June Jaunts: Castles Challenge/ Peebles/ Windy Gyle.

Quite a racy month kicked off, on the first Sunday, with one of my 'big three' events for this year, the Castles Challenge Triathlon.

Although just the Olympic or Standard distance, which I'd tackled a couple of times previously, this was to be the first Tri I'd done which involved an open water swim. A swim in the North Sea too- still nowhere near it's warmest in early June!  Worries about being freezing cold abounded but, fortunately, some pretty good weather and calm evening tides during May had put some warmth in the water and given myself and trio of training pals- Mr S/Mrs E and Big N- good opportunity to get sort of acclimatised and into the feel of sea swimming.

The day itself didn't dawn spectacularly, being overcast and indeed worryingly misty early on at the coast. Would we be able to see the marker buoys in the water?! The sea itself, whilst not exactly rough, did have a little more 'movement' about it than during any of my training sessions. A very big plus though was that we were blessed with a slight following wind which made the bike leg way easier than it could otherwise have been. And glorious baking sunshine, which might've made the day for spectators, stayed elsewhere- a good thing, in my opinion, as it would've made for a killer run. Overcast and coolish turned out to be just the thing.

The athletes registered at Bamburgh Cricket Pavilion between 7-8am; numbered and kitted up, racked bikes, donned timing chips, put running gear and post-race stuff into various coloured bags for transport to Alnwick (Point to Point race- what a major organisational feat for the co-ordinators!) and, eventually, after a quick sea dip to avoid initial 'cold shock' were lined up for the hooter.

Away we went. Despite not getting the number of entrants hoped for, the massed start to the swim was still quite a sight according to my fan club (Thanks Mum!) spectating. "Like a school of porpoise going along!" The swim was a 2x750m lap affair, starting with a run from the beach then out between 2 marker buoys, swimming to and around 2 others, exiting the water again between the first buoys and doing a short run up and down the shoreline before the second lap. I didn't have a clue about my race position during the first lap. Trying to keep an eye on where the buoys were was the main concern. And avoiding getting clouted by other folks' limbs! During the brief run between the 2 swim laps though I was feeling OK, not overly disorientated, (dizziness is quite common on being vertical again after swimming) and could see a sizeable following group and plenty still swimming their first lap. Did this mean I was well up the field? I didn't get time to start headcounting those in front before it was back to the briny again to plough away at the second lap as best I could. Out of the water the second time and running up and over the dunes for the transit to bikes I still didn't know where I was although I knew I'd made a bit more ground on those immediately ahead. My fan club's shouts of encouragement and actual position were lost in the excitement of unzipping and wrestling off the upper half of a wetsuit whilst running! (It's a useful time-saver.)

Out onto the bike stretch and I started to realise quite quickly that things were clicking into place nicely. The following breeze kept the pace slick and the leg-burn low, and I was seeing mid to high 20's mph more frequently than usual on the speedo. I'd reeled in a few places by Beadnell and was aware, from the number of bikes still at transistion when I'd gone through, that I was well up the ranks. Head down and batter on! Bore down on another guy up ahead by Longhoughton but got picked up later on after Boulmer and Lesbury by someone else on a speed machine with whom I tussled for a couple of miles until he got away on the last hill. Dropped another place right on the run-in to the second transistion but I felt good, confident about the run, and let a cocky comment go as I passed again whilst running the bikes into the changeover area, "Now for the easy bit!"

Run was a 5-lapper in the pastures by the river below Alnwick Castle, each circuit finishing with a short sharp leg sapping hill of about 50m toward one of the castle gates. Multi lapping was good, kept the run area within sight of anyone spectating and gave competitors a chance to gauge progress against those even quite a way ahead on the course. Within a couple of laps I'd worked out that although there weren't many ahead I wasn't making significant ground on anyone. I set my sights on maintaining pace through to the finish but hadn't really been watching for anyone gaining ground on me so was a little miffed to get passed in the last half mile! Bah, probably a karma payback for my cocky confidence going into the run! 

Afterward our competitive quartet reassembled, all pleased with our performances. I'd managed 5th individual, 3rd Vet, and went away a bit gobsmacked, never having expected to post as high a place. Big N finished in the top 20, Mr S in the top 40, and his good lady Mrs E equalled my position in her category. Some of us finished the course quicker than Pro triathletes did last year.....

 

Peebles Sprint Tri passed off uneventfully. A little bit of pre-race rain made for slightly greasy roads and I approached the cycling with caution. We'd been pre-warned about a car accident on the bike route but the race wasn't stopped even though the vehicles involved were still on the course and being moved away under supervision of the police. Only a minor chicane involved for some of the cyclists. Did I just say uneventful?! This course seems to be the fastest of the Border Tri series and I managed a slightly quicker time than last year and three places higher up the placings. Quite pleased with that, especially the run which I made most of my small time improvement on.

