After last week’s guest blog, I promised I would update you on my performance at Windsor and give some insights into my race. I do hope you enjoyed the guest spot last week and many thanks again go to Dean for writing and sharing it. I now have another recruit to the growing triathlon community! Triathletes are certainly harder to come by in East London, although saying that, Dean does not live in East London. He’s not that far though! I started alone, and now I can name a handful of people who are beginning to regularly do them. I certainly love that! Anyway, let’s get on…I’m waffling!
This won’t be a long post and I do have quite a few posts on Windsor triathlon as I have completed it twice previously. You all probably know how much I like the race and venue. Last year’s entry can be found here if you’re interested in reading that.
As always, my family and I spend the weekend at Windsor and this was no exception. A nice AirBnB booked around 10 mins from transition was just right, especially with the off street parking, which is a nightmare in Windsor!
A little bit of larking about in Windsor prior to racking
Race morning consisted of my usual porridge breakfast
I didn’t have any pre-race goals as such, what with the Outlaw a couple of weeks ago and that being my A-Race, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to race well – and on that, go faster than last year.
The thing is with Windsor, is that every time I have raced it, something about the course changes. Saying that though, I have still managed to go quicker each year, even with the bike course being longer due to road works last year out. I do not have a true comparison though year on year. What this means? All good reason to do it again! Previous results are:
2016 = 2:51 2018 = 2:49
2019: 2:40:25
What I was really interested in though, was how well I would fair after the Outlaw. This part of the year is always interesting – you cannot gain fitness now. There is far too much racing and recovering to do. This means I race, recover and start to build some training in before tapering and racing again. Eat, sleep, repeat – that sort of thing! If you don’t have the fitness now, then you are going to find it hard to come by at this point.
My Training Peaks numbers were good. In-fact they indicated that my fitness was more or less in-line with my Outlaw condition. One thing that was certain though was my taper into this was far shorter and I felt less rested. The week leading up to Outlaw, I slept well; completed some really easy training; there were no early morning sessions and I just felt great going into it. Windsor was not the case as I completed some harder sessions right up to a few days before. I took the bike out the morning before the race to do a small recce and stretch the legs out. We travelled up Friday and I didn’t want two days prior to racing of doing diddly-squat
Secretly, I wanted also to see how close I could get to the Sub 2:30 wave as realistically I think that it is achievable in the future.
THE RACE
Last wave out again! Same as last year. Yep a 7:50 start time and a fair few to swim through. I was pleased with my swim and felt really strong in the water. The current helps and when turning into it at the turn point, it didn’t bother me really. I also went back to attaching the shoes to the bike for a quicker transition which worked really well. I was much quicker and got my feet into the shoes no problem this time out. I think I have more or less mastered this now and will use this all the time from now on.
The bike started well and then came the rain! Yes it p****d down! I learnt that my aero helmet and visor is superb in conditions like this though. No problems with being able to see whatsoever. The bike leg felt ok, although one thing I can’t do is push too hard when cold. My muscles do not work as well when cold and seem to cramp a little. Power wise I was going to ride a little harder than in the Outlaw – purely down to it being a smaller distance. I wanted to push around 160-170W and actually averaged 168W so more or less bang on.
I certainly think I lost a little time on the bike due to the wet and being a little more careful. It was a little sketchy in places and it just wasn’t worth risking coming off. Coming into T2 I was a little disappointed to see my time, but I knew I felt ok and looked forward to the run
Windsor is not a flat run – especially up to the castle and on the way back in. It’s three laps for the 10k and it was great to see my cousin again as well as a few others I knew racing (Sarah Wixey, former guest blogger and her partner Terry).
The support on the run is always good and even so with the wet weather. Certainly easier to run in conditions like that – just not bike! I felt really good on the run and I seriously need to run a 5k and 10k time trail. I’m sure there is a PB waiting there for me! I’m most pleased at the strength I’m carrying across to the run and this really showed itself at the Outlaw last month and continues again.
It’s great having my family there to support me and get the high fives from Isabel my daughter. Even better that it was Father’s Day and we got to grab some lunch after and receive my gifts. I loved them, especially as I sit now in Peppa Pig pyjamas writing this (well part of it!).
All in all, I’m pleased at the performance at Windsor. I continue to enjoy racing there and will be back next year. I certainly know i can get that 2:30 wave especially after I put in a hard winter block this year.
