When things don't go to plan...
This is a bit of a long one because lots happened, and unfortunately for those of you who like them, there's no happy ending.... boo hoo.
Challenge Mogan (Gran Canaria)
This was it, my first race as a pro. Just like every other race really, except everyone is really fast and there's money to play for ( in case you were wondering). I was lucky that as well as me going, I was also accompanied by Kathryn, my parents, and my grandparents! It can be more stressful at times, but I wouldn't have it any other way. They're the best support team I could ask for and made the task at hand seem a little less daunting.
The airbnb was in a perfect location- probably 200m from the race start, but more like a km by road due to the severe gradient and winding road up the hill. Arriving at the race location on the Thursday meant Friday was spent recce- ing the course. A splash in the sea first thing in the morning was first on the agenda, and then we drove the course to the turnaround points. This was a surprisingly technical and hilly bike course, with no real opportunity to find a rhythm. However it was the same for everyone, and the super smooth road surface more than made up for any reservations I had about the course. The rest of the day was spent out of the sun staying well fed and hydrated, with the late afternoon race briefing being the final interaction with the race organisation before the start line. I'd felt great swimming in the morning, ready and excited to race in this idyllic location on a real honest course.
Waking up on the morning of the race, I collected everything I'd prepared the night before and headed down to the beach where the start line was. A brief swim warm up and a few arm swings later I found myself on the start line and ready to go. It was a beach entry start, a
new style for me, however I have had plenty of practice over the years when messing around in training and on holidays to the surf as a child. The horn went and I got a great start, even though my goggles came off my face upon entering the water, I still managed to find myself in the lead of the race after 200m. The course started and finished within an area protected on all sides with a breakwater, and after the first lap there was a beach exit and entry. The course swam out to a point beyond the breakwaters, and the sea was noticeably more choppy. This is where I came somewhat unstuck. I found myself unable to stay with the front group in these swim conditions, and ended up by the end of the swim around 90 secs down on the front group of 9 or so. I wasn't too worried as I was well aware that it'd be a long day of racing and plenty can change over 4 hours! I headed out on the bike to complete the out and back section before completing 4 out and backs heading in the other direction to make the bike course up to the 90km distance. It was on the first out and back that I had a problem. I was chasing the front group hard and sat above my planned race power, with the intention to settle things down once moving up the field. The turnaround point was at the top of a slight hill, and I figured I could stay in my big ring and power up to the cone, take a wide line and carry my speed onto the descent back down the hill. As I got out of my saddle my chain came off and I managed to catapult myself onto the floor at around 30km/h. My drinks bottle flew off the front of my bike and emptied itself on the road, and I landed on my knee and both arms outstretched. Instantly I felt a sharp pain in my right wrist, but the adrenaline of the crash combined with the anger (some shouting involved) of trying to put my chain back on, meant that I didn't initially realise quite how much it hurt. Another 5km down the road, I was struggling to change gear with my right hand as well as breaking and holding onto the base bar. On such a technical course with numerous fast descents and lots of gear changing being required, this proved to be an issue. I also had difficulties collecting water from the side of the road to top up my bottle which had emptied during the aftermath of my little off earlier in the race. On the final lap of the bike, whilst riding up a hill I was passed by another athlete as well as the draft buster motorbike. He showed me a card and I didn't understand why, however I knew that arguing would be futile and could lead to disqualification. It turns out that my error was not dropping back within the allocated 10 secs to the 20m required to be between athletes. This meant that although I reached T2 in 13th place, by the time I had stood in the penalty box for 5 minutes, I found myself in 19th place. This was probably the longest 5 minutes I have ever experienced and not something I ever wish to repeat! I set out on the run, but almost instantly found the knee I had hit on the ground when I fell off my bike to be uncomfortable to run on. I got through 5km at which point I decided that with Lisbon in 2 weeks time, and being placed around 20th at that point in the race, it was more sensible to call it a day and try and redeem myself in Portugal.
This is when things got interesting...
A trip to the med tent post race initially led to me being prescribed a post race massage for my wrist from a rather patronising man. I had cut my hands and knee, so apart from having these cleaned up, I was left none the wiser as to why my wrist hurt so much after the fall. I have broken my before and this felt like a familiar pain, with the now significant swelling perpetuating this self diagnosis. After getting a taxi to a walk in centre in the next town, I was made us aware of the fact that the race had insurance, and that this would be the best way to proceed with treatment. A trip in the race's ambulance back to the med tent led to a diagnosis from a different first aider, and ended up with me in the back of an ambulance to a nearby hospital for an xray. I found myself, still in my race gear and covered in sweat and salt, using my best GCSE Spanish to get through the situation which resulted in a confirmed fracture and a cast put on which would get me home. A trip back to the hospital the following day for a free to fly certificate (there's a legal scam if I've ever seen one), and having to backseat drive the packing of my bike into its box concluded what had been a somewhat disappointing first outing racing in the pro category.
