Race report, The Outlaw 2010

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Hey guys, I wrote this a year ago but it was never published on STC.  I've heard a few people talking about doing it next year so I'd thought I'd post it up. :)

Outlaw Triathlon

After doing Lanzarote ironman in May this year, I had 1 week out, and gradually made my way back.  Recovery took about a month all in, the muscular fitness comes back quickly, but it’s surprising just how long it takes to get back your CV fitness!

Over June and July I kept myself ticking over, and felt good.  I have done a lot of endurance and base training this year which had paid off dividends.  In the approach to the Outlaw I felt very confident, there was no doubt that I would complete it, and in a better time than Lanza.

We made our way over to Nottingham on the Friday before the race, and stayed with friends who were also doing the race.  On the Saturday we then made our way over to the camp ground which is just 100m from the start line. It’s a great location; I have raced there before, at the National relays last year.  One of my friends and fellow Salisbury Tri club Claire Spencer came up to support me as well Toby Wilkins and Helen Thompson, fellow Salisbury triathletes who had entered the Outlaw at the last minute.  Both Helen and Toby were supposed to be racing at Zurich in July, but unfortunately were not able to compete.

One Step Beyond (the race organisers) had organised a series of timed swims in the morning.  I elected for the 500m swim as I didn’t want to over-exert myself the day before the race!  It was great, I came 21’st out of 105 in 8min 48 seconds, and most importantly beating my friend Richard by 30 seconds. J

In the afternoon I registered and then we chilled out and made sure everything was race ready.  We had a great BBQ and then had an early night.

Race morning!  I woke up at 4am, and had some pasta for breakfast.  I took my race food over to the bike (more about that later) and finished off the last details, pumping up tyres and checking things over.  I changed into my wetsuit, got a hug from Nicola and made my way into the water.  I was still feeling quite comfortable, no last minute nerves, I was completely comfortable about my abilities to finish the race.  We were held back in the pens until 6am, and then the hooter went!  We were off! J

Normally the trick is not to go out too quick, it was going to be a long day.  However we had been instructed not to step out of the lane that had been cleared of weeds, which left a narrow corridor.  It took several minutes of swimming hard, getting kicked and kicking others before I was able to find my own piece of water and settle into a pace I was entirely comfortable with.  The swim was uneventful apart from cramping up twice, instigated by attempting to swim around groups of people, which meant leaving the lane and swimming into what felt like solid weed!  You could almost walk over it.  Why that brought on cramp I’ll never know!  I just let it ease, got clear and carried on.  I could see the finish getting closer and then it was there!  I got out of the water feeling good and stripped off my wetsuit immediately.  My swim time: 1:10:01.

Straight into the change tent and into my cycling gear, no surprises here.  A good transition apart from…

As I ran out of the tent there were people lathering you up with san tan lotion.  As the weather was looking hot I decided to get some on and as I was being covered up, I saw what looked like Orangina cartons on the table at the change tent exit.  “Great” I thought, “Something to drink before getting on the bike”.  As I ran to the bike opened the top and squeezed it into my mouth, I realised two things, it was sickly sweet and very thick, definitely not Orangina!!! I looked at the label and it was… more sun tan lotion! L  Luckily I hadn’t swallowed any and spat it out on the spot!  I could have ended my race right there if I had swallowed it…  A quick swig from my water bottle to get rid of the taste and ready to rock!

The Bike

First, a loop of the lake.  A lot of people were using this loop to sort themselves out and were not travelling quickly.  I decided to push hard from the start and went aero straight away and started overtaking people.  I felt strong, and really wanted a good bike split. The bike course was great, I couldn’t fault it.  All roads were managed really well, with racers given priority over traffic at all junctions.  At one junction where this was not possible they even built a temporary road so that we didn’t have to stop!  Brilliant. J

It was a 3 lap race, about 30 miles per lap in a big triangle.  The first leg was quick, through some villages with thousands of spectators coming out to see the action.  It was great, awesome support.  The middle section was rolling hills and the hardest part of the course.  I kept in the saddle overall, only standing up 4 or 5 times in the entire race.  The final leg of the loop was the fastest, pan flat with the now picking up wind to your back.  I was averaging 27-30mph down there; it was amazing, but not long enough to get boring.

On the third loop I started to feel tired, my average speed started to drop.  However on the end of the third loop at about 100 miles, when I looked down at the clock and did the math.  I had said the day before I would be happy if I broke 6hr 15min, and if I hit 6hr00min, I would be ecstatic, so when I realised I would do 5hr 45min I was over the moon!  Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could do that.  I pushed hard on this last few miles feeling no matter what else happened I would have got a great split time.  My final bike time: 5:45:25. :)

Transition was a quick affair (for me anyway!) at 00:02:54 and I went out on the run feeling tired, but comfortable.  I stopped at a portaloo at 1 mile and went to the loo, better to go now than have to worry about where any others were at a later time.  The first 8 mile loop I felt relatively good.  I saw the STC fan club, Nicky, Claire and Kelly (Toby’s wife), where I found out that unfortunately Toby had DNF’d on the run.  Second loop I started to walk/run at about the 12 mile mark.  My run has always let me down in every race I have ever done, and this was not to be any different…  I saw the girls again at 16 miles which was a great boost, and after I left them for the last loop I caught a fellow tri-talker (www.tritalk.co.uk, an on-line site that I frequent).  We walked/ran together for the last 8 miles, I got to know each other quite well for this 2 hours.  Unfortunately he had another lap to do, I actually felt quite guilty when I got to the finishers shoot and I had to leave him to do the last 8 miles alone. (He did it though, his first ironman! J)  I hammered it down the shoot, absolutely elated.  I had so much better than I did at Lanza; I took nearly 2 hours out of my final time, finishing in 13hrs 18min 54. 

There’s more to come.  I was in the top 40% in the swim and I know I can be faster.  The bike will get quicker with more training, I think I could take another ½ hour out of it.  The run?  My Achilles heel.  I intend to work on it heavily this winter.  My races for next year are running intensive.  I think at least 90 minutes that can come out of the run in the future…

At the culmination to my first long distance season, I would like to give thanks to the following people, in no particular order:

Dan Brunton.  My first open water swim ended in a panic attack.  Thanks to Dan who spent some time with me in the lake, which allowed me to get used to open water swimming.  Not only have I mastered it, but it’s now my favourite form of swimming. :)

Salisbury Tri Club.  So may people that I have come to know through the club have encouraged me, trained with me and pushed my limits.  There’s far too many people for me to thank individually, so thanks to the club overall.  I wouldn’t be what I am now without the club. 

And last but not least, Nicky.  You have put up with my early mornings, getting up at 5:45am sessions, (you’ve even started joining me!) and never stopped encouraging me.  You always helped me every step of the way, driving me to races and putting up with me (not the easiest person to live with before a race!!!)  Love you babe. :)

(UPDATED : 22/09/2011)

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Author: Leo Hinton - 22 September 2011 18:38