It’s reasonably rare that I write an article about myself, but I guess I’ve got to pull my weight within the team too? I competed in the Cheshire triathlon last Sunday and narrowly missed out on second, but took a solid 3rd overall and 1st in my age group…
After a rather delayed start to the season due to family members deciding to get married (how in inconvenient!!), I found myself at the Cheshire triathlon in Nantwich. With more than 1000 athletes taking part, the event was quite large and attracted all abilities from the local elites to the grass roots 1st timers.
So at 8.32am, I found myself sliding into an open-air brine pool; I was so glad there’d been some sun recently to warm the thing up. As usual for this kind of event, people had entered rather ambitious swim times to get an early start, as I was 8th swim seed, but had the 3rd fastest swim split of the day. This meant a lot of passing in the pool, despite the 20 second interval between each swimmer!
Out on to the bike I was chasing a GB trisuit; you have to be brave to wear the kit in an open event, as everyone sees you as a target, including myself! The guy in question was a James Briscoe, a very talented junior who has just won his age group at the European Triathlon Championships. After what seemed like an eternity I finally caught him with 3 miles to go and tried to create a decent gap, as I suspected he may have quite a rapid run leg.
As the event is pool-based and not a mass start, the key is pacing as you are essentially time trialling. The run is 100% on grass, so whilst not the fastest surface, certainly the most comfortable. I was running hard, but did get passed by James and had to make sure he didn’t open up sufficient lead to eat into my time reserve. Running hard into the finish, I thought I beat him, but obviously wouldn’t know until everyone finished!
The overall winner was the inform Peter Brook, with 2nd going to Paul Jones with myself rounding out the podium and also taking the age group win.
The race was pretty good for me. It wasn’t as fast as I had wanted (have you ever known an athlete say he went fast enough?) but more importantly gave me some valuable feedback to adjust my training. I certainly now feel that I have the muscular endurance, but now need to work on my threshold/anaerobic development, so bring on the intervals…
With thanks to our sponsors:
www.wilier.it – Triathlon Frames
www.ffwdwheels.com – Aero Wheels
www.ritcheylogic.com – Aerobars, Saddles and Finishing Kit
www.cycleops.com – Power Meters
www.racezone3.com – Wetsuits
www.limarhelmets.com – Helmets & Glasses
www.lakecycling.co.uk – Cycling Footwear
www.jagwireusa.com – Cables & Housing
www.scott-sports.com – Running Footwear
www.shimano.com – Groupsets
www.triathlonspecific.com/Sable/Sable.html – Swim Goggles (Sable Water Optic)
www.max-mediagroup.co.uk – Team PR
www.amphibia-sport.com – Transition Bags
www.schwalbe.com – Tyres
www.lezyne.com – Pumps, Tools and Bottle Cages
www.champ-sys.com – Custom Trisuits and Cycle Wear
