Liskeard Triathlon

27th April- Liskeard triathlon

6th Overall : 57:23

Swim 400m Pool

Bike 20km

Run 5km

So yesterday was my first race of the season, a chance to blow off any cobwebs and get back into the real fun of triathlon! I had a pretty relaxed week of taper training after the hard work was done in Spain and so i was feeling relaxed and ready this morning. I got up early had my breakfast some coffee and did my usual routines.

I was fortunate to receive a lift from Matt Rayment from the Plymouth tri club to the race so i am very grateful for that and enjoyed the animal game in the car on the way with his daughter. This definitely helped me relax! 

The weather was a slight worry of mine, yesterday had been very wet and windy and today seemed like it would be much the same and driving to the race the rain was starting to come on. However there was nothing i could do about the weather so i just relaxed listened to some music and worked through the race in my head.

Bike racked it was time to get into my tri suit and warm up by the pool. Tri suit pulled on and then slight disaster. My new tri suit zip had broken completely, no idea how but at first i was full of panic. But i soon calmed myself down, figured it wasn't a massive issue and used some safety pins to hold the back together. Who said us surf scientists aren't clever eh?

So with my tight trisuit i was ready to wait for my number to be called. I sat by the pool tried to imagine a really good race and got into my zone. Then my number was called and the nerves built up. I'm usually pretty stressed and nervous before a race but today i just kept telling myself you have done the work, you are ready it's the first race get going!

So a rather abrupt GO! and i was off, the swim was 16 lengths only 400m so i basically just tried to go as hard as possible, i had some really solid tumble turns and counting the lengths in my head they were flying by. I'm not the best swimmer but in my head i felt like i was going pretty well! Two lengths to go i gave it everything and jumped out of the pool and ran into T1.

Transition was really good for me, i grabbed my helmet, race number got the bike and was out. I sprinted through transition as with such a short race every second counts. The mount line worked brilliantly as it was straight onto a downhill so shoes were easily strapped up on this! The bike course was well a battle! It was very windy, very wet and a lot hillier than i expected. I got onto the tri bars and just gave it everything. I felt really strong and knew i climbed well so just focused on that. Some of the climbs were drags so it was important to keep focused turn a high gear and push hard. On the flats i really pushed the pace with rain bashing off me and the wind trying to throw me of the bike! After about 12km of climbing and flat it was a pretty fast descent, i was descending like i never have before taking a few risks and trying to gain as much time as possible. I overtook a few guys and no one overtook me so that is always a great feeling. However braking was very difficult with frozen fingers!

Into T2 and my legs were cold and hurting but with such a short run i really didn't care. Running shoes on, Oakleys grabbed for some unknown reason i set off at a pretty quick pace. I knew i had good running legs and so just pushed the pace as best i could. I tried to stand tall think about fast feet and just hammered on. Fortunately i was a bit warmer at this point and the sun came and went. I overtook another couple of guys on the run and was again not overtaken. At the turnaround i picked up the pace and just pushed as hard as i could, with an uphill to the finish i sprinted as hard as i could and crossed the line feeling like i had a great race.

Finishing 6th of 202 has really filled me with confidence, the top field was really strong with a lot of good boys and in tough weather i feel i put in a good performance.

I'm really happy with today's race especially with the fast guys who were racing. I know a couple of things i could work on and feel like my long winter of training has paid off. I'm so happy to be racing again and really look forward to a Summer of races.

I want to thank Matt again for the lift and his family for the support. Cogs bikes for helping with my equipment. Also a big thank you to Coach Graeme Stewart.

Thanks for reading! 

Training Camp. Callela 2014

So Training Camp! This past week i have been out in Callela in Northern Spain under the coaching of Graeme Stewart and Allen Cardwell. I initially wrote a day by day overview but realised with just under 32 hours of training in the week this was a stupidly long blog post! So i'll try and summarise how the week went!

The journey to Spain was no picnic, i had to sleep in an airport overnight, travel with a bike box and multiple bags and then experience the very reliable Spanish bus timetables. However after meeting up with Finlay (another athlete) we both managed to arrive at the Hotel in time for a first evening of Spa (that's right we had a spa!!) and the first of many feedings at the incredible Hotel Buffet.

