RAF Scampton Duathlon

With 4-weeks to go before racing in Soria, Spain representing the GB Age-group team in the ETU standard distance duathlon I was looking for a race to enter to serve as a tester and initial tune up. After searching the BTF website I came across the RAF Scampton duathlon just across the Humber Bridge in Lincoln. I hadn't raced this one before but after a quick bit of research on the Lincoln tri club website it looked like a great race to do. Like the name said it was on the RAF base (home of the Red Arrows) so I would be racing on a lovely tarmacked airfield, which also meant closed roads. 

Unlike most races I do the start time wasn't until 12:30 pm, as there were loads of children's races on before hand, which was great, seeing some many children getting the multisport bug. The only downside was that it made the pre-race fuelling strategy a bit more tricky than usual, as I needed another snack after my pre-race breakfast. That wasnt an issue though as it meant I could enjoy a peanut and pumpkin Meridian nut bar!  

With about two hours before the start we drove to the race. We arrived at the base after going through all the security checks (with it being a military base) with about an hour before the race start. This gave me plenty of time to register, set my bike up in T1 and go through all my pre-race routines. With about 20 min to go I started my pretty standardised warm-up, which is now tried and tested. It was a gorgeous day and the sun was shining so I was conscious to ensure I kept hydrated whist warming up. With about 5 min to go we all got called to the start line so that the race organiser could deliver his final pre-race information. We then headed to the start line and awaited the start.  

The klaxon sounded and we were off! The 5km run was 2-laps of an out and back route running parallel to the bike course. The first section was all on a gradual incline until the turn around point. As that was the case I was careful not to go too deep into the red at the start as I know I would pay the price for that later on. The super quick guys formed the first group with me and a few others in the second group. The first lap was rather non-eventful, with the group staying as one. On the second lap, as the course started to rise to the turn-a-round point I slowly pulled away, which gave me a nice confidence boost. After holing my own for the second lap I was quickly into T1, in about 10th place. After a swift T1 including putting my tri-shoes on in T1 (as elastic bands were banned due to the possibility of them getting into place engines) I was soon out onto the bike course.  

 Breaking away on the run

The bike was three loops of 7 km around the airfield. From the start of the bike I was able to really get the hammer down and start picking off some of the quicker runners. The first few km were pretty flat and non-eventful, so I kept pushing on as hard as I could. After I rounded the bottom corner, the course began to rise gradually all the way to the furthest part away from transition. This wasn't too bad I was able to keep aero and in the big ring. I was slowly catching up with the field ahead as coupled with the rise there was also a strong headwind. I had been working on my strength in the gym over recent months so was happy to see this paying off and I began to make further inroads into the guys ahead of me. As I turned back along the home straight, the wind was behind me so I kept pushing on to try and make up a few more places. Lap two was pretty similar to lap one. The third and final lap of the course started to get pretty busy and it was hard for me to work out my position. As I was approaching T2 I could see someone ahead of me undoing their shoes so I knew he was a rival. I slipped my feet out and resting them on top, ready for a quick dismount.  

After another slick transition (T2) and a quick bike count, I knew I was in seventh and could see that sixth was just ahead of me. The final run was a single lap of 2.5 km. I knew this was likely to be flat out, but didn't want to go too mad until the turn-a-round point. I soon settled into my stride and on the gradual rise to the turn-a-round point I soon passed sixth place. At the turn around I could see that there was about a 10 sec gap between us. The rest of the run was slightly downhill, so I decided to kick again hoping to keep the distance. I kept pushing and after a quick glance over my shoulder with about 400 m to go I knew I had done enough to hold him off! I kept pushing, gritted my teeth and crossed the line spent (paced to perfection)!  

  

I finished 6th overall in a time of 1:04:34. I was super happy with this and put in a near PB 5 km time for the first run, so this gave me loads of confidence heading into the final build up into the European Duathlon Championships (30th April).

 Job well done!! 

As always a massive thanks to my sponsors Meridian Foods and Coconoil, as well as my coach Ian Mayhew (Gears & Tears). Also thanks to Lincoln tri club for organizing such a great event and i'll certainly be back. Finally thanks to Richard Howes photography. 

