Having put a ridiculous amount of pressure on myself to get around, and albeit secretly, get a half decent time I was determined not to get too stressed and enjoy the day. Arriving, registering, racking my bike etc on the Friday afternoon gave me plenty of time to mooch around the site, have a gander a the lake and worry about all the things that could go wrong(!)
I loaded myself with as much baked potato and pasta as I could before heading to the hotel to check in, arrange my drinks and gels and try to get a half decent night’s sleep. Turns out they ran out of food at the event not long after I left, so glad I got there when I did or it would have been Little Chef to the rescue, and nobody wants that. As predicted I didn’t get a great nights sleep – I’d love to say it was because the dog kept us awake (apparently dogs are allowed in Travelodges – who knew!) but it was the anxious, nervous excitement wreaking havoc with my zzzzzzzs.
When the alarm went off at 4am I was raring to go, full of adrenaline already. Once I’d got Jess out of bed and stopped her faffing (she was about to make a cup of tea 2 minutes before we were due to leave – as if I wasn’t conscious enough of the time!) we headed back to Rutland Water.
Rutland Water – Vitruvian swim start @ sunrise
I headed back to transition and sorted my shoes, gels etc out as soon as I could – I wanted as much time to relax as possible. It’s amazing how much the unknowns of a race can stress me out – I was the same before my first Olympic distance last year, but fine at every one I’ve done since.
Anyway, the time of pre-race bowel movements was nearing and right on cue I made acquaintance with the lovely portaloos.
Race briefing just outside transition was due – while waiting I noticed just how many bling TT bikes there were – far more than I’ve ever seen at any other race and a sign perhaps that this race wasn’t to be taken lightly. Once race briefing was over I headed into the lake – I was in the first wave, so it still wasn’t quite light at this point. The sludge underfoot was horrible but in a weird way soothing! I acclimatised as quickly as possible to try and avoid brain freeze. Soon enough the countdown began and off we went.
Vitruvian swim start
A few knocks to the head later, and after a stint of having the back of my thigh caressed (I appreciated the gesture, but there’s a time and a place!) I started to get into a rhythm. Then my insides decided they weren’t quite done with the portaloos. I find it weird enough peeing in a wetsuit, never mind pooing and so I had no intention of finding out what that sensation felt like.
That did however mean that the remaining 1500m or so of the swim was spent playing mind games with myself as I tried to keep the remainder or my breakfast where it was meant to be. The horizontal-vertical-horizontal movement of getting out of the water after the first lap and running back in for the second didn’t help but I made it all the way around without any sewage related issues. It took me a few seconds longer than planned to get out of the water because my entire left hamstring cramped up as I tried to get out – concerning to say the least. Luckily it was a one-off.
Swim time was 38 mins which I was a bit disappointed with – I know I can do a few minutes quicker relatively easily but in the grand scheme of a middle distance race it was a mere blip. Plus, 3 minutes is a small price to pay to avoid a very embarrassing brown situation in T1 as the wetsuit comes off. No more poo talk now I promise. My stomach settled after a couple minutes of being upright so no more to say on the matter. Phew!
End of the swim
The roads were generally good on the bike – I’ve read a lot of people complaining about traffic because the roads weren’t closed, but with another big event on nearby that weekend and the fallout of a major traffic incident the night before it wasn’t that bad considering. It was however, very windy. And I’m not talking about my “issues” again. I suspected this might cause a few problems, and as I’m still not quite used to the handling of my Planet X 82 front wheel, I held on for dear life going down the first big descent. The articulated lorry that overtook me at this point was terrifying – not because it was close but because of the effect it had on the crosswinds around me – almost sent me into the grass verge at what must have been approaching 50mph!
What I did find quite demoralising was that, because I was in the earliest wave and spent the first 20km or so of the bike doing a lot more overtaking than being overtaken, much of the remainder was spent being overtaken by the faster guys from the later waves. Of course this didn’t occur to me at the time and I just thought I was really slow. There were a lot of Army/Navy/RAF entrants and the majority of those are, as you’d expect, phenomenally fit. The big gears they would be in to fly past me were very impressive – and looking at the results they didn’t disappoint in the swim or run either.
The rest of the first lap was uneventful – I grinded up the big (unexpectedly big and deceptively long) hills, didn’t get stopped at the pedestrian crossing in Ketton and managed to clock 27mph on the electronic traffic speed sign! Lap 2 however was agony – and not my legs. I haven’t really done more than Olympic distance in the aero position, and after about 50km my neck and shoulders were screaming at me. I probably only spent half of the second lap in the aero position because of it, likely costing me 5-10 minutes. Bike lap times weren’t broken down so I don’t know for sure.
One thing worth mentioning was the t-junction that we were warned about in the race briefing. Marshalls were there with police, cones, red flags being waved etc. It was made very clear that if you acted dangerously at this point in particular, it would be a straight DQ and possible police action. Now I’m fine with that – safety has to be seen as a priority – I get it. What I didn’t get was why the marshals had been told to say to approaching racers, regardless of whether there was any traffic coming, “if you think it’s safe to go then go”. When I got there, I slowed down, got that shouted to me and watched an articulated lorry hurtle by. Of course it wasn’t safe to go! Surely it would have been safer for them to shout that it wasn’t safe rather than explicitly stating that it was up to me to make that decision?? Madness.
Anyway, bike time was 2:31 which I was really pleased with – I was thinking 2:40 at best.
I set off WAY too fast on the run, I think I was just glad to be off the bike and lapping up the support of the crowd, Jess included – who tried to embarrass me by shouting “you’re my hero” with a not-so-subtle hint of sarcasm that only Jess can manage! By the 1km sign my quads were threatening to cramp so I slowed it down a bit. It took ages, as it normally does, to get into a rhythm – normally it’s about 4 km in an Olympic race but this was more like 7km. Like the run i spent most of the first lap being overtaken by the forces, looking even more hardcore than they did on the bike! The run was out around the lake and back, twice. So in my head this was 4x 5km (plus a little bit extra) – that mindset worked well, and as I headed out on the second lap I felt really comfortable and was really excited about getting to the finish.
I’d seen an old TriCentral buddy, Matt, on the run – I didn’t know he was racing but did know he was a phenomenal runner and so was only a matter of time until he caught me. That came with about 4km to go, and I’m sure he won’t mind me saying – he looked terrible, much worse than I felt! He did though, catch and overtake me – read into that what you will! I stuck with him and actually broke away again until about 100m from the end where he sprint finished past me and pretty much collapsed over the finish line – good effort! I found the last 2km was really tough – I think my body knew the end was nearing and so was starting to act accordingly. I couldn’t wait to get to the finish line!
Edging towards the end of the run and the race!
Then those words I’d been waiting all day to hear – “number 86, Andy Heaps, you are a Vitruvian”. Relief, happiness, sense of achievement, pain and everything in-between. Jess and Noodle were at the finish line cheering me and taking photos (just Jess taking photos obviously!) so it was the perfect end to the mornings activity.
4 hours and 54 minutes later I am a Vitruvian!
My run time was 1:41, which amazingly is a new half-marathon PB for me! That brought me in, in a total time of 4:54 which is over half an hour quicker than I was hoping for – when Jess told me I was ecstatic – even though I looked far from it!
All in all, great event – I’m glad I picked it as my first middle distance. And an amazing goody bag too! If you’re thinking about stepping up from Olympic to middle, I can definitely recommend The Vitruvian.
