Huntly Triathlon

So this one needs to be tidied up and published before the end of the year.

This was far and away my best race of the year, and probably my best race at least since Inverness Half Marathon back in 2011.

So breaking it down. Pre-race I was about as relaxed as I have been. The entry list was public and the while there were some people I really wanted to avoid, they were all going to be in different heats, wiht the heats spaced out by over half an hour each. There were also plenty of people to hide behind while I was setting up in transition.

First time I have used the pointy hat for a race. That get's a mention early as it changed my transition layout a little. Also having had real problems with cold toes on all my previous standard distance races I decided to ignore my own advice and left some socks in transition. I managed to get set up next to a few people I knew and was able to chat away and set up without stressing.

The usual chat about "how are you going?" was around and I had a good idea beforehand that I should be capable of a decent time. My first standard race was at Huntly in 2010 and had taken me 2hrs 49min 52. That broke down as 31:23 for the 1500m swim, 1:24:45 for the 40k bike, and 51:50 for the 10k run. I knew I wasn't running as well, but I also knew I could both swim and bike a decent amount quicker so I had decided to aim for an ambitious PB for a standard of 2hrs 45.

The swim went brilliantly. For most of the year I have been in lanes with people who have fibbed about their times, which results in a lot of overtaking and slows everyone down. This time out I was in a lane with 3 others, 2 of whom I knew from racing would go about my speed, possibly slightly faster. We were the slowest lane in our heat so we were against the wall, but we were next to a faster lane so got a slight tow off them every second length.

Also in the lane next to me were the two girls that I thought would give me the best overall races. I expected them both to get away a little on the swim, and possibly a little more on the bike, and then even in my bad running condition I would chase them down. Being in the next lane meant I could see how much progress they were making and we were almost at the finish before either of them lapped me. I was getting a nice tow off two of the guys in my lane and I was out of the water in 28:26, just a minute behind the girls, and over 3 ahead of my 2010 time.

My first transition was fairly tidy. No disasters, and worth the time to dry my feet and put the socks on.

The bike was a revelation. I expected to go faster than previously on this course but I didn't quite factor how much of a difference it would be. The first half of the course flew by and I was catching people all the way. At about the halfway point on the course it gets a bit lumpier and turns into the wind. At this point I passed the first of the girls, which was a bit of a shock. By two-thirds of the way round the bike course I had caught 5 minutes on my swim coach. I began to worry that maybe I was pushing too hard on the bike but I felt ok and was spending plenty of time on the tri-bars and turning my legs over easily enough so I decided to keep the pace up.

I came into T2 having biked 1hr 17:38. Over 7 minutes faster than 2010. The pointy hat really does work. (Although the socks, the weather and 900 extra training bike miles might also have contributed slightly). I was almost 10 minutes ahead of my 2010 time. So I went out on the run feeling fairly good. I could afford to drag myself round the 10k in anything approaching an hour and still set a PB for the course. And even dropping 5 minutes on my previous run time would still get me in under the target I had set.

The run course at Huntly is two loops. But on each loop there is also a long out and back section so you are running towards anyone up to maybe half-a-mile ahead of you. This means that on the way out you can see who is suffering and catchable, and on the way back you can see who is looking good and chasing after you. There were a lot of the former, and only one of the latter. On both laps I was picking off a lot of struggling runners, (including my other target) and the only one that was catching me was the target girl I had passed on the bike. This was a bit annoying as normally I can easily run away from her, but I was making plenty of places, and I trying to work out how fast the gap was closing and how long was left I thought I might manage to hold her off.

I was really starting to struggle by the end and was cramping badly as I tried to pick up the pace for the last mile. Annoyingly I was caught just at the last turn with less than 400m left to the finish. But I came in with a run time of 51:04, somehow 46 seconds faster than my 2010 run time.

Overall time was 2hrs 39:13. 6 minutes quicker than I had hoped for. Nearly 11 minutes faster than my 2010 time. Happiest I have been with a race for a long time.

Still some time I can make on the swim, maybe as much as 2 minutes if I can sort out my turns and there is easily 4 minutes on the run if I can actually run it instead of struggling to jog round. So next year's target is 2hrs 35. It will be 5 weeks after my half iron-man (still to be confirmed) so should fit in with my season.