HOT NEWS RACE REPORTS
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Previous years : 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2010 |
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Sunday 1st January 2012
Happy New Year & Season's Review |
| It’s that time of the year to reflect on the past race season and to review how the athletes that we coach and advise got on. A lot of the athletes set themselves some real tough challenges this season either in races chosen or targets set but I think you’ll see it’s been a pretty good season for most. Lou Dutch Lou’s main aim for the season was the Forestman long distance triathlon – a race gaining the reputation for being one of the toughest in the UK. She had a proven success in time trialling but this was a new challenge. To prepare for the race she completed the Dorney Lake open water swim and 100mile reliability time trials. All the hard work paid off as she got a 2nd place in her first Ironman event which was an unusual way to spend your birthday! Nigel Eldred Nigel’s main goal for the season was also the Forestman long distance triathlon. As part of his build up Nigel raced at the London Marathon and had a real positive experience at this event. The Forestman was a long, hard day with Nigel getting home in just under 15 ½ hours but actually enjoying the challenge of the race. For 2012 Nigel has already targeted the Paris marathon and we’ll see what happens after that. Ross Ferguson. Ross wanted to go faster than he did at the 2010 92km Spinney race in Dubai. We focused on some technical changes to Ross’ cadence on the bike, getting improved range of motion & strength and increasing his power output. As a result of Ross’ hard work he went 9 minutes quicker in the race this year. For 2012 Ross had been talking about doing the Cape Argus Tour in South Africa but also fancies some time trialling events. Matt Langdon Matt’s main race was Wimbleball 70.3 but as part of his build up Matt took a top 10 place in his age group at the Swashbuckler Middle Distance triathlon in May, as well as placing 10th overall at the Burnham on Sea sprint triathlon in June. At Wimbleball Matt was pleased with his result given the training he had managed. For 2012 Matt is talking about challenging himself but trying some longer distance racing and an ironman distance triathlon has been rumoured. Rodger MacPherson. Rodger’s main goal in 2012 is going to be Ironman Lanzarote. As part of Rodger’s build up he will be out at the Ballbuster, the Rome and London marathons before heading off to Lanzarote. Craig Neame Unfortunately increased work pressures meant that Craig never achieved consistency in his training nor had the time to compete but hopefully once work commitments settle down Craig will get back into training and racing. Dave Pratten Dave had a pretty full season starting with the Cotswold Middle Distance triathlon in June where Dave was 2nd in his age group, next was the Bradwell long distance triathlon where he won his age group before heading off to his main race of the season the Trollveggen Triathlon, a truly epic race in truly awful conditions. Dave rounded of the season with a sub 3 ½ hour marathon at the Portsmouth marathon. He also managed to fit in athletics and mountain bike leaders courses. For 2012 Dave has mentioned that he may revisit the Bradwell long distance triathlon. Alan Rayment Alan’s had a pretty full year with gaining his undergraduate degree, being awarded a honourary doctorate and being promoted at work. Sport wise it was a pretty low key season for Alan although he still won the Paratriathlon National Series, competed at the Tyne Tunnel 2km and the Great North Run. For 2012 Alan’s targets are the European and World triathlon championships. Graham Starmer Graham put his injury worries behind him and had a fair few races during the season starting with the New Forest Sprint where he was 3rd in his age group and 4th overall. Graham then raced the iconic Alpe D’huez and despite the horrendous weather he stated he loved every minute of it. Gra’s main race of the season was Ironman Wales, a race that he enjoyed and claims it will be his last long distance race. A week after IM Wales Graham took a podium slot at the Ringwood triathlon. For 2012 Gra states that he will be focusing on sprint and standard distance triathlon. Coaches Both Scott and Di continued studying for their respective postgraduate degrees and attended various sport science, as well as sport coaching seminars. The coaches managed a couple of races including the two day urban Rat Race in London. 2012 will see more of the same with both coaches being involved in their own studies as well as delivering coach and assessing coach education programmes, as well as mentoring other coaches. |
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Saturday 8th October 2011
Breeze Ride - Potterne Park Soft Pedal |
| Recently British Cycling recruited Breeze Leaders, this is the same as the Sky Ride Leaders award but the Breeze qualification is aimed specifically at taking groups of novice women riders out on planned routes with the aim of motivating them to start and continue enjoying bike rides. This seemed a natural fit as the forest is so close at hand. I decided to plan routes around Moors Valley Country Park so the group could enjoy traffic free cycling in a beautiful location. So at 10am on Saturday morning I was eagerly waiting outside the Moors Valley Visitors Centre to see who was going to attend the first Potterne Park Soft Pedal. This was also the first time I would be meeting up with Hella, the Breeze Leader from Bournemouth. First to approach me was Sandy, looking to come out on the ride as she had seen the posters in the country park reception area, then Linda arrived, a little flustered having had an early morning wrestle with her bike rack! So I had two more participants that the three that I knew had registered on the website. Quick bike and helmet checks and all six of us set off. The volunteers at the model steam train station waved as we rode by cheering, then we were off round the park taking in the golf course before heading off to Potterne Park, an area of the park which some of them had never been to before. We rode round the lake and one of the girls asked what temperature it was as it would be lovely to swim in! She then changed her mind when she saw the family of swans! Leading the ride I could hear lots of chatting and nattering as the group got to know one another. We carried on into the woods and completed the three & a half mile loop in about 35 minutes. Time for a cup of tea back at the visitor’s centre. The good news is that the group wanted to come back for the next Breeze ride – the Trailway Temptress on the 5th November; approximately 6 miles starting at Moors Valley Visitors Centre at 10am. If you want to get involved then go to www.goskyride.com and book your slot on the ride and come along on the next Breeze Ride. The rides are free, as is the parking in the park; all you need is a bike & helmet. Thanks to all that attended. A great way to spend the morning! |
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24th & 25th September 2011
Rat Race London |
