The next event I entered was Birmingham Triathlon, held at Sutton Coldfield park, opting for the Olympic distance this time. Knowing a little bit more about what was involved I scoured the triathlon magazines for handy hints on the right kind of equipment. I read some of the recommendations and invested in some new bike shoes with Velcro straps and some elastic laces for my trainers. My primary goal was to avoid the messy transition I’d had last time but also to try and stave off cramp.
I started to read around nutrition as well. I can’t say I intensively researched it but I got some basic ideas around what to eat and drink during training and races themselves. I was clearly losing a lot of essential energy through sweat, so I started to play around with different types of food. I knew bananas always gave me an energy boost, but I needed more sustainable energy reserves. Through trial and error I found that upping my sodium content in drinks was a winner as well as refuelling regularly on cereal based energy bars seemed to work. Controlling my food and fluid intake was clearly important for me in keeping cramp at bay.
I saw Birmingham triathlon as a trial run for London. I knew the area well as my cousins lived just on the outskirts of the park, so I felt that would work in my favour. The swim was two laps of one of the park’s pools, the bike was eight laps within the park, and it finished with a two lap run. Things went a little smoother this time in spite of a threat prior to the event of blue algae in the swimming lake (no idea what that meant, but I assumed it was bad). I didn’t have the same cramp issues but my legs felt very heavy off the bike. Similar to the BRAT triathlon I found it difficult to get in to my usual running rhythm so was quite a way off my normal 10k time, but managed to clock 2 hours and thirty seven minutes to place 27th overall. However, it was another experience to build off and gave me the confidence I needed going in to London.
I concentrated a lot on cycling prior to London, trying to improve my bike handling skills and improve on my time from Birmingham. All of this was still done solo. I did a few group rides but trying to fit in long outings with the club was proving difficult with two young children. I was ok with that though, I knew I was never going to trouble the top triathletes. I just wanted to improve and feel as though I was actually competing as well as I could.
The weather on the day of the race was terrible. I drove down with a friend from the rowing club and the rain got steadily worse as we got closer to the O2 in Greenwich Park. By the time we parked up the rain was coming down in sheets.
The event itself is pretty impressive. It attracts over 4000 competitors every year so there is a lot of commercial interest. The event exhibition was situated right next to the transition area and it was full of companies displaying a whole variety of sporting merchandise. We had a good look round after I’d set all my gear up but I resisted the temptation to spend a fortune on a new bike.
I attended the race briefing before starting to get ready for the swim. It was a wave start due to the amount of competitors. My wave was announced and I assembled with the others in the hall listening to the pre-race motivator go through his warm up routine. He was pretty funny to be fair, he clearly had a well-practiced set of jokes to lighten the tension and it was a good distraction before we got ushered out in to the dockland swim start. It was still pouring with rain as we shuffled along the pontoon to the water’s edge, but to be honest, how much wetter can you get?
The swim section was a straight up and down loop clearly marked by huge buoys, so it wasn’t a difficult one to get your head around. Once in the water I made my way to the outside of the pack. Although I’m a strong swimmer I didn’t really want to be stuck in the washing machine of the main group. Taking the slightly longer way round was preferable to trying to get around flailing arms and legs. I wanted to avoid being knocked about as much as possible.
Once the klaxon went I made my way to clear water as quickly as I could. I got the usual bop on the head but nothing too off-putting. After a few minutes I got in to a rhythm and started to enjoy it. Every now and then I would swallow some of the water, it was a really grim taste. I daren’t think what was in there, probably best not to think about it but I’m sure it’s not good.
I was only a couple of buoys out from the exit when I started to cramp in my left calf. How come this never happens in training? It was knotting up a lot so I limited my leg movement as much as I could. It was hard to shake, but by the time I got to the exit ramp it had subsided enough to hobble in to transition and pick up my bike.
The bike leg was two laps on the roads outside the venue. The rain had not eased off at all, in fact it had got even worse with the wind picking up too. The only respite from the conditions was in a tunnel half way along each lap. For half a mile I was able to warm up a bit and enjoy cycling before heading out in to the awful weather at the other end of the tunnel. Everyone else competing was in the same boat though. It just wasn’t what you’d expect in the middle of July. I had a couple of cathartic swearing exchanges with some other competitors, it somehow helps to have a shared whinge and know that you’re not the only one having a tough time.
By the time I got off the bike I was more than happy to put my trainers on and get out on to the 10k run. This involved 4 laps that ended and finished in the exhibition hall. Most of the time was spent dodging puddles to try and prevent my feet getting any more drenched than they were already. It was a relief to come in to the hall for the final time and cross the finishing line.
My time was 2 hours and 33 minutes, including a 48 minute 10k. I was quite pleased with that in the conditions, and it was an improvement on Birmingham. After completing the event I finally felt that I could maybe call myself a triathlete. It may not have been elite standard, but I liked the multi-discipline nature of the sport. It made training more varied and the events themselves were enjoyable, in that masochistic way that I like.