Last weekend saw the start of my 2011 international campaign, with the first of 4 races in Asia, and the first ever running of Xterra Philippines.
The whole race was a fantastic spectacle, from being greated like royalty at the airport in Cebu by local band, to being putup in one of the best hotels i've ever stayed in, an amazing pre race dinner hosted by the Governer of the Province with 200 local dancers putting on an amazing show in local dress, and finally the race itself, where the crowds lined the roads like you see in a mountain stage of the Tour de France (chanting songs and waving flags).
Competitors came from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States to make it a truely international event.
The race started with a 1.5-kilometer swim in the Camotes Sea near the century old Liloan lighthouse, followed with a 32-kilometer mountain bike and finished with a 10-kilometer trail run through thousands of cheering spectators fronting the San Fernando Rey Parish Church and Papa Kits Marina where we ran on a 200m bamboo walkway above the water.
I was 5th out of the water behind some top local swimmers, onto the bike I was anxious to build as big a lead as possible because I have missed 10 days of run training trying to rest my calf from a recent injury. This plan worked perfectly and although I could still feel my calf injury on the run I was able to jog the run at 80% effort and hopefully not do any additional damage. The 2nd place male pro was the current Philippines 70.3 champion Neil Catiil. The womens race was won by World Champion Shonny Vanlandingham of the USA, ahead of European Champion Renata Bucher of Switzerland.
The race has already received a lot of publicity with 20+ journalists at the pre and post race press conferences. Thanks to an enthusiastic team of local volunteers this race will go from strength to strength in the next few years I'm sure.
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Sunday, 12 September 2010
Xterra Switzerland (did not start)
Basically I've been ill since before Vitruvian 1/2 Ironman last weekend.
It's been 10 days now and I'm getting pretty bored of it to be honest! I felt a bit more human and energetic on Weds last week and decided to do The F3 events, Weds night race round Dorney lake which was also the Berkshire Tri Squad club champs, which I'd never managed to race before. I won the race, but felt awfull and really struggled in all disciplines.
Since then my health has not improved any more, I took the trip to Switzerland for the European series final, but on the morning of race day I still felt totally bunged up with cold and couldn't race. It was interesting and fun spectating with my wife and seeing the race from the other side of the fence, and getting very sunburnt in the process!
I'll be seeing a doctor tomorrow now as it's obviously a really deep chest infection I've got and it's taking ages to shift.
Six weeks to go until the world champs in Maui and from all looking good last week with 3 good training weeks and 3rd in the Vitruvian, it's suddenly feeling like an effort to walk up stairs, let alone do exercise.
If things improve, I'll be doing the Men's Fitness Rough Track tri next weekend, which is a good event and I always try to support it. However I'll be having to train through it to make up for lost time.
Oh well, fingers crossed another Lemsip and hope I feel better tomorrow.
It's been 10 days now and I'm getting pretty bored of it to be honest! I felt a bit more human and energetic on Weds last week and decided to do The F3 events, Weds night race round Dorney lake which was also the Berkshire Tri Squad club champs, which I'd never managed to race before. I won the race, but felt awfull and really struggled in all disciplines.
Since then my health has not improved any more, I took the trip to Switzerland for the European series final, but on the morning of race day I still felt totally bunged up with cold and couldn't race. It was interesting and fun spectating with my wife and seeing the race from the other side of the fence, and getting very sunburnt in the process!
I'll be seeing a doctor tomorrow now as it's obviously a really deep chest infection I've got and it's taking ages to shift.
Six weeks to go until the world champs in Maui and from all looking good last week with 3 good training weeks and 3rd in the Vitruvian, it's suddenly feeling like an effort to walk up stairs, let alone do exercise.
If things improve, I'll be doing the Men's Fitness Rough Track tri next weekend, which is a good event and I always try to support it. However I'll be having to train through it to make up for lost time.
Oh well, fingers crossed another Lemsip and hope I feel better tomorrow.
Sunday, 5 September 2010
Vitruvian 1/2 Ironman Triathlon, 3rd Overall, 1st in Age group
The Vitruvian is one of the best races in the country. With 1000 athletes, it sold out within 48hrs of entries opening. It has also been voted event of the year several times if i'm correct.
I won the event back in 2005 at my first attempt, but was never able to defend my title due to it clashing with Xterra events.
