1st Triathlon...1st Place

1st Tri...1st place!

As mentioned in my last post, I had signed up to do the 220 Dorney Lake Evening Triathlon. This was going to be my first triathlon of the season and I was really looking forward to it. I am very pleased to say that not only did I have a great time, I managed to win!

Dorney Lake is easy and fast for me to get to, it's a short train ride from Paddington to Slough and then I cycle the 5 or so miles out to the lake for a 7:30pm start. I was one of the last ones into the water and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't freezing. We set off for the 750m swim and I went out fast to try and find some nice big feet for me to draft off. It didn't quite happen like that and I lost the front pack within the first few minutes and ended up doing most of the race on my own between the faster group and ahead of the 2nd pack. I had done a very hard 4km set in the pool Tuesday night with Terry so my arms were tired and were not willing to co-operate. My stroke was disintegrating so I decided not to push it too hard and just settle into my Olympic distance race pace and make it up on the bike.

Into T2 which was just a joke because I managed to get stuck in my wetsuit. I had pulled it down at the front running into T1 and started peeling it off my arms when it got stuck on both arms and I couldn't move. I really was Team Wiggle trying to get myself out of it! At one point I actually considered riding my bike wearing my wetsuit as it was not budging. I am sure it provided some entertainment for the spectators seeing me squirm about. Lesson learnt: don't forget the wetsuit lube! Once finally free of the sticky suit I leapt onto the Focus Izalco Chrono and started the 5 laps, a total of 20km, along the side of the lake.

Dorney Lake is a purpose built rowing lake out near Eton and will host the 2012 Olympic rowing events. It makes for a great traffic free race with smooth paths along the side of the lake. Of course you are then confined to doing laps, but hey, a sprint distance race isn't about enjoying the scenery.

The bike leg went very fast and I managed to rein in all of the girls to get into 1st place. It was very windy out there which actually worked to my advantage. The Dutchman and I have spent the past few months tinkering with the Focus Izalco Chrono so I am as aerodynamic as possible. I have also been doing quite a lot of training on the bike to really get to know the gears and what works best. Last night I felt like I was slipping under the wind and it didn't feel like a hard effort. The twice weekly Regents Park intervals are paying off!

I did a quick T2 quickly slipping into my new Pear Izumi running shoes I received last week (thanks Pearl Izumi & Wiggle!!). The great thing about them is they don't have any seams which means no socks. In previous races I always had to put socks on because of problems with blisters but last night I was out of transition super fast.

I decided to put the hammer down early and try and open up a gap on the run to give myself some breathing space in case it went wrong later in the race. It was a 2 lap course for 5km and the wind was really blowing. I wasn't really over taking many people but felt like I was running strong. On the way home on the 2nd lap I tried to put a bit more pace in and managed a slight increase in speed. I had seen a few of the girls at the turn around points but was confident that I had enough of a lead that they wouldn't catch me so I reverted back to my original target of going under 1:15. I finished strong and was pleased to be home in 1:14:33 nabbing 1st place by a 90 sec gap. I have a £50 voucher and some new goggles to show for it so not bad at all for a bit of mid week action.

Happy training and more after this weekend 100 mile challenge in the Chilterns.
Cx

Mid Week Racing

A long weekend is one of the rare times I feel like I can have my cake and eat it too. In this case get in some great training and have enough time to enjoy the weekend. Terry has started a Saturday morning coached session in Hampstead Lido which is a very reasonable 9:30 start for a hard hour of swimming. The lido is even starting to warm up from the 10 degrees it was a few weeks back and I would even go as far to say it is ‘pleasant’. If only my Aussie based friends could hear me say that. There was a time I wouldn’t get in the water unless it was at least 25 degrees.
On Sunday The Dutchman and I met a friend in Stevenage and went and did our 100km loop around the country lanes. It is very deceiving how tough the ride is as it is short sharp hills and never flat. As our friend is from Cambridge we rode back with him and did some sight seeing in the beautiful sunshine. One of the punters on the river even obliged and fell in whilst we were watching. He was a good sport and very entertaining.

