Blenheim Weekend Warrior 2019

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Blenheim Weekend Warrior was one of the big goals Stu and I had set ourselves for 2019. Having competed in 2018 we both had unfinished business with it.

The format is that you compete through both the Saturday and Sunday, completing as many triathlons, back to back, as you can within the time limit set for each day. One of the most iconic UK tris, the Blenheim Bloodwise Triathlon is a massive event with around 7000 competitors this year. As a Weekend Warrior you start in the second general wave of the day and you can keep going round the course until the last wave starts in the afternoon.

Last year both Stu and myself managed to complete 5 sprint distance triathlons, 3 on the Saturday when you have a longer window of opportunity (and are fresher) and 2 on the Sunday. The two fastest competitors managed 8 (with 5 and 3).

Stu had just missed the cut off on Saturday by about 5 minutes and though I was a bit faster and had a 10 minute window to get back in a wetsuit and back to the swim start I was mentally and physically done. I had cramped badly in both legs on the 3rd swim to the point where I was close to flagging down one of the safety canoeists. Instead I stopped, gathered my thoughts, pulled myself together and managed to complete my 3rd tri, but just the thought of going back out for a fourth was a step too far. I had also been managing an Achilles injury which was impacting my running.

As soon as we had confirmed places for 2019 we started to think about how many we could do. 4 on the Saturday and then perhaps 3 on the Sunday were the targets we set but until we knew the wave timings and cut offs we had no idea how much time we would have available to get round.

The wave timings don’t become available until mid May and when they did we realised our chance of 7 or maybe even 6 had been dealt a small but important blow. We had several minutes less time on each day to get the planned sprint triathlons done. There was also the additional complication that if we were starting a new tri in the last couple of waves of each day we would only be allowed to complete a shorter super sprint one.

Saturday would start a 9:10 and the last sprint wave was at 15:00, with additional super sprint waves running until 15:40. That gave us 5 hours 50 minutes in which to complete 3 sprint triathlons and get back and be ready to start a 4th which actually sounds pretty reasonable until you start looking at things in more detail.

  • The first challenge is T1. It’s total length is over 0.5km and most of that is savagely uphill. It makes for a leg sapping T1 time of 5 minutes plus rather than a more normal 2-3 minute.
  • T2 is longer than normal as well and likely to be around 3 minutes.
  • The bike course is 3 laps for a total of 19.7km and is pretty hilly – with around 350m of elevation gain. You really start to notice the climbs later in the day.
  • The run however is the bit that seems to get most people. It’s long at 5.5km and also hilly.
  • On top of all of that you then have close to 1 km run back from the Finish to the Swim Start (crossing the run and bike course on your way which can add delay) and obviously need to collect and get into your wetsuit, hat and goggles while also taking onboard food and liquid. Thats another 10 minutes or more.

Even if you can bang out consistent 1 hour 40 minute tri’s you then need to factor in 10 minutes to get back to and ready for the next start and if you get unlucky with the timings you may get held at the start and have to wait for the next wave and lose more precious minutes there.

So when Saturday dawned and we rolled up at Blenheim with our bikes, helmets, shoes and other gubbins the most important piece of kit we brought were our wives. Claire and Jo had both gamely volunteered again to be our support team. Their job for the whole weekend (above the normal cheering us on) was to get our run kit back into Transition and bring our swim kit out of transition to meet us just above swim start, whilst also setting up shoes, gels, drinks bottles etc.

This allowed us to have the shortest and fastest route back to the Swim start, saving energy, preventing tired brains making mistakes and most importantly saving us valuable minutes.

Stu and I were both hoping to get 4 full sprint triathlons in on Saturday but we knew it was going to be tough to achieve that. The fall back was that if we missed the cutoff we had another 40 minutes in which to start a shorter super sprint (400m swim, 13km bike. 2,7km run). It would still be 4 medals but would it feel the same?

Triathlon 1

Stu smashed the Swim and T1.

The swim seemed longer than last year (and on checking back all the Garmin traces seemed to confirm it was at least 50m longer than the stated 750m). I had a decent swim and jogged carefully up the hill (protecting my achilles and energy) but when I got into T1 Stu and his bike were nowhere to be seen.

Socks (I chose to spend the time each tri to put socks on to protect my feet), shoes, belt, helmet and off I went. I was hoping that my bike training this year would mean I was stronger on the bike than in 2018. However at the same time I was hoping to keep my heart rate at around 150bpm rather than the 160+ it had been for much of the first 2 tris that year. More speed less effort was my hope.

So it proved. I was faster and managed to keep my heart rate below 160; I even caught Stu just before the end of the 3rd lap and that was despite him setting PB’s as well.

The run went decently; again I was focusing more on a sustainable pace and heart rate rather than fastest speed as there was still a long way to go.

Tri 1 was completd in just under 1 hour 35 mins. I was very pleased with that and after picking up my first medal of the weekend and a bottle of water I jogged back towards our support team ready for a quick climb into a wet wetsuit, a bite to eat and a drink before heading straight down to swim entry to start it all over again.

