May 2021

May saw me returning to triathlon racing, with 2 races this month. The first was a BUCS sprint triathlon race. This had a very good quality field and I finished 29th out of 187 participants, but I wasn't too worried as I'm focusing my attention on longer distance racing. The swim was ok, considering I've only recently returned to swimming. The bike was strange as the race was meant to be non-drafting but most competitors had road bikes and were drafting in groups, while I was on my TT bike and struggled to make up as much ground as I normally do on the bike. The run was the best of the 3 for me, I felt pretty strong and ran my quickest split ever for the South Cerney course.

At the end of the month, I had the Eton Dorney sprint distance triathlon world qualifier race. I finished 3rd out of 8 in my age group, which would have qualified me but I'm aiming for the standard distance rather than sprint distance racing. The water still hadn't warmed up much (at 13 degrees compared to 20 degrees last year). All 3 disciplines felt strong, other than a bit of a stitch on the run leg, likely from a lack of hydration, as it got pretty warm by the end. I'm now looking towards one of my biggest races of the season, the Leeds standard distance world qualifier triathlon on June 6th and I'm feeling pretty confident. All of my training is going well, especially my group running and swimming sessions, where I'm posting some of my best ever times.

 The standard distance triathlon world championships in Edmonton still haven't been confirmed but, as it stands, that is still the primary focus for my season, alongside my first 113 Ironman race in July. It really feels lie I'm getting back in the swing of things now and look forward to some longer distance racing in the coming months.