The London Triathlon (and others)

--> It's been a race-heavy couple of weeks, with the Clapham Chasers' Club champs in Bedfordshire followed by The London Triathlon the next weekend.
The Club Champs this year were held at 'Nice Events' Brik Triathlon just outside of Bedford - a brilliantly run event and great weekend spent with the Chasers, not less because I came second female in the Sprint distance, my first podium spot in tri and a great confidence booster.

I was however still fairly nervous about the London Tri, my first Olympic distance and a big milestone in my training towards the 70.3 in September. One of the advantages of an early race is that you get to see the world in all its glory before most are up, and so we enjoyed a leisurely cycle through Brixton, Peckham and Greenwich at 530am, watching the sun come up over the river, and smugly dodging the revellers hanging about after a big night out.

We had, of course, left too much time but before too long, we lined up on the start line and commenced our 1.5k swim in the murky waters of London's old docks. The wave was big and as I started at the front, I was able to avoid the majority of the commotion, although the odd elbow and knee did still make their mark.

Despite this, I felt strong coming out of the water and after long transition, confident about the bike. The 40k course, up to Westminster and back, was on flat, open roads and to my delight, incredibly fast, whizzing past confused Sunday morning tourists on the embankment. A minor technical glitch (i.e. me being an amateur) meant that one of my aero bars gradually slipped down, leaving me with a comical looking, and less than ideal set-up.

Onto the run, which, predictably, I hated. Three loops of boring course, essentially zigzagging through a car park, were mentally horrendous and had me seriously questioning my sanity. Nonetheless, it was soon over, and I crossed the line with a respectable time of 2.30.38 and plenty to improve on.

Until next time!

Soph x