As we welcome Tim Gray to Viceroys, we are proud to have another of our number representing GB as a triathlon age-grouper in Canada soon:

‘I’m a 45 year old triathlete living in Aylesbury, Bucks but working in Weybridge for Sony. Fitting training in around commuting and work is quite challenging which is why joining a club locally was such a good idea for me. The philosophy of Viceroys is in line with my own around our marvellous sport and I’d become very cynical around clubs only being interested in making money rather than the genuine improvement in performance of their members. It was great therefore for Mark Yeoman to suggest that I look at joining on an associate basis and I’m now looking forward to training and racing with other Viceroy members over the remainder of this season and ongoing into next.

My goals for this year were to go under 5 hours over middle distance and to qualify for GB age group over either middle or standard distances – I’ve managed to do both! All focus is now on coming up with a respectable time at the Worlds in Edmonton on 1^st September.’

Welcome to Viceroys Tim – and love the picture!

With everyone telling me how quick the Roth course was alarm bells should have been ringing…

Suze and I set off on Thursday morning only to find the uber efficient German motorways resembling the M25 – road works and lots of stationary traffic. Still, we knew we were close when passing a sign on the main A9 proclaiming ‘Welcome to Triathlon Region’ – very unlike Henley on Thames I dare say old boy!

Entering Roth we found it awash with banners welcoming triathletes and the ‘tri-village’ was pretty spectacular – not that I had a clue where to register!

Racking on Saturday afternoon was preceded with the usual last minute bike test – 20 meters up the car park road and there was a loud bang followed by lots of oooo’s – unfortunately all directed in my vicinity… Still rather Saturday afternoon than Sunday morning and wheel repaired, I nervously racked in what was considered ‘row Z’ – we’ll if you swim like me you will be in one of the last waves off….   (5500 competitors <> mass swim start in a narrow canal).

Sunday 3am and the alarm goes off, not that I’ve slept a wink. Getting to the race start was a doddle “ If Carlsberg organised triathlons”… Still one Policeman did have to dive out the way as I took his order to ‘turn left’ a little too literally – mind you he should expect that with GB plates!

Into the water for the 7.40 wave and the cannon went off. Cue Schoolboy error #1 – forget everything you have been taught by the Chairman and revert to short choppy strokes! Still it did protect me from a few blows to the head and allowed me to give as good as I got. Surreal moment was at about 2km in – man doing backstroke without a care in the world!!!???

Out the water in a pedestrian 1.19 but I was alive and had only swallowed 8.9 litres! Continue reading →

Joel Stainton raced in Wave 4 sprint 35-39 male at Dorney Lake (run by VO2) and tells us about his experience:

‘ I Lucked out with the weather this morning; not too hot, no rain. Swim was tough as first half was straight into a headwind but came out a minute faster than last year. Bike course different from last few years so it was up into the wind on the far side then back down the middle and, again managed a faster time than last year. Felt heavy legged at the start of the run but got overtaken 500m in by someone I felt I should be beating so hung onto the shoulder for the next 4.5k and crossed the line at exactly the same time in 1:08; a PB for me by 90 seconds.

Best bit of the race ? 0:59 for T1 all thanks to Mark’s superstar transition training. Notes on my hand of bike location, exact order once at the bike, pedals in right place and lots & lots of Vaseline!’

Well raced Joel!

During winter Pete Bell set his main target for 2014: go under 5hrs in a half-iron distance triathlon;  Sunday was his first of two attempts this year to achieve that goal.

‘Imagine my despair when I find out the bike course has been changed and now includes 3 loops with tough/nasty little climbs and not the original far easier rolling route. And then, morning of the race, they change the swim – 2 laps of a very narrow swim in the Thames with a mere 500 blokes all going off at the same time – my chances of achieving my target are surely all but gone…forget it. Race and soak up the experience for the next 70.3 race later in the year.

 Very early Sunday morning and setting up my racking spot – there’s Lloyd Cosgrove getting ready. Lloyd’s a better swimmer and cyclist than me. I knew I was going to have the chase my team-mate down on the run if I could.

