MK Standard Distance Triathlon
Today I raced the MK Olympic today which was also the English Age Group Championships. With a nice early start time, I set my alarm for 4am this morning to give it a go: The swim was fine; I actually enjoyed it for a change! It was a funny M shape with a bit of a loop on the end. My friend Emily, who was racing, is slightly better than me at swimming so I managed to draft off her feet for most of the second half of the swim. Quite an uneventful T1 and off out onto the bike.
As soon as I got on the bike I felt really weird (I can’t think of any other way to describe it??). I had little black spots in my vision, I felt like I was going to be sick and couldn’t really focus on the race. Rather than overtaking people on the bike like usual I was going backwards. I had no energy whatsoever and everything felt impossible. I usually love the bike but I was relieved when it was over. I was disappointed with the 1:11:03 time I got, I was hoping for much quicker than that.
In T2 I couldn’t get my trainers on!! Every time I put my right foot in my shoe I got cramp in my calf and had to take my foot out again. I have never had cramp in a race before; I really wasn’t feeling good but was hoping for my usual run time of 40-42 mins to give me an OK overall time.
On the run I fell further and further behind. It was so disheartening. I stopped to take some fluids on but I felt so weak, I just didn’t get it. Training has been going so well and other races have been fantastic. I have never wanted to drop out of a race more! In the end all my times went out the window and it was more a case of character building....just get myself round! I had an awful run and felt really disappointed because I’ve felt so strong in training, I guess it was just one of those days.
Despite my disappointing times I finished 2nd in my age group, which I was really surprised at as it was the English Championships but I suppose you’ve gotta be in it to win it! I got a lovely glass trophy to add to the collection and then won a prize on the raffle!! I topped up my tan and made a few new friends so although it was a pretty bad race for me; it was a good result and a great day out.
Back to the training programme this week and a real focus on getting ready for the National Relays. As they say an athlete is only as good as their last performance I’ve got some work to do!!!
Sam
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