Go Tri Aquathlon Kingsbury May 2014
May 29th 2014
450 m swim, 2 km run.
My first aquathlon!
GoTri is an initiative to get lots of people involved in triathlon, by trying it out on a smaller scale. For me this involves attending monthly aquathlons run at my favourite open water swimming venue - West Midlands Waterski Centre (soon to be renamed the more catchy 'Cliff Lakes').
The swim is the normal mini lap round the middle lake and the run is along the bank of the far lake then up and over the bund.
I say 'normal mini lap' - when I arrived for the GoTri (late, due to car issues) the lap had changed slightly. I just about had time to dip my face into the water and get over the initial shock of cold before collecting my hat and wristband. I think this hurried entry plus the cool weather (lake temp about 15 degrees) sent me into mini panic mode. I'd never swum with so many others before, so the first side of the triangular lap was stressful. After this the pack moved away and I eventually got used to the water, but nevertheless, a worse swim than I had hoped for!
Exiting the water I made a bad job of getting the wetsuit off and put on my socks and trainers. I managed to overtake one man who seemed to be making a worse hash of the wetsuit than me, and set off on the run. I felt fairly fresh going into the run. I suppose it's all relative, normally running would be off the back of a fast bike ride rather than a dismally slow swim, but I did feel OK. Not having run the course before I was surprised by how incredibly boggy the grass was. My feet were soaked through within a couple of minutes, so I made a mental resolve there and then to do away with the sock faff next time! Climbing the bund was a bit of a shock too, but I made it up, over and back to the finish line having overtaken one lady, so pleased with that element of the race.
Unfortunately the time given is just an overall time, but it gives me something to work off next time. Overall I enjoyed the event and it's good informal practice, after all, I'm never going to get used to swimming with a pack of people, and stripping off the wetsuit, unless I practice it!
Times
Total time: 19:22:03
Standings
Overall category: 14/21 67%
Gender category: 06/10 60%
450 m swim, 2 km run.
My first aquathlon!
GoTri is an initiative to get lots of people involved in triathlon, by trying it out on a smaller scale. For me this involves attending monthly aquathlons run at my favourite open water swimming venue - West Midlands Waterski Centre (soon to be renamed the more catchy 'Cliff Lakes').
The swim is the normal mini lap round the middle lake and the run is along the bank of the far lake then up and over the bund.
I say 'normal mini lap' - when I arrived for the GoTri (late, due to car issues) the lap had changed slightly. I just about had time to dip my face into the water and get over the initial shock of cold before collecting my hat and wristband. I think this hurried entry plus the cool weather (lake temp about 15 degrees) sent me into mini panic mode. I'd never swum with so many others before, so the first side of the triangular lap was stressful. After this the pack moved away and I eventually got used to the water, but nevertheless, a worse swim than I had hoped for!
Exiting the water I made a bad job of getting the wetsuit off and put on my socks and trainers. I managed to overtake one man who seemed to be making a worse hash of the wetsuit than me, and set off on the run. I felt fairly fresh going into the run. I suppose it's all relative, normally running would be off the back of a fast bike ride rather than a dismally slow swim, but I did feel OK. Not having run the course before I was surprised by how incredibly boggy the grass was. My feet were soaked through within a couple of minutes, so I made a mental resolve there and then to do away with the sock faff next time! Climbing the bund was a bit of a shock too, but I made it up, over and back to the finish line having overtaken one lady, so pleased with that element of the race.
Unfortunately the time given is just an overall time, but it gives me something to work off next time. Overall I enjoyed the event and it's good informal practice, after all, I'm never going to get used to swimming with a pack of people, and stripping off the wetsuit, unless I practice it!
Times
Total time: 19:22:03
Standings
Overall category: 14/21 67%
Gender category: 06/10 60%
Comments
Post a Comment