Undulating

Rising and falling like waves; resembling wave form or motion; undulatory; rolling; wavy; as, an undulating medium; undulating ground.


Doesn't really describe the first 3-4km of the rowers revenge, which was literally straight uphill on the bike leg. Must have taken me 15mins to climb it. Absolute killer. Another big hill on 20km didn't really help either...I'm amazed that I actually managed to get up it without getting off the bike!!

Overall, the day went well. I was scheduled to start at 1.35pm but got there nice and early around 9.30am. Saw a nice dedication ceremony of a boat, which was named after a young local lad that had died of meningitis earlier in the year.


I managed to get an earlier start time, so warmed up briefly before starting into the rowing. It was tough going but I certainly wasn't the last to get off, finishing the row in approx 15m 33s (beating my previous pb by about 25s). Ran into transition to pick up the bike, taking a bit of time to ensure I got a drink and headed off on the road. As I mentioned above, first few km's were tough going and I was quickly dropped by the rest of the guys in my wave. Still, soldiered on, and indeed the course was undulating as described.

Hit another massive hill at the 20km mark, at which point I was actually passed by some boys in the next wave! Boy can those lads cycle. Made it back to T2, was pretty wrecked and the last thing I wanted to do was the 7.5km run section.

My stomach had actually been growling for the last bit of the bike, so decided to chow down on a protein bar that I'd brought for after the race. Big, big mistake. It was so dry I just had to gag and spent the next two km spitting trying to get rid of it. Had to settle into a run-walk strategy early into the run, as was just dead on my feet. This got progressively worse as the race went on, eventually settling for a 1m run\30s walk routine!

Eventually made it back in 2hrs 15mins, which was about 15mins slower than I'd hoped for. The run was definitely my weakest part, but could also do with knocking a few mins of the bike section. Thankfully didn't come last in my age-group as well, which is always motivating.

Must keep the training up over the next few months and hopefully knock some time of both the bike and run legs. I've already been out on the bike once this week, which sadly almost added 30% to this years bike training!!