29th Hell of the West 2013 Race Report- Lessons learned and room for improvement

A rare Saturday off from +Amphibian King Galway and I was all set to race the infamous Hell of the West.

I headed into the 29^th annual Hell of the West in reasonable shape, not 100% as I had a hip injury which had necessitated a trip to a sports massage therapist twice in the last two weeks and zero running. It has been a persistent injury that will finally force me to work more on my core.

The morning of the race I was awake before the three alarms I had set went off at 6am. It probably had something to do with two adults and two children crammed into a king size bed or perhaps it was the fact I had got up to our two kids twice before finally succumbing to let them into our bed. Anyway I felt reasonably ok despite the lack of sleep (used to it at this stage).

Race day breakfast of porridge and a coffee to go and I left on schedule at 6.30am. I was as well prepared as I ever was with regard to equipment. I even had two wetsuits including my new HUUB Aura, which I was really looking forward to wearing in a race for the first time.

Arrived in time for 7.30am registration and received a great goodie bag and a fabulous jacket. Luckily I managed to fit into the small ladies size as that was the only size left.

It was six years since I last raced Kilkee so I was keen to reaffirm memory of a difficult run course, up 5k and down 5k so I headed out for a quick drive to make sure that subsidence hadn’t altered the course. It hadn’t. I was still unsure if I could even do the run at all with my hip injury so I decided to have a small jog later along to seafront to test it.

I parked up nicely overlooking the bay and got a nice scone and coffee at The Pantry which I took out and enjoyed in my car while listening to music and watching the waves. The weather was really horrible on the drive down from Galway and in Kilkee it was also misty, dull and windy. Typical of every Hell of the West I have been to race or as a supporter. I am a fair weather person and I wasn’t that happy about racing in such conditions. I actually probably wouldn’t even go out to train in such conditions.

At about 8am I thought it was time to get my bike checked, put race stickers on etc. I got the bike and foot pump out of the car and I put on my timing chip and closed the boot of the car (for what reason I can’t remember). I immediately tried to reopen the boot but it was locked…..oh no I thought as I went to try every other door – all locked. I had locked the keys of the car in the boot – DISASTER!!

All I had was my bike, running shoes, trisuit & compression gear which I had on me. Stuck in my car boot was my new wetsuit, goggles, neoprene hat and allocated race swim hat, helmet, bike shoes, bottles of water and sachets of energy drinks and gels, sunglasses, powder, bodyglide, sports bra, mobile phone and wallet! I guess I just wasn’t to race today I thought!

I went down to transition to ask some nice Limerick Tri Club officials if they had any ideas, a garage close by that was always open was suggested along with a DIY store that was a locksmiths also. One kind official kindly rang a Garda friend of his to see if he could offer any help. He suggested I clap my hands three times and jump up and down. I did that and nothing happened!

At 8.30am on a Saturday morning nothing was open so I decided to cycle around to keep warm until something opened. On the spin I bumped into Liam Egan from Galway Triathlon Club and told him my woes. He had a plan as a girl he knew was leaving Galway any minute and perhaps she could bring down the spare key. Many phone calls later she was on route with my spare key – whew! At least I would be able to get home race or no race! I really didn’t care if she made it down in time for me to race.

That sorted I decided to hang out in transition for a while. I met Eanna McGrath, coach for the Base2Race team and he suggested he might be able to get me a wetsuit, a brand new +Zero suit which Trevor Woods had decided not to race in. Find Trevor and ask permission to wear his suit and it was mine! Great! Meanwhile I met Eanna’s brother Cian (a pal from my Wicklow Tri Club days) and he said he had a spare helmet in his car beside his B&B not far away. On my bike again and while picking up the helmet I met other old friends from Wicklow Tri Club, Adam and Jane Kelly. Jane offered me goggles and a swim hat….happy days! Back to transition and I met Trevor who very kindly granted permission to wear his suit so Eanna went off quickly on his bike to get it for me. I met Conor Griffin from Predator Tri Club in transition and he offered me a Men’s version of my regular pool goggles (Aquasphere Kayenne) so I took those. I also secured a red official swim hat from an official. I was all set for the swim at least.

