Windsor
Swim
New course really suited, coming 3rd in my wave.
Bike
all was going well and was well on course for beng very close to 1hour, but unfortunately my aero bar became lose on the drift road and completely came off at the top of the great park, a little stressful and cramp as I tried to get off the bike meant I finished in 1:03.
Run
having experienced cramp at Rimini I was confident that given a gel I would be fine, I eased into my run and was soon off, a super busy course made things difficult, but manageable.
Result 2:16 ish
a bit of an improvement overall on last year, a lot of this was on the bike, but I lost a fair bit as the transition was so long and complex, no major damage done to the bike other than a couple of lost bolts!
Dambuster
Swim
I really paid for my overconfidence here, as I set off right at the front and was quickly out of puff and tried to slow down resulting in getting swamped! A bit of a move to the side and I started again, and gradually got back on track but struggled to find any feet.
Bike
I LOVE this bike course, it starts with a steep exit onto the main road, and then a nice section of false flat to help get into a rhythm then the lap really flows with a couple of climbs, but some really fast single carriageway as well.
Run
I noticed Hamish Wilson who id met on holiday last year just in front as I exited T2, and tried to keep pace, I struggled with this but soon go picked up by Tim George and kept pace with him until half way, I eased off the pace at this point as I felt a lot slushing about in my stomach, but when I realised Christophe was less than 10 minutes behind me I tried to pick up the pace again, picking off Tim and Hamish, finishing in 2:11:57.
Injury 29/06
I had a small disaster on a Monday morning brick session as I fell down a rabbit hole and felt a massive pop in my ankle, I was coming into some awesome form at this stage but a sprained ankle and a recommended 8 weeks of running was a nightmare, I was pretty good about rehab, and resting with the exception of the Bananaman.
Bananaman Team Time Trial (with Christophe and Dwight)
The last few years have been really frustrating with being in teams who weren't that well matched (this is impossibly difficult to do!) this year I finally made the BTS a team but we struggled to find a third after Rob Bayliss had to pull out through injury, so we had to rope in a ringer!
Swim
S[oo we weren't that well matched here, Dwight is a fish, and Christophe isn't far off, we tried setting up a draft, but I couldn't keep up with him so just had to do my own thing, I pushed as hard as I could and was out of the water in 12 minutes - not bad for 800m!
Bike
here's where all my work came into its own, Dwight was doing IM Switzerland the week later so wasn't pushing hard on the bike but is fast enough to hold a wheel and as the wind picked up did a few turns at the front, but basically it was 'Stoff and I monstering it on the bike, I knew the Muir/Poulter team would have a bit of a lead after the swim so we worked hard to reel them in catching them around lap 4 of 6, we lost Christophe a couple of times on the bike where he went a bit deep on his turn on the front and we didn't notice.
Run
we set off just under 4 min kms, and basically held this throughout, the other two had capability to push on but after killing myself on the swim and bike and my sprained ankle I didn't have much left in the tank, it quickly became apparent we had a >4 min lead so we cruised round at this pace.
Major aim of the season completed with a race victory!
My first ever 25mile TT (13/07 55:02 P885)
Kate had been told she should do this race as it was a fat course and a good intro into 25 mile TT'ing, I signed up as well but despite it being a middle marker event (no racing unless your PB was over 56 minutes) I didn't get a ride, but I had decided that I'd take a risk and register as a reserve.
it was a bit nerve wracking, waiting in the run up for 6 other people to drop out, but at about lunchtime on Monday I got an email from the organiser saying I was in.
The warm up wasn't ideal as I rode up the fairly steep hill with my wheel wonky pushing out huge watts and having the entire field flying past me, thankfully the problem was easily fixed and I rolled towards the start.
the course starts with a Gift Hill (a bill you go down but don't have to go back up) and kept a lid on the power, I was trying to negative split the race, annoyingly my 30 second man caught me after about 2 miles, although he was the eventual winner so not the end of the world.
it wasn't ideal conditions but riding along a dual carriageway with a decent tail wind was a hoot, Kate and I had recced the course before the race but we weren't sure on the finish, and with 2 miles to go my garmin said turn left and the route marking was a bit confusing but seemed to indicate a right turn, I went right but had a massive loss of confidence, and went mental at myself as I was clearly having a good ride, but after a mile of trying to work out whether to turn round, or climb up the bank I saw a sign say 1 mile to the finish, instantly re-focussed and gave it everything.
I stopped just past the finish line and waited for Kate to see if she'd beaten me - thankfully not, and once we got back to the HQ I discovered I was 7th overall and fastest reserve and Kate was fastest lady by about 3 minutes. we headed to M&S for some winners sandwiches funded by our newly won wealth!
