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Cotswold sprint

Last race of the season, so I thought I'd chuck a swift report up:

Cotswold sprint

Perfect weather for me. I suffer in the heat, so the overcast and slightly damp conditions were pretty welcome.

Swim.

Pretty poor and my shoulders were instantly fatigued, which is never nice. I plugged away though and came out midway in my wave. I sighted quite well this time around which is a useful improvement. I think I went in a straight line for the majority of the 750 metres.

T1.

Pants. Missed my bike – usually do a practice transition run before the start to make sure I can spot my bike on the move. The toilet queue prevented that this time around, and I paid the price. Still it wasn’t too bad.

Bike.

Big improvement on last year (using the exact same kit, so I know it’s all me!). I got overtaken by all the usuals on their bling that cost more than the deposit on my house. But I was mainly overtaking and I felt really strong throughout. It helps that part of the bike course is my commute to work, so I had a pretty good handle on when to push and when to ‘rest’.

T2.

Disaster. If T1 was bad, it was nothing compared to T2. I ran down the wrong bike lane and stood like a numpty wondering why running shoes weren’t at my racking spot. I reckon that cost me about 40 seconds.

Run.

My run made up for my crap T2. I felt great on the way round and even had enough energy to give a shout to Didds who I met in transition before the race. He looked pretty comfortable and was ‘smashing it’ as promised.

Overall:

Swim: 12:45 ish (felt slow, but this is my fasted 750 yet. I reckon a better wetsuit and some more volume will get me swimming quicker)
Bike: 35 (4 minutes faster than last year, on the same bike)
Run: 18:45 – I reckon the course was a little short though. That’s about my PB for a straight 5k and I had really gunned the bike.

Overall – 1:09:20 or there abouts. Dead happy with that, but slightly annoyed as had I not missed my bike, that would be down into 1:08:50 territory I reckon.

It was tough field this year. I only gained 2 places on last year despite being 3 minutes quicker! It’s a great event though – really well organised, good venue – perfect for an end of season run at your sprint PB. James Gilfillan won the elite race with some frankly scary splits (really scary given that he is really an ironman pro, so you wouldn’t have thought sprints would really suit him).

Cheers all,

Comments

  • Mowf, missed you yesterday, but I had a chat with Didds during racking, and prior to the swim. Excellent results. and enjoy the off season.

    For your info, I measured he bike at 18.47km, and the run at 4.78km.
  • diddsdidds Posts: 655
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  • Nice one buddy........enjoyed your report too. You're an inspiration.
  • @Mowf

    Those are some great race times mate......i'd love to be that fast!
  • MowfMowf Posts: 272
    Full English breakfast, bike and gear in the car, off to the race.
    Crikey, now that's a nutrition strategy!

    Great report. Must have been satisfying to destroy your target time like that. Funny you should mention a pink towel. That's my usual tactic and so far it has never failed me. I used a blue on on Sunday and it just blended in!

    See you next year...
  • diddsdidds Posts: 655
    GR: Nice one buddy........enjoyed your report too. You're an inspiration.

    Me? nahh... YOU are the inspiration mate! I'm a just a fat lad with issues!

    didds
  • Didd,s you;ve made a typo, should have read "I'm a just a fast lad with issues". Don't do yourself down, you outperformed your expectations on the weekend, result!
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