bristol harbourside tri - 2016

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bristol harbourside tri - 2016

Postby ris » 06 Jun 2016 14:56

Where: bristol, in the mighty west
When: 05 june 2016
Organiser: bad tri
Course details: standard distance (sprint also available) - open water swim, closed road bike
Distance(s): 1500m in the cumberland basin, 40km closed road bike, 10km trail path run
Marshalling: loads, cheery
Facilities: swimming pool for changing, watching the swim from etc
Technical: Chip timing, water station on the run
Freebies: nice medal, cheap massage option, goodie bag with random stuff in it.

after last year's relative success at the cardiff olympic i decided at the end of 2015 that i'd try and do some more of them. i felt like they suited me quite well with a longer bike to get my teeth into and i enjoyed having a go at pushing my 10k run time down. bristol tri club (bad tri) organise a good event in the harbourside and i decided that i'd get in as soon as it opened. i'd done the 'proof-of-concept' sprint event 6 years ago but not been back. they've slightly tweaked the course since, but the core of it remains the same.

following calne sprint i've been a bit patchy in training - in particular my running has been scratchy, and i've not ridden the tt bike as much as i'd like. i also haven't worn my wetsuit since tenby and despite it being at the office hadn't got in the river. the week or so leading up to this race was quite busy and i wasn't in the office much which cut down my chances for any last minute training of any sort. i have also noticed i have a tight left knee and a sore right achilles and was a bit apprehensive as to how either would stand up to being battered for 150mins. i thought beforehand that a 24min swim, 1:08 bike and 42min run would be a good place, with 4-5mins for transitions getting my around 2:20 ( i did 2:07 at cardiff but that was short short short!).

stayed overnight in bris with my inlaws, and then sauntered over to the river, parking nearby. i had an 11.30am wave so plenty of time for brekky and pratting about. i had a friend in the 10am wave and a work colleague off at 11am (he raced calne, too), but wasn't sure if i'd see much of them beforehand. easy registration, racked up as the earlier waves went through and saw both of them which was good.

i got a not great place in the holding pen and was caught behind the main group for a bit by some slower swimmers, and by my realisation that not swimming in my wettie for 9months was making my chest feel tight. after 300m i was clear and into a rhythm, but it was a reminder to actually do some focussed training and not take things for granted!

out of the water in 24mins, then into a long run to t1. quick change, socks, lid, gels, bike - and i'm out and onto a 4lap out and back on closed roads. pretty flat and a beautiful course up under the clifton suspension bridge and along the avon gorge. at the far end is a 180 turn and back at the transition area you come off using sweeping slip roads and quickly loop round the swim basin. i was into a decent rhythm and chipping away at the swimmers in front. i saw my work mate on course but he was a lap ahead of me. after 2 laps it was me and a couple of others all closely paced, and i decided to pace line as much as i could. every 2-3 miles i'd close up and overtake, only for them to retake within a few minutes. i scarfed a couple of gels and drank plenty as the day really warmed up - 25c+.

into t2 i was with one of the pace-liners but while he faffed i was out pretty fast - runners, gel, hat, shades and out the door. both transitions a lot slicker than cardiff or calne where i pratted about much more. the run was over the river and through some woods on a packed trail. really nice route, shaded but a little undulating. there was a water stop at about 1km and i grabbed a bottle, deciding to keep it with me to sip from rather than bin it. i'm glad i did because there wasn't any more to be had until i passed it on the return! i think a lot of people suffered because of this.

the run was ok, i 'd hoped to hold under 7min/mi and get something around 41mins, but as the run progressed the heat and lack of water started to bite and my pace drifted a bit toward the end. the trail path didn't get much air flow and it was getting pretty toasty. at the turn i could work out there were about a dozen faster people ahead of me, but by then i was on my own really, no one from my wave anywhere to be seen. the end of the race is up on one of the flyovers above the basin and knowing that i had to get up to there from the river level was horrible. i dug in, gave everything up on the ramps up and tried to have something for the finish line where my other half and vee were waiting.

i was pretty ruined at the finish. i had trashed my feet, caught the sun on my shoulders, and was very hot. my knee and achiles were fine so on balance all good. i grabbed my medal and an icecream and hobbled to transition to get my kit and find a shady pub (hope and anchor, jacob wells road, nom nom).

swim - 24:06
t1 - 3:20
bike - 1:05:48 (40.5km - slightly long)
t2 - 1:03
run - 44:06 (10.35km, also long)

all in - 2:18:23

under my target and 14th overall. 4th in age group (odd categories - i was in the 35-49 veterans group!). bit surnburned, feet still sore. rode into work this morning and it wasn't too bad, though, going to get my knee and achiles looked over by a grown up and check it isn't anything too serious.
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Re: bristol harbourside tri - 2016

Postby King Sad » 06 Jun 2016 22:51

Well done Gosh fantastic times, really impressed. Good man
It seemed like a good idea at the time :? .



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Re: bristol harbourside tri - 2016

Postby Jack Hughes » 07 Jun 2016 08:03

Good work!

How long until you hit the dreaded/welcome V40?
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Re: bristol harbourside tri - 2016

Postby ris » 07 Jun 2016 09:28

i'm 40 in december so have qualified for this esteemed group already!
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Re: bristol harbourside tri - 2016

Postby ris » 07 Jun 2016 14:26

i won a prize! sufferfest sponsored 4th in category and gave me a 'hell hath no fury'.

i'm not sure if i'm glad about this or not... :lol:
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Re: bristol harbourside tri - 2016

Postby Jack Hughes » 09 Jun 2016 07:01

ris wrote:i'm 40 in december so have qualified for this esteemed group already!


Ha! I thought it must be close :)

An excellent time to start dominating the age group.

Although I found that the majority of "run under btf regs" still but you down by "age on day of event".
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Re: bristol harbourside tri - 2016

Postby ris » 09 Jun 2016 10:57

i wish i'd thought of checking that when i did calne - i was 4th in the 40-44 AG there, but would have been first in 35-39!
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Re: bristol harbourside tri - 2016

Postby IanM » 10 Jun 2016 12:48

Nice one Ris!

FWIW Hell Hath No Fury is one of the better Sufferfest videos from what I remember
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