The ROC write up………. and end of season review!
I thought my season was done, after the highs of Estonia I’d fallen into a hazy den of lethargy, happy to watch others do sport whilst I surrounded myself with 3 new best friends (Ben, Jerry and Domino). It only took one MTB ride chatting all things triathlon with Rigby to realise that I needed another race this year, something to kick start me back into training and get ready for a big winter. Cue The ROC England – 1 mile swim, 46k ride, 12 mile ish run up and down Scafell Pike, 46k ride, 1k run. Sounded fairly easy, the distances all a lot shorter than Ironman, I’d piled on weight but I still had residual fitness from Estonia and I live in the fells near Tockholes so I’m always running off road. This would be a nice easy waltz to finish the year on a high.
The race started with a little sprint across a field before elegantly swan diving (think Billy Elliot) into Lake Windermere, my boundless enthusiasm ensured I sprinted from the line and took an early lead. This was short lived, but as the swimmers got into their stride I settled nicely into the 2nd pack in about 5th place and got a glorious draft all the way round the 1 mile swim. Out of the water and a committed dash to T1 saw me nab a couple of places and I got onto the bike in 3rd. I went hard from the start and chewed up the 2 swimmers in front in a couple of miles, the power wasn’t coming easy but conditions were quick and I was enjoying it, the twisty lumpy course providing lots to keep me entertained. About 20 miles into the ride and a chap joined me, didn’t really like this but I didn’t have much choice, anyway I rode with him until near the end of the bike when he pulled away a little and he hit the run with about a minute on me.
A careful T2 getting all my mountain kit on me and I was away but my legs felt nasty right from the off, took me by surprise a little, I must have ridden a little too hard. The first couple of k is fairly flat easy trail but then you turn onto the climb and that’s when the insanity commences…………… it’s just steep and up and steep and up and steep and up as far as I could see……….. absolute bloodbath……………. Total quad burning death…………. Most of it was barely a power walk and at this point I could really feel the extra KGs that Ben, Jerry and Domino had given to me. I’ll admit I was fairly low going up this climb, I felt tired and heavy and the rocks were wet and slippy, every inch of forward progress felt like a fight. I was trying my best and on my limit but the leader was out of sight, at this point it felt harder than Ironman. 6k done, 2k left to the top and the eventual winner came past me bounding up like a mountain goat, he was friendly and chatty but all he got back from me were unintelligible grumpy grunts.
Things got even more insane at the top as there were long sections of huge boulders you just had to tip toe over. With the wet sheen on the rock every footstep felt like a leap of faith, progress was slower than a normal walk at this point. Every time I saw a marshall I told them I thought I might die, they all thought it was funny and laughed at my peril.
The mist cleared a little near the top and the two leaders came into view on their descent……….. to my surprise I then immediately saw the turnaround cairn and I couldn’t believe it but I was still in touch at this point, couldn’t be more than a minute or so behind. Spirits immediately lifted and I started the descent with hope, I knew I’d lose a bit more time descending but if I could minimise the damage then I thought anything was possible back on the bike. The descent was actually really enjoyable, I had to concentrate on every step but from a physical perspective it was fairly easy on the legs so I felt like I was recovering and getting back in the game. On top of this there was so much camararderie from the other athletes on their way up, many shouts of encouragement were exchanged. As I crossed paths with Stephen from TP I gave a huge fist pump and ‘Teal Army’ bellow.
Disaster struck 2/3 of the way down as I rolled over on my ankle, pain flared instantly, I cried out and hopped a few steps to take the pressure off. Thoughts instantly raced in my head about having to walk all the way to the finish and potentially ruining my St George winter prep, the bottom lip started to quiver and I started to cry. Two chaps asked me if I was alright, I blubbered to them that I was fine as I tentatively took some steps and put some weight back on the ankle, it felt weak but the pain was subsiding and I could gradually ease back into my ‘running’. Disaster averted, stiff upper lip back in place, man up and get down the mountain. It was a huge relief to get back to the flat section of trail before T3, back in a positive mindset and at this point I assumed I would be within 5 mins of the leaders……….. with the rain coming down and some wet greasy twisty roads to negotiate on the bike I thought anything is possible, I back myself to take some risks in the corners and it felt like I had a little life in the legs yet to make a charge……………… Hit T2 and chief referee David Rigby tells me I’m 15 minutes down………………. WHAT?!?!…………. had no idea where I’d lost all that time, how did those guys get down so fast?!? Oh well, race over, I’m safely off the mountain at least so lets hit the bike hard anyway, protect 3rd and see if I can make the gap a little smaller (I couldn’t!).
The 2nd bike was fairly uneventful, I overcooked a couple of corners, the first time I took an escape route down a farm track and the second time I careered onto the wrong side of the road. After that I wound my neck in a bit and stopped being silly. I passed one of the leaders halfway to home, he’d had a bike crash and as I passed him he was being bundled into a van (he was ok he just had a broken bike) so up into 2nd place. The legs were ok so I just emptied the tank and by the final few miles I was completely spent. T4(!) was a quiet affair but with 1st place already finished and no one behind I just took my time and jogged the final trail run. The support on the first section of the trail run was immense, then I went into a little forest and as I was out of sight I took the time to jog slowly and rearrange my hair for the finish line photos, getting as many loose strands as possible back into the man bun (everyone does it but no one will admit to it 😉). Huge relief to hit the finish line, tank absolutely empty, just happy to survive. This finish line more than any other felt like a real achievement, surviving that mountain run was a lot harder than I’d anticipated.
On reflection it was a hugely enjoyable race and a phenomenal way to end the season. I’d recommend The ROC to anyone. I don’t think I’ll be lining up myself anytime soon, fast fell running seems to be a bit of a knack and I don’t have it, the athletes who do this well are just in a different league and I can’t compete.
Thus concludes a fabulous 2021 season – 4 triathlons (Horwich 3rd, Boundary Breeze 1st, Ironman Estonia 9th, The ROC 2nd), lots of time trials, one parkrun, lots of training and most importantly lots of good times and laughs with friends.
Ironman Estonia was the huge highlight of the year that I’m really proud of but it’s left me hungry for more! The news of the Ironman World Championship moving out of Kona and over to St George for one year only has really captured me. All roads now lead to Utah and I can’t wait to toe the line in May 2022. Winter training has already begun with the huge goal of aiming at the M40-44 podium in Utah. I’ll enjoy the process and I can’t wait to unearth my inner runner, I got involved with a bad crowd recently (Ben, Jerry and Domino) who took me down the wrong path but I’ve seen the error of my ways and I’ll ditch that trio.
Peace out 2021 triathlon season.
