One of the great successes of the trip was the lack of injury and damage. This was mainly down to preparation, testing kit out, doing 2 days a week of specific strength & conditioning for months beforehand, and a daily regime on the tour itself.
Each morning, I used Sailfish anti-chafe/skin protect lubricant all over my back. I have suffered in the past with bad chafing on my back, that I still have scarring from now. It's painful and if it can be avoided, it should. The avoidance, for me, is limiting the amount of stuff that causes ridges on my back; so not wearing a heart rate monitor strap any more is a great start. Having a race pack that fits closely and doesn't move is essential. And using lubricant, just to be sure, was extremely effective. I didn't use it on the first day and I had a slight abrasion long the underside of where my sports bra ends. I used lubricant every day after that and there was no more chafing.
I also used a stick lubricant on my feet - Compeed anti-blister stick (10ml) - small, light and plenty in a stick to last a couple of weeks if need be. I smothered the arch and ball of each foot, along with the bits of my toes that are in contact with the insides of my shoes. I got zero blisters in the 6 days. Not even a hot spot.
Each evening, I massaged Sudocrem into my feet and back, I also used it on the bramble scratches and wasp stings I got, after a good hot shower first. I also made sure my socks were free from any solid grit or mud and hung out my race pack, shorts, t-shirt and sports bra to dry to make sure they were completely dry again in the morning. Occasionally, they got a rinse with some washing leaves, but I stopped bothering with that after a couple of goes. I checked out my toes and feet and made sure there was nothing stuck in them, no grit between my toes or down the sides of my toe-nails and that the nails were not catching on anything.
The results of this - no blisters, the chafing from day 1 cleared up by day 3 and no further chafing, no blood blisters, no lifted or discoloured toe-nails. The only injuries were scratches and a few stings. Yes, my feet were pretty swollen by the end of it, but that's from hitting them with my bodyweight a bajillion times over the days and that subsided slowly over a week or so.
Showing posts with label Sailfish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sailfish. Show all posts
Sunday, 9 November 2014
Wednesday, 31 July 2013
Race Report - Virgin Active London Triathlon 2013, Sunday (Olympic distance)
Having had a bit of fun on Saturday and a lovely meal with team and some of our sponsors in the evening, the alarm went off at 04:30 on Sunday morning. I wasn't due to race until 12:25, but Mr TOTKat was off at 06:30 for the Olympic Plus (1.5km swim, 80km bike, 10km run) so we had to be up, breakfasted and in the Excel centre at 05:30 to rack up and get him ready.
For the second time in 9 months I had porridge for breakfast, with a healthy handful of California Raisins (oh how I have missed raisins!) and some actual sugar in it. I figured that as I'd taken a good chunk out of my carb stores on Saturday by having a bit of a burn above the threshold where I start to burn carbs at an appreciable rate, I wanted to make sure I'd topped them back up again before my midday effort.
I cheered off Mr TOTKat and the rest of the Freespeeds who were doing the Olympic Plus and went to get a coffee in the 20 mins I then had before they'd start to come in off the swim.
After cheering them all back in from the swim; Dion, Matt, Hobbo, Cat, Ali, Dec and Mr TOTKat I then needed to go and find some food to bridge the gap I was going to have between a 5am breakfast and finishing my race some time around 3pm. Food scored, I headed out onto the bike course to wave at the guys with Jenny, Mette, Richard and the twins. Then a quick look at a bit of the run course to take photos and it was time to get myself into a wetsuit and head for the swim assembly point.
Having put in a 15 minute easyish, fully-drafted 750m in the sprint on Saturday, I wasn't sure how the swim would go. But I tell you what, I did the one thing I really wanted to do in every race for the last 10 or so and I started out really hard. I led the whole wave for the first 200m! Then faded a bit and fell into a rhythm, sadly in clear water with no toes to draft off. I dug in and just decided to try to stay as on-course as possible and make sure I got some water into my wetsuit at the top just before the end so it would slip off easily given I struggled a bit on Saturday with my shoulders (they're big shoulders and they didn't get all that wet, so that does make it difficult.)
