Last Weds I raced at the Brize Sprint and dragged a couple of newbie triathletes down there with me.
It was a pretty long day as we decided to travel down on the day, setting off about 6am and returning to North Yorks straight after our swim bike run escapades.
It was a really well organised race (as always...this is the RAF we're talking about here!) and although the weather threatened to be a tad nasty, it actually held fair and it was a great day out!
The 2 novices I travelled down with seemed to enjoy the race. They were understandably nervous to begin with but once I'd 'cohersed' them through the registration process there was no turning back! The whole experience hasn't put them off and they are keen to sample the delights of the Odiham and Cranwell sprints later in the year.
As far as my race went I was very happy! 2nd overall and 1st Vet was more than I was expecting!
I started in the same swim wave as Saggers and JC who are both vets, so if I was to get anywhere near the top of the pile in the vets race I knew I had to hang on to these two!
I came out of the swim with JC, with Sags just a few precious seconds behind us.
Out on the bike, I had JC just behind me and Saggers catching us all the time. I kept telling myself that when Sags comes past me, I must at least try and keep him in sight. I found out later that unfortunately Sags had an 'altercation' with a car, and by all accounts was very lucky to not get seriously hurt.
Out of T2 I knew JC was right behind me but couldn't work out where Sags was, but having seen the pic of me leaving T2 (right) I can see that Sags was was right there too!
The run was all about embracing the pain and pushing on and hoping that I was running fast enough to keep ahead of them!
Thankfully my run went ok, and with about a km to go I realised that I'd managed to pull away slightly from JC and that Sags hadn't managed to claw back the time he lost from his near miss on the bike.
Although I was chuffed to have finished where I did, and that everything went well with my race, the shine was obviously taken off it knowing that a fellow competitor was impeded, especially as that competitor was Sags! This result could have been a lot different but I'm sure Sags will be out for a bit of sporting revenge at our next race (aka battle!) at Odiham! See ya there mate!
(I promise I won't get my missus to pull out on you next time!!)
Train smart.
