Fortunately the wind and rain which had been forecast at the start of the week never came and race morning was beautiful.
The sea was a bit choppy but a perfect temperature. I searched for feet to draft with not much luck.
My plan was to swim 1hr 10 mins and was delighted to look down at my watch as I exited the water and read exactly that. I was pleased with my swim except I should have started further forward. I think they should have starting pens of 1hr, 1:05, 1:10, 1:15 etc and not just sub 1 hour, 1 hr – 1:30, 1:30 – 2hrs. There were far too many 1:20+ at the front of our pen.
I felt great on the first lap of the bike and was hitting my power numbers easily but I was beginning to struggle to get my nutrition into me. Not good when you have another 90kms to ride and then run a marathon.
I began the second lap and needed to refill with some of the on course High5 juice and some water. I grabbed a bottle of High5 and put it in my mouth as I needed to squirt it into my speedfil. I went to grab a bottle of water but as I did the man didn’t let go of it so I braked with my right hand and the next second I was flying side ways along the ground.
Ouch! My right knee and elbow were grazed and bleeding but fortunately nothing was broken. My bike looked ok; just torn bar tape and a few more scrapes.
I had a chocolate flavoured gel on my top tube which unfortunately burst when I hit the deck. So my legs were now covered in brown yuk 😳😬🤣
The second lap didn’t go very well. My body was probably in shock from my fall and I was struggling to eat; both resulting in a lack of power in my legs, and the wind was picking up which didn’t help. I should have left my cycling shoes on to run through T2 as my feet are pathetically soft so it was more of a hobble/walk to get to my run bag.
I had to have a quick stop in the portaloo and laughed at myself multitasking – eating a BarOne as I sat there 🙈🤷🏻♀️🤣
I never felt that I got into a rhythm on the run and wasn’t able to push myself as I had hoped. I never had the speed, form and energy that I was supposed to have. The support on the run was amazing as always and I tried to smile as much as I could!
So I was a bit disappointed with my race, but it’s made me more determined and I can’t wait to race again!
Swim: 01:10:56
T1: 00:03:48
Bike: 06:06:36
T2: 00:06:13
Run: 03:44:08
Total: 11:11:39
6th (40-44)
