Nigel Gaskin

On Easter Sunday, 27th March 2016 Tewkesbury Triathlon Club held their 3rd race of 4 in their Winter Aquathlon Series at Tewkesbury School. This was a 400 metre pool swim followed by 4 laps of the playing fields, a total run of 5km

Having already participated in the first two events (10th Jan, 14th Feb) I felt pretty happy with the schedule for this race. 

At 8am my transport arrived, that being my brother, Chris. Also for the first time we had some new young supporters. Chris has also participated in the first two races, and he is the reason why I have chosen to race in the Aquathlon Series at Tewkesbury. Chris, like myself has always been involved in sport. However, he never really took to the pool like I did. Back in November 2015 Chris discussed with me about perhaps entering some triathlon races in the 2016 season. I knew he needed some race practice and thought the Tewkesbury Aquathlon Series would be the perfect starting point.

We arrived just after 9am and were greeted with Storm Katie! Not the usual weather we’ve been used to at Tewkesbury. The past two occasions we’ve discussed racing in wellies! So the biggest decision we had to make was which trainers to wear.

A quick walk around the playing field and our minds were made up. We were surprised to see that the ground was no longer a boggy field; normal road trainers for me. However, this time we had Storm Katie to battle with. Luckily the wind was behind us for the first part of the lap, which has been the worst part to run on the last two races. But that would mean a full on headwind along the back straight.

We headed indoors and registered at the desk, the lady said “Ah! The two Gaskins have arrived. Well, no doubt you’ll be our last race number, 65 for you then Nigel”

Number 65. That meant I was the last one to race, 11:05 start time. That also meant last to the cake stand after the race. With it being Easter there were some fantastic looking homemade cakes on display; I already had my eye on a huge slice of the chocolate cake.

With a couple of hours to wait we set up our transition; a towel, a race belt and my trainers, newly laced with elastic laces. Knowing a race can be lost during transition I thought it would be best to ditch the normal laces. As we set up next to each other, Chris jokingly said, “I might just move your trainers”. I chuckled to myself...Brotherly love! Was he being serious?

With plenty of time to spare we ventured out for a warm up. We ran along the streets and into Tewksbury. Using the time together to discuss any last minute tactics for the race. At one mile we made a U-turn and made our way back to the pool.

Chris was number 54 so had an earlier start time to me. We made our way to the pool and nervously waited on the poolside, which was made worse by the incredible heat inside the building. At 10:54 Chris set off.

I now had time to think about my race and my strategy. Having already won the first two races in the Aquathlon Series I was feeling a little anxious about being beaten. There were a few new faces at this race. Were they going to beat me? But at the back of my mind, I knew unless they can swim faster than a 4:40 - 4:50 for a 400 FC it would be a difficult task.

Prior to arriving at this race I set myself a challenge to swim under 5 mins and to run under 18mins. With all my years of swimming experience I knew I was feeling ‘swim fit’ and the sub 5mins was achievable.  I also knew I could comfortably run under 18mins for a 5k, but that was all dependant on the ground conditions and weather on the day.

11:05 and the 10 second count down came. There was only one swimmer left in my lane and I knew he was nearly finished. I got the ‘Go’ and off I went. I felt good, no tired legs or aching arms. My breathing was comfortable and my pace felt good. When I had a clear lane I positioned to the middle. I could see Stuart Mackay in lane 1, number 64. We turned together and pretty much kept at the same speed. This was a good sign to me as Stuart is an equally fast swimmer. With 100 metres to go I saw Stuart exit the pool. I was the last one in the water and knew I’d soon be making my exit.

With the swim over, it was a short run from lane 4 and outside towards transition. Met by my support crew I tried to strike a pose for the camera. My transition was quick with no issues; in and out in 39 seconds. I ran out onto the field and found myself directly behind Chris, and Mark Turton, who were battling with each other for position. It was then I felt the full force of Storm Katie!

I pushed on and in doing so passed Mark and Chris along the bottom straight. A quick shout of encouragement for them both and off I went. I soon entered lap two, grabbing the wrist band for the next lap as I passed the officials. A glance at my watch and I could see I was on target for a sub 18 min run (lap 1 approx. 5:30/mile). I was now feeling more controlled with my breathing and my running pace. My HR had also settled following the initial burst from the pool. The last lap soon approached; just a few runners left on the field. I could see the finish line as I ran along the last straight still battling with the headwinds from Storm Katie.

I crossed the finish line. My Garmin Fenix 3 displayed my overall time as 23:15 with my splits as 4:56 swim, 0.39 secs transition and a 17:38 run. Still unsure of my placing but confident I had won.

We quickly dashed back indoors out of the storm… I had a cake to eat!

The results were announced. I had won my third race of the series.

Many thanks to Bridgtown Cycles Store Page  and ashmei for all their support.