Monaco 70.3

The plan
A long, long time ago - well before the start of this season, there was a plan - Anne and I would both try and qualify for the 70.3 world championships in Florida. Anne had actually achieved this in 2007, so I was fairly confident that she would be able to repeat the feat this year. I was less sure about my own abilities - but this is now old news, I managed to qualify back in June - job done. Now it was Anne's turn. Anne had originally identified a qualifying race in Germany in August, however, having waited for me to get my slot, this race was already full. The only European qualifying event left in the calendar was Monaco, a nice spot if you are a millionaire and have a yacht or a Formula 1 racing car or a penchant for gaming tables - not so much fun for triathletes!

After careful consideration ( at least 2minutes) I decided to go to Monaco with Anne to keep her company- after all there was no pressure on me, I would just go and enjoy the race.
The summer racing season came and went very quickly, and I managed to fit in a couple of olympic distance races and time trials, with Anne warning me about getting properly prepared for the hills and heat that was to come. She was actually lining me up as her domestique- to tow her around the swim and then keep any eye on her competitors during the bike and run!

Registration
The race registration process was an endurance event in itself, including a one hour queue to check in your bike, part of which included a photograph of athlete plus bike for ID purposes. I was hoping that I would still be recognisable when I came to collect my bike after the event.
After registration there was a pre-race pasta party, somehow Anne and I managed to find ourselves at the front of the queue.................
We staggered back to the hotel, a couple of hours later - well that was the carbo loading done!

Race Day
An early start, and the familiar feeling of - I don't really feel like racing to day. The swim was, as most triathlon swims are, swim time is a function of how many times you lose your goggles, your sighting, or get swam over, rather than swimming ability. The idea that Anne could stay on my feet was a non-starter and we soon lost each other.
After a very long run through transition it was onto the bike course. I had a quick look at Anne's transition area and could not see any bikes out yet, so thought that her competitors were still behind me ( fulfilling my role as domestique).

The bike course has three major climbs, with gradients of 5-7%, the web-site blurb suggest that,

"During the 90km, you will discover gorgeous and picturesque villages; each of them is an invitation to a journey into a colourful past. "

However the only thing I saw was my handlebars - either sweating over them on the way up, or gripped with white knuckles on the way down.

Anne caught up with me after about 2 hours into the bike, I had only seen one woman from Anne's age group and she was about 30 seconds further up the road from us. We soon caught her and headed back to Monaco for the run course, needless to say that was the last I saw of Anne.

The 13 mile run, followed a five lap course, partly around the Grand Prix circuit, and (crucially not mentioned on the race website) up a brute of a hill in the centre of Monaco. The crowds however were fantastic, cheering you up the hill every time, with drums and chanting. After a fairly slow run, I completed the course in 5:47, Anne had got round in 5:21. We thought that she had won her age group, but it was difficult to tell as you could see other runners from your age-group on the course, and it was not easy to tell how many laps they had done. The results were available very quickly though- we spotted someone with a laptop in a cafe - and a quick peek over his shoulder showed Anne had won her age group - thus qualifying her for Florida in 2008 and the full Ironman championships in Hawaii in 2009. I was delighted and surprsied to discover that I had got 3rd in my age-group.
This was a great achievement for Anne; her season started very early this year with a brilliant performance in South Africa at the Two Oceans ultra marathon, quickly followed by the Belfast marathon. As the season wore on injury worries were plaguing Anne, and the week before the race she was not well. To pull out this performance required a tremendous effort - and one that should not be taken for granted. Top athletes get it tough too !

GROOMSPORT HALF IREMAN

FRIDAY EVENING – Take me away

With 5 children, mealtime at the O’Kane household is like feeding time at the zoo, and cleaning up the aftermath is a daunting task to say the least. Therefore on Fridays we get a take away to give Roisin and myself a break. The boys love spicy food and hence it was an Indian all round. I know I will pay for this later, especially as I ordered chilli chicken bhuna………

ACCOMODATION – Millisle Mafia

Decided at the last minute that unlike last year I would stay in Bangor as opposed to travel down morning of the race. A quick Google threw up a few B&B numbers. The first guy informed me that he had no room at the inn and that there wasn’t a chance of getting accommodation anywhere in the area because there was an “iron-thing” on the next day. Took a chance and phoned a 2^nd B&B. A lovely lady answered and said I was out of luck, but told me to phone Margaret who might have a room. “You make sure and tell her that Mary gave you her number as we help each other out”. Margaret didn’t have a room, but informed me excitedly that May definitely has a room. “You make sure and tell her I gave you the number as we help each other out”. May did indeed have a room and asked me what time I’d be down in the afternoon. I let her know that it might not be till 9:30 pm and she asked if I could make it after 10:30 pm as she was going out for her dinner. Worked out just grand and was I snuggled up and asleep by 11:00 pm

