A Day in the Lakes Half Ironman - Report!!

Well - it's nice to look back on it but boy, that was a tough one.

Up late on Friday night with the Calderglen Trail Race meant that the 'important' sleep the night before the night before was not a good one. Woke up shattered on Sat morning for a full days work then the drive down to the Lakes (Gen drove, I tried to sleep without too much success).

Arrived into Ullswater about 8.00pm ish - stunning scenery, then into Pooley Bridge & the Park Foot campsite which was just my worst nightmare come true - noisy, absolutely teaming with kids & drunk blokes. Fortunately we were directed away from all this to the Triathlons own field down by the lake - much calmer & we managed to pitch the tent about 200 yards from transition.

Tent up, BBQ lit & we started to relax a little - until the BBQ went out & we still hadn't eaten at 9.45pm! Still, pulled it all together & off to bed for about 5 hours restless sleep.

Woke up on race day - Genevieve seemed ok but I just felt sick, nervous & tired so I took a fair amount of direction to get me sorted out & organised. NOTE; MUST go into Barcelona in a better state than this because it is an exhausting state to be in.

SWIM
Race started at 8.30am. 3 swim heats - we were both in heat 2. Water was lovely - clear & flat, just perfect. We were to swim at an even pace throughout - I really enjoyed it & stayed out of trouble, the only issue was the buoys were too small to sight on properly & I couldn't see anything swimming into the low sun with a blue lens in my mask. Need to take a couple of lens options to Barcelona.

Exited the swim with ease & ran to T1, rolled off the wetsuit & looked up to see Gen standing there in T1 also, couldn't believe it - what a great swim she had! Our swim times were approx 36 mins - no chip time unfortunately but bang on target.

BIKE
We both exited T1 at the same time & feeling quite strong I pulled away from Gen who sensibly rode her own race, not mine. The bike route was a cracker but a tough one - undulating to say the least especially the 20% Kirkstone Climb & Shap later on but I felt strong all the way - overtaking steadily all the time, especially in the hills. Gen was going well until some sharp lower back pains forced her to stop & stretch out for a few minutes but better to do that then push on through the pain - still a long way to go.

My total time for this very hilly 56 miles was 3.11, Gen was about 20 minutes more after the back issues. We did not have any problem with the distance or terrain but I personally need to try & relax on the bike, I felt like I was always pushing myself to get to the run which put a bit too much pressure on myself. Gen needs to do some more core strengthening.

It was good to practice the nutrition - we set our watch timers for 20 minute repeats & fed & watered every time. Ok at first but it makes you realise how much you need to take on board in these events.

RUN
So, the dreaded run arrived - we knew it was going to be tough but had no idea quite how bad it was going to be. I left T2 in a group of about 6 -running for about half a mile along the road before turning right & seeing the road climb steeply in front of us. To my surprise everyone I was with just stopped & walked but I kept on running even as the road turned to path then scrabbley sheep track. I kept running for a full hour - right up over the first summit feeling extremely hot & wretching occasionally with the effort of all the climbing, twists, turns & leaping over streams & rocks. Very glad I followed the Fell shoe advice. Came to the first of only 2 feed stations & paused for long awaited water & forced down a gel then trotted along for a short while before I saw the climb ahead (see picture on previous post). Attempted to continue running but just too steep & rugged & as soon as 1 person ahead started walking everyone did. Climbed up here for what seemed like hours until I got to the summit & the most incredible views across Ullswater. Looked behind & saw a chain of people walking behind far into the distance. Headed off the summit across a very boggy area then started descending very carefully for an age. Almost as bad as going up. We eventually made it off the fells & back onto the road for the longest 3.5 miles of my life - the sun beating down & the road still undulating. 2 miles from home & Mark from the Daily Record shot past me at what seemed like 10k pace & skelped me on the ass. I resigned myself to the fact that he had beaten me on this occasion only to turn another corner & find him bent double by the hedge with cronic stitch. I didn't stop to help.
The camp site & finish finally arrived & I crossed the line in a run time of 2.11 and a fraction over 6 hours in total. Mark finished 2 minutes later & I sat & waited for Genevieve who I feared would absolutely hate the run. She appeared into the finish area looking none too bad, finishing in 6.44 & an outstanding 9th female. People were generally about 50 minutes outside their normal half marathon time & this was true for both of us.
POST RACE
Back to the tent for a BBQ, glass or 2 of wine then passed out at about 7.00pm knackered & burnt to a crisp.

