This is my first race since I suffered a grade two tear of the calf muscle 8 weeks ago at IRONMAN 70.3 MALLORCA whilst I have been able to train in the pool and on the bike, running has been very limited.

I only got back to easy paced 5k running this week.

I did try to cancel or defer all my races in June & July however, I was not able to defer Abersoch. I had originally signed up to race the Olympic distance but I knew there was no way I would be able to run the 10k, so I swapped to the shorter sprint distance.

Having managed a few slow 5k runs this week, I was pretty confident that I would be able to finish the race. The plan was to just race the swim and bike and then use the run as another training run on the road to recovery.

My alarm went off at 3:50am and I left the house at 4:40am on the 3-hour drive to Abersoch. At that time of the day, the roads were clear and I was in the car park by 7:15am.

The sprint tri wasn’t due to start until 10am so I had a bit of time to kill. I decided to have a wander around, check out the start area, transition and the beach.

Today was the hottest day of the year so far, with 29’c forecast back home and 34’c down in London. Abersoch, on the other hand, was forecast 18’c and cloudy.

 

Shortly after taking this photo, the clouds rolled in and it was misty and drizzling.

Registration & Racking

I picked up the race pack, stuck the race number onto the bike and helmet and got all my stuff together for the race.

The transition was small and very tight. There were 250 athletes in the sprint triathlon and around 180 in the olympic distance too. We all shared the same transition.

I racked my bike quite early on and laid out my run shoes, bike shoes, helmet, glasses and towel alongside the bike.

I did keep going back to check my stuff wasn’t moving around, the final time I went back I noticed my Garmin Edge had gone from my bike. My heart started racing then, that £350 piece of tech was not there!! not essential for the race today but I would be mega pissed if someone had swiped it.

I found it on the floor next to the bike, the guy next to me appeared to have just shoved his bike in and pushed mine back, blocking me in and knocking my Garmin off as well as kicking sand all over my towel and glasses.

I wasn’t going to stand for that so I rearranged the bikes so that my bars were at the front and I could get mine out quicker, dusted the towel off and went down to watch the start of the Olympic distance.

 

Swim – 750m – 00:16:44

Before the start of the race I went into the sea to get a feel for the water. They said that the water temp was 14’c so I was a little worried how cold that was going to be but when I got into the sea it was fine, not cold at all.

Having suffered the calf tear on the run into the sea in Mallorca, this swim start was a mental battle. Do I run into the water and forget about Mallorca or run to the water then walk in and swim. The issue here was all 250 athletes were going off at the same time if I take too long entering the sea I will be at the back and have to swim through the pack.

I opted for a compromise. I lined up on the beach towards the front, ran to the water’s edge and waded in before diving and swimming off. Quite a lot of people did come past me during that initial entry and I was in a big group of swimmers. I took three or four shots to the head early on, I hadn’t had this much of a battle in the bigger Ironman mass starts.

This just pissed me off so I swam harder than planned to break clear of the pack and chase down those ahead. The swim was a 350m out & back before an Aussie exit and back in for the last 375m. I exited the water clear of the bunch and ran away from the few near me, this time I did run into the sea and ran further into the water than those ahead of me. I was running past people trying to swim in the shallow water.

Once I was back swimming and in my own space, I could focus on technique and bringing the heart rate back down. This second half of the swim was nice, no fighting, just me chasing down the lead group.

I got out of the water in 16:44 but had clocked up 992m, massively over swimming by 242m, nearly 33% extra. I swam the 25th fastest time which is a surprise given how bad my swimming is.

 

Bike – 20km – 00:38:51

After a slow T1 of 2:08, the 68th fastest time I was on the bike and heading out with time to make up. I knew this was going to be my strongest discipline today with the run being compromised by the calf injury.

I went out hard straight from the get-go, passing 11 people in the first 1km. My heart rate was high and the legs were burning from the high cadence and power output but I thought, its only 12.4-miles and the run is going to be easy pace so no point saving the legs for that. It was all in.

There was one big climb around from 3-miles to 4.6-miles. This was where I went past loads of cyclists. It was tricky knowing who you were passing as the Olympic athletes were on the same bike course doing two laps so I was passing some of them on their second lap as well as the sprint guys who were ahead of me.

After that climb, it was downhill or flat for the next 6 miles with a little kick at the end. I was flying down the downhill, usually, I am quite hesitant on fast downhills but today I was pushing, one person did come past me but I went past a few others for probably the first overtakes I have ever done on a downhill.

There was one part going through a narrow lane where two cars were following one of the olympic riders, unable to pass. Me and two other guys were catching the cars and said to each other whether we should try to catch and pass the cars or follow them through the lane. I made my mind up that I was going past if there was room. There was kind of enough room but I went through regardless, quickly followed by the other two guys. I put my foot down then up that last little bump and finished in 38:51 averaging 19.9mph. The 18th fastest bike split and 16th fastest up the KOM section.

Run – 5km – 00:22:43

T2 took 1:11, which felt pretty good. Most of that time was spent tying my laces, I do like to have my laces tied in a double knot, nice and tight so I have always stuck with laces rather than elastics but that 1:11 turned out to be the 99th fastest T2.

Once I left transition, it was a downhill run to the beach with 1km across the beach through the sand and over 7 or 8 groynes then 2.6km through the town and the last 1.5km back along the beach.

The tide was out as we set off on the run so I ran right along the edge of the water on the more firm but very wet sand. This gave slightly more grip than the fine loose sand.

I was glad when we were directed off the beach and on to a path. I went straight past the 3 guys I had been following along the beach. That first mile ticked over at 7:09, slightly quicker than the easy 8:00 pace I had planned but it felt fine, no calf pain and the legs weren’t totally shot from the bike. I decided to keep going at a low 7min pace and see how it felt. Still some way off the high 5min pace I would normally run a 5k at but quick enough for today.

At the mid-way point, we turned and were running up a fairly steep but very rocky path. A total nightmare for someone with a partially recovered calf. This hill sapped my energy, I soon remembered that I hadn’t run with any kind of pace for over 9 weeks and my run fitness just wasn’t what it would normally be, I contemplated walking up the hill and “just make it to the finish” but kept plodding away. After climbing 150ft up this rocky path it was downhill to the beach.

That second mile slowed to 7:49 pace and a couple of guys had come past me. Once back on the flat sand, it was 1.5km to the finish. This time I was concerned about getting my feet wet in the sea and took the shortest possible route, sometimes getting caught ankle deep by a wave. I crossed the line in 22:43 for the run, the 16th fastest time overall despite taking it fairly easy and running within myself.

The overall time of 1:21:36 was good enough for 21st overall and 10th in my age group. I think, had I been fully fit I probably could have run around 3 mins faster on that course, but really pleased to finish this one, it wasn’t so much about the time but more getting across that finish line after the injury and withdrawal from my last race. It turns out that the 1:21 is a 17min PB over my only over sprint triathlon at LAST OF THE SUMMER TRI back in 2017. Althgouh, that was two years ago so I would expect to have improved since then.