2014 Round Up

Having completely neglected my blog for over a year, throughout 2014, I wanted to resume a semi-regular use of it! With this in mind I thought it best to give a quick overview of how things went for me in 2014 and what I got up to!

Admiring the view at the top of one of the hills in Spain

The year started with a warm weather training camp in Aguilas, Spain over the New Year period and into early January with my training group from Leeds Triathlon Centre. I had never been on a training camp abroad so this was a new experience for me and the warmer weather allowed a good volume of cycling and running, and we took to opportunity to practise open water swimming with easy access to the sea. Whilst the first two weeks of January were great from a training point of view, the rest of the month I struggled to get the consistency I would have liked first with exams at uni, and then the great British winter seeing me fall foul of coughs/colds and lack of motivation, and it was towards the end of February before I training as consistently as I wanted.

March was a month of big highs and lows. I was informed that I’d been selected to represent Great Britain at the World University Triathlon Championships to be held in Brazil in April, my second GB selection. I then won the BUCS Biathlon Championships, with the fastest swim (a new PB over the 200m) and the second fastest 1500m run resulting in a new Championship Points record, and I appeared to be in good shape.

Prominent collarbone (pre-surgery)

Then came the big low; only two or three days later a bike crash on the commute to morning swim training resulted in a broken collar bone ultimately requiring surgery to ensure it healed correctly. This unfortunately meant I had to withdraw from the University Championships. Surgery took place early April, and there followed a couple of months of rehabilitation and building back into training. This meant a later than usual start to my season, and I also missed most of the qualifying races for Championship events being held later in the season.

Winning a sprint for 6th at Blenheim

June saw a return to racing, starting with a solid race at the BUCS Standard Distance Championships where I got 3rd, followed by the first event in the British Triathlon Super Series, Blenheim Palace Triathlon. Later in the month I travelled to Larache, Morocco for an African Cup event with the intention of gaining some ITU points, which I successfully managed, so get my name onto the ITU rankings; I also raced a 5000m event on the track in Leeds where I got another pb.

In July I enjoyed returning to Holten, Netherlands (location of European u23 champs 2013) for a European Cup race in Holten, and finished the month with a 5i50 race in Marseille, France, which was a good taste of professional non draft racing. The London Triathlon took place in early August and was the third event in the British Super Series, and I had a strong race to achieve my highest position to date in a senior British series race. The National elite sprint distance champs at the Liverpool Triathlon, which would have been the final event of the Series, was unfortunately cancelled due to adverse weather.  Disappointed not to race at Liverpool I decided to enter the UK Xterra Championships (off-road triathlon) largely because it sounded a fun event! This was another new experience for me, and after coming out of the 1500m swim 2^nd behind Richard Stannard I saw the class of the off road specialists on the mountain bike leg, and also encountered a brief stop for a mechanical, eventually finishing 11th. ^rd  Also during August I raced a few cycle road races and crits to gain more experience on the bike and riding in groups, accumulating enough license points to move up to 3rd cat.

Leading the chase group over the cobbles in the Lancaster Classic Criterium race!

In September I agreed to take part in the Helvellyn Triathlon as part of a relay team, where I would do the swim and the bike legs: I got a great start and came out of Ullswater with almost 3 minutes lead, only to have a mechanical leaving transition on the bike and was forced to drop out. My last triathlon of the season was a French Grand Prix event in Nice at the end of the month, representing my team Parthenay. October was a month of rest and recovery, and the odd party, with little to report in the triathlon/multisport world!

In November I made a return to compete for my old Athletics club at the Mansfield National Cross Country (running) Relays, an event I’ve raced at every year since the age of 10! I also set a new 1500m swim PB at the British Universities Short Course Swimming Championships. I then got to grips with Cyclo-Cross to build bike strength and improve my handling skills, and I raced a couple of events.

Riding the (borrowed) Racepace machine to 8th at BUCS Duathlon!

Towards the end of the month was the British Universities Duathlon Championships where I was happy to improved both my time and finishing position for the third year running, and lead the Leeds University team to a team gold medal! There was no racing for me in December other than the Leeds University Cross Country relays and a fun run while home for Christmas!

Results

• BUCS Biathlon – 1st (200m swim pb of 1:58)
• BUCS Standard Triathlon – 3^rd
• Blenheim Palace Triathlon – 6^th
• Larache ITU African Cup – 16^th
• Leeds 5k (track) race – 1^st (new pb of 15:42)
• Holten ITU European Cup – 40^th
• Marseille 5i50 Standard Triathlon – 5^th
• London Triathlon – 4^th
• Lancaster City Centre Criterium – 6^th
• Salt Ayre Criterium – 1^st
• Xterra UK Triathlon Championships – 11^th
• Bashall Eaves Cycle Road Race – 6^th
• French Grand Prix Triathlon, Nice – 75th
• VC Lincoln Cycle Road Race – 6th
• Lancaster University Criterium – 4^th
• Lancaster University Criterium – 2^nd
• BUCS SC Swimming Championships – new 1500m pb of 16:50
• Durham Cyclo-Cross – 13^th
• BUCS Duathlon – 8^th
• Piggy Lane Christmas Eve Fun Run – 1^st

