Blithfield Sprint Triathlon - Blue Seventy Series

An early start to the day meant waking up at 5am in the morning to make it in time for an 8am race start. Weather was brilliant today, warm but not too hot and what I call perfect race conditions.

I was really looking forward to do a good performance today. After last weekend's minor disaster in the run section I wanted to pull out a good race. The race started with a fast sprint for the first bouy. The first 100m were rather amusing jumping from on person to the other trying to find some clear water. I must admit that I wasn't feeling that fast today in the water yet I managed to come out of the water in around 10.52. After a very quick transition were I over took not less than 4 people I set out on the BOARDMAN to tackle the undulating bike course.

Note for the future, when the race course description says undulating don't be fooled, there might be some very short steep hills, and today was no different. Having said that I was feeling reasonably good, possibly better than in the swim and I overtook a couple of guy! For most of the ride I was on my own trying to keep a high tempo as possible. Towards the end I was overtaken by an athlete and I decided to just keep a distance and come in transition with him. Total ride time: 33mins 30sec (approx).

Out of the run I started having visions of last weekend but I tried not to think too much about it. The run was not that easy as the first 1.5km and the last 1.5km (it was an out and back course) were on very rough surface. I tried to keep a strong pace for as long as possible for after the turn around I started to suffer. I was in 4th place at the time but with only 100m to go I got over take to come home in 5th position with a time of 1hr 04mins 38sec, losing 4th place by 4sec.

In general am quite happy and I can give myself a score of 7.5 for the whole race. Am a bit less worried about the run although I wasn't running amazing but I know what I need to do now to come at the level I want to be within the next 3 months. In the end I also came 1st in my age group.

The next two weeks will be quite difficult as I need to submit my dissertation but am at a good stage, which reminds me I'd better do some work on it now.

A big thank-you goes to Bill for his help today, and a big well done goes to Simona Carena (DGtri athlete) who did a fantastic job in the Standard Distance posting a great time of 2hrs 40mins (approx 10mins PB)!!!!!!!!!

Dermot

RESULTS: http://www.stuweb.co.uk/swp/default.asp?a=2&e=689

British University Triathlon Championships

After a couple of weeks trying to recover from a knee injury I kind of managed to put in 2 weeks of good training before the British University Triathlon Championships held at Dearne Valley. I was really looking forward to this race since in the last two BUCS championship races my performance was not what you call exceptional. Once again I was racing with Johanna and we both were looking forward to do a good performance.

The swim course consisted of two 800m laps for a total of 1600m. I had quite a good start and managed to stay with the second group of swimmers. I came out of the water in 23mins 38sec and quickly took off my wetsuit for a fast transition. I managed to over take a couple athletes in the transition area and came out of transition in 15th position. I tried to pick up a strong pace from the start on the bike. The course suited very much my characteristics and I was looking forward to a good bike split. Unfortunately on the first lap I wasn't feeling too good and at one point I was considering of stopping as I was feeling sick. Luckily once the fist lap was over, I found my strength and started moving again up the field. I finished the hilly technical course in 1hr 05mins which was bang on target. Looking back, if it wasn't for that first lap I could have gone much faster but probably the lack of consistant training was a major issue as I would find out on the run.

After another good quick transition I set out on the running course which consisted of 2 laps round the lake, off road and with a few sharp hills which by the second lap felt like mountains. The run unfortunately turned out the be quite hard and eventually I finished the whole triathlon in 2hrs 15mins, in 15th position. Its a respecatable position is such a high standard race but once again I know I could have done better.

Johanna had a very strong performance coming in 9th Overall in a new PB at the Standard Distance Triathlon...... and surely that was not a course for PB's.

Dermot

DGTri Athlete Report - Johanna Calleja

British Universities Standard Distance Triathlon Championships

Having looked forward to the BUCS Olympic Triathlon Championships for a while (in between working on assignments and my dissertation!), the nerves only started to set in slightly the night before. This was when I realised that I hadn’t taken part in such a long race for over two years! Of course speaking to Dermot about it, who has completed five Ironmans, it seemed a bit silly to be worrying and I knew that I was well-prepared for the race thanks to Dermot’s programme and the swim sessions with Barry.

As we made our way to the race venue in the morning, I was really pleased that it had turned into a nice, warm day and that the wind had died down. At least I could stop worrying about having frozen feet throughout the race, as had happened at the Full Boar race in May!