2016 European Duathlon Championship

Its now been two weeks since I raced at the European Duathlon Championships in Kalkar, Germany and I guess its time for me to reflect back on the build up, the race and the overall experience. 

In the weeks leading up to this training had been going well and I was feeling fit and strong. I placed highly in my warm up duathlon in Durham so was heading to the Europeans full of confidence. I had planned to race in one final TT on Tuesday (the day before I was due to travel down south), however unfortunately the race organisers had to reschedule, so I resulted to one last hard session on the turbo. This was a shame as I find it really hard to push myself as hard in training as I would with a number on my back. 

Wednesday - This started off as normal for me, up at 7 am, enjoying a coffee watching Sky Sports News before breakfast and getting ready for work. I worked until lunchtime, said my goodbyes and enjoyed all the words of good luck and support from my friends and colleagues. My plans were to travel down to Surrey and stay the night at Ian's (www.gearsandtears.com) house before travelling the rest of the way to Germany on Thursday. The drive down wasn't too bad considering I hit the M25 close to rush hour. After checking in to Chateau Mayhew, having a good catch up, we took a leisurely stroll to his local Italian restaurant. The food was awesome and I'm glad he advised me on ordering the calzone, I wasn't disappointed. We then wondered back continued chatting before turning in.

All packed and ready to rock. 

Thursday - I started the day off with a lie-in before heading out for a relaxed 30-min run in the Surrey countryside. Once back it was shower and breakfast time before making my way down to Folkestone. Before boarding the Channel Tunnel I took a slight de-tour to the station to pick up my mum, who was going to be my #1 fan for this race. Once greeting mum we then drove to the Channel Tunnel. Finding the tunnel and boarding the train was super easy and stress free. It was only a 35 minute crossing, so we got to France around lunchtime. We decided to crack on and start making headway into the 300 mile ish drive to Kalkar. We were going along really nicely and made good headway so we decided to stop off at the services for a spot of lunch and a coffee. Once through France we were then into Belgium, this is where we started to slow down. We were surprised to find out that the motorways take you really close to the city centres and as a result lots of traffic! This continued to be the theme of our journey through Belgium. Once through Belgium and into Holland and Germany we didn't get held up again and the rest of the journey remained stress free. We arrived at the team hotel and race venue Wunderland, Kalkar at around 9 pm. This was a good hour later than anticipated as the traffic in Belgium really slowed us down. We checked in and headed straight to the restaurant, fortunately they were still serving food. After food and a much needed drink we were both shattered. En route to bed I checked the team notice board to find out the final plans for the weekend, specifically the pre-race brief and the organised bike course recce. 

Friday - I chose not to set an alarm, as I was pretty tired after all the driving the day before. I was awake at 8 am, so gave mum a knock and as we were both awake we decided to head down to breakfast. Breakfast was nice and chilled and it was good to see so many fellow GB athletes. Over breakfast I was able to plan out the day. It went something like this; chill out after breakfast until 12 pm (midday). 
At 12 pm it was the Team GB organised bike recce. I arrived at the transition hall (meeting point for recce) and bumped straight into Matt Turnball (the guy who I met a few weeks before at the Durham duathlon) and starting chatting. We decided to ride out together, as there were so many athletes on the course the pace was pretty steady, but that didn't really bother me. As we pulled into Wunderland after the first lap we both decided that doing another lap with a few race pace efforts would be a wise move. 

After the second lap it was time for me to grab a shower and meet mum for lunch. After lunch it was time for me to give my bike a clean, polish and final tweak before heading over to transition to register and rack my bike. After this there was a little a bit more down time, so we sat in the hotel bar enjoying a coffee, chatting and making most of the hotel WiFi (unfortunately there's wasn't any in our room) as I was beginning to get Twitter withdrawal symptoms! At about 4 pm the whole team began to assemble outside one of the conference rooms ahead of the pre-race brief. The briefing lasted close to an hour before and helped to clear up a few issues people had. We then all may our way out to the front of Wunderland for the scheduled team photos. 

