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.
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.
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)
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)
posted by Kristian at 3:49 AM
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