T100

The build up

The week of the triathlon I felt pretty strong with no issues. The food and rest the night before also ran pretty smoothly. Dropping off my little bottom of the range Liv bike felt kinda funny when seeing all the fancy pancy bikes which cost as much as my car. It also helped me remember I am a beginner and beginners make mistakes and thats ok!

The day

The day started off with a bit of a struggle. I found it really hard to consume anything at breakfast but luckily whatever I did get in me seemed to do the trick.

It was quite cool and exciting before hand as it was the most professional triathlon I had done with fake tattoos to put on my arms and prizes for winners (not that I was going to come close).

The race started off pretty smoothly with a quick swim and PB! The 1.5km swim felt pretty comfortable till the last 200m when everyone was sort of piling up over the top of each other as apparently not everyone looks where they are going like I do. This wasnt the best and it meant I got out the water feeling pretty drained. However, it was my first time so I quickly snapped back into your beginner don't take yourself so seriously mode. I completed the swim in 34minutes which is a 2:17/100m pace. I was satisfied with this because I had only done 1 swim actually at the distance in the water before the race. I came 90th in the swim for my gender and age out of 166 so I was a little sad to be just over half way but also not surprised considering I am now in the dreaded F25-29 age group (the most competitive).

Exiting the 1.5k swim

Now onto my worse leg the bike. It actually went exactly to plan. I started the bike feeling a bit sick from the swim but it quickly went away and then I was actually really enjoying it. I certainly wasn't pushing myself with my heart rate in Z2-3 but I think this was a good thing as the ultimate aim was to enjoy my first standard distance triathlon. I aimed to cycle at an average pace of 25km/h and i did this with a pace just shy of 26km/h. I completed the 40km bike leg in 1h25m51s. I had a gel before the bike segment, 1 during and 1 just after alongside my carbohydrate mix drink in my bottle on my bike. I quickly dropped down the rankings in the bike back to 130th.

40km Bike

Finally onto my favourite part, the run! The 10km felt the best a 10km has ever felt. I took one gel during the 10km taking my total gels consumed during the race to 4. I felt like I was flying around comfortably at a much lower heart rate than I expected for the held pace. I ran the 10km in 50minutes with an average pace of 4:59/km. I was ecstatic about this because not only was a PB but it was a comfortable one after already 2hours of activity. Therefore, I was raring to go for the next race. In the run I came 22nd in my age group, quite clearly showing my strongest discipline.

10km Run

I finished the race with a total time of 3h2m46s and 67th out of 166 in my age group and gender. Which is a little frustrating because I could have quite easily knocked a few minutes off with a better bike segment and transition 1. Transition 1 did involve about 500m of running up stairs and along slippy floors so I should be a bit kinder to myself but I am only human and that is difficult to do when you are competitive.

Finish line

My take aways from this race

1. I much prefer racing when I am not trying and I am just taking it all in

2. I am a lot fitter than I give myself credit for and if I really want to smash my next races I do need to try harder at the start.

3. Cycling massively improves my aerobic capacity and therefore has improved the pace I can run my easy runs at massively

4. Eating enough is so so so important. I ate just about enough throughout the training block and actually ended up losing a tiny tiny bit of weight. I have put it all back on now but I think I came close to an injury so it has reminded me to really eat up next time.

5. I really want to do a 70.3 but I have no desire to race it, just do it like this one. Slow, happy and enjoyable.

Thank you for reading!