Marlow Middle (DNS)
due to my ankle injury I pulled out of the Marlow middle which was a bit upsetting but I ended up in a relay team doing the swim, I had a bit of a repeat of the Dambuster but after about 500m I was picking my way through the field and ended up with a 33 minute swim.
I then had a bit of a chill and headed out to do 2/3 of the bike before heading back to the start to make sure the handover to Andrea to do the run went ok. watching the runners was really painful, especially as people from BTS went faster than my time last year, and I knew that based on form I should be flying around possibly edging close to 4:30 (the bike and run are both quite short)
Second ever 25 Mile TT (25/07 56:10 H25/8)
tough conditions, and a faulty power meter, but my two minute man was someone I thought would probably do a 50, so my aim was to hold him off until 15 miles, which would give a good chance of a 54, I achieved this, but unfortunately my prediction was wrong and I ran out of puff, and slowed massively over the final 10 miles, bit of a disappointing result, but good to know I can go sub 1hour on a slower course as well!
Club Champs
leading into this race I'd rested and rehabbed my ankle as much as possible and upped my swimming and cycling training to try to compensate, I started with a couple of easy runs the week before and the ankle felt ok, so decided to enter the race, and while I was confident of my bike and swim I didn't think they were strong enough to compensate for my lack of run speed vs. Paul Fitzpatrick and Christophe who would surely gain a big advantage on the swim.
Swim
My plan was to try to find some fast feet, and I worked out that Louise or Jason would be ideal, I quickly found myself in the second group behind what looked like some ladies feet, thinking I was behind Louis I was pretty happy, thinking I'd likely lose less than a minute to the fastest guys and save a bucket load of energy for the bike and run, I stayed on the feet throughout, although I realised towards the end as I overtook my fast feet that it was Phillipa who is a great swimmer but not quite as quick as my targets!
T1
I fell out of the water, thinking perhaps I'd blown my chance, but a word from Kate that the others were less than 2 minutes ahead and a super fast transitions (17 seconds!!!!) I was out on the road.
Bike
although it was a bit wet, conditions were ideal, with really low wind and blowing from the east meaning you get a benfit on the exposed bit of the course, with more shelter into the wind, I concentrated on trying to hold 260ish watts and being as aero as I could (keeping shoulders hunched, head down, etc) I was flying past everyone and seeing a few people with punctures, but no sign of Christophe or Paul, unfortunately on the 3rd lap I saw the forlorn figure of Christophe walking back to transition, I had mixed feelings about this, in that it obviously increased my chances of being the club champ but any victory gained through the misfortune of others is in its nature less satisfying. still no sign of Paul but I eventually saw him on the 4th and final lap, just when I'd nearly given up hope. I absolutely buried myself in the last 1km both to stop him latching onto my back wheel, and also to build as much of a buffer as possible
T2
It nearly all ended early when in my desperateness for a fast transition I forgot the grass would be slippery and overshot my spot, thankfully grabbing the bar, and staying upright. I knew Paul was close and was a lot more run fit than I was, but I also knew he was hoping to be ahead of me in t2, I tried to pile the pressure on him as much as possible by setting off as fast as I could clocking 3:40 for the first KM, my ankle felt horrible, and I was mentally preparing myself for what I would do if Paul overtook me, and if I'm honest I would have probably stopped at that point as I was running at 5 weeks after being told not to for 8 weeks and risking long term damage for second place didn't seem worth it, thankfully at the first turn I'd pulled out about a 30 seconds lead on Paul and I think probably got into his head a little, I eased off a bit here and worked on maintaining form and holding the gap, the next turn Paul had clawed back 5 seconds or so, but I knew I had a bit more in the legs and I started thinking about trying for a sub 1hour time, and used that as motivation to pick up the pace on the final lap, a check at the final turn ad I was comfortable that no-one would catch me so it turned into a time trial.
The end result was a very close 1:00:07, but a KOM on the strava segment for the race, and a sprint tri run PB together with some impossibly fast transitions and I cant be disappointed, in reality I think the swim course was a bit longer than when I raced earlier in the year and did an 11:30!
The Big Swim
this is a race I'd seen advertised a few times, in Port Isaac where my parents have a holiday cottage, and this year decided to complete it. I knew the distance was 5k but in my mind it was from port Gaverne to Port Isaac, not so I realised in the week leading up to the race, which made it seem like a tougher task but id put plenty of swim training in the run up and was feeling confident of my ability. unfortunately leaving for Cornwall at 5am was a bit of a rush and I managed to leave both of my wetsuits at home, realising this as soon as we arrived I went on a mission of contacting everywhere I could think off to get a wetsuit and eventually was offered the loan of a one by a local not racing. it was a well used and far too long in the body for me but vs the idea of swimming 5k in skins it was a no brainer.
Not much to say about the swim as I wasn't treating it as a race but it was stunning conditions, with super clear water, and a lovely event which I will definitely do again if possible!
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