However yesterday, 5 years later, I returned hoping to repeat my victory.
I have been suffering with an achillies injury for the last month which has meant I've missed 3 weeks of running and only been running for 1 week before the event.
However this meant I had got myself in great bike form.
To top this, a few days before the event I got a sore throat which I was hoping to shake before race day, but it was not to be and instead of being sensible and resting I was so excited to be back I decided to give it a go anyway.
I was pleased with my swim, coming out of the water in 27 minutes for the 1900m, only 2 minutes off the leaders in my wave.
A reasonable transition where i lost a little time putting socks on, saw me onto the bike and on a mission on my new Cannondale slice TT bike. Wow, I love this bike, having borrowed one before for Tagaman earlier this year, where i blitzed the bike. This time I could put my own kit on it such as USE Tulabars and get it just how I wanted it.
My bike leg was going great, passing literally 100's of athletes in earlier waves, then my stem came loose and started to twist on the fork steerer tube. This was entirely my fault, for building it up in a hurry 3 days before the event and not testing it thoroughly enough. Luckily I managed to finish like this ,the the amusement of other athletes, but it certainly didn't help my aim of getting the quickest bike.
In my rush to get onto the run I was penalised for unclipping my helmet before racking my bike, which again was my fault, oops. I really should know better.
The run was always going to be hard, especially lacking so many running miles in my legs recently. I was actually very pleased to run a 1hr 21min half marathon at the end of the race.
All credit to Joel Jamison for an amazing winning time, which all my excuses added together wouldn't have matched. Jonathon Hodgekiss pipped me into 2nd place overall, and got the fastest bike of the day which I would have liked to have got. Maybe I'll have to do more of this road triathlon middle distance stuff in the future, or an Ironman to get some revenge on these guys.....?
Anyway, a great day all round and still 6 weeks of hard training before Maui. Plenty of time to get running fast again.
Next week is Xterra Switzerland where i want to get back in the top 10.
First I need a few days rest, to get over my sore throat which is back with avengence this morning, racing certainly didn't help it!
I won the event back in 2005 at my first attempt, but was never able to defend my title due to it clashing with Xterra events.
However yesterday, 5 years later, I returned hoping to repeat my victory.
I have been suffering with an achillies injury for the last month which has meant I've missed 3 weeks of running and only been running for 1 week before the event.
However this meant I had got myself in great bike form.
To top this, a few days before the event I got a sore throat which I was hoping to shake before race day, but it was not to be and instead of being sensible and resting I was so excited to be back I decided to give it a go anyway.
I was pleased with my swim, coming out of the water in 27 minutes for the 1900m, only 2 minutes off the leaders in my wave.
A reasonable transition where i lost a little time putting socks on, saw me onto the bike and on a mission on my new Cannondale slice TT bike. Wow, I love this bike, having borrowed one before for Tagaman earlier this year, where i blitzed the bike. This time I could put my own kit on it such as USE Tulabars and get it just how I wanted it.
My bike leg was going great, passing literally 100's of athletes in earlier waves, then my stem came loose and started to twist on the fork steerer tube. This was entirely my fault, for building it up in a hurry 3 days before the event and not testing it thoroughly enough. Luckily I managed to finish like this ,the the amusement of other athletes, but it certainly didn't help my aim of getting the quickest bike.
In my rush to get onto the run I was penalised for unclipping my helmet before racking my bike, which again was my fault, oops. I really should know better.
The run was always going to be hard, especially lacking so many running miles in my legs recently. I was actually very pleased to run a 1hr 21min half marathon at the end of the race.
All credit to Joel Jamison for an amazing winning time, which all my excuses added together wouldn't have matched. Jonathon Hodgekiss pipped me into 2nd place overall, and got the fastest bike of the day which I would have liked to have got. Maybe I'll have to do more of this road triathlon middle distance stuff in the future, or an Ironman to get some revenge on these guys.....?
Anyway, a great day all round and still 6 weeks of hard training before Maui. Plenty of time to get running fast again.
Next week is Xterra Switzerland where i want to get back in the top 10.
First I need a few days rest, to get over my sore throat which is back with avengence this morning, racing certainly didn't help it!
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Tour of Dorset 2010 Road stage race. 1st Overall (Yellow Jersey) 1st Overall Points (Green Jersey competition) Winner of Stage 3
This weekend was my final few days off running to let my Achillies heal properly, and so i thought I'd carry on my big cycling push by joining my Cannondale team mates at the Tour of Dorset.
