Hyde Park triathlon 2011 - 2h19'29": Olympic PB!
Something I should have written a long time ago… I did an Olympic race in 2011!! Having registered last year just as the entries opened, I was to tackle the Buckingham Palace course from 7:30am on the Sunday morning. 2 months before Challenge Barcelona, this was set to be a good test about my form of the time, and it didn’t disappoint!
Transition was big, and although almost empty when I started my race, it was already pretty tight geiven the amount of triathletes that were due to go through during the day. Well, that was nothing new in these events, and I’m now used to it, but it’s always a bit of a struggle to get everything in place correctly without the next slot’s guy taking half of your space. Fight starts there!!
The guys' bikes next to me did look pretty serious, but that was only for the looks as we’ll see later! Preparing my stuff, it was clear I was quite out of transition practice as I went down to the start line with only a few seconds to spare before the group was called to the water, but at least I wasn’t stressed.
The swim was a bit fiesty to start with, but nothing compared to the Swashbuckler earlier this year and I managed to settle in some sort of rhythm without too much problem. The glare on the long leg towards the last buoy was very strong and I probably managed to swim a bit more than required because of that :) However, I did manage to draft a bit and also have done my share pulling along a little group at some point, which was probably a first given my usual swim abilities! Then the real race started (for me, it still starts on the bike…)
T1 was long! I mean, in Hyde park, there’s probably the best part of 400m to run to the transition area, hence the T1 time. My bike, as usual for me, was pretty lonely, but at least that gave me space to scooter around without bumping into others. Lid on, glasses on, run…
The bike course, going down to buckingham palace and back all the way up to the North gates of Hyde Park was a real morale sapper. Twisty in places, slippery speed bumps on the park roads, blind turns in front of the Palace… And the wind coming up Constituion Hill and passing through Wellington Arch every lap was taking its toll. I managed a 1h05', but boy my legs were on fire in places! That said, I didn’t go all out either because I wanted to have a good run, and so I did!
T2 was uneventful, and as usual, I was one of the first to come back to an empty transition. There’s always some sort of bost I draw from that, specially as the guys around my spot with the flashy gear and swanky wheels weren’t back yet! Childish, but helping, Yepee!! No puncture or mechanical this time, the curse was broken! No problems and nutrition taken in. let’s run!
Running the Hyde Park course is decidedly boring. It’s almost flat but for the long south track, and there are people cheering only at transition and near the ponds. I didn’t really enjoy the temporary plastic surfac blocks near the road on the west either, as the feel was very spongy, but everyone was in the same boat. I had a quick chat with another guy who I thought was on his last lap and I had caught up, but it turned out he was one behind. He told me I was pretty fast and given my position in the race (turned out we started in the same wave), on course for a sub 2h20', which got me accelerate on the last lap. The thing is, I’m pretty sure I could have pushed more before that and get under the (magical for me!) 40' mark. One day… One day… And look at these pictures! God I so need to work on my running stride! This is aweful!
I still managed to cross the line in 2h19'29", which is a fantastic result considering the little preparation I had done for that distance; having my focus tightly set on Challenge Barcelona 2 months later. Having swum a 28'12" makes me feel pretty happy as well, but I’ll have to get my head around pushing much harder on the run, because I know I already can. I just haven’t tried it yet!
Ah, yes, it’s also my new Olympic PB for me :)
If you want te “relive” my race, head over to the impressive TRI-VIEWER (give it some time to load, it shoudl load my race automatically) and checkout my position going up =)!
Below are my results and Garmin data. The places indicated are relative to the whole of the mens race (827 starters), not just my age group.
Swim (1.5Km): 28'22" (308th) GPS/HR data
T1: 3'39" GPS/HR data
Bike (40Km): 1h05'12" (42nd) GPR/HR data
T2: 2'07" GPS/HR data
Run (10Km): 40'09" (116th) GPS/HR data
Total: 2h19'29" (82nd overall in the men race, 25th in my age group.)
