Hell of the West Race Report- by Colm

Pre race- Seven am - shower, bowl of porridge, toast and jam and 750ml of high five. I had a good laugh at mouse eating his fried egg, thinking who will be sick later. Down to transition a bit of a spin on the bike to check the wind on the deep section. To windy and a quick change of wheel.

Transition - The place is like fort Knox. They have all the racks numbered and they have it lay ed out so all clubs are beside each other( good idea). Cecilia has locked her keys in the car so a bit of a panic arises and spent 15 minutes arguing with someone who has taken her spot to f...k off. Eventually they realise they are in the wrong spot. Quick change and toilet stop. No sign of ceilia before the start so she must be stuck.


Swim time- 800 participants were in transitions and we all had to cross the mat to be counted out. We got caught at the back. I basically ran the length of the beech and dived into the water. I swam about 50 meters to the start buoy and the guy waved the flag. The thought crossed my mind that mc lynn and mouse were still chatting on the beech. The first 600 meters was into an onshore chop and against a pushing tide. I missed a pack of swimmers and a potential good draft. I ended swimming behind a large group on my own wasting energy. They eventually pulled away and I lost around 2 minutes. Mental thought - practice drafting. I was first of our boys out of the water with Mc lynn right behind me and mouse about 1.30 behind us.

Onto the bike. I passed a few on the first little hill and then Marty Grealish passed me on the bike. I decided to use Marty as my marker and kept him within sight for the outward leg and the wind on our backs. I passed around 20 in the first 10 k and then just kept picking them off one by one on the return into the wind. I passed Marty on the way back into kilkee and picked off a few more. I could barely see a couple of participants in the distance but had no chance of bridging across. I was on my own for the last 15 k into the wind. I was only passed by one rider all day so I knew I had a decent split on a tough day. Mc Lynn had a decent bike but mouse was disappointed with his time. When we checked his bike afterwards his back wheel was stuck to the frame. Hense the slow time.

Run - I was in around 15 place starting the run. The run basically starts at sea level and rises to over the first5 k. There was 470 feet of elevation gain. Not my type of run but the same for everyone.You turn around and run back 5 k back down to sea level. My plan was to run a 45 min 10 k. Its a tough course and I am no mean runner. My tool to execute the plan was my Garmin 310 xt. All I had to do was run 6 x 7.30 minute miles. I felt lik I was moving ok and decided to try and reach the turn with 7.45 miles pace. Mc lynn passed me like a mountain goat just after 3.5k. I was happy enough as last time he went by me after 1k. I was surprised that mouse hadnt passed me by the turn and when I finally did meet him I was still a kilometer ahead. A quick cange of pace on the downhill section and push as hard as possible. Quickly the Garmin went down under the 7.30 target pace to around 7.20. All in vain as I got the pat on the back at the bottom of the last rise with about 1k to go. I finished with a 7:25 pace and was delighted that I had done my target time. I was shocked when I saw my run spilt 46:54. School boy error there are 6.2 miles in a 10k. Got my pacing wrong. However, I was quite happy as I had knocked 11 minutes of my previous time in 2009 and placed 48.

My lynn stormed through the field like a mountain goat and posted a top ten run split. He picked up a penalty somewhere along the line and got demoted from 21st to 30th overall. Mouse stormed through the field on the run passing around 50 runners to place 46th. When you look at the size and quality of the field we didn't do too bad. Every athlete in the top 20 are regularly race winners so if Mc Lynn and mouse pick up there performance levels a little it wont be long until they are winning.

The hell of the west is the premier event on the calender. The strongest field without a doubt every year and the organisation is flawless. Excellent goddy bag, secure transition area, well marshaled, good atmosphere, good food, recovery area with loads of massage and according to Cecilia a great after party. In my opinion in comparison to last weeks event, last weeks event is the same price and that's where the comparison ends.

The hell of the west is what all events should be run like. The event is run for triathletes by triathletes and is worth every penny of the entry fee. A must do for everyone. The organisers know what everyone wants from a triathlon. If you have not done this event before I would recommend participating.