Lanzarote 70.3

Finally thought it was time to do a Lanzarote 70.3 race report. I flew to Lanza with Anthea on the Tuesday afternoon arriving at 7pm. Wednesday was bike building day in the sun next to the pool in a very nice 27 degrees. I did a 1 hour test ride later that day and having been to the same resort for the last 4 years it was much more windy than usual, I was glad I'd opted for the 80 rear with the 46 front wheel set up! Thursday I did another 40 min bike with a 20 min run off from the bike. It was the best my knee had felt for the last three weeks due to a niggling injury. Friday I had a swim in the sea and then went up to register and rack the bike as well has handing in the transition bags.

Saturday and an early start with rice pudding and coffee for breakfast before the 30 min drive up to La Santa for the first ever Lanzarote 70.3. I wasn't impressed driving up with the windscreen wipers on full speed, I didn't expect it to be pouring with rain that's for sure. I arrived at transition and checked the bike over and got into my wetsuit before making my way down to the swim start. I noticed straight away it was a small and narrow swim for the first 2-300 meters and that it was going to be a bit of a brawl until the lake opened out a bit. As the race started my suspicions were right and it was a battle to find space and get into my own pace. Around halfway of the first lap I got some space and focused on my stroke, lap 2 was uneventful and I exited the water on 31 mins which is a bit slow for me but I guess the first lap to be the cause.

After the steep and long run up to the transition I grabbed my bag and got the wetsuit bagged up to deposit on the way out of the tent before running to the bike. Now it was time to start one of the hardest 70.3 bike courses in the world. Leaving La Santa it was already very windy, I was making good progress through the field and by 20k had passed a couple of the elite females. Progressing through the field and by 40k I'd not been overtaken by anyone. When we arrived at Tabayesco I got passed by a couple of people on road bikes, this was their terrain for the next 10km of climbing but felt sure I'd pass them back once over the top and back into TT bike terrain. The climb was amazing, 10k of climbing with endless switchbacks and regular opportunity to see down the valley at hundreds of athletes still just starting the climb. Once over the top there was a fast decent and finally some tailwind. Hitting speeds of 48.5mph on the decent was good fun. The last 20k was doing battle with the wind once again before returning to La Santa and the end of a very hard bike course and with the knowledge that at 28 degrees and windy it was going to be a tough run.

Leaving T2 the first mile of the run had a bit of downhill in it and clocking 6:10 I felt like I was going to enjoy this but was slightly concerned if the knee would hold together. Mile 2 at 6:15 and I was getting hot already! I could see lots of salt on the shorts so knew I had to take fluids at every aid station. The crowd were very supportive, the RAF race kit stands out and there is a lot of support out there for the British Forces. At the end of lap 1 in the stadium the heat was intense, but out on lap 2 and back into the wind it took the edge off the heat. Lap 2 went well and I was running well, it was at around 15k that I started to struggle and the speed dropped a bit, the last 5k I was down to 7 min miles but still moving well and I crossed the line in 4 hours 55 min which is my slowest middle distance ever but to put it in perspective I normally do 4 hour 20 for middles. I was still 5th in my AG and 56th overall so it was just a tough and slow course. As my age group was the biggest age group with a 165 people in it there were 5 slots for the 70.3 World Champs so in 5th place I'd qualified by right to race the World Champs in Vegas. I chose not to take the place as the timing is not ideal for me with my departure from the RAF early in 2014.

The event overall was fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone, I would like to do it again sometime in the next couple of years. It's a great opportunity to combine an end of season race with a family holiday.

I also found out some good news last week with Xterra Wetsuits confirming continued sponsorship for another season, I will be getting a new wetsuit early next year ready for the 2013 season :-)

Season round up and a picture from Beth

I've been meaning to do a season round up for a few weeks but a prompt arrived this week. Beth (my 14 year old daughter for those that don't know) has been busy with photo shop  at school and did a picture for me which is very cool indeed, as a result I just had to publish it on the blog.

So the season (not quite over yet) has been a busy one and started in March just as the cross country season finished. I won the senior men's cross country league which was a good start to the year! Anyway on to the multisport season.......

The year opened with the Dambuster Duathlon, I'm not a fan of duathlon but had a go anyway. Not a great race finishing 8th in my AG, a strong field as it was the National Champs and World Championship qualifier which I qualified at but a few months later turned down my place on the GB team as I'd found another race I wanted to do instead, more on that at the end of this blog entry.

Next was the Hull sprint triathlon and my normal season opener, a very fresh bright day but very very cold start, I had a good race finishing 3rd overall.

