“Remember that guy who gave up? Neither does anyone else" 18/6/2016 The big day has arrived. I got a good sleep before waking up at 5am to start the day off. Friday was spent travelling and registering before dad and I pitched the tent and turned in for the night. I felt fresh, cool air, little wind and minimal clouds meant it was the perfect morning to complete the Half-Ironman distance of 1.9km swim, 100km cycle and 21.1km run. The short walk to the café in the morning ended with disappointment when finding that, although promised, there was no porridge. Stupidly dad and I had relied on the porridge as our main fuel for the morning and were left with a single banana each to energise us before the start of the race. Bikes racked and briefing completed, we were now in the water and ready to start the ‘hardest half-ironman in the UK’ as I was told by many fellow participants upon reaching the finishing line. The horn sounded and we were off, for 200+ competitors, I didn’t find the start to be too violent. However there was a BIG problem...weeds. I have never swam with weeds to close to the surface which impaired my stroke and got caught in my goggles. But still, I took it nice and steadily focusing on the long strokes and gliding through the water trying to expend as little energy as possible while still making ground. An Aussie exit (after 950m) signified the end of the first lap before diving back in to finish the swim which was a first for me and broke my breathing pattern but I soon got it under control and attempted to increase the speed a notch. The only competitor problem was someone attempting to undertake me before a buoy and accidentally hitting my goggles which compressed onto my eye and was ridiculously uncomfortable. Luckily, after sorting my goggles out, that individual was the perfect speed to receive a tow from for the final 500m. Straight out of the water and on my way to the transition, my wetsuit was off in seconds, literally couldn’t have been faster. I heard my name called over the tannoy “Luke Campbell arriving at transition after a strong 31 minute swim.” I was happy with this! Obviously being a long race, spending an extra 5 minutes in transition would be more beneficial than rushing and making a mistake. Feet dried, compression socks on, helmet and glasses ready I exited transition and started the feared 100km cycle. The first 5km was all downhill so I got on some calories in form of a bounce ball (I would highly recommend) and then the real race started. Pre-race tactics involved me focusing on making the most time in the cycle and then sailing through the run. This worked without fault throughout the longest discipline only finding an issue when spilling an energy gel (big mistake) which make my handlebars sticky and some spilling onto my tri suit. The final 20km involved a notoriously feared climb named ‘the iron mountain’ which was no lie. Over 6km of a solid grade 2 hill which involved the individual split race of ‘fastest climb’ (I was in no contention). A few weeks prior to this race, dad and I attended the course familiarisation day which involved cycling the whole 100km. This meant I was prepared for the hill and kept a consistent pace all the way up, unsurprisingly in the lowest gear! Reaching the dismount line, I hopped off the bike and made my way into transition with my legs feeling surprisingly fresh. Cycle completed in 3 hours 45 minutes, I was very happy with this so I completed a quick transition which included running into the changing tent, removing my tri suit and putting on my running shorts and vest. Again I heard the tannoy, “Luke Campbell heading out for the 13 mile run after an impressive cycle, where’s his dad?” Unbeknown to me, my dad had experienced severe cramps heading up ‘the iron mountain’ and fell victim to the demanding challenge. This became clear when I saw him cheering me on from the finish line when starting my second 7.5km lap. I started the first of three laps at a strong pace, I felt brilliant and sure that I was going to keep this up for the next 19 kilometres. However within less than 10 metres it all fell apart, both quads cramped and I was stuck, I couldn’t bend nor straighten my legs, I was left standing with my knees at a 170° angle. What felt like 5 minutes of hard massaging of my legs, I eased myself back into a very slow run, I must’ve looked comical, my whole lower body had to be at a specific angle or I would completely cramp up. Many competitors came past and I repeatedly heard “just stretch it out mate” and “drink a lot at the next station” and that is exactly what I did, eating a banana, jelly beans, salted crisps and drinking at least 1 litre of water, I carried on with the tediously slow jog. Never have I been so close to quitting and giving up, I was in agony and struggled to even walk. Not only were my quads cramping but also my hamstrings meaning I wasn’t able to stretch either out, I collapsed on the floor and was quickly surrounded by marshals telling me to stop and rest. All I could think about was how disappointed everyone would be if I had failed. In my mind I repeated ‘suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.' However I was more than suffering. I managed to make it back to my feet, accepted a bottle of water and encouraged my shaking legs back to a slow jog. 7.5km done, 15km to go. I collapsed twice more during the run, drank over 4 litres of fluid and walked almost all of it, not willing to give in! I was greeted with cheers as I ran past the marshals for the last time, I was almost done. My pathetic performance was almost over and I would be able to rest! Stumbling over the finishing line my groin