Best Olympic distance swim ever! PBd by 21s and without putting a huge amount of effort in; 9th in age group too. Quite pleased with that. The run up to transition was a long one, thankfully it was compulsory to take off wetsuits before running up the stairs to transition. My choice of racking point, although easy to find, meant that I had a long ol' run to get to my bike, but a shorter run on cleats from there to the bike exit.
Helmet on, followed by race number belt, bike shoes and sunglasses. Bike unracked and then a trot off to the mount line. A two lap route, with some roundabouts, undulation and the Limehouse Link. Fun!
Garmin had a little trouble in the Limehouse Link tunnel, as you can see from the plot straight-lining below on the map...
And I was *shifting* on that course. Yes, it was a bit windy and I got a good few hard gusts that pushed me across the road a couple of times. But I had some fun and I got up the confidence to let go through the Limehouse Link and let the speed really pick up - the shame is that Garmin loses coverage through there so doesn't show the speeds I managed through the tunnel - reckon I probably gained an extra 15kph on top of the speed I was doing entering the tunnel (you can see the blue line on the graph stops each time I go through the tunnel - 6 times in all).
I got back to transition to find my bit of the racking void of other bikes, the odd one hanging but really only the odd one. I felt great - in an "on the edge" kind of way at times due to the windy gusts and the speed through the tunnel down on the aero-bars and with no way to get to the brakes in an emergency - but I did ease off a little at times, so I know I could have gone harder. I did remember to get into a low gear before that nasty little trick hill up into transition at the end of the bike, but slipped gears quite a bit and worried myself that I might fall over like a couple of ladies did in front of me on Saturday. 1 hour and 8 minutes, only a minute quicker than 2011 where I had had no idea about anything, had done the odd bit of cycling and was on a road bike. That said, it was quite a bit windier this year and I did come in 4th in my age group this time. I'll take that.
The run was a 3 lap course this year, only 3 times up the slope into transition, but a lot wigglier, and hot and windy too. I felt horrible throughout the run, but while I was doing it I completely forgot that if I feel terrible, it means I'm not slacking on effort too much. So despite failing to be able to get my heart rate to go over 170bpm (proper effort running at that distance puts me 180bpm+), I managed to PB the run by a couple of minutes over my all time Olympic and several over last time on a course & conditions that have been recognised as a bit tougher than 2011.
Over the line in 8th place in my age group, up from 32nd in 2011. I think I'm happy with that, given I've not been training for this distance specifically, but for 70.3 really. It's a shame I have no finish line photo, but I do like this one from the run course.
All in all, it was a great weekend and I really really enjoyed it. Above and beyond my own racing and having fun with the team around the expo etc., Mr TOTKat got out and raced for the first time since IM Wales last year (knee injury for months since a half marathon in October); he had a great race, hit his goals and I'm really happy for him too!
For the second time in 9 months I had porridge for breakfast, with a healthy handful of California Raisins (oh how I have missed raisins!) and some actual sugar in it. I figured that as I'd taken a good chunk out of my carb stores on Saturday by having a bit of a burn above the threshold where I start to burn carbs at an appreciable rate, I wanted to make sure I'd topped them back up again before my midday effort.
 |
| Somewhere around 160BPM there's a knee point in my ratio of fat:carb burned |
After cheering them all back in from the swim; Dion, Matt, Hobbo, Cat, Ali, Dec and Mr TOTKat I then needed to go and find some food to bridge the gap I was going to have between a 5am breakfast and finishing my race some time around 3pm. Food scored, I headed out onto the bike course to wave at the guys with Jenny, Mette, Richard and the twins. Then a quick look at a bit of the run course to take photos and it was time to get myself into a wetsuit and head for the swim assembly point.
Having put in a 15 minute easyish, fully-drafted 750m in the sprint on Saturday, I wasn't sure how the swim would go. But I tell you what, I did the one thing I really wanted to do in every race for the last 10 or so and I started out really hard. I led the whole wave for the first 200m! Then faded a bit and fell into a rhythm, sadly in clear water with no toes to draft off. I dug in and just decided to try to stay as on-course as possible and make sure I got some water into my wetsuit at the top just before the end so it would slip off easily given I struggled a bit on Saturday with my shoulders (they're big shoulders and they didn't get all that wet, so that does make it difficult.)
