Weymouth 70.3

[IceCreamMan]

Thought I would start a thread for this event seeing as I am doing it. In 2016 this was a full ironman and 70.3 but due to local pressure and lack of numbers for the full only the 70.3 will be held on 17 Sep which is next Sunday. It's also the end of season event in UK basically although there are loads of shorter triathlons and duathlons that go through winter.

 

I entered in feb as we were moving to U.K. And needed motivation to keep training after ironman and once I reached these shores which was a month ago. Training not gone as well as I would have liked as I have swam few sessions and cycled less than 500 Kay's on my new bike. I have however done a lot of walking so should be ok. I anticipate around 6:30 to 7 hour sufferfest. The swim is in the bay which is beautiful as the Dorset coastline is, about as close to the fictitious famous five coast as one could get I spose. The cycle has around 1000 meters of climb and the run is 3 laps along the ocean front in the bay and is flat. Should be good.

 

Scanning the entry list I notice a few South Africans in the line up so hope to see some saffer flags on the run and hurl some Afrikaans encouragement hehe.

 

Weather looking good and temps are relatively low being autumn which suits me to a T. In the heat I suffer and would even more so as I have gained some pounds eating junk here so cool temps for the win,

 

Any other Hubbers doing it!

 

Will post a race report when done. A mate of mine did it in 2016 and the pictures were awesome.

[EmJayZA]

Good luck ICM. Sounds like a lovely race. 

 

Your training looks pretty good. You have an awesome base, so think you are going to do great. Look forward to the race report. 

[gurns]

Thought I would start a thread for this event seeing as I am doing it. In 2016 this was a full ironman and 70.3 but due to local pressure and lack of numbers for the full only the 70.3 will be held on 17 Sep which is next Sunday. It's also the end of season event in UK basically although there are loads of shorter triathlons and duathlons that go through winter.

 

I entered in feb as we were moving to U.K. And needed motivation to keep training after ironman and once I reached these shores which was a month ago. Training not gone as well as I would have liked as I have swam few sessions and cycled less than 500 Kay's on my new bike. I have however done a lot of walking so should be ok. I anticipate around 6:30 to 7 hour sufferfest. The swim is in the bay which is beautiful as the Dorset coastline is, about as close to the fictitious famous five coast as one could get I spose. The cycle has around 1000 meters of climb and the run is 3 laps along the ocean front in the bay and is flat. Should be good.

 

Scanning the entry list I notice a few South Africans in the line up so hope to see some saffer flags on the run and hurl some Afrikaans encouragement hehe.

 

Weather looking good and temps are relatively low being autumn which suits me to a T. In the heat I suffer and would even more so as I have gained some pounds eating junk here so cool temps for the win,

 

Any other Hubbers doing it!

 

Will post a race report when done. A mate of mine did it in 2016 and the pictures were awesome.

Good Luck with the race, I hope it goes well. Please send pictures with your race report. I'm sorry to hear that you have left S.A. Good luck with your move, may it turn out to be better than you hoped for.

[IceCreamMan]

Had some good sessions this week and doing a semi taper where I do some sessions but not hardcore stuff. Weather a lot cooler, winter is coming. Might be some rain on Sunday, now I don't mind cool but rain and cool spells misery so we hope no rain.

 

Will take pics, I have never been to Weymouth but been to Portsmouth and Southampton and Brighton and most of Cornwall and the seaside towns in England are pretty even if some of the beaches are stones. Staying in a pub inn on Saturday night so hoping not to be too enticed by the beer. I love pub food and beer.

 

Will take pics.

 

I think I will need to join a tri club sometime. While I enjoy training on my own and pretty much 70 percent of all my training for IM has been on my own in the past it's lekker to train with another or a group from time to time.

[IceCreamMan]

Registration painless, no rain so far yayyy and the town is beautiful. Hopefully no rain tomorrow. Drove down this morning about 100 miles. Bumped into James Cunama literally 2 minutes ago but he does not remember me from bumping into him in PE. In athlete briefing waiting for it to start .

