Race Report: AIX 70.3

By Liam Osbourne.

Allez allez – that was the catchphrase of the day that we would hear throughout our adventure in Pays de Aix, Provence, France. A few of the “proper” Northsiders ala Skerries and Malahide decided it might be a good idea to do a 1/2 IM in France – some had done Tri an Mhi for the past few years and were sick of either getting frostbite or assaulted by hailstones down in Westmeath so a bit of warm weather was called for. There were 7 of us in total and for 4 of whom this would be their first 1/2 IM so a big challenge. We all attended the Piranha club swimming sessions in Clontarf, did our own thing re run training and tried to link up most Sundays around 7am – all daddies and mammies so had to get the training done early – a typical session was a 90k loop out to Slane via Drogheda,

The departure morning quickly arrived and with the check in and bike boxes sorted we were through Dublin airport without any stress .. then the meal before departures .. a healthy Fry Up.. black pudding, eggs etc…. breakfast of Champions.. it stood us in good stead for the flight where we all out for the count. Upon arrival in Nice we retrieved the bags, collected the van and car – the gendarme refused the van entry to the arrivals so some creative driving was called for including knocking over a few bollards while parking up on a roundabout – then off on a 220 k spin down the road – while putting the fear of god into a few of my passengers. Sean I swear the nerves will recover.

We made it to the centre of ops safely and duly got stuck into rebuilding the bikes – overcoming some minor technicalities such as part of a persons seat post falling into the frame of the bike and having great fun getting it out.. The next day we registered and dropped off the bags\bikes etc – we did not do a reccie of the course which was a mistake in hindsight . The atmosphere in the town was electric and it was very easy to get caught up in it but we tried to keep our heads down and headed back to the ranch, after a wholesome home cooked meal we all hit the leaba by 9.30 … it surprised me that everyone was off to bed that early but it’s definitely something I will be doing in future…

Race Morning quickly arrived and my nerves were kicking in .. would the swim be ok?.. how would I manage the heat etc?… all the little thoughts that go through ones head. We all had our brekkie in the “villa” .. one big happy family … Wayne has introduced me to the ritual of having boiled\poached eggs for brekkie so it’s something that I always do now .. strangely he didn’t on race day .. said that he only ate duck eggs !….

At 6am we all departed for the race start which was a good 40k away from where we were staying. all 7 of us in the van- 4 of us travelled in style… in the back of the van. We travelled along with the smell from the lavender fields calming our nerves – that “smell” didn’t last long …. cheers Barry. We arrived in one piece and duly got ready, wetsuits on, handshakes done, bike check, pump wheels, vaseline on(You’ll like that Moody) and all set to go. Into the water for a quick pre-race swim … uh oh my left goggle seems to be letting the water in … not to worry lots of time to fix .. .. or rather I thought I did. For the wave I was in as was Sean, Mick, Barry and Eugene they had combined a number of waves which meant there were over 700 people starting at the same time. An awful lot of people getting into the pen together .. swimming has always been my weakest discipline however it had been going reasonably well for me of late so I was “mildly” confident but still choose to keep to the back of the pack.

Swim

The hooter sounds and we’re off … legs, arms, heads everywhere .. its mayhem .. the swim in Pays De Aix is in a quarry\lake so it’s quite narrow but very calm. I decided to power on .. but the leaky goggle struck again and caused me to stop.. try and fix.. no joy.. try again. Repeat again a few times. then panic. Am I going to have to abandon … I see some of the canoeists getting closer .. right Liam get it together you haven’t come all the way out here not to make it through the bloody swim… lets go .. settle yourself down again and do this. So I did the swim with one eye closed\full of water and got into a nice steady rhythm . at this stage I was very much at the back but I found myself making good progress .. on it went and within no time… well 40 mins I was back on dry land .. disappointed as I was aiming for 35ish .. but all things considered I was over the moon to get out in one piece …. From exiting the swim to T1 is about 1 km or so … which is plenty of time to dry off…