I love stage races and find that they generally give me great form, so this was an ideal build up for the Xterra world champs 9 weeks away.
Stage 1 was a short Prologue time trial and I finished in 8th place, joint on time with my Cannondale team mate Mike Cotty. We were less than 30 seconds off the Leader. It was decided that we'd share the leadership and try to get in breaks on the next flat stage.
Stage 2. Points and bonus seconds were awarded every lap on the finish line. After several breaks, it looked like it would all come together for a bunch sprint. However 2 riders clipped off the front and gained almost a minute and became 1st and 2nd overall. I got a break midway through the stage and gained a 5 second bonus and some points towards the Green Jersey. However I lost 10 seconds as a penalty for crossing the white line on the road (oops). GC position 12th.
Stage 3. This is where it all happened. The finish line is at the end of a 2 mile climb, nice! Lap 3 and I launched a solo attack purely to get the 5 second bonus that went with it. After this excursion i went back to the bunch and hid...until... I got in another break of 3 riders and made a deal that I get the sprint points, this got me another 2 laps points, then we got caught by the bunch. With 2 laps to go, the main break went and i'd missed it. I was just getting Cannondale to organise a chase when another rider attacked to try to get across, I jumped on this riders wheel and we worked together until the foot of the climb, the gap was still 200m at this point. It was a now or never moment and I attacked alone to try to get across the final 200m against the group of 7 riders. Slowly inch by inch I got across and on making the junction we worked well and soon were out of sight and we all knew this would decide the race. I got the points yet again on the penultimate lap and coming into the final 5 miles, last years winner Crispin Doyle attacked. No one else responded, so i got across on my own and we pulled out a 30 second gap. On the final climb I dropped Crispin to win by about 10 seconds, taking both the Green and Yellow jerseys.
Stage 4. I basically owe this one to my team mates. They chased down all the important moves and sheltered me through out. In the end it was a bunch sprint which I didn't contest. Mission accomplished.
Sore legs today but hopefully some really good bike form coming. Next weekend I am doing the Torq 12hr enduro with a Team of 4, supported by USE Exposure lights. Then I have got the Vitruvian 1/2 Ironman Road triathlon, which is one of the UK's biggest events and I won in 2005 and haven't come back to race since. Back on the running from today with all eyes on Maui in 9 weeks time.....
I love stage races and find that they generally give me great form, so this was an ideal build up for the Xterra world champs 9 weeks away.
Stage 1 was a short Prologue time trial and I finished in 8th place, joint on time with my Cannondale team mate Mike Cotty. We were less than 30 seconds off the Leader. It was decided that we'd share the leadership and try to get in breaks on the next flat stage.
Stage 2. Points and bonus seconds were awarded every lap on the finish line. After several breaks, it looked like it would all come together for a bunch sprint. However 2 riders clipped off the front and gained almost a minute and became 1st and 2nd overall. I got a break midway through the stage and gained a 5 second bonus and some points towards the Green Jersey. However I lost 10 seconds as a penalty for crossing the white line on the road (oops). GC position 12th.
Stage 3. This is where it all happened. The finish line is at the end of a 2 mile climb, nice! Lap 3 and I launched a solo attack purely to get the 5 second bonus that went with it. After this excursion i went back to the bunch and hid...until... I got in another break of 3 riders and made a deal that I get the sprint points, this got me another 2 laps points, then we got caught by the bunch. With 2 laps to go, the main break went and i'd missed it. I was just getting Cannondale to organise a chase when another rider attacked to try to get across, I jumped on this riders wheel and we worked together until the foot of the climb, the gap was still 200m at this point. It was a now or never moment and I attacked alone to try to get across the final 200m against the group of 7 riders. Slowly inch by inch I got across and on making the junction we worked well and soon were out of sight and we all knew this would decide the race. I got the points yet again on the penultimate lap and coming into the final 5 miles, last years winner Crispin Doyle attacked. No one else responded, so i got across on my own and we pulled out a 30 second gap. On the final climb I dropped Crispin to win by about 10 seconds, taking both the Green and Yellow jerseys.
Stage 4. I basically owe this one to my team mates. They chased down all the important moves and sheltered me through out. In the end it was a bunch sprint which I didn't contest. Mission accomplished.
