The European Championships - 25th June 2017 Before I start, I have to say a huge thanks to every single person who has supported me throughout my journey to this race. I may not always show it but I truly appreciate every comment and kind word. Now for the race, anyone who has seen my social media will know that I bigged this race up hugely, it’s been all I’ve thought about since qualifying. Every training session, every race and (almost) every meal has been focused towards this event. So there was a lot on the line. On Thursday Dad and I to drove to Heathrow and met up with Chrissy, another age group competitor and member of my triathlon club (The Flying Monks) before boarding the flight direct to Dusseldorf airport. We then had to take an 6 person taxi van to our hotel just so it could fit the bike box in! I was using a Bike Box Alan, kindly supplied by Performance Cycles, which worked out well and did the job perfectly. After arriving at our hotel, Dad and I decided to walk down to the official team hotel and also have a look at the event location. What was expected to be a short walk, turned out to be over 40 minutes along the twisting Rhine. And 40 minutes back! N.B. Check how far you are staying from the event because it is very hard to understand tram lines when your German only goes as far as “Ja” and “Danke” In the following hours leading up to the event, I completed the swim familiarisation, collected my registration pack and had my personal mechanic (dad) put my bike back together. On the Saturday evening I racked my bike in the longest transition ever seen (honestly it was at least 400m long) and had a chat with some of my u20 GB buddies and other competitors. The big debate leading up to the event was whether wetsuits would be allowed. Dusseldorf had had nearly 2 weeks of 30 degree plus weather and the harbour area hosting the swim was warm. For this event the cut off was 22 degrees and I was secretly hoping it would be non wetsuit because of my fairly strong swim. Pre-Race thoughts I’m not going to deny that I wanted to win this race. Every time I closed my eyes I was imagining myself winning. Not one negative thought crossed my mind in the lead up to the race. I knew how fast I was and I knew that if I really could ‘unleash the beast’ I would have a very strong chance of coming out on top. Even racing in the same wave as the 20-24 age category didn’t bother me, it would just give me more of a reason to push. Race morning (Sunday) We were up at 05:30 and at 06:00 headed off to transition by taxi. Some food, final checks in transition and a warm up then headed to pre race briefing for 07:30. It was announced wetsuits would be optional. The 750m swim was in a fairly dirty side dock with zero visibility below the water and the exit what seemed like an endless number of steps up to the bridge. Then there was roughly a 400m run to the start of transition (my bike was at the furthest end possible) so add this to the length of transition and it would be almost a 1km run before I even saw my bike. It had been raining on and off so the technical 20km bike course became especially treacherous after prolonged dry spell – as well as tram lines to negotiate. After the bike I would have to push my bike the whole length of transition before starting on the 5km run. Mid warmup a tannoy called out for all of the 16-19 & 20-24 male athletes to get to the start line so I lubed myself up with baby oil at the wrists and ankles, got in the wetsuit and made my way down to the start. I was bunched next to a few other GB athletes one of whom being Sam Mileham (remember the name) who gave me a lot of help and guidance during 2016 regarding a blog and the process to qualify for age group races. We were joking around and everyone had such a chilled attitude that it felt like every other race. But it wasn’t. This was the European Championships and I wanted to win. Race time As we placed ourselves in the water alongside the pontoon the horn soon sounded and it was go time. I got off to a solid start with minimal contact with the athletes alongside me and everything was looking good. However, my arms started to get really tired and my breathing just couldn’t get into a rhythm. I passed the halfway point and found myself swimming alongside another athlete, we both breathed towards each other on every stroke and made eye contact each time. I have no idea who he was but I left him for dead in the final 50m. (Maybe he caught me up in the cycle but who knows?). Once the swim had finished I jumped onto the pontoon and sprinted up the steps before starting the long run to my bike. I quickly pulled my wetsuit down to my waist and held my goggles and hat firmly. Eventually reaching the bike I quickly took off my wetsuit and placed it all in the box, put on my helmet, race belt and then ran with the bike to the mount line where I completed probably the best flying mount I have seen in my life. Slipping my feet into my shoes and charged out onto the bike course. The rain meant the roads were very slippery and within 5 minutes I had seen 4 other GB athletes fall off their bikes going around corners. Coincidently they had all just overtaken me and