Kimbolton Triathlon - Sprint - 00:51:21

Finally, my first ever 'competitive' sprint triathlon completed, timed and out the way, although the official times were completely messed up! It’s still possible to work out the time you would of done to the actual times posted, more of that later.

The night before I set everything I needed out in the living room including Bert, just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything, I tend to think my way through; from swim, into transition, on to bike, back into transition, to run, so I never miss anything! That done it was a carb loaded meal and an early night.

Morning came and I was up early to go and watch the start of the St Ives 10k, as I won it last year I wanted to go over and show my support to my fellow runners. My race wasn’t until 14:00 so had plenty of time to support a few friends on the run. Well done Matt Nash 42:18, Dan Hurst 36:57 and Paul Halford 33:35 with 3rd place, actually not so much Paul Halford, I expected him to do a lot better tbh.

So the gun went off, and I made a move back home to get the car loaded and set off for Kimbolton.

We arrived at the Kimbolton School approx. 12 o clock, in time for the 12:30 briefing. The day was perfect for the race with little wind and not as hot as the previous days; it was defo a PB day for most of us.

I started to set my bike up in transition finally having a chance to click my new shiny red shoes onto the pedals with my helmet/sunglasses/belt hanging off the bars. I had some time to kill so laid down on the grass and had a snooze for 20mins.

Swim - 00:05:44 (unofficial)

Probably the best and worst swim I have ever had. Worst been I practically drowned myself on the 1^st two lengths, not sure what happened exactly but it took me another length to recover, it was the best swim, as according to the time as it  was a PB by well over a min, which I didn’t believe for one second, and was thinking I must of only swam 14 lengths instead of the full 400m (16 lengths),  After the race I even debated the time with someone who was swimming in the lane next to me, on how my time was so fast compared to his. So the recorded swim time was 05:44 and it turns out that the top 20 athletes all swam about a min faster than PB so it put my mind at rest.  Chip error!

T1 – 00:00:37

So as I said previously I had set up everything ready to go for my cycle leg, but when approaching my bike from the swim this was not the case. According to Helen, who was watching the race my bike had somehow toppled over taking out two other bikes in the process, luckily one of the marshals had seen this so had put it back on the stand, unfortunately they didn’t see the helmet laying two bikes away so it was a scramble to find it and put on. The number belt was all tangled, and the elastic bands I had used to support my shoes in position had also snapped in the tumble making it very awkward to run out and get on the bike.

Bike – 00:30:50

After a slow T1 I managed to get in the shoes ok and start to pedal, it took me about 2 miniutes to get my heart rate down from all the running around I did in transition and then I quickly found a comfortable pace, I was a bit reluctant to push it too hard as I was warned of two big hills towards the end that I wanted to be prepared for. I was finding it comfortable around the 23-25mph on most of it until the hills that slowed me down on the way up but easily kicked +30mph on the way down. It was a good day out on the bike, I know it’s not my strongest event but I paced it well and left myself some energy for the run.

T2 – 00:00:34

Almost as smooth as clock work, jumped off the bike straight into a run to transition area where I quickly racked the bike and got shoes on for run, the only thing was my water bottle had been knocked over from when the bike fell so had to shout water to Helen who literally threw a bottle towards me at the speed of light, I grabbed it and I was off! At this point I was thinking I’m in for a good time and knew my strongest leg was about to begin.. the run!

Run – 00:13:33

So the run was supposed to be a 5k but somehow, somebody made a rooky error and forgot to mark out part of the course. This really annoyed me, as the run is the area where I make the most time up, basically the longer the run the better for me! And to top it off I only realized it wasn’t a 5k route when I had completed the 1^st out of the 3 laps, so looking back I might have kicked a bit harder. Unfortunately though, on the 2^nd lap I started to get stomach cramp, I knew it was only a matter of time before it would become unbearable while running at the current pace. I had a similar experience at the Cross Country National Championships and had to pull out. So I had no choice than to ease off for the rest of the run trying to get as much oxygen as possible. I was glad to see the finish line but couldn’t give my normal 400m kick as I was in massive pain from the cramp at that point. Looking back, I did take on a gel I had never used before so maybe this was the reason.

