent and pacey, so we got some consolation from that.

The Route (See if you can spot where we got lost!)

There was a steep uphill to Borris, which we struggled up and we stopped at the main crossroads and weighed up our options. We were morally beaten at this point, and physically not in great shape. JJ was a miserable sight and physically nearly spent, and my legs were really stiffening up in the knees. Eventually I called my Dad and agreed he'd pick us up in Graiguenamanagh. I think I was willing to stubbornly finish it, but the thought of going over the hill between Graig and home (that I had to almost walk entirely on the previous attempt) didn't appeal to me too much. Also our mishap had cost us with daylight - it was about 6 o clock now, and only about an hour of brightness left. Long story short I didn't require too much convincing to cut the trip short!

We still had to get to Graiguenamanagh though. We left Borris by going steeply downhill into a valley which we had to climb back out of again, the view Borris picturesque viaduct was a nice distraction but we just wanted to get the climb over with. At the top of the hill, we delighted to see Graig was only 6km away. I had a bit of a second wind at this point, and it helped that we came into a wonderfully long descent. I did see that JJ was standing on the bike a lot, not to minimise sitting on the saddle. Oh dear.  The descent ended with a steep forested climb which rose above the river valley. It was really quite scenic. My rejuvenation meant I got up the hill rather quickly, and I pulled over to admire the scenery. JJ was not so rejuvenated however, and it was minutes before he struggled past me on the hill - he wasn't so willing to stop for the scenery as he was trying to hold onto the little bit of uphill momentum he had! Once we got to the top, we must have joined the road from the Leinster Mountains I had taken before, as we soon mercifully, found ourselves on familiar descents which took us all the way into Graiguenamanagh to get picked up.

It was a bit disappointing not to finish our trip as intended, but we knew it was the mature decision to pull out when we did, and not physically wreck ourselves for the sake of stubbornness.! JJ had been broken-in in the hard way, but I think he could still acknowledge, fitness aside, that he would need to get a more suitable bike as well if he was to cycle this sort of distance every day for 2 months!

 We had a long way to go, but we had to start somewhere! I didn't realise it at the time but cycling with JJ was the starting point in what turned out to be a great year in cycling and triathlons for me....

Oh alright then, you twisted my arm!

I hadn't done any long distance cycling at all in the 2 years after my second cycle home - In 2011 I had gotten into Boot Camp training in a local park, and in 2012 I well and truly caught the triathlon bug which kept me busy to say the least! This and the fact the weather was pretty dire those two years ensured I didn't really even entertain going on a long cycle, even though it was still definitely something I wanted to do.

In early March 2013 I was talking to my good friend JJ, and he revealed plans he had to cycle to Berlin in the summer (he had already booked his Ferry to Cherbourg!). As a self employed landscape architect, work had dried up a bit for him in what was turning out to be a pretty extended, long & miserable winter, and among other things he wanted a change of scenery. The thing about JJ, while he is a pretty fit and physically capable guy, I'm not sure he had been on a bike in any capacity in about 5 years! He is no fool though and was well aware that he was going to do a bit of training, and mentioned he was going to try cycling to Kilkenny a few times.

Now that got my intention!!

At this stage of my life, I had been on a 2-day week (the sort where I still worked for 5 days a week, but had finally arranged to only work the days I was getting paid for starting March - I worked for my Dad, long story!) with work for about 3 months, and was trying to muster some enthusiasm for applying for architecture jobs again. Training-wise, things were not going great either - I was getting repetitive calf injuries for the last 3 months also (coincidence, eh?) as I tried to change my running technique (based on good advice badly remembered). So all I had been doing was cycling the work commute which was 6km each way every day. I'm pretty sure JJ mentioned his cycling plans to me, as he knew that was the sort of thing I was into- but I don't remember any specific invite to join him. I don't think I gave him the chance, I pretty much invited myself!! Not on the Berlin trip mind - I simply couldn't afford it - but definitely the training. I was fairly excited about having a cycle buddy for the next 6 months - pretty much 100% of my cycling (ever) had been solo to this point!

Things moved very quickly from this point, and within 2 weeks we were throwing ourselves in at the deep-end - we were cycling to Kilkenny!

The Port Tunnel Run & a New Definition of Pain

There was something pretty ominous about this event. It was a 10km run through the Port Tunnel and back - I had signed up for it in the post race buzz after Skerries thinking I had plenty of time to get my distance up for it, but between recovering from Skerries and doing Athlone, recovering from that and doing the Duathlon, I had only really done 1 or 2 training runs. And the distance wasn't really increasing on those runs!! Furthermore, signs were not promising about getting a relay team for the Spike Island Triathlon later on in the month, so this was possibly going to be a trial of an Olympic Distance triathlon run leg! And, if there were not enough spanners in the works already, I also was going to be on holidays in Spain with my family for the 2 weeks directly before the event (I was going to be back on the Friday before the run on Sunday). I know right? Life was tough...

While I was in Spain, I tried my best to keep up my training, getting out early morning for some kind of run twice each week. My cousin Billy, who was still mulling over whether he was going to do the run leg of the Spike Island triathlon, was on the holiday with me and so joined me on these runs too. I found it quite hard to build up distance within the area I was familiar with (having given myself the limitation that I didn't really want to be running laps) - the max I could get up to was about 7km, and that was running up and down all the beach promenade available to me! I figured it was probably enough, as it was in much hotter conditions and included a 2km uphill run to get back to the apartment. (On a side note, it was pretty nice to know I had a swimming pool to jump into at the end of these runs - made me try that bit harder on the final hill!)

