One of my commitments post windsor was to try and take in more single discipline races, and especially runs - as Tim Don says "you have to be able to run fast fresh to be able to run fast tired off the bike". So since Windsor I have raced a couple of running races:
-Tadley 10Km - 40:37 (19/228 - 9%) *11am start, 24oC - good warm weather training!
-Sandhurst 5.1mi club handicap -4th / 22. Time 32:21 (-1:17 off PB)
Hampton Court Swim
I also decided to race the Hampton Court to Kingston (2.25mi / 3.65km) swim last sunday. In terms of distance it would be a slight stretch and also I would be able to push my speed knowing it was a single discipline race. There were 10 waves - x1 elite, x3 'performance' (sub 1:10) and x7 'public' waves (1:10+). I put a provisional time of 1:09 down to get into the 3rd performance wave. This season my OW swimming has been good and I've felt relaxed; although on the day I was more nervous than a tri - I think because it would be my longest OW swim.
On the morning I arrived early and registration was chaos - apparently Human Race increased numbers by +700 since 2010 but didn't reflect this in their setup. At 8.55 when I was due to be in the briefing 'pen', I was stood about 80th in the queue for my timing chip. I ended up getting changed whilst in the queue. Eventually I had enough and walked to the front of the queue, got my chip, handed my bag in and went down to the briefing pen.
There was about 150 in my wave - seemingly a real mix of swimming purists and triathletes. Soon we were in the water and swimming over to the start buoys on the other side of the Thames. The support from the spectators at the start was excellent to see. The first thing that struck me was how narrow the start buoys were together, soon enough the horn blew and we were underway. I have never experienced a swim start like it in any triathlon, there were arms, legs, fists everywhere. I had people wrapping their arms round my legs - its fair to say I aimed a couple of sharp kicks where someone was taking the p*ss. About 50m in and an arm came over the top of my head and swept my goggles almost off, luckily I grabbed them and managed to get them back on. Unfortunately they were leaking and it took several efforts to rectify this. From then I started to focus on getting into a rhythm, but by then the bulk of the pack was 20m+ ahead of me so I was worked hard to get back into it.
I just focussed on my arm pulls, breathing and sighting but the pack ahead was increasing the gap over me. One guy came past me and I got on his heels. I think it was the first time I have successfully drafted in a race- I actually felt like I was cheating lol I was trying to work out how fast this guy was - was I going faster than if I had been swimming by myself? I certainly didn't feel like I was working hard - was this what drafting should feel like? Soon I found out - I popped my head up to see where the pack was and when I looked down the heels had shot off ahead. Gutted. It was really difficult to gauge distance around the course - I didn'y see distance markers on any buoys and didn't want to stop to check my watch as I couldn't afford to lose time. I felt that I was way off 1:10 as most people in my wave were well ahead by now.
Eventually I started passing people in yellow hats (the wave ahead) so gave me an added kick to chase them. It was hard knowing how hard to push though as I didn't know how much further I had. Also I wasn't sure whether it was advantageous swimming close to the bank taking the shortest route but encountering reeds, or further out towards the middle of the Thames and getting the benefit of the current. In the end I did abit of both. Eventually I saw a buoy marked 3,200m and still felt strong so started really pushing it. I overtook quite a few people in this last stretch and was going along nicely. Finally I got to the end, climbed out and dashed up to the finish overtaking someone in this short sprint. I looked down at my clock expecting c. 1:15 - when I saw 1:05 I was delighted and did a double check.
Time = 1:05:28 (3,650m)
Position = 426 / 1,383 (31%)
Learnings
1. Know your course & pace effectively
2. Practice drafting and use when racing
3. Race at least a couple of OW swims per season. If anything the start is a good experience and something to work on
Well I've got London OLY a week on Sunday so I've got a big last few days of training including a 60mi ride with a new cycling club I've not been to before - then taper. Bring it on!!!
Cheers for taking the time to read this anyway, hope your training is going well whatever you are training for.