For those number hounds out there here are the strava files for the race:
On arrival home there was 10 days before I planned to fly out to Lisbon for the next race. However in the meanwhile there was the small matter of finding out what was wrong with my wrist and whether it would be a trip to race, or just to see the sights of Portugal. The outcome of the trip to the doctor proved to be a pleasant surprise. The Xray and subsequent analysis by the radiographer led to my new diagnosis of a badly sprained wrist, and not a break as was initially thought. This meant I had to look after it, but the introduction of movement would be beneficial to the healing process, and so training could recommence.
After a few light sessions with a singular hard run and long bike, it was time once again to pack my bike up and get on the plane to Lisbon.
Lisbon
Redemption. That's all I wanted from this race. A chance to execute well and prove to myself both my fitness, and that I did deserve to be racing amongst the pro ranks. Another cracking airbnb meant the run into the race was as stress free as possible, and by race day my wrist was feeling ok and my legs fresh and ready to race. I had a great start to the swim, leading with one other guy to the first turn buoy at around 300m. However at this point my arms decided to no longer work, and I found myself slipping back through the field. This is similar to what happened at Gran Canaria and similar to other races in the past. I am not sure exactly why, but I find myself struggling greatly in open water swims in races, when compared to the pool speed which I know I have. I need to do some more digging to find out exactly why this happens and make sure it doesn't happen any more! I finished the swim around 90 secs down on the leader, with the field being pretty evenly strung out in front of me over the time gap. I knew if I could get out on the bike fast and really work the first 10 miles hard I stood a good chance of getting up to the front of the race. In T1 my wetsuit had other ideas. With my wrist not operating at full capacity it took me much longer than I would have liked to get out of my wetsuit, and I probably lost another 30secs to the front of the race. The first section of the bike course was partly over cobbles and a number of speed bumps, before getting out onto a wonderful flat, smooth section of closed off motorway that formed the majority of the bike course for the 4 laps. After 20 minutes on the bike, my garmin beeped to remind me to get some food and I reached back to grab my bottle. To my horror there was nothing there, as my bottle must have ejected itself on the speed-bumps out of transition. I managed to keep calm and would try to make best use of the aid station at the end of each lap. Just before the turnaround point on the lap, there was a 2km long hill up to a turnaround point. It was on this hill that I got my first glimpse of the joke which was the front of the race. Around 10 athletes were all within 10 secs as they passed me on the other side of the carriageway, and I knew deep down at this point that no matter how hard I tried to impersonate Tony Martin, I wasn't going to reach the front. I managed to still stay focused on doing the best performance I could, and was doing my best to pick up food every lap. This was helped massively by Kathryn noticing I'd lost my bottle after the first lap, and making another for me to collect on the following lap. I collected this bottle and was re-energised in both body and spirit, that is until it did a great impression of its predecessor and hopped ship over one of the speed-bumps on the way out of the town. Finishing the bike I was caught by a group of 3 athletes biking strong and was grateful to have people around me after 85km of a totally solo effort. By the end of the bike I had consumed: 2 swigs of a bottle full of gels and water, half an energy bar from the aid station, and two banana segments from the aid station. For over two hours effort at 300 watts, I knew it would be a challenge to run at any decent speed. I got into T2 and immediately ate all of the gels in my bag (these were meant for consumption slowly throughout the run), and somehow also managed to clock one of the fastest T2 times of the day. Heading out onto the run, I'm not going to beat around the bush here, I felt absolutely dreadful. The calorie deficit I'd put myself into on the bike meant the gels I had taken at the start of the run were akin in success to bucketing water out of a shipwreck at the bottom of the ocean. I struggled to the turnaround point before being reduced to a jog from low energy and a stitch on the way back. As I neared the end of my first lap of 4, I began to feel lightheaded and not all with it. At this point my mental resolve deserted me. I handed my timing chip to one of the race officials and found some shade to sit down in away from the race. I was quite overcome with emotion at this point, having invested a great deal of time and effort to get to this point with seemingly nothing to show for it. I was in disbelief that the two worst races of my entire time in triathlon (with respect to execution), came within the space of two weeks.
Strava activities for the race:
In retrospect it was probably a combination of bad luck and too much pressure (self inflicted of course) that lead to these two disappointments. However as well as learning plenty from a nutrition and racing stand point, it has also taken me to some new places within my mind that had previously not been explored. Hopefully one day I will be able to look back and laugh at the mistakes I made, but at the moment the disappointment of how things went is still the overriding feeling! I guess things can only improve from here, so I'm taking the next week to sort my head out and hopefully look into some more races and targets for the rest of the season.
I also want to say a massive thanks to Kathryn and my Mum who have been the best support I could have hoped for to look after me at these races. It would be nearly impossible to do this without them and I am extremely lucky to have them on my team!
Thanks for reading if you got this far!