Just a little moan to the planners, the run finish is ludicrous, how can you have 4 tight corners in the last 20 meters.. would be a good idea to have a finish 'straight' next year! 

So all in all a fairly good day, I came 1^st in my Age Group and 4^th Overall.

I even enjoyed throwing-up on the side of the white van parked close to the finish line, The USN sales team were out in force this day, one of whom found me laying behind this white van looking rather white and gave me a bottle of electrolytes.. Thanks mate.. good timing!

So this race wasn’t exactly something I had tapered for, it was more the end of a big training week, with only 3 more weeks until my big comp I have one more big training week then I will evaluate the areas I need work and ease down concentrating on those pacific areas.

It was by far the toughest training week, and I am glad to see the back of it if I’m honest, as a few questions have been asked what I do for my training I have put together something for last weeks training.

Monday: 13 mile run

This was supposed to be at 7:30min miles with Daz as he had a bad crash on the Sat so wanted to take it easy, and for me to get home and jump straight on the bike for a brick session before work. Sadly Daz had other plans and decided to ‘do a kye’ and rock up an hour late. It was a terrible first 4/5 miles, I couldn’t seem to get my head into it, and with the heat I just wanted to stop but at about 6miles I was back on form and had no choice but to kick the pace up for me to get back to work in time! Unfortunately it was too late for me to include the bike so ended up getting a lift!

Tuesday: 12*600m @ 5k Pace / 10 mile tempo Bike / 3 mile tempo run (BRICK)

This was yet another hot day but I was determined to treat each section of the session as completely individual sessions to get the max out of me.

So I started at the track with Bert set up and ready to jump on (as I would in transition) ready to do a 10-mile course to work, with the run off the back.

The 12*600s went well, and was over before I knew it.. I would normally do these sorts of sessions slightly faster than 5k pace, but as it was hot I kept on exact times (that’s a first for me). I changed shoes and jumped on the bike, I had my rucksack on so wasn’t very aero but averaged a comfortable 22.5 mph on my route to work. Then it was case of T2 in my office, with my colleagues wandering what the hell I was doing as I’m trying to do it as quick as possible while dripping with sweat and gasping for air. The run was well paced and felt I got my heart rate up and working well.

Wednesday: NiceTri TT and some.. (8.5m TT)

The morning started with a pretty hard 10 miles cycle into work, and a slightly easier cycle back to taper for the TT in the evening. I was pretty nervous, as this was the moment for me to show my fellow club members how terrible I really am on the bike! Duncan the team captain thought I should start at the back. For those unsure of how a TT works basically you set the slowest riders out first one by one every minute or 30secs depending how big the group is, this way everyone has someone to chase! So two infornt of me was Tom Steed who I know is super quick on the bike, and I know I will never catch him, why the hell am I at the back! Duncan was obviously playing a joke on me.. ha ha very funny! It was a good session and a good indication of my bike fitness. I came 6^th overall with a time of 00:21:35 av 23.62mph.

 

Thursday: 20*300m @ 5k race pace off 100m jog

It was hot. No excuses, I bunked off and did a steady 10k instead! Coach is frigging livid with me. Sorry!

Friday: 40mile steady TT Bike

After not doing much the day before I knew I had to do something on what was meant to be my core/drills/stretch day. So I met up with Dan and AD for a well-paced 40 miles. As I wanted to get a decent session in I tried to take the front as much as possible but AD couldn’t resist getting involved. Think we averaged around the 22/24mph mark with a few faster bits. It was nice to get out on Bert without trying to kill myself on it!

Saturday: 8 mile run easy

I did my core and stretches and a slowish 8 mile recovery run. Didn’t want to take a day off but at the same time I dint want to have nothing left for the race on Sunday.

Sunday: Kimbolton Tri, Fun,fun,fun, with a little bit of sick!

So that’s pretty much my week.

I love the questions I get off the back of my blogs, so if you have any, be sure to send me them!

Four weeks from the world!

Time has flown since my qualifying race in Clumber Park back in May; I can’t believe I have just less than four weeks until the big day in Canada. Training has mostly been on track with the odd messy weekend which I used to ‘calm the nerves’...well that’s my excuse anyway!

There isn’t much to say over the last two weeks as after the crash I took a week off and the last week has been a complete mess with my training sessions. I had managed to get my key sessions in which is what counts and I’m glad I’m back to normal from tomorrow!

