Race Review - 5k swim race

This was going to be my first swim-only race since I was about 12. Nothing like pushing the boundaries of common sense and starting with a 5,000m race. 200 lengths of the Cults Academy 25m pool. I did a couple of long swim tests last week and I figured if everything went well I would do somewhere around 1hr 42 mins.

I turned up in plenty of time and was helping out with lap counting for the first (faster) heat. It was great watching the 'fish' coast up and down the pool, seeming fairly effortless. As the 2 leaders passed through the 1-mile mark in just outside 20 minutes I realised that this was about the time I expected to be going through the 1km mark. As I followed their race, and got occasionally splashed, it was interesting to see the variation in their times. I expected them to tick out every one the same but they were pretty inconsistent. They all started much too quick, and even when they settled it was into a bit of a surge and relax pattern. It didn't look to be intentional, and I didn't get a chance to ask any of them afterwards if it had been planned or was just by feel, or if they didn't even notice. I had been consciously taking on fluids throughout the first heat and as the leaders approached the hour mark I made sure I was took in the two gels that I had brought with me.

For the second heat there were 8 of us to fit in the 6 lanes, so the two outside lanes were paired up. As the outside lanes were slightly wider we had plenty of space to go up and down without impeding each other, and I was drawn in with another triathlete that I knew well. I knew he would go a bit quicker than me, but I didn't think by much too so I expected I would be able to pace myself off him a little bit.

Everyone started quickly. I lost a body length or more to everyone else within the first length, and another body length coming out of the first turn. I want to sit here smugly and claim that I had paced it right and sensibly and that everyone else went much too fast, but the truth is I was going much too fast as well. I took my first 100m inside my 400m race pace, but I felt comfortable, and I knew to back off to something more comfortable. 

So I backed off a bit, but no-one else seemed to. And the gaps got big, fast. My lane buddy should have been (and turned out was to be) the next slowest person in the race, and he was taking lengths out of me long before we got to 1,000m. 

I was through 2,000m in under 39minutes. this is a bit quicker than I had planned but I still felt quite good so I kept ticking it over. I had a thought in the back of my mind that I might struggle later if I kept that pace, but going by feel I decided I was ok and stuck with it. This as the toughest part. From 2k through half way seemed to take forever, and then to 3k took even longer. I had a couple of shots at upping the pace to get a bit of a draft whenever someone on either side passed me, but wasn't making much and didn't want to push too hard.

Then 3k-4k seemed to disappear. I think I was daydreaming a bit but I couldn't tell you what about. And it seemed to make no difference to my pace. (Still waiting for the official breakdown rather than just my garmin track to be sure).

At 4k I was still feeling ok and I knew I had a bit left in the tank I tried to turn up the pace as much as I could. As the faster swimmers were finishing I was able to see more of the pool and in the farthest lane I could see that my two other main rivals were still ticking along. Now that I had turned up the pace I was just about holding them level. I couldn't tell how much I had lost to them earlier on in the race though.

Turned out to be less than 300m. As I came through the 4,700m mark I had a look round and I think from that point I was the last one swimming. I knew I still had a little bit more to give, despite my calves starting to cramp a bit so I turned up as much of the pace as I felt I still could. With 50m to go I was really suffering and the last sprint was a real struggle. But I finished in 1:38:03. Almost 4 minutes under what I had hoped to do.

Despite being dead last I am really pleased with my race. I think I paced it about as well as I could. If I had gone harder earlier, I think I would have cramped earlier and suffered too much towards the end.