In summary this was a big confidence boost for us for Ironman distance in October - it was very hot, the swim & bike were not too much trouble & the run felt more like 20 miles because of the terrain. The nutrition went fairly well and we survived & feel fairly well recovered today if not a little bit limp!
As far as this being a race to recommend - I would say yes, I would seriously recommend that you don't do it!!

1/7/09 UPDATED TIMES!! - Apparently Heat 2 swim times were a minute slow so now Genevieves time is 6.43 & mine 5.59 - yee haa Sub 6 hours!

See the link below for Mark's Blog entry on the Daily Record Blog too....
http://blogs.dailyrecord.co.uk/ironman/2009/06/a-long-day-in-the-lakes.html#more

C.

Triathlon Scotland Newsletter

The next Newsletter will be issued in August and we would be grateful for any articles and photos which your club or club members may wish to contribute. Email them to me by 15th July and I'll forward them on.

A Day in the Lakes - Photo shot!!

Anyone fancy a Half Marathon at the end of a Half Ironman????

Apparently it is all downhill from here. In an Ambulance.

St Christies Times

..... are now on the website. They look about right given the timing disaster.

Colin 26.03 (1 min 15 sec PB) (With new bike)
Genevieve 28.12 (29 sec PB) (Without a new bike!!!)
Graeme Scott 31.02 (31.02 PB) (first time!)

http://www.stchrisccek.co.uk/page4.htm

Daily Record Blog

I have been following this Blog with interest over the last few weeks - a couple of roving reporters from the Daily Record, Mark & James, are in training for the Challenge Barcelona that we are doing in October.
Their list of events over the summer is very similar to ours - Mark was training in Mallorca shortly after us earlier in the year & they also appeared at Stirling Triathlon & last Sunday at Ayr. They have also blindly entered the Day in the Lakes Half Ironman this Sunday that we are doing & having spoken to Mark on Sunday at Ayr, they are feeling equally edgy about what we have undertaken here!

Have a click here to follow their progress.....

http://blogs.dailyrecord.co.uk/ironman/

St Christies TT 23rd June

Surprised not to see a few more of you out last night - a cracking evening for time trialling, still a spot of wind but nice warm air to trawl through your lungs.
I turned up on the new TT bike having practised on it for the mile in between the house & the start line!! A bit of a tentative start - especially through Auldhouse trying to get the gears right but cranked it up along Leaburn & Strathaven Road to bring home a PB by about 1.15mins! Not sure about the actual time as the timers clock stopped but it was between 25.58 & 26.03. I'm sticking with 26.03 to avoid disappointment!
Genevieve also had a flier finishing we think in a touch over 28 mins - a PB by approx 35 secs. 27 something is very close now.
We are both pleased given that we did the Tri on Sunday & a 65mile/5k brick session on Monday so not the freshest legs!
The only other ATC rider was newest member Graeme Scott who had to go through the 'what the hell is the route' scenario but we think he still managed to come in under 30 mins which is always a good effort first time round.
More official results may or may not follow depending if they can work them out.

Hope to see lots of you tonight for the final Hamilton College swim before the summer break.
Have a think about what you would like to do instead of this session for a few weeks - I favour an open water swim but that doesn't suit everyone - any other thoughts?

Training this week ...

Tues 23rd Bike - St Christies 10TT 7.00pm
Weds 24th Swim - Hamilton College from 5.00pm (the last one for a while as the college closes for Summer)
Thurs 25th Run - Ek Shop 6.15pm
Fri 26th Swim - Hamilton Palace 7.30am
Fri 26th Run - Calderglen Trail Races - 5k & 10k - enter on the night. We're there with the shop for the event & a pint after in you are interested!!
Sat 27th - Bike Ek 9.00am
Sun 28th - Long easy run Auldhouse 9.00am

Weather looks great all week - get yourselves out there!!
No open water swim planned this week due to the Calderglen Trail Race on Friday.
Not many races on this week for most but the 2 of us are away Sunday doing the Ullswater Half Ironman.

