Canary Wharf Triathlon 2012
Men in suits, women in heels and us in compression tights..a
triathlon right bam smack in the central business district of London. The GE Canary Wharf Triathlon is a
Super-Sprint Eliminator race. There will be 2 heats for men and women with
faster finishers progressing to the finals. The race format is fast and furious
with each racing lasting just 30 minutes. The multi-lap course offers
spectators and coaches to watch through the swim, bike and run. The course is
flat with 36 corners in 9km! To be honest, this race was not one of my
favourite last year, having a negative experience learning the hard way with my
cornering abilities and lack of fast twitch fibres. I was determined to change
this and make this race show what I was capable of now. I wasn’t feeling that
good all week, feeling alittle flat and maybe tired from the weekend race. With
about half a bottle of oil to make sure my wetsuit came out quick, it was time
to race.
Ranked 3rd,
I could a great place next to Liz Blatchford
on the pontoon. Diving in, head was down going straight out to the first
buoy. Before I knew it without any knocks to the head, we were already turning.
I had clean water and 2 peoples feet ahead of me to sit with. 400m means no
time to muck around. Climbing out the water was abit of struggle as it was so
slippery and you had to become a seal and slide your way up or crawl. Luckily
being near the front I had time by myself to get up. Transition had to quick
otherwise the pack would be up the road.
Coming out onto
the ride we quickly formed a small pack with about 5 girls. No body wanted to roll through and I
was stuck on the front for more than what I really wanted. Although this did
happen, it gave me a chance to see how the other girls holded wheels. I am
confident in skills this year – looking through the corner, lots of weight on
the outside foot and hands off the brakes. Some times I found myself off the
front having a few metres coming out of the corners.. could we use this to our
advantage in the final? Coming off the bike, I had a shocking T2, getting my
glasses stuck in my helmet.
We had a pretty
big lead on the next pack so the first lap of the run, I took out strong to
keep my position and by the second lap I knew I had made the final comfortably.
It was time to relax and finish in 5th place.
We had 2 hours
between the heat and final- compression tights on, fueling up and keeping
relaxed. We had a chance to watch the boys heats from the big screen in the
athletes lounge which was so much benefit. Warming up for the final, the
temperature had dropped, the calves had good extremely tight but I was excited
to race again
Final:
I would like to
thank British Triathlon for providing us with such a great event. It is
different to ITU racing and shows your skills in these short and sharp events.
You are always on the rivet and excited to get out there to do it again! Thanks
to Lisa Dent the Event Coordinator and John Muddeman for getting us to the
event and providing us with accommodation so close to race sight. London put on
a cracker of a day with the weather being a stunning 27 degrees finishing with
the atmosphere of all the supporters and spectators in the heart of London.
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