Sore legs today but hopefully some really good bike form coming. Next weekend I am doing the Torq 12hr enduro with a Team of 4, supported by USE Exposure lights. Then I have got the Vitruvian 1/2 Ironman Road triathlon, which is one of the UK's biggest events and I won in 2005 and haven't come back to race since. Back on the running from today with all eyes on Maui in 9 weeks time.....
Friday, 19 March 2010
Xterra Saipan 1st, Tagaman 1st, PIC double 1st
Hafa adai (as they say in Saipan). My first major goal of 2010 was Xterra Saipan, which I won in 2009 and is one of my favourite races on the circuit.
With a week of acclimatisation to the 30 degree heat and high humidity, I was disappointed on race day to see it raining like back at home (almost like the UK, except it was still 25 degrees). The sea was pretty rough when the gun went at 6:30am, making it difficult to see the buoys, and impossible to swim in a straight line. With the swim completed, I was in 5th place just behind fellow brit and training partner Michael Hiscott, 2 minutes down on my major rival Mike Vine and a minute behind another previous winner Aussie Jason Chalker.
After a reasonable first transition Michael and I set off to chase down the opposition. On the first major climb I could see Jason ahead, but it took me until the second climb of this very hilly hard course to pass him.
Not long after this, I got my first glimpse of Mike Vine. I was not reeling him in as quickly as hoped however and it took a longer than last year to catch him. When I eventually did make contact, I attacked almost straight away and worked on getting a decent lead in the remaining half a lap. My new 17lb Cannondale Flash with its single front chain-ring danced up the 30 minute long climb to the top of Mt Tapochao.
Into T2 I had a 2 min 15 second gap over Mike. Little did I know the carnage that was occurring further down the field with Jason taking a tumble and cutting himself to the bone and Michael spending more time on the dirt than on the bike!
The run starts with 2 km of flat paved paths round a park, where I tried to get in a rhythm before it hit the jungle proper. I didn’t look back and just concentrated on the rocks and roots in front of me. Entering the dreaded ‘gully’ towards the end of the course, which is a deep rocky ravine with a 100ft long cave section where the Japanese soldiers hid from the Americans in the 2nd World war, I apparently had a 2 minute lead still (which I found out afterwards). The rocks were covered in a thick coating of slippery moss from the recent rains, and a rockfall since the 2009 race had changed some of the route. I thought I ran this pretty well, considering there are sections where you have to clamber down 10ft drops where European Health and safety would suggest the use of ropes and harnesses, I had one nasty moment where I slipped over on a slick rock and bashed my hip pretty badly, but somehow Mike had closed the gap to 45 seconds.
Luckily I looked back on the straight section and saw him chasing. From then on I just dug in for the last 2 km along the beach back to the finish. Breaking the race down and treating every palm tree as the finish. Amazingly I only lost another 2 seconds to defend my title and carry a 43 second advantage into the Tagaman middle distance road triathlon the following weekend.
The other british contingent finished nicely in the money and raced well, with Michael getting 5th in the mens pro race, Emma Ruth-Smith and Daz Parker (both in their first ever pro race) got 4th and 5th respectively.
Tagaman is the final event in the Saipan sports fest (which had a Marathon also the week before Xterra). It consists of a 2.2km swim, 60km bike and a 15km run. This years event had a great international field including most of the Xterra pro competitors and a large contingent of Korean pros, a Japanese Olympian and also several Aussie pros. In previous years I had got 3rd (2007) and 2nd in 2009, not matching the record of Tagaman legend (and my very kind 2XU sponsor) Mike Trees who won this event several times and podiumed plenty more. In order to be fresh, I had a relaxed week of light training, scuba diving with my wife to be and eating far too much fantastic food at the host hotel, the PIC.
The swim started with a false start possibly caused by your truely, and we were all called back! On the second attempt we got way properly and I realised why I was leading the first time around, as the Korean ITU pros got to work at the front and got a good gap. A bad line by all competitors on the first lap (in the half light at 6am) led us over beautiful but razor sharp coral in very shallow water. The fastest swim of the day was by one of local guys called Kai who also put us all to shame in the Xterra swim too.
