1km swim - 15:13
100km bike - 3:29
10km run - 38:23
Total time - 4:08
16th Overall, 2nd Under23
So my triathlon season well and truly kicked off two weeks ago with Portocolom triathlon 111 event, an incredible race attracting 800 athletes from all over the world and even around 10 pro athletes on the start line. After a long hard winter of training i was really excited to race again even with the thought of the brutal bike course!
The swim start can only be described as Spanish. We were to jump off a pier, swim to a buoy wait and then the whistle would go, but as soon as people had jumped in they just began swimming! So i had to loose my British mindset and just get stuck in. So not the ideal swim start but soon i was out of the mess and leading the chase pack behind the pro guys. The swim felt really comfortable, i have been spending a lot of time open water swimming and this is helping me massively. I now feel when i swim in races im swimming more naturally and not just doing anything to get through the water. It was a strange feeling being so far up in the swim but i enjoyed the clear water and hearing the large crowds from way out!
Into transition i felt in a great position and again i couldn't believe the size of the crowd as i ran to my bike. This gave me a massive boost and i was soon onto the bike. Before the race i knew the bike course would be tough, the main factor was climbing San Salvador twice, a 5km apline style climb with switchbacks and all. But as well as that most of the course was rolling hills with some technical areas and really nowhere where anyone could hide. This was the furthest i had raced on the bike and a lot of things were new to me, the nutrition, pacing, hydration and trying not to just chase any guy who came near me! The bike was two laps and after the first ascent of San Salvador i was feeling good, my descending wasn't great and i lost a fair bit of time there but overall things were going well. I kept a good eye on my power with an idea of numbers in my head and i tried to stick close to them. Riding around the second loop i was still feeling good, i really tried to put in some solid numbers on the second lap and i was riding well. After the second climb i was starting to feel a bit of fatigue but just knew to hold on to the finish.
Coming into transition I felt in control and ready to run, i knew i could hit a strong 10km off a long bike and set out to do so. On the run i felt great, i tried to push whatever pace i had and i managed to chase down a good few guys who dropped me on the descent. I was surprised with how good i felt running but i think being boxed in by the crowd also kept me going! A sprint to the finish in the last 1km and i was over the line!
A bloody tough long day out but an incredible result for me. I had been up there mixing it with some seriously strong athletes and i was very happy with how my legs felt on the run!
Unfortunately with a flight to Barcelona to catch i couldn't stick around to collect my trophy but as far as a start to the season goes i was very pleased and felt my form was solid!
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