On top of this I did a stairs workout 2-3 times each week. The apartment complex was quite empty, so I had 5 storeys of relatively unused stairs to play with. My work out was something like this

• Go Up Steps Normally, walk back down,
• Go up steps two at time, walk back down.
• Run Up Steps as quickly as possible hitting every step on way, walk back down.
• Go up step two at a time as wide a stride as possible (i.e. right leg to far right of the step, then left leg to far left of the step) walk back down
• No rest, as many circuits as possible in 20minutes.

If Billy joined in, one of us would do body weight exercises like press-ups, squats etc, at the bottom while the other went up and down and we would alternate. This was a pretty good workout for leg conditioning (again, nice to have the pool afterwards), and honestly if I had a decent flight of stairs to work with at home, I'd probably have continued this routine back in Ireland!

Another thing I did was 'run' around the perimeter of the kidney shaped pool against the resistance of the pool for about 20-30 minutes. This was actually quite relaxing, and you would build up a considerable current swirling around the pool (I only did this when I knew I had the pool to myself). To finish I would turn around and do 5 laps against the current I had created (the current would be so strong at this stage, that you would be 'running' on the spot for the 1st minute or so!).

I'm not really sure what these other little workouts were actually doing for my ability to run a 10k, but I figured it was damage limitation. Writing this down, it seems like I did a lot, but it was at most an hour on any given day, and the rest of the time was spent lazing around, drinking or eating!

When I came back, I felt decent enough for the run. I was simply confident that I would run it and finish it and didn't give myself too much of a goal to beat, figuring I'd be happy to come in in under an hour (secretly hoping that I would make it under 50 minutes).

On the morning of the run, my brother Andrew and I cycled in, locking our bikes at Heuston Station and getting the Luas to the O2, where the run would be starting. Again, it was another step down in number of disciplines from the Duathlon, it was refreshing the little amount of gear I had to bring - just my runners and me! There was an option to go in fancy dress (with prizes on offer for best costume) - if Billy had been along we would have most definitely gone as '60s Batman & Robin, costume's we'd made for a party the year before. Thank god we didn't - I don't think I saw anyone there in fancy dress!

One thing about this event was there was so many people, well over a thousand! We dropped our bags in the baggage drop and met one of Andrew's friends, Colin. He had an incredibly low race number (as in number 8, as opposed to our numbers well in the hundreds) - which meant he had predicted not only a pretty fast time for himself, but a pretty fast time for anyone!

We gathered into our waves in areas marked by balloons, like nervous cattle, and were given a dynamic stretching warm-up by some jumped up fitness instructor dancing on a platform atop some scaffolding. Fair enough! It was strange that I wasn't nervous at all - I don't know if that was a good thing or not - I guess I didn't put myself under any pressure as I knew this wasn't really a race I had trained for , so I thought I would enjoy myself.

We were gradually released in our waves across the start line, the crowd stretching out as soon as people heard the bleep of their timing chips being read. It was quite a novelty running on this empty 4 lanes of road as it came up to the toll bridge. I made a joke about not having enough change. Oh how we laughed! 

I decided pretty quickly before we entered the tunnel that I was not going run at my brother's pace - he was probably running the more sensible pace, but I kind of wanted to go for it and see how it worked out. So I darted off and locked onto someone of a similar pace ahead as we descended into the tunnel.

As the road descended and flattened out, you could see a long stretch of tunnel ahead, full of hundreds of running heads bobbing along - it was a dramatic sight! I don't know if it was spontaneous, or if the guys at the front or encouraged to do it after a certain point, but after about 30 seconds an enormous bloodcurdling yell came down the tunnel. This accumulated and got louder and louder as it got closer and as everyone joined in. It was spine tingling & reminded me of seeing that movie Cloverfield in cinema - a total assault on the senses - that was worth the entry fee alone!

My pacing was going well, I thought. I did what I had done in the run leg of my previous triathlons and duathlon, and followed individuals' pacing ahead of me until I felt comfortable to pass them and follow someone else.

5 minutes later, I did not feel so well.

I had deteriorated incredibly quickly. My legs felt heavy, my throat dry, my lungs inefficient. Guys I had been pacing off starting to slowly pull away. What was happening? I wasn't sure if it was my lack of preparation, or if it was the atmosphere down there. The recycled air of the tunnel was very close and very humid, and I didn't seem to be getting much benefit from it. I was starting to feel quite sluggish now, and seriously considered walking. There will be a drink-station halfway, I reminded myself, and persisted. I had no sense of time passing and no sense of progress in the repetitive surroundings of the tunnel. It seemed to be taking an age just to get to the other end, the half way point. I tried again to find the pace of other people around me but I really struggled. Eventually I could see hints of natural light reflecting down the walls. Even still it did seem to take a long time before I rounded the long bend to see the opening of the tunnel ahead of me.

The fresh air was amazing! I couldn't get over the contrast from the air in the tunnel. It was so cool too - I hadn't realised how much I had been overheating and sweating in there. I grabbed a bottle from one of the drink stations and took a massive gulp as I rounded the corner to go back in. It was glorious - it's amazing how good the basics are when your body really needs them. Wisely I quickly grabbed another bottle before heading  back in.

Right, now let's just do that again.

I felt better now that I had had some water, and just psychologically better knowing I had more water when I needed it. Carrying a water bottle in each hand while running was creating a bit of tension in the shoulders but was otherwise  I was in good spirits and was starting to find my rhythm again. I think there was a slight downhill for a good length of it, which helped. There was no bins so I ditched the bottles on the road, as everyone else was doing - this at times was a bit of a hazard and you really had to watch where you ran - there was so many bottles in some sections!

I started to take note of some of the people passing me. Some runners were really going by quite effortlessly (read: it look like they were putting in significantly less effort than me), with very different and sometimes quite bizarre running styles. I really started questioning how efficient my running style actually was. There were two guys ahead running and chatting and I managed with keep pace with them for a while.

