It’s been a long while since my last blog update. Basically after my last blog my laptop decided it would randomly stop working on me, at round the same time I also decided to drop a big weight n my phone which as you can imagine made getting in contact with people interesting!
I’ve done a little race report of each of the races I have competed in and in between a brief update I’ve what I have been up to.
Alicante Triathlon ( http://www.triatlondeelche.org/category/noticias/ )
The Sunday before this race I had raced ICAN Malaga Triathlon where I manage to get on the podium which was great and I was really pleased with that. However I think I underestimated how much doing two 70.3s on consecutive weekends take out of me as I felt like death warmed up until like the Friday, where I started to feel better and then on the Saturday I actually felt pretty good and thought I might have timed it o.k for the race. on Saturday before the race I actually felt quite good and went into the race feeling confident.
The race started off pretty quick but I felt as though I was swimming well and at the first buoy didn’t seem as though I was to far behind the leaders, then at the buoy we took a sharp turn and then had to swim through some of the stragglers in the Women’s race which started 5 minutes before. This caused Carnage and broke the pack up which I was swimming in, also for the rest of the swim I had to swim by myself which wasn’t ideal.
Out onto the bike and for the first few kilometers I felt o.k, but then after that it just felt hard going. I don’t really know what else to describe it as really apart from it just felt hard and like a real slog. I had the SRM on the TT bike and new after half way that I was finding it harder then I should. I kept plugging away and by the end of the bike I got off with a group of guys going for 5th place.
At the start of the run I actually felt pretty good, I heard someone say that 2nd place was only 2 minutes ahead which made me think o.k maybe this isn’t so bad and I might be able to get another podium. The run at this race was really tough as it was a 2 lap course where you had to run up a biggish hill which included about 50-60 steps twice and a beach section of about 300 meters where you were running on soft sand. It was a cracking course and one that if you were going well, you would love and if you were hanging on it would be an absolute nightmare.
Up until around 4k I was feeling good, I was leading the group and feeling strong then all of a sudden the lights went out. It was so bizarre, horrific, I just lost all energy and in the space of about 1 Kilometer I lost about 40 seconds. I went through a big dark patch at this time and thought f**k it I’m going to stop, I got a podium this last week I’ll just call it a day for this race, It doesn’t matter!
The problem with actually calling it a day was that I was now half way round the lap so was 5 kilometers from transition so it would have taken ages to walk there and would have been so embarrassing. Its points like this in races where you have to really dig in, at first I just tried to limit my losses to two of the guys who were just in front of me and then after about a mile I started to feel better and then started to catch them. Eventually I overtook them, I just thought to myself, if you give 100% you can’t do anymore then that so that’s just what I did. I could have pulled out and moped around but I tried to pull myself together and just give it my best shot on the day.
I eventually finished 8th and was only 2 minutes off 2nd place which wasn’t to bad in the end considering my power on the bike was 27 watts lower then the previous week and this was a shorter bike course, and my run was only 2 minutes off the fastest split of the day. In hindsight 2 races one week apart wasn’t the best thing to do at the start of the year but they were both close to where I was staying in Spain and I thought it was worth the shot.
AFTER ALICANTE
After the race in Alicante we went to this bar in the evening had a few drinks and did a bit of Karaoke, it was a right laugh. Amy Forshaws boyfriend Rob was with us and I think he’s wasted in the career he’s doing t the moment. What he really needs to do is be a lead singer. I think actually we could form a little band, Rob being the lead singer, Brundish being the drummer (he actually plays the drums), and me I’ll play the Bass guitar. If triathlon doesn’t work out watch this space! J
Anyway enough of me talking garbage, after Alicante I went back to the lodge and got stuck into some great training, at first I was training with a group from Chester who I actually knew from working at Royles, it was Chris Standidge, Chris Prior and a few others. It was pretty good although I couldn’t do to much as I had just done the race. The guys were going well and I see Chris Standidge has already won one race this year so if you’re reading this mate, well done.
Then after the Chester guys London fields triathlon club were here, it was really good meeting all of them as they were a top group, really friendly and we had a good laugh. If any of them read this, best of luck for the season.
This was actually the last group which was staying at Kinetic so after they left I flew back to the UK and am now living back in Lowestoft for the rest of the summer.
On the way back to Lowestoft I did experience one little bit of drama. The plan was for my Dad to fly out to Spain on Tuesday 30th April which all went smoothly. He managed that fine, I met up with him got my stuff all packed and he was going to take my other bike pack to the UK on Thursday. So Thursday rolls around, we manage to get to the airport in time for our flight, oh but wait, what flight. When we went to check in at the desk they say this flight isn’t today. It’s already been, the flight was on Tuesday, yes Tuesday just gone. I couldn’t believe it my Dad had brought two ticket an outbound one and return on the same day and didn’t even realize! We eventually made it back the next day!
If anyone wants some excitement in there life please come traveling with me and my family, it’s like a lucky dip when you get to the airport, you don’t know where your going, or even if you are going anywhere.