As I finished my run warm-up, Ide (my training partner and the only other triathlete from Chester Uni in the race) came running to tell me that my back wheel was flat. I started to think that this must be the end of my race, as there wasn’t too much time left before the briefing and race start. But as soon as I saw Dermot and told him what had happened, he grabbed his bike and headed back to the hotel to get a new tyre (he had been considering changing the back tyre as it wasn’t in the best shape, but didn’t wish to do it so soon before the race). Big thanks to Dermot for racing back to the hotel and quickly changing the tyre for me and thanks to Ide for remaining calm and preparing the wheel while Dermot was gone (while I just panicked!!).

So my bike was sorted with a really nice new pink tyre (thanks Bill and Pam!!) and luckily the race started a bit late, so we had time to recover from the stress and hear the briefing. Into the cold water (well at least cold for someone used to warm water in Malta) and without too much time to think about what lay ahead, we were off. There were some very fast swimmers in the race and quite a lot of chaos in the water in the beginning. I was swallowing a lot of water and getting into a bit of a panic, but I eventually got into quite a good rhythm.

I finished the swim in 12th place, got onto the bike and started to worry again as my feet were so cold that they were really painful! But thankfully as I got moving on the bike, they soon recovered. The bike segment consisted of four laps, which included two steep hills, one very long one and one a bit shorter and several sharp turns. Since the roads were open to traffic, it was difficult to get into a steady rhythm without having to slow down because of cars, the hills or another sharp turn!

I passed one girl on the bike and started the run in 11th place. I was quite tired and the run was far from being easy. It was two laps and also included two steep hills. But I managed to get into a decent pace and passed two girls on the second lap to finish in 9th place overall in a new p.b. of 2h 33min 31s.

I was really pleased with the result, especially since the bike course wasn’t fast at all and I was told that both the swim and run were longer than they were supposed to be. It was really nice to beat the time of my first Olympic distance triathlon, which I thought for so long would never happen. Big thanks to Dermot for his coaching and constant support and for helping me to keep going, even when I was so close to giving up (at least now we know why ). Big thanks also to Barry for the great swim sessions and for all his support, encouragement and enthusiasm, even at 6 in the morning when most of us are still half asleep!!

Johanna

DGTri Athlete Report - Barry Farrugia

B’KARA ST. JOSEPH RUNNING SERIES MTARFA 5K – RACE 1

A year on my first Mtarfa 5k, a steady track which I enjoy racing mainly because it is held in the evening.

The weather was perfect, warm with a slight cool breeze. I was well prepared and had high hopes on this one!

Last year, I did this same track in 19:36, finished 19th overall (which wasn’t bad being the first 5k I ever competed in.)

The race started at 19:30 sharp, I had a very strong and constant pace throughout. Finishing the race with my final ‘signature move’ the sprint J where I overtook another athlete in the end, coming through the finish line at 9th place with my new PB 18:24.

Whilst looking forward for the next Mtarfa 5k on the 26th of July, I dedicate my PB’s and success to my coach Dermot, “ thanks coach!!”

Barry

DGTri Athlete Report - Dave Grant

My Austrian Ironman Challenge

I felt my preparation for this event was really good and with the aid of Dermot I built up my fitness levels gradually and to my good fortune I didn’t encounter any major injuries along the way.

We arrived in Austria on the Wednesday prior to the race with bags and bikes in order (unfortunately some athletes who arrived on the Thursday and Friday arrived either without suitcases or even their bikes).

By arriving early, we had time to relax before the race, check in early, build bikes, have a few swims in the lake and take in the atmosphere of the event. The day before the race we had a tour of the bike course which took almost 2 hours in a coach, even though it was good to see the views of Austria it wasn’t much help for preparation so it’s not something I would recommend.

On the Saturday afternoon before the race I checked my bike into transition along with my bags for the bike and run, sighting where my bike and bags where in the racks. Also taking time to see where the bike exit was so I had no unexpected surprises on the day of the race.

Surprisingly I wasn’t nervous on race day, I woke up at 4 in the morning, having slept quite well that night and had breakfast. We got picked up at 5.15 and got dropped off at the bike transition at about 5.40. This gave me time to put my drink bottles and food on my bike, pump tyres up to pressure and just check every thing was in my bags. I put my wetsuit on & had a walk down to the lake, dropping my day bag at the athletes tent then had a slow walk to the start line.

