The Novice's Guide to doing The Celtman 2018

Graeme Gatherer gives us an insight as to what to expect in The Celtman Extreme Triathlon.

First of all, I’m no stranger to endurance events; 6 day adventure races, umpteen 2 day mountain marathons and in recent years, over a dozen Ultras culminating in the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc which took me 39 hours - so I know how to go LONG...BUT...None of these involved any swimming or biking.
The Celtman would be my first triathlon and consisted of completing the following; 3.4km cold sea loch swim, 200km bike ride and 42 km run (covering approximately 4000m total ascent).

The Celtman race is right on our doorstep and with 37 nationalities being represented, it’s truly an international affair. The course is unrelenting and each discipline has its challenges. The swim is renowned for being properly cold and there is an abundance of jellyfish, the bike route is undulating and always exposed to wind and the run takes you off road and over two Munros with very technical running ground and little in the way of any path in the high section. Add to this the stress of making the cut off for the coveted blue t-shirt and this is quite an event! To be awarded blue, racers have to be half way through the run by 11hrs which is no time at all and leaves little margin for error in the earlier stages. All my mates who’d done the Celtman had achieved Blue status so I really felt the pressure, and with no swim or cycle background to speak of, I knew I had my work cut out!

THE SWIM
A winter of pool sessions left me demoralised. A good going shoulder tendinitis, general boredom and a kick which I’m positive sends me into reverse left me doubting the race as a possibility. My first foray in a wetsuit was into the Atlantic at Applecross back in April, and with snow still on the hills, relit the fire! My backside and legs floated to the surface, I didn’t need to kick and WOW, there is nothing like open water swimming in the freezing cold to make you feel more alive!! With full time work and the usual family commitments, virtually all of my swimming thereafter involved dawn starts at Clunie Loch, sometimes scraping ice off the car before driving there, but all the time, finding it easier and easier to swim further in the cold. During the amazing warm spell in May, Clunie loch was too warm! I either dispensed with the wetsuit or headed to Loch Tay or better still, headed over to Shieldaig. I learned about the jellyfish and did several swims in and around T1. I was now an open water convert. By race day I was happy any swimming conditions; calm water, big waves, little waves, waves from the left, waves from the right, jellyfish, no jellyfish, it was all good. The swim went well! I loved the mass start - quite surreal mixing it with everyone and I managed to get some good drafting going at times. I was out of the loch in 1hr and 5 mins which turned out to be about 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

The race requires a support crew so at T1, my wife Lynn, my son Struan and my brother-in-law Graham (who was already a Blue Celtman – no pressure!) were there to strip me, feed me hot porridge and send me off on the bike. Their support throughout was incredible!

THE BIKE
Starting back in October when I got my place in the Celtman, I started knocking out 150-220km bike rides on a monthly basis, increasing to nearly weekly as the event approached. This was backed up with lots of shorter faster rides as time allowed. Winter this year was snowy to say the least - this was challenging but I didn’t miss a week on the bike and never once resorted to a turbo, not that I’ve got one! (Well Lynn does but she has her bike on it). Some of my toughest sessions were on the mountain bike fighting through 30km of snow covered trails - possibly dangerous at times but great fun and great all over core and cross training. I also backed up the endurance days with winter climbing and ski mountaineering – again, long tough days out working hard and mastering the art of nutrition on the move.

The Celtman bike ride went as well as I could have hoped - conditions were grim with driving, freezing rain at times but I knocked out 28.6km/hr average for the 199km and found myself setting off on the run with loads of time in hand for the cut off. I took my time at transition and got changed into dry clothes, even donning my Highland Hill runners vest before setting off into the Coulin hills with my support runner Graham. I knew that nutrition was going to get harder from this point so took on more banana, strawberries and energy cake before leaving Kinlochewe.

THE RUN
Run training had been quite easy in that I did far less running than I normally do! There simply wasn’t enough time in my week so I figured I needed to be able to get to T2a fairly quickly and the rest would just have to take care of itself. I did my usual mix of hill/trail running around the local area and nearby Munros but only did a couple of 35km long ones. 
The Celtman run was really tough. I felt like I have done in previous 100 milers! Really struggled to eat, surviving off mouthfuls of coke and the odd jelly baby. I’d eaten really good nutritious food throughout the bike but now I was having to hit the sugary stuff. All the usual highs and lows came and went and my son Struan paced me a couple of km’s along a road section into T2a with 40 minutes to spare. The Blue t-shirt was mine now so long as nothing silly happened on the hills. We set off up onto Beinn Eighe into torrential rain and I’m told just 15 minutes later everyone was being sent the lower course. We were like drowned rats, but fortunately, it actually cleared a bit and after a 3000ft slog straight up the hill we really enjoyed the ridge run over to the second Munro. I passed loads of people in this section probably gaining 15 places or so though care had to be taken with every step. There is no path to speak of, just boulders of every shape and size! Soon we were descending to Glen Torridon and throughout the final kilometres along the road into the finish line the heavens opened again just to add insult to injury! I don’t think I’ve ever had a wetter day!!

So… that was the Celtman! I didn’t follow a race plan of any kind. It seemed kind of obvious I needed to do a lot of swimming, a lot of biking and a lot of running and I just fitted it in often at funny hours around work and family. I always say, it’s possible to train for just about anything in 6 months...