Race Report - Cymmer Triathlon (Standard Distance)

In July I entered the Cymmer Tri. Cymmer Tri is an off road triathlon near Afan Argoed, my favorite mountain biking destination. 

Cymmer Tri is a 600 meter pool swim, 20.8k mountain bike, and 6k run.  The novice distance (which I did last year) is half that.

Triathlon is awesome because it is entirely faff.  

Faff is a very British word that is described as: 

"To dither, futz, waste time, be ineffectual, "I spent the day faffing about in my room". Mainly found in Scotland and the north of England, but also popular in South Wales"

How much faff is Triathlon?  First there is the epic packing of the car:

The key to  boy-packing is that even though you have a whole car to pack you should always make your girlfriend sit on all her things in the front seat

Then you get to the race and you set up your "transition" which takes ages and involves putting baby powder in your shoes and race numbers on your shirt

It also involved strapping candy bars to your bicycle with tape and nom-ing jelly babies (if you're the Brewer half)

As always, I am the sensible one with a tri-bag, which is a little snack bag on the front of my bike which I normally fill with jelly-babies and fig rolls (or jelly beans and Fig Newtowns for my American readers [my dad])

The bag is awesome because when you desperately need snacks they are right there for snacking!  I also like eating bite-sized pieces of things so couldn't be messing around with unwrapping a candy-bar on a ride.  I even pre-cut my fig-rolls into fig-bites.

Then you have your transition basket. All cool people have transition baskets, to carry around all the transition things to and from transition. 

And then you do a triathlon!  I had seeded myself a bit too high in the swim which was annoying because most of the people started the swim before me (they start the swimmers slowest to fastest) and by the time I got in I felt like I was behind.  

Actually my swim position was 30th out of 50; I was 40th in the pool so I had ranked myself 10 places too high. Whoops.

My transition took me 1 minute and then I went out on the Bike - I was right behind Brewer half for a while but then he steamed up the mountain and I was left grinding away. It was an annoying climb.  I made up some time on the descent but was still 42nd overall for the bike.

And finally, the run.  Running is the worst.  I was very tired, and I really thought I was last.  I was almost positive I was last.  I finished the run in what I thought was last, 33 minutes and in 45th place.

Overall I was 44 out of 50. But if you include everyone who did not finish, and those who did not start, I was 44 out of THE ENTIRE WORLD so that's pretty awesome!

After triathlon the faff starts again - you do everything in reverse, pack it all down, load the car, and head back home with you triathlon basket and a medal.  

It's a good sport!

Saturday Cycle with Cardiff Tri

Today I got on the road bike again!  I hadn't been on the bike since December I think... it's been a while.  I woke up to blazing sunshine at 7:30am on a Saturday, and I was ready to cycle.  I'de never been out with Cardiff Tri before and was excited to go out with them - the leisure ride sounded like it would be a good way to get back in the saddle as the route was flat and no one would be dropped.

I had a breakfast of 1/4 cup oatmeal with almonds and brown sugar, plus a hardboiled egg and a slice of toast with avocado (I'm hungry!).

The first 20 miles were nice but much colder than I anticipated - apparently 11 degrees isn't shorts and tee-shirt weather.  After 20 miles Brewer Half and a few others did a cheeky 5 mile sprint to the coffee stop, I held the tail for about a mile before dropping off at 20mph.  I pootled there at a windy 13mph but still made it to cake third - I could see two in pursuit behind but was able to hold them off.

On the way back Brewer half and I needed to get home quick so unfortunately had to zip away from the group.  We picked up a spare rider and belted it through the lanes, I took the lead for some at 18mph and we averaged nearly 22 for the 7 mile flat sprint from Newport to Cardiff.  I was completely wheel sucking* by that time but it didn't matter - I only got dropped when Brewer Half and Rob hightailed the last mile to get their Strava up.

In the end it was a 55 mile route, really nice and pretty flat.

When I got home I tried hard to not crash and waste the rest of the day - I had a protein recovery bar and then a big lunch of shrimp stir-fry.  I actually got a fair amount done after the ride, which almost never happenes before since usually I'm too tired to even make food.

I'll have to get on the bike more soon - long cycles are great when the weather is nice - it's pretty, it's quick, and it burns 1,600 calories in a morning!

Here's the Strava!


*wheel sucking is staying on someones wheel because you expend 30% less effort go get the same speed and the person in front gets all the wind resistance and you get sucked along.  It's good.

2013 Races in South Wales (Triathlon/Duathlon/Running/Walking!)

Updated 24/3/2013

I'm going to try and keep a running list of what I want to enter, what I have entered, and what look amazing but will have to wait untill 2014...

