BUCS Sprint Triathlon, 1 May 2022

Last weekend I completed my first race of this season – BUCS Sprint Triathlon. The distance was a bit altered as the swim was 400m in a pool and the bike was 22.5km. I arrived at the event together with Cambridge University Triathlon Club a little bit later than we planned as our coach did not fit through the gate!

After rainy morning and hasty change of clothes, I left my bike and shoes at the transition and moved to my wave start. We didn’t get a chance to warm up in the pool, so as soon as we got into water, the race started. 

I got lucky, because I was the fastest on my lane and was set off first. The swim was surprisingly challenging as the water temperature was way too high and unpleasant to swim in. I wasn’t too far off my set pace - my watch showed me 6:20, a bit slower than the plan. First transition was very odd, as the distance between the pool and bike racks was about 500m, so we had to put on our running shoes first. I also decided to spend a few extra seconds in transition to put a compression band on my knee. 

Finally I jumped on my bike. The start and end of the route had a few speedbumps which were a bit stressful as I’m not that confident on my new TT bike yet. The route was a bit hilly for me (total ascent of 130m), but it made it really fun and interesting! My average speed was 31.9km/h, so there is definitely still some room for improvement. It was my first time racing without the roads closed and I had to fully stop at two junctions. In the end I felt pretty strong on the bike leg and it was time to move on for the run.

I had no idea what to expect from my run. I haven’t been able to do too much run training lately due to injuring my Achilles and then the knee. However, the run wasn’t that bad! The route was a bit odd as it contained 3 laps of asphalt, grass and some ground roads. I managed to run the 5k in 23min and some energy to spare, so hopefully I will use it better on Varsity Tri next week!

Maja Radecka