Deauville Triathlon - L distance (70.3) - June 24th 2017
Race reporter Tom
Julien and myself arrived in Deauville Friday afternoon to compete in the L distance triathlon on the Saturday morning. Pretty clean drive up without much traffic which was great. After unpacking and hanging around for a bit we then tried to find an Italian for a final carbo load. First thing we thought was that there weren’t many triathletes about. Where were they all? We then caught on that we were at a restaurant at the other side of Trouville-sur-Mer without realising it for dinner… obviously too eager for the best pasta in town. Even worse, all the bridges connecting Deauville and Trouville-sur-Mer were closed as from 22:00. So once we had finished we had a good 45 minute walk back to the Airbnb via the furthest bridge connecting the two. Certainly enough to tire out the legs before a race.
Along came race morning.. we placed our gear in the transition area, did final adjustments and head straight out to the sea. First impression looking at the sea was “do I actually have to swim in that?”… it certainly seemed wavy. Triathletes for their practice swim looked like ducks with their heads bobbing up and down over the waves..
Off we go, in for the swim.. two laps to do equaling 1.9km. The waves were surprisingly enjoyable and made the swim interesting. I managed to make the first round before noticing that there was no third buoy to link the triangle route together. I thought that this could be my lucky day, had the swim been cut short? No was the answer, we actually had to get out of the water, run along the beach and then get back in for a second round! My legs weren’t ready for running half way through the swim!
On to the bike for two laps. We started off with a 15% climb 2K in.. didn’t last long but certainly got the legs warmed up. Scenery was one not to miss going through all of the surrounding countryside. We had quite a few hills with over 1200 metres of elevation gain making this the hilliest triathlon I’ve done personally.
The run was completely flat. Four loops of 5KM.. plenty of support all along the sea front with many turns left right and center. For the first time I decided to use the running power meter I recently bought (Stryd) to guide my power along the run. The power I used was based on a running FTP. I can certainly recommend this as previously I had been prone to running too quickly at the start.. With the power meter all I did was keep the wattage the same from start to finish.
Along came the finish line with the music blaring out.. happy in obtaining a new PB of 5:34. Certainly a good course with plenty of challenges.. would recommend, however the after beer was a little pricey.
Comments