Vitruvian

Vitruvian Triathlon
This triathlon is a middle distance race, 1900m swim, 85km bike 21 km run, it is based at Rutland water and in 2013 was on Saturday 31 st August.
I did this with my husband Billy and our friend Martin.
We arrived on Friday 30 th, we had rooms a few miles away from the start at a pub/hotel the White Lionnin Whissendine. After booking in we went to the race site to register and rack our bikes. We wandered to the lakeside, the lake is a Reservoir of dam busters fame. The water was low and there was loads of weed, Yuk! We also went to see where the swim in/ bike out/bike in/ run out were. we then drove the bike route, the hills did not seem as bad as rumoured, phew!Then we went back to our digs for our evening meal and an early night.
The morning of the 31 st dawned to find the three of us already in the car, driving to the race site. We went to our bikes and set our stuff out then went for the loo. The loo queues were massive and as we got closer to he front we were called to the race briefing. Martin and I stayed in the queue listening carefully, an eerie silence fell over the site as everyone awaited the briefing. This was soon broken by the race directors advice and instructions. After the loo we joined the crowd of competitors at the briefing. After the briefing, we went to squeeze into our wetsuits as th first wave headed for the water at 06:30. There were 6 waves in age groups, youngest first, the first 5 waves were all male and the 6th wave was all the women, mixed ages. Billy and Martin were in wave 4 and me, we'll I was in the last wave, there were 10 mins between waves. Now here is the bit that worried me, cut offs. The clock for the cut offs started when the last wave entered the water, that by my reckoning gave all the males a bit of a time advantage. But hey ho, rules are rules.

The start was weedy, but I coped well with that, It was also crowded so I stayed at the back and watched for the clearest path and was soon in clear water passing other swimmers, I swam wide and so probably swum further. This was my first Australian exit which was ok, I walked I as even though there was carpet down it was stingy on my feet. The second lap was almost fun, I had my own space for the whole lap. The water was pretty churned up so I was a bit disorientated on the second exit and joked with the volunteers helping me out that the lake must be full of cider, I was really wobbly.

Vitruvian Swim 1900 m 00:49 41:33 pace
Vitruvian T 1 0.5 mi 00:03:37 07:14 pace

I walked whist I removed my wetsuit, dried only my face , put on my helmet and glasses and got into my socks and shoes, folded my wetsuit and walk/ran to the mount line.

Two laps, first lap I took steady to start with, I had heard it was hilly and even though We had driven the course the night before I knew the reality on a bike could be different and didn't want to burn out. The race leaders were already coming in at the end of their first lap. It was a climb to the main road and then continued upwards for a while then the first descent, long and gentle but my pace picked up quickly and suddenly the lid and straw flew over my right shoulder, I was a busy main road and I was travelling at 24+ mph stopping to retrieve it was not an option. I felt guilty and sure I'd get penalties o DQd, also I no had no access to my drink, it was going to be a long 26 miles. Confident of the route, due to the previous day's recce I got on with the task in hand. The Rutland Ripple was ahead, this is a series of three hills in close succession, they didn't seem too bad on the recce. The first was ok, I was constantly being lapped by the leaders now. The road was busy and there was slow traffic on the hills as vehicles slowed behind cyclists and cyclists then slowed, basically everyone, cycle, car, lorry bus went the pace of the slowest, I saw faster cyclists up close to the back of vehicles, I was passed by a tractor, so close that my heart missed a beat it must have been a matter of inches from my elbow, but I pushed onwards and soon was descending again. I was glad to leave the ripple behind, it was stressful for me, the rest of the lap was quite enjoyable, at about fifteen miles I managed to fiddle with my drinks bottle to make it so I old get a drink, one long none too steep incline and a few miles later and Zi was turning back down to the reservoir, I had to slow as an ambulance was dealing with an accident, I collected a bottle of water and set off for the second lap, hoping the incident that the ambulance was dealing with was not too serious.The second lap I pushed it a bit more as I knew the course, hills were still tough and the roads sill busy but not as bad as the first lap as there were less bikes out now, I passed my first male on the middle hill of the ripple, that bouyed me up, I passed a couple more on the bike ride, I the bike ride as a whole went well and soon I was turning back to the reservoir.

Vitruvian cycle 50.64 mi 03:25 14.8mph pace
Vitruvian T2 0.12 mi 00:02:08 17:46 pace

Jogged in off the bike, racked it and changed my shoes, grabbed my sweat band and removed my helmet and jogged onto the run course.

I Set off at a gentle pace, my initial aim was to complete at least a mile without walking, soon I saw Billy running towards me, he looked comfortable, I knew Martin would be somewhere near so I couldnt walk and soon I saw him running towards me too. It was starting to feel warm so I walked through the waterstops to ensure I took on plenty of water and then just went from water stop to water stop. I walked each stop to get the fluids in me not down me. The run was two laps of an out and back course and as I left the dam wall on the first lap heading for the transition area, someone came out of the toilet, I narrowly avoided being hit by the door, I joked about it with the man in front, who I had been keeping pace wit, soon we were running comfortably and chatting, he wa called Adrian and was on his second (last) lap, he was almost a Vitruvian. You could hear people finishing for the whole run route. Distracted by chatting, it was soon time to part, Adrian to the finish and me to my second lap. I now felt good, bike legs totally gone, I smiled at everyone as I completed my second lap. The whole Run was reasonably comfortable because the course was flat with a couple of rises in it, it was differing terrains that was good to wake the legs up abit. Very happy with the time.


Vitruvian run 12.78 mi 02:17 10:41 pace

Vitruvian completed 6:36:56

At the finish line, Billy was waiting, so was Martin, then I met Jon and Gary and Lee, we sat by the finish, wondering how Zoe was getting on, "she came out of the water just Vitruvian run 12.78 mi 02:17 10:41 pace me" I said, the announcer called her name as I was heading to T 1. I was looking for someone with dark plaits, that's how I remember Zoe from Outlaw.
Eventually we had to all go our separate ways, we hoped Zoe had sneaked past us, and she had. The next day as photos appeared on Facebook I recognised the photos of Zoe, pink cap and calf guards, blond ponytails. Zoe and I had been passing each other all day but hadn't recognised each other.

Vitruvian is a good event, not for the faint hearted though, but I definitely recommend it.
I also recommend the White Lion in Whissendine, it was a lovely village pub, very welcoming with good food and drink, the rooms were clean, spacious and comfy. Most rooms are being refurbished a the moment.