Highland Warrior 70.3
...second attempt at posting this
I completed my first 70.3 on Sunday, the colourfully named Highland Warrior triathlon in Fort William, run by No Fuss Events who do a few other events in the area. Overall a great day, and now my legs are starting to ease off I can say I enjoyed it!
There were a couple of negatives; the timing system didn’t use a radio signal so you had to plug your timing chip into hand held terminals at certain points. This wasn’t an issue at transition, but was a bit of pain having to stop on the bike (literally as I fell over at one of the stops). And there weren’t enough fluid/feed stations on the run, in fact there was just one.
But the positives way outweighed these. The organisers were great, good sense of humour, clearly there to support the athletes competing, and to make the day as enjoyable as possible. The scenery was amazing, proper Rob Roy country...(I think ). The course itself was challenging, but not too extreme, and there was a surprising amount of support which was nice.
Only 47 of us taking part, so a nice compact field, and my goal for the event was really just to finish, but if I could do it under 6 hours I’d be happy.
The swim was in the sea loch, so far from balmy at this time of year, and a nice pebbly beach to walk over to get to the water. They’d carpeted most of it so it wasn’t too bad, just the last bits walking in/out of the water. My swim was about what I hoped, not great, but I’m not good with ow as the cold makes my asthma kick in. It eased off on the second lap, and I came out of the water about 40th, but it turns out I was a minute under my expected swim time, which is surprising, so either a slightly short course, or I’ve improved a bit.
I took transition easy, actually taking time to dry myself off, and eat half a croissant, before heading out on the bike. The bike course was great, lots of nice fast flat sections, but a few hills too. I overtook a lot of people on the bike as it’s my strongest leg, if I could lose weight, and get an aero frame, and wheels too I’d be unstoppable! I was even able to overtake a few people on the hills, which is surprising as I normally struggle a bit on the inclines. There was a strong wind in a couple of the sections, and a little rain, but not too bad overall. As mentioned before it was a bit of pain having to stop for timechecks, especially the one where I overbalanced and couldn’t get my foot out in time. Once I stopped laughing I got up with a bruised knee and a few scratches. I got stuck behind a bus too, it was stuck behind a couple of other competitors, and because of the narrow country roads it couldn’t pass and neither could I. That must have cost me a couple of minutes. Finished the bike in about 2:53, which I was happy with, and then even happier when one of the guys said his bike comp said the bike leg was 68miles
Into T2 and a quicker change this time, then off on the run. I felt pretty strong to start, but then the hills started to get a bit steeper… the run was up forest trails so pretty hilly, and you had to watch your footing, but again some fantastic views when you could look up. About half way round my body started to fail, and the combination of sore knee, low energy levels, and my asthma returning reduced me to a walk/jog/hobble combo, and it was my turn to get overtaken again. Still I stuck it out and made it to the end, and beat my target time by a whopping 9 minutes. 5hrs 51mins. Overall I was 29th out of the 47, so I’m a happy dude.
If they run it again next year I’d totally recommend it, Fort William is a lovely wee town, and the race has a lot of potential.
Well done to the guys at No Fuss for an enjoyable intro to longer distance triathlons!
I completed my first 70.3 on Sunday, the colourfully named Highland Warrior triathlon in Fort William, run by No Fuss Events who do a few other events in the area. Overall a great day, and now my legs are starting to ease off I can say I enjoyed it!
There were a couple of negatives; the timing system didn’t use a radio signal so you had to plug your timing chip into hand held terminals at certain points. This wasn’t an issue at transition, but was a bit of pain having to stop on the bike (literally as I fell over at one of the stops). And there weren’t enough fluid/feed stations on the run, in fact there was just one.
But the positives way outweighed these. The organisers were great, good sense of humour, clearly there to support the athletes competing, and to make the day as enjoyable as possible. The scenery was amazing, proper Rob Roy country...(I think ). The course itself was challenging, but not too extreme, and there was a surprising amount of support which was nice.
Only 47 of us taking part, so a nice compact field, and my goal for the event was really just to finish, but if I could do it under 6 hours I’d be happy.
The swim was in the sea loch, so far from balmy at this time of year, and a nice pebbly beach to walk over to get to the water. They’d carpeted most of it so it wasn’t too bad, just the last bits walking in/out of the water. My swim was about what I hoped, not great, but I’m not good with ow as the cold makes my asthma kick in. It eased off on the second lap, and I came out of the water about 40th, but it turns out I was a minute under my expected swim time, which is surprising, so either a slightly short course, or I’ve improved a bit.
I took transition easy, actually taking time to dry myself off, and eat half a croissant, before heading out on the bike. The bike course was great, lots of nice fast flat sections, but a few hills too. I overtook a lot of people on the bike as it’s my strongest leg, if I could lose weight, and get an aero frame, and wheels too I’d be unstoppable! I was even able to overtake a few people on the hills, which is surprising as I normally struggle a bit on the inclines. There was a strong wind in a couple of the sections, and a little rain, but not too bad overall. As mentioned before it was a bit of pain having to stop for timechecks, especially the one where I overbalanced and couldn’t get my foot out in time. Once I stopped laughing I got up with a bruised knee and a few scratches. I got stuck behind a bus too, it was stuck behind a couple of other competitors, and because of the narrow country roads it couldn’t pass and neither could I. That must have cost me a couple of minutes. Finished the bike in about 2:53, which I was happy with, and then even happier when one of the guys said his bike comp said the bike leg was 68miles
Into T2 and a quicker change this time, then off on the run. I felt pretty strong to start, but then the hills started to get a bit steeper… the run was up forest trails so pretty hilly, and you had to watch your footing, but again some fantastic views when you could look up. About half way round my body started to fail, and the combination of sore knee, low energy levels, and my asthma returning reduced me to a walk/jog/hobble combo, and it was my turn to get overtaken again. Still I stuck it out and made it to the end, and beat my target time by a whopping 9 minutes. 5hrs 51mins. Overall I was 29th out of the 47, so I’m a happy dude.
If they run it again next year I’d totally recommend it, Fort William is a lovely wee town, and the race has a lot of potential.
Well done to the guys at No Fuss for an enjoyable intro to longer distance triathlons!
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Comments
britri
I'll be doing Bishopbriggs again this year as it's my local, and almost certainly the HW, not sure what else just now. You?
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I'm after a bit of advice on this event. I'm wondering if anyone thinks the event is beginner friendly. By beginner i mean i have not done a triathlon before, but am a fairly serious runner and my fitness level is good (i'll be running London marathon next month).
I know it is only in its 2nd year, but is the field comprised of serious competitors only with 10 grand bikes, or will i be able to compete on my scott cross bike? I'm not looking 'just to get round' becuase i will feel i can compete, but i don't want to enter an event where everyone is a pro!
The bike and run don't bother me, but my front crawl is dreadful- Can i realistically learn to swim a mile in 5 months?
Any thoughts would be much appreciated
Thanks guys