At the weekend we headed to Wanaka to so the Ruby Swim. The plan was to practice the swim exit with Peter as my handler. We had run through it in practice and it was looking likely that it would be relatively straight forward.
Instead, here is what happened at the Ruby.
So… it seems I will only get to find out how it will go with a foot on for the swim at the actual Challenge Wanaka. Super! (Grrr)
So, we made a weekend away out of it instead.
Preparing for Challenge Wanaka – transitions with a handler
Because Peter has never really mixed in triathlon circles, we are learning together from scratch, with me also teaching him the basic transition rules, as well as how it actually works getting from swim to bike to finish in a mutisport race.
Basic rules you need to know if you don’t know any of this either!
I have been provisionally classified as PTS4. There are no qualified classifiers in NZ. So unless I am prepared to travel overseas to get the classification done officially, I cannot race outside NZ as a para.
As a PTS4, I am allowed a seat in transition and am also allowed one handler. That person must also abide by the triathlon transition rules and can only help me in certain circumstances.
Swim exit:
I am allowed help to get up out of the water / off the floor once I have finished the swim. I am not allowed to be propelled forwards, ie pushed in a wheelchair. I must get places myself. I am not allowed to use my Ampfin during the swim. For some strange and screwed up reason someone somewhere wrote into the rules that it would give me an unfair advantage. Like WTAF?!
So, once I finish the swim, I will get Peter to help me to my feet, then we will head from there to transition, just as is, bare feet etc. I have a pro-armour neoprene cover over my prosthetic foot to keep debris out, and I will likely wear a neoprene sock on my right foot as it takes sooo much more load being my only foot, making negotiating gravel, stones etc rather painful.
On the way I will be unzipping my swim wetsuit, taking my arms out, leaving my goggles and hat in one of the sleeves as I pull my hand out, so they don’t get lost. Hopefully by the time I get to my transition spot It will be pulled down to the waist.
Transition – to bike:
Here, I am allowed a seat (not normally allowed for able bodied athletes). My bike will be on a rack and I am not allowed to touch it till I have my helmet on. Here we get out of the wetsuit, swap legs / sockets to the bike socket, bike top, etc etc. Peter will take the post (bike leg) and I will walk the bike to the mount line with a walking foot attached to the bike socket temporarily. There is a line over which I have to cross before I get on the bike. When we get over that line, Peter will hold the bike and I will swap foot for post. I will then grab the bike and go.
He will then be waiting for me when I get back, holding the foot, so I can get off before the dismount line, and get across the timing mat to finish my race.
We need to practice transition a few more times, figure out the quickest simplest way to tackle it all, while making sure we both know what we are doing!
The timing clock stops when I cross the timing mat after I come back from the bike.
Tapering for the race
Having not done a long event like this before, I had to look it up! Apparently I now need to cut the training volume on the run up to the day. There are a number of ways to do that, what I will do is cut back the long bikes, shorter, with higher intensity intervals (or maybe even one actual hill reps on ROUVY on the course.) I think I will keep the 3km swim in for the next 2 weeks, no swim on race week.
Don’t forget to sponsor me
I am doing the event to raise money for a French charity that supports disabled children (because the French health system doesn’t).
Thank you. Xx
Click here to visit my givealittle page.
