While the hard core action was unfolding in Zurich there was a little known event happening in London. Probably not a favourite of seasoned Tri’ers due to the 11,000+ entrants over 2 days but my first opportunity to race (Ok, to go from start to finish) for a charity I’m very passionate about – SCOPE.
Violins at the ready
Everyone has their motivations for taking up a sport. Mine? To be around for our children as long as I possibly can. Hailing from Glasgow, where the stereotypical greatest sporting challenge is a Time Trial for deep fried mars bar consumption, meant I had a disadvantaged starting point (a lover of Lard). Key to that motivation and my passion for Scope is our eldest daughter Bethany. B has mild Cerebral Palsy (Left-sided Hemiplegia) which means she’s mobile but has a cool set of wheels when she’s tired and wants to chill out.
Mid-life crisis
I hit 40 and rather than buying a Porsche I decided to get fit so I could stay around for a while. (Dad – heart attack at 50, Dad’s dad – 2nd & fatal heart attack at 70). Get the picture? So I started walking/jogging 3K two years ago, 2 Supers and 1 sprint last year lined me up nicely for Sprints this year. Two and a half stone lighter and having completed the 1st NiceTri Sprint this year I was confident I could go the distance and raise money for this awesome cause. Also thanks to Georgie @ http://www.gbsportstherapy.co.uk/I’ve been managing/nursing a couple of dodgy ankles so I knew I could at least walk round the 5k.
Back to the race
So with my background, self-deprecation and excuses for ineptitude laid out before me, I was so excited about doing this race. I was really stoked up about the swim & bike and having tangibly progressed from “DoggyPaddle+” to “green shoots of a freestyle technique”, it’s just the swim-fitness and miles in the pool/on the bike that’s holding me back for the moment. My plan was for a steady swim and “smash it” on the bike with an impressive Charlie Chaplin impression saved for the run. I had plenty of time to work up my plan as I woke at 3:30am on the Saturday morning, as if someone had wafted smelling salts under my nose. 6 hours later doing what can best be described as “farting about”, having packed/re-packed then checked/re-checked my kit, we set off for London.
The Excel Centre
We arrived about 12ish, well sign-posted and well organised staff guiding us into a phenomenally large parking area next to the main centre. A few guys were cycling around the acres of space as more cars piled in. Opened the door from the cool air conditioning to a waft of heat, car registering 32 degrees C outside. Ouch. My start time was 15:50 so plenty of time to get my timing chip, rack the bike, grab some lunch and do a good reccy of the trade stands & spectator areas.
If you have never been, from the car park to the main arena the place is massive. The bike racks took up about 4 football pitches. This was going to be fun remembering where my bike was racked. Checking in for the timing chip was quick and straight forward then onto the racking. Labelled by start time, there was no numbering for each rack point so having got there early I set about creating the space I wanted. Job done – let’s see if I still have the space when it fills up later… Lunch, tri-shopping and viewing points checked out saw me off to don my wet suit around 15:30, reasserting the space I wanted for my bike’n’stuff.
Oops
The next 20 minutes were a bit of a blur but suffice to say having got my wetsuit on I wandered over to the swim brief sweating buckets to find a wave disappearing down the stairs to the dock. Ok, wait for the next group of swim hats to be distributed and it was then I noticed the huge clock clearly telling me that I’d missed my slot.
This meant a number of things:
- 1) I’m a muppet
- 2) My patient wife Carolyn wouldn’t have a Scooby doo where/when I was at any point during the race
- 3) I had just added 20 minutes to any recorded time
- 4) I was now going to cook for another 20 minutes in my wetsuit until 16:10
- 5) I then remembered that this wave was the biggest of the day
Muppet!
On the back of that I lost a little focus but by the time the Ogi Ogi Ogis from the Welsh guy doing the brief had done their trick, the adrenalin was up and I was ready to go.
The Dock & swim – 21:03
As I jumped in my first thought was ‘just how deep is this?’ but it was heaven. Starting to cool down I headed over to the right about 4 deep so I’d be close to the turns. While I didn’t expect to be up at the front there was no point in increasing the distance I had to swim, I’m crap after all. Horn went off and I was straight into a rhythm, determined to do as little breast stroke as possible over the 750m. It was like the M25 on a bank holiday and you might say well that is really bad but I didn’t do any breast stroke so it was peachy! I was held up and executed a few moves from the Hong Kong book of Kung Fu but my confidence was buzzing as I went round mid pack at varying rates of freestyle and ultimately joined the masses, like a queue for a Soup kitchen during the Great Depression, to exit the water. 1 second faster than the NiceTri Sprint 1 this year – how awesome am I?
