Happy Christmas! The latest Driven to Tri production is here: http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/g9gjwqlZhSbJoMF7SJUT
The Driven to Tri Team
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
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Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Wet shorts, wet shoes, wet gloves, wet feet, wet everything.
Bath Big Weekend - November 2009
Driven To Tri coaches, Harry Wiltshire, Pete Freedman, Rich Brady and Jim McConnel (to a less extent of course!) have no concept when it comes to keeping shared living space welcoming. Not even room for poor old Toby Jameson to squeeze in a corner!
Of course, the weather could have been ordered in specially. A Big Weekender is not to be underestimated, but made way harder when the elements are against you too! From the moment of arrival on Friday afternoon everyone started the wet/dry cycle. The first getting wet was planned with a sweet swim session held in the legendary Bath University Sports Complex. Every swimmer had 3 sets of eyes helping to point out areas for stroke improvement and coaxing them through a fairly big set.
From then on it came out of the sky, like a permaleak from heaven, the rain just didn’t stop. The ‘Lap of Bath’ tempo outing in the drizzle on Friday evening had everyone running on strongly to make it back for an awesome lasagne and salad (thanks to Harry’s mum – as if Harry could prepare such a feast!)
In the morning, the 'undulating' (yeah why not just call it hilly ...??!) Cheddar Gorge ride commenced. Riders with mudguards were praised as geeky gods with dry bums, although it wasn’t long before the rain had got in everywhere, and the cold wind just made it harder. At the far side of the gorge there’s only 2 hours to go home and so the pace quickened as riders motivated themselves from the depths. Good skills. Getting home after 4 hours meant Plymouth Steve and a couple others took up the gauntlet to join local coach Toby Jameson for a few more hills before a late lunch, as the rest headed off to replace brake blocks, wring out gloves and overshoes and drink lots of hot soup. Big points go to Alistair for doing the whole ride in shorts and with only short gloves. Rock hard and slightly crazy.
And so that was the schedule for the rest of the weekend .. home to shower and get dry, only to warm up before eating, resting, and then donning more dry stuff to go out and get and face the conditions again. Hence the state of our room, a dripping mele of overshoes and Driven to Tri gilets.
The evening technique run was interesting a Pete showed us something akin to moonwalking and athletes hopped, skipped and bounded like rabbits on miaow in an effort to develop a faster running style. Posing I call it, bloody posing.
Morning dawned and the hill challenge – run reps before brek - 8 xd 2 minutes and then followed by the 5 hills challenge on the bikes, Brass Knocker, Ralph Allen and Bathwick to name but 3 .. a great time and motable use of that 39/25 as we thrashed around the outskirts of Bath.
Showers, coffee, hot sandwiches, lots of chat at the Uni sports café and then the survivors of the 1st Big Weekend did massive high fives, some whoops and headed home, tired but happy with the weekend's efforts.
Now it's all radiators loaded with clean kit, drying gently as the first frost of winter hits, so keep strong, train harder and see you all after Christmas for the next Big Weekender .. see.www.driventotri.com/camps.html for more.
Friday, 27 November 2009
Dave Pell at the 2009 Ironman 70.3 World Championships , Florida
Hello Toby & all at driventotri,
Now the 2009 Ironman 70.3 World Championships are done and dusted, and it’s a cold, wet and windy return to the UK – what better time, for some calm and thoughtful reflection on events of the past few weeks... SH*T! What the hell happened on that run! While other people were winning their races, (congratulations to Julie Dibens), here's how it went for a run-challenged age-grouper aged forty four and three-quarters.
The first thing to hit you as you step off the plane in Orlando is the heat and humidity. At seven o’clock on a Saturday evening this is quite worrying. With race day less than a week away, visions of a dehydrated camel come to mind. On Monday and Tuesday things are still pretty muggy, making pre-race bike and run sessions like a workout in a sauna. We shouldn’t have worried though, as gales from the tail-end of hurricane Ida blew through for the next few days, clearing the air. With the cloud gone and clear skies however, the eventual race-day temperature soared - feeling much hotter than any summer’s day back at home.
Swim training in the week leading up to the race was done at the 'Long Center' pool in Clearwater (as recommended by Toby), which like everything in America, is big (and a bit odd) – 50 meters x 25 yards. It is so big infact that they can turn the lanes around to give a whopping 20 x 25 yards worth of lanes - impressive!
Because of Hurricane Ida we weren't able to swim in the sea leading up to the event at all. This lead to the eventual staging of the swim proper, in the creek behind the sea front - a decision taken on the night before the race, although on the morning of the race the sea was calm and almost glassy-like. I had no problems with this, as a swim’s just a swim! More importantly it didn’t extend T1 – as the run from the creek was about the same as from the sea. For the spectators however, it was, as my wife berated “not much of a spectacle” as had been promised from pier 60.
After driving round the bike route for a pre-race reccy, we decided the roads used for the race were a bit busy and intimidating for any training rides. On several parts of the route, there are four lanes of independently moving traffic. This means no slow, middle and fast lanes to avoid, as cars undertake in any lane. This is not the case on race day when the roads are coned-off beautifully and the ride is an amazingly fast and safe one. To avoid the traffic, early on two mornings, we (myself and fellow competitor, Nathan) headed south out of Clearwater Beach along the coast road. This proved to be pretty good riding - cycle lanes on both sides with… speed bumps thrown in – obviously someone felt the need to slow down all of those carbon wheels at triathlon time! Even so, we still saw plenty of other competitors using this route.
One of the highlights of the week was a meeting with Craig Alexander, nicknamed ‘Crowie’. At this point I should confess that I didn’t actually know who ‘Crowie’ was (shame on me! I know!). But I’ve been so busy doing triathlon that I’ve never really looked into its celebrity world. It was Nathan who suggested we go to an early morning Q & A session held at the Hilton, catchily titled, “Coffee with Crowie”. As impressive as any meeting with a world champion is, and Crowie spoke with the relaxed air of a man at the top of his game, for me, watching Nathan’s obvious admiration and respect for this world class athlete was both touching and in its own way inspirational, especially given Nathan’s own abilities as a triathlete (he went on to clock 4:13:12 and finish 161 overall).
So! Down to race day - Saturday the 14th November. The day begins at 4:45 am. I force down two slices of toast, although nerves are beginning to take hold. First stop, the toilet. By 5:30 I’m through athlete’s marking and into transition, tyres are up and drinks bottles loaded. That leaves about an hour and a half to soak up the atmosphere. Although it’s still dark, a huge square is lit--up. In it contains all of the noise, colour and action form a thousand nervous souls. Groups gather to talk and laugh, while others stand alone, silent, heads bent staring at the ground. Then before I know it, I’m standing on the jetty with the race official barking his instructions. And go… I hoped into the water and enter a world of isolation, concentration and effort.
After a 27:40 minute swim, I come off the bike feeling amazing, 2:12:51, wow! (I’d been dreaming of 2:30 ish!) – it was all going so well. I set off from T2 bang on 7 minute miling. I’m feeling good (I see my wife who looks amazed to see me so soon. She shouts “take it easy, take it easy” I don’t listen). Down the long flat tarmac strip heading out of town, mile one and I’m still feeling good. Up over the bridge, still good. Shock! Jodie Swallow is walking (I didn’t know Pros did that). Two miles in I’m still feeling good. I’m eating up the field, a Pro comes through but I’m still feeling good. Three miles, still good. The four mile marker comes into view and… BANG! I’m not feeling good. Suddenly my legs feel heavy, I feel deflated, more like rubber than an ironman. From here it gets ugly and not really triathlon at all. I walk-run, walk-run, for the next 8 miles. With the fatigue I’m now feeling, every time I try to run, there’s a pain in the top of my left leg/buttock, an injury I’ve been carrying since August. The pain increases when I run and relents when I walk. The cycle of pain and relief repeats itself. The 4:30 goal I’d hoped for, and that had looked a cert an hour and a half ago, passes. I’m determined to run the last mile – there’s no way I’m walking over this line. I come in 4:39:08.
Looking back over the race (as I have done almost constantly from the minute I crossed the finish line - much to my family’s annoyance), I feel a bit disappointed. Undoubtedly the injury and lack of run training got to me. Also race-day-nutrition played its part. But should I feel disappointed? Having to shift my training efforts onto the bike over the last few months, gave me a bike split I never even dreamt of (credit to Toby for that). And in the end it’s the thing I love about triathlon – it’s multifaceted – if one thing’s not working, reassess and work on something else. That’s the beauty of three sports rolled into one. This is only my third shot at the 70.3 distance and what an experience! If I can qualify again who knows, injury free a sub 4:20 might be on the cards. So that’s it! All I can say in true American style – racing at the 2009 Ironman 70.3 World Champs… “friggin awesome man!”
Little did I know that the true marathon was yet to begin. After Clearwater it was back to Orlando and one week at Disney. With two kids, one baby and a credit-card wielding wife – a recipe just about enough to break any man. Check out the grumpy guy holding hands with Lisa.
Now the 2009 Ironman 70.3 World Championships are done and dusted, and it’s a cold, wet and windy return to the UK – what better time, for some calm and thoughtful reflection on events of the past few weeks... SH*T! What the hell happened on that run! While other people were winning their races, (congratulations to Julie Dibens), here's how it went for a run-challenged age-grouper aged forty four and three-quarters.
The first thing to hit you as you step off the plane in Orlando is the heat and humidity. At seven o’clock on a Saturday evening this is quite worrying. With race day less than a week away, visions of a dehydrated camel come to mind. On Monday and Tuesday things are still pretty muggy, making pre-race bike and run sessions like a workout in a sauna. We shouldn’t have worried though, as gales from the tail-end of hurricane Ida blew through for the next few days, clearing the air. With the cloud gone and clear skies however, the eventual race-day temperature soared - feeling much hotter than any summer’s day back at home.
Swim training in the week leading up to the race was done at the 'Long Center' pool in Clearwater (as recommended by Toby), which like everything in America, is big (and a bit odd) – 50 meters x 25 yards. It is so big infact that they can turn the lanes around to give a whopping 20 x 25 yards worth of lanes - impressive!
