Thames Turbo Race 3: This sprint series is a great way to get into triathlon. It’s friendly and well run. It’s also over early so you can get on with the rest of your bank holiday. Of course this means an early start – for John Kellett this was 4:45am breakfast and then over to Hampton Pool for 5:30: ‘At my start time I slotted into place in line for the pool swim and found that I was between the same 2 people I was between in Race 2. Appropriate hellos were said and then it was “3,2,1 go.” The 426m pool swim felt like it went well and I was able to pass a couple of people without any real delay and without pressure to let people past. 27th in AG but down to 28th after T1.’
Viceroy Carl Fisher entered the Thames Turbo (Race 3) late on Wednesday as a direct result a poor show at Dorney last weekend : ‘I got a real kick in the butt there, surely I wasn’t as bad as my times suggested, after all I had been fairly consistent over the winter and I was expecting to at least be in similar shape to this time last year.I was quite tactical with my entry submission, entering a reasonably quick swim time so I didn’t get held up in the pool, but a long overall time so they put in an early wave and I didn’t have to hang around at the start. It paid off and I will try that again next time.
Swim went pretty well overtaking two guys in front me and only getting held up for a few seconds. I do need to remember where the slides are on the last lap as I always smack my hand on them and one day it will really hurt.
T1 was pretty smooth and uneventful which is always a good thing. Bike mount wasn’t very slick but at least I didn’t hurt myself….or anyone else!’ Out onto the bike for John too: ‘It was a bit windy with headwinds in both directions. Got held at the traffic lights for the full phase (in theory 20 seconds but felt much more). Apart from that and a particularly obstructive dustbin wagon (on a bank holiday!!) the ride went ok. Was passed by only one rider on a “full-aero with disk” setup so didn’t feel too bothered about that on my trusty roadie. Up to 15th in AG but down to 17th after T2. Out onto the run and felt really good. The figure-of-8 course round Bushy Park is a mix of tarmac and trail and is a really nice place to run. The breeze wasn’t too troublesome either so all-in-all a good run. End result : 13th in AG in 1:12:56 knocking a handful of seconds off my pb. (Swim 9:34 [-6 secs],Bike 38:47 [+15 secs], Run 22:15 [-13 secs])’
This was Carl’s first trip out on his rebuilt (by him!) TT bike and: ‘I immediately felt benefit of the winter upgrades. I felt like I rode smoothly and was feeling calm and in control. I promise the crash that happened between two cars on the turning point as I arrived into the roundabout was nothing to do with me, but they the divers may have been distracted by the sight of me in my Pink tri suit.
My run last week was so bad that I think I may have held a bit back on the bike as I really wanted to do a decent last leg. As ever, finding the balance across the three disciplines is always a challenge.
The run for me has always been tough but today I clocked a 22.45 which topped a very satisfactory morning’s work. No fireworks, champagne or cigars but an honest reflection of where I thought I was. Plenty still to work on but for the first time in a while, I actually enjoyed being out there racing and if felt that I’d found some kind of rhythm. More importantly, my heads back in the right place.
Finished 21st in AG with 1:13:22
Viceroy Marc Highton was 9th in AG and Charlotte Saunders smashed the field taking 1st female in 1:04.
