Same race for me. Word from a Garmin-wearing friend was that the swim measured just over 3km in the end. Not the end of the world when you're there for an IMW training day! The marks of the course were a pair of kid's armbands with a dishcloth tied to them, so sighting was a challenge. Heaven knows how far I swam, but time was below par... even for 3km.
Bike was glorious. Awesome route, scenery and raod surfaces. I did a recce last week, so I expected it to be tough. Good news was that I recce'd the wrong hill (shit-fer-brains) so the race was more gentle than expected. Practised all my IMW pacing tips on the ups/downs and they worked. Just need to chill my beans on the flat bits, as I went too hard again, as per LCW Tenby. Food station was ace! Like a bring and buy sale. Just the bottles of Accelerade Soup on a table, and a bunch of nanas having a chat. I think you were supposed to get off your bike, take you box of scones, or home made jam, and go exchange it for a bottle. Time was good too.
Run was.... erm... well it was 13 miles along the seaside in the sun. OK but a bit dull, and weird to run past spectators in your pirate clobber to the accompanying sound track of complete silence (perhaps I heard some sucking of false teeth as I trundled past). Happy enough with 2:07 but slightly below par compared to overall finish time.
So 7:22 overall, which put me 58th. On a bit of a downer, because I can't help but notice that I'm very ordinary at this triathlon lark. This was a hard, hard race, but it wasn't Iron distance, so I feel no sense of achievement in having done it. It's a distance you're supposed to race, not just complete, and I was slow. My body shape looks all wrong for this lark and I'm having a little re-think this week about what to change going forward. Still committed to doing IM Wales though.
