Galway Triathlon (Carna)

Bambaata

Anyone here doing this on Saturday coming? I'm looking forward to this one. It has a very challenging run course (lumpy to say the least) and from memory it is very open to wind which make it a challenging bike/run.

Macanri

Hi Bambaata,

I am "supposed" to be doing this - Mrs M has put a wee spanner in the works! Will be my first olympic distance if I do.

I think pgibbo may be doing it also.

Bambaata

Good to know there may be a few from here. Weather seems it will be ok too. Pity it wont be getting last years sunshine.

Bambaata

pgibbo, are you in?? How are negotiations going Macanri??

I like the late/suitable start time (11:00)! 7:30 start in Athlone was not so good!

Weather update:

Saturday will start off bright with sunny spells and well scattered showers. Highs 17 to 20 C. But during the afternoon and evening, cloud will increase from the Atlantic and bring rain to western coastal counties.

Fingers crossed those showers don't arrive early! I got a nice dose of sunburn last year and id like more of that please!

warp_speed

Has anyone seen the results up yet? Everyone enjoy the swim??!! Real pity about the swim, what a race overall. My first time doing it.

Bambaata

No results as of yet which is strange as red tag timing have results up already of another race they timed yesterday. Not very pleased with the (2.1/2.2km) swim at all. Ill do a full report tomorrow

groovyg

I've never done the Kilkee race but after that very very long swim and the cycle into a head wind for most of it ..Hell of the West II came to mind alot during yesterdays race. Enjoyed it though - beautiful part of the country

warp_speed

Most would say that Carna is more difficult than Kilkee. The Beast is another story! Fortunately now I've done all of them.

The half hour delay could have been a factor in the swim. I was talking to one of the lifeboat guys after in the pub, he put a measure (knots) on the tide going out and he said it was very strong. I thought I wasn't moving on the way back in it took so long. Almost everyone was swimming to the wrong buoy after the first turn, they were just too small for a single lap swim.

I really don't want to be too critical and don't think anyone should be. The organisers here did put in a lot of effort to put on a great race., they know the swim was a disaster. Swimming is not my strong point but fortunately I've improved this season and a 2k+ swim wouldn't affect me too badly. I feel bad for the less experienced that would struggle normally on the swim and took an hour to come out of the water. I believe there were quite a few taken out of the water that had to retire.

To cycle and run through that scenery was special. Having to cycle around locals loading turf onto a trailer and dodge cattle on the road on the run just added to it.

Bambaata

Did anyone get a look at any results sheets after it? I had to leg it so didnt get a chance. They took their time getting the results up on redtagtiming (usually they are very quick) and they don't have any of the splits so im hoping there isnt an issue there. I'm gonna hold off on a report til splits are released

pgibbo

Hi Guys,
Just seeing this now. The result are up on the red tag site.

Yes I did the race. Man that was one hell of a swim. Tough bike with the wind too I thought. And that run down the hill at the turnaround is just sick!

I was gutted when I got out of the water to see 0:59 on the clock. I found it hard to dig in for the rest of the race, especially the run.

How did you all get on?

mitresize5

how was the swim over 2K - that seems like a huge amount over the 1500M - how is that possbile - was it advertised as a 2K swim?

groovyg

The tide was going out by the time the race started and as a result the buoys got blown way out. I'm not sure if there will be chip times, I notice with my chip the only time it beeped was at the turnaround on the run and at the finish.

locteau

Hi Guys,

was coaching on the day and really enjoy the race, great atmosphere and great buzz.

Ok the swim was longer, but like every sports events things happen and the safety was there to take control of the problem. yes it was long but it is not everyday that a race was made for swimmers

After this the Galway crew did a fantastic job on the day and there is a big potential in this event, and I am sure it can only get better and better.

Again was a great day, great venue, superbe goodie bags and food after.

you have a A1 from me the Galway crew......

