2021….its been a season for the ages for our Club Members as they sprung out of multiple C-19 lockdowns and a long, hard winter of largely solo training to take on the challenges they had set before them; many of which had been deferred a year thanks to mass cancelation of events in 2020.

Here follows the first instalment of a combined piece on a number of our members and their achievements this year. The focus of this one is the Leeds AJ Bell Triathlon weekend and how the band of Dayglo Orange/Blue/Black clad weekend warriors fared at the biggest Triathlon event in the UK in our home city…..

The Bromance

Starsky and Hutch. Tango and Cash. Maverick and Goose. Who doesn’t love a good Bromance!? TriBB’s very own Holmes and Watson- Peter Enever and Rob Heap- are two of our most keenest and competitive trainers and racers. Be it Triathlons or their strongest discipline of Running, they have a dig as much as anyone. Here’s their own words about this last year and the Leeds AJ Bell Triathlon which they both completed in terrific times.

Rob- My first triathlon was Kendal Sprint Triathlon in September 2012. This was the 4th time I had done the standard at Leeds Tri. I missed the 2016 entry but did it in 2017/18/19 and now 2021 also.I entered in June 2019 just a couple of weeks after the tri in some discount for people had just done it. I also did the virtual event they did in July 2020.

Peter- I entered this year’s event Pre pandemic. Actually 7th July 2019 almost 2 years ago!! I’m crap at swimming so hate the swim. I’m not a fan of the bike but consider it a necessary evil to get to the best part the run. However when the course changed and it wasn’t the nice 5km downhill run into Leeds my opinion changed. I must commend the person who found every hill in Roundhay park and design a run course that involved running up them 3 times.

Rob- I was really looking forward to getting back out and racing again. I wasn’t sure how the rolling start was going to work and concerned my goggles would come off and leak with jumping in and swimming straight away. It actually worked really well. I was glad the bike course wouldn’t be wet as the 7 dead turns on the bike course would have been carnage in the wet.

The pre-start was really slick grouping up, getting into lines then walking into the lake and off we went. Really relaxed and much calmer than the previous years mass starts. I hope they keep that. I think the word to describe my swim is consistent. It is usually around the 30-31min range and that is what it was again.

The bike course I went out hard on the first lap knowing the course was only going to get busier on lap two. It turned out quite busy on both laps. I hadn’t done as much cycling this year as my normal cycle commute isn’t necessary with working from home, however I still managed a decent bike split and passed more people than passed me.

Peter- The swim went well. I really like the rolling start compared to the normal deep water start. I could have push a bit harder but am always nervous about going out to hard at the start. The bike felt good and I was relaxed coming off the bike. I pushed hard and was quicker than previous years. I knew the run would be hard because I had recced the course.  The heat and humidity didn’t help either. I decided on a pace before I started and stuck to it. Three laps are hard and the second lap felt like it went on forever. I especially like the first ramp (mountain)! A true Yorkshire finish. Overly very pleased with my performance and time.

Rob- Have to agree with Peter, the run was just brutal and was a case of digging deep and carrying on. The camera man at the top of the hill captured my feelings. It was getting quite warm and humid by this point in the day which didn’t help as we haven’t had much warm weather recently I wasn’t used to it. Then the finishing ramp which looked like the travellator from gladiators was just unkind!

Peter- A funny story from the day? The only one I can remember is when me and Rob went open water swimming for the first time he forgot his goggles. Watching him swim round Roundhay without goggles was very funny. This lead to a running joke of have you remembered your goggles!! We brought 3 pairs on race day and bought a new pair as well. Apparently we now keep pairs everywhere!

Rob- Yes……I think I’ve got a bit out of the habit of packing for training and events. My first open water swim session this year I forgot my goggles.

Pocket Rocket

Leeds AJ Bell Triathlon naturally drew a huge entry and with everything located within the park it was a great event to support your team mates before, during and after whatever distance was being entered. Ewa Jamroz was the club’s fastest lady over the Standard Distance. The pocket rocket gave us the lowdown on her day and the run up as follows…..

“It was my first full distance triathlon, I did few sprints in previous years. I entered very recently, two weeks before the actual event, as I wasn’t quite sure if I was ready for it.”

“As this was my first full distance so there was always going to be an element of not knowing what to expect on the day and a doubt creeping in whether you can actually complete the race in a decent time. “

“To make it worse, I had a really stiff neck just days before the event, which got me massively stressed out as it looked like I would have to give it a miss. Thankfully, our resident Sports Masseur Laura Spargo helped me to get it moving again and got me to the point that I felt well enough to take part. So all was well at the end!”

