Outlaw Half 2021

So with the highs come the lows. Part of me just wants to bury Sunday’s race but if you are going to claim the victories, so you have to also own the defeats.

Outlaw Half Nottingham is probably now the UK’s #1 middle distance race. Over 1600 people on the ‘start line’ and with Covid still limiting travel abroad, this was going to be a competitive year.

Three major changes to this edition. The compact square-ish transition at the end of Holme Pierrepoint rowing lake was moved to the side, creating an enormous, long thin racking area, about a kilometre long. Getting through T1 and T2 would easily take over 10 minutes.

Swim course

The run course: rather than two out-and-backs along the narrow river tow path, it would be three laps taking in the kayak course and the rowing lake. Let’s hope I would get that far.

No mass swim start: due to Covid, the normal 4-5 waves 10 minutes apart were replaced with a time-trial-style, swimmers launching themselves off one of three pontoons every 9 seconds. There were some great dives, some belly flops, but I didn’t see anyone go for the classic ‘bomb’.

New run route - would I get that far?

We camped again but this time hired a camper van rather than tenting it. A new experience, we had a lot of fun and I slept so much better. Arriving late Friday afternoon gave us a leisurely Saturday to get ready for the race.

Great to see some familiar faces over the weekend including Rich H and crew; the Manchester Triathlon Club relay team made up of Natasha, Chris and Annie (supported by Nanette), and nice to chat with Rob Arnold on the start line.

The weather wasn’t great; the worst of the night’s rain had passed, but it was still very overcast with a strong wind coming up the rowing lake. However, it wasn’t cold and if the rain stayed off, it would be just fine for racing, no need for extra layers on top of the trisuit.

Top 3 finishers in the M50-54 age group - blistering!

I was in good shape and confident, at least for the swim and bike. Since peaking for EpicMan I had maintained my fitness. But the big unknown was running; I’d picked up a niggle so no running for two weeks to give it as much rest as possible. The two testers had not gone well so in the back of my mind I knew I wasn’t going to make it around. But denial is a powerful thing.

The race started around 6-ish, and I was in the water early. Due to the time-trial-style start, swimming was very civilised, no bunfight, no biff. I found good feet so benefited from drafting over the first 500m or so. Then I settled into my own rhythm and next thing we are turning and heading back. Out of the water in under 34 minutes, job done.

The damage was done in transition number 1. Running close to 1 kilometre from swim exit to my racked bike then out to the mount line, all in bare feet, is probably what killed my left calf. Once on the bike, getting out of the saddle and standing on the pedals was sore. Hey-ho, focus on the now.

Out of T1

I really enjoyed the bike; it’s a relatively flat course and this was my 4th attempt so the route was familiar. A lot of the roads have been resurfaced, it was early Sunday morning, some of the roads were closed to traffic and all the junctions were well marshalled. Plus I was out on the course relatively early so not many other cyclists to contend with. Hammer time!

Aiming for an NP of about 190W, I was pushing a bit too hard early on, but my heart rate was low, and I felt good. Slugging UCAN every 20 minutes to keep fuelled, no need for extra water as it was a cool 8 degrees. In the second half, there was a bit of back-and-forth with a few riders of a similar ability, but the aggregating peloton thinned out quickly enough. I paid the price for the early over-effort and faded a bit during the last 10km. But no worries, almost home.

Bike route, pretty much the same as previous editions

Nailed transition number 2 and was out on the run in just over 5 mins. 20 minutes later I came screeching to a halt as finally my calf blew up. As expected, as soon as I got off the bike, I knew it wasn’t good, but I had hoped I might just be able to slug it out and get around. Denial is a powerful thing.

On the bright side, I had a good swim and bike, and raced well until the end of T2, so a lot of positives to build on. Hopefully the rehab will get me back on my feet sooner rather than later so that I can get back on track for September.

Another big positive is that my Just Giving campaign is gaining momentum - we have now made it to over £3,000!! Thanks ever so much for all your support, sorry I couldn’t match it with a good performance! Hopefully I will leave the best till last!