From Tim Ashelford…
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Photo credit Rebecca Ashelford
Munich was a a great venue for the European Age Group Sprint Triathlon Championships, which included a wide range of other events including, athletics, cycling and gymnastics. My race in the 55-59 age group started with a 750m open water lake swim. The water was 21c, which means wetsuits were optional, but given most people swim faster in one, only one athlete in my age group swam non wetsuit, and it wasn’t me! I exited the water in 11 1/2 minutes, a little behind the lead athletes, but had a good 2 minute transition and set to work trying to make up some time on the bike. It was a draft legal bike on a pan flat course and after 10 minutes of hard work I caught up with a group and we worked together, soon entering the Munich Olympic Park, which marked the finish of the 22km bike (34 minutes) and transition 2. I had a good 1 minute transition and set off on the run ahead of the others in my bike pack. The 5k run through the Olympic Park was hilly, but nobody passed me and I ran it in 19 minutes 40 seconds. I crossed the line 4th in my age group in 1h and 8 minutes. I couldn’t have gone any harder, but frustrating to miss out on the podium by less than a minute. A bit more work on the swim needed this winter, but no regrets. Big thanks to my family for all their support and encouragement and putting up with all my training, triathlon can be quite a selfish sport! Also a shout out to Brit Tate who did her magic on various niggles and injuries over the last 6 months.