22 out of the 300 odd starters failed to finish the swim. Even allowing for the strong currents I placed very poorly and came out of the water behind people that I'd usually be faster than. Just goes to show that the swim can be as important as the other disciplines. On the positive side I passed 24 people in 2 minutes and continued to move up the ranks until the end.
.
No swimming, biking or running since, which is a long (unintentional) break for me. Will do a bit this weekend.
.
That shows how tough it was. Your swim's usually better than the bike too isn't it? As they're always saying on the ITU show, 'you can't win a triathlon in the swim, but you can definitely lose it.'
ReplyDeleteI've heard that a lot of swimmers cut a massive corner of the course by not going round the last buoy, but had their swim counted as normal nevertheless. I don't know if it's true and how many swimmers that would account for, but it might explain your pacing in the swim.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know the first thing about triathlons but it looks like you were really strong on the run.
ReplyDeleteEwen, I would have expected a better swim placing although the tear in my wet suit could have held me back. That and what Thomas said - I also heard that some swimmers took a short-cut.
ReplyDeleteThanks Paudie, although I was expecting a time around 1:35. I think the first time you race a given distance you should have no expectations, and just aim to give your best and set a benchmark for future performance targets.
That's a hell of a long way to swim, I'm impressed.
ReplyDeleteHave you got a tri bike yet?
If not I think it would not only help you ride faster but might leave you in a better state to run faster too!
Just my take on how to improve your times!
No tri bike yet Rick. Haven't reached that comittment level yet! Don't know if I ever will. Actually Norman, the guy I came in behind, told me yesterday that he is selling his tri bike as he doesn't find it confortable/beneficial for anything longer than an hour. Although I do think that economy on the bike has a big impact on how the run goes and they do say that the tri position is the best for saving the running legs.
ReplyDelete