London Olympic Triathlon 2012

August 13th, 2012 by Gavin

OMG Gavin Noble is trending worldwide, HON GAVIN! (@treasaO_Rorke)

Gavin Noble trending worldwide, hon teamireland !! (OFlynnPaul)

Did you hear about the day I was trending on twitter worldwide ?

Between you and me I even had some female embraces. Arguably one if not both instances stemming directly from my participation in the London Olympic Games. It was a fine day all in all. The only negative being that no one told me to wipe the spit off my cheek as I was interviewed on National TV.

Interview with Gavin noble there on rte …spit on the side of his face disgusting :L (@GavinOSullican2)

Normally I do not go into great detail on race reports but maybe on this one occasion you can indulge me a little bit.

The day had finally arrived (40 days 40 nights). Number 7 olympic decals, I was numbering up and realising it was all about to go down. With a little walk to the venue and the amount of crowds we left 2.5hrs before the start.

“I never head to a session 2.5hrs before Tommy” I said with a smile.

Checked in, I headed out for 2 laps of the course to soak up some atmosphere and to get rid of any butterflies when seeing the crowds. In Manchester 2002 I warmed up off course and didn’t see any of the crowd until I was announced on to the pontoon. I didn’t want to have that same shock in London, pee myself again or fill my goggles with fear tears this time around ! Is that experience ?? Sort of I guess.

Admittedly I needed a few deep breaths and my ear phones were only for show so I could pretend I was focused and not slyly trying to control my goose bumps without having to stop to talk to anyone ! The Irish crowd even at 9.30am was unreal.

Swear to fock if you’re not watching Gavin Noble…. (@poshdubliner)

No tickets today but at triathlon, Gavin noble going well! Huge Irish support here #olympicadventure #day9 (@conorSaunders)

The call room. “Is there a fuggin team pursuit on today Tommy?” I asked as many men rocked up with aero helmets that hadn’t been seen before. Peacocking is the technical Irish term for it . . Love it.

I was scared, I feared not performing, I feared riding around in front of so many alone, I feared that first 100m in the swim, I needed to make it around the first bouy, that was my race, that was the first critical moment… but as I got closer to the pontoon I became more confident. I knew it was all about the first 100 if not first 20 strokes. I had good swimmers around me. I just needed to get on the train. I became more relaxed as the 1 min warning went, I gained more confidence as I got some clear water, I almost smiled to myself when I went around the first bouy unscathed in the top 10

Holy shit it is a lot different swimming next to a good swimmer towards the front of the race. The good swimmers want to swim. There is control and efficiency. 15 seconds further back there is panic and a lack of straight lines. I was comfortable in the swim after that point and although I lost a few places on the last 200m I knew running into transition it had been a good start. Sometimes in a race your in a world of panic and especially in 1 lap swims you have no idea of where you are and how your doing. The relief on entering transition with 50 bikes still there as opposed to only 15 is an almost joyus occasion !

Jaysus Gavin Noble’s doing very well! #teamireland (@ismisemichelle)

The second critical moment was then. A good swim meant more energy for the initial part of the bike and a split had formed. I knew after half a lap we would catch the group of 5 just ahead as we were working well and there were too many of the bigger names in the group who needed it to come together sooner rather than later. As the groups merged the pace slowed slightly but we managed to hold around a minute lead. I did more than my share of turns as I needed that 1mins gap to be maintained… if it got to under 30 secs it would come together very quickly and I knew that for my finishing position to be higher I needed to have that cushion. I just do not have the run mileage in the tank and although I was doing some good track sessions beforehand, getting off the bike to run after 80mins is a different animal and if you havnt run for longer than 40mins in a long time then that’s gonna bite you in the ass !! You find yourself in a situation and you have to play the game. Short faster sessions can give you confidence but miles give you strength.

The crowd on the bike was unbelievable … normally you can hear the chat and the smack in the pack but this time all you heard was the roar. Something I won’t forget.

Come on @gavontwitt massive Irish support in crowd #GoGav (Martyloughran83).

Ireland’s Gavin Noble moved forward to finish the cycling stage of the triathlon out in front, but the Brownlees are still the ones to beat! (@davidlowe)

Pity Gavin Noble can’t run (@reeder10)

you have to report the good and the bad for balance !? Its better to be talked about than not ? I have taken worse abuse !

Gavin Noble has done some Trojan work with the lead group and is through t2 in 11th #keepherlit (@seanfarrell_12)

Well done Gavin Noble, great swim and cycle just a handy 10k left keep her lit!!! (@Magerj80)

And then all that was left was 10km. Done and dusted. I felt heavy initially and was a little scared about the second 5km and so got into my rhythm and tried to run my race. Only on the run could I hear familiar voices and on occasion see a familiar face amongst the green. To finish with a thumbs up to my parents in the stand was a nice way to finish.