Trail Running

Me out on the trails

For a while now an old friend and former triathlon rival (whilst I was growing up) has been encouraging me to go for a long steady trail run with him, as he was keen to show me his neck of the woods down the Ribble valley in Lancashire, where he carries out some of his sessions with his business, Racepace Triathlon coaching. So this week we finally got round to it! Having not seen Rodger for quite a while it was a nice catch up as we drove less than 20minutes from Blackburn to the small village of Sabden, before heading out on the trails and fells for a 90minute steady run. Rodge has built up a great local knowledge of the paths and trails, and lead me through some pretty remote areas including a loop round Pendle Hill with some excellent views, before dropping back down to Sabden to finish the 10mile loop. It was great to run in a new environment, and as Rodge stressed, it is an area so many runners live close to but are unaware of, where the variety and amount of trails on offer is great! After the run we went for a quick lunch at a local bakery/café to top off a good afternoon’s work!

My trusty trail shoes

For me, trail running usually includes a bit of multi terrain stuff, so a little bit of road/tarmac to get out to some woods or trials, and maybe some loops rounds fields or pitches, but if it’s off road it should be less impact for those knees which people tell me might stop working properly one day! Trail running probably comprises at least 50% of the steady run miles I do whilst training in Leeds, but this wasn’t always the case. At home, before moving to Leeds for University, I would rarely venture away from roads and lanes, partly because during the winter months it would be dark when I arrived home from school, and I didn’t fancy head-torch running, and partly because I always seemed to turn my ankle whenever I went off road. I would decide to hit the trails on a weekend every few months, and would usually seem to go over on my ankle on a rock, tree root or other small obstacle. This would lead to a few days or a week resting it while it was swollen up like a tennis ball, and put me off trail running for another few months. I also seemed to use the excuse that there were no good trails for running nearby… 

Views of the Lancashire countryside

Having run on trails much more I think I have been converted! One of the benefits has become clear as I believe trail running develops ankle strength and stability, as I no longer seem to roll my ankle, and even when you have that brief moment when you start to go over on it and are thinking “oh f**k”, I somehow seem to bring it back at the last instant and avoid a proper stumble, most likely through improved proprioception. Another bonus is the ups and downs and the interesting scenery compared to pounding the pavements all the time, as you get a chance to see a variety of wildlife and some pretty incredible views in certain locations.

Since deciding I actually quite enjoyed getting out on the trails or in the woods, I’ve found a remarkable number of trails near my house which I never knew were there, until I went looking for them, and now each time I’m back home from Uni, I try to find a new trail or loop to mix into my running. So if you’ve never ventured off the roads, I recommend trying a few off road runs through some woods and trails. If you feel you’re susceptible to twisting ankles, go for smoother, less rocky trails in the first instance, but you’ll soon be able to progress to the rougher paths, and the feeling of discovery gives you another reason to head out running in the cold winter months!

Winter Training Update

I am making a new effort to start to make some regular updates to my blog which was set up last year, and have so far completely neglected! Maybe it's slightly late to talk about winter training, with the first signs of some sun and warmth already showing here in Leeds, but here goes. Since moving to Leeds late last September to study Sport and Exercise Science, I have done some studying, plenty of training, explored new areas, and made a bunch of new friends and acquaintances! The winter months have been about steadily trying to build volume, particularly on the run side of things (which was probably my weakest area last season) and maintaining consistency. The swim training I am now doing is somewhat different to back home where the sessions were geared towards club swimming and shorter 50m - 200m racing. We have five squad swims each week, and the sets we do aim more specifically at racing 750m/1500m triathlon swims; it has also been an inspiring and humbling experience swimming alongside (sometimes) or behind two Olympic medallists, as well as a host of other top GB athletes.

Out on my bike with training partner Gordon, photo c/o Liam!

As mentioned earlier the bike training has been about consistency and exploring new areas, with some lovely rides out towards the Yorkshire Dales, and some good company and strong training partners. Throughout the winter we did a weekly turbo session as a group in the Leeds Met Sports Hall, to keep some speed in the legs, while most of the rest of the riding was steady miles building the aerobic base. Now its coming to Spring the infamous (among West Yorkshire based cyclists) Leeds Chaingang has started up and this replaces the turbo session. Done as a 25 mile hard ride whilst trying to pull some turns at the front, or else cling onto the wheels nearer the back, this serves as great a great race simulation session, and the presence of pure cyclists (as opposed to triathletes) makes it a tough enough ride for the Brownlee brothers! My main focus for the winter was to improve my running, and try to bring down my 5/10km times. Early in the winter, November 2012, I raced in the Leeds Abbey Dash 10km, and was rewarded with a PB of 33.37. Having gone off slightly fast in the high quality field and suffered towards the end I was optimistic that there was room for further improvement in the short-term future. The general plan for training over the winter involved steady mileage with key harder session on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Tuesday nights are track sessions, so hard reps working from 10km pace to down to 1500m pace on some sessions, as it's important to keep the leg speed even though it can be a few months until race season. Saturday mornings were tough grass reps sessions with slightly longer reps, and this was either with the Leeds Met Cross Country Club, or a small group of triathletes on our own, or on some occasions I raced XC instead. These sessions were about building leg strength, running hard and learning to hurt!
Thanks for reading, and I'll try and update soon!