DGtri Athlete - Jamie Harman

Race report for Cowman Middle Distance Championships 8th July 2012

The cowman was my first A-Race of 2012 and i had been really looking forward to the event. It was my first middle distance race since last year and with training and my adaption going so well i was really excited.
Also with the absolutely positive result of a second place under my belt at the Full Boar Super Sprint race in May and an excellent new pb at Northampton olympic distance in June my confidence had really hit the roof!

Training went as planned up to the final week of the event when nerves were getting the better of me and i still felt a little fatigued. Thinking nothing of it i carried on as planned and was hoping i would shed any lasting fatigue by the morning of the race.
I do get a little nervous coming up to an event but never like this and it really did have quite a drastic affect on me mentally.

On the morning of the race i got up at 3am had my breakfast and set off having packed all my gear the night before. I arrived at the venue at around 5.30am and made my way to registration wading through the mud. It was awful due to the rain we had suffered and the transition area was an absolute bog.
After racking my bike and setting my transition area out i made my way to the swim start for the race briefing. After a swift 5min briefing it was into the water for a warm a quick warm up and then we were off! I had planned to start the swim steady and then build speed as without a proper warm up knew i would hit the wall and have to back off. I got around the first buoy and started to pick the pace up. The swim was quite bad with people cutting in all over the place and slower swimmers getting in the way but i guess that's what happens when you take your time at the start!. After maybe 5 or 10 minutes into the swim i started to suffer some digestion problems and the energy bar i had eaten in transition before the off was repeating on me terribly!. I really struggled in the swim leg like never before and had an awful time that really put me down mentally. I ended up doing a 34min 1900meter swim in the end which isn't bad but by the way i had been performing was really quite a lot down on my pace. Nerves!

Wading through the mud in T1 to my bike i got my wetsuit off pretty quick had a gel, Put my helmet on and i was making my way towards T1 exit. I had banded my shoes ready to make a quick getaway but the amount of mud on my feet meant that i couldn't get my cycling shoes on correctly and had to wipe off the mud from between my toe's.
I set off on the bike leg and settled in quite nicely. The bike leg included 2 large laps and 1 small lap with my plan being to get the hammer down after the first big lap. The bike leg included a few rolling hills and one hill that was quite steep but not too long. I really felt quite strong on the bike and my nutrition plan went quite well apart from when i started to push my gut played up.
There were no fuel stops during any part of the event so my nutrition plan had to be spot on. I had allowed for how much fuel i would need plus a little extra just in case but think i may of mixed my energy drink a little rich which was causing me problems. Luckily i had taken extra gels and plain water on board so i could water it down after swallowing it. The bike leg went ok but i had been counting on doing that section of the race a little quicker but with the swim going wrong it may of been playing on my mind a little. My bike split was 2hrs 48mins for the 56miles which was a new pb for me!...........What was i complaining about!

Into T2 wading through the even worse mud again and on with my running shoes. The part of the race i was looking forward too!. The run course had been changed due to the adverse weather we had had and now included a run up and down the hill around the park and past transition to start another lap approximately 4.23 miles per lap with a total of 3 laps and not 4.. I took it easy the first lap holding 7-8min mile pace and started to pick up the pace on the second lap. By this time i had started on the caffeine gels and found plenty of extra energy. By the time i hit the third lap it was all out balls out as i just wanted to get it done and have a beer lol. My run splint was again another fantastic pb with a time of 1hr 28mins for 12.7miles. Not bad after all the previous work!.

My total event time was 4hrs 54mins and 39secs. I had been a little disappointed with my result but after a swift talking to from the boss's (Dermot and Bill) i soon cheered up. How can somebody with so little experience in Triathlon do a sub 5hr so soon!. Absolutely fantastic result which i am hugely proud of.

Again i would like to thank everybody for there help and support. Especially Bill Livingstone who spanks my arse when i get mardy. My coach Dermot Galea for creating a triathlon monster lol and Johanna Calleja for sorting out my fantastic nutrition plan. And not forgetting my family for putting up with my moody mardy ways especially when things are not going to plan. Without any of the named above this would not be possible. Thank you