Althorp standard distance duathlon 2014

Last race of the season for me, it was a qualifier for the European standard distance duathlon 2014 and I had it booked as a second shot at qualifying just in case it didn't happen at Oulton a fortnight ago. I qualified at Oulton but decided to do Althorp for the fun of it anyway!.

NB Althorp is the only venue I have ever done an event where they have lavatories instead of toilets.

'On your marks events' were the race organisers and they had several races on at today's event... a 5k run, a 10k run, a sprint duathlon and a standard distance duathlon....I can't help feeling that maybe on this occasion it was a couple of events too many for the allotted marshals and facilities available on the day.

Positives
Althorp estate is beautiful, that goes without saying. The setting was lovely. The routes were great.

The first run started in front of Althorp House, the lovely route was mixed terrain, through an off road tree lined avenue, a churchyard, a couple of tiny villages/hamlets, and off road again on the old carriage way to Althorp house. Two laps for the standard.

The bike was very gently undulating on mostly quiet roads with some great fast riding in places, however one extremely muddy slippery road slowed us (me) down a bit. (Twice, as it was 2 laps for the standard) but we were warned about this at the race briefing so it came as no surprise and other than rider and bike getting absolutely filthy (#dirtyfast) it was no bother if you were careful....however I have no idea what I might have swallowed when drinking from my water bottle....

This was not an off road cycle event!!#dirtybike

The final run was one lap of the first run route. It was a bit tougher third time around! The carriage way was tricky, slippery up the middle and grass a bit too long on the verge. Hadn't really noticed that on the first run! #tiredlegs

Conditions were not great, it was unseasonably warm, overcast for most of the event, windy, with a bit of rain. The roads were filthy. I had a bit of bad luck at a staggered junction where I had to wait for a few cars and  a really annoying bit where a landrover decided to overtake me on a fast decent, then decided to stop in front of me to let 2 pedestrians cross the road!!!

 Having said all that I really enjoyed both runs and the bike. I had a great race. I finished 6th female and 2nd in age so would've qualified for the 2015 Europeans in Alcobendas, Spain, again....it always feels good to confirm it :-)

Again.....This was not an off road event! #dirtylegs

I did the sprint distance last year and again really enjoyed it, the event was very well organised. However race HQ, transition, plus the start and finish were in a different area of the estate....a big field. There was a butty waggon for food and hot drinks. A marquee for registration, big enough for participants/supporters to shelter in. There was a good feeling of people milling around before and after the race.

Negatives
This year it was lovely to start in front of the house, but the whole area was really cramped. The start waves were switched around at the very last minute...my race was due to start at 9.51, the last wave of the day, at the very last minute it was switched to the first wave of the day..9.45. This resulted in some participants starting in the wrong wave.
When coming in from the bike course, the signage seemed unnoticeable...I didn't notice it as I rode past it for my second lap, and clarified with another rider that we had just past the turn in to the finish and were we on our second lap?. Several sprint distances riders had missed the turn and were coming back in the opposite direction, so I was confused by this at the time before I realised what was going on.
When going out on the second run it was really congested with the sprint distance participants and their families strolling back up the course towards the parking area having finished their race.  A couple of times I had to shout out 'runners in both directions coming' as  many of the people exiting the venue were taking up the whole path. There were no marshalls pointing people in the right direction or keeping the congestion at bay.
When crossing the finish line it was almost an immediate stop as there were athletes standing around in what was a really small area. There was no marshal or anybody filtering you through to water etc. Nobody taking our chips off.  Everybody seemed penned in with no clear way out. Finish times and positions were immediately available from the timing tent though which was a positive but of course this meant a big queue in the finish area. There were bananas and oranges and water, greatly received thank you, and then there was a table full of travel mugs...it wasn't clear if they were for us or not! I didn't take one!
There seemed nowhere to go after the event. No butty waggon or coffee. It was a little bit of an anti climax to what was generally a great event but which was let down by a few key points.  I really think On yours marks events need to brush up on a few key points if they intend to host a BTF qualifying event in the future.
After a couple of photos with my friends from our Tri club (Lisa and Rob Hurley) we collected everything from transition and came home.

All say 'Alcobendas'

Oulton park standard distance duathlon

This was my 'A' race for the end of season.
I wanted to qualify for the European standard distance duathlon championships in 2015.
The race was a late start ... 1pm.
Late start Plus points: 1)spend the night before at home and go to bed at normal time. 2)Get up on race morning at a reasonable time.
Late start Negative points: 1)How much do I eat and when do I eat it? 2)Waiting.

We left home at 8am and I had consumed 2 pieces of toasty malt loaf and a very strong cup of coffee. The only food I had packed in my bag was 3 vooma gels and a cliff bar. I can't believe I had overlooked real food. We stopped at the motorway services and picked up a sandwich!
We arrived in good time, bike set up, number tattoos in place, bike and run warm up, transition set up...smooth.
After briefing we were on the track for a few minutes warm up before the start.
This distance was 2 laps of the track first run, 9 laps of the track for the bike, 1 final lap run.
My biggest and only fear for the day was counting the laps.
Nine.
9.
One more than 8
One less than 10.
I hate numbers. In my other life as a group exercise/exercise to music instructor I only need to count in multiples of 8!
Numbers....munbers. Not for me! #panic

After racing sprint du's and tri's, this distance gave me new issues. When I race a sprint I basically go out all guns blazing and just do everything as dirty fast as I can. This distance required some planning.
I held back on the first run, just a bit. Not wanting to burn out too soon. I used my garmin and kept to my own planned pace.
The bike was great....no braking and pretty much tri bars all the way. A dream come true. Oulton park is not a flat track....banked hairpins, a  couple of rises, some flat outs...great fun. Ride your bike like you're ten years old type of riding!
So how did I cope with counting? I didn't. I went with one of the suggestions on the race notes....use letters of the alphabet instead of numbers ! Bingo! I can do that. Think of words beginning with A, B,C etc all the way to I. It worked a treat. I tried to thing of positive words...'Amazing, Boom, Catch, Drive, Energy, Fly, Gain, Hooray!, Inspiration. I coupled this with the idea of thinking of swear/rude words to match the letters too ! I will spare you the details, but It worked.
Whilst cycling round the track a chap came surging past me and called out to me 'Nice bike'....I suppose he thought this was a compliment, however I couldn't help thinking that clearly gone are the days of me hearing 'nice bum' whilst racing!
I came into T2 feeling strong.  I ran the final run comfortably, and crossed the finish line in good form.

Smiling at the finish :-)

I finished 5th female. Happy with that. Then realised a little bonus when I picked up my splits from the timing tent. I was first in age category (45-49) however, really I was second, as Louella O'Herlihy is in my age group but she finished first female overall. StuWeb timing take the first 3 finishers (male and female) out of the age group rankings! Cool, a podium picture and an 'Extra mile events' mug to take home. But best result for me today, qualification for the Europeans.

They put the male 45/49 first prize winner on the lower step of the podium so we looked more attractive on camera  :-) #cheers

Great event, great organisation, best of all great track to ride your bike around....However, don't go for the scenery, go for the feel!