Because of Hurricane Ida we weren't able to swim in the sea leading up to the event at all. This lead to the eventual staging of the swim proper, in the creek behind the sea front - a decision taken on the night before the race, although on the morning of the race the sea was calm and almost glassy-like. I had no problems with this, as a swim’s just a swim! More importantly it didn’t extend T1 – as the run from the creek was about the same as from the sea. For the spectators however, it was, as my wife berated “not much of a spectacle” as had been promised from pier 60.
After driving round the bike route for a pre-race reccy, we decided the roads used for the race were a bit busy and intimidating for any training rides. On several parts of the route, there are four lanes of independently moving traffic. This means no slow, middle and fast lanes to avoid, as cars undertake in any lane. This is not the case on race day when the roads are coned-off beautifully and the ride is an amazingly fast and safe one. To avoid the traffic, early on two mornings, we (myself and fellow competitor, Nathan) headed south out of Clearwater Beach along the coast road. This proved to be pretty good riding - cycle lanes on both sides with… speed bumps thrown in – obviously someone felt the need to slow down all of those carbon wheels at triathlon time! Even so, we still saw plenty of other competitors using this route.
One of the highlights of the week was a meeting with Craig Alexander, nicknamed ‘Crowie’. At this point I should confess that I didn’t actually know who ‘Crowie’ was (shame on me! I know!). But I’ve been so busy doing triathlon that I’ve never really looked into its celebrity world. It was Nathan who suggested we go to an early morning Q & A session held at the Hilton, catchily titled, “Coffee with Crowie”. As impressive as any meeting with a world champion is, and Crowie spoke with the relaxed air of a man at the top of his game, for me, watching Nathan’s obvious admiration and respect for this world class athlete was both touching and in its own way inspirational, especially given Nathan’s own abilities as a triathlete (he went on to clock 4:13:12 and finish 161 overall).
So! Down to race day - Saturday the 14th November. The day begins at 4:45 am. I force down two slices of toast, although nerves are beginning to take hold. First stop, the toilet. By 5:30 I’m through athlete’s marking and into transition, tyres are up and drinks bottles loaded. That leaves about an hour and a half to soak up the atmosphere. Although it’s still dark, a huge square is lit--up. In it contains all of the noise, colour and action form a thousand nervous souls. Groups gather to talk and laugh, while others stand alone, silent, heads bent staring at the ground. Then before I know it, I’m standing on the jetty with the race official barking his instructions. And go… I hoped into the water and enter a world of isolation, concentration and effort.
After a 27:40 minute swim, I come off the bike feeling amazing, 2:12:51, wow! (I’d been dreaming of 2:30 ish!) – it was all going so well. I set off from T2 bang on 7 minute miling. I’m feeling good (I see my wife who looks amazed to see me so soon. She shouts “take it easy, take it easy” I don’t listen). Down the long flat tarmac strip heading out of town, mile one and I’m still feeling good. Up over the bridge, still good. Shock! Jodie Swallow is walking (I didn’t know Pros did that). Two miles in I’m still feeling good. I’m eating up the field, a Pro comes through but I’m still feeling good. Three miles, still good. The four mile marker comes into view and… BANG! I’m not feeling good. Suddenly my legs feel heavy, I feel deflated, more like rubber than an ironman. From here it gets ugly and not really triathlon at all. I walk-run, walk-run, for the next 8 miles. With the fatigue I’m now feeling, every time I try to run, there’s a pain in the top of my left leg/buttock, an injury I’ve been carrying since August. The pain increases when I run and relents when I walk. The cycle of pain and relief repeats itself. The 4:30 goal I’d hoped for, and that had looked a cert an hour and a half ago, passes. I’m determined to run the last mile – there’s no way I’m walking over this line. I come in 4:39:08.
Looking back over the race (as I have done almost constantly from the minute I crossed the finish line - much to my family’s annoyance), I feel a bit disappointed. Undoubtedly the injury and lack of run training got to me. Also race-day-nutrition played its part. But should I feel disappointed? Having to shift my training efforts onto the bike over the last few months, gave me a bike split I never even dreamt of (credit to Toby for that). And in the end it’s the thing I love about triathlon – it’s multifaceted – if one thing’s not working, reassess and work on something else. That’s the beauty of three sports rolled into one. This is only my third shot at the 70.3 distance and what an experience! If I can qualify again who knows, injury free a sub 4:20 might be on the cards. So that’s it! All I can say in true American style – racing at the 2009 Ironman 70.3 World Champs… “friggin awesome man!”
Little did I know that the true marathon was yet to begin. After Clearwater it was back to Orlando and one week at Disney. With two kids, one baby and a credit-card wielding wife – a recipe just about enough to break any man. Check out the grumpy guy holding hands with Lisa.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Dibens doubles
Just a quick one as Mrs Dibens has promised to give her own version of events, however she is double world champion and if facebook is to be believed probably still recovering from the after party at the moment.Seriously though, World 70.3 is about as big as it gets, Julie has had ups and downs over the years, and at different stages had to deal with some serious set backs. She's made things happen. we've seen the work over the last 8 years that has put her in the position to unleash driven to tri dominate when it counted. Good work Dibs. It's a big word but what you achieved is inspirational.
Look out for the Julie Dibens, Driven To Tri, Word Domination master class. Next time we can persuade her back from Boulder.
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
World Champs and Stuff
It's been the end of season in the u.k so pete and I have been a little under cover for the last few weeks. You can't take your eye off the ball with Driven to tri though! Blink and you risk missing a whole shed load of world domination.
Lets start with the Dibens, three times xterra world champion, not much more to be said. Good luck in Clearwater. Daz didn't let her have it all her own way winning the female age group race in a record time.
Out in Australia Kate also had a great day at the world long distance Champs finishing 22nd having spent the swim and the bike inside the top 10.
Back at home Steve and Fran Both had solid races at the Sandy Balls Duathlon (great name Richard!)
We ran our first swim camp of the Winter, Dave was kind enough to send us the following comment, we expect you to out swim split Julie in Florida.
"Just to let you know I swam this morning finishing off with 5 x 100m quality set. Previous best time 79 reducing to 81, 82 at the end. This morning I did 75 for four and finished with a 74, so the camp must have worked. Normally I'm blowing quite heavy after this but today I was less knackered, however I could feel the fatigue in the forearm, back of the arm and back muscles. So pretty amazing and I felt that I could faster."
Next on the list are the Bath Big weekend in 3 weeks time and the soon to be famous Driven To Tri christmas party, be there or be square!
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Kapp2Kape
After a few too many beers on New Years Eve my friend took up the challenge of riding from the most Northerly point in Europe (Nordkapp) to the most southerly point in Africa (Cape Town). He wanted to a) get out of the office b) raise some money for MAG - a land mine charity. Despite having very little experience of riding a bike he quit his job and set off on his travels in April.
6 months of pedal pushing later he's currently in Ethiopia - his bike in bits and not very much money left to keep going! He's keeping a blog on http://www.kapp2cape.com/ and if you fancy being generous and giving to a worthy cause I think he deserves it! There's a link on his website to donate.
Cheers
Pete
6 months of pedal pushing later he's currently in Ethiopia - his bike in bits and not very much money left to keep going! He's keeping a blog on http://www.kapp2cape.com/ and if you fancy being generous and giving to a worthy cause I think he deserves it! There's a link on his website to donate.
Cheers
Pete
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Driven to Tri go 1,2 at Barcelona Ironman
People say a week is along time - 7 days ago I was in Montpellier, not a cloud in the sky, 28 degrees and 22 degrees in the sea. Today it's raining non-stop, around 10 degrees and I can barely see my feet - the season is definately coming to an end. However, we had a number of athletes looking to finish the end of the season in style both at home and abroad.
The major event on the D2T calendar over the weekend was Challenge Barcelona Ironman where our Irish contingent of Jane, Joyce, Katie and Dave were all in action.
Joyce was first out of the water in 1.06 with Katie only a minute down on her. Dave had a solid swim of 1.13, as did Jane coming out in 1.19. Onto the 3 lap bike course they all stuck to their plans and again Joyce was first back with a total swim/bike of 6.43. Katie entered T2 in 6.48, Jane in 7.34 and Dave in 7.48. Despite the heat they all put together a good run. Joyce had an awesome 3.31 marathon to come home in 10.17 - nearly an hour faster than Western Australia last year. This left Joyce as 14th Female and 2nd Amateur, beating a number of pros! Katie wasn't far back, finishing in 10.56 and 2nd in her age group behind Joyce.
After over 12 hours of racing Jane and Dave were separated by only a minute - Jane coming home in 12.19 and Dave in 12.20 - both with PB's. A fantastic performace by all of them in the heat and I'm sure they're all looking forward to a well deserved break.
Further South in Spain Javier was taking on the Titan Half Ironman. In his own words it was "0% flat during the whole bike, 0% flat during the whole run. 1 hill starting on the bike with a 9% average inclination during for 15 k, after that 45 k of slopes and small hills, and after that a 17k hill with a 9.5 % average inlination! And the run was the hilliest run i´ve ever done, with 35 degrees of sun burning your head and back! honestly i think it was tougher than an ironman!" He still managed to get round in one piece and finish in 6.54!
Back in the UK Piers put together the race of his season finishing 10th at the 'One Last Tri Half Ironman'. A much improved Swim and Bike followed by the 5th fastest run of the day brought him home in 4.18 and he's already lining up a top 5 position for next year!
Pete
The major event on the D2T calendar over the weekend was Challenge Barcelona Ironman where our Irish contingent of Jane, Joyce, Katie and Dave were all in action.
Joyce was first out of the water in 1.06 with Katie only a minute down on her. Dave had a solid swim of 1.13, as did Jane coming out in 1.19. Onto the 3 lap bike course they all stuck to their plans and again Joyce was first back with a total swim/bike of 6.43. Katie entered T2 in 6.48, Jane in 7.34 and Dave in 7.48. Despite the heat they all put together a good run. Joyce had an awesome 3.31 marathon to come home in 10.17 - nearly an hour faster than Western Australia last year. This left Joyce as 14th Female and 2nd Amateur, beating a number of pros! Katie wasn't far back, finishing in 10.56 and 2nd in her age group behind Joyce.
