TriLaois
TriLaois is a sprint distance triathlon that takes place in Portlaoise. 750m pool swim, 23km cycle and 5km run. It’s been 20 months since I last did a triathlon and I was super-excited for it.
Still had some stomach issues on the morning but once I was racking my bike in transition it was nothing but excitement. We had nine athletes from the club racing and there are not many greater joys in life than racing with your teammates.
Transition closed at 8:10 and our wave was not scheduled until 10:30. This meant we had the chance to watch some of our teammates in wave one, but then left quite a gap between wave one finishing the swim and us getting in the pool. The bag drop was not secure but it did mean we could keep our hoodies on until the last minute.
The swim
We had a lane to ourselves in wave five. Six people in a lane sounded like a lot but Sarah, Roxane and Grace swam as a pack reducing the number of groups moving around. Melchior was quickest out of the water. I had two bursts of speed where I briefly tried to stay on the girls’ feet but otherwise took it easy.
The cycle
Transition was on an astroturf field which meant our feet got covered in those little rubber balls. I went for socks but otherwise there was no messing around and I was out in two and a half minutes.
The cycle route was an out-and-back and pretty flat. There was tailwind going out and it was slightly downhill which meant coming back was much harder. Even though there was nothing to take me out of my big ring, 3% into a headwind is enough to slow you down. I managed to catch my team mates on the outward leg. I was just under 30 kph average speed.
Annoyingly, neither my heart rate monitor nor my power meter had synced with my bike computer so I had to work on feel. The power meter did sync with my watch, though, and thinks I averagd 189 watts.
The run
Transition two was smooth enough as I switched to my running shoes and set off on the run. I tried not to hurt myself too hard. That’s tough as soon as you see someone ahead of you, though, and it was a constant battle of trying to slow myself down. Thankfully, there was an aid station half way to get some water over my head.
I wrote my tri suit which does not have any pockets so I had to do the run without my phone. As a result, by the half way point, I was two and a half kilometres away from my phone. As someone who doesn’t usually go to the bathroom without my phone, I think that might be a new personal best.
The results
My total time was:
1:30:10
And my splits were:
| Discipline | Time |
|---|---|
| Swim | 17:07 |
| T1 | 2:24 |
| Bike | 45:55 |
| T2 | 1:35 |
| Run | 23:09 |
All good stuff. 2:16 per 100 is good enough swim pace for me, the cycle was faster than expected as I thought about 45 minutes for 20km and the speedy run was a nice bonus, too. Most of all, I had fun, which was the aim of the day.
We took a team of nine of us and everyone did brilliant, especially considering most people were doing their first triathlon.
| Name | Position | Age group position | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finn Meenagh | 7 | 2 | 01:16:53 |
| Christopher Lohse | 13 | 1 | 01:19:00 |
| Chris Worfolk | 50 | 12 | 01:30:10 |
| Christine O’Brien | 60 | 2 | 01:31:43 |
| Melchior Mathé | 87 | 4 | 01:37:50 |
| Gus Hagon | 101 | 6 | 01:39:54 |
| Grace Kodia | 113 | 3 | 01:43:15 |
| Sarah Kelly | 117 | 5 | 01:44:20 |
| Roxane Monmarché-Fontaine | 119 | 6 | 01:44:20 |
Well done to Finn Meenagh and Christine O’Brien for being the first DUCCers across the line, and Christopher Lohse for winning his age group. Alas, the competition of the M35-39 age group made for a tough race.
Post race celebrations
After the race, we headed to The Pantry Cafe & Walled Garden for some refreshments and banter.