Best Olympic distance swim ever! PBd by 21s and without putting a huge amount of effort in; 9th in age group too. Quite pleased with that. The run up to transition was a long one, thankfully it was compulsory to take off wetsuits before running up the stairs to transition. My choice of racking point, although easy to find, meant that I had a long ol' run to get to my bike, but a shorter run on cleats from there to the bike exit.
Helmet on, followed by race number belt, bike shoes and sunglasses. Bike unracked and then a trot off to the mount line. A two lap route, with some roundabouts, undulation and the Limehouse Link. Fun!
Garmin had a little trouble in the Limehouse Link tunnel, as you can see from the plot straight-lining below on the map...
And I was *shifting* on that course. Yes, it was a bit windy and I got a good few hard gusts that pushed me across the road a couple of times. But I had some fun and I got up the confidence to let go through the Limehouse Link and let the speed really pick up - the shame is that Garmin loses coverage through there so doesn't show the speeds I managed through the tunnel - reckon I probably gained an extra 15kph on top of the speed I was doing entering the tunnel (you can see the blue line on the graph stops each time I go through the tunnel - 6 times in all).
I got back to transition to find my bit of the racking void of other bikes, the odd one hanging but really only the odd one. I felt great - in an "on the edge" kind of way at times due to the windy gusts and the speed through the tunnel down on the aero-bars and with no way to get to the brakes in an emergency - but I did ease off a little at times, so I know I could have gone harder. I did remember to get into a low gear before that nasty little trick hill up into transition at the end of the bike, but slipped gears quite a bit and worried myself that I might fall over like a couple of ladies did in front of me on Saturday. 1 hour and 8 minutes, only a minute quicker than 2011 where I had had no idea about anything, had done the odd bit of cycling and was on a road bike. That said, it was quite a bit windier this year and I did come in 4th in my age group this time. I'll take that.
 |
| Check that lean :oD |
The run was a 3 lap course this year, only 3 times up the slope into transition, but a lot wigglier, and hot and windy too. I felt horrible throughout the run, but while I was doing it I completely forgot that if I feel terrible, it means I'm not slacking on effort too much. So despite failing to be able to get my heart rate to go over 170bpm (proper effort running at that distance puts me 180bpm+), I managed to PB the run by a couple of minutes over my all time Olympic and several over last time on a course & conditions that have been recognised as a bit tougher than 2011.
Over the line in 8th place in my age group, up from 32nd in 2011. I think I'm happy with that, given I've not been training for this distance specifically, but for 70.3 really. It's a shame I have no finish line photo, but I do like this one from the run course.
All in all, it was a great weekend and I really really enjoyed it. Above and beyond my own racing and having fun with the team around the expo etc., Mr TOTKat got out and raced for the first time since IM Wales last year (knee injury for months since a half marathon in October); he had a great race, hit his goals and I'm really happy for him too!
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
[Race report - Shock Absorber Women Only Triathlon] Pretty pleased with that!
My goodness me that was FUN!
Thank you so much Jenny for persuading me to enter the Shock Absorber Women Only Triathlon this weekend. Having done almost no racing this year, I was getting more wound up about getting used to my TT bike again and how rusty I was with race experience and transitions. So I decided to give it a shot, not worry about the heat that was forecast and go out with the intention of having some fun with no expectations at all. It's a funny distance race so no times to beat or match and with it being a nice shallow lake, the water is clean and the bike course completely sans cars so very very low risk racing indeed.
We packed up the car with both bikes (Mr TOTKat planned a 4 hour ride for while I was entering, registering, racking up, racing and then debriefing) and my wetsuit, just in case, and I zipped up the man-suit about having to swim in a sports bra and race shorts as the team race kit hasn't arrived from Italy yet (thanks to Jenny for the shorts!). It was going to be fun pulling on a wet cycling jersey in T1 as I remember very clearly the errors I made in my first sprint triathlon around putting on dry clothes over a wet body... try it, it's really not very easy and it takes longer than you'd want it to! Anyway, those little oddities aside, it was going to be a fabulous little outing for my TT bike and practise with a few other bits in preparation for Virgin Active London Triathlon in a couple of weeks. Arriving well before transition opening time and just about as registration was open, I entered and paid my fees for the race, picked up the race pack and failed to check the notice board about the lake temperature as I'd assumed it was 23C at least and a wetsuit ban would be in place. Once Mr TOTKat was packed off and I was smeared in sun cream, I sat in the shade and chatted to a couple of other competitors, who then said wetsuits were allowed as the water temperature was being officially reported as 21.8C. I ran back to the car to pick up my wetsuit... I really wanted to wear it quite a bit, if nothing other than to cover up my wobbly belly for the swim!