After about half way through the return journey, I started to struggle again. This time is wasn't the heat or the environment, but I started to get a lot of little niggles. My quads started to burn a bit, my hamstrings got a bit tighter, as did my shins. These were all little niggles I could deal with for the rest of the race, but then my right knee really started seizing up. It became quite a struggle to lift that leg at all, and my stride transformed into a very one sided limp. I felt like I was systematically falling apart! As I started to struggle with my body, I started to struggle with the environment again, and all of a sudden it felt like I was getting nowhere & the two guys ahead of me effortlessly pulled away. Luckily, it seemed that the end of the tunnel arrived sooner than it had before and I knew I was near the end. It is definitely melodramatic to say it, but it was like some kind of divine light to me - I was in bits!!

There was a bit of a mini climb out of the tunnel but I got through it. Again the fresh air was amazing. Even better still, there was a bit of refreshing drizzle - glorious! There was still about 200m to the finish line, but I didn't care about that anymore - the outside air was so refreshing I just ignored the pain and fatigue and almost bounded across the line (that said, I would imagine it looked rather different to the casual observer). I waited at the finish line for my brother, who finished about 5 minutes behind me. He had a slower run, but I reckon in hindsight that his was paced a lot better, and he had much less of a rollercoaster experience than I did!

In the end we both achieved our goal of doing it under an hour - I did in 53:40 and Andrew in 57:53. I don't know how I felt about it. I suppose it was my 1st time, so any time was good, but I secretly hoped I would break the 50 minutes, particularly with the effort level I put in. Running technique was definitely on the agenda for next year! Andrew's friend Colin did it in an astonishing time of 39:33, actually coming 31st overall out of 1684 competitors. Also as another bit of perspective, a man named Garret Doherty broke a Guinness World record by running the tunnel backwards in 42:57!

We made use of the free refreshment stands on the way back (as well as an open fire hydrant courtesy of the local brigade, which was awesomely refreshing), but I was most interested to find out that there was free sports massages available for competitors back at the O2. That would be a nice way to relax after the race, I thought...

Wrong!

The first couple of minutes were fine as my muscles were gently loosened up, but it wasn't long before I was experiencing a level of pain I didn't previously know existed! He had found quite a few 'knots' in my calf muscles, which he was trying to release by torturing me as much as he could. I thought mentioning the pain would make him ease up, but that just seemed to encourage him. Worse still he was getting quite excited about a 'mother of a knot' in my right calf, and when the other sports therapist had finished with his patient he joined in! It was pure torture.

I found out through talking to them (it was the only thing to distract from the pain) that 'knots' were basically isolated areas in the muscles fibres that stay locked in a contracted state, causing niggles and tightness in other muscles, which in turn can lead to injuries and other problems. The best way to release them is to press on these areas of sensitivity (also known as trigger points), to a point where you're feeling about 8 out of 10 on the pain scale. This pain basically sends a signal to the brain to release the knot and restore your muscles to a healthier state. * Please note: this is me paraphrasing in a way that I made sense of it to myself, so please don't take this as expert advise!

Having never had a sports massage before, and having thrown myself into a lot of training in the previous year I had obviously accumulated a lot of knots.... which was unfortunate. The sports therapist said I would feel bruised for a day or two, but after that I would feel like I had new legs. This seemed like a pretty useful treatment & definitely highlighted to me the importance of taking care of myself, and I took his card for future reference.

It had been pretty painful day and I still had to cycle back to Lucan. A lot of things to think about. But there was still one race looming on the horizon... Very soon I would have to consider the Escape from Spike Island!

Phoenix Park Duathlon

There was something pretty nice about the prospect of this event. For the last two events I had to struggle to bring all my kit and luggage to a relatives place for the weekend and race, whereas this was an event at 7pm on a worknight in Phoenix Park in Dublin and I was simply going to cycle to it after work! Also the distances were nothing to worry about:

• a one lap (2.5km) run around the football fields near the Papal Cross - Run Lap [clickable link]
• 3 laps (13km in total) cycle of a really enjoyable and bendy lap that wrapped around the football fields - 1 Cycle Lap [clickable link]
• another 1 lap (2.5km) run to finish.

Despite swimming being my strength, it was nice knowing I didn't have to worry about complicated transitions with wetsuits, and the fact that I cycled wearing runners was in a way advantageous in a race like this, certainly with regards transitions anyway!

Also it was exciting to have the prospect of racing my older brother for the first time, who had been in Athlone but doing the longer Olympic distance

The only worry was the weather. The summer of 2012 was incredibly rubbish, with more rain than I can remember happening in any other summer. I was lucky to have gotten away with it in Skerries and Athlone to be honest, and the forecast for the week in general was pretty grim. I was checking the forecast regularly in work (particularly the map of rainfall from last 6 hours on the Met Eireann app, incredibly useful for predicting what is going to happen in the immediate hours after) as there were a lot of ominous clouds around - it was a concern for me, as I was still very much a novice on the road bike and had never cycled it in wet conditions. Luckily after 4pm, all signs were good for a clear evening. By 5 o clock I was all set for a pretty lovely cycle from the office into the park (certainly not in terms of scenery, but the weather had really come good!)

I was in fairly early to register, and setting up my bike in transition was a synch, when I didn't have to leave clothes to be putting on after the swim! All that was left to do was wait for my brother and then for the race. I had a bag of nuts and a bottle of water handy too, to make sure I didn't get too famished waiting around. One of the lads that regularly went to the weekly local pub quiz with us, Eoin, was going to come in and watch too, which was nice - always nice to have some support!

