Archie races Martock 10k and podiums at Bowood

Martock 10k was the day before my final GCSE exam in citizenship. It was my first ever race over the 10km distance although I train 10km and above several times a week in my run sessions I was stood on the Martock start line with no idea about how I was going to do. I set off at a comfortable enough pace, going through the first 5km in 18 minutes and finished the entire race in 7th with a time of 37 minutes. Which I was pretty chuffed with because I couldn’t have physically gone any faster. It was a brilliant course, with the majority of the course being flat and fast with a few climbs perfect for distancing any rivals. As always it was very well marshalled with plenty of encouragement from the public also, with very few encounters with cars. After the running high of finishing that afternoon I took my socks off to find the bottom of my foot had almost completely blistered which meant I got a lot of funny look hobbling into the exam hall the next day wearing Nike zoom Pegasus 35s coupled with my school uniform.

June the 29th saw me take to the start line again, this time of Bowood House Triathlon. Arriving at the event I felt pretty nervous, for no reason really, but once all my kit was in transition and I entered the water I felt fine. Although my mum was mortified because I had my tri suit zip cord stuck in my wetsuit zip but I had no idea and was already swimming. The open water start was messy as usual and thanks to the persons foot in front of me my goggles were well and truly lodged around my eyes. At the first buoy the group was split in two and I found myself at the front of the second but managed to bridge the gap and make my way into the centre of the breakaway. Oblivious to my mums relief when I stripped down the top half of my wetsuit I motored on up the hill picking off a couple of the faster swimmers on the 400m-plus climb up to transition putting me in 3rd, despite running a couple metres past my bike in T1. Out onto the bike I managed to get into a bike pack of three. We worked really well together taking some really good turns on the front to try and close down the 1st and 2nd athletes up the road. I entered T2 in 4th but made up the place going out onto the run in 3rd. It was very hot so I pulled on my sun visor and channeled my inner Mario Mola and managed to distance 4th place significantly in the first kilometre. All I had to do was make it to the finish line and I began to really enjoy myself seeing my cousins and family out supporting. After summiting the final punchy climb the finish line was in sight and I managed to muster a very poor surge for the line. I crossed the line and was treated to a jug of water poured over me by a marshal. At the time I wasn’t really aware that I had just come third. But once back at the Tyler and Downing family base and I had a few sandwiches it started to settle in.

At the time of writing this I was watching the Tour De France after doing my daily 5 hour shift at my dads fudge factory were I’m saving up for a new bike. And planning my next adventure this weekend when my mate and I are camping at West Bay for some coastal riding. I’m also looking forward to my family holiday to Tritopia Triathlon in France were I hope to get some good training in so I can treat myself to as much “pain” and “fromage”.

Thanks for reading and I will be back with another blog soon.

The post Archie races Martock 10k and podiums at Bowood appeared first on Immortal Sport.