Bishopbriggs Tri Sunday 9th May

Colin Bain became an official Triathlete at the weekend as he took part in the Bishopbriggs Novice Triathlon. It was not much of a surprise to most of us that he did well & 4th position is an excellent result. Below is Colin's race report.

Well done also to Donna who also took part in the Novice Tri & to James who was in action in the Sprint Distance Event.

Bishopbriggs Novice Tri - 09/05/2010

The day finally arrived and I woke up sick as a dog! I wasn't ill, it was simply nerves. This might seem a bit much given that I was only doing a Novice tri but before I started swimming in January, I seriously doubted I'd ever be able to do one. It was simply the the fear of the unknown in the pool.

Anyway I got up to Bishopbriggs nice and early in order to get registered, warm up on the bike, run a bit, get my stuff in transition and most importantly do LOADS of arm stretches prior to the swim. Nerves started to disappear as I was distracted by chatting to lots of fellow “Novices” (the reason for the inverted commas will be explained later). So after a couple of heats it was our turn, deep breath and it was time of the off. All my arm stretches helped and I wasn't struggling nearly as much as the start of most of our training sessions. I think my technique was mostly out of the window as I was more interested in getting to the end of the swim. I was doing OK and had caught the guy in front fairly quickly (seemed to be placed in lane 1 with only 2 other slow swimmers). I was well in my stride before, BOOM! I collided head on with the other lady in my lane. Not my fault. She had backstroked across the lane and hit me on my side! The knocked me right backwards and it was damn difficult to get going again. Anyway, it took me a wee bit to get going and I made it to the end and scrambled out of the pool, ready to get the hammer down. By this time, several people had already finished their swim.

Out of pool, I immediately started to pass people in transition and out on the bike laps. It ws acase of going as hard as I could and seeing how many folk I could pass. I got to a stage on the bike where I had passed most of the serious looking cyclists and even the Marshall's motor bike was pacing me. Me?After a lap of being 'paced' I was into transition again with nobody anywhere near. I was stating to think I might be doing well. On to the run and the legs felt fine (not like a Duathlon). I kept up the pace as much as possible not wanting to back off at all given that this was against the clock. My new racing shoes worked a treat as I floated over the ground. It being only a 3K run, it was over pretty quickly and I was through the finish, tired but not exhausted, wondering where I had placed.

So what was my position? After enquiring, I was sent indoors to check the timing board. 3rd place!!I was delighted with a podium. My time of 43 mins, a full 10 mins slower than the winner and 6 mins slower than 2nd place. That sounded like an awful big gap to me. About half an hour later, I checked the results sheet and I had somehow slipped to 6th place, 4th male Novice. Booo! Spoke too soon about the podium. I was gutted. Full results are not out yet but I seem to remember that the first few places in the novice race swam 400m in under 6mins, cycled under 17 mins and ran under 12 mins! Not sure that any of those performances were Novice performances but mabe I'm just bitter. I'm not, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and definitely will step up to Sprint distance for the next one, hopefully before the end of the summer. It's nice to finally be a triathlete, something I've thought of for many years. Highlight for me was definitely seeing my son waving at me through the cafe window every time I took a breath coming back down the pool. Thanks Callum!

Land o’ Burns 10k race, 26th May. 7.30pm

There is a new 10k if anyone fancies it....Colin, Jojo and I are doing it .
Leave a comment if you're entering

More info

Entry form

What they said.....
Thanks for your interest in the Land o’ Burns 10k race.
I would describe the course as basically flat with a couple of gentle ups ( and downs) along the way.
It is indeed a road race and includes beautiful views of Arran ( on a good day) at the start and later on the race passes by the historic Burns cottage.
I expect the course to be pretty quick though this is the first running of this race so have no times yet to compare.
Look forward to seeing you on the 26th May

A trip to Arran, Sunday 9th May REMINDER

ATHelite Tri Club is planning a trip to Arran.

There are 2 cycle routes available to cater for all abilities. There is the North circular which is 32 miles (realistically you have 5-7 hours to complete) or the Arran circular which is 57 miles.

Arran North Circular - A B C D A

A stunning route around Arran's high mountains. Flat coast roads, plus 2 big inland hills. Achievable by most people with good fitness. 32 miles. 3 to 5 hours.

Arran Circular - A B C E F G H J A

The famous ‘Round the Island' route, a tough combination of both North and South circulars, an excellent days challenge requiring a good level of fitness. 57 miles, 5 to 8 hours.

http://www.arranbikeclub.com/cycling.html

We will get the 0945 Ferry from Ardrossan which will get us in to Brodick, Arran for 1040

We will depart at 1640 arriving back at 1735.

The ferry costs £9.70.

Lands End to John O'Groats

Good luck to Jack & co who are heading to Lands End today for start of LEJOG - Lands End to John O'Groats. Follow their progress on their Waterrats Blog....

http://waterratslejog.blogspot.com/

Blue Seventy wetsuits, neopren caps, neoprene swim gloves, and neoprene socks now all back in stock at ATHelite

Training W/C 3rd May

Monday - RUN, ATHelite EK, 6.15pm

Tuesday - SWIM, Tollcross, 7.00am

Tuesday - BIKE, 6.15pm. With the Bundy - not for the faint hearted!!