After over 12 hours of racing Jane and Dave were separated by only a minute - Jane coming home in 12.19 and Dave in 12.20 - both with PB's. A fantastic performace by all of them in the heat and I'm sure they're all looking forward to a well deserved break.
Further South in Spain Javier was taking on the Titan Half Ironman. In his own words it was "0% flat during the whole bike, 0% flat during the whole run. 1 hill starting on the bike with a 9% average inclination during for 15 k, after that 45 k of slopes and small hills, and after that a 17k hill with a 9.5 % average inlination! And the run was the hilliest run i´ve ever done, with 35 degrees of sun burning your head and back! honestly i think it was tougher than an ironman!" He still managed to get round in one piece and finish in 6.54!
Back in the UK Piers put together the race of his season finishing 10th at the 'One Last Tri Half Ironman'. A much improved Swim and Bike followed by the 5th fastest run of the day brought him home in 4.18 and he's already lining up a top 5 position for next year!
Pete
Monday, 21 September 2009
Weekend Round Up
At the Mens Fitness Rough Track Tri, Jim and Ryan formed the Driven to Tri train
Jim finished 3rd and Ryan came in 5th for the best result of his season. Great to see the success a consistent winters training has brought. Another winter with the same commitment and we might be knocking Jim off the podium.
Steve finished off his season at the New Forest half. Another great performance to cap the year off. Steve finished 12th overall with a top 5 bke split. Once again consistency and commitment over the year have paid off... bring on Roth!
Tash and Nicola battled it out in the Surf at Perranport, Tash came out ontop taking first junior and 3rd women, Nicola was catching on the run, but couldn't match Tash's bike and swim finishing 2nd junior.
Finally Ian had his last outing of the season on the Isle of Wight getting round the course after a tough week with back to school bugs going round the house.
This weekend Pete and I are off to france for the last grand prix, we'll keep you posted.
Jim finished 3rd and Ryan came in 5th for the best result of his season. Great to see the success a consistent winters training has brought. Another winter with the same commitment and we might be knocking Jim off the podium.
Steve finished off his season at the New Forest half. Another great performance to cap the year off. Steve finished 12th overall with a top 5 bke split. Once again consistency and commitment over the year have paid off... bring on Roth!
Tash and Nicola battled it out in the Surf at Perranport, Tash came out ontop taking first junior and 3rd women, Nicola was catching on the run, but couldn't match Tash's bike and swim finishing 2nd junior.
Finally Ian had his last outing of the season on the Isle of Wight getting round the course after a tough week with back to school bugs going round the house.
This weekend Pete and I are off to france for the last grand prix, we'll keep you posted.
Monday, 14 September 2009
Driven to Tri Sponsor IRC Team to record result!
Well we gave them some beanies and afterwards I (let them) throw me in the lake
Great weekend with some gutsy racing. As a region we beat Wales, next year we are going to get Scotland as well!
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Making Nicola and Pierre fall in Love.
Somtimes Triathlon coaching is about building relationships.
I've spent all year trying to make Nicola fall in Love with Pierre. Pierre is a French Man, he's a romantic and he needs to be treated right. The problem was Nicola didn't know how to make her little french boy want to ride with her. They were going around the same race courses, but they were fighting, they were not as one.
We had some public arguments at the start of the season. A number of fall outs at the Ilton race circuit and when Nicola took Pierre to Blenheim I don't think they were even talking. The poor frenchman wasn't ready for a British castle weekend.
I think Pierre might have been homesick, I organised a romantic 2 weeks in the French Pyrennes for the little love birds. For the first week they were awkward together, they didn't quite know how to talk to each other. Lots of hard ups and some going down at speed and by the second week there was a little spark.
Next up was a dirty weekend in London, it went ok, infact together they got some podium action. I thought i'd make the most of the new found frenship, so it was back to London the following week for a quick one in Hyde Park. 4th at the nationals with another year left in the age group.
I could see my chance, so I thought i'd step up the game and get the kids to seal the deal. A long weekend in Paris had to be the answer. Well Pierre is only carbon and he just couldn't resist his girl. They started with a gentle ride together as the sun was setting along the bank of the Seine, then it was off to the horse racing at longchamp. Nicola swum in the front pack with some of the best athletes in the world then she and Pierre sat comfortable in the front pack. Nicola ran for top 20 in a proper race. Good work kid, we've made alot of progress in a year. I told you that you could ride a bike!
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
The last two weeks
There are a few races to catch up on so here goes..........
Over in Ireland we had a number of starters at Eireman. Unfortunately due to poor weather and some slightly dodgy course markings the day was slightly different to normal. Joyce and Dave took on the Half Ironman which turned into a duathlon of 4k/90k/ about 15k. Joyce ignored this and had a stormer to win the ladies race by a large margin and Dave put his great training into practice to record 5.14 and set him up for a good race in Barcelona later in in the season.
The star performer of the weekend was Emma who aged 19 put herself on the start line for the full Ironman. Despite the swim being cancelled the weather conditions made it a very hard day at the office. However, after 7 hours biking and over 5 hours running she crossed the line as 6th woman and just in time to get out the rain and head off to somewhere sunny on Holiday!
Nicola's also been a busy girl recently, 4.40 on the track for a 1500m and 4th at the National Junior Championships - the 'reward' for these performances and her hard work is a French Grand Prix start. 70 bitchy girls trying to tears strips off each other - it's more violent than the guys race! Rhys had his best result of the season coming 6th in the British Junior champs and despite a bad transition Sam had a solid race to finish 18th in the Youth race after winning a round of the South West series the previous week.
Piers took on Norseman a few weeks ago and lived to tell the tale. He got to the bottom of the mountain early enough to get the coveted Black T-Shirt and at one stage on the run was in the top 25. It all got a bit emotional late on in the run and when there's literally a Mountain to climb this isn't the time to blow. It soon became apparent that there would be a little bit, in fact a lot of walking up a Mountain involved and when you're blown a walk up a Mountain can be quite slow. Harry and Piers figured everyone would walk up it a similar speeds, however the first woman walked up 26 minutes quicker which disproved the theory and showed how tough the event is!
Harry and I went to the Czech Repiblic to race a Eurpoean Cup. We decided to do this about 4 weeks ago as there weren't many races around. This seemed like a good idea until we realised there was a 20% hill on each of the 7 laps! Not perfect if you've been running lots and not doing big bike training. I avoided this problem by crashing in a crit race the previous week and therefore ended up watching the pain fest. Harry sat in the front pack which was "easy for 4 laps, mental for 3 laps!" His running legs were left halfway up the hill so we haven't looked at results!
Off for a FGP round a race course in Paris.
Pete
Over in Ireland we had a number of starters at Eireman. Unfortunately due to poor weather and some slightly dodgy course markings the day was slightly different to normal. Joyce and Dave took on the Half Ironman which turned into a duathlon of 4k/90k/ about 15k. Joyce ignored this and had a stormer to win the ladies race by a large margin and Dave put his great training into practice to record 5.14 and set him up for a good race in Barcelona later in in the season.
The star performer of the weekend was Emma who aged 19 put herself on the start line for the full Ironman. Despite the swim being cancelled the weather conditions made it a very hard day at the office. However, after 7 hours biking and over 5 hours running she crossed the line as 6th woman and just in time to get out the rain and head off to somewhere sunny on Holiday!
Nicola's also been a busy girl recently, 4.40 on the track for a 1500m and 4th at the National Junior Championships - the 'reward' for these performances and her hard work is a French Grand Prix start. 70 bitchy girls trying to tears strips off each other - it's more violent than the guys race! Rhys had his best result of the season coming 6th in the British Junior champs and despite a bad transition Sam had a solid race to finish 18th in the Youth race after winning a round of the South West series the previous week.
Piers took on Norseman a few weeks ago and lived to tell the tale. He got to the bottom of the mountain early enough to get the coveted Black T-Shirt and at one stage on the run was in the top 25. It all got a bit emotional late on in the run and when there's literally a Mountain to climb this isn't the time to blow. It soon became apparent that there would be a little bit, in fact a lot of walking up a Mountain involved and when you're blown a walk up a Mountain can be quite slow. Harry and Piers figured everyone would walk up it a similar speeds, however the first woman walked up 26 minutes quicker which disproved the theory and showed how tough the event is!
Harry and I went to the Czech Repiblic to race a Eurpoean Cup. We decided to do this about 4 weeks ago as there weren't many races around. This seemed like a good idea until we realised there was a 20% hill on each of the 7 laps! Not perfect if you've been running lots and not doing big bike training. I avoided this problem by crashing in a crit race the previous week and therefore ended up watching the pain fest. Harry sat in the front pack which was "easy for 4 laps, mental for 3 laps!" His running legs were left halfway up the hill so we haven't looked at results!
Off for a FGP round a race course in Paris.
Pete
Monday, 24 August 2009
Ein Ei Bitte
XTERRA Austria .. European Championships .. needed something special .. so they say that eggs are the whole food .. and I'm inclined to agree. After a 2 day transfer from Zittau to Klopein, I settled into Pension Agnes (yay for Agnes, what a wonderful host!) and enjoyed mostly breakfast. :-)
After a good breakfast, I feel I can do anything ... and so had some good rides around the 16km bike course -- with its steep ups and downs and noticeable lack of the flat stuff. The run also is undulating -- again 2 laps winding its way around the forest over many many roots. Two days training on the courses and the rest of the British Cross Triathlon Squad started to arrive from the day jobs.. We all got excited at the prospect of rain on race day especially the Welsh contingent) and kept wet tyres handy just in case.
Race day came, and the rain didn't. But the compass in my head behaved a little like Jack Sparrow's .. (and still didn't show the way darn it!) and so I swam an interesting course -- missing the pack badly. After slipping from my super fast XTERRA V0.02 skin, I dashed up to transition -- 800m! -- and hopped on the faithful On-One steed for what turned out to be a fairly anaerobic bike session .. By lap two I was loving it and coping well in the slickish conditions.