If I got my car keys even after my swim I could cycle in my bare feet to the car and get my bike shoes and complete the bike course too. I had my runners already so I was all set…just to get my car keys. Thanks to Orlagh Giblin (down to watch her husband Paul race) and Sean McGlynn I got the spare key just before we were called to go to the water. Sean kindly offered to get my own helmet (was a better fit then Cian’s) and my bike shoes and leave them at my bike for me. People are really so kind in times of need. I have never been placed in such a position as needing so much help, I was blown away with the kindness and advice offered by everyone.

One of the key reasons for starting to compete in triathlons many years ago was the fantastic camaraderie I experienced at my first ever triathlon in Mullaghmore in June 2006.  This atmosphere was still alive and well in Kilkee in 2013 – the support offered by participants and friendliness at events is super even though everyone is competing against each other. Most of us are just competing against ourselves.

A waist high water start left me trying to adjust Conor’s goggles when they snapped. Eilish from Galway Tri Club and I managed to fix them but I just couldn’t get them to fit properly. The usual kicking and fist fight at the start made me recall how I hated the start of triathlons. I ploughed forward in rough seas which usually suits me fine but today my goggles were leaking and I couldn’t see at all. I tried to follow any feet I could find, a dangerous strategy usually but I didn’t have much option as I couldn’t see. On a few occasions I did breaststroke and lifted my goggles to see where I was. Although Eanna reckoned it was shorter than the 1500m it was meant to be, I think I did more with all the zig zags. On exiting the water I was happy enough to see Grainne Reed from Galway Tri Club who is a strong swimmer who I used to train with last year and in open water I would historically always been fairly close to her. Despite all it must have been a half decent swim. I was surprised I actually recognised her as I discovered I had lost one of my contact lenses in the water!

In T1 I was thrilled to see my bike shoes and helmet waiting! I headed off as quickly as I could. Luckily when waiting on a wetsuit and keys I got chatting to Dave O’Sullivan from +Kinetica. I explained my dilemma to him and asked him if he has a spare bottle of water for me for the bike as I had nothing – no gels not even an energy drink – I hadn’t even drunk anything all morning bar the coffee at 8am. He gave me 100% energy in a 500ml bottle which he deemed was ‘rocket fuel’, I was going to need it. From a previous ride I as a bag of chomps on the bike so I was pretty sorted nutrition wise.

It was really windy on the bike and my legs felt tired after just 1km but I guess I was just tired or not fit enough. I was passed by a series of cyclists – a few of whom were girls. Note to self – I must work on my bike.

Coming into T2 I was still probably in the top twenty women racing but it was tell tale time. The run section is always my worst section and I have been plagued with a hip injury all year so I haven’t done much run training. Given the madness before the race I didn’t get to test my form out to see it my hip was going to last 10k. I also felt a little pressure to run even if I was in pain especially after all the support I was given from everyone. In a sense I might let them down if I didn’t bother to run.

My legs are always weak starting the run (more work to do with brick sessions) and I started very, very slowly. My hip got gradually worse but as I was 3k up a 5k hill I didn’t dare to walk or turn back. I was passed by what seemed the remainder of triathletes in the event. It didn’t bother me too much as this happens to me in every triathlon just perhaps not to the same extent! I was so happy to see the finish line.

2hr 54mins 18 seconds. Split swim 25:59; bike: 1;28;51 and run 57;09. Not a great result or what I had hoped for. I was limping by the end of it but I really enjoyed the race, perhaps because I didn’t put any pressure on myself given the morning I had. The sun was shining for the run and there was a great atmosphere at the finish line. A protein recovery drink compliments from Kinetica and a 10 minute soaking in the sea before I went to hand back all my borrowed gear.

I really can’t thank everyone enough who helped me out. It gave me a really nice feel good factor and reinforced my views that triathletes are still kind and good hearted people all out to have fun in a great sport.

Last note to self: never lock the keys of the car in the boot again!!!