BRAT Birmingham Standard Triathlon 2011

Sandy had competed in the BRAT sprint tri earlier in the season and suggested said the course was good. I don’t need much more persuasion than that.

On the morning though I needed a lot of persuasion. Getting up when the hour hand hasn’t yet reached 6 was probably the hardest part of the day! This combined with a wet and miserable outlook put me in my usual pre-race ‘grumpy teenager’ mood.

Arriving a little late and sluggish meant a rushed transition setup and almost missing the start. No more than 10 seconds after hitting the water and we were off.

Swimming at the West Midlands Waterski Center was a pleasant enough experience with clean water and a well marked out course. Shame my goggles fogged up and nearly led me to swim into the oncoming next wave.

The bike started off well. I felt Like I was getting the power down and felt confident in the rain. It wasn’t until half way that things went wrong.

Around half way I approached a roundabout and a marshal gave instructions on which exit to take. This led me on the road back to the start where, upon arrival I was informed that I should have been directed onto a second lap. I was distraught. I felt like I had done one of my quickest bike legs to date. Sat, in the rain, I debated for a while getting off the bike and giving up. Instead I got angry and headed back out.

Returning for the run I later found out I’d added another 6 miles to the bike leg, plus the time stopped. The reward for the extra effort was a pool of water in my trainers and a running course with a sharp hill.

For the first time I ran with my Garmin and pushed myself for time. I think I could have gone a little harder but my chest felt tight. A colleague at work later put this down to my tri bars being setup too close together and constricting my chest.