While booking a family holiday to Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote, to celebrate my mother’s birthday, I happened to spot that there was a triathlon taking place that week.
Super sprint or Olympic distance? Tough choice, but after thinking about renting a bike to use it for just 20 minutes, the Olympic distance seemed like the obvious choice. After convincing my sister, Trish, to sign up too, it was time to start training. Just three weeks to race day, but how hard could it be?
Trish and I are both comfortable swimmers and runners, but the cycle leg was the worrying part. Trish trained by cycling to work, and I got out for exactly one training spin with Yanto Jones and Luke Canavan. Unsurprisingly, that was not enough!
The event was on Saturday morning, at the end of the holiday, so race week consisted of adventure swimming, surfing, hiking and too many strawberry daiquiris!
On Friday afternoon we collected the rented bikes and went for a course recce, but without actually knowing where it was, it was more of a ramble around what might be the course! We picked up the race numbers and went for dinner, missing the race briefing.
The event started at 8am, so it was an early start to check in and set up transition in the dark. A missing bar end plug sent me to the mechanic and the back of the queue, leaving just 5 mins in transition.
The big question was whether wetsuits were mandatory, optional, or banned. Having missed the briefing, and with very poor Spanish, the only option was to watch the competition and see what they were wearing. Everything from budgy smugglers, tri-suits, swimskins and wetsuits was in use, so it looked like anything goes. We togged out in wetsuits, “to be competitive”.
The swim was definitely the highlight. We ran off the beach into warm water with a significant chop and headed out on one big loop around six buoys. The swim ran a little long at 1.7km, but that suited Trish and I, who came out of the water first and second in our age groups.
The cycle was where the lack of prep immediately showed. It was a rolling course with a significant Lanzarote wind. It was a draft legal race, but that made little difference to the two of us, who didn’t have enough in the legs to keep up with the crowd! We both lost about 70 places over the next hour and a half. Despite that, the cycle was very enjoyable on a closed main road with more than enough space for everyone and a friendly atmosphere.
After the peace of the closed roads, the 10km run was a shock on a busy promenade where hundreds of people were now out enjoying the beautiful hot morning. The cheers from the crowds provided great motivation and we both put in solid runs, generally holding our race positions.
Crossing the finish line, the atmosphere was fantastic. A six-piece live band banged out the classics in the finish plaza, despite it being only 11am. Trish finished sixth in her age group, and I came in 17th in mine. However, I finished 12 mins faster in 2hr 56min, leaving who won the family feud an unresolved point of contention!
The Ocean Lava Triathlon is a fantastic event. It has a casual atmosphere and is as competitive as you want it to be. There are lots of bike hire options, the race start is just 5km from the airport and the island is a great place for a sporty break, a family holiday, or a combination of both. Highly recommended.
