Tri An Mhi

miller82

tackling this for the first time this year.
Anyone done it before ? thoughts ?
I think its a different course to last year though ????

anfearruaaris

This years sprint will be at Lough Lene which is where the middle distance event was held in May lat - the lake is gin clear and very clean, we swim there most weeks during the Summer and its a real treat! The cycle course is 19km in length and is one loop, no hills to deal with although there are one or two slight inclines. The run is 5km and out and back along country lanes. A good course for open water virgins! Numbers are coming in so its shaping up to be a good event -
By the way.. bring the suncream!! You have been warned!!
http://www.trianmhi.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=56

miller82

thanks for that. looking forward to it now. If i arrive up there at 8.15 (registration 7.45 t 8.30 and race starts at 10) do you think i'll have enough time ?

anfearruaaris

If you are aiming to be there for 8.15, you may as well be there 15 mins earlier and be there for 8am! That way you'll not be under pressure for car parking etc. It's easier to prepare for a race with time on your hand than be looking for time!

Bambaata

Heading along myself. One of my favourite races ever was the 2009 Quarryman for obvious reasons but it really was well organised so this Saturday should be good. Id also strongly recommend getting there early, before 8 if possible. You really don't want to have the stress of being late on race morning. You wont do as well if you are all flustered. Another tip id give is to write up a race plan to encompass the day before with packing and what to bring etc and race morning timeline to then also indlucde how you envisage the race going. Read through it and through it again and i guarantee it will help your race. Write the list of stuff you need and pack it Thursday/Friday. Have any nutrition plan already decided upon and allow for adjustments dependng on the weather (Although for a sprint you really dont need much - gel before and possibly something to sip on during the bike). Then write what time you will rise at Saturday, what you will eat, at what time, what time you will leave the house and arrive at race venue. Then write your pre-race plan - ie checking tyre pressure at xxxpsi, shoes set with bodyglide or vaseline or socks with shoes, towel covering shoes if raining (or whatever you want), what time you do warmup, what time you will take any gel if you do take a pre-race gel and what time you start. Then write how you envisage the race going.

I cant recommend this enough. Ive done it for my two A races this year and it was invaluable for Galway last weekend. I had no stress, nerves or issues Sunday morning because of it and it made things so much easier. If anyone would like to see mine as an example send me a pm with your email and ill send it on.

Bambaata

So it looks like the wind is to pick up from the south and there's a fair chance of rain. Pity, was hoping the sunscreen would be needed!

Everyone excited?

miller82

bit worried about the rain on the bike and also means far far slower time

Bambaata

SO how'd everyone get on. good event, nice location.

Results are already up here - http://precisiontiming.net/result/view/id/181

Ill be doing a report tomorrow if anyone's interested

PWEI

Struggled today due to only about 5 hours sleep & severe stomach cramps after a bad dose of diarrhea yesterday. Still I really enjoyed it apart from the windy conditions on the bike. The scenery made up for that though, the location was lovely. The swim was grand, one of the most crystal clear lakes I've ever swam in. Very disappointed with my run, i can do 20 mins & under off the bike but it took me 21:39 today. I'm just glad it was this race I signed up for & and not Clogherhead, Clogherhead Triathlon became Clogherhead duathlon today.

PWEI

Forgot to add that I thought the race was very well organised & there was great support from the Marshall's which is always good. My only disappointment was that I didn't get a cup of tea with those lovely sandwich's they had afterwards.

Bambaata

Ive a soft spot for the Tri an Mhi events but yeah it was very well organised as usual and nice sambos after!!

Here's my race report if anyone is interested. I write thse for my own benefit and to reference in the future so its pretty detailed.


My legs felt surprisingly good after Galway in the Thursday and Friday sessions so i was hopeful i could go well. I gave myself plenty of time to get to race HQ and had the sat nav already programmed for the trip. Pre-race write again helped. Had porridge when i got up at 6am and made another load for later. I stopped in Delvin just before 8am to have the other porridge. I had had a little much earlier so i didn’t finish this.

When i arrived i got registered and then took the bike out to check the gears and do some short sharp bursts beyond race pace (5mins gears easy, 5 x (30s hard, 30s easy), 5 easy) - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113209609. It also gave me a chance to scout part of the course. Found first part of course to have rough enough sections and that i could hammer into the blind bends as they widened enough around them. I also knew time needed to be banked in the first half as the wind was on the back then. Got back, racked bike beside exit, easy place to find it and went for run warmup. As i was leaving they said briefing was to be in 10mins so i cut this slightly shorter than planned. Planned for 5 easy, 5 drills, 5 x (15s fast, 45s easy), 5 easy. Felt decent though but i did slightly stitch which i put down to the fact it still wasn’t all that long since id eaten - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113209618

So back to the car and put on wetsuit while briefing was on. Down to the start and looked for guys to draft off before we entered the water. Had the gel 10/15mins before the off and headed in, two hats with goggles on outside (had no leaks).

Swim 00:11:29, 9th/138, time includes run to start of T1 (1st was 00:09:13) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113209635
Did a quick few bursts as i made my way to the front. Just as we started i was trying to position myself before the swimmer swimmers as someone had come between me and them but i still printed hard not caring about the rough and tumble! I got to Dave Richardson’s feet (think it was him anyway) and started to get into my rhythm. I was breathing to the left every stroke swimming hard. By 100m i was getting slightly panicky after this burst so slowed slightly to not let it build but i then lost Dave’s feet. I then latched onto two guys who came from my right to the first buoy. They seemed to be going well so i was happy enough. One had a very strange kick though with his foot coming way out of the water, it made sighting very difficult and he was going slightly sideways at times. I found drafting from him better though so stayed on his toes more often. I still stayed with these guys from the 150m to 700m mark and was very comfortable. I took one or two opportunities to pass but then felt RPE climbing a lot so just kept it comfortable behind them. Towards the last 50m i went ahead and stretched out the legs a bit to make sure they were ok for standing up. Came out with the two guys id drafted off. I think i stood up slightly early as i had to wade a bit more than id have liked.