Edited September 16, 2017 by IceCreamMan

[IceCreamMan]

More pics

[IceCreamMan]

Bike racked. All been well organized thus far in true IM fashion. New bike new chapter now the weather needs to play ball.

[shaper]

Good luck and have a good race!

[amr63]

Hope your race goes to plan, weather looks to be cool but clear:

 

Have fun!

[IceCreamMan]

Hope the end of the rainbow has a finishers medal.

 

Thanks all.

[mon-goose]

morning. so how did it go?

[Chris_]

I saw James Cunnama won 

[IceCreamMan]

My motto on race days is , a good race day starts with a good morning constitutional. Slept well and was completely relaxed. Got up around 4:30 and the inn we were staying in had a shared shower and toilets. So as I was making my way to the area a lady stepped out of the shower room pretty much naked thinking they were the only ones awake in the inn doing the Tri...nice start to the day.

 

The place we stayed at in was excellent, Old Castle Hotel, cheapish and very clean. Downisde is it was 4 km's from the start and most of the roads were closed so I walked to the start leaving around 05:30. Still night time and I walked through the middle of Weymouth town centre. Beautiful town, prettiest seas side town I been to in England. The pubs and clubs were purging their patrons out after another night. Not so long ago I would of been beered up and leaving a club at that time.

 

There was a cold wind and it was cold but I had layered up, stopped at a café en route and had a coffee and a scone with butter. Delicious. Then made my way to the swim start , got into my wetsuit and stashed my clothes into the IM bag and handed it in with the exception of a long T shirt which I kept. It was cold. Feet began to freeze and I seeded myself into the sub 30 pen. All very civilized and people tend to seed themselves slower than faster. No argy bargy trying to get into the pen. All very civilized. As providence would have it I was right next a saffer from Cape Town who had done PE this year as well.

 

SWIM

 

Was looking forward to getting into the sea thinking it would be warmer than land, ha not so. It was cold and almost got headache from it. I was expecting a 28 minute swim but with the sun in my eyes and the choppy water , the sea was very very choppy I kinda swam a tad longer than 1.9 kms. The choppiness meant one minute u in the water next minute you crashing into the water (you guys will know what I mean) and was difficult to get into any rhythm. I estimate I swam around 2.5kms. When I got to the end of the swim I was so disorientated I spent a minute in the water just getting my bearings and head settled. Then a 400 metre run to transition across the main road etc. The beach also had stones so just walked to transition. Not sure where the timing mats were. I had my time at 34 minutes, IM at 36 minutes so the mat must of been somewhere between the beach an the transition. At 36 minutes I was still in the top 15% which means everyone suffered out there in the water. A couple I spoke to afterwards even said it should of been cancelled. Its ironman. While I could of saved a minute or 2 by moving quicker I was not bothered really. Exiting the water and seeing people still starting was a lil surreal and I felt nothing but pity.

 

BIKE

Spent forever in transition trying to get feeling into my feet and thawing them out. Had a drink, a power bar and some nuts, should of stashed a coffee in the bag. As luck would have it my bike was the futherest possible to walk and just exit the bike park. Such Is life. As my new bike came with 25mm tyres I pumped them up to around 6.5 for a plush comfort ride. At the athlete briefing I asked a guy what the road surface is like and he said smooth and newly tarred etc so I pumped em up to 8 to get the maximum speed on the day. Huge mistake. Anyway, started the bike course at a leisurely pace and at around 3km's you climb out of Weymouth which was a nice lil warmer upper. The course was rough and bumpy (never ever complain about PE again) and cold and wet. mud on the road means I was covered in mud too. The bike course is such that you can never relax. You either going up or going down, hairpin bends, through villages or lil paths and some no passing zones that you have to be vigilant all the time. I prefer the courses in ZA where you can zone out and chill. I ate and drank on the bike and as I got to around 55kays I was averaging around 29 km/h so was happy with that. Stopped for a minute or 2 to pee and regroup and chill a bit. Got back and around 60kays was the mother of all hills on the course. I stopped twice going up to get my HR down. At the top of the hill my average had dropped to around 26.5. Still ok I thought considering the terrain. Then what comes up must come down and some nice downhills. I was flying in one section and recorded 76km/h overtaking loads of people when this guy came past me like I was standing still. He must of been going 95 haha if not more. Sometimes in cycling its good to be heavy. some more hills and by this stage I was pretty gatvol of being cold and cycling back into Weymouth was lekker. I recorded my time as 3:14 , moving time around 3:10. Average around 28km per hour and the course was around a km long too. No worries and with 1000 metres of climb and twisty circuit I was well happy with that. Saw a number of crashes on the route which was due to wet conditions and twisty roads. Some serious accidents with ambulances etc. Could not relax for a second anywhere.