The purpose of the ride on Sunday was to bed in a new cassette in preparation for this weeks 100 mile Challenge in the Chilterns. It isn’t going to be easy and there was no way I was going to be able to cope with the larger gears I normally have on the Kiron Scandium. I have managed to recruit a few guys to protect me for the ride so my plan is to stay tucked in behind them and hold on for dear life! I am really looking forward to it, but made the mistake of looking at the ride profile. I generally avoid looking at things like that because then I just think about it and how hard it is going to be. The thing is, I am going to ride it regardless and in my case ignorance is bliss when it comes to nasty climbs. I will be in my Wiggle jersey so please do say hello if you are also out there doing the ride. Also feel free to give me a little push along, or even better hook a bungee cord onto the front of my bike and drag me along behind you.
I decided Monday was going to be an easier day as I am racing on Wednesday night out at Dorney Lake in a sprint tri (750m, 20km, 5km) and my legs are not really recovering very quickly at the moment. I had 2 sessions of plyometrics (lots of jumping, step ups, star jumps and explosive exercises) last week and I can still feel it so decided to just do an hour on the Focus Izalco Chrono around Regents Park more to test getting in and out of my tri shoes whilst riding. I can just see me having to ride the entire bike leg with my feet on my shoes because I’m not co-ordinated enough to get my feet in before the end of the race. I think it is safe to say I won’t be attempting that at Wednesday’s race. Respect to anyone who has mastered that skill, I need to sign up for transition 101 training I think.
I am feeling very positive about my training at the moment and really loving that I can race so much more frequently doing short distance races having stepped back from Ironman distance. Next Monday I have signed up for a 5km race in Battersea Park and will be leading a guy called Chris who is blind. I think it is incredibly inspirational that Chris took up running 11 months ago and he is racing doing really great times. Hopefully it really will be me leading Chris around and me not being dragged around by him which could cause a few problems :)
So, for those of you out there wanting a bit of short course mid week action there is plenty of it going on at the moment.5km Monday night races in Battersea Park. There is also a mix of shorter and longer distance races all at a very reasonable entry fee. www.srichinmoyraces.org/uk/races/london/ 220 Evening Triathlon Series on the last Wednesday of the month. This week’s on the 27th May is still open and they are taking entries on the day. www.humanrace.co.uk If you are based near Hammersmith and want to run with a bunch of other people at lunch time I have kicked off a Wednesday 12:30 5km time trial along the river from Hammersmith bridge to Putney bridge and back. This starts on the 3rd June and please do get in touch if you are interested. Twitter: IronCaro.
Happy training.Cx

Wiggle Thunder 10km

Last weekend was the Wiggle Thunder 10km event. The race was on the Saturday and weaved in and out of the bike course to be used for the night time trial and Wiggle Enduro 6 the following day. It has been years since running a cross country race and I loved it! Not one for usually getting out into the mud (with the exception of Tough Guy!) I surprised myself and really enjoyed being back out in the paddocks.

I caught the 6:24 train out of Euston with the Focus Izalco Chrono equipped with a bag of food that I munched through for the 2 hour journey. I am an expert when it comes to cycling from train stations to events, but it proved to be a bit more of a challenge riding the Focus as it isn't really a bike to be ridden with a back pack along an A road :) It was only a 20 min ride so I got to the race site with plenty of time to spare.

Registration was easy and I went next door to say Hi to Jason, Rob and Ben from Wiggle who were manning the Focus tent with the collection of demo mountain bikes as well as taking part in the night time trial scheduled for Saturday night. After a quick warm up in the pouring rain, I headed out to the start chute for the final countdown. Lucky for us the rain stopped just before the race started which I thought was a nice touch from the organisers ;)

The race started and we went out across the timing maps straight into the fields. It took a while for me to get into my stride as I was wearing my cross country runners which feel a lot different to my normal running shoes. I was having a bit of a laugh with some of the guys I was running with as it was all a bit fox and hound. There was a 'runner with dog' category in the race and the 7 or so dogs at the back of the pack were all excited and making a lot of noise when everyone started running. I think it was why I went through the first km in 3.50 and realised I had better slow it down if I wanted to finish :)

The course was lovely and had a great mix of wooded sections and some open undulating sections, made all the more challenging by the uneven ground. I wasn't sure what place I was in, but was content to stick to my 4.30min km's which was tough but wasn't killing me. The field spread out within the first 3km and I found that I ran most of the run on my own as I was too slow to stay with the front pack and just a touch faster than the guys behind me. I had seen the lead lady go past me as we crossed the start line and I was beginning to wonder if I had imagined it as there was no sign of her at all.

I thought that the race was well thought out with the little things that can sometimes make or break a race. Every KM was clearly marked, there was a water station just after the 5km mark and the course wound back towards the start line so there was some support halfway through the race which was great because it was also going up hill! Best part is you get a great medal for finishing! I was very pleased to cross the finish line in 2nd place in 44:50. Given it is only April, I am really happy with the way my running is coming along. I am doing a weekly track session in Hampstead every Thursday which is certainly paying off along with 2 other runs throughout the week.

There was a lovely ceremony at the end where the top 3 men and women and the winner of the runner and dog category were presented with medals with some Wiggle vouchers on the way.

I wore my 2XU calf guards and also my 2XU compression tights for the run and I cannot recommend them highly enough. I really notice the difference if I don't wear them in that I get sore calves whilst running and it takes me longer to recover. If you don't have them, get them! I used to spend 15 mins in a cold bath after hard training sessions and I now find that wearing compression tights gives me the same results and it is a lot more pleasant than the cold water torture!

As you can see from the pictures I was in my Wiggle Jersey for the race. I use my commute between Marylebone and Hammersmith on my Kiron as extra speed training and as I have a few Wiggle jerseys I often wear those. I have had a few people chat to me when stopped at lights which is really cool, so if you do see me out and about do say hi!

Happy training!Cx