TrailX Cross-Duathlon

Billed as the sprint round of the series, Checkendon was set up as a 3.5k run - 13k bike - 3.5k run and without a hill in sight it should be perfect for some fast racing. And that's exactly what we got!  From the gun the pace was ridiculously high as we sprinted off through the farmers fields and up to the first wooded section. I knew I couldn't hold that pace for long so eased it back slightly and settled into my on rhythm- trying not to worry about those disappearing ahead, I was sure I'd see most of them again. 

Lots of empty racks in T1 meant it was time to get to work on the bike again. With lots of dry, dusty and tight singletrack the bike course was great fun and I was soon making up places. I definitely got my sprint training in too launching out of the corners as fast as I could. 

Out into the second run and focusing on a quick turnover I soon found my rhythm and tried to maintain the good form whilst giving it what I had left. I finished up in 10th place and happy with another good days training, but boy those top boys are quick!!

The season is up and running

Last year to me felt like I put in a lot of hard work in training but I didn't get to test myself as much as I'd like in races. This year I've decided to change that and get out to as many races as I can (within reason of course) and make the effort to travel further afield within the UK and support as many cross du's and tri's as possible.

Although the cross scene is building, unfortunately our races took a hit early on when it was announced the hugely popular Human Race cross duathlon series were cancelled due to land usage....bummer! This meant that there was quite a large gap in events that we could race and get the season started early. Fortunately for us, the great people behind the Southern XC mountain bike events stepped in to provide cross-du's on the Saturdays before their standard Sunday xc races in the form of their TrailX series....happy days!

The first in the series was in Wasing on 11th March set around a cracking mtb course which made for some awesome but tough racing. The run through the impressive grounds was really quite beautiful (had to remind myself I was racing at one point) and with a stonking, muddy hill straight out of transition it was a true reminder of how hard duathlons can be. By using the mtb course set for the next day, minus a few of the A lines, it was great to see a challenging bike course where you needed your wits about you at all times in a multi sport event, more of that please! Overall I finished in 10th fairly happy with my bike but wanting to work on the run legs a little. The next in the series is this weekend and is being billed as their sprint event, so I'm looking to a solid hit out.

Next up was the Hole Park cross duathlon on the 2nd April, the previous setting of the national cross-du championships and a fair trek out to the middle of Kent. Coming into the race I was feeling fresh and ready so see what I could do. I really wanted to put a good marker down and have a good hard race, and that's just what I got! On paper the course looked fairly flat, but in reality there were plenty of ups and soft sections to sap the energy. Knowing that the bike is still my strongest section I aimed to set off steady on the first run, nail it on the bike and then keep going as long as I could for the final run. The only thing was, the first half of the run lap was all down hill and a real challenge to gauge your effort and not get tempted into letting rip and flying off from the gun. It also means most of the rest of the lap must be back up hill!

I came out of T1 and immediately put the hammer down to try and catch up to those in front and managed to take 2 places on the first of 3 laps- I was feeling good. As I finished my first lap and heard over the tannoy (cheers for the hype Rich!) that I was in 2nd place I dug in even more to try and get that 1st spot. But no, as I was making my way back up to T2, Nick Collins was already on his way out and had quite a lead as he had done for most of the race. I still gave it my all on that second run, pushed as hard as I could up the hill and managed a fairly comfortable 2nd place, 1st in my age group and a first podium for the year. All in a good day out.

So the season has started nicely, still a tad fresh out for me to venture into the water yet but there's plenty of du's coming to keep me happy at the moment.

Consistency is King

At work I often get asked: "What is the quickest way to… get fitter…  lose weight… get hench, etc?  A lot of the time, my response isn't the golden ticket that was hoped for in the first place. This is because my answer to all of the above - and often more - is always - consistency. There are no magic workouts, no magic diets and no magic pills to do all the work for you. Obviously each of the above have their own different workouts and strategies to get to the desired goal. But when it comes down to it you have to be prepared to put the effort in to get to the gym or head out the door for your session and get it done.

Some days this will feel like the easiest thing in the world to do and you'll fly through your session feeling like you could go pro tomorrow. Other days you'll spend more time than the session itself would've actually taken you, thinking up reasons why you shouldn't do it. Then your brain wins and tricks you into just sitting back on the sofa (and then dealing with the associated guilt that comes with it!). Quite often the hardest part of the workout is that first step out the door or that first set. Then you remember why you're training, why you started in the first place. The joy of movement kicks in and it all makes sense again.

