Posts Tagged ‘triathlon’

Now run by the Brownlee Foundation, Ripon Triathlon takes place on Ripon race course. I have raced here before in 2022 when I did Dalesman but this was my first time back.

We decided to make a day of it, which meant getting up at the eye watering time of 4:30 to get on the road by 5:30 and there by 6:30. In the end, they did not close transition at 7:30 so I could have comfortably arrived at least 30 minutes later. Lesson for next time.

They did not announce the water temperature until just before the race so we were all nervously waiting to find out if we could wear wetsuits or not. In the end, we could. Which was great because I was pretty anxious anyway during the swim. I did some breaststroke and then felt more confident coming up to the first buoy. I then felt panicked again on the way back before finally getting into it and finishing strong.

The lake was less weedy than I remembered. But the last time I swam here it was possibly the weediest swim I’ve ever done, so the bar was pretty high.

The bike course was lovely. Very flat. Which again, contrasted with the 2,000 metres of elevation gain I had to take on last time I raced here. The course was about 24 km long and I couldn’t remember the exact distance so I wasn’t too sure when it was going to end.

Finally, onto the run. It takes a lot of the same route as Dalesman did, but without the long out-and-back stretch. I paused half way through to watch a baby hedgehog cross the road. Time well wasted in my opinion. And then it was into the finish.

My time was:

1:36:24

And my splits were:

I couldn’t quite keep up with the race winner, Alistair Brownlee, who finished in 1:01:35.

It finally happened. Six-ish years ago, we started tossing the idea of doing a mixed team relay triathlon as a family. Then someone put a wedding in the middle of triathlon season. Then someone got pregnant. Then someone moved to Ireland for three years. Finally, in 2026, everyone was in the same country.

Cholmondeley Castle is located in Cheshire and the mixed team relay event starts at the very civilised time of 3pm. It is part of the Castle Triathlon Series, of which I’ve previously done Castle Howard and Lough Cutra. My dad has some special team t-shirts made up ahead of the race. 214 represents our combined age.

Pre-race was a little stressful. The water got too warm in the afternoon and they declared it would be a non-wetsuit swim for under 60s. This was my 67th triathlon and the first time ever an event organiser has enforced no wetsuits. Not ideal as I was still rebuilding my confidence in open water: the Wednesday before was the first time I had swam with a wetsuit rather than a wetsuit and tow float.

However, there were only 13 teams in the race and the field spread out on the first leg so by the time I picked up the second leg, I had the entire water safety crew to myself. The swim out to the fist buoy was scary, the second was okay, and the third one was reedy.

The bike course is a 4.2km lap around the castle with some flat and straight roads on the first half where you can get down into the aero position, before a few mild hills and some slightly more technical corners. The run is more challenging, being mostly trail straight up the hill to the castle, around the back, and then zigzagging back to the start.

A big well done to everyone who raced and thank you to everyone at Castle Race Series for organising the event.

Stokesley Leisure Centre is a pool-based sprint triathlon based at Stokesley Leisure Centre in Yorkshire, run by Cleveland Triathlon Club. The pool was wide enough and there were only 3-4 of us in each lane with participants starting every three minutes. The bike course is absolutely beautiful: it just enters the North York Moors National Park so you get panoramic views without any hills being involved. The run is a road-based out-and-back. The only thing I was surprised at was they didn’t check bikes in and out of transition, but maybe that’s the joy of living in a town of 6,000 people. Would do this race again.

First triathlon of 2026 is in the bag. Tadcaster is a lovely chill race and always a pleasure to take part in. It is part of the HPH club championships, and with only four of us competing, myself and three women, I only had to finish to take the championship lead after one races.

Setup was fine, including a pre-race brownie from the coffee van. I went for a complicated three-shoe setup so that I had one pair from pool to T1, then bike and run shoes. It’s a lot of shoes to bring, but a 600m run from the pool to T1, along multiple roads, so the extra pair of shoes was well worth it.

