Nice to back up on one of those podium things again!

This past week has been a series of ‘firsts in a while’ – racing back to back weekends including both transatlantic travel and and a longer distance event (in fact that is a ‘first in a while’ all on it’s own) and indeed getting used to travelling again seemed like a first at times. All good fun though and part of the journey ahead – this journey of finding race fitness once more.

Talking of journeys, I had a fun trip over to Racine from Madison on Friday afternoon courtesy of the K Swiss expo truck. – It travels from race to race across the country and was en route to Racine via the Trek factory – happy coincidence I thought! Once here in Racine I was being homestayed by the wonderful Behrends family… I am now a (re)fan of all things cartoon thanks to Zach and Lilah (age 5 and 7!)

Apparently summer arrived in the MidWest just in time for us this morning – word on the street was that it’s been hovering around the kind of temperatures the Shire would be proud of until recently. Today it was 32C. And humid. Of course it was. - I usually like racing in the heat … just with some time to get a tan beforehand though.

Being back and racing in the US felt good though. – The events are just so much bigger with more excitement and atmosphere – transition had over 2500 bikes in it, the whole town was in lock down and there were 90ks of closed roads to get out on. It wouldnt happen in the UK!

After the poor(er) swim of last week in Zurich I was aiming to get out as hard as I could and try to set a good tempo. After a live rendition of the Star Spangled Banner from the race director over the tannoy (he was good!) it was time to hit the waters of Lake of Michigan – it is big, one of the Great Lakes no less (and not in any way to be confused with the Atlantic Ocean – I wouldn’t ever be that dumb, oh no, not me …)

We exited the water as a group of 5 – eventual race winner Paul Ambrose did a magic act that involved putting 7 minutes into myself, Steve Hacket and Craig Alexander by T2 which was impressive riding. I didn’t feel fantastic out on the bike today, in fact I rode with power for the first time and was contemplating giving the computer a serious throw as it confirmed I was doing a perfect job of heamoraging watts as the ride lengthened… work to be done.

my new Speed Concept with little Lilah from my homestay on board

The run was always going to be tough. By now it was warming up nicely and I was looking for shade in desperation at every street corner; there didn’t seem to be any readily available. I headed out of T2 in 3rd place and held onto that position till just shy of the 10 mile marker. It wasn’t pretty running but it’s a start and thats the main thing. I hung on to the finish to take 4th place in what was a competitive field.

I’m happy with how it went today. Other suffered even more and it has been a long time since I got to the finish of a long course race, so I have to be (and most definately am) pleased.

Work to be done, as always, and that is going to be done in Boulder, Colorado. – I fly out of Milwaukee tomorrow lunchtime to go see for myself what this multi sports and outdoors mecca is all about.

There is a beach – it must be the seaside, right?

Full results are here

Exiting the water with work to do …. 

The new 5150 series is a great new addition to the race calendar; these are not all new races as such, just that they have been taken under then Ironman umbrella and perhaps gained a little bit more profile and higher quality fields as a consequence. Zurich for example has always had a Saturday event as a prelude to the main event of the weekend; Ironman Switzerland on the Sunday. Ordinarily our race would’ve been a Swiss Cup event, although Ritchie had in fact raced here way back in 2005 when we (the Scottish squad) were training in Gerardmer, France (and I – as Ritchie pointed out with rather good memory skills – was racing at the Euro U23 Champs in Bulgaria… not such fond memories!)

Anyway, the bottom line was that Saturday would let me see with a bit more detail where I was in terms of real race shape and probably more importantly, it was a chance to ‘just go through’ the whole process of a race once more. – The packing, the travel, the logistics, the finding of somewhere to eat the night before in a strange place (did someone mentione the Golden Arches?!), the race day prep – morning jog, breaky, getting to the venue, warm-up, nerves on the beach before the cannon goes.. etc etc.

The race itself was of course a good solid hit out, but I came away with mistakes to learn from. – The swim was a run in off a little beach area, directly into a tight left hand turn bouy after maybe 150m or less. Essentially the swim start was important to get a good position going round that first bouy, and I was – after too much long distance racing (where the swim isn’t as competitive to be honest) - complacent. I figured I could start a little more to the right to avoid ‘the fight’ and simply swim onto the front group after a 100m or so. Negative. I looked up to sight after 30m or so and was already significantly adrift. Ritchie was hanging on just behind.

I exited the water about 1 minute down on the leaders, but set to work alongside Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack. We pushed a good pace round the 3 lap course, which contained the famous ‘Heartbreak Hill’ from the Ironman Course and had virtually pegged all but the race leader back by T2. Ritchie, after a very strong ride in what was only his 2nd event using a TT bike, was still lingering.

Given where I am with my training the 10k run is always going to be a considerable step out of my comfort zone, and so I set about finding a pace that I could sustain without digging too big a hole. I am racing again next weekend in my first 70.3 event in over a year, so I wanted to limit the damage to the limbs as much as possible. I watched with a smile as Ritchie stormed by after less than a K and told himto get after them. He is running extremely well right now and it was no surprise to see him comfortably in the lead at the final turn point around the 7K mark. He won with ease!

