Thanks, usual rubbish sleep which wasn’t helped by the next room, and fridge!
Might get quite warm for the run.
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More a sort of yellowy-brown, I’d say.
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Came here for a dad boast, mainly.
River Arun 3.8 km Swim, yesterday.
Second proper OW swim for my boy, and first ever race over 200 m 
“I might just stay with you…” he says, before setting off at a pace I couldn’t touch.
6th.
I trundled in 50 places behind him and was very happy with that.
Great race - recommended. Well-organised. Reasonable £. Unless I was just lucky, minimal battering. And you’re unlikely to ever go faster unless you do Chattanooga. I did 54:01 
But what’s wrong with the Millenials? First Senior was 9th, beaten by 3 Juniors, 2 Vets, 3 Super-Vets.
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@jeffb out of the water & dried his hair.
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@jeffb is over the line with 5:06!
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Mega work @jeffb. Looks like the hammie held up too!
Textbook sandbagging.
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Haha, thanks. That was a mixed bag and I think some of you have seen it on Strava now.
The pre-race caught me out a bit, got there and headed to transition to put my drinks on the bike and inflate the tyres. It was busy in that area and is narrow, the main access is via a small bridge. Then I went to drop off my white bag and still had plenty of time, until I got to the bridge, bag drop was on the other side so everyone was trying to get over just to come back again! And there was a few spectators or locals with bikes. By the time I got to the start area it was busy and I was in a very slow moving queue.
Eventually I got in but my goggles were misting up, water was 19c so bearable. The start is fairly narrow and you turn back on yourself and go through some boats. I was feeling alright though and a decent pace for me but still got a few people stopping to see where they are 
kept going but had to get to the side to try and sort my goggles, it was the old smaller buoys which didn’t help.
Finally got to the first main turn buoy and immediately into the sun which was just above the water, it had also got a bit choppy and I had no idea where I was going then realised nobody was around me! Stopped and had to sort the goggles again and continued until I heard a kayaker shouting I and others were going the wrong way and missing a buoy! Stopped again and looked around until I saw what he meant and headed that way, but I was now crossing the path of quite a few others heading for wrong buoy. A lot continued and probably have short swims, I just about got to the buoy and continued to a far corner buoy which must have been the correct way as quite a few people were heading there.
I was losing the plot a bit by then but slowly heading towards the exit, still had to stop and sort the goggles which I’m sure where fine a few weeks ago. I was pretty frustrated with myself and the course when I saw the time, my first 500 split was probably about 35 minute pace which I thought was possible.
Got going on the bike and probably went a bit hard, especially the first 10k 
it was very flat though, I got about 100M of climbing. I was going alright and then picked up a bit of a headwind but had gone past a lot of people, only a few came past including the odd mini group of 3-5. Around 70k I thought I was largely alone and we were approaching the aid station and there was a 90 degree turn, I glanced over my shoulder to see a group of about 40-50 about to overrun me while I got a drink. Some were only on road bikes with a couple dragging them along.
I was a bit peeved and tried to make my way through them but it was hard work. A couple were getting dropped though and I made it past a lot as we were into a twisty section that I could make up ground on the drops, but as soon as we were back on a straight section they went past again. I did manage to drop quite a few in the town as it was a lot more technical but I was starting to wonder how much further it was, my watch clicked on 90k and no transition in sight! I clocked it about 1.5K over.
It had got quite warm and I knew a 1:38 run wasn’t happening so generally held a steady pace hoping my leg would be alright. About 9k I was slowing down but kept going, was also trying to get something at the aid stations and had a gel at 2k and 11k. I was hanging on with 5K to go but trying not to walk. The leg was a bit tight especially the glute but the hamstring seemed alright.
I eventually reached the finish as above in 5:06, fairly pleased with that and that I finished the run. It was hot on the run but nothing I haven’t ran well in before, a lack of training and heat probably contributed. I might also have pushed the bike a bit hard as AP was 251W.
Some of the swim problems were my fault but quite a few complained about the course and sun, which could have probably been alleviated by swimming the opposite direction.
Anyway, I’m knackered now as I didn’t sleep well again, my smelly stuff is in the car and I’ll sort it tomorrow as it’s bedtime soon
Fingers crossed next week is alright.
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Good work Jeff 
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Well done Jeff, solid effort that! 
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I did the Chillswim Coniston end to end swim on Saturday (5.25 miles), with my longest previous swims being 5k. Training went reasonable ok althought the previous few weeks open water swimming could have been better i.e. could have done with a couple more 3-4 mile swims. Had done two 2 mile and one 3 mile swim all at 30 min/mile pace so set my target time as 2:45 if I don’t get tired (no idea how I would get on) to it would be great to finish under 3 hrs.
Might seem a little pricey but compared to what most sprint tri’s cost now I don’t think it is too expensive and it is very well organised i.e. coach transfer, free parking, great support and the safety cover in the water looked fine i.e. there were always kayaks not too far away.
