The Biggest Triathlon in Saudi?

After finally putting together 3 weeks of uninterrupted training together I raced the Riyadh Triathletes Standard Distance Triathlon on 2 October 15. Although Saudi is a big country, it is a closed country - it is not easy to visit or nip across to race! I think that I am correct in saying that Riyadh Triathletes is the biggest club in Saudi. Hence the Standard Distance race is probably the biggest event also. The club bills it as such and the atmosphere and anticipation at the race was great. All club events are organised by volunteers - no chip timing or event management companies here! For me, this adds to the enjoyment as it really is grass roots racing. The competitors (and especially the spectators) are just as enthusiastic as those you would find anywhere in the UK.

Essentially, I was using this race as a build up event for Challenge Half Bahrain on 20 Nov 15. Hence I had a set power level to ride at on my bike to simulate the race pace for Bahrain. This meant that I should have been dismounting into T2 quite fresh, having only covered 40k, rather than 90! That was the case and a 1:04 bike split was actually very pleasing considering the effort level. A power NP reading of 234W seemed perfect and I am hopeful of a bike split around 2:25 at Bahrain if conditions are decent. My run at this triathlon felt controlled and smooth. I upped the pace after 4k but was disappointed with my run split around 42 min for 10k. It seemed that I could not engage the speed sufficiently. I am not sure if the heat had a part to play but I am shooting for a sub1:30 half marathon at Bahrain. So I need to be strong and reasonably fast. The temperature at Bahrain should be cooler; maybe that will help. Or maybe I am just getting old and slow 8-( My swimming has been going well in training and that was reflected in my swim in this event. The 1500m was short but I averaged 15:56 per k pace by my Garmin. Happy enough with that. Some work on hip rotation and lock-n-load at the key phase of the stroke seems to be working for me. The other main aspect stimulating gains is the 3 month swim programme that BigFish Dave Lowe - my buddy from Cornwall, now working in Saudi at Dhahran - has provided me with. This has now forced me into turning up at the pool knowing what to do. Previously I was just making it up when I got into the H2O! Not great bit that is the way I roll. . . . . Anyway, onwards and upwards. The race win meant a Garmin 500 as a prize! That was very surprising; I had know idea that there were prizes like that. Plus I actually really need a dedicated bike computer as I just have my Garmin 910. Well, do we ever really need these gadgets?!! That's what we tell ourselves. I am extremely grateful nevertheless. Time to get some more key session completed and focus on not overtraining. . . . . cough. . . . . I never do that. . . .