 Into the water – good luck handshakes with Lloyd. I warm up in the Thames then sneak up to the nearside bank out of any (minimal) current as far forward as I dare. Why are we waiting so long? I look round and there are still hundreds piling into the water…Ignore them just focus on getting away. Go! Start Swimming; Stop – There’s no space; Swim; Stop – there’s no water only bodies clad in neoprene; Swim; Stop – all the way to the first buoy about 200-300m up river. What a nightmare – get round the turning buoy. Finally! Some clear water and a pair of feet to draft off – now, let’s get going. There’s the exit – I climb out trying to avoid damaging the toe I hurt a few weeks ago (not entirely successfully). Glance at my watch – 35 mins – about 2-3 mins slower than I wanted but given the start, fair enough…uneventful transition and on to the bike. Continue reading →

Viceroys’ Chairman Mark Yeoman has qualified for the world champs in Canada, but the hard work certainly doesn’t stop now; he gives us a report of a normal manic week for those at the top of AG triathlon:

‘It started last Saturday with a new racing format in the style of an Humanrace Aquabike – 1000m swim & 20km bike. I wanted to use this as a brick session, so I hit the swim hard & pushed the pace with an ex national swimmer over the first lap, but he kicked on the second & got a 20m gap by the exit. However, by T1 I was back in the front & then hammered the bike, averaging 42kph & setting the fastest split of the day to win by over 2mins.

With no rest during the week I trained hard, with two double run days & leg busting sessions on the bike, so going into the VOTWO Dorney Olympic race the focus was not on outcome but on a tough brick session.

I was off in the second wave & Iooked to swim smartly in the lake by following the guide rolls under the water. I exited in a poor time of 20.52 (2nd fastest all day – Sorry Tom) but a healthy gap over the 2nd swimmer. VOTWO use an alternate route to human race, so I embarked on the eight laps looking to average 41kph. This is did and completed the 40km in 59.10 setting yet again the fastest split of the day. As I ran out of T2 I was surprise how ‘okay’ my legs felt, so I looked to settle in for the first lap & do a negative split on the second. I was happy with the 39 10.2km time giving me an overall time of 2.01 exactly & 2nd place overall. Only a minute off 1st (stupid swim). Considering the week & recent race results of 1st overall, 3rd overall, AG Bronze, 1st overall & now 2nd overall I’m super happy with how training is going ahead of the world championship.

Taper this week in preparation for a sprint next week where I’m hoping to see the run come good

Thanks for the continual support.’

Mark Yeoman, Suze Pratt, Ian Talbot, Tim and Libby Ferguson all headed to Marlow last weekend for the Marlow triathlon.
Mark (as ever) set out to smash and dominate the Olympic race: ‘This was a two lap swim in the Thames, two laps over the challenging bike course & 2 laps along the river and up Marlow hill. I saw Olympian Toby Garbet and über swimmer Kate Henderson so I knew it was going to be an honest swim. I went hard and led for the first 300 before Kate glided past – however I stuck close to her and only after the last 100m did she ease away – but the guy who I was swimming also with who I thought was Toby was some random. 30sec behind Kate – 3rd fastest swim.’

Tim and Libby meanwhile where both embarking on their first Olympic distance tri: ‘The swim was fantastic, a poor start position resulted in an aggressive and quite slow start, however Viceroys swim coaching had prepare me to get around slower swimmers and to create gaps. Once out of the elbows and feet of the mid paced swimmers I was able to get my rhythm going and complete the swim in a personal best of 25:49’ and Suze meanwhile was just pleased to be competing again – although she found the swim start a bit frantic she had done no cycling or running for the last 5 weeks (due to an annoying hamstring/lower back issue! Another Viceroy who ignored her physio! Ian Talbot loved the swim: ‘relatively little current in either direction so the 2 lap course worked really well for me. Plus the sun stayed off long enough to allow decent sighting (crocodile eyes to the fore !)’

Mark meanwhile ‘set the fastest T1 to move into 2nd place and looked to close on Kate after the first hill out of Marlow. But leaving the area my water bottle jumped out -shite! Kept going as I wasn’t going to allow Toby to close in. Passing Kate I moved into the led with the led motor bike I pushed hard. On the out & backs I could see Toby wasn’t catching neither was anyone else. I knew the lack of fluid would be an issue, but by how much? Over the last 5km I cramped up & my legs soon became solid. 2nd fastest bike split behind 2nd overall – Tom Burkinshaw. Continue reading →