So covid training was going well until Feb 2021 when I managed to damage my achilies tendon on a long run. Following treatment I got back to racing but only entered a few races. The first race was the ATW Hertfordshire Triathlon that actually counted as the Freedom Triathlon Olympic Club Standard and in In addition, the standard distance was part of the Herts Club Champs with a Herts Club Championship Trophy for the winning club team.
The swim is in Stanborough Lakes, Welwyn Garden and parking was easy with lots of space (although the machine would not work to take my payment – Luckily the fine was voided). I was quite relaxed about the race and had a sense of enjoyment to be with friends racing again. The swim is in a good lake and is individually time’d with 5 second gaps. I had done some Open Water Training but decided to start a little later and chase some feet. I was very happy with my exit time of 25:56.
Now this was my first mistake ! You’d think after 15 years of racing that I would know what I needed in transition. Well I decided as it was cold I’d go with some gloves for the bike, on hindsight this was a big error as trying to get them on with wet hands does not work. I then got out on the race course after a very very slow T1 and remember club mate Chris Belcher flying past me. So here we go race time…
The bike course is very fast with a few inclines but I thought I’d try and hold my FTP, I’d done a lot of Zwift and thought Hell Ya I can crack this course. So I chased down Chris and got a few more targets. The course has a few left turns and one caught me as I dropped my chain up hill. Off the bike, chain back on and back to racing. I finished with what I’d consider an average time but on the whole happy to get to T2.
So the run was my concern as my previous mentioned injury. The course is mostly on grass off road and I got into a good pace (Okay I say good on back of zero run training). By around 5km I started to get a calf pain and by the end was walking the race course. Oh Great , This was the start of another injury…
I managed a walk/run for the last 5km and checked where my fellow team mates were on the course to ensure I won Club Standard for 2021 !
| Split Time | Overall | Age Category (45-49) | |
| SWIM | 00:25:56 | 18 | 1 |
| T1 | 00:01:29 | 17 | 1 |
| BIKE | 01:06:36 | 16 | 3 |
| T2 | 00:01:21 | 16 | 4 |
| RUN | 00:43:09 | 16 | 3 |
| Net Time | 02:18:33 | 12 | 4 |