Let's Hop

There were quite a few Bloggers out racing at the RAF Brize Norton Sprint Tri yesterday. So no doubt there will be tales of individual race experiences. In short, it was a great event. The organisation was really slick and there were over 132 participants. Add to that the fact that RAF tri may well have discovered a super star in the making, happy days! Yes, the event was won overall by Nick Harris. There were quite a few guys saying ‘Nick who?’ Well Nick is an RAF swimmer that can bike very well and run even better!

My tip of mal Rose doing well turned out to be accurate. Mal took second place, again running very well off the bike. Brad continues to get somewhere close to his best, as he grabbed third place. Close behind was the now civilian JC! His full time training obviously agrees with him. I bagged 5th place and was happy enough with that. However, I did have a bunny hop moment that was induced by a car pulling out smack in front of me. I thought it was going to be smashed bone time at first but self preservation took over. Here’s the tale:


Mal and JC were out of the swim before me so it was chase time on the bike. I had a shoddy transition (again) and really need to sort this out for sprint races! I was within sight of JC and mal after about 10 mins. Then as I was about to catch them we entered a village. A car pull out from the right, obviously seeing Mal and JC. . . . . but not me! I naturally attempted a bunny hop onto the pavement as there was no chance of stopping in time. Now if you have attempted a bunny hop, doing this at a narrow angle onto a curb can be very bad. If you don’t go high enough you are eating concrete. Fortunately, I made it but had no where to go but into a drive way and screech to a stop in front of someone’s garage. By the time I had got sorted and back on the road, mal and JC were gone. So it was chase again. I just about caught them as we entered T2. Another shoddy transition saw them both out well before me but within sight. Fair doos, though, both of them ran really well and, despite running well by my standards, I was never in with a chance of catching them.

The good thing is, I was as fast overall as I have ever been and I feel ok today – no sore calves! My swim was mediocre at best but isn’t it always!

Bring on the longer races!