Part two — The Race (see also part one — prep)
Well what can i say? After racking my bike1 it was time to make my way down to the swim assembly point on the edge of the lake. After safety briefing and course description (basically turn at the first buoy towards the boat house) it was time to walk along the very wobbly pontoon and slip into the grey water.
After the initial shock of oh-my-god-this-is-so-cold I swam around a bit and remembered what they had said on the training day about if you’re unsure hang back a bit or stay to the side so that you don’t get crushed at the start, however i found myself dead centre right on the virtual line between the two markers!
Then the klaxon2 went and we were off! I managed to keep going forwards and about 1/2 way was starting to feel my arms ache as i had set off too fast trying to keep up with those around me.
Once out of the water i had a bit of a wobble as I tried to regain my balance and then there was a tortuous uphill run of a few hundred meters to get back to the transition area — and the start of the bike leg.
Found my bike easily and wheeled it to the start line where i wobbled a bit as i tried to get on too quickly and then set off. Stupidly i had my bike gloves but had not put them on in transition so the first problem was a mouth full of glove while trying to get up to speed. I had no idea how good or bad my swim was so i went pretty quick. Seeing as we were the first wave of the day it meant anyone ahead was motivation to overtake. First lap went well and then as confidence grew ( i.e. i knew the course now) i went all out — going as fast as I could for the second lap.
After an almost incident free transition ( forgot to take the cycling gloves off) I set off for the run section and my legs felt soo soo heavy. I fixed on a guy a little way in front of me who seemed to be going at a good pace and just tried to keep up.
When i finally got to the finish line i was so out of breath i forgot to look at the huge foot-high clock showing the finish time which meant i had no idea of my time!
In the end my final times where:
Swim — 00:08:49
Bike — 00:27:24
Run — 00:15:49
Total 00:59:40
I did the Blenheim Palace 2013 Super Sprint in under one hour! I was amazed, both how close it was but also that i got such a respectable time.
Finisher’s medal
- As i have yet to find a way to swim in my glasses i had to leave them with my bike, which causes problems as then i can’t really see the swim course!
- It may have been a whistle
Purposefully 