Cleveland Sprint Triathlon 2023
Swim – 7:27
Transition Run – 1:17
T1 – 1:15
Bike – 30:45
T2 – 0:31
Run – 22:17
Total Time – 1:03:32
17/100 – Overall
9/20 – Age Group
2022: 1:10:37
Loved this event last year, local, great bike and run and loads of RTC members get involved, brilliant atmosphere before and after the race, as well as a constant flow of people cheering you on by name!
I had done a couple of practice runs of the bike on the run up and some brick runs on the bike and run course, so I was pretty well prepared for this. My time last year was 1:10:37, my aim this year was to come in under 1:05.
Pretty relaxed coming into this one, no real travel time to the event, decent start time and pool based. Got there and set up without issue, spoke to a load of club members and a bit of warming up before heading into the swim.
Swim
Much better setup at this event than Harrogate. 3 minutes between swimmers so nobody drafting and tapping your toes after a length.
Got in the water and waited for the countdown. I noticed the person coming down the lane was going to be turning around at the point of the whistle being blown for my start time, so I made sure I pushed off the wall to get in front of them so I didn’t have to gas myself out overtaking.
This is the best I have felt swimming for a while. Learning from the week before at Harrogate, took it nice and relaxed. I had already fixed the goggle issue, so I just settled into my pace and swam. Had a quick glance at the watch about half way, and was on course to beat my predicted time.
After 3 minutes, the next swimmer came into the lane after I had just pushed off, so had a tap on the feet. I was quite happy to let her pass at the end of the lap and just drafted off her all the way to the finish. Jumped out of the pool nice and relaxed, not gasping and with a 400m PB of 7:27, very happy. Almost 30 seconds quicker than last year.
Bike:
Ran from the swim to T1 barefoot. T1 was a bit annoying. I usually always make note of where my bike is, but just completely forgot, so I ran up and down the row a couple times before seeing it. I had people asking me what number I was, but I couldn’t even think of that as my race number was next to my bike, which I couldn’t find. Anyway, I got there eventually and off onto the bike.
This is a bit of a milestone for me, as it was the first ever triathlon I have done where I didn’t get overtaken on the bike by anyone! I overtook quite a few and was very happy with my bike performance overall. Course knowledge played a huge part, as I knew exactly where to push etc. Seen a few friendly faces along the way, Richie and Becks giving a good shout up the hill. I passed a few RTC folk coming back into Stokesley.
When I looked down at my split time, I realised I was very close to coming in under 30 minutes, so pushed really hard, thankfully nothing was coming at the last big roundabout as I was going quite fast here and had no real intention of stopping, ha!
Flying dismount at the line, bike done in 30:45. Very happy about that, 5 minutes quicker than last year. Sub 30 minutes next year.
Run:
T1 nice and easy, helmet off, shoe change and off. As per, I started off way too quick on the run. Watch was showing a pace of about 3:50/km, yep, reign it in Shaun.
Uphill on the way out, downhill on the way back. I was aiming to average 4:30/km or below in total, so as long as I could average under 4:40/km for the first half, I could make the rest up on the downhill.
Seen loads of RTC members on the run, giving them all a shout on! Got to Nigel at the halfway point, posed for a photo and now 2.5km back. Downhill, feeling good so I knew I could push it. Wasn’t long that I could see spectators around the school and started to up my speed. Someone walked out in front of me just as I was turning into the finish, very close to wiping both of us out, but avoided that and over the line. 22:15, 5km PB for me by almost a minute and nearly 2 minutes quicker than last year’s run split.
Very happy overall. Lost a bit of time looking for my bike, but just over 7 minutes knocked off from last year, so can’t really complain!
Probably the last sprint distance of the year (maybe, it doesn’t take much convincing to get me to enter a race), now focusing on longer distance events.
