Nottingham Relay National Triathlon Champs - Sat/Sun 6th & 7th Aug

SATURDAY
Lysandra Bradshaw

Since this is our first season at triathlon, it was a small shock to receive a request from Chris and Erica to join the mixed relay team at the Nottingham National Relay Championships on August 6th. It wasn't long before we realised we weren't first choice for the team but we quickly got over being 'sloppy seconds' and it was good to have a focus for training! The race format was not dissimilar to any other super sprint (400m, 15k, 5k) except that each team member took a turn at each discipline and you weren't allowed to set off until you had been tagged by your preceding team member.

We were a little daunted by the thought of 2 consecutive days of racing given that we'd only raced in total twice over the whole season thus far! But we were looking forward to getting to know the other BTS faces we see regularly in training and occasionally over a pint at the Vansitart. We arrived in Nottingham on Friday night and after hooking up with the others, the restaurant search commenced. We passed several great looking eateries but since our numbers had swelled to 16 we were forced into the most vacant and dubious looking one! Surely the food must be authentic with pictures of Italian gangsters on the walls, plastic tablecloths and red-coloured light bulbs hanging above us? It quickly became obvious what kind of weekend we were on when at our end of the table Sue, Sean & Raych had all finished their first pints before we'd been handed a menu!

With stomach's fully carbo loaded we were ready to race and it was an early registration on Saturday morning. We tried to ignore the pro-looking teams setting up with their branded gazebos, identical team kit and turbo trainers and made our own modest base camp close to the massage tent (from which many of us were to later benefit!). We chose Stuart to be our first man out and after some initial confusion as to where to find each other for the required hand over touch and some mutual wetsuit scrutiny to check for recognisable markings he was off, bravely swimming the 150m to the start line. We were off! I was up next and only just managed to hold my own in the crowd on the bank all searching for their 'man.' After a relatively clean hand over I was in the water and the pushing and vying continued, coupled with the surprising amount of weed and the number of breaststrokers that had to be swam around, it felt a lot longer than the Dorney 400m I'd experienced before! Needless to say, I was relieved to hear Christina's voice calling my name amongst a sea of blue capped faces at the finish. She did a great job and made up a good few places before tagging a nervous looking Jon. Despite his anxiety, and swallowing a mouthful of diesel, he managed to enjoy his swim and was able to take advantage of the extra propulsion opportunities supplied by the floating vegetation.

We were onto the next stage. After 3 flying laps on his bike I was stood ready for Stuart in the transition area. Despite frantic shouting it took him a few seconds to find my face in the crowd but then he grabbed my hand and wished me luck. I was so desperate to get off I almost rode off with the wrong bike. Second time lucky and after a fumbled attempt to attach foot to pedal I was on the move. There was no excuse for holding off on the bike with only 15k and a rare chance for recovery before the run. So it was head down and legs pumping to a faster 15k than I'd done before. I slid to a halt at the end and after a frantic search for Christina's face I took time to stretch and find out how the women's team were doing. Lead by Erica, with Julia & Raych sandwiched in the middle and Susan taking the final leg, they were already leading us by several minutes!

Impressively, Stuart did manage to claw back some time on his run, which gave me a lead on Julia, coupled with the hope that she was still recovering from recent knee surgery (sorry J!), I set off with confidence. With my heart rate above 170bpm it wasn't long before I recognised the now frustratingly familiar signs of stomach cramps which slowed me right down and I knew it wouldn't be long before I saw Julia coming by. But it wasn't until I'd turned the final bend of the lake when I finally heard her voice behind me and I held her in my sights for most of the way to the finish. The cramps were easing by the time I had sniffed the finish line and I was spurred on with thoughts of Christina there waiting for me.

Despite some confusion about the course distance during her leg, Christina ran a good time and we were all at last waiting at the finish line to cheer on our last-leg-man, Jon, who sprinted to enthusiastic applause and his own 5k PB. Thanks to Howard and all the organisers for a great event.

Final results were: Men - 3hrs 27m, Women - 3hrs 51m, Mixed - 3hrs 57m

Well done everyone!


SUNDAY
By Jonathon Bradshaw

After a full day at the relays competing and supporting, we were ready for a good night out. It quickly materialised over dinner that some were more ready than others, despite the fact that many of us were due to race again the next day! It was an eventful evening, Susan & Lysandra managed to pull, and then quickly dismiss, some local lads (much to their disappointment I'm sure!), Chris and I managed to convince some other locals that we were in fact a couple and Raych came home with a large red raw bruise on her left bum cheek which she had no memory of how it got there! Impressive. What was more impressive was the fact that a number of us were clearly still well over the limit and were planning to race. This was the kind of club training session that I'd clearly missed out on.

Nevertheless, those of us that could, registered and collected our freebies. Clearly Sean was suffering the most, and judging by the powerful fumes he was emitting, I was reluctant to share my pre-race SIS fluids with him. I'm certain with just that one sip on my drinks bottle, the contents became an instant 12% proof. He spent much of the morning in a futile effort to will a puncture in his tyres in order to avoid racing!

My concerns were mostly of the longer swim (700m). I've never had much confidence in the water and although I have spent much time trying to change that this year, I was uncertain how I would cope over the longer distance. As it was, it seemed to go on forever and I was extremely relieved to be on dry land.

Whilst on Saturday we had a tail wind helping us around at least one side of the lake, on Sunday it seemed that the wind was constantly in my face. Despite my efforts during my first lap, Tom cruised past at a blistering pace that seemed effortless. I was encouraged to push harder and tried to convince myself that the pain I was feeling was good (a leaf out of Susan's book!). Spurred on by cheers each time I passed the grand stand, it was also great to hear my name, number and club called out over the PA as I went by.

The run was hard work and I'm sure could feel yesterday's race in my legs, once again I wondered whether I had borrowed someone else's legs in transition. As I got towards the finish line I found myself sprinting head to head with a fellow competitor who at the line, just got the better of me.

All in all, it was a great weekend, serving as a reminder on just how much more work I need to do. Bring on the winter training!

Swim 17:39
T1 1:46 (faster than Chris!)
Bike 36:29
Run 24:31 (Sean - at least I finished!)

Total 1:20:24 .

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