After some coercion from a couple of Sprint Distance stars, I made my way down to Worthing on bank holiday weekend for a crack at the Olympic distance tri. As the final ETU qualifier for the year, the field seemed pretty strong. It was also an opportunity to don my Viceroys vest for the first time this year, after a big money mid season transfer from B2P.
Some swell and wind blown chop made the swim interesting with some fight club at the first turn bouy. Not my strongest discipline, and too much time in calm Shepperton lake saw me exit at the back pack after 25:41 minutes, which makes me think the course was generously short. A swift transition, I was out on the bike in 170th place.
Bike course was not as flat as I expected, more ‘rolling’, but with a couple of good opportunities to get into a rhythm and time trial it. Some light rain combined with the wind saw a few crashes, and the open roads resulted in some frustration for both cyclists and drivers as we got stuck behind some of the slower competitors. A good out and back course though, and a decent run in allows you to set up for T2 (52 seconds!), out onto the run in 147 place.
The run started off well, about 10-15 secs/ km inside my usual pace, on a 2 lap course. It became pretty clear at the first dead turn that my stunning outward pace was largely a result of a 15 mph tailwind, which was now a little less helpful. This is a the first footrace where I have actively drafted other competitors, pedestrians and beach furniture. I made the most of the final outward drag, then turned and hung on for the final 3km home, crossing the line in 2:25: all up, in 135 place, pretty much mid field.
After 4 years of training for long course, this was a pretty swift reminder what threshold feels like!
Weymouth felt more my bag, being greeted by a beautiful clear morning and millpond sea. The swim start was great, being a ‘rolling start’, and a simple triangular course, I was back out in 33 mins. The bike course was reasonably hilly for the first 50 k, most rolling up the way with some terrifying fast downhill sections to keep you sharp. Really well organised and marshalled, plenty of aid stations etc, and a mostly downhill and fast 30k to finish up saw me putting my trainers on after 2hr 48 mins.
The run couldn’t have been much flatter, a breeze coming off of the sea, the sun out and loads of support everything was lined up for a good finish. Harry Wiltshire shot past me at the finish (for him- I had 14k left), so I was inspired to pick up the pace and finished the run in 1hr 43mins, 5hr15 m all in, 12 AG. Maybe biased being a Dorset lad, but one of my favourite races so far, and one for next year.
Having completed the race with both Challenge and IM, I’ve got to give it to IM, it was far better organised, laid out and presented. Of course, it also cost an extra £100!!
Box Hill Ballbuster next?
