Dorney Lakes Standard Triathlon, 18 Sep 2022

I wasn’t too nervous before my first standard distance as I’d never done it before I had nothing to compare it to so just wanted to try my best.

After a stressful start as my wetsuit wouldn’t zip up I ran over to the briefing area ready to go.

The swim was really nice, it wasn’t a mass start so from the get go I was swimming past other people which was a great confidence boost. I didn’t want to swim too hard so that I didn’t tire myself out too much for the bike and run leg but I ended coming out of the water quite near the front.

Then into transition. This took longer than I hoped as I couldn’t find my bike (there were no number markings or anything to help you find it). I finally found it and was off onto the bike course.

I was really looking forward to this as my bike training has been going great this summer. It was a nice speedy 8 lap course and was completely flat, however, the wind picked up and so the first half of each lap was a struggle. It got a bit boring after a while but I couldn’t complain as there were no nasty hills to conquer.

Going into the run my body was feeling good, but then my leg went numb halfway through so I had to loosen my shoe and take my timing chip off. Once I got feeling back in it again I started to pick people off - it was a nice busy course from all the waves so there were lots of overtaking opportunities.

It was a great first experience of a standard distance triathlon and I think now I’m ready to conquer a hillier one!

Jess Barratt-Drylie