Last week included two quality track sessions; a tempo brick session and a couple of long rides but nothing like my weekly routine. Oops!

With not much to say on the training/racing front I thought I would get down how I got where I am now. From my first blog a lot of people had asked me to put some stuff on how I got into all this ‘racing stuff’, and how I ended up qualifying; so grab a cup of tea or High5 drink as it’s a long one…

                                                                                                                           
(No, they are not paying me for product placement :))

About 3 years ago my little girl was born which spurred me on to wanting to do something that made her proud; I didn’t know what to do but getting fit was something I thought would be a good idea as I practically lived on Dominos pizza and wine! Im not joking when I say I was a little fatty! So off I went on my first run it was going well with the wind in my hair-gel and my pace easily within 10 min miles I was flying, until about a mile in when I stopped to have a minor heart attack! It was a good first run!!

The weeks went buy and I had found a new running partner, Dan Hurst, I can remember my first 13 miler with him, we hit mile 8 with me ready to pack in and him telling me we were on the finishing straight and to keep going...pfft! Thanks mate. Over the months we quickly covered a lot of ground and as time went on and the more I raced I was finding I was getting close to winning.

It took about a year until my first 10k win which gave me the most amazing feeling in the world; I literally had dreams of this day!! I find it hard to show emotions when I’m happy so I kind of played it off as no big deal but inside I was screaming with amazement!!

It was time to join a running club; I first tried Hunts AC based in St Ives where I met Dave Connell (a very good runner in his day ;)) and Steve Wellman.

 Dave Connell (in his day)

Steve took me under his wing as Dave was out with injury at the time (old age I guess). He said I should try training on the track and set me up with some basic sessions. I think my first session was 10x400s off 90secs and I averaged 67secs which wasn’t bad for me at the time. After a few more sessions with him it was decided I needed to find others at my level to train with and with Dave out of business I had to look at other clubs.

That’s when Cambridge and Coleridge came into it. First day and I got introduced to my new coach Mike Smith who still to this day coaches me! There were lots of runners with various rankings and abilities so I knew I was in a good group. It’s safe to say at this point I was completely hooked and treated every training session like it was a race for England! 

After a few more races under my belt, I was classed as ‘one of the fast guys’ in the club; with many wins, rankings and qualifications to claim my name to.

Training to the max everyday and doing way more than I should started to take its toll on me, I got the odd niggle so had to slow it down and do a bit of cross training which led me into cycling.

The start of something new…triathlon! It is by far the most addictive thing I have ever done. I have lost all concepts of time and money (it’s certainly not a cheap sport!) and regularly have the Mrs keeping me in check!

I completely restructured my weekly running session to include cycling and swimming and after a few weeks I got into the swing of things, at this time I didn’t have Bert but I had a beautiful old road bike that got given to me (thanks dads, girlfriends, dad who sent me it from Germany!) it looks like a piece of crap but I can still lead a fast group out on it! 

 I hadn’t raced much before my qualifying race at Clumber; in fact it was only my second race, but I knew with my running being so strong I might have a chance to do well.

Clumber Park Duathlon: I was lucky enough to have borrowed a friends TT bike for this race as I needed something that I could put a bit more power down than the roady, the problem was that it was set up for someone at least a foot smaller than me so I struggled getting down on the aero bars, but I’m sure overall it did me better than the roady would have.

Race Time: Luckily my running didn’t let me down and I was leading the run out, I started to slow and shorten my stride as one of the tips were not to go too hard on the 1^st run as it will ruin my cycling leg. I got out on bike transition in 3^rd place but immediately had problems, as I was already tired and couldn’t click my shoes on to the pedals. 5 athletes flew past me leaving me out of the medals and lost opportunity for the worlds, my main aim was to finish in a good time. 3 miles in and I had found form and making some serious time, I had taken the places I needed to be back in the medals and knowing I only had a 2.5k run at the end I was feeling confident. The last 1 mile on the bike leg I started to slow and put the bike in a liter gear to help prepare them for the run (another tip off the marshal) a couple of athletes over took me but I was confident I could catch them again on the run. I had a very smooth transition from bike to run and kicked up the pace to get back into a medal position with a sprint finish for 3^rd in my age group. I QUALIFIED!!! 

