Race Reports: English Sprint Triathlon Championships
Sit back and enjoy the view from the front of the race. Here is Ellie’s race report from the English Sprint Triathlon Championships in Ullswater.
Context
I was feeling quite anxious about this race. Having only been to two swim squad sessions at the docks this year, and only done one run off the bike since September last year, I wasn’t too sure how this was going to go. Open water mass starts will always be quite a worry for me, as swimming is without doubt my biggest weakness.
On a sunny Sunday morning in Ullswater, I stood at the sprint race briefing, nervously listening to the announcer attempting to entertain the crowds with some light humour. I was too worried about being swallowed up in the mass start to appreciate his jokes.
I tried to remind myself that I should just be grateful that I’m on the start line, when other people are injured or unwell and not doing their planned races. I was even quite ill myself three weeks previously, and I knew that I should just appreciate the fact that I was healthy and here. But, at that point in time, I was too nervous about the swim to listen to my own morning dose of mindfulness.
As we walked to the water’s edge, the temperature noticeably dropped, making the already cool water feel even colder. We hobbled over the stones and into the water, all sharing similar thoughts….“We’re going to have to run back out of the water over these stones”.
The Swim
The first turn on the swim course was a right-hand turn, so I positioned myself as far left as I could. The plan was to avoid trouble. Even if it meant swimming a wide turn, and a longer route around the buoys. This was my first open water race of the year, and there were too many people in the mass start to risk getting stuck in a crowd and having a panic.
After hobbling over the stones, I slid into the water and did a few water polo strokes while I caught my breath, found a lovely space on the left hand side, and thought “okay I’m ready to go”.
The starter announced “3, 2, 1 go”
BANG!
Punched in the face, goggles off within the first two strokes. FFS. Chucked a few expletives at the man who hit me, goggles back on, and away we go. Let’s try this again. In hindsight, I have the Swim Squad to thank for being able to carry on so quickly. There’s no holding back around the buoys in the Liverpool docks …
Maybe a punch in the face was a helpful adrenaline boost? I quickly forgot about the water being cold. Sighting with every stroke, looking forward to the buoy, and looking backward to see if anyone was coming up the right-hand side to hit me again (looking backwards is a new skill that I didn’t know I had!). I started to catch a few people and found a rhythm. Lovely wide turn around the first buoy. No trouble. Lovely straight line to the next buoy. No trouble. Isn’t swimming lovely….then all of a sudden I saw a mass of bodies around the second buoy. Surely I haven’t swum so fast that I’ve caught up with all of these people? No chance. Stay in your lane Perkins. This was the middle distance swimmers merging with our sprint swim. All moving quite slowly (which is fair enough when you’ve done 1500m, with another 400m to go). So, now I had to navigate a huge crowd of people with the blazing bright sun shining directly into my eyes. It was impossible to see the giant inflatable duck that was floating close to the swim exit. After a few more whacks to the face, I eventually found myself back on the stones hobbling out of the water. Swim done in 14:20. That’s alright for me, with a punch to the face, and lots of traffic to navigate. We’ll take that.
Fast Transition & Onto The Bike
Running into T1 is my happy place. Excessively drilled and practiced…wetsuit off, helmet on, pick up bike and run. The mount line was quite congested, with people wobbling left and right. I jumped on, and everything after that is a bit of a blur. I can’t remember very much from the bike course, other than a man called William who over took me on the downhills and then laughed as I overtook him on the uphills. I must have gone past fellow swim squaddie, Jo, at some point, but I don’t remember seeing her. All a bit of a blur. My motto for the bike section in a sprint race is “ride it like you stole it”, which is really fun when you’re a slower swimmer and have plenty of people in front of you to try and catch! 25km of undulating roads passed by in the blink of an eye. One minute I was overtaking William up the first incline, then the next minute we were flying back down the road to the campsite.
Another Speedy Transition
Right, concentrate, feet out of shoes, spot the dismount line, jump off, run. Nailed it…..then, more stones. FFS. I can remember shouting “I’ve got no shoes on” as the marshal pointed me in the direction of a stone covered path alongside the carpet that I wasn’t allowed to run on. Shouted a few more expletives (in my head this time, it wasn’t the marshal’s fault) and hobbled over the stones up to T2. Again, excessively drilled and practiced… helmet off, shoes on, run. I was buzzing to see Mel and Shane at the start of the run course, it’s ace seeing fellow Swim Squaddies supporting and cheering.
Onto The Run
This run course had a bit of everything. Gravel, grass, rocks, boardwalk, sandy gravel, and eventually tarmac. Luckily, there were other competitors around to follow, otherwise I think that I may have made a wrong turn. The marshals were great, but the route wasn’t exactly obvious or straightforward. We also had to navigate our way past the unsuspecting tourists, who clearly didn’t know that there was a race happening on their walk route.
Three weeks prior to this race, I was quite unwell (I blame an OFSTED visit) and since then, running has felt really difficult. Too high a heart rate for too slow a speed. But, you have to do the best you can with what you’ve got on the day.
That sounds a bit too heroic for what I did next.
I had been running behind another lady for roughly 10 minutes when I asked her, “How old are you”. When she answered, “I’m 37”, I thought “thank goodness, I can ease back a little bit”. It’s all about age groups in triathlon. I could have tried to push on and beat her to gain a place in the overall standing, but that could have over cooked my lungs, and it wouldn’t have changed the age group placing. We used to call it “game management” back in the days when I played hockey. This was game management. Managing the energy that you’ve got left to see the game out with the best possible result. I did feel a little surge of energy when we ran through the campsite and holiday makers were cheering us on to the finish, but I couldn’t quite find my usual “run until you chun” sprint finish. Again, something from the hockey days, if you don’t feel like you’re about to be sick, then you aren’t working hard enough. I’m working on leaving that mentality behind.
It Takes A Village
Absolutely buzzing to be finished and full of adrenaline fuelled stories of how the race unfolded. I found Mum and then Jo for a thorough race debrief (I think mostly me just being dramatic about the stones and the swim start). Mum and I toddled off to find a cold coke and sit in the sunshine. I was on my way back to the car when Jo told me that we had finished 1st and 2nd in our age group. “Bryan will be so proud” was my reply. “We’ve got to get loads of photos for Bryan”.
Initially, I wasn’t buzzing for me that I’d won my age group at an English champs, it just felt great to know that Bryan’s Swim Squad t-shirts would be on the podium. After all, it is all of Bryan’s patience and expert coaching that enabled me to get out of that swim in 14:20. Without that, I would have been miles further back. Possibly not even finishing the swim after being punched in the face?
Thank you, Bryan. Thank you, fellow Swim Squaddies. It takes a village (heart emoji)
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