The 7th race of the Dextro Energy ITU World Championships came to London on the weekend of August 6-7. As part of the weekend, the British Aquathlon Championships were also held.
I travelled to London the day before, the roads were quite quiet, and the journey was uneventful, apart from the sat nav taking us in the wrong direction as we approached the big City.
The big day arrived, and it was an early start, as I wanted to see the womens' elite race, which started at 8.30, and also register for my race and pick up my number and timing chip. The day was sunny, but it was still early as the triathletes walked through transition to the pontoon start. It was a non wetsuit swim, so the girls looked very cold, trying to keep warm, in either sponsored jackets or just towels.
A really good race, which saw Helen Jenkins take the win. Some race photos can be seen on SportpicturesCymru. After the race, it was back to the hotel to have some rest and something to eat. My race started at 6pm, so it was quite a long day.
I made my way back to Hyde Park at about 3.30, this time on the bus, as the taxi was very expensive earlier in the day. As we arrived the age groupers were competing in their race. All kinds of bikes were on show, from bikes with shopping baskets on the front, to some really nice time trial bikes with disk wheels.
I met up with Rich Brady, Welsh Triathlons performance coach before the race, along with other members of the team. Rich strongly suggested that I use a wetsuit for the swim, as this would give me some benefit against the non wetsuit swimmers. By this time it was quite hot, and the water temperature had risen to above 22 degrees, which meant a compulsory non wetsuit swim for all the competitors.
We all lined up on the pontoon, eagerly awaiting the race start.
The hooter went and off we went. I had a good start in the swim, but soon lost the lead pack, as someone pulled me back by my feet. I think I may have kicked him after that, as he soon let go!! I came out of the water, after a 750m swim in 23rd place and in a time of 11:37, before running to transition to put on my Inov 8 233 road shoes. I had a really good transition, completing it in 1:08, 11th fastest, only 3 seconds behind the fastest T1 time.
So, time for the 5k run around the Serpentine, two laps of 2.5kM. I finished the 1st lap in a time of 8:43. I pushed the second and last lap, and came home in a time of 8:03, a huge negative split. I even managed to have a sprint finish with Rory Atkins. My total 5kM run time of 16:50, and a total aquathlon time of 29:34.
Race results can be seen here, with race photos here. A really interesting innovation can be seen here, where some clever software replays your race, taking information from the timing chip.
I travelled to London the day before, the roads were quite quiet, and the journey was uneventful, apart from the sat nav taking us in the wrong direction as we approached the big City.
The big day arrived, and it was an early start, as I wanted to see the womens' elite race, which started at 8.30, and also register for my race and pick up my number and timing chip. The day was sunny, but it was still early as the triathletes walked through transition to the pontoon start. It was a non wetsuit swim, so the girls looked very cold, trying to keep warm, in either sponsored jackets or just towels.
A really good race, which saw Helen Jenkins take the win. Some race photos can be seen on SportpicturesCymru. After the race, it was back to the hotel to have some rest and something to eat. My race started at 6pm, so it was quite a long day.
I made my way back to Hyde Park at about 3.30, this time on the bus, as the taxi was very expensive earlier in the day. As we arrived the age groupers were competing in their race. All kinds of bikes were on show, from bikes with shopping baskets on the front, to some really nice time trial bikes with disk wheels.
I met up with Rich Brady, Welsh Triathlons performance coach before the race, along with other members of the team. Rich strongly suggested that I use a wetsuit for the swim, as this would give me some benefit against the non wetsuit swimmers. By this time it was quite hot, and the water temperature had risen to above 22 degrees, which meant a compulsory non wetsuit swim for all the competitors.
We all lined up on the pontoon, eagerly awaiting the race start.
The hooter went and off we went. I had a good start in the swim, but soon lost the lead pack, as someone pulled me back by my feet. I think I may have kicked him after that, as he soon let go!! I came out of the water, after a 750m swim in 23rd place and in a time of 11:37, before running to transition to put on my Inov 8 233 road shoes. I had a really good transition, completing it in 1:08, 11th fastest, only 3 seconds behind the fastest T1 time.
So, time for the 5k run around the Serpentine, two laps of 2.5kM. I finished the 1st lap in a time of 8:43. I pushed the second and last lap, and came home in a time of 8:03, a huge negative split. I even managed to have a sprint finish with Rory Atkins. My total 5kM run time of 16:50, and a total aquathlon time of 29:34.
Race results can be seen here, with race photos here. A really interesting innovation can be seen here, where some clever software replays your race, taking information from the timing chip.
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