Louth Tri Agm and presentation night.

So another year passes by and once again its time for the infamous Louth tri agm and presentation.
Its good to hear that our club is moving from strength to strength,
now in its second year as a official club we are well and truly established in the tri community and a huge force to be reckoned with. with athletes competing in many of the age groups across the board its more often than not that a Louth tri member is near the top of in any event we grace with our present.

With most the committee saying the same the biggest change comes from one of our club founders and Chairman Simon Sharp stepping down and John sharp stepping up to the role, Simon assures this is so he can concentrate on his training and with steady steps and progress hopes to achieve his own self set targets and goals over the coming years.

As the night starts to get into full swing the clubs presentations take place
with awards going to ,

Best New commer         ; Luke Conway
Coaches athlete award   ; Oliver Welpton
Best Female                    ; Kerry Drury
Best Male                       ; Ross McGregor
Most improved athlete    ;Jackie Hall
Chairman's athlete award ; Martin Ball

all of the awards were deserved by each athlete who won there respective category, each of them putting in many hours of training and helping other members to achieve the recognition from the club for there hard work.

but alas there was only one real winner that night, as the raffle was drawn the star prize was a signed  and framed photo from the British triathlon national sprint relays silver medal team signed by star triathletes Glenn Bonner, Ross McGregor, Martin Ball and of course myself. Its only seemed a fitting end to the year that i won the photo and now have it in prize place in my shed next to my turbo trainer,

Team mates for now, friends for life

My first experiances  with the Louth triathlon club was seeing Ross McGregor in his tri suit
And thinking 'he looks like he means the business' I remember swopping places with him throughout the session with each of us not backing down for a full hour swim, little did I know at the time Ross was in the same situation as me and new to the sport, I had turned up to those first sessions expecting everybody to be seasoned athlete's .A early bond of respect  for each other was made and continues to grow to this day, Ross has achieved so much in those two years im in ore of him really and he keeps me strong through all the ups and the downs knowing hes dealing with all the same emotions.

Little did I realise what a Impact that swim would have on all of us two years down the line, a few weeks later and the club in its infancy the club held one of its first monthly meeting's, there sat a few faces I had yet to have trained with most of the faces there that day are still loyal members of our club and form a huge part it, one face in particular that sticks in my mind is that of Martin Ball, for duration of the meeting I kept seeing he was glancing across at me and I for one had no idea why, as the meeting drew to a end it became clear Martin and Ross had met previously to the meeting and had been organising a team for the national club relays later that year, They had both been Impressed with my performance and attitude so before I had even raced my first triathlon I had signed myself up to the national club relays with a open water swim.

Martin Balls attitude still hasnt changed to this day, if there is anyone to push the envelope its Martin, always asking what if? What if I go faster? What if I go for longer? What if I train more? What if I enter this event? What if I try to qualify for great Britain's national age group team at a distance ive never competed at before?
Martin showed me alot about the sport there are no closed doors, he took me for my first ever open water swim in 8deg water like it was normal, he taught me how to set my transition area up and challaged me if I can better it,  when im low Martin tells me to man up, when im high Martin tells me good job mate you've reached another step on the ladder but you aint at the top yet pal so keep bloody going. Also a family man with a 9 to 5 Martin understands the straints on life juggling Work triathlon and most importantly family together.

These aren't the only athletes that have helpped mr achieved my goals I would be nieve to think that I have lots help from friends and family, but these two also write top blogs along side all they do and if you have the time please follow them on the links bellow

Ross McGregor

http://www.swimbikeross.wordpress.com/

Martin Ball

http://www.workingclasstriathlete.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

Update comming soon

With a few sponsors close to final agreements it will soon be time to let the cat out the bag who they are! I will be updateing a few other items on my blog including;
A review of my 2014 season.

Which events I have entered for the up and comming 2015 season and why.

A short series on bike maintenance,  I enjoy maintaining all of my bikes and thought it may be of interest to some of you how I keep my training and racing bikes in tip top condition!

Follow me on facebook 'Jon Bromfield triathlete' for some big news comming at the end end of February-early March and how you can get involved.

Ross tiger 100

So fellow triathlete Scot, cyclist Ben and myself decided on taking on the Ross Tiger 100mile cyclosportive route at the weekend, we found the route on
http://www.sportivehq.com/ross-tiger-100.html
We downloaded the gpx file onto scots Garmin 310xt and set about organising times to head out.
We decided on half5am to set out, why so bloody early?  Its dark an cold?!. Well it frees up the rest of the day for family dutys for all of us so it keeps everyone happy,  if we had been real mean, Scot and myself would of set off at 5 but we gave ben half an hours grace as he had to drive in from grimsby. I will admit I wondered what the hell I was doing when the alarm went off.

Our first mistake was poor lighting, from myself and scot  as we headed out towards Yarbough it was soon apparent our front lights weren't up to scratch we had choosen some lightweight lights that would make us visible to other motorists but not enough to light the way, this decision was made as we knew that it would be light in a hours time and what we had with us we would have to carry for the entire journey.  Ben however had a decent enough light to light the way for all3 of us so problem averted.

