Viceroys Debbie, Mick, Lucy (Owen), Chris (Ford), Kim, John (Kellet) braved a very early, very rainy bank holiday Monday to compete In Thames Turbo Race 3.
‘Pool swimming is so totally not my thing….my excuse and I am sticking to it!’ proclaimed Debbie, ‘I have never had so many strangers touch my feet and I felt like I knew the marshal personally by the end of the swim because he kept stopping me to talk……well asking me to ‘ hold it….ok off you go ‘ The ride went well enough although wet, cold and bumpy…..the local council really need to sort the roads out ! The run was fine despite not being able to feel my feet. All in all a great friendly event and will definitely do another.
Mewanwhile, Lucy Owen was braving her first race of the season: ‘First lesson was to remember to look at the weather forecast. Mild drizzle on the way there turned to a downpour and with no plastic bag or the like to cover my kit everything started to get rather soggy in transition. Lots of hanging around later and I was off. Obviously put a random time down for the swim- don’t enter just before bed after a couple of glasses of wine- as I was caught behind lots of people, but still managed a not awful time. The bike leg was slightly odd having to hop off and walk round temporary traffic lights, and I just didn’t push it hard enough- no idea why it took me so long! Very frustrating and Mark will be getting a call for some coaching!
I would love to use the weather as an excuse but it had stopped raining when I went out. The run was good, especially as my speed work has been a bit hit and miss recently. Overall a very disappointing result at 17th female, but lots of things to work on and spur me on for training for the rest of the season. Felt very fresh afterwards which makes me think I didn’t put in enough effort!’
Mick too was the victim of the pool swim, his predicted timing putting him last in and lastout of the water, but he son turned this to his advantage: ‘I was soon picking people off on the ride. The enforced dismount and walk segment to avoid road works made for an unusual variation on the bike leg, but the ride was a lot of fun nonetheless. Back in transition after 38 mins and out for my fastest 5k this year (21.43). Result – 1:11:09 39th overall and 6th in age group. My highlight of the day- watching a random triathlete punch the air in sheer unadulterated delight at finishing the swim. Inspirational stuff!
Lessons learned
1) Get out of bed and just do it
2) Learning to swim faster is not a quick process
3) Having been over taken on the run, don’t simply accept it, try to hold on and eventually they may break. He did and I regained a place
4) My dry robe is awesome!
5) Enjoy it! There are loads of interesting cool people in our sport.’
Great work team VTC!
