Good Things Come to Those Who Wait - No Guinness Required

Rarely has a stage been set in quite such a way as it was on Friday at 6:45 as I headed up to Edinburgh for the final of the Rotary young musician 2018. While several members of Penny Lane Striders were smashing the Christleton 5k and recording new PB times (and in the case of Lauren Wilson a new club record) I was making my way up to the Scottish capital for an event which would make history as Southport's Angelina Dorlin-Barlow won the national title. Cue a few selfies with He Who Was On The Piano (can't think who that might have been) and then, after a celebratory meal at the Marriott hotel (in turn confirming the chain I want to use for next month's second road trip, more on that later but please put June 23/24 in the diary now) it was a long drive home arriving in Ormskirk for 9:30pm. That left me just a few short hours of shut eye before travelling to Nantwich for the 26th edition of the Cheshire Triathlon hosted by UK Triathlon Events, who coincidentally also run that June 24 event in Birmingham.

A popular venue for triathletes of all abilities, Barony Park has that outdoor stadium feel that you also get at the Nottingham club relays in August. The four lap, 5k run course caps off a terrific route including four lengths in each of four lanes in one of the last few saltwater pools in the country and a 21km bike route similar to the early season sporting courses frequented by the time trialling community. For the first time ever, I managed to get the number tattoos to work, probably a little too well since they now won't peel off, while David Guetta's 2009 classic When Love Takes Over played in the background. I was still feeling a bit sleepy at 8:05am but I shouldn't really have complained because the eventual race winner had set off at precisely 8:00:40am and he was finished before 9! More on him later, but for now I was hurriedly using a combination of number belt loops and safety pins to attach my race number. I then dropped off the GUESS bag in the second pitlane with just my running shoes in, all hydration being directed strictly to the bike, before putting the orange collection bag over my shoulder and riding down to the swimming pool ready to rack my bike. It was on the way down that I noticed just how smooth and reassuring the 320tpi Challenge Criterium tyres were, much like a Continental Supersonic but with puncture protection. Come 8:50am I was racking the bike but a quick spin of the rear wheel had me panicking because the rear brake pad was looking loose and I had to really mess with the wheel to not have the brake blocks brushing. As such I wasn't in the best frame of mind as I left J-Lo the Jaguar in transition while I lined up poolside for a safety briefing. Come 9:07 I got my countdown and my race was underway.

I got a nice start and enjoyed the quick exchanges in Lane 1 but come lane 2 I was struggling to pass traffic and others behind me took advantage of my hesitancy to demote me down the order. This meant that I still didn't make it under 10 minutes, but at least this year I didn't forget to count to 4 in any given lane. After 10 minutes 35 seconds I was out of the water and running straight through to transition (no leaving the bike shoes poolside any more, just run like hell) and set about going through my order; grab helmet/attach race belt/put shoes on. However, this was a right royal stuff up as firstly the straps of my belt and helmet got tangled and then my feet were slow in sliding into my shoes. They still didn't feel particularly tight as I made my way to the mount line and then I almost fell over when jumping on the bike but finally I could leave the housing estate behind and begin the bike course.

I say "begin the bike course" but I almost didn't make it past the second junction because I was still trying to tighten my shoes when I heard the dreaded THUD of a pothole. Luckily the 120psi inside the tyres proved sufficient and I could worm my way through the cones to the roundabout, dodging traffic as I did so, to begin the long road north. On the way to the Primrose Cottage I overtook a couple of Lapierre bikes, an Argon 18 E117 (not Rebecca Smith's, she was in Southport today) and a Planet X Exocet. This gave me great field position at the aforementioned left hand turn then after dodging the myriad of potholes I was off and running again towards the next junction which is pretty poor visibility, downhill and off camber. On the headwind run home I passed a few more riders but the bigger concern was the sportive coming the other way who only got stopped just in time, and then it was another storm drive downhill, round the right hand bend and over the bridge to the T-junction that leads you to the Nantwich Bypass. Here, I didn't spot the signs so I was worried I'd turned the wrong way and was only reassured by a "give cyclists room" sign erected by the race organisers, then at the last roundabout I nearly came off, firstly because I thought briefly that it was the first exit not second, and then I was scrambling to keep the tyres out of the rough stuff (another thumbs up for Challenge tyres). Eventually I reached the main road with the garden centre, the Sainsburys and B&M Bargains on it and I could dismount (skidding with my cleat again), sip a bit of water for a clearer head and quickly find the GUESS bag. And now it was time to try and make more history with the Saucony Type A's which pulled off the mother of all UPSET SPECIALS last month at Stadt Moers Park and set about trying to beat the 65 minute mark. I could never have imagined how significant that would be.