Seb

mloc123

The swim seems to have really split the results alright, 10minutes between 2nd and third place

mcnicho

Hi,

Sorry for the swim guys. La Feile Mhic Dara a festival was on the day before and it looks like we the the boat guys were out the night before. I talked to them on the Monday the week of the race re-confirming they would be there on time. The first boat showed up an hour and a half late, the second boat (the rib) 2 hours late. The delay in the start stung us, under pressure we were trying to put the course together and we didn't have enough of time to recalculate and correct mistakes. The size and number of buoys was was also substandard.

Next year we are going to change the swim. The anchor buoys for boats in the middle confuse people and the swell is too rough on the far side of the current course. The kayakers get too spread out and you need loads of buoys which are in short supply from TI because of the increase in the number of races the same weekend. We are considering putting the swim circuit where the first buoy was and getting those big fat 6' orange buoys as markers. This year the money is not being donated to the lifeboat fund. We will be putting the money in to facilities and other personal for the race. Next year the sub-aqua are bringing their rib so we will have more boats.

Tony.

Bambaata

Last year I put Carna and Hell of the West as two of my hardest races. This year’s Hell of the West date didn’t suit so I was going down to Carna to try and "beat" the course (i.e. be happy with my performance and not die a death). Did it happen, no.....I got pulverised this time!!

Pre-Race
I stayed not too far away and good a good sleep in the night before. I headed down good and early to get a good spot in transition as it was on a "first come first served" basis as per the briefing notes. In the end Galway Tri/volunteers had a nice spot reversed and everyone else was pushed down towards the sea. I wasn't happy with this and neither was another competitor who challenged the "rule" which seemed lubricious. It seemed like those who arrived early were being punished so we both took our bikes back out and played the waiting game till the spots filled up. I waited about 20 - 30 mins and eventually racked my bike where I wanted to rack it in the first place. The start was put back 30 mins to 11:30 and as they put out the buoys I heard that there was a strong current, lovely!

Swim:
Off we went in 1 large group. I didn’t enjoy the swim again. I don’t know what has happened but I feel like I’m about to panic OW swimming now. I had to stop again and relax which is really peeing me off now! I just don’t feel comfortable in my wetsuit. Took me a while to get over that and eventually got going. Grabbed some feet for a time but then had people coming in on me from both sides. Got some elbows in the head and decided to go for clearer water. This happened about 3 or 4 times through the swim for some reason! It wasn’t as though things were bunched but I had to just try get away each time I saw a bunch unfolding. We turned the first buoy and all followed the leaders. Low and behold we were going the wrong way and had to take a detour back out to a buoy that seemed far too far away! I can understand how it was missed as it seemed very far out. I didn’t have a notion of time but was getting worried that I was in the water longer than usual. When I turned the 2nd buoy I immediately felt the current. It was strong!!! It seemed like forever and I even took a moment to look back. I didn’t see many and thought my detour had meant I was in the bottom 10 or 20 and began to really feel like crap. Out of the water and I saw 41mins! I was devastated, race over I thought, i knew i was weak on the swim compared to bike/run but i would have thought i’d break 30mins! Then I realised there were quite a few bikes still there and so I kept going. I heard a few people giving out about a “HIM swim” and so it dawned on me that I had done way more than 1.5km! My GPS has it at 2.35 and knowing it isn’t 100% I mapped it last night to 2.1/2.2km. So a long swim was had by all!!

Bike
This bike course is pure evil. The first 6 – 10km is a blur as the tailwind pushes you down the main road. Then you turn onto the bog road and this is where the race starts!! There aren’t any big climbs but there are loads of sharp ones and into the wind it was horrible. At one point on a flattish section I had to check that my breaks were off as I was barely moving into the wind!! I passed a few and got passed once and for the last 20km I had a lonely solo ride.

