Chapter Triathlon - to this point

I am now well into my first season as a 'triathlete' - with 3 races under my belt. In many ways I have missed my initial target of achieving that pro license - but there are so many positives to draw on thus far and hey, what's the rush?

The first difference of triathlon vs being a cyclist is the autonomy I have over my racing calendar. Every start line I get to has an objective, a goal for both the short and long-term. My season started this year in the US, with 70.3 Oceanside. We made a trip of it as a family and roadtripped from LA down to the chic, pacific facing race venue. Once the jetlag (and strep throat) was behind me, I was excited to kick off the year on a strong footing...

The water was probably the coldest I have experienced, at sub 13 degrees it made for a bit of a shock to the system but I came out the water in a decent time and set out on the Camp Pendleton bike course. Out of everything, you would probably be suprised with how difficult the bike leg is. Coming from a cycling background you may expect that this leg would come somewhat naturally - but there has been a lot of graft put in to adapt to a totally new discipline. I always enjoyed TT's as a cyclist, which helps, but the longest TT I would ever need to do back then topped out at 50mins max. When you are racing for 2 hours on the TT bike, coming from often cold water and limited warm up - it's a new skill and challenge in amongst itself.

Onto the run and I managed to get lucky, coming out of T2 with female pro Grace Alexander. After a couple of k it came clear we were both in similar pacing rhythms, so worked together to put in a solid run. I walked away with 4:15 on the day and won my Age Group - punching my ticket to 70.3 Worlds in Marbella in November.

The bike leg of Challenge Gran Canaria.

I have followed this up with two more races since then, namely at Challenge Gran Canaria, where I shaved 8mins off the Oceanside time with a 4:07 and most rectly Outlaw Half in the UK, where I nudged a couple of minutes quicker once again.

One thing I have noticed which is noticeably different is the start times. In cycling, we would get up after a relaxed alarm, have a couple breakfasts and probably kick off around midday. Last weekend, I am half way through a half-marathon before 9:30am! Anyway,

Outlaw was my first major goal for the year, it was a pro license qualifying race, meaning a podium would have ticked the box.

I had a PB swim in 26:52 - a progression I am really pleased with followed by the fastest bike leg of the day. This was a real confidence boost, having struggled somewhat to get the power out after the swim in previous races this year, to deliver a strong bike was a promising sign. I came into T2, knowing it was going to be hard to produce a fast enough run to hold on having had to limit run mileage this year. But I also only race one way in these scenarios and I was only there to try and podium. I went out of T2 at a pace I expected I would need to do to make the podium, I figured the go till you blow mentality was the only real choice I had here.

Starting the run at Outlaw.

The half mara is a cruel mistress however and as I went through the 10k mark I knew I would have to knock it back to make the line. Reluctantly I dropped the pace off and got round to the line in a PB of 4:05.

So that brings me to the present day. I am really enjoying the progression and exploring this new sport of triathlon. Now for a brief transition back to the UCI position for my next goal, before hopefully kicking off a successful second half of the year.

Ciao for now.

C