Leeds British Standard Triathlon Championships, 6 Jun 2021

What a day! I certainly chose a great event to do my first triathlon in 20 months, and only my 2nd ever standard distance triathlon!

The race started with a rolling swim start. This was a little stressful as I had to acclimatise to the cold water whilst racing. In the first 50m my right goggle filled with water, requiring a stop to sort. The timetrial rolling start to the swim meant that the whole swim required swimming around people and fighting with bodies. 300m in I had a massive weed attached to my face! Nevertheless the swim was ok, and I am relatively happy with my swim time. I think I might be the only person who enjoyed the long run to transition, but any extra running I love!

Mounting my bike for the start of the bike leg was interesting...definitely need to work on this as it certainly couldn't be described as smooth. The bike leg wasn't as quick as I was hoping, with a hillier course than expected. I struggled to stay in TT position on any of the inclines, losing seconds. At the end of lap 1 I also got a bit excited and took a corner way too quickly, resulting in a locked back wheel and sliding down the hill into oncoming riders. A little scary, but equally shows my gained confidence to try!

Which leads me to the run...it was a hard run! So many hills! My legs felt heavy, but I picked off the women around me one by one, which was very satisfying.

Overall, I'm proud of being 10th in my AG, but equally know there are a lot of elements where I could gain time without being fitter (transitions, near crashes, weeds and goggle issues).

I thoroughly loved racing and having the competitive juices flowing again.

Sarah Harding