Back in Stirling

It has been a while since I updated this but just with getting back over to Uni in Stirling and settling in to my new house it has just took up a bit of time, but I have finally got around to it tonight.

Just before I headed back over here I competed in my last triathlon of the season at Newtonabbey (Stenaline Triathlon) two years ago this was my 1^st ever triathlon when I was just a swimmer. Back then I got my bike on the Friday, fell off it a few times on the Saturday getting used to clipless pedals and competed in the Triathlon on the Sunday, so I was a complete novice at it back then. I swan in swim jammer shorts, and put on a cycling top in transition, put socks on and put my bike shoes on in transition, all the usual 1^st timer stuff.

I came 11^th overall 1^st junior and in a time of 1.11.03 where as this year I came 2^nd overall 1^st junior and in a time of 0.59.51. Over 11mins faster is not a bad improvement, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get the win. Brian Campbell (former Commonwealth Games Triathlete) was just too strong for me on the run, so I had to settle for 2^nd. I was still very pleased with my performance on the day and not a bad way to wrap up the season, and a good marker to see where I have came from in two years.

I love racing and being competitive, so I ended up entering the Stirling 10km when I realised it was on when I was back over. I wanted to use it as a benchmark of where I was before my winter training over 10km distance especially when I didn’t get the chance to do the run at the Dublin City triathlon due to my puncture. Lets just say I didn’t have the best preparation for the race as it was at the very end of Fresher’s week which involved a lot of late nights and also I was on my 2weeks off training as it was the end of my season. This didn’t bother me as it was really just a bit of fun and very opportunistic the way it came about.

I managed to do it in a time of 33.46 which I was very pleased with as my aim before hand was to go sub 34mins. I am really glad that I got a 10km fitted in before next season and lets me know where I am and helps me to create realistic aims for this forthcoming season moving into Olympic distance. I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that I managed to come 2^nd Junior which got me abit of prize money which is always nice.

My love for racing has also caused me to enter Scottish Aquathon Champs this weekend, so that will also give me a chance to do another pressure free race for fun.

I will try and keep on top of my blog and update it more consistently in the near future.

A race report for half a race.

The Dublin City Triathlon, my first ever Olympic distance … didn’t exactly go to plan.

I decided I would enter an Olympic distance at the end of this season as it was my last year a Junior and I wanted to try one to see what I was going to be up against next year, and to have a good idea what I was going to have to train for over the winter.

So Dublin Tri it was. An early start to get down and register before hand, didn’t really mind because I just slept the whole way down in the car (thanks dad J). Down and registered and got probably the best race pack I have ever got, it was completely packed. The only thing it didn’t have was a t-shirt. For once it was a finisher t-shirt so you got it at the finish line. Imagine that, in my first ever triathlon that I didn’t finish, but yeah awesome race pack.

Anyway on to the race, I was in the 1^st wave of the swim, while setting up transition all wave 1 where in on the same rack, and I think I was the only non-TT bike on the rack, some real nice bike bling indeed. I knew I needed a good swim to give me the advantage I would need on the bike. I am currently really pleased with my biking at the minute but still knew it would be my weakness. (thanks to Kevin from BCC for fixing my position to give me every advantage).

I took the swim fairly steady because I didn’t really know how I would cope with the distance and also on the way back my goggles had fogged up and the sun was in my eyes (bad goggle choice) I didn’t really have a clue where I was going I just tried to stay on the right hand side until I could see the buoy again this really slowed me down.

I still managed to be first out of the water and onto the bike, I got caught at the turnaround at the far end of the first lap, it didn’t help that it want marshalled and I cycled past the turnaround for 50m until one marshal screamed and chased after me, it didn’t cost me that much but it was extra time none the less.

It nearly helped that I got passed as I definitely went faster; I was able to keep a legal distance and hold the same pace, knowing that I was still feeling comfortable and ready for my 1^st 10km off a bike.

I was pleased with how my first Olympic distance was panning out, I wasn’t losing as much on the bike as I thought I might and then my lucky ran out! Ppsssssssssss…. PUNCTURED! I heard it first and then I thought I would still be ok, it didn’t feel that soft, but it was it just kept going down on till I felt the rim slide, I knew my day was over. There was nothing I could do.

