BUCS Duathlon

BUCS Duathlon, 24th November
2 mile run, 10 mile bike, 2 mile run

Finish time. 48:29
Result. 77th out of 481
Run 1- 11:23
Bike - 23:52
Run 2 - 11:20

So after a very tough week with a lot going on  Yesterday was BUCS Duathlon at Castle Combe racing circuit (a car racing circuit). The race was BUCS which means it is the university championships and meant that there would be extremely fast and good guys there. We left Plymouth for the not so far drive up and left in a beautiful but very cold minus figures morning. A slight inital concern on how cold it was!

Before the race i had plenty of time for a good warm up, to set my bike up in the hectic and busy transition and also have a think about how i would attack the race. At 1:35 we were called to line up on the most busy start line i have ever stood on, hundreds of us all packed in and wanting to be at the front.

As soon as the race was underway there was a lot of pushing and shoving to find a good position. My first 1km wasn't great i was going fast but i kept having to run off to the side or push people out of the way. There were just so many people on a small part of route to run. However fortunately after a while it died down and i was able to settle into a fast pace. This was my first race using a running watch and i was able to watch my speed and know where i wanted to be. I had a couple of accelerations to get out of the way and through gaps in-between people. But overall the first run was fast and strong and i was into transition.

Transition was chaos there were so many people and so much kit but i knew exactly where to go and grabbed my bike. On approaching the mount line there was again some more madness. A lot of guys were just standing with their bikes or being real slow about it and a few had fallen over or dropped bikes. After a bit more pushing and slight aggression i was onto my bike safely (just) and beginning to get my head into the ride. The cycle was brilliant. I felt really good and strong and the route was on a closed road racing circuit. This meant it was fast, smooth and pretty flat. My average speed was higher than any other triathlon and i felt really good in the big gears down on the tri bars.The track was good to ride on but a couple of tight bends had to be taken with care. Also as there was so many people on the track i had to stay focused, i had a couple of near misses and saw a couple of guys hit the ground. We had 5 laps to ride and so i knew when i could push harder and what cadence to hit. After 4 laps i threw my water bottle away as i realised going that fast and on such a short ride i wouldn't need it. (I did almost fall off in the process). With one lap to go i pushed as hard as i felt i could with a run coming up and went into transition feeling good but with bloody freezing hands.

T2 was a little slower than i would have liked, my hands were frozen so getting on my shoes was a bit of an issue but soon enough i was onto the second lap of the run. I knew i just wanted to go as fast as i could. That was my only plan. Run fast and run hard. I had a really shit week previous to the race including being assaulted so i tried to use all the bad thoughts and use them to push me on. It seemed to work as by the last 1km i felt like i was going really hard. I came around the corner to the finishing straight and went for it. I ran as hard as i could and in the final 100m i overtook about 6 people. I never really understand why people don;t run hard to the line! But when i crossed the line i felt like i truly gave everything.

Im very pleased with my result, it was a massive field to race against and there were some incredible athletes there from fantastic sporting universities so to be top 80 of university students feels very good being my first season. Plymouth as a university also managed to come 15th out of 101!My second run was also a bit quicker than my first which im pretty pleased with! And i felt good and strong during the whole race.

I want to thank my coach Graeme, he is working very hard with me and i believe his training and advice is really taking me to a new level already. I'm excited to keep working with him and really value his time and effort with me.

This is my final race of the season! It's been a fantastic one, one i just wanted to try out the sport and see what happened but turned into being very competitive and training extremely hard. I have big goals for next year and Graeme and i will now work on those over winter. A rest day today and back to the grind on Tuesday.

Thanks for all the support and reading this. It means a lot to know people support you.

More photos to follow when they go up.

The not quite end of Season.

After my last blog post i thought i had put this season to bed and was hitting winter training and relaxing a little. However i was quite wrong! I have entered my definite last event of the season! BUCS duathlon on the 24th of November.

This race should be really interesting and fast. It takes place on Castle Combe race circuit so flat, closed circuit which should be very smooth. The race is a 2 mile run, followed by a 10 mile bike then a further 2 mile run. All around the track. The event is BUCS so i will be up against many other students from across the country which should make it very interesting. There will be guys of elite racing level to just your average student. But i am looking forward to racing against people in the same life positions and just to have one final blast of the year!

I am now a few weeks into my training with coach Graeme Stewart. I can honestly say it is the best decision i made, every day i will check Training Peaks and look what i have to do that day. It's always different, fun but also challenging. Some days i will work all 3 disciplines other days i will just do a long steady bike. I am really enjoying the new challenge and pushing myself harder and harder. I am in the pool more than i ever have been, i used to do around 1-2 sessions a week in the water now I'm swimming about 4/5 sessions a week. Every session is thought out and i am doing new drills, technique work and fine tuning every aspect of my sport.

Using Training Peaks and various watches and computers on the bike and running Graeme can analyse my data and we can compare it to similar sessions to see where improvements are coming. Training peaks is a great tool and i am just getting used to being able to use all the features!

