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Phoenix in Alanya

Wednesday 3rd July 2013

Below are excerpts from Malcolm's report - full report can be found on the forum.

The swim was a long rectangle out from the pontoon then back to the beach. The sea was pretty flat so sighting was not difficult and I was in a group of 7 or 8 a bit back from the leaders. 6th on the swim, but the group was pretty much together.
T1 was easy. No wetsuit, no number belt, just helmet on and grab the bike.
I came out on to the bike with a Swiss who quickly found a younger GB wheel to hang on to and he disappeared up the road. I got into a steady rhythm and the flat course and light wind helped but the road surface was not great, about half block paving and the rest patchy tarmac for four laps. After the last turn I spotted the Swiss up ahead and I was catching him, that wheel he was on earlier must have already finished. I was 6th on the bike.
Started the run with the Swiss and we were together for 3 of the 4 laps. On each lap there was a short but quite steep climb otherwise it was fairly flat route through the bazaar. There were also 2 water stations on the lap and I poured most of the water I picked up over my head in an effort to keep cool. My running shoes were cleaner at the end of the race than at the start, and wetter. A quick glance at my watch showed 31 minutes for the first 3 laps of the run, at the start of the 4th lap the Swiss kicked and I had no response. I also got passed by another Brit in the last km. I slowed by about a minute on that final lap.
Overall I was pleased with the time and I enjoyed the race. Looking back I wonder if I pushed the bike a bit too hard and so losing a bit on the run, but at the time it felt right. In any case I was never going to get close to a medal as they were all 2:01's

My splits are below
8 1315 Malcolm Hughes GBR 0:26:02( 6) 0:00:42 1:00:41( 6) 0:00:39 0:42:59( 12) 2:10:22

Full results
http://www.alanyatriathlon2013.com/results.html