Shropshire 70.3.....or Sprint?

Adaptability or just plain stupidity, only time will tell, but my final race leading into Bilbao Middle distance did not go to plan at all.

Preparation had gone really well with repeated bike climbing up Snowdon and some longer OW swims. We arrived the day before, registered and did a quick spin on the bike and run course finding a couple of cheeky hills to contend with, but power was there so I felt good.

The forecast wasn’t great for the event, 14+ mph winds and rain moving in, but after a standard night of little sleep and listening to the rain the day started, bike racked and everything sorted and little sign of pre-race nerves, I knew this was a practice race and the challenge was to hit the power on the bike and have a good run off it.

Lake looked a little choppy, but having survived repeated chop in Padarn I was confident I could cope. Quick briefing and we were in the water………gun goes and head down – goodness the water was murky and unpleasant and within just a few minutes I knew I was in real trouble, I just couldn’t breath and had no option but to head for the nearest paddle boarder in the hope I could sort myself out. As soon as I had hold of the board and heard the wheeze coming from me I knew it was game over. My husband was on the bank so we made out way over and I struggled to even get out of the water.

We made our way back into the race area and bumped into a very sympathetic official who suggested I see how I feel in a little while and potentially do the Olympic distance or Sprint distance later in the morning, at this stage I couldn’t even think about that and I returned to registration while my husband headed off to get my inhaler. The ladies in registration reinforced the option to do a shorter later race and escorted me off to the medical tent to get checked over.

Meanwhile I knew my husband had been in regular contact with Paul and they were trying to balance the need to get me back in the water for confidence reasons and ensure I didn’t risk my health in any way. I knew it was entirely my decision and that both would fully support me whatever I did, even if the same happened again or I didn’t finish the sprint.

After 20 minutes of TLC and inhaler use I was starting to feel better and had been cleared by medical staff to continue if I wanted to, not myself but better than I had been. Olympic start was too close so I decided to have a go at the sprint distance. Now I have never done one before, but knew that if I could survive the swim without breathing issues, then I should be able to do the bike and run without HR worries as I run a half off the back of the bike at 165 – 170 bpm.

Again, registration were amazing and had already sorted me a new number and stickers etc, the staff in transition too were fabulous in assuring me that this happens and as long as I was feeling ok, getting back I might be the best option. Kit resorted and time to ‘strip’ the bike as I knew I wouldn’t need the rear drink bottle, ditched the repair kit too, if I had a puncture in 25km it was game over again so would just stop. Also no need for the hydration belt either, so cycling shoes, race belt, hat and running shoes laid out and it was time to have briefing number 2.

As we waited I chatted to several other ladies around me and the positivity they sent my way was amazing and just so supportive it was humbling. We got back in the water and I think the temperature rise by a degree as I had been hanging on in my damp wetsuit for ages (too much hassle to get it off) thank goodness it wasn’t an instant start!

I placed myself on the right hand side of the group so I could get space and easily get out of there was a repeat issue. Swim started and it was a real mental battle to keep going, but the breathing was ok so I just kept going, hit the rougher water as we headed for home but Padarn had prepared me well for that!

Pleased with my transition, it wasn’t competitive sprint speed but would be great in a middle distance event and out on the road with a 200w NP as my target. First turn made and I passed my first two ladies, we then got very frustrated as we were stuck behind a car which was unable to pass a slow cyclist in front and the ladies caught me straight back up. After what felt and age were were able to pass the car safely, not something I have ever done in a race, and I pulled away from the ladies and so began 47 minutes of overtaking………..at no point was I passed, but I picked off rider after rider watching the power stabilise at 200w, HR was high and I sounded like I smoked 60 a day, but I didn’t feel distressed, just that I was pushing ridiculously hard. The wind wasn’t pleasant at around 17mph (gusting more) and when the rain arrived for the last couple of km it wasn’t friendly, but almost off the bike.

Into T2, bike shoes off, running shoes on (thank goodness for elastic lace) and hat in hand – off (and no thought of stopping for the toilet!). It was an out and back course with a cheeky hill in the first mile, the descent, turn and go back up. Again I sounded like a chain smoker, but to be honest this is not unusual when running, and was counting ladies coming towards me with high enough numbers (and pace) to look like they were sprint competitors, I counted 4 and knew I couldn’t catch them as they were too far ahead, made the turn and saw another sprint lady heading towards me and looking dangerous – could I hold her off?

And the rain then fell in earnest, but no time to worry about it, just keep running. The final section had us do a shorter, flat out and back section, I saw two of those ahead of me, one seemed closer (finished 17 seconds ahead of me) but I also saw my chaser, not far to go so dig deep and finish the job, didn’t think I was going to get caught, but prepared to take that risk!

As I finished, my husband told me he thought I had finished 5th and probably first over 50, both of which were confirmed when the results were published, definitely not a bad result in a discipline I have never trained for and from what could have been the most expensive 5 minute swim I have ever done!

At no point did I feel I was putting myself or anyone else at risk and whilst not feeling totally comfortable with the effort I was undertaking it was manageable. I have had a medical check 24 hours post race and my local GP believes it was an acute reaction to an allergen either close to or in the water which I have never encountered before and short course of steroids should sort out the ongoing breathlessness which I am suffering from.

Resilience and the support of my fellow (if totally unknown to me) members of this crazy triathlete world along with Paul’s unfailing belief in my ability and my long suffering husband’s ongoing support as training partner and race support crew are what got me back into the water, on my bike and into my running shoes and able to salvage surprising success from what could have been a write off.