Race Report: Racing the Valencia F1 Circuit

Thanks to Virgin Active, a bunch of Team Freespeed went down to Valencia to race the Valencia triathlon at the weekend.

A week after Ironman 70.3 Zell Am See, Mr TOTKat and I would have just about enough time to get over lead-legs and needing to sleep a lot, and get out and race an Olympic distance with a good degree of fitness and energy.  We swapped bikes in the bike boxes, TT bikes out, road bikes in - Valencia is a drafting race so TT bikes aren't allowed (or rather, long aero bars aren't allowed as they're pretty dangerous at close-quarters riding).  Plenty of clip-on, stubby aero bars in evidence at the race, but I'll get to that in a bit.

We flew out on Friday morning from Gatwick and into 28C an sunny skies in Valencia - gorgeous!  The forecast was for cloud and still warm across the whole weekend, so no need for a wetsuit (though we both packed one, just in case) and no need for socks apart from the fact I really want to be sure my feet are good for the next few weeks into the Rotherham 80km Ultra marathon.  Fun and games at the airport with 9 people and 5 bike boxes to get to the hotel and only normal-sized cars as taxis.  No mini-buses, no people carriers.  We managed somehow and got to the hotel, which was really lovely and welcomed us with cava and orange juice as well as little gift packs with maps and travel passes in them.

A little unpack, then off for a swim down at the beach and back to the hotel for an early night.

Next day we put bikes together and headed out down to the sea front to have a look at the race expo.  Not so many vendors there but a few stalls with general sports kit and the registration tents for when that opened later on in the afternoon.  Back to the hotel for a huge nap and then out with the other guys again to register and rack up bikes.

Sunday morning was an earlyish start at 6am to get to transition before it closed at 07:45 in time for the first race start at 8am.  I popped into transition to set up my shoes, helmet and take the plastic cover off my bike that'd been protecting it from the potential rain overnight.  I said I'd take the plastic cover off Matt's bike for him so he could have a nice lie in for his race start at 10:30 so I did that and checked his tyres were OK - they were.

Mr TOTKat was due to be off at 08:20, so those of us off later went to check out the swim course while he got ready to start and then watched the swim leg for the first few waves and then saw Matt burning off the front of his wave before Jenny and I headed to get ready for our start.  We were herded into the start pen for a pre-race talk; 5 minutes in Spanish, no English for the International athletes.  Oh well!  We then plopped into the water, which was gorgeous temperature for swimming in!  It was so very very salty too.

Bang went the start cannon and I tried really hard not to just mow over the row of women in front of me who were really slow, but got over the reticence and got on with it.  It really wasn't very fighty as deep water swim starts go, just a little jostling at the start then I had clear water.  Having recced the swim course earlier, we had a great idea of how to sight for almost all of it and I put some good effort in for the first few hundred meters before easing off a bit, slightly distracted by the salt water in my mouth.

With the beautiful water, the temperature and the freedom of just a tri-suit maybe, the swim felt really really easy.  I didn't put a whole lot of effort in, if I'm honest, but it turned out I led the second pack for quite a way until getting under the bridge for the final few meters and a couple of women overtook me, and I let them as I wasn't sure where the exit was so I'd rather follow them.  I scrambled out, up the ramp and jogged the long long carpet through to transition and around to where my bike was racked.  On with the helmet, race number, socks (paranoid about blisters at the moment), bike shoes, sunglasses, unracked bike and jogged with it to the bike exit.

Over the line, mount the bike and clip in.  I heard cheers from the spectators of "Go on Kat!" etc.  I guessed that was Nick and Mr TOTKat as he'd've finished by now.  Start to pedal as I just hit the left turn for the bridge and *THUB*THUB*THUB* er... not a good noise.  Stop, unclip, feel back tyre - fine, feel front tyre - flat as a pancake.

Bugger.

My repair kit was not with me, having lost a chunk of it last week at Ironman 70.3 Zell Am See I'd not replaced it yet and decided not to carry a reduced kit for an Olympic distance race.  I unclipped my other foot, dismounted and hugged the fence back to transition against the flow of other athletes.  I had to find a race official, to withdraw from the race so they wouldn't worry about a missing athlete.  I found one with a radio and made the international sign of the glum face and pointed at my dead wheel.  That worked.  Mr TOTKat had by that time made his way level with where I was and shouted that I should use his repair kit from his bike.  I politely declined at that point - it'd've taken me ages to find his bike, get the kit and wrestle the still fairly new tyre off and by that time I'd've lost over 10 minutes and I'd be the last person over the finish line.  I didn't much fancy that and I'd had a lovely swim, so why get cross and have a horrible run by myself in the blazing sun when I didn't really need to?

