Lanzarote Training Camp School broke up for the Easter holidays on the 29th March meaning I had 3 weeks (private school perks) of focused training. This was brilliant because it meant I could get a lot done throughout the weeks. I was also lucky enough to spend 10 days of the holidays training in Lanzarote which is what this blog will focus on. A great benefit of being home is that I can train in the SouthWestSwim squad sessions ran by Jason Tait on a Monday and Friday morning. These are brilliant because I can swim with a group and get awesome coaching. *Sponsor alert* Jason really is an amazing swimming coach, I have been working with him for a long time, both individually and within the squad sessions and I have seen some big improvements. If you are interested in improving your swimming in any way, I would 100% recommend you going to see Jason as soon as possible! I also used the opportunity of being home to go and see Paul Ransome for a TT bike fit. Paul is the Zoot Athlos Racing Team manager and head of Urban Endurance so he has many years of relevant racing and coaching experience meaning he can offer some brilliant services. The bike fit that I had with him worked wonders, my position changed quite dramatically but felt much more comfortable and this has made me considerably more aero (which is the aim). If you are in need of a bike fit, check out the Urban Endurance website and take a look at the options. The term ‘free speed’ is regularly thrown around in triathlon and this is one of the most beneficial things you can do to reach your top speed! The following day, I participated in a small group Strength and Conditioning session led by Joey Rossi from Vibe Fitness. The session was very specific to strengthening sport specific muscle groups for triathlon and introduced me to some new exercises which will hopefully have a big benefit to my sessions. I would strongly recommend having a look at the Vibe Fitness website, there are many options and packages that you can choose from to make you stronger, fitter and healthier. Lanzarote 2019- On Tuesday the 9th April, Mum, Dad, Ollie and I jetted off to the small island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. The plan was to stay at the Occidental Lanzarote Playa (Costa Teguise) for 2 nights before travelling up to Club La Santa for a 7 night stay. Although a ‘family holiday’, it was my opportunity to get in as much training as possible before the racing season starts. For the first two days in Costa Teguise I didn’t have a bike, so I spent a lot of time swimming in the 50m pool and running along the coast. The best thing about this part of the holiday was that we were staying all inclusive which meant a lot of food was consumed (to give me energy for the coming week of course!). On the Thursday we drove up to Club La Santa and met our friends the McAdam family (our 3rd year being there with them) and got ourselves booked in for the week. I must apologise in advance because the rest of this blog is probably going to sound like a promo post for Club La Santa, but I really do think it is the best sports resort in the world. Despite this being my 8th time (I think) staying there, there is no way I could ever get bored, the facilities are constantly changing and improving which is what makes it continue to be a huge attraction. One of the best things they’ve introduced is a mobile booking app where you can view all of the classes and activities on offer and then book on with the points you have been given. This is an effortless way of being able to see what you want to do, the availability, and to sign up for it. Anyway, the aim of this week was to get in some big miles with a lot of strength building on the bike. I had also signed up for the mini aquathlon on the Monday and the mini triathlon on the Wednesday, this was to include some high intensity and to also practice my transitions and brick sessions. Thursday This was our first day arriving at Club La Santa, I had already swim in the morning and my programme included a solo 3 hour cycle to make sure the bike was alright and to prepare myself for the week. Rather frustratingly, the wind was unbelievably strong, which just made everything harder. There were many times where I had to continue to pedal downhill or I would’ve simply stopped. The ride totaled at just over 80km but took a little longer than planned. Friday A nice dip in the pool, I was getting more used to swimming in a 50m pool although my shoulders were not very grateful. It felt a lot smoother than a 25m as I could get into a proper rhythm and focus on my technique. I then had a bike session of 3x20min at sweet spot. Generally, I am a big fan of sessions at this tempo however again, the wind was so strong it made it very tough. Rather embarrassingly, the toughest part of the session was the cool down. My legs were knackered, and I was having to ride 15km into a 25mph headwind. Not very pleasant. After the cycle, I chucked on my running shoes and went out for a steady 30 minutes, it was very hot, but I felt better than expected. Saturday Another pool session before breakfast and then heading out for a 60-minute run which became a bit of an adventure as I explored some of the trails around the complex. I followed this with a 60-minute yoga session which was more fun than I was expecting. In the evening it was the organized 5 and 10km races. Oliver raced the 5km and came 2nd and Isaac raced the 10km and came 1st in 35:40. Although in the evening, it was still 18/19 degrees and the wind was very strong making it a tough race. I just watched. Sunday Open water swim morning. I headed down to the on-site tidal lagoon and joined in with the organized session. It was roughly 1.7km and I was the only person out of all 12 to not wear a wetsuit which made it a little chilly but fun, nonetheless. After this it was time for my first long ride of the week. I invited Oliver out on this ride with me. Apparently, I had said it would only be 3 hours max but I don’t remember saying that(!). We rode up both Tabayesco and Mirador Del Rio, the two biggest and best climbs in the island. To save embarrassment I won’t go into details but he then bonked and mum and dad came and picked him up in the ‘support car’ and drove him back (Laughing face). All I was thinking is how I wished they would’ve picked me up the first time I bonked! Monday Although I had the aquathlon planned in the afternoon, I still had to get through my proper training plan. This included what was supposed to be a 2hr easy ride and then a 30-minute run off. While out on the ride I came past a lady out riding on her own and we were both going the same route, so I spent the rest of the ride with her. The run off was strong and I felt good. Then came the aquathlon, 200m in the 50m pool followed by a 3km run. For some silly reason, Isaac, Ollie and I all decided to do it in just our funky trunks. There was a young girl in the lane next to me and I asked her if she was fast “not really.” she replied. This was a lie. The race started and she shot off and I tried to stick close to her, I knew it was likely I would take her on the run but I didn’t want to leave it to chance. I stuck close to her and we touched the wall in around 2:50. We jumped out together, I quickly slipped into my shoes and then shot off, as she was still tying her laces (clearly not a multi-sport athlete). I ran a controlled and comfortable pace and crossed the line in first place, roughly 40 seconds ahead of Ollie in second and Isaac a little later in third. Tuesday The second long ride day. This time I had signed up for the advanced bike tour organized at Club La Santa which was planned to be around 3 hours and then I would complete an extra 2 on my own. The group ride was great, my legs felt way better than they should have, and I spent a lot of time on the front. We went into Haria and then attacked the Tabayesco switchbacks which was brilliant. I sprinted off at the start which quickly formed a lead pack of 5 which didn’t take long to become 4. We then hammered up until the last 100m where I attempted a sprint but ran out of gas. One guy who had sat back the whole climb came past with the group leader and they battled it out for 1st and 2nd. After the rest of the group caught up, we quickly descended down to Teguise where I split from the group as they turned back towards Club La Santa and I went south to complete my ride. Another rider from the group (Ironman athlete) joined me so we rode together for a while before I stopped for a coffee and he kept going. As I was about to get started again, a man called Rich pulled into the café and asked if I wanted to ride back to La Santa with him. He was on a very nice Canyon TT bike and we had a good ride together. Wednesday Time for the mini triathlon. 400m swim, 12km bike and 4.6km run. We meandered down to the bike centre and set up our bikes. This would be a good race scenario for me because I would be able to practice the transitions and try wearing my new Zoot Athlos Racing Team tri suit. I was once again in a lane with a very fast swimmer however this time I knew he was part of a relay team. He literally flew off from the start and swam a low 5 minute 400m followed by me in 5:48. I then ran to my bike, chucked off my googles and hat, put on my sunnies and helmet and grabbed the bike. My mount was sweet and I was off and after the team ahead. The bike course was 4 laps around the lagoon and it was fairly flat with minimal wind so I really gassed it. I caught 1st place after 2 laps and we worked together until the end of the bike where I had a smooth dismount, chucked on my running shoes and headed out. I was about 15 seconds down on the team (they don’t have to do transition – just swap the timing chip) and so I set off after them. I caught up with the runner after about 1km and then continued to push for the rest of the race. I crossed the line in 42:51 minutes over 2 ½ minutes ahead of Ollie in second place and Isaac again in third. The team finished between Ollie and Isaac. The race was a little confidence booster as I felt very strong throughout without going full speed. And so the mini tri concluded the Lanzarote training camp and has hopefully got my legs in very good shape for the racing season ahead. I had a brilliant time and particularly enjoyed the sun! Whilst staying there we also played golf, badminton, table tennis, and did windsurfing, paddle boarding, kayaking, mountain biking and basketball. I would thoroughly recommend staying at Club La Santa if you ever get a chance. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. And as always, a huge thanks goes out to- Harry Palmer for coaching and mentoring me in all aspects of my triathlon life. Jason Tait for overlooking my swimming and building me up ready for the start of the season. Sarah Fellows at Dyer St Chiropractic for looking after me and healing my injured body. LPSEVENTS for sponsoring me financially and enabling me to race. Zoot Athlos Racing Team for being great support throughout the season. Finally, to Mum and Dad for helping with everything from behind the scenes!
