TRI 2

I took part in my second sprint triathlon today (the same course as the one I had done my first tri) - and here's my race (day) report -

4:30 am - the alarm rang - race - 3 hrs 30 ... time to fuel up (so I did) - and made my first mistake. My 'fuel' consisted of a large glass of water, 2 nutrigrain bars and a go ahead yoghurt bar ... with hindsight it wasn't fuel enough (more on that later)

5:00 am - headed back up to bed, read for 5 minutes and dozed off (mistake no.2) ... woke up at 6:30

7:00 am - headed off to the race (which is a 15 minute drive away) and stopped by a petrol station to pick up a couple of small bottles of lucozade bodyfuel (my racing liquid of choice) - had a swig pre-race, racked my bike, got into my wetsuit and rocked up to the pre-race briefing.

8:00 am - a quick warm-up in the lake and I'm ready to start ... as usual I headed to the back of the pack to avoid the washing machine that is the mass start (only 50 ppl there but it was pretty crowded for me). At the go I felt quite comfortable, set out, built into my rhythm and kept going. I kept getting squeezed by two ppl (one on either side of me) who seemed to have exactly the same stroke speed as I had and kept on wanting to come into my racing line instead of keeping to theirs ... I was sighting well, going dead straight (unlike the people on either side of me) who insisted on barging me and blocking my stroke etc. Getting increasingly frustrated I tried to kick on, speed up a bit to lose them ... and lose them I did for the next 200m. Being slowed down by three ppl ahead my 'wingers' caught up and contnued to hem me in ... a couple of elbowed hits later (received not given) I ws literally hemmed in ... two ppl ahead, one on each side and I must say it was hard work. Out of the lake and on the way to the transition area I felt very weak and dizzy, I could run to my bike, lost my balance while taking off my wetsuit, forgot to dry my feet (towel was straight in front of me) so my socks were soaked and full of grassy/muddy muck. Helmet on (also with a bit of a faff) and off I went. Winded and slightly dizzy, I hoped the first couple of minutes of the bike leg would see me recover and then push on ... oh how I wish ... about 1.5km into the bike ride my legs started to burn as did my lungs ... I was pushing a fairly weak gear so the complete lack of power was completely unexpected. Things just got worse and worse for the next 750m-1k to the point where I could either get off the bike of my own will, or fall off ... I chose to get off, sat on the kerb for a couple of minutes, leaving a small souvenir by the side of the road (some lucozade and some nutrigrain) and watched the last few people who hadn't overtaken me in either the swim, my awful transition, or my agonising ride until then go past.

I had two choices, give up and head back, or man up and continue, pushing as much as I could in the circumstances. Bearing in mind London is two weeks away, giving up would have been soul-destroying and confidence crushing. So I didn't bloomin give up, I got back on my bike and finished my ride, painfully, but I finished it. Once again, I had a choice, retire or do the run. Again, retiring was not an option, so I ran ... 5km of jelly legs and recurring stitches, some back pain, toe pain (I nearly broke my first metatarsal two weeks again) and general malaise, but I didn't walk ... I wasn't running fast but I didn't walk.

Crossing the line didn't have the exhilaration it held last time around, but I felt a great deal of pride. I persevered, I hung on by the very skin of my teeth and I finished. I came second last (massive 7oaks tri club contingent in the race) but anyhoo (not last at least :)). Talking times, my first tri took 1:21.05 - today, I came in sub-1:25 ... I'm still waiting for the exact times (I forgot to stop the timer on my forerunner) but it should be a sub-1:25 time. I had targeted a sub-1:20 sprint but that wasn't going to happen today. All in all, I'm happy I finished, and considering the state I was in this morning, it was a pretty decent time (for me).

The mistakes (aggravating/mitigating factors ... a.k.a. excuses) were the following:

1. have been feeling fluey for the last two weeks, not outright sick, but my body is fighting something off for sure

2. the toe is still playing up (damn thing) ... I can run, but its not comfortable

3. didn't take in enough fuel for the race - a proper meal next time (breakfast is a meal) even if it was 4:30am

4. I should NOT, go back to sleep after fuelling up ... I should have kept my body going, got some adrenaline pumping, tricked my body into believing that its not true that it should still have been in bed resting at that time

the rest was a combination of bad luck (my wingmen - though I think one of them was a woman, and the crosswinds on the bike course were completely out of my control) and a bit of complacency on my part (... having done it the first time around I assumed it would automatically be easier the second time around ... NOT the case) ahve ensured that the next two weeks in the lead up to london and any other races I take part in will have my full focus ... back in training tomorrow