 

RUN

 

Another long spell in transition. Changed pretty much everything and left transition at 4:11 according to my race. Around 11 minutes slower than I wanted to due to the long spells in transtion and my plan was to run a 2:19 to make 6:30 and for the first 10 kays or so I was bang on the money. Slowing down when I got too exhuberant and speeding up when I needed to. half way around 70 minutes and life was good. Loads of encouragement from the spectators and I could smell the chips from the cafes on the beach front. It was still cold so kept my buff and arm warmers on and thankfully so. The run is 3.5 laps along the beach front on the promenade. PRetty much like the Durban run. Life was good, I was taking a sip of water now and again and because I was running within my ability my HR was down. At around km 8 my right ankle twitched a bit but hey, us ironmen don't pay too much heed and kept going. From around 11 kays it turned into pain and from then it was a hobble. Amazing how it can turn to **** so quickly. The run course has a lot of camber in some sections and I can only think it put more pressure on the outside of my right ankle which casued the proble, With 10 kays left to go I just hobbled on and towards the end it was agony but one carries on. Run was my slowest ever 21 km at 3 hours odd. Also my slowest ever half distance at 7:09. I think my fitness levels are not where they were, also eating too many crisps and my ankle all played there part in my downfall. Also the first time I have run more than 15 kms since ironman. Live an Learn. It was good to get to the end and went into the feed zone. Pulled pork on a bun was nowehere near as good as the pizza an burgers in PE. Got my shirt and street gear and now the problem was getting to my bike which was 3 kays away and I could hardly walk. luckily wife met me outside the athlete area and we made a plan.

 

I have to say, apart from the brits ZA was probably the next best represented nation. There were not many but the support from the saffer crowds was exceptional always cheering me on when seeing the flag on my bib. Thanks to them.

 

A lot of DNF and DNS. There were around 2600 entrants and only around 1800 finishers. Seems a high number of ppl don't turn up or stop on the course somewhere. At 250 pounds an entry that is expensive. As always some lessons learnt, stay closer to the start or get a taxi in the morning, don't count your chickens before they hatch. It was the first race I have done where I did not know another soul in the event, its always nice seeing your chinas during the run or cycle and saying howsit etc. So none of that and I missed that. Will have to join a club to get that. The support from fellow athletes was however very lekker. The other thing that struck me is that the bikes are more ordinary here. Look you still get the high end stuff but that was in the minority. A lot more ordinary road bikes here and I reckon that's probably due to the terrain in England and ppl not willing to shell out for a focused TT bike.

 

Another event done, no events entered at the moment but looking to do a cycle sportif in the next couple of weeks. It was good and I probably will do it again next year to keep fit etc. A great event all round, cant blame IM for the cold. LAst year the temps were 27 on the day, this year around 12. that's England for you.

[IceCreamMan]

And the picture of the medal. Nice medal. The clock is in the middle of the run on the promenade. It was erected to commemorate Queen Victoria's reign in 1897. The promenade also has a memorial to the soldiers lost in WW1 and 2 from the Weymouth area. Kinda humbling to think men died in war and my worries were nothing in comparison.

[mon-goose]

_{well done icecreamman}

[EmJayZA]

Awesome race report, ICM! You did so well on the bike. From the sounds of it, I would have been very, very slow on that course. Nice top speed there too. 

 

How is the new tri club? Interested to hear if the locals are embracing you, or are a little reserved?