Arrived Friday evening and there was a long registration queue but the weather was great so not really a problem. They do let you change your swim wave if you want to (you just keep your coloured hat in the ‘wrong’ wave but there are a few in each wave). You get a hoody included plus all your usual race gear and you could camp in the school field (not sure if you had to pay). We stayed in ambleside as we couldn’t get any accommodation in Coniston and is only about a 20 min drive between. Mini bus transfer in your wave to the swim start at opposite end of Coniston Water (they suggest you use some old shoes/flip flops for the bit of walking to the start, which you do get back at the end). I put two SIS beta fuel up my sleeves (wetsuit swim, not skins) tow float attached walk over the timing mat (not a mass start) and the swimming starts. There are four feed stations (boats) along the way and I had decided not to stop at the first one (had my usual bowl of porrige for breakfast). I was in the light blue wave whihc was about mid-pack and starting towards the rear of the wave did slowly catch up to other light blue swimmers and stick to some feet when it suited. I can settle into a comfortable pace easy enough so just got going without any fuss. There is a wide swim zone so no biff at all so it is just a case of keep swimming. Went past the first feed station and just kept going. The water temp was fine (must have been at least 16 degrees) and the weather was great, no real wind or chop. Started to then catch a few of the next slowest wave (fastest swimmers start last), got to second feed stations and had one of my blocks, which is impossible to eat without added lake water (no gut issues afterwards) threw rubbish into boat and then carried on to third feed station, had my other blocks, on to fourth feed station and had 6 jellybabies they give you in a paper cup. I was starting to feel achy and tired but knew only about half an hour to go. They have a giant inflatable duck at the finish so when I saw that looked at watch and had 10 minutes to get under 3 hours. Two faster swimmers from the later waves were either side of me so I just tried to keep with them for as long as I could (ignoring what my arms were telling me), got out of the water after a bit of a stagger and crossed the timing mat in 2:59:31 (287 out of 841 wetsuit swimmers, there were also 187 skin finishes, so just over 1000 swimmers in total). Fastest swimmer was 2:03:07, wow.
Have already booked accomoodation in Coniston for next year as really enjoyed the day and will be getting those extra long swims in beforehand. Also thinking of Ullswater (7.5 miles) next year and then it would be completely stupid of me to even consider Windermere (11 miles) !
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Nice race and report
Well done!
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Cheers for the report & congrats on dipping under 3hrs 
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Nice race and report! You’ve almost made it sound appealing! 
Amazing that you nipped under that 3 hr mark by seconds! Can always rely on a bit of duck based motivation.
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Swansea Para World Series
Got caught napping by the start gun in the swim, previous wave had a 30 warning so was waiting for this but never came just OYM, Go!, lined up on the LHS as I sight to the right (wave is PTS2 +3) but all the toes I needed to be on seemed to be over the right. Missing the front group is a reoccurring theme, I’m confident I could hang on If I was there but lack the sprint speed at the start usually means I miss out, needed a bit of luck & didn’t get it. Had an uneventful swim on my own in no man’s land.
I elected to get from swim exit to T1 with crutches for this race as it’s a long way at Swansea & thought this would be quicker than hobbling on the cycling leg. Seemed to take forever & was hard work. Got overtaken to T1 by another athlete on crutches that swam 45s slower, got some work to do there.
Thought I had a solid bike, was a technical course that should suit me. Rode to power what I thought was a sensible race given the run to come is going to be tough.
T2 takes some time as I need to swap liners for the run blade but goes as expected except that my blade that I’d strategically positioned next to my chair on the LHS of my bike had been moved to the RHS of my bike & had to look for it & hop to the other side to retrieve it.
It’s the same blade I had for Turkey but I have a better fitting silicone liner & I’d 3D printed an insert to make the liner fit the socket, the leg stayed on & had none of the issues I’d had in Turkey. The run is tough & I’m clearly not very fast but muscle through to the finish.
I’d no idea of the times at the finish but knew I’d finished behind the athletes I’d hoped to beat but was reasonably happy to get through a full triathlon at a World Series race without any major problems. Seeing the times was sobering, I’d swam an easy sub 12min at the swim recce but 12:20 in the race, my bike time, my best discipline, was nearly 2 minutes slower than the fastest & I ran a 26:35 when I was hoping for a sub 25.
My transition times can be competitive with better prosthetics, but the run is what I’m really struggling with, maybe I could match the bike times going all out but the run needs to be easier & so much quicker.
It’s a great experience to be part of a World Series race, the weather was kind to us, the support on the course was mega & it’s always great to see Mr & Mrs FB again but overall I’m disappointed I wasn’t more competitive, I’ve worked as hard as I could have in training but this is just a reflection on where I’m at compared to the competition.
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Well done Doka, some things to work on but positives as well. The guy in second doing a 17 minute run! He’s a bit younger but how do things compare? Eg, could he have a better blade or maybe below the knee? 17 minutes is a rapid 5k for anyone.
FWIW there was a double amputee at my race yesterday with blades, seemed to be going alright though.
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See that a Lionel slipped in there 
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Brilliant, well done
Sounds like you had a solid race mate and identified where you can improve. I’m sure you’ll mail it soon enough.
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Love that, and great effort!