All in I am happy with the 10th place finish; I worked hard and (re)learned some valuable lessons. It was a whirlwind trip but good fun and well worth it.  – As a wise Irishman says “it is what it is” and I am looking forward to the next challenge on the agenda; Ironman 70.3 Racine on Sunday in Wisconsin.

Ritchie shares his race-winning (non alcoholic!) beer with Chris’ Macca’ McCormack while I catch up with Paul Amey.

Race results are here

I had raced in Liverpool once before – the British Championships were held there once in 2004, and I remembered the Albert Docks as being a really good city centre venue; which they certainly are. We arrived on Saturday evening, having left the rain of the Shire behind and found a pleasant warmth in the air. Happy days right away!

The race for me was all about getting out there, enjoying it and having a blast – Going as hard as I could from the off was about as complicated as my race plan ever looked and there was something nice and relaxing about that. There was a small but really good quality field racing, which I knew would let me see how I was doing in the old fitness stakes… ouch!

The swim was in the dock itself, with the odd (thankfully non stinging) jellyfish and green and gunky reeds to negotiate. I held my own and climbed out just behind Stuart Hayes, feeling pleased with the effort as the boy can surely swim. I stuck my head down on the bike and set to work ticking off the 4 laps through the streets; lap 1 was a painful blur, laps 2 and 3 were highlighted by the chimes of the church bells and lap 4 was a case of  ‘lets get off the bike soon as these legs are a wee bit tired now’! I was delighted to ride like I did and a 70second buffer to Stuart out of T2 was the result… loved riding the Speed Concept again! My run was a mix between holding off Stu for as long as I could and then fending a charging Ritchie Nichols off in his non drafting debut … there were a few curses directed his way in the closing 500m!

All in it was a great weekend away – I thought it was a cracking venue for this type of race with closed roads and great viewing for spectators across all 3 disciplines which always makes such a difference to the way an event feels. A big thankyou to the Kevin, Richard and Laura at race HQ for looking after us so well and giving us a great hotel room!

Congratulations to Stuart and fellow tri performance solutions racer Liz Blatchford for theirs wins …. thanks to Liz for this superb race video aswell:

Full races results are here.

3rd placers - me with fellow Scot Lesley Paterson

I only decided to race at the last minute … I was going to be watching Julie Dibens race anyway, since we were both travelling out to Kona together on the Monday. In the end I opted to start, and I am glad that I did …

It is always good to catch up with Lesley and hear a Scottish accent when away from home – I didn’t know she was going to be racing so it was a nice surprise to see her in the morning transition darkness!

It was a fun morning at the beach (although a cold and misty one – temps hovering around 14C all morning!!) and my swim/bike/run although nothing to write home about was a reasonable effort given the long haul flight only 36hours before.

I came out of the water in 2nd just behind Matty Reed and couldnt quite hold his pace out of transition; he slowly pulled away during the 40ks and I was passed midway through the run to end up on the final podium spot. I certainly didnt have any real speed, which is to be expected given the current prep for Kona and so I can’t complain ….

W caught up with fellow K Swiss/Trek team mate Chris Lieto for dinner before he raced the ‘Classic’ event on the Sunday – the 3 of us are all racing in Kona in just under a months time. In fact we got up early on Sunday to ride over and catch the end of his race before carrying on for a long ride to fill up our morning.

Picture says it all... 1st place at the inaugural TGP event in Kent

On Sunday I took on a world class field at Leybourne Lakes, Kent at the TriGrandPrix and crossed the line as the winner, the reality of which is still sinking in if I am honest. – It was the goal, but to actually tick the box is always tricky. I believe as I spoke to Jose – who hosted such an ambitious and exciting new event – at the finish, I commented on it being “a good day to have a good day” … I couldn’t agree with myself more!

Riding my new Trek Sped Concept to a 3minute lead off the bike

I was relatively concerned going into the race about the travel still lurking from my flying visit to LA and back the weekend previous … jet lag can be a funny thing and I didn’t really know how the body would fire untill the get-go. I shouldn’t have worried – I felt rested and relaxed by Saturday once we had arrived and as soon as I got going on the bike there was no looking back. It was a challenging and tough bike course – just as I like them and within the opening 15 miles I had managed to create a substantial gap on the boys behind. At the dead turn around that point I got a proper look at my advantage and had a wry smile when I saw the damage to Timo Bracht in 2nd … I knew the Speed Concept was flying and throughout the remainder of the ride I continued to feel under control.

I have been working patiently on my run since returning from St Croix in early May and I knew things should be ok when I was told the differnence was around 3 minutes … I kept working hard and stayed focused on the task at hand so that the gap stayed more or less constant.

Winning is a fantastic feeling, and I excited about the season unfolding ahead of me. – The domestic season rolls on – in less than 3 weeks I have Ironman UK 70.3 and then the Ironman 6 weeks further on.

Big thanks to everyone involved in the event on Sunday – to Jose in particular for looking after us whilst down there – and good luck with the next event in the series over in Spain in 10days or so.

Thanks also to Iain at ImacImages for the photo’s above.

