European Triathlon Champs 2016 & European Qualifier for 2017

My main targets for the year were a week apart. I qualified last year for the European Triathlon championships, which were in Lisbon. It is a city I've always wanted to visit…..well mainly since 1967. Myself, Mandy and my mum and dad decided to make a weeks holiday of it. The first half of
the week we enjoyed exploring the city and the second half was dedicated for the race. Training had gone well, except for an unsettling minor tweak 2 weeks before the race. I decided to play it safe and not run again before the race. I'd rightly convinced myself that the hard work had
been done and very little, if any, benefits would be gained by putting any unnecessary last minute pressure on my calf. The beauty with triathlon is that you can still keep your fitness ticking over with the other two disciplines.

The race itself took place in the Parque das Nacoes (park of nations) district of Lisbon. A recently developed area for the World Expo in 1998. A very modern area in contrast to the historical city centre nearby. The swim was in a marina adjacent to Europe's second largest aquarium. This
should ensure a swim in nice calm waters, unless some of the sharks escaped into the marina. The bike course was an out and back. Heading 6 miles outside the city on a nice flat motorway, which thankfully was closed off on race day. One of the best experiences on holiday was having a police escort comprising of a couple of cars and half a dozen motorbikes for a bike recce on the motorway the day before racing. They would head off in front, shutting the road for the 1000 plus cyclists following behind. That was as close as it can get to experience taking part in one of the tours. The focal point for the run was the MEO arena, a 20,000 seated indoor arena, which was similar to the O2. Adele had been in concert there a few days before it was taken over by triathletes. The run route included 3 passes through the centre of the arena, with the 3rd pass being into the finishing funnel in the arena.

All in all it was an extremely well organised and enjoyable event to take part in. It's always hard to gauge what position you are in at these events until you see the results. Very often people back home know my position from live online results long before I do. However I did feel that my
swim and bike had gone well, followed by a 17.52 5k run, which I was delighted with. The results showed that I had just missed out on a top 10 finish but, as this was my last year in this age group, I was delighted to be 11th. I couldn't resist checking on the times for my new age group
next year and was amazed that my time would've been good enough to win by over a minute. So I've been giving my mum and dad a hard time. Telling them that if they had got their act together 8 months sooner then I'd be European champ.

No sooner had we got home when we were off to Strathclyde Park for qualification for next year's Europeans. I train there virtually every day, but this was the first time I'd raced in a triathlon there. It was also the first qualifier I'd taken part in Scotland. Normally we've had to head down
south for the qualifiers. Although it's always great to go away down south for a race weekend, it was a nice treat to have one on my doorstep. The swim was in the algae prone loch, which we were assured was in crystal clear condition due to the new barrier system installed for the
Commonwealth Games. The bike course consisted of a loop going between the watersports centre to the roundabout just before M&D's and back, done 4 times. The run was from the watersports centre round the loch anti clockwise to just by the beach and back, done twice.
I was in the first heat, which had over 100 competitors. It was probably the largest number I've been in with for an open water swim, which would mean there would be a lot of kicking and screaming in the mely of what's called the washing machine. I spoke to one of my main rivals after the
race and he said he had to pull out after the swim after being pulled under twice. Not a pleasant trip up north from England for him. A shame as the course and fantastic weather had all the ingredients for a great race. My heat consisted of M45's and above age groups plus competitors in
the open race. I was confusingly competing in two age groups, 50-54 age group for the race & 55-59 for the qualification, as that will be my age group for the race next year.

The swim seemed to go well. I came out in the top 6, but then had a bit of a disaster. We exited the water onto a temporary pontoon, this was attached to the concrete pier by a sort of hinge. I was running along the pontoon then inexplicably was sent flying towards the ground,
landing heavily on concrete. My arm and shoulder took most of the impact but, as all us athletes do while in competitive mode, you just get up and get on with it.  I had provided quite a spectacle as, with this being the first heat, quite a crowd had gathered to see us all exit the water. I've still to see the videos but I've been told quite a few were recording it. I hadn't a clue what had happened, but was told later that the guy I was running beside had landed on the hinge just after me and it had acted like a spring, throwing me forward. Surprisingly I still managed to get into transition before the guy who had caused me to fall. I came out of transition in what I thought was second place and quickly passed the guy in front on the bike. I then thought I was in the lead, which was a great feeling as it's something you rarely experience. That feeling was short lived as, when I was about 200m from the roundabout, someone l had missed was already passing me on the way back. Still I was more than happy with second place. I lost a further place on the bike and set off for the run in 3rd. The first half of the run was going well and I felt I was making progress to the guys in front. However, while turning round the cone at the end of the first lap l felt my dodgy calf tweak. At that point I felt I was comfotably going to qualify, so I backed off and nursed it round to the finish. I'd lost another place on the run to finish 4th in my heat. I later found out that I was 3rd in my 50-54 age group and 1st placed qualifier in the 55-59 age group. So I'm now looking forward to next years race in Dusseldorf.

During the race I'd totally forgotten about my earlier tumble, but marshalls at the finish were asking what had happened when they saw the road rash. They advised going to the medical tent to get cleaned up. I was in there for about 30 mins and when I tried to stand up I was struggling
to put any weight on my foot. This gradually got worse and it was an ordeal hobbling back to the car. It amazes me that earlier I had competed for nearly an hour and didn't even know I had injured my foot. It must be genetics or something, going back to when we needed to be able to run away from dinosaurs when we were injured. I'm sure coach Alan will be able to explain it.

Another quick update on the other half of the Harriers triathlon section. John Freer's season is over after a numpty school boy error on the bike caused him to break a rib and his collarbone. I can say this because I did the same with a similar result a few years ago. The motto is to keep your eyes on the road. Very unfortunate for John as he'd been unbeaten in the season preceding his accident, with wins at the New Years day and Bishopbriggs triathons. I wish him a speedy recovery.
Martin