On the 23rd July I did my first triathlon in over a year. That's a long time to be away from the sport and it hasn't been easy. A road which seemed to throw obstacle after obstacle but I'm finally back in the game, I raced, it went well and I can't wait to race again!
Race Report
Castle Howard Triathlon which is part of the Castle series, took place on Sunday 23rd July. I made the 4 hour car journey up to North Yorkshire on the Saturday and was settled into my B&B by early afternoon. Being stationary, especially sitting for a long period of time before a race is never a great idea, so to loosen up I went for a short little spin on the bike course for the following day. Planning to do about 45 minutes to get some blood flow in my legs and to see a little bit of the course; it seemed a great idea, nothing could go wrong. That is until I realized some of the direction signs for the race had not yet been put up and I'd missed a critical turning. Long story short, my mini pre-race spin ended up being a much longer affair than planned. Not a great start, but that will teach me a lesson for next time.
After that minor blunder I grabbed some dinner, went back to the B&B and went to bed as it was an early start in the morning. My alarm went off at 5 AM and after a couple of coffees and a bit of breakfast I was on my way to the race feeling very excited to get stuck back in. I arrived with plenty of time, registered, sorted my transition and had a look at the swim course before going all the way back to my car to drop all my bags off and to put my wetsuit on. It was at this point when I began to miss my bag carrier *parents*....
After a brief briefing from the organisers we were in the water and ready to go. This race was a 1500m swim, 45km bike and 10.5km run, floating on the start line I had no idea how I was going to perform but I couldn't wait to reach that finish line in front of the stunning Castle Howard.
The horn sounded and we were underway. I had a decent start and was in my own little rhythm pretty quickly whilst the best swimmers were disappearing out of my sight. The 1500m seemed to go by pretty quickly with no issues apart from a slight foliage problem in the lake with some rather overgrown weeds. Regardless, I survived and was out of the water but had lost about 3 minutes over the 20 minute swim to the leaders. After a long uphill run from the lake to transition I was breathing pretty hard but managed to get my Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit off seamlessly. I was quickly on my bike and felt 'in the zone'. I knew I had to make up time but this bike course suited me perfectly: long at 46km, and very hilly, so I set to work. I took quite a few places early on, carrying my momentum over the hills, recovering on descents and using my clip on aero bars at any opportunity. I was loving it and finally came into transition after 1h11m (fastest bike split) and now in 3rd place after coming out the water 19th. The run was always going to be difficult for me as I simply haven't been able to run properly for so long due to injury. It was quite a hilly run on mud/grass/gravel which was tough to deal with after a hard bike but I took it in my stride, made my way into 2nd place and before I knew It, it was all over.
Race Report
Castle Howard Triathlon which is part of the Castle series, took place on Sunday 23rd July. I made the 4 hour car journey up to North Yorkshire on the Saturday and was settled into my B&B by early afternoon. Being stationary, especially sitting for a long period of time before a race is never a great idea, so to loosen up I went for a short little spin on the bike course for the following day. Planning to do about 45 minutes to get some blood flow in my legs and to see a little bit of the course; it seemed a great idea, nothing could go wrong. That is until I realized some of the direction signs for the race had not yet been put up and I'd missed a critical turning. Long story short, my mini pre-race spin ended up being a much longer affair than planned. Not a great start, but that will teach me a lesson for next time.
After that minor blunder I grabbed some dinner, went back to the B&B and went to bed as it was an early start in the morning. My alarm went off at 5 AM and after a couple of coffees and a bit of breakfast I was on my way to the race feeling very excited to get stuck back in. I arrived with plenty of time, registered, sorted my transition and had a look at the swim course before going all the way back to my car to drop all my bags off and to put my wetsuit on. It was at this point when I began to miss my bag carrier *parents*....
After a brief briefing from the organisers we were in the water and ready to go. This race was a 1500m swim, 45km bike and 10.5km run, floating on the start line I had no idea how I was going to perform but I couldn't wait to reach that finish line in front of the stunning Castle Howard.
The horn sounded and we were underway. I had a decent start and was in my own little rhythm pretty quickly whilst the best swimmers were disappearing out of my sight. The 1500m seemed to go by pretty quickly with no issues apart from a slight foliage problem in the lake with some rather overgrown weeds. Regardless, I survived and was out of the water but had lost about 3 minutes over the 20 minute swim to the leaders. After a long uphill run from the lake to transition I was breathing pretty hard but managed to get my Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit off seamlessly. I was quickly on my bike and felt 'in the zone'. I knew I had to make up time but this bike course suited me perfectly: long at 46km, and very hilly, so I set to work. I took quite a few places early on, carrying my momentum over the hills, recovering on descents and using my clip on aero bars at any opportunity. I was loving it and finally came into transition after 1h11m (fastest bike split) and now in 3rd place after coming out the water 19th. The run was always going to be difficult for me as I simply haven't been able to run properly for so long due to injury. It was quite a hilly run on mud/grass/gravel which was tough to deal with after a hard bike but I took it in my stride, made my way into 2nd place and before I knew It, it was all over.
Overall second place, a result I am very happy with, after having very few expectations leading into the race. There are 2 more races in the Castle Series, Chateau de Chantilly and Hever Castle. I can't wait to do these and hopefully improve on this race result after some good quality training in August on camp in St Moritz with the TriSutto crew.
This race prompted me to reflect on my triathlon exploits and that I am so grateful for all who support me, notably ETE, Pedal Potential, Perry Agass (coach), Marlow Sports Therapy and of course, my bag carrier *parents* ;)
Thanks for reading!
This race prompted me to reflect on my triathlon exploits and that I am so grateful for all who support me, notably ETE, Pedal Potential, Perry Agass (coach), Marlow Sports Therapy and of course, my bag carrier *parents* ;)
Thanks for reading!