Race 14. Le mans triathlon

It feels like I did this race ages ago. I had done the same race for the past 2 years being successful in 2006 and coming in second in 2007. I wanted to win again this year, and at all costs not finish third, as it would represent a backwards slide! There were a fair few guys to worry about this year. Ah, who am I kidding, I worry about anyone wearing runners at a race, but there were a few guys that were higher on the priority list than the 68 year old, one arm guy who was staring me down and doing fancey stretches in his 1977 track suit. One of my big concerns was Jose Juland. He had out riden (or to be more precice, annilated me) in Laval a few weeks before and since then had won a half ironman and then finished 4th at Nice Ironman. He aint the greatest swimmer and so I knew I would be riding all the bike leg with my head backwards looking for him. In the swim I found myself fighting a few guys in aroung 10th but saw that whoever was in 3rd had lost feet to two guys who were now swimming away. I swam as hard as I could and got back to the two leaders, then remained there for the rest of the swim, occasionaly looking back to see the others dropping further and further behind. I got out the water in third, just behind Adam Fitzakeley and the both of us took off up the road and out of sight. It was no drafting so we kept our distance. He was riding strong and after a while he started to pull away. By the end of the first lap he was about 15 seconds infront of me. We did the u-turn and then rode back up te hill passing other guys as we went. And then all too soon I saw Jose. He was hooking along and by my estimates was about 1 minute behind. Well I was woried enough to push harder and for a while Adam was in eye shot. With less than 10km to go I started to die a little, Adam was gone and Nicholas Therreau had got to me and gone passsed. Ok I need to stay focussed! What are your srengths??? ---- Aaalright, what about weekneses? Im skinny, get out of puff easy.... but wait thats not going to help now, what can I do...I once did a Rubix cube. Thats not helpfull, and besides thats a lie, I just changed the stickers. So, with no solution to the bad riding problem I just stuck with Nichola. It was a great move as we entered transition just 30 ish seconds behind Adam and Jose was nowhere in sight. I ran solid but too tired to get to Adam. At the start I thought I could but after 5km I just wanted to finish. I crossed in second. Jose finished 3rd and Nicholas 4th.

Must give a special thanks to Damien in TOCC for being kind enough to take Ella and I to the race. He was a great help as I didnt want a repete of the 2006 journey (refer to Le Mans blog 2006)

Race 13. Pierrelatte. Grand prix race 2

This was one hell hot day. If you click on the title of this race you will be sent to the youtube video that our team put together. It was quite a funny trip, just a pity our team didnt go too great.

It was for sure a no wetsuit swim. I was about 25th out the water, second to last out the water in our team along with Pierre. I had not had a bad swim (in a good position at the first buoy) and hadn't been beaten around too much either(no more than normal). The group I was swimming with simply lost their way at one of the buoys and we were not strong enough to swim back towards the front. I was not super stressed, as we wernt miles behind but I was still in a rush to catch those in front. After one lap on the bike the situation stood at; 15 or so guys up the road and a chase group of 60, not working well and becoming dangerous on the skinny roads. So feeling pretty good I proceeded to ruin any chance I had of running well by launching a multiple series of unsuccessful attacks. It made life harder for others but nothing was working so a rested again in the bunch and just tried to roll through turns so as not to loose total contact with the group up the road. On the last lap the transition heroes started to push to the front. These guys, who had not seen a bit of wind on the front, started to elbow and cut wheels to get up to the front and have a clear run at the transition. Well I was not so happy about that as I felt that their energy would have better used helping our group reel in the leaders. So I held my ground, swore at a few guys, then surged at the latter part of the final km and took my shoes off skidding to a pace to get off the bike and jumped off first. As soon as my feet hit the ground I knew I was in for a crap 5km run. The only positive that had come from this frantic finish was we came in to transition as the tail end of the lead group ran out. I ran the first 2km in approximatley 16 years, almost died of heatstroke between km 3 and 4, then finally got myself together a little and actually passed some guys to finish 11th. My worst result in a grand prix. A few guys did actually pass out with the heat, so I am not exaggerating when I say it was hot. It was an 11 hour bus trip home that "coach Emric" did solo, only stopping for Mcdonalds (3 times) for a break.