Ayr Open Water Sprint Triathlon 2009 - Results

The latest race for ATHelite Tri Club was Sundays Ayr Triathlon. For everyone this was their first bash at an Open Water event, getting the chance to swim from the mouth of the River Doon up current then down again in 2 laps whilst getting swim over, under & across by all the other competitors. It was clear that whilst we had all been practising our OW swimming & the all important sighting (looking up to see where you are going), many competitors had not - resulting in many people zigzagging up & down the river in a most annoying fashion & then stopping & just standing up in the water as all the swimmers behind swam up their backsides. There was also a bit of confusion as the whistle went as to whether it was a mass start of a phased start. Turns out it was a mass start but who was to know!!

___________________ Swim__Pos__Bike__Pos__Run__Pos__Final
Freeman, Colin ...........14:41...31...39:18..13....18:43...7.....01:12:42
Freeman, Genevieve .17:17...55...40:43..19....23:21...51...01:21:21
Jones, Gareth..............18:28...72...42:31...33...23:56...57...01:24:55
Carrigan, James..........16:08...40...47:00..59...23:04...47...01:26:12
Allan, Graeme.............18:06...70...45:07...48...28:33...79...01:31:46
Honings, Frank............17:53...63...48:46...65...28:26...78...01:35:05

I was first out of the water for the club & surprisingly far up the field given that it was my first go at an OW event - wetsuit came off like a dream & having almost wretched over my bike shoes managed to get straight out onto the bike feeling remarkably fine. Loved the bike & worked my way though the field into about 15th position for a quick T2 & off on the run, again feeling amazingly fine. I moved through the field again on the 5k picking off 6 people & moving into 9th position with no-one else in sight to catch.

Next in was Genevieve who seemingly had a stormer - a very comfortable swim which probably could have been a good bit quicker if not for starting quite far back after a slightly pessimistic swim time prediction. An excellent bike (2nd quickest female) & probably her best triathlon 5k to date. Genevieve finished as 2nd Female Senior & 3rd Female overall so she won CASH!!

Gareth had a good solid race too in all departments - especially good on the run & completing a sprint Tri in under 85 mins for the first time in the last couple of years.

An excellent swim from James followed by a slightly slower than expected bike but a quick run brought him home in 1:26:12.

Next in was Graeme who kept it going right to the line what with everyone shouting at him. A very good swim put him in good stead for the rest of the race & good to see him significantly under 30 mins for the run - those over 30 days have long gone!!

Frank was next in for the club in only his second ever Triathlon & much better than his go at Bishopbriggs. Quicker in the transitions & consistant throughout to come home in 1:35:05.

A great little event this one with a good range of cakes afterwards - we'll get entered nice and early next year before it fills up. Thanks to Mandy & Eleanor for the support & photos too.

Good also to see most people out running the next evening - we managed a 65 mile Bike & 5k Run off the bike on Monday with no problems so very happy with the quick recovery.
It did turn out to be a rather expensive race though as I somehow ended up buying the Scott Plasma Ltd TT bike that was sat for sale on the finish line. Not quite what I intended but I am blaming Gareth for that!
Colin

A Day in the Lakes

Bike Route

Run Route

Look at this for a bike/run profile!! This is the bike/run profile in our triathlon next Sunday!! The first peak looks steep but what in heavens name is that 2nd peak all about!! My eyes are hurting just looking at it.........

Weather forecast for Ayr Triathlon

The weather has taken a turn for the better!!

http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/today.asp?zipcode=ayr

From British Triathlon

What are you doing this weekend?This Sunday 21 June, there will be a double dose of triathlon on our screens as the first broadcast of the British Triathlon Super Series is shown on Channel 4. The ITU website will also be streaming live uninterrupted coverage of the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series from Washington DC.All the action from the first event of the British Triathlon Super Series at Strathclyde Country Park will be shown from 8.30am on Channel 4. Viewers will be able to watch Will Clarke and Jodie Swallow take their respective race titles and watch all the elite triathletes do battle over the Olympic distance in the North Lanarkshire countryside. The British Triathlon Super Series is made up of five races, with every round broadcast on Channel 4. For all the race reports and their respective broadcasting dates and times please visit www.britishtriathlon.org. With the British Triathlon Super Series early in the morning, there is still time to fit in a training session before the ITU broadcast live coverage of the third Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series on www.triathlon.org/tv. The men’s event will be shown from 14.00 (GMT) with the women’s being shown later at 16.45 (GMT).By logging onto the site you can subscribe to watch live, high definition coverage of each Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series race including previous races, highlight shows, features and interviews. Free low resolution live coverage is also available from each event.From all the team at British Triathlon we hope you enjoy the broadcasts this weekend!

