SPOKES METALMAN SPRINT TRIATHLON, Tramore, Co. Waterford
Date 23/08/2008 Race Report - David Seery
David Seery Race Position 98 Overall Time 01:13:11
I'd be the first to admit that my training has eased off considerably since TriAthlone 2008. The only thing keeping me going at the moment is the group sessions in Coosan so I was not looking forward to this event and in particular, the sea swim!
The sunny south east is a idylic location at the best of times but when conditions were as rough as they were last Saturday, the only place to be is in one of Alfie Hales watering holes talking about the search for the hotly sought All-Ireland tickets!!
Early that morning, Race Organisers comtemplated converting the event
to a Duathlon as the Sea Swell and Surf (correct terms I think) were deemed too dangerous. However a decision was made to delay the start time by 30 mins to allow the tide to fall thus making it a little easier.
Entering the swim as I normally do (at the back and out of trouble), I struggled from start to finish. With the large number of race entries (all males in 1 wave) and the huge sea waves, I found it impossible to get any sort of rhythm going and found it a constant battle. I was glad to finish it at all and delighted to hear after that it had been shortened to around 400m thus my swim time of 11 min.
One thing I was really happy with was my T1 (00:01:31) though.
Thinking that I had followed the usual routine, I flew out of the transition and was really determined to hunt down the many cyclists ahead! Amazingly and to my horror after a short time, I realised that I had only peeled the bloody wet suit down to my arse!! Enough said on that, a first for the club and all that. Bike Time 00:36:07.
Glad to get off the bike and changed before anyone really noticed me (T2 00:01:26), I headed off on the run. Not knowing what to expect with the lack of run training and with the heavy rain, the run proved quite tough. Hard as it was overcoming the wind and rain, the fact that at least half the run was along the beach and through the sand dunes made it energy sapping. Glad to finish the run (00:23:07), I think I can safely say that this was a race I won't forget in a hurry.For the record, the wet suit was no addition on the 20k bike journey. I suppose the fact that I spent most of the time trying to make sure that the arms did'nt get caught in the bloody spokes at least passed the time for me!!