A little bit more GB action but this time Mrs H is in on the action too.
After qualifying at Grendon and a nervous wait to see it TeamMALLIE would be heading en masse to Ireland, we packed the car to head to Athlone.
Actually it wasn't quite that simple. It never is. A chaotic week at work left me with a taper of one 35 minute run on Wednesday evening after a 13 hour day at work. A 13 hour day at work in Frankfurt, an old working 'haunt' for me but this time a different client. After taking the Manchester to Manchester flight on the Tuesday afternoon I finally managed to get on another flight that didn't have "technical issues" mid-flight and touchdown in the "land of the Rising Sausage" circa 11pm. Hotel bar for dinner. Hotel bar was an American themed diner. Do athletes eat burgers?
My 35 minute run enabled me to see how the city had changed. Staying at the Marriott (44+ floors) next door to the tallest skyscraper in town meant I was never going to get lost.... or would at least find my way back.
The flight back was uneventful which is exactly how I like my flights to be.
Get home unpack, re-pack, eat, go to bed Alarm at 5am. This sound like a taper to you?
Leave sunny Harrogate, Arrive in cold rainy Holyhead. Board the sea cat and watch plenty of fellow passengers throwing up. The crossing was a vom-fest.. Then arrive in Dublin in glorious sunshine.
It appears Ireland doesn't do signposts. We got lost in Dublin. To be fair, we were only looking for a motorway. Not a main route or anything like that.
Into Athlone itself and time to put up our tent and go register. Athlone is a very beautiful town. We should know cos we had to walk across town to complete the two stage registration process. Pick up the race stuff and goody bag and then head out for a meal. Italian tonight although a Spaniard was getting all the attention. Javier Gomez. He's nearly as good as Alistair Brownlee but not quite.
Friday morning. the sun is shining so it was time to top up the taper by going to look at the bike and run courses. . Then boy did it rain. I guess it wouldn't be the Emerald Isle if it didn't.
Race day
Up at silly o'clock for some cereal and then head into town. the benefit of Sprint Triathlon. you don't need to eat too much which is just as well cos you might see it again. You're done in time for an early brunch too.
It was a shame that we didn't get to dive off the pontoon but then again it would have only filled my goggles. I was hoping for a better swim than at Allerthorpe a few weeks before but it was still chaos. Getting kicked in my right eye for a second time was a particular low point. I did wonder if I'd get my goggles off at swim exit or if the pressure would suck my eyeball out. Swim done, to the bike Batman. After a nice long run up-hill into transition.
The bike was out and back on a windy course. Ideal for me, even
better when it started to absolutely throw it down. Flying back into town with the tailwind made me realise how windy it had been. Nice to know it still felt fast on the way out. I saw Mrs H on the way back as I was still about 1.5Km from the turn. I never did catch her on the bike and I'll never hear the end of it. She did have a 10 minute head start but bragger rights go to Mrs H.
The uphill run into to transition was a killer the second time round. Shoes on and it's time to catch Mrs H. Who informs me that I might be in 4th place. AKA first non-medal winner. Time to dig deep and press on. I get caught by one runner and then catch another with 1.5Km to go. I have no sprint so decide to put the hammer down with 1Km to go and hope that's enough. It was and thankfully breakfast stayed down.
With a number of age groups in each wave and several waves out on the course it was always going to be hard to tell. my 4th was actually 7th but I'll take that. Race over and cheer on Mrs H. Now it's time for a drop of the black stuff. time to meet the in-laws. Shame we couldn't find an Irish Theme Pub.
