National middle distance champs-well done to Eamonn, Colm and Joe who all finished well in the recent national middle distance (half ironman/ 70.2) race; below is a race report from Colm which gives an insight into what is involved, with the jump in numbers in the club next year should see even more people attempting the distance:
"I entered this race 2 weeks ago. I wanted to give the distance another shot before the end of the season. I enjoyed Swinford (half ironman) immensely, I particularly enjoyed the mind games and the fact that I felt I have loads more to give. That's the thing with triathlon and my mind I always feel I have more improvements to make that keeps me coming back for more. The other reason for being here is mouse mc andrew (aka Eamonn), an old mate and serious party animal chewing my ear to enter. Nothing like a bit of friendship rivalry to spur us on. We had to travel up on Saturday and ended up above a nightclub venue in newtownards. Lesson one don't let mouse book the hotel. It wasn't to bad apart from the heart palpatations about the bikes being nicked. Anyway a monster meal and a good nights sleep once the disco ended and we were on the way.
We had enough time to drive the course on the morning of the race as the race didn't start until 12. A bit of a joke forcing people to register the day before and no registration on the day. More expense. When we scanned the couse during the ironman race we both comented that there was no marshals on the bike course for the ironman race.
Anyway back to transition and the usual bike tinkering and just make transition with a couple of minutes to spare. When I was laying out my bike gear, I quickly realised that I had forgotten my homemade flapjacks. That left me with four gels and 1.5 l of zim. I had no time to go back so I figured I could get some solids at the aid station.
The starter called us down for the swim start and a quick scan of the course it looked slightly short. The water was like a swimming pool. It was a beech start so I positioned myself at the front. Horn goes, run, 2 dolfin dives sprint for 150 meters and start looking for some nice feet to toe me around. What no feet was my first reaction. I was stuck in no mans land. I went around the first 2 bouys in 4 th place. The leaders were gone. Eventually I saw what I was looking for a perfect long smooth stroke with very little kicking passing 10 meters to my left. Quick acceleration and lock into position and my lift home. I drafted of the same feet until a lack of concentration when I lost my lift about 100m from home. I exited the water with a group of five or six in around 25 mins I think I had a reasonble swim and a quick scan of the pulse monitor showed a heart rate of 150 so all under control. Mouse wasn't too far behind only 3 minutes and fair play to joe Watters a man who has only just learned to swim was out well up the field.
Uneventfull transition. A bit slow. Make sure not to forget anything and onto the bike. The bike was a fair course. Good road surfaces. Plenty of draggy roads. no major climbs and some small
Villages to navigate. I backed off a little on the bike in Swinford because of lack of training but I rode at a high tempo level at the weekend. The idea was to try and pace of anyone who passes. 93k can be a long way and I can sometimes fall asleep and back off the pace. My average speed was 35k ph for the 93 k or 2:41 mins which was quite fast compared to Swinford but I really struggled on the last lap. I was hungry and dropped a bottle of energy drink at the last feed station. I paced of Mike O Brien from Limerick and kept him in sight for 2 laps or 40 miles. On the last lap I got passed by 3-4 riders and kept them in sight but I was really struggling. I was glad to get off the bike as the neck was getting sore. The most notable thing about the bike was that there was only a handfull of marshals. Maybe 6-8 and no stopping traffic. Every roundabout, juntion, crossroads and village had to be navigated solo. The other thing were annoying flying ants that were all over your face. I had the 12 fastest bike split and was in the top 10 at the start of the run. On the first loop of the run I met mouse on his way back. I reckon I had about ten mins lead not really enough I thought with the way he runs. You don't care because you have enough to worry about trying to finish.
Started brightly enough on the run and with the sun in my face I was ploding along. I got a swarm of ants in my face and was trying to remove one of the bloddy things from my eyes as I was trudging along. I thought to myself were was everyone gone and then I caught sight of a runner coming towards me. When I reached the runner he informed me I was running on the ironman course. My turn was into the caravan park way back. I had passed the little bit of illuminous paint that was directing us. I don't think the organisers factored in flying ants and sun in the eyes. The worst thing is I had warned mouse when passing the turn before the race not to miss it. I reakon I went of course by 2k but worse again I started feeling sorry for myself and was contemplating droping out. It took me a couple of gels and 5-7k to re focus on just finishing. The run was someting you would expect in an adventure race. Tarmac, sand, coastal paths which were like running over the top of the mountain on the warriors run. Rocks sticking out of the ground. The run was dangerous and the most striking thing is if somone got injured there was no chance of first aid. I kept plodding along and the most pleasing thing is that the only stop was a toilet stop. I really strugled in Swinford and had to walk-shuffle the last 7k. Once I got over the self pity I was very comfortable, probably a little too comfortable. I had a slow run 2:09 and the slowest first lap split. After looking at my run pace I reackon I lost ten minutes. The mouse man would have sailed by me at around 15k. Just like damien at Swinford. Mouse had a stormer and finished in 23 spot in his first middle distance race the national championships. Its scary to think what he will do this time next year. We spotted joe coming through transtion starting his secound lap and he looked very comfortable with about 7 k to go. Joe went on to finish comfortable and for a man to complete a tough half while only learning to swim last year. Joe gets major kudus in my eyes. Fair play.
Overall the race had a good vibe. Good bike course and a tough run. It would be very easy for us to run races if we just painted signs on the road or put up directional arrows. For a national championships I felt it was a bit disapointing. Swinford was better organised and you always knew where you were. Maybe 20 marshals for a half ironman and I say we had 3 times the amount for our sprint. The winner of the ironman crossed the line and his first comment was he got lost a couple of times!"
Pos: 23 Race no: 122 Eamon McAndrew Sligo M 30-34 SWIM 00:28:01 T1 00:02:24 BIKE 02:46:50 T200:01:53 RUN 01:42:31 TOTAL 04:59:12
Pos: 52 40 Race no: Colm Casey Sligo M 30-34 SWIM00:25:21 T100:01:50 BIKE 02:41:38 T200:02:17 RUN 02:09:25 TOTAL05:18:40
Pos:156 Race no:213 Joe Waters Sligo M 50-54 SWIM 00:38:19 T1 00:04:18 01BIKE 03:32:10 00:01:58 00:17:25 RUN02:10:03 06:22:28
Full results and a link to a bit of news footage from the event are on the new and improved TI website (click here).
