Race Review - Outlaw Half Holkham Sunday 7th July 2019....DNS !!!

DNS...or "Did not start" as it would be officially recorded....I guess it had to happen one day.  So far as I recall, I have never not arrived on the start line of a race that I have entered and trained for.  So, what happened to change that and why was I a 'DNS' at Outlaw half Holkham?

Coming off the back of an average performance in Mallorca 70.3, I was looking forward to my next half iron challenge, this time with the Outlaw brand, to see if I could put in some better times.  I had continued some consistent training since Mallorca and whilst I resolved to add more longer bike rides before Holkham, I had managed just one long ride since Mallorca, albeit that was my longest ride to-date at 90 odd miles (over 5 hours).

Accommodation was booked and I was due to share with Ian, my trusted race and travel mate !  All looked good for another great weekend of racing.  There were 4 or so other friends racing the same weekend also.

I just had to get my dental appointment behind me and it would soon be race day.  I'd waited over 4 weeks to have a really painful tooth removed.  I knew it would be cutting it fine to have a tooth out on the Thursday before a race, but didn't imagine how it would pan out and how much of an impact it would have to my race plans !  

This tooth had, I think, started to cause me some issues in my training, as I seemed to be really struggling to recover from some sessions.  I was often waking up in the night with tooth ache and painkillers weren't working always.  I had some gel that would numb the area temporarily, but invariably I'd end up going downstairs so as not to wake others, sometimes put ice packs on my face and just generally wait until the pain went...then go back to bed.  I think the disruption to sleep was impacting me.

So it was with great relief that I went to the dental surgery on that Thursday, hoping that the 4 plus weeks of nagging tooth ache would be gone.  I settled into the chair and we started to discuss the plan of attack....at the point we got to, we might have to cut into the gum, or even cut the tooth into sections.....did I think this might not be the straightforward 'extraction' I was imagining and had experienced as a kid, when a pair of dentists pliers seemed to do the job admirably !!  Signing consent forms...made it all seem that more likely I was in for a tough time.

The extraction couldn't be done by traditional means in the end, so it was that I ended up with a minor operation to cut the tooth into three sections before it could be removed.  That all seemed to go very well all things considered.  It was virtually pain free.  But it was after that reality began to sink in, as I was handed a sheet of things 'you cannot do....' in the coming 2 weeks.  One of which was no swimming !!  There was a risk of infection, as the tooth that was removed left a passage way straight to the sinus, and despite my mouth being heavily stitched, could still pose a risk of infection.

I knew at that point my race wouldn't be the full swim, bike and run.  But I was confident that I could perhaps do the bike and run, or even as some mates suggested, to change my entry to a mixed relay, finding someone to do the swim.  As it was, I couldn't get in touch with the organizers before the event and as such, I decided not to travel just on the off-chance something could be arranged.

As it was, over the following few days, I wasn't feeling 100%,  the effects of the extraction really laid me low and I'm not sure how I would have fared if I'd tried to do the bike and run.  It was the classic case of the mind running off with ideas of its own before it had listened to what the body had to say.

Come race day, my mates all performed really well, with one even taking a podium place in his age group.  It was great to see how well they all did.

On  reflection, of course I was really gutted to have not been able to race.  It is the first time I can recall never starting or completing any race I'd entered (Triathlon or otherwise).  I've mentioned before that triathlon can be expensive to enter.  This isn't one of the most expensive I've entered, but I was still over £200 out of pocket, including B&B....although I would have saved on race weekend expenses (food, petrol etc.).  And of course, there's the training effort to get ready.  Given that I had already raced in Mallorca I wasn't specially preparing for the race, rather I was hoping to take some fitness into it from Mallorca and try to post a better time as a result.

I always try to find a positive from any scenario like this, even if at first there don't appear to be any.  I rested over the weekend which was probably something I needed.  And all things considered, it's just a tooth I've lost, so I live to race another race, it's really not the end of the world really.  And what it does show me is how marginal it can be as to whether you get to the start line or not.  It was only a tooth I had removed, but it was enough to tip the balance against me.  So when I say it's the first race I've missed, when I think my first ever 'race' of any note, was the London Marathon in 1997 and I've lost track of the number of events I've entered and completed since....I should be looking at the positive of how fortunate I am to have that as a track-record, rather than dwelling on one race missed.

It just served to remind me also, when you choose to partake in these sort of endurance events that require entry, payment and a big training commitment many months if not even a year or so in advance, just getting to the start line, is of itself, a decent achievement and in my case requires the endless support and encouragement of my 'main sponsor'....my family.  

I've got no more tri races booked for the rest of this year so far.  I have a half marathon later in the year, but am tempted to see if I can perhaps enter one more tri race this year.

The recovery from the tooth removal is almost complete.  I'm back on the turbo, I've done a run....only a few more days before the swim 'ban' expires and then it'll be as if I never missed that race.  It'll soon be forgotten.

I'm pleased I took the advice of the dental surgeon and did't swim.  Who knows what might have happened if I'd picked up an infection or tried to race when I wasn't 100%.  A short rest and a race missed now will hopefully mean plenty more training and racing ahead in the future.