Event: Vichy European Sprint Triathlon 2024
Date: 21st September 2024
What a difference a year makes!
Pontevedra September 2023
– Fractured Pelvis DNF
Vichy September 2024
– Finished!
The day started early just as the sun was rising over a calm flat Allier River. Bikes had been racked the night before, all that was required was to set out my transition space and then make our way to the start!
The swim was a deep water start with one hand on the pontoon, rhythm of heartbeats blaring over the speakers…. With only 3 mins between each wave, there was very little time to acclimatise, I was still swishing some water into my wetsuit when I heard – “On your marks, BANG!” and we were off into the river reflecting the golden sunrise.
The anticlockwise course was a massive help as I’m a left side breather. I have worked hard this year on technique and focusing on relaxing. Not only did I swim an efficient route, (usually I get my money’s worth on the swim visiting all sorts of attractions on route to the exit), it felt comfortable. Surprisingly I came out of the water further up than I could ever have hoped for.
The first 3 waves (F50, F55 & F60+) went off with nearly an hour gap before the next waves, which was perfect as we didn’t suffer the red mist fuelled younger men overtaking on bikes, as I had experienced at the 2023 Worlds.
T1: Not a lot to say, I knew exactly where my bike was and went straight to it – helmet, glasses and shoes on, run to find the mount line….did I say the mount lines were not in place before our wave!?
Cycle was 3 laps, despite this being a drafting race, I came out onto the course on my own working hard to catch and overtake cyclists. Eventually, I had another Brit for company, who initially took turns. It became apparent I was the strongest cyclist and on the final lap was left to lead (possibly they had a good race strategy, but annoying for me).
T2: I overshot the entrance to T2 and the two cyclists behind me entered transition first…doh!
I came out of transition on the run, chasing and overtaking, it felt relaxed and a good pace. This continued until I reached the river with 300m, and three right angle bends to go, when I discovered I had to find another gear in a sprint for the line. Dipping at the line but I wasn’t convinced it was enough. The official results were not published until the evening, so it was a long wait to discover my dip had done the trick!
9th at the Europeans – I’ll take that!
The very best thing about triathlons is the people and with multiple elements, you can usually find a positive… whether the run was good or even that your transition was faster than your competitors – and yes there is usually an element or two you think you could improve on. But I can honestly say this time I had an absolutely storming race, achieving way more than I thought could. One very happy Granny!
Worth noting, my planned pre-race fuel of fish pie and peas was a bit of a linguist disaster, for future I now know nothing complicated is required as all I need is a pile of mashed potato and peas!!!!
Special thanks to Rob the bike butler and my 87 year old Dad who walked many miles around Vichy to support his mad daughter. Thankfully this year didn’t include a visit to the local A&E!
