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Virgin London Triathlon 2012
This weekend saw the London Triathlon take place in Docklands and two very different days of racing as a result of the schizophrenic weather.
Sadly, I was due to set off on Sunday at 2.30pm, right in the middle of the heaviest wind and rain. Nothing I had done in training had quite prepared me for that!
The start of the swim was straight into the wind, but we soon spread out and I got into some sort of rhythm without getting bashed around too much. At the first turn I was close to the front, and having the wind behind for the next 1km or so certainly helped. Rounding the final turn back into the wind the water became very choppy indeed and as the rain came down, visibility was worsening. I discovered afterwards that it was then that the organisers decided to abandon the swim for those due to set off after my group. Looking back, I am just glad that I got to do the swim in full, or the whole event would have felt like a real let down.
So despite having the very worst of the conditions, I was delighted to record a swim time of 27:48, around 124th out of the 733 competitors in my category, and to get out on the bike. The wind had brought down lots of leaves onto the road, which, combined with the rain, made it very slippery. The behaviour of lots of the cyclists didn't help either. I had little sympathy with those who had inisisted on putting a disc wheel on the back - my 50mm deep section RS80s were hard enough to control - but much respect for the bloke who completed the bike leg on a Penny Farthing!
I saw lots of crashes and lots of punctures due to all the debris on the road, and so I was mostly just pleased to stay upright all the way round. Again the wind was the biggest factor, and with 2 laps of an east-west course the time was spent either flying along or pedalling like crazy just to stand still. I was delighted to get round the course (measured by my Garmin at a little less than 40km) in 1:10:24.
Then came the run - a brutal 4 laps out into the wind and back again, with a section of the course ankle-deep in water due to flooding. I was running out of energy quickly, and just about hung on in there to record a time of 53:51.
Overall, my time of 2:39:34 gave me 224th place out of 733 entrants in my age category, and 1,354th out of a total of 4,205 competitors who braved the Olympic distance. By comparison, the first Elite competitor came home in 1:48:08.
For my first ever triathlon, I was really pleased with my result, especially given the weather. Most importantly of all, I have raised just under £7,000 for the NSPCC in the process (you can still donate if you are interested - http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/chrisbelcher).
Chris
Sadly, I was due to set off on Sunday at 2.30pm, right in the middle of the heaviest wind and rain. Nothing I had done in training had quite prepared me for that!
The start of the swim was straight into the wind, but we soon spread out and I got into some sort of rhythm without getting bashed around too much. At the first turn I was close to the front, and having the wind behind for the next 1km or so certainly helped. Rounding the final turn back into the wind the water became very choppy indeed and as the rain came down, visibility was worsening. I discovered afterwards that it was then that the organisers decided to abandon the swim for those due to set off after my group. Looking back, I am just glad that I got to do the swim in full, or the whole event would have felt like a real let down.
So despite having the very worst of the conditions, I was delighted to record a swim time of 27:48, around 124th out of the 733 competitors in my category, and to get out on the bike. The wind had brought down lots of leaves onto the road, which, combined with the rain, made it very slippery. The behaviour of lots of the cyclists didn't help either. I had little sympathy with those who had inisisted on putting a disc wheel on the back - my 50mm deep section RS80s were hard enough to control - but much respect for the bloke who completed the bike leg on a Penny Farthing!
I saw lots of crashes and lots of punctures due to all the debris on the road, and so I was mostly just pleased to stay upright all the way round. Again the wind was the biggest factor, and with 2 laps of an east-west course the time was spent either flying along or pedalling like crazy just to stand still. I was delighted to get round the course (measured by my Garmin at a little less than 40km) in 1:10:24.
Then came the run - a brutal 4 laps out into the wind and back again, with a section of the course ankle-deep in water due to flooding. I was running out of energy quickly, and just about hung on in there to record a time of 53:51.
Overall, my time of 2:39:34 gave me 224th place out of 733 entrants in my age category, and 1,354th out of a total of 4,205 competitors who braved the Olympic distance. By comparison, the first Elite competitor came home in 1:48:08.
For my first ever triathlon, I was really pleased with my result, especially given the weather. Most importantly of all, I have raised just under £7,000 for the NSPCC in the process (you can still donate if you are interested - http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/chrisbelcher).
Chris
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John