In July, I raced in the English National Middle Distance Triathlon Championships at Hever Castle. The previous couple of weeks had been a bit hit and miss with my training whilst carrying a few niggles. So I knew that coming into this race I would have a hard time and also the course was going to be one of the most challenging that I have come across. With over 2000m climbing on the bike and a fair amount on the run it was always going to be challenging. The race took place in the lovely Hever Castle estate – What a stunning location for a race.
The race morning was very wet and the forecast didn’t really get any better. The swim for me wasn’t anything special and I just had to get through it. By the end of the swim, you could feel the rain on the back of your head and on your face when you were turning to breathe. I got out of the water and it was arguably wetter running to transition then it was in the water itself.
Somehow the weather started to get worse, it was biblical. I jumped onto the bike and a couple of people crashed in front of me, both slipping in the rain and the wet tarmac, so that made me think is this what is to come for me.
The bike course was tough with over 2000m of climbing. Majority of the climbing came early into the course, but this also meant there was some very long descents. This was very hard to control in the wet, especially when going about 45 mph and also knowing that my brakes aren’t really slowing me down. However I got through the bike with no issues so that was a massive positive.
Now onto the run, I started off hesitantly as I had worked hard on the bike mentally and physically. The run course was hard, it was hilly and the majority of the run was off road. This combined with the weather made it very slippery and it was hard to keep a pace so it wasn’t one of my best runs, but I still made it round.
I managed to place 2nd in my age group which gave me the silver medal at the 20 – 24 age group at the English National Championships.
I would like to thank my sponsors, Smith Heath for their continued support in me, Infrastar for the amazing race and training kit that I get to wear and Veritable Solutions for all their support. Spinavita for keeping me in shape and able to race and also Chloe Witts for my ongoing sports therapy and recovery sessions. Finally my coach from T3, Mark Threlfall for all the coaching and support! It has made a massive impact on my triathlon and I couldn’t be more grateful to you all.
Please don’t hesitate to email me any questions or advice that you have for me, and follow me on Instagram and Facebook (see link at the bottom of my page) so we can go through our triathlon journeys together.
Email me on: ryan@ryancoombstriathlon.com
Ryan Coombs Triathlon 