Winding in Wessex
It's May 2007 and the sports season is buzzing with stories both inspiring and mortifying. In the NHL, the Senators are in and the Canucks are out. Anaheim is looking dominant. The UK Premiership has seen a champion dethroned (I'm not talking about Tony Blair) with Man Utd receiving the "guard of honour" from Chelsea. In cycling, Italian champion and all around great guy Ivan Basso looks to be going down for blood doping. And in the wonderful world of snooker, Higgins has replaced Hendry as the world number one!
Beyond these captivating chronicles, one sports saga you are unlikely to read about - unless of course you read this blog! - is the 2007 British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) Triathlon. This race took place on Sunday, May 6. Sounds familiar, you say. Yes indeed, this was the event I competed in two years ago, recounted with fervour and flair (?) in an entry called "Winning in Wessex". As was the case in 2005 and 2006, the 2007 uni championship was hosted by Bath University in the Wessex town of Calne. The swim, transition and run were the very same, but the cycling route had been changed completely, perhaps to avoid the "A road" (what I call a highway, but no one here understands that word). This year we were to go north, through the country villages of Bushton, Lyneham, Goatacre and Hilmarton before returning to the sweet smell of honey ham in Calne. You have to like the name "Goatacre". I imagine there should be all kinds of clever goats living there, drinking Early Grey tea and building hedgerows to keep out the trolls. Alas, I saw no goats - only cows and sheep.
Beyond these captivating chronicles, one sports saga you are unlikely to read about - unless of course you read this blog! - is the 2007 British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) Triathlon. This race took place on Sunday, May 6. Sounds familiar, you say. Yes indeed, this was the event I competed in two years ago, recounted with fervour and flair (?) in an entry called "Winning in Wessex". As was the case in 2005 and 2006, the 2007 uni championship was hosted by Bath University in the Wessex town of Calne. The swim, transition and run were the very same, but the cycling route had been changed completely, perhaps to avoid the "A road" (what I call a highway, but no one here understands that word). This year we were to go north, through the country villages of Bushton, Lyneham, Goatacre and Hilmarton before returning to the sweet smell of honey ham in Calne. You have to like the name "Goatacre". I imagine there should be all kinds of clever goats living there, drinking Early Grey tea and building hedgerows to keep out the trolls. Alas, I saw no goats - only cows and sheep.
Cow wandering the Wiltshire hills
The Oxford University triathlon club has grown in size and ability since I was last here. This year we have over 60 members, including half a dozen guys and girls who have competed at a near-elite level and two who have represented Great Britain as junior elites. Note that I say "junior" elites. This means under 21. It's amusing being at swim sessions or out for cycling rides with energetic youths talking about "university medals" or "qualifying for world's". Being in a college sporting club as a thirty-something PhD student can be a bit disheartening, with almost everyone else being 10 or more years younger than me - I try to stay positive about it by claiming that training with these whipper-snappers is keeping me young and vigorous. Incidentally, the number of law postgrads in the triathlon club = the number of law students in the club = one = me. Thankfully there is one other guy, a Scottish doctor, who shares my pre-1975 vintage (and he's bloody fast).
In the end, however, Oxford is an academic institution and we do not have the sports-specific funding that Loughborough, Bath, Birmingham and Stirling do. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Loughborough athletes won an astounding 30 medals, including 8 golds - more than the entirety of New Zealand! Here in the town of dreaming spires, we train frequently and intensely, but it wouldn't be Oxford if we didn't spend most hours in the library or lab sweating over our work. The 25 of us who descended on Calne this day expected to do well, but not to be competitive with those who are training for the Olympics!
After an uneventful drive from Oxford in a caravan of mini-buses, I tried to shake the odd mixture of Prodigy and Gwen Stefani from my mind while setting up my bike and gear. I kept eating, of course, in preparation for my 12:40 start wave. The rain had stayed way off on the south coast, which was a blessing, but man was the wind a-blowin'! Would today be a fast day?
As before, this was a 750m pool swim. With regular training my swimming has improved slightly, so I was a dolt to estimate a time of 13:30. I should have estimated quicker so as to be in a faster wave (where I could draft). Instead, I was leading my lane for the entire 750m, only getting to draft briefly before I lapped the girl in front. Up and out in 13:10! At 1:45 per 100m this is a great time for me, but I know it could have been sub-13 had I been behind some faster folks. Next time!
On to the bike ride and no more talk of drafting (for which one would be disqualified). The first leg of the course was a joy. The sun had decided to creep out from the slate grey Victorian skies, and the driving wind was behind my back. I was burning up the course on my recently acquired Giant bike, ready to scare any goats who might cross my path with giant-ish talk about boulders and raw meat.