Coming off the bike stronger than I have felt in the last 4 months I was shouted on by many friends to really dig in around the 10km undulating run course. The rainbow song (up above the streets and houses.. la la la) and stars came in my head as I climbed 27 million steps (ok about 300!) to some high up Go Ape type overhead gantry that the course designers had thrown in for a laugh .. what a great course .. Launching myself into the final 'Rober Latchschen' special pit of water before the finish line I was happy to get home safe, in 18th a solid time of 2h 46mins. Only 1 minute off Macca .. watch out man, I'm coming back! Top awards go to Sammy G for his 3rd place, Nicola Duggan for a similar bronze in the girls and commiserations to Ryan, Llewelyn and Paul who were out with mechancials.
Noticeably at the after party there were several beers and some music -- a super race video from the day. I finished off a questionable evening of recovery with Franky Batelier (1st), Olivier Marceau (4th), Renata (1st), Carina (2nd), Astrid and Christian from the race team. All in all a great nite and good to see top athletes enjoying themselves!!
Last round of XTERRA Europe in 4 weeks -- Mandilieu, Cote D'Azur. Email me if you'd like to come along!!
After a good breakfast, I feel I can do anything ... and so had some good rides around the 16km bike course -- with its steep ups and downs and noticeable lack of the flat stuff. The run also is undulating -- again 2 laps winding its way around the forest over many many roots. Two days training on the courses and the rest of the British Cross Triathlon Squad started to arrive from the day jobs.. We all got excited at the prospect of rain on race day especially the Welsh contingent) and kept wet tyres handy just in case.
Race day came, and the rain didn't. But the compass in my head behaved a little like Jack Sparrow's .. (and still didn't show the way darn it!) and so I swam an interesting course -- missing the pack badly. After slipping from my super fast XTERRA V0.02 skin, I dashed up to transition -- 800m! -- and hopped on the faithful On-One steed for what turned out to be a fairly anaerobic bike session .. By lap two I was loving it and coping well in the slickish conditions.
Coming off the bike stronger than I have felt in the last 4 months I was shouted on by many friends to really dig in around the 10km undulating run course. The rainbow song (up above the streets and houses.. la la la) and stars came in my head as I climbed 27 million steps (ok about 300!) to some high up Go Ape type overhead gantry that the course designers had thrown in for a laugh .. what a great course .. Launching myself into the final 'Rober Latchschen' special pit of water before the finish line I was happy to get home safe, in 18th a solid time of 2h 46mins. Only 1 minute off Macca .. watch out man, I'm coming back! Top awards go to Sammy G for his 3rd place, Nicola Duggan for a similar bronze in the girls and commiserations to Ryan, Llewelyn and Paul who were out with mechancials.
Noticeably at the after party there were several beers and some music -- a super race video from the day. I finished off a questionable evening of recovery with Franky Batelier (1st), Olivier Marceau (4th), Renata (1st), Carina (2nd), Astrid and Christian from the race team. All in all a great nite and good to see top athletes enjoying themselves!!
Last round of XTERRA Europe in 4 weeks -- Mandilieu, Cote D'Azur. Email me if you'd like to come along!!
Monday, 17 August 2009
Evs and McConnel do it German style
Hey all, Happy Monday. Just a note to say how it is out here in Zittau at XTERRA Germany. 1500m open water, 36km MTB and 9km Run. Over 400 hundred racers and 12 nationalities present ..
Ryan Evans (token Welshy) and me (loud talking ainglander) had a fun packed weekend .. although we each had our own races ...Ryan started well with a confident swim .. I swam terribly slow for me and a bit like a zig zag pinball (more paddle work Jim!) .. then on the bike I had a flyer for me with 12th quickest whilst Ryan had the day from hell with broken spokes, getting lost and then a woppa puncture ... and then into the run Ryan survived and I hobbled round best I could returning from long term achilles and knee injuries. Not sure where Ryan placed but we both shared a bit of watermelon after and consoled ourselves. I even managed a good massage!
Great race, super party after with live music -- van halen -- amongst other covers and a really nice recovery day in the sun riding around the lake and swimming.
L to R -- Kartoffel, the Swiss Miss, Ryan, Jim, Transalp, Macca
Now I´m getting in the car with Renata for 850km to travel to Klopeinersee in Austria for the Euro Champs next weekend. Looking forward to that so much you can imagine!
Ryan´s off to wind his way thru Germany to Austria with Llewellyn Kartoffel .. and to swear loudly at Harry. Hope he can make it back full of zing next weekend.
See yáll later!
Ryan Evans (token Welshy) and me (loud talking ainglander) had a fun packed weekend .. although we each had our own races ...Ryan started well with a confident swim .. I swam terribly slow for me and a bit like a zig zag pinball (more paddle work Jim!) .. then on the bike I had a flyer for me with 12th quickest whilst Ryan had the day from hell with broken spokes, getting lost and then a woppa puncture ... and then into the run Ryan survived and I hobbled round best I could returning from long term achilles and knee injuries. Not sure where Ryan placed but we both shared a bit of watermelon after and consoled ourselves. I even managed a good massage!
Great race, super party after with live music -- van halen -- amongst other covers and a really nice recovery day in the sun riding around the lake and swimming.
L to R -- Kartoffel, the Swiss Miss, Ryan, Jim, Transalp, MaccaNow I´m getting in the car with Renata for 850km to travel to Klopeinersee in Austria for the Euro Champs next weekend. Looking forward to that so much you can imagine!
Ryan´s off to wind his way thru Germany to Austria with Llewellyn Kartoffel .. and to swear loudly at Harry. Hope he can make it back full of zing next weekend.
See yáll later!
Sunday, 16 August 2009
Cultural Learnings of Russia For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Hungary
In Short, the Russians gave us a Triathlon lesson in Hungary at the Tisavarjous World Cup. It's quite a simple lesson, they swim fast, bike hard and run fast. My mistake was not swimming fast enough, in fact I could have done with running a bit faster too but the 35 degrees put that on hold. Mr Wiltshire had been to the Russian swimming and biking classes but wasn't listening in the running seminar and as a result ended up 35th with me 39th........... The weekend was saved by the Borat impersonator who served us at the restaurant post race and Vanessa who couldn't believe that Ali G, Borat and Bruno were all the same person..........
Julie obviously had been attending the Russian School of Triathlon as she put the Smackdown at a Half Ironman in Boulder to win by 1.30 from Chrissie - not a bad scalp to take!
I'll update news from the domestic scene when I have some results in.
Pete
Julie obviously had been attending the Russian School of Triathlon as she put the Smackdown at a Half Ironman in Boulder to win by 1.30 from Chrissie - not a bad scalp to take!
I'll update news from the domestic scene when I have some results in.
Pete
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Super, Super fast
That describes our athletes at the weekend and the speed at which I'm typing this blog post due to my imminet departure for Hungary. 2 hours until departure with a ride to do, bike to pack, kit to pack, breakfast to eat and most importantly a D2T Blog to update so here we go.......
Harry was the star of the weekend, 6th in the elite race at London and coaching Nicola to her first major podium, 3rd in the Junior elite race at London. I might have got invloved in a race with Harry if I got undressed in T1 slightly quicker but it wasn't to be so ended up 16th. Jill in her last race of the season before marriage next week finished 11th in a very strong ladies field. This meant she finished 3rd overall in the Britsh Elite super series. James Bunney was 5th in the Junior elite guys and Rhys 13th so all in all a great showing from the elite guys and girls.
In the age group waves Nikki was 4th, Daz 5th, Marcus 42nd in 2.08 and Javier survived his dodgy ankle to finish in 2.29. Elsewhere, Nathan set a big PB in Antwerp.
Well that was quick! Hopefully more fast racing this weekend and then a more complete blog next week!!
Ciao
Pete
Harry was the star of the weekend, 6th in the elite race at London and coaching Nicola to her first major podium, 3rd in the Junior elite race at London. I might have got invloved in a race with Harry if I got undressed in T1 slightly quicker but it wasn't to be so ended up 16th. Jill in her last race of the season before marriage next week finished 11th in a very strong ladies field. This meant she finished 3rd overall in the Britsh Elite super series. James Bunney was 5th in the Junior elite guys and Rhys 13th so all in all a great showing from the elite guys and girls.
In the age group waves Nikki was 4th, Daz 5th, Marcus 42nd in 2.08 and Javier survived his dodgy ankle to finish in 2.29. Elsewhere, Nathan set a big PB in Antwerp.
Well that was quick! Hopefully more fast racing this weekend and then a more complete blog next week!!
Ciao
Pete
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Updates updates updates
Fiona, 10 days later than planned gave birth to a baby boy. Rory weighed in at 8.9 and is already on the waiting list for Driven To Tri domination. Fiona swam 1.7k 2 days before the birth and is raring to get back in the water now.
At the Europeans Daz won her age group Nicola T finished 3rd along with Vicky, Tracey finished 5th in her Age group whilst Bill also had a good race.
Jack’s threesome.....We’ve been a bit worried about Jack recently with his wedding planned, stag do consigned to the history books and ‘THE’ curfew! Concern rose to such levels that the French trip has been put on hold and Harry will be returning to deliver his Best Man’s speech at the wedding. In the meantime, the D2T team took care of him at the Summer Sizzler triathlon in Poole. The boys took all three slots on the podium. Marcus, the least experience of the three on top; Jack in the middle and Steve bringing up the rear. We’ll censor and then publish the pictures!
Over in Ireland Dave took care of business, knocking 16 minutes off his time from last year at the Hell of the West triathlon and moving up nearly 100 places in the overall rankings. Jane also had a good nearly breaking the 3 hour mark.
Soon to be D2T athlete (if Rory doesn’t snap up his place) Javier had a good race at Cowman but is looking forward to going much faster later in the season. Nathan didn’t have the same success, being forced to pull out on the run but we’re sure he’ll come back stronger for Antwerp
Ryan has been up holding the Driven To Tri off road reputation whilst Jim has been off with a sick note and Julie’s been concentrating on tarmac. Ryan had a solid race at xterra Czech before winning the Afan off road tri by 5 minutes with a 6 minute improvement on last years result.
The Ian and Di head to head battle rages on. Di was first up this time with the women’s only race at Eton over ¾ Olympic distance. Despite bonking on the run Ian couldn’t match her time over the same course a week later. Di maintains her unbeaten record going 3 nil up. Not to be outdone by her parents Emily took part in the scootathon finishing 3rd in her age group and securing the best result by an under 10 for driven to tri this year. Watch out Emily, Rory will be practicing his scooting shortly!
