Race Report - The Nottingham ITU Sprint
Had a nightmare!
The Swim
Well, the swim, that was interesting :(
The lake was filled with weed and it absolutely stank! it was horrible, it was like swimming through a net!
Also, once again, my goggles misted up. I had to clear them twice, shampoo doesn’t work, next time I’m using RainX.
I really got beaten up in this swim, my goggles were knocked off twice, I drank half the lake and to top it off, on the last knock to the head, my right calf cramped up!
I was pleased to get out of the water.
I would have been more pleased however if I could have gotten my wetsuit off!
Firstly I couldn’t pull the velco flap off the neck seal, then I couldn’t pull my arms or legs out.
nightmare! but, still my fastest ever transition.
The Bike
Not good :(
I did manage to mount the bike with the shoes connected to the pedals, so far, so good.
Into the first lap, while everyone was passing me, all I could hear was scraping. I was looking around trying to figure out what was happening, when I noticed my back wheel was rubbing on the frame!
My rear wheel wasn’t tight! I blame myself for not checking it after the bike fit I had last week.
So I needed to jump off the bike and fix it.
anyway, back up and running and going nice and quick :)
Second lap, disaster! The bloody chain came off my race! literally :( and it jammed in the frame, so its off the bike again and this time I’m coved in oil.
Lots of swearing and shouting, I wasn’t happy at all.
The next two laps were great! I was flying.
In to T2 and I managed to get my feet out of my shoes and run with the bike. This was a split transition race, so T1 and T2 were in two different places. I was nervous at first, but it was no issue at all.
The Run
Nice :)
This race, I didn’t bother with socks and I was using my new Newton MV2 running shoes, pre-talc’d in transition setup and they slipped on nicely.
As soon as I started to run, both my calfs started to cramp! I’ve never had that before, so I slowed down a little and it went away pretty quickly.
After a minute or so, I felt fine, so time to press on! I have positions to make up!
I necked a High5 isogel half way round, which was rubbish! its too much to be able to drink when running, so I don’t think I’ll bother with those in the future.
The last half went great, I was passing people and it was comfortable to the end. Pleased.
Anyway, still fun, lessons learned.
Nutrition: -
06:30 - Pre race breakfast in the hotel of a few slices of toast, granola, nuts and yogurt
09:30 - Pre swim gel, High5 energy+ gel (not nice)
Bike - 250ish ml of water and High5 energy source (not nice, very phlegmy)
Run - High5 isogel (not nice, too much to swallow)
Nutrition wise, this race was good for quantity, not too much like I had in Halesowen.
