It has been a while since I left a piece on this my diary
page. I was told that I should not post
a page daily anyway because it would be less likely to be read if it was an
every day thing.
Since the triathlon season has now started with a bit of a
bang, I decided that I would give the whole thing a rest and that would allow
me to actually get some worthwhile training done for the races I have so
foolishly entered when I am easily old enough to know better. Couple this with the fact that my husband
has, after a quiet start early this year, suddenly become so busy that neither
of us can find a moment to attend to anything less important.
Panarea one of the Aeolian Islands off Sicily
Steve, my husband/coach has had one long working trip abroad
on top of the next starting at the beginning of May when I went with him for
two weeks whilst he was working in France and based mostly in one
spot. As he knuckled down to endless work, driving back and forth to the South
of France chasing after clients who were on a buying trip from the USA to visit
all the enormous antiques fairs in Beziers, Avignon and Montpellier, I went out
on my trusty bike every day, on my own, on the blissfully quite roads of the
Route des Grandes Crus of Burgundy and other equally beautiful roads.
Biking on
almost empty roads in rural France
is like being in biker’s heaven for as long as it lasts. I stayed behind in a gîte
a little way outside of Beaune, free to come and go at whatever hour I fancied,
eat when I was hungry and rest as I pleased.
That time stood me in good stead for my first important
event just two days after our return from France. We traveled up to Eton Dorney Lake near Windsor for
a sprint race that was a qualifier for the sprint race at the World Triathlon
Championships that will be held in Rotterdam
in September. Tagging along to that was Kathy Azapardi who has been filming me
on odd occasions for a motivational piece that she and a couple of colleagues
have been working on that will conclude their course at Brighton
film school.
Kathy stayed with us overnight before that event for the
sake of simplicity, since it meant the Steve knew well where he was driving to
and so would save Kathy having to find her way there as well as a bit of fuel
using her own car. She had already requested and been given permission to do
what filming she needed during the event by Human Race CEO Nick Rusling. The Eton Sprints is a perfect venue to use for
beginners since it is entirely traffic free making nice safe bike and run
courses and a less scary first open water swim for the hundreds of new
triathletes taking up the sport I have loved for donkeys years. I did get my
qualifying slot for the worlds so I was happy with that.
Steve then had another long drive on a two truck job taking
furniture to a big house on the tiny island
of Panarea that is one of the Aeolean Islands
off Sicily.
This turned into a much longer trip that was planned when the ferries there
went on strike and Steve and the other guy driving the second truck were
stranded there for several days.
It sounds like fun but it was a difficult job because the
load could only be driven off the ferry and on to the dock side and that was
only small. The two truck loads of goods had to be unloaded piece by piece onto
tiny little three wheeled motorised carts that in turn took the goods up dirt
tracks to the house awaiting the delivery. The owners were not there, only
their team of staff, so that took a great deal of time and was more than a bit
testing.
Both Steve and I found that he did not get much in the way
of sympathy for his plight since it is hard to feel sorry for somebody stuck on
a paradise island that everybody else would love to spend a holiday on. The sad
fact is though, that one does not get paid during spells like that but your
outgoings do mount up since you still have to eat and find somewhere to stay.
And so my man had to wait on tender hooks to see when the
next ferry from Naples
would arrive that would start him on his much delayed journey home. It was an
edgy time for me too wondering how the rest of the trip would go now that,
previously laid plans were all abandoned.
Amazingly after and overnight ferry ride and two very long
days driving Steve made up one of the lost days and did get home ready for us
to make our next journey to the next triathlon event. For Steve it would be an event that he had
hardly been training for due to that work hold up. He did get a swim and a
short run on Panarea but it is just a pretty pile of rocks so mountain hiking
was all that was available.
So after Steve had unloaded his return load picked up in France, we left the next day for Deva Triathlon
and the Roman City of Chester, way up in the north of the UK level with the north coast of Wales and Manchester. Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary fortress
and town in the Roman province
of Britannia on the site of the modern
city of Chester.
Deva was again a qualifier for the World
Championships in Rotterdam
at the end of the summer race season but this time the qualification would be
for slots in the Standard distance race. The event tee shirt has the date on
the back but it does not show that it was held on June 4th 2017.
What the shirt shows is;
IV VI MMXVII
It
was a superbly organised event with the best goody bag we have taken home in
many years. These days our sport is much more about making as much money as
possible and less and less is given out to the participants. At Deva as well as
an excellent quality event shirt there was also an embroidered hand towel, a
fine medal and umpteen sachets of this and that sports nutrition products.
The 1500 mtr swim was in the river Dee and very well marked with huge buoys. The Bike ride
was a one lap undulating course in the surrounding countryside and indeed
passing right by The Trevor Arms at Marford where we stayed during the trip.
The whole event was extremely well marshalled and with the competitors name
clearly on the race number you got shouted at by name which was great.
Having done a handful of less important
events before Deva came along offering slots in the World Championships, and
having done the sprint qualifier at Eton with no adverse nervous effects at
all, I was more than a little alarmed when after registration for the event and
a pleasant lunch in an Italian restaurant, and drive around the bike course, that
when we got back to our room, I suffered panic attack, something that I have
not had in a very long time. I would not have said that I was particularly
nervous consciously but there it was; unmistakable.
Poor Steve was as alarmed as I was as I
puffed and panted and struggled for breath, feeling so tired and having waves
of nausea. It lasted for about two hours until I fell asleep. Steve said he
could not believe that I passed from struggling for breath, suddenly into a
peaceful sleep. HE, did not sleep, he was wide awake. Then he watched in
amazement when I woke, got up and made a cup of tea as if nothing at all had
happened. I slept well and woke up feeling fine. Steve had not slept well at
all.
We drove to one of the excellent parking
areas and walked our bikes and bags to the race venue and waited for our wave
that was all competitors over fifty and the last wave at that at 9.30 am.
Having had such a scare with me the evening before, Steve stayed right beside
me until we had jumped into the river and swum the hundred metres to the start
point. Then with a final reassurance that I was fine, we began our race.
Steve
always does a race prediction for me and this time I had emailed it to my
sister and family since they were coming from forty miles away to watch our
race. They would then know when to expect me. My swim was fourteen seconds
faster that he predicted. My bike was just over a minute faster than he said
but my run was slower.
During the run section I felt that the
strain of the panic attacked had reduced my energy level but still the total
time for my event was twelve seconds less that he thought so no complaints
since that was good enough to give me my Worlds slot so mission accomplished.
Swim: 37.46
T1: 4.36. I had a real struggle getting my
left foot out of my wetsuit!
Bike: 1.38.55
T2: 4.05. Somebody had taken my bike place
on the rack and my stuff was everywhere, I had to get a marshal to help.
Total, in spite of trash transition times: 3
hours 43mins 48 seconds.
