raced the Elite wave at Blenheim on Sunday. Gavin Smith and myself made up the Turbo contingent on the start line that included Steven Bayliss and a number of U23 Elites together with top GB AG athletes.Before I start my report on how not to race elite, it’s worth saying that Gav had a great race and finished 2nd!! 
Having finished 2nd at the National Aquathlon Championships the day before with a fairly good swim, I was hoping to hang onto the front bunch in the water. All was going well for the first 400m but then I started to drift backwards. Exited the water in 14th and began the run up the hill to T1.
That is when I began to notice the difference between Elite and AG. These guys were sprinting up the hill and are super quick through transition. I on the other hand had a fight with my wetsuit to get it off my left leg and as a result, missed the 2nd pack on the bike by 8secs. Half IM training just hasn’t given me enough sprint speed to close gaps like that. From there on it was just a matter of survival and trying to overcome the fatigue from the day before.
Great experience and all the tri talkers who moan about drafting races being easy, I recommend they try one. My time would’ve been good enough to win the non elite race but I wasn’t able to even make it onto the bike with these guys. If the wetsuit had come off my leg, it might’ve been a different story but hey ho.
Splits: Swim-10:17, Bike-33:51 (rubbish!), Run-20:44, Total-1:08
Great experience/amazing venue/perfect weather and I recommend it to anyone if they get chance. I’ll be back next year with a better game plan. Must learn to swim faster!
Roll on Half IMUK. A much more civilised distance!
Cheers
Dion
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