“My swim felt really good, it was probably the most enjoyable part of the race for me. Bike went better than expected and somehow felt shorter than I thought it was going to be but it was still hard. The run was the toughest – even though I did the route before the event which definitely helped on the day, the hill felt much longer when running on tired legs! But the atmosphere and support along the route was fantastic and kept me going.”

“There were plenty of TriBB folks along the bike and run routes and enough participants too to get people saying – “Another TriBB one!” It had a huge positive impact knowing that people root for you and that you had someone afterwards to celebrate the achievement with and moan about the long run!”

“I was really pleased, as I had hope to complete the race in under 3h and managed to do that but very relieved too that the run was over!”

GoTri

Mum of two Claire Ahmed took on her first GoTri event with an Open Water Swim- something that a few weeks earlier was filling her with dread. Come race day though it was another story….

“It was amazing! Really really good! No faffing around at the start, just down the slope dive in and go. I felt good in the water and passed many.”

“Then it was a slog up to transition to get the bike. I was glad I had my bike prepped on a low gear for the initial hill at the start. But I had taken my ankle chip off to get my wetsuit off and hadn't put it on again-Doh!”

 “Anyway, I felt strong on the bike and pushed it because I thought I might struggle with the run being my weakest discipline. I remembered to put the ankle strap back on thankfully for the run. I was passed by two peeps at the start of the run but I saw them and others walking the inclines while I just plodded on up them so I passed a good few including those two who had passed me at the start!”

“I was buzzing off that so much that I bounded up that ramp for a good strong finish. On the other couple of GoTri events I've done I beat myself up for rubbish finishes.... not today though.

“I loved it!!! I feel today was my best one to date and I've not ran since the start of the year and barely cycled. On a mission now for my first Sprint at Ilkley and train properly. BUZZING!!!!”

Overcoming Your Fears

Tora Oetgen was another of our Lady Members to take on the event this year, and like Claire had some trepidation over the Open Water Swim in Roundhay Lake. Tora took the time tell us a little about her lead up to the race, how she prepared and how her day panned out.

“TriBB has helped me with my Swimming for sure but in hindsight, so much more! I hadn’t swam since I was a small child when I did my 1st standard distance, naively thinking I was good in the water (dive bombing, walking the plank and seeing who between me & my brother could hold breath under water the longest is proper swimming right?!).”

“I started swimming at a few lane sessions at Bramley Baths just before the 1st lockdown, just getting comfortable with front crawl when the pandemic put pay to that. We moved to Bramley shortly after so I jumped at the chance to join TriBB and benefitted massively from the coached sessions.”

“At first I thought swimming was the shortest part of a Tri and so less important but through the coached sessions I’ve learnt that if I can work on my technique and get quicker but more importantly, more efficient in the water, I can gain time and save energy for the bike & run. It was also so much more fun than just turning up at the pool and swimming lengths on my own! I massively benefited from the chance to get in open water, join trail running sessions, bands etc etc the whole Tri package. Plus I’m getting to know likeminded people and learn from their experiences and I continue to be inspired by many of them.”

And how did the Race go?

“Swim – it was the bit I was most terrified about and ironically ended up being the section I enjoyed the most! I did a swim thing at Blue Lagoon last Autumn and totally panicked in the water and had to cut short after 1 (1km) lap so wasn’t sure how I was going to managed 1.5km. The reccy’s we did in the weeks before 100% helped and the fact that Roundhay Lake was actually warm and so much cleaner than I’d expected! I took the advice of an experienced TriBB’er (thanks Richard!) and started 1 stroke breathing until I relaxed and it really helped me to settle and eventually I got into a sort of 1 stroke/3 stroke alternate breathing pattern that worked for me and I actually enjoyed being in the water. I got out the water and felt tired but good and managed to jog through T1.”

“Bike – I love being on my bike and have recently started cycling regularly with Bramley Wheelers and whilst I’m by no means quick, I’m most comfortable on the bike and enjoyed every minute of it (except being over taken by sooooo many people aha!) I particularly loved getting some pace up on the gradual down hills and seeing friendly faces from TriBB cheering us on 😊”

“Run – definitely my weakest area. I don’t feel like I ever get any quicker with more run training, but I do reflect and think I recover quicker with more training, if that makes sense. So I know I’m never going to set any records but I felt disappointed on the run as I dragged myself round. On reflection, I’ve don’t many days of bike-run sessions but absolutely no swim-run or swim-bike sessions and think I might benefit from this. I also think I need to fit in more strength training – I always deprioritise these, especially when the weather is good and you just want to get out on the bike or go for a run in fresh air!”