I racked up my bike and joined the boys to cheer the rest of the team home over the line.  Turns out I was 3rd in the Vet Females in the swim.  Which was nice.

Matt won the Veterans race, and Jenny was 4th woman overall and 3rd in the open women's race.  Pretty darned good for her seeing as she'd had the twins only 10 months ago and not been able to train for a long time!

All in all, I really enjoyed the race and the weekend.  The swim was really very nice and although it was a shame not to have been able to ride the bike course, there's always another year and we'd be more than happy to go back again.  The short of it, the Valencia Triathlon is a good 'un and at a good time towards the end of the season to keep spirits up in the sun.

[Thanks to Nick for the use of all of his photos in this article!]

Nick on the camera bike

Event Report: Ride London 100 2013

It's been all go for the last few weekends and this weekend was no exception; more excitingly it was the inaugural Ride London 100 event and the longest ride for me since crashing my bike last year on 2nd September, by 100%.

I've been training for 70.3 Austria in September this year and that has meant no rides longer than about 3.5 hours since I've got back on my bike early this year.  80km max, I think, though I'd have to look at some of the ones in Spain to be certain.  Ride London 100 is 100 miles... 160km.  So I was apprehensive to day the least.

Mr TOTKat and I agreed we'd take it gently, enjoy the day out and see how we felt.  So we planned the logistics of the days around it, I got stressy about it all and he figured it out sensibly.  I think I was  just so focused on fear of the distance, the second longest ride of my life to date after Ironman UK last year and that was not a lot of fun at all at the time.  But with it all figured out and no pressure on the day and days around it, we headed into the weekend relatively calm and prepared.

4am on Sunday and the alarm went off... having spent the night in a very humid, cheap hotel room nearing to the finish, we hadn't had a lot of sleep when we were dragged to consciousness by the familiar sound of ducks quacking.  Brekkie was posh instant porridge with California Raisins stirred in and a black coffee before we turned all the bike lights on and headed out to the road to ride to the Olympic Park for the start.

The route got thicker and thicker with riders until we reached the park to drop off bags, find people and filter into the pens for the start.  The plan never was to try to hang on to the rest of the Freespeed guys as they really are a lot faster than us and had different plans for the day than we did.  The start was announced and we rolled off out onto the course shortly after dawn onto the most fantastic course imaginable.  Like the London Triathlon weekend, London's closed roads were absolutely dreamy to ride on and I quickly got caught up in turning on some speed after the first few tens of km. And by the first hub, I was starting to think that perhaps I was going too hard.

We stopped at the first hub, situated in Hampton Court Palace, and had a nice cup of tea with some salty crunchy Sunbites having crunched through a Clif bar at the first toilet break.  We spent quite some time there and when we started off again I really did start to have some fun.

  

I latched onto the back of one of the passing pelotons and hung on for a while, dropping Mr TOTKat quite a bit.  I eventually came to my senses and dropped off the back of the group and waited for him to catch me up.  Then coming up into the second hub, which I thought was at the top of Leith Hill, I was preparing for a mean old hill that never came.  We stopped in the hub there for a very long time indeed.  Had tea and bacon rolls and chatted about quite a lot.  I think we were there for a good 40 minutes before deciding that we really ought to be getting on or we'd be out all day.

 

Then Leith Hill actually happened.  Mmm, that was fun.  I wouldn't mind giving it a go again when it's not covered in a bajillion other cyclists.  As it was, it was quite narrow and a bit tricky to get up as I really only have one climbing speed and if people are slower than that and in front of me taking up the width of the road, I have problems.  I did manage to find a route through with a chatty woman who helped keep my mind focused on getting up in one piece and not getting off to walk when I realised I was incredibly hot, really quite spectacularly hot indeed, so much so that my sunglasses steamed up even in the heat of the day.

With the one hill I was worried about over with, and Box Hill come and gone with a stop for a last tea and a shared treacle tart, there was one more loo break required at a small station before the third hub and some aid from the St John Ambulance chaps for my elbow which was getting very sore and not supporting me very well any more.  I iced it for 15 minutes at that aid station along with my wrist as well and we saw that there were reports of pretty awesome medals at the finish line, so we decided to get a move on and get to the end without any more mucking about.

Starting off at a reasonable pace and then winding it up more and more, I dropped Mr TOTKat pretty convincingly again - he was actually impressed and there was no latching on to big groups this time, just really really enjoying riding and swooping around roundabouts on the wrong side of the road; I had a whale of a time!  We swept through Kingston's one way system backwards and onwards on our normal route home from there, which was a lovely surprise and meant the little rise out over the A3 wasn't a surprise and then through Wimbledon, up the hill and all in our stride while many very tired people got off and walked.

