Vitruvian 70.3, 7 Sep 2024

I signed up to this wanting to prove to myself that I could go faster at the 70.3 in Bolton, 2 months earlier. I had July and August to train. Vitruvian was my first 70.3, 3 years ago and I came 3rd in my AG in 2021.

The week preceding Vitruvian, I really wished that I hadn’t signed up. I was feeling really tired and my legs were feeling very heavy. Perhaps this was in part due to a lot happening in my life in September: working out my notice period at my job, renting out my house, moving to a different country as well as training for the Berlin marathon at the end of the month.

It was an early 3am start, I slept very little the 2 nights before. In the morning it was pouring with rain during the transition set up and it was hard to keep warm. I got out of the car and set up in my wetsuit, swim hat and helmet…

It stopped raining so hard before the swim. The swim was very well marked with large buoys and the lake was pleasant. It seemed really busy and was one of the roughest swims I have done this year with lots of arms in my face hitting my goggles. As with all my OWS this year I felt like I was moving but my time was a lot slower than I wanted.

My transition times were OK, however I always feel at a disadvantage being so slow on the swim as the lead women are long gone. As soon as I got on the bike, I knew my legs were tired, I adjusted my power goal and aimed to just keep my power consistent which I still find challenging on an undulating course. I am also very cautious cycling in the rain. A couple of women overtook me within 5 minutes so my aim was to keep them in sight but I didn't have the legs to overtake them and I was behind after the first lap, pretty much cycling at my own pace on my own.

With a house move on the cards and not wanting to buy large tubs of nutrition, I used lucozade on the bike, which I knew didn’t have as many carbs as I needed and soon felt this wasn’t enough. Off the bike and onto the run, I was hoping I could overtake those girls front as running is usually my strength. I felt good running at the pace I wanted for the first 10k, but then bonked. I had also bought some gels which I had never had before and was waiting as long as I could before having them in case they upset my stomach. I waited too long, taking the first gel at 12k which gave me a little boost but then I didn’t have the energy or motivation to keep up and overtake the others in my category who I guessed were just ahead.

Overall I finished 3rd in my AG again. My split times were similar to Grafman, Bolton and my bike speed was slower than my full distance IM split. I was disappointed with this. I know there were a few key elements lacking:

- Specific bike training - I had been attempting to do most of my workouts whilst commuting to work for time efficiency and sunny weather appreciation purposes. 

- Motivation - this 70.3 really wasn’t my priority in September and I started the day feeling exhausted and wishing I was spectating. 

- Nutrition - I knew I needed to take on more carbs/hour but hadn’t bothered to plan this properly. 

Next time to achieve my goals, I know I either need to adjust my goals to make them more achievable and realistic or to follow a training plan strictly to train, rest and fuel better.

Becky Wright