I exited the water in 17th, 2 seconds behind Michael Hiscott (as he continues to mention to me), had a good transition and got on my new Cannondale Slice which they very kindly loaned me for this possibly my only road tri of 2010. I was about 3 minutes down on the leaders.
The bike was predominantly head wind for the first half and a group of 4 Korean pros took advantage of the lack of draft busters and held a commanding lead, while first Jason Chalker, then Mike Vine and finally I struggled to catch them. When I did make the junction I attacked on the opposite side of the road, so no one was going to get on my wheel. From here it was a do or die effort to gain enough time on some potentially very fast runners that I knew little about. I must thank AW cycles for lending me some posh carbon Fulcrum wheels before I left the UK, which certainly helped today. Over the next 40km I managed to build a 3 minute lead, over the chasers. I had been careful to consume plenty of Maximuscle viper to keep my carbs and fluids up in the heat, but there was still 15km left to run and last year I knew how I faded last year and didn’t want the same to happen.
The run turned into a repeat of the Xterra with Mike Vine chasing hard and gaining time, but eventually running out of road, and I took the tape with less than a minute to spare yet again, but extremely happy with the result after 2 years of taking the lower steps on the podium, I was great to finally get my name on the same trophy as Mike Trees! Michael Hiscott ran the 2nd quickest run split of the day to move from 8th into 3rd at the line. Emma Ruth Smith finished a superb 4th and Daz raced very well to finish 7th in a large 30+ pro field.
Winning both these races guarantees me the prestigious PIC double prize, which as well as some cash includes 7 nights accommodation next year at the PIC resort. Next week is Xterra Guam, where I again hope to defend my 2009 title, Emma and Daz are racing again too.
With a week of acclimatisation to the 30 degree heat and high humidity, I was disappointed on race day to see it raining like back at home (almost like the UK, except it was still 25 degrees). The sea was pretty rough when the gun went at 6:30am, making it difficult to see the buoys, and impossible to swim in a straight line. With the swim completed, I was in 5th place just behind fellow brit and training partner Michael Hiscott, 2 minutes down on my major rival Mike Vine and a minute behind another previous winner Aussie Jason Chalker.
After a reasonable first transition Michael and I set off to chase down the opposition. On the first major climb I could see Jason ahead, but it took me until the second climb of this very hilly hard course to pass him.
Not long after this, I got my first glimpse of Mike Vine. I was not reeling him in as quickly as hoped however and it took a longer than last year to catch him. When I eventually did make contact, I attacked almost straight away and worked on getting a decent lead in the remaining half a lap. My new 17lb Cannondale Flash with its single front chain-ring danced up the 30 minute long climb to the top of Mt Tapochao.
Into T2 I had a 2 min 15 second gap over Mike. Little did I know the carnage that was occurring further down the field with Jason taking a tumble and cutting himself to the bone and Michael spending more time on the dirt than on the bike!
The run starts with 2 km of flat paved paths round a park, where I tried to get in a rhythm before it hit the jungle proper. I didn’t look back and just concentrated on the rocks and roots in front of me. Entering the dreaded ‘gully’ towards the end of the course, which is a deep rocky ravine with a 100ft long cave section where the Japanese soldiers hid from the Americans in the 2nd World war, I apparently had a 2 minute lead still (which I found out afterwards). The rocks were covered in a thick coating of slippery moss from the recent rains, and a rockfall since the 2009 race had changed some of the route. I thought I ran this pretty well, considering there are sections where you have to clamber down 10ft drops where European Health and safety would suggest the use of ropes and harnesses, I had one nasty moment where I slipped over on a slick rock and bashed my hip pretty badly, but somehow Mike had closed the gap to 45 seconds.
Luckily I looked back on the straight section and saw him chasing. From then on I just dug in for the last 2 km along the beach back to the finish. Breaking the race down and treating every palm tree as the finish. Amazingly I only lost another 2 seconds to defend my title and carry a 43 second advantage into the Tagaman middle distance road triathlon the following weekend.
The other british contingent finished nicely in the money and raced well, with Michael getting 5th in the mens pro race, Emma Ruth-Smith and Daz Parker (both in their first ever pro race) got 4th and 5th respectively.
