Kinetica Gower Triathlon

I've only heard good things about this race, in fact I seem to remember it winning Triathlon 220 event of the year in its inaugural running. I'd never done this race before, despite it being so local. Therefore I was really looking forward to it, especially as the weather forecast was looking so good.

Unfortunately I wouldn't be having the support crew with me as it would have been too much hassle getting the boys up and out so early.

Pre-Race

Alarm goes off at 4:30, managed to get my usual porridge down me. Applied various lubricants and creams upon my body (remembering to put my contact lenses in first) and set off at 5:15.

For those who don't know the area, Port Eynon is a beautiful venue (as is the rest of Gower) and would recommend visiting. I arrive at Port Eynon at about 5:45, and the first thing that strikes me is that it is none too warm.

Despite there only being about 30 minutes before transition closes I'm surprised to see that transition is less than a third full, with many competitors leaving it very late to get set up. I set myself up in a relaxed manner and made my way to the race briefing and start.

This being a local race as well as being part of the Celtic Tri championships there were loads of friendly faces.

At about 7 o'clock the sun came up over the Gower headland and you could feel the warmth on your face. Lovely!

Swim

We are counted into the pen and off we go to the water, like a tribe of pink hatted penguins. The sea wasn't too cold but it's always beneficial to give it a bit of warming.

The air horn is blasted and were off. It was all a bit of a washing machine and it took a while for me to get a bit of space and to try and find some feet. But I must have been swimming well because I found myself at the first turn buoy in no time at all.

On the way back to the shore after the second turn buoy I managed to settle into my pace, however this did inevitably result in my usual trick of going off course (almost ending back in with the outbound swimmers).

Out of the water and up to the first timing mat in 13:35, which does imply that the swim was a little short. But I was very pleased with my position of 143rd out of 289 swimmers.

T1

Whilst I knew I wasn't making any great shakes in T1, I am ashamed to say that this took me over 3 minutes and was positioned 236.

Bike

Despite only being 23km, this is a testing little bike course with some hills to get the blood flowing. none more so than the first hill out of Port Eynon. But at least it gave me a chance to pass all those people that passed me in T1.

The reward after the sharp climb was a gently downhill section to get your speed up. But it wasn't long before we were hitting the largest climb of the route up to the top of Cefn Bryn. Fantastic scenery, but I didn't bother having a look as I was trying my utmost to get to the benefit of the long downhill segment.

After the turn to Llanrhydian the course got a little more technical and the No Overtaking Zone did mean that there were bunches forming and I caught up with such a group and had sit and wait.

Once out on the main drag back to Port Eynon the competitors spread out again. The steepness and sharp corners coming back into the village meant that it took a lot of will power to slow down and not end up in someone's garden.

Very surprised and pleased to see so many spectators in the village, and they were certainly enjoying their day in the sun.

Time on the bike was 54:38 which was 157th out of 283.

T2

Bike racked shoes swapped all done in a more respectable time of 57 seconds.

Run

The 5 km run was two lops along the beach, dunes and roads.

With the run being my strength, I always like to kick hard and grab some of the time lost on the bike. My legs felt good today so I sped off with my usual gusto, unfortunately the 200m across the sand really sapped the energy out of my legs and it took a good couple of minutes for me to recover. I was however passing runners quite regularly (unsure of which lap they were on).

On the second lap I took the wise choice of using the beach segment as recovery, and this worked much better as I was able to run strongly through the dunes.

With 200m to go I was still feeling strong and could hear someone breathing over my shoulder so I kicked and left them behind. With hindsight I probably could have gone harder earlier.

My time was 22:49 which was 118th out of 281.

My overall time was 1:35:02 which placed me 145th, which is just outside my target of top half finish. But overall I was pleased with my race.

But more importantly the lesson learnt is that I need to get more organised and faster in T1.

I am happy with how my swimming has progressed and my running is as I'd expect it to be, but I have to continue to work harder on the bike and try to get out riding as often as possible.