Hathersage Hilly 'Sprint' Don't know the times, but I'm happy.
So for anyone that doesn't know it, its in the Peak District and not strictly to sprint distance.
420m swim in an old imperial sized pool (14 lengths)
20km bike ride, which includes the 3mile ascent of Froggat Edge.
About 6km run, incorporating damn silly runs up and down farmland that used to be Millstone working areas. I reckon part of it was a route where they used to have a cable car /winch type system for moving the millstones - B*****y steep!!
Just happened that on the day, the summer finally arrived!
I can say the event had great organisation, although I approached this with great trepidation, everything about the organisation felt smooth, no complaints.
10 days before, I'd realised how close the event was, and that I hadn't swum in knocking on 3 months.... I managed to get a swim in the local pool and then found a local aquathon last Thursday! Even so, I got to the race with low expectations and therefore little pressure.
The swim would have been OK, If my goggles hadn't decided to do something they've never done before. In the first length the right seal fail and it started to fill up. and every time I turned at the far end of the pool, it flipped up! I ended up thinking 'stuff it' and swam with my right eye closed.
T1 was steady, but I'd organised well and it was smooth enough
The bike. Loved it. Overall I overtook more than overtook me and we ended up with a (non drafting) bunch of 4 of us chasing to T2
T2, Slow. I necked a gel and washed it down quickly. I knew it was a muddy trail race and had brought the relevant shoes. Unfortunately they have laces and my fingers wouldn't work! Eventually set off with the waterbottle.
Run. This is where the race REALLY gets its name. There's a fair ascent and it's predominantly in a short section. Just as you're feeling good and started to get the bike out of your legs, it's there! I did the fell runners walk and worked my way up. At the top I could see another coupl of guys were behind me. The stronger one I held the gate open for and let him go. The other slowly caught me, with mutters of "This is harder than I thought it'd be" At which point the descent started and I kicked. I like descents and I managed to get a good few seconds between us, which I kept right over the last to the finish line.
Approaching the race I'd sort of decided that this would be my only tri. During the race I was thinking "I'll not find another sprint as hard as this one"
Right now I'm filling in the entry for Matlock......
So for anyone that doesn't know it, its in the Peak District and not strictly to sprint distance.
420m swim in an old imperial sized pool (14 lengths)
20km bike ride, which includes the 3mile ascent of Froggat Edge.
About 6km run, incorporating damn silly runs up and down farmland that used to be Millstone working areas. I reckon part of it was a route where they used to have a cable car /winch type system for moving the millstones - B*****y steep!!
Just happened that on the day, the summer finally arrived!
I can say the event had great organisation, although I approached this with great trepidation, everything about the organisation felt smooth, no complaints.
10 days before, I'd realised how close the event was, and that I hadn't swum in knocking on 3 months.... I managed to get a swim in the local pool and then found a local aquathon last Thursday! Even so, I got to the race with low expectations and therefore little pressure.
The swim would have been OK, If my goggles hadn't decided to do something they've never done before. In the first length the right seal fail and it started to fill up. and every time I turned at the far end of the pool, it flipped up! I ended up thinking 'stuff it' and swam with my right eye closed.
T1 was steady, but I'd organised well and it was smooth enough
The bike. Loved it. Overall I overtook more than overtook me and we ended up with a (non drafting) bunch of 4 of us chasing to T2
T2, Slow. I necked a gel and washed it down quickly. I knew it was a muddy trail race and had brought the relevant shoes. Unfortunately they have laces and my fingers wouldn't work! Eventually set off with the waterbottle.
Run. This is where the race REALLY gets its name. There's a fair ascent and it's predominantly in a short section. Just as you're feeling good and started to get the bike out of your legs, it's there! I did the fell runners walk and worked my way up. At the top I could see another coupl of guys were behind me. The stronger one I held the gate open for and let him go. The other slowly caught me, with mutters of "This is harder than I thought it'd be" At which point the descent started and I kicked. I like descents and I managed to get a good few seconds between us, which I kept right over the last to the finish line.
Approaching the race I'd sort of decided that this would be my only tri. During the race I was thinking "I'll not find another sprint as hard as this one"
Right now I'm filling in the entry for Matlock......