Pontypool 10k - February 24, 2013

It's a 10k and it's in less than 4 weeks.  It would be silly for me to enter.  Then again, it might be good to time a 10k and then I can have something to look forward to with the half.  The Duathalons have 10k runs as part of them and I really never run more than 5k ... so something to think about maybe?  

South Wales Three Peaks Trial - March 23, 2013

This isn't a race but it looks quite fun!  I would probably chose the Gold route - A circular walk of 20 miles around the Blorange, Skirrid, and Sugar Loaf.  5000 feet of climbing in the gorgeous countryside of Abergavenny!  There's also a Platinum route, but it's 17 miles, more challenging, requires navigation, and it's not Circular.  I dislike things that are not circular! 

Entry Fee: £5  ENTERED - WISH ME LUCK!

ISCA Duathalon - April 7, 2013 

I'm getting more interested in duathalon.  Mostly because there are more of them, and I can't really do open-water swims until I get a wetsuit, and I can't get a wetsuit until I come to terms with the fact that OMG being athletic is SO EXPENSIVE.  But this Duathalon looks nice - it happens in Newport and consists of a 4.2km run, 16.35km bike ride, and 4.2 km run.  

Entry Fee: £26

Vale of Glamorgan Duathalon - April 21, 2013

The Vale is Lovely and this is a fairly short race: 3.5mi run / 16mi bike / 1.6mi run.  It's a local Race so not too far to travel, and would be nice to see how I do if I really push myself - I could aim for a good and/or competitive time instead of just a "finishing" time.   

Entry Fee: £35.35 (£29.95 if I join WelshTri)

Amman Valley Sprint Tri - April 21, 2013
Camarthen is a bit far - but a Sprint Tri seems a good reason to travel!  400m Swim, 16km bike, 5km run.  Sounds like a good morning!

Entry Fee: £35

Tour of Pembrokeshire - 27th April 2013

50, 75, or 100 miles.  The 100 mile route looks truly stunning, and truly leg destroying.  I would be inclined to chalenge myself for the 75, and both an challenge and incline it would be at 6758 feet of climbing.  There's 1000 feet of climbing between the 37th and 41st mile.  EEK

Entry Fee: £25

Cardiff Try-a-Tri - May 5, 2013

I did this race last year - Cardiff Tri is the group I infrequently train with.  When I join I'll have to marshall one event - not sure if I'll marshall this or the Cosmeston open water tri.  Still good to keep in mind, though soon I won't be novice anymore and I won't be able to do novice triathlons  (at least I think that's how it works).  400m swim / 16.1km bike / 4.6km run.  It would be great to compare my times this  year to last on the same course, see if there's any improvement (or transitions that take less than 3 minutes)

Entry Fee: £ ?

Blaenafon Triathlon - May 12, 2013

This would be very ambitious for me - it's a middle distance tri, meaning 1/2 mile of swimming, 28 mile bike ride, and 7 miles of running.  The running I already know will be terrible, but the bike ride has the following description:  28 miles in total. Most is on minor hilly roads with 2 major climbs and some lesser ones totalling about 3000ft of climb.  The fact that they used "hilly" and "major" and "lesser" all to describe 28 miles of cycling sounds... terrible.  I may hold out a bit on entering, this really would be a challenge.

Entry Fee: £37 (£32 if I join WelshTri)

Sadly I'm away with work that weekend - hope it goes well for all who entered!

City of Bath Triathlon - 9th June 2013

The City of Bath Triathlon is both an Olympic Distance (1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6 mile run) and a Sprint tri (750 meter swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run).  Both are pool based, and it's one of the only pool based Olympic distance triathlons I've seen close to Cardiff.  Also, Bath is an amazing city.  I would be inclined to enter, though looking at the results it's highly probably I'll come in last.  I'm a little worried about the swim, and may have to trial myself to do a gym-based triathlon before I commit to entering.  There are only 100 people in the race, and the standard looks quite high.  Bath would be a great place to do a tri, so I'll definitely think about it!

Entry Fee: £43.70 (£36.30 for the sprint distance)

Cymmer Afan Tri - July 27, 2013

This was the first Triathalon I ever entered, I did the novice route in 2012.  I will definately be entering the full distance route this year.  The event is a 600 metre swim, 24k mountain bike, 6k run.  Last year I was mostly new to mountain biking, this year I'll get some practice in to really rip it up.  Afan is one of the most beautiful areas in South Wales and it's an awesome place to run a Tri.

Entry Fee: £37 ENTERED - WISH ME LUCK!


