Peterborough Half Swim/Bike - Aquabike

Took me .50" walking behind 500 participants before I could actually start swimming. First loop took 20.58, then I ran on the beach for .47" with HR getting to 136; then waded into water for .30" before being able to start swimming again. Second loop took 21.42.

Got WAY off course rounding the 2nd buoy coming back into shore, on the first loop. Couldn't see a thing because of the sun; couldn't see the orange buouy or the swim exit so followed the leader - big mistake. I think it was on the first loop (although not 100% positive, I had to stop and take goggles off because they were so fogged up. Lots of action rounding the buoys; pushing alot of people out of the way. Was surprised at how fast the first loop seemed to go.

Decided I would try to pick up the pace for the 2nd loop and felt very good and streamlined, etc. Lots of action around the buoys again and for about 300 meters kept swimming beside another girl, our hips literally touching at points. Her arm wacked me on the head once. I was on course and wasn't moving left to get away from her, and eventually gave a good sprint and got away from her. Was really covered in weeds during this portion and my googles leaked in the first 50 meters so had to take time to readjust. I took them off my eyes on the beach run - maybe I shouldn't have. I was bang on sighting this loop, nice and straight. Was quite surprised that my time was a bit longer???

Comparing myself to all 500 participants of the 2km swim I came ahead of about 47 people and there were another 14 that were less than 1' faster.

Not assume the crowd is swimming in the right direction.

T1 time equals a 1.56" run from beach to transition entrance and 2.41" actually inside transition zone. My 'run' from beach to T1 was a slow jog, talking to my brother while he videotaped and taking my watch and HR monitor watch off wrists before I could start to take wetsuit off; then had to put watches back on.

This was the first time EVER that I have had my wetsuit get stuck on my heels, especially the left one. It was crazy. Not really sure why. Other than that, I was focussed and steady. Ran with my shoes on.

Be careful with the wetsuit on the heels.

Negative split - 1.46 out and 1.28 back with just over 6 minutes talking to Mark and friend just before half way point. My chain came off going up the hill near the top, leaving Millbrook. Not a big deal. Got it back on easily.

After I stopped to talk to brother got a little concerned because there were only 2-3 cyclists behind me. I had lost the group I was in, totally, However, I by Millbrook I had caught up and then passed many cyclists after that. Played cat and mouse with 2-3 different people, chatting and having fun. Felt very strong on the last half and pulled away from many people in the last 10km when we turned into the north wind. It was strong and we had a couple of shorter good climbs.

Comparing myself to all 500 cycling participants I came ahead of 63, with another 10 within 2' or less.

NUTRITION - sucked. Didn't drink enough - so much easier on training rides. Just forget to in a race. Had a great idea to open my gels to have them easily accessible in my bento box - WRONG! What a chocolate, gooey mess it was. Maybe got a couple into me. Although it wasn't too bad, I could tell my stomach had sort of shut down and by the last 10km my stomach felt sort of crampy. Definitely going to have to come up with a better plan.

Now that I have one long training ride and one long race completed with relative ease, for this distance. I would feel comfortable picking up the pace some more for the next one of this length.

Walking around and a few minor stretches.


Nothing really other than my decision to race the pace I had chosen beforehand.


Only disappointment was their decision to have the Aqua/Swim participants finish just by racking their bikes, rather than leaving T2 and running through the finish line. To finish such a distance, espcially my first time, and have absolutely NO recognition of that feat was disheartening. Didn't even get a bottle of water on finishing. Plan to e-mail Trisport on this. Other race series do a better job on this aspect.