The GB standard distance team, can you find me? It's a bit like Where's Wally? 😜

After the team photos the whole team headed into the town of Kalkar for the parade of nations, which was held in the market square. This is where the town mayor along with the president of the ETU officially opened the European Duathlon Championships. We then headed back to the team hotel for the pasta party, time for us all to commit carbiside! This was a busy day, so no surprise I was pretty tired again so decided to get another reasonably early night before race day. 

Saturday (race day) - The night before a race I find it hard to sleep as I keep thinking about the race and likewise I also wake up much earlier that my alarm and this was no exception. I woke at around 6:30 am and chilled in my room before heading over for breakfast at 7:30 am. I was in the the first wave of Age-Group athletes to go off, starting at 10:30 am, just after all the elite Para athletes. I always start my tried and trusted pre-race nutrition strategy 3-hrs prior to my start time. After breakfast I gave my mum a knock (as 7:30 am is a bit too early for her) and then joined her for her breakfast. I found it hard to concentrate on the conversation as I was now in race mode and kept thinking about the task at hand. The big issue was the weather forecast, as it was highly changeable, so i didn't know if I would go for a base layer or not and would I wear gloves. I then decided that it would be double yes; base layer and gloves. With about 45 minutes to go before the race start I put all my race kit on and headed over to transition and start my final preparations; check tire pressure, talc my shoes and run though transition before the all important caffeine gel before commencing the warm-up. There was a bit of a chill in the air so I was glad with my choice of gloves and base layer. 

With about 5 minutes to go I said good bye to my mum (who wished me good luck) and headed to the start line, which was filling up with fellow athletes quickly. I was able to get a good spot quite close to the front. The MC then started the race build-up, my heart rate started to increase and it was time for me to get my game face on! The klaxon sounded and we were off! The 10 km run was 4 laps of a 2.5 km loop that weaved around the Wunderland grounds, with a stretch along the river before looping back and circling the conference centre (acting as the indoor transition area). We went off like a rocket, much quicker than I normally do for a race, but this is the Euro's so what do you expect! I was right in the mix after the first km and was buzzing, then all of a sudden my body was telling me that I'd gone out too fast! What didn't help, was that this coincided with the "out and back" section along the river, in to a tough headwind! This section started to string out the field with a front pack of 4 athletes pulling away from everyone else. I really had to dig in now and was certainly paying the price for the really fast start. The next two laps were a real battle for me, but I continued to hang in there and on the fourth and final lap, started to get back into my groove. I then entered T1, put my helmet on and and was out of transition, jumping on to my bike after the mount line. This went super slick and was on to the bike where I hoped to move up the placings. 

The bike course was also 4 laps but this time of a 10 km loop. The bike course was pure flat with a few 180 degree turns. Just like the run there was a tough section into a headwind, but aside from that the wind was kind with either a side or tail wind. The wind on the bike wasn't really an issue for me as I had been training a lot on my TT bike back home in Hull and it's always windy so I'm now used to it. I kept pushing as hard as I could keeping aero to minimize the drag effect from the wind and was slowly beginning to claw back some places. There were three different age-groups in my wave, so this made it hard to work out if I was moving up in my age-group or not. All the supporters from all countries (mainly GB) were positioned along the approach to transition before commencing the remaining laps, this just gave you an extra little boost hearing all the support. I kept on pushing as hard as I could for the remaining laps and stuck to my nutrition plan, to ensure i was fueled for the latter stages of the race. As the laps went by I gained an extra few places and could work out that if there were more laps I would gain a few more, but we were all pretty spread out now. I turned into Wunderland for the final time and started the approach to T2. I lent down un-Velcro'd my tri-shoes, slipped my feet out and rested them on the top of my shoes ready for the dismount line. I jumped off my bike just before the line and raced into transition for T2 before starting the final 5 km run. 

The final run was just two laps of the same 2.5 km loop. I exited transition and was quickly into my side, running well considering the earlier run and bike. I was feeling really good and was pushing hard to try and move up the field and/or hold off athletes behind me. The best part about the out and back section (although it was windy) was that it gave you a good chance to work out where you where, who was in front of you and who was chasing you. I kept on pushing and quickly ticked off lap one and now I only has 2.5 km left to race. As I reached the turn around I was confident that I wouldn't get caught and there was a slight chance I could gain another place, so this is where i kicked for the finish. I'm guessing the guy in front of me thought the same as I failed to catch him. I crossed the line and was over the moon as aside from going too deep into the red in the first part of the first run, everything else had gone according to plan and all my transitions were super slick! 

