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Back up on the horse and in Dunkerque

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Posted by Bryan from bryankeane.com It has been 9 months since I last raced and last week I finally ended that very long stretch with 2 races in 7 days. A very chilly Monday night Aquathon in Howth to blow some of the cob webs off and prepare me for the madness of a Sunday sprint race in Dunkerque France.

 I race for a French team like most other guys and girls that race ITU. The french have a professional league with 3 divisions and each year there is promotion and relegation. it is a 5 race series and Divison 1 is pretty like an ITU world series race, it has the same field with a few extras thrown in.

So when you race you are racing for the team. There are 5 guys on a team and 3 to score, it is all about the team. We had a quite the international team last week, an Aussie, an Italian, a Russian a french man and myself. We are Team Tri Bale de Somme and we didnt go so well last week, 13th of 16 teams, the manager was not so happy.

 

kicking water bottles like a football manager in a giant oversized sports jacket with a suit underneath. Only joking, we were short a man so the manager ended up racing. Thankfully he is still very fit and very competstive. Player manager the dream job.

The monday night Howth Aquathon had prepared me for the cold, but nothing could prepare me for the speed in Dunkerque even if it comfortable in the 10 degrees and toasty 15 degree water temp.

 

Going into a race where most guys have 5-6 races under there belt already is hard, when it is a race of this standard it is very hard. I had to start somewhere and see where I was at.

 I race for a French team like most other guys and girls that race ITU. The french have a professional league with 3 divisions and each year there is promotion and relegation. it is a 5 race series and Divison 1 is pretty like an ITU world series race, it has the same field with a few extras thrown in.

So when you race you are racing for the team. There are 5 guys on a team and 3 to score, it is all about the team. We had a quite the international team last week, an Aussie, an Italian, a Russian a french man and myself. We are Team Tri Bale de Somme and we didnt go so well last week, 13th of 16 teams, the manager was not so happy.

 

kicking water bottles like a football manager in a giant oversized sports jacket with a suit underneath. Only joking, we were short a man so the manager ended up racing. Thankfully he is still very fit and very competstive. Player manager the dream job.

The monday night Howth Aquathon had prepared me for the cold, but nothing could prepare me for the speed in Dunkerque even if it comfortable in the 10 degrees and toasty 15 degree water temp.

 

Going into a race where most guys have 5-6 races under there belt already is hard, when it is a race of this standard it is very hard. I had to start somewhere and see where I was at.