Triathlon 2

Not a good start.

The 11:00 wave was just heading into the water and though I was close to the front of the hundred plus competitors as I entered the water I got pulled back and had to wait about 5 minutes for the official wave start. I kept calm on the surface but I knew those lost 5 minutes might be crucial later in the day and I was frustrated and concerned.

The swim was about 80 seconds slower than the first. I was happy with that as I got mown down a few times by the pack having started right at the front and had to gather my thoughts and breath a couple of times. T1 was also a bit slower – to be expected.

I discovered in T1 that Stu had managed to catch up with me due to his superior swim and the holding time I had. The bike however remained strong, almost at the same pace as the first Bike leg which I was very happy about. The run came and went, again managing heart rate and body, for a time about 2 minutes slower than the first.

And Tri 2 was completed in around 1 hour 40 minutes.

Triathlon 3

As I headed back to our support team I started doing the maths. I had just under 2 hours 20 minutes to complete another Tri plus the 2 sets of transfers back and wetsuit negotiations to do. Working on the basis of continuing to slow I estimated 1 hour 50 min for the next one. That gave me 15 minutes for each of the transfers.

This was on. I just needed to keep my head and body together and hope I had no mechanical issues on the bike.

I didn’t waste any time with the transfer, i jogged back and was straight into the wetsuit. Some quick nutrition and then off to the swim start.

This time I got lucky and landed smack in the middle of a 20 minute window between two waves, which meant no delays and a nice peaceful swim. Except my goggles were leaking. I stopped a couple of times and tried to sort them to no avail, so I gave up and continued on with my right eye closed and just using my left to navigate with. I am crap at swimming straight at the best of times in open water and this did not help but I just wanted to keep on moving. Ultimately it was a slow swim at 2 minutes longer than my second one, but that did not worry me. I had only had minor twinges of cramp and was feeling ok.

The bike was the first sign that the body was really starting to struggle. It was a couple of minutes slower and felt tougher but was still at a decent pace.

The run was only about 90 seconds slower than the previous one and other than for one drinks station and one bit of hill I ran all of it.

Third tri was completed in around 1 hour 47 minutes, sub the 1 hour 50 I had budgeted in my head and I had around 23 minutes to get back and start the next one

Triathlon 4

Despite having some time in hand I still wanted to get out for the final one as quickly as possible, partly because I wanted to take things as easy as possible on the bike and the run but also I wanted to get out well ahead of the 15:00 wave so I didn’t get mown down by the fast swimmers again.

After a quick check with out support team on how Stu was doing it became clear he wasn’t going to make the cutoff for a final sprint. In fact they were not sure if he was even going to manage a super sprint one based on how he seemed to be feeling, so I headed off.

After a delay in the holding bay for a couple of minutes as several Warriors were gathered into a group I finally started my forth sprint triathlon of the day at 14:52.

I had made the cutoff and was actually getting the chance to complete my fourth one. I was so happy, just gutted Stu wasn’t with me.

The swim was similar in pace to the third one which I took as a win. Again no major cramp scares and once out of the lake it was then just a matter of keeping mind, body and bike together. No need to hurry, in fact it was now about saving energy.

T1 was leisurely and the bike was slow, though still faster than my third tri of 2018.

Then I moved into the now dreaded run. By this stage I had been reduced to doing a mixture of running and walking. I walked at the water stations and on the hills, however as I rounded the corner to start my final lap I spotted a couple of people in 3CTri kit a hundred meters ahead of me and they were starting a conversation with someone ahead of them in a Bloodwise Trisuit.

Stu!

I picked up my pace fractionally – it was all I could muster – and “chased” them down. Once I caught them we had a quick High 5 and chat and then the two ladies carried on with their run as I pulled up and decided to keep Stu company on what was to be our final lap of the day. Walking seemed like the sensible thing to do.

Stu had missed the sprint cutoff but had got himself sorted enough to take on a super sprint and by chance his one lap run coincided with my final lap.

We chatted away for the first time in almost 8 hours and caught up on how things had been for both of us. The challenges and near misses; the highs and lows; the aches and pains.

Before we had even crossed the finish line together we had already been speculating about Sunday. Was there anyway either of us could get 3 done?

Tri 4 was completed in a very leisurely 2 hours and 8 minutes. Time to rest and recuperate before doing battle once more…

Sunday

Saturday had been hot and after getting home there had been a lot of eating, resting and lots and lots of fluid intake. On waking on Sunday morning I was stiff and sore but not as bad as I had been a year earlier and once we got moving things eased up.

Arriving at Blenheim the weather was looking hot again though the forecast was for some light rain and cooler temperatures in the afternoon. By chance we bumped into Stu and family in the car park and made our way in to get setup once more.

The timings for the day were a start at 10:20, final sprint wave at 13:40 and final super sprint wave at 14:10. That meant to start a 3rd sprint tri you had to get 2 completed and back to the start in 3 hours 20 minutes. No chance. Even with my fresh legs on Saturday I did not achieve that, so 3 sprints was never going to be an option.