There were going to be 2 waves, a beginner and advanced - as there was no swimming, my strongest discipline, I decided to go in the beginner wave and see how I fared, as did my brother. The beginner wave was going to go 2nd, 15 minutes after the advanced wave, which meant there would be a bit more waiting around, but was also good, as I was interested to see the advanced guys finish their first run lap.

There was quite a few competitors there, well over 100, and one tri-suit colour that was quite dominant was the orange and blue tri-suit of Wheelworx triathlon shop, who appeared to have all of their staff down for the race. Some of those faces were to become very familiar over the next year for various reasons!

We all gathered around for the race briefing, where I was relieved to hear that all of the steel ballards on the cycle course had been removed for the race, and the roads were in fact pretty dry. Very soon after, we were counting down to the advanced race start and away they went. It may have just been that I was standing still, but it was quite impressive and quickly that very large bunch of people took off down the grass - there were very few stragglers!

Our wave was not to start for another 15 minutes, which was enough time to see most of the first wave finish the running lap. It was amazing to see the times the leaders were coming in on - between 7 and 8 minutes for 2.5km; between 14 and 16 minute 5km pace, WOW!! - and there was quite a few people coming in comfortably under 10 minutes too. In fact some of the guys were so fast, they were completing their first cycle lap by the time our wave was called - incredible.

As the countdown started, Andrew and I decided it would be better to start nearer the back, assess the pace and react accordingly - probably a safe bet without the swim to boost us!

One side note: I was dying to go to the loo at this point, I had only realised when the first wave started that I needed to go, but couldn't see a portaloo anywhere, didn't want to venture too far from the start line and didn't want to get disqualified by peeing on a tree somewhere!!

The gun went off and away we went. I found what I figured to be a good rhythm, but in all honesty this felt weird without a cycle and a swim in front of it! There was no built up adrenaline or anything, honestly I didn't know if I was going too fast or too slow! I focussed on the group nearest me, and matched them for pace. Once I figured it was comfortable I passed them and focussed on the next group, and then on individuals ahead of me, as the crowd spread out over the course of the lap. This actually worked pretty well for me and I started to pull away from Andrew.

Rounding the corner, 1st lap, starting to pull away from my brother (image courtesy: Irish Triathlon)

  When I had been watching the previous wave I noted to myself that I would take note of my time on the clock over the finish line as I came back into transition. I completely forgot about this as I finished my run lap, my mind was completely in the race now! The transition was actually pretty nice - just helmet on and away I went!! At this stage I had no idea where Andrew was in relation to me, I was in my own little zone now, racing myself.

You couldn't have asked for a better start to a cycle leg - a long descent, nearly a km long, which was mostly straight except for a long right and a long left - I really gained a lot of momentum coming down here, and must admit I felt I was in danger of losing control of the bike as the road surface got a bit bumpy towards the end! There was a hard right immediately into a steep but brief-ish winding climb - like in Skerries I found myself overtaking quite a few cyclists on this bit. Once the road flattened out it was an immensely enjoyable, every so slightly descending road (or you had momentum to get over any little bumps) with sweeping bends, left and right. They were so sweeping that even a novice like me was considering going through them without braking. I actually found myself overtaking a few people here also - maybe I had underestimated myself a bit, putting myself in the beginner wave! This section of road ended quite abruptly with a sharp right and a climb on a crappy surface. I actually got caught out a bit here and was not remotely in the right gear after I rounded the corner and was lucky not to have my chain come off in the rushed gear shift. From here I was back on the straight that brought me past transition to finish my first lap of 3 - this was a bit of an ego boost to be able to pass the spectators at speed, but also was a reality check as some guys from the earlier waves lapped me here, overtaking me like I was nothing! It was interesting to see the difference: they were so much lower, so much narrower on the bike and pedalling so much faster - I had a lot to learn yet!! Lap 1 done, 2 to go!

 

(image courtesy:Irish Triathlon)

The next two laps went pretty much the same, with a few little differences: I took the descents a little bit more bravely, the climbs a little more confidently, managed my gears a little more efficiently - each lap was definitely an improvement on the last, and all the while I was overtaking a lot more people  then were overtaking me - in fact it seemed the only people who were overtaking me were the more advanced cyclists from the previous waves lapping me! This seemed to be confirmed to me on the enjoyable sweeping section of the last lap when a guy gradually came by me on the bike, gave a nod and said with some excitement, "I think we're in the lead!". I didn't really know what to make of this at 1st: clearly we weren't, in the big scheme of things, so I presumed he meant we were leading the wave, which was meaningless. Or was it? Did the winner of the waves get prizes? Either way leading the heat was pretty decent going, wasn't it? Yay, go Brian! (this whole thought process lasted about half a second). Needless to say I embraced this guy's enthusiasm and kept pace with him to the end of the cycle.

Again this transition was so straight forward. Apart from the fact that after dismounting I had to take my bike over an embankment, all I had to do was run my bike in, rack it, helmet off and away again. Duathlons are great fun!

I had a bit more bounce in my stride on the start of the 2nd run leg, I saw Mr. Enthusiasm ahead of me, so I made a bit of an effort to catch up and keep pace. At this stage we were pretty much out on our own. I was probably on the limit of a sustainable pace, and knew there would be no-one after this guy for me to pace off if I passed him, so I was quite happy to shadow him for the lap. I was kind of glad to have done this, as he gradually pulled away from me on the second half of the lap. Once this happened it was a bit of a mental task to maintain the pace I was in - it was a bit above my comfort level, and I no longer had anyone to pace off. In any case I finally made it, crossing the finish line at a time of  50:51 - no idea if this was good or bad, but I was pretty happy with it! One of the run splits was about 24 minute 5km pace, the fastest I had so far ran in a race, and my cycle was over 30km/h average, so no complaints!

