Improvements all round

My splits for each segment of this mornings Little Bo Peep Tri were better that last years (including transitions) to give me an overall improvement of 3:49 coming in at 2:18:12 (official time). Ok the first 5k of the 10k run was 3 seconds down. But I made it up on the second 5k. Swim (1.5k) - Sea conditions were excellent - much better that last month at Baltimore. Despite the very good time I didn't feel comfortable at the start as we weren't given room to warmup (blocked off by canoeists) and it took a while to get into my stride. Also did a bit of zig-zagging over the last 500m. T1 - very smooth - although it had rained and the talcum power in my bike & run shoes (in lieu of socks) had turned to mush. Bike (37k) - The usual, passed by lots. First time using my aerobars so I felt more comfortable. Lapse in concentration appears to be my problem on the bike as I find it difficult to "race" the bike leg. Although I put in a good effort over the last 10k, exchanging places with another guy - he beat me into T2 though. T2 - No issues. Run (10k) - Ran out of T2 with the guy who had come in on the bike before me. He was better on the bike but half a mile down the road he was behind me. Caught up with Pete at the mile mark (he had passed me about 20k into the cycle - going strong, but in a bunch of 6, which is technically drafting and could get you a 2 minute penalty if caught). His quads/calves were acting up. Got passed by a relay runner going up the hill after the 2k mark. Eric Wolfe, the eventual winner in 1:58:xx, came against me at about 2.5k. I was passed by a guy at about 4k, but I was faster on the downhill (gravity is great if you know how to use it) and passed him out before the 5k turnaround. Counting those coming against me put me in 40th position overall (37th male/relay). Apart from the guy I had passed out I was clear of the remaining field. It wasn't long before I was passed again by this guy and he put a bit of distance between us on the uphill/flat section to 7.5k. I closed the gap on the downhill to the 8k mark but the gap remained until I crossed the line (36th overall (34th male/relay). Although I felt strong throughout the run I only managed an 8 second improvement on last year. That doesn't worry me though as last year I was further into my Marathon training programme and was heading for an early peak. It's all about pacing - nice and easy. Overall I am very pleased with my result as my primary target was to beat last years time and get under 2:20.

Well done to Derek O'Keeffe of Eagle AC who came in 10th overall in 2:10 (39 minute 10k - very impressive).

Training this week was completly devoid of swimming and cycling as I concentrated on getting a few decent runs in early in the week so as to maintain some sort of volume.

Tue 4th August

7.79 miles in 01:02:23 (08:00 pace @ 136 HR) with 1 x 1 mile @ 6:18 and 6 x 30sec hill sprints.

Wed 5th August

10 miles in 1:13:51 (07:23 pace @ 134 HR) progression run - last mile in 6:40.

Thur 6th August

5 miles in 38:48 (07:45 pace @ 129 HR) easy run.

More later.