BUCS Standard Triathlon, 16 May 2021

The 4am early start on Sunday morning for my BUCS Standard Distance Triathlon race in Cirencester was quite a shock to the system, and I slept the entire journey from Oxford! When we arrived it was surprisingly sunny and looked like it could be a really nice day for the event. The lake water was slightly warmer than last week, but still only 14 degrees.

The event started off with a 1.5 km swim in Lake 32. We were set off with 5 sec intervals between each person so it wasn’t too crowded in the water and it was easy to follow the line of people ahead of you. Despite my swim feeling slightly slower than usual, possibly due to the cold, I still managed to get round in a decent time. The transition was neutralised for the event which meant that I had a generous 4 minutes to get ready for the 40 km bike leg. However, we had to make our way out of a very muddy field and this slowed things down an awful lot! I was desperately trying my best not to get my cleats too mucky so I could still clip in to my pedals.

I felt very strong on the bike leg and the rolling hills played to my strengths. It was an open roads route, which made the course more interesting. Coming off the bike, I had a few cramps which I was worried would hinder my run. The 10 km route consisted of 3 very muddy laps around the lake, and a lot of people dodging on narrow trails. I really enjoyed it though and my run was very well paced. I went for a sprint finish, but unfortunately headed for the wrong finish line… oops! Hopefully only added an extra 30 seconds on to my time! All in all, I had a great race and I performed well. I was the 9th female and 1st Oxford woman! Not bad for my second ever (and first ever standard) triathlon!

Jennifer Carter