Race Results the Wind farmer sprint distance Triathlon.

On Sunday the 25th of September i decided to take part in the Wind farmer sprint distance triathlon. The basis of this race was for me to realise and understand how much a single threshold test actually takes it out of your body and learn how much recovery my body actually needs to perform 100% on race day - a few lessons have been learn't here.

My coach had given me strict power figures to stick to and i was going to do just that, as this was a C cat race for me, purely training and knowledge building. My figure was 255-265 Watts.

The day started bright and sunny and it all looked set to be a great race. As the gun went and the swim got underway i soon realised i wasn't in shape and soon got pushed to the back of the main pack.

As bodies struggled to climb over me my goggles got removed and my nose clip lost.

This made things interesting for me so i turned onto my back and recovered the best i could and continued with my swim. With all my efforts the damage was done and i knew it, i had no choice but to get to transition and hope my legs were able to get the bike moving.

My T1 went very smoothly in little over 1 minute, i now knew i had a huge game of catch up to play.

Out on the bike i got hydrated and concentrated on my target Wattage (255-265). For the first few km's my legs felt sluggish and i knew how empty my tank really was, as i passed each bike i counted until i guessed i was 12th on the road.

As we came to the half way point i decided to try and close the gap on the next bike. It was clear to see the faster swimmers where now getting tired on the bike and i managed to gain another 5 places which i guessed put me in 7th. I was happy to sit there and recover for the final few km's and get ready for the run.

As i flew into T2, legs spinning at over 120 rpm, i lost a shoe which cost me vital seconds at the dismount line, another lesson learn't !!!.

Now it was my turn to try and turn this race around, i set off on the run very calmly knowing i was capable of moving up through the guys ahead of me.

The plan here was a negative split over the 6km loop. After the first km i saw the next guy, i stayed within my HR zone and hunted him down.... finally 6th place. As i approached the water station the marshals informed me i was close behind the next guy. As the watch struck 2km i knew it was almost time to turn on the running legs and get this negative split...... BEEP BEEP 3 km had passed and now it was time to pickup the pace and find my 5th place.

Before long i was steadily approaching and passing the guy i had been chasing in 5th place, with less than 1.5km to go i picked the pace up as much as the HR zone would allow and went in search of 4th.... 4th place crossed the line 100 yards before me and i run in just behind him.

As the swim had been so eventful i didn't have a clue how well or badly i had done.

I had managed to get:

1st in Age group.

2nd fastest bike.

3rd fastest run.

4th overall.

What a result all things considered a great training event.

Thanks to my coach Ben Ward for teaching me such a valuable lesson.