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When I first started working at Hazlegrove Prep School, I couldn’t quite believe how many different events the school took part in. Particularly the ones within the ‘racing’ category. It seems that there is an official event for every kind of race you could think of. Biathlon, pentathlon, modern tetrathlon, laser run, biathle, modern triathlon and more! Within my first few weeks of being at the school, the sports department took around 50 pupils to a Biathlon event at Leweston Prep School where they would be competing for a score which would rank them nationally. I decided to take the opportunity to compete within the teacher’s category where I was unsurprisingly the only competitor. I had to swim 50m and then separately run 800m. As this was the same distances the u12 boys would be competing at, I had to race alongside them. I managed a 2:15 for the 800m and a 29.4 for the 50m. A few weeks later I found out that this had me ranked as 1st in the country out of 2! Fast-forward to last weekend and it was time for the ‘official championships’. On Friday 15th March, a colleague and I drove a minibus load of children to our premier inn in Croydon, we all went out to Pizza Hut and then turned in for the night. The official event was hosted at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre which was opened in 1964, filled with a state of the art swimming pool, running track and gym facilities. Very sadly, the centre has become rather run down and is not quite the facility it once was. All of the girls raced on the Saturday and we had some brilliant results across the board. It made for a fun day out with non-stop races from 8:00-16:30. We then headed back to the Premier Inn, I had another pizza (perfect race prep) and then managed to angle the TV so I could watch the Manchester United, Wolves game in the bath! Sunday quickly came around and it was time to shine! On Friday I had found my 5 year old track spikes covered in mud in an old sports bag so I had given them a quick clean and now they were ready to fly. My run heat was following straight after the u10 boys of which we had 4 competing so my warmup was leading them through their warm up and then running to the toilet and back. Before long it was time to race and I was very excited. Of course I am going to start with excuses by saying it was windy. Not as windy as it had been the previous day but still enough to cause some doubt. However I knew that this was my chance to go for it! My only other competitor was Mr Anderson based in Gainsborough and although he looked very fit, I doubted he would be able to lead me to a sub 2 minute 800m. The run part of the race started and I floored it, knowing I had to just keep pushing through for this short period of time. The first lap flew by in 58 seconds and then it started to hurt. This is where a pacer would’ve come in handy! I continued to push and crossed the line in 2:02. How frustrating. Mr Anderson shortly followed in 2:24. My legs and lungs burnt in a very peculiar way, I hadn’t hurt like that for a long time! I cannot say that I am disappointed with that time. And I know that it is easy to speculate about what could’ve happened in different circumstances but it was all over! Now time for the swim. Again luckily the u10 boys had the same warmup time as me for the swim so I took them for a warm up and then we did some dive practise before the big race. I can’t say I feel many nerves ahead of a big run but things are a little different before swimming. There’s a little too much that can go wrong for my liking! Anyway I didn’t have long to think about what could happen. The race started and it was go time! My dive was pretty strong and I got right to it. I hadn’t swam in a 50m pool for a while so it made things a little tough but I touched the wall in a time of 30.31. Not brilliant but enough. Mr Anderson very shortly followed in 31.43. These two results officially made me the fastest teacher in Britain! How exciting. The day then got even better! Hazlegrove Prep School won some more silverware! Our u9 male athlete finished 3rd. The u10 boys finish as the 3rd team. The u13 boys finished at the 1st team. What a successful weekend. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ I do have to give a big thank you to Simon at Elevate Physio, Yeovil. Simon was very highly recommended by my 'home physio' Sarah Fellows at Dyer St Clinic and I have been seeing him monthly since October. As a runner himself, he fully understands the athletes needs and works very hard to ensure the treatment sessions go as best they can. I also need to thank the sports department at Hazlegrove Prep School for all of the support they have given me since I joined the school and for giving me the opportunity to compete alongside the students. And as always, a huge thanks goes out to- Harry Palmer for coaching and mentoring me in all aspects of my triathlon life. Jason Tait for overlooking my swimming and building me up ready for the start of the season. Sarah Fellows at Dyer St Chiropractic for looking after me and healing my injured body. LPSEVENTS for sponsoring me financially and enabling me to race. Zoot Athlos Racing Team for being great support throughout the season. Finally, to Mum and Dad for helping with everything from behind the scenes! Hello and welcome to my blog. I have not posted for a very long time and I do apologise. I have however written a few updates which have been backlogged rather than posted so if you are interested, they can be found in the ‘archives’. This post is a quick update and also has a race report from the Castle Combe 10km. I am currently in the process of creating a whole new website/blog which will look incredible, I can assure you! So please bear with me until then, it’ll be worth the wait! In September 2018 I started working at Hazlegrove Preparatory School in Sparkford, Somerset (the school is a turning off the McDonalds roundabout on the A303 so you may have passed it). I am currently living and working at the school as a Graduate Sports Assistant where I am teaching lessons, running clubs, helping at sporting events and working within the boarding school. I am having a brilliant time and I really do enjoy it. The main challenge I had to come to grips with was how to adapt my training to full-time working life. Generally, I complete my training by 7am so I need a very early alarm clock! My earliest wakeup time last week being 2:45am to fit in a 90-minute cycle and 90-minute swim before work starts! Throughout 2019 I will be racing for Zoot Athlos Racing Team. I was officially a part of the team last year however this season I have fully committed to the team and I think it is made up of a great bunch of athletes who are all very focused on achieving their goals. From November 2018 I started being coached by Harry Palmer. Harry is a professional triathlete performing at the top level over middle distance triathlon and his experience of the process going from age-group to pro has been very valuable to me. Many aspects of my training have improved as a result of his coaching. I look forward to seeing what we can achieve together throughout 2019. Castle Combe 10km If you can cast your minds back to 2018, Isaac McAdam and I ran this race and it turned out to be the best race of my life. Through 5km in 16:50 to finish in 34:20 official (although Strava says 33:50 10km). It was just one of those days where everything went perfectly which was brilliant. The only downside to this was that it was in February - 3 months before the triathlon season started! Shortly after this race I seemed to spend the rest of the season with niggling and persistent injuries, and only slightly managed to claim back some half decent results. This year however, things are shaping a little differently. I had a very slight Achilles niggle which started at the end of December. I could swim and bike fine, but chose to hold back a bit on the running. Due to having a very active job (avg 15,000 steps everyday) it took a little longer than I would’ve liked for it to have healed. Fortunately though I ran pain free for the first time on Sunday 10th Feb, a whole week before the 10k race! Midweek I ran a slow 7km with no pain at all and this gave me confidence that my Achilles could hold that distance. If you were to have genuinely asked me what time I would’ve expected to get pre-race, I would’ve had absolutely no idea. My legs could give out, resulting in 38mins+, I could smash it like last year and go sub 34 or I could race well and settle for 35-36 minutes. For