My bike all ready to go. It was an early start on race day. Had to get to transition for body marking by 5:30am so it was a 4am start with my normal routine of coffee, two slices of marmalade toast and a banana. I was out by 5:10 and at transition by 5:30 ready to unload my bag and get my wetsuit on. I was supposed to pick my training partner up (Aubrey) but he phoned the night before and said that he would make his own way there in the morning. He never turned up and became one of the hundreds (unbelievable) who got a DNS (Did Not Start). Not heard from him since. His kids have been ill and he's missed a few of our training sessions but i thought he would do the race. Ah well. One less that can finish in front of me.
The race started well for me. The swim was unbelievable. 600 bodies swimming together. In my other swim 'races' I have prayed for people to be around me cos didn't want to feel alone in the sea. During this race I was trying to find a bit of clear water to actually swim in. It was arms and legs and elbows everywhere. Got an elbow in the face at one point but didn't lose my goggles. Phew! Realised that I had done the wrong sort of training. Should have studied kick boxing techniques. Sighting was easy cos the inflatables marking the course were huge and easy to see plus it was just a case of going along with everybody else. Felt good to be part of the pack. Finished the race mid field in just under 44 minutes. Had done the same 2k in 40mins last Thursday but this was totally different with so many bodies around and the water was a bit more choppy. Wind must have picked up by the second lap cos waves were crashing my face on the last bit whereas it had been totally calm the first lap.
Most people ran out of the sea and ran into transition and got on their bike as quick as poss. I decided that it was going to be a long day and so I walked from the sea to transition and took my time getting dry and getting ready for the bike ride. I set out on my bike and got about half k up the road when SH!T I didn't have my race number belt on. Had to ride back and go back into transition to get it. Wasted 5 minutes doing that. Damnations! I explained what had happened to the marshal and someone in the crowd said that I was the third person so far. made me feel a bit better.
I really enjoyed the bike ride. I know the route really well and so could pace myself properly. It's a long loop (55k) that has the wind behind on the way out and then a killer headwind on the way back. I think this caught a lot of people out and accounted for the large number of people who didn't finish. Took my time and took in all the views. Even took time to say Hi to the cows. Finished bike ride in 3hrs23 which is slower than past rides (usually about 3hrs17) but I wanted to save enough energy for the half marathon.
Transition from bike to run went fairly smoothly although a bit slow. Needed to visit the portaloo as well which slowed me down. Will learn how to pee on the bike (instructions on internet) and do this next year to save a few minutes. Also finished the ride crying cos the headwind was playing on my eyes and the sweat, mixed with suncream on my forehead was dripping into my eyes. Not a good combination. Tried wiping them but it just made it worse. Finished the last couple of K's squinting and crying. Nothing to do with pain honest. Wasn't going fast enough to be in pain!
So onto the run and then I saw Jo and the kids in the crowd. That was the highlight! 21K to go .... no problem.
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