After that first year I picked up a niggling tendonitis injury at the back of my right knee in 2013 that meant I couldn’t run or cycle without discomfort. Even swimming was proving difficult, experiencing pain when I pushed off the wall or kicked too hard. The only thing I could do was to rest up and get regular physiotherapy to try and sort it out. The year was a write off.
I picked things up again in 2014 after a very gradual reintroduction to running and cycling. Deciding I needed a goal I entered the Castle Howard Triathlon in Yorkshire. This is part of the Castle Series and seemed appealing for two main reasons. Firstly, it looked like a well organised event in a very picturesque location. Secondly, it was close to a nice hotel. A prerequisite for spectating from Victoria, my other half. Fair enough.
I’d also decided I needed to up my game with my bike. I’d been looking at Triathlon bikes for a while and had been checking out the recommendations in the Triathlon magazines. I’d decided to go for a Planet X Stealth. It came highly recommended as a very good racing bike at an affordable price. Given that I still didn’t want to be that guy who turned up with ‘all the gear, but no idea’ it felt like a good option. I went ahead and ordered it along with some deep rim wheels. I still wasn’t anything like a decent cyclist, but at least I could get in to the mindset of a racer. Whether it actually was or not, it felt faster.
I did my usual approach to training, which was completely disorganised. No set routine, with no plan. To be honest, I was just happy to be competing again. It really didn’t matter to me what time I did or where I placed, I just wanted the feel of being in a race. The day itself was great. The event was really well organised. I loved the swim in the lake, although the exit to transition was quite a long stretch uphill. The bike course was a single loop involving quite a few hills, and the run was two laps around the castle grounds. It was a tough event as the hills were quite steep but it was so good to be back involved in the sport. I clocked 2 hours 46 minutes, which was ok.
I enjoyed it so much I went back the next year, although that one was a completely different experience. I’d entered on the spur of the moment as Victoria was away on a hen weekend. With time on my hands I looked around for an event and realised Castle Howard fell on the same weekend. I also decided to have a lads night out in Lichfield on the Friday before the race. Forgetting I wasn’t equipped with superhuman recovery powers I turned up on the Sunday to compete having spent the day before recovering from a hangover. Big mistake. I’d clearly forgotten how tough the course was. It was a sunny day and I was no doubt under hydrated. I felt reasonably ok until I got on to the run. My legs locked up within the first mile. I spent the rest of the 10k trying to shake cramp out of my legs through a mixture of walking, hobbling and stretching. I finished in 3 hours and 16 minutes. What a numpty. However, the highlight was definitely seeing 8 year old, Bailey Matthews, who has cerebal palsy, run unaided through the finish line to complete the event. What an inspirational kid.
I also competed in the National Relay championships at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham. It’s a good event, with a sprint distance as the format – 400m swim, 20k bike and 5k run. You compete in teams of four with everyone doing a discipline each and passing a wrist band on to the next competitor. The Lichfield Tri lads entered two teams and I was with Palmer, Aaron and Wedge (all pretty handy on a bike). It all went well until the run. I was taking over from Palmer who was finishing the final bike leg. Unfortunately I mistimed my trip to the toilet so was late with the handover. Palmer was shouting for me at the transition point and wasn’t impressed. I eventually got there, muttered my apologies, took the wrist band and promptly ran the wrong way. I eventually got myself sorted out in the right direction to finish my 5k lap. Not my finest moment.
2015 was a good year for racing. As well as Castle Howard I’d completed Belvoir Castle Triathlon (I was getting all Medieval). This was another lake swim in the grounds of a castle. I got in the water (after my customary multiple portaloo visits), put my goggles on and my straps snapped. This wasn’t a good start. I managed to tie them together just before the hooter sounded.
The rest of the race went really well. I liked the course a lot, there were a few hills thrown in on the bike so it was a good tester. Coming in to transition I nearly managed to go straight over the handlebars when I didn’t get my feet out of the cleats properly. The marshals liked that. It clearly wasn’t my day. The run went well though and I completed in 2 hours and forty minutes. Not exactly smashing it, but it was a good run out.
The big one though was the move up to middle distance. It was time to start going long.