East Leake Triathlon - March 2009
I was really looking forward to taking part in this race. My training had been going pretty well, I'd been doing quite a lot of running with a view to the Half Marathon in a few weeks time and I actually felt relatively well prepared. Mind you, I was still feeling nervous, especially as it's a race that I hadn't done before. My day prior to the race probably wasn't ideal pre-race stuff, I was out all day long shopping with my Mum and my sister - but hey! It was fun.
I was really quite nervous beforehand as I had to get myself to the race venue. We were staying with Daniel's Mum as she isn't far from East Leake at all. Daniel said he'd follow me and get there before the race started. I had one of the very few disasters with internet routing, one of the directions was simply in completely the wrong direction and it took me ages and far too much stress to finally get myself to where I needed to be. I don't know the area all that well. In the end I was randomly heading for Stanford Hall, having been there before for races at the end of last season and remembering that I'd seen signs for East Leake that day. Once I was actually in the town I had to ask directions to the leisure centre, but did at least get there in the end. Phew! After all that, Daniel only arrived about five minutes after me, having gone a rather more direct route. Anyway, I collected myself, got the rampant nerves under control and got myself registered and organised in time for my race start. Thank goodness for that.
The 400m swim was in the pool in the leisure centre and I was feeling pretty confident. I hate that bit on the side waiting for it to start, but I was there and prepared. That should have been the end of the complications and the beginning of a good race. sadly, it didn't quite work out like that. I had a total goggle disaster during the swim. They kept filling with water, and I mean filling. These were not drops of water, they were goggles completely full and I had to keep stopping to sort them out. I kept thinking I'd got it sorted and setting off, only to have it happen again - argh! Because I wear contact lenses to race, I didn't dare try to swim without them. So, needless to say, my swim time was pretty rubbish and nowhere near the predicted time I'd put on my entry form. Not a great start to my race. My time, including however much of transition (not quite sure where the split was taken) was a duff 10:52. Oh well, it can't be helped. Having looked at my goggles since, I think the strap had loosened and it was simply too loose, something to check properly before my next race!
The cycle route was 20K on the surrounding roads and pretty pleasant. I felt much better again once I was out on my bike. My lack of riding time on my tri bike made me a little more tentative than usual, but other than that things were pretty good. I've been riding quite a bit over the winter, but mostly on my other bike, the one with the lights and more treaded tyres. So my cycle legs were fine, it just felt a bit odd to be on the twitchier bike - nice and speedy too though. The ride went fine, I enjoyed it and that is all that really matters. It was cool and sunny, good cycling weather. I completed the bike section in an okay time of 48:01.
Then it was out onto the 5K run. I felt surprisingly good going out of transition and really felt able to run. The sun was shining, it was a pleasant off road route. It was short laps so I could look at my watch and try to figure out how things were going. They seemed to be going well. I felt like I had some sense of rhythm for a change, so maybe all that run training for long runs has out some speed into my short runs too. I completed the 5K in a PB time of 26:31. Yes really! My best ever 5K time - woohoo!
My time for the whole race was okay, especially considering the ups and downs involved. I completed the race in 1:25:24. I enjoyed it and would certainly be happy to go back and give it another go next year. Preferably with goggles that stay where they have been put!
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