Strangford 888 Triathlon - Jeff is feeling EPIC.

Strangford 888 Triathlon

1K Swim(incl T1) - 00:22:542

80K Bike (incl T2)  - 02:53:28
8K Run - 00:39:19
Total time - 03:55:41

38th out of 53 overall. 

Well the day finally arrived and it is fair to say that I was keekin' myself before the start of this one.
I arrived early at Strangord to get organised as this was a split transition race.  I had to get my bike across to Portaferrry on the Ferry, register and set up the bike for T1 and then get the ferry back across to Strangford and get set up for T2 and the swim.

It turned out to be a fantastic day and the weather was very kind to us.  nice and bright and actually quite warm.

I was slightly panicked when I arrived and saw the speed of the current ripping up the narrows between Strangford and Portaferry across the 1K strip of water I was soon going to swim across.

It was so strong the ferry was pointed directly against the current but going sideways to the slipway - a nice bit of driving by the Ferrymaster.

Thankfully by the start of the swim, it was slack water and the tide was pretty mild.

one of the funny comments from the day was when Donald and I were talking before the start and commenting on how warm it was and that we may need sun cream.  Donald was dubious as he said the prospect of coconut sun cream might just be like wrapping us in a marinade for the Sharks.  Regae Regae sauce for triathletes!!  Made me laugh but was also slightly scary!!

The Swim

This was my first experience of a deep water start for a swim.  that means you swim out to a start point, tread water and then go when the hooter blows.  Unfortunately for me I was a little too relaxed in swimming out to the start point and was about 30 metres behind the start line when the hooter went off for the start. That meant I had clear water which was good because I didn't get punched or kicked, but it meant I had no group to draft off and it probably cost me about a minute on the swim time.
The swim went really well and I managed to only think about the mile of water below me once or twice.
I was happy with my swim from a strength perspective, but my sighting and navigation was poor, and I drifted a bit too far to the left of target and had to almost swim back across to the exit slipway.
I came out of the water in about 19 mins and went in to T1 feeling pretty good.

T1

I made a decision that as this was a 50 mile ride, that i would put my proper cycling shorts on over the top of my Trisuit to give me a little more padding for the longer ride.  This took a little bit of extra time, but I thought the extra comfort was worth an extra minute in T1.  This was a good decision.

The Bike

After about half a mile a guy passed me on the way out of Portaferry - this would turn out to be the last rider who went past me and stayed away. I managed not to get passed permanently by another rider and actually reeled in and passed about 6 or 7 other riders around the course.
the course was fantastic. Overall the course could be described as undulating - basically flat until Newtownards and then a nasty little diversion because the Carriageway from Ards to Comber was closed.  We had to then take the road out by Scrabo Tower - this added quite a bit of climbing - but I felt I handled it pretty well and never really felt under too much pressure.

I had a really scary incident on the decent off Scrabo.  There was quite a lot of traffic due to the road diversion, and coming downhill at about 30 mph, the car infront of me just decided to stop and let someone out of a side road without looking or indicating.

I slammed on the brakes and simultaneously hit some gravel.  The bike started to skid and I was resigned to either crashing in to the back of the car or throwing myself in to the ditch.  In my mind in a split second I decided on the ditch.  Just as I was about to do the deed, the car moved off and I lifted off the brakes and I managed to squeeze up the side of the car.  i did express my annoyance to the lady driver as I went past.  I think she learned some new Anglo Saxon words!!

The road from Comber through to Downpatrick as pretty up and down and really had no flat parts.  it was also into a strengthening wind.
I thought I was going well and it turned out to be the case.  I came in to Strangford in 2hrs 51 mins for the 50 miles (80K).  i was really chuffed to average about 16 to 17 mph for the ride.

The only slight disappointment was that I didn't plan my nutrition well enough for the bike and only had 2 gels and a bar of Kendal Mint Cake on the way round.  I started to feel very hungry at about 40 miles and really should have had more food with me.  Lesson learned.

T2

This went very well, even though taking my cycling gear off took a few extra seconds but I did not want to run in it as it was actually pretty hot by now and it is more comfortable running in Tri gear than cycling gear.

The Run

The run was 4 loops round a really lovely off road course.
it was tough enough as the start was a set of steps up on to a trail and then a short but steep climb up a trail, followed by a steepish downhill and then a longer flat stretch through trees.
It was very pretty.
I loved coming back through the T2 / Finish area at the end of eacch loop and the support from the crowd and marshalls was great the whole way.
I felt like a real triathlete as they were offering flat coke at the drinks stop - just like they do at Ironman.
I have to admit to walking the steps and hill for the last of the 2 laps, but it seemed to work and I was able to put on a good strong finish.

On the whole, I had expected to finish in around 4hr30mins and would have been delighted with 4hr15mins.  So, to finish in 3hr55mins was fantastic and I am feeling very pleased with myself.
it is obvious that the training is working out, and I was delighted that my legs felt so good coming off the bike and I got in to the running really quickly and easily.

Well done to Donald for the Tri and his great result and to Paul, Jim and Brian for their great times in the Duathlon.  A great day had by all.

In the words of the Money Supermarket advert -

 Jeff is feeling EPIC!

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/c/videos/you're-so-moneysupermarket/0011805/