| Now some of you may remember that last year Di wanted to do an adventure race so used the occasion of my cousin’s 40th birthday as an excuse to spend 4-5 hours racing around Cannock Chase. It transpires that that wasn’t enough, so this year Di entered Andy and me in the Rat Race London. A two day urban adventure race. It was a bit of a clue that we may have been out of our depth when one of the pre-requisites of the race was that we had to complete a rope refresher to ensure that we could abseil & belay correctly – when you have to do a course before you do a can race then you know it’s quite serious! As for our map reading and compass work... The Mean Street on Saturday night was an orienteering foot race where you had two and a half hours to locate up to 26 checkpoints. About 90 minutes before the race the organisers provided us all with a street map covering the area of the checkpoints. However, they had removed the street index and some of the road names. About 60 minutes before the race they gave us the checkpoint locations and the points value of each checkpoint. What do points make? There were about 150 teams entered into the Weekender with over 1000 athletes racing Saturday’s Mean Street and Sunday’s 9 to 5. So about 5pm we huddled together in Potter’s Field next to Tower Bridge and we were off. Across Tower Bridge to first checkpoint at Traitor’s Gate and from there we clocked off about 15km of running interspersed with checkpoints, such as hula hooping, getting soaked at a carwash, climbing walls, circuit training, crawling through crowds at the Millennium Bridge and rope tying, unfortunately we missed out on the wine tasting challenge. So home, done & dusted by about 9pm – not too sure about the recovery strategy of chilli, lager & tequila but it’d be interesting to see how that would fuel the next day’s event. 7am on Sunday saw us back at Tower Bridge ready for the second part of the Weekender event, the 9 to 5. Anticipation was that we’d be running, cycling, kayaking, and climbing plus other stuff during the day. Same sort of thing with the maps, names missing and last minute checkpoints disclosed but the highlight of the morning was meeting Ben Fogle. So at 9am we were off, running along the embankment, back to the Millennium Bridge to find how many church services there were on a Sunday in the churches surrounding St Paul’s Cathedral. One church verger got a bit of a surprise when he opened the door to see a couple of dozen lycra’d up “ratters” trying to read his church notices. Having down 15km running the previous night, the 10km or so around the churches had the legs protesting a bit. Having counted up the church services this became our password to get the bikes out of the transition area – so back to Potter’s Field. Off onto the bikes and we were anticipating about 60-80km – depending upon out map reading skills (!) – We got as far east as London City Airport and as far north as Primrose Hill. In between we had another 5-10km run around Mud Chute on the Isle of Dogs finding checkpoints – had a bit of a bromance on the geezer at the cafe who pointed out the electronic tab at the bottom of a lamppost – we did pay this forward. Headed off to docklands for a 3km kayak – having done all the work last year I was happy that Andy decided to go in a kayak on his own and I sat behind Di to make sure she did some paddling this time around. We gave another team a bit off a leg up here by handing over one of our set of tools so they could fix their bikes. From docklands we headed back to Mile End for a soccer skill challenge (still got it!!), some gym challenges and the first climbing wall of the day. Had a great chat with a couple of kids who were wondering what was going on – they were a tad excited as they has just come back from the X-Factor. Back on the bikes to Stoke Newington to the Castle Climbing Centre for the second climbing wall – only one of us had to do this but we were intent on getting our monies worth so we all completed it. Next stop was the Emirates Stadium where we had to either ride or get the bikes on the shoulder to get up & down the steps and then it was past London Zoo to Lords Cricket Ground where we abseiled off the roof. Goodness knows what all the “blazers” walking about thought of that. Rather than face the Edgware Road we did some side streets into Hyde Park, Green Park onto the Embankment and back to Tower Bridge. We rolled into transition thinking job done but were told to keep our helmets on as there were still two challenges left to complete – so run into the trade village to go through the inflatable and onto the slippery wall- which was very slippy...so Andy climbed up over me to get purchase, he pulled Di up and I did my best Superman impression (always a crowd pleaser). Approximately 10 hours of racing over the two days; about 30km of running; 60km+ of biking; 3km of kayaking and 20 odd other challenges and all for a T-shirt and a Buff!! Andy & I are dreading next year. |
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Sunday 18th September 2011
Ringwood Triathlon |
| Having finished 67th in his age group in Ironman Wales last week Graham had a chance to compete in one of the best known local events, racing at Ringwood Triathlon. I had always dreamt that I would one day be able to race this course, & today that dream came true. I was a little apprehensive because exactly one week ago I was competing in Ironman Wales so with a week of complete rest, apart from having to go to work, I was ready to race. The legs seemed to have recovered quite well, but time would tell. The course for today was a 600mtr pool swim, 28 mile bike ride and a 10K run. I entered the pool at 8am. I had three others in my lane & I was the third one off. Soon into the 24 lengths I had overtaken one of them and by about four lengths from the end I was in the front. I exited the pool & into T1 for a quick transition, but with a precautionary matter of putting the arm warmers on & then off out onto the bike route. The first six miles was nice & flat but by now the quick bikers, there were five of them, overtook me but it sorted of stayed all together (I hasten to add that we all kept at the permitted distance) but on the first climb it started to fragment. Dropping into Burley there were now only three of us, but with a long drop back into Burley, it all came back together & stayed like that until the long time of Bolderwood, where it definitely fell apart & one guy disappeared into the distance and I was at the front of the group pushing hard. On the descent past Red Shoot I noticed that a bloke had binned it into the bank and was looking bloodied & not looking very good, but had no time to stop. I was now on my own so I pushed on into Ringwood & into T2 for a quick change to start the run. I caught a couple of runners within the first couple of K & then just put my head down & got on with the job in hand. The legs were surprisingly feeling alright. Throughout the run I was just catching a few people which kept me motivated. The only down-side to the run, probably with about 2K to go, one bloke overtook me & I noticed that he was from my wave but by this time I just didn't know what position I was in & then another guy overtook me & he was flying but he had a lower number than me so I didn't have to worry about him. I crossed the finish line & really pleased with myself that I managed to do that a week after an Ironman. After a shower & putting my bike back into the car, I went back to find Nikki up in the cafe for her to tell me that I had come third overall and one my age group. So now I can enjoy my two weeks of R&R & looking forward to the 1st October when I will start training for next season. My splits are: Swim - 9:24 (5th) Bike - 1:17:37 (3rd) Run - 39:43 (9th) Total - 2:06:44 (3rd overall & 1st in my age group) |
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Sunday 11th September 2011
IM Wales |
