BUCS Sprint Triathlon, 2 May 2021

The day started at 5am with a 2 hour drive to the Cotswolds for the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) sprint triathlon, held at the Cotswolds Water Park. This was my first ever BUCS triathlon, the event was cancelled last year, and also my last as I graduate this year, meaning the race was really significant for me! 

At 9am we all went down to the lake to be set off into the water at 5 second intervals. A running dive into the water hid the initial shock of cold water, which quickly set in, turning my feet and hands numb and giving me brain freeze! I took the first few hundred metres very steadily, to settle into a breathing rhythm; once I reached the first buoy I felt more confident, and the 750 metres went fairly quickly!

Onto the bike it was a fairly swift change with a 4 minute paused transition, onto a 2 lap, 25km course! A fairly flat course - my legs were sore at the start but a few sips of my water bottle which had gels in it had an effect and the second lap felt a lot stronger. 

Coming into the run the first few hundred metres were a real mental battle, with tired legs I kept thinking I was going to have to walk. However I counted my breaths and settled into a rhythm, not stressing about the pace as I didn’t wear my watch so had no clue how fast/slow I was! Two laps around the lake was hard knowing after the first I had to do it all again, but having my university team cheer me made all the difference and I finished feeling strong! 

This was a great event; I found afterwards that my speed in all three disciplines had improved from my last triathlon 4 weeks ago, even the swim, and I shaved 1 and a half minutes off my 5km for a new PB! It was great to see all the training fall into place, and I can’t wait for my next race!

Eleanor Wells