Finished … and glad to nip in front of Fred Van Lierde (Belgium) in the last K of the run …

Exiting the water in the joint lead (again with Fred from Belgium!) at the end of the first swim lap

Running out of the water after the swim was complete – we never seem to look too good at swim exit do we?

Somewhere out on the bike course  on my new Trek TTX – I couldn’t tell you where though. Do the shadows look a little too close to you too??

Myself and fellow team members Joe, Julie and Heather share some of our thoughts before race day ……

On Wednesday Blair and I headed into town to have a little look around … we didn’t see much to be honest, and here we are on our way inside a shopping centre, where we ended up killing time watching a movie. Hmm … couldnt have done that at home could we?!?

And finally … this morning we all had to climb onto buses with our bikes! to get down to the race start and rack our bikes before race day tomorrow morning. We figured a little ‘team shot’ could work out nice.

We race at 6.20am tomorrow (Saturday) morning, which is 2.20am at home. If all things go to plan, then have a think of me on the run course from around 8ish onwards …

I’m nervous, but excited too. It’s a unique distance, but ultimately I can learn a ton from it and take it forward for racing Ironman later in the year. That’s the plan. I’ll try stick to it

There is time for just the one more cheeky bike ride before I head back to the airport this afternoon, which will take the tally to - 9 days, including; 10 rides, 10 swims (some a lot shorter than others) – 5 in the sea without a wetty! , 3 runs (being careful with my tender calf), 4 massages (Bart(olome) is still a funny dude), 5 boxes of cereal, 2 jams, a melon or 3, too much coke and of course ….. LOTS of coffee.

A long, wet day. But a winning one.

I was really a little on the sceptical side as to whether this expedition to the lowlands was going to be entirely sensible, but the more adventurous side of me prevailed midweek and the flight to Amsterdam was booked. The total distance (3/110/30k) was longer than I had finished before, and the run was a good chunk longer than I had attempted in about a year (training and racing!) – but it would be ok I told myself, as everyone knows that Holland is flat, right? Em, yeah ….not this bit.

It was good to catch up with fellow T.R.I team mate Alun Woodward for the first time since late last year in Clearwater – he and the family had driven all the way from Hungary through the night – 16hours!! It made our trip to Wimbleball last week seem trivial.

We entered the canal as the heavens opened.

Always a pleasure to race in the rain. I knew that Alun would be swimming well, and he and I exited the water a good 2 minutes in front of the next group, which seemed an awful lot given I didn’t really kick during the swim. I had decided that, if possible and the legs obliged, I would try and push the second 2 laps of the bike. Thankfully Woody was riding well and he set a good pace for the first 55ks. Unfortunately just as the rain was really starting to pelt down he punctured and I was out front alone. – Well, not really alone, given the lead car and 2 or 3 motorbikes at any one time. – They really know how to organise top class, safe racing in Europe.

The bike course was really something, let me tell you!

I actually couldn’t quite believe it when my homestay drove me around the day before! – Twists, turns, ups, downs, cobbles, you name it – it was there. I really should’ve paid more attention to the course profile and info before I travelled. However, with 4 laps to negotiate, there was time to learn it as I went. Boredom was not an option thats for sure. By T2 I had somehow built a lead that approached 15 minutes which left me feeling confident that I could maintain my lead through to the finish line.

I managed to do just that.

The run was good for most of the way – 15ks or so, but then I had the opposite of a speed wobble! Not to worry, it had stopped raining, I could sense the finish, and seeing the 2nd place athlete almost 4k behind perks you up no end I can confirm!

Trophy, medal, flowers and comedy cheque. Job done!

A big thanks to my lovely homestay for the weekend – the Pieters Family. They looked after me really well. And of course to the race organisation, led by Rob de Hooge.

Results and race pics are online at SabicTriathlon.nl

I like racing at home when I can, and the Stirling Triathlon Club have been very supportive of me so far, making it all the more worthwhile being able to give a little something back when I can.

I raced early(ish) in the morning – the first wave off, and it was a few degrees the wrong side of comfortable if I’m honest. Thankfully the forcast rain held off (for the entire day in the end as it were) and everybody was able to enjoy dry surfaces. I myself was happy enough with the way I got round the course. Since I got home from Florida nearly 3 weeks ago, it has simply been a case of getting myself into race shape in time for the UK Ironman 70.3. The process has involved a significant amount of physiotherapy and yet still I had pencilled in both the Athy race in Ireland last week and the sprint at home here in Stirling this morning. It’s been a fair old balancing act, but I feel like I have judged it reasonably well.

Afterwards I was back onto the pooldeck to help out with the kids race. I wish there had been similar racing formats available when I was younger – it without question develops the useful skills required for racing later on down the years. And that asides, it’s plain old good fun racing if you ask me.

8-10yr old kids race; some great start positions there

Some great racing all over the shop this w/e from our squadron including a fatastic win from Dan in the xterra series, where he brought Conrads winning streak to an end aswell as a top 5 from Gav down in wettest Blenheim and also a solid result from Aleksandar at the Swiss 70.3.