I now head to the Bananaman Triathlon, Olympic distance again, at Dorney lake at the end of June. I’m adding an extra race this season also and planning to race on the weekend before I head to Jamaica on holiday. I’ll update again before my holidays. I am also going to do a two part blog post on Ironman Vichy 70.3.
Well not exactly, although a small conquering in my performance did happen and one I can be mostly pleased about. I will of course update you all on that in a different blog post planned for next week. However, for this blog entry I am delighted to present to you another guest blog. Although my blog documents my journey, I like to connect people through similar experiences and share the wonders that happen in triathlon. Everyone’s race is different and we all have a story to tell!
Dean is my cousin and a newbie to triathlon. Not a newbie to endurance sports, he is sub 3:30 marathon runner and he is a fit individual looking for new challenges. Windsor was only his second triathlon event. He also writes a regular blog called Mars and Peace. Do check it out and read about his new exploits into triathlon and other things in his world! Be prepared to chuckle and enjoy this one, and I think you’ll all agree with me, it’s a fantastic blog entry.
WINDSOR – RICKSHAW REDEMPTION
ONWARD AND UPWARDS
With my first triathlon (Thorpe Park sprint) under my belt, I wake up on Monday morning exhausted – but elated – even with that horrible bike leg! You can read all about that on my personal blog.
I keep telling myself, “you’ve done one now…what’s
next?”
By Tuesday morning I’m back in the gym for an hour
on the stationary bike (20.92 miles…once again…Sunday? WFT?!? 1 hr 8 mins to
ride 13 miles!?!)
That same day I put my bike in the car and bring it to work for a colleague to have a look at. Before I put it in the boot, I give the front wheel a spin – and of course, it’s like a perpetual motion machine, defying the laws of physics! Will it ever stop? No rubbing, no noise. Like a trip to the GP where the ailment has vanished by the time the doctor sees you, I’m starting to doubt whether this is a reasonable explanation for my poor cycling performance at Thorpe Park.
Then I get the bike out of the car at work, and as
I wheel it into my office…. fssss…fssss…fssss…the brakes are rubbing again.
It’s hard to believe that such a small amount of friction had such a negative
impact on my ride – but it was definitely a factor.
After speaking to Danny (tri-to-be-iron), I’m informed that completing my
750 m swim using primarily breaststroke probably didn’t do my legs any favours
either! So maybe it was a combination of the two things?
When my colleague sees the bike, he systematically scans it and says, “well, THAT can go…and THOSE!” pointing at my seat cushion, frame bag and lights. I’m told I can also get rid of my bell and puncture repair kit as well, as I’ll just be putting on a new inner tube which I can store in the pockets of my tri suit.
To prevent any drama with taking off my front wheel and knocking everything out of alignment again, I order a bike rack for the car. I don’t feel guilty about this additional expense as I can put both of the kids’ bikes on it when we go camping later this year – two birds, one stone (or one score in this case – God bless Ebay)!
I take it easy this week training-wise as work is
crazy and family commitments prevent me from getting to Hadleigh for an open
water swim. I do prove my resolve to work on this discipline however by
ordering the Great Swim Local wrist band – although without a triathlon to
train for, let’s see what happens!
The end of the week is double-busy, with work, then band rehearsals on Friday evening. Packing on Saturday morning, driving 70 miles to Windsor to rack up the bike, meet some family and drop Laura and the kids off at the hotel in Slough. Then driving back to Hornchurch for the band’s “last” gig (more on this next week), and then once the final song was played, driving another 70 miles back to Windsor to get 4 hours sleep before the race. Yes, that could have been planned a bit better…but the universe was conspiring against me on this occasion (perhaps)?!
That said, parked next to us was a friendly gent who began speaking to me the moment he got out of the car. After chatting for a while, about this being his first triathlon and my second, and how he had already signed up for an Ironman in Wales (really hard due to the hilly bike ride), he reveals that he’s from Hornchurch in Essex! We’ve both travelled 70 miles to an event where we’re parked next to someone from down the road! (Lee, I hope Windsor went well for you!). A man after my own heart, he has set himself that long-term goal that will keep him training and achieving smaller goals along the way – knowing that right now, there’s no way he could complete an Ironman. Very inspiring – so maybe the universe knew what it was doing after all?!
I did this journey three times in one day…I asked Laura to drive home after the event.