Kinetica Gower Triathlon - 10th August 2013

It's an open water triathlon, it's supposed to be awesome.  No list of South Wales Triathlons would be complete without mentioning it.  Sprint distance (750 m swim, 24 km bike, 5km run).  If I ever become a real triathlete who does real swimming (open water) this would be a great race for me to do.

Entry Fee: £42

Forrest of Dean Off Road Duathlon - September 7th, 2013

Andy did this one last year, and it nearly killed him.  Then again, he did the on-road duathlon, so maybe I would find it easier off-road.  HAHA that's a lie.  Forrest of dean is lovely though, and the mountain biking is all very do-able, and I can do the same Duathlon the day after on-road for only an additional £15.  A good way to shock me into Half Marathon shape?

Entry Fee: £20 (£35 for both races?!)

Cardiff 10k - September 8th, 2013

A 10k would be  a good way to prepare for a 1/2 marathon!  But also, if I hate doing a 10k, I am not going to want to do a half marathon.  And I've already entered the half.  But I think a 10k would be fine, and this race always looks fun enough and with a good atmosphere.  I may wait and see if anyone's giving away their place right before the event instead of pre-registering...

Entry Fee: £24 (which seems steep for a 10K!)

Cardiff Half Marathon - October 6, 2013

Running is not really my thing, but I think a load of my friends are planning to sign up, and it would probably do me good to have a proper running race to look forward to.  I'm not sure what my goal time would be - somewhere less than 3 hours?  I'll have to do some proper training I think....

Entry Fee: £30  ENTERED!  WISH ME LUCK!

Monday Interval training with Cardiff Tri

Tonight I did my first running training with Cardiff Tri.  I had no idea what I was in for and it was a bit of a shock.  I do interval training on the treadmill - 20 seconds at a time.  This was 2 minutes at speed and 2 minutes recovery.  I knew I was in for trouble when the 6 minute jog to warm up was at 9:30 minute mile pace.  That's not a jog for me - that's a run.

I sometimes wonder why I picked triathlon and I think it's because I don't know what I want to do and triathlon is the perfect outlet for indecisiveness*.  There are a lot of people who are good at running who get into tri for the challenge... a few people who are originally swimmers, and some people who are originally cyclists.  In fact I think, through no science at all, that the split is like this:

Runners: 60
Bikers: 30
Swimmers: 10

Anyways, I managed to run 6.1 miles today, which is longer than I've ever been out before.  I kind of lost the will to "interval" after about 6 goes, but I did keep on moving, and that was victory enough.

The cool thing about triathlon - or maybe just Cardiff Tri - is that everyone is friendly and supportive.  At the 2 minutes everyone ran off and I fell steadily behind, after 2 minutes they used recovery to come back and find me, 2 minutes later they sprinted off again.

I'm not sure if I was really ready to do the interval training yet - doing 6 miles of interval training as the next step up from 3 mile fun runs was a bit intense.

On the other hand, at this rate I can just double again to 12 miles and I'll be ready for a half marathon in a few short weeks!

The good thing about being so rubbish on the first try is that I can only get better.

I didn't get a photo but this is how I felt after:

*If only triathlon was quadrathalon and included flying trapeze.  Or pentathlon but instead of all the running and jumping included lightweight barbells and push-ups.  (editors note: my brewer half just commented that I would still be bad at it.  He's probably right.  He keeps it real.)

An Independent Triathlon Thursday

Today I did what I've decided to call an "Independant Triathlon" An Independent Triathlon is where you go for a swim and a run and a ride in the same day but transition includes watching tv and tweeting.

It all started this afternoon when I was feeling antsy but didn't know what to do, so I did some laps around Maindy Track because I had no better ideas.


When I got back I watched an episode of storage wars, then did a fairly slow 5k (34 minutes).


I wondered if my lethargy was caused by the fact that I've eaten nothing but cheese and bread and chocolate and more cheese and more bread for the last 3 days.  So I made this shrimp and veggie stir fry with noodles and avocado and Sriracha:

om. flipping. nom.

I love Sriracha.  It is like spicy asian heaven.  Sometimes food does not have enough spice, and I just add Sriracha, and KABLAMO food is delicious.

So spicy. So delicious.

In the evening Andy and I went to the Cardiff pool for swim training with the Cardiff Tri club. We got there a bit early, so like true athletes we spent 30 minutes on the slides:

HORRAY SLIDES!

All in all it took me 6 hours for my independent triathlon.  Also everything was in the wrong order, and the distances were wrong too!  How wrong? So wrong!

1) bike 9 miles (35 minutes)

Transition: 1 hour

2) run 3.3 miles (35 minutes)

Transition: 3 hours (including dinner and playing on slides)

3) Swim 1.25 miles (60 minutes)

Then I ate cake with ice cream.  That's recovery eating, right?