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The
Bruce Winter Series – Part 1
The flyer came through the door not long after my New Year’s Day return to triathloning after the birth of our third child.
The
Bruce Winter Series
Sunday
27 January – Run 2k, Cycle 13k, Swim 400m
Sunday
24 February – Run 3k, Cycle 19k, Swim 400m
Sunday
24 March – Run 4k, Cycle 19k, Swim 400m
Having
just about survived the bike stint of the New Year’s Day triathlon
(as part of a team) and with only a hazy memory of my last sprint
distance triathlon, I foolishly thought – “this will be a nice gentle
way back into the racing season - only a 2k run”.
Well that 2k run felt like about 5k – cross-country running
through a bog would be a reasonably accurate description (and
someone needs a new tape measure).
There
were 2 mass starts – heat 1 was meant to be comprised of volunteers
who thought they were at the upper end of things. John Archibald (the only male representative
from ELTC) didn’t volunteer but got put in anyway – just as well
– he reached the heady heights of 3rd runner for the
first half of the run against some pretty keen competition (we’d
seen the serious bikes on arrival..).
He was in 6th place when he came into transition
only 20 seconds behind the leader.
Meanwhile, heat 2 started and included a strong female contingent from ELTC (4 out of the total 10 female competitors) being myself, Fiona Gallacher, Linda Malcolm and Lynn Dale. Lynn managed 2nd place in the run – less than a minute behind Catriona Kidd (several? time winner of the Haddington triathlon) and nearly a minute ahead of the next female runner – unfortunately it was not to be her day (more of that later).
Into
the run to bike transition – this was the holding area for the rubbish
at the back of Lochgelly High School. Scaffolding for racking the bikes? No such luxury – the lucky ones got a coveted spot against a wheelie
bin. John and I laid our
bikes on the wet ground over an open drain, positioning goggles
carefully, hoping they weren’t going to end up in the sewers by
the time we returned from the bike leg.
The
bike leg was “interesting” – not just potholes to contend with,
but wooden ramps (painful, and possibly the cause of the slow puncture
that luckily held off until I got back). I found the bike leg hard – it just felt like it was uphill all
the way and I couldn’t make good use of the downhills as I couldn’t
get into my top ring, (“oh yeah, I forgot to look at that” said
my husband mechanic afterwards).
It also felt longer than 13k – and for some of us it was……….poor
Lynn took a wrong turn and added a few miles on to the ride.
So from being out in second place her race was over.
Stripping
off (rather than putting clothing on) made transition from the run
to the swim a bit different. Clothing discarded in all directions and with sweaty bodies and
mud on our feet we headed into the (now murky) public swimming pool
for a wash. The marshals
directed you into whichever lane was the quietest – i.e. no account
made of your swimming ability - or lack of it.
The one aim I had for this triathlon was that I would do
the crawl. I had always
used breaststroke in the past and have only recently learned crawl
so I was pretty slow, much to the annoyance of the toe tugging individuals
behind me. Letting them
overtake at the end of the lane gave me a welcome breather – all
the blood was still in my legs from the run and cycle and my arms
felt like lead. Much to my surprise I picked up my first (and
probably last) placing – 3rd female senior with a time
of just under 57 minutes – I also managed slowest swimmer in the
entire field! Linda was 1st supervet with a time
of 54:24, John was just over 50 minutes and Fiona had a time of
58:37. As for Lynn – she’ll
never take a right turn on a triathlon again…………
Tempted?
It’s only £7 for all that fun and you can turn up on the
day, so call me for details if interested (01620 822137).
Catherine Archibald