me, that’s the beauty of triathlon, and in particular running. You can do hours of training and commit yourself to a perfect diet but still never really know for sure what time you will deliver on race day. No matter how perfect or not your preparation is, anything can happen on the day and you just have to take it. Back to racing- I toed the start line with my brother Ollie and various other athletes that I knew through running and triathlon. The race started and it was good, the first 100m were surprisingly slow, no one went sprinting off which was a surprise. The pace then increased with the distance and packs began to form. Ollie and I were in about 17/18th after 2km and I felt fresh. Everything felt perfect up until about 5km. I was surprised until I looked at my watch and saw that it had taken us 18:30 to get here, that explains it. We started to increase the pace and reel in runners ahead of us, all the way until about 8km where I sensed Ollie was feeling stronger than me. It wasn’t long before he kicked on and opened a gap which I just couldn’t close. He overtook two more people and crossed the finish line in place 8th in 36:00.1. I finished in 36:31 in 11th place. To be completely honest, I was over the moon. If you were to look at my recent training and see how much running I hadn’t been doing, it would be very clear that I did not really deserve this time. I raced completely pain and injury free with a big smile on my face, so I was happy. Even happier for Ollie who was also first junior. You can find the results from the race here. I have to give a big hand to Jack Hutchins for finishing 1st in 34:00, which I think was a fairly comfortable winning performance for him. Also well done to Gary O’Brien, Simon Gilbert, Craig Rumble, Ben Sommerville and Kirk Latham. It was great to catch up with so many more people that I have become good friends with through running. I am sure that I will see you all again throughout the year. As it is currently school half term, I am writing this before driving to Devon and Cornwall for a week to chill out and explore! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! A huge thanks goes out to- Harry Palmer for coaching and mentoring me in all aspects of my triathlon life. Jason Tait for overlooking my swimming and building me up ready for the start of the season. Sarah Fellows at Dyer St Chiropractic for looking after me and healing my injured body. LPSEVENTS for sponsoring me financially and enabling me to race. Zoot Athlos Racing Team for being great support throughout the season. Finally, to Mum and Dad for helping with everything from behind the scenes! Hello everyone, thank you for taking the time to read my blog. It is going to include a quick review of the recent races I have completed as well as a yearly recap. I do have to start with a fairly big apology. It has taken me a very long time to write and post this blog. I recently moved house and started a new job (which I will explain in the next blog) and my time has been very much consumed by this. The blog is going to cover- Tavistock 5km Malmesbury 10km Costwold Sprint Triathlon So, less than a week after the European Championships in August, I headed down to Cornwall for some time off. Coincidentally, on the way down, Tavistock were hosting their monthly 5km race. It looked flat and fast with some solid results from previous events so I fancied giving it a go. I was confidently aiming for a sub 17 minute result and hoped this was the place to achieve that. Sadly it wasn’t. Despite the 10m total elevation, the non-present winds and other competitors running at my target pace, I just wasn’t able to handle the speed. Finishing in 17:12 I could confidently say that I pushed myself to the limit with my heart rate averaging 192 bpm and maxing out at 199. Not bad but some proof that I clearly wasn’t as fit as I thought I was. Maybe next time. After some time away in Cornwall, I returned home for the local race, The Malmesbury 10km. While away I completed my first (unofficial) ultra-marathon running from St Ives to Lands’ end totalling 49.99km. The 10km was just 3 days later. I put that to the back of my mind and ambitiously aimed for 35 minutes. In 2017, the race conditions were very harsh, zero cloud cover and a very hot sun. So I was happy to wake up in the morning and see a constant downpour which was due to continue for the next 4 hours. Ollie (my brother) and I jogged down to the race start, picking up local athlete Lizzie Rayner on the way, and collected our race numbers before commencing the warmup. It was a very bleak day weatherwise. Some big puddles on the route and quite a wind. We got to the start line and were surprised to see that the only real threat in Simon Gilbert, a fast competitor who we have raced a few times over the year. Some years this race is included in the local road race league, so the competition can be very strong. The race started and we sprinted off. Within the first 30m I jumped two footed into a big puddle and splashed the surrounding competition. Might as well make some fun of it, right? Ollie and I stuck together behind Simon up until 3km where I broke away and started making a move. Simon had 30 seconds on me at 5km but I was confident I could make some of that back up in the latter part of the course. Sadly I was wrong and Simon held his pace. I finished in 2nd place with a 36:38. Ollie was next across the line in 37:12 so a great race for him! the route had to be changed this year due to a road closure and this change completely ended any chance of a personal best. A fellow Cirencester AC athlete finished 8th which meant that we managed to win the team prize of a bottle of wine each! The Cotswold Sprint Triathlon. One of my favourite races. I know the swim, bike and run routes so well I could do them blindfolded, and after my 1st place last year I was very excited to try and retain my title. I was very relaxed going into the event, taking time to chat to my friends and just all round enjoying the atmosphere. The start time quickly came around and I was in the water and ready to go. My main competition were fellow elites Reuben Trotter and Felix Wernham. I was fairly certain Reuben would beat me so it was just a case of keeping far enough ahead of Felix to achieve a respectable result. The race started and knowing how good a swimmer Reuben was, I jumped on his heels which was great. For the 3 seconds it lasted. He shot away and I never saw him again for the remainder of the race! I kept ploughing on and sat on the heels of one of the other athletes in the elite category. Looking back on it, this was a terrible idea. It felt like a Sunday morning paddle in a pond which explains my swim time of 11:18. Nearly 2 minutes slower than last year. Still, I hopped on the bike in 2nd place and got to work. Getting aero and pushing the power I was flying along. I then got overtaken with about 5km to go putting me in 3rd place. I continued to attack in an attempt to not let him get too far ahead which resulted in me coming into transition just behind him. I racked my bike and just as I was sliding on my shoes CRASH Felix comes flying in next to me. I’m surprised he didn’t run through the rest of the racking. And now it was a race! We’ve posted similar times over 5km so I knew it would be interesting to see how it played out. I managed to get out of transition ahead of the Felix but about 20 seconds down on 2nd place. I quickly made up the distance to overtake him and I managed to hold this position until roughly 1.5km where Felix came cruising past and I was empty. Possibly the closest I have ever been to pulling out of a race. My legs were sunk and I was finding it very tough to continue. Until I remembered the prize money!! All I had to do was hold onto 3rd place and £100 was mine! After a very tough 58:25 of racing, I crossed the finish line and just smiled. I couldn’t believe I had finished 3rd. I honestly had not ridden a bike or swam for 4 weeks (since Glasgow). So I was very happy with this result. Although I was almost 2 minutes slower than last year overall, I was content with how things ended up. Reuben smashed it and Felix deserved his place in front of me. Well done to Paul Ryman for a cracking result and to Ollie for finishing 2nd in his debt triathlon in the u20 category despite being the youngest competitor! So to conclude the year, there’s been a bit of everything. Big injuries, big results, big training camps and a big rehab focus. My best result has to be the Redcar Triathlon where I finished 5th overall and qualified for the World Championships 2019. It’s hard to say what my most enjoyable race was. Cardiff Sprint tri was amazing. It was my first critical race of the season, the draft legal riding made me achieve excellent times, and the National Cross Country champs at Parliament Hill was unforgettable. Earlier on in the year in February I managed to achieve a 10km pb of 34:20 so that has to go top of the list running wise. I really have enjoyed this year of racing and training and meeting new friends and competitors. The lingering knee injury was frustrating. But here’s to 2019 season! A huge thanks goes out to- Katie Synge for coaching me. I achieved some great things which I wouldn't have done without her! Jason Tait for overlooking my swimming and getting me to top fitness in perfect timing. Sarah Fellows for looking after me and keeping my body injury free. Zoot Athlos Racing Team for being great support throughout the season. LPSEVENTS for sponsoring me financially and making all of this racing possible. Pedal Potential for supporting me from the start and allowing me to keep racing. Finally to Mum and Dad for helping out with everything from behind the scenes! European championships 2018 Hello and welcome to my blog. It is going to be broken up into two parts, the actual race (this