It was a bit different turning up when it was dark, but I got to see a beautiful sun rise, I was glad of the Synergie kit to keep me warm!

Whilst walking down the zigzags to the start to warm up with the sun rising, Challenging Events played the National Anthem and then did a minute silence in respect of the passing Queen.  It was a fitting setting for this to occur and made me feel quite emotional!

The tide was out and water calm, I took the opportunity to warm up in the sea in good time and practice the run in and swim exit off the beach to work out what pace I needed to go in at without getting too out of breath and struggling right at the start of the swim.

Completed a good swim for me and exited as practiced.  Ran passed quite a few people who were walking up the zig zag as was very aware of how every second counts!  did a smooth transition and on to the bike.  Had my watch set to go off every 15 minutes as advised by Di and this really worked, able to mentally break the ride down into sections and pace better, check form and keep focused.  I tried the larger gels as recently practiced in training to avoid having to consume one on the run and this worked well.  I had one on the way out and one on the way back, gently sipping as there were very few turns so I took advantage of this.  Also as pre planned, I stopped drinking 20 mins before the end of the bike as usually get a stitch if I don’t.

Good jump off the bike and transition to run, some people had all sorts of kit but I kept everything simple and to the minimum.  Run was flat but mentally hard as you can see how far you have to run and return, which seems to take forever, so I had my watch set on 15 min and 1k alerts for the Run which again helped me break it down, check form and focus.  Finished well overtaking a young lad with a GB Tri Suit on.

Pre Synergie Coaching in 2019 I completed it in 2h 32m and 4 seconds.  3 years older, but getting faster with Synergie and finished this time in 2h 24m 19 seconds.  I was quicker in all disciplines and transition and placed second in my age group in the National Championships with the same bike and run time as the winner.  Didn’t stop smiling all day 😊