First of our two much shorter events today and a few signs of fatigue creaping in. A bit less happy chit- chat and a bit more "let's just get through today!"
Understandable after 7.5 km swimming, 340+ km biking and (in particular) 80+ km running so far: and all done at a "competitive" pace. If anyone thinks we've just been touring round together, just ast Dave Doust!!
Dave came along yesterday for OneLastTri and had assumed that we would all be "re-grouping" after the swim, getting changed, having a coffee and then biking as a group. Big shock as guys ripped their way out of wetsuits and hurtled out into the Forest!!!
All came through today relatively unscathed: an early finish with everyone done in under 2:75 hrs and home to catch up on some sleep: lack of sleep is proving as difficult as physical deterioration!!!
Bit of a change for me today as I switched over to the road bike to give my back a bit of a rest. Pleasant change for the shorter courses but will be back on the Kestrel on Sunday.
We had forgotten my calf guards, so I decided to pull on my compression tights over my trisuit for the run. They went on ok and I set off still wearing my cycle shirt. Got a bit warm and took off the cycle jersey and the resulting "look" was not great. Fortunately Steve and Kev were the only others out on Rockford Common so I got away with it. Have posted Joanne's (fortunately distant) pic of me coming down towards the ford!!
For all you longstanding RNF supporters I can confirm that we opted for one of the early versions of the run route which included "that hill" up the side of the sand pit................don't know what all you lightweights were moaning about!!!!!
On a slightly more serious note the lack of the calf guards has resulted in a bit of a tweak but I hope it will settle over the next couple of days.
On the social scene I need to thank everyone at our local The Old Inn (Woodfalls) who made donations at Wednesday's music quiz and to John for putting on a quiz dedicated to Music on a "running" theme. Really enjoyable but made for a short night's sleep on Wednesday. Also to Nicky, Greg and Alice for coming over to Sandy Balls for a pizza last night: another good excuse to be out drinking again!!...............not that I need an excuse!
Special mention to those in support of their "athletes": Steve would want me to give a shout to Tamsin, Paul and of course Joanne......keep peddling, girl!! Austin and Andy B have helped look after Kev.In Tim's camp: Ivan, Emily, Susi, Jamie, Alice and of course Nicky, who is almost a 5th competitor by now having biked and run such a chunk of the week with him.
Joanne is keeping me under control and making sure I get my nutrition and kit sorted at all times:meeting me with top ups at strategic points. Sorry you had such an "energetic" ride to catch me on Tuesday's run!!!
In addition to my wetsuit deciding to give up the ghost.....thanks Mike at 2XU for the spares!!....today my zip on my trisuit became impossible to fasten. I'm assured by my wife that this is definitely not due to any sudden weight gain during the week so I can only assume that it's another sign that it's definitely time to call it a day.
Probably won't post tomorrow as will need to start thinking about Sunday. Next post Sunday/Monday depending.........Will be able to incorporate some of Nicky's shots of the other guys into a round up next week when I will be able to announce winners of the various sweepstakes that have been running on our cumulative times!!
Good to see anyone at Sandy Balls when we eventually get finished on Sunday but really difficult to predict times: depends how fatigue kicks in on that run. But will definitely be back..........eventually!!!
For a rough idea of a schedule we'll start at Ellingham at 5:30ish: swim just over an hour : bike somewhere between 5 and 5.5 hrs (I hope) and then just get round the run. If my calf settles down I hope to run just under 4hrs but, as anyone who does this crazy sport will know, that could extend substantially, especially on "that" course!!......depending.........................!!!! Definitely back before closing time, though.
Thanks for all the support and feedback.
Cheers
Rich
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