The route would take us towards grimsby and Waltham then briefly through the wolds out of Caistor then back towards market raisen where the route would re enter the lincolnshire wolds where the route would eventually flatten out after Burwell and head into carlton manby and back to Alvingham. The official sportive route will start from Waltham however with the route circling our home town it seemed daft to start anywhere else! ,

Lincolnshire is rumoured to be flat but in the wolds we are quite lucky and have some nice climbs, some are rolling some are short but sharp some are a mix of both, this route managed to have both and fited in a good 2000ft of climbing all of which make for a good training ride, it is however a good 6000ft off our ride in Wales at the autumn epic.

All was going smoothly for the first 40 or so miles with the route keeping us away from the main roads we were tapping out a good rhythm and morale  quite high with everyones legs still feeling quite fresh, however we came across a few obstacles around North Kelsey and again at Waddingham, the route took us off road down a briddle path, we ummed an arred for a few breif seconds before we thought sod it and carried on, full road bikes with slicks down a gravel laiden pot holled dirt track alongside the river ancholme , nothing that the riders of paris-robaux don't encounter, We however didnt have a full support crew with spare wheels tagging along beside us.
To be fair we did take it pretty steady and had to walk over the wood lined bridge, with holes big enough to swallow tires it was hard enough walking over the bridge in cleats,  even if bikeing down the unkempt gravel bridle way was a bad idea walking over the bridge was certainly one of the few wise choices that day.

On our second encountering of yet another bridal path we took advantage of the full uk road mapping installed on Bens garmin 800, we took a few minutes and figured out how best to avoid the off road section and took a 3mile detour to miss the field trek out, technology wins once again, im sure if one of us had bought a map with us we could of figured it out but we have become so reliant on technology these days. Mile 60 saw our only puncture of the day which gave us some time for a bit of banter, surprisingly it was Ben and not myseld, mt tires have done a fair few miles this year and are probably due a change.

At around 70miles we hit Wragby,  we stopped at the local shops here to refuel for the final leg of our ride, I still felt fairly fresh at this point and the average speed was still fairly good but it was becoming apparent that legs were tiring at this point. With a last sneaky climb snuck in at Rowford we got our heads down for a fairly uneventful final 20miles.

With this probably being the last 100 of the year for myself I was soon planning on my first 100 of next year,  with Scot and Ben penciled in to accompany me once again its a toss up between trying the trent valley 100 or a revised Ross tiger 100 ears to the ground to see which one we deside on.

Finally a quick thanks to Scot and Ben for coming along on the ride, with Ben completing his first century ride of many, without them the ride would of never happened as individually we would of all struggled for motivation but collectively we worked as a team and had a good day.

A second thanks to Matt from sportive hq for making the gpx file for the rides readily avaliable and responding quickly to emails thanks all. Keep those miles rolling in!.

Alford wheelers presentation night

My first presentation night of the year was at the masonic hall in alford, a sit down meal and prize giving put on by the Alford wheelers,
With the club's founder still a active member and the club running for over 50years there is a lot of heritage with one of Lincolnshires most prestige clubs, as a triathlete surrounded by dedicated bikers I wondered if I was really welcome amongst them all but it soon became apparent we were all there for the same reason, our passion towards cycling. With a few speeches from long standing members the message of why we ride was universal, its for the freedom we sence when out on the bike,  our connection with nature and the challenges bought on by the change of seasons and the beautiful countryside that surrounds us there really isn't much point in trying to compete at a high level in any sport unless you are passionate about what you do, but for me cycling really does take the top spot, from time to time when everything comes right when your out on that bike there really is nothing quite like it.
With the meal out the way and entertainment provided by a few club members who are as competitive in there drinking as they are there cycling it was time for the presentation,
being new to the club and having to split my training time between 3 sports I was more than happy to walk away with a large shield for finishing 1st in the club's 18mile circuit handicap race and 3rd overall, It gave me a real sense of achievement that night and allowed me to reflect momentarily on the past season , it gave me a few more goals for the up and comming year,and I hope to be able to come back stronger next year and claim a few more trophies for my collection!.

It has to start somewhere

As another month passes by im now starting to get back into the full swing of training over winter, bit by bit upping distance, the aim of the game now is to build a good base of fitness that I can work on over spring and summer,
So what does that entail for me? A lot of miles and hours hopefully but no real desire for speed work at the moment so a lot of my training can be done at a sociable speed (although a lot of my training isn't always sociable hours)
Its at this time of year I also like to try and build on strength with some core work in the gym.
One change in my training plan for this year is to incorporate more stretching into my routines in a bid to stay more supple and hope to keep injury at bay. All was going well until one of my runs was cut short when I went over on my ankle with a misplaced step. As I lay on my back with my leg in the air, all I could think was 'well this ain't ideal', I rang home for a lift and began the process of rasing,  icing compressing and elevating (R.I.C.E) my left ankle a couple of days have passed and the swelling is starting to die down, If I was soley a runner this would ne very bad news for me as it would knock back my training quite a bit, however the big plus of triathlon is I still have two other sports to go at!
So as I rearrange my schedule for the next few weeks to cancel out my runs and up my swim and bike!

