Paul May

Zoom. Not long back from Barcelona, now we’re off to London for the weekend. I’m doing the London City Triathlon on Sunday, which should be good fun. I had hoped to do a good time in London, but a combination of colds and holidays have set my training back a bit. I’m happy enough to finish this one and just enjoy the day. I’m already thinking ahead to next year; I’ve spent just over a year doing the sport now, and next year I’d actually like to train to be good a the sport - not just to finish. Anyway, three more races to go this year; then back into the gloom of winter training. One week to new job.

Last Saturday I took part in the Kilkee “Hell of the West” Triathlon; my second Olympic distance race - finishing in 2 hours 52 minutes 3 seconds (155th male out of 308).

I’m very happy with my time - to say that Kilkee is on another planet of difficulty to Chicago and the other races I’ve done would be putting it mildly. The swim was fine; I was relaxed, the water wasn’t freezing and the shamozzle didn’t put me off at all. 30 minutes for 1500m - not exactly fast, but 7 minutes quicker than Chicago. The bike course is a 45K tangle of small hills, downhills and tricky roads…1.29.28 for the transition out of the swim , the bike course and the transition to the run. The run course is cruel and unusual; literally, 5K straight uphill and then 5K back down again. A tough, tough race.

After the race I went out to dinner with the Piranhas (Murphy Blacks in Kilkee do an excellent steak if you’re ever in the area), and then we had a few drinks. Most people went on to the race HQ in the Kilkee Bay Hotel for “the dishco”, but I was happy enough to call it a night and stagger home to bed.

A cracking weekend, and a race I’ll definitely do next year.

Last year I did my first race at Blackrock, so it was nice to come back this year to give it another go. It’s not hard to see why a lot of people make this their first race; the race is incredibly well run with a short, shallow swim - and your race entry fee includes a post-race burger and a cracking view of the Cooley Peninsula from the beach; not a bad way to spend a day. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m just back from Blackrock Triathlon, a sprint distance event hosted by Setanta Triathlon Club. It was a lovely day; I managed to knock 4 minutes off my time for the same race last year, coming 53rd overall (49th male). I’ll write a full race report tomorrow. Time for some dinner.

I’ve signed up for these races in 2007 - it’s a busy calendar, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. Hopefully the oul knee problems come good and I get to finish the season in good shape.

Sat 16 Jun - Blackrock Triathlon (Sprint) - Co. Louth
Sat 30 Jun - Hell of the West Kilkee Triathlon (Olympic) - Co. Clare
Sat 14 Jul - Triathlone (Sprint) - Athlone
Sun 5 Aug - London City Triathlon (Olympic) - London
Sat 11 Aug - Pulse Triathlon (Sprint) - Blessington
Sat 18 Aug - Lough Neagh Triathlon (Olympic) - Ballyronan, NI

Keep an eye on TG4 at 9.30pm on the 8th of June (next week). There’s a documentary on Éimhín MacManus and his brother Art, on their sibbling triathlon rivalry. Éimhin is a member of Piranha Triathlon Club. There’s a trailer on YouTube for the film too.

I wasn’t picked in the random draw for the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon (these people were). Maybe next year.

I’ve signed up for the Connemara Half Marathon; looks like it’ll be a great race through beautiful scenery. Fingers crossed for the weather. You should sign up too!

I got some nifty cycling gear for Christmas from my brother and sister; warm cycling tights, socks, a great repair book and vouchers that I used to buy new tubes and tyres. So, I lovingly cleaned and fixed up the bike on Friday (after a few months of abuse on the way to/from work) and then took it for a 35K spin on Saturday - Booterstown to Tallaght through the hills with a bit of getting lost thrown in for the skit.

Anyway, very pleased with myself and full of New Year energy and ignorance I decided I’d go with the intermediate/advanced Piranha group on the usual Sunday cycle from Stepaside. We set off through the hills and down into Wicklow, past Bray, over the Vartry river and then we turned back North via the N11 about 50Km from Dublin. It was a much tougher, longer cycle than I’m used to. On the way back my legs just died - one section of the N11; a long slow incline just killed me. My legs were screaming and it was pretty clear that not only was the petrol gone, but the fumes too, leaving only the vague smell of energy left in my muscles.

Eimhin and Mark hung back with me as I fell further and further behind, which was really nice of them - they were out to train but ended up escorting me back to Stepaside. I’m reminded of the time when men with flags would walk in front of the early automobiles as they pootled along at 5mph, just in case anybody would step out and get a nasty nudge. Anyway, I made it back to Stepaside thanks to the lads and then back to Booterstown - covered in muck and failure, but alive to cycle again another day. A quick shower and a hearty meal of pancakes later and I was back in the land of the living. I fell asleep in the living room watching a documentary about the the Tour De France.

They used to do it all without gears you know.

I took part in the Aware 10K in the Phoenix Park yesterday. It was a great run; well attended (over 1000 runners) and well organised by Aware and Donore Harriers. The weather was bright and fresh with no wind - a perfect Sunday morning.

The course was tough enough with some lovely hills in the second half (the pass by the Magazine Fort is dodgy enough on a bike - running it is absolutely no fun) and a 500m dogleg turn away from the finish line at the 9K mark - just at the point where turning away from the finish was the last thing I wanted to do. I made it around in 48 minutes 32 seconds - a personal best for 10K and 11 minutes quicker than my Port Tunnel time. Average heart rate was 168 for the run, so a bit higher than the 160 last week. I’m very happy to have run a good time, and to have been able to raise money for Aware. Well done to everybody who took part. Probably no more running until the new year.

Happy Christmas to you all.

Today I took part in the first Dublin Docklands Aquathon, which was great fun (afterwards, obviously). There were 52 competitors, so it was a nice small race to end the season, and very well organised as well. The race was a 750m swim (after a 200m “warm up” to the swim start!), then a 5K run.

It was really great to go into the water beside the Jeanie Johnston; but the dead rat bobbing around 10 feet away was a bit offputting :) As expected, the water was pretty murky, but was fresher than I though - just a bit brackish. We swam off the dock to the start line, and after treading water for a few minutes we were off. My breathing was pretty poor, it’s been a while since I’ve swam, but I made it without too many “What am I doing?” moments. We clambered out of the water at the Point Depot, and then off down the Quays towards the Customs’ House on the run; we crossed the river at the Matt Talbot bridge and then ran did a loop before crossing back over the river and back towards the Point again.

I found the run pretty tough, I had a stitch for most of the course and at some stage I cut my foot, but I made it back in one piece, coming a fantastic 42nd place (but I don’t mind). I haven’t done any training since Chicago; but I managed to bluff my way through it.

So, that’s the last event of the year for me - well done to the organisers for putting on a great, safe race. The photos of the race are in the Gallery.