| Gra's last IM was in South Africa where it was warm & windy - so how did IM Wales match that? Arrived at Tenby on a cold, windy, chucking it down with rain, Thursday night. Friday morning I went for a sea swim at South Beach, which was my first sea swim of the year (ooops!!!) only to be told that there would be a strong possibility that the swim could be moved to North Beach because of the strong winds and the sea conditions. But I still had a good swim for about 20 odd minutes. Friday afternoon was for registration where I got a nice big Ironman Wales rucksack. Friday evening was race briefing and the pasta party with the weather very changeable, which is as it had been throughout the day. As for the pasta party, it was one of the better ones I've been to and on every long tressel table was a tray full of cakes, mousses & cheesecakes (oh yes, I'm now in heaven) so two of them had to be had (carbo loading at its best). At said race briefing it was confirmed that the race day swim had been moved to North Beach which was situated in a cove and more sheltered. The only down side was that it was a 15 minute walk away from the hotel but a 20 minute walk from Transition on race day. Also on Friday we had to rack the bikes and to put run & bike bags on their allocated pegs in the change tent. We had originally been advised that we could cover our bikes but as the wind was so strong, they announced that if anyone had covered their bike, it would be uncovered as it was causing a domino effect when the gusts got hold of the cover, so I took everything out that was perishable in my food pouch, removed the computer & prayed that it would all be OK come race day. We also received a spare bag to put our run shoes in but I'll explain this in more depth a bit later. Saturday morning, I had to go for another sea swim at North Beach & the organisers had set out a shortened one lap course which gave us a rough idea of where we were going. Race day morning dawned with a 3:50am alarm call. Went down for breakfast, which I always struggle with but I managed to eat porridge, then a yogurt and a banana. We walked from the hotel to transition (approx 5 mins as mentioned above) & found my pride & joy still in one piece so reattached the computer & put the food back in the pouch. I put the shoes back on the pedals & handed in my dry kit for after the race as well as my special needs pack for the bike phase. So we now headed off to North Beach via the back streets to arrive at North Beach by 6:20am with the official start time at 7am. Going back to the spare bag we had been given on Friday, this has now got my run shoes and socks because of the change to the swim start, the bikes had to stay where they were so we had to run from North Beach to Transition, which meant that the organisers put 1500 hooks up a zig-zag path which all the athletes had to hang their shoe bags on ready for the extra run they had to do before the bike phase (I hope that this all makes sense!!). I donned the wetsuit with about half an hour to go as we had to be on the beach in the holding pen by 6:45am, so at 6:55am the Welsh National Anthem was sung and at 7am sharp, the start of the first ever Ironman Wales had begun & by now we could see the sunshine, which was not expected at all but the wind was still intensely strong, but as the beach was sheltered, we didn't notice this until we started the bike phase. I had quite a good start in the mid field pack only to realise that it didn't seem to be very crowded but on closer inspection, at least half the field were running along the beach & not swimming because the buoy was at a diagonal so they were taking the shortest swim route. Now I had thought about it before the start but didn't want to be DQ'd within 2mins of the race start. I got to the first buoy & by that time everyone had converged at this buoy so this is where the bun fight began with everyone opting for the doggie paddle to get through safely. Swimming towards the second buoy, which was the longest stretch of the diagonal course, it was now a little bit choppy but not a problem to deal with, even though this was now only my third sea swim of the year. After this buoy we headed back to the shore to get out & run under the Ironman banner, over the timing mat to re-enter for the second lap. I had a quick look at my watch which said 32mins so by my reckoning, the course was a bit short as I am not swimming that fast at the moment. Onto the second lap which was not as crowded now . I had a good lap & was very shocked when I exited the swim to see the timing clock say 1hr 2mins. I thought, blimey, that was a bit swift. Now for the longest ever run to T1 which was up the Bournemouth style zig-zag to collect my run shoes. I had decided to do this run in my wet suit with the top half hanging down & then we had to run through the heart of Tenby which had excellent crowd support to T1. Into the change tent to collect my bike kit bag for a complete change but then I had to waste a little bit of time, which doesn't really matter in Ironman terms (which is what I was thinking anyway) to find my run kit bag to put the shoes back in there because there wasn't any helpers to do that for us. I then collected my trusty steed & headed out onto the 112 mile bike course which consisted of one big loop which then returned back into Tenby and then half of this big loop again then back into Tenby. At this stage I will add that the wind was horrendous throughout the whole of the bike course which was described on the official website as a rolling course, & boy did it roll. I got to the half way point in about 3hr 15mins so things seemed to be going quite well but there was a sting in the tail because from here back into Tenby, which was just over 15 miles, there were two 16% hills which slowed me down. Once back into Tenby I spotted Nikki amongst the masses who were cheering us all on at the main roundabout. Then a couple of miles down the road was the 70 mile aid station which I stopped at to get my special needs, to top up my drinks bottle with more powder & replace gels & get some jelly babies on board. At this point it started to get a little bit painful & the worse thing about it was I knew I still had those two big climbs at about 105 miles in. At about 90 miles I started to come out of the bad spell but I was noticeably getting slower and the average mph was going the wrong way. I got up & over the first climb but the second climb was made so much easier because it was lined Alpe D'Huez style on both sides which helped a lot. Now I can roll back into Tenby but on the way back in I noticed on the long descent towards town all the runners were coming up the hill so I thought to myself you are having a giraffe if you think that we are running up this. Obviously I would find out in a little while. Here I must add that the sun was still shining, but the wind hadn't abated one little bit, which made the bike ride even harder. Into T2, yet again with great support into Tenby and with Nikki now on the last corner before entering Transition. I had a quick pit stop in the smelly portaloo before entering the change tent for a complete change into my run kit. Now, deep down I knew that this was going to be the most difficult part of the day because I hadn't run a marathon since South Africa Ironman in 2007 & I hadn't run further than two hours in my preparation for this race due to the operation on my feet earlier this year, so here goes. Not quite a full marathon because they had supposedly taken off the run we had to do from the North Beach swim to T1 