Tidy, well done fella 
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but @buzz and @gingerbongo got chicked! tut
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How very sexist of you fb! 
She was flying!
I got beaten by a 61 year old as well!
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Well done, Buzz and GB with his 1:41 random jog
This is what you can achieve by training
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Training is overrated!
You’ve just got to be prepared to suffer like a dog. And go up hills very slowly! 
I don’t think I’m going to be able to move my neck tomorrow!
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Further proof that i should stick to Middle Distance and below. 2nd Overall at New Forest Middle. Champagne (Asti Spumanti) podium celebration too 
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Well done chaps 
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Almost enjoyable race for me today and probably as good as I could expect on current form and a really terrible sleep, not slept well for nearly a week!
I was in the last wave which meant quite a bit of hanging around and there was 5 of us in the lane, I was seeded fourth and you went off 5 second intervals and it was ordered on your estimated finish time. I started quick trying to keep up but after about 200 I let the girl behind me past as I was going too fast and could feel my arms burning I just plod up and down too much! I got out and despite being almost last out of the pool I was only about 20 seconds off the slowest in our lane.
Heading towards T1 my Garmin had a meltdown, I’d set it to pool swim but hadn’t felt the 200m notifications and it just decided to power off! I was then switching it back on while I was in T1 and started it and quickly lapped through the swim. Official swim time says 9:30 but the timing mat was outside so actual swim was probably 8:45’ish I think.
Usual faff on in T1 and you can’t afford to give away 2 minutes in a sprint race!
Out onto the bike and I was pushing a bit, legs felt dead but I was hoping that was partly because I was pushing a bit, the course was generally quiet, roads were undulating and average quality. Made it back in 39:40 for ~22k, which wasn’t too bad, AP was 256W. Quite a few in front were on TT bikes and excluding the likes of Keith another minute would have bumped me up a lot of places on the bike.
I’m a lot better in T2 and was one of the fastest in the race but I already had socks on.
Out onto the run and the legs felt very sluggish, I had a pace going but couldn’t really lift it, and my HR was around 70.3 pace, but I could have kept going longer at that pace, there was a sharp climb up to the city walls, then back and a lot of the last 1K was uphill, I just couldn’t pick it up. It was nearer to 6K and the run was 25:48. A fair reflection of current form and lack of hill running.
So, 1:18:30 in total, reasonably pleased to get a run off the bike and decent training race. See how the next few weeks go and hopefully get a decent block for the Greece 70.3.
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Same here, did the duathlon this morning about 30 mins away from you in Haddington. How did you get on?
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Just above, 1:18, about what I expected, I’ve nearly got my old TT bike ready but not sure if it would have bought me much today really.
At least it stayed dry but a bit of a breeze heading towards the coast.
How was the duathlon? Off-road?
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And it was her first 70.3! She was racked near me, well near Donald Brooks actually as they seemed to be mates. Rocking a road bike with clip-ons, didn’t seem to matter, didn’t see her all day - apart from the 2 way sections of the run.
I can’t walk. Currently downing caffeine in a motoway service station to try and avoid falling asleep at the wheel. Would be an unfortunate end to a brutal day. Rolling hills, a little undulating apparently. And who ordered the rain at half way!
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Road duathlon, used as a gauge for the Scottish Champs in 3 weeks. 6 weeks of pain free running translated into a 1:30 deficit on the 5km run (5th) but once into the bike it was 
time and held the gap to take the overall win. Need to find a 17:30 in the next 3 weeks to have a chance tjough
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TLDR
Wasn’t sure what to expect with my build up. But was determined to get out there and enjoy it. Overall pretty pleased with what I managed to do. But had to suffer hard for it.
Whilst it’s time consuming to train for. I really do still enjoy triathlon!
Loooong
Despite all the piss taking, I was genuinely coming into this race ridiculously under prepared. I’d already deferred from May so was just determined to have a day out with my mate.
Forgot just how much faff is inovled with tri! Sooo much kit and stuff to sort!
Must be something in the air as, like @jeffb, I’ve been sleeping crap lately. Woke up the night before at 2.45 for a wee… Yeah brain decided that was my lot. So snuck downstairs at 3 so I wouldn’t disturb Mrs GB and ended up watching a film on the sofa.
Head off for the hour drive in the dark. Tired but excited. Had a good laugh with my friend (his first proper tri) and a good catchup with @buzz also. Registered, racked and ready. Weather was still and warm.
