11th September 2022 Vitruvian Aquabike Middle Distance - Racing with Robin

 1.9km Swim 75km Bike 

Swim 33:41 - T1 02:21 - Bike 02:01:44 Total Time 2:37:4

Winner 55 - 59 Age Group, 2^nd overall

 

The Vitruvian is a race on our doorstep and one I have done countless times, it’s a real favourite for the whole gang and is held on our regular training routes. My running has been very stop/start this year after managing to build to a reasonable 10k pace last year. I had worked up to 10 miles then run into an injury and had to stop, rehab, and build again, very frustrating. My goal was to get to a competitive 10k pace ahead of the world champs at the end of the year, but it has now turned to just completing the distance out there. 

I had no plans to do any triathlons as I didn’t want to risk another set back in my running but then I got the following email from the race organiser:

 

Hello mate,

I’m just sorting out the Vitruvian start list. The man that convinced me to add an Aquabike and my very first entry was Robin. Would you like to race for him?

 

What an honour to race for Robin, we have had so many happy times racing each other on that course. Swimming and biking wouldn’t be a problem so at short notice I was racing!

 

I wasn’t sure how I would feel race day and, in the lead up I had my ups and downs as I thought about the day and what it meant. As it turned out, on race day I was in a good place mentally and was looking forward to having a crack at the race.

 

The weather was just perfect, dry, light wind and mid-teens temperature wise. We were in the blue swim cap wave with the biggest men’s wave, so it was going to be fast. The start horn blasted and we were off, hanging on to the fastest feet we could find and boy was it a case of hanging on. We exited the first lap, and it looked like we were towards the front of the race, but it was impossible to separate who was racing the triathlon and who was in the aquabike. The second lap was a slog, but we held our position and exited in the front of group albeit I took two attempts to get out as I got cramp and fell back in.

 

A very tardy T2 as I wrestled the wetsuit off and then finally onto the bike and in a good place. It was a three-lap course as it had been altered from the usual 2 lap 40km route and it was promising to be flatter and faster. With so little race practise and this being almost the first time on the TT bike this year it was going to be interesting to see how long I could stay reasonably aero. 

 

The bike was just head down and keep pushing to the limit but not blow up. This allowed me time for my mind to wander and think about Robin but with the race on, it motivated me to keep pushing hard. I ticked off each lap and tried to ensure I held the power to the same number for each. I faded a couple of watts on the last lap, but it wasn’t a bad effort after all.

The race clock stopped as we crossed the dismount line and the timing mat there but for us the race finished when we crossed the finish line. I had pre-planned to have the Rutland Posse team colours in T2 so I could wear it for Robin and the team across the line. After a bit of faff I pulled the jersey on and then headed over the finish line with a big cheer from the crowd. It was quite an emotional moment as I stood there under the banner contemplating the race with Robin. A special moment of reflection that I hadn’t really allowed myself to have.

We will be back next year to see if we can take the win….