Then I headed over to transition to rack up as it was just about to open and I was in the first wave of competitors due to start. Listening to a conversation it turned out that the water really was quite warm, so I decided not to boil in my wetsuit and just get over how I look around the middle (my arms and legs are great, but my belly and back are very much showing the signs of the 3.5kg I've put on since last year's racing). Racked up, stuff laid out in transition I had a quick chat with Jenny (who was in the later wave due to being a spring chicken) and having checked where the swim out, bike out and in and run out were, I got my goggles and hat on and headed for the water. No race briefing until we were actually in the water, ready to go and bobbing about by the safety kayaks. 2 laps of the buoys for the swim (800m), 6 laps of the bike route (31.8km) and then 3 laps of the run (reduced from 7.5km to 6.2km due to the heat).
2 minute countdown, then 20 seconds then 3-2-1 *frrrrp* The Challenge distance wave 1 (under 30s and over 40s) was underway! (Wave 2 was 30-39 and they started 30 minutes after us.)
And as usual, a good old thrash at the start and a small breakaway pack started to get away from me, but I led the second pack in the water. My tendency to bear left surfaced again and a woman from the under 30s in the wave started to pull alongside on my right and I realised I kept going off left too far and adding metres to the distance. I re-found the yellow rope that runs along the bottom of the lake, securing the buoys in place and tried to keep that in view on my right for the second lap but drifted off a bit again and ended up deciding to just coast a little and draft the other girl to save energy.
Jogging out of the water and into transition, my bike was easy to find thanks to my Union Flag design Adamo seat and the fact I was at the end of a group of racked bikes, half way down the racks in transition in the 3rd row. Bike jersey needed to be dragged on over my wet shoulders, arms and back as there are rules about how much skin you can have exposed between top and bottom half of clothing for the bike and run and a sports bra and shorts wouldn't work at all for that (never mind what you think, Mel C, going across the finish line with your abs out for the world!) and that's never a quick process. Then number belt, sunglasses, bike helmet and bike shoes and unhook the bike for the trot to the bike mount line. One day I'll learn how to do the bike mount with shoes attached to the bike thing, but it's beyond me at the moment and I'd rather focus on the big ticket items like strength, endurance and technique at the main disciplines.
Bike racked, bike shoes off, helmet off, number belt turned around,
sun-visor on and off onto the run to find out how many people in my wave
were already out there.
It looked pretty empty and I couldn't see down to the turn point as I grabbed a water at the start of the run. Stomping down the Western shore of the lake I counted one... two... three... three runners on the course! Time to dig in and get on with it in pretty horrid heat. I really don't do well in the heat, but even with a couple of extra kg weight compared with last year, I'm in a lot better place than I used to be. I hung on and took water at each end of the run route and tried to see who was behind me. Plenty of people were shouting "GO ON FREESPEED!" which was absolutely brilliant and gave me such a boost!
It got a bit confusing after the first lap as there were then people very much at different points of their race and I couldn't tell who I was racing any more. On my last lap, Jenny went rocketing past in the opposite direction and then a few people went rocketing past me. I had no idea what wave they were in or what lap they were on, so I just had to hang on and not lose the water I'd been glugging by up-chucking in the last lap. Carolyn Hewett (Team Wiggle) came past like a train and scared the wits out of me for a second with a cheery "COME ON FREESPEED!", which then made me giggle as there was no way on earth I'd be able to catch up with her as she disappeared off into the distance.
I threw myself under the finish gantry and headed straight for a lady holding a garden hose with a sprinkler attachment and got myself drenched while I sucked down the Vita Coco that was being handed out. Man it was good! I had a good old natter with Eleanor Doody from Ful On Tri afterwards, which was really nice; this is one of the things I massively enjoyed about the day, despite having been skeptical about a women only event. Waiting for MrTOTKat to get back in from his bike ride, I munched on a White Chocolate and Macadamia Clif bar and started to feel a bit more human again (really looking forward to picking up my nutrition pack so I can get on with the Clif Builders Bars after the next races!).