Lincoln sprint was next, still quite ill after a nasty cold/man flu and only managed 11th overall and 3rd in my age group.

A week later was the Grantham sprint during the Lincolnshire monsoon season, the wettest race I've ever done, windy too! Back on form and finished 3rd overall.

I think it was 10 days after Grantham that I was at Brize Norton for the sprint triathlon and the first of the RAF Sprint series, I finished a very close 2nd to Greg Macdonald after a neck and neck race from start to finish. 

Beaver middle distance was my next race and at the end of a 3 week build phase (after deciding to get a coach) was not expecting much but managed 13th overall and 3rd in age group.

The War of the Wolds mountain bike race was the day after the Beaver middle, felt strong all day and finished 3rd overall.

3 days later and just 5 days after a middle distance (Beaver) I won the Odiham sprint triathlon.

Late June and I raced Dambuster triathlon on a new bike, a World Championship qualifier and a strong field saw me finish 14th overall and 2nd in age group (another GB qualification for me that I turned down)

10 days later and it was the Cranwell sprint (RAF Championship) which I won for the 3rd year on the bounce and also won the series with Brize Norton 2nd/Odiham 1st/Cranwell 1st.

On to the Cowman middle distance which was the British National Championships, a great race and 12th overall with 2nd in age group to gain a British Championship silver medal.

3 days later and I was at Heaver Castle for the Inter Service Championships and a true test of how quick I could recover from the National middle distance, I did recover well and finished 7th.

A couple of weeks later I was in Spain for the World Long Distance Championships representing team GB, a large field of 1000 age group athletes had assembled for this race and I was very happy with my performance finishing 10th in my age group and 44th overall.

I've not raced since the end of July at the World Champs, so why did I not do the duathlon World Champs or the Olympic distance World Champs? Money plays a big part, it's very expensive as most of you know, I had seen a brand new event I wanted to do so channelled what money I had left in my 2012 race fund into Lanzarote 70.3 which is a new event in the 70.3 series and the race is based in and around Club La Santa. I'm training hard for this event and it's a bit strange to be training this hard at the end of September as I usually am winding down now before the cross country season starts. It's hard work too training so hard this late in the year when the season started way back in March! I hope it pays off with a qualifying slot for the 70.3 World Championship? I guess I'll find out 6 weeks on Saturday.

Quick edit: Almost forgot, raced the Wolds "Hilly" 10 road race at the start of this month, a very tough course indeed, finished 8th and just under the the hour with 59:58 (google it to see the course profile) sub hour is a good run!

10 days ago I did the Inter Service mountain bike championships at Wakerly Woods near Stamford, I was pleased with 8th place, just lack of experience on the single track, I think I could do well if I spent more time off road. 

So there it is, 2012 season (almost) which I would say has been a success.

World Champs race report

 So only a month after the race I thought I best update the blog with a race report from the World Championships in Vittoria Gastiez, Spain.

So having raced on the course before (except the run course had changed) and from previous experience the kit I opted for was the 80mm front and rear wheels on the bike and a road helmet in order to hopefully not over heat in my aero helmet.

I flew from Stanstead with Pete Norris (Pete was not racing due to a foot injury but brought his bike to do some training as he'd already paid for the trip) and we arrived in Bilbao at around lunch time, after a transfer to Vittoria Gastiez we were at the first hotel drop off point (a nice 5 star hotel) and built our bikes as soon as we got to the room. That afternoon we went for a quick ride up to the lake, roughly a 25 mile round trip just to get out in the sun and check the bikes were OK. It was a great day at around 36 degrees and the lake looked stunning.

Thursday I did a loop of around 30 miles on the bike and a 20 min run in 33 degrees to try and start acclimatising and had a swim at the pool.

Friday was a 25 mile ride and 10 min run, I registered and picked up all my kit from the race HQ and started to sort everything out ready for Saturday to check in.

Saturday was check in day, we had to hand in our T2 bags due to split transitions, always a worry as the bag looks so empty, all it contained was a pair of trainers and 4 gels! as I had opted for no socks even though it was an 18.6 mile run but the Kinvara's are such a good shoe you don't need socks.

Then it was the long drag to rack the bike in T1, you have to get a bus up and your bikes go in a van. The queue was long to check in while they check your kit has all the correct country codes and measure any sponsor logos to be sure they conform to the regulations. Once all was done and the bike was racked it was a case of hanging round for the bus back, all in this took about 3 hours!

