Last weekend I was in the beautiful town of Besançon (France) guiding Alison Patrick, the 2014 World Champion. This was Alison’s first international race this year having missed London at the end of May, and this was our first race as a pair. We had done little training together so this was going to be a challenge. I didn’t want to let her down!
On Tuesday I flew up to Edinburgh for a few days of training prior to the race. I was picked up by one of the other guides, Hazel, then we picked up Alison and drove straight to the lake. Oh goodie! The temperature had already dropped from Bristol to Edinburgh and now I have to get in a cold lake. Unfortunately in Scotland there is no rule regarding swimming in public Lochs and lakes. Cautiously entering, the ground underfoot was very harsh and stoney so we just had to bit the bullet and doggy paddle it to the deep water. It’s always difficult doing open water swim sessions without any buoys…..’so I’ll start swimming over that way.’ Tap on the head. Right, stop. ‘Now I’ll start swimming aimlessly in that direction.’ And stop…. Since training with Alison in Lanzarote I’ve had to teach myself to breathe on my unnatural side so I can see her on my left. I’m slightly regretting not having listened to my swim coach telling me to breathe bilaterally during my teenage years! After our modified session we looked sunburnt but actually the cold water meant we had distinctive lines across our necks, wrists and ankles where our wetsuits had been.
The next day Hazel, Alison and I went to Stirling University to train with Scottish Triathlon. They were very accommodating and allowed us to do our bike skills and transition practice on the athletics track. You can’t get a smoother surface than that!! The smooth turns made my life much easier too. I had the chance to build my confidence on the tri bars and our practise taking our feet in and out our shoes had gone well. We had a run session during the day too so this gave me a chance to see what Alison’s race pace was like. We have a similar stride pattern which meant we weren’t knocking each other’s arms all the time, which can often happen with a hand held elastic tether.
Training had gone well and it was time to fly down to Luton to meet the rest of the team to fly to Geneva. We had an early flight on Friday and arrived in Geneva by 10am. Once again, another lost bag and a further wait as we tried to sort out the hire cars. We entertained ourselves by playing eye spy and another highlight would have to be taking my athlete into the men’s toilets (unintentionally of course). Such a good guide I am! On the plus side, the long delay just gave the guys who were already there longer to put our bikes together. Much appreciated by the way Jack and Stephen for driving the bikes all way down! No anticipated wait to see what was broken or missing this time! We eventually hit the road for the most picturesque 2 hour journey and it was by far the nicest motorway stop I’ve ever had. No KFC or Maccy D’s, just good fresh food and a beautiful mountainous background.
On Tuesday I flew up to Edinburgh for a few days of training prior to the race. I was picked up by one of the other guides, Hazel, then we picked up Alison and drove straight to the lake. Oh goodie! The temperature had already dropped from Bristol to Edinburgh and now I have to get in a cold lake. Unfortunately in Scotland there is no rule regarding swimming in public Lochs and lakes. Cautiously entering, the ground underfoot was very harsh and stoney so we just had to bit the bullet and doggy paddle it to the deep water. It’s always difficult doing open water swim sessions without any buoys…..’so I’ll start swimming over that way.’ Tap on the head. Right, stop. ‘Now I’ll start swimming aimlessly in that direction.’ And stop…. Since training with Alison in Lanzarote I’ve had to teach myself to breathe on my unnatural side so I can see her on my left. I’m slightly regretting not having listened to my swim coach telling me to breathe bilaterally during my teenage years! After our modified session we looked sunburnt but actually the cold water meant we had distinctive lines across our necks, wrists and ankles where our wetsuits had been.
The next day Hazel, Alison and I went to Stirling University to train with Scottish Triathlon. They were very accommodating and allowed us to do our bike skills and transition practice on the athletics track. You can’t get a smoother surface than that!! The smooth turns made my life much easier too. I had the chance to build my confidence on the tri bars and our practise taking our feet in and out our shoes had gone well. We had a run session during the day too so this gave me a chance to see what Alison’s race pace was like. We have a similar stride pattern which meant we weren’t knocking each other’s arms all the time, which can often happen with a hand held elastic tether.
Training had gone well and it was time to fly down to Luton to meet the rest of the team to fly to Geneva. We had an early flight on Friday and arrived in Geneva by 10am. Once again, another lost bag and a further wait as we tried to sort out the hire cars. We entertained ourselves by playing eye spy and another highlight would have to be taking my athlete into the men’s toilets (unintentionally of course). Such a good guide I am! On the plus side, the long delay just gave the guys who were already there longer to put our bikes together. Much appreciated by the way Jack and Stephen for driving the bikes all way down! No anticipated wait to see what was broken or missing this time! We eventually hit the road for the most picturesque 2 hour journey and it was by far the nicest motorway stop I’ve ever had. No KFC or Maccy D’s, just good fresh food and a beautiful mountainous background.
As soon as we arrived Alison and I jumped on the bike and went for a nice ride along the river and up the hill. The view was amazing, as was the descent back down the hill to the town :) It was much cooler on the bike too, with temperatures around 28-30°C we needed that breeze. Saturday was even hotter and running in the heat was tough. The whole team did a bike course recce together and we put in a couple of race pace efforts. The course was great. It was undulating, which suits me well and thankfully Alison too. She doesn’t seem to mind my few/lack of gear changes and powering up the short hills. Some people might think it lazy but I say it’s effective.
