Vachery Triathlon - Cranleigh

Henley I reckon.........not sure they do classy enough fizz in Lanza for her

23rd September mate... [Insert worried smiley here]

Gastank wrote (see)

'twas a great day....

I think I'm going to focus on running and getting fitter with the time I have left before London - hope ankle recovers quick

Seriously dont know how I am going to get around an Olympic distance

Meldy has all sorts of potions, I mean advice about trashed ankles.

1 or 2 mile swims per week. 1 should be OW.
2 x 1hr bike, 1 x 2-2.5hr ride at weekend
2 x 1hr run (1 faster), 1 x 1.5 hr run. OR 1 x fast 30 mins, 1 x 1hr mid pace, 1 x 1.5 long pace).

We both suffered on the swim for absolutely no reason. Adrenaline? Lack of recent OW familiarity? I swam in the sea in my wettie end of July. Before that it was Outlaw, and almost weekly for 2 months before that.

Nice to see a few of you guys still there when I arrived.  There were a couple of moments when I found myself wishing I'd opted for the road version but, on the whole, I had fun

Walked the first few hundred yards of the cross bike route after racking my trusty, but little used MTB and almost withdrew then and there!  Chatting to others in transition area who'd ridden the course yesterday didn't do a lot to boost my confidence either, tales of extreme mud jamming up gears/wheels etc.  Eventually time came to put on wetsuit only to discover that it's developed several splits at assorted seams since I last used it a couple of weeks ago

Swim - not too bad; followed feet most of the way to the turn and most of the way back slightly out to one side.  Not sure why my ability to swim in a straight(ish) line always deserts me on the return leg of any ow swim.  Out of the water in about 16:27, couple of minutes gentle meander up to transition. 

Wasted much time faffing in T1 as usual but did have the excuse that, being too much of a wuss to ride the MTB clipless, I was pedalling in my trail shoes so had to tie laces.

Bike - that first bit, that I'd walked, actually turned out to be one of the easier bits. First mile or so was pretty straight forward single track and across fields. Then it got interesting for the next couple of miles. Skinned my shin trying to negotiate the first of many ditches; then it got muddy. Really muddy, just one stage short of mud soup. Walked a short stretch which involved ankle deep mud and a slight step up onto a bridge. Collected enough mud to negate the effect of the nobbles on my tyres before  slithering out of the woods and onto a field where the relatively recently cut grass stuck beautifully to the mud till it looked like my wheels and gears were made of straw!  Stopped briefly to try to clear some of the gunk away from the gears with some success but shouldn't have bothered cos I collected a fresh lot of mud and grass shortly thereafter.  Checked the watch and was a bit horrified to see it'd taken me 40mins to do about 3 miles so not even half way! Ho hum, nothing to do but keep plodding on.  Richard Stannard flew past making it look easy - and he was doing the standard which started 20mins after the sprint.  Fortunately the course then got relatively easier, mostly cos it was a bit drier. Enjoyed a flypast by the Red Arrows.  Then suddenly I was heading towards transition.  The advertised 9.5 miles was actually only just over 6 miles. Phew!

Run - more of a plod really at a steady 5:1 plod/walk - except for the uphill slog shortly before the steps up onto the Downslink. Mr Stannard sped passed again as I headed for home and for a brief moment I thought he was on his second run lap and therefore going to finish before me.

All in all, it was fun and I have this odd feeling that I'd really like to do a bit more mountain biking so I can go back and ride the course properly next year

Forgot to say, one of my biggest concerns about the bike had been speedy peeps wanting to overtake.  As it happens, those that did were all really considerate, shouting out clear warnings as they approached and waiting for 'safe' spot before passing.

Since everyone else has managed a race report already, I'd better toe the line:

Swim. They need some more buoys.  The yellow one at the far end that was just visible standing on the pontoon but disappeared completely once you were in the water.  Still, it's swim to the end of the lake & back, how hard can it be?  Apart from getting too close to the side where the weed was thickest, it was pretty uneventful.  Passed a few on the return leg, same as Outlaw, and in the top half of the swim for possibly the first time ever.  Wetsuit came off on the mat after the swim rather than run in it across the field to T1, 30:45 including that meant I must have been out of the water inside 30, so job done I guess.

T1 1:11. No problems apart from grass getting everywhere.

Bike. It's not IM, so just go for it.  I was in the last Oly wave so loads of people in front.  Wondered where meface was who surely beat me out of the water, but gave up on that after the halfway.  Found that orange marking sprayed onto the road to warn of potholes isn't very visible if you're wearing orange lenses.  A rolling course, nothing too bad, just a few little climbs to get you out of the saddle.  Passed Cat as I started the second small loop but managed to avoid t-boning him.  1:11:41.

T2. 1:01.  Usual stuff.

Run. Like others I couldn't get any proper pace going on the first bit around the field.  The tarmac bit was better, but we were soon into the bit through the woods with all the tree roots.  not my cup of tea at all.  The steps were the icing on the cake!  After that was OK, saw Gas just after his fall but he said he was OK (he wasn't really).  Familiarity with the course helped on the second lap, got a better pace going and managed to negative split it for 39:50.  

