London

Comments

• rpopper65 Posts: 171

  August 2007

  Hey, I'm doing Tower Bridge at 1:10 pm. I've done the Westminster route for the past 2 years and loved it, so I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to doing Tower Bridge or not. Anyway, it's always a good day out, the sun always shines on the London Triathlon and it feels like it will be a good day for a PB.
  
  
  
  Well, by now, you've registered and racked and seen the hugeness that is the ExCel Centre. That's probably your biggest challenge - finding your way through ExCel for your transitions, so make sure you get there early tomorrow and practice walking through your transitions and get a really good feel for the place.
  
  
  
  The swim is pretty straight, out and back, with some pretty big buoys (inflatable Michelob Ultra beer bottles, usually), and you can use some marker on the bridge behind the turning point as a sighting reference, since it'll be easier to spot from a long distance and you won't have to pick your head up as high out of the water. If you're feeling strong, get to the front of the pack and go for it. If you're a little uncertain, stay to the far outside of the pack and then work you way back into the main lane about half-way down to the turning buoy. You won't add too much distance to your swim by staying out of the way of the thrashers, but you will avoid a lot of the struggle, unless you are looking for that sort of thing. The cycle route is pretty straight and flat, pretty well marked out with marshals and extra signs at any points that might be confusing (as I say, I'm doing Tower Bridge for the first time, so I'll be keeping my eyes wide open on the first lap and hoping I get it right and can speed up a bit on the second lap). The run is very flat and clearly marked out, almost impossible to get it wrong, but there are some places where the cobblestones are uneven and some people choose to stick to the flatter paved area, which can cause congestion in places. I sometimes like to run over the cobblestones and avoid the congestion, but I'm used to training on woodland paths and so I enjoy ab it of uneven path every now and then.
  
  
  
  The other, fairly obvious, thing is to make sure you have plenty of water or whatever you like to drink during the race (add a little electrolyte or a small pinch of salt since we'll probably all be sweating furiously tomorrow). It's going to be very hot and humid and probably very sunny, so start to re-hydrate as soon as you get into T1 from the swim, take 2 bottles on the bike ride if you can, take sips every 10-15 minutes, and then keep hydrating throughout the run section. Take water or Gatorade whenever they hand it to you. If you don't drink it then dump it over your head to keep you cool (well, the water, not the Gatorade, that'd just make you all sticky by the end of the race and people will want to hug you even less when you finish).
  
  
  
  So, enjoy yourself and dig deep. It's a great crowd, the best organised race I've ever seen, and a real thrill to cross the finish line.

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