Cheshire Triathlon - June 2007
Well, it's been three weeks since I tackled Stratford, and I was full of good intentions about how much better prepared I was going to be for this race. Best laid plans and all that. The first week after Stratford went pretty well, then it was downhill from there on in. I've done very little, again due to a variety of people being ill - luck doesn't appear to be going my way here. So, once again I lined up for the race determined to enjoy it and not to worry too much about what the times ended up being. At least I was pretty sure I could do that. This is another fun2tri race, well organised, fun to take part in and familiar as it was my third attempt at this one too - not to mention that fact that swim run races I did in the winter were here too. I always feel better going into a race if I know the lie of the land and have a better idea of what to expect.
This race begins with a 500m swim in an open air brine pool. It really is a pretty pleasant place to swim, again using the progressing across the lanes approach to racing. I completed the distance in 9:51, slower than last year's 9:39, but still better than my first attempt of 11:34. I found the swim quite hard for some reason, but was encouraged by yells from my kids on the side of the pool and looking up to see my little boy attempting to take pictures of me as I turned around near him. My own little fan club!
It's then a fair run to transition, but I'd managed to rack my bike somewhere nice and obvious, so finding it didn't cause me any problems. For some reason though, getting my foot clipped in did and I spent what seemed like an age faffing about with it before I got going. The ride itself was fine, I enjoy this route. It goes out into the coutryside and is quite fun to do. I completed the 20K in 46:49, my best time to date for that course. Last year I managed 47:23 and the year before it was 51:01 - so I was really pretty pleased with that.
I can't really see me ever bettering my first time on the run course for this race, it was a toal fluke the first time! The run is four laps around a playing field, good for my photographing entourage as they had plenty of chances to snap me as I slogged by. It was a warm and muggy day, a major surpise after most of the weather of late, and I found it really hard going. I struggled though in 30:30, slower than last year's 28:55, and even slower than 2005's 26:45 (see what I mean about a fluke?). Still, I did it. I must admit to being very glad when the run was over, the rest of it I enjoyed.
My final time was 1:27:10, midway between my fastest and slowest previous times of 1:29:20 (2005) and 1:25:57 (2006). So, not too bad all things considered, but I'd like to do better next time, here's hoping!
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