Deva Triathlon

Today I completed my first standard distance triathlon, Chester's Deva Triathlon. Here's my views on how it all went.

 

I woke up at stupid o'clock still feeling exhausted. It's never good when you can hear people coming in from a night out as your getting up. I tried to get some food down me but, as usual, stomach ache kicked in and I struggled to eat much. Somehow I managed to be late leaving which resulted in me panicking a bit when I was there. I won't bore you with the details but the result was that I was late for my wave start and I was jumping into the river as the rest of my wave started a way ahead of me.

Whilst the swim was spent playing catch up (not well I only overtook 4 people), I think this was one of the most important parts of the race for me. Not because of how I did but because it was my first open water swim. Trying out a wetsuit for the first time was strange, it seemed to make things easier though as it definitely helped me with my position in the water. My main issue was sighting as on the way upstream the sun reflecting off the river was blinding. The swim went alright though, bar receiving a couple of punches from a guy that decided the river wasn't wide enough for two of us. My only other issue was the amount of the river Dee I swallowed, put it this way, it's not the cleanest river!

After finishing the swim I was lifted bodily out on to dry land by a guy helping everyone out. Just one of the many helpful and enthusiastic volunteers on the day. I later found out he tried to lift up someone who suddenly got cramp and got dragged in by him! I expected the old jelly legs when I got onto land but I wasn't too bad. This might have been because I was so focused on how to get my wetsuit off. I'd practised the night before and it'd taken 4 minutes before I gave up and got Alice to help me take it off. My transition wasn't quite that bad but I do wonder how the pros do it so fast?! It took me a little while but I got the wetsuit off and on the bike in the end.

I was by no means fast on the bike and this is where a lot of people started to overtake me. I've known ever since my first triathlon that the bike is where I need to make up time but I just haven't managed to put the training in yet (this is my current goal and I'm sure more will come about this soon). I enjoyed the bike but looking back I definitely could of pushed myself a bit harder. I did have one nice spell though where everything felt smooth and I kept the speed high. My next problem came during the run. I hopped off the bike feeling stiff as expected. The only problem was the stiffness didn’t go and only seemed to get worse. I could feel my run time getting worse and worse and I was constantly being overtaken. The run is usually my strongest leg so it wasn't nice to feel so crap. I eventually loosened up a little but this was after about 8km of running! I finished the last 2km strongly but it was way to late to save any hope of a decent time.

In the end I wasn't bothered about my time. I'm a little disappointed as I assumed I'd go under 3 hours with ease but then again I don't feel like I truly pushed myself. It's strange, I'd usually be angry for not pushing myself but I quite enjoyed the way I raced. It was all about getting round and enjoying the event. I soaked up the scenery and enjoyed what was going on around me. After all it was a world qualifying event, I was never getting near the podium. In the end I enjoyed the race and the Deva Triathlon was another well run event that I'd definitely recommend, just don't swallow the river water!