Run
The run here is as bad as HOW if not worse! The first 2km are up and up and up! I decided to take it really easy to ensure I was strong once I got over it. Finally I got to a flat section and tried to take off but here’s where the course annihilated me. I stitched immediately. I looked at my HR which was only 138 and just had to stop. This had never happened to me and has worried me a lot! I just could move, not even walk! I had had three gels and 750ml’s of drink through the race (1:45 – 1:50 point) but I had to actually stop! My mind was in bits! I had never had anything like this happen. I stopped for about 10 seconds and started to walk and finally got into a run. Unfortunately I could feel it coming back and decided to try some other things. I thumped myself in the area as hard as I could, massaged it, stuck my fingers in under the ribs but just couldn’t remedy it. Finally I stopped and went to my knees, got deep breaths and slowly started moving again. Somehow this work and I finally started “running”. Somehow I was actually catching people though this so it seemed everyone was on their feet! I caught a fair few before 5km and caught 2 more in the 6th km. I then saw another person about 200 – 300m off with 3km to go and decided I was going to get him. I managed to catch him with 1km to go and pushed hard past so he couldn’t hang with me.

Finally finished in 02:38:50 which I think is my slowest Olympic but it cant really compare, long swim combined with a cruel bike and run made Saturdays race my hardest yet and I’m glad I got over all the negative thoughts I had going on to actually finish and finish far higher than I thought I was going to.

To add, just read the organisers reply there and its great that the swim course is being looked at. Maybe next year i can finally get my race right!! Its a very tough course and im going to have to rethink how i approach it. Food after was great and the good bag was one of the better ones ;-)

mitresize5

mcnicho wrote: »

Hi,

Sorry for the swim guys. La Feile Mhic Dara a festival was on the day before and it looks like we the the boat guys were out the night before. I talked to them on the Monday the week of the race re-confirming they would be there on time. The first boat showed up an hour and a half late, the second boat (the rib) 2 hours late. The delay in the start stung us, under pressure we were trying to put the course together and we didn't have enough of time to recalculate and correct mistakes. The size and number of buoys was was also substandard.

Next year we are going to change the swim. The anchor buoys for boats in the middle confuse people and the swell is too rough on the far side of the current course. The kayakers get too spread out and you need loads of buoys which are in short supply from TI because of the increase in the number of races the same weekend. We are considering putting the swim circuit where the first buoy was and getting those big fat 6' orange buoys as markers. This year the money is not being donated to the lifeboat fund. We will be putting the money in to facilities and other personal for the race. Next year the sub-aqua are bringing their rib so we will have more boats.

Tony.

Christ - thats inexcusable and dangerous on behalf of the life boat crew. I was going to try and crack a joke about not wanting to every run aground at Carna and need the crew but in hindsight what they did by their actions was put a lot of people in dangers way.

I know you need to keep some form of relationship with these guys but if I was you I'd be considering escalating this up the RNLI chain.

Just my two cents worth

tunney

warp_speed wrote: »

Most would say that Carna is more difficult than Kilkee. The Beast is another story! Fortunately now I've done all of them.

The half hour delay could have been a factor in the swim. I was talking to one of the lifeboat guys after in the pub, he put a measure (knots) on the tide going out and he said it was very strong. I thought I wasn't moving on the way back in it took so long. Almost everyone was swimming to the wrong buoy after the first turn, they were just too small for a single lap swim.

I really don't want to be too critical and don't think anyone should be. The organisers here did put in a lot of effort to put on a great race., they know the swim was a disaster. Swimming is not my strong point but fortunately I've improved this season and a 2k+ swim wouldn't affect me too badly. I feel bad for the less experienced that would struggle normally on the swim and took an hour to come out of the water. I believe there were quite a few taken out of the water that had to retire.

To cycle and run through that scenery was special. Having to cycle around locals loading turf onto a trailer and dodge cattle on the road on the run just added to it.

One of the few races I DNFed was Carna a few years back. A shocking swim course and in shocking conditions that should have been pulled and the event made a duathlon. Doesn't sound like much has changed.

The original galway course had a great swim.