Race 11 & 12 DOUBLE RACE WEEKEND (AGAIN) Saint Calais

If you read my last blog post, you will remember, I reluctantly raced twice in the same weekend, gaining little more than a disqualification and sore feet. Well, less than a week later and my brain still had refused to turn the self preservation feature on, and I was back for a weekend of sports stupidity. I had actually agreed a long while ago to do the team time trial on Saturday and sprint tri on Sunday at Saint Calais, and I was not at all tired from the week before so I shouldnt make it out to be so much of a drama..........But in the end it was nothing less!!

Ella and I traveled with Antione Lesoz and camped out in Laurent Suppis tent for the Friday and Saturday nights. I may add that had I been asked to construct this mystifying tent properly, I would still be standing in the grass scratching my head, and turning the instructions upside down, waiting for the penny to drop. We had a great spot which ended up being in, yes IN the course, and were joined by a few other teams for the Sat night, making a bit of a tent city.

As for the races. It was a team time trial te first day. Our team started as 4; Antione, Max Tion, Nicho Leroy and me. We had a solid swim worked good on the bike loosing Nicho on the second lap and ran scared of the Saint Avertain team that were always around 20 seconds behind us. We ended up winning by 19 seconds from the SAS team, so it was all happy days, and we all got pizzas for tea. It was Cesson/ SAS pizza and tent night, and a funny night at that.

The following day was far warmer, not that means anything but it is a good way to start off a story and that is what you are about to embark on if you so chose to continue reading. (I shall tell the race form my perspective) I had a standard sort of swim, rushed through transition and found myself leading onto the bike. I pushed hard early to see if I could get a gap, but it was soon evident on the skinny roads and with the amount of guys that were up the front of the race a break was not going to be easy to achieve. The situation was exacerbated passing transition where the skinny road was halved to allow competitors cross one another. I had early on asked one of the three Arbiters on a motorbike if the distance I was keeping behind was ok, knowing some of the guys were getting a little close and watching a few get black (penalty lap required on the run of some 400m)cards for indeed getting too close. I was reassured that I was fine, so pottered on with the race. With around 3km to go I decided to move to the front of the race and get into transition before the some 15 others. It took all of those 3km, as the road was thin and we were passing lapped riders. I took a few risks and just got my shoes off in time, but had left the slowing down thing a little too late and skidded onto the dismount line level with Nicholas Tharreau. I ran into transition happy not to have crashed but was grabbed by an Arbiter who was going apeshit with his whistle and flashing his black card. He was physically grabbing me so I stopped thinking I had crossed the dismount line but upon hearing him say "Carton noir, drafting pour tout le monde" (everyone in the front group has a penalty for drafting) , I broke his grip and racked my bike with the others. He was going crazy and calling out all our numbers. I got my shoes on and waited to see if I was allowed to start running. I noticed a few guys had sped out, so knowing I wasnt drafting I ran out also and thought little more of it until the finish. Adam Fitzakely (Aussie on Saint Jean de Monts team) won the race. Jason Crowther (Aussie on SAS) was second and I was third. This of course was not the final standing. I mentioned earlier that I would write the race from my perspective, being on a pushbike I figure gives me a pretty good idea as to what was going on in the front of the race but I was wrong. Apparently the Arbiter that spent the whole race in the transition area and only saw the lead group as they passed and came in to rack their bikes, had a much better vantage point of the course. Not only was he able to decipher which athletes were drafting, he was able to disregard ones that had gained black cards on the course. Amazing. To add to the confusion, as the whole front group ran out we all heard "tout le monde" (everyone). Only some athletes did the penalty lap, including ones that were not listed as drafting. As we all sped out only some numbers were written down and so those that were missed were seemingly forgotten. Nicho Leroy did the penalty lap but didnt have to. Max Tion was disqualified but didnt have his number on the list. I was on the list, so was Jason and Antione. In fact 6 of the top ten were disqualified with 5th getting 2nd and 11th getting 3rd. Our team was stuffed as our only legitimate finisher was Nicho but as he did the penalty lap was pretty far back. The scene after the race was pretty crazy, lots of yelling, separate meetings with athletes and officials and the podium was a bit of a farce, with the guy in 2nd (Guime Edely from SAS) refusing to accept the trophy. The matter is still with the French tri federation. The irony of it all was, this was my first drafting offence, although of all the 3 draft buster motorbikes that followed the leaders I did not get a penalty, while an athlete I did see get a drafting penalty from a motorbike, took my spot on the podium!!!!! I fucken hate the rules.