RACE DAY
So despite going to bed around 1 am and setting my alarm for 5:45 am, I find myself wide awake at 5 am. I really could use the extra 45 minutes sleep, but I’m not risking going back to sleep and waking up groggy. Or worse – waking up LATE!!! I manage a banana and some coffee, but not the granola I brought with me for my pre-race meal. I’m still full from the last minute tuna and pasta I uncharacteristically ate 5 minutes before bed last night (which was 4 hours ago, and which didn’t keep me up because I was so cream crackered).
I had the common sense to pack my bags and lay out
my suits the night before, so when the taxi arrives, I’m good to go – fairly
confident that I’ve got everything. Laura and Robyn wish me well on my way out
– Ralph is still in the fetal position, catching the ZZZZZs I’m craving.
I arrive at 6:30 am on the dot, and with my bike
already racked up it all seems stress-free. I say my hellos to the two
competitors I know, Danny and
a work colleague (same one who fixed my bike). I lay out my towel, my flip
flops, cycle shoes and trainers, my swimming hat, earplugs and goggles. I’ve
arrived with my tri-suit on, so the wetsuit goes on next – still without
lubricant. I need to get this for the next race – it goes on easily enough, but
getting it off in transition 1 would be easier I imagine, with a bit of grease.
I notice several competitors with the exact same tri-suit and wet suit (Decathlon….you’re up there with Ebay)! There are also some pretty chunky bikes, which I start to think my basic road bike will fare better than during the race…but those thoughts are quickly hushed by the memories of last week’s cycling performance. The athletes themselves are all shapes and sizes, and just like the bikes, and I’ve already seen that this is no indicator of how they’ll perform. I mean, I look quite fit (more “Canvey Island” than “Love Island” than I’d like maybe), and yet…!
My wave isn’t until 7:45 am, but I’m zipped up in my wet suit and ready to go by 7 am. I decide to have a walk over to the coach station’s toilet block outside the transition area, and luckily everything has been timed just right. My body’s a little too keen if anything, thanks to the morning coffee…which increases the urgency for me to remove my wet suit and tri-suit. I make it. Just.
SWIM
The swim start is a fair walk away from the
transition point, and as I make my way over with Danny, I notice his white
hotel slippers! I’m trying to figure out the athletic advantage to such
footwear but it’s later revealed that his choice comes down to them being
disposable. I don’t know it yet, but this is the last time I’ll see my flip
flops – they had a good innings. (Note to whoever picked these up: Please do
not wear these. I am wracked with guilt about what your feet may be about to go
through if you do so. My most athletic body part, my feet, have been fermenting
in these flip flops for years. Dispose of carefully.)
I don’t believe that it’s so cold and yet my teeth
are chattering and I notice the uncontrollable shaking of limbs. Danny reckons
it’s nerves…I’m sceptical, as I feel quite positive about what’s to come,
excited even. But I guess physiologically speaking, anxiety and excitement are
similar, it’s just the mental reframe that’s saving me from throwing up or
pulling out!
After a quick briefing, which I try to look focused throughout, but I’m too excited now, I just want to get started. I don’t hear most of the instructions, or if I do my brain isn’t retaining them as they pass through one ear and out of the other. I ease myself off of the pontoon into the Thames and my first thoughts are, “F*** it’s cold…I need a thicker wetsuit…” followed by, “acclimatise…blow bubbles…” and lastly, “where am I? Holy s*** I’m at the front of the pack, I’m gonna get pummelled!!!”
At which point I hear, “15 SECONDS!!!”, have the
presence of mind to start my watch, and we’re off!
I take a few shots to my sides and my legs, but
it’s nothing malicious. I keep touching someone’s foot and think about Mark
Allen doing this to Dave Scott to wind him up. My tickling this person in front
may or may not have wound them up – I’ll never know, as they sped up and left
me in their wake quite quickly.
I manage to do a lot more frontcrawl this time and
the water stays out of my nose, but I swallow a fair amount of the Thames as my
breaths seem to come when sudden waves hit my open mouth.
The smell of hotdogs and onions and ketchup as I am swimming and during my first breastroke break I jokingly ask the kayak volunteer if he can get me one. He’s not impressed, or he didn’t hear me. Either way, no hot dog – and I suddenly feel ready for that granola I missed out on this morning.
I manage some more front crawl, but at one point, having closed my eyes, I punch a kayak which has cut straight across me in its mission to help a struggling swimmer. Later on another kayaker is looking at me like I’m in trouble, which worries me as I feel fine. I give him the thumbs up and prove I’m fine by getting back on with some more front crawl.