Tagaman is the final event in the Saipan sports fest (which had a Marathon also the week before Xterra). It consists of a 2.2km swim, 60km bike and a 15km run. This years event had a great international field including most of the Xterra pro competitors and a large contingent of Korean pros, a Japanese Olympian and also several Aussie pros. In previous years I had got 3rd (2007) and 2nd in 2009, not matching the record of Tagaman legend (and my very kind 2XU sponsor) Mike Trees who won this event several times and podiumed plenty more. In order to be fresh, I had a relaxed week of light training, scuba diving with my wife to be and eating far too much fantastic food at the host hotel, the PIC.
The swim started with a false start possibly caused by your truely, and we were all called back! On the second attempt we got way properly and I realised why I was leading the first time around, as the Korean ITU pros got to work at the front and got a good gap. A bad line by all competitors on the first lap (in the half light at 6am) led us over beautiful but razor sharp coral in very shallow water. The fastest swim of the day was by one of local guys called Kai who also put us all to shame in the Xterra swim too.
I exited the water in 17th, 2 seconds behind Michael Hiscott (as he continues to mention to me), had a good transition and got on my new Cannondale Slice which they very kindly loaned me for this possibly my only road tri of 2010. I was about 3 minutes down on the leaders.
The bike was predominantly head wind for the first half and a group of 4 Korean pros took advantage of the lack of draft busters and held a commanding lead, while first Jason Chalker, then Mike Vine and finally I struggled to catch them. When I did make the junction I attacked on the opposite side of the road, so no one was going to get on my wheel. From here it was a do or die effort to gain enough time on some potentially very fast runners that I knew little about. I must thank AW cycles for lending me some posh carbon Fulcrum wheels before I left the UK, which certainly helped today. Over the next 40km I managed to build a 3 minute lead, over the chasers. I had been careful to consume plenty of Maximuscle viper to keep my carbs and fluids up in the heat, but there was still 15km left to run and last year I knew how I faded last year and didn’t want the same to happen.
The run turned into a repeat of the Xterra with Mike Vine chasing hard and gaining time, but eventually running out of road, and I took the tape with less than a minute to spare yet again, but extremely happy with the result after 2 years of taking the lower steps on the podium, I was great to finally get my name on the same trophy as Mike Trees! Michael Hiscott ran the 2nd quickest run split of the day to move from 8th into 3rd at the line. Emma Ruth Smith finished a superb 4th and Daz raced very well to finish 7th in a large 30+ pro field.
Winning both these races guarantees me the prestigious PIC double prize, which as well as some cash includes 7 nights accommodation next year at the PIC resort. Next week is Xterra Guam, where I again hope to defend my 2009 title, Emma and Daz are racing again too.
Monday, 26 October 2009
World Champs Maui DNF
Sorry for the late race report. I have been pretty devastated and down all week, since the race. I had worked so hard for it and was in the shape of my life at the time. In a perfect world, had I got the position I deserved, it would have paid for the trip nicely and hopefully opened the door to some decent financial support next season. However as you'll read I'm now left with deflated tyres and a deflated morale and the need to return to a job for the winter and hunt for decent sponsorship for next season.
After breaking a chain in 2008, I was leaving nothing to chance, fitting brand new tyres, chain and cassette the day before. Then testing it thoroughly! At 9am the sky was slightly overcast in places, but when the sun did poke through, you knew it would be hot later. There was a lot of creeping forward and pushing on the start line, as 500 people fought to get the best position. My race strategy was to go really hard for the first 200m of the swim, hopefully get on some fast feet and get towed round. It worked for me in Austria, but unfortunately not here. I was immediately grabbed and swum over, it seemed like forever until I could get 2 strokes in succession before being clobbered again. Yellow age group swim hats swamped me and then stopped in front of me leaving me with no-where to go. Although I swum the best I've swum at Maui, I was still way further back than i should have been and 4 mniutes off the leaders.
I had a minor problem in transition when the zip caught slightly on my Maystorm speed suit and I had to pretty much dislocate my shoulder in an escape artist type manoeuvre to get out of it. Onto the bike and I felt good immediately, I had felt pretty tired the previous weekend and so I had a week’s taper, instead of the 5 days I’d planned to have, this left my legs feeling super fresh. I caught Michael Weiss (2nd last year, and another poor swimmer) on the first climb, and although he got back past me on the following descent, I passed him again soon and rode away. Shortly after this I caught Julie Dibens, which was way sooner than usual, and seeing Julie’s times at the end it wasn’t her hanging around! On the hardest climb of the race, Ned’s climb (named after mountain bike and Xterra legend Ned Overend) I got within spitting distance of favourite Nico LeBrun in 6th place. However on the next descent ‘the plunge’ I punctured. I repaired it fairly quickly losing possibly 5 places, and 3 miles later I was back in the top 10 and charging, only to be hit with yet another puncture and this time my gas cartridge didn’t work properly. I eventually borrowed stuff from other athletes, but I had lost 20 minutes or more.