For a last minute decision race, on a really hot day, the day after a monster strength session in the gym and no taper at all... I'm pretty happy with the result. And it was fantastic TT bike time, getting used to handling that bike again, after the fit at Freespeed a couple of months ago. It feels really good!
Race result - 3rd F40-44:-
Swim - 15:49 - 4th in AG, 19th overall
Bike - 59:36 - 2nd in AG, 13th overall
Run - 35:44 - 15th in AG, 57th overall
T1 - 01:54, T2 - 01:19
Happy with the swim, happy with the bike (especially given I eased off in laps 3 and 4). But yes I need to work on my run, but I pretty much gave up on the run once I was reasonably sure I probably wasn't losing places to anyone I was actually racing and I reminded myself that this was a bit of fun and there was no need to splatter myself all over the run course.
It's incredible racing in the team kit of such a well-known high-performance race team as Team Freespeed Virgin Active and it gave me no end of mental boost on the day as well as the support from the team and sponsors. Looking forward to The Virgin Active London Triathlon in 2 weekends time when I really get to have more fun and enjoy a great race.
We packed up the car with both bikes (Mr TOTKat planned a 4 hour ride for while I was entering, registering, racking up, racing and then debriefing) and my wetsuit, just in case, and I zipped up the man-suit about having to swim in a sports bra and race shorts as the team race kit hasn't arrived from Italy yet (thanks to Jenny for the shorts!). It was going to be fun pulling on a wet cycling jersey in T1 as I remember very clearly the errors I made in my first sprint triathlon around putting on dry clothes over a wet body... try it, it's really not very easy and it takes longer than you'd want it to! Anyway, those little oddities aside, it was going to be a fabulous little outing for my TT bike and practise with a few other bits in preparation for Virgin Active London Triathlon in a couple of weeks. Arriving well before transition opening time and just about as registration was open, I entered and paid my fees for the race, picked up the race pack and failed to check the notice board about the lake temperature as I'd assumed it was 23C at least and a wetsuit ban would be in place. Once Mr TOTKat was packed off and I was smeared in sun cream, I sat in the shade and chatted to a couple of other competitors, who then said wetsuits were allowed as the water temperature was being officially reported as 21.8C. I ran back to the car to pick up my wetsuit... I really wanted to wear it quite a bit, if nothing other than to cover up my wobbly belly for the swim!
Then I headed over to transition to rack up as it was just about to open and I was in the first wave of competitors due to start. Listening to a conversation it turned out that the water really was quite warm, so I decided not to boil in my wetsuit and just get over how I look around the middle (my arms and legs are great, but my belly and back are very much showing the signs of the 3.5kg I've put on since last year's racing). Racked up, stuff laid out in transition I had a quick chat with Jenny (who was in the later wave due to being a spring chicken) and having checked where the swim out, bike out and in and run out were, I got my goggles and hat on and headed for the water. No race briefing until we were actually in the water, ready to go and bobbing about by the safety kayaks. 2 laps of the buoys for the swim (800m), 6 laps of the bike route (31.8km) and then 3 laps of the run (reduced from 7.5km to 6.2km due to the heat).
2 minute countdown, then 20 seconds then 3-2-1 *frrrrp* The Challenge distance wave 1 (under 30s and over 40s) was underway! (Wave 2 was 30-39 and they started 30 minutes after us.)
And as usual, a good old thrash at the start and a small breakaway pack started to get away from me, but I led the second pack in the water. My tendency to bear left surfaced again and a woman from the under 30s in the wave started to pull alongside on my right and I realised I kept going off left too far and adding metres to the distance. I re-found the yellow rope that runs along the bottom of the lake, securing the buoys in place and tried to keep that in view on my right for the second lap but drifted off a bit again and ended up deciding to just coast a little and draft the other girl to save energy.
