I forgot to write a preview post for this one.
Here is last year's race report.
Main targets for this race are the same as Turriff:
Get on the Vet's podium.
Get within 20% of the overall winner.
Bonus targets:
750m swim PB (under 12:28).
Stretch targets:
1st Vet.
750m swim under 12:15.
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Here are the full results.
The BBC promised me 12 degrees, sunshine and a light breeze of 10-12mph. Peterhead chose instead to deliver an arctic storm, with horizontal rain and occassional hailstones.
I racked my bike and signed in and then went and sat in the car for half an hour hoping it would ease off. Eventually it did and I was able to set out the rest of my transition. I went for the most stripped down version I possibly can. Bike shoes already clipped in, run shoes I tucked in a plastic bag to try and keep them dry if there were more showers. Fortunately it stayed a bit overcast but the showers all but died off from there.
I went out hard on the swim, hoping that I could get onto the hells of the swimmer in front. Despite a sub-1:30 first 100m he shot off in to the distance, and the swimmer behind me tapped me just before 125m to get past. I had hoped to then stay on him for a while but only managed a couple of lengths before a bad turn gave him a body-length gap and he managed to ease away as well. Fortunately the two girls in our lane were slightly slower than me, but not enough that I was able to catch them. So from 175m to 625m was a straight solo swim. Then the leader came round and passed me, and I managed to get a few lengths on his heels and a decent finish. Out of the water in 12:29, really happy with that. Missed my bonus target by 1 second but equalled my swim PB.
Through transition was about as slick as I could have hoped for. Helmet on, number on, bike off, go. I even had a chance to congratulate a club mate on his swim as I passed him on the way out.
The start of the bike was a bit of a faff. I got my feet into my shoes but both of them I folded over the heels in the process. Before the first turn I had managed to unhook them both, and immediately after the roundabout I got them strapped up and got my head down. About 2 miles in I got passed, but that actually turned out to be a good thing. He pulled a small gap but then for the next mile or so from there I could see his lines into corners and take more aggressive lines than I would normally have dared. When we reached a long straighter section he eased away but in the distance I could see one of my main rivals, who I had beaten for the first time at Turriff.
From there catching him was my bike target. And that initially seemed like a great idea, but I was only ever catching by centimetres. Every time I looked up he was a tiny bit closer but for the better part of 10 miles I was nibbling the gap and couldn't get to him. Then I had a bit of a stroke of luck. A light blue car overtook me, but then oncoming traffic meant it couldn't overtake him. As it laid back a safe distance from him it was giving me the slightest of motor-pacing draft effects, and for the 20 seconds or so I was able to make a few meters instead of centimetres. And that brought me close enough to then be confident of getting past and I pushed into his draft zone and by him just before the first roundabout at the edge of town.
I got a beautiful line over it with no traffic but then three cars passed me before the next roundabout and slowed to a stop to create traffic at the next one. Again I got a bit lucky as I was able to roll past the first of them just as the other two pulled away, and while I lost a few seconds and a lot of momentum I was able to get through without a total stop. And downhill from there through the final roundabout I got a clean line, despite one car indicating to come round in front of me and then changing his mind. I managed to unstrap my shoes before T2 (maybe slightly early) and got a clean dismount just before the line.
Through T2 and it was fairly tidy. Hanging the bike went ok, my run shoes were a bit of a mess as I tried to unbag them and put them on without putting too much gravel into them. I was out onto the run with the leading woman just ahead of me.
Initially I thought I would just stay with her for a while and then once I had settled in I would drop her and start looking at who I could chase next. That plan lasted about 200m as it was clear I was operating to close to my limit and she was still easing away. I eased a little and let her go in order to make sure I didn't blow-up before the finish.
At the mile mark I was then passed by a rocket. He went on to catch the leading woman just after the turn and disappear into the distance. Either that got in her head or she had pushed too hard early on as I started to make a bit of ground, closing the gap to her slightly on the downhill return leg. I must have put more into my great bike leg than normal as my legs were pretty empty on the run. I still ran my fastest time for this course but not the sort of time that I expected to. That is not a bad thing though. I maybe lost 20-30 seconds on what I might have run, but I probably made a minute or more on the bike.
Another second place Vet prize. So a trip to the podium gets me my base target, but one of the athletes that I wasn't expecting to face turned up and took the winner's place again so missed the stretch target. But I was a minute closer to him that at Turriff despite the longer bike leg.
15% off the winner who had a fairly freakish 4 minute win. 7% behind first Vet, who is a GB Age-group international. So happy enough with those and target met.
And I could grump about missing my swim stretch and bonus targets but I matched my 750m swim PB so it is hard to complain about that.
So, really happy with my race, and still a few small things I can still work on and tidy up.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Here is the official breakdown, with a chunk of T1 included in the swim time.
I racked my bike and signed in and then went and sat in the car for half an hour hoping it would ease off. Eventually it did and I was able to set out the rest of my transition. I went for the most stripped down version I possibly can. Bike shoes already clipped in, run shoes I tucked in a plastic bag to try and keep them dry if there were more showers. Fortunately it stayed a bit overcast but the showers all but died off from there.
