Grafham Standard Aquabike, 15 Sep 2024

I was really looking forward to this race as I was finally feeling back on form after having  a virus back in June. I had to go out to a party on Saturday night for my neighbours 60th. I was very good and refused all alcohol and didn't dance the night away and went home at a sensible time feeling pretty relaxed and excited for the race.

The lake was not looking the most appealing with a strong wind, making it choppy and a little chilly waiting to start. We watched the sprint triathletes head off and realised the water was very shallow for a long way. After doing the middle distance here earlier this year I knew I had to start much closer to the front than last time. 

Off we went, it was hard going to the first turn buoy, and after the turn we couldn't see anything - there seemed to be a lot of swearing.  I just kept swimming in the direction I thought was right and did eventually spot the next buoy. It was a two lap swim with an Aussie exit and glancing at my watch confirmed my one lap time was slow. I tried to swim faster on the second lap but not very successfully, and my wetsuit had turned my watch off! Finally out and back into transition feeling a bit wearier than I expected. 

A good transition, normal issue of getting my wetsuit off but no other problems. I keep it simple no socks no gloves no other layers. Then a long run from transition to the mount line, at least I can now jog so an improvement from last year. 

Out on the road I got a bit of energy bar down, and a quick manoeuvre to put my visor on as I forgot in transition. It was nice easy fast riding down to the Ellington turn point and I was  overtaking quite a few people. There is a steep little hill on the way back to Grafham so I thought a drink before would be good. I reached behind and found no bottle! It had fallen out on the rough road. Oh well I thought one less thing to think about.

I'm pretty poor at hills so my race plan was not to kill my legs on the hills and go fast the rest of the time. I was gradually  overtaking people having no idea who was doing triathlon or aquabike. I spent the whole ride trying to catch a girl who came past me just after the steep hill, but never did catch her. The last hill I found tough but I knew it was close to the turn back to Grafham so got back to pace. Off the bike and jogged as fast as I could back to transition and the finish.

I was happy I had exceeded my bike pace goal and thought I had won my age group, but found I had come 2nd lady overall. Pretty pleased with that!

Good morning at the office. Now I just need to stay fit and well before the Worlds in a month’s time.

Julia Dolman