clearly paid the price. One of these athletes was James Hodgson, a friend of mine in the 20-24 age category who got back on his bike and overtook me again before the turn point (Check out James' website HERE). I reached the end of the bike course, removed my feet from the bike shoes and jumped off the bike before the dismount line and proceeded to run the whole length of transition to rack my bike. A very speedy transition led me to sprint out and onto the run course. I knew that this was my opportunity to create the most damage. I had overtaken a Belgium athlete in transition and managed to pull away from him as the race progressed. Now to catch the rest of the athletes. Sadly that didn’t happen. I kept pushing but just couldn’t up my pace over the two laps. With around 200m to go I spotted another GB athlete in my age group so I made him a target. As soon as I hit the blue carpet I put the burners on and overtook him to finish as 4th u20 and 3rd GB athlete in my category. I was finished and I was happy. Although I got nowhere near the result I had wanted, I had the honour of representing my country and racing some of the best athletes my age. Sam Mileham (the guy I mentioned earlier) won the u20 age group and I can honestly say that he deserved it more than anyone else. He has been competing for Team GB for years now and in his final race for the u20 age group he pulled out a brilliant performance and got awarded the gold medal. (He was also sitting A level exams during the week building up to the race!). I wish Sam all the best with his triathlon and hope to race against him again where I’ll give him more of a challenge! Check out Sam's website HERE. Post race thoughts In terms of execution, my race was perfect, everything went smoothly and I had no muck ups. My health is great and training has been varied and led to PB’s this year. The only frustration is that I didn’t achieve the times I know I am capable of had I been racing to my full ability. I genuinely have no excuses as to what happened, it just clearly wasn’t my day. However, I did learn a lot, I have some big plans and I intend to race on that kind of stage again soon! I’m sure all of the GB athletes would agree with me that regardless of the finishing position it is a brilliant experience to race in the GB kit, and the city of Dusseldorf hosted a wonderful event. My race results are HERE. #bigthingsgotlostinthepost Well done to Chrissy who finished in a strong time despite nursing injury. Also to Adrian Williams, a member of Cirencester AC, who came 8th in his Age-Group. My greatest thanks goes to my parents for supporting me mentally, physically and (most importantly) financially throughout the lead up to this race. It is fair to say there is no chance I would be racing at this level without their help. It is also definitely necessary to thank my sponsors and supporters for all of the help I have received in the last year. 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
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I must apologise for the time it has taken for me to write this blog but I can happily say that I have now finished college…forever! I have a lot to get through so it’s going to be a short, sharp (and fun) blog. Wootton Basset Sprint Triathlon- 14/5/17 This is a low key event with a fast and flat course. In the days leading up to the race I checked over the entry start list and I confidently assumed I would finish in the top 3. I know most of the other competitors and knew that none of them should have been a risk. Race day and I was very excited, plenty of time to sort out transition, warm up and mentally prepare myself. My swim wave was called up to the pool for the 400m swim and the race director called out everyone’s name, I was looking around sussing out the competition and getting more and more confident. Until he called out “Paul Ryman.” “whaaat?” I blurted out. (For anyone who doesn’t know, Paul is one of the best Wiltshire based triathletes and he regularly achieves podium at national and international events). Not one to be unrealistic, I knew there was no chance of me winning. I quickly ran out of the pool to tell my Dad, he replied with “oh you won’t win then.” Anyway, the race started and I was the first off in my lane, within 12 lengths I had already overtaken the other 3 athletes in my lane and I knew I was on for a good time. Hopped out the pool and stopped my watch. 