Recovery

After a long successful season i found it hard to stop training nearly every day. It became part of the routine, part of my life style. Im the first person to tell somebody else when I think there overtraining or to lay off when there injured yet I seldom listen to my own advice, in heign sight I should of had some time off at least a month earlier than I have done but my own stubbornness forced me to continue for a while longer. Finally I gave in and convinced myself a month off would allow my body to rest and be beneficial in the long run, hoping that it would leave me fresher and more motivated for the oncoming training and eventually racing.

During this month I also decided while the stresses and distractions of training were no longer present I would try shed a few lbs I had put on after my race season 'hair down' moment had come to a close. I did this by cutting out snacking and cutting meal portions down. Im a big snacker and stopped this my constantly telling myself  'im not missing out' by not eating and that I had no need for the extra food. I shrunk the size of my breakfast and lunch portions down but kept my dinner the same, dinner is a family time for me and it's unfair to change there eating habits just for my own gratification, we don't eat excessively and our meals are fairly healthy so this didnt cause a problem, In the month I managed to lose around 5/7lbs and hope now my training has started back up to lose another 5lbs over the following months to get closer to my racing weight.

My first session back to training was a slow steady, light weight session, with a aim of slowly building good form before moving onto heavier weights, I focus on my core muscles to make the most of my time in these sessions and if I have extra time I usually focus on specific areas ive had problems with injurys in the past to strengthen these areas up.

The next few months I will start with slow short training sessions building on both intensity and duration as time progresses, but for now its just nice to be back on the road to Geneva ! .

Autumn epic, Welsh boarders

4th and 5 th of October was the weekend of the Autumn epic sportive, a 94mile bike tour of some of the Welsh marshes an Hills, Scot Hargreaves had volunteered to drive us the 190 miles there (and 190back!!) and we would split the costs when we got back. We would meet up with Andy Manfredi and Jack Harrison at a campsite 6miles from the event start where we caught up with each other and set up camp. One thing we didn't prepare for was the sheer drop in temperature at night, with the weather dropping below minus2 and only having summer sleeping bags we all took the decision to sleep fully clothed. it made for a cold night an im quite surprised none of my fingers or toes had dropped off :) .

Rock bridge park campsite was excellent with clean facility's and ample space, Steve, the campsite owner had even left out various shower gels and toothpaste in case any one had forgot, the views from the site were Amazing running along side the river Lugg and the showers are some of the best showers ive come across on a campsite rivaling my own at home!. If your ever around and need temporary accommodation they are definitely worth a visit  http://rockbridgepark.co.uk/

Sunday morning was a early start,  needing to warm up from the cold night I cooked some porridge on my meths stove and used the excellent showers, It was a well drilled rehearsal from all of us to eat, get changed and pack up camp ready for sportive start at Knighton.

we had collectively decided to ride the event together each playing a role in sharing the workload on front of our own pack and controlling the pace to suit. However Jack Harrison wouldn't be riding on the day as he had previously broken his wrist in a downhill mtb accident, however the support from Jack was very much appreciated and I hope he has a quick recovery. the bikes were given a timing chip and number so we could easily be identified throughout the event. Scot had also managed to upload a map to his garmin 310xt so we could follow the route with ease however the signage at the event was spot on with clear yellow marker arrows along all the turns for the entire length of the course with feed stops marked out alongside several of the notable climbs of the day.

Its worth noting at this point how well the event had been organised with several motorbikes circleing the course with a barage of spares on board and words and signs of encouragement from the riders they made the ride feel safe in the knowledge that should anything happen to go wrong support would never be far away, at the feed stops there was endless supplys of water bananas flapjacks and jaffa cakes, a little to much endulgance on the first stop I must add :), however the volunteers were very accommodating,  its also worth a special mention to the driver of the black saab who I believe to be the event organiser who couldn't do enough to help out, if your reading this thanks so much for the support and positive attitude towards all the riders on the course your up-beat attitude certainly shone through to everybody else who had given up there time that day.

The ride itself was challenging,  coming from lincolnshire Its difficult (although far from impossible) to fit in a ride with lots of elevation gain, with my gps recording a rough estimate of between 7500 an 8000ft of climbing on the day it was certainly not for the unexperienced rider, with 25% gradients in places some one after another! But what goes up must come down with sweeping hairpin decents and speeds upto and over 50mph in places on virtually empty roads I challenge anyone to come down one of them decents without a massive smile on there face.

Although we had decided to stick as a group Andy had been showing me how to decend all day long, I knew that the last 3miles were all downhill so my competitive nature took over on the last climb putting several minutes into both Andy and Scot making sure he had no chance of cstching me on the final 5km however there was no real need for any upset as it had been a social challange for us all and not a race

At the end tea and coffee was provided along side jacket potato with a topping of your choice, this was welcomed after all the sugar hits from the flapjack jaffa cakes and bananas !  We sore off Andy and Jack on there way home and set off for home ourself after a excellent weekend

With Autumn now settled in and winter on its way the journey home was a good time to reflect on our winter training plans, with Scot being one of my training partners and fellow triathletes it's nice to share information on our plans and share each others motivation for the following months, both realising that long winter rides are very much possible but also both realising more kit preparation is needed for the up and coming cold and wet months. 