It was quite strange as the night before I had came across an old 220 magazine and flicked through it, I read Vicky Holland’s column and it was all about how she punctured for the first time in a race at Dunkirk French GP.

I was gutted I really wanted to see how I would cope with the 10km run at the end, it will just have to wait to the next time.

All I could do now was follow the course back pushing the bike, thankfully I got offered a lift back part of the way which saved my bare feet a bit, it was a great help.

So I have still never done a full Olympic distance, but there will be plenty more in the future, and everything happens for a reason so it just wasn’t meant to be.

I was glad I entered Newtownabbey Sprint at the last minute which is on this Sunday, I didn’t want to end my season on a DNF, well that’s hoping that nothing goes wrong and I am able to finish on Sunday.

Newtownabbey tri is quite significant, two years ago it was my 1^st ever triathlon, I got a bike on the Friday, fell off it a few times getting used to clipless peddles on the Saturday and then did the triathlon on the Sunday, I ended up coming 1^st junior and 8^th over all. So it will be a good marker for how much I have improved in two years.

Lord and Lady of the Lake.

This was the 2^nd year in a row that I took part in the Lord and Lady of Lake event at Camlough/Crooked Lake.

It’s a 2.6km swim from one end of the lake to the other, first man and women would be crown Lord and Lady of the lake.

This was the second year in the row that I had taken part in it, and last year I won it. This year was different I wasn’t just a nobody that just turned up, everyone now knew who I was, so there was a bit more pressure on this year.

Thankfully I had a good race and retained my title; unfortunately I went slightly slower than my time last year. Last year I went 30mins flat but this year I went 30mins 21secs. The aim was to break the 30mins barrier, but never mind, with it being such a long point to point swim it could just have been due to the line I took or anything.

Aileen also competed this year so that was my main competition, my summer training partner; I couldn’t let her get me. Thankfully I was able to hold her off and what a swim she had, 31.40 and 2^nd overall she lifted the Lady of the Lake title.

It was a class experience, one which I will hopefully be doing next year again.

Crooked Lake is an amazing venue such a beautiful lake and especially when the race started at 7pm and the sun was starting to drop.

Tiszaujvaros Junior European Cup, Hungary.

Last weekend the race organisers messed about with the format of the junior race and used it as a test event for future races. Instead of the usual junior sprint distance of 750m swim, 20km bike, and 5km run, this race was made up of a heat and a final and added up to the full sprint distance.

So the heat consisted of a 500m swim, 13.2km bike, 3.2km run. And the final was 250m swim, 6.8 bike, 1.8 run. There were two heats of approx 35 guys in each and the top ten in each heat progressed to the final as well as the 5 fasted losers. So 25 in total in the final.

In the heat I had a really good swim exiting 4^th and on the bike in the lead pack, my group was working really well, as there was only 7 or 8 of us we knew if we worked together we would all make the final. We managed not to get caught going into T2.

Coming up to the dismount line I was in a good position and about to get off as smoothly as possible and on to the run and I knew I was in a good position for qualifying for the final later in the day. But I thought I might just make things I wee bit more dramatic … no it was definitely not intentional, I ended up crashing off the bike at the dismount line. I was dismounting as normal with my feet on top of the bike shoes, only when I swung my right leg over my saddle my left shoe unclipped from the pedal and I was just thrown over the handle bars landing hard on my head and right shoulder. Thank goodness for my helmet it saved me losing a lot of skin on my face and protecting my head. I was up on my feet as soon as I hit the ground and just had to grab my bike and run in to transition I knew I had lost positions so I needed a good run to make sure I was in that final. If anything the adrenaline helped a lot, and I managed to finish in a solid 6^th. In the final – main objective achieved, not quite as planned but I still did it.

I then had just over two hours until the final. I got cleaned up got food into me and thanks to Bryan he got my bike fixed up and ready for final.

