Weymouth middle distance race report

I’ll try to keep this fairly short, so not to bore you guys too much!

I got to Weymouth a few days early, with my family arriving the day before the race. This gave me plenty of time to recce the new course, then chill out and relax. The weather forecast was not good for race day, it was meant to be raining with plenty of wind. I went to sleep hoping it wouldn’t be too bad by the time I woke up. I was woken at 3am by the torrential rain and thunder & lightening. It was not looking good! I went back to sleep thinking that if I woke up in 2 hours time (my alarm was set for 5am) and the weather was the same, I would simply go back to sleep and forget all about the race.

Anyway, I woke up at 5am and the rain had stopped but the clouds were still looking angry. I quickly had breakfast and made my way down to transition. I racked my bike and set everything up as per my usual routine (shoes, helmet, glasses, etc) except this time I had a gilet and arm warmers at the ready just in case those clouds opened up (they were still looking angry).

Some of the guys in transition were saying that the race was almost cancelled because of the weather conditions and the sea conditions. The sea conditions? I hadn’t even thought about that! I made my way over to the sea front and was confronted by some amazing surf! That was not on the schedule!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we had our race brief and got ourselves ready for the beach start. The waves were looking big, but it was the same for everyone, time to get my race face on! The race referee sounds the horn and we’re off!

We make our way out into the surf, diving through the bigger waves until it was deep enough to start swimming. We swam straight out to sea before turning right at the first (very small) buoy; this is where it got “interesting”! The swell and the waves were crashing into everyone; you were being lifted up on a wave only to be crashed back down on the other side. This was not fun.

We reached the (very small) turn buoy, where we turned left and headed back out to the open sea. This shorter leg was easier and a welcome rest from the larger waves we encountered on the way out. We reached another (small) buoy, and turned left and headed back across the bay, parallel with the shoreline. This stretch was tough again. Waves were still crashing into you, I took a huge mouthful of sea water too and I ended up pulling my swim cap off as it was annoyed me (don’t know why?). I found some feet and followed them to the final (very small!!!!) turn buoy. We turned left and headed back to shore. I knew we were on the home straight now and knew this would be the easy bit as the waves would push us back to the beach.

I was relieved to feel the sand with my hands, stood up and started to peel my wetsuit off. I checked my watch, it said 23 minutes! Wow, that was one short swim! I was expecting to see 33 minutes not 23 minutes! But I didn’t care, it was dangerous out there, I was just so happy to get that out of the way, that was one tough sea swim.

I made my way up to transition and my Mother tells me my club mate, James, is only 1 or 2 minutes ahead of me. He should have been about 5 minutes up on me, but I guess with the shortened swim, that time gap was about right.

I head off on the bike (with my gilet on) and make my way immediately up the big climb out of the town. The bike leg was about 82km due to a change in the bike course, I knew where the hills would be (I drove the course the previous day) so got my head down and got on with it. I passed a few guys and was passed by a few guys, but I was happy with my pace, I wasn’t pushing it too hard, it felt just about right.

The wind had picked up and it was a little hilly now. I caught up with a girl after about 25km, I passed her, expecting not to see her again, however after a few minutes she came flying by me! I’m not sure what was happening, perhaps she just felt great and took off. I pushed on to catch her, a little harder than I wanted to, but she was holding a really good pace. I decided at this point of the race, this was going to be my new pace. As I said, it was harder than I would usually ride, but it felt good to ride with someone and just push it a little bit harder than is normally comfortable. We rode together (legally!) for the remainder of the bike leg. We both took turns (legally!) and just paced off each other. It wasn’t easy believe me (she was strong & went on to win the women’s race), but it pushed me hard and made for a good bike leg.

I entered T2, put my running trainers and compression socks on and I was away. My new bike friend was out of T2 before me (not compression socks for her!) and hit the run like it was a 5k! I decided there and then that she was either a much better runner than me or she was going too fast! Only time would tell on that one.

I settled into a rhythm, but probably did go a little too hard at the start. It was a 4 lap course so decided to try to take it steady for the first 2 laps and see how I was feeling after that. I was running OK but never felt great. OK, but not great.

It took me about 46 minutes to do 2 laps, I was feeling OK but not great. The sun had decided to come out, it was getting warmer and I was getting tired. OK, but not great.

I was now timing each lap and I was getting slower, not by much, but slower nonetheless. I finished the 3rd lap and knew I only had another 23 or 24 minutes of running left. I was tired. I wanted to stop. Not OK, not great.

I dug in and pushed on. I was working really hard now; my perceived effort was almost at max! I knew I had about 2 or 3 minutes of running left until the finish chute, I knew my family would be there cheering me on, I knew it was time to step into the hurtbox. Not OK, not great.

I pushed again and crossed the finish line in a time of 4:26:28. I feel OK, I feel great!

Swim (+T1): 25:50 (27th position)
Bike (+T2): 2:27:49 (35th position)
Run: 1:33:09 (21st position)
Total: 4:26:28

Overall position: 23rd
AG position: 2nd

Overall a tough day at the office. The swim was a nightmare, the bike was windy and hilly and I suffered a little bit in the final few miles of the run due to the faster paced bike, but in saying that, the result was very satisfying.

I’m still tired and sore today, but in good spirits. I feel OK, I feel great!