off of the marathon course, so the run course was four 10K loops with a little bit towards the finish. The description of the run course was leave T1, skirt round the town and then I reckoned a 3K climb, drop down a little bit of a climb, hanger left up a dog leg, not literally, and then head back to Tenby down to the castle where you had to run round the castle with two short steep climbs & then go round the inner streets of the town. So my first lap I ran the whole of the lap so things were going well. Onto the second lap the long climb just wasn't happening, but by now it had started raining, & raining quite heavily, but only for a short while. And on the same lap, we had two more heavy showers, but that was it as we had no more rain, however, the wind was still ever present. I had to walk which was a bit annoying so early on in the race. Nikki was at the run aid station to feed me whatever I needed out of my special needs bag, i.e. Bounty bars, Haribo sweets & gels, with sultanas & raisins thrown in for good measure. I had plenty to choose from. I started the third lap but was now going into unknown territory as I hadn't run this sort of distance for a long time, especially off of the back of a 112 mile bike ride. Actually the third lap was my best lap as I managed to get up most of the hills without stopping & cruised down it feeling OK so that was pleasing. Onto the fourth lap, still very upbeat from my previous lap, as I managed to get up the majority of the steep climbs but now the soles of my feet were starting to hurt because of not having run on the roads for such a long time for this distance. The last 3K around the town was now starting to hurt. All the little hills were now starting to feel like climbing mountains so had to walk them. But I was still upbeat as I knew I was going to finish the race. I entered the finishing straight to see Nikki again, standing outside our hotel cheering me on, so I have her a big kiss (big softy that I am) then the last couple of hundred metres I was high fiving everyone & taking in the atmosphere & I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it knowing that I am an IRONMAN. Total time was 13:16:52 Gender position - 576 Overall position - 626 Swim time - 1:01:54 (384th) T1 (including run from North Beach) - 15:07 (700th) Bike - 6:47:32 (462nd) T2 - 8:34 (782nd) Run - 5:03:48 (892nd) Footnote: If anyone sees me on a start list of an Ironman event again, you have permission to shoot me because that is it, no more Ironman for me. |
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Sunday 28th August 2011
Trollveggen Triathlon |
| Don't think times really matter on races like this - here's Dave's report. This triathlon was scheduled at the end of a great holiday in beautiful Norway. We had three sunny days in Oslo and had then travelled by the Rauma railway (one of world's most scenic journeys) to the western fjords. We then settled into our log cabin at Innfjorden to prepare for race day. Two further days of pretty good weather followed. Come race morning the weather had changed completely and it was raining so much that part of the bike course was blocked by rockfalls and the run course was fog bound. Race briefing lasted for thirty minutes and was conducted entirely in Norwegian. I was the only non-Norwegian speaker out of the 140 athletes from 10 countries so I had my own race briefing conducted by the race organiser in English which lasted about 30 seconds and concluded with a pat on the back and me saying 'don't worry I'll wing it'. In between the briefing and scheduled race start the weather deteriorated by the minute. As we set up in T1 numerous announcements over the PA apparently detailed race course changes. By now a large number of competitors had decided discretion was the better part than valour and not to race. I relied on spectators for translations and learned that following the swim we would be doing an out and back time trial like ride on the local freeway, followed by a run up the steepest trail in Norway with an average gradient of 35%! I also found out that although the race would finish at the summit the journey back down would be the most hazardous section. When the time came for the swim warm up in the Eisfjord (transl. Ice fjord) athletes seemed reluctant to enter the water. Whether or not this was due to the presence of some very large jellyfish or the cold I never found out. I was getting pretty cold waiting on the quayside so decided to brave the water anyway. It was chilly but certainly swim-able. The swim start was in the shadow of a giant Italian cruise ship and was witnessed by the passengers and crew who lined the side. When the start horn sounded I was left in the wake of a seriously fast swimmer (and I have shared a swim wave with Richard Stannard in the past) but soon settled into my own pace and cruised around the two lap course exiting the water in 5th place. T1 was awash with water as was the entire bike course. I regretted having brought my spare bike which was geared up for the Pyrenees not a time trail as I struggled up and down the local freeway. Every time a bus or lorry passed it was like cycling through a carwash. T2 consisted of putting on extra clothes and trying to get some feeling back into frozen hands and feet before donning a pair of trail shoes. I then ran about 50m to the start of the ascent and started climbing. The climb was ridiculously hard. We clambered over rock faces, up waterfalls and used tree roots to gain purchase. Norwegians are pretty good at this and it seemed as though the entire field had overtaken me before I reached the mist shrouded summit finishing in 59th place. Bizarrely we were served with home baked buns at the finish before embarking on a long slow descent. We went down the mountain in groups and there was a great feeling of camaraderie as we all seemed to have at least one or two falls before the bottom. When I reached the T2 zone Sally had already packed my bike and kit in the car. What a star! Watch the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8aRsxCw7Qc for a better idea ofwhat it was really like. |
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7th August 2011
Bradwell Waterside Long Distance Triathlon |
| As part of his build up to the Trollveggen triathlon, Dave had a day out on his old stomping ground. I returned to the murky waters of the Blackwater estuary for only my second triathlon of the season. I used to swim here in the 1960's when it was the venue for the Essex County open water swimming championships and fancied a return to my old splashing grounds for the inaugral Bradwell Waterside Long Distance triathlon. This was a small event with only 60 odd starters and with a unique transition area in the gardens of the village pub! The 2.8km tidal swim proved an interesting experience even for an 'old man of the sea' like myself. Very strong winds combined with the tide made the three lap rectangular course a genuine challenge.. As a result a number of athletes were unable to get around the buoys when swimming against the current and either cut the swim short or abandoned. I swam as close to the bank as possible going upstream but in doing so had to battle through dense seaweed which was a reasonable compromise. Using this tactic I reckoned that I was in the top six in the swim (not reflected in the offical results) but it was difficult to tell with so many taking short cuts. Apparently next year the race organisers plan to start the swim much earlier in relation to high tide and shorten it slightly which, although keeping the tidal aspect will make things more manageable for the weaker swimmers. In contrast the 122km cycle course was on quiet, scenic lanes almost pan flat and pretty enjoyable. After the first of the three laps the sun came out but the winds continued and added another element of difficulty to the event. I spent most of the bike in splendid isolation and it felt more like a training ride than a race but good fun nevertheless. By the time I began the 30km run began the wind speed had increased further which on the exposed sections of the course turned the entire day into a grueling test against nature. The course was largely off road through lanes, tracks and then along a sea wall. I struggled on the run and although I never resorted to walking, at times I slipped into the ironman shuffle gait. Fortunately I managed to finish before the torrential rain set in (all four seasons in one day). My overall time was a slow 8:12:33 (swim 50:25, bike 4:09:42, run 3:09:17). 