Sandman Tri - Race Report

Well, its now been 3 weeks since Helvellyn and I'm knackered.

The week after Helvellyn I decided to race Bala Olympic.  Maybe not the best idea, as I was still pretty sore and the highlight was while struggling to get out of my wet suit I tore the scab off my hand.  It was a fun race though and I got round in under 2 hours for 8th place.

The next week was Sandman Triathlon on Anglesy.  The second in the series after Slateman, I really wanted to do the race and have a go at winning it.  Most of the swelling had gone down and although painful the wounds on my hands were healing nicely.

Race day was the best Anglesy has to offer with gale force winds and heavy rain.  Always Aim High did a great job though of creating a great atmosphere in tough conditions and although a little rough they even managed to keep the swim by moving it to the far side of the bay much to all our delight.

It was a beach start with a run into the sea for an out and back course.  It went quicker than expected but I think that was down to the rough conditions making it interesting. I picked up the pace on the way back to the beach and was surprised to exit in the top 3 (very uncommon for me). 

A brisk 1k run up to transition I arrived to struggle out of my wetsuit and find everyone else piling in just behind me.  I exited t1 in third with Arthur Connell and we proceeded to push a pace to try and give us some room.

This is where I have to apologise to my mate Ben who I borrowed some Zipp 404's from.  Now when I said I would look after them I didn't realise I would be racing over speed bumps. I can happily confirm though that at 25mph the Zipps easily coped with the speed bumps although I can feed back Zipp could do with putting more flex in for the biggest bumps.

I rode with Arthur for the first 40k of the bike swapping the lead a few times before we turned back into the wind for the last 20k.  This is where he pushed on and I just couldn't keep with him.    the wind was blowing me all over the road so I rode in by myself until Chris Prior caught me just before the end of the bike.

 Arthur blitzing the bike

 

 

Chasing Arthur

 

Out onto the 10k trail run, finding Chris and myself running together chasing down Arthur.  I have ran a lot of miles with Chris and it was nice to have company (for the first 5k only though!)  We caught Arthur at around 4k and I then had to figure out the best time to drop Chris.  I managed to do this at the 6k point and it was just a case of keeping the pace going to the finish.

 

Crossing the line was great and a relief that the serious race season was over.  Chris followed in close behind with Arthur holding on for 3rd.

http://www.tdl.ltd.uk/race-results.php?event=1249

So that's it now.  Season over .... at last.   Time for a few beers now and to put on some winter pounds.

Sandman is due on Channel 4 on Sunday 28th October at 7.30am. 

Helvellyn Tri - Race Report

Well its done, and although not the most enjoyable race I've ever done it was the toughest.

On Saturday we travelled up to Glenridding after I earned some brownie points by plumbing in the new washing machine.  Its not quite a completed bathroom but got me in the good books for a while.

On arrival the village was buzzing with triathletes and every other car had bikes on the roof.  Its a big race in a small village and we had taken over!  A nice meal and a pint of the local brew that night and I got off to sleep pretty well.

Race morning and once racked met up with club mates Andy & Mig.  The Sun was just coming over the top of the mountains and starting to warm up the valley.  A perfect race day.

The 1600m swim went pretty well and the lake was a real beauty to swim in.  I came out the water in 16th (22 mins) and set about trying to make up places on the bike. 

As previously mentioned Nick at 69 had done a final fettle on the bike, even lending me and fitting the 28/11 cassette from his own bike.   The bike just felt perfect (not like when I set it up!) and I started taking back the places I lost on the swim at a steady rate. 

By half way I caught the leaders Chis Joyce and Jon Fletcher and decided to push on and try to build a gap on them to make the run a little easier.

Towards the end of the bike is The Struggle.  A 3k climb which ranges from 10 - 20%.  By the top you are bolloxed but there is a crowd of supporters lining the road cheering you on so you can't help but smile.