Bike
Got my bike bag and started munching a snickers while changing into the bike gear.. for once I had a really good transition so was out and on the bike in no time and settling into a rhythm. The bike has always been my favourite discipline so I was eager to make up lost ground … while at the same time not blowing up. I found myself passing a lot of people and also being passed by a few .. the amount of drafting was incredible.. but with almost 2000 competitors it was inevitable. We had adopted the phrase F*** You Fish so as to feel a little better when passing the stronger swimmers of this world so that was a little mantra that I kept saying. All the time we were whizzing through the French countryside and getting plenty of support along the way. The majority of the athletes were Frenchies of course with a few union jacks thrown in for good measure so it was with great pride that i went by a few Fabiens/Juliens/Philippes and one or two Nigels…. When we hit the last 30 I knew the big climb was coming and it lived up to its rep.. I usually love climbing but not fast descents. The closed roads and wide turns made the descents much more enjoyable. It was coming down off the big climb that i came across Mick Keogh pushing his bike .. I slowed asked did he need any help and he roared at me to keep going he was grand. Mick had punctured badly with the tubs so there was little option but to walk/run the remaining 20 k and then do the run or be a DNF and get picked up by the sweeper bus …. what would you do? The last 20 k of the route was pretty uneventful for me- just the usual of passing and getting passed.

Run
Into t2 and a quick pit stop later I was out on the run course. The crowd was amazing and we heard plenty of Go Ireland/Piranha etc .. the support definitely makes you forget about the tired legs. The run is 4 loops of 5k and was through the town via cobbled streets and a very “hilly” park.. not the flat course I had imagined….. On the first loop I caught Wayne who was on his second lap but was running a lot slower than his usual fast pace. We had a quick chat and I pushed on as ! was feeling good and wanted to give my self a fighting chance of catching Wayne!

I took the gels and water on every lap and walked at the aid stations . I was feeling good and I thought I might be on track for a decent time (my Garmin gave up the ghost the previous week so I had no watch and was racing on feel.) For the last lap I picked it up a gear and the thought of a few beers and not having to run anymore spurred me on. At the start my aim was for sub 5.30 so if I got near it I’d be very happy. Up the tunnel and was delighted to get home in one piece with a pb of 5.26 on a very fine day in France. Wayne was there to help me over the line and to the recovery … he managed to beat me by a minute! Maybe next time..

Myself and Wayne went for a well deserved massage and Pierre got his big hands on Wayne while a lovely French lady eased my suffering … I don’t think she was too fond of the back hair though as it seemed my session was cut pretty short while Pierre worked his magic on Wayne … if I thought it would shave a few minutes off my swim I might go for a wax session! We were able to get out on the course and cheer the rest of the guys on. Next in was Sean Finnegan who is a relatively new member of Piranha and had only ever done a Sprint before so this was a big step up for him as well as an amazing personal journey. He’s lost over 4 stone since January, is a flyer on the bike and as you’ll see from the photo looked as fresh as a daisy when he finished with a great tine if just over 6 hours. Eugene was next over the line and was also doing his first HIM , he was soon followed by Niamh and Barry (husband and wife) who were also doing their first HIM and also finished with great times respectively – a special thank you to Niamh for her French skills as I think we would have been very lost without her translating skills.

The last but by no means least was the “man of steel” or at least leather feet from Skerries – Mick Keogh who after destroying his rear tyre(tub) made a decision that he was not being “swept up” and ran/walked the last 20 k of the bike route with his bike in his cycling shoes and for a while in his socks and then went on to run a 1.49 half marathon …. legend, it certainly gives new meaning to the phrase “Never Give Up”… truly inspirational.

So at the end of the day we had 7 very happy but tired people .. a great night followed with a “few” beers and some great laughs. I’d highly recommend this race but… i’d deffo use ship my tri bike.

A few lessons I learnt from France:

• Always have a spare pair of goggles that you have trained in!
• Never give in!
• Spend less time looking at your watch and be more focused on your body and listening to it.
• Always eat eggs for breakfast.
• Don’t understimate the logistics of racing abroad… its a lot of work.
• Racing in the sun is more fun!
• Keep eating/drinking on the bike
• Beers taste great in the pool!
• Race with friends

All in all a great weekend and a big thank you to all the respective family members and friends that helped us all achieve our 70.3 goals –