5:07. Wow a 12 second pb - yes please. A rapid transition followed and I was out on the bike course in no time at all knowing that I was being chased down. N.B. not disheartened by my attempt at the Calne sprint tri, I attempted the flying mount again and it worked perfectly whooo! Paul came flying past after around 8km but I kept grinding away trying to lose as little time as possible. Turned out the cycle was actually around 23km and I came into t2 in 35.03 in unofficial second place and around 1 minute ahead of 3rd place. Another superb transition and I was out on the run. My legs were tired and they hurt. Fast forward 18 minutes and 51 seconds and I finished in 2nd place in a time of 1:00.1. How infuriating! I have a small admission though. When I finished the race director came to me and told me I was getting a 10 second penalty, obviously I challenged it because I had absolutely no idea why but it turns out I started the swim early. From my memory, I heard “3, 2, 1, GO.” I started when I heard the “GO” but apparently I was supposed to wait until I hear the whistle which was blown after they said “GO”. This makes absolutely no sense in my mind but hey it didn’t affect the result and it still would’ve been a 400m swim PB. As a result of the penalty I only had the 2nd fastest swim. To conclude, it was a brilliant event, the marshals were great, the organisation was flawless and I had great fun. Swim- 5:17 (2nd) Bike- 35:03 (3rd) Run- 18.51 (4th) according to my watch the run was actually 5.2km hence it being slow #noexcuses Overall- 1:00.1 (2nd) Well done to Paul Ryman who won in 57:26 and took the course record. dbmaxresults.co.uk/Results.aspx?CId=16421&RId=30013 Parkrun PB- 6/5/17 Today was the Cirencester AC club championships which was held at Swindon Parkrun. I headed over with the McAdams (the same family I went to Lanzarote with) who religiously run this event almost every week. I knew there would be some tough competition but I also knew I was the fittest I have ever been so I was very optimistic towards a PB. Isaac (McAdam) and I completed a strong warmup which included some sprints, drills and explosive stretches before placing ourselves at the front of the start line. The starter sounded and everyone sprinted off, I made sure to be well clear at the front on the heels of a fellow Cirencester AC member (Adrian). We quickly formed a pack of 4 which included Isaac and a regular Parkrun winner…this should be fun. First kilometre completed in 3:14. Wow just need to keep this up. Unsurprisingly that didn’t happen and the next kilometres were 3:23, 3:22 and 3:32. Lack of speed on the 4th km meant I was able to push harder on the final one. Adrian and I had broken away and were confidently leading the field. As the distance to the finish decreased I was pulling away from him and with 200m to go I put on a final burst of speed and finished in first place in 16:46 with my final km being 3:13. Adrian crossed the line in around 16:55 and the Isaac secured third place in a pb time of 17:22. I was over the moon (and knackered). The club 5km u20 record is 16:41 so I know I could beat it in a higher level race. SouthWestSwim- 11/5/17 Today I had a 1-2-1 open water session with Jason Tait from South West Swim. We video analysed my sighting and then worked on speed and cadence. Jason gave me a lot of tips and pointers as to how I can improve my open water swimming and make it as good as possible. I can honestly say that the help and support I have received from Jason has been invaluable. The quality and specificity of session has been brilliant and huge improvements have been made since we started working together. I would 100% recommend him for open water as well as pool analysis. http://southwestswim.co.uk/ Cotswold Aquathlon series- 17/5/17 The first race of the series. This comprised of a 750m swim and a 5km run. These are my strongest two disciplines so I was hoping to do some damage. My neighbour (Amy Bentley) gave me a lift to the event and we had plenty of time to register and warm up. I was slightly nervous but I knew there was no pressure. The transition area was straight out of the water and was set out in a rectangular shape. For some reason everybody had arranged their spots around the edge with no one in the middle. Knowing I would probably be in the first swim pack I set up my transition right in the middle where I had plenty of room. The race started and it was a quick swim, this was my first proper open water race situation this year so it took me a while to sort out my breathing and technique. I exited the water roughly 5 seconds behind the leader, flew through transition and sprinted out on the run. My head was very dizzy and I couldn’t really see properly. I soldiered on and got on the heels of the lead runner. As the race progressed he was clearly getting more and more tired so with around 2km to go I upped the pace a little and dropped him. I crossed the line in 1st place in 27:31. Almost 30 seconds ahead of 2nd place. Amy Bentley was 2nd woman in a time of 31:40. http://www.janet-whiting.com/events-waterland-aquathlon.html Wotton Parkrun- 27/5/17 With 2 days to go until the Westonbirt Sprint Triathlon, I figured it would be good to open up the legs and fly around Wotton Parkrun. I first did this event when I was injured with an Achilles problem so I didn’t manage to finish the race. Today I knew what to expect from the multi-terrain course and I was feeling GOOD! I overhead a very fit looking man on the start line say that he was going for the course record of 16:15, that was my chance of a victory gone so I just headed out and enjoyed it as a tempo run. I quickly secured 2nd place and continued into the finish in 17:38 feeling very very strong. The winner finished in 15:57, smashing the record. My brother finished 4th in 19:07 less than 10 seconds off the age group record and my Dad finished in 21:35. Westonbirt Sprint Triathlon- 29/5/17 The