Overall 2:24:29, 14th overall, 2nd in AG.  Happy with that.

Great stuff Trogs all credit to you,   most speedier guys get the spirit of the event,  I had plenty of young things going past on bike today and only 1 of them thought he was "special enough" to tell me to "get out of his way"!

Gas - Shout if you want any advice.

 

Oh dear, there should be a warning on this thread, beware, this stuff is addictive.... First tri yesterday, and despite the marathon legs and gears on my bike being stuck I loved it, even the swim. Terrified when I arrived as the bikes were all fancy pants, and I think I was the only person without a tri suit, watch, ergonomic water bottle etc. Still survived, wasn't last and now want to do it again without marathon legs, so Hever Castle is next on the list. Thanks for all the support Jaffa, hmmmm, ironman you say.....

Uh-oh Kate, there's no escape now.  Come and join the other IM newbies on the Fatman to Ironman thread.

Well, if you are all doing it...

Arrived yesterday morning tired and grumpy to a registration tent slightly panicked with standard distance eventers still trying to register 10 minutes after the first wave was due to go off. The panic was contagious and left feeling slight more grumpy only to be compounded by no space left in transition to rack. I managed to squeeze Piri in but with no room left to put any kit near the bike.

We must have started late I think as every time I saw Toucs he tapped his watch and told me to get a move on. Oops. Any though of being competitive (haha) had completely gone by then so I figured I'd use it as a training run and ambled my way through.

The swim was actually really good despite the weed freaking me out. I always had people around me which never happens and I managed a wee while I was moving. There was my personal best right there. I could finish a happy girl :0D

Relieved to be out I walked to transition and took ages gathering my spread bits together before walking out the other side and stopping for a kiss from Toucs.

The bike was ok. I was still really grumpy and pootled round trying to shake it off and enjoy it. About a million people passed me and I just started to get warmed up when we ran out of course and back into transition ave16.6, 33 minutes and change.

I walked into T2, another sneaky hug and chat to Toucs and then headed out for my run. Happy to have opted for trail shoes the run was marvellous. Multi-terrain, a fun bit through the woods, steps (giggle) it had everything I love, all in the shade of the trees. Perfect :0) legs felt really great and I plodded my way round and finally started to smile. Caught take a sneaky walk by Gastank, he told me his tale of woe while we stepped into a rhythm together and chatted our way back to the finish. That was without doubt the best part. The company was lovely and many thanks to Gastank for ushering me in.

Forgot to say my run time was 5 minutes time slower than my cycle time Ooooops and it was so lovely to see lots of friendly faces. :0)

Not quite yet Nurse R, need to swim a little bit further first and stop being so scared by the bike geekery, I was trying to explain my stuck gears yesterday and I got lost when someone mentioned a big cog. Liking HC's transitions, and it was a bloody good excuse for a booze up and barbecue last night.

KateF wrote (see)

I was trying to explain my stuck gears yesterday and I got lost when someone mentioned a big cog.

KateF wrote (see)

and it was a bloody good excuse for a booze up and barbecue last night.

Aaaand, you've become a Pirate!

In reply to a comment I posted on Vachery Tri Festival page on facebook, organisers say they're planning two weekends next year

1. Half IM and oly weekend on closed roads and

2. X-tri and MTB weekend

Both to have music, camping and everything else they had this year. Oh, and with a bike cleaning option added for the X-tri/MTB weekend! 

I met a few of u at Vachery, Gastank for sure don't remember any other names. Top event and u all seemed a friendly bunch.
I agree with the buoys they need to be bigger and maybe some intermediate ones as well. But a cracking event def be back next year. If any of u are racing in the Cotswolds Tri on Sunday I may see u there.

Hey Tim, welcome... You would have met, IronCat, Jaffa and Cheerful Dave for sure at the tea tent! Depending on your poison I'm sure you'll find a wealth of information and banter here, hope you stick around! Stop by the Fatman to Ironman thread (warning u will be signed up for an IM though!) which is were a few of frequent...

I note the Vachery photos are up, yep looking the photos I now know why there was a wetsuit malfunction! Crap I need to run more and not just for training reasons, I quite like my bike pics though, I'm focused and catching flys

What was your race# Gas?

Vachery are sort of canvassing on thoughts for dates for next years planned weekends:

Road Half iron/olympic - plus big swims
XTri/MTB weekend - plus big swims

Any thoughts?

479 mate....

#456 (easy to remember). I think you appear in my swim pics. I can see why my swim was so long, my goggle strap pushed my ears out (more than usual) in to the waterflow.

You look good on the bike. Wouldn't be suprised if a bike fit tipped you up and forwards a vast amount though (my 2p worth).

Trogs, assuming you were the only Pirate to do the XC tri, there are loads of pics of you in the un-numbered area.

1st w/e of August?