Training this hard isn't easy i wont lie. Im pretty hungry all the time and usually in bed by 10pm. But i can feel my body changing and improvements coming already. I have fresh motivation and knowing that you have someone to tell me what to do and to check if i am doing it is very helpful. Im also really enjoying the routine, knowing when i will train, when im hungry, when i need to sleep, which locker i need to use at swimming otherwise things go wrong (slight OCD). I feel once you use a routine your body gets used to it and begins to respond.

For the next couple of weeks i will keep training hard leading up to this Duathlon. I am very excited to race again but i think after this one the season will definitely be over and the winter miles begin. I have also gained myself a job at Evans cycles and i believe with them it will help me go in the direction i want too and also i may be able to afford some winter kit! But thats another story.

Thanks for reading, i will report back after the race.

Moving Forward.

So that's the end of my first Triathlon season. One where i was planning on just doing a bit of learning and competing but turned into, training hard, racing hard and realizing i could do pretty well with the sport. I have loved this first season, i have spent time training in France and done a whole mixture of races all with a good amount of success. I have had incredible support from family and friends and really felt people were behind me which is what i need.

However i now need to step it up. To be where i want to be i needed something big. And thats why i have now teamed up with a coach. Graeme Stewart is the 2013 Celtman winner, he also holds the Scottish Iron man record and has a very impressive race CV. Graeme as well as being a fantastic athlete and in my eyes the best long distance triathlete in Scotland, is also a coach. After meeting him in Dundee before i left for university after Summer i decided he is what i needed ; focused training, scientific measurements and the ability i believe to take me to the next level. I believe having Graeme as my coach i will see big improvements in my abilities specifically swimming and speed in all 3 disciplines. No longer will i just be going out and riding and running but now everything will be focused, planned and set up for me to do.

I have decided not to take time off between this season and winter training so as of tomorrow i begin my coaching programme with Graeme. It wont be an easy winter and i won't be backing off and having a break. I have big goals which i have discussed with Graeme and he believes these will be achievable. However none of this will happen without me putting in the hours of training and hard work.

Hopefully next Season will be something really special for me, i'm looking forward to working closely with such a great coach and athlete and having someone to keep me in gear (pardon the pun).

I want to thank everyone for this season, my parents have been amazing and supportive something i think is very important and also my friends who have sent me good luck messages or come to races. I really do appreciate the support.

Im going to keep working hard and come out of winter injury free, strong fit and ready for 2014. I will report here during my winter training.

Wadebridge Sprint Triathlon.

Wadebridge Sprint. 13th October

Swim 400m (pool swim) -  7:18
Bike 24km - 44:36
Run 5km  - 19:17

Finish time, 1:12:49
18th overall, 11th in age group (17/39)

Today was Wadebridge sprint triathlon, the last event in the Cornish series and also my last race of my first triathlon season.
My good friend Will came down for the weekend and so was kind enough to drive me to the race, fortunately unlike most races this was a bit of a later start so i had a good nights sleep and a big breakfast to set me up. We arrived in good time for me to have transition set up and get a good warm up. The swim was in a pool which was something new but also meant that the water would be much warmer than normal so i looked forward to that.

The swim was also shorter than a normal sprint and not being the best swimmer i was again pretty excited! Once my number was called i jumped in the pool and got ready to go, unlike other races this season i was less nervous and had a solid race plan in my head. The swim went really well, i got into a steady rhythm and felt very comfortable. Initially i went a bit too fast as i was excited but soon settled down. Annoyingly the bottom of the pool and the pool wall were both blue making the ends of lengths hard to see so this made a few of my turns a bit clumsy. However when the float was tapped on my head with two lengths to go i pushed on and came out the pool knowing i swam well.

Transition was fast and after thinking i was lost i was safely onto the bike section. I was really looking forward to this, i had my new bike tri bars clipped on and the garmin all set up. The bike course is 12km out and 12 back in, the out course was hilly. I didn't really study the route so wasn't that ready but as i a a strong climber i pushed on and made up a good bit of time. Once i was on the tri bars with the new bike spinning beneath me i felt like i was flying. I felt fast in control and good there was also a strange silence from the bike and no gears jumping that im used too! After the turn around i picked up the pace, i wanted to catch a couple more people on the bike and really push the second section. The bike responded and i was picking up pace again, myself and another competitor who was on a tri bike kept going head to head but after two climbs i managed to drop him and was feeling really strong. In the last couple of k's i started thinking about the run and making sure i was hydrated.

Transition 2 went well and i was off on the run. The run has a long steep downhill to begin with so this was good to get the legs going it was 2.5k out and back however meaning i would have to go back up the hill! The run was good however my chip timer on my ankle was way too tight. I felt like my ankle was being stabbed and that it may bleed, however i was never going to stop to change it. I picked up the pace after the halfway mark and lengthen my stride. The uphill near the end was quite comfortable even with another competitor throwing up all over the place next to me. I pushed on for a sprint finish and crossed the line exhausted but feeling like i ran a strong race.

My aim as 1 hour 15 so im very please with 1:12, i also finished 11th in my category and could't be more happy it was a really strong field and a tough course. The race went great for me, the new bike and my fitness felt really strong. It's a great way to end my season and very encouraging.

I would like to thank Will for driving me, his support and the following photos.