This was the first tri of the season for me, so didn't have high expectations. Was just hoping to put some of that training to good use.
Monday, 25 April 2011
Thames Turbo Triathlon Series, Sprint Race 1
This was a really early start because the race started at 7 am and I had to cycle over. So at 5.30 am I was off on my bike and got there just fine. It was a bit chilly, and I should've really brought some more layers, while waiting for the start, I was shivering badly and for the most part I kept hiding in the change rooms. Bike set-up in transition was done swiftly and I got it all sorted and laid out, made sure the shoes were wide enough.
I ended up in the second start wave for the swim so it was slightly warmer by then. Never the less, I thought it would be quite nippy on the bike, so decided to put socks on before the bike (I haven't really gotten used to running without socks - that's on the to do list).
My start time was up and off I went. The swim went rather smooth, my technique held together and I swam strongly throughout, keeping my arms ticking over and pulling through. The interruptive bits were where you had to dive under the ropes to get to the next length. Quite an ingenius method though cos it eliminates the need for lane counters. You start at one end of the pool and finish at the other, swimming up and down all the lanes. I didn't get passed on the swim, so at least I got my swim time right-ish. Unfortuantely, my watch hadn't started, so I can't verify this for sure.
The first transition went smoothly. Got my kit on quickly, including the socks (doh!), gel stuffed in the back pocket, bike off the rack and out of transition I jogged in a jiffy. Bike mount wasn't such a faff this time (still no hop on) and off I was... quick pedals and first foot into shoe, strap closed. 5 pedals, second foot into shoe no problem, where was the strap?!?! I realised that with the socks I had pulled out the velcro strap out of the buckle. Corker!!! I tried for quite some time to fiddle it back into the buckle and eventually realised that I had to stop to do it. So stop and complete unclip, fiddle buckle in, clip in and off I went again - having lost about 2 min over the whole show. :-( The actual cycling was smooth and strong going consistently at 20-21 mph. However, I hit 2 red lights (one was more or less a slow down for 15 sec). The second light unfortunately, had a quite long red phase (the council hadn't removed a road works) and I stood there for a good minute or so, with all the riders I had passed catching up with me. On the way back, I managed to just about squeeze through the road works. I got to the 7 min non-compete zone and the time on the clock was a shocker: 39 min for 21 k. Urgh...
I rehydrated in the non-compete zone and got a gel in and tried to maximise the 7 min. When the clock started again at T2 I had a swift transition to the run and was out and about fairly quickly. The run itself felt rather strong and I was going well. Passing quite a few people and maintaining pace. But towards the back end, I could just maintain the pace and had nothing left in the tank for a sprint finish. But T2 including the run time was just over 21 min, which means that my run time was pretty close to 20 min. Good stuff.
Overall, I'm quite pleased with the race. There was room for improvement (bike) and confirmation of my good running form. The pool was encouraging, so gained a bit of confidence from that.
Came 13th in my age group and 114th overall - which is quite alright. So a good start. :-)
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