Pr
eparation is everything, mine started the day before… most others had probably trained for weeks getting nutrition, strength & Core and sleep cycles right, but I started with the ultimate Irish Mammy insurance policy: the Child of Prague – given the weather in EP had drowned half the country the night before. Forgetting your gel packs or getting a flat tire is one thing, but neglecting to plant that little plaster statue in the garden the night before is a common rookie mistake.
What a beautiful start to what turned out to be a fabulous day… hit the road at 7 bells after downing creamy porridge laden with banana and a good shot of Baileys (Zero-Zero Baileys of course 😉). Standard protein powders are overrated; the true champion of morning endurance is a generous splash of Baileys in your porridge, a tried and tested pre-workout strategy that transforms what could be a bleak, rainy morning in north Roscommon into a triumphant (but perhaps slightly blurry) victory no matter what the day throws your way.
Lough Key is a 90 minute spin from Galway and the more civilised later start of 10.30am lends to an easy morning. Registration saw some friendly faces and was seamless in the main Forest Park building, lending to great facilities (plenty of high quality loo roll if you were there early enough!). Lough Key Triathlon is the only race where you can swim through majestic (ish) lake waters, bike ancient Irish woodlands, and run toward a 19th-century castle while questioning every single life choice that brought you there. The stunning location masterfully misleads competitors with its breathtaking scenery – because it is much harder to complain about your burning legs and lungs when you are surrounded by those castles, fairy bridges and historic tower houses.
As athletes converged on the lake, the clouds looked ready to open the floodgates, but the severed head of Prague’s finest was already working its silent magic, the skies held back, Transition stayed dry, and the only drowning happening was athletes lunging into slightly algae bloom lake water – it sure beats jelly fish! TI Officials advised the swim might be cancelled with some minor spots of green algae and the run extended adding calf crushing kilometres. Thanks to some elite-level sweet-talking from the Lough Key Swim Director, the algae parted like the Red Sea, allowing us all into the drink.
The swim start was a large cluster of hopefuls angling for a straight run at the Castle, nice temperature and the carpeted entry/exit felt like a Hollywood premiere. Two lefts around two big yellow buoys the Roscommon Minions of the marine world—bright, stubby, and completely oblivious to the chaos about to ensue and swirl around them. It made sighting easy and the wide start line made even the mass start manageable for swimmers of all abilities.
A few GTC’ers exited the swim in unison which made for a friendly face and a bit of trauma-bonding banter whilst trying to figure the next bit out… Helmet on and a short run to mount line, partly on grass which made running in the high heels a little easier.
The Veteran GTC’er beside me 😉had described the bike as lumpy, and I hadn’t really done all that much recce (bar that child of Prague and the Porridge), so wasn’t really too sure of what was to unwind. 23km of ups and downs, some tight corners and a packed field. Roads were open, but quiet to traffic leaving the bike like an impromptu, high-stakes Team Pursuit game of cycling tag riding close enough to catch a draft but far enough apart to make it legal!
The bike route took us around the lake on a well paved country road routing back out onto the main road. The last 3k was back through the park and needed your full white knuckle attention as surface wasn’t as good and a few well forewarned tight turns brought us back for our Sunday saunter through the Park.
After some friendly jostling for position in Transition and a doling out of long overdue seasonal penalty seconds by the nicest TI Official in Ireland (he was sound – as JOC got the push penalty), we blazed off on the run. The start takes the proverbial, up-hill to the Moylurg Tower, but the volunteers blasting out Rocky theme tunes at the top did help numb the pain and trick the legs into thinking once you’re at the top sure isn’t the rest all down-hill. The run around the park through the trees and over the fairy bridges is calm and cool, with some soft mossy/grass spots under foot too giving the knees and those troublesome calves some much needed relief. There were a few patches of fresh gravel – no doubt laid by a rogue Roscommon County Council crew who forgot that sand exists—but all in all, it was a lovely route, rounding the edge of the park with a perfectly placed water station at the halfway mark to prevent those dehydration-induced hallucinations.
The finish chute and commentator were world-class—honestly, any pro race would be proud of it. The crowd support was immense, fuelled by energetic volunteers, family, friends, and the odd, deeply confused tourist who had just come to the park for a quiet walk and was now screaming at sweaty strangers.
Post race nutrition was unreal – plenty of water, fruit and chocolate protein milk, not to forget Paddy Paella straight off the plane from Albufeira – a welcome well stacked plate of hot rice and chicken to nourish both body and soul.
The goody bag and medal was A1 – whether you crossed the finish line like a triumphant warrior or a muddy, winded extra from a medieval battle scene, you were guaranteed a Traitor like Swim Hoody and a wooden medal carrying all the rustic prestige of a prize won at a confused lumberjack convention. Some free shower tokens and some free entries to the local Sauna lakeside, a brilliant psychological trick to convince our broken bodies that this was a luxurious wellness weekend and not self-inflicted torture, successfully gaslighting us into signing up again for next year.! Would make a lovely club race next year with tri a try and Sprint distances, their 20th year, so the goody bag will be a Bumper!!
Thanks to all at Lough Key, all the Organisers, Sponsors, Volunteers.. oh and that TI Official – a cracking day out.. now back to my porridge 😉.
