East Grinstead Sprint Triathlon ? Sunday 13th May 2007

Swim- 500m Bike 27Km Run 5Km

Course:Swim-Flat- Bike Hilly ? Run Hilly

Weather Raining

Short Version : Swim 9.20
T1 2.30
Bike 54.05
T2 2.09
Run 2.09
Total 1.35.17 198/327 (34/51AG)

Long Version :

I almost didn?t do this race as the day before we found out that one of our best friends was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, she s only 36 and has 3 boys 9 8 and 11 months the 2 older boys are really close friends with my 2 boys so we were all rather upset by the whole thing and as she was rushed into hospital on the Saturday morning we offered to have the boys over the weekend . I told DW that I would stay at home with the kids to keep them entertained but she insisted that I go to the race . So although my mind wasn?t completely on the game I went anyway.

Breakfast was a Banana and a Croissant with Water.

The race was really local only 15 mins drive away I drove down to the site and realised that the clouds were getting darker and darker and that the forecast rain seemed more imminent.

I picked up my number and race goody bag ? nice t-shirt this year ? and set up my spot in Transition . The transition is really big with a long run from the pool and to and from the bike mount/dismount areas.
Got everything set up and I realised that the guy next to me was getting really worked up ? He had forgotten his bike helmet- I happened to have my Aero helmet in my car ? I wasn?t planning on wearing it as the course is quite hilly ? but I thought I might as well get some good Karma before I started. So I used the Aero and he used my normal lid.


Swim

The swim was a 20 length 500m pool swim with up to 4 people in each lane ? I was really lucky and ended up with only 1 other person in the lane. I started off too fast as usual but managed to calm down quite quickly and soon settled into a good rhythm . Before I knew it the lap marshall was lowering the 2 to go board so an extra kick for the last 50 and out of the water in 9.13 (official time was 9.20 as the timers were outside in the courtyard)

T1
The run up to the Transition area was all uphill and about 350m ? quickly on with the helmet and glasses ? shoes on (no socks for a sprint) number belt and away I go



Me exiting T1

Bike

The Bike course is 27km with 2 notable climbs to contend with ? the first few Km are through the outskirts of the town with several roundabouts to go across so quite technical and difficult to get into a rhythm . After about 5 minutes the rain finnaly started to fall and with it I came to the only downhill part of the course which normally would be a good excuse to open the power up ? but wet roads tight bends and slippery metal road gratings meant I was quite conservative .



When the climbing started I managed to keep up a good cadence and tried to stay seated as much as possible and to keep good form After the first climb to Colemans hatch a relatively flat stretch into Hartfield (Or as my boys call it Pooh Bear Land ? AA Milne who wrote the Pooh Bear Stories lived here and the bike course goes through part of the 100 Akre Wood ? I didn?t see Pooh or Tigger or any of the gang ? but I was concentrating on keeping going ) . The second climb was longer but not quite as steep and finally onto the road back to T2 ? This top road is rolling and quite straight which gives a good view of riders up ahead ? I managed to pass 6 riders and was only passed once so this was a good result for me . About 3 miles from T2 I took a gel to set me up for the run .
1 Final small climb through another roundabout and then back into the Sports centre

Bike Time 54.05

T2

On dismounting I felt a really sharp pain down the back of my Right Cals and actually thought I was going to have to quit but after a few seconds it subsided and I started running with the bike into the transition area . Grabbed my shoes ? hat on (after helmet off) quick swig of water and away I went .

T2 Time 2.09

Run

The run was again quite hilly with some of it on Suburban streets and some on shingle tracks (The shingle was quite loose which I hate running on but it was the same for everyone) We crossed over the railway line a couple of times which meant a couple of step hills up the bridge



I felt fine when running ? not particularly fast but I felt in control the whole way ? I was thinking more of my upcoming ½ IM next month so speed over 5Km was not a priority. At the final climb back into the sports centre I put a final burst in and tried to sprint to the finish line



Race over ? Job done ? Large glass of water and a banana at the end as well as a Mug and a medal

Run Time 27.14


Total Time 1.35.17

Then a quick shower and home to see all the kids back at mine ? as It ws raining I then agreed to take my 2 and my friends older 2 to a swimming pool so I ended up ?swimming? for an extra 2 hours ? a lot of that time was trying to avoid being drowned by the boys

I was pretty happy with the outcome of the race ? The last time I did the course a couple of years ago I finished in 1.50.01

So nearly 15 mins faster ? I felt the whole time that I should have been going faster but seemed to be travelling more at my ½ pace ? I suppose that as this was really a tune-up race for the ½ then this is Ok .

I improved by 90 secs on the Swim 10 mins on the Bike and 3.30 on the run from the last time I was here so all in all a good day at the office

Apologies for the length Thanks for reading

Neil




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I'm not sure if Duff beer and doughnuts are good race day nutrition but I'm willing to give it a go
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