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.

I really don’t take bad results well at all. It was always going to be rude awakening though unfortunately. It’s the first proper ‘tough race’ of race of the year, it was hot, hilly, non-wetsuit lake swim with a really good field of athletes and in these first few races you tend to feel like a one pace man. This year the Russian athletes and a few others have been really racing from the gun, smashing out the swim and carrying that through on the bike. Its changing the sport a bit to be honest and as Javier Gomez is not in fantastic run shape he’s got more beans for the swim and bike these days.  

I haven’t got masses of confidence for my swim at the moment unfortunately so I was reasonably happy to be in the thick of it exiting the swim in ‘the hustle’. I knew weeks before the race there would be athletes to chase on the bike but I was hoping it wouldn’t be too much.  

Unfortunately our pack was mostly lazy today and unwilling to put in the work and get organised enough to bring back the lead pack of 9. We ended up losing 1:30 to them and to be honest were lucky it wasn’t more. I didn’t feel good on the bike today, so that made it a bit more difficult then it should have been. I did my part on the bike though, but it just want fluid enough. 

My run was ok, I ran 31:20 on a hot course and managed to stay with the boys for 6k when they put in a hard surge I really wasn’t comfortable with. I still managed to finish and stay strong till the end however and ended up finishing 14th.  

In conclusion, I’m really not cool with finishing this far down, it’s really depressing for me and makes me feel terrible inside.  When this happens though I have to take a step back and remember, these are the best guys in the World in an ever changing and developing sport. My fitness isn’t all there yet and it should only get a lot better as I go through the next phases of training. I think my run is in place and will get quicker in the next few weeks once I get used to the surges a little more. 

Alistair was incredible today…he took the win very easily and to be honest if I forget for just one minute that he is a good friend and rival of mine, it was probably one of the best triathlon performances I have ever seen. 

Thanks everyone for your support for the build up, appreciated it.