The Struggle - Its steep

Jon though was not that easy to drop and by the time I got back into transition I had only built a one minute lead on him, though, I had set the fastest bike split of the day.

Out onto the run and I had already made my mistake, it was a hot day and I had only drank 250mm out of my bottle on the bike.

The Run!

For anyone who did the race and thought - did the leaders run up here then the answer is no!  I lasted about half way up the first of the 2 major climbs before I admitted defeat and started to walk the steepest bits. 

It was at this point I spotted Jon about 200m behind me tracking me in.  .

The Squirrel Edge Climb

I told myself that if I could get to the top of the mountain without being caught I could still win it and bought myself a bit of false hope as I climbed up Squirrel edge still in the lead and started my decent hidden from his view by the cloud cover.

Unfortunately though as we descended beneath the clouds he caught sight of me and started to claw me in.  It was a race to the finish off the mountain with both of us throwing ourselves down the trail not wanting to put ourselves through all that effort to give up the win.

Jon was the first to fall with a 'light' tumble down the zig zags (a steep path which winds its way down the hillside).  He was up quickly and kept reducing the gap to catch me about 2 miles out from the finish.  In truth I think I did a pretty good job to hold him off for an hour and although he beat me fair and square, I made him work for it (it makes me feel better to think of it like this).

Shortly after he made the pass though Helvellyn showed me her teeth.  On a fast rocky section I clipped a rock and fell head first down the path.  It happened so quickly I just remember picking myself up looking down and suddenly thinking - this hurts.  A big flap of skin was hanging of my palm and my knees, thigh and shoulder were scuffed up. 

I hobbled the final 2 miles down the valley to the finish line by the lake.

So - overall a bloody tough race, well organised with a great atmsosphere. Just not to be taken lightly!

If you fancy this one next year - enjoy!

Oh - Andy unfortunately had a puncture on the bike and decided to save his legs for Bala next week. 

Hero of the day was Mig though.  He achieved his target of sub 6 hours but got dehydrated and had to stop the van to be violently ill on the way home.  Yes - it was one of those races!

Helvellyn 2 days to go......

So the legs have just recovered from Mondays fell run.  I'm not sure if anyone is interested but I have listed below my taper.  I try to reduce volume and keep intensity but being self coached you always question yourself.

Tuesday was a very slow lunch time run and washing the TT bike.

Wednesday evening was spent at the track on 16*400 reps (not the best for sore legs) and a steady swim.

Thursday was a rest day, with the evening spent stripping the tt bike down and not being able the put it back togther.  Rosie suggested taking it to Nick at 69 Cycles to fix it, but I had a male pride issue.  In the end I moved the 'workshop' into the kitchen, opened a bottle of red and sorted it.  Anything  but that embarrassing walk of shame where you take your bike in to get fixed properly!

Today I squeezed in a 10m ride at lunch at race pace to spin out the legs.

Tonight I picked up a pair of zipp 404s from Ben (a willing friend!) and took them over to Nick to fit a 28-11 rear cassette and some new TT tyres on.  I've ridden The Struggle on a 25 but in truth it will save the legs with the 28. 

I then rushed over to Christleton for a 30 minute swim (10 fast 200s ). 

Tomorrow I take Rosie away on her weekend to the lake district.  She suspects something is up but I'll wait until Saturday evening to mention the race. 




 

Helvellyn - 6 Days to go

Less than a week to go and I decided last night to abandon my bank holiday DIY Monday plans to run a fell race instead

This made utter sense as a 'sharpner' to me, however, Rosie (the better half) was a little disapointed that the bathroom is still not finished 11 months after starting.  Technically it has a bath, shower, toilet and sink so that's good enough for me, although she differs on this view.

The race was part of the Cilcairn village show and involved a run up and down Moel Fammou.  I took it steady over the first 1k and pushed on as we started to climb.  I managed to pull away and a thanks has to be said to Ian Houston from Wrexham Tri for shouting as I was going the wrong way.    By the top I had a decent lead and could concentrate on the practising the descent.

