Grafman Middle Distance Aquabike, 2 Jun 2024

This was my second race of the season, a middle distance aquabike to make sure I'm ready for the Europeans in a couple of weeks time. I felt I was ready and was looking forward to it.

The water was 14, cold but it was ok. I queued up for the rolling start - if I had realised the queueing time was included in my race time I would have gone further up the line (noted for next year). It was manic at the start,  but I can cope with that as I'm robust. An Aussie exit after the first lap and a quick check indicated I was swimming ok. I concentrated on keeping up the effort for the second lap and finished with a slighter faster time than last year - happy with that.

I had a good transition and I’m happy to be able to jog to the mount line now.

My plan for the bike was to go for a fast pace on the first 40k, survive the hilly 30k and then go fast again for the last 20k. The first part went ok, then by 50k I felt really tired. I had to back off the effort level hoping to recover a bit. I was relieved to get past the hilly section and back to faster riding. I didn't ride the last 20k as fast as I would have liked, but finished with a faster pace than before on this course. I think it's the most exhausted I've felt at the end and I was unsure I would be able to stand when I got off the bike. Thankfully I got back to transition OK.

Despite not being as fast as I wanted I was 1st Over 60 lady and 9th lady overall so job done. Next stop Portugal!

Julia Dolman