Focus Ireland Triathlon now a Duathlon!!

Bambaata

The Focus Ireland triathlon on Sunday that was scheduled for a swim in the Grand Canal Dock has now been changed to a duathlon with only a 1.2km run to start!! They had water tests done and due to the heavy rainfall the tests did not meet standards required!

Anyone think 1.2km run to start is a tad bit short!! Thats almost like a run into transition to get the bike! It should be at least 3 or 4km.

blorg

Ha, speak for yourself, I'm a cyclist first, a swimmer second and a runner twenty-fourth!

Very disappointed but I guess what can they do.

I'd prefer they upped the bike bit to an 180km Ironman distance while leaving the run at 5k personally

hunnymonster

with 3 cat1 climbs thrown in for good measure Blorg?

Glad to see the issue of water quality being taken seriously though. I've swum through way too much **** (quite literally) recently!

blorg

hunnymonster wrote: »

with 3 cat1 climbs thrown in for good measure Blorg?

Indeed, that would be fine, but the extra 1.2km on the run has me worried already!

Just rented the wetsuit yesterday

Seriously though, I think it's understandable that they didn't stick a 5km run on the beginning of this, many people (myself included!) might not be too comfortable with doing 2x the amount of running we were expecting. Running is tough stuff if you are not used to it, and I'm sure there will be a lot of first timers.

Bambaata

i think 1.2km is crazy though. theres goig to be a lot of people entering transition together i feel. possibly not 5km but at least 2.5/3 would preak up the pack a bit more

novocaine1

i'm very dissapointed it's been changed, but suppose it is better that they are taking the water standard seriously.

Defo think the 1.2k run is too short - its only 3 laps of a track! there will defo be too many people in transition. 2.5k would have been a happy medium i think.

what are ppls plans for the 1.2k - just sprint it i suppose!?

Bambaata

im bloody legging it anyway. barely break a sweat over that distance if i ran normally. luckily i put myself in wave 3 (didnt wana go with the leading pack so put a slow swim time in) so i'd be hoping i'd be fitter than most in it so i should be towards the top of it on that run

novocaine1

i'm the same bambaata, in wave 3 so hoping to be out the front of that one and avoid too much congestion.

was all set to stay off the booze tonight cos was psyched for the tri, seem to have lost my motivation since the swim was cancelled. pints are calling me now! :P

blorg

I've lost all motivation, will be out for a long one in the mountains tomorrow! Oh, pints too.

tracto

Its a real shame. They were taking a big risk hosting there in the first place but unfortunately it didnt work out. Dont think i'll bother now (swimming is my one and only strength ) and theres a duathlon in the park next week that will be more than enough for me.

It would be nice if this drew some media attention to the disgraceful state of the country's waterways but i doubt it will.

blorg

@tracto- that's hardly the spirit. I'm disappointed myself, I was looking forward to the swim, was down in the pool only yesterday working on my stroke (which at the kindest could be described as "efficient," e.g. slow but doesn't wreck me )

With the change I've decided to not bother tapering and am going to go out for our normal Saturday cycle up the mountains. But I'll still take part tomorrow and I'm sure it will be a good morning's racing with a good atmosphere (hopefully a not too wet atmosphere.) I'd still take part even if they chucked the cycling and made it 10k run plus a darts competition!

Bruce11

Where is this information from??? Looked at the Focus website and its not sayin anything.

Killgore Trout

tracto wrote: »

Its a real shame. They were taking a big risk hosting there in the first place but unfortunately it didnt work out. Dont think i'll bother now (swimming is my one and only strength ) and theres a duathlon in the park next week that will be more than enough for me.

It would be nice if this drew some media attention to the disgraceful state of the country's waterways but i doubt it will.

Done a couple of swims in the Liffey over the last year and it's surprisingly grand. once the rain starts washing all the cráp off the streets and into the river it's a different story - Problem is it would be difficult to get the storm water drains to drain elsewhere

Bambaata

Bruce11 wrote: »

Where is this information from??? Looked at the Focus website and its not sayin anything.

I got this email:

Dear Participant,

We have just received this week’s water quality test results for Grand Canal Basin which show that the water quality in Grand Canal Basin does not meet EU Bathing Water Regulations this week due to the recent very heavy rainfall. Therefore, for the safety of participants, we will run the race as a run-cycle-run rather than a swim-cycle-run. We are very disappointed with the results as over the past 5 months the water quality has been well within EU Bathing Water Regulations.



The event will now take place as a Duathalon which will involve a 1.2k run, followed by a 20k cycle and a 5k run. For many I know this will be a disappointment; however I hope you understand that we have made this decision in the interest of your safety.



The race will start at 9am as planned and we will provide a full brief for you on race day. Swimmers who are part of a team can choose to take part in the short run or to stand down and allow their runner complete the 1st and 3rd leg of the course.