The final was a pontoon start and you choose your spots according to your start number, I thought I was going to get an awful position because my start number was the second last. Fortunately there was one spot at the far left, similar to where I had started in the heats, it was perfect, I had a good dive and got clean water - another really good swim exiting in 6^th. Thankfully I am starting to do my swimming a bit of justice.

Running towards transition Gav shouted that there was a gap behind me so I knew I couldn’t afford to lose the front pack after doing the hard work in the swim, got a good T1 and got away with the lead pack. It was the fastest bike leg I had ever been on, with a few race favourites missing in the pack the pressure was on to try and stay away but unfortunately as the swim was only 250m the gap was not huge and the larger chase pack worked well and closed the gap.

Into T2 I was a bit nervous because of the earlier crash and probably didn’t go in as fast as usual, but this time much more safely. I managed to have a good solid run and finished in 9^th.

I was incredibly happy with my performance as I am really lacking in run speed at the minute due to being out for so long and only just building my running up not focusing on speed so I really surprised myself with a very respectful 1.8km run which I thought would have been my downfall.

The whole weekend was an awesome experience and I learnt so much from Gavin, Bryan and Aileen, and really appreciated their help.

Super happy to have achieved a top 10 finish in a Junior European Cup and I am really glad to have started to hit a bit of form at this latter part of the season.

London Junior Elite Triathlon 2011

Last weekend I travelled over to London to compete in the Junior Mens Elite race at the Virgin Active London Triathlon, the largest triathlon in the world, it is just a constant flow of athletes all Saturday and Sunday. It is really an amazing sight with unbelievable organisation required.

The Junior Elite race was a sprint distance with a bit of a difference; it had a slightly longer bike leg, 30km instead of the usual 20km. It was draft legal with a strong field consisting of the top Juniors in Britain.

This season hasn’t exactly gone to plan; as it has been a bit of a struggle getting my running up to scratch after missing out on all of the winter training due to a stress fractures. In hind sight I wasn’t ready for the two Junior Elite races that I have done this season (European Championships and Echternach Junior European Cup) because I was trying to bring my running back up and that wasn’t there yet and the extra training load was affecting the other two disciplines. In both those races I got my hydration and nutrition before and during both the races very wrong resulting in very disappointing outcomes.

I am pleased to say that going into the race on Sunday I was feeling really good in all three disciplines and went into the race with a lot of confidence. As the saying goes ‘third time lucky’ I managed to find my perfect medium of fluid intake as well and it paid off.

The swim went really well and I felt really comfortable and strong swimming in a lead pack of 5 in my Sailfish G-Range suit which feels really natural to swim in.

I exited the water joint 1^st with the small pack of five guys with a small gap until the rest of the field. The pack was down to four going onto the bike after losing one guy in T1, and later another guy at the very start of the bike leg.

For the first 8km I was in a breakaway of three, we were working well together but it just wasn’t possible to stay away as we were being chased down by a much larger chasing pack. We took our foot off the pedal and allowed ourselves to be caught by this larger pack to save energy. Once caught the pace dramatically slowed down as nobody wanted to work as most of the main contenders were all now in the front pack.

Prior to the race my aim was to finish on the podium, when I got onto the run , I was in 3^rd , a medal was within my grasp, but so was leaving with nothing as the other boys were breathing down my neck. I was determined to achieve what Id set out to do, and I concentrated on closing the gap on the two in front of me.

The big difference at the London Tri compared to many Elite races is that it goes on at the same time as multiple age-group races so it is a constant battle to run though the competitors running in the other races. After the first 2.5km lap I had realised I was running well and gaining on the two in front of me. For the first time all season my running felt really strong , I knew I was capeable of closing the gap and running past the boys, they would have to lift their pace to keep up with me. At the final turn around point I was able to see that I had put distance between myself and second , at this stage wanting to hold on to first place so badly I just continued lifting the pace and In doing so managed to go over 40secs faster on the second lap of the run than I had on the first. I crossed the line first, 20 seconds ahead of my nearest competitor.

I was so happy I had won my first Elite Junior Triathlon, and I couldn’t believe that I had managed to do it on the run leg, I am just so pleased that everything is starting to fall into place for the latter part of the season, hopefully this will be first of many