Kelso Sprint Triathlon

New challenges, new approach. There's a triathlon distance for every lifestyle - and like so many others I find I'm very much "Time Crunched" just now. So that (and my Open Water Monster) is directing me away from longer distance and towards the "high octane" Sprint format : 750m pool, 20k bike, 5k run. This is a dangerous shift as it puts me in the infested pool of hungry sharks that are Peter, John, Stephen, Matt and Tim. These are the amigo's from March's Stirling Duathlon and I hate to admit that they are very talented and very committed. So if the Mid-Argyll Sprint is an "A" race goal in Sept I'd better get some experience and not be a 1 trick pony (as happened last year). The race options for a mid season realignment  have been few but one was Kelso.

Kelso is just about in Scotland, which is more than can be said of my accommodation - which turned out to be in England ! Situated on the banks of the River Tweed at its junction with the Teviot, Kelso is an ideal base for exploring the Scottish Borders, the Berwickshire Coast and Northumberland. Apparently described by Sir Walter Scott as 'The most beautiful if not the most romantic village in Scotland'. With the Lammermuir Hills and the Cheviots to the south, it lies in one of the most fertile valleys in Scotland. Being within ten miles of the English border, past history dealt the town a very hard time during the Border Wars of the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. Kelso has a ruined abbey dating back to 1128. The landscape on the journey south of Edinburgh was of rolling hills and quality agricultural land and the trip from Argyll took almost 4 hours.

I'd been seriously looking forward to the event. The change in training plans away from longer (slower) endurance and towards higher intensity has been challenging - there are no "easy" workouts. So it would be good to test this methodology and see if I'm adapting. Race week had been "stressy" at work - laden as it was with complicated "people" things. "Fish" things by contrast are relatively easy and just take sufficient time and work to get right but the "wheels within wheels" of human relationships often defies straight-forward interpretation and you just have to cut your own path to the best possible solution & trust your own judgement. Anyway the focus on Kelso was a little blurred as work cast a long shadow into the weekend. The final training sessions all went well : brick session on Tuesday with fartlek run intervals thrown in was somewhat extreme but a training PB for 750m in the pool and an ok showing at the Mid-Argyll bike time trial on Thurs set the week up nicely.   

                              

The square : Kelso

Dearly Beloved is somewhat cultured and on Saturday had been invited to a Jolomo art exhibition held at the Archway in Lochgilphead (here). For me this this proved an excellent carbo-loading opportunity with classy nibbles and complimentary drinks. As she gazed I grazed. While she interpreted, focused on the intricate brushstrokes and considered the deeper meaning within I must have scoffed 5-600 quality calories of  crisps and matured cheese on cocktail sticks. I love this art thing. It seems Dearly Beloved's favorite painting was of a house obscured by blotchy plants (below). Astonishingly the price tag for this was much the same as a Specialized Shiv - the bike Chris MacCormack rides (with 1" upper and 1-1/8" lower H/set Cr-Mo cartridge bearings, S-Works Aero stem, S-Works Aero handle bar, S-Works Aero integrated front and rear brakes, Tektro Shiv brake levers, S-Works FACT carbon 53-39T, OS integrated BB w/ ceramic bearings, Shiv Aero Seat post with integrated-with-frame seat clamp). If I had the cash I don't think I'd be up all night wondering which to choose. But judge for yourself ...

Blotchy House

Thing of Beauty

Tillmouth Country House

Bit of culture, quick puppy walk, back to base, cuddles and off to Kelso. I'd recommend Booking.Com to anyone. I've been very lucky with accommodation booked through them and despite the fact that the "country house" surprizingly turned out to be in England - which is a country unrecognized by my Garmin Sat Nav (a bit like the Libyan Government). If you are needing overnight accommodation while attempting the Kelso sprint in years to come the Tillmouth Park Country House Hotel should be 1st on your list (here).
I had requested a breakfast to be early and available in the room - this was no problem. The Duty Manager could not have been more accommodating and conjured bananas out of nowhere. For £75 I had B&B and was upgraded to half a gate lodge - eat your heart out Holiday Inn Express.