The swim was the part I was most concerned about, When the gun went off about 2500 people went off in the water leaving myself and a load of others standing on the beach, I waited for 1 minute then made my way into the water. I got straight into my stride, people where stopping, doing breaststroke, trying to catch their breath and I just picked my way through them. I worked my way to the right side of the pack and swam wide of the buoys, I may have swum further but didn’t get into any of the scrum and that really helped my swim. It wasn’t until I got to the entrance of the canal and it started to bottle neck that I had to slow down, again I found a bit of space, then managed to pick my way through the last 900m. I managed to complete the swim in 1h 12mins which was about 8 mins faster than I thought I could do on a good swim.

T1 was a 400m from the swim exit, found my bag straight away, wetsuit off, gear on, bag swim stuff up, find my bike and we’re off. T1 took 7min 9 sec.

The bike ride was brilliant, felt really good on the 1st lap, the hills didn’t bother me, down hills were great, wanted to try and keep a good average of 21mph on the bike so I could do 5h30. On the bike I carried my relentless energy drinks, home made flap jacks, jelly babies and water, I also took 2 energy gels but didn’t need them. Ate and drank at regular intervals making sure I kept my energy levels up. After the 1st lap I was on course for a good bike time, however the 2nd lap, the hills took a lot more out of me than I was hoping. At the 100 mile mark I was starting to struggle and felt I was slowing down to much, however the ride back into T2 was down hill and I managed to save my legs a bit before I started the marathon. Even though I struggled with the end of the bike I really enjoyed the ride. The course was great, roads were good, crowds were supportive, weather was a bit to hot. I managed to complete the bike in 5h 27mins which again was faster than I had hoped for.

T2 was fine, racked bike back up, found my bag straight away, changed socks, trainers on, loo break and off we go, luckily a volunteer put my stuff away for me. T2 took 5.58

The run I had always thought was my strongest section, I wanted to start with a steady pace and then speed up once I got into my stride. Unfortunately this didn’t seem to happen, my legs just got heavier. I refused to let myself start walking so I made sure I just kept around the same pace. Running into Klagenfurt, there was the charity bell, I managed to jump up and hit the bell twice on the 1st loop but on the 2nd loop I had no energy left to jump and hit it again. I got through the marathon using 8 energy gels, water from the aid station and a bit of water melon for a change of taste. Turning off for the finish line was a fantastic feeling, the thought of running any further would have been horrendous. As I ran through the crowds towards the finish line I cheered the crowds for their support and ran through the finish. I completed the run in 3h 55mins.

I completed my 1st Ironman in 10h48m33s.

A big thank you to Dermot for helping me prepare for this event and a huge thank you to my friends and family for supporting me and an extra thank you to my wife for putting up with all my training and hardly seeing me whilst I prepared for this event. Thank you to all my training partners for pushing me when I could of quite easily of taken the easy way out. Thanks to everyone who sponsored me. I have managed to raise almost £2000 for the Warwickshire Air Ambulance.

Dave Grant

DGTri Athlete Report - Barry Farrugia

Full Boar Standard distance Triathlon

It was my first International race and my first olympic. Although I was well prepared, I was still nervous due to a few factors that in my opinion, were against me.

The first one was being in weather colder then I'm used to, and I was a bit concerned that taking off the wetsuit would take a while since it was my first experience racing with a wetsuit too!

9.30am and off I went in the chilly lake, the first 500m were a bit of a struggle, till my heartbeat became steady. But once I got used to the temperature I was quite consistant and managed to get out of the water in 00:31:31. T1 swim to bike took me 00:01:08 (which wasn’t that bad being paranoid about having the wetsuit.) Then off on the bike, which was kindly lent to me by Bill Livingstone. The bike segment consisted of two laps round Market Bosworth 42k , it was quite a straight track, but the wind had an important factor and there were many moments I found myself struggling against it! 1:21:01 I was very pleased with this time, being my first Olympic distance and on a bike that wasn’t my own! Off to T2 and my strongest part of the race, the running segment.

Feeling stronger then ever I flew out of T2, the sun had come out and the scenery was just beautiful, I quickly got on track and over took quite a few other athletes. It was perfect and I felt strong till the end, having the fastest finish of the day, with a sub 13 second 100m sprint finish!! Total running time 00:39:02. Which was also my PB.

Placed 29th overall with a total time of 2:33:31.

My first Olympic race wouldn’t have been a success if it weren’t for Dermot who is not only my coach but also my friend, who believes in me and gives me an intense training program . A big thanks also to our friends Pam Batchelor and Bill Livingstone, for their hospitality and for a very well organized race, Jamie Harman, who gave us a lift to the race. And a special thank you goes to my partner Nicoletta and daughter Valentina for being my No. 1 supporters and being by my side all the way!

Barry