- It's the first race I've done that's taken place just a stone's throw from my home, so we were able to cycle our bikes there in the morning to grab our registration packs and then rack-up. Extra bonus - the run course in particular was on the loop I run several times a week, so the phrase "like the back of my hand' could be thrown in here.
- Two, I've never done a race as less of a race - i.e. it was very much a training session, a high intensity blow-out in the midst of heavy training. In fact, I had a 4 hour brick session the day before (2.5hrs bike intervals straight into a 1.5hr run with intervals at and below Ironman goal pace); after the race, I had a one hour steady bike to do; the day after, it was a 3.5hr ride with good tempo efforts in there...
- Three, as a result, I've never had less expectation or thoughts around a race. It was my first sprint for a long time, way longer than since I left Dubai, so I had no idea how the body would respond.
- Four, and best of all, it was the first time I lined up for a race with Our Lass (theoretically, at least - she waited near the back of the swim while I was at the front eager to get started).
So, rode to the race which took place in and around the Sloterpark in the New West area of Amsterdam, grabbed registration stuff, met some friends and other ATAC newbies readying themselves for their first ever triathlon, then headed for transition. Rather than go straight into transition, I dropped my bag and headed out for 10 minutes of warming up on the bike... I seem to need this more and more for the shorter distances as I get older.
Racked and prepped the bike, made sure M and her friends were all set, did a little run warm-up then it was time to get into the murky waters for a swim warm-up. The promised tropical sun-soaked day hadn't yet materialised and it was actually raining some as the starters pulled everyone back to the start line and then - very suddenly indeed - it was GO TIME!
The one big lesson I'm learning about triathlon in the Netherlands is that Dutch triathletes can't pace their swim for toffee. And they sight worse. Just as in Almere last year, in spite of me putting in a solid sprint at the beginning of the swim, there were arms and feet everywhere, with people swimming across me, sprinting ahead, pulling me back... I kept calm and waited til the first buoy and then the strangest thing happened... it was as if everybody stopped. To the point where I looked back to make sure the race hadn't been pulled back to the start! Once I saw that we were in fact still racing, I got into the swing of things and just kept plowing away at the front of the field.
I have to admit, I was glad there was a lead canoe as I couldn't spot the buoys (note: need new open water goggles) but the rest of the swim was fairly uneventful until, after pulling the field around most of the swim course, with 15m to go, someone swam past me like a wind-up windmill with its arms on fire. I guessed (correctly) they were probably doing the relay and, even if not, they were burning some matches there, so didn't worry about it and just followed their feet in.
Time: 750m in 9:49 (not the quickest swim but 1st individual out the water)
Other than getting the bottom of the wetsuit and the timing chip band a little mixed-up for a few seconds, this went OK (for me).
Time: 1:35 (11th fastest T1)
Bike
Out on to the bike, it was now raining steadily if not exactly heavily. Other than a little section in and out of the transition zones, the bike course was essentially 4 laps of an L-shaped route. Most was straight, flat and fast but there were tight 180 degree turns at either end of the L (as well as a slow-down moment necessary through the bend in the L) which, for someone with bike handling skills as inept as mine, was a bit of a bummer.
I quickly caught the relay cyclist in front and led the race briefly until about 1 lap in, when a far better bike handler than I (to be honest, it'd have been faster to unclip, pick the bike up and turn it around then get back on than I was going through those turnarounds) caught me and went past. But I was riding well, averaging 40kph+ on the rest of the course and pushing more than 110% of my FTP... which may suggest that my FTP needs revising again.
I skidded through an early turnaround and nearly lost my rear wheel which made me even slower and more skittish going through the wet 180s, but made up for it on the rest and, much to my surprise, nobody seemed to be catching me. I rode hard and looked out for Our Lass who I saw on the last lap, and she was looking good and relatively happy.
Time: 22km in 32:02 (3rd fastest bike of day)
Again, not disastrous. Grabbed run shoes (cleverly left covered by a towel so not wet) and cap and went off as fast as I could...
Time: 2:16 (8th fastest T2)
Run
So, second place starting the run. Already uncharted waters for me, but I'd been in similar positions before and knew what to expect - loads of great runners streaming past. But my running has improved a lot this year, so I hoped I could hold back that stream a little. I decided to do the first kilometre (at which point we'd pass the Finish Line and have 2 x 2km laps to do) as hard and fast as I could to try to demoralise anyone chasing.
Then I passed friends and family, as well as the awesome ATAC support crew who'd been fantastic on the bike too, and got a real lift. I settled into a good pace, looked at my watch and was running 3.50/km pace. Faster than I've averaged for a sprint tri run ever before, but it felt good. After another kilometre, I saw the leader as he came back around and saw that he was running well and that the gap wasn't closing (we ended up running almost identical times). As I turned back, I took stock of who was behind me and saw I had a solid gap but some of the runners looked to be running very fast.
With 3km under the belt, I turned to do the final lap and saw, much to my surprise, that the gap hadn't closed considerably and I started to entertain thoughts of a podium finish. I worked really hard for the next 1km out knowing that, once I was there, the final km would look after itself.
And that turned out to be the case. So, to the cheers of friends, family (the in-laws-to-be were there to watch the race) and team mates, I crossed in 2nd place for a very respectable time and performance.
Time: 5km in 18:02 (6th fastest run of the day)
Overall: 2nd in 1:03:44
To be honest, it's the performance and time more than the position that I'm happiest with too. For someone who hasn't done any short hard biking at all for a few years, the bike was good, and run was exceptional by my standards - although not inexplicable and I still feel like I've more improvements to make short term in the run. If I'd been able to run that way while living in Dubai, however, I'd have a few more podiums on the CV. Great to see I'm moving forward. The swim... meh... ok, could be better but was worse until recently, so more consistency required over the next six weeks before Roth but otherwise a nice tune-up race.