Joey Hannon 2013

Ok so it’s 7am,I’ve just had 5 doughnuts and a can of redbull for breakfast.Im in Limerick for my 1st Olympic triathlon.This year my plan was to do only sprints and maybe an Olympic at the end of the season.But after signing up for The hell of the west triathlon in Kilkee,I was advised to maybe get some Olympics in first. So I entered the Joey Hannan memorial triathlon.The second I entered the nerves set in,which kind of eased the panic I had for kilkee ( kind of ). Anyway, I’m at registration a half hour before it opens,and was wandering around the lobby when I seen it and all hell broke loose in my stomach. It was the pool,it was about a mile long! Well actually it was 50 meters but that’s how I seen it. I’v never swam in a 50 meter pool, I swim in Westpark and that pool is 20 meters so my morning was off to a bad start. 30 lengths of this bad boy? Gotta b kidding me.

So still in my comfort zone on dry land I meet up with the rest of the Pulse crew, set up in transition and headed for more breakfast and banter.The rest of the morning went by in a blur.Nervous about the swim but also about cramps I had started getting in my last two races while running, In The portlaois tri it got so bad I was stopped dead in my tracks doubled over in agony and took me 30 min to run the 5km.So in the back of my mind I knew that no matter how well the swim/cycle went that cramp would finish my race there and then and also put a question mark over other races. So here I am in wave 5 with 5 other pulsers all in different lanes. Everyone in my lane had a predicted time of 34/35 min so after a bit of chat I was heading off 4th out of the eight of us.After two laps I settled in and started singing. I sing/hum a lot when racing,keeps me entertained.I stayed at the same pace throughout the 30 laps passed two of the guys and before I knew it I got the two laps left tap on the head,This day was getting better. By pure fluke,I timed my last stroke to land on the top of the pool ledge and jumped straight out in 34 min. Now I know 34 is very very slow for most of yous but Its what I knew id do without burning myself out.Got out of the water fresh and sprinted to transition where everything went perfect.This was the first time I used elastic band to hold my shoes onto the bike. No issues!! At this point I had a stupid smug grin on my face..’Look at me,Im deadly’ There was a few minutes ofter getting out of the pool and noticing all the pulse crew gone from the water that I thought ahh crap. But the cycle is where I planned on uping my game and I did. I went out hard.Few speed ramps on the way out had me holding my breath waiting for my four spoke carbon wheel to explode.( Seen reports of these wheels failing in spectacular fashion) It didn’t. The cycle leg is 40 kms and it’s a tough enough course.The marshals on the course were great and people out of there houses shouting encouragement is just what you need. I couldn’t help giving little waves and kinda grunting thanks.I managed to catch upon a good few riders on the first 20km including two of the crew so I knew I was making up time lost in the pool.It almost ended there though. Two cars on the opposite side of the road swerved into my lane to pass riders in their lane and almost creamed me.How I didn’t hit the ditch or get a smack of a side mirror I dont know.Thank god for adrenaline because i just powered on. Then I spotted tree other team mate going in the opposite direction one of which was Jarlath who I told earlier I would reel him in on the bike.. Big mistake,he was flying. Got to the turn around and the wind hit me like a wall, everything slowed. But I had an advantage, been small I can tuck up and trick the wind into thinking i’m not there.I passed more people on the final 20km than I did on the first.But allI I cared about now was catching Jarlath.Finished the 40km and crawled back 3 of the four minute lead he had on me.Again transition went perfect but knowing and waiting for my cramp to end race had my head spinning.But I set out and there was no sign of the cramp coming so I went as hard as I could, haha but my legs were having none of this going hard stuff,they were wrecked and my body started to remember that this was not a sprint and my legs had just giving 99% of all they had. The run is two loops of 5km and it was flat and fast for anyone with energy left. Keep on seeing Jarlath and kept thinking I could catch him, Give him a nod, curse him and try to speed up. But he knew dam well what I was doing and he was having none of it. The 5km turnaround in 10 bloody meters from the finish and I really thought I had ran 10km it felt like it. But all the pulse supporters were standing there cheering us on,Except Mark Kelly who was been a smart arse and telling me to hurry up! I waved at him but it wasn’t a wave it’s just my fingers were glued together from gels.But he was right,I did need to speed things up. Thanks Mark.The last 5km was tough going all the way. But I made it and was impressed with a 46 min 10km. So I won the race! I didn’t though but not only was that my 1st Olympic distance race it was the best  race I’v done to date.Everything went perfect and the race itself is so well organized and the atmosphere was just awsome.Really looking forward to this again next year. And I’d recommend this to everyone from beginners right up…

( He beat me by a minute )

Written by: Shane Farrell