one) and my lead up and preparation leading up to the event. Be sure to check out my social media (at the bottom of the blog) if you want to be notified about when I post! So on Thursday 9th August, we piled the car up with clothes and equipment, strapped the bike to the roof and then Mum, Dad, Ollie and I jumped in to start our 7 hour journey up to Strathclyde Park, Glasgow. We managed to break up our trip by stopping off at Lake Coniston in the Lake District. A gorgeous place where we could open water swim and tombstone (jump off rocks) into the lake. Perhaps not perfect prep for a big race but it’s an amazing experience. We arrived in at Strathclyde Park and I headed straight off to get registered and listen to the race briefing which was interesting but I knew a lot already as I had read all of the athlete information packs. It was fun to go because it meant that I could see some of my triathlete friends who I only see a few times a year. Friday came about quickly and it was time for the bike course familiarisation. The weather was pretty bleak so I took it steady going around with Triathlon Lee (Thompson) and also managed to catch up with some of the lads in my age group. I then racked my bike, which you have to do the day before ETU races, and headed off for some lunch. We returned later that evening to see the elite men’s race which was awesome to watch. Alistair Brownlee blew out in the last 3km of the run, Marc Austin came off his bike and Alarza had a phenomenal run making it a very exciting experience. Definitely fired me up a little bit. My swimming coach Jason Tait travelled up on the Friday to come and watch me (and some other athletes) so it was good to watch the elites with him and chat ahead of my race. Final kit check and then it was time for an early bed. 4:30am alarm clock and I was up and ready to go after 2 portions of porridge and a banana. Everything was set so we headed out the door. My race started at 7:00am and my age group (20-24) was racing at the same time as the u20’s. Our race involved a 750m lake swim, 20km non draft bike and a 5km run. All of it as fast as you could go. We arrived and I set up my transition. Big shout out to David Fryer-Winder for lending me his track pump to use. Bike shoes attached to the bike, talcum power was in the shoes and my legs felt fast!! I nailed an awesome warm up. 10 minutes of varied skipping, 5 minutes of jogging, 20 mins of a wide variety of drills. I was super pumped and ready to do this. My result at Redcar on the 29th July meant I was coming into this race with a decent swim, strong bike and a sub 17 5km off the bike. Ready to do some damage! All of the athletes in my 7am swim wave headed to the start line where everyone was supringly calm. We’re 5 minutes away from the start of the European championships but everyone’s making jokes about peeing in their wetsuit?! I managed to stay focused until Matthew Bailey turned up in a pink woman’s wetsuit! He had managed to leave his wetsuit and timing chip in the hotel so he had to hire one, sadly the only one available was quite bright pink and I couldn’t help but laugh. We got called into the water and had about 30 seconds to adjust to the chilly temperature before the start horn went off. I had made the brave decision to go absolutely balls out up until the first buoy to try and clear the mass of people that would be colliding around the 90degree turn. This worked for about 100m (where I was leading the race!!!) until I got swamped by everyone and sucked back into the pack of swinging arms and kicking legs. I got a small smack to the face resulting in my goggles filling with water. I quickly flipped onto my back to empty them before attempting to make up some ground. It took up until the last 100m for me to feel like I could get into a rhythm. Until BANG, someone’s heel caught me right in the eye, forcing my goggle into my eye socket and leaving me struggling to breathe. I don’t know why but I was just stunned and couldn’t breathe. It took me a few seconds to compose myself before I then went on to overtake the guy who kicked me and exit the water in 10:36. A very poor swim for this level of competition but considering I’d only been swimming twice a week for the last few months, I couldn’t really complain. Out of the water, the wetsuit was down to my waist and I was running over to transition. I easily found my bike, slid the wetsuit straight off and attempted to get my helmet and sunglasses off. Having an aero helmet makes it very hard to put it on quickly. Adding sunglasses to the mix made it harder. I threw the glasses on the floor and decided to go without. Picking up my bike and running over to the bike mount line, I threw myself onto the saddle and got cycling. The course was an undulating 3 laps with 2 dead turns and one 90 degree corner at the bottom of a very fast hill. I decided to ride the tt bike although if I had clip on bars for my road bike, I definitely would’ve used it to help with the technical parts of the course and the amount of climbing. A lot of my training had been focused on the bike so I really got going. Constantly attacking and trying to make up ground which was working. In all honesty, I wasn’t doing brilliantly. I was about 90 seconds down on the leaders and finding this hard. I didn’t feel hugely energised and the regular hills and corners made it hard to get into a rhythm. I kept reminding myself that there was still a lot of the race to go and I had time to make up some positions. I genuinely felt very sorry for the people I saw with punctures and mechanicals on the bike course. All that way to go down as a DNF. The sport is ruthless. I hammered the last lap and came into transition alongside James Hodgson, a good friend and very fast runner! I knew that if I stuck with him we could work together and do some damage. After one of the fastest transitions of the day, we hit the run together and it was brilliant! For about 200m... My calves cramped up instantly, complete lock out. I could only run on my heels, ruining my form and destroying any chance of getting into a rhythm. But I kept moving and really tried to pick up some speed. James just got further and further away and I was being passed by other athletes. Very frustrating! Time was passing very slowly, I was doing all I could to keep moving but it wasn’t enough. Eventually I managed to speed up a little but whenever a sharp hill appeared, it just sapped my legs of any energy. At the feed station Reece Ashfield came past (which added some fuel to the fire) so I grabbed a water bottle and squirted it at him as he overtook me. I desperately tried to hang on but a small hill left me gasping for breath. Could any more go wrong???? Luckily not, the rest of the race passed quickly and I even managed to sort out my technique and gradually increased speed for the finish line (and cameras). I crossed the line in 11th place. 10:36 swim, 34:20 bike, 19:20 Run. So what was I feeling? Disappointed. I am very happy with that result but I spent the rest of the day knowing I should’ve gone faster. Much faster. And what was this cramp? Lack of nutrition? Lack of fitness? Fatigue? I don’t know. But I can’t let it happen again. My year has been broken up with persistent injuries which took their toll when it came to it. All I know is that something is going to change ahead of the 2019 season and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure I don’t let myself down like this again. Of course I have to give a huge huge thanks to my amazing sponsors for their incredible support this season. I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have even made the start line without their support so I am hugely grateful for everything they have done for me. Jason Tait at South West Swim has done huge work to my swimming. Getting me back up to a decent speed in such a short amount of time and making me fit ahead of the season has been a big job for him but he smashed it and I’m incredibly grateful. Sarah Fellows at Dyer St Chiropractic has fixed me up after loads of injuries. Rebuilding my running technique to make me more effective and giving me strengthening exercises to improve all round power. Katie Synge for being my over seeing coach for the last (almost) 2 years. She has had a lot of work trying to get me fully fit for this race and I would say it has been a success. Due to her experience as an athlete she knows exactly what its like to go through rehab which has helped hugely. I would definitely recommend the services of Jason, Sarah and Katie. They have been simply awesome for me and I couldn't thank them enough. I also have to thank, Pedal Potential for their great financial support over the year, assisting with the purchase and printing of my trisuit. As my first ever sponsor, I will always appreciate the work they have done for me. LPSevents who only started sponsoring me this year. They have provided some vital financial support which has helped me to travel, enter races and buy necessary equipment. They host and organised brilliant events all over Wiltshire and the surrounding area. Triathlons, duathlons, swims and runs. Would definitely recommend signing up to one of their events here. These two sponsors have really helped in my journey as an athlete and the impact they have made on my year has been phenomenal. Without them, none of this could've been possible. Finally the support from all of the people who have seen any of my social media posts over the last couple of weeks. I really have been blown away by the amount of positive comments and encouragement I have received. Hearing you all definitely makes it all worth it. 5,800 people saw my post ahead of the event on my Facebook page which only has 400 likes. Staggering statistics which I am very blessed to have. To keep up to date with everything I else I am getting up to throughout the