With Brasschaat - where I blew up horribly during the run - in my mind I was eager to rectify some mistakes made. Especially nutrition wise.
The day started windy, rainy and chilly. Nothing that us sailors aren't used to.
This year start was in waves according to age group - waves being seperated by 3mins each. I was in the 5th and one but last wave. Waves make life easier in the start (140 starters instead of 1100). But only a few minutes into the race you swim up the backs of the slower swimmers from the previous wave, and still a few minutes later you might get swum over by the quick fish from the wave behind you... There's a positive to each negative and vice versa...
In the end I finished the swim in 32min - feeling fresh to push it on the bike.
Bike course had the breeze against on the way out, and tailwind coming back towards the city. The wet roads in the harbour area - with loads of railway crossings at about 45° angles to the road direction - called for extra attention. Easy to wipe out on those.
I managed 1h23min over the 90km course without blowing up and feeling ready to go hurt on the run.
The first few km's of the run did not really feel great, but I pushed through and got into a rythm that I thought I could keep till the end. I took 1h32min to get the 21k over with. Not super, but solid.
Overall I finished 123rd in 4h32min (36min quicker than a year ago - that's progress I think). On top finishing 13nd in my agegroup earned me a slot for the IM70.3 World Championships in Clearwater Florida coming November 14th. So the 2009 season is not over quite yet! But the snipe nationals will have to wait another year though...