Wednesday - SWIM, 5.00pm - 6.45pm Hamilton College

Thursday - RUN, ATHelite, EK, 6.15pm

Friday - SWIM, Tollcross 7.00am

Saturday - BIKE - 9.00am Long Steady. Meeting point at the top of Hurlawcrook Road just before the turn off for Langlands golf course. (Leave a comment if you're attending)

Sunday - RUN Long steady. The usual Sunday run will start at 9am, meeting point at the top of Hurlawcrook Road just before the turn off for Langlands golf course. (This may be a quiet run as the Womens 10k is on!)

See you at the sessions!!

SWIM ALERT!!

No swimming tomorrow (Friday) morning at Tollcross - closed due to Industrial Action.

Rumour has it the real reason is that Gareth dropped a Mars Bar whilst swimming & it blocked one of the filters.

Colin

Women Cycling

Hi,
Scottish Cycling have asked to publicise the undernoted events which may be of benefit to your members. I would be grateful if you could forward this around any interested club members.
Many thanks,
Jacqui (Triathlon Scotland)
As part of the Women and Veterans Series 2010, Scottish Cycling is pleased to announce 3 Women’s Development Coaching Sessions on:

· 8th May at Ingliston Showground,
· 26th June at Caird Park
· 7th August at Ingliston Showground.
These coach led sessions will aim to teach women of all abilities the skills for road racing. Working with Scottish Cycling’s performance development coaches you will have the chance to develop your skills in a positive environment where the focus will be on skill development rather than physical ability.
The sessions will focus on:
· bunch riding skills and confidence,
· cornering,
· accelerations in and out of the saddle

Using coaching sessions that are designed to give riders the maximum amount of time on the bike while focussing on skill development; it will be a great opportunity to learn in a fun environment with like-minded people. A big part of the feedback process is using video analysis, this is only one of the ways the coaches will be able to support your skill development. By creating a beginner friendly environment where it is ok to not know! it’s hoped you will have the opportunity to ask those questions you have always had but never asked!

The session on 8th May will start at 9am. The exact timings and content of the other 2 sessions will be confirmed closer to the time. The cost will be £10 per person for each development session and payable on the day.
This is a fantastic opportunity for women to be part of a specific coaching session before the start of the Women and Veterans Series which take place on the following dates:

16th May – Women and Veterans’ RR Series Event 1 – Dunfermline
3rd July - Women and Veterans’ RR Series 2 – Blairgowrie
22nd August - Women and Veterans’ RR Series 3 – Balfron

We would like to encourage as many women along to these sessions as possible whether experienced or novice riders.

If you have any questions regarding the sessions please do not hesitate to contact the Events Coordinator Ruth Volley on 0131 317 9704 or emailing ruth.volley@scottishcycling.org.uk

Group Sunday Ride - Crieff 25th April

Twelve of us arranged via many, many emails to meet up at Crieff Leisure Centre on Sunday morning for a 100 mile group ride. Through fear, drunkeness & shopping for bathroom fittings we were whittled down to the final 8 by Saturday night & that's the way it stayed.... Colin 'The Freebster' Freeman, Genevieve 'Lovin' It' Freeman, Neil 'The Boy' Crookston, Graeme 'Thunder Thighs' Allan, John 'Bleedin' Legs' Irish, Dawn 'Dirty Dawn' Buchanan, Michael 'Wet Leisure' Martin & Race Ride Organiser Trevor 'Trevor Blackburn' Blackburn.
The weather forecast was looking favourable so it was a bit of a suprise to look out the window at 7.00am on Sunday to see the rain bouncing off the car roof. We optimistically assumed that by the time we got to Crieff we would be bathed in sunshine like those Lucky London Marathoners. No such luck - it was hammering it down & the thought of riding 100 miles was horrific, as was getting out of the car.
After waiting 20 minutes for Graeme to arrive having had trouble negotiating the complicated? road system of Crieff City we headed off into the freezing rain.

Out of Crieff toward Loch Earn on the following route...

Route_Map

Once we had got going it was VERY wet but not too bad other than if you were on someones wheel & tried to speak then your mouth immediately filled with water & you just gurgled.
We had one food stop for Michael to get some fried food on board, the rest of us were just being polite ...

Dawn had the first puncture - apparently the guage on her track pump is faulty hence riding her tyres at 200 psi. Trevors wheel bearings sounded like a bag of nails in a washing machine, Dawns cassette rattled like a shopping trolley. The Boy changed Colins first puncture but refused on the second 'Cattle Grid Bunny Hop' puncture so I changed it myself only to somehow unscrew the entire valve afterwards so Trevor sorted this one out for me. I don't get many punctures :-/
Other than some long climbs & lots of sheep the ride was fantastic, everyone survived without any further problems & at some points some people even managed a smile....

Despite consuming large portions of Genevieves Birthday cake, some of us decided to stop off for a pub dinner on the way home. Having driven loops round Dunblane looking for a great pub that Dawn knew its turns out that that great pub was in fact in Dunkeld so we went to a not so great pub instead. Nice food though.

