How was it for you - A Review of 2019 Part 2 of 3

In the previous post I went through the early part of the season, which covered events in March, April and May 2018.

Crossing the Line at Leeds

In this part I will cover June, July and August.

Leeds ITU Standard Distance Triathlon
It was only a month between the Worcester and Leeds but it was quite a challenging month. It involved a week long trip to France to celebrate my mum's 70th birthday. I took my bike and my running shoes but the 1000 mile drive there and back did take a lot out of me.

So having got my excuses in early I planned to get round Leeds by hook or by crook.

Initially I had planned to go on my own without the rest of "Team Bradders" but a week or so before I changed that so that we could all enjoy(?) the lovely city of Leeds.

Sadly the weather decided that it was going to be typically British and it rained heavily the day before the event. The forecast was "Unsettled" for the Sunday of the event. To say I sleepy badly the night before the event would be an understatement. We had an early start to get to the start in Roundhay Park. Rather annoyingly the Sat Nav in the car tried to take us there on roads that were already closed.

I ended up parking about a mile away in a side street and jogging to the transition zone. Claire and Phoebe followed worried I'd miss my 7 o'clock start. I made it in plenty of time but that didn't stop me from being nervous. Once I was set up in transition I felt nervous and I may have been a little sick.

The swim start was nothing like I had ever done before. Normally you stand in the water and wait to be told to go. In this case we were told to hold onto the pontoon and a horn sounded and we all shot off. Well, I started with everyone else and they stormed ahead. Swimming isn't my strongest of the three disciplines.

I expect by the end Claire and Phoebe were wishing they hadn't come as I was one of the last out of my wave. In my defence it was a national championships for age grouper aged 44 - 49. I hadn't asked to be entered into this but to balance the waves I was placed in there.

Happy that this part was over I entered transition, got out of the wetsuit and got into my bike gear. Now the bike is usually my best part. On clear roads I tend to make back some of my losses from the swim. However the course wasn't easy due to the thousands of others with little or no bike skills clogging the streets. I was surprised there weren't more crashes as people unintentionally drafted.

Two laps of the challenging ride course and I arrived back at Roundhay Park and changed into my running shoes.

The first km is uphill pretty much as you exit the park and head to the city centre finish. Then it drops down giving you a chance to let gravity pull you towards the finish. I kept checking the watch to see how my run was going. The first 5km was good. Good enough that it would have been a really decent Park run time 12 months prior.

It felt strange running along roads with no spectators. Only the occasional marshal (Who all got thanked) and churchgoers (who said well done).

As we headed into the city centre we could see more and more people cheering us on. As I turned onto The Head Row I was met by a mass of well wishers cheering us on. I felt quite emotional but kept looking for my support team. Past the water station I dropped my glasses which a lovely helper ran and handed back to me.

Then I saw Claire and Phoebe. This spurred me on. Seeing your loved ones really does give you a boost. I turned to start the second lap and came past the again. Through the back streets and back onto The Headrow I could sense my day was coming to an end. 

The crowd were amazing.

I headed towards the finish and turned onto the blue carpet. This had been my mental target. It was written on a post it note in my office and this was what I had aimed for.

I crossed the line in 3 hours 7 minutes and 45 seconds. I was pleased with the performance. Particularly the run.

I chose Leeds as my "A Race" so this was what I had been working up to. I had another Olympic distance Triathlon in September. However my plans changed as a 10k race in Cheltenham that I was due to run in early September was cancelled.

Ludlow 10k

I took a few weeks of from events focusing on recovery from Leeds and enjoying myself. I rode a few midweek time trials, did some open water swimming and ran at Park run a few times. Keeping myself ticking over.

I decided I fancied a running challenge so I signed myself up for the Ludlow 10k. A challenging course which included the "Lactic Ladder" which is not in any way fun. Much of the run was included in the "Storm the Castle" duathlon which I have taken part in twice. So I knew what awaited me.

I set myself a target of getting round in under the hour. I am happy to say I achieved that target racing home in 57 minutes and 58 seconds.

Blithfield Triathlon (Olympic Distance)

Sometimes you just have to do it. I hadn't prepared for this event as meticulously as Leeds but I decided to give it a go anyway.

Another early start with a trip to Staffordshire to throw myself into the reservoir, thrash my bike around the local roads and dash to the finish to see if Leeds was a fluke or not.

I am happy to report that it wasn't as I very nearly beat my Leeds time. I just missed out with a time of 3 hours 8 minutes and 16 seconds. I really enjoyed this event and I think I may give it another go in 2020. One thing is for certain. If I want to break 3 hours for this distance then I need to improve my swim.

Not exactly Aquaman

SCCA 4up TTT

No man is an island.

I thought I'd try something different for my next event. Well our next event. With three other fools we took on a 30 Team Time Trial. I did this a few years ago and it was one of the hardest times I have had on a bike.

We were one of 5 teams from Newport (Shropshire) Cycling Club. I had been place in "Team Black" with Steve, Alan and Alex. We had never ridden together as a four but I am pleased to say we aquited ourselves admirably.

The whole event was an incredibly positive experience but one I am not in any hurry to repeat. It is good training to be able to ride at threshold for long periods of time. We all took turns of about a minute on the front. Except when we got towards the end when it all went a little "Pete Tong!"

We finished in a time of 1 hour 26 minutes and 52 seconds. Which was juts about as much sleep I had the night before. It was coffee and (Sugar free) Red Bull that got me through this.

Team Newport at the SCCA 4up TTT

So that was it for a few weeks. There isn't much to say about August except there aren't many events to enter. So I took a few weeks off from "Racing."

I focused on a very challenging September.

Which was entirely my own fault.