Something slightly different than banana's for post race re-fueling 

I finished 9th in my age-group and 3rd Brit, in a time of 2:05:35. I was over the moon with this performance especially as I over cooked it in the first part of the run and had to really dig in for the middle half of the first 10 km run. I have a feeling that this performance is good enough for me to gain automatic qualification for next years ETU duathlon championships. 

Over the moon with the race and I couldn't have given any more. 

Sunday - This was my epic travel day. I got up around 9 am gave my mum a knock before we headed down for breakfast. Fortunately I felt rather fresh as the post race celebrations weren't anywhere as big as I was expecting. This was certainly a blessing in disguise as driving 550 miles from Germany through Holland, Belgium and France before taking the Channel Tunnel back to Folkestone and then driving back up north to Hull was brutal! Mum and I had arranged that she would do the first stretch of the journey until we caught the train back to Blighty, this was a massive help as it was another four hours drive back home to Hull.

As always a massive thanks to my sponsors Meridian Foods and Coconoil, as well as my coach Ian Mayhew (Gears & Tears). Also thanks to all of my fellow GB athletes who helped cheer me on and make this an unforgettable experience. Lastly thanks has to go to my Mum, who was my number one fan in light of Sally not being able to make this race (first one she's ever missed!). 

City of Durham Duathlon

When initially planning my season out during Christmas, I had eye'd up racing at Clumber Park. Clumber would fit perfectly in my race prep ahead of the European Duathlon Championships - Kalkar, Germany (16th April). Generally speaking working at a University we don't have to do weekends, however that weekend I did. Therefore I had to change my plans slightly. After a bit of searching I found the City of Durham Duathlon, organised and ran by Durham Triathlon Club. Durham is a good 2-hr drive away so Sally and I drove up the day before and stayed in a local pub/B&B. As we pulled into the car park and started unpacking I bumped into a fellow competitor who was able to pass on some words of advice as he just just got back from a course recce (more on that later). 

As is the norm for multi-sport races it was an early start, so working backwards from the race start its pretty easy to plan your breakfast and fuelling strategy out. As the race started at 9am it meant a 6am wake up for breakfast, before ensuring I'm fully hydrated and getting that all important caffeine hit just before kick off! 

I like to get to races early so I'm not rushing to get ready, therefore we left the hotel just before 8am to ensure I got to the race HQ (a local leisure centre) with about an hour to spare, allowing me plenty of time to register and set my bike up in transition etc. I was a little taken back by the chilled out, clam nature of all the competitors, which makes a really nice change from the majority of races I do which are high profile and normally a qualifier of some sorts. After registering and racking my bike I still had plenty of time to chat to a few familiar faces and share stories of winter training and to find out what races they've got lined up.  

As it approached 8:30am we all made our way into the HQ for the pre-race briefing. This was rather important as the race organisers explained the rules regarding some of the road junctions and what would happen if we were to get caught up by temporary traffic lights. Once the brief was over I had ~15 minutes to start warming up, before heading to the start to wait the klaxon. 

The klaxon sounded and we were off! The 5km run was 3-laps of the 1.66km circuit, which looped around the leisure centre playing fields. The terrain was mainly grass with a few tarmac sections and was similar to a X-C route, with a few lumps in it. The pace was fast and I was able to hang in there for the first half a lap before settling into my own rhythm. After the first lap the field had began to string out. I think I ended up in the third group, which I was really happy with as I could feel that my run training over the winter was paying off. During the second and third lap the placings didn't really change that much so I knew that before entering T1 I would be there or there abouts. After the final lap I was quickly into T1, put my helmet on, kicked my trainers off (as neatly as possible as I would need them for the second run), un-racked my bike and headed out onto the bike course.  

My group for the first run. 

Quickly out of T1.

