Olly’s race report from last weekends 770.3 from home. Great to see the training is really paying off!
The swim started off at the local pool at 8am. Sadly, it happened to be the busiest session of the week so there was absolutely no chance of getting a lane to myself, so it was a case of head down and get it done. Try to keep the lane-rage to a minimum…… impossible!!!
Next up was the bike. I was looking forward to this. It was perfect weather and I had a couple of mates with me. Unfortunately, my “treat snack” flapjacks for the ride were lost at the first pot hole approximately 1 mile in as it dropped out of the pouch, but I thankfully still had a load of Cliff Blocks so we ploughed on. We had a good old laugh and it was great to get my “posh” bike off the turbo and get a wriggle on. Sadly, they were on road bikes so even though I was the heaviest by some distance, I had to keep a bit of a lid on it at times as the nattering took precedence. This turned out to not be the worst thing after what was ahead.
The run started off as planned, and was generally pleased with the pace we’d set. I was feeling a bit of a twinge in my thigh but hey, mind over matter and all that, we just powered through. I’ve not looked back at the data but how I remember it was we got to about mile 6/7 ish and the cramp started kicking in both my thigh and calf muscles, resulting in short run/walk bursts to the finish.
Completion was my initial goal, so to complete it in 7hrs 10mins plus transitions, (which I didn’t time given amongst other things, I bombed a quick flat white down before the bike… there didn’t seem much point in timing these bits 🤣)
I was absolutely delighted to finish it and not only that, I was still feeling good at the end. I was mildly disappointed that the run didn’t go exactly how I wanted but I learnt so much for the next one about race day nutrition and where I can and can’t push a little more.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience, even if we weren’t in Venice as originally planned. A huge thanks goes to Allie for keeping me on track and taking me from being a big old lump, to a big old lump who can now swim, bike and run. A bit.
