Race Report: 4 men & a lady (?!) in Narnia

By Ellen Shilling

Hot potato, and it landed on my lap. After trying in vain to get one of the other lads to do this report my efforts were a bit like moodies cone head – cracked. So it is up to me to try to (briefly) sum up an epic weekend in one of the most beautiful places in Ireland.

Travel: The wardrobe was out of action so it was up to frank who did some epic driving to get us to Belmullet via Castlebar/ Ballina and Westport. Kevin managed to make children cry with shouts of “come on Donegal”, and I just tried to keep the peace in the back of the car with tales of past triathlons and how something always went wrong. We planned a race strategy. Ellen had to get angry

The triathlon itself.

Stunning morning, carb loading at breakfast and on the trip out to Blacksod we realised that I’d swapped places with kevin. He was now remarking on how great the day was while I was convinced I could see rain clouds, hurricanes coming and tsunami’s brewing .

I’m sure most people know/ have heard me moan about never enjoying a triathlon. I’ve done about 6 or 7 now and each one has met with some form of disaster. From bonking on the bike, to being in serious pain to being sick, you name it and it’s happened to me. On that trip out I decided that no matter what I’d enjoy it.

We met with Stephen, Alan and Bernard at Blacksod. I must admit being re-united with lance was an emotional moment, we’d never been parted for so long. The whole transition setup was very relaxed, race briefing was short and soon we were walking our way up to the swim start. We knew I had to race angry. However, despite turning to Frank and (amidst gasps of horror from fellow competitiors) asking him to “go on, hit me”, I couldn’t muster up anything. Ah crap.

Swim- was murder. Arms, legs and people everywhere. Swam over, dunked under and very nearly punched. It was bedlam to the first boat. We turned into what can only be described as choppy waters. I lost my timing chip , damn, but soon saw kevin, yay. Managed to swim into t1 with him but came out of t1 way behind. Serious amount of faffing around trying to get socks on, having a chat with people around me, admiring the scenery. Etc.

Bike: Thank you to Aileen who had pointed out that I grind on the bike. I’d always thought that you should stick it in the hardest gear and go as fast as possible in a race. With the result being that my legs were always dead for the run and I’d invariably have to walk. I never knew that I’d be better off with a high cadence and matching my gears to keep that rotation. Heaven, I actually enjoyed it! Back into t2 and I felt ok, I was actually looking forward to the run.

Run: I enjoyed every minute of it. The scenery was breathtaking which helped distract me from the fact that my breathing was very deep and I was very close to the guy in front of me. He looked a little nervous when I smiled as I passed him.

Finish – Last race of the season and I finished with a smile on my face that I wore all the way through the post race food, prize giving & trip home.

What I learned from this trip:

Frank likes ½ and ½ = ½ chips and ½ mash and he’s the biggest faffer I’ve ever met.
Kevin – loves bracket, ie. () and using words like Megalopolis & conurbation. (I still think they’re makey up words)
Stephen Cawley – ie the nicest guy in the world. Fixed my bike and delivered him to me, lance liked him so much he’s still on his holliers with him.
Alan Duggan – flew past me on the bike (as did an awful lot of people), amazing potential and one to watch out for next year.
Bernard – Stephens friend. Tried to convince us that, on a clear day, you can see the statue of liberty from blacksod. He had a bit of an American accent, so I’m not quite sure I believed him. hmmm
Highlight – coming across the full shilling pub.

All in all an amzing two days, fantastic banter, amazing company and a Carlsberg triathlon. Thanks to all the above for making it so special.