As I began the first of four laps my watch was just passing 47 minutes and notwithstanding the fact that I set my watch off at the 5 second countdown in the pool, I knew I would need a run similar to last year to meet my target. As such it was time to get my head down and overtake people using the shortest line possible which probably spooked a few slower runners no end thinking "here comes one of the hooligans". They wouldn't have known it was a St Helens Tri member though because I was wearing the latest reduced steal from the 69 Cycles closing down sale, a Pearl Izumi special in gunmetal grey. Think Mercedes GP colours, with much the same style of machine (diva chassis with a massive engine). Now of course their star driver Lewis Hamilton recently went vegan for health and ethical reasons and I have found to my surprise that this diet can work, provided you eat enough, because the last 15 or so minutes of a race can really make the difference. I crossed the start/finish line to begin lap 2 and passed one of the real heroes of the race who sadly only completed one run loop because his Achilles failed him, shame that as he was putting in such an effort. My own effort was undiminishing over the two middle laps but I was now digging into my reserves and the last thing I wanted to hear from the music player was Demi Lovato's line "I think I'll have a heart attack"........yes thanks for that Demi much appreciated. I now had one lap to go and the watch had only just sneaked over the hour mark so provided I kept it up the 65 minute target was looking beatable but as I crested the final rise at the back of the circuit I saw I'd gone over 1:03 so I was doubting whether I'd make it. But as John Farrington would say, "believe - achieve" and as such I decided I would do exactly that, as up came the biggest moment of any race, the YOLO! That's right, I had just two corners to go so powered out of the final turn and finished with a mad sprint for the line, going under the finish gantry in a final time of 1:04:33, a new course PB by 73 seconds.

Now the hard part came; waiting, and waiting some more. Luckily I had a good friend of mine, Petra Palmer from Greenbank High music department taking on her first big challenge of 2018. She actually got very close to my swim times and certainly did faster transitions, hopefully she will get her run speed up soon and contend for an age group prize. For my part I was aware that most of the aliens were already home and (baked in the sun) dry leaving me precariously atop the 30-34 age division by just 28 seconds. Guess what? A fast swimmer from Shrewsbury had a time of 65 minutes, and one second! What was I saying about believe - achieve? Well, as already mentioned, I was now in the middle of the longest wait I can remember because there were a few late entrants on TT bikes who threatened to spoil the never ending party of the whole weekend (to say nothing of the brave souls who tackled an emotionally charged Great Manchester Run in even hotter conditions) but as each update came in I started to hope and believe a little more while listening to classics from the bandstand like Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer and Sweet Child O'Mine by Guns n' Roses. Eventually, come 1:45pm, the bloke on the desk inside the results centre appeared and confirmed to me that the results were now final, at least in terms of the front runners. This meant that in my first race powered by plants I'd won my age group at the Nantwich Triathlon for the first time since 2015!

Petra had left by this point suitably happy with her performance, and rightly so, but I'd spent much of the last couple of hours "doing an Angelina" analysing in depth how I could have saved more time (practice pitstops/get a proper set of triathlon shoes for the bike/get better at dismounting/learn to swim) The equipment and changeover points were particularly relevant, because if you look at the results table I might have snatched the last place in the top 10 but everyone ahead of me handled the pitstops far better and maybe it's time to look at fast, light shoes that are easy to get into (as well as "don't tangle your helmet and number belt straps"). However, that's food for thought on future events. For now all I wanted to do was mount the podium with the other age group winners including the runaway winner Tom Garbett of Total Tri Training (who finished in 58:30 on a day when no-one else went under the hour) and then get the presentation team to do me an extra photo for the NRG4 Cycling scrapbook, John Baden must be a very happy man tonight because after Charlie Taktak came second in the juniors division yesterday at Llanberis I wouldn't have blamed him if he'd given my place on team Limar Helmets to St Helens Tri's youngest long distance extraordinaire. What colour would you choose Charlie? I'll leave that to you. I thanked the race organisers for the photo and quizzed them about that next grand road trip, not Leeds on 9/10 June, because that's been organised already. Instead, it was time to discuss the UKT City of Birmingham Triathlon on the weekend of the England-Panama World Cup match, including the possibility of a big screen in Sutton Park and the best hotel to stay. They recommended Holiday Inn but I think after our trip to Edinburgh another Marriott might be the better idea, anyone want to join me? With my paperweight trophy and all the equipment stored away it was time to go to the Red Cow pub for a pint of Wizard real ale from Robinsons of Stockport, where I got talking to a bloke smoking outside whose dog seemed very keen on the loose tobacco! Not sure whether to laugh or cry when I see something like that.........After a refreshing drink it was time to head for home via a vegan superfood and almond latte at Starbucks Middlewich but what an amazing day to cap off the best weekend I can remember, and the June double of Leeds and Birmingham is up next!

Now for the results, brought to you by today's race winning rubber, Challenge Criterium Open Tubular Tyres:

Distance: 500m/21km/5km
Time: 1:04:33 (PB by 73 seconds)
Overall Position: 10th out of 555 finishers
Energy Bars: 1 Trek Coconut
Slippery Cleat Moments: 2
Potholes: Approximately 83
Music Rating: 9/10 (David Guetta/Bon Jovi/Guns n'Roses three marks each, let's not discuss heart attacks)
Best Moment of the Day: The podium presentation with the rest of the age group champions!

REJECT OF THE RACE: Demi Lovato
(Nice timing there Demi, just as I was winding up for the 200bpm sprint finish)

Time to unwind with a couple of sweet treats. Well done to everyone who raced today!