season, check out my social media pages- Facebook page- Luke Campbell Triathlon Strava- Luke Campbell Triathlon Twitter- @lukecampbell246 Instagram- @lukecampbell246 Big love, Luke Hello and thank you for coming to read my blog! I must start off with a huge thanks to Tom Riches who very enthusiastically volunteered to drive us both to Middlesbrough just to complete in an hours worth of racing! The aim for this race was to warm up for the European Sprint Championships on August 11th and also attempt to qualify for the 2019 Sprint Triathlon World Championships. So if everything went well, I would be killing two rather big birds with one stone here! Anyway we started the 5 hour journey on Saturday morning and arrived in Redcar at around 2pm. The weather was rather unpleasant, strong winds and constant rain and it was only supposed to get worse ahead of the race! We roughly familiarised ourselves with the course and then headed to our separate Airbnb’s to sort our kit out and have a quick nap. When our fellow Flying Monk teammates, Sam and Martin arrived, we went around the route analysing the corners and racing line. The main problem we faced, was not knowing whether the race would include the swim or not. The RNLI would be making the call on Sunday morning meaning we wouldn’t have much time to prepare for a duathlon if that was the case. We registered and collected our race packs then went out for dinner at a lovely little restaurant where I had Cheesy Nachos and Spaghetti Carbonara as we talked tactics about tomorrow’s race. An early night was due so we headed back to our accommodation where I spent a good hour stretching and visualising the race before hitting the sack. 6am came around quickly, I completed my morning stretching routine, had 2 bowls of porridge with a banana. Tom came and picked me up and then we headed to the race start. Everyone was still unsure about whether we would be racing a triathlon or a duathlon but we set up transition hoping for the former and got ready to hear the briefing. 10 minutes later we were given the details - 750m sea swim in 14 degree water, 20km draft legal bike (4 laps) and then a 5km run (3 laps). The conditions still looked terrible but at least it was the triathlon we were expecting. I was very very excited to be racing again! My second triathlon of the season, I’d done some quality training and felt in great shape. In the 35 days since Cardiff I’d lost 3.9kg and I was feeling fast! The female athletes set off and the weather was grim, but on the plus side Michelle Dillon was racing so it was nice to watch someone who knows what they are doing!! Before long, it was our time to start. I had completed my long and very specific warm up (including 10 minutes of skipping which I would hugely recommend to anyone) and was then jogging down the sand to the start area. I was wearing my new Zone 3 Vanquish Wetsuit for the 3rd time and also had a new pair of goggles provided by Jason Tait at South West Swim. (Apparently the pros all wear a new pair each time they race to reduce fog - or something like that!). I dived into the waves to acclimatise and boy was it cold. My face was very sensitive to the temperature and I considered pulling the plug on the whole thing for about half a second. I then walked out of the sea and joined the line of roughly 200 people all wanting to get into a good bike place. A short countdown and we were off, I sprinted the 20m down the beach and dived straight into the feet of the person in front of me which opened up my goggles and loads of water got in. I decided to risk my life by standing up to re-adjust them before starting again. Luckily no one came into the back of me and I was able to get going. We had a tight turn at the first buoy, followed by what was supposed to be a 650m swim and then another turn before running up the beach. My toes were cold, I’d been beaten by the huge waves and flailing arms but I loved it! Without a doubt my favourite swim ever! I exited the water and looked at my watch, 7:47. Wow I must’ve been swimming fast. And what about that guy about 100m up ahead?! (yes - it turned out the course was about 200m short). A long run up the beach followed before we entered transition where I very unsuccessfully tried to quickly take my wetsuit off. I would’ve preferred a pair of shackles. I had tapped Reece Ashfield on the shoulder as I passed him on the way in and said “Hurry up Reece”, he then repeated the favour as I was trying to pull the wetsuit off my ankle. Out on the bike course and I was alone. Very alone. I could barely see anyone up ahead and I had no idea what was behind. I just cycled as fast as I could, hoping I could catch someone. A solo lap and a half followed before I was caught by a big group who I worked fairly well with to complete the remaining laps. I definitely held off the speed here, only putting in occasional efforts because I needed my legs to be as fresh as possible to run. The bike was by far the toughest part of the race due to the conditions. Had it not been draft legal, it would've been a real struggle. The winds were topping out at 50mph and the rain was very relentless. Although most of the course was sheltered, when you were open to the conditions, you could really feel it! Approaching T2 with 200m to go, I removed my shoes and prepped to jump off the bike. I came in waaaay too fast and practically broke my heels landing and trying to run at 30kph. I then quickly found my transition spot, left the bike and helmet, chucked on my shoes and ran out of transition as fast as I could. Now was the real make or break situation. I would either absolutely nail the run and be very happy with myself. Or bonk out like at Cardiff (Blog here) and that would be the end of it. Luckily my legs held well and I was starting to overtake people. I knew for this first lap, that all of the men I overtook, would put me one place higher in the finishers. I was setting my sights on all of the runners I could see and maintained an attacking pace, picking them off one by one. As a rough estimate, I overtook 9 people and didn’t get overtaken once. My watch clocked 16:57 for the 5km, but there was still 500m to go! I put on one final surge and crossed the line 6th overall and 4th in my age category. Automatic world championships qualification and a result I was chuffed to bits about. I hung around in the finish area to chat to some of the other lads. Unfortunately for them, one of the Loughborough Uni competitors had punctured in our bike group, and another slipped over on a run corner. It could have been a completely different result if those misfortunes hadn’t happened. Well done to Tom Riches for having a cracking race and going very fast. To Felix Wernham for almost beating me (he did at Cardiff so were 1-1 now) and to Reece Ashfield for having a superb run. Pro's - I had a strong run, I had no injury problems, my transitions were solid (other than the wetsuit removal) and I qualified for the Triathlon Sprint World Championships. Cons’- Weather was terrible, run course was possibly the worst one I’ve ever done, 3 laps of 4 dead corners where you had to completely stop to get around them, including one which was covered in mud. And the finish…… they couldn’t put a finish chute or tent up because of the wind, which is understandable, but all we got was a medal and a cup of water. Poor value considering I had paid £70 to enter this race – a handful of snacks at the end would have been welcome! To conclude, I have to give a huge thanks to my sponsors without whom there is no way I would've been racing this weekend, let alone qualified for the World Championships. To Sarah Fellows @ Dyer St Chiropractic who has literally got me back up and running faster than ever post injury. To Jason Tait at South West Swim who has spent a lot of time improving my swimming and getting me back to racing speed. To LPSEVENTS and Pedal Potential for funding my love of triathlon! And to Katie Synge who has coached me back to fitness and is still working on getting me as fast as possible! Finally to my swim/cycle/run teams- ZOOT ATHLOS racing team Performance Cycles Cirencester Athletics Club The Flying Monk Triathlon Club To keep up to date with everything I else I am getting up to throughout the season, including the European Triathlon Championships in Glasgow on the 11th August, check out my social media pages- Facebook page- Luke Campbell Triathlon Strava- Luke Campbell Triathlon Twitter- @lukecampbell246 Instagram- @lukecampbell246 Not to start the blog off with any excuses but this was my first triathlon since September 2017 as I have had to pull out of 4 others due to injury. In the lead up to this race I knew my knee was fully recovered but my shoulder had been a bit on and off so I was going to go as hard as I could and see how it went. Without trying to put pressure on myself, this was also the World Championship qualifiers. The race consisted of a 750m open water swim, 20km draft legal bike (closed roads) and a 5km run. I had a lot of friends that I was racing against and I knew that if everything went well, we could make a good day out of it. Derrick (Flying Monk Tri Club member) and I made it to Cardiff and managed to find the registration tent. We picked up our timing chips, swim caps, race bibs and number tattoos and found a spot to get everything prepped. Here we met with the other members of the Triathlon Club and also Ben Sommerville and his dad. Committed blog readers will remember that Ben and I have raced a lot together and also met up for training etc. Everything was ready so we headed in to transition to get set up. About a week ago I realised that I had put down the wrong DOB for my entrance and so the organisers thought I was 45 which meant I would’ve been in a separate wave to the rest of my age group. Rather luckily, they hadn’t changed my race