This weekend I opened my 2013 race account
at the Swashbuckler, a middle distance race made up of a 1.9k swim, 80k bike
and a 22k run. I previously did this in 2010; I have come a long way since then
so was looking to smash my previous time of 5hrs 13mins. Organized by Race New Forest, this event is
centered on Buckler’s Hard, a tiny village on the Beaulieu River. An
interesting place in its own right, the site where Nelson’s fleet was built
prior to the Battle of Trafalgar.
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| The swim course |
My 2012 season ended with a bit of a damp
squib; due to injury I bailed on Lanza 70.3 as well as Challenge Wanaka. So the
goal for winter was to rebuild my running legs while working on my speed in the
pool and power on the turbo.
Winter training went well and continued
through spring. 400m PB in the pool, raised my 5 min and 20 min powers quite a
bit and even got at PB at the Wilmslow Half Marathon despite very little
threshold or speed work. I had also been tinkering with my bike fit,
dropping the front end by ~15mm, and investing in some new kit;
flashy aero helmet and more importantly, some badass wheels.
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| A F9R and disc combo from Fast Forward |
So by the time the Swashbuckler came around
I was uber pumped. A work commitment abroad meant I was forced to have a mini
taper, no bad thing, so I was rested and raring to go. My main race this year
is Roth in July and I wanted this race to tell me what kind of shape I was in.
This swim is quite hard! The two loop course
follows a bend in the river, around a line of moored boats. The river is
tidal so it can be slack if the tide’s high tide or it can be flowing. It
starts at 6:15am with the sun only just above the horizon, so on the out you can be swimming into bright sunlight, so sighting is difficult. It’s
silty so visibility underwater isn't great either making drafting difficult. But who said it was supposed to be easy :-) The day before, Race Director Richard Iles
(great guy), commented that this race tends to attract a stronger field
due to the harder swim. Indeed, at the race briefing, only one person admitted
this was their first triathlon. On the plus side, water temperature was up to
~16 degrees. Also, slack water was on the menu.
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| Bright sunshine from the start |
My tactic was to start right at the front,
and on the out swim as the crow flies straight from the start line to the turn buoy.
However, everybody else seemed intent on following the curve of the river,
presumably using the line of boats as a guide. Crossing the herd meant that I got swam over a few times. It calmed down on the second lap and according to my official time keeper, and #1 support crew, Jacky, I
exited in ~35mins, good for me, especially considering the conditions.
Running up the hill through the village is cool, lots of support. Into
transition, and out on the bike, all nice ‘n smooth. Official time: swim and T1 done in 37:18, 34th place.
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| Random picture of New Forest wild life |
The bike course is awesome, through forest
and over down. Quiet roads with little traffic, just the local wildlife to
watch out for. The horses, ponies and cows etc. that live in the New Forest roam
freely so caution needed. Otherwise, conditions perfect: clear skies and no
wind. I overtake a few people at the start but then it’s pretty quiet; only
~250 people in the race and I’m now at the pointy end :-) The course was very well marshaled so no chance of getting lost.
This year, I have been doing a few time
trials as training rides. These are great as they teach you just how hard you
can push on the bike. Plus I have been experimenting with pushing a bigger gear
at a lower cadence which seems to be more efficient. Two weeks ago I did a 50m TT in 2:10 with a
normalized power of 219W. Today I ride the 80k bike leg in 2:12 with a NP
of 213W. By the time I was back into T2 I had moved up to 14th place. Very happy with that, but have
I trashed my legs for the run? I spun out the last five minutes, dropping the
power and increasing cadence just to ease the muscles.
Nutrition: Big lunch the day before, very light dinner, then normal breakfast at 4:15 am. On the bike, ~6 High5 gels in a 500ml BTA bottle. I had a 750ml bottle of water on the down tube but only had a few swigs, 250ml max. 3 gels for the run, a few swigs of water from the aid stations.
Only a handful of bikes back in transition
so I know I’m doing well. Quick turn around and out on the run; two laps
through country lanes and over forest track. Feet like bricks to start but
otherwise legs ok. Settle into a good pace, overtake three but then loose two
places. After that it’s very quiet until the second lap when more runners are
joining the course. Chasing rabbits keeps me pushing.
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| The bike route |
With 3k to go I push harder; I’m on my own
so unlikely to gain or lose any places but this is still a training race so I
have to practice “suffering”. So I push on and suffer. With 2k to go I overtake
a guy who’s looking strong and it’s taken me a while to chase him down – turns
out that was the moment I moved from 3rd to 2nd in my age group.
Run split 1:35 for the 22.5k; normalized
gives a ~1:29 half marathon time, not bad compared to the ~1:23 stand alone I
got in March at Wilmslow. A bit fast at the start and picked it up end, but
otherwise evenly paced so very happy with that. Nutrition seemed to work just
fine.
Back up the hill through Buckler’s Hard and
across the finish in 4hrs 26min. Collapse but very satisfied, crushed my 2010
time. Jacky tells me I came in 12th – awesome! Defo my best performance
to date, not just position wise but in the way I nailed everything on the day.
Next stop Roth! Bring it ON!
And finally, Richard and his team at Race New Forest put on some cracking races, from sprint to full iron-man distance, so if you're looking for a well organized race in a beautiful part of the country check them out. A bit of a drive from Manchester but well worth it. This was my fourth and I very much hope to go back in the future.