T1 – 5:17
How far? Up the ramp from the dock there were lots of volunteers handing out clear plastic bags for wetsuits. I love my suit and quickly eased out of it and into the bag. I can understand the bags as the transition area has a smooth floor so would have been lethal with too much water about. However I thought I’d skipped the bike leg and onto the run by the time I got back to my bike – had to be about 500m. As I approached my bike I couldn’t wait to get my Scope shirt on and wear it with pride.
The Bike – 47:51
From the mount I tried to push as hard as I could, the run was an afterthought. I’m not called Captain Slow for nothing but found myself flying (gradually passing) most people on the flat & down-hills thanks to my Token Tri bars (Cheers Lloydy!). However on the slightest incline I ended up spinning up in my lowest gear with all those riders overtaking me again. Big front ring though – one didn’t touch one’s granny gear! So no real massive “smashing”. I was trying to conserve my bottle for the second lap but knew I was massively dehydrated, feeling like my mouth was dryer than a camel’s arse. Reaching the dismount my mind was blank thinking it was a shame I hadn’t seen Carolyn and our close friends and I suddenly realised I needed to get off the bike. Usual plan is to get out of shoes and leave them on the bike but I ended up loosening shoes and unclipping. So there I was feeling like wearing flip flops or clogs on a slippery floor as I hobbled into T2.
T2 – 3:33
Not so bad given the distance after I’d removed my bike shoes and carried them the last 200m. Next time I’ll either have two bottles on the bike or make sure I’ve something else to drink in transition. I left T2 with two things on my mind – where’s the nearest water station and don’t let my ankle give.
The Run – 33:26
I knew before the race that I was going to take it easy as I didn’t want to aggravate my ankle (MTFU I hear you say) but most important was to get round and secure the phenomenal sponsorship that friends & family had donated. In the end it didn’t matter as I was cattle trucked in that heat. Coming down from the Excel Centre I was approaching the Charity tents. With my name in black marker on my Scope shirt they all cheered me on and as I hi-fived them all I couldn’t help but well up but I was running faster for about 20m before settling back into my jog. I was in bits but this was for Bethany. I jogged to the water station about 1.5K in and grabbed a couple of cups of water one side and then rounding the turning point grabbed another couple. Grind it out, this is for Bethany, as I felt my lips sticking to my teeth like an impression of Jim Carrey smiling. I stopped thinking at that point got my head down and focused on completing the first lap, looking forward to seeing if I could catch a glimpse of Carolyn and for the next run past the Scope tent.
No sign of Carolyn, lap 2, past the Scope tent, hi-fives and 20m of “running”. More water at the water station turn and heading for home. As I was closing on the Excel for the last time I was doing a fast walk as another guy with a Scope shirt grabbed my shoulder & said lets finish together. Blubbing like I’d just seen Archie Gemmill score against Holland in the 1978 World Cup (or comparable to what happened to Bambi’s mummy) I started running – ankle’s fine. We rounded the final bend into the home straight and tried to gee up the crowd “Come on, this is for Scope”. Then my competitiveness kicked in with 2 guys not too far in front (yeah – save your efforts for the last 50m rather than the previous 25.7K!!!). Sprinting for the line my next thought was sod the medal where’s the water? I took 4 bottles from a volunteer and then let him stick the medal over my head.
Post-race – 1:51:09
3 litres of water in about 15 minutes and it was time to mount the podium for the money shot.
I’d love to race for Scope again but you’ve no real chance of being competitive or aiming for a PB in a race which is that busy. Wave after wave overlapping throughout the day, ridiculous transition times due to the size of the venue and queues longer than the Harrods sale just to exit the Dock. Ideal for a first time experience given the Celebs, charitable nature and safety in numbers but having done a few tri’s even I would have liked to have been a bit more assertive & competitive.
Can’t wait for NiceTri Sprint 2 in September!
While this account might seem like War and Peace for a Sprint race, after the epic efforts of our IronMen & Women over the same weekend, I hope in some way it might help/entertain the lesser mortals within the club or anyone who’s thinking of getting into Triathlon. Everyone starts somewhere and our great club truly is open to all abilities, shapes & sizes. I am in awe and inspired by our Ironpeeps but this “Fat boy on the run” is working towards it.
ISN’T THIS SUCH A GREAT SPORT!?!?!?
Stewy.