Hey all, I hope everyone’s managed to keep cool. and are feeling ready for racing this weekend ?
As promised, I wanted to get an update out to you all about the weather, and how this will affect this Sunday’s race.
In this email I will cover the following :
Bike Course update:
Water temperature
Preparing for the race
Bike course update
As expected, the resurfacing works on the Ewan Road have not been completed due to the heat.
This means that we will now adjust our bike course around this.
It’s not a massive change, and just means that when you get on your bike at the Mount point, you will now head North from the lake instead of south, and rejoin the existing course about a mile up the road.
You will also pass the mount/dismount point at the end of lap 1 before starting on lap 2
It does make the course around 1.2miles per lap shorter, but well within the BTF tolerances, and probably quite a welcome change given how hot it’s going to be
As an added bonus, it also removes by far the two worst sections of tarmac, so now 99% of the course is really quite nice and smooth.
It will all be very obvious on Sunday morning, but basically, we are removing the red bit in the picture below
Water temperature
There’s no sugar coating this, and this recent hot weather has now meant that the water temperature is like a bath.
Today, I measured the course at 27.6 deg taken as an average at 3 points roughly equidistant around the loop and at 60cm depth.
It is very unlikely that this is going to drop below the cut off of 24.6deg before Sunday am, so please expect the race to be Non Wetsuit.
We are going to remeasure it tomorrow morning with the BTF race official, using his equipment, but I am not expecting it to change unless the lake’s thermometers are miles out (which is unlikely)
I swam most of the lap today too in just swim shorts, and it is toasty, and would not be safe to swim in a wetsuit as you’d simply overheat.
We will be making the official judgement at early o’clock tomorrow, and will let people know final ruling at the registration and briefings tomorrow, but I would suggest it’s going to be at least 99% certain to be non wetsuit.
If you are unsure on what the rules around non wetsuit swims entail in terms of what you can and can’t wear, you can find those HERE
Please take a few minutes to familiarise yourself with these, as not everything is super obvious, but these are the main highlights:
– You cannot wear buoyancy shorts
– You cannot wear calf or arm guards
– Swim Skins are allowed, but must be 100% textile
I appreciate this is now creating some very nervous swimmers, but please be rest assured that you will be exceptionally well looked after in the swim and you can take as long as you like*
There are a couple of spots in the lake where you can stand, and you’re more than welcome to do so if you need a quick 2 minute breather or to clear the water from your goggles etc.
* We have no specific swim cut off, as long as the water safety crew do not consider you a danger to yourself and you’re making some kind of regular forward motion (ie, you’re not lying on your back for 45mins and just staring at the sky)
We have nervous swimmer hats for those that feel like they need them, and more info on those is in the briefing video, and I will cover these in the briefings tomorrow too
If you really are worried still, and really don’t feel like you can swim without a wetsuit, if you see the team in registration tomorrow, they can just simply swap you over to the Bike/Run Category.
Also, if you don’t fancy running in the afternoon heat, they can also move you to the Aquabike Category (swim and Bike only)
In both cases, it’ll mean you’re racing in a tri bib (tri bibs are white, aquabike have a red stripe and BikeRun have a blue stripe), and you won’t probably get the correct medal as these are ordered for the people that entered those categories (medals are all the same, but the ribbons for each category are different), but will still mean you can finish the race and get something out the day
Preparing for the race
Us brits are not built for this type of heat, and the colour of my forehead from a week down at the lake getting everything set is perfect testament to that.
It is going to be very hot, there’s no getting away from that, but I wanted to give you all a few good tips for racing in the heat that might help make Sunday’s race experience a little more comfortable for you:
– Make sure your bike has enough fluids and energy products on it to get you to the Aid station. This is 30mins in for the faster guys/girls, and maybe an hour for some of the others. You will have just completed the swim also, so your body will be in need a hydration to get to this point.
Our course is really quite flat, so don’t worry about having to pull yourself over tour de France style high mountains, and the extra weight of a couple of bottles of drink will really not effect you much at all, but will keep you well hydrated.
– Enjoy the swim and don’t fear it. Last July was the first non wetsuit swim we’d had in the 15 years of running this race (as well as our June113) at lake 32, and like many of you, we had lots of very nervous swimmers beforehand worried about not being able to complete the distance without your prized wetsuit. You can do it, and it’s actually a really ok experience. Feedback after the race from the more nervous swimmers was that they actually enjoyed it far more than they expected and were surprised at how achievable it was. You got this !!
– Get yourself some sun cream. The run has lots of sheltered bits, but the bike doesn’t. Even at 7:30am, the sun can still be quite strong, and this is only amplified by a layer of sweat. We can help you apply your own sunscreen throughout the day, but because of some strange insurance and rule stipulation, we cannot provide it (probably as if we do and you still get burnt, the rules are scared of legal cases)
Wearing a running hat also provides a load of face shade, and can also be dunked in water for a cool water effect for a few minutes until it dries.
– We will be giving you all a small turbo trainer / work out towel in registration tomorrow as part of your goody bag. These are super absorbent and also about the perfect size to hang over your shoulders on the run course. There are a couple of spots on each lap with hose sprinklers, so drenching one of these at each opportunity and then having the cooling effect of it dripping down your back and chest is a really good way of cooling off.
– The run course has around 45% of that’s reasonably well shaded in the lakeside paths, so get your mindset into running from one bit of shade to the next
– Manage your pace. As much as some athletes can run just fine when it’s really hot, for the other 99% of us, we sometimes have to just manage our expectations and get to the finish.
– Keep hydrated, and then more hydrated – This goes without saying, but get your hydration levels really good well before the race starts, and you’ll set yourself up for a much better day than if you are dehydrated before you even start
We’re looking forward to seeing you all at registration tomorrow, so enjoy your Friday nights and we’ll look forward to welcoming you all along to lake 32 this weekend
If you haven’t already read it, please see the race info pack HERE which has everything you need to know about the race, and also registration requirements for tomorrow
Cheers
Graeme, Nicci and the 113 Events Team
graeme@113events.com
07595 591612
