Three weeks until we leave for the Euro Champs in Turkey, eeek. Mind you I have been putting the training in, and as part of that, pushing the races that are part of it.
Buckingham sprint on Sunday 12th May was great; I was put in a wave that had a 'potential' race winner in it. It went well and I posted some good times. There was a bit of a mess up on the run 'turn around', the leading four competitors were directed the wrong way for a couple of minutes or so. No biggie in the grand scheme of things but at the time, well, every second counts! I actually crossed the line first, but as it was a ‘staggered’ swim start in the pool, finished 2nd overall behind, (now, I was told off for not mentioning this person in a previous post so: he needs no introduction, the incredible, the magnificent)… David Glossy! of the Corley Elite Triathlon Team, boy, are these guys great, it was an absolute honour (as David would, and does say) to race against them.
Great result for Matthew Wootton who had a storming race and picked up 4th!
Full race results here
A few more photos on my FB page here
On the following Thursday 16th May I raced at the first of this year's Tri Crazy Box End Off-Road evening races. A really good no frills friendly event that only costs a tenner to enter! My goal last year was to break the 1 hour barrier. I did it once, just!
We have always been blighted with, well, let's just say, not the best weather. This time it was much kinder to us and the sun shone.
I had a good swim, I have been working with Greenlight over the winter and this has paid off. I exited the water, after a 'long' 750m 20 seconds behind the fastest swimmer. My transition was quicker, I left transition in first and am pleased to say I held that place until the end and finished in 58:28. I was chased all the way on the swim and bike by Mark Booth, this kept me 'motivated'. Second mention in this post to Matthew Wootton who after suffering from 'head numbing' due to the cold in the swim had another great bike and run and took 2nd place, Mark coming in 3rd.
Full results here
And more photos on my FB Multi me page here
My home event, the NiceTri Events Sprint was on Sunday 19th May. The first one of the season, and I think is one of the best events around, and I'm not just being 'homest' these races get great feedback and are really well run - partly thanks to the knowledgeable, friendly marshals!
It was great to be able to compare performances from last year too! I did just that... Last year I came 6th, in 1:13:55 (although the weather was pretty horrid!) but this year I moved up to 2nd in 1:08:27! In near perfect conditions... only a breath of wind and a great temperature, river was a bit cold, but there's not much I could do about that!
I came out of the water after a gruelling second half upstream swim, in 8th place. Thanks to the fastest transition of the day I moved out onto the bike in 4th - I took 3rd almost straight away! From the first revolution of the chainset, my legs hurt!... I could see a cyclist in the distance ahead of me -so he became my target... No matter how much I pushed he wasn’t prepared to give up that position easy. It was around 15k into the bike before I caught him. Now, all thoughts turned to catching the leader, Toby Morrell. Toby was even more determined to keep his first place. After transition I ended up 30 seconds behind, he was very strong on the run and stretched his lead taking the win with me coming in a ‘convincing’ 2nd place. My best result at this event so far!
My club had great placings throughout, special mentions should go to Richard and Mick for having great races and grabbing their AG Wins.
Full results here
Again more photos on my FB page here
Coming up
Silverstone Dualthlon
Silverstone Dualthlon
Grendon Sprint – Euro Qualifier
Nottingham – World Qualifier