Grendon Triathlon Report
Northampton olympic distance was my second race of 2012 and hadn't i really been
planned until the last minute but as the Barton marina triathlon had been
cancelled due to lack of entrants i needed to race.
Training without some form of competition for me is mentally challenging so i needed to get another event in the bag before the Big cow middle distance. After my second place in the Full Boar super sprint i wanted to make sure that it wasn't luck and that i had actually found some racing consistency and strength paying off after the hours of training. I was not to be disappointed!.
I was up at 5am and porridge with honey was on the menu for brekky. Then a quick shower and off to Northampton. It had been raining all night and i had not held much hope of it stopping in time for the race but it did.
On arrival at the venue the field was an absolute bog and i did worry that i may not get the car back off i but thought to myself i will worry about that after the race. I got my kit ready and went off to registration then to set my transition area up. It was a little wet but not as boggy as the car park and there was plenty of room.
The race starts were in waves and my wave was at 08:40. I planned to take it a little easier at the start of the swim as in the super sprint in may i went off to quick and blew up then ended up having to do breast stroke for a few meters to get myself together. The water was a little choppy and and at 08:40 the horn sounded. The swim down to the first buoy was not bad as we were swimming with the wind and current, I did expect it to be hard going coming back up the lake but to my surprise it was quite easy and i was holding a good manageable comfortable swim pace. My sighting was going well and i was going from marker buoy to marker buoy in straight lines with no issues. Coming back across the lake towards the pylon before the last turn all the other bar a few swimmers seemed to go offline and i wondered if i had missed a buoy. I stopped and had a look and my sighting was correct, A lot of swimmers had gone offline and maybe added perhaps one hundred to two hundred meters to there swim leg. I made the last turn and passed a few people who had made mistakes and seemed to be really struggling with the conditions. I was really cruising quite nicely and exited the water in a comfortable state in 23mins. Happy days.
A bit of a steady run to T1 and on with the bike kit. I had a jacket waiting in T1 but when i got there opted not to wear it as it was quite warm and not raining. My bike split is what i was really looking forward to as i am still getting used to the Scott and new i could put a new Olympic pb bike split in. My previous was 1hr 20mins.
Out on the course and it was really really windy. I was getting blown all over the place with the deep section rims but never the less still holding good speed. I seemed to be endlessly passing people and with ease. I was even singing to myself at one point lol. What did the other competitors think?
It was obvious a lot of people were struggling with the windy conditions and had opted just to get to the finish but thanks to Dermot's super hard turbo workouts and some hill sessions i was strong and my legs felt good, I don't really remember ever blowing hard and i felt like i was riding really consistent and clever, Using the gears without thought as soon as they were needed. That's one thing i have learnt!, The bike has gears and if your thinking maybe i should change up then chances are you should of already done it!. On the few downhill sections i was holding a big gear and hitting 30+mph. On the uphills spinning up to clear the legs of lactic acid. With some tail winds also it was a good idea to back off on power and spin up to clear the legs. The plan worked and i romped home with a big smile on my face to T2 in 67minutes knocking 13+mins of my previous olympic bike split.
T2 and on with the socks and out in 1min 16secs. The run course after all that rain was quite muddy, That terrain is right up my street as i had been doing lots of mixed terrain long runs across fields and up and down hills.
My run plan was to go steady for the first half a lap then pick up the pace for the remainder however i did not find my run legs until around the end of the second lap but was still holding 7min to 7:30 pace. The third lap things started to come together and i was running hard without any issues holding around 6:50 to 7:00min pace. I decided to get it over with on the last lap and started running hard, I was looking at my pace on my watch and holding around 6min miles. That for me is really moving!. I expected to blow up but to be honest i think i could of held that pace for a little longer had i only tried it earlier in the run and just pushed through. My run split was 43mins avg 7:16 pace. I finished the event in 2hrs 17mins knocking around 20mins of my previous Olympic distance time.
I finished 6th in my category and 24th place overall. I am very happy with my result and my plans are to just keep on improving my splits and to be consistent. All is good in my camp at the moment and things are coming together. The next race is The Big Cow middle distance in July. I just need to keep it together now but to be honest if i am clever and cautious during the next Two weeks then we'll be good!
Enjoy the rest of your season and race hard but smart!