I felt good in the swim. There were only three of us in our lane and I was the first out, although that probably says more about how accurate my 400m prediction time was. I clocked my swim at just over nine minutes, which isn’t my fastest ever, but consistent with previous efforts but something I thought I was taking quite steady.

It was a beautiful day for cycling. Clear, cool, and no wind. I haven’t done any work in the aero position all year but I got down on the bars for several sections of the course and felt pretty quick. The only slight panic was when the guy in front of me missed the turn back into transition and I had a split-second question about whether it was me that was wrong. But no.

Out onto the run. This felt quite weird because someone started catching me. This isn’t how these things work. People overtake me in the swim and the bike and then I catch people on the run. But with zero overtakes so far, someone was breathing down my neck until the water station. They backed off and then caught me on the trail section at the bridge. Not for too long, though, and I managed to take the place back. Up the steps and across the finish line for a well-earned pork pie.

My overall time was:

1:14:35

My splits are below. It should be noted that in 2021 the river flooded and the run course was changed to a shorter out-and-back on the road, hence why we all have amazing run splits for that year.

New fastest T2 time, and not bad for my first race in the 40-44 age group. Thank you to all of the volunteers and marshals, and to Elina and Venla for keeping me company.

What better way to end the triathlon season than with a tip in the Atlantic Ocean?

There was no accommodation available in Westport itself so we ended up staying outside of the town in rural County Mayo. The internet download speed was 500 mb/s. This is what happens when a country invests in infrastructure.

The weather wasn’t particularly kind and it rained heavily overnight but eased off to on-and-off showers. But thankfully I had my support team with me so I had a robe to wear until just before the race.

The swim

The swim was in the harbour and a chilly 12 degrees C in the water. I was nervous about drowning and freezing to death and had a rocky first third of the course as we wam the first side of a triangle. Then we turned and swam across the bay with the second third going face on into the waves. The final side was easier but seemed to take forever so I was pleased to get out of the water.

A big thank you to the water safety crew for looking after us. The water temperature was unpleasant but I have definitely had worse and the group warm-up before the race really helped.

The cycle

it is a fantastic bike course. It is an out-and-back along the Wild Atlantic Way. Relatively flat and I never felt like I was going into a headwind, but did feel like I had a tailwind on the way back. The view was beautiful across the bay with Croagh Patrick on the other side.

The run

The run goes up the greenway out of Westport. That means it is uphill but only gently so you can still run a comfortable pace both ways. There was an aid station at the turn around point and despite the poor weather, I was so warm by this point I went for the old cup of water over the head before making the return journey.

The result

My overall time was:

1:26:53

And my splits were:

That was good enough for second place overall! With the important caveat that there were only 19 of us in the try-a-try distance. They did have prizes for the top three men and women, though, so I came home with a prize!

It’s a lovely event if you don’t mind a sea swim and want some fantastic views packed into a sprint distance.

Lough Ree is a lake in the middle of Ireland. It is where I did the Two Provinces Triathlon in July. But where that took place in Lanesboro at the north of Lough Ree, this took place at the opposite end, as Coosan Point just north of Athlone. Which is great because there is a motorway all the way to Athlone.

I think the water temperature was higher than the air temperature. Nice to get it in before the autumnal days bring the water temperature back down.

Lake swims are usually the easy option compared to sea swims but the weather is not always kind on the far side of the Irish sea. There was a real chop on the water. Not as bad as Lough Cutra, but comparable to a calm day on the sea. This was my second weekend in a row racing, after Lough Key last weekend, so I was hoping for some confidence and an ability to go for it in the swim.

Alas, no. The chop really took me out of my front crawl and it made it feel like hard work. Hard work reminds me that if I stop swimming I will drown, which leads to a bit of panic. It did not stop me, though, and towards the end i did get into some front crawl. We then turned back directly into the waves, though, and that was that.

As we got out of the water, the rain started to come down. Most of the cycle was in the rain which made it difficult to see through my sunglasses. But otherwise a nice ride: a few lumps but no real hills. Three loops of the same course, so once you had completed one lap you knew what to expect. The rain eased off as I came into T2.