On behalf of Focus Ireland I would like to assure you that the race will go ahead as a Duathalon and will be fun, fair and safe. Robbie Kane from Q102 will be on site to ensure you cross the finish line, over 125 volunteers will be in place to assist on race day and your goody bags are packed and ready to go. If you have any further questions on the event or the information above please do not hesitate to give me a call.

I will look forward to meeting you on Sunday morning

Best wishes and thank your for your continued support.

Anais Daly

Bruce11

A mate of mine was meant to be doing the event, he is totally p*ssed off that the swim is off as he was training hard to improve his swim technique for this tri.

Will tell him to look up his e-mail so as he said he heard nothing. On another note, will the Docklands Aquathon take place if the water is not right now?

blorg

Reckon I got at least 2 (maybe 3!) Cat 1s in there today on our Boards spin with a fair few 2,3 and 4s, 167km in all with 2,500m climbing. Weather turned fantastic after a bit of rain in the morning.

All psyched up now for the race tomorrow (Needless to say I am unlikely to be racing at fantastic speeds tomorrow!)

911sc

Blorg,
What would be a "reasonable" time for such a cycle?
I am new to cycling (just bought a bike few months ago) and the most i have done so far in one session is about 40km @ 29kmh average as part of my training for the Duathlon series in Phoenix Park. So, i am looking for ball park figure to aim for so that i don't embarrassed myself too much next year on longer distances.

Bambaata

well this morning went well enough. i was a bit pissed off at the marshals. too many times i had to slow down on the cycle because people were hogging the road with no way past. out of about 10 instances of that 1 marshal had the cop on to scream at the dude blocking me. then on the first cycle lap turning point the marshals were waaaaay too weak. i followed a pack as did about 10 others and we ended up on the run course!! We had to get off our bikes and clamber under the dividing tape. then on my last lap i was directed that way again and the response i got when asking the marshal at the point was "I don't know" when i asked should i really be going that way!! Turned out it was the run back in route.

Another poor oversight was the wave times. We started in 1 minute intervals which meant the course was severely cramped. As i thought the 1.2km (or whatever it was) first run (due to the cancelled swim) was way too short.

Aside from that i enjoyed it. Last run was fine. I didn't push enough on it though and had too much energy left in the tank at the end. I think i finished about 1:10 or so but cant really remember the time when i came through. I remember finishing and talking to a few people for a while and when i remembered to look at the time it was 1:14 and i started in wave 3 so i could take 2 minutes off that anyway.

Anyone else do it? What ye think and how did ye get on?

novocaine1

Well done bambaata,was a nice mornings racing. I had similar probs with marshalls etc so no point repeating.thought the bike course wasn't great but enjoyed the run. Finished in 1.14 I think. Anyone know where we get the times?

And excuse the ignorance but what are cat1's!?

blorg

Well done both of you. I got around in 1h16 (got that time from one of the race organisers.) I was unlucky enough to have my chain stick and then fall off requiring me to stop twice and in the second case turn the bike upside-down scuffing my nice Brooks saddle OK, so that is my excuse out of the way

I was told that the times (presumably with splits) should go up on the website and I believe all times from TI sanctioned events go up there too, definately with splits (correct me if I'm wrong.)

Cat1 is a climb classification in cycle racing, things got a bit derailed there. Not generally relevant if the course is flat!

@911sc- I would think 29km/h average over 40km is very good, especially if you are not drafting. Certainly won't embarrass yourself there. I clocked 33.5km/h average on the bike bit today (that is moving speed, excluding my chain mechanicals.) Heart rate was at an average of 93.7%!

EDIT: 911sc- just noticed you said you were new to cycling, in that case that average is excellent, bording on the stupendous! Well done!

griffin100

This was going to be my first tri so I was hugely dissapointed at the lack of a swim. Other than that I had a great day. I didn't have to worry about course directions and cycling on the run course like the others as there were lots of cyclists in front of me to follow given that I wasn't a pacesetter.

One thing that I didn't like was the cycling route. I thought the road surfaces were brutal especially heading towards the Point Depot. On my first lap three marshalls were screaming at me about a pot hole under one of the little bridges on the locks on the north quays so I steered around the pothole I thought they were talking about and hit an even bigger one that I was lucky to come out off - a traffic cone would actually have been safer as you could have seen it a mile away and the hole was big enough to warrant it. Given that I was on a borrowed tri bike I was extremely relieved to get through that incident. I was dissapointed with my cycle time taking just over the 53 minutes to do the course when in training I was doing 20km in 45 minutes, although I did take it very easy on the twisty bits around the start finish area. I have to say I was hugely impressed with the other guys on the bike leg and the speed at which they travelled. I was overtaken by the winner a couple of times and he was feckin flying!

My run was better and I did my quickest ever 5km so all in all finished in just under the hour and a half. Not the quickest by a long shot but given that I was 16.5 stone 13-14 weeks ago when I started training (and before then hadn't done any exercise in years) and couldn't run 100m I was happy enough Roll on next month when I will hopefully be doing the Loughrea Triathalon (I was luck enough to get one of the extra 100 places released).

