Bournemouth International Olympic Triathlon
The problem with triathlons are the early starts! On Sunday 4th July I awoke to my alarm at 4am to make it in time to check my bike into the transition area at Bournemouth Seafront for 6am. Having completed three sprint triathlons I thought it was about time I stepped up to an Olympic distance.
I suppose I should’ve realised Bournemouth would be a sea swim, but the thought hadn’t really occurred to me until the night before the race...I haven’t swam in the sea since I was about 10 and my swimming still has a long way to go! Still, to a certain extent, ignorance is bliss!
At 0715 the starters whistle blew and I plunged into the warmish stillish sea muttering profanities and regrets under my breath....knowing I would be behind the rest of the group I quickly set into a steady pace I knew I could keep up. The 1.5k oval course went anticlockwise with the tide against me on the way out and with me on the way back. When the tide was with me the sun was against me and I struggled to see the buoys as I swam into the morning sun....the helter skelter on the pier provided me with a site to take me back to the start and wade out of the water feeling like I’d gained 4 stone. Despite being amongst the last out I was pleased with my time of 42.28mins.
The run across the sand to transition made for heavy legs and sandy feet. Taking a full 3 mins in transition dusting my feet of and putting on socks I left for the bike course. The 40k route was flat and straight, minimising the chances of getting lost. The wind was against me on the way back and I finally returned to transition with a time of 1.30hr.
Having spent 1.39 mins changing my shoes I managed to place one foot in front of the other and set off for a 10k run, out and back along the seafront. The sun was getting hotter and my energy levels were fading despite chugging back an interesting tasting energy gel on the bike. Again, I kept within an easy plodding pace and returned with a time of 57.03 and an overall time of 3.15hrs wondering how the hell I’m gonna cope with the New Forest Middle Distance Triathlon in September...I’m thinking some training may help! Julie Woodman.