Nice tail wind to start. I started in the middle of the pack for a change (In stead of the front)I wanted to go slow to start with. I have been having calve issues for over a month now and it was so cold wanted to warm up for the first mile.

Started at a nice pace concentrated on nice fast cadence with relaxed shoulders and arms. Run felt great the whole time. I thought I was running slow but saw my coach about 30 - 40 yds ahead of me and on the turnaround noticed I wasn't that far off the leaders.

On the turnaround got smacked by the headwind, looked around for someone to draft off but there was no one taller or wider than me so just sucked it in and carried on running.



Not much. Really suprised at the run. I have been doing so little running over the last month. I felt strong and good and efficent. Felt like a Zone 3 run to be honest....Time says it all really.

Ok - Transition went really well. I lost may 20 seconds trying to clip into my pedals. But nothing major.

Nada

Ok - My plan at the beginning of the race was to take it easy on the first run and hammer the bike. And that is what I did. First six miles were straight into a 20-30 mile an hour headwind which was tough I was on middle ring 15 the wind was too tough for me to ride big ring on 18 which was my plan. Got into my aero bars and just hammered it. I got passed by some good cyclists but it was only good cyclists on aero bikes that were going by me and I even passed quiet a few people. reckon I lost net about 20 positions on the bike, for me this is good.

At about mile 7 I had 5 guys go past me together all in my age group, 1 on a softrode and 2 on Felt B2's and 2 On Cervulo P3's. I Worked my Ar*e off to keep up with these guys was pushing Big Chain ring and going between 15 & 12 on the small ring and trying to keep my cadence over 90 with the tail wind. Kinda lost them with about a mile to go but had hoped I had done enough to give me a chance to catch them on the run.....I was starting to get a bit worried maybe I had hammered on the bike too much as I was starting to get tired.

I really can't believe how fast I went on this ride. My average speed a month and a half ago on an easier course was 16.9miles and hour. I have really improved by doing long hilly rides with better cyclists than myself. It has been tough but no doubt about it my weight to power ratio has improved a lot in a short time. Not sure I would do much else differently. A really good aero tri bike would have helped a lot on this course today. But I did as best as I could.

Ok - I had an awesome flying dismount and went past 4 -5 people ahead of me. I have been practicing this quiet a bit and today I got it bang on.I lost quiet a bit of time as I struggled to tie my shoes.

Get some elastic laces

OK - Started my run and felt a little tired in the legs. Settled into an easy run pace. Noticed I was going past very few people but I was being passed my no one. I was getting worried Normally I am flying past people. I kinda rationalised it that hey I had such a good bike I was now racing against people of similar running ability to me.

After about a half a mile I saw 4 of the 5 guys ahead of me who I had been trying to chase on the bike. That become my focus. I was really struggling to catch these guy's I just didn't seem to have much left in the petrol tank. I could see from looking at their running styles that I was a better runner but with the lack of run training and the effort on the bike I was really starting to struggle. About half a mile later two of them dropped off slightly and I managed to catch them and go past them. I started to lift it to catch the other two guys got in behind them and ran for a couple of minutes. I knew I had not much left so I kicked for about 30 seconds in the hope they would get discouraged and let me go, didn't happen. I ended up dropping behind them. This happend another two times and 1 of them gave up but the other guy wouldn't let me drop him and I finished 4 seconds behind him.



hmmmmm - Looking at the time I actually ran quiet fast. But I know I can go faster than this. I have been doing hardly any running and I felt it in the last mile or so of the race.

Nothing....


Ok - The calve issues have been bad for my run training. I am lucky that run is my strong leg so I always carry fairly good run fitness without doing much training. But I do feel it limited my ability to perform on the final run. I should have been able to make up another 10 - 15 places with some long solid bricks in training.

No matter what people say about engines vs machinery. In the wind conditions today the difference between riding an aero tri bike and my road bike would have made a big difference.




Good race which I really enjoyed competing in.