The plan for this season was to peak twice; once in April for the ETU Duathlon Championships (back in April, see earlier blog) and the second, for The Steelman (23rd July) and mid-distance triathlon in North Yorkshire. With that in mind I was looking for an Olympic distance triathlon 2-weeks before Steelman, to serve as a final tester, specifically as I wanted to see how my nutrition strategy would fair. After a bit of searching I came across the Lincolnshire Edge Triathlon, based at Cadney Reservoir. This was just outside Brigg on the Southbank, which was only 40 minutes away, so nice and local.
In the few days leading up to the race the final pre-race information got released, including the start times, 8 am!! With it being so local I was kind of hoping for a slight lie-in, however that wasn't really the case. My alarm went off at 5 am, so bleary eyed I got up and headed downstairs for breakfast! To help get me in the mood for racing I turned on the telly and caught up with the previous days highlights of Le Tour. At around 6 am I woke Sally and just after 6:30 am we we started making our way to the race. I like to get to races early so I'm not rushing to get ready. Once we arrived I got a feeling for the race, it appeared to be a nice local, relatively small event, which makes a really nice change from the higher profile, qualifier races. After registering and racking my bike I still had plenty of time to chat and it was nice to see a few club mates and some friends who have recently got the triathlon bug, who were racing in the sprint race. After setting out all my kit, I started to put my new wetsuit on, whilst listening to the pre-race brief.
Loving the new wetsuit
With about 5 minutes to go before the race start we were able to get into the water, get acclimatised and warm-up. We then got a 1 minute warning, so I ensured that I had got a good starting position, so was ready to rock. The horn went and we were off!! It was a good 300m to the first buoy, I had progressed nicely by then, so it wasn't the usual bun fight, where everyone was trying to turn together. To the second buoy I was still feeling good and was now into a nice comfortable rhythm. After the second buoy, which was the stretch back to transition (although we still had another lap) the swim got a bit more difficult as it was pretty windy and this made the water pretty choppy. I tried to focus on my technique and not let it distract me too much. The second lap was pretty much the same as the first, I felt good and ended up coming out the water in the first 15. After exiting the water I quickly ran into T1, grabbed my bike and was quickly out on the bike course.
The bike course is probably best described as a lollipop, an out and back section taking you out to the loop, of which we did twice. It was mainly flat, with a few gradual climbs but nothing of real note, so I was able to remain on the tri-bars in the aero position. The bike course had both standard and sprint competitors on so the first 15 km was pretty busy, fortunately the race organizers had different colour race numbers, so that helped me gauge who was direct competition. I felt really strong and continued to make headway into some of the quicker swimmers that beat me out of the water. The second loop was a much more quite affair, only passing a couple of competitors, so I know I must be going well. I approached T2, just after the hour, removed my feet from my tri-shoes all set to dismount before the dismount line. After a swift dismount I was quickly into transition, having a quick count of the bikes already in, which gave me a good idea of my place in the race, turns out I was in 5th, result!
Now out of T2 and on to the run. The run was just a bit of all sorts really. It was part out and back around the reservoir, before and out and back with a second loop for the run to make up the full 10 km. The first part around the reservoir was on grass, so inevitably it wasn't the fastest, but I felt good running off the bike. As I started the run I knew that I should be able to work out my position by counting other athletes that pass me. Just before the turn point, along the reservoir I could see the race leader and then counted the other competitors. By the turn around point I knew that I was in 4th place and on my way back was able to gauge how close 5th and 6th place were to me. I had a reasonable cushion but knew once on to the tarmac section everyone would be able to run that bit quicker! Once off the grass and on to the road I kicked on, hoping to move up the placings. Although the route wasn't the most enjoyable with the multiple turn around points it did give me more opportunity to see if I was moving up the field and if I was getting caught. After the final turn around with about 2 km to go I knew that I wouldn't be be able to move into 4th, but I knew that the guy in 5th was closing on me. After the final bend I could see the finish and hoped that I could hold out for 4th, but with about 800 m to the finish he passed me. I didn't have much left to try and match him so droped down into 5th. I kept close to him but just couldn't pass him and I crossed the finish line in 5th some 2 seconds behind him, totally spent!
Now out of T2 and on to the run. The run was just a bit of all sorts really. It was part out and back around the reservoir, before and out and back with a second loop for the run to make up the full 10 km. The first part around the reservoir was on grass, so inevitably it wasn't the fastest, but I felt good running off the bike. As I started the run I knew that I should be able to work out my position by counting other athletes that pass me. Just before the turn point, along the reservoir I could see the race leader and then counted the other competitors. By the turn around point I knew that I was in 4th place and on my way back was able to gauge how close 5th and 6th place were to me. I had a reasonable cushion but knew once on to the tarmac section everyone would be able to run that bit quicker! Once off the grass and on to the road I kicked on, hoping to move up the placings. Although the route wasn't the most enjoyable with the multiple turn around points it did give me more opportunity to see if I was moving up the field and if I was getting caught. After the final turn around with about 2 km to go I knew that I wouldn't be be able to move into 4th, but I knew that the guy in 5th was closing on me. After the final bend I could see the finish and hoped that I could hold out for 4th, but with about 800 m to the finish he passed me. I didn't have much left to try and match him so droped down into 5th. I kept close to him but just couldn't pass him and I crossed the finish line in 5th some 2 seconds behind him, totally spent!
Clearly number 13, wasn't that unlucky for me!!
I finished 5th overall with a time of 2:21:18, which resulted in me coming 1st in my Age-Group, which I over the moon about and a massive confidence booster moving forward. Thanks to FastFWD Sports for organizing such a great, friendly event and I'll certainly be back.
However, the most important thanks has to go to my darling girlfriend, Sally closely followed by my sponsors Meridian Foods and Coconoil. The final thanks has to go to my coach Ian Mayhew (Gears & Tears).
However, the most important thanks has to go to my darling girlfriend, Sally closely followed by my sponsors Meridian Foods and Coconoil. The final thanks has to go to my coach Ian Mayhew (Gears & Tears).
