New Forest Standard

This Sunday, I opened my 2011 race account by competing in Race New Forest’s “standard” distance race. This race is slightly shorter than a regulation Olympic triathlon, consisting of a 1.1k swim, 36k bike and a 10k run. I was aiming for between 2 hrs to 2:05, but ended up with 2:23. So if my training has been going so well, where did it go so wrong?

The swim went ok. The lake temperature was ~15oC, so quite warm for the time of year. I positioned myself near the front for the mass start and, when the hooter finally went off we got going. With ~380 people competing for space, the beginning of an open water swim always involves a bit of “biff”. Within ~50m I got a real crack in the face from someone’s elbow. This made the next 100 or so metres very uncomfortable. Luckily I didn’t lose my goggles but I felt sick and really didn’t want to be there. This passed and I then settled into a rhythm and just got on with it. I do now have a bit of a black and bloodshot eye to prove that triathlon is in fact a contact sport.

Before too long I was clambering out of the water and running up to transition, feeling nice and relaxed. The new wetsuit came off really easily and I made my way to the bike leg without any problems. Time for swim and T1: 22:12. To hit the 2hr goal I needed a 20min split so a bit behind but in the top 20% so doing well compared to last years races.


Ran out of T1, mounted and set off down the road. Something wasn’t right! After 1k I pulled over and confirmed that I had punctured – race over! But not quite. I turned around and carefully cycled back to transition, keeping my weight over the front wheel. I found Jacky and asked her to get my spare wheel from the car. Like a real trooper she shot off to the car park and shortly came back with my training wheels. 18minutes later I was back to the spot where I had stopped. (Technically, should I have been DQ’d for outside assistance?).

The rest of the bike went well, I felt really good. Like a great referee in a footie match, I didn’t notice the bike position, my saddle, tri shorts, aero helmet etc, I just focussed on riding as fast as I could for the 35k. I didn’t take any risks, there was no point, and held back in a few tricky places. Final bike split 1:21, including the detour for a new wheel. For a 2hr finish I was looking for about one hour on the bike; w/o the 18 min puncture stop, maybe a 1:03 bike split was a possibility. I’d have been happy with that, especially considering the hills and wind, and it would have been good enough for top 20%.

Passage through T2 was smooth, and then out onto the run, which was largely off road (gravel) and undulating. My stand alone 10k PB last summer, on a flat road surface, was 37:30 so to clock 39:32 on this course – a time which includes T2 – was pretty good if I say so myself. Turned out I was 20^th overall on the run, i.e. top 7%, further testament to how much my running has come on since last year.

So final time 2:23 placing me 140^th out of 290 male finishers. Giving me the benefit of the doubt re the puncture, a 2:05 finish may have been a real possibility, i.e. just within target, a time that could have sneaked me into about 29^th.

The “fun” didn’t stop there! Having collected my bike and wetsuit from transition, I was carefully cycling back to the car when my wetsuit bag got caught in my front wheel, sending me flying over the handlebars. Hardly a scratch on me but my poor bike!! Most upsetting, two spokes broken on my fancy new FastForward carbon wheels.

Obviously it was disappointing to puncture, and I’m really pissed off with myself for the school boy error which resulted in damaging my bike, but I can take a lot of positives from the race and in particular I’m very pleased with where my “winter” training has gotten me. I can’t wait for Wimbleball in June. Lets hope I’ve had all my bad luck and everything goes smoothly from here – touch wood.