Lough Neagh Race Report

Well this was a complete wash out - the conditions were so bad that they had to change the swim course which meant that my aim of going sub 2:20 would be irrelevant. It was so cold I shivering while setting up the bike in transition. The swim course was changed to 3 laps of the marina, each lap featuring a short walk/run. I was immediately put off by this change and decided to stay well left of everyone at the start. I thought I was going well and when I had a bit more confirdence I moved to the right - however when I exited the water and realised that I was behind Dee and Paul gillick I knew i'd had a bad swim. So onto the bike and it was like having someone with a fire hose spaying you in the face all the way round. It was really tough going with near gale force winds. I overttook Dee and could see Craig and John Jnr. I seemed to be making up some time on John but not Craig - I worked out he s nearly 2 and a half mins ahead. my final time of 1:12 was 4 mins down on last year and the same time as Criag- this was a little disappointing but I also wanted to save myself for the run. However and I prob should have guessed this when I looked down and saw that my legs were blue, when I got into T2 my quad muscle completely ceased up. I was in agoiny and I had to sit doown as I wasn't sure how to stretch it out. The pain gradually eased off and I gingerlyu got to my feet and went off on the run. I mamanged to keep up a good paceo on the run despit the conditions and I was making up time on both Craig and John. However i knew that with my extra long T2 Craig was now out of site. The road was flooded in parts and the wind relentless, howeve I was pleased with the way things were going until I had to stop for at least 30 seconds to stretch out the hamstrings which had totally ceased up (when will this cramping ever stop?) After that I had to take it easy for a bit - I did get back into my stride, however it was never going to be enough to ctach craig, I did chase down John and with a lap to go I was only 20 yards behind him. He put the foot down and was looking over his sholder constantly - I tried to push my legs hard but they were starting to cramp up verywhere. I finally came in around 15yards beind a very happy John Jr. Looking at my time afterwards, it was clear that i'd had a disatrouns swim, a reasonable bike and good run. However, despite the conditiions and the disappoitment of not having an opportuniy to break 2:20 I was happy enough with the way things went. As for the future, if I am to progress to the next level I need to be faster and more confident in the water. Talking to Dee afterwards she loved getting stuck into the middle of the swim and fighting it out with the rest of them. My wish to stay clear of trouble makes it very difficult to establish a good swim time.

Final Time:2:24:23
Splits:-
24:25
1:33
1:12:21
2:56
43:08