cramped up instantly and for roughly the 7th time that day, I was unable to walk. I had nothing left, my body has been completely abused throughout the whole race and I was finally finished, thank god. The run, supposedly my strongest discipline, finished me off with a disappointing time of 7 hours and 5 minutes. Yes, it took me 2 hours and 45 minutes to run 20 kilometres, averaging less than 8kmph, simply embarrassing. Looking back on the event, it was incredibly well ran and the marshals were brilliant, an amazing experience that has taught me a lot and proved that it really is all psychological. I was so physically tired and fatigued that my body had nothing left to give but I pushed through and made it to the end. I’m very glad I received the finisher medal however if I ever was to complete the event again, there are a lot of aspects to improve on. I hold great thanks to my dad who basically sorted out the whole event for me and although sadly not finishing, giving himself a big goal that will undoubtedly one day be completed (but we’re not going to tell mum) The week ahead will consist only of resting and stretching as my gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition will be taking place in Snowdonia on Monday the 27th June. Upon returning, dad and I will compete in the Cotswold Big 2 mile swim on Saturday 2nd July and hopefully nail some good times. I will be proudly swimming with team #SSW http://southwestswim.co.uk/
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Monday 6th- Friday 10th June From the 6th-10th June, I had the week off college so I took it upon myself to complete a week of work experience in the sports department at Malmesbury School. This went really well, I learnt a lot and I am very glad I got to see everything from a teacher’s perspective. The best thing about the week was having more time to train so I took the opportunity to attempt to swim a minimum of 2km everyday Monday to Friday. On Monday I completed the 80 lengths in the local swimming pool at 7am, this was good because I was dried and ready for the day by 745. On Tuesday however, dad and I drove to the lake and were in the water for 7am, we covered roughly 2km and we pretty much had the whole lake to ourselves. Back in the pool on Wednesday morning, similar to Monday everything was over and done with fairly quickly. Slight lie in on Thursday morning as after school I cycled to the lake while dad drove and we swam without wetsuits!! The water was over 20 Degrees and definitely warm enough to just wear speedos. It felt really strange compared to normal, as if every stroke the water was a different temperature. Anyway, we battled through and completed roughly 1.5km which felt pretty fast. Friday morning was a nightmare, I got down to the pool, dived in but could only complete around 1km before completely burning out. I wasn’t going at a particularly fast pace nor pushing myself but it felt as if I had nothing left so I ended the almost triumphant week on a low where swimming is concerned. Saturday 11th June Back to Chippenham parkrun again, this time wearing my new calf compression socks. Honestly, I don’t know if they made a difference but I won by over 30 seconds and I got sub 18 minutes which I think is a good result. There was a slight drizzle throughout the whole race which reduced the humidity so the conditions were almost perfect. I started strong and held the lead throughout continuing into when I got onto the ‘lone lap’ of the second field where I didn’t see any other runners for the whole first lap. I then increased the pace a bit to ensure the win and crossed the line in a time of 17:58 which I was fairly happy with. Recently I have got a new job as a lifeguard at an outdoor lake which is exactly 20km away so I take advantage and get in a quick cycle before working and then steadily heading home. On the way it was tipping it down and I was almost late so the burn in my legs was fairly constant throughout both journeys. I then took a well-deserved rest day on Sunday which actually involved going to work but all I’m focusing on now is the Brecon titan half ironman next Saturday! Last week I bought a new gadget- the Fitbit hr charger, it’s absolutely brilliant. It does everything you need and alongside myfitnesspal, it will undoubtedly get you the results you want. The one issue with it is that it isn’t waterproof so I'm always having to take it off to swim and shower etc. which is a pain. 01/06/2016 Went for a ‘short’ recovery run while staying in hilly Sussex with the intention to only run 7.5km, ended up getting lost and completing over 10km at a fairly fast pace. Finished off the session with some squat variations, lunges and deadlifts. Really felt that in my legs the following morning! 03/06/2016 Early start today, Dad and I made our way to the lake and were in by 715am, we completed a 1500m lap now that sprint triathlons are out of the way for a few months. Time to focus on the Brecon Titan 70.3 half ironman on the 18th June. Really trying to work on breathing every 5 strokes so that I can become over comfortable when it comes to racing on 3 breaths. I also focused on the latter end of the stroke and pushing the water away. I found I was getting a lot more propulsion with way less strokes. I then worked at the Leisure Centre from 3pm-9pm, very long afternoon! 