Starting mats at Knighton community center

 

Jacks Wrist/hand

Doncaster Triathlon

Leading up to doncaster standard distance triathlon I shouldnt of had any nerves as no one expected anything from me however I had put a lot of pressure on myself as I believed I could win the event outright.
The previous year I had signed up to Doncaster triathlon to be my first standard distance event but two weeks before hand I had been knocked off my bike by a lorry, the injury ment I couldn't compete but only served to rally me up for this years event, I kept my nerves low by reminding myself of previous good performances throughout the year and all the hours of training I had put in

I traveled to the event with the only other Louth Athlete and good friend Martin Ball, other members of louth tri club had decided to compete in the shorter Sprint distance tri at Louth for the first ever Louth Triathlon. We arrived early allowing us to sign on, warm up and get ready for the race.

The 1500m swim was 2 laps of the Hatfield water park lake, I set off fast to gain some space before settleing into a rythem along side fellow competitor Jp hemmings who I knew was a good swimmer, we swopped and shared the drafting role for the entire swim and I exited in 5th place just behind Jp however I managed to overtake him in transition leaving me in 4th place.

The bike leg was a uncomplicated flat 42kms I settled into a high pace early on keeping a close eye on my heart rate and keeping my cadence high rather than pushing a big gear to help save my legs for the 10km run, within the first 5minutes of the bike leg I had passed the other 3 competitors putting me in a firm first place, I continued the high pace reaching speeds over 30mph for parts of the course,  when I finally entered T2 I was a full minutes ahead of the field but I wasn't aware of this at the time so continued my assault.

When I set off on the run one of my worst fears struck me, I had started the race with stiff legs from over doing some high intensity training the week leading up to the event, I quickly adjusted my running style to cause as little bother to my calfs as possible this seemed to be a very short steps however it was enough to keep my lead only loosing 2 minutes on the run meaning I won the event outright by a whole 5minutes !.

Triathlon England Club Sprint Relays

August Bank holiday held the Annual sprint relays at Nottinghams Holme pier point, a great venue for spectating as the entire event takes place around the regatta boating lake with a 750m open water swim 3 anticlockwise loops of the path around the lake (15km) and a final 5km clockwise run, with the relay format 4 people are needed each competing all sections of the triathlon I was the first man off once finishing the swim my dutys were to tag the second man (Glenn Bonner) who would tag the 3rd (Martin Ball) and finally onto the 4th (Ross McGregor), who would pass the batton ( a colourful rubber band in this case) to me to start my cycle leg.

The Swim start was hectic as usual, with us starting in the water as opposed to a beach style start. There was a lot of confusion as to when the start would actually be and several people drifting passed the start line, all of a sudden out of the blue the siren sounded and the entire field exploded into action.  My race plan was to treat each leg of the triathlon as a separate race with the knowledge that there would be some rest after each section of my race was completed, so I gave it my all in the swim breathing heavily and swimming hard from the first 25m I managed to get myself towards the front of the field always looking for fast feet to hang onto to help my progress in the water, I left the water in the top quarter of the pack and was pleased with my efforts, I left the other 3 to carry on the swim dutys while I removed my wetsuit, gathered my breath took on fluids and got ready for the bike leg

, The swim leg continued with places swopping around all the time, I knew my teammates would be giving as much effort and determination towards the end goal as myself, It made it easy to get fired up for the bike leg having the added pressure of a team to compete for and to once again treat it as a bike race rather than a leg of a triathlon.

The bike leg was the first time I really got to appreciate the support from the spectators, fellow team mates and members of Louth tri club I was really pleased with the bike leg, performing faultlessly throughout ,with the circuit being closed to traffic and only having the bikes on the course I could concentrate more on putting the power down and keeping myself out of the wind rather than worrying aboit otjer traffic and road features. once again I managed to claw forward some places including Lincoln Triathlons male A team who had a strong line up, I knew we were progressing well when I passed them early on but wasnt about to rest, I knew if we wanted to finish on the podium the hard work had to continue.

As the other 3 teammates continued I prepared myself for the run, although 5km is shorter than the distance I usually race at (10km) I find it much more intense as the mental and physical strain on your body is high running at a speeds much faster than I would usually race at, I was once again pleased with my performance. I couldn't of asked for more from myself on race day and all the training hours that had gone in had paid off and luck being on our side for no mishaps or mechanicals to happen,  I could now partly relax and cheer on my other team mates willing them on and praying for a podium position.

With there being several different races being ran at the same time, it was difficult to judge  Whereabouts in the standings we were as other competitors started crossing the line, when Ross came down the finishing chute little did we know after over 3hours of racing how close the finish would be.

We all packed our kit away and waited for the final competitors to finish the race, once everyone had finished the awards could be handed out, We had done it, we managed second place in Triathlon England Club relay championships! With less than 50seconds between ourselfs first and 3rd place! ,none of this could of been achieved without the hard work put in by the entire team, Now we collectively know what we all have to do next year to turn that silver Into a gold.

