Third place! Overall. And 2nd veteran 40 athlete! And I got 2 lots of prizes! I like this vet 40 lark.
I haven’t done a duathlon for a couple of years but I like the Mumbles course. It’s a very local race for me, and although the run is flat the bike course is nice and hilly. The first run was fairly straightforward, and I probably ran a bit slow. I paced the bike on feel and it felt pretty good. I’d had a couple of rough days training on tired legs but they felt much happier, even in the strong winds and hailstorms (we all had rashes from the hail and couldn’t work out where they’d come from at first). The second run is always horrible and I was pushed hard from the turn, running the last couple of km as fast as I could. That hurt. It was worth it though.
A good race, and some good signs. Lots of fun and a good showing from Cardiff Tri with Jess and Claire finishing 1st and 2nd, and I split up an otherwise running flush from San Domenico.
Results:
Link (will change in the future) and direct download.
Photos:
Dirty Green Trainers Sports Photography
Just keep swimming
Two races done in 2 weeks and I’m still in my base training phase. Not bad! This weekend we had the Swim Wales Open Masters Age Group Championships (I think that’s the full title); my first solely swimming race of any kind since primary school! I entered the 1500m and ended up in the same heat as Mike and Helen from Cardiff Triathletes. I was swimming for Swansea Masters and Mike for Cardiff Masters, and we had similar seed times. Race on!
A swim meet is an interesting thing to do, with most people swimming a number of different events and 5 year age group categories ranging easily through to 70 year olds. You get to do a lot of lounging around waiting for events and I was very glad of Emma Smithurst’s company (the Swansea Masters coach). Chatting kept the nerves away and having her there made sure I wasn’t missing anything.
Preseason spending
I was in Urban Cyclery today (they’ve kindly moved to new premises and are now my new local bike shop) and realised that after doing quite well with money over the winter with Christmas and kids’ birthdays and whatnot, spending has started to really kick off in the preseason preparation. It’s a crazy time of year for spending money as a triathlete and this year it’s possibly even worse as my enthusiasm for trying new things takes over.
On top of paying entry fees for most of the races in the first half of the year, including some very big fees for big races, I’m sorting out my race bike after making a mess of it last year. Fortunately my specialist insurance company have really looked after me so I’m covered there. I’ve entered XTERRA England, which was then cancelled, and then restored after being taken on by another company. It should be a good family weekend away in August and I’ve been enjoying getting muddy over the winter, but I think it might be time to upgrade from my 20 year old Orange mountain bike if I want to be competitive. Technology has moved on a little since then.
Llanelli half-marathon 2014
That’s the first race of the year done! The Llanelli half-marathon is a good, early part of the year, running benchmarking test for me, although I don’t think it’s entirely comparable with the old course. I’m not sure about the new course; it’s not that quick, it’s nice enough, but it’s not great for spectators. Except that they should have more access to cafe’s now. And the chance of a second breakfast while waiting for us runners to come back.
I started a way back with a club mate, James Nunn, and I think we managed to avoid starting too fast by chatting for the first mile. Always a good way to start a race. The wind was a wee bit southerly, and maybe a bit more easterly than that. James’ pace picked up and I stuck to my own pace as we climbed over a short railway bridge hillock and onto the cycle path.