Swim - 32/39 - 44.24 (2.20/100m)
Steep grassy slope to the lake gate. Then a very slimy, muddy bank into the water. Didn’t see anyone fall unfortunately . Lake was looking beautiful. Forgot how ‘smooth’ lake water is as I do all my (limited) swimming in the sea (including playing with the kids etc). Deep water start.
Went as expected really. Furthest I had swam this year (1 of 2 swims) was about 1200m. Just got into my rhythm and plodded it out. Knew I’d be fine, just slow. My sighting is normally pretty good. Few cloudy goggle issues. But all in all it was kind of enjoyable. 45 was my gold hope for the swim. So that was as good as I could’ve expected.
T1 - 22/33 - 3.30
Turns out I was 3rd fastest on the lake to T1 section. Was only bimbling, so not sure how! Must be my trail running prowess!
Knowing I was in for a long day, and I wasn’t ‘racing’ I took my time in T1. Sat down, sorted my shoes etc. Had a bottle with dissolvable paracetamol to have before the bike to pre-empt the neck issues on the tt.
Bike - 10/39 - 3.15.32 (28.54 kph)
93.5km course with 1,289m elevation
Really enjoyed the bike, but quickly knew it would find me out. Hills were concentrated on the first half of the course. A couple of steep ones and a few really long draggy ones. Quickly wished I’d taken Buzz’s advice and sourced a bigger cassette. My 28t and a heavy tt bike deffo wasn’t fun the 2nd time around!
Struggled from the off on the uphills. Lack of mileage really showing. Quiet course due to the small event. Bus as I am such a beautifully crap swimmer, I did have a few people to overtake at least (on lap 1 anyway).
Once on the back half I felt I was moving well on the flats and downs. Settled into aero. Got my nutrition in. Descended as fast as I could!
Stupidly got into a race with myself when it looked like I might hit the first lap with a 30kph avg. So was pushing way harder than I should’ve for the last 10km of the lap! Chip said 29.67kph but garmin (which is what I was obvs going off) said 30. Pointless win. 
2nd lap was always going to be an unknown. Hills felt slower and harder immediately. That lack of gears was hurting! Spent lots of time sat up climbing. But still felt happy, but conscious I was probably over biking for my fitness level. But didn’t care too much. Tried to just enjoy. Was starting to writhe about on my saddle after about 60km though. Arse was in bits!
Avg speed started slipping so thought I’d try to get to a 29kph total average (so 28 for lap 2). Just wasn’t able to make the time up form the slow hills though.
Then a classic GB disaster. Not quite sure what happened but was on a flat, but VERY bumpy (bad surface) section of the course. Must have just shifted my bodyweight on the tt bars at the wrong time. Hit a bump and immediately knew I was going down. Managed to point the bike at the hedge, hit the verge and proceeded to do a full somersault into a 2ft ditch!
Luckily I massively got away wit it. Ditch was just full of bracken and nettles so was quite soft. Could’ve been much worse. Bike was OK but filthy and full of vegetation. I was OK, I thought, a bit banged up and cut and stung. But nothing major.
Turns out, I forgot to look, that I lost my spares bottle. So that was 2 x new latex tubes, my nice new mini pump, disc adaptor thing. All gone. Great! Also about 5 mins later hit another bump and the magnetic visor from my helmet vanished into the ether. So an expensive bloody ride!
Anyway. Lost a tiny bit of confidence for the last 10km and knee was a bit sore. But I was alright.
Laps were 1.34 and 1.41. So that tells the story really!
AP 186
NP 203
T2 - 14/39 - 1.55
As with T1. Sat down. Relaxed. Didn’t rush. Back was pretty sore and tight from the bike. Was starting to warm up.
Run - 4/39 - 1.41.51 (4.51/km)
I clocked just long but think that was the GPS under the trees. 297m elevation. Twisty, mixed terrain - roots mud tarmac, field.
Had done a recce so was happy to stick with Next 2’s as I knew they’d help on the tarmac bits. Forest muddy bits were a bit interesting. But I spend a lot of time on technical trails so I was confident I could descend quickly even in road shoes.
First 2km were the worst I’ve ever felt at the start of a tri run. All I could think was that I had MASSIVELY over biked for my fitness and I was going to pay dearly! But once those two were done I settled into a sort of strength run.
Once again, fitness gap left me really struggling on the uphills. So I tried to move efficiently on the flat and push the downs. Course was quite busy (3 laps) with the standard and sprint lot also there. Was impossible to know who was on what lap but saw buzz a few times, moving well.