14th out of 39 finishers. First in my age group. I reflected that under different weather conditions this could be a really fast course and I may return here next year to prove it to myself. Cheers Dave |
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27 July 2011
Alpe D'Huez Long Course Triathlon |
| Gra's opening event of the season. For this race we stayed in the South of France for two weeks at the foot of Alpe D'Huez. Firstly, for a two week break, secondly, to watch the Tour de France and thirdly, to do the triathlon. As for the race itself, I had many questions going into it like: (a) had I done enough training, as I had only managed to start it again at the beginning of May? So as I had only had three months training, would that be enough to get me through this race? (b) what about the swim? I had only had two outdoor swims so far this year; (c) how will I cope with the altitude? I had never ridden or run at altitude before; so all in all, I had a lot to consider going into the race. As for the race itself, it was held on a Wednesday with a late start of 9:30am, so thankfully we didn't have to get up too early. We got to the start car park with two hours to spare so had plenty of time to rack the bike, check the ins & outs of T1 and had countless loo stops. I entered the lake to find the water OKish. It was bearable. The swim had been changed from a one lap course to a two lap one. I had managed to get to the bank on the right hand side of the lake, which enabled me to stand on the rocks so as not to tread water for 10 mins. It was a different start procedure to what we were used to as we were told in the race briefing that "when the music stopped, you would go" and eventually we did go as no-one really understood what was happening. I kept myself out of trouble by staying a little bit wide on the right while the washing machine effect took place on the inside to my left. The swim went OK with nothing really to worry about. However, exiting the swim, I had to climb a very steep wooden ramp to get out of the lake then into T1 only to find that it had now started to rain, and this would set the scene for the rest of the day. I exited T1 & headed out onto the bike course, which was a 115K loop with two big climbs before we had even gotten to Alpe D'Huez. The first 35mins of cycling was all downhill so that said to me that at some stage we've got to go uphill. Oh and boy did it go up hill. The first climb, the Col de L'Alpe du Grand Serre, which was a gentle, long, steady climb of 13K and by now it was seriously throwing it down. Also the mist had started to roll in. I crested the top, through the aide station, but had no need to stop as I had plenty of goodies on board. I had a reasonable descent which had to be taken with care because of the conditions. From then on, until the second climb, the ride was just rolling all the time. I tried to take on as much food and drink as possible and got to the second main aide station and changed bottles. The second main climb, the Col D'Ornon, wasn't as steep as the first one but just went on & on and, by now, we had a bit of hale thrown in just to make things even worse. I went through another aide station & exchanged my other bottle and headed down the Col D'Ornon which I had reccied the week before, so was a bit more knowledgeable about the descent, but by now the tips of my fingers had gotten so cold they had turned white as all the blood had been frozen in them, so holding the handlebars had now started to become a bit of an issue. I then travelled along the valley road towards Bourg D'Oissan, where we were staying and which is at the bottom of Alpe D'Huez, so all I had to do now was to climb the ADH with its 21 bends to heaven, but all I could think about to describe it was the 21 bends to hell. I got myself into what I thought was a reasonable rhythm, but soon found out it wasn't that good because everyone was now overtaking me, so I just decided to plod on to my own rhythm through the rain, the mist and more hale stones. By the time I reached the top, the climb of the ADH had taken me 1 1/2 hrs so by that time I was glad to see T2. I racked my bike, had a change of socks which were nice & dry however, not for long, and then out onto the run which was three 7.3K laps, which consisted of off-road, tarmac and Astroturf. The first lap was a bit of a disaster because my only brick set before this one was a 5K off the back of a sprint race and a 23min run off the back of a 90min bike ride, so not the best preparation. I did do a little bit of walking on the first lap. When I entered the first aide station, for some reason I picked sultanas and raisins and coke as my run nutrition. At the end of lap one I started to feel a little bit better as I had started to warm up by then, so I continued with my new race nutrition at every aide station, but this time also adding a bit of stretching. Now I was starting to run a bit better and even managed to run all of the hills, which there seemed to be quite a lot of, but had also quite a good descent down to end the second lap. Into the third and final lap and the legs seemed to be coming back to me but I had one slight problem, the aide station had run out of sultanas, raisins and coke but I had a back up of my own gels so I started to use them instead. Oh, and by the way, it was still raining and the off road tracks had now turned into mud baths, but as I was nearing the end of the race, it didn't matter too much. I finally crossed the line with the time of 8:43:48. Position overall, 454th. Age group position, 64th. Splits are as follows: Swim - 38:42 (228th & 22nd in AG) T1 - 4:29 Bike - 5:37:44 (436th & 60th AG) T2 - 3:29 Run - 2:19:24 (574th & 88th AG) Overall conclusion - absolutely loved every minute of it. Gra |
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Sunday 26th June 2011
Forestman Long Course Triathlon |
