Today was the first of the summer Aquathlon series.
Identical to the winter one, but without the frostbite!!
Have had numerous injuries the last few months, getting knocked off my bike, sprained ankle, cycling induced leg injury from having my seat position wrong....which has meant my running has been at best - shit. Only managing to do slow steady stuff when i've not been in pain, sandwiched between weeks off. But thankfully the injuries haven't affected my cycling and swimming so have been focussing on them.
The jizzio gave me the ok to run this week after a weekend and a half off my feet so did a tempo run weds and a 10 miler on thursday. With no signs of my injuries i decided to go for todays race and aim for a sub 8:15 swim and get through the run without my leg seizing up, and given my latest form i felt like i'd be lucky to manage 9 min miles!
As usual 400m Swim in the pool, run out to transition, trainers on, 5k run.
Did a couple of lengths warm up and decided with the guy i was sharing my lane with we'd go up and down rather than round and round - meaning he wouldnt have to worry about overtaking me!!
Under starters orders - 5 secs to go, started my watch - and off..... i'd done a 3.8k time trial on thursday in the pool so wasn't sure how my shoulders were going to feel but felt ok, and got into a steady rhythm. I had a shoulder injury from getting knocked off my bike which meant i couldnt swim with club for the fast sessions so had just been banging out long slow steady stuff focussing on technique, which seems to have done wonders in the pool.
I got to about 8th length and checked the lap timer clock thing and checked how long the next 2 lenghts toook - just under a minute, kept checking each 50 and each time was just under a minute... by my calculations if the first half was the same sort of speed i was going at i could do easily under 8:15!
Tapped on the head - 2 to go, final push and checked my watch - 7:45!!!! holy shit!!! i scrambled out the pool and ran through the door - they apparently cut off as you reach the door so my official time was 7:53 - but wooooooooooooo! i was so flipping happy!! If you've read the preivious swim related posts you'll know that i used to be chuffed to get 9:45! I never expected to get under 8 - probably ever so i'm totally chuffed! :)
So ran out in to the sunshine!! (not a bit of frost in sight!) bunged on my ssocks and shoes and race number and ran back out, bout a minute in transition, out onto the run, i just focusses on keeping my cadence high, not going too quick and just picking off the people in front of me. (i.e. the fast swimmers!)
The run was fairly uneventful, until the turnaround i didnt see any ladies come back towards me, so assumed i must be first woman :) I overtook another fella, before another one came past me (must have been a shitter swimmer than me!) I really don't like the last 400m, it goes on for ages and i always want to take the wrong turn. back through the car park into transition and cross the line. 21:35 on the run :) Still slower than i used to be but i'm pretty chuffed with this time as i've not been focussing on sprint distances or any speed work - or running really!
It's a great confidence booost as i was really beginning to think my running days were slowing down but i reckon if i can stay injury free, i'll have some reasonabale triathlon runs in me this year.
i was 6th over all and 1st lady today!! yay!! The lady who normally wins didnt race today, she spectated so i only really won by default, but my swim times are getting closer to hers now, so she best watch out! ;)
Finished up with a 50 mile easy ride and ice cream :)