Graham Chapman competed cycled this weekend in the British Heart Foundation South Downs Way  and tells us: ‘ a day challenge which was 100 miles off road with 4000 metres of climbing over the course. A very tough yet enjoyable day if anyone wants to do it. Some of the descents were epic. The shallow ones were the best where you could pick up speed (blew the front tyre doing 35 mph down one such trail but managed to stop normally without landing on my head), had to spend a lot of time on the brakes on the steep ones avoiding large rocks and cow s**t (it’s slippery when fresh and rock hard when baked in the sun). It took 13 hours with a pub stop.’

Mark Yeoman, Simon Colvan,  Andy Tugwell and Joel Stainton all headed to Dorney – the first 2 for an Olympic race, the latter 2 for a Sprint Tri. Viceroy highlights were Andy’s 3rd (AG) place, Joel’s 4th (Sprint), Chairman Yeo’s 2nd (Olympic) and Simon’s first sub 2.30 Olympic .

Chaiman Yeo (as always) had the most to prove, but had a tough pre race taper, as he had a full Saturday morning of coaching followed by swimming with 70.3 pro James Third. Lack of food, sleep & energy meant that he wasn’t looking forward to the race. After numerous pit stops he put on his wetsuit and struggled through the swim exiting in a close third. However, he I exited T1 in 2nd place by 2km he was in first.

Simon meanwhile adopted a couple of Coach’s techniques in the swim to post a 26-min swim followed by a commendable time of 1:16 on the bike. Continue reading →

For Kate, Thorpe 3 was the second of this series she’s raced, so she was looking to take a few minutes off her time from the previous event; Jon was looking to set a swim pb as he has been racking up the kilometres in the lake. Both were disappointed with their lake performance, though perhaps not surprised – Jon zig zagged his way down the first long straight, adding metres to his swim, whilst Kate (used to swimming with the breast strokers) was disappointed that the well spread field meant she struggled to draft… but still took 1 minute off her previous swim time.

Both competitors were pleased with their bike, Kate particularly as there were only 2 minutes between hers and Jon’s times on this discipline and she was 3 minutes faster than at Thorpe 1. A steady cross country run for them both, but one which certainly showed that this is the area which both have been missing out on in recent training sessions, left them both glad they’d made the 6am start – especially as there was only 2 minutes between their finishing times!

Erica Hawley competed in the National Youth Elite Series High Performance draft legal race in Liverpool, continuing to learn something and improve at every race she does. The race took place on the beautifully restored docks area of Liverpool with a pontoon swim start, 2 laps of a fast/flat bike and 2 laps of a fast run course Race conditions were perfect for a Bermudan  (31 degrees!); it was so hot that it was not a wetsuit legal race for the Elite races.

Erica was 15th overall ( 39:14) in a race which saw athletes from all over Britain race in this National Series event. The draft legal format is very exciting and tactical. Erica had a strong swim  and came out in the bunched top 1/3 of the field. She formed part of a pack of 6 riders. 2 of the riders from this group attacked towards the end of the bike and joined the front group of another 6 riders.

She held on to her run and fought for her place in the end.

And meanwhile, mum Julia  raced Olympic Distance ( British Age Group Championships) and came 5th in 50-54 in 2:22:20. Nice warm up race  before UK Ironman on August 4th! A great race for both, well done Julia and Erica.

Sixth in her age group for her first Half Ironman… doesn’t get much better than that. Carla tells us about the Cowman 70.3:

‘We travelled up to Emberton Park Saturday for registration, to familiarise ourselves with the course and I was also keen to see the lake. The setting was great in the middle of the Park (with ample parking and loos close by!). The course was right up my street, some undulating hills and predominantly off road run – fantastic.

Would you Adam and Eve it, we are in the middle of a HEATWAVE – I’m not complaining, the weather is stunning (if you’re relaxing by the lake with a picnic and playing rounder’s like ‘normal’ people). Completing a half Ironman in it, another story, so anyway I crack on…..

Continue reading →

For Simon Tack the MAA triathlon was his second ever tri and his first Olympic Distance event. The timing for Simon wasn’t great as he was just recovering from a lung infection, but 15^th in his age group 45^th overall are not bad stats! Even more worthy of  congratulations are that Simon managed a personal best in the cycling and most importantly a PB in the run.

Simon says: ‘The run is by far my weakest discipline but I managed a 54.12 even though I left transition with my helmet on, did not realise for 150m so had to run back to the exit and give it to a marshal. Prize muppet. Still, the first time I have run under 57 minutes for a 10k and it was after the other 2 events. Colette was racing as well which really made the day.’