RACE DAY – Grunt, snuff, snort, burp, oink

Woke up with a heavy stomach. Wonder what could have caused that? Start the gorging ritual, which this morning included banana, muesli, 4 slices toast, 2 croissants, orange juice and ½ gallon of coffee. Reckoned that would be sufficient to prepare myself to attempt a sub 6-hour assault of the course after having done a 6’17” last year.

SWIM – Conal the barbarian

Transition opened at 7:30 am. The intensity level went up a notch as Peter Jack was given (or did he find!!!!) a microphone at 8:00 am in the morning. PJ managed to be subdued for about 27 seconds before taking things up another few notches, and in the process ensured that all of Groomsport would be awake in time for race start. After the usual briefings etc, we were marshalled to the beach. The water didn’t look too bad and at 9:10 we were off on the first of 2 laps.

Once out in the open water there was definitely a swell and it was pretty hard to see the buoys. However the first lap soon passed and as I approached the shore could see that I was definitely in the top third of the field. My heart sank then when I looked at my watch to see that 22 minutes had elapsed. Completed the second lap, and was really gutted to find 45 minutes had gone by. Was even more confused upon entering transition to find most of the bikes still there. Grabbed the bike and on to the 2^nd leg after a few words of advice and encouragement from Adrian Devine

It later transpired that there was a considerable swell so swim times appeared to be about 10-12 minutes longer on the whole last year. Alistair Bratten also had the look of a naughty schoolboy, but the less said about that the better. Anyway it is irrelevant, as the conditions were the same for all competitors.

BIKE – Capped in Donadgadee

The course was the same as last year and consisted of three 31 km laps around Groomsport. For me, it was very eventful. Lap 1 was to plan. On lap 2, as I was going through Donaghadee, a wheel cover came flying off a car travelling in the opposite direction and missed me by about 2 feet and the guy behind by a few metres. On the dual carriageway section of lap 3, an impatient driver tried to gain time on other motorists approaching a roundabout by performing an overtaking manoeuvre on the inside lane and would have hit me if I hadn’t slammed on the brakes. As I started up again from a standstill, the cyclist behind pulled up to check I was OK. ”F**k, I though you were toast there mate” were his exact words (he must have been a GP given his diagnosis of the situation).

With respect to splits, I completed the first lap in 1’06”. As per plan, pushed it harder on the 2^nd lap, but this only resulted in a 1’08” ??!!?? On lap 3, my back started to hurt and my time fell off badly to 1’10” resulting in a 3’24” split, almost 1 hour slower than the fastest bike of the day.

RUN – Kebab King

Into T2 where I had the 40^th fastest split of the day. (Summarises just how average I really am when my I have to look to transition times to find my strongest discipline).

Out on to the run course and hooked up with Kevin Murphy for about 1 km before I had to jump behind a bush to empty my bladder. Did not push too hard and was feeling great for the first 6 km or so. However rumblings commenced thereafter, and as I completed first lap in 1-hour dead, I had to make a detour to the toilet. Many, many days (or was it weeks) later, I re-emerged feeling the worse for wear and from here on in it was downhill. The last 12 km were a mixture of run & shuffle, not helped by the magnificent afternoon sunshine and I completed the 2^nd lap in 1’15” for a run split of 2’15”and overall time of 6’29”. By the end of the race I had blown up in every sense of the word!!!!

SUMMARY – what I did in school today

Overall a great race again this year with superb organisation overseen by Conal. Also, great value for money, and the organisers give out the best goodie bag on the Irish circuit by a long way.

I found the going a lot tougher than last year, and took 12 minutes longer as opposed to my goal of taking 17 minutes off. However I learned quite a lot from it including:-

1. Periodization - I planned the Ironman in June right to the nth degree of detail, but did not apply the same discipline to the 2^nd half of the season and need to be more diligent next year
2. I need to improve on the bike. This will be the focus of winter training
3. Don’t eat curry the night before a big race. Obvious I know, but has to be stated
4. Don’t enter a race where Conal is in charge of the swim (only joking on this one, although I do seem to remember him being at Ballyronan this year)
5. I am convinced PJ has a microphone in the boot of his car. You just never know when you might need one. Can you imagine it at the side of the road – “ladies and gentlemen, I have a flat tyre, lets get ready to rumble”.