The finish line….there isn’t a word in the English language for this feeling. Its like a mixture of ‘thank **** for that’ and ‘wahoo’ and ‘I’m dead, I’m never doing this again’ and ‘OMG I actually did this’ and ‘I’m not doing this again’ “

The Silent Assassin

George Cull has been a TriBB regular for a number of years and this year was our fastest Male member over the Standard Distance course. He’s come a long way.

Here’s the raw immediate Q&A interview we got with him after he finished.

Was this your first time here? No, done Leeds Tri before and Sundowner (twice) and I was entered in for the 2020 event.

What were you excited/a bit scared of about the challenge? With the event being a build up to ironman to 4 weeks I was excited to see where I was at physically, and also get a dress rehearsal for getting my kit ready and remembering everything.  I also wanted to smash my previous time at Leeds Tri.

How did TriBB help you prepare for the challenge? Over 4 years ago I walked in to Bramley Baths to do adult swimming lessons and I had to re-learn how to swim again.  After a few months of doing that I took a huge step in joining the Tri-BB sessions.  I spent 2-3 years in lane 1, sometimes feeling I was getting better (most of the time not!).  Eventually I have made it in to the middle group!  Its not just the weekly coached sessions, the specific prep ahead of events, the facebook group to pick up hints and tips, and also the club support at the events. 

I do have to give a nod to Bramley Wheelers as well as that has been a blessing having the cycle club start up a couple of years back.

How did the Race go for you?

I could have done with an extra 5/10 minutes to be ready ahead of the swim but I felt a sense of calm as I was in the line making my way down to the start when I heard one of the new songs from the new album by James (a particularly uplifting song as well) and that seemed to help my head, then before I knew it I was in the water and heading towards the first buoy.  The swim was 16 minutes quicker than 3 years ago so is a big indication of how I have improved, and I can still improve a lot more.  What satisfied me most was I felt I finished the swim strong, I probably just took a while to get going (not being able to warm up doesn’t help).

Transition was quite laboured as I couldn’t find my bike (D’oh) and I was quite happy taking my time to get some fuel on board and get my gear on.  Once I was out then was straight in to the climb out of Roundhay.  Seeing Gareth coming in for his 2nd lap gave me a nice boost and from there it was head down and see how I can do.  I don’t often have the opportunity to ride on roads with no traffic so amazed myself with my speed and times.  I did have an unfortunate incident with an energy gel which squirted on to my face and in my beard and then subsequently my hands were really sticky from trying to remove it.  That aside there were no real incidents, I just had in the back of my mind that I needed to make sure I had enough in my legs to run.

Second transition and I still couldn’t find where I was meant to rack my bike (big learning point there), but that was a bit smoother and then out for the run.

I liked the 3 laps round the park, especially with wife and daughter in attendance and able to cheer me on.  Each lap felt like a game of 2 halves with the first half more uphill, but the 2nd half allowing me to pick up the pace a bit. I took a mile or 2 to settle but once I did I felt stronger and stronger and even managed to dash past 2 gents on the last stretch of the run who weren’t expecting a sprint finish from me! I had to keep going up the climb to the finish line otherwise I would have looked a bit of a tit!

How did you feel crossing the finish line? Crossing the finish was a nice feeling, although the photos don’t back it up I was really happy with it, firstly because I had smashed my previous time, secondly I knew this would give me confidence for ironman in 4 weeks, and thirdly because I have been able to do something normal

Would you do another one? I hope Leeds Tri is a permanent fixture in the calendar, it’s a great event.  When I have the ironman thing out of the way then for me that (and maybe Sundowner) become the 2 main races to work towards each year to try and improve on the times.

Did you see any fellow TriBB members out on the course during the race as a participant or spectator? Did it help on the day? This was amazing to see other participants in the club kit out on the course, and then also those not taking part lining the streets and the run route making lots of noise and taking some ace pictures.  Its been hard to feel fully part of the club the last year or so due to the distancing and restrictions, but it was so nice to have a feeling of being part of a the club.