Gullane Beach Triathlon - Race Report & PRESIDENTS NOTES

I've raced Gullane Beach Triathlon a couple of times before, in 2009 (Check Gullane Triathlon 2009 on Youtube to see why they cut the swim short) and in 2010. It's a great race with a beach start where all the senior men ran into the water at 9.00 am.

I had checked the weather report the day before and it looked like it would stay dry if windy. The organisers had issued a warning during the week about there being stinging Weever fish buried in the sand that had bitten someone in the previous week, not an exciting proposition. They also mentioned this in the race briefing and that if you get stung by them your race is over because of the pain. Apparently there are sometimes jelly fish too but to be honest in the times I've trained and raced there I've never even seen one let alone be stung.

So I had got everything ready the night before, even had a gentle swim with the club at Loch Lomond as I hadn't open water swam in a couple of weeks. I hung my wetsuit up to dry, packed my kit and headed off to bed knowing that it was just a matter of getting up at 5.30am and throwing everything in the car.

Some breakfast and I was in the car heading through by 6.10 as Gullane was roughly 90 minutes away and registration was 7-8. Why is triathlon always so early??

I managed to get to Gullane by 7.15, registered, was body marked and set up my transition area before the race briefing. This is pretty much a miracle for me as I'm usually running around trying to get everything ready. So I was feeling pretty smug as I headed to my car to put on my wetsuit. As soon as I got to the car I remembered I hadn't taken my wetsuit off the hanger, it was still at home!!! I spoke to a firefighter triathlete I know and then to the organisers at which point a race marshall (Gavin) who's role was to stand in the water looking after swimmers offered me his wetsuit. It was a little baggy but I'd have taken anything at that moment. Cheers Gavin!

I had a little dip before the start, they had said it was 13 degrees but it felt baltic and the water seeped into all the spaces inside the wetsuit. Besides feeling like I was swimming in my pyjamas, the start of the swim was awful. The water was very choppy, people seemed more violent than usual, I still have a sore jaw from one elbow and salt water swimming is very different to our tranquil loch on a Friday night. I checked my watch throughout the swim as I had been hoping to exit the water in around 29 minutes but I was a lot closer to 34. 4 minutes longer than 2 years ago. Could've been the wetsuit, could've been the conditions and apparently one of the buoys had been moved too. Your swim time for Gullane includes a 2 minute run up a hill to transition from the beach. So it was 36 minutes before I got near the bike. It was pretty easy to get the baggy wetsuit off though I still ended up sitting on my arse getting it off and bike shoes on. I had tried a bike attached to pedals at Gullane start before but it ended in disaster, having to stop the bike, tear off my shoes and put them on properly, so this time I took the easy option.

Once on the bike I knew I had been cycling pretty strong this season with lots of solid training. I had one aim to keep my av. speed as close to 20mph as possible. It was straight into a headwind and I was soon catching people who hadn't swam in their pyjamas. There is one main climb in the Gullane course which isn't too steep but lasts a while around 5 miles in. I tried to keep my cadence up and thoroughly enjoyed the bike. It stayed pretty windy but the sun even came out at a couple of points. They had shortened the course from 42km to 38km because of roadworks and as I headed up the final drag, through the headwind back into Gullane I was reasonably happy to see my av. speed was 19.6 as I was coming off the bike. My bike time was 1:06 and t2 was 0:36.

The run for Gullane is tough. Within 200 yards of transition you're heading up an off road hill, trying to catch your breath and get into your running form. Not easy. It then takes you through a couple of streets along by the beach and up another killer off road hill beside the golf course. I had walked this hill on previous years as do most people but I just set myself the goal of tiny strides but a fast cadence, using my arms to propel me up. I managed up to the top and then through the mud and grass and heading back beside the transition area where there was a water stop and a flat out and back finished the first lap. Dawn had given me some sort of rocket fueled gel that I decided to try on this run. It was unbelievably gloopy but I took small sips and stuck it in the side pocket of my tri top. I took a little water at the water stops to wash it down and continued that way through the second lap of the 10k.

I felt pretty strong on the 2nd lap of the run and great on the last out and back. I even managed to keep running the hills with my arms swinging furiously.

The last time I had run Gullane my 10k had been 49 minutes so I was pretty pleased to come in on 47 minutes for the run this time.

Overall a time of 2 hours and 32 minutes. Happy days. Roughly 20 minutes faster than 2 years ago though the bike today was a little shorter, but 2 years ago I hadn't been swimming in my pyjamas.

A Few Words on ATHelite Triathlon Club

Hopefully we'll be able to continue the great work and dedication that Colin and Gen have put in over the past few years. We should be able to see over the next few months how and if that works, but it seems that there is plenty of enthusiasm and willingness from tonights meeting. If everyone manages to put in a little and works together I'm sure we'll be fine.

I had a couple of thoughts while I was driving on my way to work. I spoke to Gen about this and I think it would be good to have a monthly training/social/instructive event. The Sunday long runs don't seem to be happening at the moment so we could have them one Sunday morning each month.

In August a number of us will be up at Aberfeldy.

I thought we could organise another Arran trip for the 30th of September before the weather gets too rough. I'll put up details on an events page on Facebook.

In October if Michael M and Gareth J (and others who are bike savvy) were available we could have an emergency bike maintenance day, we would just need to find a venue and date for this.

In November (the 18th provisionally) I am happy to run a Yoga workshop maybe with another teacher (or John Young?) to help out too. Again this would need a venue.

In December if people were willing, I could possibly speak to the main Chi Running instructor for the North of England and Scotland and we could have a short running form workshop. This may involve a charge but we would only need a park as a venue. He runs a full day course that I've attended that I would recommend.

We also need to organise a Christmas night out. If anyone (Shirley?) wants to take on the role of organising a venue and date for this that would be great.

Each of these days would give us a chance to do something constructive, hang out and eat together.

Warm regards,

Mark.