Much needed update

With my summer racing season over its time for me to update my blog after a 3 month sabbatical.  Why the large gap?, truth be told its hard work Training and looking after a family to add on top of that the added pressure of looking for sponsorship to get me to the Euros in Geneva and writing a Blog somthing had to give and I wasnt about to drop the larger things in my life, However with a few adjustments Ive finally settled back down to normality and look forward to keeping a journal on my progress towards Geneva and the future beyond.

Wolds Dash / Dalby Forest

The last few weeks have all been a bit of a blur with my big race of the year out the way I made a mistake of not having a plan after the race. I took a bit of time off from training to recover and reflect on what I have achieved and relaxed my diet to enjoy the foods I have missed over the last few months, now with next years goals in the forefront of my mind its time to get my head around a training plan to take me to my fastest I have been.

Its not as straight forward as it has been previously though, In the past I've not had to worry about funding for a event but now having to travel to Geneva I can't help but think how am i going to get myself and all my kit there?, my plans for the next few months are to hopefully get a few sponsors together to help me forfil my dream of racing against triathletes from across the globe.

Locally I raced in one of the wolds dash running events held at Hubbard hills through the summer. I hadn't planned to race in the event as I wasn't aware it was on! this gave me very little time to plot a race strategy together or even consider if I was fit enough to do it !. I set off well and settled into a rhythm, I ended up leading the pack out for the first 200 m before being joined and passed by two faster runners, I followed the first two runners for around 2 miles before they picked up the pace and I realized I wouldn't be able to keep there pace for the entire 12 km, I felt good and strong but by mile 4 I started to feel the effects of racing and was passed by a 3rd athlete. this is the position I would stay in for the entire race finishing strongly against a field of athletes who's' main sport is running. I couldn't help but think to myself if I am to do well next year I need to be beating these competitors but with time I don't think that is a unreasonable ask.

On a more social side I dug the mountain bike out for a blast around Dalby forest trail center in the Yorkshire moors . As usual when I end up at Dalby it rained heavily, this didn't dampen spirits though and we all had a good day with no broken bones or broken bikes!,I even managed to get a wash In a sink :) . with the race at Hubbard hills at the 26 miles at Dalby they were what I needed to realize Its time to start training properly again after my mid season break, with the Nottingham club sprint relays approaching in just over a months time and a very real chance of high team placement I need to start working on my speed work as in any relay I don't just have myself to think of, I have an entire team and I don't want to let any body down!

Midland sprint series update

Just a quick thank you to everyone who as supported me over the following season, here is a picture of my trophy which has finally been sent from OSB a week after the series had finished however they had computer issues on the day of presentation and couldn't confirm results

Tour de France hits the UK, thoughts on training

Over the weekend I went to watch some of the tour de France grande depart in Yorkshire with some of my friends and my girlfriend. I've followed the tour de France and some of the spring classic road races for a long time on T.V. While the road races are good to watch the tour and its riders are truly amazing, day in day out racing at average speeds of near to 30 mph and riding up to and over 100 miles every day the training involved must be on such a huge scale especially for the riders competing at the top end of the field.

As it was my first time watching the tour in the flesh I didn't know what to expect, one thing myself and Yorkshire didn't expect was the pure volume of people who came along to support the riders,with a estimated 5 million people watching over the weekend lining every single meter of the roadside its fairly obvious to see cycling is certainly on the rise in the U.K. the atmosphere was fantastic and for all the build up to just see a glimpse of the riders it was all worth the effort of traveling to see the 1st stage. If you didn't go to watch it, you missed out, and when the tour comes again in 10 or so years i'll certainly be making the pilgrimage to go again.

Whilst out in the Yorkshire Dales I had plenty of time to ponder about my racing season and the ETU's in Geneva 2015. The Brownlee Brothers being the top two UK males in the world triathlon series Its nice to see how they managed to train up to the standards they have achieved growing up in the Yorkshire Dales, with all the roads,climbs and trails its a athletes paradise. If you are into triathlon or you have a partner who is I would recommend there biography Swim Bike Run, there are so many similarity's to how they think as athletes its a good insider to a triathletes brain and also good to hear when your going through a rough patch that your not on your own in your thoughts.

Living in Lincolnshire its a wonder how you can ever replicate the hills of the Dales however the hills of the dales are a long way off the mountains of France but watching some of the worlds top riders suffering in the Dales made me realize that hills are hills no matter how steep or long they are, what we seem to have in Lincolnshire are short but steep hills, these are brilliant and if done in repetition and something I need to add into my training more often

My training of late has become a little unstructured after the dambuster, I had spent so long Training for the event I lost sight of any goals after the event. I still Have the British Triathlon Club relays to take part in, August and I am also considering entering the Doncaster standard distance Triathlon In September. After the race at Rutland water and a holiday at center parc, I lost site of my diet and put a little weight on so my first goal is to slim back down to a racing weight, my next goal is to stay race fit for these two events but what comes after that? how do i stay Focused? I had recently ordered Joe Friel triathlon training bible and hope that I can learn from his book and experience, I certainly need more structure, the time off heavy training has been a welcome break but now is the time to start thinking ahead of the future

Woodhall spa / OSBMidland sprint series

Race preparation started on Saturday a day before the race for me, after a week on holiday at center parcs after the dambuster triathlon id not had any time to think about the last race in the midland sprint series to be held at Woodhall spa

I had a few rides on the mountain bike while away in center parcs and had one decent swim,(and a few goes on the lazy river/various slides :)  ) .I decided not to run on my break from work as Id suffered with yet again another foot injury from the race a week before at Rutland waters, over the week the injury disappeared with time and Had 95% faded to nothing by the day of my race at Woodhall.