Invigorated by that last part of the route and knowing there was less than 10km to go, it was time to enjoy the course back into town and then up The Mall to the finish line, arm in arm.

Ride London 100 was a fabulous experience. We absolutely loved it!  So well organised and smooth with no hitches or real stress on the day.  I think we failed to find the festival at the end in Green Park, but otherwise the atmosphere was truly lovely and at no point was anyone difficult, aggressive, short with other riders in any way and the St John Ambulance guys reported being pretty much bored all day; perfect!  We even saw Boris a few times 'cause we spent so long at the hubs :o)

Bring it on again in 2014!

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.

Somewhere around 160BPM there's a knee point in my ratio of fat:carb burned

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.

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!

Chewing at the bars of my cage [@thelondontri @virginactiveuk]

The day before the weekend of The Virgin Active London Triathlon and I am right where I should be before a race - chewing through the bars of my cage to get out and race!

Last couple of months training; pink = intense/long training, blue = fitness, yellow = "race freshness"

Having tapered training down, keeping the number of sessions this week the same but dialling back the duration or intensity, I've been getting more and more itchy to just go out and run hard, or swim fast or *grrrrr* anything!  And that's where you're supposed to be at this point before an important race.  I can't wait to get out there on Sunday and mash around the swim, bike and run!  I'll be fit, well-adapted and rested with not having put as much fatigue as usual into my body this week and the little fun race the weekend before last really whetted my appetite.

My checklist is sorted and, even better, I have race kit to collect on Saturday morning and I'll be in full Freespeed colours for this flagship race.  I'm going to be so happy and proud to be wearing them (plus they are amazingly comfy - I have a pair of the tri-shorts already and they're lovely to wear) and the lift you get from supporters yelling for you and ringing cow-bells is something special.  I had a taste of that last weekend and a long time back at Blenheim (very fond memories of my first race there!) and it is an amazing feeling that even the hardest cynic can't fail to be moved by.

Tomorrow, I'll be on the Virgin Active stand at the triathlon expo in the afternoon, so if you're racing, supporting or just at the expo for a look/shop come and say hi!  Sunday... I'll be out on the course, having fun!

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!

Another solid week, but feeling blue

This has been another solid week of training, but I am feeling quite blue.

My swim session was cut short due to running short on time and being quite hungry.  It was an after work one where I didn't manage to leave the office promptly, so I was tired and cranky even before I started the session.  So I felt a bit down about not getting the whole set in, especially as it was my only swim of the week.  Then I missed my mid-week run, which was disappointing as it was supposed to be a hilly one; not something I could do on the way home and I'd been at a work event in the afternoon so was laden with laptop and other heavy stuff.  So, instead of running, we went for cheese and wine instead.  Oops.  Again, felt a bit down about that as things had been going well and I know that alcohol really sabotages my weight management.

Thursday, I picked myself up, dusted myself off and went for a ride at lunchtime to pick up my lovely new team-issue Lezyne kit; a beautifully engineered track pump, which packs down flat for easy packing into the car and has some rather sweet design features, like a locking hose for when it's not in use.  Also in the team kit pack was a pair of bottle cages, a mini puncture repair kit, a compact pump and a neat bento box.

After work a nice little run up to the common, across the diagonal, down a long long hill and then... back up it again to get home.  There are some lovely varied routes on Wimbledon Common - it's so versatile: flat, hills, gravel, dirt, mud, sand... I absolutely love it and it's so much quieter than Richmond Park.  And I was back up there on Sunday for the local running club's 10K race with some friends.  With predicted baking heat, utterly sweltering by 11am, I set off from home on Sunday morning fully intending to get the bus up to the common, but checking the indicator board, it showed over 15 minutes for the bus I needed.  I could jog there in less time; so I did.  Up the hill, not the best of warm-ups and by the time I got to the common the heat was getting noticeable.  To cut a long story short, I ran the first lap reasonably hard, then eased up and had a social second lap.  It was hot and I'd had a second week in a row of quite a bit of training compared with the prior couple of months, so I was pretty fatigued and in no way in good shape to force out something in the low 50min range.  Had a nice chat with @abradypus afterwards and then toddled off for coffee and cake while I waited for an update from MrTOTKat who was out doing the ride I'd done the day before - his longest ride since Ironman Wales last year!

Little bimble in the heat

So, a bit up (a good solid week put in) and a bit down (missed out on a quality run and part of my only swim session, and was a bit liberal with the boozes).  Looking forward to a week of having great fun trying to fit things around my trip to the rural office!  I'm sure I'll make it work somehow.

*tiny thermonuclear explosion of joy* @virginactiveuk @teamfreespeed

Somebody pinch me; I can't believe it's real!  I, er, won.

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.