BUCS Standard Triathlon, 16 May 2021

Eight year old me always used to turn around to people and say ‘I’m an endurance athlete’. I’m not sure being the only eight year old to dare swim in the 1500m race at Black Lion club championships quite qualified me to label myself ‘an endurance athlete’ but hey ho. Fast forward 10 years, and a slight change in sport, I now might be slightly more deserving of the title ‘endurance athlete’ as I competed in my first ever Olympic distance triathlon on Sunday 16th May. 1500m swim. 40km bike. 10km run. Just a little doddle around the Cotswolds as you do. 

Strangely enough, in the weeks leading up to the BUCS standard triathlon, I felt very excited and relaxed about facing such a massive challenge. And even when I started suffering from a knee injury just a week prior I was still unphased. I just really wanted to give the race my best shot and enjoy the experience. 

The day started fairly early with a 4:15am wake up call from mum (I might be at university but apparently setting the right time on an alarm clock is beyond my capabilities!). A bus journey later I arrived, along with team Loughborough, at lake 32 in the Cotswolds. We were slightly tight for time so I quickly racked my bike in transition, whipped on my wetsuit, and tiptoed across the cobbles to the swim start. 

‘3,2,1 go..’ I was off into the water. I was one of the first girls to set off in a staggered swim start. My aim was to get out quick so I had no one on my feet and see how many men (who had set off in the previous wave) I could pick off on my way around. I felt quite strong as I focused on maintaining my swim stroke and keeping sighting to a minimal. When I reached the first bouy I was in a bunch, it was slightly annoying as It slowed my rhythm however it also indicated that I had caught up with some of the guys, so I was content that I was swimming at a good pace. I quickly increased my stroke rate to get out of the bunch so that I could swim in clear water at the front.  I slightly struggled between the 1st and 2nd buoy, as I couldn’t see far enough to sight for the next buoy. I could make out some swimmers in the distance so positioned myself in that direction initially until I could make out the yellow buoy. With 2 more buoys to go I was happy to push on a bit harder. I then approached another group of swimmers and one seemed to be trying extra hard to draft me; turns out it was actually my teammate who was trying to distract me with funny faces!! What is so weird about a staggered start is you have no idea how you are doing compared to the rest of the field - you just have to rely on knowing your body and knowing when to push on. I think that feeling of not knowing how you were doing really helped me in the swim as I didn’t want to take my foot off the gas fearing that others may be going a lot quicker. I recorded the 2nd fastest swim out of the women and 15th overall including the men! I was over the moon with this result. 

Like the BUCS sprint race, transition was neutralised at 4 mins, so I took my time to put on some socks to keep my toes warm and take a drink to prepare myself for the ride. In true cyclocross style I carried my bike out of transition which by this point was a muddy bog after hundreds of age group athletes had already raced. Not too long into the bike course, I established that the route was very hilly. Knowing that hills was one of my strengths I focused on putting the power down up the hills and keeping as aero as possible on the flats and descents. Unfortunately, after a split second of misjudgement I got penalised (+1min) for drafting. However other than that short moment spent with another rider; I spent the rest of the course on my lonesome and it felt like it went on for eternity! After heavy rain, 230m of climbing and 40km of riding I completed the bike course, recording a split of 1:11.13.

After a quick turn around in transition I made my way out onto the run course. The run was eventful to say the least! Firstly, I had popped an energy gel into the hole at the back of my trisuit incase I needed an energy top up on the way round. But instead of helping it slipped down my trisuit and wedged itself between my bum cheeks! The chafing was not very pleasant, but I got on with it! Meanwhile the run course was looking more and more like a cross country course. As I went past other runners all I could see was mud all the way up their legs and back, so I knew that’s what I must have looked like too! Like most, I was slipping and sliding all over the place, I could have definitely done with cross country spikes as opposed to my road race shoes. The run was 3 laps in total, the first and second felt strong (14min52 & 14min58), however my knee was progressively getting more sore and therefore It took me an extra minuet to complete the last loop (15min51). Total 10km time- 45min42s.

I crossed the line feeling incredibly proud of my performance, I knew I gave it my all and I had a good feeling that I had done really well. I completed my first every Olympic distance triathlon in 2hrs17min46s which placed me 2nd; BUCS standard distance silver medallist! I was also part of the Loughborough women’s team, that came 1st! I really enjoyed the longer distance and it is something that I will continue to work on, there might even be an Ironman 70.3 on the horizon?

Lilly Gibbs