Mallory Park Sprint Triathlon Sat 17th August
Report from Howard Jeffrey
Just before I turned 65 I was doing very well on the age group international triathlon circuit, winning three bronzes and a silver at the European championships, albeit in Aquathlons and a duathlon. I even got Gold in the English National aquathlon age group championships when it was held in Roundhay Park which was my home patch. I thought when I did turn 65 I was destined for great things. Pandemic pandemonium struck and 5 years has gone by in the training doldrums for all sorts of reasons.
My first international triathlon was in Turkey in 2013 and it was one of the best experiences of my life. The race about which I am going to tell you all, was a qualifier for the European Sprint triathlon in 2025 and will be in Istanbul. I thought it would be nice to try and qualify again. Previously I had been really fit and always expected to qualify for any given event because you have to finish in the top 4 in the age group and be within a certain percentage of the winning time 120% for Europeans and 115% for the Worlds.
This was the last qualification race for Istanbul and I had entered without knowing it was also going to be the British Championships, so when I found out I thought I would have no chance because there were 40 entries in my age group alone and you have to bear in mind people coming up from a younger age group for next year’s race. I decided I would just try and get round in one piece and enjoy the experience of racing again.
The swim leg is 750m in the lake within the racing circuit upon which we cycle and run. Time to warm up in the water getting to the start buoys. I took a wide line to keep away from the frantic melee of the start where I can’t really mix it equally with the strong swimmers or the muscle men. I only had one guy to contend with who did keep clouting me and I took a while to settle into a rhythm because it is so easy for your chest to seize up and make breathing difficult, leading to essentially a ‘panic attack’ which effectively means race over before it starts. I have seen it happen many times, thankfully never really to me but it has been very close a couple of times. Like today for example but I was able to tell myself there is no problem just get to on with it. If I do 750 m in open water in anything like 15 minutes I am doing as well as I am able. 15.45 so not a bad start, well up in the field.
Exit the water and another struggle to get out of the wetsuit which is a tight fit. Not the quickest but not the slowest either so jog with the bike to the mount point. I had already had to rest for 10 days because a hamstring went doing speedwork and as I approached transition exit the calf on the same leg seized up. WHAT is going on? Anyway I thought it would wear off on the bike. 20k on the bike is 7 laps of the circuit so no traffic and no potholes and it was draft legal so if you are strong enough you can tuck in with a group and really work up some speed. Well I am a late comer to biking so I spent most of the route on my own and managed to draft for some short periods but all in all I felt like I was going pretty well and no leg trouble to slow progress.
When you are doing laps on the bike it is so easy to get confused about whether you have done 4 laps or 5 or was it 3? Once the seed of doubt is there, you are lost and are in danger of not doing enough or doing too many. One of the guys who finished after me was furious with himself for doing an extra lap on the bike. He had followed another guy who told him there was still another lap to do (always be in charge of your own destiny). Many people have electronic gadgets to help with the count but I am old school and put 7 rubber bands on the handle bars and rip one off each time I complete a lap. Trouble was, the only thing I had forgotten to bring were the rubber bands. What I did have with me in the van was a physiotherapy latex stretch band and some scissors, so I was able to make myself some! Sorted.
At the end of the bike course which I did in 40 minutes or so (the fastest was 37 so I was well within percentages, likewise on the swim fastest being 13.45) I did a slick transition into running shoes and was away for the 4 shorter laps for the 5k run. No problem with the calf thankfully but the hamstring ‘twinged halfway through the first lap. It felt like old scar tissue breaking down so I throttled back and found I could take faster, shorter strides and still keep going. In the end I was still able to do 24.42 for the run which was amazing considering hardly any training and carrying war wounds.
So was it all worth it you ask. Well I was within 115.5 % of the winner in the age group so hurdle one taken, the winner was actually in the next age group up for Istanbul so does not count in the top 4. The best guy never showed up to race. The next best guy must have had problems because I beat him by 5 minutes. Three of the guys in front of me had already qualified, and a couple of others had not registered interest so the positions in this race were still up for grabs. I came 9th in the age group which I was well pleased with and I reckon I have made the cut for Istanbul if I want to go. Still await official confirmation but I have poured over results and combinations in the past, so am pretty confident. It just goes to show that if you get to the start line and do your best, the results might just go your way.
One thought on “Mallory Park Sprint Triathlon Sat 17th August”
Awesome report from Mellory Park by Howard J. who had as well a super performance in this sprint triathlon and the qualification for Istanbul would be well deserved . Howard had to swim 750m , he had to do several laps on the bike and he finished 5k with a fast 24.42 . Well done Howard .