With Ian Turner and Darren Preston by my side ever since my decision to get into triathlon I have come a long way since the qualifier and every week see massive improvements, this alone is giving me a lot of confidence for Canada. Without those two I think I would be lost! So cheers guys!

I have also joined NiceTri based in St Neots, and although I haven’t had much time to get out with them recently I am looking to be doing a lot of winter training with them.

So that’s my story, and I’m sure I have just proved that anyone can do it if they really want it! In my case it was my daughter that pushed me and everything I do is for her to be proud of her daddy!

Lots of people have helped me out over the years, with training, paying for my races, giving me confidence when I’m down, becoming a good friend, bike parts, sponsorship and more, so thank you guys!

Helen Sharpe, Isla Liddle, Dan Hurst, Dave Connell, Steve Wellman, Mike Smith, Ollie Park, Sullivan Smith, Mark Vile, Paul Halford, Michael Moore, John Herbert, Darren Preston, Ian Turner, Lee Brooks, Steve Burton, Thomas Carey, Geoffrey Brewster, im sure I have missed numerous people there is just so many.

Also a massive thanks to Michael Moore for the substantial donation to my Canada fund! LAD!!

Oakham Triathlon (sprint distance) FAIL

What better than my first post to include a hard crash and a DNF! What can I say, I'm an attention seeker!

I decided to enter this race as I needed to get in a couple of races as part of training before my big race in August; big race, the Duathlon ITU World blah blah blah..

All in all my training week had been bang on with my times improving, including my first 25 mile TT at Bottisham with Turner & Daz, who pretty much smashed it; those boys are at a different level with their cycling at the moment.  The same night I set my 400m swim time in training at 7:52, as I needed to put down a time for the wave start at the race. I was pretty disappointed in the swim TT tbh.

On the way to the race I was feeling fairly confident; with Bert tucked away in the car I knew providing I stayed consistent I could get a good time and even in the medals.  I knew with my swim time being so slow I would need to perform well on the bike and was fairly confident with posting a decent run time.

Setting up in transition still feels a bit alien to me, I'm still not quite sure what I'm supposed to be doing so just copy people around. I was a bit peeved with my position in transition as it was quite far from the bike mount line; I'm guessing it was down to my slow swim time.  I still haven't got any tri shoes so didn't want to risk attaching my normal cycling shoes to pedals and having issues getting strapped up so put them by the side ready to put on (another 20secs lost).

After set-up I went to check out the pool and running route, which looked fast! I did my stretches and drills and I was ready to race, pumped up, and game to finally set a sprint distance time! (I'm a bit bitter about being picked for group 4 and not group 1 at the Nationals, so needed the time to argue my case).

Swim, 400m, 16 lengths. I got put in lane one next to a girl who said she would finish around the 6:30 mark so I knew if I could hold her pace that's more than a minute off my PB.  After 12 lengths I was still with her but tiring fast so eased off slightly.  I came out of the pool at 6:55, so am happy with that!

T1, something I really need to work on. I'm losing 30 secs to the top guys so need to sort that asap! Obviously the shoes being put on pedals will help but I'm just not flowing through it like the others.

Cycle, what a palaver!!! The first 10 I swear was all up hill, and whenever there was a down hill it was a tight blind corner so had to slow; when looking down at the speedo and seeing I'm only doing 15mph up some hills it freaking hurts.

At this point I had some how ripped my TT bar pad and rest off the bike which I chucked to a marshal to look after.  Surprisingly it didn't affect my ride as much as I thought it would.











The second half on the other hand was fast! I picked my averages up massively, especially the long hill down getting speeds of 45mph, not long after that I noticed my average was just under 24mph.

Last turn into transition and I was coming in way too fast.. just under 25mph, and getting ready to jump off when suddenly I lost my front wheel and went down gliding along the road into a bush! Game over... I was a mess. Bit gutted I couldn't finish as I was feeling strong that day.

Looking back I haven't learned my lesson as I'm sure if I pulled that corner off I would have made some time on the top lads. It was a very tough cycle route but I'm really looking forward to next year!

MOST IMPORTANTLY.. BERT SURVIVED TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY!