Since my last blog, I have competed at 2 more races; the Cleveland Steelman Mid distance and the RAF Sprint Champs.
The Steelman didn't exactly go to plan in terms of 'race day prep'. With 20 mins to the starting hooter, I went to put my suit on and realised I had lost my timing chip! Blind panic searching then ensued! Couldn't find it, so had to get another chip from the registration tent which was a few hundred metres away! Then trying to put a suit on when you're sweating is not an easy thing to do! Anyway, I made it to the start line in time, but way out of position and subsequently got a bit of a bashing by the faster swimmers during the early part of the swim.
The rest of the race went ok. It was the first outing for my new Shimano TR51 cycle shoes which I got from Tri UK last week and are by far the most comfortable cycle shoes I've ever worn!
The bike leg, although pretty flat, was tough due to the wind, but I just tried to keep the 'hammer down' for as long and hard as I could!Subsequently, the start of the run was a slow, painful one for me due to the quads cramping up a bit, but once I got into my stride and after downing a couple of gels, I really enjoyed the 'cross country' style 12 miler.
My splits for the Steelman....
2km swim 32:15
90km bike 2:38:10
12 mile run 1:24:21
Total time 4:36:28
I was happy with my time as it was quite an improvement on last year. I finished 14th overall (240 starters) and 6th in my age group.
4 days later was the RAF Sprint Champs. I did VERY little in those 4 days apart from lots of stretching and massaging and ate protein by the bucket load! I really wasn't expecting a lot from the race at Cranwell but as I felt ok on the Tuesday evening, I thought I would be able to manage a sprint distance without any dramas!
The race went well for me, although there were a few 'admin' problems with the timings. The snags were no doubt due to the amount of on the day entries swelling the numbers (myself included!), calling for the swim times to be revised last minute and creating quite a bit of confusion with the maths at the end! However, it was a good race and it was great to catch up with a few faces I hadn't seen for a while.
My plan was to just go all out from the off and hang on for as long as my body would let me! As I ran under the finish inflatable, I stopped my watch at just over 1 hr 6 mins which was 3 mins quicker than the original 'official' time! No matter though, coz from all the timing confusion (sorry Paul F, we may never know!!) I managed to emerge with the vets title!
So on the face of it, 4 races in 3 and a half weeks would seem too excessive and is something I would never usually contemplate however, with appropriate recovery between them, I managed to race pretty well I think!
Train and rest well.
