Thames Turbo 3

Woke up this morning to see that there was no rain as of yet, surely the weather report could not have been right and this time we were gonna get through the event without any rain?! Finally got the bike all prepped and made my way over to the swim start...starting the first wave (30th) definitely speeds things up because before you know it, you are in the pool and the race is on.

I was determined to beat my previous time on this occasion as I had been in the endless pool and been concenrating on my technique between TTT number 2 and 3. Got out the pool in 6:23 which is exactly the same as last time , albeit this time I was not as tired as I was before - I probably should have pushed it some more.

Going into T1 I was confident I would be faster here as I now had my shoes on the bike. It seemed to work as well...even though my actual swim times were the same, my recorded swim time (swim and T1) was about 30s quicker. The only problem was that my shoe came out the cleat at when I was trying to get it on...luckily it was in my hand so managed to get it on pretty quick and head off on the bike route. The milder winds today definitely made for an easier bike section and I found that I was feeling a lot better than last time. I constantly focused on the person in front of me and was able to draw in and pass quite a few on this occasion...finally came home in 32:41 for the bike...provisional results have this as the fastest bike split for the day!

T2 went as expected although the runners are proving increasingly difficult to get on..think I have seen some people putting some vaseline on the heels so may try this one day to see if it works. I had come into T2 with a chap from the Army (Scott Wiseman) and after chatting on the bike in the non-compete section he seemed quite confident about the upcoming run. His confidence was justifed though as he set off at a fair pace and pretty much left me for dust.. Got to the finish line in 1:00:48 which is a whole 2 minutes quiker than the last one and 3 on the first one. At least it looks like the hours of training are paying off

Blenheim Sprint Triathlon

Got up at 5 this morning to see that we were gonna be in for some nasty weather, there just seemed to be one big band of rain heading West and it looked like Blenheim would not stand a chance of missing it.

Got to the Palace a lot earlier than I needed to which gave me a good hour or so to mill around the course and have a look at the transitions etc. Finally made my way down the trecherous slippy slope to the start of the Elite men at 10. Could not believe how many of there were though - I reckon there must have been less than 50 there. Still, I thougt that this would at least mean that the swim was not going to be as rough and tumble as I thought.

Finally started the swim and was amazed at how quick some of them went off - I secretly hoped that they'd made pacing errors and they would fall apart in a couple of minutes. Alas, they seemed to carry on at that speed Finally made it out the swim about half way down the pack I think...that run up the hill is a killer though isn't it?! T1 went really well as this was the first time I'd used the elastic bands for the shoes. Still, managed to pass a few on the bike leg and heard the announcer call that I was still in the top 10 places so was pretty chuffed with that. Got to T2 though and for love nor money, the runners would not go on...cue TV cameraman thinking this was worth filming. I am however quite confident it will not make it onto TV...I was swearing like a trooper at that point

The run was a nightmare...started off and my back and what I imagine are my kidneys were in complete agony. I was just about managing to run and deal with the pain - the legs funny enough did not feel too bad at that point but the pain in the back was jus a killer. Anyway, pain subsided towards the end and I reckon the second lap was a good 2/3 minutes quicker than the first. Finally got home in 1:12:10 (11:32, 3:07, 32:55, 1:27, 23:07)

Clapham Common 10k - 14th May 2006

Competed in the Clapham Common 10k on Sunday. The course was relatively flat but took place mostly on grass and did have a slight x country feel.

The km markers were not all round the course so did not have a good idea of the pace I was running. Started at 3:38 pace though and recored a later km at 4:06 so assumed I was on track for about a 39:00.

Finally managed to come into the finishing section to hear the announcer cheering people home in the 37's. A sprint to the finish meant that I just missed the 37's, instead crossing the line in 38:02. A new PB by 1:42! Finished 22nd overall.

Coversion of Chronos for Elite Race at Blenheim

I have managed to make it into the Elite Race for Blenheim in a weeks time and as a result I have needed to convert the bike so that it is ready to ride in a bunch. This has meant the removal of the tri-bars and the aero bars. I purchased some Shimano 105 STI levers and a 3T aluminum bar and converted the bike ready for the race on Sunday.

SFT Analysis

Went for my SFT Analysis session yesterday. Very interesting to see yourself swimming and I never realised just how many mistakes I was making. These included:

1. Fingers not held together
2. Stroke pushing out before catch phase
3. Pull not coming under body, elbow needs to be more raised to pull hand down centre line of body.

Suggested that I try more catch up and doggy paddle drills to correct main areas of concern and to also concentrate on keeping fingers together.

Thames Turbo 2 Photos

Thames Turbo Number 2

Returned to Hampton on May Day for another go at the second in the series of the Thames Turbo events - determined this time to improve my time, especially the swim and the run sections. Upon arrival, things were not looking too good, it had been raining when I left the house and it had not let up an hour after registration and racking - was quite glad for the bags I had brought for my shoes though.

Finally got underway after a long wait and managed a swim time which was about 13s quicker than the last one so was pretty pleased with that. No one managed to catch me either - although this could have been more to do with who was actually behind me. T1 went quite well, managing to record a swim and T1 time of 7:57.

The bike started off well reaching speeds just below 50kph on the way out to the 1st roundabout. However, after turning round it became clear that the next 13k or so was going to be a struggle. I remembered that it was a slight incline pretty much all the way to the second turn point and the wind was now straight in my face. I really had to push on this section, just to keep the speed in the 35kph range as the headwind really started to sap the strength from the legs. The turning point provided welcome relief though and I was soon back up to the speeds that I wanted. Managed to keep the speed above 40kph pretty much all the way back but I knew that the average was going to have been hampered by the effort in the wind.

Took as much time as I could in the non-compete zone and managed to get down a fair bit of drink and a gel to give me some energy for the run. T2 went as expected and I was quickly back out on the run. I had decided to push from the start and try and simply get over the "legs of jelly" pain because I thought it was possible. This time I found that I was very quickly able to set into a sub 4 minute pace. Still think I could push a bit harder on this section but still finally got home with a time of 19:10 on my watch and 20:30 on the offical, plus T2 clock.

Final time for the day's efforts was 1:02:54 which placed me in 5th - way above what I had expected and hoped for. My ambition was to hit the top 10 after the last 13th place. Since this I have entered the 3rd in the series now which takes place the week after Blenheim.