A hot one in the Docklands! I think my shoes started to melt in the last 2000m. I've got a lovely burn in the areas normally covered by biking shorts and now resemble a Neapolitan ice cream.
They expanded London this year to two days to include 5000-odd participants. The site of all those bikes (some of them properly drool-worthy) was amazing - millions of pounds of equipment in one quick scan.
I saw Steve Bayliss just before his elite race where he finished 24th. Hopefully he can write in with a report - his knee is almost back to good shape. I also waved hello to the Butler's crew who were manning the Expo for the first time, I believe.
The race was hot from start to finish. Standing dockside in black neoprene is a recipe for sweat. Luckily they had a few gallons of bottled water waiting to sip. We jumped in and I seeded myself towards the front third. The horn sounded and off we went.
The swim can be a bit boring; other than getting kicked in the face nothing else much happened as I set out a strong, long stroke. I could tell I was doing well when about halfway I couldn't see very many people in front of me. On the home straight there was a bit of contact, so I hammered for about 10 seconds and passed a group of five. I also lit up a lactate burn and a quad cramp that receded slowly as I glided in to the jetty. I figure I was top 20 out of the water.
My least favourite thing in the world is taking off a wetsuit. You can never do it fast enough, as it grabs your ankles for dear life. What seemed like 10 minutes went by before I got it off, bagged it and ran up the steps to the bike.
Tri tip: the Addiscombe hat draped on the saddle makes an excellent beacon when you're looking for a bike among hundreds in your rack, especially without glasses. A minute later I was mounted and rolling.
The bike leg was quite technical, with dozens of roundabouts to negotiate, but it was well-marshaled, well-marked and, best of all, traffic-free! The leg has been extended to Billingsgate Market so there's another bump to keeping you shifting. At 13-15km the crap swimmers started going by - you could hear the carbon wheels coming for miles. The bike is still by far my worst leg; even though I was pushing it I barely managed to top 20mph for 40k.
Coming off the bike around noon it was hot. Plain ol' stinky hot. To make matters worse was the lack of water stations on the run - one for each 3.3k loop, with half-full cups. By the third lap I was crusty with salt - think Lance at Cap Decouverte - but still passing people left and right even though I felt crap. I think only two runners managed to gap me permanently as I passed 5-6 dozen in 10k.
In the remains of the 30-34 age group I managed to come in 32nd of 374. A lot of the other 30-34s I would have competed against took the 'sub-2:30' option of the elite cycle course to Westminster - sort of a second division, if you will - and the winner of that race was in my age-group, about 11 minutes ahead of the 'winner' of my race.
All that aside I'm happy with my time of 2:26:30 - a new personal best. I know what I've got to work on (bike!) and I'm looking forward to the 1/2 Ironman at the end of the month.