Jogging out of the water and into transition, my bike was easy to find thanks to my Union Flag design Adamo seat and the fact I was at the end of a group of racked bikes, half way down the racks in transition in the 3rd row. Bike jersey needed to be dragged on over my wet shoulders, arms and back as there are rules about how much skin you can have exposed between top and bottom half of clothing for the bike and run and a sports bra and shorts wouldn't work at all for that (never mind what you think, Mel C, going across the finish line with your abs out for the world!) and that's never a quick process. Then number belt, sunglasses, bike helmet and bike shoes and unhook the bike for the trot to the bike mount line. One day I'll learn how to do the bike mount with shoes attached to the bike thing, but it's beyond me at the moment and I'd rather focus on the big ticket items like strength, endurance and technique at the main disciplines.
Off out over the bike mount line and a lady in pink RGActive kit went
ahead of me to mount and her support told her she was in 9th place -
which meant I was 8th out of the water in my wave (under 30s and over
40s). I intended to take lap 1 easyish, get used to the route, turn my
legs over and then get down onto the tri-bars for the next 5 laps.
But... out of transition onto the long straight on the West side of the
lake there was a monster head wind. Staying up on the hoods just turned
me into a sail, so once I was through the chicane, I was down on the
bars and up the gears. I started to overtake a few ladies who were in
the front pack of swimmers and then I couldn't see anyone for a while in
front of me. After starting the 4th lap, the next wave started to
become quite apparent on the bike course and on the 5th I was overtaken
by someone from the later starting wave and I realised I'd eased off and
was taking it quite gently! Back on the gas to overtake her again,
loving the sweeping bends on the course, I overtook her back again half a
lap later and then steamed into transition after my 6th lap.
Bike racked, bike shoes off, helmet off, number belt turned around,
sun-visor on and off onto the run to find out how many people in my wave
were already out there.
It looked pretty empty and I couldn't see down to the turn point as I grabbed a water at the start of the run. Stomping down the Western shore of the lake I counted one... two... three... three runners on the course! Time to dig in and get on with it in pretty horrid heat. I really don't do well in the heat, but even with a couple of extra kg weight compared with last year, I'm in a lot better place than I used to be. I hung on and took water at each end of the run route and tried to see who was behind me. Plenty of people were shouting "GO ON FREESPEED!" which was absolutely brilliant and gave me such a boost!
It got a bit confusing after the first lap as there were then people very much at different points of their race and I couldn't tell who I was racing any more. On my last lap, Jenny went rocketing past in the opposite direction and then a few people went rocketing past me. I had no idea what wave they were in or what lap they were on, so I just had to hang on and not lose the water I'd been glugging by up-chucking in the last lap. Carolyn Hewett (Team Wiggle) came past like a train and scared the wits out of me for a second with a cheery "COME ON FREESPEED!", which then made me giggle as there was no way on earth I'd be able to catch up with her as she disappeared off into the distance.
I threw myself under the finish gantry and headed straight for a lady holding a garden hose with a sprinkler attachment and got myself drenched while I sucked down the Vita Coco that was being handed out. Man it was good! I had a good old natter with Eleanor Doody from Ful On Tri afterwards, which was really nice; this is one of the things I massively enjoyed about the day, despite having been skeptical about a women only event. Waiting for MrTOTKat to get back in from his bike ride, I munched on a White Chocolate and Macadamia Clif bar and started to feel a bit more human again (really looking forward to picking up my nutrition pack so I can get on with the Clif Builders Bars after the next races!).
For a last minute decision race, on a really hot day, the day after a monster strength session in the gym and no taper at all... I'm pretty happy with the result. And it was fantastic TT bike time, getting used to handling that bike again, after the fit at Freespeed a couple of months ago. It feels really good!
Race result - 3rd F40-44:-
Swim - 15:49 - 4th in AG, 19th overall
Bike - 59:36 - 2nd in AG, 13th overall
Run - 35:44 - 15th in AG, 57th overall
T1 - 01:54, T2 - 01:19
Happy with the swim, happy with the bike (especially given I eased off in laps 3 and 4). But yes I need to work on my run, but I pretty much gave up on the run once I was reasonably sure I probably wasn't losing places to anyone I was actually racing and I reminded myself that this was a bit of fun and there was no need to splatter myself all over the run course.