Crossing the finish line (image courtesy: Irish Triathlon)

I met Eoin at the finish line, and waited for Andrew who came in about 5 minutes afterwards. We were on a bit of a buzz, and arranged to meet Eoin the pub in Lucan after Andrew and I had cycled home and showered, changed etc. The 13km cycle home was fun - very relaxed with a bit of post race chatter. At one point I challenged Andrew to a 2km drag race from Palmerstown to the footbridge - he absolutely left me in his dust! I realised I actually had nothing left in the legs, which was actually a nice feeling as I knew I had put everything into it. The slight anti-climax/ disappointment of tri-Athlone was behind me now. The pints AFTER event combination was definitely more satisfying than the other way around - one of the more obvious lessons I learnt this year!

In the days that followed, I went through my usual routine, examining the results sheets, thinking about were I could improve, looking at the event photos and basking in my own reflective relative glory. One thing was starting to bug me in the photos though, I didn't quite look like a cyclist or a runner. I couldn't quite put my finger on it at the time, my legs always looked straight in the running pics and I looked strangely hunched up on the bike. I knew it there was hints there to where I would be needing to improve over the winter, but didn't quite know what it was just yet... 

Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Hangover - TriAthlone 2012

So, the weekend had finally come - TriAthlone was here, and I was still on my post-Skerries Triathlon Buzz. I felt ready!

I was going to be staying with my cousin Lorcan who lived in Athlone with his then fiancee Fiona, and I opted to head down on the Thursday so I could have a look at the course on the Friday. My brother, who had done this the last 2 years, was doing the Olympic distance for the 1st time this year and would be joining us on the Friday evening.

TriAthlone was a completely different animal to Skerries.

• Skerries had 350 competitors in total between its Olympic and Sprint distance events, TriAthlone was going to have over 2000!
• The swim was going to be much easier than Skerries in theory - a 750m straight line swim with the river flow (Olympic would have to swim 500m upstream before swimming 1000m with the river).
• The transition area in Skerries had been a small grass area cordoned off with some tape (in fairness, it did the job) - the transition area in Athlone was HUGE, making use of the secure main yard of the town barracks, which sits prominently on the quays.
• The cycle in Skerries was a hilly route on country roads (shared with vehicular traffic) - the Athlone route was a simple out and back on a flat, main road which would be closed on race day.
• The run in Skerries had been a straight forward run out and back along the beach promenade - Athlone was quite a convoluted route contrived to maximise your exposure to Athlone town centre, taking you from the barracks across the bridge, down the main street (where you passed by the finish line),before turning down a laneway leading you to a small quay which brought you back to the bridge and then on a loop around some other streets before bringing you back to the barracks. Strangely, this lap was only 2km and you had to do 2.5 laps of this course to achieve 5km! Once you passed the finish line the 1st time, you would start counting your 2 laps from there. Very confusing on paper. So much so, I could not figure it out and decided I would only do recon on the bike!

There's not a lot to be said about my recon experience on the bike course on the Friday. Irish main roads are pretty uninspiring stuff and this was no exception - 2 wide lanes, hard shoulder, embankment/grass verges each side occasionally broken up Garages and rest-stop restaurants. The prospect of a flat closed road was exciting, but in reality, it was BORING. It seemed like forever before I reached my 10km mark and had to turn around. The Skerries route had definitely been more enjoyable! One thing I noticed was that I was clearly against the wind and on an ever so slight incline on the way out, and with a tailwind and slight descent on the way back - I would have to be clever with the gears to get the most of this tomorrow.

As uninspiring as the course was, I was happy when I came back - 38 minutes, and average speed of over 30km/h. With the river swim in mind and this flat fast cycle course (though with probably a slower run than the pretty flat Skerries run), I could see myself going a good 10 minutes faster than Skerries, and was confident of a time around the 1hour 20minute mark.

Andrew came down that evening and we went to the barracks to register. Here I got my first taste of the scale of the event. The transition area was so big - all I could see was bike racks!! And there was going to be a LOT of waves (ie heats or rounds of people starting at the same time). In Skerries there had been 3 - 1 for Olympic, Spinrt Advanced and Sprint Beginners respectively, here there was going to be 15, 3 for Olympic, 12 for Sprint. The Olympic waves were going to start first, so Andrew was going to be starting pretty early. As for me, I was not until the 12th Wave! The transition area would be closing to competitors on race day at 12pm and my wave would not be starting until 5.30pm!! What the hell was I going to do for 5 and a half hours?

Anyways we went back to the house and I cooked up a huge spaghetti bolognese for everyone - the least I could do for my generous hosts, also some good carb loading (based my very limited knowledge of carb-loading). After this point, my high standards of preperations started to slip a bit. Knowing I was starting so late the following day I let my guard down, and a casual can in the house with Lorcan and my brother turned into 5 or 6 pints with Lorcan and his friends in the local pub!! Oops.

The following morning, I got up at about 10 with more than enough sleep and I actually felt grand. Lorcan and Fiona were already putting together a pretty epic fry-up breakfast - ah sure it would rude to say no! I was definitely in 'visiting friends' mode as opposed to 'I'm doing that race that I've been training all year for' mode! That said, things felt very relaxed and I felt good. In our own sweet time, my brother and I got together all our stuff, did our final checks on the bikes and headed over to  the transition area in the barracks.

The transition was absolutely bustling! If seeing over 2000 competitors setting up for an event doesn't either make you really motivated or really nervous, then you're probably at the wrong event! Luckily I was pretty motivated. I racked up my bike (we had specific spaces for racking our bike in this one as opposed to Skerries where you could rack where you wanted) and crucially I took note of where my bike row was relative to the swim approach - this would be so important in finding my bike later!

