Two or three hours of Brazilian dancing the night before probably isn't the best Tri warm-up but the Brazilian Soul Festival at the Northumberland Hall in Alnwick was a great night out. Nice one Sarah! And I at least managed to keep the booze at arms length, downing flaggons of water to keep hydrated. If we'd had to demonstrate some Salsa/Lambada/Mambo aptitude during the race transistions then Mr.S and I could well have placed higher up the field, for my oft-time tri buddy was also out a-groovin' with his lady and learning some steps.
Dance shoes he may have had. But bike shoes he did not, as he suddenly realised whilst speeding the Tri-taxi towards Selkirk! They'd escaped his kit check-list, and a pale look curtained his face as we realised there wasn't time to turn back to base. I've not yet ventured into proper bike-shoe territory and suggested he'd either be able to borrow some or, failing that, would be fine cycling in his trainers on the flat side of the pedals. He didn't seem entirely convinced and we pressed on toward what seemed very ominous weather westward, another bad omen. Add in one total sandpaper throat, usual marker of the onset of a cold for me, which had been developing for a day...There were hurdles!
The weather held up though and was pretty good for racing. A bit of headscratching about what to wear on the bike. Would it rain? Get any colder or windier? I donned a light jacket over the tri-suit on the cycle leg for the first time and ditched it for the run. The day got progressively nicer, even the light headwinds on some parts of the bike route slowly abating and the warmest sunshine politely holding off until most competitors were done. One bad omen buried.
Swam OK, despite a lack of training in that department, but was glad to get onto the biking even if that section was where things started to get a bit wobbly. I got my sights set on two up ahead who were quicker out of the pool from my heat and got going to catch up. Not long after the first of 2 significant climbs on the route I caught one and started making gains on the other whilst ascending the longer hill approaching half-way. Threw caution to the wind on the steep descent thereafter and, just after reaching the Yarrow Valley road put in a burst to pass. But... too much hard work on the climbs, and not thinking enough about another 9 miles ahead on the relatively flat road back to Selkirk meant I'd not much left in the tank when I was in turn overtaken. My lower back was aching a bit and I had to settle for a steady spin over those last miles whereas I'm sure it was a flat-out burn for many on what was the fastest part of the course.
OK going into the run... achy back settled down...pace felt good...first mile down...the naughty one who managed to get past me again on the bike coming into into range once more... Hey up! What's this then!? My quads suddenly went poisonously tight and I had to slow things right down. Wondered if I was catching some bad vibe from the naughty cyclist ahead because he was in an even worse state and had slowed to a limping walk. I gave him an egg-on as I jogged past and things started to loosen up again although I couldn't get back to my previous pace. Pressed on though. Poured the half-way water over my head rather than drink it and tried to think past the finish-line. Quads did another little Salsa of their own at roughly the same point on the return, to remind me of the night before! And the sore throat started to put in an appearance again too, just for good measure. But, after a slog of a last mile it was done and I crossed the line in 2:28:40something with Mr.S cheering me in. He'd had a good race by his account and the power of positive thinking had kept the bogey of forgotten bike shoes at bay. Trainers on the flat of the pedals worked out OK and, despite the run course being longer this year, he thought he was within his time for last year. Jolly good going indeed. However, Big N's plans to race were scuppered by a sore back so sympathies out to him and better luck next time.
The Castles Challenge Tri looms.... Early June. North Sea promises to be Brass Monkeys this year!
