Today I raced in this season’s second race in the Manchester Area XC League, at Sherdley Park near St Helens. Definitely the hardest ~10k I’ve ever ran, due to the muddy conditions etc. Great fun! Result: 9.3k in 44:27

National Team Relays

Mental! A day of total racing chaos but great fun. Rob started us off with a good swim, followed by Andy, Neil and then me - to provide the sprint finish on the run - haha!

Seaford Classoc

My first Olympic distance race. The sea swim was cut short due to the choppy conditions; I felt pretty sick getting out of the water. The run up the stony beach to T1 hurt like hell. Didn’t enjoy the bike much - 12 laps of an out and back loop, plus it was windy. The results show I didn’t move up the field at all on the bike which is unusual. The run went better.

Overall result: 02:22:35 (60th out of 169)

Swim (750m): 18:13 (71th, +T1)

Bike (40k): 01:18:47 (71th)

Run (10k): 45:35 (32nd, +T2)

Boundary Breeze

Manchester Triathlon Club’s annual race, a sprint tri centered on Boundary Water Park. My A-race for my first season and it went really well. After a good swim, I pushed as hard as poss on the bike. The run hurt but I finished strong. After the race, the heavens opened and everyone got totally soaked! Organization? Perfect, of course! :-)

Overall result: 01:16’:57 (35th out of 153)

Swim (750m): 15:12 (61st)

Bike (23k): 40:45 (30th, +T1)

Run (5k): 20:59 (38th, +T2)

Beaulieu

My first open water race, in the tidal Beaulieu river at Bucklers hard, organized by Race New Forest. A glorious day and a very well organized event - loved it! A theme is emerging, slow in the swim, better on the bike and even faster on the run. Happy with my transitions.

Overall result: 01:29:17 (37th out of 180 men)

Swim (650m): 15:07 (94th)

Bike (25k): 48:42 (54th, incl T1 and T2)

Run (6k): 25:27 (22nd)