In the end, however, Oxford is an academic institution and we do not have the sports-specific funding that Loughborough, Bath, Birmingham and Stirling do. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Loughborough athletes won an astounding 30 medals, including 8 golds - more than the entirety of New Zealand! Here in the town of dreaming spires, we train frequently and intensely, but it wouldn't be Oxford if we didn't spend most hours in the library or lab sweating over our work. The 25 of us who descended on Calne this day expected to do well, but not to be competitive with those who are training for the Olympics!
After an uneventful drive from Oxford in a caravan of mini-buses, I tried to shake the odd mixture of Prodigy and Gwen Stefani from my mind while setting up my bike and gear. I kept eating, of course, in preparation for my 12:40 start wave. The rain had stayed way off on the south coast, which was a blessing, but man was the wind a-blowin'! Would today be a fast day?
As before, this was a 750m pool swim. With regular training my swimming has improved slightly, so I was a dolt to estimate a time of 13:30. I should have estimated quicker so as to be in a faster wave (where I could draft). Instead, I was leading my lane for the entire 750m, only getting to draft briefly before I lapped the girl in front. Up and out in 13:10! At 1:45 per 100m this is a great time for me, but I know it could have been sub-13 had I been behind some faster folks. Next time!
On to the bike ride and no more talk of drafting (for which one would be disqualified). The first leg of the course was a joy. The sun had decided to creep out from the slate grey Victorian skies, and the driving wind was behind my back. I was burning up the course on my recently acquired Giant bike, ready to scare any goats who might cross my path with giant-ish talk about boulders and raw meat.
Can a Hill Giant defeat a Wind Elemental?
The course this year was 25km, longer than before but still quite feasible to finish in under 45 minutes. Or was it? After turning a bend from north to west, I passed a long line of trees and was then assaulted by a wind like no other! This was not a friendly "wind in the willows" that you might associate with toads, rats and badgers - it was a wicked whirlwind, a churlish chinook, a menacing mistral! As the course turned from west to southwest, I was forced to face this wind of winds head on. According to the BBC we were facing a steady blast of 18mph with gusts of 35mph, which would be tolerable in kmph but is pretty unpleasant in mph. To experience the nearness of death, why not try sitting low in your aerobars, cruising downhill into a headwind, while a sudden crosswind coincides with a passing tour bus? No me gusta!
It was a real battle getting back to Calne in this cyclone, but I struggled through in 45:20 (47:46 with transition). Some of the elite athletes managed times in the 39's, but a group of them were disqualified for drafting!
As the 5km run started I knew my legs would pay the price for cycling hard against that wind. I've been doing more running this year, including some short races in Oxford (paired with the inevitable ass-physio-rehab). Despite good performances there, I knew today that 4min kms were not in the cards. I was slowed down by stomach cramps, jelly legs, etc - I train to tolerate this but obviously I must do more! I came in with a smile on my face and a reasonable time of 21:12 (22:08 with transition).
A final time of 1:23:04 certainly wasn't enough to compete with the young olympians, but it was a decent achievement for a giant-riding gnome. Next up is the Blenheim Triathlon on June 2, a huge event set in the landscaped parkland of an 18th Century palace. We will be part of the Oxford/Cambridge varsity deathmatch, but more interesting to me will be how I stand against loads of folks in my own age group...
Float on!
It was a real battle getting back to Calne in this cyclone, but I struggled through in 45:20 (47:46 with transition). Some of the elite athletes managed times in the 39's, but a group of them were disqualified for drafting!
As the 5km run started I knew my legs would pay the price for cycling hard against that wind. I've been doing more running this year, including some short races in Oxford (paired with the inevitable ass-physio-rehab). Despite good performances there, I knew today that 4min kms were not in the cards. I was slowed down by stomach cramps, jelly legs, etc - I train to tolerate this but obviously I must do more! I came in with a smile on my face and a reasonable time of 21:12 (22:08 with transition).
A final time of 1:23:04 certainly wasn't enough to compete with the young olympians, but it was a decent achievement for a giant-riding gnome. Next up is the Blenheim Triathlon on June 2, a huge event set in the landscaped parkland of an 18th Century palace. We will be part of the Oxford/Cambridge varsity deathmatch, but more interesting to me will be how I stand against loads of folks in my own age group...
Float on!
Gned taking some well-deserved rest
posted by Gned the Gnome @ 4:38 pm
1 Comments
1 Comments:
A stirring account, Gned. We will be thinking of you while grynding this summer.
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