I don’t stop swimming. Front crawl and breast
stroke the whole time, and even so I suddenly see the next wave of coloured
hats over-taking me. “I’m going to get pummelled for sure this time,” but
again, apart from a few taps, no one’s dunking me and it even gives me a bit of
a push to swim a bit harder. Not as much as seeing the exit does though!
I crawl out, the most ungraceful sea lion you’ll
ever see, and run for the transition. I struggle a bit with my wetsuit but get
there eventually and notice that Danny is already there in transition (meaning
he overtook me on the swim despite starting later).
It’s a long run out of transition, especially in cycling shoes, but 400m and 7 minutes later I’m off on the bike ride and compared to last week, I’m loving it. I feel like greased lightning!
CYCLE
Suddenly I need to concern myself with overtaking and drafting! A clear sign that things are going well.
The rain starts soon after the start of the ride
and I try not to think about how thin my tyres are or how I’d rather be on a
mountain bike in this weather.
The one piece of advice I had gone against, was
keeping my cycle frame bag on. I’ve got my spare inner tubes, CO2 and cliff
blocks inside and until I get myself a seat bag, this will work fine.
I find riding a bit monotonous, unlike running, and
I hate the feeling of my thighs burning, as the lactic acid builds up – this
lasts for hours after a ride for me.
Danny had told me that the course was flat, so rather than suggest he is mistaken, I keep telling myself, “bloody hell, he doesn’t even consider these hills…I must be crap on the bike.” It turns out the course has changed since last year!
I get into a rhythm though, wolfing down Cliff
blocks and water so that I don’t have to think about fuelling on the run.
Towards the end, a steward annoyingly turns his back on the riders giving me no indication of which way to turn off at the roundabout. So I go left, and have to turn back suddenly as a more awake steward catches me going the wrong way.
At the end of the ride I unclip my shoes and jump off the bike while it’s still going too fast. I skate the first 5 m of the transition, earning a small round of applause for staying on my feet and not dropping the bike.
RUN
As I put on my trainers I make a mental note to
purchase some speedy laces – and to find out what “speedy laces” are actually
called!
I throw my glasses down by a tree on the way out
(some kind person puts these on a bike rack for me to find at the end).
The incline on the run is agony for me…I hate
hills…like cycling with any sort of power, they make my thighs burn!!!
There is a lovely stretch on the run, through the
grounds as you go away from the castle and then back again. I look forward to
seeing the professional photos for this part.
I run straight past my family near the end of my first lap, so go back on myself, almost crashing into two other runners (sorry lads) to give high fives to Robyn and Ralph. I don’t want to disappoint them after waiting so long for me!
Stupidly, I start heading towards the finish line
after just one lap and have to turn around – once again, against the current of
runners – and get the other two laps done!!!
Three laps is almost too much – especially when you
know what’s coming. I’m not a fan of laps. I want novelty. Anyway, I keep
going…never stopping (except right at the start to redo my shoelace)…never
walking.
I manage to cheer on other runners I know, although
my face is numb from the bike ride, and when I go to cheer on the first person
I recognise, I can’t say their name properly and I’m sure my face looks like
Rocky Balboa’s. I raise both arms, smile and raise my eyebrows – just to check
I haven’t had some kind of stroke.
During the last lap I really focus on my own race. I have my secret mantra while running, which helps me keep the rhythm of my breathing and cadence going.
As I approach the finish line, I have nothing left for a sprint finish which is just as well as I spot Laura and the kids. She is holding Ralph up and lifting him over the gate, so he can cross the finish line with me. So holding his hand, he whizzes ahead and beats me across the line before I hold him up for a cuddle. A very special moment for the Saunders boys!
I ask the steward to put my medal on him, and she not only does so, she also kindly gives me a second medal – which is fantastic as both Robyn and Ralph get one now!
RESULTS
I aimed for sub 3 and achieved that goal…but I’ve been put off by a half ironman for now!
I’m really happy with my time, but my form is sloppy as hell and the run up to race day was less than perfect. I’m sure I can do better and I’ve got no intention to quit now. I probably won’t race again until next season…probably…instead I have a lot of learning to be getting on with, and not just with triathlon.
Ralph, Danny and me
Massive THANK YOU to the family once again! It really was a Father’s Day to remember, and I’ve definitely redeemed myself on the bike!!!
Great cards and presents this year…but best of all was them being at the triathlon cheering me on.
Thank you also to Danny for inviting me to write a guest blog for Tri.To.Be. Iron
tri.to.be.iron 