Glasgow University Aquathlon 2018
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On the morning of the race, I got up bright and early to get a good nutritious breakfast before travelling through to Glasgow. It was a cold, crisp morning which had me debating if I should leave a t-shirt in transition or not (I opted for no t-shirt in the end). When I got to the leisure centre, I went for a walk around the run route and noticed that there was a steep hill that we had to run up twice; I decided that I would up the pace a little going up the hill and then get my breath back on the way back down the hill at the other side. I felt nervous and conscious before starting the race as I hadn’t done much running heading into the race due to my ankle injury.
The swim
It was a 750m pool swim, I was in the fastest lane with 4 university guys which made me slightly nervous, but I just composed myself and focused on the race ahead. The race was running slightly behind so my wave kicked off 10 minutes after it was scheduled. The countdown to the race started, 3...2...1... GO, I was the 5th person to swim in the lane, so when I started swimming I had the determination to catch up to the swimmer in front of me. During the swim, I was feeling good and I knew I could go a little faster, so I pushed myself more, I overtook the swimmer in front of me and just kept increasing the pace. I overtook all the guys in my lane and I came out of the water first overall with a time of 09:42.
The run
It was just a short run to transition and I left the transition area in a time of 28 seconds. As soon as I started the run all I could think of was running up that steep hill twice as I haven’t been confident in my running ability due to my ankle injury, but I was determined to push myself and finish the race as quickly as possible. During the run, I felt strong at the start and found my pace quickly which helped to gain a lead on the other women in the race. Coming towards the hill my stride pattern stayed the same and I was determined to push hard up the hill and relax heading down the other side. I was pushing hard and felt confident during the second lap and this made it easier to push hard up the hill for the last time and up the pace towards the end. I finished the run in a time of 22:47.
Final race time: 32:58
1st U20 Female
2nd Overall Female
About the author: Brooke Gillies is a Team GB Age Group triathlete and Sundried ambassador.