Keep on chasing yourself

Personally I find that consistency is the hardest part of training. We all know how hard that interval is or how tough it can be to turn around and sprint back up the hill. But to do it day after day, that’s where the true effort comes in. In the lead up to my wedding I found it particularly hard as I was very aware of this big event looming round the corner for which I couldn’t train for. My soon to be wife, family and friends put in a massive shift though and the day was amazing. As were my coaches, who eased off the pressure and let me train when it worked for me. I could see my performance levels had taken a hit but it was needed and meant I could focus on what really mattered. After the big day it was a struggle to get back into the routine of it all. Then there was the mild panic – which led me to question myself about whether those levels were ever going to come back? Again, the coaches stepped in and reassured me that it would return, or gave me the occasional kick up the arse if I was being a bit soft! But by plugging away and doing what I could consistently, the good feelings have returned and it’s all starting to make sense again. Now I am thankfully in a place where I am looking forward to each session.

If it all seems a bit daunting and you feel that urge to suddenly go and sit down on the sofa again, why not break the session down? See how you go for the first 10-20 minutes and if it really is a bad as your brain told you it would be and you're not recovered/hating it/dying, then you can stop and re-evaluate. If, however, the more than likely second option occurs, you actually start enjoying the session, kick on and get the rest done. Either way you'll feel a hell of a lot better than your other self, sitting on the sofa, watching Sons of Anarchy for the third time and eating your body weight in chocolate.

This is where your consistency streak begins. If you can keep completing your sessions on a consistent basis, then fitness, weight loss or even getting hench will come. But not before the hard work

So get out there, enjoy the process and the fitness that follows

And so it begins!

The triathlon season has well and truly begun again and spring is in full effect, what a great time of year this is! I used the Nuffield Health Eton SuperSprints to kick off my year and to help iron out any early season wrinkles before my 'A' races next month, and to also introduce a friend to the wonderful world of triathlon.

As a Nuffield Health employee it was great to see them as the Title partner of a tri with Human Race, so when the offer of a place came up I Jumped at the chance. We also all have that friend too who has mentioned that they'd love to give tri a go but haven't quite taken the final leap of faith and entered, so I did it for him! Marty is a rugby player so not quite the standard triathlete shape (is there even a standard triathlete shape anymore??), but he teaches a lot of classes and can run pretty well to be fair to him so I knew once he got out of the water he'd be fine. He SMASHED it and has well and truly got the bug and is already asking when his next one is. You should've seen the smile on both of our faces when he finished :D

My race had the standard 1st race errors, not quite giving enough time to get ready and set-up before the start and a couple of rusty transitions but overall I'm happy with how it went. Starting from the back of the pack in the swim meant I had to go round/through a lot of small groups but meant that I could also use a few for drafting. I felt really strong on the bike and was able to keep a good cadence ticking over in a higher gear than last year, only really loosing out to the guys on aero bikes. The best bit of the whole day though was the run. I've worked hard on my running through the winter (not to say I've not done so on the swim or bike) and I really felt the difference. Being able to start quick and get quicker was amazing and the feeling of being able to reel in the guys and finish with a sprint to grab another place on the line, incredible. 27th overall and 3rd in age group, I'll take that as a cross triathlete masquerading as a roadie. Have to say a big thanks to ashmei too, the tri-suit had its first outing and it performed faultlessly. I didn't really notice I had it on at any point during the day it was that comfortable, I think that is really the best thing you can ask for from a suit 10/10.

The countdown is now on for my big races and I couldn't be happier with where I currently am with my training. I still can't sing the praises of my coaches highly enough (thanks Jacqui & Ben) and would recommend anyone who wants to improve their times/enjoyment of the sport to go ahead and get booked in with a coach- what's the worst that could happen?? We're just 18 days out from Xterra Belgium and 32 days from the ETU European Cross Champs at Xterra Switzerland, June is going to be a busy month! My swim is coming along nicely and I don't really see it as my weak link anymore. I'm feeling stronger than ever on the bike being able to push the pace and then recover quickly and as mentioned earlier I've never enjoyed running so much. So lets see what we can do this year, it's going to be a BIG one!

For now though
Take it easy
Tom

Swings and Roundabouts

I was hoping to be writing this post about my first race back of the season, the Hole Park Cross-Duathlon. However that plan was scuppered by catching the office bug that had been threatening to take hold for the last month or so, that hit with perfect timing to drag me into a grumpy snotty mess for the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
Any athlete who is training alongside a full time job always has that thought in the back/front/whole of their mind of how far could they go if they had the chance to train full time. What could they do if they got the chance to wholly focus on training and racing without fitting it around the precious time that they have outside of work, their free time for which they can dedicate to whatever they want, whilst still of course reminding your family of what you look like. This is why our weekends are cherished so dearly as we get to decide when, where and how to train without worrying if we'll get to work on time or if we'll be able to miss the traffic and make it to the pool/track/wilderness before it closes/gets dark. Even better are long Bank Holiday weekends like the one just gone by for Easter, where we get the chance to have 4 whole days in a row of solid back to back training days with the added incentive of eating (more) chocolate. It's fair to say that I always look forward to the Easter break.