I prepared my bike & area pretty much the same as in Skerries. I figured my main problem was just practise and knowing where my stuff was, so replicating the Skerries set-up seemed like a logical step, with the minor exception that I would be leaving my socks in my runners to be put on before the cycle! I found myself, now a veteran of one triathlon, offering advice to the guy setting up beside me doing his first triathlon. It's amazing the difference one race experience can make to your nerves on the day!

We gathered around for the race briefing before the transition area closed, this was important as the swim course had been changed. As there had been such a heavy volume of rain in previous weeks, the river was flowing much higher and faster than usual - this had two consequences:

1. The Sprint distance swim, which was completely downstream, was going to start further up the river to be lengthened from 750m to 1000m, to try and keep it like a 750m active distance.

2. The Olympic swim which was partially upstream was going to be reduced from 1500m to 1000m and do the same course as the sprint distance guys, as they were concerned about weak swimmers swimming against the strong current

Even though I was doing the sprint distance I was kind of annoyed by the change to the Olympic distance - it would have been a major advantage to strong swimmers, and I thought it was a cop out. Afterall you don't see cycle courses and run courses being shortened or cancelled if there is a bit of wind or rain! [rant over].

The next 5 hours, waiting on the quay was not an entirely fun time - my stomach got pretty unsettled and I must have found myself going to the loo every 15-20 minutes - not a convenient exercise when you're wearing a wetsuit up to the waste over a 'onesie' tri-suit which has a cycle jersey over it! This was not helped by the fact that I had a bit of a headache so was drinking all the fluids I had on me (mainly what I got with my triathlon goodie bag). There was no food or drink stations on the quay either which would have helped. At this stage, I probably could've done with some lunch!

At least when the waves had started, I had something to look at, as all the athletes were waiting by the swim exit. The river was flowing really strong! It was something you couldn't really appreciate until you actually the swimmers in the water, but in some case the flow was so strong that if swimmers got their direction slightly wrong , they ran the risk of missing the exit! All very exciting though - there was an announcer with a microphone, interviewing the odd competitor as they came out of the water and the atmosphere was great.

My brother had left for his wave by the time my family had arrived, and I was still about 3 waves away. I was actually pretty dehydrated at this point. The weather hadn't been great at all, but the sun had come out since we were booted out of transition and this was not a good combo! I got a bottle of water off my little brother, but honestly at this stage I just wanted to get into the river! I knew from experience, that hangover or not, I generally didn't feel things like that while swimming, plus a full body dip was just the invigoration I needed!

Finally, my time had come - I gathered with my wave in the waiting area, and just about saw my older brother come out of the swim exit before we started our walk up the riverside park to the swim start. This was to be a much different type of swim start to Skerries, instead of a run start which gradually gets you into your depth, here we had just jump in the river and wait in a group at a notional line between two kayaks until the gun went off (harder than it sounds when you are battling a strong river current!). Despite the strong current the river surface was smooth and flat as a swimming pool, and you just didn't get the feeling you were in a strong current. I tried to negotiate a start position about 1 or 2 rows of people from the front, but through constant adjustment of group to stay behind the kayak I ended up right at the front!

The gun went off. Chaos ensued. For the 1st 30 seconds or so, it was difficult to get going. I tried to kick my legs, but guys were already swimming on top of them. I tried to pull away but strong starters were already ahead and I was swimming on their feet! I would try swim around, but would just bump off swimmers on either side and get a smack in the head for good measure. It took a while to jostle into a free position and find my own rhythm, but in hindsight it was still early enough in the swim. Finally I had a chance to sight - there were buoys we were to swim between, and occasionally I had to but in a concerted effort to slightly change direction - the current was strong! The conditions were great though and I was enjoying the swim. Weary of my quick burn-out on the Skerries swim I just swam steady and strong. All the same, there was hardly more than a half dozen people ahead of me. There was a bridge just before swim exit - we had to make sure we swam through the right-most arch,otherwsie we would run the risk of missing the swim exit. This actually took some concentration. The bridge approached really fast! Even after swimming under the right archway I still had to keep 'steering' right to ensure I got to the exit!

The swim exit was a temporary pontoon and slip made from those modular plastic rafts, and had two float 'arms' extending from it that created a safe zone, that could gather all the fast flowing swimmers. It was quite difficult to get my legs under me and climb out with the speed the river was bringing me in, but there were marshals on hand to pull people out. In Skerries, you had a gradual reintroduction to gravity as you ran out of the sea onto land - here it was a bit more sudden. From out of my depth to out of the water, my legs had completely turned to jelly. As well as this I had to negotiate the slippy surface of the plastic pontoon. It's a miracle I didn't fall over in front of the massive crowd (I certainly saw plenty of people slip while I was waiting!). I ran up the path away from the river, across the road of the quay and into the barracks to transition.

My god, the run to transition was long! It must have been 100 - 200m at least, from the barracks gate to the main yard were all the racks were. At least this driveway was covered in a non slip blue mat, which made things easier on the feet. Transition itself was a bit more straightforward than last time, though not terribly fast. I took off my timing chip before taking off my wetsuit, and made sure to put it straight back on again. Putting on socks was a nightmare as my fingers were still numb, but I figured it was worth the small time delay for the advantages later. Putting on and zipping up the cycle jersey was a similar struggle. I put on my sweatband and helmet, and cycling gloves. I nearly forgot to put on my race belt too before unracking my bike, such was my disorientation still. And away I went on the bike.

Very much like my recon, the cycle was non-descript. It was nice to be on a closed road but that's about all I can say about it. For 10km out, it was just a matter of cycling in a straight line, gradually catching up on cyclists ahead and overtaking them. One thing I didn't mention earlier is that in the order of waves for the swim start, every alternate wave was male and female. This made it quite satisfying to overtake a woman on the bike course, as I knew I had caught up on the previous wave, that had started 15 minutes before me!

