Early morning star
ts are something I should be used to in my line of work but it never seems to get any easier especially after a few nights of bad sleep. Up at 5:38 and out the door at 6:10ish. Cold.
Friendly and quite a buzz around the transition. Me just trying not to forget something important as I set up for the first time since September. Sun is out and warming.
Waiting around to swim was nervous. Unsure if my training this year was as good as I hoped but cheering on the others kept me occupied. It was really nice to be able to warm up properly in a pool even if it was small. Alex Lione the the lad I coach at the swim club was last swimmer to go, just behind me. Nice to have a bit of banter to cool the nerves before the start.
Swim felt reasonably easy compared to everything else. Came out just over 4 minutes as predicted. 4:12 including the ‘walk’ to the timing mat.
Smooth transition in fact the best part of my race today, one of my aims for the Tri to get that in place. T1 – 22 secs. No hanging about.
Cycle felt hard. The whole way. Wasn’t until my watch beeped at 11km in that my heart rate really settled and I felt in control of my legs. Fitness was not what I wanted. I expected it to be faster so I was a little disappointed, avg speed – 33kmph, 39mins 39secs.
T2 – 24secs. Bit of a faff, meh.
Run, two laps. Spent too much time on the bike thinking I could go faster and pushing harder than I should have, meaning of course I was suffering on the run, my body just was not liking it for most of the first lap. Second lap was better as I settled in a bit but the ankle just started to go in the last kilometre. And then I got over taken by Alex in his GBR Tri suit! Damn!
Run time: 18:48
Overall 01:03:26
I should point out that I was the only male in my age group so the AG win was slightly unimpressive…but £20 is £20!