For the past few weeks I have been feeling a little under the weather, a little bit off but nothing too major to throw much of my training off. A couple of days here and there where I couldn't quite hit the reps, sets or times wanted but still able to get some quality sessions in. I didn't think much of this until the Wednesday before Easter when it all got a bit worse; sore throat, blocked up head and a bit spaced out. I knew I had finally succumbed to the office bug. A coldy/fluish bug that's made it's way through pretty much every department at one point and had hit a few colleagues in the weeks before. By Thursday it had officially hit and I retreated home early from work to collapse on the sofa and a 3 hour sleep followed, just in time to scupper those weekend plans of miles and smiles.
Now from here this post could quite easily have descended into self pity and cursing at cyclist I saw riding past my window enjoying the early spring sunshine (this might have happened). But instead to my surprise, I quickly found a new perspective on the enforced rest. I had the chance to veg out on the sofa, watch some films and eat chocolate whilst my better half looked after me (she did pretty well to put up with me to be honest). Yes I was still thoroughly hacked off to be ill and not able to do what I wanted, but for the first time I think ever, I was able to accept it and just get on with recovering. I must be getting old!

Hannah's form of sympathy...

This led me to look back at my recent training and how happy I am with how far I've come on since teaming up with B&J Racing. Coaching really does work and if you're thinking about signing up with a coach, be it long or short term, I would really recommend that you jump in and commit fully to it. It's not an automatic ticket to improvement, you still have to put in the hard work, but knowing with every session that you're ticking off that you are moving in the right direction, at the right pace and with the right recovery. It's a great feeling.
Now looking forward I have a few xc mountain bike races in the next few weeks and then I'll be travelling to some local and then some not so local cross-triathlons in Europe. With 4 days of very light training under my belt since starting to feel human again, fingers crossed I'm out the other side of this bug. I cannot wait to get going again with training properly and now that the days are getting longer, warmer and brighter, it's going to be a great season.


But for now ladies and gents do like have been, take it easy :)
Tom

Exciting times

 

Sooo it's been a while since my last post, I've decided as a late New Years resolution (it still counts right??) that I will be keeping on top of this blog and updating it as regularly as possible.

First thing first lets have a look at last year. My aims were to carry on improving my swim, bike and run, travel to as many Xterra/mountain bike/running races as possible and to continue loving the sport so that it never becomes a chore. I can quite easily say I've ticked off all three of those goals. My fitness has jumped massively (mainly due to working with a couple of the best Xterra athletes/coaches in the world) most noticeably in the swim which has gone from back of the pack straggler to mixing it up in the middle of the bunch and I'm still gaining huge chunks of time in training. Travelling firstly to the ETU Cross European champs and then the ITU Cross World champs as a Team GB age grouper was incredible and has started new friendships and opened my eyes as to where I want to be as an athlete. Last of all I love my sport, I love the training and I love the people meaning you can't help but have fun. This is hugely important to me as if I didn't enjoy any part of the training or racing, it just would not happen.

Heading to T1 of ITU Cross WC, Sardinia

Also I am thrilled to have been selected by the lovely people of ashmei (and I'm not just saying that, they really are nice) to be an ambassador for 2016. This is some of the nicest gear I have ever seen, with a mixture of style and performance in every garment you can really tell that they care about everything they make. The main attraction is in the property of the material they use, merino wool, which works to keep you warm in the cold and cool in the hot whilst not stinking once you warm up, what more could an athlete ask for?? Plus with a tag line of 'Outperform the best' you know they've got the idea. Keep an eye out in later posts for reviews and updates as my relationship with ashmei develops and go have a look at their stuff, it really is top notch.

Right that's it for me for now but I promise it won't be as long until the next one :)
Take it easy
Tom

ETU Cross Country European Championships

So my first time representing my country and in GB kit.....wow that felt good!! There really was something special about pulling on that GB Tri-suit on race morning and the feeling of wanting to do it proud. The ETU Cross Champs were in Schluchsee (Germany) and having travelled out a couple of days before the race and had a quick recce of the course, with new buddies Deano and Simon (cheers for looking out for my guys) I was feeling positive about it all and just wanted to get going. Heading down to transition to set up on race morning and it was a little cloudier/cooler/windier than we all wanted but hey that's racing (just to rub it in the following day was perfect sunshine and not even a breeze). A slightly different rack was used than I was used to where you try and wedge your rear wheel in a crate, for some bikes it worked perfectly, unfortunately for the bike next to me, not so great...each time they left their bike, I'm sure you can imagine the sort of domino action that occurred. Very annoying and not to mention a little worrying when you're leaving your pride and joy to be knocked over :( normal racks please next time.