The run was an out-and-back along the same road that the cycle course initially went out on. I felt good on the run: I was maintaining a strong pace without feeling it too much. That said, it is always hard work and I was delighted to see the finish line. Which came with a well-stocked array of water, milk, biscuits, buns and crisps, as well as a voucher for a complementary burger from the burger van.

My overall time was:

1:16:16

And my spits were:

Transition was fully neutralised so my leisurely T1 cost me nothing. The bike course was 17-18 kilometres which is why I was so snappy there. My watch had the run a little short, too, but maybe that was just the trees.

We were well loved after the whole way and there were loads of marshals on the course. Thank you to everyone at Athlone Tri Club, and to
Derek Fox and Toine Siebelink for the photos!

In addition to the support, I really liked that they had our names on the bibs, and that all of the stickers were bright yellow. It is the club’s colour and makes the stickers look much more interesting than the plain white ones.

Lough Key is a beautiful forest park located in Roscommon. I am looking to avoid sea swims so it was worth the drive over for what is the first of a few end-of-summer/autumn races I have lined up.

Being in a forest park they have a visitor’s centre with proper indoor toilets, which was a luxury. I wasn’t feeling great on the drive over, though, and had to stop a few times meaning I got there a bit late and was in a rush to set up transition, misplacing my neck protector along the way.

Luckily, it was a short swim (200m) that I took easy for the first half and then a bit faster on the way back. Despite the cool conditions, the water was warm enough.

The cycle route was fantastic. It was extended to 23 km to allow us to do one complete loop of the lough. Some of it was behind trees but other parts climbed up onto the hills and gave us a beautiful view right across the lough. Tough side winds, and a final head wind, made for some hard work but well worth it for the views.

The run was similar, going alongside the lough before turning in land a little to come back. Things were going well until 2 km in when I felt a sudden pain under my arm. It didn’t stop me from running and I finished in good time, delighted to have completed another event.

My total time was:

1:33:31

And my spits were:

After the race, I headed over to the first aid station so they could take a look at my arm. The paramedics suggested it might have been a bee sting. Nothing serious but I ended up in the ambulance for 30-40 minutes while they checked my vitals and what not. Thank you to Andrew and Mags for taking good care of me.

I finished the day with some food from Paddy Paella. Thank you to everyone at Lough Key Triathlon and all of the volunteers who made the event happen.

Triathlon is back! I took in Kilkenny Triathlon a few weeks ago and realised how much I had missed it. I decided to keep momentum rolling and sign up for Tro Provinces Triathlon, which takes place in Lanesborough. During the race you cross the border between Longford and Rosscommon, hence the name of the race.

Unfortunately, it was heat wave weekend. Temperatures were predicted to peak at 28 with typical British Isles humidity. I’m not a big fan of hot weather and I would have cancelled, except that I had just started to get my confidence back in open water and was determined to capitalise on it.

It is about a two-hour drive over, the second half of which is on small roads. I was in wave eight, which started two hours after transition closed, at around 12:30 meaning we got the impact on the day’s sun. I tried to leave my wetsuit off until the last minute to stay cool.

The swim

I was very nervous again before the race and getting into the water. The water in Lough Ree was a beautiful temperature, though. Maybe around 20 degrees. Warm enough to be pleasant to get into and cool enough to swim without overheating.

It was a triangluar course around a single buoy. I decided to take it easy and do heads-up breaststroke to the buoy. Once I rounded it I felt my confidence building and went into front crawl that I did all the way back to the swim exit. Job done and really happy with that.

The cycle

The cycle route was on closed roads and once you get through the first two turns it was a pure out-and-back affair. There was a tail wind on the way out so we were all flying. Slower on the return as we were going into a slight headwind but the aero bars really helped here.

I decided to go with arm sleeves to protect myself from sunburn. In addition, I took a second bottle on the bike with water that I could pour over my torso and arms every few kilometres to cool me down.

The run

Finally, onto the run. This too was a mostly out-and-back affair with little shade. Thankfully, the race organisers had put a real effort into keeping us cool. There were two water stations, so four chances to pass them on the out-and-back, and they put a series of sprinklers on the course so that you could run through them as well.

