How I ended up in Ireland...
Harry: Non you’re going to Ireland with Al and Jon.
Non: When?
Harry: This weekend...
Non: What for?
Harry: Charity, Driven to Tri, did I mention charity?!
And that was the end of that.
After Wales outed Ireland from the Rugby World Cup only a few days before, I was a little apprehensive about boarding a plane to Dublin, my welsh lilt in tow, brandishing the name Non Rhiannydd on my passport.
Lamb. Wolves. Yes I was thinking exactly the same thing. At least I didn’t have a baguette in my bag and go by the name of Henry.
But there was no turning back on my word now; it was all in the name of charity after all. Plus the lovely man on the phone kept mentioning some guys called Aston and Martin.
After being charged for everything other than breathing on board our ‘BrianAir’ flight, the fanfare we received on landing, informing us that we had somehow survived the 40minute journey from Leeds Bradford, did rise a smile and reassured me that, if anything, the Irish do have a bloody good sense of humour.
We were greeted by the man on the phone, and his lovely friend Aston Martin. So it turns out they weren’t two hunky Irish guys for my viewing pleasure, but the substitute was probably better. It looked good and sounded even better. This was closely followed by the first item on the weekend itinerary; a pint of the black stuff down the local.
My first Driven to Tri duties came on the Friday evening. An Open Water Masterclass with the Brownlee brothers. Apparently the name Brownlee incites a lot of excitement. In case you’ve been hiding for the last 12months they are the reigning World Champions, have pretty much cleaned up at every race they’ve toed the line at this year and are in general the current God’s of the triathlon world. So I guess it came as no surprise to have over 50 people through the pool door after advertising the session for less than 8 hours between the hours of 11pm and 7am.
Running through all the elements of a good open water swim, from starts to drafting, rounding buoys and the infamous ‘roll’, I lead the session from poolside while the boys got stuck in with our eager participants, demonstrating exactly how the pro’s do it. The session was a success. Everyone had fun, no one succumb to any licking or unnecessary touching of the Brownlee’s and I lost my voice trying to keep up with the Irish banter. Oh and most importantly a lot of money was raised for Temple St. Children’s hospital.
The next morning we were straight back on it for the weekend’s main event, The ‘Catch Me If You Can Brownlee Duathlon Challenge’. The concept; run and bike as fast as you can and hope that the handicapped Brownlee duo don’t catch you. Everyone failed. Even myself. In my defence I caught all the women who were given a 3minute lead on me. To my shame Alistair flew passed me 5km into the bike. He also covered the first 3km of the run in 8minutes 50. Off no training. Sometimes life just isn’t fair. Despite the Brownlee pasting however, the event was a huge success and again the dollar rolled in for Temple St.
Later that evening Al and Jon were honorary guests at the Triathlon Ireland Awards Dinner. We were promised an evening of “great craic”. That we certainly had. The ‘Vitamin G’ flowed freely, the compare offered 200euros to the first woman to show him a tattoo in an interesting place...I think the British Triathlon dinner is going to be somewhat of an anticlimax.
Details of the rest of the evening are probably not appropriate for this simple blog spot, but remember Driven to Tri-ers, old and new, if you fancy a master class in open water swimming, a weekend training like a pro, or if you think your club would be interested in a tailor made training camp give us a shout. We are here for all your triathlon needs. Well the majority. I draw the line at calf guard advice, aero helmet chat, and chub rub related issues. (Please note: Brownlee’s do not come as standard).
With love,
Yours truly
Non x
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