big day has arrived. Westonbirt is known for a fairly iconic race which often attracts some very good athletes. I already knew that Max Hazel would be there so that was 1st place out the window but when I arrived I found out Paul Ryman was also competing (oh brilliant!) just 2 days after winning the sprint distance national championships for his age group. This meant I would be going for 3rd overall and 1st u20. There were two very strong athletes competing in my age category. Jack Powis, who beat me at Oldbury in 2016, and Tom Kerfoot, who came 10th u20 at the European duathlon champs. The race started with a 400m pool swim, I was aiming for sub 5 minutes but sadly this didn’t happen, I couldn’t find my rhythm and I was struggling to hold the pace. I completed the swim in 5:21. There was then a 400m run to transition before I hopped on the bike and started to get the legs pumping. (I forgot to mention, it was probably the worst weather you could imagine for the race, the rain was pouring down and it was cold). I flew around the well practised bike course in 35:30 averaging just over 40kph and headed out on to the run course in 4th position overall and as 1st u20. I was struggling, maybe Parkrun had something to do with it. I continued to increase the distance between me and the following junior while getting closer to 3rd place. With just 300m to go I flew past him (Jack Sexty, author of 220 triathlon and world record holder for bouncing on a pogo stick for 10 hours and 21 minutes) to take 3rd place. As I was in the last wave to swim, I knew I had secured the position straight away. Paul Ryman won with a new course record of 00:59:44 Max Hazell came 2nd in 1:00.30 I came 3rd in 1:02.07 Tom Kerfoot came 5th in 1:03.21 Jack Powis came 8th in 1:06.06 (and the 2nd fastest bike split) I also had the fastest T2 by 0.3 seconds. Probably my biggest achievement of the day! For coming 3rd I won a bottle of wine, this came in handy as it was Mum’s birthday 2 days later. http://dbmaxresults.co.uk/results.aspx?CId=16421&RId=30016 Cotswold Aquathlon Series- 31/5/17 With only 1 day to recover, Amy and I headed out to the Cotswold Aquathlon. Confident in my last victory I completed a similar warmup and decided to hammer the swim and then hold off anyone else on the run. It didn’t quite go as planned. I felt very strong on the swim and came out of the water in 3rd place. My swim and transition was 10:21 so I’m confident my swim would’ve been close to under 10 minutes. I then came out of t1 in 2nd place and chased down the leader. I caught him quickly and attempted to stick with him but it was a struggle. My legs felt very uncomfortable. One lap completed, 1 to go. With less than 2km to go I got dropped. The other guy increased the pace and I couldn’t hold it. The hard swim and fatigue from Monday was making it hard to continue. I knew there was a long way before 3rd place so I settled into a consistent speed and finished in 2nd place in 26:19. 7 seconds behind the leader. On the plus side I was over a minute faster than last time and I got the CR on Strava for running around the lake. The guy who won will be racing in Dusseldorf but in the 30-34 category so although not a direct competitor, I want to beat him. http://www.janet-whiting.com/events-waterland-aquathlon.html Castle Combe 10 mile TT- 14/6/17 My first ever 10 mile TT and time to test out what the bike (and my legs) can do. I rode over to the event from home with a friend and warmed up around the track. I was feeling good despite a really tough track session the day before. I knew I was in no contention to win the race but I was aiming for a time around 23 minutes. We were set off at 30 second intervals. I flew out the blocks with the race plan of setting a high speed and maintaining it. It hurt...but it worked. 16 km of pain later and I crossed the line in 22:30 and finished in 18th place. I was chuffed with this result especially as I averaged 26.7mph (42.9kph). Next time I complete this event I will be hoping for closer to 22 minutes. http://shop.kinetic-one.co.uk/2017-time-trial-series-12-w.asp Prep for European champs I honestly cannot believe how quickly the time has passed. Only 6 days to go until the European Championships, my first international event. The details of the race are below-
I simply could not be more prepared for this event, I have completed a huge amount of training and received loads of support which I am very grateful for. Time to smash my goals and prove some people wrong. #bigthingshavealmostarrived Thank you very much for reading this, I hope you have enjoyed it. I would appreciate any feedback so hit me up on my social media. Please go check out my Facebook page Luke Campbell Triathlon, I would really appreciate it if you could go and give it a like. Also please check out my Strava- Luke Campbell Triathlon Twitter- @lukecampbell246 Instagram- @lukecampbell246 I will be regularly posting updates on my Snapchat so add me- @lukecampbell246 Please like, comment and share my posts! As always, big thanks to my sponsors and the people who support me- Pedal Potential South West Swim Performance Cycles |
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