 

A nice day dawned for Windy Gyle Fell Race, overseen by NFR. I haven't been up to Barrowburn for this one since its first year and had the sneaking suspicion I wasn't going to come away with the same placing as then (1st!) this time. A good field turned out and we were soon under way in the sunshine which blessed the duration of the race and prizegiving afterwards. Phil S. set the usual early pace and soon made a breakaway to sit in first for the whole way. Gary Jones, also NFR, kept second place for the duration of the race I believe. Thereafter the third place was eventually taken up by Will Horsely during a solid climb in the first part of the race, moving away from Lee Bennett and I, and passing Lee Grant on the way up. So, with the front three having gone clear, it was two Lees and then me going onto the ridge after Windy Gyle cairn. I'd felt pretty tired on the haul up but Lee Bennett in front hadn't put extra ground between us since making a move and gaining 50+m quite early on. It didn't seem as though Lee Grant was making ground either and I hung on hoping to recover a bit on the level. That little recovery happened and not long after dropping from Windy Gyle I passed Lee B. Up ahead Lee G's pace seemed to have faltered a little and I sensed he'd lost his bearings a little when the front runners went out of view. Starting the first long descent I thought I might make up another place and drew ever closer on the little climb up Swineside Law. That effort must've burned up the last of the porridge though because Lee G held on and had a terrific belt down the last long descent. Lee B hadn't been slouching behind either since I passed him, but I felt I'd put enough ground between us to coast the last downhill and into the home stretch for 5th overall. 

Thanks again to NFR for organisation etc. Full results on their website.

Next stop Chevy Chase, tomorrow- as I write! Good luck to all competitors.

 

 

Saved By The Temperance Belles at Seahouses

A second outing for the Players' Temperance Society piece, this time on the Open Stage (Organised and hosted by Sarah) at the Seahouses Festival. The first days acts were forced to retreat indoors to the CIU club on a very blustery day but Sunday brought much nicer weather and the appreciative audience sat on the green to watch the show. Belfordians were involved in the two acts prior to The Players as well, Sarah leading out her Tribal Dance Troupe, Manashee, to strut their stuff to African Drumming ensemble Funkama, and then Shauna Bell stepping up for a nice solo set of songs. MC Eric lead the Players in with a prologue detailing the dangers of The Demon Drink and on we went to put on a well received show.

Shauna During Her Set.

Bring On The Dancing Girls

May Madness.

Quite a lot went down in May. Selkirk Tri pointed out a few kinks in the armour and I felt the need to exploit good weather and lack of surf to focus on training. Longer races like Helvellyn Tri and Chevy Chase starting to prey on the mind a bit....

What better than another race to kick-start things? The Les Allcorn was an opportunity, a couple of days after Selkirk, and I pitched up on the spur of the moment. Quite hard to actually find the start amongst a sea of purple and green vests... Wooler must've been a ghost town that night. I had a good race. Bit of a ding-dong with Gordon Dixon of Morpeth, nip and tuck the whole way, but I found a sprint finish somewhere in my kit bag to take 5th place, 1st Vet40. We were both ousted from the 4th place we'd been vying for by a storming last 1/4 mile by Ben Davidson, who chose his moment to show the old boys how it's done. There were a lot of good performances recounted amongst those I spoke to post-race- Bruce C seemed delighted to have elbowed his way into the top 10 with a pb 3 mins down on his previous. Rob M-J of WRC and Charmaine Love of Berwick Harriers reported similar improvements in their times.

Cycling efforts took a new turn when fellow triathlete Big N suggested having a go at time trialing with the Berwick Wheelers. A fine friendly bunch and a good opportunity to sharpen the biking up a bit. Right-ho then! Some Thursday evenings since have been spent wearing lycra and pedalling westward for various distances along the Tweed Valley and back as fast as bloody possible! This is indeed fine fun and I feel some improvement in the cycling department, not my strongest tri discipline. Some of these chaps are rather quick I might add! To be continued...

With a view to the Castles Challenge Triathlon, it seemed like a good idea to start a bit of open-water swim training and there were some ideal opportunities with full tides, sunshine and calm seas on three evenings during the month. Big N and Mr S joined me on one occasion, along with a new triathlon recruit, Mrs E (Mr S's good lady!) preparing for her first Tri outing which was at Alnwick Sprint, as well as for the Castles Challenge too. Nothing makes you feel like you've been doing something active like swimming in the sea does, but it seems the kitchen cupboards can never be full enough to cope with the increased appetite induced!

Amongst other running and biking efforts I've found a sort of favourite session though which is the cycle across to Wooler for a Tuesday evening hill run and then cycle home again. Weather, and all else, permitting I'm hoping to get several more of those in during the longer days. We're blessed to have such amazing countryside to drip the sweat of our efforts on. 

Although May brought some glorious weather, race successes and high points in training, there was sadness too following the death of Rod Rutherford of Berwick Harriers. Rod was a long time member of the club, prompted to join in the first instance after his son and daughter did so. He subsequently took up the role of club treasurer, later secretary, and was qualified as a coach. I've probably heard more words of encouragement during cross-country races, on days when everyone involved would rather have been indoors, from Rod than anyone else I know. R.I.P.