The lake

Transition was a fair way away from the swim so once racked it was time to walk down and have a quick dip in the swimming pool next to the lake, I'm not sure it's owners wanted it but they were going to struggle to stop a few hundred pumped up triathletes from jumping in for a quick paddle. The elites were called down in order and us age groupers had a great view of their start from the bank, 2 minutes later and we'd be off. I've witnessed the heat-beat countdown at the ITU London race in Hyde Park and it was quite nauseating then and I wasn't even racing, but to hear it for your own race really hyped the pressure on even the most relaxed of us. The gun went and we were off; a few stoney steps into the water, a dive and then go. I was very happy with the first half of my swim, I managed to settle into a rhythm quickly, found a few feet to tow along on and was making good ground. However after the 75m beach run and out onto the 2nd lap it all went a bit to pot, I think I pushed a bit too hard on the run trying to make up places and as such was gasping for too much air whilst trying to battle against the choppy water. A couple of near drowning's and bit too much effort later I reached the turn buoy and enjoyed the last leg of the swim down wind and with the flow back into the beach for the 450m long run back to T1, picking up a few places and then off on the bike I went.

Rolling around on practice day

There was a fair amount of climbing straight out of T1 so I was conscious of holding back a bit and let a few guys power off up the hill as I was sure I'd see them again in a bit (most of them I did, fair play to the guys who stuck at that pace!) On my practice lap, the 2 lap bike course seemed a bit tame and with not much going on other a couple of big hills, come race day it felt completely different. Due to the fact there was a lot of fire road there was a real emphasis on trying to lay the power down and hitting 62kmph doesn't happen much on a mtb course and is fine, but really sapping for the legs when trying to spin up the hills afterwards. There was a nice techy downhill section towards the end of the lap that was great fun and made me a lot of time on others and a crowd pleasing log to leap too, sounds like someone got it a bit wrong though and had a bit of a face plant, hope that's healing well bud!

Running that fast...

A swift T2 and out on the run. 4 laps of a tortuous 2.6km lap with the majority being slow and steady fire road uphill's and then short sharp single track descents followed. My running form has been coming along nicely recently and I was feeling really confident going in that I could set a pace and stick to it, on the day my legs had other ideas though. Cramp set in both hamstrings by the end of lap 2 and was always lingering on the edge or sending me to the deck like a sack of spuds at anytime. Grovelling uphill and then praying downhill with a good few kick outs to try and release them led to a funny running style, think ministry of funny walks and you're part way there, but with a bit of a stern talking too and remembering how far I'd come I made it to the finish. A free stein and complimentary alcohol free beer, a currywurst to recover and off to celebrate with the team mates I went.

Giving it the robot :)

Looking back I'm fairly happy with the result, 11th in Age group and 75th in Europe knowing I couldn't have pushed any harder on the day feels pretty good. International fields are always stronger than you think they will be, remembering everyone there had to qualify just to start helps....but I want better and I know I can improve. Training adjusted and new sessions added, its time to get stronger, faster and better.

Current phone screensaver

Until next time xoxo GG.....Oh no wait that's someone else's tagline
Take it easy
Tom

And in other news...

....we've moved house!! As many of you will know moving house takes a lot more time than you think/hope it will. After fighting many obstacles and chasing as much as possible it finally happened and boy did it happen quick. I got the call on Friday to exchange (whilst away at a conference) and then we had to set a date for completion for the following Wednesday, leaving 4 days to get EVERYTHING ready. A few stressful days later and not much sleep we were in and living in the new place, bits and bobs are still in boxes here there and everywhere but we love the new house.

Something that I'm extremely proud of and what I was aiming for ever since starting Tri (and many years before) was to represent my country and get my name printed in my bum :-D. The fact that I got the chance to do that in my favourite aspect of Tri at the ETU Cross Country Tri championships makes it even sweeter. Write up to follow on how I went soon. 

But for now, take it easy

Tom

So whats been happening.....

Its been a while since my last post and A LOT has happened, so better dive straight in.

First of all there was a bit of training that has really caught me by surprise as to how much I enjoy it and how much of a buzz and increase in fitness I have gained from it. I am talking about teaching the Les Mills GRIT series. A mixture of Strength, Plyo and Cardio training sessions all squeezed into half hour HIIT blocks with very minimal rest. If you've never tried GRIT I urge you to go and give it a go, yes it hurts, yes it's only half hour and yes you will have to do it in the gym. But wow does it give your fitness a tune up! It took me about a week to be able to walk properly again after my training days :) Unfortunately I had to miss the 2nd round of the Brass Monkeys due to this, but you've got to pick what works best for the long run (and your career). I became good friends with my foam roller that week!

