Ironman Wales, and Challenge Weymouth!

Lets go for ironman Wales first! James was aiming to complete his first ironman, as was tripurbeck Edd, Mark his second, and Tripurbeck Mandy was there due to unfinished business from last year! Fortunately the weather forecast was looking good, sunny and warm, though an unusual wind direction, which did a fantastic job of creating rather choppy sea conditions for both of these events! However, that didn’t stop these 4! Once out of the sea, they headed off to the bikes, and James went to work on the hills, and Mark was, well just on a mission, posting a great bike split. Unfortunately, both James and Mark have suffered from knee injuries this year, Mark being operated on only in August, so the run had to be approached by both with care, and they were sensible! Mark was the first to finish in 12hours, James not far behind in 13:06, then Edd in 15:16 and finally, Mandy, finished in 15:29. Race reports from Mark and James will be coming shortly!

Now to Weymouth! From goalspecific, we had Liz and Adam racing in the half, and myself in the long with Tripurbeck Coach Dave completing the run for me (Im getting there though, up to 30mins running!) From Tripurbeck we also had Jane Jonathon and Cheryl in the half, and simon completing his first iron distance event! I got down there at 6 ish and entering transition they said the start was delayed by 30mins and the full swim distance was going to be changed and shortened! So, racked bike, sorted myself and headed for the beach….seemed pretty flat the day before! Well, it was a long way from flat! There were a lot of worried faces on the shore. They shortened the long to 2km and when the hooter went off for the first wave, there seemed a lot of people that didn’t seem to move forward that much! Well I was up at 7:30, and I have swum in some rough conditions at bowleaze cove, ( which was great training for this!…thanks mark ), though I think because the beach is so shallow the breaking waves seemed relentless….And you had to get in twice! I have to say, I actually quite enjoyed the second lap, though cant say much about my stroke technique! However, there were a lot who didn’t even get in, and a fair few that had to be rescued. Unfortunately we had two casualties as well. Poor Liz had a swimmer next to her, who just threw up over her, which was awful, and having to stop, gradually brought on sea sickness for her, and she had to abandon the race and seek medical assistance…..really unlucky! And Cheryl got well and truly dumped on by a wave, significantly hurting her back to the extent she couldn’t swim and is now after physio treatment. Not good, and a clear indication of how rough it was. The rest of us got around, Adam seemed to cope with the conditions really well, posting a great swim time!

So, Simon was first onto his bike as he was in the first wave, then me, starting half an hour later, then the half distance athletes. Bike course was bumpy in places, and a bit of a battle with the wind, but at least it was dry. Fortunately, this time Adam had no mechanical issues, rode well, and finished with a solid run so his first half completed finishing in 6:13 and a great result! Jane, despite having a horrible run finished 3rd in her age group, and Jonathon put in a solid performance as well.

On the team front, I came in off the bike posting the fastest female age group bike split of the day, which considering I was un-tapered and had raced the day before, I was pleased with. Then Dave went to work on the run, posting 3:13 bringing us in 2nd team overall, and the first female team??

So overall, some fantastic racing from goalspecific and tripurbeck athletes…..time for some R and R!