Only got overtaken once by the guy that finished 2nd. Played a game where I tried to hold off the other fast guys and girls.
Slowed lap by lap. Really glad I brought my extra gel as I deffo needed it. Lots of self talk on the 2nd half. A few short walks before I kicked my own ass. Water over the head (as I overheat easily) every aid station.
All in all quite uneventful. Just kept plugging away knowing I was slowing. (4.47, 4.50, 4.57 pace for the 3 laps). Had this game in my head where I was trying to defend against 5.00/kms as that would give me a 1.45 at worst.
Looked to me like a few of the fast ones were moving a lot quicker than me, so was surprised to see I was 4th quickest!
Usual regret of not having trained, as even though I didn’t enjoy the run course I think it suited me and I should’ve made some more time up!
Overall - 11/39 with a 5.47
V40 - 4th (but they gave me a podium and a mug as Donald Brooks won overall, beating 2nd by 45 mins ).
All in all I’m glad I did it. Did better than expected. But it was flippin hard. Probs could’ve been 2/3 places up had I not pissed about in transition so much. But yesterday wasn’t about that (and I had no idea anyway!).
Legs are miraculously really good. I think as I was having to run slower due to lack of fitness. I didn’t trash them in the usual way. Even though I knew I lacked stamina, for me 4.50 pace is really steady. So the legs just haven’t been minced up. Also meant it was my first ever tri run with no cramps. Again as I was going slower I wasn’t toeing off like I usually do. So the calves got an easy ride for once.
Neck was very sore last night and still is. My bas*ard arms and hands are the worst though! Still tingling like mad with bloody nettle poison. It’s driving me nuts!
Sorry thats a bit of an epic. But it’s fun to write and record these things.
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Sounds eventful, good result on the limited training. Well done & cheers for the report 
.
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Great write up - well done - and glad to hear no injuries from the spill (apart from your wallet)
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@gingerbongo made it sound so appealing, and I’d basically done nothing since my marathon in March. I’d been swim bike running, but no focus, no competition. So why not?
Put a bit more focus into my SBR, which mostly meant B on the TT outside a few times. That turned out to be the main issue, I think I need a new fit as a brick session ended with an overly tight glute, no running for 2 weeks and sitting on a tennis ball all day.
Trundle down from the nearby campsite to transition on race morning, bump into @gingerbongo , collect the rubber bands he had sourced for me and set-up at the speedy end of the racking. @fatbuddha look away now, but not a neutralised transition, same bike in and out point. That must be the reason I spent almost 3 mins less in transition than @gingerbongo
After the measurement issues with the swim on Saturday, Sunday seemed to be OK. I actually managed to find some feet to the first half, so just settled in at that pace and accepted what it would bring. 36:45, 13/37 was the answer.
Once through T1 and on to the bike course, there were a few faster swimmers ahead and I seemed to be catching, with only one bike flying past me on a descent. Thought I would use lap 1 as a recce and settle in for lap 2. But actually spent most of lap 2 thinking the run was going to be a sufferfest. Too many power spikes on the climbs, fuelling not the best, and it rained – hard, for about 5 minutes, soaking the road, misting my visor, adding some jeopardy to the descents. At least I didn’t end up in a hedge.
Out onto the run as slow as possible. Keep moving on the flats and the descents, don’t sweat the hills. The rain had made a few tricky corners, and now it had stopped it was heating up. Maybe not surface of the sun, but humidity high. Lap 1 passes OK, but any small climb on lap 2 is a struggle. End up in a bit of back and forth with another guy, I run the flat and down faster than him, he comes back on the up. This gets me through lap 2 onto lap 3. We get passed by a couple of faster guys. Last little struggle up the climb to the final out and back. Then up the back part of the out and back and it’s mostly down to the finish. Can pull away from my buddy, and cross the line – only to find he still has another lap to go – as do the runners who passed us earlier in the lap. Not a pretty run, 17/37. But 5th overall, only an hour behind the winner and 15 minutes behind the leading lady!
Legs are sore, glutes, hamstrings, calves all complaining. Struggling to walk. A lovely low key venue and race, rewards good fitness and hard training! Would maybe come back for the standard as might be able to race that rather than just survive.
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oh dear. just checked who the Chief TO was but don’t know him but that should not happen
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Excellent write up mate, you hung in there despite mishaps. Copenhagen, lock it in 
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Great stuff @buzz and @gingerbongo - enjoyed reading those reports and podium photos 
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