The bike was a single 25km loop of the local area. It was a little bit tricky in parts as there were a few serious road junctions to negotiate and a couple of temporary traffic lights, all were well marshalled though. Aside from these it was a really nice rolling course with one brutal hill about 15km into the route. From the start of the bike I was able to really get the hammer down and start picking off some of the quicker runners. I kept pushing on as hard as I could but couldn't help but think about what Matt Turnball said to me the night before (the guy I met in the hotel car park), "watch out for the climb its a beast!" The further I raced the more I kept thinking, "whats he on about??" and then probably about 10km from home, it popped up and he was right it was a beast! It was easily a mile long and was certainly steep! I sat up, found a comfortable climbing position on the TT bike and span up the climb passing a few other athletes. As soon as I crested it I was then straight back in the TT position and hammered the final few km's into T2. On the approach to T2 I got my feet out of my tri-shoes, rested them on top, all ready for a quick dismount.  

After another slick transition (T2) I was able to quickly settle into my stride for the same final 5km. I kept pushing as hard as I could but this time was beginning to struggle. I think its because I had only raced on water and didn't anticipate how much that climb sent me into the red! In hindsight I would definitely taken some sports drink or a gel on the bike. However, I continued to push as hard as I could. It was halfway through the second lap when I heard Paul Brown (race winner) coming up behind me, I tried to slip stream him when he passed me, but hes an awesome athlete and he was just too quick for me! He was the only athlete to pass me so I don't actually feel that bad! I kept pushing and once getting to the top of that little climb for the final time I knew it was all down hill, so I gritted my teeth and kicked for the final km to the finish! 

The final sprint for the finish!  

I finished 16th male and 9th in my age-group in a time of 1:28:45. I was super happy with this and will now be able to take a lot of confidence into the European Duathlon Championships (16th April). After the race I got chatting to Matt again and he told me that the top 15 were really strong athletes and I had done well to place where I did, so was buzzing for that. 

As always a massive thanks to my sponsors Meridian Foods and Coconoil, as well as my coach Ian Mayhew (Gears & Tears). Also thanks to Durham Tri club for organizing such a great event and i'll certainly be back and to Jason Allison for the photos. However, the most important thanks has to go to my darling girlfriend, Sally. 

Stockton-on-Tees Standard Distance Duathlon

My season ended early, in late August 2014 and after a 4-week holiday in Auz (see earlier blog for more info) I was keen to get back in the training groove. My trip to Auz was mega and i would do it again in a heartbeat, however 4-weeks of eating out and minimal training meant i was a long way off the condition i was used to. 

Once back and after recovering from the jet lag i was soon back putting in those winter miles and in the gym looking for those gainz!! It was a slow process and slowly but shortly i began looking like something that resembled an athlete. I love winter training and the opportunity it presents to get "off-road" on both foot and on the MTB. During the winter i still like to race as i feel that i need that "full gas" effort once in a while to remind me what its like to go at race pace. That's why The East Yorkshire XC league is perfect for me, as it gives me that monthly option to race in a quite and informal environment. 

From September to Christmas things were going really well with the training and and was feeling fitter by the week. Then out of nowhere on NYE it hit me, the nasty flu bug, that was doing the rounds. This knocked me out for two weeks and it was inevitable that this set me back as the thought of training made me feel worse!! 

Once i got over this i started training again but as a result missed a fair few XC races and one of my favourite 10-miler road races. This was frustrating as like i said earlier i really need that racing stimulus through out the winter and as it turns out i didn't race from early December until now, Stockton. 

In the build up to this my preparation had been good, but could have been better. I had originally planned to race Clumber Park standard distance duathlon a few weeks prior to Stockton. However, I had to change my plans because I was invited to present some of my PhD research at The World Congress of Science and Medicine in Cricket, in Sydney. It was a really tough decision............ Clumber or Sydney!! Anyway this meant that my training was a little interrupted and I only had one chance of earning a place to represent GB at the standard distance European duathlon champs 2016. So i placed all my eggs in this basket! 

The race started at 1pm, which was a really nice change to the norm of being up ready to race at the crack of dawn. This meant that Sally and I could drive up to Stockton in the morning instead of an overnight stopover. Racing at 1pm also posed a new challenge for me, what do it eat? Anyway i decided to work backwards and effectively had two pre-race breakfasts and my pre-race rituals just started from 10am.  

