Celtman - Part 3

In the third and final part to our Celtman blogs, we follow on from Ross and Amanda’s insightful stories from an athletes point of view, to finish with the views from Craig as a member of a support crew and coach for the event.

As a coach I have never had to be quite so ‘hands-on’ at a race before!  But Celtman is not like your average race…  Having cycled on parts of the route previously I knew what the bike course was going to be like – hilly, windy and likely wet!  The run – despite finding many photos, videos and speaking to people who have done it - I think the only way you can truly understand its severity is by physically being in it.  I knew there were many parts that are going to be walked/scrambled up when you reach the Beinn Eighe mountain range, but things don’t quite look the same on a computer screen.  And then there’s the swim.  It can be summed up in 2 words.  Cold.  Jellyfish.

by Kai-Otto Melau

So as coach for Amanda who completed Celtman (and shared her story here) I knew that, if it was possible, getting to go and train on the course would be extremely beneficial to give confidence and feel more relaxed with what was to come on race day.  Thankfully Amanda was able to make it up on 2 occasions – with mixed weather conditions, shall we say!  The run and water temperature were what I thought were most important to get accustomed to.

I have outlined 6 areas which I feel anyone competing in Celtman should take into account.

1. Cold water acclimatisation - With the water temperatures barely reaching the teens, acclimatising to cold water swimming is super important to ensure you are in a fit (enough) state to get out on the bike safely.  Being at the transition/swim exit area you could see just how much impact the cold water had on all the athletes – no matter how fast they swam.  I’d highly recommend making use of the full body cover (neoprene everything!! Hat, gloves, booties, vest under wetsuit).  Oh! and the body cover helps protect from the jellyfish…
   
   How to acclimatise to cold water?  If you don’t have easy access to cold water open water swimming (normally not too difficult to find in Scotland) then having a cold shower/bath regularly to get your body used to the shock of the cold and practice getting your breathing under control and relax.  There are some other hacks that you could try to protect from the cold a little – rub Vaseline on any exposed skin i.e. face.  This can help by just adding an extra layer of insulation against the cold. 
   
   
2. Practice your transitions – often one of the forgotten disciplines for triathletes at all distances.  With the Celtman being longer than a typical long course triathlon, ensuring you have suitable amount of dry clothing to put on after the swim to keep you warm enough on the 200km bike ride.  And bear in mind that the weather conditions can change quite dramatically!  Which was the case in this year’s event – from clear skies and calm wind for the first 2hours or so to relentless rain and changing winds for the most part of the bike and run.  So, don’t let the initial conditions fool you by not putting on at least one extra layer of dry clothing.If its possible before the event, have a practice with your support crew on the transitions so you both know what order to do things in and think about who the support crew member is that assists in transition.  You want someone who can keep calm and not add any unnecessary stress to situation.
   
   Transition Tip: bring a chair!  It makes all the different to get kit changed and in T2 there is a good chance it will be a boggy marsh land it there’s rain so also something to put your feet on.
   
   
3. Ride hills – with 2000m/6500ft of ascent over 200km/124miles of riding, it goes without saying that you should befriend your local hills.  If it’s possible you should aim to ride a mix of inclines with some long ‘draggy’ climbs and short sharp climbs too.  Celtman has it all.
   
   
4. Feeding strategy – something else that makes Celtman different to a typical long course tri is that there are no aid stations provided by the race organisers on the bike course.  This can be useful as it means that you can control when/where you receive your nutrition on the course.  This is when a course recce can be particularly helpful – to know where good spots for your support crew are to locate themselves.  As an athlete, you should try to brief your crew on what you require at each pre-planned point.  Being in a support crew myself, we did get a little excited with giving Amanda food any time we saw her.
   
   
5. Technical running – probably the most famous part of Celtman is the extreme terrain that athletes encounter on the run route.  No matter if you aim to get to the high route for a blue t-shirt or expect to run the lower route, then training on technical rocky terrain is a must.  There are multiple sections which you should forget about trying to run and go to a brisk hike or scramble.  Being confident and relaxed on loose rock and scree slopes will make for a much more ‘enjoyable’ run section.  Again, whether on the high or low route, it can be good to have the support runner just in front to call out any major obstacles and pick the line to take. 
   
   
6. Support Runner – it is mandatory that the participant runs with a support runner for at least the mountain section.  Many opt for having support runner for the full run, this can help keep things moving along and they should be able to motivate the athlete when times get hard.  A little tip Amanda and I used for the run was to have some different topics we would chat about to help pass the time and take the mind away from the hurt.  We got to chat about music, films, tv shows, food etc.  It’s the little things that can make a difference.

Congrats to all who took on Celtman! Extreme Scottish Triathlon – it’s not called ‘extreme’ just for the lol’s!
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I enjoyed my supporter duties so much that I may even enter the ballot myself for 2019!
Good luck to anyone who takes on Celtman in the future – I might see some of you next year…

If you are looking to race Celtman, or any other race, and would like the guidance of a coach then get in touch and we'd love to help.  Contact us here or email [email protected] for information.