Last September I set myself a challenge, well I say set myself but really it was a friend who pleaded with me to do a race that she wanted to do but was too scared to do it alone. So I dutifully sat at 8.59am the morning that registration opened at 9am poised over the entry system. This race sells out in minutes and is super popular so we both held our breath until hearing from the other one that we were in, we were racing the Outlaw Half in Nottingham on the 19th May.
So the issues I was facing at that time were numerous,
- It’s been 4 years since I attempted this distance – the last time I missed the run cut off and I was considerably more gravitationally challenged 🙂
- I was about to start a new job that means I spend 3 days a week in London every week
- I was scheduled to spend 2 weeks in Australia in prep for the job
- I was scheduled for double jaw surgery in Dec which meant a liquid only diet and no training for 4 weeks post op with a soft diet/no outdoor training for 8 weeks
I needed a plan… more than that I needed a coach with a plan and hence turned to the amazing John Dargie. First things first we sat down and looked at what I wanted to achieve. I had run a half marathon earlier in 2018 so knew I could do the distance (but oh so slowly) but the very real risk was missing the midday cut off for the run. Fast forward 8 months and there I was standing in my friends kitchen eating cold porridge and cursing the lack of coffee (anyone who knows me will know just how horrific that last concept is to me!). I have to admit I was scared, super scared. I had done the training, done prep work on the bike, run and swim but it still wouldn’t be clear it was enough until I got started.
I headed to Holme Pierrepoint the home of the race on a beautiful sunny morning, it’s essentially a race in a large rowing lake, two large loops on the bike with one 12% hill and the rest is undulating and a run along the river then around the boating lake twice. They had warned us that parking would include queues but I had no idea that even though I was arriving at 4.45am (brutal) it still took me until 5.10am to park up. Swift pump of the tyres, grabbing the wet suit and I was off walking to transition. I both love and loathe these times. The energy and tension seeps out of athletes pores and you can practically feel electricity in the air. I found my racking point, laid out my towels and kit, mentally walked through the exits and entrances then went and stood in the obligatory queue for the loo. Lots of chit chat, bravado, fear and laughter permeated the air. I met up with Jessica and we finally reluctantly agreed that we would have to get in our wetsuits!
The female wave was, as tradition seems to dictate, second to last. I find this super frustrating, it means that we have such a different race to the men, frequently if you are slower there’s just few people left on the course and all women. More annoying is that with a fixed cut off of midday some of the men get an extra 38 minutes which is no small advantage and when you are chasing a cut off that can really impact your race. Nevertheless we lined up in our pens. I chose to go toward the back in the faster pen and after a short acclimatisation we were off. I actually stayed in a relatively large pack of women until the home straight which was a different experience for me as previously I’ve had clear water for much of the swim. I worked hard on making sure I was streamlined and just got on with the swim. When I train I often have music playing so when I race I sing in my head it keeps me calm and focussed this swim was bought to you with tunes from Muse, The Script and The Greatest Showman. I enjoyed the swim, felt strong throughout and exited the water around the middle to back of the group.
I stripped off the wetsuit as soon as I got out, taking advantage of the water still in the suit then jogged to the bike. The most difficult bit was getting socks on wet feel but, eventually prepped, I grabbed the bike and ran to the bike mount. Almost all my training has been using power and John had worked his magic crunching numbers to give me a plan for watts for all conditions which I tried as hard as I could to follow. I was absolutely amazed to reach the first feed station at the top of the big hill without feeling the need to stop. I ditched my bottle at the drop point, grabbed a bottle from a volunteer and simply ploughed on.
It was remarkable, I enjoyed triggering a 30mph warning on one of the decents and much of the bike continued at a steady pace. I was eating or drinking every 20 minutes and despite niggles in my shoulders and pain in my stomach I felt broadly OK. Before long I was thundering through the gravel track of Pierrepoint Hall which has road surfaces that rival the worst of Scotland’s awful roads and headed back to the centre to start the run at least 45 minutes before the cut off!
Quick change, trainers, Fusion gilet (it was going to rain), baseball cap on and I was off. At this point I realised I needed a loo stop and unfortunately the pain I had on the bike played havoc on the run with around 6 loo stops in all. I vowed to try and sort that for next time. The run course takes you along the river and back, around the very rectangular, featureless boating lake, back to transition to do it all again. The river section is quite nice as you get to see a lot of other athletes. Comedy moments included heckling my friend with obscure larp references, getting the crowd to whoop and cheer as I passed on my first run through the finish area and a fella shouting ‘come on fat lass at the back!’ to the disgust of another female participant that I then had to explain it was a reference to the clothing line of my tri suit and the guy was wearing the same FLAB line.Â
The run was never going to be the easy part for me but I stuck in and kept running at a fairly steady pace. I’d been super nervous in the run up to the race and John gave me the idea of dedicating intervals or run sections to people as a means of distraction and I have to admit that I did this for the last 10k of the run with each km thinking of what that person meant to me, words that I felt embodied them and reminiscing about times we had shared. It really worked. So apologies to those of you who’s ears were burning.
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Finally, many, many hours after starting I ran towards the finishing chute, to the whoops and cheers of the slightly soggy support of my friends and their families. To top it all the organisers even managed to still have a T shirt in my size! (Back of the pack athletes frequently face a dearth of appropriately sized T shirts as people pick up sizes differently than those ordered!). I’d done it, I finished, all those early starts, long solo runs, hours on the turbo, desperately searching for Watt bikes in London, pedalling round and round Bishopton and I was there, as real, genuine Outlaw.
For anyone feeling that they can’t do something that challenges them I’d say give it a go. Some of the enjoyment I have got out of this is not just the end result but also the journey. I am really proud to have achieved what I set out to do.
Thanks to all the encouragement from Fusion people, even if work mainly stops me from attending many sessions. Special shout outs to Susan Lynch for being a kick ass fierce female athlete who is just so awe inspiring she makes me want to be better and John Dargie for patience, understanding, confidence and putting up with my crazy work, social and travel schedule, such an amazing coach, couldn’t ask for a better coach.