T1 00:00:51, 7th/139 (1st was 00:00:36)
Went fine, suit came off easily enough, not my quickest but not my slowest but i just wanted to make sure i was with or ahead of the two i came from the swim with

Bike 00:30:53, 3rd/134 (1st was 00:30:27) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113209646
Passed one guy immediately as he put his feet in his shoes while at a snail’s pace. I on the other hand didn’t do it until i was hitting top speed! Hammered into the corners i had scouted earlier and saw 1 guy just going around the next corner. I didn’t care HR was 160+ yet and took the risk of maintaining it hard. Surface was rough but wind on the back had pace well north of 40. After the first right there was some climbing and i pulled back this rider. I was alone for a lot and could just briefly see another rider ahead. I got him soon enough but soon after Midland Tri guy came past at a very decent clip! I decided he wasn’t getting away and maintained a legal pace line. At times he would pull 15 – 20m ahead on some climbs but i’d pull him back over the crest of these. He helped keep me honest and I didn’t care about HR being at and over LTHR. I was out to race hard and i wasn’t going to let up. It was a little risky but it is how ive had my best races (also worst too at times!). At the 10k mark we came into a village and a car made us both completely stop. This was very disheartening as i was i a good rhythm and i could see a guy about 20s up the road. Got moving again and within 200 I was stopped again by another car!! Feck it i said and just got on with it. By 15k i was slowly losing contact with the Midland guy but i didn’t manage to pass Neil Walton who i was never near before in a race! This was encouraging but i reckoned he was also a decent runner so as we went through the last 2k i kept the pressure on. Effort in the second half dipped slightly but still managed to hold HR at and around LTHR. I maintained good cadence throughout. I focused on pushing towards 100 and i think this suits me better than 85-90. Legs feel better, no mashing etc. HR ave was 157 which is a bang on LTHR so happy with that. Zeros are included in the ave cadence so 93 is good, without 0s included thats really probably over 95.

T2 00:00:33, 8th/133 (1st was 00:00:30)
Quick enough T2 but right foot didn’t go as smooth as id have liked into the shoe. Only lost about 2 or 3 seconds though and got out with the Midland guy who i was obviously quicker than and ahead of Neil.

Run 00:18:32, 4th/133 (1st was 00:17:07!!) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113209658
Straight away the pace with the Midland guy was fast (sub 03:30/km pace)! I kept the stride shortish and form good. I knew id be in trouble though if i tried to stay with him so by the first short climb i let him go. I felt decent but did notice a slight hint of a stitch at about the 1-1.5k mark. I eased a tiny bit, took some deep breaths and then breathed on every left foot strike. Within 30 to 40s i was ok and could open up a bit more again. I had lost contact though now with that guy and just hoed he couldn’t hold it. By 1k id passed a Bace2Race guy and as i came around the corner to the downhill to the water station i could see 2 more about 200-250m ahead. I was on my own and took the odd glimpse back to see if anyone was gaining. No issues there as the distance to the guy behind was a good 200-250m and wasn’t closing. At the turnaround i realised i was in 4th and could see a worried face on the then 2nd placed guy. The Midland guy was catching him fast and i thought i had a chance. From the turnaround it was back into a series of short and sharp climbs and into the wind. I did my best to try close and could see the now 3rd placed guy looking back. He was obviously worried but he had still a good 100m on me. Unfortunately as much as i pushed, and i did push, i just couldn’t get him and by 4.5k i have pretty much accepted 4th. I still ran hard to the end but knew 3rd place was just too far off. I was still happy enough with the run, it was a lumpy course and i was happy to be able to open up more after the stitch. It never made a reappearance. HR ave was 161 which is a bit below LTHR but the dip with the stitch pulled that down, i was happy to hold it around LTHR for the last 2.5k so i don’t think i overcooked the bike.

Overall thoughts
The race went well. I gave myself a decent showing and i was happy to run faster than 2 of the 3 ahead. I also biked well but still look forward to the introduction of a power meter. I find i drift off at times and stroke sometimes gets choppy. That’ll help keep me honest and eventhough i had a good bike i know i drifted ever so slightly here and there. I was very happy with the swim overall despite the minor lapse near the start. That probably cost me a podium as i had been comfortable enough on the first set of feet i was on that hightailed it when i lost him. I also learned that i need to scope out the swimmers before getting in the water and make sure to follow them to the front. This helped here massively. Whereas in other races id just go the start, this let me ensure i was on good feet. At Galway and Loughmacrory i was on my own at the front, not knowing who was around and i pretty much swam solo races there as a result. I need to latch onto feet immediately like this in future. It was a good season closer though and im very excited about winters training and the 2012 season! I enjoyed the race a lot.

griffin100

Great report. It's always interesting to see what the lads at the pointy end of the field are up to.

miller82

thought it was a really good race. Thankfully the roads dried out.
Despite a few shockers (full force kick in the face when someone infront of my decided to go breast-strike, watch coming off 2km and having to stop, dropping water bottle 5km into the cycle ) it went really well for me and was only my third race. Managed to get into 29th and shave 8mins off my time..................delighted