BRAT Triathlon, 2016

Reports

5 Sept

Race Report

My favorite race, the BRAT triathlon. This is the third time I have competed in this race and as always, it was a very well organised race.

Its a local race, so I got to sleep in my own bed the night before and everything was nice a relaxed, up early for a quick breakfast then on the road.

I arrived with plenty of time for registration and once I racked my bike I even managed to get in a warm up run.

It was windy, windier than I expected and I was in two minds whether or not to swap my deep 808 front wheel for the shallower 404. I ended up swapping the front wheel over while my bike was racked in transition.

The Swim - 00:26:47

I thought I would try to push a little harder in this swim and not hold back at the start, so I lined myself up near the front. Never try anything new on race day, erm, yes, I used a new pair of goggles straight out of the box and they were actually very good, they still fogged slightly, but not as bad as my zoggs.

There was a strong easterly wind in the morning and on the return leg of the swim, the pack was drifting to the side, quite a few times I had to change direction, it was really difficult to swim straight.

30th out of the water, not too bad a swim.

T1 - 00:01:42

T1 was nice and straight forward, I had lubed my calves so my wetsuit was a little easier to get off this time.

The Bike - 01:04:09

Again for this race, I used my old knacked shoes, clipped to the bike and ready to go. I jumped on after the mount line and got my feet strapped in reasonably quickly. The wind had died down a bit and I might have gotten away with the 808 up front, oh well, time to push and see how quickly I can get round.

Most of the time I was back and forth with another racer, he would occasionally pass me, then I would pass him back, we were well matched. On lap two, we both got stuck behind a horse box, he managed to get round, but it was too dangerous for me to pass. By the time I got passed, he had disappeared down the road. Only one thing to do, try and catch him. Unfortunately, I quite catch up.

22nd off the bike so I made 8 places, nice.

T2 - 00:00:59

No issues, in and out in less than a minute

The Run - 00:40:25

The run is 4 laps with a killer steep hill half way round, just before the hill, I pass the guy who I was racing with on the bike :D so I had taken my position back.

I pushed on and gave it everything I could.

26th off the run, not too bad.

The Result - 02:14:04

19 over all and 6th in my age group, beating my time last year by almost a minute, but 4 minutes slower than my PB at this race. Most of that loss was from the swim, maybe it was the wind, maybe I just wasn’t fast enough.

Something to work on for next year.

Bizarrely, I bruised one of my toes, I have no idea how it happened.