I
entered but didn’t think I would win, however last Monday I received a phone
call from Zone3 saying I had won. After scratching my head for a minute I
remembered entering the competition.
Cue
massive panic to find a relay team. After trying Facebook, my friends and my
triathlon club, I was unable to find 2 people to relay with. After a quick
phone call to Zone3 they allowed me to enter the triathlon as a solo
competitor. Phew!
Blenheim
is a race I have always wanted to participate in since I took up triathlon in
2012. In 2012 I had to turn down a priority place at Blenheim with a Q&A with
the Brownlees and Helen Jenkins as the date clashed with a prior engagement. I
was so pleased to get to race this triathlon this year. In the footage I had
seen it looked so picturesque.
Now for
the next problem. After I fell off my turbo last week (yeah I know, how did I
manage that?) my rib has been really hurting. So much so that I am considering
the fact that I may have broken it during my fall. I haven’t exercised for a
week as a result. I thought it was muscular so could do with the rest. However
there has been no improvement so I think it may be more serious than first
imagined.
Fast
forward 6 days from the day I won the competition and I woke up at 04:30 to
travel to Blenheim. My Dad kindly offered to drive and keep me company, which
was really nice of him and made the day a lot less strenuous with my commute
from Doncaster now a chauffeur driven experience.
After
last week where I raced in Cologne for the GBR Age Group Team, I was thankful
to have a race with no pressure. It felt good just to race for me. After
arriving at Blenheim, I was expecting there to be a problem (given I was a late
entry) but the registration process was seamless, thanks Challenger World. I
felt really relaxed before the race when I was setting up my transition area. The
space we were allowed at Blenheim for transition was amazing. Why can’t every
triathlon have this much space?
After
transition was set up I made my way to the swim start where I put my wetsuit on.
Even though I had a mild pain in my rib I decided to put myself at the front of
the swim. I made sure I was in plenty of space though just to be on the safe
side. I didn’t fancy a kick to the ribs. The hooter went and I sprinted away
from the line. I wanted to set a good swim time today to restore some of my confidence
after I had a wobble after last weekend in Cologne.
I
managed to make the initial lead group in my wave before there were two breakaway leaders who didn't slow after the sprint after the hooter, I stuck with rest of the group for the remainder of the swim. The two leaders were about a minute up on
us as we exited the water. I was pleased to exit the water in the top 10 from my wave in a time of 12:24.
I have watched
the television coverage of Blenheim and knew all about the run to transition
and the fact you run up a hill in your wetsuit. The 500m run was a lot more undulating
than I envisaged and certainly got my heart rate up. I stripped my wetsuit to
my hips as soon as I could and slogged up the hill in question. After getting
to transition I striped my wetsuit off, threw on my number belt and helmet and
exited transition practicing my newly acquired skill of leaving my shoes on the
bike.
I hopped
onto my bike and set about completing the 20km route. Given I was in an early
wave, the roads were clear. My heart rate was high for the first half of the
first of three laps after my run to transition but I tried to keep my cadence
high. Whoa where did all these hills come from? They were a little unexpected.
The
loops at Blenheim can definitely not be described as flat. In the first half of
the course (about 2 miles) you are mostly climbing apart from one short
downhill, which means the second half, is mostly downhill and this is where I
used my lack of fear to my advantage. I took the first lap quite conservatively
to gauge where I could put the hammer down and where I could corner at speed.
In the second and third laps I let rip. Given the technical nature of the
course I had decided to race on my road bike so I had easy access to my brakes.
I was pleased I made this decision, as by the third lap the course was a lot
busier. I was flying past people constantly screaming “ON YOUR RIGHT!” and was
glad I had the brakes at hand, not that I needed them.
I
completed 3 laps of the bike course in 39:16 and was pleased with this
considering I climbed over 250 vertical metres.
After
running into T2 I threw on my trainers and made my way to the transition exit.
What, there’s a bridge to climb as a welcome to the run?
AAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!
After
traversing the bridge, I set about the 5.5km run. My rib was feeling okay so
rather than take it easy (like I planned to) I ran to my tempo heart rate. The run route at Blenheim is undulating as
well but so picturesque. I just wanted to stop to have a look around. There
were so many things to look at. The run route consists of two laps and I made
sure my HR was in the right zone. Given I haven’t run in over a week (#ribgate)
I was pleased to complete the 5.5km in 30 minutes. It was by no means my
quickest run but it got the job done. I crossed the finish line in 1:28. This
finish time put me as the 700th quickest finisher from the weekend.
I’ll take that for a race that wasn’t on my radar until 6 days ago.
Thanks
to Zone 3 and Tri247.com for the opportunity to compete in a race that has been
on my radar for over two years.
To sum
up Blenheim, it is a fantastically well organized event that I am pleased I got
to compete in. I had an absolutely amazing day and it felt good to blow away
the cobwebs with another race so soon after Cologne. The course is enjoyably
tough and you’re definitely made to work for the finisher’s medal. One day I’ll
be back. That is the pull of Blenheim, it is just so awe inspiring and there is
so much to see.
Oh and
the bling is amazing.
Thanks
for reading,
Michael
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