Last weekend I travelled up to Nottingham for what is becoming an annual pilgrimage to the Outlaw Triathlon, an Ironman distance race in my home town.
Last year I raced it as part of a heavily marketed relay team with fellow triathlete Lou Collins and super swimmer Helen Gorman. There was a fair amount of hype about the team and a reasonable amount of pressure to perform but we did end up winning the race outright! This year Lou couldn’t race; there were several other “serious” relay teams and male athletes; I wasn’t training for an Ironman and we weren’t expected to win – so all in all it felt much less like a race we were expected to do well at and more like a fun training session. It was a great opportunity to catch up with old training buddies and friends in Nottingham and push myself by riding relatively hard over a long distance, something I hadn’t done yet this year.
The Outlaw is a great race. One Step Beyond has got the balance spot on in terms of catering for all athletes, from complete novices to elite athletes such as super biker Tom Lowe. They hit lucky with the weather which was perfect for racing and made for a great atmosphere at the finish line, with crowds drinking beer and eating ice cream while cheering finishers on. Definitely a race I’d like to do on my own one year. Winning an Ironman distance race in Nottingham would be pretty special!
I had a reasonably good ride. My plan was to try and ride the second half harder than the first which I did. Sadly the first two hours were slow but not by choice; my quads were killing me and I couldn’t have ridden hard even if I wanted to. Not sure what I’d done to them but I blame some big gear efforts on the turbo a couple of days before. They seemed to come together half way through though, and it probably worked out quite well as I didn’t blow up and finished strongly.
All in all it was a great day out. The start of an Ironman never fails to send shivers down my spine and seeing so many people fulfil their dreams and finish something they have worked so hard to achieve reinforces why triathlon is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK.
Has it tempted me to do another one? Not sure…. Could be a fun way to end my season!
