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It was hyped up to be one helluva race and boy did Abu Dhabi deliver! Take dozens of the world’s finest long course triathletes, add in scorching sunshine, a 200km ride through the desert interspersed with two laps around the Yas Marina race track, throw in a 3km swim, a 20km run without so much as a hint of shade and what do you get? Some fast and furious racing, that’s what! A start list like Saturday’s is usually only seen at the prestigious Ironman World Championships in Hawaii, so to have so many great athletes battling it out in such arduous conditions so early in the race season was always going to be terrific. For me, not only was it my opening race of the season, but it was also my first long distance race (having only raced 70.3 in the past). I’d done plenty of 150-160K rides to prepare myself, but was still feeling more than a little apprehensive in race week…

After a less than impressive swim (beach swim starts and assertive pack swimming will be worked on this season, oh yes!), I was out onto the bike and clocking up the early K’s with relative ease. I had established a good nutrition plan (well, what I hoped would be a good nutrition plan!) and was good at sticking to it. 200kms in the desert is a long way if you bonk! My menu for the day consisted of a pleasant starter of High5 4:1, water and a Torq bar, followed by a combination of regular and caffeinated Torq gels, Power Bar Ride Shots and Sports Beans. If someone had told me five years ago prior to my triathlon days that I’d live off this for seven hours plus I’d have (a) befriended a dentist and (b) told them they were nuts.

Instead, it was me who was going nuts (in a good way!) as I raced around the Yas Marina race track for the second time on Saturday. I guess there are few people who can say they’ve raced around an F1 track and even fewer who’ve raced a TT bike around one! The tarmac was so smooth it was sweet and you couldn’t help but grin and whoop like you were, err, well, nuts.

Of course, for every highlight there’s usually a lowlight, in fact, there are usually several when it comes to triathlon. Getting sandblasted along seemingly neverending six-lane highways which cut through the UAE desert was tough at times, as was running in the 35 degree heat having not long stepped off the plane from chilly Oxford, but hey, in a sick kind of way, that was also part of the fun. Julie Dibens was a truly worthy winner of the pro women’s race and to have finished in the top 10 (with three British women in 3rd, 4th and 6th – congrats Cat, Rachel & Leanda) has helped to motivate and inspire me to greater things. Yes, I’m new to this; yes, I’m pleased to finish 10th in a stacked women’s field but equally I still have improvements to make and I look forward to making them.

For anyone wondering whether to tackle Abu Dhabi next year, I’d say sign up now – it’s an awesome, well-organised event in a totally unique location – and sightseeing afterwards is pretty mind-blowing. We were treated to a tour of the Grand Mosque the morning after the race and it was phenomenal. I’ll stay for longer next time!

 

Next up for me is TriStar Nevis on April 2 which will be a 1km swim, 100km bike and 10km run. I can’t wait!

Keep up the training
EK