9 members of the club plus supporters headed off for the Challenge Galway event. Two for the Oly, six for the half and me for the full. The Oly was on Saturday and the half and the full on Sunday. I’d packed many bottles of sun block for the day but the heavy scattered showers as we drove in convoy across the country was a sign of things to come. We were early and registration was a breeze, got a nice backpack and all the stickers and bags that we needed for the split transition. Back to the house then and Andrew cooked up a storm, the omelette and salad was worth a picture, only thought of that after it was gone! Then it was time to check the weather, all the apps were saying the same thing, Sunday was going to be wet and wild. All wrong surely.
On Saturday it was off to Rinville Park to support the girls in the Olympic. Mary and Joyce looked very happy, relaxed and strong. They were to be seconds apart. The organisation was a somewhat scatty down here with cars and walkers crossing the cycle and run route, but there was a coffee outlet and we polished off a lot of Ger’s donuts. The water didn’t look too bad, I think I expected the West of Ireland to have bigger waves, freezing water and bigger sea life, but it all looked ok from where I was standing (far away). There was a carpeted 600m run from the swim exit to transition. It looked very posh and it was flat. The bike start was going to be on a flat bit of road leading to a hill, all was looking good. Back to the cars, Andrew was limping, he had hurt his ankle hopping down off a low wall. It is so unbelievable how these things happen. Off to the pharmacy for some supplies. He was determined to do the half even with a lot of pain on the run.
At the Athletes Village at the Docks lots of excited or nervous people start rolling into the tent for the full race briefing. We were told some things that I didn’t want to hear but I wasn’t surprised about, the weather was going to be very wet-dress appropriately, yes the busses were leaving for T1 at 4am (!!!) don’t miss the bus and that the swim route was going to be compacted (i.e. it was going to be a bit more triangular than rectangular) due to concerns about the amount of chop that was further out (m-ok). I dropped my run bag at T2, with the sun block in it, and a rain coat neither of which were needed, but sure nothing like a little bit of panic.
Back at the house I pumped my tyre and loaded up the bike, the lads were partying (the Oly) girls or were at the half briefing. At T2 I realised I had a wheel that wouldn’t fit my bike, strange, o right, I had taken Joyce’s front wheel, it is unbelievable how these things happen. Back to the house and an hour later I had dropped my bike and bike bag at a rather wet, scatty and chaotic T1, cars were parking all over the place, the organisers were building the bag racks still, we were told we could take our T1 bags home and bring them in the morning (no way I’d have my roll on case in the bag if I put any more thought into it, there was already sun block and rain gear in it). I did wonder how the organisers were going to have it all sorted by 5am.
Back to the house for spuds, steak, pasta and donuts. And weather forecasts. And nerves. All the training was done, just had to enjoy it now. The most challenging part of it all for me was getting to the bus for 4am (in hind sight this was way too crazy early and I should have just booked a taxi to the start line, why is always at the start line loo queue that you learn the most important things). I don’t think I slept at all. A massive thanks to Andrew who dropped me to the 4am bus, even though his start was hours later.
At Rinville, we saw that the t1 bags were sitting in numerical order on the ground outside in the ample rain. One girl was going mental at the poor race volunteer. It was raining so I sat on a chair in the changing tent and had a chat and a snooze for an hour. At the start line we were told that due to the chop (gulp) that the course had been condensed by 200m per lap. That just means shortened. Anyhow when I got into the water I realised it was warm, like Rosslare on a calm day. On the second lap the swimmers had spread out I couldn’t see the tiny buoys. I stopped to ask a kayaker where to go and he said to watch out, and the pros swam over me. Pretty cool, I was on course. Onto the red carpet, it was really great to spot the Wexford supporters.
The bike course would have been amazingly scenic if you could have seen it, but the driving rain meant it was hard keep your eyes open enough to see the road/cyclists/tourist buses in Co. Clare. George had said the half route was flat, and it really was. Lots of punctures. Later I heard Karen had gotten a puncture, and had to stop twice to fix it, it’s unbelievable how these things happen. The volunteers at the aid stations were so lovely. Participants were lovely as the passed me, or I passed them (occasionally). A Tinehealy lad slowed down to have a chat about Padraig M’s recent awesome Wex marathon win. Toe caps kept my feet dry until 90k, I was surprised at how fast 7 hours went, Corkscrew hill was no biggie, the last 10 or 20 k into the headwind back into Galway on the other hand was a slog, a pain in the butt, a b.
Into T2, I saw Greg and Anne Marie, I was ready to stop and chat but the friendly volunteers kept me moving and took my bike. Lots of bags still in T2, so l’d have company on the run. Still not a day for sunblock. First lap of the run was great, kept trying to keep slow and not burn out, eat and drink and find a port loo. There was lots of noise and supporters out on the course. I saw Mary on the course, then Karen and Andrew popped out, they looked really happy-the half had gone really well for them. I wanted to stop and have a chat (just 5 or 10 minutes) but they said to keep running. On the second lap the band envy started, all the lucky ones that had 4 bands and were heading of the finish line. On the third lap I was going to have a good long walk for myself but Ger and Thomas showed up. Ger ran with me for ages (it’s unbelievable how that happens) a very welcome distraction. It was great to hear that Ger, Greg, Karen, Andrew, Miriam and George had all aced the half. Ger as it turned out later was first back in her category, amazing.
On the last lap it was just easier to run than run-walk, I kinda just wanted to be done. And then I was.
Andrew had organised a restaurant, and then it was off to a pub. There was talk of some people quitting at 10pm, but they stuck it out until the wee hours.
Gillian