Once we got to Stockton we ended up driving around for a while as the closed roads (for the race) were causing havoc for the sat nav!! Once we finally found a place to park (close to the race HQ) i gathered up all my gear and headed over, registered and set up in transition. This was a quick and easy process which was nice so i just enjoyed chatting to a few "triathlon friends" and just chilled with the Mrs. 

As it approached 1pm the pre-race nerves were well and truly kicking in and the added pressure of racing to qualify for the Euros next year didn't help things! I headed over to the race started and commenced my warm-up and listened to the pre-race brief. After the pre-race brief we all got called forward and gathered on the start line to wait for the klaxon. 

The klaxon sounded and we were off! The first 10km run was 2-laps of the 5km circuit, which looped the river Tees. The pace was blistering as there were plenty of athletes just like me racing to qualify. The lead runners quickly shot off the front, which then left the rest of us to settle into the 2nd/3rd groups. After the first 2km these groups now had splintered and i settled in and was able to stick to a pace i was happy with, on the limit but manageable. i continued to maintain this effort for the remaining 7-8km and was now one-by-one picking runners off as i made my way through the field. 

Just crossing the Millennium Bridge

The run wasn't the easiest or simplest of runs, as it included a lot of changes in direction and a leg sapping run over the Millennium bridge just before the start/finish line. After a hard but solid run i was back into transition; trainers off, helmet on, unrack bike and now time to smash the bike. 

Just heading out to start the 40km bike leg 

Like the run, the bike was multiple laps of an 8km loop, so 5 laps. It was great to be able to race on closed roads which meant that you can smash it round corners and not have to worry, the only downside is that its you're not 100% sure on what position you are in. The bike course was also similar to the run in reference to the changes in direction with a fair few "out and back" branched sections. Once out of T1 and onto the bike leg i was quickly working hard to catch up to the super-fast runners who had put a fair bit of time into me. This bike course suited me, pretty flat but with a few gentle climbs so the strength i worked hard to build over the winter both on the bike and in the gym was paying off. Parts of this course were quite windy, which also played well to my strengths, being able to push a big gear into a strong headwind. The more laps i did the more confidence i had on the course and knew how fast i could take all the corners. I kept pushing as hard as i could and continued to overtake people, however by the 3rd lap onward i was clueless to my place within the field. I normally race the sorter distances so race nutrition isn't that important where as racing for longer nutrition becomes really important, therefore I had my race nutrition all planned out and knew exactly when to take the gels on the bike, which i was able to stick to. After an hour on the bike i was approaching T2 with me feet resting on the top of my shoes ready to dismount and to start the final 5km run. 

Both my transitions (T1 & T2) were pretty slick and i was quickly trying to settle into my stride. This was easier said than done as for the first km my calf's were cramping! once i overcame this cramp i was able to settle into my stride. It was about 2km in before i lost my head. i was running along and then out of the corner of my eye i spotted a dog running up toward me and i kept running thinking that it was going to turn back to its owner, but it didn't it just continued to run and then everything went "slow-mo" as the dog jumped into me!!! What a nightmare!!! i just hoped that i would stay on my feet and fortunately i did, however this really got to me and i found it hard to get back into my rhythm. fortunately i settled in and was able to keep pushing as hard as i could as i snaked my way round the course. All that was left was the leg sapping Millennium bridge, running up and over this well and truly took me into the red!! I knew it was less than a km to go so just dug in and gave it everything i had left. 

Fubar'd crossing the finish line! Definitely a hard day at the office and the lack of racing in the build up didn't help! 

I finished 25th male in a time of 2:05:01. Unfortunately the race results weren't displayed in age-groups, which is rather annoying especially when you are hoping to qualify for the GB Age-Group team. However a few weeks later I got the email from Triathlon England saying that I had qualified for the Euros in so I'm buzzing for that!!  

As always a massive thanks to my sponsors Meridian Foods and Coconoil, as well as my coach Ian Mayhew (Gears & Tears). Also thanks to Trihard and AWOL adventure for the photos.