The Last Lap Café

After a lovely week lazing around in the sunshine and beaches of Majorca, I thought it would be a good idea to brave an Olympic Triathlon in the Liffey, in the rain and on a bendy bike course!  

The day started early as the race start time was 8.30am but at least it was Dublin City. I parked at the North Circular Road entrance of Phoenix Park having arrived in good time.  I began following fellow triathletes as we cycled down the hill of the closed roads to exit near the race venue start. The Liffey looked calm and it was hard to tell how the flow was but I took advice from Natalie and tried to swim away from the middle of the river upstream but with the flow downstream. It must have kind of worked as I was happy out with my swim time.

The more experienced athletes were telling us to be “very careful” on the bike as it was wet and the course was not for the faint hearted even if it were dry. It contained S-bends and a nice little climb up Kyber in Phoenix Park. I found the route very challenging. It didn’t help that it had rained quite a bit before the race and again during the bike. We had to do four laps of torture. Each lap had a nice flat bit between the gates which was the only part I actually enjoyed. I was delighted to come off the bike at the dismount line without a scratch.

On to the run then! My favourite! I started off at what I thought was a decent pace for the first 5k and then I think I entered into a trance. I could see Maurice, Adrian, David and Ewan all making good progress. I had my eye on the prize! Just one more lap but somehow, I saw the sign for the finish and continued on to do an extra lap! When I got down to the Donore Harriers track my watch said 12k. I told the official that my watch said 12k and he laughed and said how many laps did you do? I couldn’t be sure I did 4 laps but I must have so I asked if I could turn at that point and he said yeah. I was walking at this stage so he probably saw the state of me and said “go on”!

I couldn’t face the torture of the mound of muck after the Donore exit. Yes, I made up a new distance that day, to be referred to as the Ultra Olympic from now on.

To be honest it was a great way to finish as almost everyone was in and I had a great roar at the finishing straight from the Fingal Family. We had the best supporters as Natalie and Trish were cheering us on every step of the way. To top it off Andrew has a secret kettle in his van and chocolate biscuits and made the best cup of tea after for us.

The Last Lap Café indeed!