My First Pro Race - 8th in 8:29:44
Weymouth was my first professional long distance race. I set myself the goals of making the top 10 and running a sub 3 hr marathon. It went to plan and i am really pleased with how it turned out. 8th overall and although the run was a few km short i was well on course to go sub 3. It feels good to have finished the season on a high.
Swim - 33:52
On race morning it was announced that the swim had been halved due to the sea conditions. The sea was alive with waves and white water. Ive never done a race in such conditions so was not sure what to expect.
It turned out to be the most fun I've ever had in a triathlon swim! Diving under the breaking waves and swimming off the top of the non breaking ones. It was like a roller coaster ride that i could have happily just played on all day. I was totally useless at navigating (i wasn't the only one), with the currents and the choppy sea i swam a lot further than i needed to, but i did it all with a smile on my face. There were no packs of swimmers. The waves broke the field apart. I was able to put to use my skills as house bodysurfing champion (Majorca 2013). This made up a little for my sub optimum navigation.
Bike - 5:08:36
As i mentioned in my pre race blog i was a little worried i had not given my bike enough attention since the Outlaw at the end of July. It started to show half way round the 2nd lap, but i knew that the 2nd half of of the lap was the easier half, with more tail wind and down hills. Even so that last 40k was hard for me, highlighted when at about 10k to go Steve Berry came storming past like a ballistic missile.
The bike leg didn't start well either, at about 20km in i lost my Gel bottle containing 16gels (which was the bulk of my nutrition, all i had was some honey stinger chews!). Special shout out to Karl Alexander who i spent most of the first lap with before he pulled off at half way (he was struggling with vomiting), and Andy Sloan. I couldn't have found better company in Andy who is a local of Weymouth and knew ever pot hole and turn on the course. it was like having my very own guide. they both handed me a spare gel and kept me from bonking big time. Fortunately it was a two lap course so on the 2nd lap i stopped and picked up my full Gel bottle. I would have lost a lot more time if i had not stopped.
Run 2:41:40
I was very happy to be standing on two legs again. i think i started the run in about 12/13th, i felt great straightaway and went through the first 5k in sub 20min. it was a 4 lap course down the Weymouth promenade, so you could see how the race was unfolding. The course was flat as a pancake with the only hindrance to running fast times being the wind. Joe Skipper who won the event lapped me on his last lap. Joe is a top bloke and a worthy winner. When he caught me he said “just run on my shoulder and i’ll tow you up to the next guy” easier said than done! i ran with him for about a km.
Although the run was short (3-4km) I was happy that i ended up clocking the 5th fastest run of the day at a pace that would have put me under 3 hrs for the full marathon. I also ran faster than Ironman legend Stephen Bayliss (thou Stephen has had a knee injury affecting him for the past 3 weeks).
I took home a pay check of 700 euros for 8th, but more importantly i took home the confidence that I'm ready to step up and play with the big boys. I will be looking to do more races like this in 2015.
Well done to Ele Haresign who was my roommate in Lanzarote this year. She took out the female race in a massive breakthrough performance. To her delight she also chicked me in the swim!
Special thanks to my Dad for buying the best race vehicle ever (touring mobile home). i will be looking to steal this a lot more in 2015.
Weymouth was my first professional long distance race. I set myself the goals of making the top 10 and running a sub 3 hr marathon. It went to plan and i am really pleased with how it turned out. 8th overall and although the run was a few km short i was well on course to go sub 3. It feels good to have finished the season on a high.
Swim - 33:52
On race morning it was announced that the swim had been halved due to the sea conditions. The sea was alive with waves and white water. Ive never done a race in such conditions so was not sure what to expect.
It turned out to be the most fun I've ever had in a triathlon swim! Diving under the breaking waves and swimming off the top of the non breaking ones. It was like a roller coaster ride that i could have happily just played on all day. I was totally useless at navigating (i wasn't the only one), with the currents and the choppy sea i swam a lot further than i needed to, but i did it all with a smile on my face. There were no packs of swimmers. The waves broke the field apart. I was able to put to use my skills as house bodysurfing champion (Majorca 2013). This made up a little for my sub optimum navigation.
Bike - 5:08:36
As i mentioned in my pre race blog i was a little worried i had not given my bike enough attention since the Outlaw at the end of July. It started to show half way round the 2nd lap, but i knew that the 2nd half of of the lap was the easier half, with more tail wind and down hills. Even so that last 40k was hard for me, highlighted when at about 10k to go Steve Berry came storming past like a ballistic missile.
The bike leg didn't start well either, at about 20km in i lost my Gel bottle containing 16gels (which was the bulk of my nutrition, all i had was some honey stinger chews!). Special shout out to Karl Alexander who i spent most of the first lap with before he pulled off at half way (he was struggling with vomiting), and Andy Sloan. I couldn't have found better company in Andy who is a local of Weymouth and knew ever pot hole and turn on the course. it was like having my very own guide. they both handed me a spare gel and kept me from bonking big time. Fortunately it was a two lap course so on the 2nd lap i stopped and picked up my full Gel bottle. I would have lost a lot more time if i had not stopped.
Run 2:41:40
I was very happy to be standing on two legs again. i think i started the run in about 12/13th, i felt great straightaway and went through the first 5k in sub 20min. it was a 4 lap course down the Weymouth promenade, so you could see how the race was unfolding. The course was flat as a pancake with the only hindrance to running fast times being the wind. Joe Skipper who won the event lapped me on his last lap. Joe is a top bloke and a worthy winner. When he caught me he said “just run on my shoulder and i’ll tow you up to the next guy” easier said than done! i ran with him for about a km.
Although the run was short (3-4km) I was happy that i ended up clocking the 5th fastest run of the day at a pace that would have put me under 3 hrs for the full marathon. I also ran faster than Ironman legend Stephen Bayliss (thou Stephen has had a knee injury affecting him for the past 3 weeks).
I took home a pay check of 700 euros for 8th, but more importantly i took home the confidence that I'm ready to step up and play with the big boys. I will be looking to do more races like this in 2015.
Well done to Ele Haresign who was my roommate in Lanzarote this year. She took out the female race in a massive breakthrough performance. To her delight she also chicked me in the swim!
Special thanks to my Dad for buying the best race vehicle ever (touring mobile home). i will be looking to steal this a lot more in 2015.