The swim was in a river and just straight downstream all the way. Given last year’s fast times due to the strong current, the organisers had decided to extend the swim to 900m from the normal 750m. However, there didn’t seem to be much of a current in the days prior to the race and this obviously caused mixed feelings between the strong and weak swimmers. At the race briefing on Saturday evening we were told the water temperature was 22°C. So…wetsuit or no wetsuit?! Alison was definitely wearing one which meant I would have to be on form to stay in front of her, but given the outside temperature I would likely overheat. I decided to go without a wetsuit, which also meant I’d have a more relaxed transition so I could take a drink! On the way back we went out onto the pontoon to feel the water temperature and examine the non-existing current by throwing weeds in. After some serious calculations we worked out it would have been about a 24 minute ‘swim’ for that weed to do the full swim course, providing it took the most direct route through the buoys of course?!??
The swim was in a river and just straight downstream all the way. Given last year’s fast times due to the strong current, the organisers had decided to extend the swim to 900m from the normal 750m. However, there didn’t seem to be much of a current in the days prior to the race and this obviously caused mixed feelings between the strong and weak swimmers. At the race briefing on Saturday evening we were told the water temperature was 22°C. So…wetsuit or no wetsuit?! Alison was definitely wearing one which meant I would have to be on form to stay in front of her, but given the outside temperature I would likely overheat. I decided to go without a wetsuit, which also meant I’d have a more relaxed transition so I could take a drink! On the way back we went out onto the pontoon to feel the water temperature and examine the non-existing current by throwing weeds in. After some serious calculations we worked out it would have been about a 24 minute ‘swim’ for that weed to do the full swim course, providing it took the most direct route through the buoys of course?!??
The next day, however, it did not take Alison and me 24 minutes to swim and there was actually a stronger current. We reckon the organisers got this one spot on! As in South Africa it was a pleasant start to the race with just 4 athletes (including guides) starting in our wave. The start was a little awkward as we had to hold onto the pontoon until the hooter sounded, but being unable to put our feet up behind and having nothing to push off it was tricky. I normally have a strong start but Alison got away quicker than I did and I had to catch up a little. The water was calm and it was easy to see the buoys and I could see we were catching the men in the wave before us. Having discussed swimming aggressively in our race plan I considered taking the most direct route and swimming over these guys to see how Alison would respond. However, I thought this would be a little unfair on both Alison and the visually impaired athletes we’d be battering. Instead I just made an abrupt move to the side to pull the tether and hence pull Alison to the right.
Transition one went smoothly. I could calmly put my helmet and glasses on and then helped Alison getting her wetsuit off. I felt this was priority before grabbing a drink. As we were there I heard the commentator announce the French girls were exiting the water. I became quite anxious as I didn’t realise they would be so close behind. What I also didn’t realise was that she was a B1 (completely blind) athlete and therefore started ahead of us. We ran out of transition, past the mount line, feet went in the shoes quickly and we were ready to go by the time we came off the blue carpet onto the road. We had practised most of the course at pace but I forgot about the first corner which was previously a give way on the open road. I was half way round the corner and realised I completely underestimated both our speed and the angle. Crraaaap!! I leant in to help steer the bike and Alison read the movement of the bike and leant into too. Thank God she did as I saw us ending up on the wrong side of the road. We were motoring along the course and powering up the hills, overtaking lots of other athletes. The Italian men on the tandem overtook us BUT, at the end of the race the French men complimented us on our bike time as they said they couldn’t close the distance. Beating the boys! Get in! The course was great fun, as expected. Quite tough with the hills but you can reach some high speeds going downhill on a heavy tandem, especially on tri bars!! With so many people on the course and concentrating on the road I had no idea where our competitors were. I was just hoping we’d put more time into them. We had a solid bike leg and perhaps so good that Alison decided she would have a sit down in transition. Only briefly though to get her trainers on, as apparently if she loses balance it’s just quicker to sit down to put her shoes on. I thought she was very quick to plant her bum on the floor! This time round I was able to get my trainers on fairly quickly and we were off for the 5Km run.
It was a nice run through the town and I certainly had my work cut out with directions and changes of pavings. 90 degrees left, turn right, U-turns….. I felt like I was co-driving a rally car. There were plenty of water stations and thankfully it wasn’t as hot and sunny as the previous day so running felt a little easier. We were well ahead of the field and it was quite a nice position to be in. Something I’ve never experienced before. Normally I’d be running my legs off to make up a deficit from the swim but we had a nice cruise to the finish line to take the tape. First place with a winning margin of over 10 minutes.
It was a nice run through the town and I certainly had my work cut out with directions and changes of pavings. 90 degrees left, turn right, U-turns….. I felt like I was co-driving a rally car. There were plenty of water stations and thankfully it wasn’t as hot and sunny as the previous day so running felt a little easier. We were well ahead of the field and it was quite a nice position to be in. Something I’ve never experienced before. Normally I’d be running my legs off to make up a deficit from the swim but we had a nice cruise to the finish line to take the tape. First place with a winning margin of over 10 minutes.
The next race for Alison will be the European Championships in Geneva, but I’m unsure as to whether or not I’ll be guiding her. I’ve already had my next race which was the first Elite Super-Series race at Blenheim Palace today. I was named as one to watch in relation to being a contender but it transpired I was one to watch because I was on the course for a while. However, I’m very tired after a 5.30am start and would just like to curl up in a ball and go to sleep, so you’ll have that race review in due course.