At the turning around point, I made a grim realisation - I had been cycling with the wind on this slight incline and now I would be cycling against it, taking all the speed out of the slight decline back to Athlone! There was very little interaction with cyclists on the way back. Whereas on the way out I had maybe overtaken a dozen and been overtaken by half a dozen, I only overtook about 2 or 3 people on the way back. It was a very uninvolving cycle - maybe I needed my chain to fall off again. One thing that struck me as I struggled to find some speed against the wind was just how quick some of the serious guys were passing me. At one point a clocked myself doing about 45km/h on the slight decline, and these guys were passing me like I wasn't moving at all! I knew I would have to work on actually training on the bike for next year, but also I could start to appreciate the advantage of the aero position on the tri-bars (which I didn't yet have). All in all, I found the cycle a bit samey and tedious and I didn't feel as energetic as I had the day before on the recon - I'm sure the hangover had something to do with this! It was a relief to get back into town and back to the crowds, even though I never really looked forward to the run.

I dismounted the bike, and took it up that long procession to the transition area. I didn't feel terribly fast running with the bike, as a lot of serious guys flew past me even then. Though I knew the row, finding my area was much tougher now without my bike as a visual marker. I found it all the same, quickly racked the bike and de-helmeted and away I went.

I was so uncertain about the run - I didn't know the course at all! All I knew that I was 2 laps from when I passed the finish area to when I would actually finish, so I would have to follow the crowd until I had done one lap. The running felt good, despite me being pretty dehydrated (I still hadn't taken to bringing water with me on the bike). Crowds lined the whole run course and the atmosphere was amazing. Despite all this I quickly spotted my parents in the crowd, which was nice. After crossing the bridge and going up the main street I saw the finish line. Right 2 laps to go from here! The main thing here as obvious as it sounds was to stay right and make sure you didn't cross the finish line too soon (actually quite easy to do when you're caught up in the atmosphere, probably not now, but maybe at the end of the 1st lap). Turning right of the main street the course went down a really steep laneway to the riverside. This was really jarring on the knees and I was not looking forward to doing that again! We ran along the quay on a min loop back to the bridge. Just before the bridge was a water station -learning from Skerries, I just walked and made sure I took the water on. I didn't really care about time - it was all about self preservation! Crossing the bridge, took the runners onto another mini-loop before taking us back to the barracks. This mini-loop was probably the hardest as we had to run past a lot of pubs with people sitting outside having a cold pint - I wished I was one of those people!!

It sounds confusing, but now I had done 1 lap, but would only be on my last lap when I passed the finish line! It all made sense while I was running anyways!

Now that I had relaxed into my running, knowing the course, and taking in the amazing atmosphere, I couldn't help but notice how I was predominantly getting overtaken by people. I actually felt I was going alright, but these people seemed to be cruising by me and it looked such little effort for them too! I knew there wasn't an awful lot more I could've done in fitness training in running for this event, but this was the first time I got an indication that my technique was holding me back. All the same, I really enjoyed the rest of run. I saw a few of my cousins in the crowd and there was a few random high fives thrown in for good measure - it really was a great event. The only time I stopped again was to make sure I took on water on the 2nd lap, but otherwise it was all very manageable. It was only when I tried to put in a final sprint at the end that I realised I had very little left in my legs which was good!

As soon as I had finished, my legs started seizing up. I found my brother quite quickly in the post race area, and I got as much free food and drink as I could get my hands on. The great thing about the organisation and size of TriAthlone was that it had it's own app, so I was able to find out my times very quickly, which went a little something like this:

• 750m (1000m) Swim:             08:54  - frankly a ridiculous time, just showed how fast the river was. My split was nearly 4 minutes faster than in Skerries and I wasn't trying near as hard! I think the fastest times were under 6 minutes! Normally around 9 minutes would get you the fastest split, just to put that into perspective!

• T1:                                           05:43  - very, very slow but didn't know how much of that to put down to the sheer size of the transition area, and how much to put down to taking my time!

• 20km cycle:                             41:09      - was pretty dissappointed with this. Really wanted to get over that 30km/h average (ie sub 40 minutes) on this closed predominantly flat circuit. I think Andrew had average slightly over 30km/h on the Olympic circuit, twice the distance! (and fair play to him, by the way!)

• T2:                                           02:29      - if anything, this illustrated the size of the transition area, as all I did here was run in, drop my bike off and run out!

• 5km Run:                                28:45    - Again, was really disappointed with this, I at least wanted to be sub 25 minutes, but maybe my running simply was not as good as I thought it was!

• TOTAL TIME:                       1:26:58

     

Overall I was pretty disappointed with the time on the day. It was real mixed feelings. After-all, I had completed the event I had trained 9 months to complete, but I didn't give a good account of myself. What made it worse was I saw exactly where I could have made up that time (to get sub 1hour 20) with my current fitness. I had done the cycle 3 minutes faster only the day before, and I had done 5km (albeit on a flatter route) 3 minutes faster in Skerries. I knew I could do better, which made for a bit of an anti-climax as it was my last triathlon of the year. It was all down to shoddy preparation the day before, and I knew I wouldn't make that mistake again.