Brass Monkey number 3 was next on the hit list of races. I really enjoyed this series and can feel a huge gain in fitness due to these training races. Although everyone calls them training, you never can turn off the inner chimp that makes you want to push harder and catch the bloke in front, especially when its as cold as that day was. 2 and a bit hours fun later and its all over and training in the books, it took a while for the fingers and toes to return but can't remember that now sitting in nice warm living room in June. As usual it was a great course set by the Gorrick crew and happy to come away with 22nd in the final round and managed to grab some series points, now to just score at every race :)

Onto another very cold day but at a new Gorrick venue for the 1st in the Spring Series at Saddleback hill just outside Camberley. It was a great track and will be even better once the trails have settled down a bit but its always good fun smashing through the fresh loam. I had a good race overall, few little mistakes here and there but it felt great to put some intensity back into the legs again and bring it home in 14th- Another best :) Looking forward to more races at the saddleback and the stinger of a hill.

Spring Series 2 at the old favourite Crowthorne hill is always a popular race but for some reason I really struggled to get going and didn't feel on form and my placing of 21st mirrored this. The single track and technical sections felt great, but the kick on for the wider fire roads was next to none. By all means not my worst race ever and there were plenty of good bits, but something just felt a bit lacking.

After a challenge by one of the members of my gym the next race was the Brutal 10k in Bagshot, but he didn't even show up! Next time mate. Brutal definitely lived up to its name. A 10k cross country run over 2 laps, where the first half of the lap took you up and down as many of the very steep tank testing hills as possible and then the second half took all the energy out of your legs by putting you though trench after trench of freezing water. I always forget that feeling of ice-blocked toes when signing up for these events, but it soon comes rushing back. I finish 56th out of 530 odd people so really happy with that considering the lack of running at the time (cycling's just more fun!) with a time of 1 hour 5 mins, that might sound slow but to only be 12 mins back from the whippet like winner, I was really pleased.

Having been going well in the Spring Series events I decided I was going to travel that little bit further to the first round of the Southern XC at Black Park just outside Slough to see how I'd go. I have to say I was really pleased I did. The course was really different from what I was used to, just a total 50m of climbing over the whole 4 laps! I had a fairly poor start as I set myself up quite near the back but once the crowds thinned out and I was able to get passed on the wider sections I settled into a really nice rhythm and just sat on a really nice gear picking up some nice speed and consistent lap times. I finished in 20th with really consistent 21 minute laps and a great feeling. The course may have been flat but they crammed in some nice technical riding sections and bomb holes and drops that I've never really ridden over in a race before, some people really do need to work on their skills :D

Spring Series round 3 at Porridge pot was a day to forget. Nothing major wrong but just one of those races where you feel rubbish and never in contention - a bad day to just leave it at that

Spring series 4 next at Frith hill and finally spring seemed to be on its way. A slight delay on the start line due to timing system issues, but a few laps of the car park to keep warm and we were off. Another course I've not ridden for a while was a nice change and the new tracks were bedding in nicely, lots more loam to spread. Another 14th and more good fun, Gorricks are fairly hard to score points in as only the top 15 score so 4 points total meant 30th overall and a good first series in the sport.

Southern XC 2 and a trip down to the New forest and a lovely post race dinner with Hannah and Harv in a great pub. But anyway race time first, and another first of being gridded on the start #BIGtime #notreally20th ;-D. Another great course set out by the SXC crew with plenty of roots, techy bits and one long fire road. 21st overall so lost a place but a larger field and some good battles. Oh and the gammon, eggs and chips went down a treat.

Gorrick 100 enduro at Porridge pot a week later was a longer hit out over 3 laps of 10 miles. The aim of the game was to hit a decent pace and hold it for as long as possible, finishing 2 and a half hours later feeling great and very happy to take 10th place. 

Down to another new track for Southern XC4 in Bordon on what was a miserable wet morning and I really felt for the riders who were out early as it was chucking it down. Fortunately it cleared for my start but the track was fairly greasy to start with. I struggled to get up to speed to start with but began to get into it after lap 1. Some fun jumps and drops to keep you on your toes amidst the flowing singletrack and after the bad start I worked my way back up to 27th, not very happy but had some fun in the end. 

Onto my first Tri of the year and trying Windsor for the first time on their 25th anniversary. Racking on Saturday was a good chance to check out the walk to swim (about 10 mins) and the very long transitions. Much of the conversation around the event village was about how long they were and why. Turns out due to the running of the Magna Carta celebrations on the same day meant that some road closures weren't possible so they just had to make the best of the situation. Race day dawned very early (4.30am) so I tried a new race day technique of a couple of Imodium tabs and hour before the start to try and combat any mishaps and it worked! Stable stomach the whole way round and very please with that result. Anyhoo onto the race which started with a great swim for me and a lot of thanks to Zone3 for a great suit and PB swim time. A long run to T1 and picking up a few more places it was out onto the bike and looking forward to seeing what I could do in my favourite discipline. Right from the start I was feeling off and as if I was going backwards with guys passing me who I felt really shouldn't. 40km of self doubt passed and off the bike into T2 I noticed my rear wheel wasn't spinning as it should, arse the rear brake had been running the whole way! A stupid mistake and something I should've thought of earlier but time to run. And boy did that run feel good. A seminar few weeks earlier about running technique and tempo has really helped my running and if really recommend getting your running looked at by a pro, they tend to know what they are talking about :-P. 46 minutes and a fair few places gained later running through the crowds on the 3 lap course it was done and I had a huge smile on my face, I have sorely missed triathlons. 2hours 44mins total with probably 10 mins lost on the bike and lessons learnt (double/triple check your bike!!)

