I like the Cotswold Tri; it’s nice and local, just 20 minutes or so from home to the start.  It also helps that, when the mood takes me, I can ride the cycle part of the course – just a shame that it takes me 20km to get to a point where I can ride 20km before, you guessed it, riding 20km home.  Makes for a good ride though!

The day dawned grey, as one might expect for early September.  The ground was very wet underfoot and puddles abounded in the transition area, which made setting up a rather more careful process than usual.  I bumped into a couple of friends, one of whom I met at last years event, and it was good to catch up with them before the start.

For various reasons I was running a little late, so didn’t have time to run through my usual pre-race routine but suffice to say my wetsuit soon warmed up once I found myself standing knee-deep in the lake.  I’m not a great one for hitting the front and indulging in the ‘salmon-thrash’, so stayed at the back and let everyone else race off.  Even at this point I’m still a little bothered about my shoulder, so I gave it a few yards, maybe a hundred, before reverting to breaststroke and, as was the case last year found myself being overtaken by the leaders of two waves back as I exited the water.  As usual, nicely slow.

T1 was a pain, I just couldn’t undo the zip, probably because it had been fastened differently for a change. Thankfully a steward was close by and did the necessary – thanks Angie.

Got out onto the bike fairly quickly, for once the large plastic block on my shoes was useful in giving me some purchase on the muddy ground.  The ride itself was fine for the first few kilometres, but the stretch up the A419 to Cirencester was tortuous, or t least felt like it.  The climb out of Ciren was something of a relief, as was the blast back into T2.  Slow though.

So, finally, I started the run.  My legs by this stage felt dead, and there was no life in them whatsoever.  I got through most of the first lap without stopping but the second was such hard work.  About a kilometre out I was joined by a cute blonde I recognised as being a marshal last year (funny I’d remember huh?) and together we pushed one another in to the finish.  I didn’t note the number but, judging by the results, thanks Claire (hope I got the name right).

I was 358^th, and last in my age group, again.  The times were 23:16, 46:49 and 31:45 for a total of 1:41:52.  I am actually fairly happy with the run time, and know that my swim needs some work, I’ll be working on that during the winter months.  The bike was very poor, I can shave 10 minutes off that in training!  So, all in all, a pretty poor day at the office, over 10 minutes slower on 2007.  Mind you, as far as I’m concerned any finish is a good finish, and there is always next year for improvement!

Last updated: 01/03/2009 19:13:09

© Shogem 2009