Also at Eton Nathan put his demons to bed from the week before with a solid result.
At Bournemouth Nicola M finished 2nd after flying in from altitude for the race…very pro! Emma proved she’s the pocket rocket on the bike at least with the second fastest ride of the day despite “nearly being drowned” in the swim; we just need to put her good swim days and good bike days together now. Steve had a solid race and an awesome bike split, Marcus continued his domination of the boys and jack was too busy being nervous about his wedding.
Back in Ireland Jane, Joyce and Dave have been proving they can do more racing than we can do blog updating. They towed the line at Loch Ine. Joyce finished second 2nd, Dave took 4 minutes off his time from last year and Jane got around on a tough day.
At Portland’s race to the Bill Becky was 3rd with the fastest run split for the girls, South West academy athlete Niall managed to finish second overall.
Other results: Jill took 1st at the Property triathlon whilst Rhys finished his build up to the national sprint champs on Saturday with a win at his local race.
Phew thats me done, hopefully more wins to report after the weekend, ideally i'll be telling you how Pete and I nailed the french grand Prix.
At the Europeans Daz won her age group Nicola T finished 3rd along with Vicky, Tracey finished 5th in her Age group whilst Bill also had a good race.
Jack’s threesome.....We’ve been a bit worried about Jack recently with his wedding planned, stag do consigned to the history books and ‘THE’ curfew! Concern rose to such levels that the French trip has been put on hold and Harry will be returning to deliver his Best Man’s speech at the wedding. In the meantime, the D2T team took care of him at the Summer Sizzler triathlon in Poole. The boys took all three slots on the podium. Marcus, the least experience of the three on top; Jack in the middle and Steve bringing up the rear. We’ll censor and then publish the pictures!
Over in Ireland Dave took care of business, knocking 16 minutes off his time from last year at the Hell of the West triathlon and moving up nearly 100 places in the overall rankings. Jane also had a good nearly breaking the 3 hour mark.
Soon to be D2T athlete (if Rory doesn’t snap up his place) Javier had a good race at Cowman but is looking forward to going much faster later in the season. Nathan didn’t have the same success, being forced to pull out on the run but we’re sure he’ll come back stronger for Antwerp
Ryan has been up holding the Driven To Tri off road reputation whilst Jim has been off with a sick note and Julie’s been concentrating on tarmac. Ryan had a solid race at xterra Czech before winning the Afan off road tri by 5 minutes with a 6 minute improvement on last years result.
The Ian and Di head to head battle rages on. Di was first up this time with the women’s only race at Eton over ¾ Olympic distance. Despite bonking on the run Ian couldn’t match her time over the same course a week later. Di maintains her unbeaten record going 3 nil up. Not to be outdone by her parents Emily took part in the scootathon finishing 3rd in her age group and securing the best result by an under 10 for driven to tri this year. Watch out Emily, Rory will be practicing his scooting shortly!
Also at Eton Nathan put his demons to bed from the week before with a solid result.
At Bournemouth Nicola M finished 2nd after flying in from altitude for the race…very pro! Emma proved she’s the pocket rocket on the bike at least with the second fastest ride of the day despite “nearly being drowned” in the swim; we just need to put her good swim days and good bike days together now. Steve had a solid race and an awesome bike split, Marcus continued his domination of the boys and jack was too busy being nervous about his wedding.
Back in Ireland Jane, Joyce and Dave have been proving they can do more racing than we can do blog updating. They towed the line at Loch Ine. Joyce finished second 2nd, Dave took 4 minutes off his time from last year and Jane got around on a tough day.
At Portland’s race to the Bill Becky was 3rd with the fastest run split for the girls, South West academy athlete Niall managed to finish second overall.
Other results: Jill took 1st at the Property triathlon whilst Rhys finished his build up to the national sprint champs on Saturday with a win at his local race.
Phew thats me done, hopefully more wins to report after the weekend, ideally i'll be telling you how Pete and I nailed the french grand Prix.
Monday, 13 July 2009
Two Mad Men and Me!
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I am staying in a flat in the South of France with two completely mental blokes; one of which is obsessed with stoats and badgers, the other who keeps trying to feed me snails!Harry seems to be obsessed with hats, and insists that his hat game is strong! He has so many with him and still can never find the one he wants. So this morning he had to settle for his pink headband, which he pulled his hair out of and made a very good impression of a pineapple!
Along with the vast number of hats that these two have there is also a huge collection of Brooks trainers, all of which apparently we are taking up a mountain for a pick nick/ party tomorrow!
Between our training sessions which involve sparring on poolside, jumping through raging torrents and dodging the red squirrels, there is time for filthy cake, coca cola and gout!
The cooking of evening meals is on a rota, there have been some cooking sensations! And there is always a filthy pudding to end the meal. But as there are 3 of us, and things are sold in packs of 4, there have been a fair few domestics between Pete and Harry over the last pudding. I steer well clear of it, and just sit watching them in their domestic, it is rather entertaining.
These two weeks have been very good, extremely hard work. But it has taught me a lot. Like how I need to (and can) stick to the wheel in front and cover the gaps. See Harry I have been paying attention. But I have also been taught some other important things, such as the importance of having a good hat game, that there is no end to the different forms of slop that can be made (things added to pasta), that runs can be made much more entertaining when there is a roundabout with metal dears in the middle for Harry to sit on, or a gate for everyone to flip over; though with me having rather short legs I got stuck!
The most important thing I have learned on this trip is that to be a tri-athlete you need to be completely mental! I thought I had a fair few screws loose before I came here, but two weeks with these two has shown me I still have most of my marbles, for now!
Editors Note: A second place at Bournemouth less than 24 hours after getting back from camp suggests Nicola did learn a little more than just the importance of a good hat game!
Sunday, 12 July 2009
Ironman Switzerland Results in!
Jackie Davies -- 23rd in womens 40-44 category ion 12:34:59. 3.8km swim in 1:09:12, 180k bike in 6:11:08 and 42km run in 5:07:53. Great result!
No direct news from the girl herself, presume she is out teaching the Swiss how to party.
Chocolate milk and compression clothing!!
Well done Jackie -- we look forward to your story!
Jim and the team.
No direct news from the girl herself, presume she is out teaching the Swiss how to party.
Chocolate milk and compression clothing!!
Well done Jackie -- we look forward to your story!
Jim and the team.
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Jackie Davies at Ironman Switzerland
Hi Fellow World Dominators!
If you're really bored and it's raining on Sunday you could always track my progress in Zurich at Ironman Switzerland! Click on the first link below and look for the link to the Athlete Tracker. If that doesn't work, try the second link below. My race number is 1322.
We start, subject to weather, at 7am - Swiss time - see below for my projected times (fingers crossed)
0700 Swim start
0810 Transition 1
0815 Bike
1430 Transition 2
1435 Run
1915 Finish
1930 Jacuzzi!
2200 Sleep
Otherwise, I shall regale you of my exploits in my next missive when I'm back!
Love
Jack xx
Bronze at ETU's for Vicki Wade!
Vicki went to Holland last weekend.
The race was pretty hard .. nosebleed from a kick in the swim, hillier bike than Holland usually offers and a tummy issue that made the run a challenge.
But Vicki is a true Driven To Tri athlete .. well 'ard .. she raced through well to grab the Bronze medal in the Womens 40-44 category.
Well done Vicki .. you are well on track for the Worlds in Australia. :-)
The race was pretty hard .. nosebleed from a kick in the swim, hillier bike than Holland usually offers and a tummy issue that made the run a challenge.
But Vicki is a true Driven To Tri athlete .. well 'ard .. she raced through well to grab the Bronze medal in the Womens 40-44 category.
Well done Vicki .. you are well on track for the Worlds in Australia. :-)
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
British Racing, Foreign Riding and Breakfast
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A short update from the weekend where we had quite a few athletes racing at home or hitting the bike miles abroad.
Tracy headed to South Cerney for the Olympic distance race to finish off her prep for Europeans in two weeks time. Despite some slight confusion over the run course and distance a good swim and bike followed by ‘grinding’ out a tired run saw her place 2nd overall. Becky made her seasons debut the same race and after a long break from racing produces a solid performance to finish 6th overall.
Jill returned to the Age Group ranks and followed on from her elite success at Windsor by winning the National Age group Champs overall. It made a change for Jill to be near the front of a swim and pretty soon she was leading on the bike meaning she was able to run controlled and pick up her first national title.
There were some big Driven to Tri bike miles going on at the weekend with Dave and Jane both completing a 200k sportive in Ireland whilst Kate and Piers were hitting the alpine climbs for up to 8 hours at a time. Just as importantly, Barry apparently has his Mojo back post last years crash and smacked out 60 miles over the weekend!
This week's photo is of Harry eating his 3rd breakfast 60k into our very hilly ride in the mountains!
Pete
Thursday, 18 June 2009
Jill 2nd at Windsor
Last weekend was a big weekend of racing both home and abroad. Now we don’t normally give athletes a headline and we like to spread the love around, but this week is an exception to the rule! Jill, in her first season racing elite regularly finished a fantastic 2nd at Windsor, one of the most prestigious elite races in the country. Coming out of the swim a couple of minutes down, Jill road strongly to come off the bike in 6th and then gradually ran down the competition to cross the line behind winner, Jodie Stimpson. A great achievement and hopefully it won’t be the last big result for her this year.
Lorne, making his elite debut made the mistake of dragging 8 guys round the swim and then missing the jump on the train round the bike – a simple mistake and one we’re sure he won’t be repeating after a bit more experience of drafting racing.
Steve headed to UK 70.3 and finished 5th in his Age Group to qualify for world 70.3 Champs. He swam, biked and ran quicker than last year but like all athletes still believes there’s room for improvement on that course. Julie was making her racing return after a cracked rib and placed 2nd behind a flying Cat Morrison who’s definitely upped her game over the past year.
