English
The Dallas triathlon was a big shock to me because it was just like racing back in the UK in May. Me, Michelle Dillon and Jodie Stimpson World under 23 silver medalist arrived in Dallas a couple of days before the race to be greeted with hot and humid conditions and that’s what I expected it to be like race day.
I went for a run the next morning and it was like an October day in the UK all the news channels had announced a cold front had come in and would be here for the weekend, so off I went down to the shopping mall to get some winter woollies, this included a beanie and gloves for race morning.
On race day I was expecting a wetsuit swim with the air temp being so low but with the cold front coming in so late meant the water temperature had only dropped to 20.1C which meant a non wetsuit swim. During my swim warm up I put my wetsuit on just so my body temperature would stay high then the last minute before the swim start I quickly took it off.
I swam with the leaders but had to work a lot harder than normal because of my body fat which is extremely low at the moment, this is due to a lot of mileage and racing and sometimes can’t be helped. Everyone was in the same situation so I just had to put my head down and get on with the job. Going out onto the bike leg, Matt Reed established an early lead after laying down the pace straight out of the transition area. Then a pack of around 8 guys trailed him not far behind until about the halfway mark where Matt started to pull away from the field which included myself.
Matt gained approx 1 min off the bike into T2 and this set him up for the win. The rest of us 8 guys which included Bevan Doherty and Greg Bennett all ran out of T2 together. I felt strong so took on the pace but Bevan and Greg sat close behind me and ended up being a big mistake as towards the end of the run they moved up another gear and moved passed me. I couldn’t respond to them and finished behind them in a close 4th place.
I was pleased with my race and I gave it everything I had to the line, that is just the way racing goes sometimes.
With it being the final race of the season I went out for a couple of drinks with the boys and had a great night. I’m in Clermont Florida now and training for the World 70.3 which I am looking forward to very much. This will be the last race of my long season and looking forward to my break.
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