Cotswold 113 (middle distance triathlon)

 What a great weekend !  

Obligatory medal selfie. 

Eyeballs out all the way

This is a very well organised, friendly race. Attention to detail in the briefing the day before puts your mind at rest. I was  in wave 2 with some other members of Malvern Tri club,  which meant being in the water for a start time of 6.10am. Sounds horrendous...getting up just before 4am, (and it was) but definitely worth it as the traffic can build up at the water park as the day goes on so I think it was a wise choice to opt for an early wave. Also, as the run is 3 laps, some of it on narrow trails, it gets harder to overtake as the race gets busier. Out of the 3 disciplines its no great secret that swimming is not my best. I have grown to really enjoy it now though, and don't have that crazy frog look on my face any more before entering the water ! For me the swim is what it is, it took me forty minutes to swim the 1.2 mile course...i have no idea if I swam a straight course as my watched got kicked early on and only recorded 6 minutes ! I felt ok, especially as I got into T1 and Dick and Drew (2 members of the club who are far better swimmers than me) were only just leaving. Not a bad start. Onto the bike and I was up for giving it the beans. Generally I hold back a little in triathlon on the bike knowing i have to run, so this time I thought Id try harder and see what happens. Its a flat course with several out and backs and a handful of roundabouts. So it was time trialling all the way, which also makes it tough I feel as there is absolutely no respite ! Don't be fooled by a flat course.

First old bird

There were loads of marshals and big clear signage. Several pot holes although some of the road has been resurfaced since I last did this race. I saw all other team jade members en route. My time for the 56 mile bike was 2:34:59. Very pleased with that. T2 was ok, out onto the 3 lap multi terrain run, first lap was hard as I was desperate for a wee, and couldn't relax, I felt better for stopping at the loos at the end of the lap, there's a bloke with a hose pipe at the end of each lap too which was very welcome !
There's plenty of support on the run, and plenty of nutrition too!..(However I fulled the whole race with Tailwind nutrition on the bike and water on the run).the route goes through a little village and through the woods around the lakes. Nothing not to like. My time for the 13.1 mile run was 1:46:59, pleased with this too, but I was hoping for 1:45!  (Never satisfied) The finish is a red carpet with a PA system...lots of supporters at the finish. Free massage, more food, a medal, a T-shirt. And right by the lake so lots of participants get straight back in to cool off the legs! Total time with transitions, 5 hours and 7 minutes exactly.

 I was really pleased to pick up the age group win, there's just 2 categories, 18-49 and 50 plus...(guess which?)...last time I did this race i was third in age. In usual Team Jade fashion we all stayed to see everyone finish. Brilliant.

Stats

Thanks to Drew for sorting the accommodation it was perfect. Thanks to Dick for bringing the kids along as the race mascots 🐶🐶. Massive well done to Emma on her first triathlon. Special well done to Dick on his victory run lap. As ever great to have Ron supporting, joined by Andrea and Caroline, Janice was part of a relay and then became part of the support crew, and a guest appearance from Steve James was good too. Steve Clarke and Wayne were also racing.

Team Jade blinged up