Notes
Triathlon was good but ran into a few problems... Finished it which was a big relief as it’s close to an Olympic distance but there is a lot of improvement required. Most of the people there were very good – there were no crap athletes unfortunately....
Swim started off incredibly badly. We were supposed to do 2 laps in a lake. When we went out to the first buoy the water was very choppy against us. I couldn’t get my breathing right and I was really struggling to get going. I was panicking a bit as my head was going under water a lot and I honestly thought I would have to pull out. I got to the first buoy and hung onto the canoe for a minute or two until I composed myself. I was miles last at that stage but I put my head down and finished the first lap. The second lap was much better and I even passed out a few people.
Really slow transition followed as I was dizzy and really tired. Finally got on the bike and I have to admit that even though the bike course was tough (windy and a few hills) I cycled really well. I haven’t worked out my speed yet but as it was windy I don’t expect it to be great. Still it was longer than the Olympic cycle and I got through it fine...
The run was a complete nightmare. I arrived in transition refreshed and ready to push on but after about 5 steps my calf was sore. Jogged 50 meters and stopped to stretch it. Stopped 3 times in the first 200 – 300 meters to get it going but no good. In the end decided to hobble along and see how I got on. Never really improved throughout but it was manageable uphill and on the flat. It was a complete killer on the downhill so I managed to get through the run but probably my slowest run time ever....