Times:SWIM 26.45; T1 02.31; CYCLE 1.22.11; T2 01.24;RUN 54.20

TOTAL 2.47.12

Good luck with your next race Simon – a 70.3 at Eton none-the-less!

As Kate and Nicola headed for Dorney Lake for the Shock Absorber Women’s Only Tri, both were nervous about the consequences of the heat: potential wet suit ban and challenging racing conditions. Their 1.40pm Sprint race start time meant, however, that getting into the lake was a welcome respite from the heat.

As the swim started Nicola was soon ahead, but Kate on cornering the final buoy before the 150m straight for home caught sight of a pink shoulder in the distance, so sprinted to catch it… and did so just before the swim exit ramp. Nicola sped through transition though and was out on the bike course first; only to be caught by Kate again half way round the first lap of 4. Nicola overtook Kate again on lap 2. Kate overtook Nicola on lap 3. Nicola regained the lead on lap 4, but the 2 hit transition together. Nicola was once again much faster in transition and out on to the run course first…  but was caught by Kate half way through the first of 2 laps!

Brutal heat, but friendly rivalry certainly made both work much harder and really enjoy the tri.

‘WOW what can I say. I’ve never raced in heat like that.

Did the USN Bedford Olympic tri last year and thought I’d head back for more fun on the run. It was 24 degrees at 8am!! And I was sweating like a pig in my Helix and the pre race briefing when on for an age. Knew it was going to be a tough day with the heat, but with Charlie Pennington – semi pro / Freespeed racing I knew that this racing snake was here to go fast.

We swam side by side and exited the water together – only for myself to get stuck in the mud getting out – mad me laugh but lost the fastest swim split in the process – low 20s and it felt easy. I exited T1 still in first place – these 70.3 guys are pants at transitions. I went hard hoping to get out of side but at 5km Charlie slowly by. We exchanged the lead over the first 25km before I slipped a chain on a hill. Charlie hit the hammer and got out of sight. I came into t2 a minute down. By now it was touching 30degrees and a XC run is not what I want in the heat. Went hard and did a 19min first lap then BOOM – died a death of a thousand monkeys and did the ironman shuffle to get home. I dropped from 2nd to 7th but over the final 1km picked off two to come home 5th and with a shocking run time (2^nd fastest on the swim though).’

Bournemouth Olympic Distance Tri, on the day that summer finally decides to arrive… Deon Coetzee reports that it was paradoxically a brutal race with awesome conditions for racing!

‘ The sea was flat and crystal clear not unlike the med this time of year. I went off in the 1st wave which was supposed to be the fastest one of the day but by 200m I was left swimming by myself out front which is not my favourite swim.. So, I had to set my own pace which felt comfortable and probably could have been a lot quicker. I came out of the water 1st in and got onto my Achilles heel  – the dreaded bike. But it didn’t turn out that way. I only got passed by 1 person and ended up knocking 2 minutes off my previous year’s time. So, I came off the bike in second but was hit by a recurring muscle spasm I have been having in my left quad which has forced me to pull out of at least 2 races so far this season. But I wasn’t about to bail on another so a quick bit of stretching and a slower start to the run and I managed to run the full 10k. Not my fastest but I did enough to hold onto 2nd. With the final results out I finished 3rd overall for the day so I was very happy with that.’

Five intrepid Viceroys headed down to LLandudno in Wales for the ITU qualifiers… or just a nice break by the seaside, depending on who you’re speaking to. Hills, jellyfish and huge transitions seem to be the one experience each triathlete shared though.

The sea was a chilly 12 degrees, however jellyfish collisions were far more of a worry. Em and Colin were both victims of this Welsh predator, but it did not stop either of them. For Colin, the race had an ideal start, with a long swim to the start help to settle his pre-race nerves, setting for the final roll of the dice in the last chance saloon of world championships sprint qualification. Trevor, Alex and Fab’s swims went well (apart from some goggle failure for Fab) – Trevor taking particular pride in his race tactics: ‘I normally start at the front in the swim but because of the number of much younger swimmers I started just behind the first line. This proved to work well as I was able to draft off quite a large group and then actually overhauled some of them to finish 2nd out of the water in my age group.’

Colin’s most vivid swim memory:‘my face and neck stinging like fury – “feck… that smarts like feck, feck… that smarts …. and repeat…”. ‘

After an incredibly long transition, the bike leg was all about the hills for all 5 competitors. Blind corners, snaking roads, cliffs, rough road surfaces, scattered pot holes did not stop Alex reaching a maximum race  speed of over 70kph! . Meanwhile, Trevor at the top of on ascent remembers thinking : ‘how the F–k am I going to do the second lap! Then came the descent and I bottled it! my brakes were red hot by the time I got down.’  Continue reading →