Race review: UK National Sprint Championships

Last Sunday, I took part in the UK National Sprint Championships which also served as a qualifier for the World Champs taking place in Auckland. The run-up was a bit of a strange one. On one hand, the shorter distances are arguably where I’m strongest and my training has generally been good and consistent over the past few months. On the other hand, most of my training has been aimed at July’s Ironman and, although I got in some great hilly bikes and trail runs while staying with my family the weekend before this race, the rest of the week was spent at weddings and catching up with friends. I managed a few runs but it’s fair to say that there were also many beers drunk – probably more than I’d drunk in the past six months in total!

Shockingly, the sun was shining in the UK and, as anyone who’s ever lived there or visited knows, this is when London is at its best. Runs around Hyde Park and along the Thames Path were glorious sun-drenched affairs, while the days became long, lazy picnics and afternoons in beer gardens. I had a fantastic time catching up with friends and family alike, which meant that I had a little bit of a motivation issue when it came to the race. But I think I did manage to get my head in the game.

The location for the race – Emberton Country Park around 22kms from Milton Keynes – was pretty idyllic, even if it was a bit of an arse to get to, and the organisation on race day was top notch. It was great to line up again in a full and buzzing field of hundreds of triathletes. Abilities varied a little but, by and large, there were less first-timers in the field and many, many more experienced athletes.

I was in one of the last waves, starting at 8am, and by that time I’d already seen my T2A team mates Flanners and Le Pelley take to the waters to battle with their age groups. The water was cold, tho not as cold as I’d feared, although there was quite a lot of floating tree debris about. Sections of the lake were also shallow enough to rag your hand through some underwater foliage.

I lined up well for the swim, got a decent start (although this was a tougher and more physical start than anything I’d been involved in before) and got away with four or five other swimmers. One guy took off – I didn’t follow his feet but, in retrospect, should have busted a gut to stay on his toes. The next guy went through and I stayed on his feet, just, for half the lap. I don’t know if it was the fact that I had other guys with and ahead of me (something I’m not used to – sounds immodest but genuinely have little experience in this scenario) or maybe it was the fact I’d swum just once in two weeks and was swimming in a wetsuit for the first time in ages, but I just didn’t feel like I got into any sort of rhythm in the swim. It felt bad and, for the first time, I was glad to get the swim over. 9.50. Third in my AG.

T1 wasn’t super clean but it was OK-ish, and I came out with three or four other guys from my AG. Although you wouldn’t call the 20k loop mountainous, it certainly wasn’t Ghantoot flat either, with four or five decent bumps, one long section that ground into a slight incline, and one proper, no-doubt-about-it hill in there. 

I’d been working hard on hills while staying at my parents’ house in preparation for Austria as climbing is something I’m not good at, but I was surprised to find that they didn’t stop me dead as anticipated. In fact, I’d say that, on the hills, for every person in my wave who overtook me, I overtook another one or two, while holding steady on the straights and downhills – except for a couple of uber-bikers who shot through. I had a few issues with the drafting rules – a couple of times, someone passed me at speed and then seemed to slow down when in front, forcing me to drop back and ride slowly for a few minutes until I was sure I could pass them – and am pretty sure that I could have knocked a little time off if it’d been a straight individual TT for that reason, but I came into T2 having ridden under 32 minutes which, given the terrain and the fact that the time included some fiddly footpath sections coming into and out of the park, I was pretty darn happy with. Actually really enjoyed the interesting ride terrain too.

I reckon I was lying in around 7^th or 8^th at this point. The run was two laps of the park – 5.5km in total. I didn’t have my Garmin for the first time so ran to feel (all-in!) and felt OK but not spectacular. But it became hard to keep the head in the game as athletes with the letter F on their calves (my wave) came past at speeds I just couldn’t hold on to. I kept going at what I thought was a decent speed and also overtook a couple of guys in my wave – a new experience for me! I got quite a bad stitch halfway through the second lap and thought I may have to stop but just slowed for a minute or so then carried on.

Crossing the finish line, I pretty much knew where I’d come in terms of position (15^th to 16^th in my age group) and was a little disappointed while also knowing that I’d raced hard. In retrospect, I think I had a little more to give on the bike in a couple of sections but that may have made 10-20 seconds of difference all told. 

When I saw my time, however, I cheered up a bit. My run was 21:28 for 5.5km – the first time I’d gone under 4 min/km and pretty comfortably so. My overall time then, I concluded, was probably about as fast as I could have hoped for and, allowing for the longer run and the terrain, was definitely in the PB ballpark. 

So, bit bitter-sweet if I’m honest, but always keen to draw the positives from these experiences.

Things I learned:

•  I’ve said since I started doing triathlon that improvement was how I would define victory. Therefore, especially given that my training is mainly focused on Iron distance racing right now, the fact I’m still getting faster has to be counted as success.
• The level in the UK is extremely high. I’d say that one or two of the athletes would run away with the V in our local Dubai races but what is more impressive is the strength in depth just behind them. The top 10 is hard-fought.
• That said, I’m definitely at the right end and have nothing to be ashamed of. When the time comes to move back to the UK or Europe, I’ll be able to hold my head high and have a decent go.
• My running is improving.
• My running is improving frustratingly slowly. 
•  I need to work on leg strength – I was happy with my bike ride but found that, although I was pushing as hard as I could at any given time, I could also have actually ridden at that pace for another 20km loop. I need to turn that into an extra gear in these races.