The Friday I returned home I had a parcel waiting for me at a friends house, I had bought myself a new Race wheels for my time trial bike, a 82 mm deep planet x carbon tub with flat bladed spokes.and a rear 101 mm planet x with a cover to make it perform like a disk wheel (and sound like an Apache helicopter)  I had herd that deep front wheels can be a handful in windy conditions so on the Saturday I took the bike out for a quick 8 mile blast along a few country roads and past a few field openings to see if i was confident enough to race with the wheel, as it happened it wasn't particularly windy so i had little trouble or evidence of what a gust of wind may feel like and how it may effect handling. I took a gamble to use the carbon wheels for Woodhall, generally i like to wait and test a product a little more before bringing it straight into a race environment however I simply could not resist.

I wrote a itinerary of everything i would need to take from the basic(bike, tri suit etc) to the obscure(stapler electrical tape) and what i would be eating up until the event(simple foods like chicken or tuna and pasta and rice) then I packed my kit on the Saturday, I did this early on so if i came across any issues I would hopefully be able to rectify them before the day was over,I usually like to do this the week before but with being away this wasn't possible as it happens all my race kit was in good nick so I was good to go, for the first time I had started thinking about the event and how I felt about my form.

On the Sunday I woke early, packed the car ready to go, my Friend Scot Hargreaves was competing in his first ever event and was over 2 hours before my start time, which is why i left so early, It also gave me time to check the entry and exit points of transition and cheer on other Louth Tri Club members. I ate my breakfast filled my water bottles up and set off with my Family to cheer him on,  When my family and I arrived the car parking was on a field quite a walk from the transition/signing on area, as trivial as it seems  its quite a effort carrying your helmet, bike and transition box with all your equipment in over a distance, maybe I need to re think how I transport my equipment about? my family are more than happy to help me but i feel guilty enough for bringing them along to stand and watch me in what would be a cold wet and windy day!. Once Scot had finished his swim and was out on his bike I had time to sign on get my race numbers and set up my Transition area,  Here I met up with Ross McGreggor, Martin Ball and Glenn Bonner who are all Members of  Louth Tri Club but also part of a Team I will be competing in a relay with in August for the Club relay National championships, Its nice to see familiar faces at these events to share any pre-race nerves with also to help calm each other down and clear any doubts any of us may have before the race, all fully confident and with time ticking away It was soon time to warm up and head down to the swim start for the start of my wave.(pool events are set off in small heats based on your 400 meter swim time, usually a swimmer per lane with 2 minute intervals before the next wave as to not clog the pool up with hundreds of swimmers of differing ability's )

A count down of 5 seconds was called for the swim start, I started my heart rate monitor and set off when the count down had reached zero, Woodhall is a 33 m pool, most pools are 25 m this means the swim actually falls just short of 400 m (396)however this also means you only do 12 lengths instead of 16, In pool events it is your responsibility to count your own lengths 12 might not seem like a lot however when I'm racing it takes a lot of concentration to make sure no lengths are missed or added, (if any lengths are missed you may end up being disqualified) I had a good Swim and was first out of my wave, My transition went smoothly and i decided to take a drink in T1, where this had worked for me in a standard distance event i believe it may have cost me some vital seconds during the shorter sprint format.

As I set out on my bike and my legs felt a little tired from the swim so i made a decision to use a high cadence for a short while to work my body more aerobically than relying on muscle to turn a big gear, this is usually a little slower for me as i prefer to push a big gear rather than have a higher pedal turn over however at around the 5 mile mark I noticed I had taken my eye off the ball and I was still spinning, I had a word with myself and started to push on, once again I believe this may of cost me some time on the bike leg however at the time in the race I didn't realize how much time I may of lost its only through analyzing the results later I realized this .The bike leg in all honesty felt good to me, the weather was atrocious while on the bike, the wind had picked up and the rain was coming down hard I was a little cautious on the sharp corners however I had no issues with my new wheels in the wind or braking with the carbon surfaced rims.