Finally for this post it's onto today and Southern XC round 5 and back to Porridge pot. A crash right in front of me at start left me jumping over the handlebars and the rider who'd managed to hit the deck on the flat...hmmm. Dead last and a little bemused it was time to drag some places back on the most fun course to date. Dry swoopy singletrack followed by some short sharp and some longer hills made for a great mix and made sure I was battling with the same old riders as we passed and re-passed each other as we hit our favourite bits. Unfortunately someone had a bad crash breaking a leg on one of the steep downhill sections. Because of his position on the track the race had to be paused until the ambulance crew were able to move him and take him off to hospital. Heal well bud and hope you are back racing ASAP. The race was resumed 34 minutes later in groups of 5 in the places that you crossed the line preceding the stoppage, this made sure  there wasn't a huge jam in the first hairpin. 2 more laps of sprinting and smiles followed and I crossed the line in 20th, happy with how I'd gone especially in unusual circumstances.
 

I didn't knock him off.....honest!

So we're all up to date and I promise not to leave it that long again, that's too much writing for me to do in one go :-D

Thanks for reading and until next time

Take it easy

Tom

"Off season"

Retuning home from the massive high of Hawaii to normal life in England, was always going to be a struggle. Having never travelled long haul before, the jet lag was the thing that surprised me the most. On the way out I felt fine and quickly settled into the routine without much fuss, however on the return it was a completely different story. From trying your hardest to stay awake until 8pm and not fall asleep in front of the TV, to being wide awake at 3pm without a hope of drifting off again. I was quite lucky I suppose, one bad night followed by one good night for a few days, until I succumbed to the dreaded man-flu which knocked me out for a few days.

I've never really had an off season before, mainly because I played a variety of sport which always kept me busy. However this year I decided that I'd take approx. a month off structured training and only do anything active if it was seen as fun. Of course I couldn't stop altogether as the lure for the Gorrick MTB races is always too strong. First of all was the Gorrick autumn classic 2 at Crowthorne woods, a venue which I love racing at and is always a good loop. I stepped up to the sport category for the first time and am so glad I did. My fitness has obviously improved a lot since my last race with Gorrick back in the spring, as the extra lap didn't feel like a slog and the whole race felt pretty good and I managed to bring it home in 15th, my best result to date, happy days!

A couple of weeks later was the first round of the gorrick Merida brass monkeys, an event which I've really enjoyed in the past and it's great training. The 2 hour event is usually rammed full and this race was no different even though the weather was atrocious. The course held up well considering the conditions, but then the rain and number of riders carving it up finally got too much and it started to turn into a bit of a swamp. I finished 2 laps inside the 2 hour time limit but couldn't convince myself that I wanted to go round again and pulled the pin, like many others, feeling like anymore might be a risk of injury/illness. I finished in the top 30 feeling fairly happy with the training miles in the legs but absolutely freezing, plus it took ages after the race to get warm and dry again :)
 

 

Now I'm back in the training groove and looking forward to what 2015 holds, the first few sessions have been a challenge and feel fairly heavy legged but its starting to get "easier" again. 

Take it easy guys

Tom

Xterra World Championship Maui, Hawaii

Maui is an incredible place, from the people to the scenery, temperature and food. It was unbelievably hard to not just settle into holiday more and just chill out by the pool or on the beach, but that's not why we were here (well Hannah maybe but I had something to do first). As I sit here writing this on a damp Saturday in England, I could not feel further away from the heat, humidity and sunshine of Hawaii.


Take me back!

On my first recce of the practice bike course the heat and humidity were a bit of a shock to the system, and it was only the first 8 and last 5k. I had a look at the profile and so knew it started with about 5/6k of climbing straight out of transition that was going to be a challenge. But that heat, humidity and probably a bit of jet lag meant I was pushing into the red far earlier than I wanted. I soon learnt to drink more water, keep an eye on my effort levels and try not worry too much about it, it WILL get easier as I get used to the heat. This is the reason why we got there a week beforehand, to settle in and acclimatise. It was great fun and was already looking forward to riding more of it as they opened more later in the week.

1st day bike selfie :)

The next day I went out on the run course which followed the same 5k up the hill as the bike before plummeting back down like a ski run. It was more of a run walk than I wanted but I was keeping up with the some of the guys who were riding so I was fairly happy. There was also a horrible, uphill, switchback tarmac section about 1k from the finish that just looked like a wall from the bottom and then a 250m dash across the soft beach sand at the finish just to sap all the energy from your legs, this was a world champs course after all and it wasn't meant to be easy!! I took a bottle with me on this run and I'm glad I did as I was sweating buckets, the water stations were going to be vital on race day so I planned to stop at each one to make sure I stayed as hydrated and cool as possible.

