Matt quickly helped me get my wheels on my bike, then it was off to register and set up in transition. Luckily there were no queues so registration went quite quickly. The fun started when I got to transition, only to discover it was 2 inches under water/mud….picture ‘The Battle of the Somme’…I found my number, got my bike on the rack, but then where to put my kit??? I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. I finally made a plan by using the bag I keep my wetsuit in as a mat, and thankfully the three guys to my left didn’t turn up so I had some additional (mud filled) space. Had I known this before, I would have used my tri box with lid which would have really helped in the mud.
But anyway, no time to worry about the mud, I had to get to the start line. I grabbed my goggles, wetsuit and cap and headed for the start. I missed most of the briefing so had no idea on the swim route, I just hoped I’d be able to follow the leaders. The swim at MK is really zig zaggy in order to get the distance in. Then I heard that the bike route and run route had to change due to the flooding in the area. Just great, more surprises on the way, I also had no idea where the bike out / in and run out were. Not too much of a problem as I can usually follow someone else.
I had just enough time to get my suit on and get into the water, I was barely in when I heard 5…4…3…2…1 GO!!! Of course, I was facing the wrong direction, so a quick about turn and I was off…thankfully I was in a good position so nice clear water in front of me and a clean run to the first buoy.
After the first buoy I noticed a club mate on my left, I decided to see if I could drop her on the swim, she is deadly fast on the bike and a very quick runner so I new this would be my only opportunity to beat her. I stepped up the pace a bit and managed to put some time between us. The rest of the swim was pretty uneventful, usually the swim at MK is a bit short, and usually quite yuk as you normally get caught up in reeds near the banks. But thanks to the Monsoon season, the lake was deeper then usual so none of the usual problems.
I am pretty happy with my swim time of 00:25:33, it’s about what I should be doing based on my pool times. 10/40 in my age group 24/113 in the girls race.
Then into The Somme to get my bike, it was weird dumping my wetsuit in the mud, but what could I do, then it was time to squelch my way to the bike out and off I went. The bike was ok, not tough really, as there are no real big hills, but I felt really sluggish, like I just wasn’t getting anywhere. This wasn’t helped by the fact that it was quite cool, and all the slow swimmers were now catching me on the bike. My heart rate was also quite high, just adding to my suffering.
None the less, since I am a ‘half-full’ kinda girl, I peddled on, enjoying the scenery and trying not to pay too much attention to the fasties whizzing by me. The bike course had to be detoured due to the flooding of a particular road. But thankfully this was all well managed by the marshals along the way. The Bike courses ended up being about 5km shorts…yippee!!
It was then back to The Somme to ditch the bike and grab my trainers. And then slipped and slid out onto the run course. The run course was three laps, and once again shortened due to flooding. (yippee, ‘coz I stink at running). My feet were still frozen from the bike leg, at one point I thought I had left something in my shoe…so I stopped to check…nothing…just some frozen toes!!!
Everyone and their granny came past me on the run….literally, men and women from the 50 plus age group (old enough to be grannies!!!). Ah well, I was still enjoying myself so kept on going. On the last lap, Kate waited for me with around 200m left to run, she made me sprint the last bit in, it hurt, the whole way…yuk.
So the damage:
Splits:Total time 02:30:11
Swim: 00:25:33
T1: 00:01:26
Bike: 01:12:29
T2: 00:01:48
Run: 00:48:53
Not great but not bad…the run and bike was short, so I can’t really count this as a PB. I’m tempted though, as the chance of me getting anywhere close to 2:30 on a full distance course is slim!!!
Anyway, here is a picture of the bit of the run course that goes past the transition….crazy!!!
Next race, Antwerp this weekend….
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