Neil Tandy has been racing in the Castle Series Half-Ironman Distance races this year. His latest report comes from the Chantilly Triathlon in Francais!
"I won’t bore you with all the travel logistics etc otherwise it would be the longest post in the world! All I will say is that we did see some immigrants on the tracks…. and yes a man and his dog was chasing them!!
Our first view of the Chateau was breath taking and I would recommend this race to everyone, by far the most beautiful Castle Series Triathlon! Please check out Tom J Powell to see the Chateau and the race as he was kind enough to accompany us on the trip! All of the pictures are his photos and are all amazing! So please check his Instagram and website out!
Registration:
After lying round in the sun waiting for registration to open, I might have fallen asleep, I saw some familiar faces as well as Colin who accompanied me out the water at Cholmondeley and ended up winning Cholmondeley! After a long wait in the queue and seeing some people in lycra and buddgy smugglers that really shouldn’t be, I was ready to go after driving the bike route.
Race Day:
It started nice and early but a lot darker than expected. As the hotel was 1.25 miles from the race venue, we had planned to cycle there but with no lights it was going to be a dark ride! I had my usual porridge and Truestart coffee to ensure I had enough caffeine to feel the benefits. After strapping some bright clothing to my back pack and waiting for Ben to get to the hotel, we headed off for a wonderful ‘commute’.
After a quiet set up at transition I was ready with wetsuit on rather early, so took a stroll down to the swim start with Fran and Colin (who would finish 2nd overall) for the race briefing. Race briefing over…… Go time.
Swim:
After jumping in and landing up to my knees in mud, we were ready to go. I lined up right in the middle of the group hoping my swim speed would keep me out of trouble and give me a good line into the first turn of the ‘T’shape swim. It did and I took the turn with a fellow Zone3 athlete and settled into the swim on the front of the group. It was a glorious swim, even with the constant tap tap on my feet from the swimmer behind.
A Top Tip from me that you can have for free, anyone that reads this dribble! Just because they are tapping your feet does not mean you have to swim faster. Keep your head, keep to your race plan and stick at your speed. If they want to swim faster make them swim around you and then you can swim on their feet! Don’t be made to swim faster than you are comfortable! I didn’t speed up and he didn’t have the speed to go past so I spent the next 1500m with the intermittent tap on my feet.
Sticking to my speed worked and I exited the swim in 1st place with a lot of adrenaline. This resulted in me taking all 3 flights of stairs 2 steps at a time, boy oh boy did I regret that!
Bike:
The bike was littered with mistakes from riding on the wrong side of the road to dropping drinks bottles! Exiting transition, the road quickly turned to a gravel track. Luckily I held on and started the bike route with the legs burning.
1,2,3,4,5 came flying past me as I was panting my way up the slight inclines on the bike course, not going well. I reached the feed station and grabbed a drinks bottle as I only had one (it was 32 degrees, big mistake) and settled into the bike finding my legs around 19 miles, climbing back into 5th place on the bike by the end. As I was finishing the first lap I had a little excursion onto the pavement as the cars were blocking the junction…. say goodbye to the bottles! With no water I nailed the 2 gels I had and prayed for the next aid station. It came and went with a rubbish grab for the bottle resulting in water hitting the deck! I started to feel the legs go so started to ease back a bit until the next aid station where I grab everything from water to banana’s! I think by then it was a bit too late but entered T2 with confidence in 5th place knowing 4th was just up the road.
Run:
I exited T2 with confidence and fell into my run quite easily but with no Garmin was unsure of pace or distance. I think roughly about 1.5 miles in, it all fell apart. First the top of my back started to spasm and I started to run all crunched over. This started a chain reaction of the whole legs going into cramp. I continued to run, jog, run, jog to try and ease the pain but it stayed. I continued on what seemed like the longest 10km in the world. I had nearly got round the 1st lap with a constant stream of people running past me, until a 60 year old man ran past me and that was the last straw. I got around to the end of the 1st lap, handed in my timing chip after a race full of mistakes that should not be being made at this time in the season. Disappointed.
It really frustrated me and still does that I am making these silly mistakes. Rookie mistakes."