I headed into T2 feeling Great the rain had stopped and I was feeling confident about the run, once again a smooth transition and the cheering from the crowds only helped motivate me more, I took another swig of my drink (possibly costing me a few seconds more), negotiated the sharp corners leaving the transition area and ran HARD when i reached the drinks station I asked if they knew what distance they were stationed at, the return answer was a mile and a half so i knew I was half way and still feeling great, I carried on at the same pace I had left transition at an continued to the finish only picking the pace up in the last 500 m I finished the 5 km run in 17;06 which i was very pleased with as it was a pb for me, the entire event I had completed in 1 hour 02 minutes and  36 .seconds

I felt at the time I had given the race my all only to find out I had been beaten by Jonathan Frary who was second place in the Midland sprint series 30-34 yr age group (I was currently series leader), I had beaten him twice already in the year however he had managed to beat me by a full minute!!, This obviously put a bit of a smear on my how I felt about my result but I can only congratulate him for the professionalism he showed by being a true contender for me right until the end of the series, he also happens to be a nice guy too which made the news easier to except it also taught me a valuable lesson to not loose concentration in a race again and will hopefully make me a stronger athlete for it.

I packed my kit away as the rain started up again, it was cold and wet but the weather didn't bother me as I was anxious to find out if I had lost the series with the days result(I needed to stay 9 points clear to win the series) we waited for around a hour only for the rain to play havoc with the computer system which harbored the results and a even longer wait for the series results to be published.

After the event the Louth Tri Club met up in a local pub to talk about everyone's day and how we all did, during the meet Ross's Fiancee had managed to find the series results on line,
I'd done it!, I had manged to hold on to enough points and Win the series, This was excellent news and a fitting end to a few races in close succession that had all gone well. The team spirit of Louth Tri is usually quite high and the series age group wins from both myself and Ross McGreggor helped lift the spirits even more

Race report

Well what a day, two days really; so I had best start at the beginning. All my kit had been packed the week before; checked, double checked and checked again. I didn't want to forget a thing, everything had to be perfect leading up to this race. 

I set off for Rutland Waters a little later than I had hoped on the Friday due to not being able to pick up the van I was borrowing (to prevent my girlfriend from not having the car), but it didn't panic me and arrived at around 12.30 pm. 

The journey down wasn't too eventful although the sat nav had decided not to work so I had to rely on old fashioned road signs to find my way there! 

When I arrived I had already seen clearly marked signs out on the bike route on the main road; this was good as I had planned to have a steady reckie of the 42 km course that day. While signing up to the camping and driving round the site I kept my eyes open trying to spot the usual areas that I'd need to find the following day/later that day. These included transition area, competitor sign in tent and where the swim would be. All were close together so were all spotted early on. The 1500m swim looked calm and was sheltered by the harbour. 

Unfortunately, there was no swimming permitted before the race but the water temperature was at a reported 17 degrees which was quite warm for a UK race, but still allows a wet suit to be used (the added buoyancy of a swimming wet suit makes the swim much faster than a non wet suit swim). 

The marked course for the swim had a really long drag on the back straight and I was looking for how far apart the buoys were, trying to break down how many meters apart they had been set out; this may help for pacing and judging distance in the race. I set up camp, cooked a big bowl of tuna pasta in sauce an set off on the course.

When out on the ride there were a lot of vehicles with bikes on racks driving around the course. As much as this gives a general idea and is better than nothing it really gives little information as to how safe certain junctions are and how smooth or rough road surfaces can be where pot holes are and sneaky little inclines, drags etc which can't be seen/felt when in vehicle. There were a couple of riders about and I did find myself racing past a few of them and having to tell myself to calm down. The course felt fast, and although there were a few short steady climbs (including the Rutland ripple), these allowed me time to sit up from my Pursuit bars an catch my breath for sending it on down the long fast steady declines.

Once back at camp, I decided to have a walk around the run course. The weather was getting hot by this point and although I had been drinking fluids throughout the day, I hadn't taken one with me on the walk and ended up feeling dry half way around. 

I had heard rumours that the run course had been just short of 10k in the past; however according to the GPS I have on my phone, it was a full 10k; which I was relieved about, as it's important to get an accurate run time. The course looked fairly flat with 3 drinks stations and marker boards at every kilometer. These things are great for pacing! I learnt another valuable lesson that day, 6.4 miles isn't a good idea to walk in your skate trainers and I could feel the early signs of a blister coming on by the end of the walk! (I'll know that for next time).

By the time I got back from the walk, early registration had opened up so I got signed on. Meanwhile, I  had spotted a few of the other Louth Tri club members. Everything had started to feel a bit real by now and I think they could tell that early signs of nerves were kicking in for me! We went our separate ways and headed back to camp. I cooked/burnt chicken an rice for tea and began to lay my kit out, talc my shoes and set my bike shoes onto my pedals with elastic bands for a fast transition;  time had gone by pretty quickly and before I knew it, it was 10.30 pm and had wanted to be asleep a good hour before this.

Race day
My wave was set to start at 7.00 am. I find I have to eat my main meal 3 hours before a race to ensure that nature has time to take it's course, and so at 3.30 am the alarm sounds and I begin to cook my porridge and boil the kettle. If I'm totally honest, it was a little keen and I ended up shutting my eyes for another half hour once I had eaten. 

I began to get my kit on/together and by the time transition opened my body was showing its first signs of nerves ....I would visit the toilet 3 times that morning! I got to transition 2 hours before my race!! I think I was a bit keen here as I was only one of 3 bikes in the area. I found my numbered area in the racking and began to set up. The next few hours went by quickly and was all a bit of a blur but remember a few people had wished me luck. I paced back and forth to the van/tent a few times and met my family when they arrived. A quick hello and good luck from the family and it was time for me to get back to transition to get my wet suit on and listen to the race briefing.