04/06/2016 Back to Chippenham Parkrun after 3 weeks, excited but anxious as to how my legs would feel in the morning, but they worked well with minimal soreness. I started off really slowly and just eased into it, I sat on the shoulder of a fellow Cirencester AC member until the half way mark when I upped the pace and left him, I then set my eyes on the runner ahead in 1st position. I followed about 10m behind for the rest of the race before stupidly leaving the sprint too late finishing me 2nd in a time of 18:19. This felt way too easy and I should have started much faster…at least I’ll know for next time. I’ve recently started a new job as a lifeguard at a country park which is a short 17km cycle away so I easily made my way over there, attempting to keep the kilometres under 2 minutes. Great first day of the job, I really enjoyed it and it’s the same place as the lake I swim in so I can use that to my advantage. On the same site, a woman’s only triathlon was being set up including some of the stalls so I purchased some calf compression socks that should help to minimalize cramp during some upcoming triathlons. 05/06/2016 Leisurely start today, went to the pool to meet with the Flying Monk Triathlon Club (which I will soon be joining) and went on a run with Dad and another member. We went at a comfortable pace and reached the 5km mark upon which I had to turn back and run home (rather quickly) because I had to be at work 35 mins later. I completed this 5km split in about 18:40 and managed to shower and change before going down to work which was ridiculously quiet. I then went on a 30km cycle around an easy route with a training partner and now unsurprisingly my legs feel fairly tired. Quick note- Really good effort by triathlete Sam Mileham over the last two weekends, 10th at European sprint triathlon and 2nd ( and qualifying) for the world championships sprint distance in Mexico next year. Well done! Concerning the Nottingham Triathlon, which I completed on the 28th May 2016, I was mentioned in the Wiltshire and Gloucester Newspaper. The article states that I am ‘still not 16’ however I think it meant to say ‘still not 18’ which I will be in September. http://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/sport/14525693.ATHLETICS__Cirencester_s_Luke_Campbell_excels_in_first_senior_competitive_triathlon/
21/05/2016
Started off the weekend at 6am with a car journey to the Brecon Beacons to cycle the organised route of the Titan Half Ironman. Being the first time I have ever cycled further than 80km, I felt the pace was good and I coped fairly well with the hills (1,400m height gain). Surprisingly I didn’t experience much cramp despite the tough climbs and the dull mood due to the constant downpour of ‘Welsh liquid sun’ and the horrible wind. Focusing on the event, I am excited to know how my legs will cope by concluding the race with a 13 mile run. I guess I’m going to have to keep it steady and hope there is enough left in the tank. The day was a great experience and definitely beneficial in terms of training and being prepared for the actual race. http://www.dbmax.co.uk/event-list/triathlon/item/titan-brecon.html 22/05/2016 Slightly later start today, dad and I headed over to the Cotswold Lake to attempt a few laps. However upon arriving we realised there was a 1.9km lake familiarisation swim as part of the 113 events for the 70.2 race in mid June. We both headed off with the pack and completed the full swim distance and then dried ourselves off before running a fairly easy 6.5km to get the legs moving. However mine hadn’t fully recovered from Saturdays cycling meaning they were covered in a burning sensation for the first 2km. For the rest of the week I plan to let my body recover with some low intensity efforts before the all-important Euro qualifier race on Saturday which will start at 8am. This will be my first official high standard triathlon and I hope to take advantage of the apparently very flat and fast Nottingham course. First blog of the new page, quite a lot to talk about from the last week or so. On Saturday 14th May, my family ventured back to Swindon Parkrun which was where I completed my first ever Parkrun in 2011. I achieved a time of 30:16 and can remember feeling as if I was being tortured. Five years on from that and I have improved by almost 13 minutes which just shows that commitment goes a long way. Week on week I became quicker however I always looked at the guys far in front and wondered if I could ever beat them one day. That ‘one day’ came on the 14th of May 2016 and as Cirencester Athletics Club describes it; "Luke Campbell’s brave move to forsake his Chippenham comfort zone and take on a much greater challenge in Swindon paid off with a first place (and inevitably 1st Junior) and a time five seconds faster than his Chippenham PB." I tracked the whole run on my Garmin GPS watch and upon looking at the split times, I found that my last 50 meters were completed at 30 kmph (1:55 minute kilometer). Over the years I have seriously worked on my sprint finish and it has clearly benefited my performance. On Sunday 15th May, I ventured further from my comfort zone and attended the body power expo 2016 at The NEC. For those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s a massive warehouse filled with bodybuilders, weightlifters and bikini models. I met Nikki Blacketter, Steve Cook and Christian Guzman which was an incredibly experience and I shall be looking to go again next year. My next race is the Nottingham Sprint Triathlon on the 27th May, so this is my last week of hard training. This race is my attempt to qualify for the European Sprint Championships in 2017. There is fierce competition, but if things go to plan, I am confident that I have a chance of securing a slot. I’ll try and keep you updated over the next few weeks even though I am busy with training, work and college work. |
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April 2019
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