My second attempt at racing against the young professionals of our sport turned out to be both a positive and yet a poor day.

Missing the lap counters signal pretty much destroyed my chance of getting a good placing. Then to swim a further 100m than planned really let me down. So coming out the pool in 12:46 for 850m is both a highlight and lowlight of my day.
 

T1 was uneventful and funny enough rather quiet, as I watched my waves race literally run off into the distance. There were reports of drafting on the bike course with some of the waves, and I even noticed a few guys who clearly where making the most of slow overtaking as the course was an out and back style loop.

Trying to ride 25K flat out on your own was mentally a little challenging. I was too far ahead of the fastest bikers from the wave after me, and not quick enough to catch the guys ahead of me. I don’t think coming back home in 44mins was not anything to be ashamed of over the somewhat seemingly slow course.

T2 again, quiet, but easy to get my head into gear find my stall and get onto the 5k run. This was where I finally caught glimpse of some of the runners from my wave, making the most of my average ride left me with fresh legs to unleash on the run. Setting a good click from the off and keeping it on until I saw the finish line. All this endurance 70.3 training really does pay off mentally for these shorter races… just maybe not so physically. My 5k run time was 19mins, not too shabby if I do say so myself with the training I’ve been doing.

I knew I was fresh going into the race, but still a little shocked at my progression in the sport from last years attempt. A saving of 2+mins with a longer transition and swimming an extra 100… Pretty happy with myself.

Race Stats:
Position: 74th
Overall Time:  1:18:58
Distances: 750m Swim – (T1) – 25K bike – (T2) – 5K Run
Split Times: 12:46 – (1:10) – 44:35 – (1:04) – 19:21
 

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