number which meant I was racking my bike in a separate position to everyone else in my wave meaning I wouldn’t have people all around me going in to T1. Very coincidently I was given the Bib number 246. See if you can work out why that’s a funny number for me to have. After setting up, we watched the elites, including some of my Zoot Athlos Team members and then headed over to the swim start to warm up and hear the briefing. Thanks to Ben’s dad, my wetsuit was only half way on before I realised I had left my running shorts on. Meaning I had to take the whole wetsuit back off before putting it back on! On Thursday of last week I received my new Zone 3 Vanquish wetsuit which I bought through Jason Tait. Rated 10/10 and apparently the best wetsuit ever! Before long we were headed onto the start pontoon and jumped in to begin our warm up. The water was warm, the suit felt fast and I was pumped. After the 5 minute wait, the race started and it was an absolute melee. Arms and legs were everywhere. I tried my hardest to keep pushing forward but I got punched and kicked in the face twice and my goggles got elbowed meaning they dug into my eye for the rest of the swim. One negative bit of feedback for the race organisers was that all of our swim caps were green and so was the exit funnel, making it very difficult to sight it. So I just followed the feet in front and hoped for the best. I crossed the timer mat in 10:45 (25 seconds behind Ben and lead pack) and then headed out to T1 where I removed my wetsuit, put on my helmet and then ran with my bike completing t1 in 52 seconds. Another complaint would be that the mount and dismount lines for the bike were not very visible at all and no one was telling you where they were. Someone needs to provide some very bright orange paint! After a fairly superb bike mount, I started to make up ground on the faster cyclists. I knew I needed to take advantage of being able to draft. I asked the closest cyclist around me if he wanted to work together. “No thanks” he replied. Then onto the next person, this was someone in a Bath Uni tri suit who I now know is called James Reeder. We then caught up with someone in a Green Tri suit called Samuel Woods and we worked very very hard to catch up with the chase pack. We had a very organised group of three and all put the effort in to catch up. (I was very lucky to be in a three with these two!). After roughly another whole lap (it was a 4 lap bike course) we caught up with the chase pack which included Ben Sommerville and James Hodgson (National AG champion) . Now came the tricky bit, trying to organise the whole group to work together instead of just one person sprinting off and ruining it. This worked for a bit but with all of the corners it was hard to sustain. And there was always one bloke who could never keep his racing line and kept ruining the chain gang so I had to give him a talking to!! The same guy was also cutting inside on the hairpin bends and almost caused a crash! (another talking to). With about 2 km to go, I told Samuel, James, Ben and James that we needed to break off our pack of 12 after the next corner, they all agreed but someone else must have overheard and sprinted immediately which completely ruined our plan. I turned a corner and came straight onto the dismount line (I’ll blame it on poor signage) and had to rush to get one shoe off and then unclip the other one and take it off by hand which wasted a lot of time! I then racked the bike, removed my helmet, chucked my running shoes on and sprinted off…for about 20 metres. My legs felt worse than jelly. If anything it felt like I had been hit by a bus after completing an Ironman! My chest was really tight, my hammies, groin and back were cramping and I could barely breath. This was rather frustrating as I saw the rest of my bike pack sprit off into the distance. Over the course of the two lap run I got overtaken at least another 50 times and crossed the line in 1:09.28. 7½ minutes slower than James who finished 2nd overall. I really can’t describe how terrible I felt on the run but I know it is due to lack of training!!! Positives- No shoulder pain on the swim, my new Cervelo S5 is rapid and I had the 4th fastest bike split of the qualifying race and I had no injury pain on the run. Negatives- Really bad sunburn, calf cramp after the swim and start of the bike, lots of cramp on the run and quite bad dehydration. All in all a brilliantly organised event and a wonderful day out. I am very glad to be back racing and running pain free and I am excited to see what is to come! Huge well done to all of my friends and team mates who completed the race. The weather made it tough but I had a brilliant day out and hope to return next year. Here are the blogs for: Ben Sommerville James Hodgson Of course a huge thanks is due to all of my sponsors and supporters for fixing me physically and helping me financially- LPSEVENTS Sarah Fellows @ Dyer St Chiropractic ZOOT ATHLOS racing team Pedal Potential South West Swim Performance Cycles Cirencester Athletics Club The Flying Monk Triathlon Club To keep up to date with everything I else I am getting up to throughout the season, check out my social media pages- Facebook page- Luke Campbell Triathlon Strava- Luke Campbell Triathlon Twitter- @lukecampbell246 Instagram- @lukecampbell246 Zoot Athlos Racing Team Training Camp, Sands Beach Resort 8/3/18-15/3/18 If you have read some of my recent blogs, you will know that I now race for Team Zoot Athlos. And through being on the team, I had the opportunity to attend the training camp in Lanzarote alongside other triathletes. Paul Ryman (www.paulrymanfitness.co.uk) was the coach for the week and he provided the overall plan with a balance of training session, routes etc. The other athletes included Kev Tonner (my roommate), Kirk Latham, Darren Phillips, Dean Stannard, Hayden Coate, Jason O’Callaghan, Nick Cranston, Scott Latham, Simon Blacker and Tom Dudden. Almost every member of the team has competed at Age-group level and many have raced full ironman events - this wasn’t just going to be some ‘ride in the park’. We were provided with the week’s plan a few days before departure and it included 600km of cycling, 8 swimming session and 4 running sessions. Also included were stretch sessions every evening which soon turned into lots of core work and a little bit of stretch. The main part of the plan that really struck me was how much cycling we would be doing. I felt I had the energy for this, but was more worried about the comfort, how good the seat would be on a hired bike I had never ridden before, and I only brought one pair of bib shorts… Day 1 I arrived in Arrecife, Lanzarote on the same flight as Nick and he drove us in the hired car to the Sands Beach hotel. We then met with the rest of the team who had caught an earlier flight and everyone put their bikes together. I think I was the fastest as all I had to do was adjust the seat height on my hire bike! We then headed out on what was meant to be a 40km ride. It was late afternoon, the sun was shining and the wind was minimal. We started at an easy pace but after only 10km we had to pull up, Scott’s tire had gone flat. I’m not too sure on the details but I think there were problems with some new tubeless tires which didn’t actually fit the wheels. Forced to change plan, we reluctantly headed back to the hotel before completing an easy swim set so Paul could film our strokes to assess our strengths and weaknesses. Day 2 Every Friday, Sands Beach Active hosts an Aquathlon for all comers to take part in. Paul figured it would be fun for us all to compete and test our sprint distance ability. The event was advertised as a 2km run, 400m swim and then a 2km run. This is the first time I have gone from running to swimming as part of a Aquathlon so I was up for the new experience. We were split into two ‘waves’ and I was in the first one with about 6 other athletes. I set off hard in the first run to try and split the field and break away from anyone else. One of the athletes from Triathlon Ireland who was also staying at Sands Beach managed to stay on my heels and stuck with me for the whole of the run which ended up being 2.8km. We then jumped in the pool (with all of the lane ropes removed) and swam 5 laps around the perimeter of the pool (buoys placed near the corners) which totalled roughly 400m. I exited the water with the Irish athlete and then set off on the run with a gap of about 5 seconds in front after the transition. I pushed really hard and tried to create as big a gap as possible and this worked well. At various corners throughout the route I turned to look where he was and from about 1km onwards he was really slowing down. A good sign for me but not so much for him. I turned the final corner and crossed the finish line in 1st place. Run 1- 9:33, Swim- 5:47, Run 2- 9:59. So a total time of 25:20. I chatted with the Irish athlete after he had finished and he told me that he was one of the coaches and didn’t train or compete anymore which explained his slower pace during the second run! There were some very solid results from the rest of the team resulting in us all being awarded medals and caps (which were actually leftovers from the Lanzarote Marathon in December!) We hungrily ate breakfast before heading out on our first proper ride of the week. We all took it steady before reaching Orzola at the Northern end of the island and the bottom of the Mirador Del Rio - one of the hardest climbs on the island. Being the first day I figured I had something to prove so smashed the climb from the start and ended up taking the ‘W’ for the stage. A lovely descent followed by a flat ride on the way back should’ve made it easy going until I started to cramp up. Fair to say it was payback for not only going hard on the Aquathlon but also putting too much effort in on the hills. To