What I haven’t worked out just yet is if I am stupid enough to enter next year, especially if it is full distance as looks likely at this point.

RESULTS – You the man, Paul

On the day, there were a total of 207 starters and 196 finishers. In addition to all the volunteers on the course, triangle had 7 competitors and overall times are provided below. Well done to all

Although I have yet to meet the man formally, the moment of the day for me was the outpouring of emotion from Paul McErlain as he crossed the finish line. Now there is a guy who really took something from the race. Isn’t that what its all about?

OFF SEASON – come dine with me

For the next few weeks, I will be taking it easy and letting fat boy escape. In order to facilitate this, I plan to assess a few establishments over the coming weeks and have devised a competition to aid this effort (why do triathletes have to turn every activity into a competition?). I will give everyone the results next time we are in a race together, although you may not recognise me as I expect that I will comfortably be topping 16 stone on the scales…yeah

CAT GOT THE CREAM

Everyone has got a discipline in triathlon that they are ‘less keen on’. As indicated in my previous contributions I have two – swim and run. I never learnt to swim as a kid and have never been able to feel at home in the alien aqueous environment. About 13 years ago I tried to get to grips with it but to no avail. I improved but the improvement was a result of increased strength and effort rather than improved technique. I know that I could get my running ‘going’ if I set my mind to it but I have always seen the swim as the big obstacle for me to overcome in triathlon.

So far this year I have competed in a few events and my swim times have gradually improved. The Carrick-on-Suir Try was my first event (when I was taken down the river in the current so it did not count as a valid comparator). My second event was the Lisburn Sprint (when I did 17 and a half minutes for 750m) and I hated the pool swim. At the Mourne Triathlon in Castlewellan lake I managed to exit the water in 30 minutes 13 sec for the 1500m. I exited the swim section at each of these events absolutely wrecked and somewhat dispirited. I had been pleased just to complete the Castlewellan swim as I did not know that I could last the distance but I had worked too hard. I finished Castlewellan but was ‘in bits’ at the end. The spirit was willing but I just had not done the training for my two weaker disciplines and the Olympic distances exposed this in the run.

After the Castlewellan event I concluded that I needed a few more races to get some pacing experience and really test whether I had any potential as a triathlete. Its clear to me that I won’t have the swim technique in the pool so will have to overcome my fear of open water swimming in order to maximise the benefits of wetsuits to improve my competitiveness. So I was disappointed that the Lough Neagh Triathlon was full (a lucky escape given the monsoon conditions it took place in) but places were still available at the Carlingford Triathlon and we duly entered. It would be my last event of the season and part of Kay’s build up to Monaco 70.3. When we had successfully entered it meant that the race would be my first sea swim. Kay took me for some sea swim practice off Portstewart Strand. I had one practice swim and didn’t like it. Basically the feeling of being alone in the ocean was too scary for me. That was therefore ‘enough practice’.

275 Competitors turned up on the shores of Carlingford Lough for the 2008 Carlingford Olympic Distance Triathlon run by Setanta Triathlon Club. The Carlingford event had a two lap swim, two lap cycle and an out and back run. When we arrived in Carlingford the sea was calm (whoopee) and my objective for the race was to learn to pace my race better than I had done at Castlewellan (where I had trashed myself in the swim, imploded on the bike and then hobbled home in the run).

At the swim start at Carlingford I stood back for a few seconds after the starting hooter had sounded and the ‘washine machine’ of swimmers thrashed into life. By hesitating at the start I thereby tried to ease into the swim and control the adrenaline surge. I certainly was not alone in this ocean and soon I was into the group of other swimmers and detected a swimmer with green wetsuit legs who seemed to be going at a similar speed to me. He was duly designated as my tow-rope. I sat on his feet for the first lap and was in a group during the whole race. I came out of the water and the clock said 25 minutes something. Talk about a boost – never in my wildest dreams… grinning like the cat that got the cream – all the clichés are appropriate. This counted as victory for me and I was elated and so distracted that I ran past my bike (coming rudely back to earth and feeling like a plonker).