I'm a little worried my descending sucks but it felt pretty good and I held onto the lead to return to the village in first.

The video is at the top and thanks to a nice guy called Huw.

Black Cats and Walking Under Ladders

Only a quick blog as after a couple of bad luck races in June and July I've not been racing much. 

My A race for the season was Ellesmere with Deva thrown in the next week.  Both were thwarted on the bike with a puncture at Ellesmere Taking a new record of 15 minutes to fix and a gear problem at Deva causing a DNF.

Still could always be worse.

I'm currently just prepping for Helvellyn Tri next Sunday.  Its a hilly one which should suit me and although I worry I've not done enough training (work has been very busy) I'm sure it will come together on the day.

 

I know I'm running well and swimming ok, so it will be down to trying to not lose too much time on the bike. 

 

 

 

 

Bala Middle Distance Triathlon

Well I'm glad that is over.  If anyone ever hears me utter the words iron and man in the same sentence please just slap me!

Bala Middle is a step up in distance from what I normally do with a 2k swim 51 mile bike and 20k run and presented me with a whole host of things to worry about and try to learn.

Particularly

• Fuelling (apparently a pork pie on the bike is not advised)
• Pacing myself and not going off too fast (in defence I never go off too fast, I just finish slower than I intended)
• Coping with the weather

(Kenny's fuelling strategy was organic but lost him valuable time)

On race morning I travelled up with club mate Kenny and for once I drove.  Apparently when he suggested we share lifts to races this season he didn't mean he was going to be my personal chauffeur.  Its been nice though to have company at races, even if its Kenny ;-) and although snug in Rosie's T reg Micra, it was comfortable enough.

The weather was perfect and apart from a cold lake at 13C it was set for a great day.  The swim went well and rather then push hard, I held back slightly and sat on some ones toes opting to save my energy.  I must admit they were probably ready to hit me by the end of it as it was the same person for the whole 2k.  Sorry!

I came out the swim in just over 30 minutes in around 15th and headed out on the bike on a bit of a mission to make up some places.  My race strategy was to push hard on the hilly bike but make sure I slow to refuel at pre set points.  This went well and although I made it into 6th at one point on the bike I eased off with 10 miles to go to refuel and came in off the bike in 8th.

Out onto the run I felt pretty good and soon started catching people.  By mile 3 I was into 5th and feeling good.  Approaching the turn around point I clocked Oliver Milk coming back about a minute ahead and knew if i kept the pace going I would soon catch him.  5 miles from home I caught him and in a rather civilised manor we exchanged pleasantries before I pushed on.  In truth the wheels started to fall off soon after but I kept it going to the line to come 4th in 4 hours 8minutes.

So overall I was very happy.  I got the pacing pretty good and fuelling spot on. 

The only cock up was forgetting the sun tan lotion - some interesting tan lines!

P.S. Kenny had a good race to come in on 4 hours 44mins though club performance of the day was Carolyn Hume who knocked 30 minutes off her previous time.  It was actually a different bunch of faces to the Olympic races and made it nice to catch up with people afterwards.

Race Results
http://www.stuweb.co.uk/race/gp/

Slateman Triathlon

This weekend was the Llanberis Slateman Tri and (thanks to the organisers!) a hyped up defence of my win last year. Chris Standidge had entered again as well as Paul Mountford (just out of retirement) and some other good athletes so the pressure was on.

To add to this the organisers (Always Aim High) had done an amazing job of getting the event televised on Channel 4 (Sunday 3rd June @ 7.45am).  Now as an amateur this was all new to me and I had the added worry of not looking like a pleb in front of the camera.  Yes, I excel at looking like a pleb.

For the race I was convinced Chis was going to beat me.  Better athletes would have more confidence but I didn't.  I still saw my win last year as a fluke and had it in my head Chris was there to make a point. 

Race day was great weather and 750 of us were racing.  The atmosphere was really good and apart from a cold swim it was set to be a great race. 