While very very comfortable I don't sleep well away from home (and without Much Beloved) and, after all, there was the excitement of a sprint tri tomorrow. I should say that from the Argyll/Stirlingshire border it had rained, and rained, and rained and then rained some more. It rained during the night and it rained the next morning. There's a theme here ? I felt really at home - an Argyll in the East.  On the way down on Saturday evening I stopped off and drove the cycle route and... it's challenging. A lovely steep climb from Ednam to Stichill then a fast descent back into Kelso. It's an honest cycle route (23k) with a quality road surface -  and is quite a contrast to the Mid Argyll Sprint (flat, bumpy bits). The standing water from all the rain was likely to be a challenge and perhaps demanded caution on the faster return legs. You complete the cycle loops twice to cover the distance - and indeed you also loop twice for the 5k run. The run too is notable for a set of steps you need to climb not long after existing T2.

So what happened ? The tri is based from Kelso swimming pool - which does just what it says on the tin - it's a very basic clean 4 lane 25m pool with no frills. The staff are very friendly and it's informal. No race number - you just shout your number out as you pass the officials - no chip timing and no fuss. Very inclusive: the Sprint ran a half distance "Try a Tri" as a final heat in the pool and I'm sure the new cohort found themselves hooked on this amazing sport. The race information meeting gave a whole new definition to the word "briefing" - it was the most utterly minimalist I have ever heard. But there were handouts with maps available and athletes really know they need to view the course for themselves. So it was fine and actually the routes were well marked and marshalled. The cheering and support for athletes within the pool gave a lovely atmosphere and locals were singled out for encouragement. There seemed to be a club mantra of "10 steady, 10 build, 5 peak and 5 sprint" to cover the 30 lengths. I hadn't heard that before. The pool itself seemed a traditional design - with straight sides and a large gap from the water surface to the surrounding walkway. Some athletes struggled to exit the pool due to the height and a few elected to swim to the steps in the corner. There seemed to be no standing ledge at the deep end and the flush sides and extra height proved a bit tricky with open turns. As a consequence of the height the traditional "tap on the head" with a float (with 2 lengths to go) was replaced by a stab on the shoulder with a pole.
As there were only 2 of us in my lane we agreed to swim up & down on our own side rather than in a clockwise direction. This took away any draft potential though. The nose clip came off on the very first lap and it probably remains there even now. More worringly my heart rate monitor strap worked loose and was suddenly at my waist, then knees then ankles. It too joined the nose clip. I honestly thought it was my trishorts that were coming loose and was very relieved it was just the HR monitor. Access to T1 was fast but it became a fairly long transition area due running down the building to the mount/dismount zone on the main road. 

The challenge was the climb from Ednam to Stichill and I was happy to have a compact ringset - it was 6 or 7 minutes of pure grind per lap. However the descent was a perfect recovery and my aged Specialized Transition coped beautifully with the wet conditions. The fastest km split of the day was 54km/h recorded at this point. I did expect to be passed on the downhills but wasn't.

The run was to be "ground breaking" for this was to be ....  SOCKLESS !  Yes, the time had finally come to shave precious seconds from T2 and it worked out just fine. Don't be afraid to make this move but do break your feet in and don't do this for the first time on race day. Remember Vaseline though. Tried to stretch out the legs by a few bum kicks and I think that really works. Feet were numb from the cold & rain and it took a few km to get the feeling back. Was very happy with the run overall and managed 2 of the km under 4min pace - which for me is encouraging. Two run loops and it's over. I didn't manage to catch the leader of our heat and I regret not working harder to do that .

I made 19th overall and thoroughly recommend the race to others (here). A race PB for the swim distance and good progress on bike/run transitions. The cycle alone is a terrific challenge and well worth the trip. It's low key, old school and very friendly. Check it out in 2012.