Tavistock Sprint Triathlon, 4 Jul 2021

Last weekend I competed in the Tavistock sprint triathlon in West Devon, 8 months after my first triathlon in October which was on this same course! A fantastic opportunity to compare myself with my past performance after a solid block of training with Catenary Coaching. Not only is the Tavistock triathlon a local event, but I love the challenging course that it offers. The bike leg that takes you up onto Dartmoor and the run is just as hilly. Unsurprisingly for the moors too, things got rather wet with torrential rain continuing throughout the entire race.

I’m usually considerably least relaxed about the swim, with the cycle being portion of the race that I look forward to the most. However, the swim was a rolling start into lengths of a 50m pool where I’m a regular which made for a rather comforting start. Meanwhile, the bike leg was to be equally wet, with large puddles, cattle grids, gates, traffic and roundabouts to navigate - not to mention the hefty climbs followed by the steep and windy descent into the town centre to finish. The gusty cross wind that pushed me sideways half way through the course was a sharp reminder to finish the course in one piece - and luckily I did!

The 6.5km run was pretty comfortable but with few straight, flat sections it was by no means a fast course. However, I was chuffed that I finished strong and free from some problems I’ve experienced with cramp and hydration/fuelling issues that I’ve quite literally run into during races before.

Overall, the less than ideal weather conditions didn’t dampen my spirits and I can definitely say that I enjoyed this race from start to finish. However, one of the highlights of the day was reflecting on my performance, which revealed that I was 3.5 minutes faster than my bike leg time from October. I held the 2nd fastest bike in the female open (16-39) category, which was 7 seconds behind the lead. However, I missed out on a podium, placing 5th overall. My run placed 5th in category, but it was most of all my swim and abysmal transition times that let me down the most. Some rather amateur mistakes were made that hopefully I can iron out with more racing experience - it’s funny how simple things like elastic laces, not forgetting my race belt, less indecision and forgoing the socks during transition might save me up to a precious minute or two. Of course more time in the pool is an inevitable for me that has certainly been challenged over the past year of lockdowns. Finally, maintaining consistent, high-quality training is going to be largely what will help me to improve further race after race, but this event has shown me how far I have already come since joining Team Catenary!

Lucy Hoade