Harry and I were in Beauvais for the 2nd French Grand Prix which was as stacked as the first. Seeded last the swim was crazy as normal, Harry made his way to the front while I fought with the damsels in distress towards the back. A group of 8 went away at the start of the bike and Harry settled in the main front group of 40 which I managed to miss, meaning race virtually over. The run was about 4k rather than the advertised 5k and by the time Harry got going it was too late to move into the top 30 and he ended up 37th. I was 60th, enough said!
Pete
Lorne, making his elite debut made the mistake of dragging 8 guys round the swim and then missing the jump on the train round the bike – a simple mistake and one we’re sure he won’t be repeating after a bit more experience of drafting racing.
Steve headed to UK 70.3 and finished 5th in his Age Group to qualify for world 70.3 Champs. He swam, biked and ran quicker than last year but like all athletes still believes there’s room for improvement on that course. Julie was making her racing return after a cracked rib and placed 2nd behind a flying Cat Morrison who’s definitely upped her game over the past year.
Harry and I were in Beauvais for the 2nd French Grand Prix which was as stacked as the first. Seeded last the swim was crazy as normal, Harry made his way to the front while I fought with the damsels in distress towards the back. A group of 8 went away at the start of the bike and Harry settled in the main front group of 40 which I managed to miss, meaning race virtually over. The run was about 4k rather than the advertised 5k and by the time Harry got going it was too late to move into the top 30 and he ended up 37th. I was 60th, enough said!
Pete
Sunday, 14 June 2009
It's all kicking off!!
I’m sat in a campanile on the outskirts of Beauvais waiting to race in 5 hours time. Kahfelt, Gomez, Brownlee, Belaubre and pretty much the world top 25 are on the start line. Seen the course it’s going to be fast!
Currently Julie, and Steve are racing u.k 70.3 and Lorne, Jill Vicky and I think a few others are racing Windsor.
I’m going to try and get the updates from the last few weeks clear so that this weekend results get right at the top of the page.
Ok deep breath….
There had been rumours that my Brother in Law was considering a tri, bike had been brought, a couple of hours had been spent in the gym…. Then trawling the results I found he had gone to Fritton lake and pulled out a 2.10 Olympic Distance debut. Good work Marcus
Last weekend Ian and Di raced Blenhim Di made top 20 in her age group with a 1.43.40 whilst Ian got stuck behind an Ambulance yet still managed a 1.49.22, they are stepping up to ¾ length for their next outing!
Nicola was disappointed with a 6th in the European Junior selection race; she made the front group after the swim which was a massive breakthrough. As Sutto used to say, “With patience grasshopper you will jump high!”
Fran made her half Ironman debut at Weymouth she finished 8th overall female. Again lots of room for improvement, refer to previous quote!
Kate and Emma also played at Weymouth, despite some bike issues kate had a solid race and a good run. Emma won her age group also on ½ debut.
Quick results check on petes lot, as hes sleeping in reparation for this afternoon…
Alex was 2nd at the Weymouth Sprint
Tracey 2nd Cotswold womens only
Jill 9th Blenheim
Joyce 2nd Schull
Bill Hammerton 1st 55-60 category 2.45.15 Rother Valley
Going back a few weeks
Kate went to Austria 70.3, she motored around the bike to start the run 5th in her age group, Kate dropped a few places on the run, but says Austria is a must do race and we are already putting together the plan to run her up the field next year.
Jane and Joyce both raced at Athy, Joyce finished a very impressive 4th after placing 2nd at Valentia the week before, although she was behind her sister which we’re hoping to sort out for the next showdown. Jane, on the Triathlon come back trail after her ultra marathon managed a credible 8th in her age group.
Ryan headed for a European champs with Xterra Italy, despite a cracking black eye in the swim he managed to pull himself back up the field to finish 17th in his age group.
New recruit Sam had a bit of trouble with his wetsuit at Eton Super Sprint but put together a good run to finish 26th. The following weekend he went on to finish 3rd at Gloucester.
Emma got in some long distance training with a ride over to Dorney lake for one of the f3 mid week races, she felt there wasn’t quite enough riding involved so opted for an extra lap on the bike. Just to help her counting I sent her back the following week and she managed a 2nd place open female finish. I reckon this must have made her first Junior, but no age categories on the results, so she had better be first junior at Weymouth this weekend.
Piers proved he can go short as well as long with a 3rd place overall at the Eton ¾ Olympic 3rd.
Jill was our star representative at the National Elite Champs in Strathclyde finishing 6th in her first real season as an elite athlete and will now be focusing on dominating at Windsor. Vicky also took to the start line in Strathclyde.
David Egan opened his season at Valentia with a very solid race, finishing 50th overall whilst Alex Hopson finished in 2.08 at a very competitive Little Beaver. Abey Lawrence also put together a very good performance at the Little Beaver finishing 6th. Nikki came 3rd in the 20-24 age group which booked her ticket to the gold coast for World Champs later in the year.
Still with us…. I know lots of results but we are trying to dominate the world here…
News from Julie….
Daz is European Xterra champ after winning her age group at Xterra Italy. This also booked her place for maui....assuming she is accepting.
At the Eton Super Sprint, Kyle Kearey won the 20-24 age group and Emma Ruth Smith won the overall female race. She is also winning the National Point Series (NPS) MTB series after winning the 3rd race by over 8mins. The following day she went on and placed 5th in the UK National Marathon MTB champs which is an awesome result as she showed she can really mix it up with some of the best Pro MTB'ers in the UK. Travis has been deployed to Rome and so racing has gone on hold until he gets settled.
Rachel Bown had a disappointing finish at the London Marathon. She unfortunately picked up a virus before the race and ran well under par. This was highlighted even more when she recently "jogged" round the Edinburgh marathon after minimal training and ran quite a bit faster. Tough luck, but hopefully will set her self up for a great triathlon season to follow.
Paul Ryman came 3rd in his age group at the New Forest Olympic distance, and is getting ready to rest up for next weeks UK 70.3 That’s your lot, another update tomorrow when we have nailed
Currently Julie, and Steve are racing u.k 70.3 and Lorne, Jill Vicky and I think a few others are racing Windsor.
I’m going to try and get the updates from the last few weeks clear so that this weekend results get right at the top of the page.
Ok deep breath….
There had been rumours that my Brother in Law was considering a tri, bike had been brought, a couple of hours had been spent in the gym…. Then trawling the results I found he had gone to Fritton lake and pulled out a 2.10 Olympic Distance debut. Good work Marcus
Last weekend Ian and Di raced Blenhim Di made top 20 in her age group with a 1.43.40 whilst Ian got stuck behind an Ambulance yet still managed a 1.49.22, they are stepping up to ¾ length for their next outing!
Nicola was disappointed with a 6th in the European Junior selection race; she made the front group after the swim which was a massive breakthrough. As Sutto used to say, “With patience grasshopper you will jump high!”
Fran made her half Ironman debut at Weymouth she finished 8th overall female. Again lots of room for improvement, refer to previous quote!
Kate and Emma also played at Weymouth, despite some bike issues kate had a solid race and a good run. Emma won her age group also on ½ debut.
Quick results check on petes lot, as hes sleeping in reparation for this afternoon…
Alex was 2nd at the Weymouth Sprint
Tracey 2nd Cotswold womens only
Jill 9th Blenheim
Joyce 2nd Schull
Bill Hammerton 1st 55-60 category 2.45.15 Rother Valley
Going back a few weeks
Kate went to Austria 70.3, she motored around the bike to start the run 5th in her age group, Kate dropped a few places on the run, but says Austria is a must do race and we are already putting together the plan to run her up the field next year.
Jane and Joyce both raced at Athy, Joyce finished a very impressive 4th after placing 2nd at Valentia the week before, although she was behind her sister which we’re hoping to sort out for the next showdown. Jane, on the Triathlon come back trail after her ultra marathon managed a credible 8th in her age group.
Ryan headed for a European champs with Xterra Italy, despite a cracking black eye in the swim he managed to pull himself back up the field to finish 17th in his age group.
New recruit Sam had a bit of trouble with his wetsuit at Eton Super Sprint but put together a good run to finish 26th. The following weekend he went on to finish 3rd at Gloucester.
Emma got in some long distance training with a ride over to Dorney lake for one of the f3 mid week races, she felt there wasn’t quite enough riding involved so opted for an extra lap on the bike. Just to help her counting I sent her back the following week and she managed a 2nd place open female finish. I reckon this must have made her first Junior, but no age categories on the results, so she had better be first junior at Weymouth this weekend.
Piers proved he can go short as well as long with a 3rd place overall at the Eton ¾ Olympic 3rd.
Jill was our star representative at the National Elite Champs in Strathclyde finishing 6th in her first real season as an elite athlete and will now be focusing on dominating at Windsor. Vicky also took to the start line in Strathclyde.
David Egan opened his season at Valentia with a very solid race, finishing 50th overall whilst Alex Hopson finished in 2.08 at a very competitive Little Beaver. Abey Lawrence also put together a very good performance at the Little Beaver finishing 6th. Nikki came 3rd in the 20-24 age group which booked her ticket to the gold coast for World Champs later in the year.
Still with us…. I know lots of results but we are trying to dominate the world here…
News from Julie….
Daz is European Xterra champ after winning her age group at Xterra Italy. This also booked her place for maui....assuming she is accepting.
At the Eton Super Sprint, Kyle Kearey won the 20-24 age group and Emma Ruth Smith won the overall female race. She is also winning the National Point Series (NPS) MTB series after winning the 3rd race by over 8mins. The following day she went on and placed 5th in the UK National Marathon MTB champs which is an awesome result as she showed she can really mix it up with some of the best Pro MTB'ers in the UK. Travis has been deployed to Rome and so racing has gone on hold until he gets settled.
Rachel Bown had a disappointing finish at the London Marathon. She unfortunately picked up a virus before the race and ran well under par. This was highlighted even more when she recently "jogged" round the Edinburgh marathon after minimal training and ran quite a bit faster. Tough luck, but hopefully will set her self up for a great triathlon season to follow.
Paul Ryman came 3rd in his age group at the New Forest Olympic distance, and is getting ready to rest up for next weeks UK 70.3 That’s your lot, another update tomorrow when we have nailed
Thursday, 11 June 2009
Driven to Tri .. on all 4's!
