2 h 26 mins (my first triathlon in the UK)

I was pleasantly surprised by the comparatively high standard of the race organisation. Moreover, the day started with lovely sunny weather for the time of the year.

After the swim start I tried hard but didn’t manage to stay in the lead pack of 4 girls and saw them pull away. Lucky or unlucky, the pack behind did not manage to catch me either, so I ended up swimming the whole 1,5km without a draft, hence the slow 27mins split for my swim.

However, I made up significant time on the bike, and after the 8 laps around Lake Dorney (almost lost countJ), I was in second place. (All the info on splits and relative position etc., I received in real time during the race from my partner Milanko, my biggest supporter, making it possible to find the strength to push extra hard to close ‘manageable’ gaps).

During the run (45:39) I thought this is not really my discipline, ‘short triathlons’ hurt all the way, so it was just as well that I had ‘just’ 10 km to go and not the full marathon ‘as usual’. The run passed quickly and I managed to close a 90 second gap in T2 between me and the leading girl after about three km, and I ended finishing with a two minutes lead in the end.

Overall good day at the office, though I was very surprised by my victory as the Olympic distance and ‘fast twitch’ muscles are not really my forte! This race was just a training session and I am now tapering for the IM WorldChamps on the 8^th of October.