Bournville Harriers: Birmingham's only Flora London Marathon Partner Club! : Triathlon

on Saturday i took part in the JW ULTRA brilliant event (well done Mark/Sharon), so i was a bit worried that i may have done to mutch but fortunatly Sue Ward commanded me only to run 10 miles and not the full 30.

got up Sunday darkness all around drove down to stratford registered and then saw a familiar face it was shazza her first triathlon what a star. she may be over the age of 21ish but she is a true athlete.

talk about transition and how not to lose the cycle .

feel a bit nervous now.

get to the swim and inline waiting to go off i realise something i must be the shortest competitor. in the water and a great first two lengths but hit a group of swimmers who are slower than me change to breast stroke and try to swimm around over and under other swimmers, eventually get passed and clear i stick with breast stoke much faster, and out good swim 1min 30 faster.

transition slow but the cycle was good cold but 1min 20 sec faster into my run and i feel great start to chase after people ahead of me and realise they may be going faster than i could manage this is the time when you should really blast 5k your warm you should have stretched on the cycle and it is only 3mile but my legs feel tired and try a sprint finish but the mud slowes me down.

still finish the run 1 min 20 sec faster so even though there are no cakes i feel brilliant. get changed and out in the distance i can here a familiar voice it is mark and he said have you finished yet.

i think we both have PBs

Sharon considering has done a great job - well done.

Sharon writes:

I arrived really early because amongst the hundred things i was worried about - one was not being able to get parked in the leisure center. i arrived and ran straight into a friend who i had spent most of saturday with as his wife did the JW. He was a lot more with it than me, got my bike out of the car for me, put it back together, pointed out that the tyres were a bit flat, and pumped them up whilst i just stood there!!

then off to register, and bumped into geoff from BRAT, who gave me some tips about where to put my bike and about ways to remember where to put it. the same advice i had previously recieved from mark and subsequently, when he arrived, from glyn.. They all told me that once i had racked my bike i should try and pick a reference point - didn't manage this - but also to stand near the steps from the pool so that i knew where it was from that angle. i then watched someone come out and go to exactly opposite where his bike actually was, so i knew my tip from the professionals was right, he had lost his orientation and i was not going to do the same.

9.20 i was standing around chatting and a friend tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out that i had not got changed or racked my bike and was due in the pool in 20 minutes!! i ran to the car, whipped off my stuff (new and totally untried tri suit on underneath) and grabbed what i would need, going through the list mark had given me as i grabbed them all - no posh box for me,just a carrier bag. went in and racked my bike, went and stood at the bottom of the stairs, checked out where the bike was and moved into the pool

swim: once i was standing in the line it all clicked into place,although i had never done it, i had talked it through so many times that i felt as if i knew what i was doing, you can't be nervous once you are actually doing something - so my tip is to arrive just in time, no time to stand around getting nervous. Swimming with loads of other people trying to get past you and you trying to get passed other people is an interesting experience but i just tried to stay calm as i knew i would be slow in the pool

transition 1: i had laid out my stuff as instructed and i just did it in what felt like slow motion, i didn't feel under pressure - i had asked people supporting me not to shout unless i was actually doing something wrong - like trying to leave without my helmet on. i realised that i had completely forgotten to have the energy drink i was supposed to have had an hour vbefore i started - so i downed as much as i could

bike: felt like my best bit and the results show that - i was expecting to take 65 minutes and took 60, even with transitions included, the hills there are not match for the ones i had trained on - nothing like fordhouse lane!! there were times as i was cycling through the lovely country side when i was cycling easy and i was forgetting that it was a race, slowing to a leisurely pace. i overtook 7 people and was overtaken by 5.

transition 2: dumped the helmet, had a quick drink

run: this was difficult because my legs just wouldn't move properly, other people were flying past me with proper running strides and i was running with tiny steps - but even so, just over 30 minutes - my normal 5k time

so, all in all 15 minutes faster than i expected, really pleased with the bike bit, it took me just over an hour, transitions included - which is 10 minutes faster than i have done it before (as i said before - a much flatter course than i have been training on)

i will be back in may

well, i have a tri suit now, must get some wear out of it.

Pos Race# FirstName LastName Age Swim Bike Run Total

87 409 Sharon Weldon 45 00:10:53 01:00:30 00:30:28 01:41:51

Pos Race# FirstName LastName Age Swim Bike Run Total

226 243 Glyn Hughes 51 00:08:20 00:53:09 00:27:47 01:29:16