Thanks go to Rich Cruse who got wet and bitten by mosquitoes to get this shot of athlete coach Jim McConnel for the June Swimsuit Edition of Triathlete Magazine. It's a piece they were doing on XTERRA Guam in March 2009.
I know it looks like Jim has just fallen over but in fact .... he assures us that it's his super fast way of getting down waterfalls in a kind of scoot on all 4's with your bum above the water action. It's technical and fast, something that can be learned.
Sincere apologies go to Panasonic Toughbook teamate Sam Gardner as it was he who won the race, not Jim -- he got second. The words say different. Ah well.. don't sweat the detail!
So with content like this in Triathlete .. we're all looking forward to the imminent launch of Triathlete Europe .. 1st issue July ... it'll be great to have a magazine in the UK for us triathletes to read and enjoy rather than the current rags that get used as coffee mats once the pictures have been looked at.(Sorry is that a little un PC? .. hmmm :-) )
I know it looks like Jim has just fallen over but in fact .... he assures us that it's his super fast way of getting down waterfalls in a kind of scoot on all 4's with your bum above the water action. It's technical and fast, something that can be learned.
Sincere apologies go to Panasonic Toughbook teamate Sam Gardner as it was he who won the race, not Jim -- he got second. The words say different. Ah well.. don't sweat the detail!
So with content like this in Triathlete .. we're all looking forward to the imminent launch of Triathlete Europe .. 1st issue July ... it'll be great to have a magazine in the UK for us triathletes to read and enjoy rather than the current rags that get used as coffee mats once the pictures have been looked at.(Sorry is that a little un PC? .. hmmm :-) )
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Here, There and Everywhere......
That seems to sum up the weekend quite well as every set of results we looked seemed to see a D2T name pop up. It's great to see so many athletes out racing fast this early on in the season and makes the performance of the week a difficult decision......... Those in contention who deserve a little clap:
Emma - 2nd at the OWS aquathon despite missing the 'false' start.
Nicky - Winner of the Cotswold Super Sprint Triathlon
Alex and Steve B - 3rd and 5th at Dorchester
Fran - 1st in Age group at Dorchester
Steve F - Notching up his 2nd win in Driven to Tri colours
Piers - Did well in something that involved Mountain Bikes and Maps - apparently he'd have done better if it didn't involve maps!
But the winner is.......
Di - 1.17 at Cotswold Super Sprint and just over a minute ahead of Ian! Bragging rights guaranteed for the rest of the week!
Harry and I were the only coaches in action - we decided to keep it local before the proper travelling starts. Harry won the Devon 3k champs and I won Exe Valley Sprint which is always a great race put on by Exeter Tri Club.
That's all folks......
Pete
Emma - 2nd at the OWS aquathon despite missing the 'false' start.
Nicky - Winner of the Cotswold Super Sprint Triathlon
Alex and Steve B - 3rd and 5th at Dorchester
Fran - 1st in Age group at Dorchester
Steve F - Notching up his 2nd win in Driven to Tri colours
Piers - Did well in something that involved Mountain Bikes and Maps - apparently he'd have done better if it didn't involve maps!
But the winner is.......
Di - 1.17 at Cotswold Super Sprint and just over a minute ahead of Ian! Bragging rights guaranteed for the rest of the week!
Harry and I were the only coaches in action - we decided to keep it local before the proper travelling starts. Harry won the Devon 3k champs and I won Exe Valley Sprint which is always a great race put on by Exeter Tri Club.
That's all folks......
Pete
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Bank Holiday Madness!
It's been a crazy weekend of racing and D2T were at the forefront of the competition around the country and even abroad for some of the coaches!
We've got to start with the star performance of the weekend which goes to Nicci Threlfall for her victory at the Tri Nations event at Dorney lake! Not far behind her was fellow Big Weekender Javier who successfully managed to navigate his way round the Eton Course in 1.08. Proof that hardcore Big Weekends do work! Becki, another Big Weekender stepped up at the BUSA champs to finish 14th with associate D2T athlete (Wannabe) Dr James Gill hiding his head in shame after failing to beat all the girls!
We had a good presence at the New Forest Triathlon. Piers was a bit under the weather but put together a solid race to bike faster than last year and finish in 2.04. Sure there's plenty more in the tank when he's on tip top form. Tracy had her usual great swim and held on to finish 6th female and 2nd in her age group. Rich Iles always puts on great race so get down there over the summer if you can.
Out in the states Toby finished 18th at St Croix whilst Jim was still nursing a sore achilles so had to give Xterra Las Vegas a miss!
Onto the single sports and Barry, on the comeback trail after a horrific bike crash last year posted 1.22 at the Great West Half - great to see you back in action and beginning to fly already! Fran won the Portland 10k whilst in the pool Nicola posted a 2 second PB over 400 free at the Western Counties, no excuse for missing the front pack now!
Pete
We've got to start with the star performance of the weekend which goes to Nicci Threlfall for her victory at the Tri Nations event at Dorney lake! Not far behind her was fellow Big Weekender Javier who successfully managed to navigate his way round the Eton Course in 1.08. Proof that hardcore Big Weekends do work! Becki, another Big Weekender stepped up at the BUSA champs to finish 14th with associate D2T athlete (Wannabe) Dr James Gill hiding his head in shame after failing to beat all the girls!
We had a good presence at the New Forest Triathlon. Piers was a bit under the weather but put together a solid race to bike faster than last year and finish in 2.04. Sure there's plenty more in the tank when he's on tip top form. Tracy had her usual great swim and held on to finish 6th female and 2nd in her age group. Rich Iles always puts on great race so get down there over the summer if you can.
Out in the states Toby finished 18th at St Croix whilst Jim was still nursing a sore achilles so had to give Xterra Las Vegas a miss!
Onto the single sports and Barry, on the comeback trail after a horrific bike crash last year posted 1.22 at the Great West Half - great to see you back in action and beginning to fly already! Fran won the Portland 10k whilst in the pool Nicola posted a 2 second PB over 400 free at the Western Counties, no excuse for missing the front pack now!
Pete
Sunday, 26 April 2009
Racing, Racing Everywhere!
The past weekend might require a couple of Blog posts as there were races with D2T athletes in a couple of continents and results are still coming in. We'll start off in the states and work our way back home......
New coach Toby Jameson has headed to the states and finished 27th at St Anthony's - hopefully more to come from him as the distances get longer and the swimming gets less important! Joyce had her first major top 10 result, finishing 9th overall at the Lisboa Half Ironman - more importantly she just pipped her sister in to 10th!
On this side of the channel we had a few athletes at the Elite National Duathlon Champs. Jill and Nicola both had very good races with Jill finishing 4th in the Women and Nicola 5th in the Junior Women. For both of them this is their first real season of elite racing so that was a good start.
I'm still waiting for results from some of the local races but so far know......
Bill was 8th in his Age Group at Ashbourne Duathlon
Steve won the Llandovery Triathlon - his first triathlon win
I won the Plymouth CC 10 mile time trial on my Open Debut - my legs hurt lots now!
More results when I have them.
Pete
New coach Toby Jameson has headed to the states and finished 27th at St Anthony's - hopefully more to come from him as the distances get longer and the swimming gets less important! Joyce had her first major top 10 result, finishing 9th overall at the Lisboa Half Ironman - more importantly she just pipped her sister in to 10th!
On this side of the channel we had a few athletes at the Elite National Duathlon Champs. Jill and Nicola both had very good races with Jill finishing 4th in the Women and Nicola 5th in the Junior Women. For both of them this is their first real season of elite racing so that was a good start.
I'm still waiting for results from some of the local races but so far know......
Bill was 8th in his Age Group at Ashbourne Duathlon
Steve won the Llandovery Triathlon - his first triathlon win
I won the Plymouth CC 10 mile time trial on my Open Debut - my legs hurt lots now!
More results when I have them.
Pete
Monday, 6 April 2009
Watch out World!
Well the tri season is finally here - I think I'm allowed to say that as D2T had loads of athletes racing at the weekend both here and abroad. We'll start off with Ampleforth as that's where the majority were racing - firstly we've got to say we're impressed so many athletes turned out to race on April 4th - it didn't get above 10 degrees in Devon until mid afternoon so I've got no idea how they managed to keep warm and race so well.
Alex was the first finisher, 18th overall and 6th in his age group was very impressive for a relative newcomer to the sport. Nicci put her Big Weekend training to the test to come home 5th in her age group, I'm still investigating how she picked up a 2.00 penalty for 'sporting impedance.' (Update - apparently it was for marking her transition spot with Talc) Bill, was also 5th in his Age Group which should have given him qualification for the European championships in Holten.
Further South Amanda recorded a PB (1.44) at Taunton Half marathon, taking 4 minutes off her time from last month which shows great signs of progression leading up to the season. Steve also knocked a massive 10 mins off his half marathon PB to finish in 1.27
I'm slightly biased because I coach her but I'm going to give performance of the week to Joyce. Her aim this year was to run under 41 mins for a 10k - her fastest time last February was 44 minutes so that was going to be no easy task. However, she decided 41 mins was far to easy and ended up running 40.09, proof that hard work does pay off as she's nailed pretty much all her run sets this year.
Nicola stromed to 2nd in the National Colleges Cross Country Championships to follow up her 16th at the English Schools two weeks before.
Last, but by no means least two of our coaches (Julie and Jim) were racing half way round the globe at the Guam Xterra triathlon. The swim was pretty much as expected with Julie leading out by a couple of minutes. It took Sam Gardner (1st male pro) about 20-30mins to catch her and Julie headed into T2 second overall with Jim not far behind her. According to Julie, Jim passed her on the waterfall section and he never looked back. Jim finished 2nd overall and Julie was 1st lady and 3rd overall - apparently she even managed to stay upright for the whole bike ride.
Pete
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Weekend racing
The D2T team were out in force at the weekend across GB and NI with some great performances. In no particular order......
Ryan finished 3rd overall in the Welsh Duathlon Championships.
Joyce finished third in the Limerick Duathlon, taking over 2 and a half minutes off last years time.