I went out hard on the swim, hoping that I could get onto the hells of the swimmer in front. Despite a sub-1:30 first 100m he shot off in to the distance, and the swimmer behind me tapped me just before 125m to get past. I had hoped to then stay on him for a while but only managed a couple of lengths before a bad turn gave him a body-length gap and he managed to ease away as well. Fortunately the two girls in our lane were slightly slower than me, but not enough that I was able to catch them. So from 175m to 625m was a straight solo swim. Then the leader came round and passed me, and I managed to get a few lengths on his heels and a decent finish. Out of the water in 12:29, really happy with that. Missed my bonus target by 1 second but equalled my swim PB.
Through transition was about as slick as I could have hoped for. Helmet on, number on, bike off, go. I even had a chance to congratulate a club mate on his swim as I passed him on the way out.
The start of the bike was a bit of a faff. I got my feet into my shoes but both of them I folded over the heels in the process. Before the first turn I had managed to unhook them both, and immediately after the roundabout I got them strapped up and got my head down. About 2 miles in I got passed, but that actually turned out to be a good thing. He pulled a small gap but then for the next mile or so from there I could see his lines into corners and take more aggressive lines than I would normally have dared. When we reached a long straighter section he eased away but in the distance I could see one of my main rivals, who I had beaten for the first time at Turriff.
From there catching him was my bike target. And that initially seemed like a great idea, but I was only ever catching by centimetres. Every time I looked up he was a tiny bit closer but for the better part of 10 miles I was nibbling the gap and couldn't get to him. Then I had a bit of a stroke of luck. A light blue car overtook me, but then oncoming traffic meant it couldn't overtake him. As it laid back a safe distance from him it was giving me the slightest of motor-pacing draft effects, and for the 20 seconds or so I was able to make a few meters instead of centimetres. And that brought me close enough to then be confident of getting past and I pushed into his draft zone and by him just before the first roundabout at the edge of town.
I got a beautiful line over it with no traffic but then three cars passed me before the next roundabout and slowed to a stop to create traffic at the next one. Again I got a bit lucky as I was able to roll past the first of them just as the other two pulled away, and while I lost a few seconds and a lot of momentum I was able to get through without a total stop. And downhill from there through the final roundabout I got a clean line, despite one car indicating to come round in front of me and then changing his mind. I managed to unstrap my shoes before T2 (maybe slightly early) and got a clean dismount just before the line.
Through T2 and it was fairly tidy. Hanging the bike went ok, my run shoes were a bit of a mess as I tried to unbag them and put them on without putting too much gravel into them. I was out onto the run with the leading woman just ahead of me.
Initially I thought I would just stay with her for a while and then once I had settled in I would drop her and start looking at who I could chase next. That plan lasted about 200m as it was clear I was operating to close to my limit and she was still easing away. I eased a little and let her go in order to make sure I didn't blow-up before the finish.
At the mile mark I was then passed by a rocket. He went on to catch the leading woman just after the turn and disappear into the distance. Either that got in her head or she had pushed too hard early on as I started to make a bit of ground, closing the gap to her slightly on the downhill return leg. I must have put more into my great bike leg than normal as my legs were pretty empty on the run. I still ran my fastest time for this course but not the sort of time that I expected to. That is not a bad thing though. I maybe lost 20-30 seconds on what I might have run, but I probably made a minute or more on the bike.
Another second place Vet prize. So a trip to the podium gets me my base target, but one of the athletes that I wasn't expecting to face turned up and took the winner's place again so missed the stretch target. But I was a minute closer to him that at Turriff despite the longer bike leg.
15% off the winner who had a fairly freakish 4 minute win. 7% behind first Vet, who is a GB Age-group international. So happy enough with those and target met.
And I could grump about missing my swim stretch and bonus targets but I matched my 750m swim PB so it is hard to complain about that.
So, really happy with my race, and still a few small things I can still work on and tidy up.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Here is the official breakdown, with a chunk of T1 included in the swim time.
| Split times | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total time | Pos. male | Senior | Split time | Speed split time | |
 Swim(Time: 13:07) - Pos. 10 | |||||
| Swim | 13:07 | 10 | 8 | 13:07 | 1:44 min/100m |
 Transition 1(Time: 29.5) - Pos. 6 | |||||
| T1 | 13:37 | 9 | 7 | 0:30 | - |
 Bike(Time: 40:45) - Pos. 12 | |||||
| Cycle | 54:22 | 6 | 5 | 40:45 | 33.87 km/h |
 Transition 2(Time: 31.3) - Pos. 10 | |||||
| T2 | 54:53 | 6 | 5 | 0:31 | - |
 Run(Time: 18:48) - Pos. 13 | |||||
| Run | 1:13:42 | 7 | 6 | 18:49 | 3:45 min/km |
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And here are the length-by-length swim splits.
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