Finally, the season begins...

Monday finally saw the start of my race season and we could not have asked for better race conditions, even if it was a bit cold at the start. For myself, I was pretty much hoping to treat the race as a test to see how good or bad the winter training had been, although this theory had pretty much been scuppered when I was struck down by a cold at the start of the Bank Holiday. As a result, I was not expecting to be able to race to my full potential as my normal preparation had been replaced by sipping Lemsips, resting and eating too much food.

Anyway, Monday came round and I was feeling a lot better. It was just nice to be back at Hampton Pool where I started my triathlon career last year. Last April I had gone just under 64 minutes so it was going to be interesting to see how much I could improve this by. Secretly, I was hoping to break the hour, but you can never tell. The swim was horrible as always, I also had someone chasing me down after I over estimated my swim ability (as in, totally lied) on the start form. I could see him getting closer every length but I think I just managed to avoid the foot tap in the end. I never seem to be able to get into a good rhythm in that pool, but hey ho, it was now on to my favourite section. I only lied on the start sheet though so that I could be at the front end of the action by the time that it came round to the bike leg...tthe lie was not massive either, just enough to move me up a few slots. For those that don't know, the Thames Turbo event has people starting in 10s intervals in the pool with your start time being determined by your best time for 400m. As soon as I set out on the bike, I found the gear that gave me a good cadence and I just kept on hoping that Martin was not going to come flying past me. With the swim and run I had a fair idea as to what times I should be doing, but on the bike, I just didn't have a clue. My training had been going okay, but personally I felt that I had been at my most strongest back in about February some time, after Lanzarote I just didn't feel that I had any speed.

In hindsight however, I think that I am pleased that I have ditched any timing/HR devices etc this season as it allowed me to just get on with the riding and trying to stay as comfortable as possible and focusing on catching and overtaking the next person up the road, whoever it was. When I caught Dion Harrison at the turnaround, I had a sneaky suspicion that I was on for a good time but at that point I still had no idea that I would be even close to last year's record. By the time we came in from the bike leg, Dion, Gavin and I were all together. Dion had mentioned that I had a good chance of second during the non-compete zone but I still didn't think that it was on the cards, especially knowing that Dion had gone under 35 in a 10k recently and Gavin, well Gavin's running speaks for itself. We left transition in a group of 3 but I quickly fell off the pace, there was no way I would have been able to hold on to those two, even if my running had improved from last year. The run was okay in the end, I got round in 40s quicker than last year's best time but I still need to make some big improvements in that discipline. The main problem with not using any timing device though is that you have no idea how well or badly you have done until the results come out. In the end I could not believe that I had sneaked a 2nd with a sub 59. Obviously, this was mainly down to the bike, but is good to know that I have room for improvement as my swim was not the best and I have not really started the speed stuff for running yet. A new course record on the bike leg is also a nice thing for this time of the year...knocking 40s off the time though means that it is gonna be pretty tough to beat again. Rather annoyingly though, if the distance really is 21km then I have still not managed to average 40kph on the course which I am sure should be possible - time for an aero helmet I think :-)

I even get a mention on the London Triathlon website!

Results etc are all here

RACE REPORT FROM THE RICHMOND AND TWICKENHAM TIMES

Thames Turbo Race 1

Clear skies and a spring chill greeted the competitors as they arrived at Hampton Open Air Pool, early on Easter bank holiday monday, for the first race in the 2007 Thames Turbo Triathlon Club Race series.

At just after 7.15am the first competitor kicked off the wall at the shallow end for 12 lengths (432m) of the pool, with the rest of the field starting at 10 second intervals in seeded waves.

After the swim and a quick dash to the transition area to grab their bikes, it's a pan flat 'out and back' 21km bike course before a picturesque 5km run around Bushy Park.

The main players in the men's field started the swim within sight of each other, with eventual winner Gavin Smith (Thames Turbo/Sigma Sport) making his intentions clear with the second fastest swim and T1 of the day (6.12). Out on the bike course Smith wasn't going to have it all his own way; after loosing a minute to him in the pool, Richard Legge (Thames Turbo/Complete Health) stormed around the course in 31.44 - two minutes faster than anyone else catching and passing eventual 4th place, Dion Harrison (Thames Turbo/Sigma Sport) at the Chertsey turnaround. The 7 minute 'non-compete zone' - between the end of the bike course and the return to the transition area - allowed Smith, Legge and Harrison to ride back and start the run together. Legge was first out of transition, quickly followed and passed by Harrison, but as the group reached the gate into Bushy Park, Smith had taken the lead and 'breezed' away, for the fastest 5km split of the day (16.54) and the win. A steady run netted second place for Legge, but Gregory Billington (Cambridge Tri) more than made up for time lost on the bike with the second fastest run of the day (17.16) to take third spot and prevent a Thames Turbo clean sweep.

In the women's race, less than a minute separated the top three after the bike. Bethan Hopewell (Ful-on tri) cancelled out the minute lost in the pool to Sophie Whitworth (Team Planet X) with the fastest bike split of the day, before increasing her lead with the second fasted run split (20.28) to take the victory. After a similar start to Hopewell, Helen Smith (Thames Turbo/Sigma Sport) made up time on both the bike and the run to tie with Whitworth. One performance the other women should note for the next three races was eventual fourth place, Esther Evans (Thames Turbo/Sigma Sport) as she thundered around the run 2 minutes faster than any of them.