Liz Shouldice - Tramore Duathlon 11th February

The 2nd sprint duathlon of 2023 took place on Saturday 11th February 2023 in Tramore, run by Waterford Triathlon Club. This is a flat, fast, and friendly duathlon in the scenic seaside town of Tramore, comprising a 5km run, 16 km cycle followed by a 4km run with a lovely finish at the end of the promenade in Tramore. 

Each leg of the race started at the bottom of the hill by the mobile home park taking you straight through five roundabouts before sending us in various directions. 

The adventure started at circa 5.30am a mere five hours after I had climbed into bed. Filled with coffee and some porridge I was ready for my 6am pick up when Barbara came by Lucan to pick me up. It’s always great to have company on these road trips, and after solving the puzzle of how to fit the two bikes into the boot/ back of car (without either of use removing a wheel) we hit the road.  It was then I took the opportunity to read the race brief on route, better late than never!

Ambition is great, delivering on that ambition is somewhat challenging particularly when it involves an early morning start on a Saturday morning in early February heading 150 km to a race. Nonetheless Barbara was super prepared and brought along nourishing supplies for her passenger which worked a treat!  So, mind over matter, I spend the next two hours in the car convincing myself that it was great to get back into racing mode and so early in the season too, the mind got there quickly, but the body was a little less convinced.

Cruising into Tramore we saw all our fellow triathletes getting ready for the race ahead, lots of new shinny gear, remarkably clean bikes, and some fit looking athletes. We were definitely in the right place and we parked up just off the promenade. 

I hadn’t been to Tramore in years, but what a fabulous seaside venue for a duathlon with the lovely promenade to welcome you.  The early morning swimmers were in full action and braving the cold calm sea for an early morning dip. Imagining how cold the sea must be in February, I was appreciative of the fact that we were doing a duathlon not a triathlon on a chilly February morning. And so, we headed to registration to get proceedings under way.

The registration was seamless and in no time, we were on our bikes, working out the lactic from the previous day’s cycling session and moving through the gears to warm ourselves and the bike. In no time we had grabbed our bags and cycled down along the promenade to transition. 
Like all things practice makes perfect and to be honest we were both a little rusty in setting up our bikes and gear in transition, but we soon got into the swing of things and got ourselves all setup. We figured out the Run In/Out and Bike In/Out and we chatted to a couple of helpful Marshalls who explained the course to us. (Map reading not everyone’s greatest skill). 

With no excuses left it was time for our run warm up, Catherina would have been proud of us as we jogged up the promenade.  We did our sequence of stretches and stretched until we were near exhausted and certainly out of ideas as to what to do next, all the while keeping an eye out for some of our age group competitors. We saw lots of familiar faces from our neighbouring club of Portmarknock - game on! 

Lining up for any race is always a head game (ability versus confidence), cramming up to the front while knowing that in about 90 seconds I would be overtaken by many over enthusiast and potentially fitter, better rested, and faster runners. None the less up to the front I went and so the race began.

The first 5km run started at a roundabout just beyond transition and took us out around the town of Tramore. Tramore certainly has plenty of gentle hills, lots of winding streets with a lovely 1km of downhill at the finish (time to catch the other age groupers…) Transition was seamless, plenty of space, well-marked and of course lots of encouragement from locals and again out round the town to the ring road on our bikes and off out the Waterford Road. One cyclist came down hard in front of me as she navigated the slippery roads at the main roundabout but thankfully, she was back on her bike in no time. Initially it felt like I was making great pace catching people who were faster on the run, but it wasn’t long before I went from catching up on those ahead of me to being picked off by some very fast cyclists on some very fancy bikes (with noisy wheels). The cycle route was flat, with an obligatory head wind and a few slow climbs, just enough to kill the already tired legs. But like all out and back courses it wasn’t long before the leading cyclists flew by on the other side of the road and then it was head down for me with absolute focus on reaching the turnaround point. 

We had a headwind for the first half of the cycle but great to have the wind with us on the way back, so full tilt until we approached the dismount line and with a few screeches of the brakes I was off and running towards transition. All the while wondering if Barbara was ahead or behind and how her race was going. 

Running in your bike shoes is always a dangerous sport and this race was no different with several people slipping on the Tarmac as they ran back to rack their bikes and throw on their running shoes. 

And so, I was off, 4km run to go, giving it welly and regretting being out till all hours the night before. I took pleasure in passing some of those cyclists that had earlier passed me on the cycle route (nothing personal!). At this stage of the race I was passing various cohorts of people, those that had managed to injure themselves, those that had gone out too hard and blown up on the course and those like myself who were doing first race of the season and wishing for the last 1km of downhill to the finish line. I was thrilled as always when I reached the finish line and did the usual sprint for the finish taking out a few of my age category competitors. Following a little disorientation as I crossed the finish line, I still managed a smile.

The banana and water that followed were heavenly gifts and there was great fun and exhilaration as people crossed the finish line.

Tramore was a busy spot that day with 300 hundred competitors taking to the course, plenty of local supporters on a beautiful crisp morning down by the sea. In no time we were back to the car, changed, bikes out of transition and ready for the prize giving. Great chance to catch up with people as we waited for the results, and we duly celebrated all the wonderful winners on the day. Barbara had a fantastic race and came third in her age group, receiving shouts of encouragement and applause as she stepped up to receive her prize. I was delighted to come in 5th place on the day and push out a nice fast run and bike.

Once prize giving was over, I needed to address my caffeine depletion, and we headed for a coffee at the Surf Hut (nicest coffee ever!). 
In no time we were back on the road to Dublin chatting about the race, the funny moments out on the course and planning our next event. A wonderful day to be out racing, always such great comradery and great to see such a turnout at the event. 

For all those reading this, I would encourage you to sign up for one or more of the Duathlons this season. Great opportunity to get back into race mode, get the body moving at pace and practicing those transitions. Enjoy the 2023 season!