WAVENEY VALLEY TRIATHLON
This is a local sprint triathlon near my house and was actually the Sunday after I got back from Spain. Many years ago I think in 2001 I did my first triathlon here. God it was a lot different then to what it was now. I remember watching the early waves before I was off and everyone was literally starker’s in transition getting fully changed into cycling kit and then again into running kit for the gruelling 20k bike and monster 3.2k run. I think when I did it my mum was in transition when I came out of the swim, she was holding a towel up and I got changed into cycling kit for the bike. J
Now a days it seems the trend is to just jump on your bike soaking wet. The distances for this race are 400 meter pool swim, 20k bike and 3.2k run. I managed to win this race actually posting the fastest time in all 3 disciplines and getting a course record. It was really good to race against friends and was a really fun race. Oh and yes you did red that Wright, I did indeed get the fastest swim, sorry if I made you spit your coffee out laughing at that, but really it was a Thorpe like performance J
I also want to add thank you to ON running shoes which are sponsoring me for this season. This was the first race which I have used them for and they seemed really good. They have a very unique design with an advanced cushioning system which absorbs both horizontal and vertical forces. Check them out on the link below. https://www.on-running.com/?gclid=CJ6gu8nXzLcCFY3HtAod3wUAnA
Results are here:
http://racetimingsolutions.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=16269&RId=116
ICENI VELO ROAD RACE
In the afternoon after the Triathlon I took part in the Iceni Velo Road Race. It was a 56 mile race on a challenging 5.5 mile loop with 3 small hills each lap. It was a 3/4 race and I thought it would be good training to do after the triathlon as it would push me much more then going training by myself and the race was only up the road. I managed to get in the break of 6 riders which formed on around the 3rd or 4th lap but unfortunately for me I punctured with one and a half laps to go, so that was it for me, the remaining riders were left to fight it out for the win with local boy Sean Aldous winning the uphill sprint. I got a lift to the headquarters, got a spare wheel and rode home. I can remember now when I got home I had been out since about 7am in the morning, raced the triathlon, best part of 50 miles of the road race and 27 miles home. I was a wreck when I got home, it was like 7pm, needless to say the beer I had tasted bloody good and I had no problem sleeping after that!
European Middle Distance Championships Barcelona
Before this race I thought I was in shape for a Top 10 performance. Unfortunately for me I didn’t manage it, I had a really bad swim as we swam about 200 meters out to a buoy and then about 1500 meters straight into the sun where I just couldn’t see a thing. I ended up swimming with a group which were too slow, I tried a couple of time to go on my own but as I couldn’t see the buoys I was just wasting energy so I stayed with the group and could tell it was slow as I was easily able to stay with them. My normal tactics in the swim is just go full gas, and limit my losses.
Onto the bike and at least I can’t use going to hard on the swim as an excuse! Nah to be fair I actually had quite a good bike and managed to get myself up to 14th from 23rd out of the water. I think 1m 30 to the top 10 at the start of the run.
Not much happened on the run really, I dropped a guy who I started the run with, lost a place to a Spaniard at the start of the run, overtook someone with 3k to go and then got beaten by some cheeky sod in a sprint finish. I didn’t even realize he was there and he came past me by surprise in a twisty section with about 150 meter remaining.
http://www.challenge-barcelona.es/uploads/fitxers/ELITE%20MEN.pdf
On the official results they have me as 13th which I will take if they want to give it to me. On reflection from the race I think a top 10 was definitely achievable if I had swam to my ability, in races like this you can’t get away with giving away free time and expect to make it back up.
The bike, I was pretty happy with I can’t really criticize that much apart from not being in 100% fitness but that’s just as I’m aiming to peak for UK Ironman.
The run I think I’m going to wear my garmin next time I race as I use it in training and it’s really good at giving me a kick up the ass if I see the pace drop off. I thought I would try racing without it for a few races to see if I ran better but over a half ironman I don’t actually think it does for me.
Finally Since Barcelona
I’ve just been knuckling down to some hard training. I got back into training on the Wednesday 22nd after the race with the plan of doing a really hard block finishing on June 9th. It’s kind of like a 2 and a half week training camp. As I write this I have 4 more days to go, and god that couldn’t come sooner.
To help get me through the training I’ve had to have a kip literally everyday, after a tough morning session I’ve literally been bed ridden for an hour or two. Then I’ve been getting up, have god knows how much coffee and then train again. I’ve also been making sure I eat really healthy, and after some sessions, normally evening ones or a big session earlier in the day I’ve been having a Clif Builders bar. These are pretty good actually if I know I’m not going to get home for about 30 minutes as they have 20 grammes of protein each bar, and they taste really good as well.
Just to finish it off I want to say thanks to my sponsors, Mail big file for helping with expenses to these races, Starley bikes for giving me 2 bikes for the season, Kinetic PB for letting me train in Spain all winter, Clif bar for nutritional support which is amazing, On running for the running shoes, Bonk clothing for some cool casual clothing they have given me, and I want to say thanks to Barnes Brinkcraft a company based in Wroxham Norfolk that read my blog, got in touch with me and brought me an aero helmet, And one last one a guy called David Mc Clean who I knew from cycling has let me borrow his SRM, thanks Dave and everyone your help has been invaluable. Next up UK70.3 in Wimbleball, Exmoor.
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