English
I had an action packed weekend starting out with Blenheim Triathlon on the Saturday and finishing with the Verenti Dragon on Sunday.
I had not raced Blenheim before so was completely awe struck at the spectacular setting. Unlike the pro’s I got to swim in my Aquasphere wetsuit which was a huge relief given swimming isn’t my strong point. I had a good swim and was happy to latch onto the feet of a stronger swimmer and draft my way around the course. The run out of the swim is straight up a hill and I pushed it hard so managed to overtake more than 10 girls during T1 which gave me a boost going out onto the bike.
The bike course was 3 laps with a little bit of up and down and some really fast sections which was great! I feel like I’m strapped onto a rocket riding the Focus Izalco Chrono on those bits! I had my cousin Megan and friend Leanne there supporting me. Leanne’s job was to take some snaps but she was positioned on one of the fast bits so I have a series of pictures of my back wheel. I’m sure I must be one of the few people who has their supporters yelling at them to slow down. Made me laugh going past each time.
I was very happy with the bike leg but I made a silly mistake. One I also made early season last year but apparently didn’t learn from. I was happily drinking and eating on the bike which would have been fine if I was doing an Olympic distance race. I’m anal about nutrition and purely through being out of practice I did my Olympic distance nutrition plan. What that means is that as soon as I start to run, I feel sick and get stomach cramps because there is too much in my stomach.
The first lap of the run was awful but thankfully things settled down by the time I started the 2nd lap and I was able to pick up the pace a little bit. I managed to scrape into 2nd place in my age group by a mere 3 seconds and get 6th place overall which I am thrilled about. Congratulations to Emma-Kate, Stuart and Jodie for their fantastic results on the day.
Leanne and I then drove out to Wales to stay overnight to ensure we were nice and early for the start of the Verenti Dragon Ride. I have done the Dragon on 2 previous occasions and absolutely love it. There is a reason it is the UK’s favourite sportive and why wouldn’t it be with the superb sign posting, well stocked feed stations, awesome scenery and military precision organisation.
I also had the added pleasure of testing out the Verenti Rhigos 3 on the course. The Wiggle boys kindly set up the bike pre race and sent me on my way. Leanne and I were taking it easy due to me racing the day before and having Windsor Triathlon this coming weekend which gave me a chance to chat to other riders. It’s so great seeing riders of every ability out there, and a lot more women.
It was nice to meet the Team Wiggle Tandem guys Jez and Dave as well as Peta McSherry who is a Team Wiggle road racer out on the course and I rode with them for a little while. I would love to say I rode a while with Ben Simmons, but my legs don’t go anywhere near as fast as his! Ben was the fastest rider on the day, very impressive given he was riding without the assistance of a group for a lot of the course.
I was a bit concerned about only having ridden the Verenti Rhigos 3 it for literally 20 seconds before setting off on the course but from the beginning it was comfortable with great handling. It didn’t occur to me until I was at the bottom of the first descent that I should probably take it a little bit easy given I wasn’t used to the bike! I’m looking forward to doing some long rides and a few more sportives on it, the next one being the Verenti Mountain Mayhem Sportive at Eastnor Castle on 20th June.
Next one for me is Windsor Triathlon this weekend which is a biggie on the Tri calendar and another one I haven’t done before. Best of luck to those racing the weekend.
Happy training.
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