The Beaver Triathlon The most technical swim course in the world

Well This race really did get my last performance out of my system!!

This weekend saw me and three friends make our way down to Leistershire for the Beaver middle distance triathlon. This event is based in the grounds of Belvoir Castle and is a great friendly event run by Just Racing events company. It is well organized and well marshaled. The only thing they couldn't control unfortunately was the weather which was terrible.

We set off on Friday morning with the trusty Duckworth caravan (whats left of it) in tow as our home for the weekend. There were three of us racing, me Joe Elding and Dave Hindle and one Sherpa for the weekend Tony Walton, more on him later!!

After all arriving at the caravan park we set up, registered at the venue, had a great pre-race meal courtesy of Pizza Express and made our way back to HQ to get the kit ready for the race. It was good fun for me watching Dave and Joe sorting out their kit a little nervously and offering help were possible. This was Daves first middle distance as he prepares for Ironman UK in July and despite all the great training he has banked, as we all know racing brings a whole new set of pressures to the table. so much so that when I asked Dave if he was OK he simply replied  'I don't know I'm just copying you'. Well at least I'm good for something! 

THE BIKES & SETTING UP         

Joe on the other hand was doing his second middle distance after racing Wimbleball with me back in 2012. I have to tell you this little tale though!!

At Wimbleball Joe decided he was going to go the whole hog with regards to being a triathlete. The night before the race he pulled what can only be described as a lady shave from his shower bag.

What's that for' I asked

'I'm shaving mi legs marra!'

'Oh I see'

And with that off he went to the showers for what seemed to be an eternity. I sat watching a film wondering were the hell he'd got to. Eventually Joe somewhat sheepishly returned to the caravan.

'All sorted mate' I asked

'Not really'

At this point I laughed so much I was nearly sick. On inspection of Joes legs the lady shave had done a great job of one but then given up the ghost, leaving him with a bald leg and a hairy one.

'Have you got any razors mate'

Of course I had, but there was no way Joe was getting one!! sorry mate

Anyway, no silly mistakes this time for Joe in that department.

The morning of the race seemed harmless enough, however, the weather had forecast a different story with wind and rain predicted all day. We set up our transition areas, then headed back to the car to get our wetsuits on. Joe and Dave started in the first wave at 08:00 with me joining in the fun 10 minutes later. This brought a few laughs as I has a couple of rabbits to chase for the day.

We left our kit with Tony the Sherpa and made our way to the swim brief. To say that the course was confusing would have been an understatement.

'Ok everybody listen in, I will say this only once. You start at the yellow buoy, swim to the next  yellow buoy keeping it on your right,  turn right to the next yellow buoy turn right again, swim to the next yellow buoy and do a 180 turn, swim to the white buoy keeping this on your left and do another 180 turn, swim to the yellow buoy and turn right keeping it to your right, then simply do 1 big lap keeping all the yellow buoys in sight to your right'.

Guess what, she said this more than once. So, due to the complexity of the swim course, I decided not to lead the swim and at the hooter, instead decided to show the whole field my best wounded duck impression (swimming is not my forte) That said I had a good swim for me, finishing in 36 minutes. I have to say, the lake was horrible, very silty and shallow and sadly a few of my piers decided to flirt with the rules and walk instead of swim when they got tired. This is something I will never understand and don't particularly like, one can only hope the had a shit race!

EN ROUTE TO T1

So I got out of the spaghetti swim course and ran the 84 miles via nottinghamshire to T1. This really was a long way and took me 3+ minutes!! By now the weather they had promised had arrived and it was tipping it down, a theme that was to continue all day.

The bike course was a belter, with the first half being very fast before you hit the hills, then, the remainder of the lap is undulating, so there really was something for everyone. I had a plan to stay focused on my nutrition and try and ride 3 hard but manageable laps, so as to enable me to finish with a strong half marathon. I simply stayed tucked in and aero for as long as possible and tried not to grind on the hills to save my legs. This worked a treat and I passed Joe then Dave en-route. Both the guys seemed really settled into their own rhythm and working hard. This will see them right in July I'm sure. All 3 laps were pretty evenly paced and a very wet Joe dismounted into T2 with a bike split of 2:13 for the 50 mile course.

The transition area was a little muddy to say the least, so slipping was a real problem for a few. I found my transition area and encountered my first real problem of the day. Getting wet socks on wet feet is a little difficult, another problem was the fact I couldn't dry my feet due to my towel being sodden. After about a minute of trying,  I made the unwise decision to run minus socks,  knowing full well what was coming my way. I did set off at a good pace and felt great for the first lap. The course was 4 laps of  3 mile, 1.5 mile up and 1.5 mile down. This allowed me to work hard on the uphill and recover at pace on the downhill. After about 2 miles it started. That horrible burning sensation suggesting blisters and friction burns on my feet. It didn't slow me down I'm happy to say, but for my troubles I now have a total of 18 ftiction burns, 2 blisters and two swollen feet. I am hoping that they heal for the Outlaw Half Ironman next weekend!! That said, I ran a 1:26 Half and  a negative split to boot, which given the terrain and the feet I am chuffed with.

In the end I finished 12th overall and 3rd V40 in a time of 4:23. I have to say that Dave and Joe both had good races, both had a plan which they stuck to and executed perfectly. This is a very important part of any race, but I feel it is something that really does count in middle and long course triathlon. Dave even had enough energy to give me a bit of grief,  saying his predicament was all my fault. The cheek !!

If you remember we had a 4th member with us 'Sherpa Tony' who's soul job was to look after our kit while we raced, Well, Tony somehow during the race ended up donning a marshals tabbard and working on the run course. At the end of the race he decided to have a gave of hypothermia hide and seek with me and my kit.

I went to Tony for the car keys and this is how it panned out. I got the keys for Joes Audi A6, in which my keys were located. My flip flops were located at the right hand side of a burger van. I got to Joes car, gained access to retrieve my keys and gained access to my car,  thus completing my goal in reaching warm clothes utopia. WRONG. I gained access alright, flip flops, tracksuit bottoms, underwear and t-shirt all located without a problem. Where was the nice fleece lined hoodie I was craving and had given to Tony prior to the race. As I started to turn blue, I dashed between the two cars in disbelief, thinking I mustn't have been looking properly, but alas, no hoodie. I tried to ring Tony, but no answer. The Sherpa was AWOL. So a very wet and cold Joe trudged his way back through the field to Tony to locate said hoodie. Where was is it,  wrapped round his waist and had been for the whole rain soaked 5 hours. My verdict on Tony's performance,  'you dipstick, your sacked' or words to that effect!!          

 

Hope you've all had a great weeks training and racing

Joe D