top it all off, with about 5km to go, my front derailleur wouldn’t move into the big ring, absolutely no movement which was strange. So I just had to spin my legs at about 150rpm to keep up. We made it back to the hotel and went straight out for an easy brick run and wow did it hurt. My legs were on the verge of cramping but they slowly warmed up as I cranked up the pace and finished the 5km in 23:58. I took the bike to the shop and it turned out the gear cable had snapped completely. The main benefit with hiring a bike is that when there are problems you just swap it out for another one without any hassle. To finish the day, we had a stretch session which was brilliant. As a coach myself, I learnt a lot of new stretches and exercises that I can use with gym members and during classes. Day 3 I started the day off early with a stretch and foam roll session, something that I have recently got into the routine of doing back in the UK. I will get up 45-60 mins earlier than necessary and spend that time foam rolling and completing some dynamic and activation exercises tailored to my weaknesses. It also makes me feel much more refreshed for the day ahead compared to waking up and going straight out for a swim/cycle/run. The first session this morning was a swim at 7am. We started to incorporate a little more speed within the session and Paul reminded us of our individual weaknesses and how to improve on them. Today we attempted some pool buoy and band (wrapped around the ankles) which is a really tough drill but hugely helps with the pull part of your stroke. A quick breakfast and we were out on our bikes. I picked up my new hire bike, quickly set it up and then headed off. Today’s route passed through Club La Santa (my favourite place!) where we stopped off for some lunch and then went south to El Golfo before making our way back to the hotel. I paced myself a lot better today and knew we had a run session planned for the evening so didn’t go too hard on the bike. For (what I thought was) the final session of today, we completed some running drills to improve mobility and stability and then headed onto the trails for an interval session. The session was 4 minutes, 5 minutes, 6 minutes, 6 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes each with 90 seconds active recovery. I found the first two intervals went very well and I was surprised at how my body was coping with the speed. But then it all started to go downhill…. My quads mainly started to cramp followed by my hamstrings, making it very hard to do anything more than a shuffle. So I held off the pace and worked as hard as my body would let me for the rest of the session. Finally, the stretch session. Today Paul decided to add some core exercises which made it the hardest session of the day. I struggled to complete more than 3 reps before I started to shake uncontrollably. We then finished off with a few stretches, making me feel rather sleepy and keen for bed. Day 4 Another early start in the gym with some foam rolling and light exercises followed by a session in the pool. This one included a lot of technique work with focus on rotation and holding the good form whilst increasing the pace. We then hopped on the bikes for the hilly ride. The route started out north towards Orzola but then we turned off and went up Tabayesco which is a well known ‘must do’ iconic climb. We stopped at the bottom for a photo, and by the time I had got back on the bike, everyone had charged off toward the hill. There was no chance I could catch up with the leaders so I took it steady and finished 4th with Kev taking the win. At the top we had an ice-cream and then set off to attack Mirador Del Rio from the south side. This includes lots of very sharp climbs and mini descents before reaching the top. Still feeling good after his win up Tabayesco, Kev went out hard and sustained his lead all the way to the top. I tried hard to chase him but ended up being overtaken on the final climb and finishing in 3rd. We then descended the climb back down to Arrieta and then tackled Tabayesco for the second time. I went out a lot harder and worked with Kev to create a big gap between us and the rest of the group. With 200m to go I jumped out of the saddle and powered my way ahead of Kev and went on to take the stage after drafting him the whole way up. Dirty tactics, but that’s racing J The day ended with a core and stretch session and a very large dinner! Day 5 Early in the day we chucked our wetsuits on and headed down onto the beach to take part in an organised open water swim around the bay, I completed 2 laps of the 1000m course. It was very wavy which made it hard to sight but great fun and very enjoyable. We then had breakfast and then went out on the bikes to complete the 3rd day in a row of cycling over 100km. By this point I felt like I was just sitting on sandpaper for the whole of the ride but with a little Vaseline, I managed to push through the pain! Today we tackled the Femes climb. It lasted less than 1km but an average of 12% made it a challenge. Also the day before I found that the rear derailleur was slightly out of line so it kept catching on the spokes when I was in the lowest gear meaning I was never able to use this one. This meant that on the final part of the climb I was forced out of the saddle and had to really push to reach the top and ultimately finish 1st with Kev not far behind. The final part of our ride included part of the run route of the Lanzarote Ironman along the sea front. There was a strong side wind but no traffic on the cycle paths. Once we returned to the hotel, we jumped off the bikes and then set off on a brick run. I purposefully took the first km as hard as I could and then went steady on to complete the 3.5km. The day finished with a core and stretching session and an early night. Day 6 Recovery day! A fairly easy swim followed by a recovery bike ride included us getting lost on the way to the cake shop (disaster!) and then me sugar bonking (the opposite of a depletion bonk) during the stop. I just suddenly had no energy and felt like I was falling asleep. I managed to get back on the bike and take it steady to the hotel before we took the rest of the day as rest knowing tomorrow was going to be very tough. Despite it being an evening of rest, we still had the core session (hardest one yet) followed by some gentle stretching. Day 7 The big one! Today we were tackling the Lanzarote Ironman bike course with a ride that totalled over 100 miles. While staying at Sands Beach, we noticed that Will Clarke, pro ironman athlete, (will-clarke.com) was also staying at the hotel and somehow Kirk managed to sweet talk him and his training partner into coming out on the ride with us. They stuck with us for about 90 minutes and in that time, Kev and I managed to drop a ‘watt bomb’ and break away from him on one of the descents. This resulted in him going down onto the tt bars and coming flying past us like he wasn’t even trying. A real close up example to us of a professional athlete who is in a wholly different league. We continued on the rest of the route at an enjoyable pace, knowing that the second half of the ride was where it got tough. A lovely lunch stop at 100km was our last chance to rest before we headed out to climbs Tabayesco from the Teguise direction and then go onto the Mirador Del Rio. Knowing it was the last day and my last chance to put some real effort in, I went for it on both of the big climbs. Tactics worked as I managed to take Kev on the line at the top of Tabayesco and then clearly coming first up Mirador by over 1 minutes (yes I recorded it!). A final descent down to Arrieta and then an easy pootle back to the hotel and we were done! Thank goodness. I rounded the day off with a massage from one of the therapists at the wellness centre. I cannot say it was the best sports massage I’ve ever had but it definitely helped my recovery over the next few days. Day 8 Turns out we had another swim planned for Thursday morning at 6am!!! The committed few (Kev, Hayden, Nick, Kirk and I) turned up but everyone else stayed in bed and I can’t say I blame them. We then demolished the breakfast buffet before packing and heading off to the airport. In all honestly, I didn’t think the week was going to be as hard as it was. Looking back, it was probably the most physically draining week of my life. Spending countless hours in the saddle is very exhausting but so worth it! A brilliant week which I thoroughly enjoyed. Excellent weather, a challenging programme and a great bunch of people to motivate each other and generate laughs. A huge thank you to Paul Ryman and the Zoot Athlos team. I am really looking forward to the racing season now! Sands Beach-www.sandsbeach.eu/en-gb Big thanks to my sponsors and clubs for supporting me so far this season- LPSEVENTS ZOOT ATHLOS racing team Pedal Potential South West Swim Performance Cycles Cirencester Athletics Club The Flying Monk Triathlon Club To keep up to date with everything I else I am getting up to throughout the season, check out my social media pages- Facebook page- Luke Campbell Triathlon Strava- Luke Campbell Triathlon Twitter- @lukecampbell246 Instagram- @lukecampbell246 Hello, as I am sure you all know, The Bath Half marathon was cancelled due to the bad weather conditions. I was quite simply gutted by the decision but there was nothing I could do about it and I can understand why the organisers had no choice but to make that decision. The following blog is slightly overdue and includes a few race reports over the last month (or two). Castle Combe team relays race 20/1/18 Today was the Castle Combe team relay road race. It involved running two laps of a 3km course and then passing the baton to your teammate etc. until all 4 of you have completed the two laps. Isaac and Jacob McAdam and Ollie (Campbell) and I had been