Jamie
Training without some form of competition for me is mentally challenging so i needed to get another event in the bag before the Big cow middle distance. After my second place in the Full Boar super sprint i wanted to make sure that it wasn't luck and that i had actually found some racing consistency and strength paying off after the hours of training. I was not to be disappointed!.
I was up at 5am and porridge with honey was on the menu for brekky. Then a quick shower and off to Northampton. It had been raining all night and i had not held much hope of it stopping in time for the race but it did.
On arrival at the venue the field was an absolute bog and i did worry that i may not get the car back off i but thought to myself i will worry about that after the race. I got my kit ready and went off to registration then to set my transition area up. It was a little wet but not as boggy as the car park and there was plenty of room.
The race starts were in waves and my wave was at 08:40. I planned to take it a little easier at the start of the swim as in the super sprint in may i went off to quick and blew up then ended up having to do breast stroke for a few meters to get myself together. The water was a little choppy and and at 08:40 the horn sounded. The swim down to the first buoy was not bad as we were swimming with the wind and current, I did expect it to be hard going coming back up the lake but to my surprise it was quite easy and i was holding a good manageable comfortable swim pace. My sighting was going well and i was going from marker buoy to marker buoy in straight lines with no issues. Coming back across the lake towards the pylon before the last turn all the other bar a few swimmers seemed to go offline and i wondered if i had missed a buoy. I stopped and had a look and my sighting was correct, A lot of swimmers had gone offline and maybe added perhaps one hundred to two hundred meters to there swim leg. I made the last turn and passed a few people who had made mistakes and seemed to be really struggling with the conditions. I was really cruising quite nicely and exited the water in a comfortable state in 23mins. Happy days.
A bit of a steady run to T1 and on with the bike kit. I had a jacket waiting in T1 but when i got there opted not to wear it as it was quite warm and not raining. My bike split is what i was really looking forward to as i am still getting used to the Scott and new i could put a new Olympic pb bike split in. My previous was 1hr 20mins.
Out on the course and it was really really windy. I was getting blown all over the place with the deep section rims but never the less still holding good speed. I seemed to be endlessly passing people and with ease. I was even singing to myself at one point lol. What did the other competitors think?
It was obvious a lot of people were struggling with the windy conditions and had opted just to get to the finish but thanks to Dermot's super hard turbo workouts and some hill sessions i was strong and my legs felt good, I don't really remember ever blowing hard and i felt like i was riding really consistent and clever, Using the gears without thought as soon as they were needed. That's one thing i have learnt!, The bike has gears and if your thinking maybe i should change up then chances are you should of already done it!. On the few downhill sections i was holding a big gear and hitting 30+mph. On the uphills spinning up to clear the legs of lactic acid. With some tail winds also it was a good idea to back off on power and spin up to clear the legs. The plan worked and i romped home with a big smile on my face to T2 in 67minutes knocking 13+mins of my previous olympic bike split.
T2 and on with the socks and out in 1min 16secs. The run course after all that rain was quite muddy, That terrain is right up my street as i had been doing lots of mixed terrain long runs across fields and up and down hills.
My run plan was to go steady for the first half a lap then pick up the pace for the remainder however i did not find my run legs until around the end of the second lap but was still holding 7min to 7:30 pace. The third lap things started to come together and i was running hard without any issues holding around 6:50 to 7:00min pace. I decided to get it over with on the last lap and started running hard, I was looking at my pace on my watch and holding around 6min miles. That for me is really moving!. I expected to blow up but to be honest i think i could of held that pace for a little longer had i only tried it earlier in the run and just pushed through. My run split was 43mins avg 7:16 pace. I finished the event in 2hrs 17mins knocking around 20mins of my previous Olympic distance time.
I finished 6th in my category and 24th place overall. I am very happy with my result and my plans are to just keep on improving my splits and to be consistent. All is good in my camp at the moment and things are coming together. The next race is The Big Cow middle distance in July. I just need to keep it together now but to be honest if i am clever and cautious during the next Two weeks then we'll be good!
Enjoy the rest of your season and race hard but smart!
Jamie
1 comment:
well done Jamie, thanks for the cheers. Check out my report too www.samanderson-triathlete.blogspot.co.uk
See you at the Cowman x
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