Viceroys Lara Clay, Rachel Hall, Kyle Young, Tim Ferguson, Peter Bell, Mick Tumilty, James Turner, Lance Keeson, Phil Sumner, Andrew Hedges and Kevin Dargue all headed to Docklands over the weekend of 2^nd / 3^rd August to take on the London triathlon; as has become the norm with Viceroys mass events, they hit it hard and with style. Rachel, Phil and James all timed PBs, Kevin completed his first (but not last) Olympic distance tri; Mick, Pete, Tim, James all smashed the sub 2.30 barrier. Lara and Phil clocked a swim PB, Rachel a bike PB, Lara and Kyle were both so confident with their cycling that they cycled a little bit extra of this section of the course (oops!).

Our triathletes tell us a little more about their racing, beginning with Lara: ‘this has got to be the year of ‘make sure you read the race pack instructions’…
The swim was pretty brutal. Even before we set off, it seemed everyone around me was incapable of treading water without kicking me (Andrew described his 30mins 06 secs swim as ‘violent, a bit like a scene from Fight Club’). The start was a bit if a mosh pit to begin with, as it was last year, and the only way to avoid it was getting into some clear water and not drafting. At the turning buoy a girl hooked her arm around my neck and pulled me into a headlock! Hopefully it was just her swimming style! In the second half I managed to draft off some feisty toes, so much splash I struggled to breathe on occasions, but good to draft off. Swim time was 24:33, much improved on last year’s 27:51 and a PB by 2 minutes.
The bike started out fantastic, I was loving every minute. Off to Westminster I went, thinking there was a positive to such an early wave – I got to see the sights of London! On my second lap to Westminster my (man’s) saddle was proving rather uncomfortable! It was so wide it hurt my inner thighs and made my legs and feet go numb!’

Andrew was a little more poetic in his description of the bike course: ‘undulating, a bit like a scene out of E.T’

Anyway, back to Lara: ‘As I approached Billingsgate Junction on the way back to Excel I saw James, which I thought was weird as he’d started 40mins after me……..the realisation of my error still hadn’t kicked in! Onto the run, my legs were agony, I could hardly walk, let alone run! I battled through with the help of James, Tim and shoulder-tapping Pete and ended up taking over a minute and a half off the run compared to last year (although it was still a very slow 56 mins).
My finish time was over 3 hours, a little odd as I was hoping for something between 2:30-2:40. I then realised that James wasn’t cutting corners at Billingsgate, I should have turned there too! Worked out I’d added about another 15 very uncomfortable km on the bike.
Thankfully Monday night swim group wouldn’t let me forget it either!’

Ooops… and to finish, a few more stats:

Andrew: Swim: 30mins 06; Bike: 01hr 03mins; Run: 42mins 42secs Total: 02hrs 21mins 55secs  Total: 02hrs 21mins 55secs

Phil: 02 40

Rachel: Swim 00:29:25; Bike 01:24:15; Run 01:02:47 Total 03:05:56.

Kevin: Swim 29.43, Bike 1.07.49, Run 45.40. Total 2.30.50

Peter: Swim 27:18 ; Bike 1:06:23; Run 37:09  Total 2:16:08
Michael: Swim 00:33:11, bike 01:02:13, run 00:43:09 TOTAL 02:24:04
Tim: Swim 00:28:18, Bike 01:03:43, Run 00:43:19, Total 02:21:24.

James Miami Vice Turner: Swim 00:23:15, Bike 01:00:13, Run 00:40:12, Total 02:09:27.

Kyle: 3.18

A year ago, Viceroy Julian Marsh decided to embark on the ultimate single day challenge- The Challenge  – UK Ironman – 2.4mile swim, 112 mile cycle & 26.2 mile run (marathon)….and yes, one immediately after the other.  Having successfully completed the London Triathlon, Jules decided to up the stakes… 

I undertook a 6 month training programme, starting off relatively easily and building up to 20 hours a week. I completed in the region of 400 hours of exercise for the Ironman, in wind, snow, rain, sun and humidity. I hear so many people saying that they have no time to exercise and I would have called you crazy if you said to me a year ago that I would fit this in, but I managed to find the time without impacting my work life balance too drastically (although I did not spend as much time with my kids as I wanted). It certainly proves that if you put your mind to it, there is a way – it just takes a bit of motivation and organisation.

I also changed my diet significantly. I cut out all foods that are processed and require a lot of energy to digest as this would take away from the energy I needed to do the training. Sacrificing red meat (which I love), dairy and coffee were not easy, but I found that once I got out of the habit, there were many fish/seafood and vegetarian options that opened up a new world of food to me and the choices will be with me from here on. Continue reading →

New Viceroy Jen Isaac tells us a little about herself: ‘Growing up I hated running, all types, short distance, long distance and anything in between….. I wasn’t particularly built for it and well, it’s hard!  I used to compete in swimming a lot as a youngster and also (rather averagely) in Tetrathlon & Modern Pentathlon and would dread the running element more than all of the others combined, I was no gazelle.

As I got older, as jobs got more demanding, as time out became more precious I found myself starting to slip on my running shoes more frequently and just head out the door.  It required no membership fee, no booking of classes and no particularly fancy or expensive equipment.  It was also a wonderful time to clear my head and focus on the important stuff.

So when I was asked if I’d like to run in the Paris Marathon last year on behalf of The Prince’s Trust, I gave a slight chuckle and shake of my head….. ‘a marathon?  26 miles? Er, you know I’d love to , but er’…… and before I had time to formulate a proper excuse, the form was in front of me, I was signed up, I was in.   What had I done!?  