Sunday arrived and I'd slept well which is always a bonus, I opted for the later bus to the start as I can't be bothered being in transition before the race for too long and we arrived at around 7:45. The first wave were off at 0830 so it was just 15 minutes until my race would start. As I lined up on the edge of the lake I started to try and get in the zone but a 4km swim just seems too long to blast into at full tilt so as I ran into the water I just focused on finding space and getting into a smooth stroke and pace. The lake got a little choppy around half way and I exited the water on 1:07 which I was surprised by as I thought I would be nearer the hour, as it turns out my garmin would inform me later when checking that the swim was 400 meters to long which means I would have swam around 1:01 which would be more like what I was expecting.

On to the bike and as I set off I tried to think about pace and fuel as I didn't want to start off at Olympic speeds given that I had 75 miles to ride! I got into what felt a good pace and got down to business, things were going OK but I actually started to feel stronger after 60km than I did at the start of the bike, I got stuck as a bunch passed me which was frustrating as every time I passed them they would come back past as a pack and were blatantly drafting but then a referee came along side on the motorbike and over the next 5 km managed to break them up. I pushed on and arrived at T2 after 3:11:58 mins on the bike at an average of just under 24mph. I passed my bike to the staff who were racking the bikes and picked up my bag in T2.

As I left T2 it was time to test if the training had paid off, I'd done a lot of running at my "target race pace" and I was determined not to go off too fast and stick to the pace using my garmin 910. The target was a 2 hour run (18.6 miles/30 km) which would have to be done at 6:24's to hit the 2 hours. An ambitious pace but not out of reach as I'd done it in training but only for 15 miles! The run course was 4 laps in the town centre and I have never ever experienced anything like it, the crowds were huge and about 10 deep and the noise was unbelievable. The first 4 miles were on target then a mile which was slow appeared on the gps but it had been slightly up hill and a bit technical with lots of tight corners so not much to worry about, lap 2 was still going on target and at 10 miles things were looking good. At the half marathon point I was starting to lose the pace as fatigue kicked in, the last lap was a drag and I was still running OK but the pace was gone, by the end of the run I had lost 6 mins

The day after I felt quite good, hamstrings were a little tight but generally I was in good order. I had until mid afternoon before needing to get out the room so I went out and did a 50 mile spin on the bike, felt good too and averaged 20mph! After that it was time to start packing and head back to the reality of being a normal person with a full time job :-(

That's all my racing for now, I will do a sprint in October in Hull as a fun race but it's now into a 2 month programme of proper training again in preparation for the Lanzarote 70.3 on the 10th November. The objective is to get a qualification slot for the 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas in September 2013.

World Champs time

Fly in the morning to Spain to race for team GB at the World Championships at the long course, 4km swim, 120km bike and 30km run. Hope I feel better out there than the last 2 weekends training! Will update upon my return.

Silver at the National Middle Distance Championships

Training seems to be going spot on in accordance with the programme as on Sunday it was the National Middle Distance Championships and for the second time in triathlon I won a National Silver Medal!!! I now have a National standard distance medal and a National Middle distance medal, any guesses what one of next years objectives might be?

The day started at 03:55 with the alarm going off for breakfast due to the race starting at 06:30. I'd racked my bike the day before and registered so all I had to do was turn up and get ready. The place was a bit of a mess due to the amount of rain the whole country seems to have had, transition was a swamp. I started the swim and it was a bit on the violent side to start with until about 250 meters in where I found some space to settle into my own pace, I swam well and exited the water in the top 30 of the first of two waves. I was surprised to be just behind Mike Masters who was only about 5 meters ahead getting out of the water. The run to transition was very muddy and slippy and I nearly fell over but got there in one piece and with a smooth transition I was on the bike for the 92km course. I felt I was going OK but just didn't feel at the top of my game on the bike, hard to explain but just didn't seem to be firing on all cylinders. I still had a good bike split and arrived back in transition in 14th place (not forgetting there was a second wave).

Transition 2 went OK given the amount of mud and I'm not sure who would be better off, those who'd opted for socks or those (me included that weren't bothering with them) due to the mud and water in transition but luckily the run course was changed to reflect the conditions and would be completely on tarmac. It was an out and back section before a lap of the park perimeter road and was 3 laps. On the out and back bit there was a 1 mile climb which I was clocking 6:24 going up and of course you had to come back down which was being knocked out at 5:50. I had a great run and moved up the positions from my wave to 10th but after the second wave were in I finished 12th overall and second in my age group. Once the results were up I found that I'd done the 3rd fastest run overall which at a National Championship race I'm very happy about.

