Broad Haven, Pembrokeshire
Last year I entered us into the Pembrokeshire Coast Olympic Distance Triathlon. This decision was based on the fact that we wanted to go up to the Olympic distance, and we thought it would be nice to do it somewhere a bit more scenic than Staffordshire. The event comprises of a 1.5km sea swim, 43km bike ride and 10.6km run, all starting and finishing in Broad Haven.
We've been working quite hard on our swimming this year and have progressed from only being able to do a few lengths of front crawl at a time to being able to swim over 2km in the pool and 1.6km in a lake. We've also done more bike training than usual (me especially). But although we've done two half marathons this year, we've probably not done as much running training as we should have done.
We were both feeling a bit apprehensive about the event, as it's our first Olympic distance Tri, but thought that we'd probably be okay, albeit near the back of the pack.
We arrived late afternoon on the Friday and stayed at a local campsite called Creampots (we were a bit disappointed to find that we didn't get a pot of cream included in the price, but apart from that the site is fine). We set up George's awning, so we could store the bikes and sort all our kit out, which proved very useful.
The race started at 11am on Saturday. We were up at 7 and had eaten breakfast by 8 (toasted bagels with cream cheese and bacon), and arrived at transition at about 9.30. We had plenty of time to get our stuff set up, figure out where we had to go in and out for the bike and run, and for me to eye up all the other bikes on the racks whilst Claire rolled her eyes at me. The sea looked a bit choppy but it wasn't near enough to see properly so we didn't think much of it.
After the race briefing at 10.30 we were all sent out into the sea to warm up (a.k.a. acclimatise to the cold water and realise just how choppy the sea is). It was at this point that I started thinking that maybe I'd bitten off a bit more than I could chew. But there was no time to start worrying about that, as we were soon called out of the water to assemble on the beach for the start.
After a short delay while the boats struggled to get the buoys we had to swim round in the right place, we were off. It was a mass start, which means that everyone starts at the same time and just rushes into the sea.
It was very hard going, with big waves making it hard to see, and some of them breaking over us. I had to do breast stroke a lot of the time and felt like I was making no progress. I managed to plan my breathing right most of the time but still ended up swallowing loads of sea water. I was relieved to reach the second buoy, which was the furthest away and start swimming back towards transition. When I finally staggered out of the water, I was amazed to see on my watch that I'd finished the swim in only 40 minutes.
When I set off on my bike I felt absolutely exhausted. The swim had taken it out of me. Broad Haven is a nice beach between cliffs, so inevitably the bike ride started with a hill. The ride continued going up and down hills throughout. I had some energy drink and home made rice cakes which perked me up a bit, but I still felt more like napping than cycling. Eventually I cycled down the last hill back into Broad Haven after 1 hr 45 minutes, which was a bit slower than I'd hoped but not by too much.
Then it was out on the run. I had to strap my foot up after twisting my ankle doing Parkrun last weekend, after which my foot swelled up and went black on both sides. The first 3 kilometres were along the coast path on top of the cliffs, which was very pretty and scenic. This meant running back up the hill I'd just cycled down. The path was quite uneven and I was wary of my dodgy foot, so I walked some of the sections. This set a bit of a precedent for me, and by the time I got onto the roads I was struggling mentally, and walk-ran most of the hills (of which there were plenty).
By the time I arrived at the water station at 7km, the sun was blazing, I was too hot and feeling very demotivated. I was even questioning whether I should pull out of my Olympic distance event in a couple of weeks in the Lake District and take up an easier sport. I spent a few minutes at the water station, and set off down hill (at last) at the same time as another lady. I struck up a conversation, and the last few kilometres flew by.
The lady's name was Jan, and she is a member of the Pembrokeshire Tri club. This is the fourth time she'd done the event, and she had also done loads of other events including Ironman and Half Ironman events. She told me that she'd qualified for the Ironman world championship in Kona this year! She's also 62 years old, which she says is how she managed to qualify for Kona as there's not much competition in her age group. We chatted about the swim, and she said that out of all the events she's ever done, today's sea swim was the most difficult. I think she meant it and was not just trying to make me feel better.
By the time we reached the last kilometre I was feeling a lot better about things, and was no longer thinking about pulling out of events or switching to crown green bowls or darts (just as well, as I'm terrible at both of them). We crossed the finish line within a few seconds of each other, polished off a few welsh cakes, and thanked each other for the support in the last few km. Yes, it worked two ways, and I'd actually helped Jan pick up her pace up as well.
The run took me much longer than it should have; 1hr 12 minutes, but I was not too bothered, because of the dodgy foot, and the elation at crossing the finish line.
I finished the whole thing in 3hr 46mins. I'd been hoping for under 3 and a half hours, but was happy with the time for my first Olympic distance event, and am pretty sure I should be able to improve one it!
Claire finished in 4hr 14mins, having experienced the same difficulties as me but with no Jan to spur her on. We were both pretty near the bottom of the finishers, but we'd expected this so weren't bothered.
We went to the winners presentation ceremony, failed to win the raffle or anything else, but we're pleased to see Jan win first place for her age group.
We've spent the rest of the day getting clean and having a barbecue. I think we'll sleep well tonight.
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