I woke up in the morning with a horrible sore throat. I had a strepsil after breakfast which took the edge of it but had no lasting effect. After registering and setting up for transition I took a walk to Tesco and got some chloraseptic which at least masked the pain. (Writing this on Monday and it is still just a sore throat and a slight temperature).
As the heat prior to mine went in to the water I got changed and went through to poolside. I had a lie down on a bench next to the pool and realised that I was running a temperature. I closed my eyes for a bit and think I had about a 10 minute nap. Didn't encourage me about how healthy I was but the wee nap did stop me from stressing out.
The first few lengths were a bit messy as everyone tried to arrange ourselves into an order. The first guy away managed to stretch out a little gap but of the remaining three of us no-one seemed quite strong enough to get away off the front of the group but similarly the two trailers always felt like they were being held up slightly. After about 200m we all stopped with the place juggling and just settled in to a steady pace.
Being at the back of the group meant I could do my turns without risking bumping into anyone, but actually they were still giving me problems. Huntly has a stupid metal bar along the edge of the pool that I clipped with my heel on a bad turn, and whenever I did manage a good turn I was too close to the feet in front and had to back right off to avoid crashing. It felt like I was going very slowly, but I still felt a bit ropey so I figured I would just get through the swim and see how I felt afterwards.
Happy with my swim time nonetheless. I wanted to get under 27 minutes and I was out of the water and over the timing mats with time to spare.
I took my time in transition. It was quite cold so I took enough time to dry my feet and put socks on.
On the bike I was still trying to decide how I was feeling. The pedals seemed to be turning ok, I was feeling comfortable in my TT position and I was making up places on the flat sections, even passing other TT bikes. My throat was still pretty scratchy as I was breathing but the chloraseptic was still masking the worst of it, and the cold was covering up my temperature so I actually felt not too bad.
That is 7 seconds slower than last year, which is really nothing. I am not quite sure why the time is so similar to last year though. It felt a lot easier, even though the weather was colder and my sore throat was bugging me. When I look at the Strava I was slower on the way out on the TT-friendly segments and barely faster through the uphill segments. I don't remember any of the terrible grinding sections of of working hard but feeling like I wasn't moving forward, maybe these were somewhere in between the Strava segments in previous years.
My second transition was much slicker.
That is 7 seconds slower than last year, which is really nothing. I am not quite sure why the time is so similar to last year though. It felt a lot easier, even though the weather was colder and my sore throat was bugging me. When I look at the Strava I was slower on the way out on the TT-friendly segments and barely faster through the uphill segments. I don't remember any of the terrible grinding sections of of working hard but feeling like I wasn't moving forward, maybe these were somewhere in between the Strava segments in previous years.
My second transition was much slicker.
So I was out and running in 1 hour 40, with targets to run faster than 51 minutes and to total 2 hours 30 which meant I would need to run faster than 50 minutes. The course is longer than 10k, it comes in at about 10.5km so the times are always slow. I felt much better than previous year's though. On a course with two equal laps I also knew I would get a half way check where I wanted to be under 2hrs 05 as I passed the finish line with a lap to go.
I felt like I was running really smoothly compared to previous races. Maybe taking it slightly easier on the swim and bike was paying off or maybe I am just in better shape than I had predicted. I came past the finish line in 2:04 so I knew another lap the same would get me in easily under both targets. The chloraseptic was starting to wear off, and breathing was getting to be more painful than just scratchy but my legs still felt good so I was able to keep the pace fairly steady. Turning into the last 200m straight I saw my watch just tick over 2hrs 28 but it took me another 44 seconds from there to cross the line.
My run time was over 2 minutes faster than I have done for this course on any of my previous attempts. And my overall time was a 3mins 35 PB for this course. On a cold day with a sore throat I am really pleased with that.
I felt like I was running really smoothly compared to previous races. Maybe taking it slightly easier on the swim and bike was paying off or maybe I am just in better shape than I had predicted. I came past the finish line in 2:04 so I knew another lap the same would get me in easily under both targets. The chloraseptic was starting to wear off, and breathing was getting to be more painful than just scratchy but my legs still felt good so I was able to keep the pace fairly steady. Turning into the last 200m straight I saw my watch just tick over 2hrs 28 but it took me another 44 seconds from there to cross the line.
My run time was over 2 minutes faster than I have done for this course on any of my previous attempts. And my overall time was a 3mins 35 PB for this course. On a cold day with a sore throat I am really pleased with that.
Change of format from previous year's results:
| Pos. | Bibno. | Finish time | Participant | Category | Club/Company/Sponsor |  |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 2:28:44 | Kevin Morice | (M) Senior | Three Peaks Triathletes | 26:47 | 1:37 | 1:11:00 | 29.0 | 48:51 |
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