| Nigel had a day out in the New Forest. It has long been my ambition to complete an Ironman distance event, so last year I made the decision to do the Forestman. The plus side of choosing this event was that it was close to home so I could train on all parts of the course. The downside was shorter than usual cut off times and a brutal off-road marathon. Training went well and standing on the side on the lake just before 5:30 on race day I felt that I had prepared as well as possible. The lake was very misty and once we were underway it was a matter of swimming to each buoy and then looking for the next one! Apart from that the swim was uneventful and I exited the water feeling good. I spent some time in T1 making sure I was going to be comfortable on the bike. Once out on the bike course I settled into a steady pace. The course is basically three 60km loops and after the first of these I was ahead of schedule. However the temperature had started to rise and at about 90km I went to stand on the pedal to get up a little rise and both my legs (quads) locked completely. I couldn’t bend my knees! It was severe cramp so I got off (fell off!) the bike. I tried to stretch them (which was agony) and as soon as I did my hamstrings locked. It was at that point I thought my race was over but I relaxed for a few minutes and then stretched gently. That eased my legs a little so I got back on and started pedaling again .I got about 2 km down the road and my hamstring locked again. Stop,stretch,ride became the routine. I found that if I didn’t push too hard I wouldn’t cramp but this put me very close to the cutoff times. The rest of the bike became a constant calculation of time,speed and cramp intensity.The last 10km I had to go hard and hope I wouldn’t cramp completely. I got into T2 with 10 minutes to spare and with the support of the marshalls (thanks Graham!) I got myself out onto the run course. I was hoping that that would be the end of the cramp problems but no such luck! My calves cramped up every time I ran more than 50m. The temperature was about 29 degrees and even salt tablets didn’t relieve the problem. So I settled into a walk ,run pattern . It was frustrating because I was feeling strong enough to run but I was determined to finish and that become the sole focus. I finally crossed the line after 15:24 , tired but very happy. Splits were : Swim 68min, T1 several minutes!! Bike 7:47, Run 6:16 The Forestman is a brilliant event and is superbly organized and marshaled. I would thoroughly recommend it you fancy a bit of a challenge! |
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Sunday 26th June 2011
New Forest Sprint Triathlon |
| Graham had a blast at this one. Yes I am still here. This was going to be my first race since my last outing in October 2010. Since then I have had keyhole surgery on both feet, but following that I have also had achilles problems, therefore losing 11 weeks worth of training, so this was going to be a test to see how the feet withstood the pressure of the race and also I had two bits of new kit I wanted to try out. I was also going blind as no watch or anything for me to look at to see how badly I was doing. The race stated at 7am with a light mist covering over Ellingham Lake. The race was started half way up the lake so we swam to the top of the lake, round the buoy and returned. The swim went well. There were no untoward problems & I kept sight of the lead canoe which was visible for all of a 100 metres before disappearing into the mist. Into T1, through the Ironman change tent (oh yes, as Nigel's report will tell you, there was an Ironman event on at the same time). However, there was no need to use that. I was then out onto the bike route. This was a climb up to Red Shoot, across the forest plain and then drop back down to Sandy Balls Holiday Camp. Not realising how many people were in front of me, I just got on with the job in hand. I couldn't see a lot in front of me anyway because the fog was quite thick in parts, so having to dodge cows & horses who were wondering across the road at times was a bit dicey. On the drop back down to Sandy Balls, someone overtook me so I managed to keep him in sight, whilst also observing the 7 metre rule. Into the Holiday Camp, where you had to go round the roundabout to go into transition, the said man in front of me took the wrong exit, even though the marshalls were screaming at him to turn right (Nikki being one of them) so having already done my pre-race prep, I knew where I was going. I entered T2, for an Ironman style transition (i.e. someone was taking the bikes from the athletes), then into the change tent to put the runners on and off onto the run, which can only be described as a "Richard Special" which was a run through the Holiday Camp, a steep descent down to the river, up an even steeper side, over a style, back into the Holiday Camp, climb up the hill to the Fighting Cocks pub, but no time to stop, drop down a hill through an empty ford then up the other side, which was an off-road hill, do a quick loop then do retrace your steps back to return to the finish. However, on the descent of the first hill, the man who had gone wrong overtook me as I had to be careful on the descents and with the lack of run training, I was slow on the uphill bits as well. On the last descent another guy overtook me but I couldn't hang onto him. I completed the run on my own and crossed the finish line fairly happy as nothing had gone wrong. Times: Swim - 15:08 Bike - 40:25 Run - 27:23 Total - 1:22:56 Overall position - 4th Age group position - 3rd Not bad for an old bloke with two knackered feet. Coach note - a welcome return to racing by Gra. |
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Sunday 26th June 2011
Cotswold 113 Middle Distance Triathlon |
| Dave tried out a new event. This is a new middle distance event based at Ashton Keynes, between Cirencester and Swindon. Race day was forecast to be the hottest day of the year but it was misty and murky when I racked my bike at 5am. The swim was a two lap triangular course around three boats that were hidden by the same mist. With 300 plus triathletes and a mass start there was potential for an early battle on the swim but fortunately I got away quickly and had a relatively uneventful almost relaxing swim. In T1 I realised my HRM had given up the ghost. Onto the bike course which was virtually flat along quiet country roads. There was light drizzle but not a breath of wind and I found myself flying along. I was really enjoying myself until I hit a large pothole which resulted in me losing a water bottle and bike computer. From that moment on I was racing 'blind' but knew I was going well. Into T2 I glanced up at the timer over the finish gantry, it was showing exactly 3 hours. The run was three laps consisting of mixed off road and tarmac around the lakes in the country park and local village. Now the sun was shining and a fair few were suffereing in the heat. I pushed it along as fast as I could and finished in 38th place in 4:43:13. (swim 29:27, T1 1:17, bike 2:30:12, T2 1:07, run 1:41:08). I was well pleased with my efforts and would recommend this event to those in search of fast times or pb. Coach note - Dave was 2nd in his AG and 38th out of 275 finishers. |
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Sunday 19th June 2011
Wimbleball 70.3 |
| Matt's main race of the season - After arriving Saturday and the area starting to get like Glastonbury with the mud I was a tad concerned for Sundays race given the weather at the previous races I'd done but I was pleasantly surprised come race day. Arrived in plenty of time for the march down to the water I was 1st down there in fact keener than usual, got in the water listened to the national anthem then 07:00 start. There were people everywhere when looking back as we started but this was the best swim I have ever enjoyed open water on peoples feet for lots of the race and no bun fight at all. I might have to start nearer the front in future The bike was fairly uneventful though it did zap the legs on some of the climbs and once onto the run I felt good on the first two laps but onto the third and the wheels came off it was time for the old man shuffle as I like to call it. I had been overtaken by 2 people on lap one and I tucked in behind the 2nd one for the whole of lap 2. However at one of the aid stations I grabbed water and that was a mistake, I needed Coke. By the time I reached the next station it was 3 x cokes then knuckle down and finish. Splits were: swim 33:21 (170th and 42 second improvement on the previous year) bike 3:08:29 (inc. 5 mins worth of transitions, 4:23 mins down on last year) run 1:34:29 63rd and 1 min 19 down on last year 5:16:16 overall, 66th position and 4:59 slower than last year on not a lot of training and about 8 minutes off an automatic World Champs slot (though I did beat 2 of the roll downs I noticed), so reasonably pleased with the outing. Time to seek out other races to keep it interesting, maybe IM or something else long for 2012?? |
