With it being the final race of the season, I didn’t want to put any pressure on myself and instead focused on enjoying the experience of racing in Tenerife.
The start was a little scrappy. I got dragged back early on and made the decision to cut right towards the inside line. From there, I was able to settle into a solid rhythm before the inevitable congestion around the buoys. Unfortunately, my swim hat came off towards the end of the swim, so I didn’t get to bring that home with me. Overall, I had a decent swim, coming out mid-pack around 20 seconds behind the leaders.
It was then a long run up to T1 before chasing hard over the opening laps of the bike. The race eventually came together into one large pack, which was a bit sketchy at times with a few crashes throughout. Not being able to see much through the tunnel certainly didn’t help either. There was then a big battle for position heading into T2.
I managed to start the run in contention but unfortunately struggled with stomach issues and was forced to keep the pace controlled despite my legs feeling quite good. I finished 38th out of 64 finishers, a decent result in a strong field, but I know I am capable of much more.
I would like to say a massive thank you to the Jack Bloor Fund for helping make opportunities like this possible and allowing me to experience racing at this level.