 

Back out on the bike and into the stickiest and slimiest mud I've ever seen. I managed to get out for a full lap but my bike came back weighing at least double what it went out. There were a couple of really slick descents which were almost unrideable (had a little spill too :-D) but were great fun and really played to my strengths. I consider myself to be a decent bike handler so I knew I'd be able to make up a fair amount of time on some of the stronger swimmers/runners here. The first part of the course was nice tight singletrack before it opened up into wider fire roads, up and through the local farms and into the baking sun, before dropping back down into the singletrack and transition. The hotel had obviously thought about not having muddy bikes traipsed back to their rooms, so had put out a decent bike washing facilities. Also handy as they doubled as a quick shower with the number of riders cleaning bikes in a small space, we probably got just as soaked as the bikes did!

Most days started or finished with a swim in the sea which was so warm it felt wrong to be able to stay in it for so long without turning an odd shade of purple/blue. Whether it was ins and outs practice or longer loops out to the race day turn buoys it was great fun, but not having had much experience at swimming in surf that large it really was quite daunting to start with. Thankfully after a few wise words from the pros it did get easier. One day on the way out to the buoys a group of us were investigated by a pod of about 12 wild dolphins, something that I'm never going to forget and its strange how mesmerised you become by them. They hung around circling for about 5 minutes before they disappeared as quickly as they arrived. Amazing stuff.

The swim course

Race morning dawned and I've never felt so relaxed before a big event. I felt like I'd done all I could to prepare myself and was in a good place. It was also the easiest morning before a race too, stroll down to transition to set up which was in the hotel garden, check everything over and then walk down to the hotels beach for the start of the swim for a final few ins and outs. Of course the nerves were there by now but I could feed off them and just wanted to get going.

After the blessing from the local priest, who's a bit of a legend, the cannon went of for the pro's to go first followed by a huge roar and applause. The cannon fired again to start our wave and off we went into possibly the largest set of waves I'd seen all day! This made it great fun ducking and diving the waves and making the most of the dolphin dives learnt earlier in the week. Once out in open water the swell was still large so sighting was important, had to make sure I waited for the swell to pick me up so that I could see over the waves and heads in front of me. After a few duckings round the turn it was back to the beach for the mid swim run which was an interesting feature. Running on the soft was fairly cruel, but I found I was actually able to recover a little from the effort of fighting the white water. Plus it was amazing to run through the corridor of noise and cheers that was created by all the spectators!

Mid swim jog

Finishing the swim and a quick blast up the hill into T1 and out onto the bike, where I'm at my happiest and tend to make up a few spaces (about 200 on the day!). I quickly settled into a nice rhythm just ticking the legs over up the 1st big hill with a decent bunch. As usual few people were trying to barge their way, and as usual most of the line picked them off as we got closer to the top. 30k is quite a long way off road and especially in the heat so there was plenty of time to pick up the pace later on and now was not the time to start pushing hard. Thankfully the course had dried up a lot and most of the course was rideable, there were a few sections in the trees where it was quicker to push than ride, but it was great fun flying down the descents and then grovelling back up to the top. The final 5k was all about staying concentrated and ensuring there were no mistakes at this point, most of it was downhill with a few punchy climbs thrown in for good measure, perfect for spinning the legs into T2

Heading out on the bike

The run was a battle, it always was going to be! A battle against the course, heat and fatigued legs from the bike. THAT first 5k was a grim mix of feeling ok, feeling a bit off, 'oh god its hot' and I need to walk, all in random sections and not necessarily in that order. I managed to catch and have a chat with an American about half way up and we worked together for a couple of K before he seized up and had to stop, cheers bud. Once at the top it was nice to be able to let the legs run down the hill but as the course was so twisty and technical, it had to be controlled. Which of course then led to a slightly different fatigue in the quads, but at least the pain was shifting around :) Back to the tarmac climb and I managed to 'run' the whole way up, I was ecstatic and carried that momentum on down to the beach, through the sand and onto the finish. A muscle milk and a great selection of fruit later, I was starting to feel normal again. What a great race, can we do it all again next week??

FINISHED!

The race went really well and I'm so proud of getting there let alone the result 405th overall, 286th in the age groupers and 29th in the 20's-24's. I'm currently enjoying a nice, relaxing off season and looking forward to getting back into training for next year soon, with the aim of getting back to the xterra world champs for 2015. 

We finished off a great trip with a few more days on the island to have a bit of an explore, chill out and eat everything in sight. Also one day on a road trip to Hana (thoroughly recommend it) I proposed to Hannah to which she eventually said yes, for some reason she didn't believe me, we've only been together 5 years ;-) So overall we had a great couple of weeks. 

