Chirk Sprint Triathlon
On Sunday 17th April I participated in Chirk Sprint Tri, my first triathlon in the UK and the last event of Chester Tri Club’s winter league. Starting the race at the top of the league and following consistent performances in training and races over the winter, I was looking forward to a strong start to the triathlon season.
The triathlon, which consisted of a 400m pool swim, 24km cycle and 5km hilly run, started in the morning but luckily I wasn’t setting off till the afternoon, giving me time to get to Chirk by train. I arrived early and was informed that we would be starting 20 minutes behind schedule, so I took the opportunity to familiarise myself with the transition area and the start and finish of the bike and run, while chatting to some of my friends from Chester Tri Club and watching others finish their race.
After setting up my equipment in transition, I made my way to the poolside. It was strange starting a race without being able to do a swim warm-up, but we set off and I managed to get into quite a good rhythm. I finished the swim in 6:39 in 8th place and ran out to my bike for a quick transition before starting the cycle. Since it was a time trial and I wasn’t racing with a watch, I had no indication of how I was getting on, but I got onto the bike and started working hard.
A couple of weeks before I had gone to Chirk with some other Chester tri club members to cycle the bike course and I’m very glad I did as it was quite a strange course. The scenery (which is beautiful!) is deceptive in that it makes the road look flat, but in actual fact on the way out you are steadily climbing, whereas you go back down quite fast apart from a hill towards the end. In general, the roads were really bumpy, but the beautiful weather made it all very enjoyable, although being overtaken by the fast guys behind me was slightly less enjoyable!
My 1st transition and cycle time was 45:16, 11th fastest of the female participants. As I started the run, I was quite worried as it’s a renowned hilly course, with one guy being convinced it was 10km just because the hills made it feel so long!
Although I had pushed hard on the bike, my legs felt surprisingly fresh as I started the run and I felt strong throughout (although being overtaken by the Chester tri club member who ran the fastest time of the whole field (16:22!!) did make me feel slightly slow). I ran cautiously as I kept thinking it was going to get worse, but as we turned round to head back I started to think that maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought. As I ran up the last hill, I started realising that I had been a bit too cautious, as I was still feeling quite fresh. It might have worked in my favour as I finished strong and even overtook a few runners on the way, but I think if I had been less cautious, I might have been able to go slightly faster.
My 2nd transition and run time was 22:00, so I was pleased to have run under 22 minutes on such a hilly course. This was the ninth fastest time of the female participants and I finished the race in 1:13:55, in 8th place out of 128 females and in 91st place overall out of 368 competitors. Having crossed the finish line, it was time for another quick transition to gather all my belongings and race back to the train station to get the train back to Chester and finish my 5,000 word assignment which was due the next day!
I was really pleased with my placing in the race and with my result, which was good enough for me to win the club league, with a score of 466.36% out of a potential 500. I have a couple of triathlons planned for May, the first being the BUCS Sprint Triathlon on the 1st May, followed by the Full Boar Sprint Triathlon on the 15th May. I’m looking forward to a good season, and would like to thank Dermot for always believing in me, Chester Tri Club, and Barry, swimming coach at the Chester Academy.
RESULTS
LEAGUE RESULTS
The triathlon, which consisted of a 400m pool swim, 24km cycle and 5km hilly run, started in the morning but luckily I wasn’t setting off till the afternoon, giving me time to get to Chirk by train. I arrived early and was informed that we would be starting 20 minutes behind schedule, so I took the opportunity to familiarise myself with the transition area and the start and finish of the bike and run, while chatting to some of my friends from Chester Tri Club and watching others finish their race.
After setting up my equipment in transition, I made my way to the poolside. It was strange starting a race without being able to do a swim warm-up, but we set off and I managed to get into quite a good rhythm. I finished the swim in 6:39 in 8th place and ran out to my bike for a quick transition before starting the cycle. Since it was a time trial and I wasn’t racing with a watch, I had no indication of how I was getting on, but I got onto the bike and started working hard.
A couple of weeks before I had gone to Chirk with some other Chester tri club members to cycle the bike course and I’m very glad I did as it was quite a strange course. The scenery (which is beautiful!) is deceptive in that it makes the road look flat, but in actual fact on the way out you are steadily climbing, whereas you go back down quite fast apart from a hill towards the end. In general, the roads were really bumpy, but the beautiful weather made it all very enjoyable, although being overtaken by the fast guys behind me was slightly less enjoyable!
My 1st transition and cycle time was 45:16, 11th fastest of the female participants. As I started the run, I was quite worried as it’s a renowned hilly course, with one guy being convinced it was 10km just because the hills made it feel so long!
Although I had pushed hard on the bike, my legs felt surprisingly fresh as I started the run and I felt strong throughout (although being overtaken by the Chester tri club member who ran the fastest time of the whole field (16:22!!) did make me feel slightly slow). I ran cautiously as I kept thinking it was going to get worse, but as we turned round to head back I started to think that maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought. As I ran up the last hill, I started realising that I had been a bit too cautious, as I was still feeling quite fresh. It might have worked in my favour as I finished strong and even overtook a few runners on the way, but I think if I had been less cautious, I might have been able to go slightly faster.
My 2nd transition and run time was 22:00, so I was pleased to have run under 22 minutes on such a hilly course. This was the ninth fastest time of the female participants and I finished the race in 1:13:55, in 8th place out of 128 females and in 91st place overall out of 368 competitors. Having crossed the finish line, it was time for another quick transition to gather all my belongings and race back to the train station to get the train back to Chester and finish my 5,000 word assignment which was due the next day!
I was really pleased with my placing in the race and with my result, which was good enough for me to win the club league, with a score of 466.36% out of a potential 500. I have a couple of triathlons planned for May, the first being the BUCS Sprint Triathlon on the 1st May, followed by the Full Boar Sprint Triathlon on the 15th May. I’m looking forward to a good season, and would like to thank Dermot for always believing in me, Chester Tri Club, and Barry, swimming coach at the Chester Academy.
RESULTS
LEAGUE RESULTS
Johanna
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