Grafman Standard Aquabike, 7 Jun 2026

This race was always a bit of a long shot attempt to get a qualifying place for Europeans next year as I'm going up an age group to the 65s. 

Having had a second hip replacement in October (which meant several months with no training at all) I knew I wasn't really fit enough. The biggest issue was not having ridden 90k even slowly. I had got up to 70k in training and was hoping to tough it out..

The course at Grafman is a single ‘lap’ but with 3 distinct legs. The middle leg is the tough one with a few hills. I needed to get to the roundabout with enough in my legs to get back up the hills, which I still struggle with.  

On race morning I woke up with a sore throat (I blame my daughter, she had suffered all week with it). The previous day’s rain had dissipated but it was very windy and the water was choppy. 

I swam pretty well considering how hard it was, but it took more out of me than I needed it to.

Out on the bike my top tube bag wouldn't stay up so had to stop and just let it dangle under the tube so my legs could go round. I set off slower than I normally would to try to not use all my legs up. The first 30k leg went ok, then the middle leg was into the wind so any hopes of saving my legs rapidly went out of the window. By 45k I was struggling, and my legs were not playing anymore. I carried on to the roundabout and made decision to pull out rather than make myself unwell, which seemed sensible.

I needed everything to have been working with me on the day and it wasn't. Unfortunately return to fitness will not be rushed however much I want it to be.

Back to training and getting some more miles in my legs. I have now entered another middle distance in August to have another go.

Julia Dolman