Viceroys Debbie, Mick, Lucy (Owen), Chris (Ford), Kim, John (Kellet) braved a very early, very rainy bank holiday Monday to compete In Thames Turbo Race 3.

‘Pool swimming is so totally not my thing….my excuse and I am sticking to it!’ proclaimed Debbie, ‘I have never had so many strangers touch my feet and I felt like I knew the marshal personally by the end of the swim because he kept stopping me to talk……well asking me to ‘ hold it….ok off you go ‘ The ride went well enough although wet, cold and bumpy…..the local council really need to sort the roads out ! The run was fine despite not being able to feel my feet. All in all a great friendly event and will definitely do another.

Mewanwhile, Lucy Owen was braving her first race of the season: ‘First lesson was to remember to look at the weather forecast. Mild drizzle on the way there turned to a downpour and with no plastic bag or the like to cover my kit everything started to get rather soggy in transition. Lots of hanging around later and I was off. Obviously put a random time down for the swim- don’t enter just before bed after a couple of glasses of wine- as I was caught behind lots of people, but still managed a not awful time. The bike leg was slightly odd having to hop off and walk round temporary traffic lights, and I just didn’t push it hard enough- no idea why it took me so long! Very frustrating and Mark will be getting a call for some coaching!

I would love to use the weather as an excuse but it had stopped raining when I went out. The run was good, especially as my speed work has been a bit hit and miss recently. Overall a very disappointing result at 17th female, but lots of things to work on and spur me on for training for the rest of the season. Felt very fresh afterwards which makes me think I didn’t put in enough effort!’

Mick too was the victim of the pool swim, his predicted timing putting him last in and lastout of the water, but he son turned this to his advantage: ‘I was soon picking people off on the ride. The enforced dismount and walk segment to avoid road works made for an unusual variation on the bike leg, but the ride was a lot of fun nonetheless. Back in transition after 38 mins and out for my fastest 5k this year (21.43). Result – 1:11:09 39th overall and 6th in age group. My highlight of the day- watching a random triathlete punch the air in sheer unadulterated delight at finishing the swim. Inspirational stuff!

Lessons learned
1) Get out of bed and just do it
2) Learning to swim faster is not a quick process
3) Having been over taken on the run, don’t simply accept it, try to hold on and eventually they may break. He did and I regained a place
4) My dry robe is awesome!
5) Enjoy it! There are loads of interesting cool people in our sport.’

Great work team VTC!

After a 6 hour train trip zooming across the length of France we (Rachel Hall, Lance Keeson) arrived in Aix en Provence. After negotiating the ruck sacks and bike box from Eurostar, up and down escalators on the Paris metro and finally the TGV I was feeling pretty proud, but this was a temporary state as I soon realised when the TGV whizzed off into the distance that there are 3 train stations in Aix en Provence and we were 20 mins drive from the apartment. Fail!

The next morning was registration & briefing day. The main street in Provence had been transformed into an Ironman expo with kit and merchandise everywhere as we played spot the Ironman tattoo between panic attacks about Lance having a fit for race medical certificate and how I was going to get 20k from the start to the finish with no public transport or shuttles. The medical was avoided by a late BTF join up – we’ll come to the second bit later.

Registration was a very chilled out affair, no ID required, a few signatures and boom the rucksack & transition delights were in. Lance’s hands. The briefing was equally relaxed- a quick PowerPoint presentation of the athletes pack that we’d read a hundred times before we arrived. Our previous experience was Austria where the registration was uber strict & run like a military operation, with a face to face briefing by the race director, so this felt very different. With all that done it was time to explore and try not kill the credit card on new kit and to eat our body weight in lovely French bread and pastries. Continue reading →

Alan Clarke and Charlotte Saunders took part in the Farnham 10 TT at Bentley yesterday evening. The race was down as a 25mile but they changed it to a 10 as the weather and light was poor. Neither Viceroys moaned about the shorter race in the grim weather thought; Clarkie tells us how it went:

‘I had a mad rush to get my kit and by bike together while Charlotte paced around waiting for me to get my arse into gear. We raced together in a 25m over a month ago, as part of our training for the Duo Normand later this year, so today was a test to see if our fitness and ability to ride as a pair had improved. With no warm up, a cold wind and the start of rain we got to the start and knew we’d at least win our race…we were the only 2up in the race. Our plan was to work hard into the wind going out and use the wind on the return leg to hang onto the pace we’d set on the way out. After a steady start we got into a good pace and as my legs started to burn – I thought I’d hear the cry to ease off and slow down. It never came and we smashed our way round, increasing out speed on the home leg, overtaking 4 of our minute men (well 30sec men) to finishin 23:32. That’s a great effort especially in the wind, rain and no time to warm up. We’re looking good for the Duo and hope to get another few races under our belt to really get our name as near to the top as we can in the name of VTC and the pink kit.’

Survive Dorney I hear you ask, the flat course with short transition ideal for beginners? Yes, survive! Jon, Kate, Stuart, Gary and Suze headed to Eton Dorney for a triathlon adventure on Eton Supersprint Saturday.

It was pouring with rain and the race briefing included warnings about slippery sections of the course – Jon was the first casualty as he catapulted over his handlebars coming in to T1; to add insult to injury he was then given a 2 minute fine for (in his state of shock) undoing his helmet before racking his bike. Stuart was meanwhile just ahead of his team mates having got out of the water 45 seconds before Gary (his nearest competitor). Any competition from Gary was soon scuppered as he got a puncture on his last lap though, frustratingly bringing him in just 2 minutes behind Stuart… and that was before finishing the race with blood soaking through his trainer!

