Monster Middle Triathlon - 16th August 2015.

Well, what a day that was!... Great race, sponsored by Revitaflex, in Ely City centre.

This was another late addition to my calendar, as I thought it would give me enough time to recover for the Rubicon, but give me a good indication as to how my fitness was, and also test my nutrition strategy.

Being not too far from Sharon's, I took advantage of the close proximity and opted to register on the Saturday afternoon. As the weather was good, we had a walk to the swim start and also checked out transition and finish areas.

I must say that being at transition for 5am really didn't impress me, at all. 

I'm a massive sufferer of OCD, and I just can't leave it all to the last minute, as others do... So, an early start was had.

Somehow I had been seeded with the faster swimmers in Wave 1. Completely wasted on me, as my swim is awful! So I spent quite a while, being escorted by my own personal kayaker.

Out of the water in 40:07, there was a short run to T1.
Determined not to suffer similar issues to that of the previous years IM Majorca 70.3, I chose to use my regular road cycling shoes, instead of the quicker to fit Tri shoes. Coupled with socks, this proved a bit of a faff, but, in my opinion, worth it. Helmet on, number belt on, and off I went.
Once out on the road, I quickly got into my stride and settled in for the duration. First section (A10) was quite a drag, and I found myself watching the k's tick off on my Garmin!
Turning off the main drag, we soon came to the B1411... What an awful road section that was! The road surface was dire, and I spent most of the time riding the crown of the road. Pretty sure it loosened a few fillings!
Fortunately, I had decided to ride completely self sufficient, with all my nutrition stored on my bike, so I had no need for the feed station and unfamiliar products. Just as well, as they had placed the feed station midway down a fast decent and I really wouldn't have wanted to sacrifice some free speed to slow down enough to be handed up a bottle!
Soon enough I was back to the A10, and the start of lap 2... Whoopee!!! Very difficult to enthuse about the second lap, as I was immediately dreading the tooth jarring back roads...
Benefit with two laps was regularly encountering slower riders, which made mini targets and helped ease the monotony.
Some 02:35:03 I was back in T2.

Still feeling strong and well nourished, I took my time (too much) and prepared myself for the run. I put a couple of gels in my rear pockets, which was difficult and time wasted, as I never needed them!
The run was good. So much better than I had encountered in Majorca, I was happy in my mind, that nutrition on the bike was bang on.
The run was lumpy and 4 laps! First lap, I just took water at the 2 aid stations, but after that I opted to take both water and electrolytes, most of the water going over the back of my head.
I took a gamble in T2, and decided not to grab my cap and shades, and I just about got away with that, as the Sun got out very strong on my last lap! Coming home in 01:41:25.
Finishing in 05:03:56, that is a PB by 2:30:14!
Although both bike and run are a touch short, that is still a significant PB for me.

Overall, that was a great race, and I'd definitely enter again.
More importantly, I feel that I have nailed my nutrition and transition requirements and I'm confident of a sub 5hr at The Rubicon.
Roll on the 30th August ;)