One thing that I was a bit peed off about was that I got a 2 minute penalty and I have no idea why. I can only think that it was because I got lost in transition and had to run my bike between racks to get to my space - is that allowed? I did overtake a runner at the start of the no overtaking stretch on the Irishtown Bridge but he was walking and I wasn't slowing down to walk behind him until he decided to start running again so I went around him but we were only just coming up to the no overtaking sign. I assume high fiving my son as I ran out of transition is not classed as outside help so they couldn't have penalised me for that, right? When on the bike I was careful not to draft and not to overtake on the bridge and the narrow stretch of the quays by the pedestrian bridge like we were asked, but I was one of the few who did as everytime I slowed down in these stretches so as not to overtake the person in front of me I was overtaken. If anyone knows how to find out why I was penalised can they let me know. It didn't make any real difference to my time but if I am doing another one I would not like to make the same mistake again.

blorg

I honestly had no problem with the marshalls whatsoever. On both bike and run it was very clear to me where I had to go, and I can assure you my brain was melting at some points!

The road surface was what it was; I've done enough cycling on Irish roads to be used to this sort of thing. Really more an indictment of Irish roads, not much the race organisers can do about that. I tried to point out anything I avoided to whoever was behind me. I thought it was a good course, very flat and with very straight sections, really possible to get up to a good speed.

Where exactly were the no-overtaking spots? I know on the run it was the East-Link bridge (understandable as the bridge was not closed) - on the cycle I was under the impression it was just that one bridge? And presumably on corners? I was careful not to overtake on the bridge. Other than that I overtook all over the place and didn't have any trouble doing it, I'd yell "on your right" or "on your left" if it was looking in any way hairy so they'd know where I was going to be. Didn't need to cross the line either.

Worked fine for me and as I was in the last wave and more a cyclist than a runner I overtook god knows how many people (only to be overtaken back on the final run ). I recall overtaking the girl who came third but she got back ahead of me after my chain came off on the final lap. Not sure but I think I might have got ahead again before the end of the bike bit (my brain was on auto-pilot at this stage.) Saw the male winner coming in the other direction a few times and flying he most certainly was!

I know they were under a lot of pressure and were short on volunteers; I think they did very well indeed, couldn't fault the organisation myself. Great atmosphere too, I will certainly do more of these! (Just need to work on the running, had only managed three training runs this year.)

Bambaata

congrats lads. I hope to do Loughrea too (work dependant!) so might see you down there griffin100

niall2j

This was supposed to be my first full sprint tri (after doing the Athlone try-a-tri) so I was gutted the swim got cancelled but I have to say once we got started, I completely forgot about it. It's such a buzz going round the course, trying to make a good time - I really enjoyed it!

I quite liked the course to be honest; I managed to avoid most potholes and the shorter cycle circuit gives the friends and family plenty to see as there's a good stream of people going around. I also thought things were well marshalled, especially since they were so dependent on inexperienced volunteers.

I was thinking, it was such a good setting for a triathlon (especially if the swim had gone ahead) - but will they probably avoid ever having it there again on account of what happened this year with the water?

Bambaata

yeah maybe it will need to move. i suppose it depends how often that water is unsuitable. im not sure how it is tested and how many times it has passed but i'm sure that would help make the decision. i think its most important they select a venue that will not effect it like this again. it was my first sprint tri 2 yrs back so if it had happened on my first tri i would have been extremely disappointed

griffin100

The road surface was what it was; I've done enough cycling on Irish roads to be used to this sort of thing. Really more an indictment of Irish roads, not much the race organisers can do about that. I tried to point out anything I avoided to whoever was behind me. I thought it was a good course, very flat and with very straight sections, really possible to get up to a good speed.

I did all of my training on rural roads around Carlow so thought I had seen it all. At least their were no dogs running out of farm gateways to put me off:D I think that I was a little nervous given that I was on a borrowed bike so was worried about damaging it so was taking it easy over the rough bits. I wont be so genteel next time.

Where exactly were the no-overtaking spots? I know on the run it was the East-Link bridge (understandable as the bridge was not closed) - on the cycle I was under the impression it was just that one bridge? And presumably on corners? I was careful not to overtake on the bridge. Other than that I overtook all over the place and didn't have any trouble doing it, I'd yell "on your right" or "on your left" if it was looking in any way hairy so they'd know where I was going to be. Didn't need to cross the line either.

On the cycle the narrow bit beside the pedestrian bridge on the south quays and the Custom House Bridge were no overtaking spots afaik. On the run the bridge over the canal leading down into Ringsend / Irishtown was also signed as no overtaking.

I too though the marshals were good and you could have a good bit of banter with them, especially as you crawled around the run course and they shouted encouragement at you:P

blorg

Thanks griffin; I didn't overtake in any of those spots! Only place I came somewhat close was overtaking someone at the transition area- only just got past him as I was going around the corner.

I did go around the cycle course beforehand so I had an idea of what to expect

blorg

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