The UK triathlon season starts this weekend with the Ampleforth leg warmer where a couple of the team will be looking for selection for the European champs in Holten. Lets hope this sunshine continues through the weekend!
Ryan finished 3rd overall in the Welsh Duathlon Championships.
Joyce finished third in the Limerick Duathlon, taking over 2 and a half minutes off last years time.
Jill smashed her 10k pb, storming home in 36.53 to finish 7th at Eastleigh 10k.
Harry, although not very happy with his race did set a PB at Eastleigh 10k but we're pretty sure there's more to come from him.The UK triathlon season starts this weekend with the Ampleforth leg warmer where a couple of the team will be looking for selection for the European champs in Holten. Lets hope this sunshine continues through the weekend!
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Happy Birthday Harry
For Harry's Birthday
Nicola gave him 16th at English Schools, whilst a bunch of the academy kids also gave top 100 runs. Piers gave Harry 22nd at the Ballbuster
Emma gave him 1st u25 female at Ballbuster and Steve gave him 11th in his age group at Ballbuster. James G Also smashed the Ballbuster showing that Wareham Swimming makes you very very strong. Hopefully James will give Harry a late birthday present by joining the quest for World Domination!
Cheers guys, some awesome early season results. Keep it Simple and keep it consistent and the season will go well.
I'd better pull a result out tomorrow or I will be the odd one out.
Nicola gave him 16th at English Schools, whilst a bunch of the academy kids also gave top 100 runs. Piers gave Harry 22nd at the Ballbuster
Emma gave him 1st u25 female at Ballbuster and Steve gave him 11th in his age group at Ballbuster. James G Also smashed the Ballbuster showing that Wareham Swimming makes you very very strong. Hopefully James will give Harry a late birthday present by joining the quest for World Domination!
Cheers guys, some awesome early season results. Keep it Simple and keep it consistent and the season will go well.
I'd better pull a result out tomorrow or I will be the odd one out.
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Weekend Preview.....The Ballbuster Cometh......
A small but select group of the Driven to Tri team will be laying the smackdown this weekend at the Ballbuster. Piers and Steve will be making sure they don't let Emma fly by on the bike and I'm sure will be making an attempt to keep up with Mr Gilfillan and Mr Tri Monkey himself! If your racing on Saturday look out for the Driven to Tri kit and be afraid, be very afraid......
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Thanks Emily!
The Weather in Tavistock was gorgeous yesterday. Ian and Di came down for a quick spin on their bikes before they head off for a week in Lanzarote. Ian's new Planet X (named sonic) needed a couple of little tweaks and we went through how to pack a bike bag before riding the climb to Princetown. We made the most of the tale wind on the way down the hill to break some new speed records and get back in less then half the time.The best part about the day is that I was given Birthday cake! Not just any bit of birthday cake though. Emily had especially saved Super mario's legs for me. Clearly if I eat Super Mario's legs then I will become a faster runner. THANKYOU Emily, I tried to think super Mario legs at running club last night and fully cake charged I should be on for a flyer at Sundays final Westward league.
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
Purbecks Bite Back .. Big Weekender Mash Up
So there I was, in that surreal place quietly gliding along the beach from Swanage toward Portland when 20 something athletes came pacing the other way .. damn! They'd turned before I could catch them up after shepherding a couple of tired legs homewards .. So, what the hell, the chase is on .. Harry and I picked it up for the return towards Pete and his truck of love .. or jammy dodgers and water! Smooth ocean on the left, firm sand underfoot, and a warm setting sun on the right. Heaven.. it really was in Dorset last Friday evening.
At 7am the following morning we're out on tired 22km legs and spin the coast path before brekkers. Then onto the bikes for a punishing 6 hours or so, knocking the stuffing out of all by the last climb. Nathan .. you owe me buddy! An evening of Italian food, fine wine and doling out the odd massage, everyone's asleep in good time. Sunday and Harry takes a hardy total of 2 for 30 mins around the block before we set off to Wareham for a 2.5 hour road 'race' at pace - a quiet road circuit is the scene of many pained faces trying their best to focus and deliver a good effort. Pop Pop Pop ... Back at the Sports Centre safe and sound (Emma!) and into the pool for a good session .. of 150, 100, 50's increasing with a 400m time trial thrown in for good measure.. Harry solo against Tash solo, against all the other athleles on one team. Well, needless to say, the race was won in just over 4:30. Good going!! Before you know it, we're having a goodbye coffee and swapping sore leg stories, but more importantly thinking about the next camp and how good and strong it will make us all!! Thanks to our Athletes, thanks to Harry, Pete and of course The Brady Monkey, awesome weekend!! For more info click on the Camps tab..
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
It were 'ard
That's what it says on the back of the T-shirt I was given for finishing alive. And on the front, a picture of crazy Wayne.
Wayne Randall is an animal. Not a normal animal, more a machine that keeps the pace high, ably assisted by henchmen fondly referred to as the Barnsley Mafia.
Glancing around occassionally and calling people thru', it seemed that for 2 days we spent our time trying to out maneuovre a photographer and all our support vehicles. If it looked like anyone wanted to stop for a pee, the whip cracked and a funny guy called Dieter with tin foil bar tape accelerated up the road dragging an elastic band of riders behind him.
Just a couple of my observations from the last 2 days .. or 350km, or 10.5 hours of riding.
The Boggle Hole weekender, the official 2009 Planet-X bikes team launch has led to a lot of carbon zipping along great roads, over big hills, gasping for breath, chewing bars and generally not stopping for anything! It was a kind of a 3 way battle betwen the locals, the roadies and the triathletes. I'd like to say we came off best .. but I'd settle for us holding our own! Harry, Pete and myself spent 2 days in this fast group defending our love of water and running .. we've come back smashed but with a true sense of achievement from the miles covered. Plus we ground up the steepest road in Britain - Rosedale Chimney - a 1 in 3, and learnt to cram down croissants and bananas at high speed. Oh yeah .. the new bikes - Planet-X Superlight Pro Carbon's - well I can report that mine goes like a missile (it didn't have a chance to do much else!), and is very comfortbale to boot. Next up is the Big Weekender .. Pete, Jim and Harry get a chance to dish it to their athletes .. be very afraid if one of us wears the red hat!
Wayne Randall is an animal. Not a normal animal, more a machine that keeps the pace high, ably assisted by henchmen fondly referred to as the Barnsley Mafia.
Glancing around occassionally and calling people thru', it seemed that for 2 days we spent our time trying to out maneuovre a photographer and all our support vehicles. If it looked like anyone wanted to stop for a pee, the whip cracked and a funny guy called Dieter with tin foil bar tape accelerated up the road dragging an elastic band of riders behind him.
Just a couple of my observations from the last 2 days .. or 350km, or 10.5 hours of riding.
The Boggle Hole weekender, the official 2009 Planet-X bikes team launch has led to a lot of carbon zipping along great roads, over big hills, gasping for breath, chewing bars and generally not stopping for anything! It was a kind of a 3 way battle betwen the locals, the roadies and the triathletes. I'd like to say we came off best .. but I'd settle for us holding our own! Harry, Pete and myself spent 2 days in this fast group defending our love of water and running .. we've come back smashed but with a true sense of achievement from the miles covered. Plus we ground up the steepest road in Britain - Rosedale Chimney - a 1 in 3, and learnt to cram down croissants and bananas at high speed. Oh yeah .. the new bikes - Planet-X Superlight Pro Carbon's - well I can report that mine goes like a missile (it didn't have a chance to do much else!), and is very comfortbale to boot. Next up is the Big Weekender .. Pete, Jim and Harry get a chance to dish it to their athletes .. be very afraid if one of us wears the red hat!
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Forrest Gump, Sloths, Ponies and Sheep.
I watched Forrest Gump the other day, he just kept on running which is a lot like what we've been doing for the last two years, it seemed to work for him which must mean it's going to work for us! Harry even emulated Forrest by running to the sea the other day during the Hoe 10, not sure he ran quite as quick as Forrest but I'm sure he ran back just as fast - just look at the photo, you've gotta be moving quick to sweep your hair back like that. Just imagine how fast Forrest would have run if he'd have had long socks to help him.........
The other picture is me crossing the line at the last Westward league cross country. Now I definately didn't have the speed of Forrest over the last 200m, in fact my leg turnover resembled that of a sloth during my pathetic sprint for the line which saw me go from 1st to 4th rather too quickly, Jim (teamate) even had time to curl up and sleep by the time I'd finished........
On an even more exciting note (yes I know that's hard to believe) it hasn't rained in Tavistock for FOUR days in a row. This might not sound like much but people round these parts don't know what to do when it doesn't rain. The only happy 'people' are the Dartmoor ponies (donkey's if you're Flora) who have finnaly come out from hibernating in the gorse bushes.
On the subject of ponies, they're not very good at dodging snowballs. Sheep on the other hand are an entirely different prospect! We took aim at two ponies on our run last week and scored a direct hit with both - could we hit a sheep... no chance! Evolution has obviously been a lot kinder to them than the pony with regards to snowball dodging!
Bye for now!
Thursday, 29 January 2009
BIG Weekend Number 2!
The weekend was based in Okehampton on the edge of Dartmoor which meant plenty of hilly riding. We were fortunate once again to have a great bunch of 12 athletes who really wanted to train hard and also enjoy themselves. There was some great banter flying around, although it did go remarkably quiet after hill rep number 5 of 10 on Friday night! The exact schedule went something like this.........
Fri
2hr steady bike over a roling route.
1hr run including 10 x hill reps.
Sat
1hr run, real cross country on the moor.
5hr bike ride with lots of big and small hills.
Sun
1hr swim, technique for some, something harder for others
Brick - 3 different sessions, 1 turbo based, 1 medium and 1 long)
The weekend was summed up perfectly by Nicci who after bonking pretty hard on the Saturday ride still got back on her bike after a quick food stop and then hammered the sessions on Sunday morning. It opened everyone's eyes as to how much the body can cope with and left most people leaving the camp with a new perspective on training and the motivation to go away and train hard. The next camp is the 6th-8th of March in the Purbecks. Sign up quick .........
Thursday, 8 January 2009
January Swim Camp Now Full
The January Swim camp is now full. Look forward to seeing you all on Saturday
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