Races 10 & 11. DOUBLE RACE WEEKEND Les Sables d'Olonne

Racing an evening grand prix duathlon on Saturday and a triathlon the following day is not a great idea....Dont do this. I was asked by the team to run in the duathlon of Les Sables to make the team 5 so if there were any problem and two didnt finish we would still get points. Stupidly I agreed, knowing full well I was racing the tri of Les Sables d'Olonne on the Sunday. The wind in the Duathlon was nothing short of cyclonic which aided weaker runners like me at the start as we could tuck in behind the stronger guys, but as soon as we turned and the wind was on our backs all hell broke loose. For most of the first 5km run I felt like I was out of control. I got to my bike around 30th which I was content with, but around 40 seconds off the leaders. My feet were a little sore and my legs....well, they weren't great. Swim before bike like in triathlon is refreshing. Run before bike is far from pleasant. It was a 30 km 3 lap bike sort of out and back along the coast with a small loop at the back end of the course. On the way out the wind pushed us at 60+ km/hr making the course a little more technical than normal. By the second lap Myself and Antione Lesoz were in a well established 2nd pack, some 30 seconds behind the lead pack. On the way out for the third lap it all turned to shit for me. Following the wheel in front of me I passed the middle line. I heard the arbitre blow his whistle and 'voila' red card for me. Disqualified! I engaged in a rather heated conversation that got me nowhere and learned another 4 in the pack had met the same fate. Antione was safe and asked me to work for him, so with nothing to loose thats what I did. I went to the front of the bunch and went as hard as I could with Antione yelling at me. I remember thinking this is almost a blessing in disguise as I now dont have to run and can save what little energy I have left for the race the following day. Not to mention my feet felt like I had completed an unsuccessful fire walk. Well our pack joined the lead pack in the final 3km and made for super hectic transition. I parked my bike and just went through the motions running out with some of the last guys. I had run already today and another 5km didnt seem like fun. I passed Laurent (our coach) and he yelled at me to keep running. SHIT. I was tired and my feet were super sore. The last few km felt like I was running on pillows. Oh not those nice soft pillows that you snuggle up to on a cold night, pillows stuffed with broken glass. I finished mid field but was unclassified on results, just gaining a DQ next to my name. Our team managers wife Carin, is an expert podiatrist and after the race she took to my feet with a surgical scalpel that felt not unlike a band saw at the time, in order to get my feet ready for the following day.

The Duathlon team checked out of our accommodation and after presentations (of which we were not required to attend) left for home in the bus. Ella and I had planned to meet Tom and Caleb, the New Zealanders on the team who were racing the triathlon. A late change of mind for them left us standing in the car park of Les Sables holding our bags with no place to go. Charlotte and Julien were staying with her father and asked us to join them along with Felicity Sheedy Ryan, and thus we all piled in with the Lanceraus for a funny night. Ella and I set up a bed in a small space upstairs attached to the second bedroom that was attached to the first, not unlike an attic/closet, with no head room and a small sliding door that Felicity kept crashing into and sending us into hysterics. My feet were hurting during the night and I didnt want to stand on them, but the urge to urinate was persistent, and eventually won the battle sending me on an exhausting quest downstairs to the toilet. It took ages, and all in darkness aided only by the dim light of an open mobile phone. I had to first pass Felicity, then Julien and Charlotte, then her parents then negotiate the tricky stairs to the ground level where I met the obstacle course of bag and chair world, through the kitchen and then select the correct door so a to not use the pantry as the toilet. This was all done employing the side of foot or heal down toes up techniques. It felt like the whole ordeal took close to the majority of the night and I was in such a sweat by the end I was sure I no longer needed to piss, having sweated out enough urine to make visits to the toilet redundant for the next 7 years.

The following day my feet felt a little better and I was again keen to race. A poor start in the swim, a few mouthfuls of water and the realization I was in fact tired from the day before, dampened those feelings. I got it together a little bit in the second half of the swim and got out at the tail end of the lead bunch. I fabricated a few failed attempts at getting away, knowing full well the run was going to be an experience forgettable. The run lived up to all my expectations, and I struggled my way around for the 3 laps hoping all the way the first 6 across the line would magically be disqualified for some petty rule like i had been yesterday. Not to be. I crossed the line in 7th, heaps better than the day before but still nothing to run a victory lap over (not that I could)