The race
The start of the race was carnage; athletes lined up on the beach, the hooter sounds and GO! 250 swimmers all run into the water fighting for their position and swimming space heading for a single orange buoy. It must be a health and safety nightmare but for me after the first two or three strokes all the noise and carnage disappeared and everything became calm as you concentrate on the swim. I managed to get in with the main break away group which eventually split into two. I tried to bridge the gap from my group to the first group but ended up in a no mans land, so decided to stick to where I was rather than flogging myself for the sake of 30 seconds.
When I exited the water I was in 14th position in my wave. Transition went smoothly and I headed out on the bike. I struggled a little with getting my feet into my shoes but I knew to keep calm rather than panicking about it and took the time to catch my breath. I managed to overtake another two triathletes on T1. The first 3 or 4 miles of the bike ride I rode with a high cadence(rpm) this helps me ease into the ride while maintaining speed rather than turning a big gear and wasting energy early on. At mile 6, came the Rutland ripple; 3 hills in a row. I took my time on the ups here and hammered on down the other side with my speedo registering a maximum speed of 49mph. Here, I dropped off another two athletes who seemed to be wasting too much energy standing up and grinding up the hills. By mile 13 I knew I was half way, and took an energy gel, had a glance at my heart rate on my hrm. It was reasonably low and I felt good at this stage in the race. I felt relaxed so decided for the next few miles that were flat and smooth to really wind up a big gear averaging over 30mph. Another couple of hills at around mile 21 and 23, I took another energy gel and over took another 3 athletes before heading into Transition 2, in T2 I ended up running straight past where my running shoes were by a couple of meters; I realised quite quickly though and rectified the situation,  helmet off running shoes on elastic laces pulled tight and a big swig of my drink left beside my racking area and I was off on the out and back 10k run. 

I don't remember a lot of the run within the first km I was over taken and never managed to catch him up. Between 2.5km and 4km there was a big straight which was also repeated on the return leg; I took the time to have a good look around to see if anyone was behind me. There wasn't and I was able to relax slightly and considered easing off on the run but decided against it and pressed on. By 8km I was starting to feel a little fatigued but with only 2km I knew the crowds were nearing; it was time to compose myself, deep breaths and finish strong. The atmosphere was great and I had lots of support, it really does help as you give everything you've got over the finish line.
9th in my wave!!  14th overall out of 1000 athletes with a time of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 50 seconds.
Best of all, I had managed to finish 3rd in my age group and being a British triathlon member entitled me to 2nd and a silver medal in the British Triathlon standard distance triathlon championship. 

Earlier in the year I had registered my intent to qualify for the European Triathlon Championships to be held in Geneva in 2015. My race performance at the Dambuster has given me a top qualifying spot for the event where I will get to compete with Europe's best amateur triathletes!!!

It is with big thanks to my family for putting up with all my training, strange eating habits and early mornings!
It's also a huge thanks to all the support from Louth triathlon club for their belief in me and the cheering driving me over the finish line!

Age group honours

Dambuster

So only 3 days to go before the start of the biggest race on my calender, the Dambuster!!! Held at Rutland Waters it's a 1500m open water swim, a 42km undulating bike followed by a flat (and flat out)10k run; all manageable distances in there own right but become a little more flurried when done together as fast as possible! Why is this race so big for me? Well, it's my first standard distance triathlon and secondly it's my chance to qualify for a place in my age group (30-34) for team GB at the ETU standard distance triathlon in Geneva 2015 (European Triathlon Union). The event is also a qualifying event for The ITUs (International Triathlon Union) however this would be held later this year and also in Canada. As an age group triathlete there isn't a lot of financial help from outside so it's a real struggle to afford to compete at such events and  unfortunately it's one step too far for me this year.

How do I feel? Well surprisingly calm and ready for it. I've recently become incredibly well organised leading up to a race; first I write out lists of everything I'll need to take with me on race day starting with the bare essentials (tri suit, bike shoes, run shoes, helmet, BTF licence, goggles etc) I then pack a separate 'emergency' bag with spare tri suit, goggles and helmet. I do this for piece of mind; say I start putting my tri suit on and a zip breaks?!?! No need to panic I've got my spare, it really helps keep me calm.

More lists! on top of that I plan an itinerary for every minute from waking up to race start. When to have breakfast, when to have a pre-race drink, when to warm up, when do I need to set up my transition. Basically, where I need to be, when and what I need to be doing and having everything pre-planned like this allows me to concentrate on the task in hand.

Whats going through my mind? I try and completely block out any negative thoughts leading up to the race; this sounds difficult but it really isn't when over the last year every meal I've ate, all the training hours I've put in, all the sacrifices I've made all come down to this! Have I done everything I can to ensure that I can perform to my very best ? Right now I feel that the answer is 100% yes.

first post

Just a test to see how this all works and I try to figure it all out watch this space