Windsor Triathlon.  A race I had heard great things about, but hadn’t yet had a chance to compete at and it definitely didn’t disappoint.

Racking on the Saturday, I was impressed with how organized the whole event appeared, and after a quick reccie of the course for the Sunday it was off for the customary pre-race pizza, and all too soon race morning had arrived.

I was feeling good as I started loosening up for the race and floating in the river; waiting for the start it was clear it would be a fast swim with the current making it difficult even to hold your position behind the start line. A great start meant I was up the front, and once I had got going, I started looking for pre-race favorite Stuart Hayes. I saw a swimmer heading off to my left, which is where I knew he was starting, so I made a bee line for his hips. Once we reached the turnaround, I saw that we had opened up a large gap of about 50m or so over the rest of the field. Coming out of the water, I was surprised to see that the swimmer who I had been following was not Stuart Hayes, and as such I knew I was in a great position to capitalize on the small gap I had managed to open on him.

A swift transition and I was out on the bike in first, and I started pushing from the word go. After about 10k, Hayes caught me and I tried to hang on for as long as possible, however he gradually opened up the gap, and being non drafting I couldn’t quite hang on. I made the decision to then hold my own pace, until at around 25km, the third placed athlete caught me, and we worked well, taking it in turns to do some work on the front, while maintaining a legal distance gap between us.

Coming into T2 and I knew I had to go out hard. Not only to drop the athlete I had been riding with, but if I was to stand any chance of closing the gap that Stu had now opened. I managed to close the gap on the run from around 1:30 coming into T2, to just 45 seconds at the end of the run, but didn’t quite have the legs to catch him, to cross the line in second.

I was ecstatic with my first major podium, and on the day he was the stronger athlete, so couldn’t complain. Let’s hope this is the first of many times I may find myself on a podium at this level, and in general I’m really pleased with how this season seems to be coming on, and if the second half is anything like the races I have had, it will be a pretty successful one, for just my second season in Triathlon.

So then it was onto Leeds Castle triathlon, my first break through race two years ago, so i was happy that I was able to return once again. It is such a pretty setting for a race, especially for the swim where you get the unique experience of swimming in the castle lake. I had a great swim with a lead of about 3 minutes, and out onto the rolling bike I course I felt I was flying. Once I hit the turnaround however I realized that had been due to a strong tailwind, so it was a hard 20k back to the castle. Coming into the castle grounds, I was feeling good, and set out into the run at a conservative pace, as this was the start of a hard month of racing for me. After the first lap I realized I had a comfortable lead, so I eased the run back to save myself for the upcoming races, and crossed the line in first place. Once again a superb race and definitely one I would recommend.

Recovery was top priority after, as it was a very short turnaround until I headed out to Holten for my first European cup of the year. From what I had heard it would be a great race, and an even better after party (although I was flying home straight after the race so would unfortunately miss out on that.)  the days before the race I was feeling good, but nervous, as after seeing the bike, it was clear there were several rather tricky sections, and rain the night before did nothing to calm my nerves. But anyhow, all too soon race morning arrived, and after dropping trainers in town, it was time to head down to the lake, and from then on it was business as normal, registering and racking the bike, getting wetsuits on and warming up.

My plan going into the race was to really push from the start of the swim to ensure I made the front pack and to then try to stay out of trouble on the bike. It all started out perfectly, with a nice start on the swim, not too much battling round the first buoy, and emerging out of the water in the top 10 or so. Into transition and I was happy as I came out of T1 in the front group. It was there where my race would effectively be over, as a couple of moments lack of concentration sorting my shoes out let a gap open up a few wheels ahead of me, and by the time I had noticed, despite trying  to catch back on the damage was done. For the rest of the bike I pulled a few turns, kept myself near the front of the group just incase any mistakes were made, but we made it to transition without drama. Finally we hit the run, and I was feeling a bit off from where I had been in previous races, and finally crossed the line in 33^rd.  Not the race I wanted but a marked improvement on what I had last season. Thanks once again to Red Venom and  Anchura Partners who make these results possible, and hopefully I can improve on that as I head out to my next European cup this weekend in Tartu, Estonia. Hopefully I can build on last week to get a top result this weekend…