Lochore Meadows Sprint Tri - Race Report

I have never been so organised & calm about a Triathlon - all packed the night before then picked up by Alan at 6.15am on Sunday so no need to worry about getting lost either. I even made the point of waiting till the arrival at the event before hydrating myself to avoid the usual sweaty forehead, legs tightly crossed in the car hell that I normally put myself through.
Thanks to Alan we arrived BEFORE registration had opened at 7.15, again - unheard of for me. First impression - nice looking loch to swim in, easy negotiable transition area but quite a strong wind blowing in - it was going to be tough on the bike.

It was actually quite cold so everyone was starting to line up in their wetsuits to keep warm near the start upto half an hour early which made it a bit annoying at 9.00am when we were still waiting for the 8.45 race briefing. The briefing eventually happened in a rather dis-interested fashion then the announcement that the first swim heat (all females & male vets) would be off in 3 minutes. 6 minutes passed & the race started with a run in off the beach. I was in heat 2 which went off pretty sharpish after heat 1 which, I imagine must have been pretty hellish for the slower ones in heat 1 as we piled over the top of a few blue caps just after the first buoy.

No idea about times but made it into T1 without any bother. I seem to have a habit of yanking off my timing chip as I pull off my wetsuit - I did it at the last race too & spent time fumbling with it to get it on again adding annoying seconds.

The bike was undulating & windy - quite busy for the first couple of miles & impossible to stay in a draft free zone. I got overtaken by half a dozen guys early on but bided my time & got them all back as we cleared the initial climb. Loved the new bike again as we hit the descents & flatter sections & really cranked it up - overtaking long lines of riders at a time. Went through about 20k & the legs started to tire - I think I am still slightly tired in the legs from the gruesome Radar Ride last weekend. Had to ease back for a minute towards the end but took on some fluids & a gel & pushed on again. I only realised that T2 was approaching as the guy next to me started to unclip which was a nice surprise. A quick T2 then into the run feeling fine off the bike & started picking off people straight away. Not a difficult run - flat all the way out to the turn point & straight back where I started to push it up another notch & felt great all the way back in, overtaking all the way.

A bit odd that after such a good run my time was just over 20 minutes, so clearly a long 5k - I felt like I was running at sub 18min pace. As it turns out, as I understand it, the entire field bar the race leaders came back the wrong way, missing the (un-marshalled?) turning point & running too far. A bit of a shambles & a few annoyed people at the finish. The finish area was also astonishly small - you literally crossed the line and screeched to a halt with no-where to go. No idea why space was so tight here. A funnel was definately required here & they also seemed to run out of goodie bags so some empty-handed finishers here.

Still, loads of support after the finish line & as the sun came out it was, on reflection, an enjoyable & very well attended Championship event.
The meal voucher was a nice touch - nice soup & a roll afterwards in the sun.
Well done to Alan, Graeme & James from the Tri Club (any race reports from you guys?) & also to the handful of others who have been in & out of the training sessions & will hopefully join up soon with a bit of persuasion! No idea on times yet - if anyone can locate the results when they appear let us know.


C.