2011 Part 1 Completed

I've completed the first part of my season which culminated in Bala Middle Distance Tri, which didn't go to plan, but the the other races and training did.

The photo above is from back in February at the Fingal Duathlon, over in Ireland, which I won. I don't believe that I was the fittest or fastest on the start line, but I was definitely the smartest. I used my 20yrs of triathlon racing experience to exploit and let those I was racing beat themselves. It was little things like not racing the first 400m of the 1st run, being able to ride around corners fast and only go really hard when it made a difference. I then had another couple of duathlons, where I finished just outside the top 10 at ISCA and Castle Combe. The aim of both was to race as hard as I could and build race fitness. Then my final outing before the 'A' race of 2011 Part 1 was a Sprint Tri in Strathclyde, which I won. I didn't win because I was awesome just the quality of field was not that high. I had a career firsts, leading my wave of the swim and setting the fastest swim time of all the waves. The rest of the race went well and most pleasing was that each km of the run (according to Mr Garmin) I was getting quicker.The 2 wins early in the season was a nice overconfidence boost and as good as any other year.

Then on to the main event, Bala Middle. With my preparation having gone well I was confidient that I could match my 2009 performance. The day before the race we had glorious Welsh sunshine. The day of the race, cold water, 8C air temp, wet and wind. The weather was the defining element of my race and I'm sad to say it beat me. I chose to go with a cycle vest under the tri top, arm warmers and gloves as my protection against the elements. This sadly was the wrong choice. Exiting the water in he top 10, my hands were cold enough to not function well enough to get the arm warmers and glove on. The consequence was that I got colder and colder as the km's passed. I decided to pull the plug and retire half way in to the bike to avoid either getting hypothermia or crashing on a descent because I couldn't steer or use the brakes with numb hands. It was the right decision to retire, just frustrating that I had good legs and matched my 2009 av powers for the first half of he bike and had a lot more in he tank. Sel a vie.

So on to 2011 Part II, which finishes with Challenge Barcelona. This which was the potential to be a PB course, if he training goes well and conditions on race day are spot on. I've got no other races in the pipeline yet, but I hope to get in a couple of tri's to keep the rust a bay.