It's incredible racing in the team kit of such a well-known high-performance race team as Team Freespeed Virgin Active and it gave me no end of mental boost on the day as well as the support from the team and sponsors. Looking forward to The Virgin Active London Triathlon in 2 weekends time when I really get to have more fun and enjoy a great race.
Friday, 12 July 2013
Sneaky extra race :o)
I'll be entering the Shock Absorber Women Only Triathlon at Eton Dorney on Sunday. (Thanks to Jenny for suggesting it might be fun!) It's going to be a real fun bash at 3/4 Olympic distance on a flat, sweeping bike course and a totally flat run course on tarmac with a bit of grass right at the end.I had a miserable time at the HSBC Olympic distance race two years ago (back before I had any idea about what training was, how to do it etc.) at this venue, but a whole lot has changed since then and I expect a stonking good time on Sunday.
Not sure I'll get to race in my new Sailfish G-Range wetsuit (courtesy of my new membership of Team Freespeed Virgin Active - thank you for the incredible support so far guys!) as the water may be warmer than the threshold for a wetsuit ban under BTF rules (22C). Bit of a shame really as the little try-out I had in it suggests that it's a really quick suit! Also not sure I'll manage to sustain the three tweaks to my swim stroke that team-mate Matt Molloy suggested this morning; one of them really puts a lot more power in my stroke, but as always with more power it means it's gotta come from somewhere and it's quite tiring when it's not ingrained into technique with a good few hours practice. That said, 800m swim isn't all that long to really dump out some energy :o)
I'm going to be brave and use the TT bike (though I'm being advised to take advantage of the fact that the team is headline sponsored and run by Freespeed (bike fit studio - Retul certified) and have my bars checked out for suitability for me, so I'll do that soonish but there's not enough time before Sunday) as there's pretty much no need to get up out of the aero-position for the whole bike leg apart from at the end. Fingers crossed I can do that as it's great experience to rack up for me, given I'm not the most confident in my own ability cyclist. I so want to get a good go on that bike with the new HED Jet wheels on it (6 on the front, 9 on the rear)!
And I'll be giving these here Skechers Go Run (Ride) a good try out on the run too - they feel spectacularly light but are a lot more cushioned than I'm used to. Reckon they'll be perfect for the training and run I'll be doing in October - Rowbotham's Round Rotherham (80km Ultra Marathon).
AND there's a barbecue after the race too! Perfect!
Tuesday, 2 July 2013
*tiny thermonuclear explosion of joy* @virginactiveuk @teamfreespeed
Somebody pinch me; I can't believe it's real! I, er, won.
I am now the 12th member of Team Freespeed Virgin Active. 11 high performance athletes and me. I am so unbelievably happy, scared, excited, nervous, honoured, fired-up... it really is a dream come true. 11 of the best amateur athletes in triathlon at the moment and I'm going to be able to spend a bit of time with them, talk with them, race with them, be part of their team and it is all because of the generous gift from their sponsors Freespeed and Virgin Active. There is lots of support and kit coming my way, with a membership to the gorgeous Chiswick Riverside site of Virgin Active health clubs and I'll be racing in team kit at the Virgin Active London Triathlon and Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100, as well as Valencia Triathlon a bit later in the year.
I need a little bit of a lie-down and some time to make sense of it, but right now I'm on cloud 9 and want to start to channel some of this phenomenal, new enthusiasm into mojo for training well.
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| Thanks Heather, I don't look 40 in this one :oD |
I am now the 12th member of Team Freespeed Virgin Active. 11 high performance athletes and me. I am so unbelievably happy, scared, excited, nervous, honoured, fired-up... it really is a dream come true. 11 of the best amateur athletes in triathlon at the moment and I'm going to be able to spend a bit of time with them, talk with them, race with them, be part of their team and it is all because of the generous gift from their sponsors Freespeed and Virgin Active. There is lots of support and kit coming my way, with a membership to the gorgeous Chiswick Riverside site of Virgin Active health clubs and I'll be racing in team kit at the Virgin Active London Triathlon and Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100, as well as Valencia Triathlon a bit later in the year.I need a little bit of a lie-down and some time to make sense of it, but right now I'm on cloud 9 and want to start to channel some of this phenomenal, new enthusiasm into mojo for training well.
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