Quarteira European Cup 2014

This was my 1^st triathlon of the 2014 season and it was a good way to blow the cobwebs away.

I have to admit that I was pretty disappointed with my finishing result; 27^th

I went into the race ranked 26^th so didn’t quite beat my start number. Although I was still very pleased with certain parts of my race.

I was pretty pleased with my swim, coming out around 10^th in tough conditions; Quarteira is always renowned for having a rough wavy swim but I was happy to have a solid swim and still feel quite comfortable.

The bike was solid with a steep hill every lap and I felt really good on the hill and on the bike in general, maybe leading to the downfall of my race. On hind sight I was maybe a little over enthusiastic on the bike, leading to a below par run.

The benefit of being towards the front of the bike means for plenty of pictures, 

Unfortunately the run was not as good as the swim and the bike. I struggled to get into my running on the 1st lap and fell back through the field, I tried moving through from the 2nd lap onwards which i did picking back some places but the 1st lap of the run really killed of the hopes of a good result. 

You don't get photos taken of you in the positions that I was running, but thanks must go to Luis Santos for the great pictures, of the bike ( and also a cool video - http://vimeo.com/92146764 ) 

Next for me is a World Cup Triathlon in Chendgu, China. Hopefully I will be able to find the final piece of the puzzle and get all parts of the triathlon to click together, to come away with a good overall result.  

Russell.

Season fast approaching

Welcome back;

I have recently been having trouble renewing my domain name but finally I have got it back and managed to get this blog back online, thankfully in time for the season.

Here is a wee update on what I have been up to since the end of last season

If you don’t already know I have taken this year out of University, mainly to focus on qualifying and hopefully competing in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July. The University of Stirling have been great allowing me the opportunity to do this. The time away from study and school placements have allowed me to get a few extra miles in but more importantly extra recovery. I took the opportunity of having no ties to stay out in Spain for a long period on and off over the winter which I was unable to do in previous years with having to complete placements for my degree. A total of 40days Dec- Feb; a mixture of time spent with the Scottish crew and also Triathlon Ireland.

Plenty of training in the legs with nice weather; here are a few pictures cause I’m not going to bore you all with an unnecessary recap.

The ride only starts when the coffee is finished!

No trip to Aquilas is complete without a trip to the Argentinian Steak house
Best steaks ever.

More coffee. There was training done ... I promise

Some dodgy hair cuts and crazy open water swim with the Scottish lads.

Never play 'Scatman' in the presence of Conor Murphy

Great Focus Cayo, training bike from Lakeland Bikes

Group photo, with a few of the Irish squad.

Training is always enjoyable with good company.

Hopefully the winter miles will lead to summer smiles; the triathlon season starts next weekend for me in Portugal with the 1st European Cup of the season, hopefully start the season off with a good result.

Last weekend I won my 1st 10km run race which was a nice wee confidence boost that the running is coming along.

                                    

It is great to have the continued support from Lakeland Bikes Enniskillen ( www.lakelandbikes.co.uk )

the Cervelo S5 is back in action and hopefully help me to plenty of good results this season.

Russell