Eton Super Sprints - 1st - 55:03

If I am honest, Eton is always a race that I wanted to win outright one day. I had made a number of attempts in previous years, but always been beaten on the day by better athletes. Thankfully, this Saturday, everything came together quite nicely and I was able to win...strangely, by more than a minute as well.

As a side note, I know full well that Eton does not really fit in that nicely with what is supposed to be a year of training for the Copenhagen IM, but I love racing at Eton. The Sprints are normally the first shot you get at racing around the closed roads that I now know so well. It has also become a bit of an annual pilgrimage to test how fit I am and to see whether the winds can be stronger this year than they were the last.

For me, the swim went quite well. From the off, I just swam to the left until I could see the rope under the water which leads you all the way to buoy 1. Made the turn in second place and then got a bit lost between the two massive buoys. Finally, they have installed a large banner thing for the finish so it is much easier to sight for the last 150m now. Got out the water in 5:18 which I was pretty pleased with, may even be my best time for the 400m there.

Out on the bike things did not go quite to plan at the start, it seemed to take a long time to get the shoes on, all the time wasted doing this meant my average speed had dropped off a bit. The wind on the way out was horrendous but I consoled myself with the thought that the return leg would make up for it. It certainly did as well, I think as the laps progressed, I was able to get the speed up higher and higher on that section. The last lap on the tailwind section had me just edging over 60kph. The wind can be a good friend when blowing in the right direction.

T2 went to plan, but with the first part of the run in to the headwind, it made for some hard work in the first lap. Thankfully, the turn on the run had the effect of a gentle hand behind the back. The second lap was a bit more controlled as I just tried to concentrate on the way up, knowing that the return would be a bit easier, especially when accompanied by the knowledge of being homeward bound.

All in all, it was good day of racing, apart from the shoes on the bike, most things went to plan. Was a bit annoying to see in the splits that my bike time was only 1 second in to the 29's....a 28 something would have been nice.

An overall win for the day still only gives you 66% of your entry fee back in prize money..not considering jacking the job in just yet.








REPORT ON TRI247
http://www.tri247.com/article_8547_Eton+Super+Sprints+%28Saturday%29+report.html?region_id=&category=

The Eton Super Sprints kicks off the Summer triathlon season for many in and around the South East, and once again took place over two days at Dorney Lake this past weekend, organised by Human Race (www.humanrace.co.uk). Here is a report on events from Saturday.

Full results HERE.

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With weather predictions for the weekend varying from the optimistic ‘sunny spells and showers' through to full blown thunderstorms, triathletes heading to the first Eton Super Sprint on Saturday 14th May did so with a hint of trepidation. They needn't have worried though as those arriving early were greeted to bright sunshine and blue skies and the rain held off all day to provide great conditions for the 2011 season's big kick off.

A strong wind meant for a challenging bike course and a bit of chop on the water for the swim but that didn't stop some fast times and competitive racing across all ages groups. First off at 9.30am were the two newly introduced ‘mate's waves' which gave anyone looking to race friends and relatives from different age groups the chance to go head-to-head. This gave Rory Sutton the perfect opportunity to get one over his older brother Kevin, as Rory explains; “My brother has done loads of triathlons and I said the only way I'd do one was if I could race him. I did beat him but he's ten years older than me so it isn't really fair!”

The age group waves followed the mate's wave and carried on right through the day and showcased a broad mix of abilities from first timers to experienced triathletes. For the men, Richard Legge (Thames Turbo) took advantage of a fast and furious M30-34 wave to record the fastest time of the day and take the overall win in 55:03. Second place went to M35-39 wave winner Matt Clarkson in 56:07 who was closely followed home by Oliver Pinchard (Ful-On-Tri) also from the M30-34 wave. In a day dominated by the over-thirties, the top 13 places were filled by those no longer in their twenties!

In the women's race, Ful-On-Tri made it two podium finishes on the day as Detta Guerrini went one better than her male clubmate to take the win in 1:05:23. Beverly Childs (RAF Triathlon) stormed through the F50-54 wave in a time of 01:06:41 which was more than good enough for second place. In third, Hannah Kitchen (Oxford Tri) ensured the twenty-somethings were represented on the podium with her 01:08:50 from the F20-24 wave edging out F35-39 athlete Bev Holmes by just one second.

You can read the report from Sunday's Eton Super Sprints HERE.

North Hampshire RC - 50 Mile TT

The last 50 I had raced in was a horrible affair, with the cold and some very tired legs as a result of going out a bit too fast. I had hoped that last weekend's trip to H50/8 would be a more controlled affair and hopefully a better time.

Things started well on the day, I got to the first round about after about 8 miles into the wind and I was down about 40s. I quickly made these up with the tailwind though and just assured myself that I only needed to do that section once more and I should therefore be able to sneak home in about 1:50.

It was only on the return leg of the second lap that I realised that I was just about the pay the price of not reading the course information. Coming up to what I thought was the finish, it dawned me I had to go around again. On the way back, approaching the hardest section, I was close to breaking point - the thought of a windy, bumpy section once more almost became too much. My speed had been dropping off up to that point, so had resigned myself at that point to a bad time.