planning to do this for ages as a bit of a family event and to also represent Cirencester Athletics Club. Our racing order and tactics had been planned weeks in advance and we were very excited to race. But then Ollie got a letter informing him that he had qualified to compete for Wiltshire in the school cross country which was also on the 20th January. So now we had to find a new teammate. The only criteria being that they had to run for Cirencester Athletics and be fast. Coincidentally there’s another runner called Ollie (Pritchard) at Cirencester and he’s fast. So we asked him to join our team. We arrived at the venue and it was a bleak day, zero sun and a constant drizzle. I was running first followed by Ollie, Jacob and then Isaac. I ran well and felt strong, my first time racing in my new balance strobe racing shoes (would definitely recommend as a racing shoe, very minimal and light) which took me around the two laps in 20:08 with a 5km split of 17:10 which isn’t bad. I was the 5th person to pass over the baton. Ollie took over and ran strongly to complete his laps in 20:15 putting us into 4th place. Jacob ran well finishing in 20:53 which put us back into 5th place. Isaac finished with two very strong laps in 20:05 crossing the line in 5th place. A fairly solid result. For us to have won, we would’ve needed to have ran 1 minute faster each!! The competition at this race was very high but it made us work hard and we all enjoyed ourselves and the team spirit which made it good run and a great event to participate in. Hopefully next year it will be sunny. Visit from coach 29/1/18 Katie Synge has been coaching me since November 2016 and the improvements I have made have been huge. The consistency of training and knowing what session to prioritise and at what tempo has really helped me with my progress. Katie’s experience has played a huge part in this as she trained with the Loughborough Triathlon performance squad for many years and competed at elite level. We spent 90 minutes in the gym going through sport specific exercises and ones particularly relevant to me which was quite simply knackering. I am not really one for S&C (strength and conditioning) and that session really took it out of me. We then spent some time planning out my triathlon season which I have to say looks very busy (more to come on that on a later date)! Before heading out to the roads of Malmesbury to complete a 10 mile training session. 15 minutes of pre fatigue tempo before 3x1km, 2x500m. The pre fatigue tempo worked because I was in pieces after the session. A very worthwhile day which I learnt a lot from that I can apply to my training which will hopefully make me fast. I would definitely recommend Katie as a coach, she is based in Exeter so does all of my training online through Training Peaks which works very well. She also coaches the Exeter University Triathlon Club and I have heard some very good feedback from that. Level 2 swim teacher Throughout the first few weeks of February I completed my Level 2 Swim Teacher Course based at Warminster Sport Centre. Having completed my Level 1 last August it felt a natural progression to do this one, especially as it would make me a fully qualified swimming teacher. On one of the mornings we started a little later so I headed out into the Warminster hills to get a feel for the area and see what it was like and I can honestly say it was amazing. There were just endless trails going all around some huge hills which made the run really fun and enjoyable. Whilst out on the run I went past the military base and found out about a huge concrete track leading away from the military base which was very flat and very fast. So on the Thursday I headed out there to complete some fast intervals which were tough! I was running backwards and forward along the same path and the wind was so strong in one direction making half of the efforts very tough! Running is such a great way to experience and explore a new place and it was definitely worth it. Castle Combe 10km 18/2/18 Isaac and I had been planning this race for a while and we were targeting it as a pre season burn out to test where we were at with our fitness levels. I was very excited and really wanted to target the sub35 minute barrier that I had never come close to before. Good friend Daniel Giles had been running extraordinarily well in the weeks before the race so I encouraged him to come and give it a go. He gladly agreed and it was great to have him on the start line with us. His plan was to hold 5:30 minute miles for as long as he could until he burnt out. So I figured I might as well run on his heels for a long as I could. The starter gun went and plenty of runners sprinted off the start line ahead of us. At one point I think I was in 9th place. Which either meant I was running too slowly or everyone else was just very fast! We held the pace well and clocked a 16:50 5km split. This was a pb for Isaac and only 4 seconds off mine. We were really going for it. As the distance progressed I found it harder and harder. Every step became harder and I was finding it very tough. After about 7km Daniel started to break away and I just couldn’t stick with him which left Isaac and I to fight it out between ourselves. The 8.5km mark came and that’s when Isaac went for it. I was still holding the space but he managed to go even faster and I just couldn’t hang on. It’s a horrible feeling knowing you want to be going so much faster but physically not being able to and it just broke me. I watched Isaac increase his lead to around 15 seconds and I was unable to go any faster! The finish line came into sight and I put on one final burst of speed to finish in 34.22 which is an average speed of 5:31 per mile. Daniel finished in 3rd place with 33:44 and Isaac in 4th in 34:08. Both Isaac and my garmins say that our 10km split was under 34 minutes so I am going to believe the Garmin. It was a tough race, I felt completely physically drained. Chatting to Isaac after the race we both said that during the race we felt in pain but there was no individual thing hurting, everything was! I guess that’s just the difference between pushing yourself completely to the max on a flat and continuous course compared to the varying terrain and gradient of most normal races. It was an amazing race and I am very happy with my time. We both smashed the 35 minute marker and now have our eyes firmly set on going sub 33:30 by the end of the year. National Cross Country Championships 24/2/18 “for English cross country, nothing quite matches the magnitude of the National.” “It’s got everything: the climbs, the descents, some good running and of course the mud. One year conditions may be okay, the next it could be a complete mud bath. Either way, you know at the end you’ve had a tough race.” Rumour has it there’s no better place for Cross Country than Parliament Hill, London. And Isaac and I just had to check this rumour out for ourselves. On Saturday 24th February we got up early and caught the coach at Swindon and headed for London. We came to Victoria and then caught the Underground and Over ground trains to arrive at probably the most iconic racing scenes I’ve ever been to. There were thousands of people everywhere. We had entered ourselves into the men’s u20 race with a planned distance of 10km. Neither of us had any real intention of achieving anything , we just wanted to run quickly and enjoy the experience. There were roughly 250 boys in our race, all fighting for the title of national champion. Isaac and I completed our standard warmup and headed over to the start pens. There were some of the uk’s greatest age group runners including Mahamed Mahamed and local Stroud based athlete Tom Mortimer. The race started and everybody went off hard, very hard. Except Isaac and I who found ourselves 20th from last. We spent the rest of the two laps just taking back positions and overtaking the other runners which is always loads of fun. Whilst the photos don’t capture it, I honestly thought that I had smiled the whole way around as I loved navigating myself around this great course. With one lap completed I decided to turn up the pace a little which resulted in me dropping Isaac (payback for last week). Then at around 6k one of the marshals told me I was in dead on 100th position so I really started to put the hammer down. I ended up overtaking another 13 people (3 in the last 100m) to finish in 87th. Isaac came in not long after to finish 105th. A simply wonderful race, I absolutely loved it and to think I overtook over 130 people throughout the duration of the race make it all a little more worthwhile. Huge well done to Tom Mortimer finishing 3rd overall, a seriously impressive result! We then hung around to watch the start of the men’s race before making our journey back home. Well done to the other Cirencester runners that competed, James, Ollie, Dorian, Liz and Luke. A good turnout despite such a long way to travel. To see some footage of the event, check out Ollie Pritchard’s youtube channel- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnrSV1HIJC32rg1VOzScTnQ Thank you very much for taking the time to read this, I hope you enjoyed it! If you have any comments please contact me through social media. Big thanks to my sponsors and clubs for supporting me so far this season- LPSEVENTS ZOOT ATHLOS racing team Pedal Potential South West Swim Performance Cycles Cirencester Athletics Club The Flying Monk Triathlon Club To keep up to date with everything I else I am getting up to throughout the season, check out my social media pages- Facebook page- Luke Campbell Triathlon Strava- Luke Campbell Triathlon Twitter- @lukecampbell246 Instagram- @lukecampbell246 Hello, this blog is going to be about life.
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April 2019
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