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12th June 2011
Burnham on Sea Super Sprint Triathlon |
| Between his two middle distance races, Matt returned to one of his favourite events. I have done this race every year since I started tri's and like this one. It’s a 500m pool swim, 20km bike and 5km run along the beach. Usually the weather is glorious however this year absolutely awful, as I arrived I did not fancy it at all. I was pretty pleased with my time 1:03:39, and an age group win. I was 10th overall which is a bit worse than previous years out of 302 with a slower run (7th when I had been 1st or 2nd for the last 3 years) but quicker swim (53rd) and bike (6th), so I am learning where I need to improve. It’s the first time ever that my bike position was better than my run…… |
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Sunday 21st May 2011
Swashbuckler Middle Distance Triathlon. |
| Here's Matt's take on his race. I had not done my usual amount of training leading into this one (got my excuses in early didn’t bike October to February v. busy with a 1 year management course) so expectations were not too high. I knew I was doing Wimbleball so this was training for that really plus having done the race 2 years previously I had a benchmark time. Nothing had prepared me however for the early start time 05:15 to be at the waters edge for 05:00 - ouch! Scott & Di very kindly allowed me (and Jess) to crash at his on Saturday night I warned him that I would be up early so Scott/Di kindly set up breakfast for us and left us to it. So up at 02:00 to the raindrops against the window, left at 03:00 arrived at Beaulieu at 03:45 racking in the pouring rain until 4:30 quick bit of nutrition/shelter from rain/use of toilet then down to the waters edge. What a difference from the lovely weather the day before. Anyhow race starts and the fun begins! I have never had so many elbows in the face as I got in the race and it wasn’t just at the start / turn buoys it was throughout. To begin with my strategy was to move away and avoid this as it was frustrating and wasting energy. Next I thought I have had enough of this so gave some back but the elbows/kicks in the face didn't stop. Strangely people would slow up or come from behind so I had no idea how this was happening from a smallish field and mass start. Eventually back to avoidance and the 2 laps around the boats passed. I knew my swimming was better than 2 years ago but I was 6 mins slower than 2009 with 37:45 but my rank for the swim was better 70th instead of 115th previously so others suffered with the tide too (the reason for the crazy early start time). Uphill to transition and out on the bike. Nikki was doing her usual sterling work as a marshall here and it was good to see a familiar face albeit a wet one due to the inclement weather. The weather improved gradually on the bike. I was reasonably familiar with the route (or so I thought) however the route had apparently changed slightly. I was racing a group of other riders about 5 of us were constantly overtaking the getting overtaken etc. but not drafting, and this was keeping the pace high. However at about 36 miles into the ride there was a hill and I lost contact with these guys never to be seen again. I faded, I think my lack of training caught up with me and I was struggling into what became quite a strong headwind. I did 2:20:46 (70th) however I had made a mistake somewhere on the second lap because when I came past the Beaulieu turn off I was in the opposite direction to alll the other riders. I rode down the road watching them trying to work out where I had gone wrong, were these on lap 1? if indeed I had gone wrong thinking that there may be a turnaround point but I rode a couple of miles past the old car museum and thought this isn't right so with a few extra miles banked turned around and went with the rest back into transition having done 53 miles against the stipulated 49 miles. The weather was quite nice now and I felt comfortable on the run overtaking a few and actually enjoying the first lap but taking it steady as I knew I had done very little running since injuring my achilles/calf after bath half marathon at the beginning of March. The second lap was harder and I wanted more nutrition I think but I definitely went faster for the last 3 miles as I knew I would get around by this time. I was really disappointed with the run time 1:38:35 although its not too shabby for 14 miles but I couldn’t help notice that others whom I have beaten in a few races previously now had beaten me. - Must train harder….. Overall a good race finished with 4:37:06 38th out of 370, I noticed its the first time out of the top 10% of the field since IM Austria 2009 so things to work on and motivation to improve restored. Coach note - Matt still grabbed a top 10 place in his AG with his performance. |
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15th May 2011
Masterclass in Sports Psychology |
| The early part of the year has been taken up with various conferences, here are Di's thoughts on a recent sports psychology weekend. Studying has made me think about the role of the coach and the team around the process which includes sports psychology. This course allowed me to indulge myself in the world of sports psychology and move on from goal setting techniques! SoI turned up on what I considered to be a coaching course minus clipboard and whistle! The course was presented by Dr Brian Hemmings , a leading sports psychologist working with elite performers across many sports such as golf, cricket and Formula1 racing. The audience were mostly lecturers in sports psychology who knew the theory but wanted to know how to apply it. Straight away Brian made it clear that this course was about how to apply it and not the theory. Sounded good to me. The first point Brian made was the need to build a professional relationship with the athlete(s). He spent time explaining that rapport had to be worked upon with the most important person being the athlete. He made the point of working on their territory and talking their language. He suggested that at times its necessary to blend in with the environment and be unobtrusive, ie sitting in the bleachers, and waiting for the opportunity to talk. The sports psychologist wants to suggest solutions rather than create problems by being a distraction during training or competition. The need to understand the sport was discussed as its helps the athlete feel you values them by understanding the issues. He told stories of his work with athletes using humour and a friendly approach to build relationships to a point where work could begin and develop. The better the relationship, the better the understanding of the issues and what needs to be worked upon. In Brian's