Weekend Training - 20th/21st June

Due to this Sunday being the “hottest” day of the racing calendar, and the fact we have such a competitive bunch at ATHelite Tri Club, everyone is away competing (or just having fun “giving it a go”) this weekend. The Sunday run, therefore, will NOT be on (unless there is someone out there desperate to run on Sunday and you haven’t told me????).
If there is anyone keen to give the Saturday morning bike ride a go, please come and join us. We have a “starter pack” this Saturday so a great time to give it a try!! Easy pace, any bike.

Mandy

Race Report - Peebles Sprint Triathlon

Race Report
Peebles Sprint Triathlon Sunday 14th June, Having foolishly missed out on entering Stirling the week before, I had entered this along with another 2 events in the Borders series without giving much thought about how far would need to travel, anyway had a good idea on route but had borrowed a SatNav which got me straight to Peebles swimming pool in plenty of time. Started in heat 2 with 4 others in lane all of pretty much similar ability, wee bit of passing but no one lapped and all out in a line, short jog to transition area to grab bike etc. and up short hill to jump on bike at the top and away we go, chasing down anyone in front. Bike route was a 1 lap straight out and back with a few hills, and a bit of a headwind after turn. Caught a small group and after some continually swapping places got to front and a bit ahead before reaching T2. Really enjoyed bike, but a bit tricky when getting off and downhill to transition with cycling shoes, easier in bare feet but would have fallen off before if tried to take feet out of shoes while pedalling. Feeling fine at this point but as usual unfortunately weakest part, the RUN !.‘Just get into a steady pace, keep moving and don’t think about anyone else’.Run route 2 laps on a flat course along side of river and only incline was the steps up the bridge over the river. Completed first lap and thought I can get much better time here than Bishopbriggs Tri the previous month, and did, completed in 1hr 27min 25sec, great improved by over 8minutes, well chuffed, and goody bag at finish with a bottle of water, packet of crisps and the best tasting cheese and pickle roll ever, not something I normally eat, but it was a great reward. Event had limited of 130 in sprint along with others doing a ‘come and tri’ distance, weather was dry and not to hot but still sunny, and would recommend this event for anyone thinking about it in future. Now looking forward to the next few tri events I have entered: Ayr OW, Hawick, Lochore and Kelso Sprints and with the various swim, run and bike sessions before, hopefully more improvements.
Graeme A.

ATHelite Tri Club Kit

a wee reminder....
All remaining money for kit to be paid this week. We have to pay in full before they dispatch the order.

ATHelite Tri Club Training

W/C 15th June;
Mon - RUN 6.15pm ATHelite, EK Shop
Tues - SWIM 7.30am Hamilton Water Palace.....not sure if we'll be there as we are open water swimming in the evening
- BIKE 10m TT 7.00pm East Kilbride
Weds - SWIM 5.15/5.30pm - 7.00pm Hamilton College
Thurs - RUN 6.15pm ATHelite, EK Shop
Friday - SWIM 7.30am Hamilton Water Palace.....again we may not be there as we are swimming open water in the evening
Sat - BIKE 9.00am ATHelite, EK Shop
Sun - RUN 9.00am, Meet Hurlawcrook Road just before Golf course. (Long steady run) SundayRun

Rub-a-dub-dub

My legs have been killing me recently. They're so heavy and tired. Even the soles of my feet are painful!!! I've been using the foam roller (not as much as I should, if truth be told it's just now and again when I can remember), I really struggle inflicting that much pain on myself. So, I decided I had to just drop a run session (not an easy decision) and book a treatment with Grant (our sport therapist). Good grief, how painful was that session. I saw him last thing last night and I was kinda looking forward to some time out on the bed and a wee chat!!! Well, none of that happened! And to be honest I don't know if I'll talk to him again. He stripped my legs, focusing on my I.T. band and calf muscles. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to walk to the car but I managed it somehow...woke up this morning and my legs feel great. I've been on my feet all day and no pain! This bodes well & I am going to book another appointment for next Thursday and hopefully I shall race with fresh legs next Sunday at Ayr!! And today I'm not so angry with Grant.

