The weekend was disrupted by a last minute (again!!) ticket to race for the SUUNTO team at the Dextro Energy World Champs in Hyde Park on Sunday.
The Elites went off on the Saturday and made for a great athmosphere, I collected my number (after a bit of delay) and was ready to race with excitment!
Sunday came and all the blue carpets and excitment of yesterday had all but vanished leaving the bare fragments with some very unenthusiastic tourists wondering around asking ‘MOOOM wot is TRYathlon???’
There was a mixed bag of competitors of which were obvoiusly ‘have a go’ on the sprint in the morning. At least I was in with the better athletes, no??
Well my turn came but not before waving off my friends in the previous (younger heats) Soon I was warming up (and so was the day as the sun came out it got hotter and hotter)…I was glad to be plunging in the Serprntine (for once) It really should have been non wetsuit as with the Elites but the ITU decided against this and we all donned our black neoprene in the warm murky waters.
I decided that seeing as it was just a ‘training race’ I was to exepriment with the swim and to go out hard and at the front. it worked and I got out and onto someone’s feet for the entire 1500m, I came out in a time of 23.15
I took the bike out steady,not too hard to see if I could save my legs for the run and not get cramp. ~(I had a very deep tissue massage the day before courtesy of Wendy -iron hands-Robertson.)
The bike loops were carnage, bikes and people strewn all over every tight bend, men huh they really are crazy on the bikes. Who needs cars to knock you off??? Cyclists-we can manage quite well on our own thanks. I nearly came a cropper when trying to overtake a Brazilia he was so far on the right I shouted ‘on your right” he proptly swirved violently to the right as I was passing him DOH! Langusge problems. Perhaps we should have a universal shout when passing other cyclists. Oh yeh we do its:’ ON YOUR RIGHT!!!’
Anyway I did my obligatory 6 laps without losing count and onto the run (5 laps) again hazards galore this time tourists wondering in front of you with ice creams looking dazed , I Didn’t deviate at all…. if they want to get in the way…
Felt srong on the run until the last lap where it started to hurt , but my splits were perfectly evem, 4.06 km per min.( Could be faster tho:)
RESULT: 5th overall woman
Next week is the toughie ‘Kielder Off road triathlon’, in Northumberland, I came off last year badly and finished in a lot of pain and blood. Hope not to repeat that this year.
I will then have completed 4 races in 4 weeks a record for me. Then a rest I hope, COACH DIBENS?? 
