Relative success... North West Triathlon Race Report

So yesterday I got myself back out onto the triathlon scene, with the new meds for my AS seemingly making me feel the best I have in many years.  However, things didn't go completely to plan...

So Saturday was an absolutely glorious day - warm, sunny and what more could you want for an end of season triathlon - however, a quick look at the weather forecast indicated a slightly different picture for Sunday morning.

And being woken up before the 6am alarm by the pounding rain outside didn't do anything to assuage fears that this could be an unpleasant day out.  Driving to Nantwich there was a lot of surface water around and I was genuinely sceptical about safety on the bike - but at least on getting close to the venue I saw the marshal's vehicle turning off the bike course, so knew people had at least been out to have a look.  Whilst registering and prepping up the rain was on and off, so who knew what was going to happen?  And I wasn't sure what footwear to use for the run - I'd even brought my x-country spikes with me in case.  However, it felt firm underfoot - so I put my tried and tested racing shoes into T2 and headed down to T1 and swim with my bike.

A quick rack later and I'm by the pool and the topic of conversation revolves around 2 things - firstly the number of people who haven't turned up, and secondly the strange phenomenon of blue sky overhead.  Maybe this isn't going to be so bad after all!

So into the pool for the swim - but due to so many people missing not many feet to stick too.  I nipped past someone on the first length and into clear water.  Swim felt pretty good and easy - a couple of people came flying past (but that's normal for me), and I completed the 16 lengths fairly happily.  But when I got out I appear to have been dawdling - a good 90 seconds slower than expected, and I hadn't expected anything fast!  Super annoying as in the last few weeks my swim has been feeling much better, but here I was not even achieving my warm-up pace...

Anyhow - swimming has never been my strong point so onto the bike and start pushing away.  The first 19km of the circuit were pretty uneventful - head down and trying to keep a fairly consistent power on.  Slowly hauling people in and average pace on the watch looks reasonable - no records being broken but a solid effort.  Then, having just overtaken someone for the second time I have to stop for traffic at a road junction - they nip past and as I start to put the power down again a worrying noise and feeling from my rear wheel.  A look behind and I clearly don't have any air left in it.  I spend the next 500M riding slowly out of the saddle, as I contemplate my options - then decided its going to be quickest to run with the bike for the rest of the root.  Not fancying running in cleats I'm barefoot on the road and grass verge for the last km or so, and thankful that I have hobbit feet from not wearing shoes that much during the summer.

So, dawdling into T2 its clear that I'm unlikely to get to the sub 70 minute target I had, so I take time to clean all the road debris off my feet and then get running.  I decide I may as well enjoy the run, but not make myself hurt too much!  So settling into an easy sub 22 min pace I enjoy my run - high-5's with the fantastic cadets who are marshalling, a chat with the photographer and a bit of encouragement to some of the awesome athletes doing the event to raise money for good causes.  Run is done soon enough and I can enjoy a drink at the end.  Catching up with a couple of people we chat to on Instagram, and nice support from people offering commiserations regarding the puncture.

Then off to T2 to pick-up my detritus and head home to see the family... my bike is looking suspiciously innocent on the racking - no obvious signs that its done anything it shouldn't..

 So how do I feel overall?  Its a bit difficult to frame up in my mind... its the first triathlon I've ever done where I'm pain free and not worried about my body going into it - and a such I really enjoyed it.  Punctures happen, and I didn't let it ruin my day and still clocked a time that a lot of people would be happy with.  I enjoyed the run and met some great people (as you always do).  In actual fact the one thing that is really annoying me is the swim, before any issues with the bike or anything else!  Why was I so slow?!

So - its clear what I need to work on, and just a shame that I'm feeling the best I have in years at the end of the season.  So now I have my x-country spikes dusted off maybe a bit more running, time in the pool to sort that swim out, and start planning for 2020!