Monday 18 June 2012

Toshiba Windsor Tri - June 2012

Short Report:
Run (1km) - 00:03:56
T1 - 00:01:20
Bike (42km) - 01:13:05
T2 - 00:01:13
Run (10km) - 00:41:10
Total - 02:00:46
Position - Overall 147 / AG 25

Longer Report:
Heard that this event was a good one so signed up for it early in the year. Only 30mins drive from home so easy too, despite the need to register and rack the day before.

Sadly the excess rain we have had recently (are the hose pipe bands still on?) meant that the swim was cancelled and replaced with a 1km run, setting off in waves of 5 every 5 seconds. Though my 'relative' strengths in triathlons increase as the events go by and thus a duathlon would be better for me it just wasn't the same without the swim. I can go out for a cycle and a run, harder to involve the swim independtly...Having said that overall I like the event and given how easy it is I will certainly consider it again.

Since the swim was cancelled on Thursday I was considering how to handle the 1km sprint to T1? Do you go nuts or run at an easier 5 or 10km pace? In the end I thought of an interview from James Cracknell talking about his best GB time in the Marathon des sables. After being told to take it easy for the first two days ahead of the double marathon 3rd day he asked whether the first two days counted and were timed....in that case I will race them.... I took this into my start wave c7:40 in the morning. We were off, I paused for a second to ensure I wasn't caught in the funnel before the start matt and then went for it!

firing off the mark - a wee bit too fast as it turned out...
Truth be told I got a bit carried away as I sprinted off the line. I clocked my HR head north towards 200 and the 1km mark came through at 3:22 on my garmin. Had to slow up ever so slightly into T1 (00:03:56). Even with that extra effort I didn't even win my start group (of 5!) - ended up 6 in AG and 15 overall heading into T1....if only the race ended there.....

Off on the bike and I could still hear Cracknells comments in my head and tried to push harder on the bike than I had before. So aimed to keep my effort and heart rate high for the whole 42km. Managed to average 163bpm which I was happy with until I uploaded and realised that it had dropped off in the last 15 minutes. I did notice this slightly, was partly due to coming into town, but mainly due to not being able to physically or mentally maintain the effort....more fitness needed for London in September!
The ride was a nice ride and pretty flat, there was a fair bit of wind out there so stayed down on the bars as much as I could. Finished the bike in 01:13 - want to be down at 01:10 or below...

A very quick T2, well quicker than I feared as was using my Nike Free3's for the first time in a tri. Could this be the end for the old faithful pegasus? They slipped on far easier than I thought they would and I was off to face the hill that everyone mentioned. In addition I would see how running mid/fore foot striking would impact my run times if at all...

The hill wasn't too bad as you hit it almost straight out of T2 (what was all the complaining about?) - although to be fair it got harder each lap and on the third lap I could have done without it. The 10km run was a three lap kind of star/cross shaped out and back. The bridge over the thames, cobbled roads, bunting, castle and crowds made it an enjoyable run. Add in Em and my Dad cheering me on and it was good. Kms were slipping by at c4min/km, some under but more just over and I felt that i couldn't push much harder. Was good that I didn't as got it hard for the last 3 ks. But the forefoot striking / quick cadence and light feet, was working well and was constantly over taking people - which was nice after Mallorca, no getting overtaken by every man and his dog this time...
Coming down was easier than going up the hill
Was overtaken by one guy and considered going with him for a nano second before I realised how fast he was going i.e. rapidly, i put it down to the extra long legs...

Picked up the pace for the last k as I had a 6 yr old PB (London Tri 2006) in my sights. Garmin slipped through 10km at c40:20 (nice) and crossed the finish line (estimated 10.2km) in 41:10. Was please with c1min of my PB and a solid effort on the bike.

another medal to hang on the cupboard doors


More work to be done on the bike and on the swimming which I got away with today but was dissappointed to have done so. Could well be back to do this one properly.

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