Lake Annecy Olympic Triathlon
Sunday 26th June (the day after Brexit)
Swim 1500m: 27:01 (160th) Bike (42km): 1:41:36 (566th) Run 10km: 43:37 (220th)
Total: 2:56:06 (386th/925 finishers)
We holidayed in Annecy last year, and saw adverts for the Annecy triathlon, and I thought if I ever get chance to do a triathlon here it would be a dream! The lake is beautiful and the scenery stunning and being set on the edge of the alps if the bike route were to go in to the mountains it’d be a great challenge.
Fairly last minute this year we decided to go to Annecy again and as soon as it was booked I went online to check the triathlon dates - bingo - the last Sunday before we were to come home.
I went to register straight away and hit this minor snag:
So I joined the waiting list and started praying that the Lord would smite the 144 people ahead of me.
The Lord heard my prayers, though hopefully fulfilled them by kinder methods. And three weeks before the start date I got my place. Woop!
Logistics were a challenge and I am very grateful to my good wife and the Solanki family for accommodating my bike and gear on what was a very packed holiday adventure vehicle. Google translate became a firm ally and along with some kind reception staff I got all the bits and pieces together for the race... apart from the address of the start. The website definitely didn’t say it. I was sure an email would come but the day before was cutting it fine so I contacted the Facebook page and some kind admin took a screenshot of their phone location to say, “come here tomorrow”.
When I arrived I realised why they were so casual about the start point. The triathlon completely takes over the small town of Annecy and the swim starts in about the only practical place it could!
I got set up and gathered enough to come to the safety briefing which was entirely in French and my GCSE level comprehension did nothing for me. I followed the crowd to the start and had read on the website and the brochure two different sets of times but one thing was consistent - the relay starts first. So I positioned myself towards the back, the klaxon went off and after about 20 seconds I realised that EVERYONE had just gone for it. Lol! So I dived in and set about the swim.
After doing my first marathon in London this year I found the following months really strange. My body just didn’t feel quite my own and recovery seemed to take forever. I decided to train mainly swimming to try and allow my legs to get back to normal. Consequently my swim game was strong and I managed to move my way through the field quite quickly. The final few hundred metres were up a shallow stream which lead in to the city and it was very cosy. It was great having the sides and a little bridge lined with people cheering and then came the exit. There were stewards just lined on the banks pulling you out which I thought was quite funny.
27.01 for 1500m open water is a personal best and by my watch which I started when I crossed the start line I got 25:30 - super happy with that!
I’d had a bike disaster the day before the race, my chain snapped and I had to find a bike shop to sort it out. I’d done a trial ride after but as soon as I set off I could tell that something wasn’t quite right with some of the gears. It was a bit distracting but no big deal. I was relatively high up the field but spent the next hour and forty minutes being overtaken constantly. Cycling is my weakest discipline, and living in flat London did not leave me in a good position to tackle 900m of climbing!
After about an hour we finally emerged from the climb in to a little village where people were shouting “Allez!” and handing out drinks and then we turned to stunning views and a long stretch of descent. All around me riders were plummeting faster than the British pound and so was my race position. Descending is another skill I definitely need to work on but I got through it and eventually got off on the run.
By this time it had started to get pretty warm and as I set off on the run I opened up the zip on my front only to be told to do it up again by a steward! Devastating. Anna, Kezzy, Sats, Em and Jemima were out cheering me on which was awesome and the figure of 8 (sort of) two lap lakeside course meant I was never too far away from Anna’s hilarious exuberance.
The run was really just about keeping it rolling and getting to the end but I did manage a bit of a sprint down the final stretch.
It was a brilliant experience, a stunning and challenging course and I’d love the opportunity to do it again and try to beat my time.