Swim 1000m- 15:21
Bike 100km - 3:06:58
Run 10.5km - 38:23
16th overall
1st Under 23
So after what has felt like a very long winter it was time for me to fly out to Mallorca from my season opener, triathlon Portocolom. A really special race and one i started 2015 with also. A 1km swim, 100km bike and 10km run. Very different distances to normal races and a great way to test the legs.
Coming to Mallorca i didn't feel that ready to race, training had been going quite well and things were looking good but i was worried i hadn't done enough work on the bike over longer distances. Something that can be hard to find time for.
However after a couple of days of training in my old hometown of Colonia Sant Jordi at the Best centre with my training partner Fin i was on the start line. From last year i knew the bike was won or lost essentially on the bike. The swim still matters of course and as does the run but really after the first lap of the bike most guys end up finishing in that position.
I had a pretty awful swim start, in a typical Spanish fashion the race just started without any warning and i was caught out. For the first minute i was barely swimming just trying to find some water. I just kept calm and got my head down. Once out of the mess i begun to have a really solid swim, i was streaming past people (not usual for me!) and i found some good feet to sit on - Thanks Fin!. I just built the swim from start to finish and came out of the water leading the main chase pack of age groupers.
Onto the bike i knew i just had to start a bit harder than i wanted. I wanted to get into a rhthm quick and push the legs. Despite throwing up some sea water i soon found my legs and begun to settle into the 50km loop. The course is pretty damn hilly, not just the 5km climb but its all fairly rolling and you can't really sit at a power its more like an interval session. Or thats how i raced anyway.
After one lap i knew i was going strong, the numbers were looking good and i felt fresh, i struggled to find comfort in the flat open road section and lost my mind a little but onto the second lap i stepped it up a gear. Once your onto the second lap its a lonely race - it spreads out massively and you feel almost on your own. This is when i had to get my focus on and really step it up. Coming off the bike i was happy to have ridden 6minutes quicker than last year and negative split the second lap. A good sign!
Onto the run and i felt pretty slow. The first 1km just was a real struggle to get going, im usually pretty fast over the first k's but it just didn't happen then. Once i got through 3k the legs began to loosen up and from then to the finish i was just getting faster and faster, a good sign for my longer races. I knew i had given it my all and raced well when crossing the line.
I finished winning my age group and 16th overall. Funnily enough the exact same position as last year, a step up the age group podium and with the exact same run time!
To start my season like this got rid of a lot of the doubt i had had previously and i was super stoked to go quicker than last year.
It was great to be able to race with Finlay and having him in Mallorca kept me pretty relaxed. The next day my bags were packed and it was off to camp with Tri Scotland!
Big thanks as always to Gamma Transport Division and Graeme Stewart Coaching!
