Lovely morning for this race, but a firm westerly wind was beginning to blow as the race started.7am and I was stood on the beach with misty goggles, just unable to get them clean and promptly got myself in the wrong position for the start, off to the left furthest from the first turn buoy(2nd from left in white cap). See pic left! D'oh!! But despite the swim position I had a really solid swim and actually enjoyed it! Water was very calm and once I got rid of my annoying swim cap and stopped the water geting in my goggles I settled into a good rythmn. The swim was definitely long, as well as the fact I have to get my sighting sorted, needs work. Probably would have saved me a minute.
Anyway, after a good swim I exited onto the stoney beach, ouch!! ANd then up some steep steps into transition, and successfully ran straight past my bike, and then ensued the sight of me runing up and down my lane trying to spot it! The front wheel had been turned on it's side, hence I couldn't see it! Steady change, made sure all sorted and out onto bike.
And what a difference this week. My bike legs were there from the word go and I was soon into my riding. Didn't know the first part of the course, but it takes you into the cenre of Weymouth along the seafron and a right turn at a mini roundabout takes you to traffic lights! Thankfully I hit them just on the change and carried on. The firt section is a steady climb up to Dorchester, think it's about 4 or 5 miles, so just settled into a nice cadence and was able to push on passing a few people as I went. Once at the top, new road surface for the next 2 miles let me get up to 40mph on a slight downhill to the first big roundabout which gets you onto the Dorchester bypass and dual carriageway to Bere Regis.
At this point I was flying along and the following wind made riding at pace a real joy! Great fun. I caught maybe one rider from Dorchester to Bere Regis but I could see them coming back on the other side of the dual carrageway and the leaders had about 4 or 5 minutes on me at about 20 miles. The turnaround came and thenit was a real slog into a strong headwind back up the dual carruageway to Dorchester. I did manage to pickoff another 2 riders, one of them Jack Wiltshire, brother of Harry who is an excellent triathlete, and elite swimmer. He was obviously finding the wind hard work and I tried to exchange a few words, but he was in deep concentration, so I pushed on.
Left turn before Dorchester sees the race go out towards Wool via Warmwell, and this section was quick with a following wind, and even though undulating, I was finding the uphill sections pretty easy. I caught another rider and worked out I must have been up to fourth, and that was confirmed at the next turnaround point by my wife Tracey who shouted out where I was in the race. 3 riders ahead and I saw from the turnaround I had made up some ground on them. The return to Weymouth was into a strong headwind again and I was tiring a little, but the last 3 miles are more or less all downhill and I coasted in, past only by one guy flying along on the descent. So I hit T2 after a 2:15 ride. I had ridden strong but cetainly well within myself, and was delighted to hit transition at the front end of the race.
T2, I took my time, socks and shoes on, laced them up and got my gels in hand, watch on and off we go. First mile is flat and then next few miles are gradual uphill over about 3 miles, then downhill and undulating for 3. And repeat. So the first mile and I was ticking along feeling really good at 6:30 mile pace. No problems, I hit first 'ascent' and slowed a little, trying to find the right pace. Got passed by a couple of runners and held back from chasing them down, just focussing on my own race. By this time, the sun was out and it was sheltered, and by 10am it was already very warm. I am not good in the heat. That said, I pushed on and at the end of the first lap I was doing ok, but then my mind and body started to faulter. Oh dear, the wheels were about to come off, I was feeling rubbish. More gel and water and I was back to feeling better, but then mile 8 and 9 were dark. 'I am not doing this any more!!' was the biggest thought in my mind, quickly followed by 'why am I putting myself through this!' I decided to stop at the next water station which was mile 8 and then the next one at mile 10. This worked for me, and after two very slow miles I then pushed on for the last 3. I got my second wind, the legs revived and I pushed on til the end finishing the run leg in a (for me) a very respectable 1:35. 4:32 in the end, on a warm day. I finished the race in 7th, but there were a couple of waves that set off after the one I was in and a few athletes just came infront by a few minutes. I was 20th overall, picked up the Age Group prize and collected the team prize with driventotri.
As this was a training race as prep fo Roth, and on the back of little quality run training and not as much riding as I usually would do, 10 weeks of a full on intensive course in Personal Training, I was delighted to get that result, and really pleased by my performance. Some of my strength has returned and I am now very confident that I can do well at Roth on the 18th July. Lacking top end speed on the bike, and certainly short on run legs, but I have 5 weeks to really get strong, and if I get to the start line in good shape and mentally in the right place, then I will do well. Just got to get that nutrition right. Still not enough eating at Weymouth. I'm 88kg and I keep forgetting that I need to take on more calories. I'm no racing snake, so I will be trying to work on that when out for long rides and brick sessions.
Good friend of mine, Kerry Mclean was 11th lady home, she is in training for Ironman Germany in July, and in good shape. Well done Kerry!
As I write, James Gilfillan will be in the water at Bala middle distance, the National Age Group Championships. The form he is in, I cannot see anyone else getting near him. Go James, positive vibes going out to you!!!
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