It was only when the marshal highlighted the error in my ways and told me to turn round just before the start of drudgery lane that my spirits picked up. All I had to do now was to hammer the last 6 miles so see if I could break my previous PB. Thankfully, someone past me here and from that point on, I just did my best to keep him in sight. I was knocking out 50-60kph on the flat (that's how bad the wind was) and he was pulling away from me...there are some fast people out there.

Made it home, sore bum, arms, neck 1:53:06 after setting off full of optimism. The winners were about 8 minutes quicker than me. However, I console myself in that the time still represents 2 x 56:30 25's so not exactly a bad day. It just so happens that people are a lot better than me at this TT'ing game.

TTTC Race 1 - 4th - 57:54

My triathlon season for another year has now kicked off with with the now perennial trip to Hampton for the first of the Thames Turbo races. This is now the 5th year that I have done this race. I really did not know how this one would go as this is probably the first year where I have actually not been training specifically for anything that short. My main focus this year is to survive the Copenhagen IM race, and for me, that means just trying to be consistent and ensuring that I get the long bikes and runs in.

My biggest fear before this race was that my biking ability would simply not be up to scratch. In comparison to the last few years, the biggest difference this year has been that I have simply not done enough turbos for this stage of the season - not to prepare you for 30 minutes of hard riding anyway. I would imagine that a whole bunch of weeks have passed recently where I have not gone on the turbo, last year I was doing two a week. The main issue has been that work has been conspiring against my motivation when I get home...starting a turbo past 9pm when you are hungry is not really something which feels me with much enthusiasm for the turbo. All excuses I know..

For the first time in a long time I was in the first wave for this race with the best thing about this being that the traffic would be less of a problem on the bike. The swim for me was exactly the same as it has been for the last few years, it doesn't seem to matter how much swim training I do, I get out the pool in 6 minutes without fail. This year, I have mainly been doing long swims though, typically all in one block with a longer than normal breathing pattern - breathing on 3's rather than the normal 2's. Didn't make any difference though, 6 minutes and I was out.

The bike on this occasion was a mixed bag. For once, I had what could be described as a good run in terms of the lights, especially as there was an additional set on this race. I only had to slow down once, much better than the typical process of having to stop and wait for 30 seconds. The bad part was that I had a good cyclist in close company and with pretty much equal pacing, there was a lot of passing. Personally, I hate riding a TT like this - would much rather just work on applying a constant effort for the time. With the drafting regulations, you are forced to ease off and drop back to 7m on every occasion you're past. The upshot of this rest is that you feel that you are now capable of making the decisive pass to finally pull away. Going from 43kph to 46kph or so to get past means that you are really pushing and hence when you pass, the legs soon don't feel too great. All in all, very annoying.

The run on this occasion was the normal affair, start off feeling a bit rubbish, wondering why you bother with this triathlon business, telling myself I should stick to cycling, reminding myself that I should have lost some more weight blah blah blah - same for every race. Anyway, my main aim was damage limitation. I just wanted to see if I could pick the pace up a bit and then stick round about the 3:45/3:50km pace. I think I managed to achieve that aim and I got round in 19:28 which, although not a stellar performance for me, was not that bad for the first race.

The surprise of the day was that I had managed to record my second fastest time on the course. Largely down to having a good bike in terms of the lights on this occasion. There have certainly been times when I have felt more capable of riding a bit faster only to be scuppered by numerous lights etc. Still, 57:54 is a good time for...I was happy with that and 4th in what was a competitive field.

Redmon CC - 25 - 6th - 55:26

This race was never going to be that much fun, what with the heavy legs from the racing on the Saturday. It must be an age thing when you are not able to recover as quickly as you used to. I have been to the Redmon season opener for the last 4 years I think so it would have been a shame to break with tradition.

I had set the Garmin's virtual partner to do my best ever time on the course and the plan was to just see what would happen. I thought I would blow up at some point around the course, until that time, I planned on just seeing how hard I could go.

We started straight in to a bit of head wind which just made the legs feel even more tired. It was only when we turned after about 5k to head back down the nice country lanes that it was possible to really get some speed up. At about the half way mark, I was on target with the virtual partner but at the back of my mind, I knew I had a long drag back up to the dual carriageway to contend with and the another few drags on the DC. By the time I hit the DC I was down by about 30 seconds and then I proceeded to lose another 20 or so on the DC. I think that in the last few k's, my legs had pretty much packed their bags and left. I think I even tried a sprint to the line, but this probably just ended up looking like a slow motion replay.

So, home in 55:26 for me, but thanks to fellow Dynamos James and Martin, we were able to pick up the team prize and the biggest trophy of the day. The £5 prize money meant I was still awash with about £4 after tea and cakes.

Ful-On Duathlon 2011

I am never sure why I end up doing duathlons, they almost always have way too much of my least favourite discipline - running. The Ful-On duathlon formed part of the annual round of London League races so thought it may be a good time to do my first brick session and also ride the TT bike for the first time since Jekyl & Hyde last year.

