I participated in the cross triathlon and long distance triathlon world championships while in Spain. I decided to do both as my main event (the cross triathlon) was first and I had enough time to recover for the long distance event.
The cross triathlon had a packed field of pros and the course was really tough. The bike was definitely the toughest aspect as the majority of the course was climbing. I managed to place 8th in the under 23 elites. I wasnt really super chuffed with the result but I was satisfied with the effort I put in. I learnt a lot from this event and I definitely have room to improve.
The Long distance event was a completely different ball game and I couldnt even begin to prepare for it properly. This event was the longest triathlon event I had ever done as well as the longest run I had ever done. I raced the age group 20 - 24 category. I had a good swim considering the water was 14 degrees and the outside temp was 10. I kept my power really consistent on the bike and extended my lead by 10 minutes to second place. Going into the run I was feeling really good and was holding 4min/km comfortably. when I hit the 21km mark of my run my body decided to slow down as it usually would in a 70.3 event. Unfortunately i still had 9km to go. I dug deep, ignored the voices telling me to stop and pushed on. My pace dropped to 4:30 for the last lap. The fear of being caught by second place pushed me through the last couple of kilometers. I crossed the line absolutely broken but proud of my performance. I had extended my lead to 22 minutes. It was a really tough event but I loved every second of it.
Mike Ferreira
