I finished 11th in a very strong field feeling weak as the whole way round!

I’m not over the moon with my result but my head hit the pillow last night safe in the knowledge that I did everything I could on the day. It was a really tough race for me, In the week leading into it I battled with extreme tiredness after giving it my all in Washington (6 days recovery wasn’t enough for me) and a bit of insomnia the nights before coupled with a bit of a dodgy stomach during the race did not help matters.

I’m actually quite excited though… So far this year I have been a bit greedy with how I planned my race schedule. I did 6 races in 8 weeks, the problem is there are so many fantastic races kicking about and not enough time to prepare for them all. I realise I have to prioritise a bit more than I am which means I probably won’t be able to turn up at one of the races I have wanted to do for AGES – The London Triathlon. This way I can get in an undisturbed 5 week solid training block which I know will push my form forward enough so I am finishing with or very close to the best guys in the world.

The race itself was a dream. The organisation was flawless. Everything from the stadium, to the carpets to the spectators. It was a great day for the sport and an amazing photo finish by the top 3 guys below:

Personally, I had a decent first lap in the swim but I could tell on the 2nd lap that I was in for a bad day. I struggled to hold the feet on the 2nd lap and in our chase group on the bike my legs felt like they needed to go back to Loughborough and put in some training! We eventually caught the lead group and on the run I built into it and actually ran quite well on the last lap but it was too late. I was happy to have had a nightmare and limit my losses to under a minute behind the winner though.

1 S. WHITFIELD (CAN) 1:49:43

2 B. KAHLEFELDT (AUS) +0:00:01

3 J. FRODENO (GER) +0:00:01

4 K. GEMMELL (NZL) +0:00:02

5 J. SHOEMAKER (USA) +0:00:04

6 J. GOMEZ (ESP) +0:00:08

7 B. MCMAHON (CAN) +0:00:24

8 T. DON (GBR) +0:00:38

9 D. SAPUNOV (UKR) +0:00:43

10 R. YAMAMOTO (JPN) +0:00:49

11 W. CLARKE (GBR) +0:00:57

Bravo!

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