Exmouth Open Water Standard Triathlon, 5 Sep 2021

I started the day nice and early, waking up at 4.40 am. I made porridge piled with peanut butter, loaded the car with my pre-packed bags and bike and we (my parents and I) were off. When we arrived, it was still dark, and registration was very busy with two disorderly queues stretching along the sea front. Eventually I was given my race numbers and timing chip and headed to transition to set up. I had a great bike position, right at the end of a rack next to the swim entrance, meaning I was unlikely to lose my place in T1 and T2. 

To avoid a cold shock response at the start of my race, I washed out my wetsuit in the sea first. I was surprised: it wasn’t cold! I then waited for the race briefing, which was delayed by around fifteen minutes due to the slow registration. Finally, I was on the beach ready to start. Wave one was off first, then me.

In the water, I caught a few people up immediately and was swimming on someone’s legs. I had to dodge around a few more people to get to the first buoy but after that I was swimming alone. I followed the distant heads of the first wave swimmers to reach the second buoy as I couldn’t see it. I felt good swimming and found a nice rhythm. As I exited the water, I had no idea I had just swum the fastest female swim of the day. 

As I jumped on my bike, I heard an ‘oooo’ from the bystanders, which confirmed that I had nailed my bike mount. I felt like a rock star! The rest of the bike route felt quite normal. A few men and a women flew past me, but I wasn’t too worried as I knew I was a good runner. It was also odd that I hadn’t munched on my second gel, which I would usually be craving by now. Nonetheless, I carried on to the run. 

The run was two laps of an out and back course, so I would see everyone that had passed me on the bike. However, as I got closer to the turn-point I had seen hardly anyone. Then, I started to think about the lack of bikes in T2 and realised, I must have gone wrong on the bike! That’s why it felt so short, and I hadn’t touched my second gel, I had done the sprint distance bike! How did I do that?!

At first, I was annoyed as I was in a good position for a podium finish, but I then reminded myself there was nothing I could do. I had had a great swim and was feeling strong on the bike and run, so for me that was evidence that I was getting fitter and stronger. I finished the run with a great 10 km time and left in a hurry from embarrassment!

Fiona German