The week was always planned to be a big heavy week of training but due to having such good coaches this wasn't just go out and do what you want. Everything was structured, controlled and organised. This made me very relaxed, all i had to do was turn up at certain times ready to swim, bike or run and the rest of the time i would eat, nap or relax in the Spa. Graeme and Allen have a lot of experience between them as do many of the other athletes on the camp so i was able to soak this up and really learn as much as possible as well as training hard. Each evening after training we also had brilliant workshops, varying from nutrition, to swim technique to running performance. I really enjoy the science and theories behind everything i do so this really made the week for me.

Anyway onto training! First i will start with the total distances over the week:

Swim- 20.87 KM
Bike- 443.8 KM
Run- 59.82 KM

Swimming: We swam every morning and a couple of days we also open water swam in wetsuits. The swimming varied between technique sessions with video analysis- having Allen Cardwell there a Swim Smooth coach was fantastic and we could really break down my stroke. And also strength, endurance and speed swims. We swam in an outdoor 50M pool which was incredible, each morning the sun rose onto the pool and i really enjoy swimming in a 50, partly as it makes sets seem shorter and its better for Open water training. During the week i really tried hard to focus on my technique, i was diagnosed as an "Arnie" (See swim smooth website) so i was continually thinking about my swimming and constantly picking the coaches brains. I was really pleased with the swimming i have never swam 7 days in a row before and even completed a set of 30x100s which seemed a hell of a lot! My swimming is far from perfect but i feel after the camp i know where i need to work with my stroke and i feel i have had some great volume and time in the pool. We also did a couple of open water sea swims which was great as i did not want to turn up to my first race having not been in the sea for a year!

Cycling: Sometimes i wonder if Spain was built for cyclists, perfect roads, brilliant climbs, wide descents and bloody good coffee! This was only my second time cycling abroad and i really enjoyed the routes out there. We could smash along the flat of the coast if we needed too or we could climb high into the mountains and up some brilliant climbs. Every ride had a mixture of both and was again structured. We had a long 5 hour day midweek of 130km which took in some amazing climbing including the Grau and also had some very long flat, fast hot sections where i was introduced to the Allen Cardwell express! Other rides included hill rep sessions, temp climbs, recovery rides and also a pretty fast ride on the Challenge Barcelona course (On which i suffered) but held onto the others until i decided to piss and rode the rest of the way solo! The riding on the camp was great there were some seriously strong bikers out there so chasing them at times was brilliant and other times very stupid (i'm young and yet to learn) But riding in a group everyday on some of the most amazing roads really was brilliant. I'm feeling very strong on the bike this year and on the climbs i feel brilliant, i have practised my nutrition for longer efforts and didn't bonk once! For me there is no better feeling than taken your turn on the front and seeing everyone right on your wheel. I do 90% of my training alone so riding in Summer kit with a group and great banter was brilliant and the sessions were ideal.

Running: Running out there was what Graeme called "icing on the cake" not the main focus but a definite benefit when it could be done. After most rides we would run of the bike, sometimes hitting hard sessions of 2x4k efforts where i did well to sit on Graeme and Craig (another brilliant athlete) shoulder. We would do most running on the flat route along the coast which was really hot but brilliant running conditions. We did do one long trail run in the hills just outside Callela, these were very steep hills and led to me having some ITB pain in the next couple of days but i love hill running so enjoyed the session. Other runs would consist of hard efforts such as 12x400m's or just long steady tempo runs. All week i felt great running and running in just a pair of short shorts was brilliant, the weather really does have a positive effect on training!

Most of my training can be seen on Strava if you are interested http://www.strava.com/athletes/1075991

So that's really how the week went, we trained, we ate, we slept and we relaxed in the Spa. I pushed hard when i was told too and took it easy also. I tried to pick other athletes brains and learn as much as possible. The weather was brilliant everyday and the guys on the camp were great company and a pleasure to be around. If training camp could be my life i would be very happy, focusing on nothing other than training is such an incredible thing and very relaxing.

However now i am back in Plymouth, with exams to sit and a degree to finish, not quite as brilliant!

I want to say thank you to everyone on the camp. Especially Graeme and Allen, i really appreciate all the time you spent with me and the work you guys put in. It was a pleasure to train with you both and discuss my future!

Here are some photos!