Lichfield Sprint Triathlon 2016
April 24th 2016
400 m swim, 18k bike, 5k run
The Lichfield Sprint Triathlon is hosted by Birmingham Running, Athletics and Triathlon Club (BRATs) and is hence nice and local to me. I competed in 2014 (when it was called the Three Spires Triathlon) and finished in a time of 1:22:10. I remember having a terrible swim, reasonable bike and less reasonable run. Two years on in my triathlon journey my aim for this race was to knock at least 5 minutes off this time.
The swimming pool was reasonable empty (up to two people per lane when I was queuing for the start) but I was surprised when told to "choose a lane" as I am used to allocated lanes! I was first in the queue so got first choice, placing myself in lane 4 of 6. A quick mental assessment had taken place - there was one empty lane but this was where I had a terrible swim last year and was furthest from swim out (nearest lane 1) so karma and common sense didn't let me choose this one. Lanes 2 and 3 both had two swimmers in them, one of which looked a bit sluggish so I opted for lane 4 as it was closer to swim out than lane 5 and both had a single swimmer in by this point.
Unusually I didn't feel nervous at this point, and as the whistle went I took long, smooth strokes to start the swim. My lane buddy was at the other end at this point, but, nearing the end of his swim I caught him after four lengths and he kindly paused for a second at the end to let me push off ahead of him. I then had a comfy eight lengths before the next swimmer started, and I was grateful that they were far enough away that I wouldn't come into contact with them in my final four lengths.
Exiting the pool was fine but the run was awfully gritty! I spent a while on my towel as a consequence shuffling my feet around trying to get rid of it... I also faffed putting on a long sleeved top (exceedingly difficult when you are completely wet) and my thickest winter gloves as it was really cold.
The bike felt much like last time, a slight headwind on the gently declining outward leg and a slight cross-tail on the more up-hill return leg. I managed to stay aero for maybe half of it, and was very thankful for the gloves as I was at no point warm in my extremities. I probably could have foregone the top but at the same time it wasn't bothering me. I managed to achieve my usual sprint tri aim of not being overtaken by a woman and being overtaken by fewer than five men. The last part I found hard and I frustratingly had to stop at traffic lights. We were supposed to be given a time bonus for this but I'm not sure I was as the lady on the corner called "214" and my number was "216"!
Coming into T2 and off the bike I got stuck behind a man walking up the hill, so lost a little time here. I also faffed taking off the gloves and top, so was therefore very suprised to post the fastest female T2 time! What was everyone else up to?
The run was four laps of the school field, but I was glad of the soft surface and felt decidedly better than I had done last time, despite mashing along the bike course in as big a gear as I could hold! I managed a fairly steady pace and was pleased to sneak under 25 minutes.
My final result had me 9 minutes faster than before, most of which was made up on the run but I was also pleased with my swim (7:13) which was my fastest "in-race" swim to date.
Times
Total time: 1:13:08
Swim: 08:08
T1: 01:40
Bike: 38:04
T2: 00:44
Run: 24:48
Standings
Age category: 7/34 21%
Gender category: 9/62 15%
Overall category: 85/246 35%
Swim: 11/62 18%
T1: 10/62 16%
Bike: 7/62 11%
T2: 1/62 02%
Run: 9/62 15%
400 m swim, 18k bike, 5k run
The Lichfield Sprint Triathlon is hosted by Birmingham Running, Athletics and Triathlon Club (BRATs) and is hence nice and local to me. I competed in 2014 (when it was called the Three Spires Triathlon) and finished in a time of 1:22:10. I remember having a terrible swim, reasonable bike and less reasonable run. Two years on in my triathlon journey my aim for this race was to knock at least 5 minutes off this time.
The swimming pool was reasonable empty (up to two people per lane when I was queuing for the start) but I was surprised when told to "choose a lane" as I am used to allocated lanes! I was first in the queue so got first choice, placing myself in lane 4 of 6. A quick mental assessment had taken place - there was one empty lane but this was where I had a terrible swim last year and was furthest from swim out (nearest lane 1) so karma and common sense didn't let me choose this one. Lanes 2 and 3 both had two swimmers in them, one of which looked a bit sluggish so I opted for lane 4 as it was closer to swim out than lane 5 and both had a single swimmer in by this point.
Unusually I didn't feel nervous at this point, and as the whistle went I took long, smooth strokes to start the swim. My lane buddy was at the other end at this point, but, nearing the end of his swim I caught him after four lengths and he kindly paused for a second at the end to let me push off ahead of him. I then had a comfy eight lengths before the next swimmer started, and I was grateful that they were far enough away that I wouldn't come into contact with them in my final four lengths.
Exiting the pool was fine but the run was awfully gritty! I spent a while on my towel as a consequence shuffling my feet around trying to get rid of it... I also faffed putting on a long sleeved top (exceedingly difficult when you are completely wet) and my thickest winter gloves as it was really cold.
The bike felt much like last time, a slight headwind on the gently declining outward leg and a slight cross-tail on the more up-hill return leg. I managed to stay aero for maybe half of it, and was very thankful for the gloves as I was at no point warm in my extremities. I probably could have foregone the top but at the same time it wasn't bothering me. I managed to achieve my usual sprint tri aim of not being overtaken by a woman and being overtaken by fewer than five men. The last part I found hard and I frustratingly had to stop at traffic lights. We were supposed to be given a time bonus for this but I'm not sure I was as the lady on the corner called "214" and my number was "216"!
Coming into T2 and off the bike I got stuck behind a man walking up the hill, so lost a little time here. I also faffed taking off the gloves and top, so was therefore very suprised to post the fastest female T2 time! What was everyone else up to?
The run was four laps of the school field, but I was glad of the soft surface and felt decidedly better than I had done last time, despite mashing along the bike course in as big a gear as I could hold! I managed a fairly steady pace and was pleased to sneak under 25 minutes.
My final result had me 9 minutes faster than before, most of which was made up on the run but I was also pleased with my swim (7:13) which was my fastest "in-race" swim to date.
Times
Total time: 1:13:08
Swim: 08:08
T1: 01:40
Bike: 38:04
T2: 00:44
Run: 24:48
Standings
Age category: 7/34 21%
Gender category: 9/62 15%
Overall category: 85/246 35%
Swim: 11/62 18%
T1: 10/62 16%
Bike: 7/62 11%
T2: 1/62 02%
Run: 9/62 15%
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