Until next time

Take it easy

Tom

The road to Maui

Triathlon seems to "run" in my family, not necessarily immediately obvious, but it's in there somewhere. I have always been active and that is due to my family and being encouraged to take up a variety of sports as a kid, so the blueprint was always there. This of course doesn't mean that its been a perfect transition into the discipline of 3 (especially when it comes to swimming) but it did give me a great start. At the end of my second year of tri, it feels hugely satisfying and quite daunting to say that I've been to a world championships in a hugely competitive sport, smiled the whole way through and  after a few weeks off, already feel ready to jump into the next years training so that I can try and do it all over again!

Having a large family is great, especially when most are older than you as it means you have lots of role models to look up to and try to copy. So when a few results in triathlon from my cousins started to appear it caught my attention. It wasn't straight away that I started, the fear of the swim put paid to that, but it was something that I couldn't ignore. Eventually I pulled my finger out and signed up to the 2013 Blenheim Palace sprint tri, and I'm so glad I did. The Blenheim Palace tri may only be a sprint but its an enormous event, with crowds lining the transition area, the 'lovely' 400m run up the hill from the swim and then the final stretch of the bike an run. The fact that it's set in the private grounds with traffic free roads and amazing scenery, kind of spoils you and makes you think that every tri should be like this! I was well and truly hooked and ready to do another one, unfortunately a crash in a road race put me out for a month or so, but meant I was even hungrier when the next few races came round. My final race of the season was the Xterra England sprint. My background is mainly in XC mountain biking so where I lose places in the swim, I tend to make them up on the bike and hold on for the run. This is even more true when it comes to Xterra as some triathletes bike handling skills can be questionable and meant I came home in a very happy 14th place and also bitten by the Xterra bug. I entered the Championship race for 2014 as soon as I could and couldn't wait to give it a go.

Vachery Sprint- 2013

After a long, cold winter of training (including my first half marathon raising over £500 for Crohn's and Colitis UK) it was time to start the season again and this meant we were off to Blenheim. Another great race, a little colder this time due to the rain that only stopped as I crossed the finish line but 6 minutes better this year and happy to be racing again. Another sprint followed at Marlow, a nicely run little event with a few large hills, but then it was time to take on an Olympic distance event. The bike and run were never going to be a problem, it was the swim that held the fear. A lot of time was spent in the pool training for the first one which was to be at Eton Dorney (nice and flat!) and it seemed to pay off. The swim was 2 laps, the first lap felt great and I started to struggle towards the end of the second, but I made it round! Not much happened on the bike and run, its pretty flat and windy at Dorney, but I finish in 2hrs 34mins and was satisfied with my time and the day. Next up was the London Triathlon, another huge event but lacking something for my liking. Perhaps it was just the course set for the Saturday that just felt like you were riding around the car park, rather than the Sunday course that headed further into London, however the swim in Docklands was quite impressive and the sheer number of people in one place was cool, but it wasn't an event that had me ready to go back and do it again.

Then it was the one it felt like I'd been waiting forever for, Xterra England, especially as there was a point where it was going to be cancelled as the organisers had back out! I had set it down as an experience gaining event as I wanted to qualify for the Xterra worlds the next year. However after an average swim, a bike that I didn't want to end as the course was great fun (plus a fly over from the red arrows felt really special) and a run on the edge of cramp, I finished and was high enough up my age group ranking to be in with a chance of qualifying for the Worlds. To be honest, at this time it hadn't even crossed my mind that I could be going, I thought the space was gone as there were some quick guys there. Until 1 month later that I received the email saying that I had a roll down space! I laughed nervously for a bit, checked it was real, went a bit quiet and then realized what I'd done, I had qualified for the Xterra World Championships! I was a bit of a giddy mess for the rest of the day, which doesn't really help when you're at work, but people seemed to understand :)

Xterra England- 2014

I had planned on winding down the season from there, not ramping it up, so the nice relaxing week away to Cornwall that was booked with my girlfriend (Hannah) and the dog (Harvey), turned into the perfect training camp. Hilly runs with Harvey and bike rides to no-where a plenty, with relaxing evenings with the feet up watching series after series of Breaking Bad with Hannah were just what I needed to kick on. The weeks when we returned and trying to book everything ready for the trip were stressful but well worth it. Hawaii is an amazing place to visit and race in, but I'll tell you more about that next time...

Take it easy
Tom

Harvey after one of our Cornish runs

Where to begin...

So welcome to my blog, I hope you like it and carry on visiting!
I plan to share with you my racing, training and general life thoughts whether you like it or not :) So if you have any feedback, please leave it in the comments section as I'd love to hear what you guys think.
2014 has been a great year with some really high points that you'll soon hear about with places and events that I thought I'd never get to see let alone take part in, here's to more of the same in 2015!
Take it easy
Tom