The best inspiration is not to outdo others, but to outdo ourselves

This race was run over the same course as the Stratford Triathlon was earlier in the year.  It still comprised a 400m swim, followed by 23K on the bike and 5K on the run.  It is also still ably run and organised by the fun2tri team, who are very good indeed at what they do.  I wasn't too sure how it would go, especially as I was heading into it with the tail end of the cold that upset matters for Derby.  Also, it's been a bit of an up and down year, with some successes and some disappointments.  However, bearing in mind what I said after Derby, I intended to go into it for the enjoyment rather than to punish myself for a better time.  Of course, I'd still like a better time, but I was focussed on enjoying doing it.  Otherwise, what's the point?

That said, I felt decidedly sick and yukky first thing in the morning.  I couldn't quite decide if I was nervous or genuinely not feeling well or what.  Not a brilliant start.  Daniel and I headed down to Stratford really early, we've had problems getting parked there before and the traffic wardens are always out in force - woe betide anyone parking in the wrong place.  This time we needn't have worried, the competitor list clearly wasn't as long as in May and we were able to park without any trouble.  The result being that we were parked and had me registered about two hours before my race start.  Oh well, at least that didn't add any extra stress to the morning.

The swim for this race takes place in a 33m pool, so you do 4 lengths in each of three lanes and then climb out again at the other end.  My swim went pretty smoothly this time, I managed to put my goggles on properly and just swam calmly without trying to really rush.  This appeared to do the trick, my breathing was pretty much under control, I could see where I was going and I just felt like I was swimming my own race.  There was  a minor hold up at the end because I was caught behind someone else also trying to exit the pool and who stood in the doorway while removing her swim hat, but I managed to get round and set off for transition.  My time was fairly consistent with the time I managed in May and shows I've managed to maintain my improvement.  My time was 8:04, in May it was 8:06, then the previous two years were 8:27 and 8:26 respectively.  So, very marginally quicker than before, quite happy with that time.

I was lucky with transition this time (I've managed to lose my bike and stand there looking very confused in a past race on this course!) as I managed to find a racking spot right by the bike out.  So, I came out of the pool and headed straight for the orange marshall's vest, confident that my bike would be nearby when I got there.  I felt good running to my bike and my transition went pretty well, a minor hiccup getting one shoe on but generally fine.  And off I went.  It was cold, maybe that spurred me on a bit.  Parts of me were certainly complaining about cycling wet in that temperature, but I warmed up as I rode.  I quite like this cycle route apart from the bits that are actually in Stratford, that's just because it gets so busy.  I felt pretty good and wasn't paying any attention to the time, just to doing as well as I could and remembering to look around me and enjoy what I was doing.  The sky was brightening up and it was pretty pleasant to be out there.  I got quite held up coming back into Stratford, a combination of slower cyclists and a high volume of cars - especially one landrover who seemed to be actively trying to block racers from getting past as it sat in traffic!  Ah well, such is life and I don't suppose it cost me much.  Also, getting held up appears to be the story of racing here, so I'm still measuring like with like in my times.  And so to the time.  I completed the bike course in 52:24, the best time I've done for that course.  In May I did it in 54:11 (in foul conditions), then before that in 52:47 and 1:00:23.  So, my best time, if not by much. 

And off I ran.  To my amazement I felt I could run off the bike properly, I felt like I was running rather than dragging myself around.  It was the best I'd felt running off the bike in a race for quite a while, I'd managed it in training but it hadn't been coming together in races.  It's quite a pleasant run, on grass or paths by the canal and it felt okay all the way through.  I will confess to looking at my watch as I ran out of transition and thinking just maybe I could do it, but I decided to wait and see.  When I reached the halfway mark and still felt I was in with a shout at an improved time I had all the reason I needed to keep at it.  And I did it!  I completed my run in 28:31, much better than May's 29:35, but also better than previous attempts which came in at 28:48 and 28:50.

So, you see, none of my times were massively better than what I'd managed before, but I managed to string together 3 PBs and feel good doing it, with end result being an overall PB for that course.  I was well chuffed, I'd remembered to enjoy my race and I'd succeeded in getting a better time.  You can't get much better than that.  My overall time was 1:28:59, as opposed to my earlier times: 1:31:52 in May; 1:30:02 in 2006; 1:37:39 in 2005.  So yes, a good race all round.  I'm very glad I did it.  It puts a much more positive spin on the end if my season than Derby did.  Yipee!