ATHelite Triathlon Club Kit

I've just had an email informing us that our club kit order 'is slated to ship on June 29'. They require full payment before they ship so can you all make final payments for your orders at your earliest convenience.
Thanks

ATHelite Tri Club Open Water Swim

UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*
Open Water Swim is a goer this Friday!!!

Location - MEET ON THE A77 (between junction 5 & 6 M77 - if you're looking on a map) at layby on left past the red house! clear?
Time - 6.30pm

You will need a) to be able to swim b) have a wetsuit for the night c) wear a bright coloured cap

Bring warm clothes to change into!

Stirling Triathlon 2009 Results

So 8 of us headed northwards early Sunday morning for the 7.00am registration for the annual Stirling Triathlon. This is the biggest one on the Scottish calendar, 4 of us were doing the Sprint Tri (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run) whilst 4 were having a go at the novice event (400m swim, 11km bike, 2.5km run). The race goes off in 14 heats in order of predicted swim time - first out was yours truly. I was really in the wrong heat as my swimming has much improved since I entered the race & I suffered slightly, having to lap 3 others in the lane who were rather suprisingly doing breast stroke (nothing wrong with breast stroke, maybe just not in heat 5). I got a huge swim PB (13.57) & was 2nd out of the pool in my heat. I then headed straight out onto the bike feeling good immediately. A good solid bike (36.48), again better than last year & then into transition for the run. I don't know how but my bike to run transition was 6th fastest overall & actually quicker than the winners in 34 secs. The run was ok (20.14) but felt faster than that & I really wanted sub 20. Overall 27th position in 1.12.21 & 6 mins quicker than last year.

Next in was Ben in his first ever Triathlon who was solid all the way through, finishing in an excellent 1.19.17 & placed 2nd Junior. None to bad for a 1st attempt!!

Genevieve was in next - again a vastly improved swim on last year (15.40), a bit of a tangle in transition added half a minute on but a good bike also (38.42) followed by a 25.37 run. A bit disappointed with the run but currently struggling with a breathing problem so not too bad at all. Gens final time was 1.22.24, also 6 mins up on last year and she finished 4th senior female.

Gareth was next up in the Sprint distance finishing in 1.25.59 (19.10, 39.06, 25.44) - which I think is a good performance in every category, despite getting hit on the head by a passing idiot in a car whilst he was on the bike.

A few nervous looking novices stood pool side waiting their turn, some more worried about how to get out of the pool than the swim itself. Don, Mandy, Marie & Liz had a long wait before their race started which only adds to the nerves but they all did extremely well despite this. Don was first home, he seemed remarkably calm from start to finish & came over the line in 1.01.43. Mandy was next up, getting the dreaded swim out of the way before what seemed like an enjoyable bike & a solid run too, finishing in 1.11.12.
Marie was always going to have the quickest swim & after stopping for brunch & wardrobe change in transition she cruised through the bike & again finished with a respectable run time finishing in 1.13.56.
Last up was Liz with a well paced swim, quite a long time on the bike!, but looked great coming in on the run. Liz finished in 1.26.01.

Massive well done to everyone at all levels - it was great to have so many from the club in action. I can't wait for next year when we are all there in our smashing Club Kit with even more members. An excellent day for everyone followed off by dindins for 16 of us at the Stewartfield Farm in the evening. The only hard bit was having to go to work in between the two where I was extremely tired & probably a terrible shop keeper!

Weekend Training

After a “sizzling hot” training weekend last week, it looks like this weekend will be slightly cooler…….! Saturday bike ride will leave from EK shop (car park at the back) at 9am. Lots of the guys are doing their open water training in Ayr so it looks like it will be a small pack going out. Due to the Sunday Triathlon in Stirling, it’ll be a short and easy ride so a good one to join if you are thinking of coming for the first time.
As the majority of the Sunday running “pack” will be doing the Stirling Triathlon, the Sunday run is off this week but it will be business as usual next weekend again…..
Mandy

Troon to Stirling

A busy week this week for training & competing - we managed a superb bike out to Troon & back on Monday in the blazing sunshine. Nice lunch on the beach!! We both felt comfortable even after the 2 hour run on Sunday and covered about 100 miles we think & squeezed out a short run afterwards. The run wasn't too bad despite the heat but it may have been because we knew it was short one as opposed to looking down the barrel of a marathon. Need to do a few more of these big bike to runs over the summer. It definately helps when the weather is nice - you actually look forward to it rather than it being a drag.