But I did it, and it was hard – but I loved it.  I went on to run a further 2 official marathons last year qualifying for my first Ultra Marathon; Comrades (90km) in South Africa, which I ran in June 2014, again for the Prince’s Trust – I think I’m still recovering.   Having found that I’m stubborn enough and just about coordinated enough to run and swim in a straight line for a decent enough distance, my ultimate goal is to get the hang of the cycling element and give an Ironman a fair crack…. we can all have dreams right!?

I’m really looking forward to training with the club and very much appreciate the warm welcome I’ve received already – and the loan of a bike light, thanks Theo I haven’t forgotten!’

Welcome to Viceroys Jen.

New cycling Viceroys Ian Hope lives in Byfleet with his wife and two children: ‘I started cycling about 5 years ago with a friend. I thought now was the right time to join a club. I’ve participated in a few events – the London to Brighton for the last 5 years and two Etapes.’

Welcome to Viceroys Ian.

Mel Jensen (Mrs Simon Tack) joins us as an associate member: ‘I’m 34, and I live in Shepperton with my husband, dog and two cats. I’ve joined the club as my husband, Simon Tack, has been a member for a while and has nothing but good things to say.  I’ve been a long distance runner for a number of years, but a hip injury has meant I need to switch sports so am focusing on swimming and cycling until I can run again, by which time I hope I’ll be ready for my first triathlon.  For my day job I work as a project manager, but am also a yoga teacher part time, and eventually want to open a yoga studio in the area.’

Welcome to Viceroys Mel.

Andy Goulding joins us as an associate member: ‘ hoping to become a full member so next year I can compete in triathlons plus I’ve heard good things about the club. I’m also a member of TCC which I race in cat 4’s but since I’ve started running(well 4 times) I actually realised I enjoy it so I thought what the hell I might as well go full hog and  start pushing myself.’

Welcome to Viceroys Andy.

Viceroys took the new Redhill Sprint Tri by force and although it’s (apparently) not always about the winning, it certainly was for Viceroys at the inaugural Redhill Sprint Triathlon. We came away with 4 men in the top 10: Mark Yeoman (2^nd Place, 1^st in AG), Mike Essex (4^th Place, 2^nd in AG), James Turner (7^th Place, 6^th in AG), Steve Hobson (9^th Place, 5^th in AG). Lara Clay was 2^nd in her AG and 9^th lady overall and Andrew Whelband claimed 3^rd fastest female bike time!

 So how did some of our team achieve such feats? 

‘I was off in the second wave,’ begins Chairman Mark Yeoman, ‘this being my 5th in as number weeks I saw this as a training race. I swam okay by my standards with a low 10 for 750m (2nd fastest). The swim exit was a steep 30m run up the slipway to the lake – ouch. Quickly into T1 my focus was to catch as many of the first wave (10mins head start – aka James ‘Have I told you I’ve done Alcatraz?) as possible.’ Lara too was having a great swim, coming 14^th overall out of the water.

The bike course was a brutal hilly affair (‘horrific’ stated Lara) and one that was hidden in the course profile in the race pack. I was making good ground but certainly not as fast as the previous weeks. Half way my chain dropped and jammed on a hill. I tried to re-catch it but that wasn’t working – with the fear of falling over I hopped off and tried to release it. It took a whole and after flipping the bike over I yanked the chan free only to cut my finger severely. Blood was gushing out and rule 5 kicked in. as I rode on I was covering myself and the bike in blood. Resigned to this I rode safely back to transition (still 2nd fastest split).

Andrea I did her best time for 750m at a tri yet:  ‘I know I’d been doing faster times at the lake so was a bit disappointed with my time and that only got worse in T1 as my wetsuit got tangled on my timing chip and it resulted in what can only be describe as a comical battle between wetsuit and woman as I tried to wrestle it off but just kept making it worse & somehow ended up getting the wetsuit wrapped around the chip a few times – epic T1 failure, sorry coach!  So a glacial time later, I finally got on my bike to discover they really did mean it was a hilly course as we were straight into one!  I should mention at this point as I’m doing the Ride100 in a few weeks I’d done 97.5 miles Saturday, hence my legs weren’t very appreciative of not only getting on a bike again but going up a climb straight away!  They eventually woke up though and I started to get going and overtake people (and dodge the potholes!) and get into a rhythm.

Towards the end of the course I got a glimpse of pink in the distance so got my head down in an attempt to catch who turned out to be Lara, but couldn’t quite manage it and came into transition just as she was heading out for the run.  There I had another transition failure as when I racked my bike, in my attempt to make up for my dismal T1 failure, I racked a little too quickly & my bike nudged the one next to it & it somehow started a chain reaction of bike tangle of all the bikes around me, so had to stop & sort that out before I could get going on the run – epic T2 failure, sorry coach!

I had a pink target in the distance however to focus on and gradually got to within a stone’s throwing distance of Lara by the end of the first lap, but at that point Lara found her running legs & went off like a F1 car into the distance while my efforts on the bike the day before caught up with me & it was a case of getting round to the finish line as best I could!  Afterwards we all admired Mark’s blood-splattered bike & impressively bandaged finger before cheering him & Mike on at the presentation ceremony and then heading home for a nap! 

Highlight of the day – 3^rd fastest female bike time.  Low point – everything but the bike! J  Lesson learnt – either tuck the timing chip under the wetsuit or take it off before wetsuit removal & then re-attach after!’