Kate ‘s excuse for a slow swim (this time) was that she was being a good friend and staying with her mate who was competing in her first ever tri – but she was pleased with her bike and run times. Suze had clearly been training hard over the winter, her run time bringing her in 3 minutes ahead of Kate. Highlights for other Viceroys were a PB by 5 minutes for Stuart, Jon’s speedy transition times and Gary’s potentially awesome non-puncture time and seeing the friendly face of Viceroy Suzy Blandford who was marshalling the finish line.

As a top amateur  triathlete it’s all about qualifying for the Worlds, the World Championships –  and this year we are proud to have 7 Viceroys all competing to challenge the best in the world at triathlon in Edmonton, Canada. Shropshire Olympic,  Nottingham sprint, Deva Olympic, Rother Valley Sprint, Dambuster Olympic and Milton Keynes Sprint are the races which we need to hold our breaths for as Mark Yeoman, Mike Armer, Mark Edmunds, Colette Kitterhing, Carla Gilbey, Colin Hinsley, Tim Ferguson take a step towards living the triathlon dream.

Mark Yeoman and Mike Armer headed to Ellesmere this weekend for the first round of qualifiers as the rain started to come down – it promised to be a wet and slightly windy day in Shropshire

Mike remembers: ‘As I racked up the bike, I spotted Yeoman pacing around transition, just as we heard a loud explosion….Poor number 267; his back tyre had popped on the rack! I was due off at 10:35am, with Yeoman 10 mins behind – I wondered when I would get the tap as he passed me… The swim was a frantic start with more stray arms than I had seen in a while. But, happily, calm waters and a 1 lap diamond shape meant the turns were not so congested. I kept trying to remember the drafting practise we had done at the lake, but then found myself fighting others to get on the toes of the guy in front. I exited the lake with a solid swim of 23:28.

I had been practising my bike mount with shoes clipped in at home. Unfortunately I had only been practising whilst the bike was on the turbo…..lesson learned…..be prepared, attend the Transition master class! I managed to get on the bike but when reaching down to guide my foot in to the shoe, I couldn’t reach… disaster! I gave a few spectators a laugh as I stumbled off my bike, and ripped my shoes off the pedals to get them on the old fashioned way! Regaining my composure, I set off on a relatively undulating, wet course. The first 20km felt good, but on the return to Ellesmere, the head wind took it’s toll – no wonder the first 20k had felt nice and fast! Hung on for a 1 hr 07 mins. Just the run to get through and it was tough – short ups and downs which sapped the legs. Mr Yeoman arrived on my shoulder at 5km, having made up the 10 mins, and then disappeared off into the distance on his way to a 3rd place.’

Mark had hit the swim hard and lead from the start and opened a nice lead. Each wave had gone off in 5min intervals, so he soon had to swim through the women’s water which at the turns buoys cost him, but he still exited in 19.50 – around a minute off what he needed.

Mark continues: ‘ The bike was bloody hard and not my preferred course – Welsh hills and nothing flat. So I pushed as hard as I could. I suffered over the last 8km into a strong head wind. Entering into T2 I was still first in AG but after 1km Martin Jessup eased by. The run was a killer, double out and back with two hills on the first out and then slow incline on the second. I eased up to Michael around 6km feel ropey, By 7km by legs where cooked and I knew I was slowing as the 18.30 first 5km soon caught up. Rule #5 Rule #5. I was slowing but by how much. with 1km to go I dropped a place but he told me that there was no one near so I shuffled home to secure 3rd AG and my automatic place for the Worlds (WOO HOO – GO YEO!). I’m over the moon as the race went well and with more run focus that final 4km will come.’

Mike secured a 42:35 10km to finish, and was delighted with an overall PB of 2hrs 15 mins, but in 17th place, it shows the utter commitment our 6 remaining Viceroys will need to get one of those GB spots….roll on Deva (for Mike) and Nottingham for other VTCs!

Welcome to Viceroys Phil Sumner, so what’s your story?

‘In 2008 I decided I wanted to get fitter so I could chase my little kids around the park and play with them, I was lazy overweight and couldn’t run a bath. I started at the gym on the treadmill. Got up to 5 k then started my running career in 10ks and was very proud of myself , thinking I was athlete of the year, I joined Elmbridge road runners in 2008, to my surprise I was the slowest member, what a shock that was lol. I persevered and became an active club member. I have now ran a few marathons and similar events, in 2012 I did the Ball Buster and had a go at an Olympic Triathlon.

After being injured in January 2013 I deferred my London Marathon place and entered the Ironman UK, which to my surprise and many other I scraped under 13 hours in, I promised my wife I would never do another one due to the time constraints and my young kids. I have only joined you guys as I love wearing pink, I have told my wife that I have no intentions of doing any other crazy events although I am booked on 70.3 Wimbleball, and 70.3 Weymouth this year, Bring it on NEVER SHOW WEAKNESS ! ps don’t let the wife see this !! Picture is of me posing on the marathon leg in Bolton , what a day that was… Fantastic. Looking forward to meeting you all!’

‘Hello everyone, I’m Kyle 39 year old aerospace inspector originally from Lincolnshire.
I’ve spent the last 15 years living and working around most airports in Western Europe but now settled with my partner in Wandsworth Town and working just outside of Heathrow.

I’ve always been quite sporty but this year I gave up the fags, cut out the junk food, knocked the beer on the head, joined a gym and a triathlon club! That was last January my training is going well, so far so good, just done my first Tough Mudder and I’ve  my first sprint at Dorney lake  – 6 more triathlons over the summer as well as a marathon in Bournemouth on 5th October! so plenty to be getting on with.

I look forward to meeting more of you over the next few months.’

Impressive schedule Kyle, we look forward to meeting you and hearing more!