3 days later on Wednesday it was a test of recovery ability to see how quick I could come from a middle distance race into an Olympic distance for the inter services. I felt a little tired but on Tuesday I'd swam and biked to loosen off a bit. The race started and I swam OK, once on the bike that's where things started to happen, I quickly made up lots of places and hit transition in about 13th or 14th. Onto the run and I made up more places passing Pete Norris at around the 6k point and moving through to finish 7th overall. Another satisfying performance, I just need things to go well over the next 2 weeks before the World Long Course Championships in Spain. The last of the big stuff is this weekend with a 2 hour ride Saturday then 3 hour ride Sunday with a 1 hour 30 run off the bike brick.

That's all for now.

RAF Sprint Champion 3 years running

Last Wednesday was the RAF Sprint Championship held at RAF Cranwell. The event was the last in the sprint series and I was keen to win. I had won this event in 2010 and 2011 and wanted to win for a third time, this however meant I was putting pressure on myself and I was nervous before the race. As my wave was about to start I got into the water in my new posh RAF team kit made by ZeroD. I have to say it felt fast in the water and despite a hold up in the first 50 meters by a slower swimmer from the wave in front I still managed to climb out the water on 5:40 just 5 seconds behind Brad Goggin, Joe Dale and Paul Cassels. The new transition location meant quite a long run to the bike and my official swim was 6:33, I had a good transition and was out on the bike chasing the others from my wave. I caught Paul quickly and passed Brad and Joe after about 2km of the bike and opened the gap nicely, on the return leg of the bike I passed Reg Swallow who had started 4 minutes ahead on the earlier wave, and was soon on my way back into transition with the fastest bike split of the day by just over 30 seconds. I set off on the run and could see Mike Taylor from the earlier wave not to far in front, I didn't seem to be closing him down despite trying hard but then in the last 2km I suddenly started catching him quite quickly and passed him with about 200 meters to go. I crossed the line to take the win by 1 minute 31 seconds with the fastest run of the day too which was nice as I didn't feel comfortable on the run from the brick session I'd done the day before. I was the RAF Sprint Champion for 2012 and also won the series scoring 299 from a possible 300 points.

This weekend is the Cowman Middle Distance National Championships which I'm looking forward to and then its only 3 weeks until the World Championships. Lets hope for lots of rain in Spain as I've had lots of practise of riding in the rain thanks to the great British summer!

Busy weekend racing and training

This weekend was a busy one, Saturday was the Dambuster triathlon, a world championship qualifier and an  interesting day really. First thing of note was that I'd decided to ride my new bike that I only picked up Thursday lunch time, that was going to be a gamble but all in I managed to set it up to a good enough position using the turbo trainer and although it needs a couple more tweaks yet it went well (well enough for the 24th fastest bike split of the day) with a 1:06 on a very windy day. That was the next thing of note, the weather! As usual the weather was not great but when is it ever good for this race? A few weeks of heavy rain meant there was water in the lake and lots of it, as a result of the heavy rain the water temp was only 12 degrees so BTA regulations meant we were only allowed a max swim of 1km so the race directors changed it to a 1km swim instead of 1.5km. We also had a beach start instead of a deep water start. The swim went quite well and I exited over the timing mat in 14:21 and then it was bike time, it was very very windy so I opted to run the 50 front instead of the 80 which was a good decision. The bike went well and I felt comfy on the new bike, it descends well and handles the cross winds, its a nice predictable handling bike. At then end of the bike I made a minor mistake by reaching the bike onto the transition rack at the same time as undoing my helmet, I was told off by the race referee but not given a penalty as it was a borderline decision but I was delayed by about 30-40 seconds whilst my error was pointed out. I had done the windy 42km bike course in 1:06:25, now it was time to run and I think that's the first time I've ever felt the wind impacting on my speed whilst running, one direction over the dam was slow and the other was a lot quicker, I ran well and clocked a 33:58 for a total time of 1:57:13 which was 14th overall and 2nd in my age group, given it's a world championship qualifier so in theory a stronger field I'm pretty happy with that as I didn't taper for this event it was just training.

Sunday was back to work (training) so I was out on the bike for 2 hours which I managed to average at 19.2 mph followed by a 9.5 mile run averaging 6:17's, a good effort the day after a race when my natural instinct is telling me I should be on a rest day! All in a good weekends work :-)

The bike, I have bought a Specialized Transition with full ultegra groupset, set it up with my own wheels so the Grammo carbon 50's I got with it are for sale should anyone be interested? Pics will follow later when I get home from work.