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Scottish and British Middle-Distance Championship – Aberfeldy 22nd August 2021

By CoachKev | Published 19 November 2021 | No Comments

Will and I were met with mixed weather as we looked for somewhere to eat in Aberfeldly having registered and attended the race briefing for the British and Scottish National Middle-Distance triathlon. Quite a contrast to the last event in September 2019 where strong winds on the Saturday were followed by torrential rain on race day.

The original Aberfeldy course had returned, familiar to many “old” club members who made this one of their first challenges soon after the club was established.

The course has a split transition with bikes racked in Kenmore and run kit racked in Aberfeldy. A very nice waterproof bag was part of the goody back at registration which proved its worth when we hooked them to the scaffold poles that were all neatly laid out at the Aberfeldy Community Campus.

This was now a memory game; the bike was racked around 6-mile away from the run shoes and to complicated matter more the swim start was around 1km from the car park.

Lunch was an opportunity to discuss logistics, what time we would get up, where we would park, how we would collect our car that was 6-miles away from where we finished. A 4am breakfast wasn’t an attractive option but necessary with a swim start of 6.45am.

An early night on Saturday and a hope that the mist seen across Loch Tay on Saturday morning wouldn’t return and turn the triathlon into a duathlon.

Thankfully only a light drizzle met us on Sunday morning, and we started organising food and nutrition before racking our bikes in the field opposite swim exit. Wet suits on and we started our shuffle down towards the swim start making sure we had what we needed as there was no time to trek back for any forgotten gear.

A slight delay and we started our procession down the slip way next to the Crannog Centre and into the calm cool waters of Loch Tay. A 1.8km swim circuit was mapped out with triangular and circular buoys. Up the loch, across to the opposite side, spot the church spire hug the shore, spot the buoy between the boats and into the beach now absent of rocks, having been cleared the night before by the scout group.

Crossing the road, we headed to the racking and picked up our bikes, slipping on a gilet to ready ourselves for a mix of weather on the 55-mile bike.

Dry conditions to start but progressively wetter and wetter as we ascended Shiehallion. A tricky fast descent and the weather changed treating us to magical viewed of Loch Rannock. Now we could push on and start to consume that food to ensure we stacked up for the remainder of ride and following half marathon.

The route back took us over Shiehallion for a second time and again the weather turned. Conditioned worsened and far too many people took a tumble generally being patched up and sent on their way. Personally, I went into “super cautious mode” and glided down the tricky descent with brakes covered and taking the opportunity to feed more and ready myself for the run which was now only around 10-mile away.

Arriving at Aberfeldy I started to remember the waterproof bag that I had hung on some scaffolds pole the afternoon before. A different scene met me now peppered with bikes and waterproof bags, but I soon spotted mine.

Having glances at my power numbers I was extremely happy starting the run but couldn’t believe one of my adversaries was already ahead of me – I had to catch him on the run.

Run legs felt great as I jogged down the hill past the Community Centre, but I didn’t know how long they would last. I settled my head and remembered that a half marathon was a long way, long enough to make up the 5-minutes I needed to catch up.

An out and back course meant I spotted my mark, and he was walking – was that temporary or had he had an issue – I made it my mission to catch him. Within a few kilometres of the turn, I see Will making his way back, we exchange a few words.

5km to go and I see my mark, still walking, I pass and check he’s okay. Now I just need to push for the finish knowing that Will wasn’t far up the road.

The last 3km go quickly, those legs didn’t desert me. I knew there was an uphill finish and hoped I still had some form to go past the cheering supporter – up and up and I spot the banner – done.

1-minute over 5hrs, a great time and confident of a top three, but no – just one minute out and a cruel fourth.

Huge congratulations Will winning his age group (20 – 24-yrs) and becoming Scottish Champion 2021.