Seeing as we are creeping up on 2018 and my race reports are still in mid-2016, I thought I’d use this Christmas break to catch up on my posts. So here is a race report for the 2016 edition of the Scottish Water National Sprint Triathlon Championship in Monikie.
Race Day
It’s an early start to drive from Edinburgh to Monikie, even with the relax start times but we managed to be on time – with even enough time to joke with my officiating colleagues as I set up my transition. As you would expect from a Scottish Championship event, transition is well laid out and with plenty of room.
Swim – 750m, 14:48
Only 48s longer than my pool-based swim at St Andrews in May and with the GPS showing a distance of 777m, I can cope with that!
T1 – 3:11
Short run, nice and easy. No complaints.
Bike – 21km, 45:15
The first part of this went really well, and I felt I was flying around the course. The combination of the back climb and the start of the rain made for a hard final few ks though. In fact, so much so that I came the closest I’ve ever come to crashing during a race on the penultimate corner. Greasy roads from the rain and a few loose stones meant I skidded into a left hand turn. Managed to unclip my feet and get my toes down to keep it upright. To this day, my shoes still bear the scars from that, but better than my body being scarred!
T2 – 0:52
Flew through T2, even though I was still a bit shaken from my near-miss.
Run – 5km, 26:46
I made a bit of a mess of this run – it’s unusual for me to take this long on a 5k. My excuse has been that I was still shaken from the bike, but all that was clear was that I was no longer enjoying this race as this point.
It’s a two lap course and my girlfriend told me that as she saw me, she could see I wasn’t feeling it any more. To top it off, I got beaten on the line by one of club mates.
Finish – 01:30:49
Position: 153/209
Garmin Connect
Official Results (excel)
This is one of the few races I’ve had where I was no longer having run. I could easily have just stopped after the bike. I’m glad I didn’t – there is something to be said for finishing – but it was hard. That is no fault of the race organiser – the race is great. It just wasn’t for me that day.
What I can say is that the post-race atmosphere is amazing. It’s like a party – with beer, sandwiches, hot drinks. Local, club races always put on a good show, and this was no exception. The only downside was that weather continued to play havoc and put an end to all ideas of having a nice post-race BBQ.
I left with the idea of returning the following year to avenge myself and put in a more respectable performance.