Thanks everyone for a fun day out & some good hard miles & we look forward to the next one.

C.

That is NOT a Recovery Week!!

Quite a week last week - on the training plan it was a recovery week but it turned out there were so many exciting events going on that it turned into a 16 hour training week with the recovery happening this week instead!

Mon - Harriers 5 x 3 min efforts round the Glen & back roads. Felt very strong despite barely running recently & sat up the front comfortably. All down to the biking.

Tues - Am; Tollcross swim 2.5k efforts.

Tues - Pm; out with the Bundy & got out to Crossford this time before 'nipping' up the Braidwood climb & jumping on the bunch again for a while once they caught us.

Weds - Am; Core/Stretching

Weds - Pm; Hamilton College session - great 3k efforts session.

Thurs - EKRC 38 mile APR - felt strong again. I have not ridden that hard for that duration before.

Fri - Rest/Stretch

Sat - Rest/Stretch

Sun - Long ride from Creiff 100 miles in miserable weather conditions! (report to follow).

A solid training week for both of us but now need to recover after 4 consecutive weeks of building. Must find time to run more, especially fitting in a weekly long run.
 
C.

Team ATHelite at Ayr Duathlon on Sunday.

Ayr Duathlon 2010 - Report, Results & Photos

A great turnout for the Duathlon today - for those of you who don't know it, it is a fabulous, friendly sprint Duathlon (5k run, 20k bike, 5k run) held in the grounds of Oswald Hall just outside Ayr. The course is far from easy with a twisty 5k run with sharp ups & downs, a (long) 20k bike with several climbs & a poor road surface followed by a repeat of the same 5k. On the plus side the weather was warm & sunny & there is a great array of cakes available at the finish, even if you do have to run past them twice before you can get stuck in.
In attendance today were Me (Colin), Genevieve, Colin B, Alan S, Graeme A, Gareth, Davy Herbertson, Big Don K.....
Colin B was hot off the blocks with a flying start in front of myself with the others close together behind. Out of stubborness more than desire I managed to sneak past Colin B but there was little between us as we arrived into transition. I was first out of T1 & straight onto the first climb with screaming thighs & lots of pothole dodging & knew Colin was hot on my heels. Down the daredevil descent past the start line & quickly onto the second lap Malcom Dippie nipped past me but I started to feel stronger but as we got caught up in a bit of traffic I was aware of someone half wheeling me & knew it was the Bainmeister. I put the hammer down a bit & opened up a small gap but again there was little in it in T2 & I had only a 200 mtr lead. Malcom was the same distance ahead of me & I thought I would catch him until I started running & felt far from comfortable. I haven't done a sprint distance for months & had forgotton that I cannot take on fluids just before the run as I get terrible stomach cramps so grabbing a glass of water coming out of T2 was a stupid mistake & it hurt. Malcom neither pulled away or got any closer & when I looked back I saw Colin B had self-combusted & just consolidated my position & got to the finish. Not a good 2nd run time for me but 12th position any way & 1.19.17 total time. As expected my runs were slower than last year but a quicker bike meant for an improved total time on 2009. Colin B lost a handful of places on the 2nd run but finished in a great time of 1.21.05  
A strong consistent performance from Alan brought him next in in 1.27.12 followed in by Graeme in 1.31.42. (On checking previous results Graeme once finished this event in 2007 in 1.55 - that's quite an improvement!)  
Genevieve came in just under a minute behind Graeme in 1.32.40 - quicker than last year & also quick enough to pick up a PODIUM POSITION  as 2nd Female OVERALL!!!
An outstanding performance from David Herbertson. 1.33.58 in his first ever Duathlon saw him turn out 2 good runs as expected but also a respectable bike aswell on a tricky course.
Gareth was in next in 1.37.42 swearing he would never be appearing in this event again but 25 minutes on the 1st & 2nd run is a good result.
Late entrant Don Kennedy was next in for the club. 1.49.37 with two consistant runs & a good steady bike time on the Hybrid.
    
                     Overall   Run1   Cycle    Run2
Colin Freeman 1:19:17 0:18:12 0:41:08 0:19:57

Colin Bain 1:21:05 0:18:17 0:41:53 0:20:55

Alan Stirling 1:27:12 0:21:31 0:43:08 0:22:33

Graeme Allan 1:31:42 0:22:27 0:43:58 0:25:17

Genevieve F 1:32:40 0:22:26 0:45:28 0:24:46

David H 1:33:58 0:20:49 0:50:55 0:22:14

Gareth 1:37:42 0:25:17 0:46:34 0:25:51

Don Kennedy 1:49:37 0:25:41 0:57:37 0:26:19

Well done everyone - it was great having a good turnout for the club - others were commenting at the end at our good representation & we also managed a sound unrelenting attack on the cake table afterwards. Imagine having 3 different flavours of swiss roll? Myself & Alan managed to tag team the lot between us I think. Final congrats to Genevieve for getting the club a Podium Position!!

Photos

Results