experience humour is key as it is part of everyday communication and breaks down barriers. It became apparent that in some cases the first few conversations had no "ology" or technical interventions within them - nothing would work until the two sides can talk easily and trust is understood. To assist the story telling and conversations the use of props, images and quotes were discussed as a means of creating a memory to use in the future. The subject of confidentiality was brought up. How can the sports psychologist expect the athlete to speak openly and truthfully if they worry about what the coach will say or think about them? The sports psychologist may suggest it may be beneficial for the athlete and coach to talk but they cannot insist as its on the athlete's needs, not theirs. However before the work starts the coach has to provide parameters or guidelines about the sports psychologists work, for example find out who called for your services and why. Another key element to his work was focusing on the "now" rather than the past. Most athletes relate the need for coping with performance rather than training sessions. But he used the performance loop as a means of deciding what to work on , for example before, during or after the performance. He suggested that in his experience it was before the match that athletes wanted techniques to cope with nerves or over arousal. So what did I take away? a certificate! The importance of building rapport to build a professional relationship keep it simple i.e. take out the "blah-blah" understand the athlete and what makes them tick and use it to make the relationship work it's the athlete's agenda not yours it's a need to know basis as far as the coach or sponsors are concerned create something to remember whether this is phrase or picture and use it well remember everyone will have doubts no matter what level the competition, it's a natural reaction I enjoyed the weekend and meeting Brian and the other attendees.The story telling exercise was great fun with BAFTA performances from some! I would recommend this course to sports coaches as I think it adds to your coaching skills as many of the ideas would help the coach- athlete relationship. |
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Sunday 17th April 2011
London Marathon |
| My place in this event was deferred from last year (when I was injured) and was not really in the plan for my season. Therefore the plan was to use it as a training run. With no speed work done it was never going to be fast but the idea was to try and run a consistent, controlled race. Standing in the Blue start area on Sunday morning it was bright but cloudy. The race kicked off at 9:45 and surprisingly it only took me about 2 minutes to get over the start line. After my last experience at London 2 years ago when I dehydrated I was determined not to let that happen again. Consequently 2km in I needed to make a pit stop! That theme continued through the first 30km of the race but better that than my previous experience. Anyway I had decided to run at 10km/hour pace for the first 20km and see how I felt then. This went pretty much to plan and at 20km I felt good so decided to continue at that speed. At 30 km still good. Things were heating up by this point and I was aware that I was having to run around lots or walking runners. However I knew my hydration and fuelling strategy (I was using gels) was working so I carried on. The last 12 km were a little more challenging but when I got to Birdcage walk (41km) I still had a smile on my face. Finished in 4:11:40 a bit weary but happy with my days work. Overall I am very happy with my pacing, the negative split and the fact I still managed to push on in the last 2k. This is not my fastest London Marathon but it is by far my most satisfying. |
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Saturday 5th March 2011
Student Strength & Conditioning Conference |
| Some great lectures by keynote speakers Ian Jeffrey's & Liam Kilduff at this conference with a focus on self-reflective practice & communication. Good chance to network with the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme coaches with a sharing of ideas coming together in a collaboration between cerebral palsy football and Olympic sailing. I had a poster presentation on the needs analysis & training programme of elite squash players that went well. Refreshing and thought provoking to work across other sports rather than enduranced based swim, bike & run. |
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26/02/2011
Chance to get involved in Anti-Doping Research |
Lisa Whitaker is a PhD student at Leeds Metropolitan University researching performance enhancement in sport. She is currently looking for participants for a research study, which involves completing a questionnaire. Participants need to be competitive athletes in any sport and be over the age of 18. They can also compete from club to international level. The study represents an opportunity for people to voice their opinions and attitudes towards performance enhancement in sport. In addition, the results of the study may help to inform athlete education, particularly in relation to anti-doping. Here is the link to the online survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/performance_enhancement Please forward this invitation to anyone else you think may be interested in advertising/completing the survey. Many thanks Lisa Whitaker PhD student Carnegie Faculty | Leeds Metropolitan University | Fairfax Hall 107| Headingley Campus | Leeds, LS6 3QS | United Kingdom |
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Saturday 5th Feb 2011
Field Based Testing Podcast |
| Check out the podcast I did for Training Bible UK on field based testing. http://www.trainingbible.co.uk/resources/podcasts/ A transcript of the podcast is also available on the www.trainingbible.co.uk site. |
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23/01/2011
English Federation of Disability Sport Triathlon Workshop. |
| EFDS & BTF launched their triathlon specific workshop. Good day for coaches to get brought up to speed on how the Equality Act 2010 affects day to day coaching processes. The second half of the day had coaches interacting with paratriathletes and getting to try out some of the kit – some scary moments involving the cycle track at Hillingdon and a tandem… |
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Jan 2011
New Year & new races. |
| Well it’s a New Year and the team athletes are up for racing new events. So far we have – Matt is out at the Swashbuckler Middle Distance triathlon on 22nd May 2011 and is using this as a warm up for the UK 70.3 where no doubt he will be looking to qualify for the 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas. Graham will be crossing swords with Matt at the Swashbuckler, before heading off to hillier climes at Alpe D’huez on 28 July, Gra will also grace the WTC this year by finishing off at Ironman Wales on 11th September 2011. Nigel's main race of the season is the self branded toughest iron distance race in the UK - The Forestman Iron Distance race on 26th June 2011. Dave’s main race of the season continues with his racing across all the continents with the Trollveggen triathlon, Norway 28th August 2011. Di & I will be out and about at local races including the Ringwood Triathlon in April, the Swashbuckler in May and the Weymouth triathlon in September. Di will also be involved coaching on female training camps and the SheActive Duathlon Series. Other updates will follow. |