I Don't Think I'm Ready For This Jelly – My 1st Attempt at Sea Swimming

The weekend after my 1^st triathlon, I found myself in Skerries again. I had left my bike there for the week, for my uncle to drop it into the local bike shop, to see what had cause my chain slippages that had happened a few times in training and also during the event. As it turned out, the gears weren't tuned terribly well and either were the brake cables. I suppose this was forgiveable as I had purchased this directly from the supplier, and had it quickly put together by an agent over here – if I had bought it from a bike shop, I would have expected it to be fully serviced and road ready.On a side note, the bike shop owner asked me about my bike and how much I paid for it. He was pretty impressed by the spec on it and was surprised by the cost, saying it wouldn't be able bik

es of that spec into stock for what I paid for it! I was pretty happy to hear that from someone who knew his stuff. I had kind of winged on my bike selection on the Sensa website, picking the Romagna Special because

a. with the discount I was getting, it fit in my budget

b. as a special, it was a package deal on groupset, saddle, wheel and forks (I was intimidated by such choice on things I knew absolutely nothing about!)

and c. I liked the color scheme!

So yes, by some stroke of luck, and through no skill on my part, I had landed myself a decent bike – good to know!

In any case, apart from the usual social reasons, there was another triathlon reason I was out in Skerries that weekend – I wanted to have a proper go at sea-swimming training.

There was a few reasons I wanted to do this:

1.      I was now confident I could swim out in the bay, after my impressive swim split the previous weekend, on the other side of the peninsula.

2.      I had noted the muscle fatigue I had gotten during the swim, and figured I needed to practise in the wetsuit more.

3.      With TriAthlone coming up in a week, and the possibility of an Olympic distance swim as part of a relay at the end of the summer, I wanted to start putting more focus on my swimming again. I actually thought I would make this a regular thing, if I was to be out at Skerries most weekends like I had been lately.

From Mary's house on the coast you could clearly see Skerries peninsula, and crucially you could see a straight line from a little beach below the house, to the beach and slipway below the life-boathouse on the peninsula. I had plotted this on Google Earth as about 1km, so thought it would be achievable to swim there and back again on a plod. Also as this stretch of the bay was one to those few parts of the east coast of Ireland that is actually northfacing, the sea in this area, sheltered by the peninsula was calm pretty much 90% of the time.

I figured I needed to get it over and done with, otherwise I would've spent the day deliberating about it, but by the time I had my wetsuit on but I was nervous. I think had been fine on race day because of the adrenaline, and the fact that there was safety in numbers (there was also safety in safety boats) – even when I went swimming in the sea a lot as a kid, I was only comfortable doing it with other people. Also the water was not as calm as it could have been – it wasn't very rough by any means, but I would certainly have to swim out against a bit of choppiness!

I got down to the little beach. The swell seemed bigger when I was at sea level. Mary, Liam and Billy were looking at me from the back garden – was that camera in Liam's hand?! Oh well, can't turn back now!

The plan was to swim out perpindicular from the beach until I knew I was clear of the craggy outcrops on either side, and then beeline towards the boathouse slipway once I could see a clear path to it between all the moored boats. Billy was to meet me at the other side, just in case I didn't fancy swimming back.

The swim out was difficult. I had picked out a buoy to aim for while swimming, but in practise the swell was too big to sight anything. This resulted in a very stop-start swim out to sea, occasionally swimming breastroke, occasionally swallowing some seawater. Not pleasant at all, but no major problems. Once I had the lifeboat slipway in sight I effectively turned right and was now swimming across the swell, making it almost unnoticeable, which was a pleasant surprise! I took one last look towards the house, where I could just about still make out one or two figures, before I decided to get to my swimming.

This part was initially quite pleasant – the sun was out, the water was clear, it was easy to sight the boathouse and I was finding a good rhythym. This did not last for long.

After about 100m of swimming, this huge white pulsating thing passed right under me. A jellyfish. This thing was at least 1meter in diameter, and that's assuming it was only 1 meter below me. If it was deeper, it was bigger! I recoiled and lifted my head out of the water. I was well aware that jellyfish stings themselves were harmless from local irish jellyfish, though I was also aware that most people who die after getting stung by jellyfish are people who then went into shock and subsequently drowned! I'm not sure if when that fact was presented to me that it was meant to be reassuring or not, but it wasn't a good thought! I tried to compose myself, swam a few strokes (quite urgently) with my head up to get away from that area, then put my head back in the water and continued swimming. This had relaxed my breathing, but my heartrate was still in the clouds! I figured that was my jellyfish sighting for the day and I would calm down.

It was not be though – within 50m another giant, possibly larger than the last, pulsated by underneath me. Holy crap! I recoiled again, and swam with my head out of the water extensively. I told myself, they weren't after me, they don't swim after people, just go were currents take them, they only get swam into, and they seemed to be swimming too deep to touch. I didn't put my head back into the water though, I could recognize I was now in a panic and I wanted to control it a bit. I looked back to the house – no one to be seen. I knew there was some small dinghys out sailing with a support boat too, but it was very difficult to see with swell. What was I thinking, coming out here on my own?!

I kept swimming towards the life-boathouse slipway with my head up, trying to calm myself down again. Then my right hand hit something – a jellyfish! This was much smaller than what had passed under me, about the size of my hand, but no less disturbing. I'm not sure I'd ever touched a jellyfish before! Then I hit another with my left hand, then another. These things were everywhere!! I turned onto my back and started swimming backstroke, hit another. At one stage I crossed my arms and just kicked my legs, even still, I hit 2 or 3 with my feet! I was aware that I was probably freaking out a bit too much, but I couldn't calm down now – I was swimming out on my own, in a swarm of jellyfish!

"That's the Guy!"

I must have kicked my legs for about 5 minutes before I realised I was not hitting anything anymore. I turned to see I was about 200m from the slipway now. Thank god! I swam frontcrawl again, and was relatively calm but still didn't dare put my head back in the water again. Eventually I got back to dry land and met Billy. There was no way I was swimming back again. When I got back to the house and got changed, even though I felt calm, I was still shaking for about an hour afterwards before my nerves had completely settled.

Maybe I wasn't ready for sea swimming just yet...