The structure of the race always meant that it would be tricky for me, there was a 6k run at the start, followed by a short and relatively technical 18k bike course and then another 6k run. The only way I was going to have any hope of a good position come the end of the race was if I had a decent go on the bike section. I was not quire sure how well I would ride though, my riding of recent has been minimal to say the least, very few turbo sessions and only the occasional long ride - not great pre-season preparation anyway.

When we got going, I was instantly shocked at how fast people go out on these duathlons, I was quite a way back at the end of the first km. For me, I was running quite quick though, round about 16kph. I knew that was within my range so decided to run steady rather than blowing up. I would wait for the bike - it is all about the bike after all. Finished the run in about 15th or so I think and then headed out on the bike. It was good to be back on the racing wheels, not so good to be going round paved corners, dodging structures in the racing line and jumping on mats to cross the all weather track - all in all, not a great course. Still, I think I managed to work my way back up through the field and by the time we came in to T2, I think I was in about 3rd place.

The second run was always going to be a case of damage limitation for me. Having ridden quite hard, my calf instantly cramped but it wasn't bad enough to stop. I got round the second run in sub 4min/km's which was not bad for me really. I could have perhaps gone a bit faster, but at the back of mind, I was all too aware that on Sunday I would be back on the TT bike for a 25 and I wanted to at least have a fairly decent ride.

In the end, I finished 9th, which I was quite pleased with - especially considering all that running. Annoyed to have missed out on the fastest bike split in the results. Personally, I think it is a lap miscalculation by the holder of that title, that's what I am consoling myself with anyway.

Kingston 16 Mile Breakfast Run

Never quite sure why this is called the 'Breakfast Run', the only similarity is that it takes place in the morning, other than that, it is always a long, often painful, drawn out process of simply waiting to blow up with a number of miles still on the clock. Although this is only the second time I have done this run, I don't have many fond memories of anything beyond about the 10 mile mark on the last attempt.

So, for this year's race, I decided to see if I could lower the point at which I would blow up by going out on the TT bike the day before and doing a long ride. The plan was to just ride at a steady 30kph and try and get 130-150k's on the clock. The over-excitement of being back on the TT bike however saw me going closer to 35kph for the 140k - perhaps not the best preparation, but it did not feel like I was pushing that hard. My legs did feel a little tired at the end though.

So, at the start of the Breakfast Run, I just thought that I would see how things went, maybe start off with what felt comfortable and see how things went. I had set the Garmin to run about a 1:46, but in all honesty, I had no idea how I would run. At about 3 miles I took a look at the Garmin and I could see that I was up on the virtual partner by a bit, the problem was, the legs had not felt amazing really. I decided to keep drudging along, more out of interest to see how long I could keep the pace up.

I went through half way in a respectable time, but I only had one objective in my mind now. I figured I would just see if I could run a decent half marathon and then maybe take it easy for the last 3 miles. I was obviously just trying to work out how early I could stop the pain. In the end I went through the half in about 1:22 which was good for me as this was quicker than my time at Wokingham a few weeks back. I walked the drinks station after this, had some lucozade and another slimy ride shot that had been festering in my shorts pocket. I got running again and didn't feel too bad. Someone past me at this stage who I had run with for a couple of miles on lap 1. I sat in behind him for the next mile and then figured with only 2 to go, I may as well see if I can keep the pace up. Don't get me wrong, the last mile did hurt...the last photo below is bit of a giveaway.

Still, 1:43:01 is 2:35 quicker than my last attempt and not a bad run for me. Just under 4min/km for the whole race.

Wokingham Half Marathon

Back at the start of 2011 I realised that I had somehow descended to a new low in terms of my fitness. This was brought home by an attempt at the Turbo marathon in December which was interspersed with a holiday and the general gluttony of December. Anyway, I decided to do something about it and try and get some level of fitness back before the season started to get going. So, the whole of January has seen me training quite consistently, only really averaging about 10 hours a week, but that seems a lot these days, what with work etc.

I had done a fair bit of running during January, typically doing 3-4 sessions a week and combining some long runs, tempo runs and I had even been back on the treadmill in the gym. I could feel that things were starting to come back after a couple of weeks. My heart rate had lowered a bit and the scales were moving the right direction as well.

For Wokingham, my main aim was to see if I could hold 4min/km's for the race. This would give me a 1:24, which although off the PB by a bit, would be a respectable time given the circumstances. Come race day, there was a bit of a wind which someone reliably informed me would mean a headwind for miles 10-12 - not good.

I set off okay and I was going through the mile markers consistently, initially gaining some time on the virtual partner, but slowly losing some once I had gone through 6 miles. Still, I was 1:20 up on the partner at about mile 9 and that was when the headwind kicked in. I really struggled in those two miles, especially as they also contain the only two significant hills on the course.

Crossed the line in what I thought was 1:24:13 but found out later that the actual results have me down for 1:24:01. So, all in all, not a bad day. I stuck to the game plan and I actually did not feel as bad as I normally do in the last few miles.

I have Tunbridge Wells half marathon in two weeks now. Bit more of a hilly affair there.