Blenheim Tri today.
Blazing sunshine, hundreds of people cheering from sidelines and no injuries going into the race - what could go wrong?
Well nothing for the most part. I had a good swim - kept myself clear of trouble (in the guise of other competitors trying to push me under) and knocked nearly two minutes of my time last year. I still think I could go quite a bit faster in the swim section but I don't want to exhaust myself in the first 15 minutes of a long race!
I didn't feel great running up to the transition point in the glorious quad of the palace but peeled of the wetsuit successfully and was quickly onto the bike - I was about a minute quicker than last year in this transition.
The bike was ok. I remember last year when I belted round and drained my legs for the run so this time I took things much more steady and was about a minute slower. But crucially, because of my new bike, I used all the gear and didn't trash my legs.
Transition 2 (T2) was good - I managed to get my shoes off before dismounting from the bike so looked very professional as I came in to throw on the trainers.
Exiting T2 I knew that I was for a good time.
I wanted to beat my previous best of 1.28.30 and as I was just over the hour mark and am (in theory a 21 minute 5km runnner). Things were looking peachy.
I'll just run off this stitch I thought and then move through the gears. But hold on - is this a stitch? It is excruciatingly painful. When I got to the downhill section, I thought I was going to pass out the pain got so intense. I ended running at walking pace in the manner of a crab.
I was convinced that I had torn a muscle or even got a hernia because that pain stayed with me all the way round the run and my 21minutes was transformed into a 28+ minute run and I failed to beat last years time.
As soon as I stopped running, the pain stopped which meant it was a stitch and no more.
It seems that in my excitement before the race, I quaffed to much sugary sports drink and - as my more experienced club members later told me - that is a surefire recipe for a stitch.
But I couldn't feel to downhearted. My swim was good, my transition discipline was good and I felt great going into the run until the stitch hit.
I am sure that a 1.20 Sprint traithlon is lurking quite close to the surface here!
Of course, I won't find out this year as I am only down to do the Olypmpic distance at London and have no other races on the calendar.