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

I'd set myself a big challenge for September. Initially it was going to be a 10k in Cheltenham followed by an Olympic Triathlon a week later.

That was going to be tough given the short window of opportunity for recovery. Then I found out the 10k in Cheltenham had been cancelled. So I signed up for my club (SYTri) Sprint Triathlon.

Then like a fool I signed up for the Ludlow Sprint Triathlon after a fellow club member said it would be good to see as many club members sign up for it.

So three triathlons in the space of a month.

Madness I tell thee!

Shrewsbury Triathlon

As previously mentioned this event was organised by a club I am a member of. Being a conscientious chap I also volunteered to help setup the event on the day before. I wasn't making it easy on myself.

The event actually went very well. To a point. A downstream swim meant that 500m was completed quickly. In the previous years event I felt tired after the swim. This year I felt significantly better after the swim. I jogged back to transition and changed into my cycling gear.

The bike leg went well. Significantly faster than 2018. All the hours of time trialing had reeped a reward. Now all I needed to do was put in a good run on a flat multi terrain course.

Things were going well. So well I even had time to give some advice to a fellow triathlete.

However 750m from home I went to pass somebody and I went over on my ankle.

I swore.

Loudly.

I hobbled for a few metres when the adrenaline kicked in. I kept going to the end and finish the event in a time of  1hr 23mins and 7secs.

Faster than 2018 by nearly 10 minutes but it had come at a cost.

Shropshire Olympic Triathlon

Another one from 2018 was the UK Triathlon Shropshire Olympic Triathlon. I had a nervy week letting my ankle recover. It felt OK, so with my wife as the support team for the day we set of early for the border town of Ellesmere.

This was my final event of 2018 as well as it being my first ever Olympic Distance Triathlon. Last year I had a hard time of it. It was by far and away the hardest thing I had ever done.

I had hoped for a successful day and I set myself the ambitious target of sub 3 hours. I knew it was a big ask but I had nothing to lose.

I knew it would be decided in the swim as I knew I could ride and run faster than 2018. I was faster in the swim but not by much. I absolutely thrashed my way round the bike course. It was a bit annoying to see cases of drafting not being penalised, as a much faster rider on a TT bike basically pulled this one person up the final climb.

I got back into transition and checked my time. I needed a PB 10k to do this.

I set off well but I was found wanting.

I crossed the line in 3hrs 6mins and 58secs. I had beaten my 2018 time by a significant amount of time and achieved a PB to boot.

Ludlow Sprint Triathlon

As September slipped away I headed to the South of Shropshire for the Ludlow Sprint Triathlon. This was an event that I hadn't done before. The weather forecast wasn't great but I felt relaxed. I was in a special SYTri wave as there were a number of us who had put a similar swim time.

I was just 25 seconds outside my predicted time for the swim.

As I jogged to transition I could feel a gentle drops of rain on my face. However this wasn't going to be the problem on the bike leg.

It stayed dry but as I hit the first climb my chain came off as I shifted down. I drifted to a halt and put the oily thing back on. I knew I had a problem as it nearly happened again, so I decided not to change the front gear. Which makes things tricky on a hilly course.

I was pleased with my ride but I had given too much and I faded on the run.

I crossed the line in 1hr 44mins and 4secs.

One last event to go. The Great South Run!

But I'll save that for another day.