Ok so on the 23rd of July I completed my first ever Triathlon which if you have been following up till now will know was the London AJ Bell.
This triathlon is reported as the largest in the world in term so participants over several distance options and routes over the weekend. One reason I haven't mentioned for why this triathlon appealed to me was the route on the Sunday for the Olympic distance.
The cycle was from the Excel in east London to Big Ben and back. Those of you who know London or have visited recently this route has recently seen the addition of a segregated cycling lane. Therefore, has become a bit of a Strava segment hotspot in central London. I saw this an opportunity with closed roads to get some PB's on this route.
So as mentioned in my previous post 'AJ Bell - training and objective change' Mike and I now found ourselves training for an IRONMAN in Wales, which on race day was 7 weeks away. Both of us didn't "taper' into the race and were now using this as a ‘Brick session’.
This triathlon is reported as the largest in the world in term so participants over several distance options and routes over the weekend. One reason I haven't mentioned for why this triathlon appealed to me was the route on the Sunday for the Olympic distance.
The cycle was from the Excel in east London to Big Ben and back. Those of you who know London or have visited recently this route has recently seen the addition of a segregated cycling lane. Therefore, has become a bit of a Strava segment hotspot in central London. I saw this an opportunity with closed roads to get some PB's on this route.
So as mentioned in my previous post 'AJ Bell - training and objective change' Mike and I now found ourselves training for an IRONMAN in Wales, which on race day was 7 weeks away. Both of us didn't "taper' into the race and were now using this as a ‘Brick session’.
So in short both Mike
and I performed incredibly well on the day. In particular, Mike swam so well he was leading the swim on his wave and because of that had the responsibility of leading 200+ around each marker.
My own personal result was a respectable finish time of 02:18:12. My target was sub 02:30:00.
I had no idea how I had done in the swim, just when I entered transition the racks were fairly empty. I always set out in my head to ride extremely hard in this race, I had focussed so much on swimming on running going into the event I was hoping I could prove to myself that the bike was my strongest discipline.
I had no idea how I had done in the swim, just when I entered transition the racks were fairly empty. I always set out in my head to ride extremely hard in this race, I had focussed so much on swimming on running going into the event I was hoping I could prove to myself that the bike was my strongest discipline.
So after setting of on the bike and starting to over take people frequently I thought I was doing quite well. However, about 10-15km in I started to do some mental maths based off my average speed on my watch. As someone who is 'good' with numbers I completely miscalculated what I should be completing 5km in time wise. I somehow convinced myself I needed to be doing an average of 60kph!! Yes 60kph..... FYI that is what PRO riders in a peloton average.
Anyways, for the next 20km I really pushed hard, most of this was the return from Big Ben back to the Excel which meant the wind was also helping. At this point as I made the final turn with about 5km to go I realised that I was actually spot on time wise and was going to complete the ride in around an hour. This is what I thought I could achieved and as I entered transition I had a massive smile on my face, although my legs were screaming at me!
I made speedy transition and exited for my run. As I came out my family were right there and this gave me a huge boost. The run was 3 laps, so for the first lap I aimed to settle into a steady pace, during this lap I calculated possible 10km times and final finish times. At this point I had time to see on my watch my total accumulated time for the first time in the race. These calculations were a lot more accurate then the previous attempts.
I remember thinking to myself even if I run a 50min 10km i'm going to be sub 02:30. Which meant I relaxed, my objective was in sight unless I completely blew up.
On the run I managed to see Mike twice, his wave set off about 20 mins before mine, but giving each other a little wave was probably the best part of the day. On my final lap I also managed to spot two supporters who came down Dan Stocks and Jennie Rothera, both very good friends of mine.
Having supporters dotted around the course made the whole experience enjoyable. If you ever enter a race, invite all your friends!!
Anyways, for the next 20km I really pushed hard, most of this was the return from Big Ben back to the Excel which meant the wind was also helping. At this point as I made the final turn with about 5km to go I realised that I was actually spot on time wise and was going to complete the ride in around an hour. This is what I thought I could achieved and as I entered transition I had a massive smile on my face, although my legs were screaming at me!
I made speedy transition and exited for my run. As I came out my family were right there and this gave me a huge boost. The run was 3 laps, so for the first lap I aimed to settle into a steady pace, during this lap I calculated possible 10km times and final finish times. At this point I had time to see on my watch my total accumulated time for the first time in the race. These calculations were a lot more accurate then the previous attempts.
My number 1 fan, she couldn't have been closer to the action!!
I remember thinking to myself even if I run a 50min 10km i'm going to be sub 02:30. Which meant I relaxed, my objective was in sight unless I completely blew up.
On the run I managed to see Mike twice, his wave set off about 20 mins before mine, but giving each other a little wave was probably the best part of the day. On my final lap I also managed to spot two supporters who came down Dan Stocks and Jennie Rothera, both very good friends of mine.
Having supporters dotted around the course made the whole experience enjoyable. If you ever enter a race, invite all your friends!!
Crossing the finish line was a great experience, although this was a distance that is achievable. I had never taken part in a large event so I will never forget this jog towards the line.
Spilt for the event
Very happy with my time, not one person over took me on the bike and I was flying past a lot of very experience kit & lycra on my allloy bag of spanners and baggie RNIB vest. To entertain myself I was trying to come up with a value for all the carbon fibre I over took on the day.... not something I can do anymore as I have since invested in a TT bike.
So now with my first triathlon done, it was time to focus on the IRONMAN in September. In order to maintain some focus and monitor any improvements I entered the Eton Dorney Olympic Triathlon which was on the 13th of August, training and race report to follow.
Lastly, before this race I weighed myself for the first time since starting my training back in May. Although at no point did I take up triathlon to lose weight, I weighed in at around 72kgs, a loss of 5kgs over 2 months.
Spilt for the event
- Swim - 26:41
- T1 - 3:36
- Ride - 1:01:54
- T2 - 2:14
- Run - 44:00
Very happy with my time, not one person over took me on the bike and I was flying past a lot of very experience kit & lycra on my allloy bag of spanners and baggie RNIB vest. To entertain myself I was trying to come up with a value for all the carbon fibre I over took on the day.... not something I can do anymore as I have since invested in a TT bike.
So now with my first triathlon done, it was time to focus on the IRONMAN in September. In order to maintain some focus and monitor any improvements I entered the Eton Dorney Olympic Triathlon which was on the 13th of August, training and race report to follow.
Lastly, before this race I weighed myself for the first time since starting my training back in May. Although at no point did I take up triathlon to lose weight, I weighed in at around 72kgs, a loss of 5kgs over 2 months.