Tues Gym & swim in the morning followed by the St Christies TT in the evening. No other Tri Club members there apart from us & Ben? Where were you all? A really nice evening but still windy. We held our times despite the big workout the previous day so both fairly happy with that.

The Wednesday Club swim was great as always, good to see newcomer Malcom at the swim - a shock to the system the 1st time but he is definately going to benefit from this session, as we all are.

Thurs was the Harriers monthly 5k Time Trial. I felt rubbish all day but much better standing on the start line & recorded a 17.53 PB (for this course) & was quickest on the night so quite pleased.

Friday Gym & Swim again & now nothing but early nights till we have to get up super early on Sunday for Stirling Tri. Looking at both our results for last year I am sure we can improve on every section. We had better go faster given all this bloody training! We have our targets but I am not commiting them to print quite yet!

Rouken Glen 10k next Thurs which is going to interfere with the Thursday run group so watch this space & we are still hoping for a trip to Loch Lomond next Friday evening for an open water swim.
Details to follow but I hope we can pull this together & repeat it through the summer.
See lots of you at Stirling on Sunday!!

Stirling Triathlon

race info is live for sunday !
322 5 1 2 White 08:55 Colin Freeman Male Senior
351 6 1 1 Red 09:10 Genevieve Freeman Female Senior
431 8 5 1 Red 09:30 Gareth Jones Male Veteran
392 7 3 2 White 09:20 Ben Ferguson Male Junior

611 14 5 1 Red 10:30 Don Kennedy Male Novice
613 14 5 3 Orange 10:30 Elizabeth Marshall Female Novice
??? ? ? ? ? ? Mairi ? ? ? ? ? ? Female Novice
594 14 1 4 Green 10:30 Mandy Wright Female Novice

Gareth.

For info, here is the link to the Stirling Tri site. It is worth reading the 'Quick Guide 2009' if it is your 1st one. Don't worry about trying to memorize the routes, there are marshalls everywhere & lots of competitors.

http://www.stirlingtri.co.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=111

Colin

Races Pending for June!!

Stirling Tri, 7/6 Sprint
Rouken Glen 5k & 10k 11/6
Ayr Open Water, 21/6 Sprint
Mens Health 10k, 21/6
East Kilbride 10k & Half, 21/6
Kilmarnock 10k, 24/6
Calderglen Harriers Trail Race 5k & 10K, 26/6
A day in the lakes, 28/6 Middle Distance

Race Report

Cheshire Sprint Triathlon Report (31.5.09)On a hot weekend, an 8.26 am start made this event more bearable.The swim takes place in an outdoor, salt-water pool and with 1200 competitors being accommodated we were off in 20 secs intervals.It made for a 'bustling' experience, but a 9m 47s time for 500m seemed reasonable, especially as one needed to stop and look at every turn, there were three lane-to-lane transitions and the goggles were removed to drain the salt water after a mid-stream collision with a paddle-steamer. T1 was taken with coffee and biscuits and the bike race started some 3.5 mins later. The bike route was undulating and picturesque. I'd envisaged draughting behind a Bentley being test-driven from the local factory, but no such luck! With light easterly winds a time of 44m 11s (incl T1) was achieved.After finishing off the remaining biscuits and easing a pulled muscle in my lower back I managed to emerge from T2 some 3 mins later.The run was a pleasant four circuits of Barony Park, under the trees, round the play park, in the ever warming sun and to the constant PA announcement of "please take water or Gatorade regularly". A mini-battle then ensued with competitors 111, 112 and 113 locked in combat! The lead changed several times but runner 111 surged to the tape first in 23m 40s (incl T1). So, I got the 218th handout for finishing!Overall, an event to be recommended if you don't mind the pool antics!
Written by James Carrigan