First pleb move of the day was at the sign in desk where the lady politely asked me my race number (which I hadn't checked at the board at the start of the queue).  Back I went tail between my legs to check my number.  Bollocks, I was number 1.  A little embarrassed, I went back to the same lady who asked me my number again and I murmured number 1.  She looked at me confused (like I was an idiot) and before I explained I was an idiot and had struggled to remember the number '1'.

Next was a TV interview with which went well until club mate Andy gave me the Vs in the back ground and I lost my concentration.  That and I also hadn't had my pre race constitutional.  Smile at the interviewer , try and say something interesting/intelligent and try not to let one rip.  Does Ali Brownlee have this problem?

Shortly before the start they announced a reduction in the swim by 250m to 750m.  as a slower swimmer this was good news!

I was off in the first wave and decided to save getting in until the last moment.  My theory was it was cold and I was a wimp so I warmed up on the side.

Once in it wasn't too bad and apart from a bit of a bun fight in the first 200m I settled in with a group and sat on some toes.  Coming out of the swim I was in about 15th but being on a mission made up quite a few places climbing out and running into transition. 

A decent T1, I hit the road in 6th and about a minute down on Chris.  I quickly got down on the bars and into my race pace.  I couldn't see anyone ahead and for what turned out to be the only time in the race I was by myself.  About 2 miles into the ride you hit Penny Pass.  Its a 4k climb you grind out in the small chain ring.  Now this was pleb action number 2 - Check you don't have a 23-11 cassette on your disc when racing hilly welsh courses. Still I was feeling good and was flying up the climb funnily enough!

Half way up I had passed a couple of riders and was joined by the motorbike and camera man enthusiastically asking me if I was going to catch the others.  In a world of pain I muttered something about 'trying' before it zipped off to the front again. 
Up over the top I had caught 2nd & 3rd and could see Chris ahead.  I had a plan of trying to keep him in sight but to my surprise I was catching him.

Now this was a first for me and not something I expected.  I was so excited I nearly pooped myself when I passed him up the hill out of Capel Curig.  Nothing was said between us but that's racing.  We both wanted to win.

We swapped places for the rest of the ride enjoying the great support in the villages as we passed through before I managed to pull a small gap on him in the last few miles.

Coming into T1 was surreal with crowds clapping, the commentator getting excited and the camera bike following me in.  I don't think I will ever have an experience like that again..

A quick T2 and I was out onto the run only to find the same motorbike camera crew riding with me.  Up the zig zags I thought that would be the last I see of them but back they appeared again, this time on a quad bike! 

My legs seemed to feel more tired than last year which was probably down to the Chester Half  Marathon the week before but I pressed on unable to see if anyone was gaining behind.

Chris Standidge on the run

I needn't of worried though, as I crossed the finish line 4 minutes clear of second.  Chris unfortunately got caught on the run by Paul Mountford who had a cracking run to claim second spot. 

I haven't spoken to Chris yet but he didn't seem too happy.  In defence though He had just got married and spent 2 weeks on honeymoon so I don't think he was on full form. 

In the ladies race Beth Hughes from Chester Tri left it to the last minute to catch Rosemary Byde on the run. I race and train with her partner Chris and know Beth has put a lot of hard work in this year so it was nice to see her reap the rewards.

In fact I would declare the race as a successful English raid over the boarder by Chester Tri with loads of impressive results including Andrea Meagan as first female vet and Neil Thomas getting second in his age group in the sprint.

Next big race is Bala Middle in 2weeks where I'm hoping for a top 5.  69 Cycles have just got me a Rotor Q ring for the TT bike so it will be interesting to see what its like.

 So final thoughts for Slateman are

• The organisers put on a great race
• The marshals were all great - very vocal and encouraging.
• Chester Tri ruled the results!
• 69 Cycles should get on the TV
• I managed not to let one go in front of Annie Emmerson