Results in for the race today, I managed 2h27m36s just getting in under my target set in Jan 2020 of 2h30. I now have more consistency across the distances, as my previous PB was 3h18m
Swim
Standing at my bike I had no idea what was going on, then I realised that behind a nearby bush was the swim start and I was going off in 50s. āHey mate, whatās the swim route?ā āFirst buoy on your right shoulder then two lapsā - thatās the swim prep done then, dove into the murky waters and went for it. No seeding, so a lot of swimming around people and only a few swimming past me
Bike
Go hard! Brake! Narrow hard left! Roundabout! Downhill! Uphill! Dead turn ahead brake! That was like the first two or three minutes so yeah looking at my Edge was a waste of time. I tried to get a feel for around 240W and not go too hard after the dead turns but I had no idea really just a feel that it wasnāt quite as hard as I went in the sprint two weeks ago. With such a busy bike route I completely forgot about drinking and there was nowhere to do it anyway. A pace line formed I think around me and then ahead of me, and though I really wanted to keep up I was lapping at 11min 15s pretty consistently so I just let them go - this race was all about the run and my hip flexors were flickering amber.
I didnāt check my bike split at the end, you canāt change history, I necked most of my bike fluids in T2, socks this time and headed off with a gel in hand.
Run
Glanced on at my watch after 200m and was happy to see I was at target pace, but I started to feel something wasnāt right about a kilometre later my right side under my rib cage felt like a stitch was developing - something Iāve seen on TV but never had myself. I backed off the effort a little, mildly panicking that I was losing the race against my goal time but patience and good sense won out. A few kilometres later I was back at goal pace and feeling okay.
I managed to get in a gel at 5km, people were starting to pass me on this second lap but I just told myself they were first lappers or sprint distance athletes and kept my head in the game. Just kept on trucking, I heard some hard breathing on the finish straight but upped my game and held them off to the finish line and fell over :). Looked at my watch and
Two years training paid off!
I can relax or experiment for my A race at London in August now.