I got onto the bike leg but it seems to take me a long time to get a timetrial rhythm after the swim. I kept the bike pace steady and was so buoyed by the swim that I just cruised along and resisted the temptation to blast it. Off the bike and, after the initial struggle when I had someone else’s legs attached to my body, I actually started to run. The run went ok for about the first two and a half miles but gradually fell apart after that and towards the end and I had to stop 3 times in the last mile or so. But on the whole I finished the race with the feeling that ‘I could do this properly with a bit of proper training’. The race was a real boost for me. The format for the event - laps on the cycle and an out and back run – meant that the Triangle athletes were able to encourage each other at each meeting point and it was great to see the club colours so well represented and get the supportive calls. It was also nice to get a chat at the finish with other club members who I had not had the occasion to meet previously. However the best reward for my swim performance was the look of surprise on Kay’s face when she saw me on the bike leg. Usually she gives me an encouraging call but the surprise of seeing me earlier than she expected meant that the initial expression on her face read ‘hell, will he catch me?’. Her question after the race was ‘did you go round all the buoys?’ – Good I thought, I’m improving and now perceived as a potential ‘competitor’.

So it seems that there is hope for us all if I can find such improvement with very little commitment (other than entering events). If there is anyone out there thinking of taking up triathlon and that they are too old for it – think again. Give it a try, learn from the experience and then give it another go (repeat). My intention is to give triathlon another lash next year so I will see you there!

The Carlingford race was well run and the course pretty flat. Local athlete Bryan McCrystal picked up the win in a time of 1:55:21, with Shane Scadding second 1 min 33 seconds behind and Newry athlete Peter Savage 3rd a further minute and 14 seconds adrift.

In the ladies race, the honours went to Eimear O'Brian from Northwest Tri in a time of 2:10:11, second was Keira-Eve Mooney from Belpark in 2:12:42 and 3rd was Setanta's own Mary Laverty in 2:13:05.

Triangle members did the club proud and the results are shown below (apologies if I have left anyone out). Well done to everyone who participated and doubtless like myself had their own personal battle during the event. Particularly noteworthy was Adam Wilson’s performance. He is absolutely flying and seems to be really enjoying his racing. He and Kay top the table in terms of the club and both were at the business end of the race throughout.

Pos

Forename

Surname

Cat

Cat Pos

Swim

Rank

Trans1

Cycle

Rank

Trans2

Run

Rank

Overall

11

Adam

Wilson

M30-34

(004)

0:21:13

(017)

0:01:31

1:01:57

(034)

0:00:41

0:39:04

(013)

2:04:24

49

Kay

Hack

F40-44

(001)

0:23:07

(042)

0:01:07

1:04:53

(067)

0:00:56

0:44:04

(069)

2:14:06

99

Gary

Kendall

M45-49

(006)

0:25:51

(111)

0:02:04

1:04:50

(066)

0:01:24

0:48:10

(130)

2:22:17

101

Rodney

Young

M35-39

(020)

0:28:38

(162)

0:01:40

1:05:52

(084)

0:01:25

0:44:52

(079)

2:22:25

132

Christopher

Doherty

M35-39

(026)

0:28:14

(153)

0:02:03

1:05:16

(077)

0:00:58

0:51:28

(184)

2:27:56

134

Kevin

Murphy

M45-49

(010)

0:27:19

(137)

0:01:44

1:11:21

(160)

0:01:29

0:46:22

(104)

2:28:14

153

Bernie

Gribbin

F45-49

(002)

0:28:46

(165)

0:02:01

1:12:37

(172)

0:01:21

0:47:35

(121)

2:32:17

217

Paul

McErlain

M40-44

(026)

0:35:57

(230)

0:02:11

1:20:03

(239)

0:01:49

0:48:00

(129)

2:47:58

231

Linda

Tomb

F35-39

(007)

0:35:59

(231)

0:02:20

1:18:45

(233)

0:01:13

0:54:18

(202)

2:52:34

PS

Whilst I have learnt a lot from and enjoyed my few events this season the big lesson that I literally took away from Carlingford was that I have to get a tri-suit. Apologies for sharing this with you all but the blistering and chaffing was extraordinary – side and back of my neck from the wetsuit, under each armpit from the wetsuit rubbing against the armhole seam of my running vest and both nipples (honest gov, no man boobs – the vest is too loose) and the old undercarriage suffered from an unfortunate wrinkle in wet tri-shorts. When I got into the shower after the event I must have sounded like a cross between Homer Simpson and Yogi-bear – oh! Oh! Oh! I think that Sudocream should be my official sponsor given how much of the stuff I have used this week. I did the club 10 mile TT on Tuesday night sitting side-saddle! So if the club is putting in an order this winter count me in for one and if the club suits are not comfy let me know! Now I know why they call them Ironman events – how could you survive the chaffing never mind the distances!