Race Report - Edinburgh Uni Sprint Tri

Our Man Gareth was competing in Edinburgh yesterday - here is his excellent report of his first race of 2009. (Please note that Gareth's anaesthetist is a work colleague & not someone who has to accompany him to all his events!)

EU Sprint Tri - Tranent -The first sprint of the year started well , i got lost in Tranent . My anaesthetist had told me that it was a bit rough in places so i approached a pedestrian with caution to ask for directions - my year in edinburgh stood me in good stead as i could understand the direction given to the race , turns out some helpful person had moved a sign to point in the wrong direction !Got parked up at the pool and had difficulty opening the car door due to the wind -another good sign i thought .Wheel bags blown over to the other side of the carpark as soon as i got the wheel out - the portents are not good i thought .Got registered race no 8 , first heat as usual and recieved my race mug and timing chip . Off to transition well organised apart from the car parked in the middle and the breast screening van nearly blocking the exit . Setup completed as near to the pool exit as possible with large red jacketover the handlebars so i can see the bike when hypoxic and blinded by chlorine so the only thing left to do is get changed and heat up .Then disaster struck -no coke in the vending machine only pepsi and no mars bars !The swim started as usual but this time i was doing the overtaking on the first three lengths - those 3 pool sessions this year have really done me proud ! anyway out of the pool in 18.57 (an early season best) and not last out of the pool for once .Down the stairs to transition not good without specs and when short of breathMy transition went well and off on the bike nice flat and sheltered from the wind for the first 10 feet then it was head down and tri to be aero . For a flat fast course i seemed to be going upwards a lot and all the downhills were twisty and had crosswinds , caught 5 or 6 folk on the bike and then into T2 with totally numb feet trainers on and off on the run.The run was flat and round the paths of a housing estate .Dissapointingly only one person in front that i could see and he was running at exactly the same pace as me then of course a giant skinny bloke passed me but he was the only one for a change ( 2 of the fast folk were warming up on the run route and yes they were running faster than me.embarrasing ). With the end in sight i finally managed to get my legs going . looked down at my hrm for my time and it said 1.11 -this i could not believe - had turned it off when trying to look at my hr on the run . Anyway best time of the year so far and not last . next stop East fife and another bottom 10 finish ! Gareth