If we wanted to make our 3rd one a super sprint we had 3hours 50 minutes. With 2 x 10 minute transfers from finish to start, that left an average of 1 hour 45 mins per tri, or 1 hour 40 and 1 hour 50 to account for slowing down. Now that might be possible, but until we got into the first tri of the day neither of us were sure how we were feeling.

We could put it off no longer; we got kitted up and headed off to the swim start

Triathlon 5

The first swim of the day went ok, around the same time as tri 2 from Saturday and much to my surprise when I arrived in T1 Stu was still there, though just about to grab his bike and head out.

I did my normal faffy transition, headed out a couple of minutes after Stu and set about tackling the bike course once more. It became clear quite quickly the legs were struggling, particulalry on the hills. I managed to keep the time below 15 minutes for each of the 3 laps but overall the bike was around 5 minutes slower than Tri 1. At this point I knew this was going to be tough.

On a positive note I caught Stu at the end of the 2nd lap. It took me a good couple of km after I had initially spotted him to reel him in but I managed to time it so that we were side by side on the descent in front of the palace where are support team were cheering us on. A nice moment captured beautifully by Jo.

T2 proved interesting. I had pulled on my shoes and was just heading out on the long run through transition when i heard Stu cheer me on. He was obviously about 30 seconds behind me. I waved an arm in his general direction and shouted some encouragement back but my brain and body were struggling to communicate properly. Getting my legs moving into something resembling a run was proving tricky.

I was about half way through transition when I caught the front of my right foot on one of the many cobblestone undulations under the large red carpet that covers transition. The world at this point did that slow motion thing you see in movies. I knew I was going down, no way to prevent that. My right arm was already reaching for the floor when my brain kicked in with the instruction to “tuck and roll”. My body was too tired to argue so I tucked my right shoulder in and the next thing I knew I had completed a roll and was on all fours on the floor.

I paused, gathering my thoughts and doing a quick system check. One of the event helpers inquired, quite concerned, whether I was ok. My response after a slight pause was

“Actually I think I am, thank you”

And with that I stood up and trotted off in the direction of Run Out.

Once I got round the corner I stopped running and walked over the bridge and tried to get my body and brain talking properly. The adrenalin had definitely saved me a painful face plant but had now receded as fast as it had arrived. This was going to be a tough run.

It took my body all of the first lap to get itself sorted. I ran and power walked it. Probably about half and half. The legs were empty. The second lap was a bit better, more running less walking but it was clear I was struggling.

Tri number 5 had taken around 1 hour 52 minutes and as I crossed the line and checked the time I knew there was no way I was going to make 3 today. The first concerns had hit in the bike leg but the run had really shown the lack of energy in the body but I had harboured slim hopes until I crossed the line. Now I knew I only had one more to do and plenty of time in which to do it so I walked back to our support team for the first time. I was saving energy as there was now no time pressure.

I sat down and rested for a few minutes whilst consuming some food and drink. I knew Stu would only be a few minutes behind me so I waited.

When he arrived we had a quick chat and despite having loads of time he wanted to keep moving. So we pulled on our wetsuits for one last time and headed off to the swim start. The plan was to start together. Do our own things on the swim and bike and then rendevouz in T2 to run/walk the final 5.5km.

Triathlon 6

The swim helpers were wishing us well on our final tri of the weekend. They even encouraged us to enter the lake with a bomb rather than a normal jump. I took on the challenge, where as Stu went for the more elegant dive.

We had started a few seconds after the 12:40 wave. So I worked my way through a few back markers and was happy to complete the swim in a little over 18 minutes. I was even happier when half way up the T1 hill I spotted Stu about 50 m ahead of me. Once the path levelled out I trotted up to him. He looked a little shocked. Not so much that I was there but because he thought I had run up the T1 hill. I quickly corrected him on that.

We started the bike leg together and though I dropped Stu on the tough hill at the back of the course he worked hard and caught me after the descent at the start of lap 2. I told him to take it easy as I would wait for him in T2 no matter what, and with that we set our own conservative paces for the rest of the ride.

In the end I had to wait around 5 minutes in T2 for Stu but that gave me a chance to catch up with some of the othe 3cTri members who were also doing Weekend Warrior and happened to be in transition. Though everyone was finding it tough they were also enjoying the event. When Stu arrived I was sat on the floor taking full advantage of the rest.

All too soon though we were off and … walking. We walked a large percentage of those 2 final laps, managing a gentle jog along the main straight where the supporters are and down along some of the other flat sections and descents.

Finally we pulled ourselves together and ran down the finishing straight, our wives handing us our previous 5 medals so we could cross the line wearing them all. We jangled very loudly, even more so when the 6th one was added to the collection.

After much training, and a lot of hard work over the weekend we were done. We had swum 5km, cycled 120km and run/walked around 42km. We had both achieved our target of 6 Triathlons, beating our 2018 results. We also both finished in the top half of all the Weekend Warriors, and that’s a pretty select group of slightly insane people.

We had earnt the right to jangle.