I took a soft flask of water to pour over myself again. However, having been sitting in transition the whole time, it was like bath water and I had to dump and refill it at the first water station.

The result

I managed to leave my timing chip in my car after I had registered, so I don’t have an official time. But according to my watch, my time was:

1:23:09

And my splits were:

I wasn’t interested in the time; I just wanted to have fun. Not miles off the 40-minute barrier for the bike, though. And a sub-26 5k in that heat was lovely. I worked pretty hard for it looking at my heart rate!

The race was well organised and they gave out free ice creams at the end. Thank you to all of the volunteers who made it happen.

I completed Kilkenny Triathlon two years ago when the swim was cancelled due to water quality. That meant the last open water race I had finished was IRONMAN Copenhagen three years ago and my confidence was not in good shape coming into this race. I registered for the try a tri as it is the same course as the sprint but with a shorter swim.

I got down there and registered fine. Despite the cloud cover it was baking hot, especially once we had our wetsuits on. We walked down to the swim and I felt nervous, especially when getting into the water. But I did it, and despite plenty of in-water nerves, too, I finished the swim.

The bike was pretty standard. Some back ache towards the end but I generally just had fun. I don’t think I used my aero bars much.

The run course was different to previous years. Last time it followed a similar route to the parkrun course with two laps around the castle grounds. This course took us onto the side of the river behind the castle and then back along the river in a lovely one-lap circuit.

My overall time was:

1:23:46

In 2023 it took on a duathlon format with an additional run at the start I cannot compare the two. Slightly slower on the cycle an slightly faster on the run, though it was probably a little flatter. My T1 looks horrendous but the mat was at the bottom of the hill by the river and included a long run up to transition.

I’m not fuss about the times in any case, I just wanted to finish a triathlon with an open water swim again and I did that so job done. I’m proud of myself. Also, it was fun!

Skerries is a popular triathlon that takes place up the coast. We organised a relay team for the club consisting of Chris L swimming, Hugh cycling and myself running. I’ve never done a traditional relay before so I was excited to give it a go.

The biggest pain was that registration closed at 7:15 in the morning. I’m sure lots of races start this early and I’ve just forgotten, but I did not appreciate the 5 am alarm to meet Chris at 6:00. Still, all was well and we got down to the race in plenty of time. At which point there was not a lot to do because we had very little to set up in transition.

The swim starts off down the beach and goes out in the bay and then along the coast to Red Island where transition was located. Despite not having raced a sea swim before, Chris was one of the first out of the water from wave two, which is where all the relay swimmers were placed. He was so fast he almost took us by surprise. The way it works in relay is you have a transition pen where you hand over the timing chip ankle bracelet.

Hugh theen set off on the bike. There was a strong headwind going out meaning that the athletes on the time trial bikes had a big advantage. Despite this, we think Hugh was around 11th fastest overall on his road bike. I was nervously waiting in the pen at this point. And I was nervous. We were in the lead and I did not want to blow it, but I also knew how much it was going to hurt. I got a proper warm-up in and then did some pacing while we waited.

My turn on the run. It was a wierd experience. Usually, I have come out of the swim near the back and spend the entire run overtaking people. But today I was out with some of the faster athletes and while I still managed plenty of overtakes, there were also some people that came flying past me.

At this point, I did not know what gap we had on the team in second place. I thought I knew what their runner looked like but wasn’t sure if maybe I had missed him. Maybe they were only five minutes behind and he was an 18-minute 5k guy. The run course is a beautiful out and back along the beach and as I came to around the 3.5/4k point, I saw the second place team’s runner heading out on the run. At this point, I knew we had it in the bag! Cue a classic finish line celebration.

Some may try to diminish our victory by saying that there were only five relay teams in total and that everyone else was just there for the craic. But having never won anything in triathlon before, I’m chuffed to bits. You can only beat who turns up on the day. It was a well organised race at every point so a big thank you to Fingal Triathlon Club for organising.