The PruHealth World Triathlon London 2014
A month ago I received a present from my boyfriend. It was an entry for The PruHealth World Triathlon London Olympic distance. I did this race three years ago in a time 3 hours and 1 minutes. This time the distance was 1.5 km swim, 36.5 km bike and 10 km run.
The event was held in stunning Hyde Park on 31st May and 1st June. On the first day the Elite men and women were racing, with the world's best triathletes competing to become World Champion. On the second day were three distances: Olympic, Sprint and Super sprint. This race was open to everyone with all fitness levels.
.JPG)
My wave started at 7:25 am in the morning. I had to be there at the latest for 6 am as I had to pick up my race number, and prepare my bike in the transition with nutrition and running kit. I was very excited about the race.
Each wave had a different coloured swim cap. Ours was orange. When we got to the the lake called The Serpentine, on the start there were numbered stands. Everyone had to stand on a number. We had a quick briefing and about 1 minute before our start, we had to jump in the water. Then they were counting down the seconds. As soon as we heard horn we started swimming. It was a big mass of splashing triathletes. After a few minutes everyone spread out and it was easier to swim. Our swim course was a triangle shape. As I swam along one guy who was faster then me swam over me but nothing bad happened to us because I was calm. He probably thought I'm a fish. After getting out from lake to the transition I started to take off my wetsuit. There was a long way to the transition area. I spent over 4 minutes to get ready for the bike.
We had to do 5 laps around Hyde park. It started from Serpentine Road, South Carriage Drive, West Carriage Drive, North Carriage Drive and back. There were many sharps corners so you had to be very careful when you turned. The weather was really nice and pleasant. Sun was shining but it wasn't too hot.
As soon I've entered the transition area from the bike course, I changed only my running shoes and I went off. We had to run 4 laps. I kept looking at my watch to see how fast I go. I tried to keep up my speed on certain level.
I saw my boyfriend and friends during the whole race. They cheered me very well. Thank you! It's such a great feeling to have support like that. It always give you a buzz. When I crossed the finish line I felt awesome as I could see the time I did it in. My time was 2 hours and 41 minutes and I was aiming for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Also I ended up 42nd woman out of 274 in my age group.
My training is definitely paying off. I did a personal best in each distance as well as in Olympic triathlon distance. But there are still some races awaiting for me and one of them is a Half Ironman triathlon in July. So let's get ready! ;0)
