Chris Grazia Calvert
Still not quite sure I understand the process that brought me to the start line for this GBR Age Group middle distance race. Something to do with percentages, I hate maths, not drinking too much euky pond water at The Sundowner and learning to pee on the run as it’s not good form to use the facilities four times during a race. Being only two seasons in to racing triathlon I spent the next six months training hard in order to give it a good go on the day. Flights accommodation and transfers booked we arrived at 5am in the morning after the most thrilling/terrifying transfer ever. Did you know you can drive a minibus towing a four wheeled trailer full of very expensive kit at over 120kmh whilst overtaking through small rural Romanian villages? My race wasn’t until Sunday so Thursday we found a 50m outdoor pool and Friday was spent supporting friends in Aquathlon races as well as a cycle route and swim recce. We already knew the swim was going to be non wetsuit as the water temperature was around 26degrees. The air temperature hovered around 28-30degrees. Hydration would be all important, so bought a camelback for the run and rigged up two 1litre bottles to a tube between my TT bars.
A very civilised 0910 start after setting up the split transitions, T2 then ride 3.5km to T1. The anticlockwise swim in the flooded reservoir at Lake bezid was well marked, the water warm and no overcrowding round the buoys. Waves went off quite close together and I was soon being caught by younger stronger swimmers in the aquathlon waves. Keeping my steady pace I managed to catch some of them again as well as those that went off fast in my own wave. Forty five minutes is about as fast as it gets with me, although it matched my wetsuit swims of last year, I aim to get out the water not feeling like I’ve just done it. Slow transition, with a long run too the drop bags, putting on calf supports, no wetsuit to hide them under, a run up the 45degree bank to get to the bike. Shoes on and a 100m run to the mount line.
The cycle route was reminiscent of a ride round the Campsie Hills nice and undulating with some quick 65kmh descents but horrible dead turns at each end. I had one of a handful of aero bikes, the other triathletes and the aquabikers using TTs, gave me a slight advantage on the climbs where I caught and passed people, but was soon re-taken on the long straights. With over 200 cyclists on a10km loop at one point, there were a few penalties for drafting, but I found myself beween main groups of riders and was able on the whole to ride my own race. Four laps was hard work in the heat and I was happy with the time. Handing off the bike to a marshal was a novelty and another 75m run in bare feet to get my shoes.
The run was mentally hard as it was basically two 2.5km legs with a bend in the middle and dead turns at either end. I had stitch for the first lap and a half and had to run at a reduced pace, being able to gradually pick it up each lap. I was pleased I had the camelback as the aid stations were a long way apart. The old guy who came out with his hosepipe and started hosing runners down was a godsend and meant I didn’t have to stop once to pee!!
Thirteenth in my age group makes me a happy athlete and a time that matched the other two middle distances I’ve done. Learnt a valuable lesson about double checking kit as only discovered when re-boxing the bike that the seat was 12mm too low, ahh so that’s why my knee hurt after 40km, should have gone to…
Romania is great, nice people, who mostly speak some English, cheap food, we ate out every night never paying more than £25 for the two of us including the lemonade!! The organisers were very, and the whole festival went off smoothly. I was very lucky to have the support of my wife throughout the race and my coach who also raced in the aquabike for the run section, both offering great encouragement. The only thing left to do is to qualify for Austria next year!
