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Coming into this season I wanted return to some “longer” distance racing with the Olympic/Standard distance event. It’s been a few years since I had really done an Olympic distance of 1.5km Swim – 40km Bike – 10km Run, and with it being an Olympic year, why not! I entered Eastbourne back in January but got suckered into doing Windsor too from a bit of peer pressure, and also the draw of British champs. Unfortunately, they were back-to-back weekends.
Event: Royal Windsor Triathlon | British Championships
Date: 9th June 2024
Even though this is one of our local ‘big’ races, I’ve never entered. I thought I should give it a go, especially as it’s hosting the British Championships it should have a strong field of competitors.
Massive turnout for this one, well over 1000 in the Olympic distance and it was noticeable, very congested in all areas of the event.
Swim – Downstream swim in the Thames for 1km, absolutely flying with the pack, close to 1:00min/100m. Unfortunately, after the turn buoy it turns upstream and this is where it turns into survival of the fittest, and a bit of a washing machine, we caught some of the slower swimmers from previous waves and I lost sight of the faster guys in my wave. So had to dig in hard solo from here.
Bike – Pretty solid, feeling as comfy as you can be pushing hard on a TT bike. The only complaint was the sheer number of competitors on the course and it being on open roads, led to a few ‘dodgy’ situations, and a couple of hold ups.
Run – Consisted of 3 out and back laps up and past the castle and then part way down the Long Walk. This is where it fell apart. My body was not having it, and my pace was falling every lap.
It was a great experience racing such a stacked field at an iconic venue and to come away with 2:18:24. 10th /147 in Age Group and 47th /1349 Overall I was actually very pleased with.
The week following Windsor was all about recovery and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it to be honest, I had some very sore calves and I think I twinged something in my right arm on the swim. Thankfully some very restful days, a couple easy swims and some easy running sorted me out and I was feeling fairly fresh for the following Sunday, maybe not 100%, but ready to give it a good bash.
Event: Eastbourne Triathlon | World Age Group Qualifier
Date: 16th June 2024
I entered this race towards the start of the year, and I thought it would suit me great, it includes a tough sea swim, and a lumpy, slightly technical bike course.
The day prior and on the journey down I was receiving updates from the organisers on the weather and the potential for the swim to be canceled, it wouldn’t surprise me considering the weather we were experiencing that weekend was terrible.
On arrival the swim was still being debated, with the current plan for a shortened, 750m swim, and altered course. Great, at least that’s something. The sea state was wild, strong westerly winds were whipping up some quite big swell. Even a small bit of chop is quite noticeable when swimming. So, looking at the conditions, I was feeling a bit apprehensive, and that’s from someone quite confident in their swimming ability.
15mins later, cancelled, and new plan announced. We would do a duathlon.
So, reset, it would now be a Run – Bike – Run. In the back of my mind I had always considered we could be doing a duathlon, so I had remembered to pack socks in my kit bag, and was mentally already prepared for this to happen. Other than putting socks on, not much had changed, maybe a slightly more run focused warm-up and a slight re-organisation of transition area.
Run 1 – 5km – Having never done a duathlon I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but I knew I had to pace myself, and that’s what I tried. I tried to keep a controlled pace and made good use of fellow competitors to draft on the windy exposed sections of the run. Averaged around 3:55/km which felt sensible.
Bike – 36km 800m Elevation. Straight out onto the bike and straight uphill and into a strong headwind. I chose a road bike for this course and the field was heavily skewed towards road bikes vs TT bikes. On a calmer day it’s probably quicker on a TT bike especially if you’re confident descending, but today it was pretty even, the wind on the cliff tops was brutal it was an effort to keep momentum even on the downhills.
Run 2 – 10km – Survival mode activated, again! My legs were done, it was now quite hot too. I ended up running slower than at Windsor with a 42:40. I’ll admit there were a couple of moments I contemplated throwing in the towel on that final run. But you know our motto, NEVER SHOW WEAKNESS. I forged on doing what I could, and even managed a little sprint finish.
Came away with 2:19:39. 8th in Age Group and 48th Overall. I definitely could have done with the swim to split the field up and play more to my strengths.
Between Eastbourne and Windsor, I’d sooner do Eastbourne again. I felt the organisation and delivery of the event was much better, and the closed road bike course was a big bonus, also there were some quite nice freebies 😊
Back to Sprints now for the rest of the year!
