Cheeky shot after a full gas effort up Sa Colabra while away on camp in Mallorca
What have I been doing since IM Wales in September 2018? Lot's of running, moderate amount of swimming and a bit of cycling.... Oh and Nov-April saw me lifting "a lot" of tin in the gym....
For those of you who actually know me or follow me on insta (or the gram?) I have been working pretty hard to make sure I continue to improve at this swim/bike/run hobby I have become addicted to. I have no secrets, I have an excellent coach, I train consistently and I pretty much stick to what i'm prescribed.
I'm not planning on going into loads of detail about my winter training, but essentially I had about 4-6 weeks unscheduled training at which point I was going a little mad - I love structure. Thankfully, Tim had it all under control and from about mid/end of October I officially started my training plan for IRONMAN UK in July 2019.
So there you go in the 3rd/4th paragraph I have given away my A race of the season. For those that really know me I won't be talking about how it should of/could have been IRONMAN France in Nice..... Probably the biggest admin error I have ever made.
Anyways, swiftly moving on with my A race selected, I then set about picking a couple of races to "warm up" with. The first was meant to be a Half Marathon in March.... I withdrew from this to protect a slight foot niggle, this left a couple of triathlons to do before the main event in July.
My first race of the year (outside of some Jan XC races) was the Age Group Long Distance World Championships in Pontevedra - I had managed to qualify for this based off my performance in Wales.
An odd race in terms of distance, but one I was looking forward to in the sense it was a "holiday", I got to race in GB kit and the standard of the field promised to be strong. Some chap called Gomez was racing.
First outing at an XC event - fast and furious to say the least
Rocking my GB polo pre race at the expo
Pontevedra
I'm not going to bother with a full race report so here is a brief summary....
3km Swim shortened to 1.5km due to currents and water temp - 26-27mins for the swim - 4th out the water in AG - Fairly happy, but on reflection a 3km swim would have suited me being a "stronger" swimmer.....
108km Bike with about 1600m of climbing - With significant investment in a new stead this year I was very keen to demonstrate my biking ability. Pre race I would have described myself as someone who has the "power" to compete but has yet to put together a smooth and consistent long distance bike ride - Post race I would describe myself as a very good cyclist who now has picked up on a few things to practise and trial which may see me gain some FreeSpeed!!
Named Carla this is the "significant investment"
30km Run - In two minds about my run - Undoubtedly my best long distance run to date 4:24min/km for 30km at the end of a triathlon is not to be shrugged at. However, deep down Tim and I know I didn't quite push it as hard as I probably could have - This feeling has been banked for Bolton.
I finished 6th in AG and 23rd overall. 4th in AG was 2 mins ahead - probably could have pushed for that..... that would have put my in the top 10 overall as well. Lessons Learnt.
So post Pontevedra everything was going well, I had managed to get through the bulk of my training with a few minor niggles but confident I could complete the next 10 weeks and turn up to Bolton ready to give it a blast.
Great shot of me coming through town before starting another lap of the bike course
Newquay
Two weeks post Pontevedra saw me take to the start line of a local Olympic triathlon back in the Motherland of Cornwall. Last year they only offered a sprint distance race and I took a surprise 2nd. I was keen to pop back down to Cornwall and see if I could beat the chap who won last year....
Slightly carried away with the pre race Park Run - couldn't help myself with my "1st park run win"
So i'm stood on Tolcarne beach looking for this mystery nemesis - he was no where to be seen.... records show he was in Nottingham for some Outlaw thing? Oh well may as well give it some beans and see what happens. Again I won't into loads of detail...
Swim - 1.5km - measured long after a delayed start which meant the buoys were getting further and further away. I swam it in about 27mins which put my 4th out the water with a 2min 30sec gap to 1st. I felt like I swam crap but on refection I was right where I expected to be HR/Pace/effort wise.
Bike - Very lumpy bike course with approx 600m of climbing, I found myself in 1st at the 10km point which was amazing and I knew from there I was just going to be putting time into others.
Run - An out and back 10km costal path run on all terrains - My target leaving T2 with probably the biggest smile I have ever had in a race was to stick to my plan and get the to turn point still in 1st. At the turn point I clocked I had covered 4.9km, I then saw second place at 5.6km therefore knew I was at least 1.4km ahead and the win was on. The plan for this race was to empty the tank.... so I kicked on as planned and finished with the fastest run split of the day as well.
Great feeling to finish 1st overall, I knew as well that despite not quite hitting my power numbers on the bike I had run really well and stuck to the plan. Coach can't ask for much more? Or can he?
That leaving T2 smile I mentioned....
On my way back from the turn point knowing I pretty much had done all the hard work.
So as you can see/read, things are going well. Trending upwards as we like to say.
What's left for the year?
I have the Olympic distance race in Leeds on the 9th of June, this is also the National Age Group champs so a very good opportunity to test where i'm really at against most of the best in the country. Shortly, after I will be on the start line of Bolton and all being well I should be in the shape of my life and ready to get myself from A - B in the quickest possible time. A being Pennington Flash and B being Bolton Town Hall with some Swim/Bike/Run in between.
Thanks for reading. I will commit to a race report for Leeds, a thoughts/preview for Bolton and a race report for Bolton.... anymore will be a bonus.
Thanks
Ross