Mullaghmore Sprint Tri

Bambaata

Anyone competing in this on Saturday? I'm really looking forward to it. Recent training hasn't been great and i've found out i'm a tad bit fatter than i should be (BF%) but there's nothing like a good race to get the mind back on track!

Anyone like to comment on the course? It's my first time at it. Fingers crossed the weather holds up too.

kennyb3

Bambaata wrote: »

i've found out i'm a tad bit fatter than i should be (BF%) quote]

pardon my nosiness but what is your %?

Bambaata

12.7%. ive been very bad with my diet lately. too many people keep bringing sweets and other nastys back to the office from their annual leave but i've decided enough is enough and i'm going to resist in future. I know its still below the general popoulation and i'm certainly not overweight but i'm at the upper end of where athletes should be (6% - 13% or so Wikipedia says). Had hoped to get below 10 for tri season time and i'd say i wasat that only 4 or 5 weeks back!

HardyEustace

I'm doing it.

I'm fat as well :-( In fact I'm 9 pounds heavier than I was last year <<sigh>>

Ok - course

Swim

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Sheltered but last year was fairly choppy and a bit cold. Running start from the beach which I wasn't crazy about. I'm a weak swimmer, even more so last year but did feel very "safe" due to the number of marshals and how the sheltered the bay is.

Cycle

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Relatively flat but a bit boring, the cycle on the peninsula is grand but the middle bit where you're cycling on the hard shoulder is a bit boring and energy sapping if the wind is blowing

Run

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Lovely, lovely, lovely, absolutely adored it last year. Really nice finish and plenty of local support.

My favourite race of the year.

Bambaata

Thanks HardyEustace. Thats a nice run down. I'm really looking forward to a beach start. I havent done one before so it should be interesting.

HardyEustace

Bambaata wrote: »

12.7%. ive been very bad with my diet lately. too many people keep bringing sweets and other nastys back to the office from their annual leave but i've decided enough is enough and i'm going to resist in future. I know its still below the general popoulation and i'm certainly not overweight but i'm at the upper end of where athletes should be (6% - 13% or so Wikipedia says). Had hoped to get below 10 for tri season time and i'd say i wasat that only 4 or 5 weeks back!

How are you measuring your fat?

Bambaata

i got a skinfold test done in a lab yesterday. was doing a max power/lactate session for a guy in trinity so got a full medical etc too

mloc123

Bambaata wrote: »

i got a skinfold test done in a lab yesterday. was doing a max power/lactate session for a guy in trinity so got a full medical etc too

Did the same test last week

HardyEustace

Cool!

Actually the fourth part of the race - pub afterwards is brilliant. Everyone is very friendly, good band and a lovely relaxed atmosphere.

I'm saying a secret prayer for good weather. Would love to spend the afternoon on the beach with the times. (in a bikini, weather permitting)

wellboss

I'm also signed up for this, it's a good race alright, some nice hills on the run to test the legs. Really nice down hill towards the end. Great race and looking forward to it

Bambaata

so everyone set? I see its an open transition. is there any gains to be had in having the bike at any certain parts of that?

HardyEustace

Not distance wise, transition is neutralised.

Bambaata

what time is everyone getting there for?

Seres

good luck all on sunday

pgibbo

Good luck to you all in Mullaghmore. I hear the forecast is quite good for the weekend too which is a big plus. Enjoy it!

Bambaata

yup its looking like it'll be fine. just abotu to get home and set off myself. best of luck to all. looking forward to all your race reports ;-)

MCOS

Best of luck in Mullaghmore guys... conditions look good, should be a good race. Bambaata for another top 10 methinks

Bambaata

just home now. nice race. the swim was tough. I've badly neglected swimming the past few weeks and it showed on the day. I was a little late getting to the start line so i didn't get to test the water which i really regretted 200m in as the goggles weren't right. There was a long enough steep hill to scale out of the water to T1. According to the text i got i had a 13:45 swim and good enough for 44th.

Got onto the bike and same across some poor guy who had crashed into one of the cones (i think). He seemed ok though. The cycle was uneventful for me. After the turnaround i saw a group of about 20 riding in a pack!! There were no marshals up the course. I had a guy cling to my wheel for too long. I tried to make it clear i wasn't having any of it but every few mins he was back. Eventually i put a little extra into a hill and lost him. I traded a good few places on the bike in the first half but reeled all back in and made a lot of clear ground behind, bar 1 guy, going into T2. According to the text i had a 34:39 combined T1 and cycle and that was good enough for 9th.

T2 time was 0:52. That 1 guy i entered T2 with passed me in the transition but he wasnt in cycling shoes. The run was hard enough. There were about 2 or 3 nasty sharp climbs which really killed the legs. I wouldn't be a great runner and 1 guy came storming past. I then had two other catch me but with trying to keep with them i managed to catch 1 and caught up to the guy who was ahead of me in transition. I managed to pass him and gain about 200m on him in the final 1.5km and finished comfortably. Run time was 18:42 (obviously a little short) and that put me 16th on the run.

Total time was 1:07:59 and placed me 14th. I was aiming for a top 20 so happy with that. The standard was certainly better than Athy Sprint so i never thought a top 10 was going to be possible.

Its was an enjoyable race. Nice people around and great food afterwards in the local hotel. Nice to get a proper hot meal into the belly. I wish all races would follow that lead.

pgibbo

Congrats Bambaata. 14th place overall is pretty damn impressive! :cool:

Bambaata

thanks pgibbo. its true what they say: winters miles = summer smiles! I was far far off the times im recording this year in 2008 when i did a few duathlons and 2 tris. Looking forward to Kilkee this week but i don't think I'll be anywhere near top 20 at it!

wellboss

Well done bambaata, you beat me (17th) by a few places, you weren't to far ahead of me off the bike but i had an awful run (bad stitch for about 3-4 km) and i couldnt get rid of it until near the end and everybody that I could see ahead got further and further away. but i agree it was definitely short of the 5km.

Good race over all, start of the swim was nuts with everybody heading for the bouy only about 100m out, i got pulled under plenty of times all part of the fun tho

next up kilkee, it's gona be a good one, here's hoping for the weather

MCOS

Well done Bambaata, great result and seems like you have come on leaps and bounds from last year!

Bambaata

congrats wellboss. really prayign the weather is good for Kilkee!!

richiemack

Thoroughly enjoyed the race myself, apart from the fact that I ran to the start line with 10 seconds to go, struggled to get my cap on and legged it into the water without thinking about anything. found the swim long, and only realised about 2/3rds the way through that I had totally lost my stroke. I couldnt figure out why I was going so slow, then managed to relax myself and finished a little more refreshed, but with a terribly long time of 18mins. Next time I'll be waiting on the start line and getting properly focused!!! Its very true what Ive heard about tactics and mental preparation

pgibbo

Are the results available on any site for this race? Had a quick google but could not find them. Cheers.

Bambaata

yup - http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=rud9AXt7IHsdDLFKrY5xV8Q&output=html

their website is http://www.msctri.com/