abu dhabi brief report
shadowone1
Posts: 1,408
in General Chat
Well I'm back from the race so at this point in time I'll keep the report brief: (this is the report from the BCTTT forum hence the references to other people!!)
Guys,
just read stu's thread and can't believe. I set myself a target of a sub 6hrs finish and I smashed it. I echo stu's comments on the F1 circuit. You have to see it to believe it.... that place is a dream.... what a memory to be one of the first to cycle round it!!
I'll give a brief report as I want to give the full lowdown for the club mag so,
Anyway:
Swim - as Stu mentioned, I left my bloody tri-suit in a bag in the house. I was undecided on whether to do a change into bike clothes, but that choice was taken for me. Although I seemed to be bricking the swim and not sure why. Got in the water and just got on with it. One or two moments where the aqua ruck was annoying me so I headed out to fresh water, the last 750m were amazing and i seemed to nail it. I was a bit slow on the swim but I was still pleased.
T1 - Out the water and lashed tonnes of factor 20 on. Being a pale skinned bloke from Scotland I was worried it wouldn't be strong enough... complete change into bike clothes and off I went.
Bike - First 20k I was flying. Battlecat was working well. Nailed the first 20k in about 35mins so was pleased. Headed out onto the freeway and downtowards the F1 circuit. My main concern was keeping well hydrated and keeping ontop of nutrition but there was a prob with battlecat... bloody annoying. Reasons for club mag....
The best bit was seeing all the pros smash it, they were bloody flying down the road. Didn't realise bikes could go that fast!!! The out part of the bike leg was fairly uneventful apart from a really aching lower back as I had tinkered with the set-up - rookie mistake.
The F1 circuit - well it was natural to hammer it....and thats what I down. What a feeling to come round the Yas hotel that looks on the circuit and then down the home straight, past the pit lane......
The return section of the bike was nails for me. Back was killing me, I seemed to be hungry despite good nutrition and the prob with battlecat was getting worse..... the pros then caught up and started passing me. At this point I could see Phil Graves in the mix and the king of the two piece was behind him. The last 20k was tough but I hung there and got off the bike and I was shattered.
The run - This was nails, nails, nails. In any other day, in less heat it would've been a doddle. it was totally flat but the heat just killed me. I was told to try and keep myself for the run as the heat would kill me and thats what it did. My brain and heart were telling my legs to run but my legs had nothing left but I didn't stop, reduced to walking at times but kept at it.... I saw Phil Graves hammer past me on the run then about 20mins later he was on the opposite side of the run and was walking. He looked shattered...
So I eventually run home and just crumbled.. there is a photo of me sitting on a concrete block with an ice pack which summed it up.
Guys,
just read stu's thread and can't believe. I set myself a target of a sub 6hrs finish and I smashed it. I echo stu's comments on the F1 circuit. You have to see it to believe it.... that place is a dream.... what a memory to be one of the first to cycle round it!!
I'll give a brief report as I want to give the full lowdown for the club mag so,
Anyway:
Swim - as Stu mentioned, I left my bloody tri-suit in a bag in the house. I was undecided on whether to do a change into bike clothes, but that choice was taken for me. Although I seemed to be bricking the swim and not sure why. Got in the water and just got on with it. One or two moments where the aqua ruck was annoying me so I headed out to fresh water, the last 750m were amazing and i seemed to nail it. I was a bit slow on the swim but I was still pleased.
T1 - Out the water and lashed tonnes of factor 20 on. Being a pale skinned bloke from Scotland I was worried it wouldn't be strong enough... complete change into bike clothes and off I went.
Bike - First 20k I was flying. Battlecat was working well. Nailed the first 20k in about 35mins so was pleased. Headed out onto the freeway and downtowards the F1 circuit. My main concern was keeping well hydrated and keeping ontop of nutrition but there was a prob with battlecat... bloody annoying. Reasons for club mag....
The best bit was seeing all the pros smash it, they were bloody flying down the road. Didn't realise bikes could go that fast!!! The out part of the bike leg was fairly uneventful apart from a really aching lower back as I had tinkered with the set-up - rookie mistake.
The F1 circuit - well it was natural to hammer it....and thats what I down. What a feeling to come round the Yas hotel that looks on the circuit and then down the home straight, past the pit lane......
The return section of the bike was nails for me. Back was killing me, I seemed to be hungry despite good nutrition and the prob with battlecat was getting worse..... the pros then caught up and started passing me. At this point I could see Phil Graves in the mix and the king of the two piece was behind him. The last 20k was tough but I hung there and got off the bike and I was shattered.
The run - This was nails, nails, nails. In any other day, in less heat it would've been a doddle. it was totally flat but the heat just killed me. I was told to try and keep myself for the run as the heat would kill me and thats what it did. My brain and heart were telling my legs to run but my legs had nothing left but I didn't stop, reduced to walking at times but kept at it.... I saw Phil Graves hammer past me on the run then about 20mins later he was on the opposite side of the run and was walking. He looked shattered...
So I eventually run home and just crumbled.. there is a photo of me sitting on a concrete block with an ice pack which summed it up.
0
Comments
As you said the track is a place of beauty, I was lucky enough to work over there for the F1 gp
http://www.lddiscounts.co.uk/information.php?osCsid=524f9a3f884073219592533064e48af5&info_id=12
Sure the bike leg will live with you forever
Recommended for next year?
there were one or two gripes, fairly minor.
Graves without question hammered the bike leg. He passed me and was one of the leading pack. So he blew up on the run. I saw him walking at one point then the next time I saw him he was running with Dan Brook..
Trying to persuade wat to go back.
Seriously worth it just to bike round Yas F1 circuit!!
There were one or two cars that sneaked onto the road but it was nothing major tho