So to race 2. These races have pool swims and competitors are set off at 15 second intervals. I was number 447, so my start time would be around 8:45 am. This wouldn't be a problem at all if I didn't have to register sometime between 6:00 and 6:30 am; but unfortunately, I did; so I had to get up at 5:15 for a race starting 3 1/2 hours later. The early morning had its usual effect: I got up, stumbled around loading everything in the car, kissed Pam goodbye, got in the car, remembered that I'd forgotten to eat breakfast, ate breakfast, got in the car, drove off and then promptly drove back to the house where I went in to get my pump and then finally made my way to Hampton Pool where I picked up my number, had the same number written on various bits of my body with marker pen, racked Serenity and then mooched around for a long time, variously reading, drinking coffee, queuing for the loo, watching people swim, queuing for the loo again but mostly watching the cold Northerly wind shaking the trees. There was steam rising from the heated pool until the wind took it, and it was almost as cold as the last race.
Finally, fifteen pages, two coffees, three visits to the loo and assorted mooching later it was approaching my moment. I sorted out transition, stripped down to my trisuit and went and joined yet another queue, this one featuring an array of shivering goose-pimply misery. "I'm swiiiimmmminng in the Caribbean, the Caribbean and I'm in my haaaaaaapppy place" sang racer 446 as we stood with our feet warming in the kiddie pool waiting to start. 445... 446... 447 and Mr Taylor sent me off.
Twelve lengths, 426m. The pool is divided into six lanes so you go up one side, turn, back down the other side, go under the lane line as you turn, rinse and repeat. I tried to keep my stroke rate up, my legs up and my head down and just enjoyed the lovely warm water. The seeding was obviously dead on: no-one overtook me, I overtook no-one and the whole swim was easy and trouble free. Coming out of the water my time was 8:13, 27 seconds faster than race 1. I put on a rain jacket in T1 because the cold wind was really Oh so cold, shoes, helmet, sunnies, number, stuffed a gel up the leg of my trisuit and scampered out to the bike mount. Total time (swim and T1) was 10:21.
The start of the bike course is just outside the entrance to the pool, just before a bus stop. Of course, when I got there the bus stop was occupied by a bus which was also blocking the road and so I had to wait until old Mrs Miggins had found her bus pass before I could start riding. Once it had actually started moving the bus seemed to be unable to go at a speed greater than 18 mph as it slowly drifted down into Hampton with me grinding my teeth until the driver swung over in a leisurely fashion into another bus stop, this time giving me enough room to pass. Out of the saddle, bang bang bang and up to speed, down on the bars, take the left turn onto the main road towards Hampton Court and up to 40 kph. That bit was fine, but it was also the only bit where there was any real tailwind. Once round the roundabout and heading back to Hampton it was headwinds and crosswinds, and there was nothing for it but to try to stay aero and grind into the wind. Nothing remarkable happened on the way out to Chertsey. I negotiated the Nine Speedbumps of Doom and the Potholes of Despair in Sunbury without falling off or breaking my bike, and successfully swerved around every one of the Uncountable Traffic Calming Measures of Shepperton. All the way the crosswinds blew me around and slowed me down, and knowing the wind was a Northerly I didn't expect it to get any better on the way back. I was correct.
Coming back the crosswinds were now more like a full headwind, and my enjoyment was increased by the traffic. First I got stuck behind a slow-moving Fiat in Shepperton, and then another car in Sunbury which took it veeery easy over the Speedbumps of Doom, went a little faster for a couple of minutes but then stopped altogether because somewhere in the distance there was a bus coming in the other direction. Nice one. Having escaped Sunbury and its combination of shocking road surfaces, excessive traffic calming measures and drivers who seem to have taken too many mogadons I put the hammer down as best I could for the last couple of kms back to the bike stop, enjoying the close attentions of the driver of a dark blue BMW who clearly thought that six inches space was plenty to pass a bike. Total bike time 39:06 or 33.3 kph average speed. Annoying because I really lost a lot of time to the bus and the Sedated Sunbury Sedan.
One consequence of the neutralised zone in the TTTC races is that you suddenly go from easy pootling along to full-on race mode. As soon as I got into T2 I was back racing and after a quick change of shoes, helmet and jacket off I was off running. I immediately felt good: I was moving along nice and fast and everything seemed just right. I nipped around someone on the way out of transition, out onto the road and got the hammer down. Up to bushy park, reeling in another competitor, through the gate
and then onto the big loop that you run. I went past the 1km sign at 4:40 on the clock (including T1), left by the drinks station and past the 2km sign with my Garmin registering a 3:39 km split. Interesting: my stride was shorter than a normal 5k race but my cadence was high and I just felt good. The third km was a bit slower because of the wind but I carried on passing runners, including a lady who was going pretty fast herself. Then back round for the second loop, past 4km in 16:25 and could I manage a 3:35 final km for a sub-20 minute 5km run and transition from the bike? Not quite: I crossed the line in 20:06 and then had to have a little lie down on the grass for a while until I got my breath back and had a nice chat with Kat who had just done her first tri.
The final result was 47th place overall and 11th M40-49. A new PB for that course of 1:09:34, which is about a minute faster than my previous best. My combined swim and T1 of 10:22 was 134th fastest, so in the top third which is better than usual for me. Bike split of 39:06 was 70th fastest and my run+T2 split of 20:06 was 21st fastest and the fastest overall in the M40-49 category. In fact looking at the results I think my run was the fastest for any male >40, so I am officially the fastest running old grunter in sprint triathlons in Middlesex in early May.
Lessons learnt: not much that I could have done about the bus or Mr Mogadon in Sunbury, but I have a real tendency to slow my cadence down and grind when there's a headwind. My average cadence on the bike was only 83, and I know that I do best at about 90-95. The other big lesson is not to listen to myself the night before a race: I really didn'f feel like doing this the night before, and I'm really glad I did now. Finally, Fuller's London Pride seems to work very well for pre-race carbo loading.
