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Fun & Games in the Vineyards |
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A very successful weekend was had by most of the team at Vineman 70.3 in California on Sunday. This is one of the oldest races on the ½ IM circuit and starts in the Russian River surrounded by the huge Red Pines in a very pretty area near the wine areas of Napa and Sonoma…..no surprise we had the Sheldons, Emily + Georgia signed up!!! The swim starts in Guernville with an out and back in the River and yes, thanks Emily for some very inaccurate information on the turn point….clearly her long term memory isn’t so good as the turn was at least another 500m upstream from where she reliably informed us during our practice swim the day before. The bike is one of the nicest courses I have ridden as you go from the dense red pines around the river to Sonoma then Napa passing all the famous wineries. The course doesn’t have any big climbs but you are always going up and down which makes it interesting and very scenic and it’s nice to do one big loop rather than laps. The bike finishes in Windsor, where T2 and the finish are located and the run is a bumpy out and back through the wineries and can get a little warm as sections have no shade and it’s very dry compared to Asia. Unfortunately, the finish isn’t great and the arch is in the middle of field with rather sparse facilities…..ill equipped medical area, no toilets unless you head back to transition to queue with those still in the middle of their race and no free massage….like I am going to have a few twenty dollar bills on me at the race finish?!?!? Oh well, no race is perfect and luckily the beautiful course makes up for the race finish short fallings. Jeremy and Alex managed to score a personal best for 1/2 Ironman and this course is no walk in the park and Georgia had a fantastic first race over the longer distance placing 21st in her age group in a one of the USA’s most competitive races with everyone vying for a Hawaii IM or 70.3 World Championship slot. (See splits below). They were able to enjoy a nice meal and some post-race wine tasting by the river…..I was very envious as I lay on what felt like my death bed. Emily and I were being super healthy and opted for a nice organic salad, grilled beef and some wraps for dinner the night before the race and the only thing we can isolate to causing us massive gastro stress during the race was the spinach! A word of warning, you should always wash your salad even if the bag says pre-washed……YES, my mother did tell me and did I listen? Clearly not!! We both had slightly upset stomachs before the race but both put it down to pre-race nerves and I felt fine during the swim and came out of the water in about 7th place…..through transition and onto the bike keen to put the distant memories of my disaster in Nice behind me. I felt good on the bike and loved the course……it would have been nice to ride it before and know all the turns and twists but it was fun. I was making good time and felt fine until about 20km from the end when my stomach started to cramp, which I put down to drinking a little too much sports drink at the last aid station and not enough water so I backed off a little trying to let it settle before the run. Into T2 and I could see some of the girls ahead of me just heading out onto the course so I was hoping I could try to catch them but my stomach had other ideas. As each mile progressed, my legs felt good but my stomach cramps got worse until I couldn’t go another step without visiting one of the many porta loo’s on the course. Minor relief but then it just progressively got worse again and another stop until it was stop/go/stop/go and I couldn’t drink anything but sips of water at the aid stations. I was super happy to find a guy running about my pace as I exited the last porta loo with 3 miles left to go. We pushed each other along and this is one of the wonderful thing about races how you can meet complete strangers and make friends even though you hardly speak…..it was all hugs at the finish line much to his wife’s surprise! I saw Alex and Georgia on the course, both looking super fresh as I went panting past barely able to grunt. At the finish line my stomach was going nuts so after another porta loo visit, I headed to medical in the hope of an IV to try and re-hydrate and settle my stomach as I could barely even tolerate any water yet alone sports drink or food. No such luck but they did offer me a bed which I took for the next 3hrs barely able to move. Emily managed to locate her friends who had come up to support for the weekend and they were able take me home and away from the heat of the finish area where I spent the rest of the day and night in bed feeling very sorry for myself. I was very happy to see Emily at the finish before me for completely selfish reasons - to help look after me as she had had the sense to stop 1km into the run after suffering stomach cramps all bike ride…….What had we eaten!?!?! The next 36hrs were some of my most miserable as I had to get up the next morning with a stinking headache and still sick and clean/pack all my stuff then we drove to San Fran and Emily tried to take me for lunch so I could eat something but even that didn’t work and finally I was at the airport for my flight to London and then Zurich. I felt so horrible lying in the departure lounge feeling like death and I think this is the only time I have ever been on a long haul flight and not eaten a thing and just sipped water and slept. Finally a helpful chemist at Heathrow gave me something to settle my stomach and sent me to the PRET with orders to eat something and my body finally started to come round so I could finish the journey and only now (3days later) am I able to enjoy the fact I finished and still got under 5hrs with 11th place. Hopefully I can hit the next race healthy and without eating something stupid and have a good one….well I live in hope. A big well done to the rest of the gang and there are already plans afoot to return next year…the post-race wine and dine must have been good! Happy Training 11th Claire Murray = 4:57 |
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