So the next step for the Trionic 7 towards reaching their goal of completing the Chicago triathlon was to brave the murky waters of the Shannon in the Tri Athlone on the 18th of July. Five of the seven made the 2 hour trip after work on Friday evening to register, collect our numbers and get most importantly our free t-shirts!! This famous five were Dave Power and Sean Young (Olympic distance) with Richie Harpur, Johanna Dinn and myself (Sprint distances). Richie “I got it covered” Harpur had booked a housemansion in the grounds of Glasson Country Club no less for the lads to take over while Joanna stayed in Athlone.
For example we had been warned that cyclists would be penalised if found drafting (this is cycling less then 7 meters behind the bike in front) as this protects you from the wind, in a slipstream, to the extent that you burn a quarter of the energy while keeping at the same speed. I didn’t realise that this was also the case in the water, that if you can swim behind someone that you use a lot less energy as you’re swimming in their wake and every now and again you can grab onto one of their feet to get toed a bit! J
Within minutes of arriving in our country retreat we had unpacked all our equipment. We have all invested considerable sums on wetsuits, race bikes, racing shoes, open water goggles the list is endless! The kitchen looked like it had been transformed into an underground “Tour de France” type laboratory with bottles of Isotonic drinks, packets of energy gels and power bars lying around. All the scene was missing was a few scientists in white jackets with clipboards while test tubes of oxygenated blood bubbled away in the background! J We have discovered that there is a mountain of products that can help your body out of the depths of despair to get around these events and lets face it with mother nature against me I need all the help I can get.
The Race
We were up at 6:30 to ensure that everyone got down to the barracks for the race start. Rumours had been circulating the night before about the swim being shorten to only down stream if the current didn’t weaken and sure enough on the morning of the race it was deemed too strong and therefore all participants only swam the sprint distance of 750 meters. In Athlone there was a considerable distance between the transition area and the water. The terrain between the two being a very stony path resulting in a long gruelling painful run in your bare feet. Hot coals would have caused less grimacing but I’m sure it made an amusing spectacle for the large crowd that had turned out. We were all a lot more relaxed and prepared this time around and confident that we could shave a few minutes off our last times. You are constantly picking up tips on what you could do to maximise your speed while minimising the physical effort and energy burnt.
We were up at 6:30 to ensure that everyone got down to the barracks for the race start. Rumours had been circulating the night before about the swim being shorten to only down stream if the current didn’t weaken and sure enough on the morning of the race it was deemed too strong and therefore all participants only swam the sprint distance of 750 meters. In Athlone there was a considerable distance between the transition area and the water. The terrain between the two being a very stony path resulting in a long gruelling painful run in your bare feet. Hot coals would have caused less grimacing but I’m sure it made an amusing spectacle for the large crowd that had turned out. We were all a lot more relaxed and prepared this time around and confident that we could shave a few minutes off our last times. You are constantly picking up tips on what you could do to maximise your speed while minimising the physical effort and energy burnt. 
For example we had been warned that cyclists would be penalised if found drafting (this is cycling less then 7 meters behind the bike in front) as this protects you from the wind, in a slipstream, to the extent that you burn a quarter of the energy while keeping at the same speed. I didn’t realise that this was also the case in the water, that if you can swim behind someone that you use a lot less energy as you’re swimming in their wake and every now and again you can grab onto one of their feet to get toed a bit! JThe Run
The run was great in triathlone as the route was a couple of circuits of the town which was packed with people cheering all the competitors on. Its amazing how much faster you run with clapping and words of encouragement ringing in your ears and there was no hiding places to squeeze in a sneaky walk without attracting looks of disappointment and even though its from strangers you still didn’t want to let them down. So we all managed to complete it without any major injuries to bodies or equipment, just a few cramps and an auld muscle spasm or two thrown in for good luck. I’ve notice the array of people that you see competing in these events are unreal. There were at least two ladies I saw in their sixties and a few gents that had to be close to their seventies. Chicago will have tri athletes of ever shape, size, age, able and disabled people participating in it.
What's next
With one eye on Chicago we are still working towards our main goal and that is to reach our fundraising target of €35k now only approx €9.5k is remaining. We spent Friday night shaking buckets outside Croke Park for the U2 concert and have plans to hold a poker night while we are currently selling raffle tickets for a framed Irish rugby top signed by the grand Slam winning team! Our next major outing is in Carton House on the 16th of August where we have booked the Montgomerie course for a golf outing. This was a great lift for us to get such an amazing location for what we know will be a great day.
Make sure to contact one of the team if you would like to attend or email crmftri@microsoft.com.
I would like once again to take the opportunity to thank all our team mates and Microsoft for the generosity that has been showed towards the cause. Richie and myself were in Crumlin again this w/end and there was people protesting about budget cuts and planned ward closing, fundraising is more important then ever for Crumlin and this could be seen in the faces of all the worried parents.
Our next outing Triathlon wise is The Pulse Sprint Triathlon in Port Beach, Clogherhead, Co. Louth on Saturday 8th August. This will be the last event that most of us will take part in before the trip to Chicago. There is already talk over pints of marathons and Iron man contests of training camps and weight programs for the winter months in preparation for next year. Whatever about next year, the fear that we had before is gradually changing to confidence and excitement at the challenge that lies ahead and there is a feeling that we as a team could take on anything!
Peter & team
