South Gloucestershire Evening Tri Series - 15 May 2013
Casting furtive glances around the transition area, Johnston was able to pretend she knew how to set out all her kit. Slightly disconcerting was the number of seriously snazzy bikes. Strangely no one else other than Johnston had chosen to race on a commuting hybrid.
The deep water start was pretty nippy (10 degrees) but the 550m swim went OK and Johnston left T1 in 7th place amongst the women (it’s not worth contemplating her placing overall at this stage). The 18k bike was a glorious 3 lap course with a few hairy hairpins and Johnston thoroughly enjoyed it. However this enjoyment may well have been as a result of not biking hard enough’(as pointed out by trusty training partner Wilkie) and this was somewhat reflected in the 41+ mins taken to complete the bike. True to her CLC striding roots Johnston put in a storming 4k run, completing this hilly leg in 16:44, 2nd fastest lady on the run and 9th fastest overall out of 63 competitors. Final scores on the doors had Johnston as 5th female and 37th overall. Not bad considering people doing triathlons on a Wednesday night in a freezing lake must be pretty committed.
Cynical people might say Johnston should stick to running, but having enjoyed it more than any other race bar the London Marathon, she is going to stick at it!