I didn't start the run, I came to Maui for a top 5 finish against the best in the world, and I'm positive I'd have acheived that. I was on for the fastest bike split by at least 2 minutes, Michael Wiess got the quickest bike split in the end and I was 1 min 15 sec up on him when I punctured. By my calculations I might well have started the run in the race lead. I was running well too, doing my mile reps comfortably in just over 5 minutes. However all this is speculation and no-one will believe it until I get that result to prove it. I know in my head that on my day there is no one in the Xterra that is impossible to beat any more.
The season has gone great really with 2 world cup wins (Xterra Saipan and Xterra Japan), and another win in Xterra Guam. 7 victory's in all including UK races. 3rd place in the European tour and 3rd in the European champs also. 3rd also at Xterra Malaysia and 4th's at Xterra North East US cup and Xterra Czech. I was the only male athlete to finish in the prize money at both the European tour and the US tour.
Thanks again for your support this season, time for a big swim push and change of swim coach to be starting the bike with the leaders. Watch this space, but sponsor permitting I am hoping to race full time next season again too.
After breaking a chain in 2008, I was leaving nothing to chance, fitting brand new tyres, chain and cassette the day before. Then testing it thoroughly! At 9am the sky was slightly overcast in places, but when the sun did poke through, you knew it would be hot later. There was a lot of creeping forward and pushing on the start line, as 500 people fought to get the best position. My race strategy was to go really hard for the first 200m of the swim, hopefully get on some fast feet and get towed round. It worked for me in Austria, but unfortunately not here. I was immediately grabbed and swum over, it seemed like forever until I could get 2 strokes in succession before being clobbered again. Yellow age group swim hats swamped me and then stopped in front of me leaving me with no-where to go. Although I swum the best I've swum at Maui, I was still way further back than i should have been and 4 mniutes off the leaders.
I had a minor problem in transition when the zip caught slightly on my Maystorm speed suit and I had to pretty much dislocate my shoulder in an escape artist type manoeuvre to get out of it. Onto the bike and I felt good immediately, I had felt pretty tired the previous weekend and so I had a week’s taper, instead of the 5 days I’d planned to have, this left my legs feeling super fresh. I caught Michael Weiss (2nd last year, and another poor swimmer) on the first climb, and although he got back past me on the following descent, I passed him again soon and rode away. Shortly after this I caught Julie Dibens, which was way sooner than usual, and seeing Julie’s times at the end it wasn’t her hanging around! On the hardest climb of the race, Ned’s climb (named after mountain bike and Xterra legend Ned Overend) I got within spitting distance of favourite Nico LeBrun in 6th place. However on the next descent ‘the plunge’ I punctured. I repaired it fairly quickly losing possibly 5 places, and 3 miles later I was back in the top 10 and charging, only to be hit with yet another puncture and this time my gas cartridge didn’t work properly. I eventually borrowed stuff from other athletes, but I had lost 20 minutes or more.
I didn't start the run, I came to Maui for a top 5 finish against the best in the world, and I'm positive I'd have acheived that. I was on for the fastest bike split by at least 2 minutes, Michael Wiess got the quickest bike split in the end and I was 1 min 15 sec up on him when I punctured. By my calculations I might well have started the run in the race lead. I was running well too, doing my mile reps comfortably in just over 5 minutes. However all this is speculation and no-one will believe it until I get that result to prove it. I know in my head that on my day there is no one in the Xterra that is impossible to beat any more.
The season has gone great really with 2 world cup wins (Xterra Saipan and Xterra Japan), and another win in Xterra Guam. 7 victory's in all including UK races. 3rd place in the European tour and 3rd in the European champs also. 3rd also at Xterra Malaysia and 4th's at Xterra North East US cup and Xterra Czech. I was the only male athlete to finish in the prize money at both the European tour and the US tour.
Thanks again for your support this season, time for a big swim push and change of swim coach to be starting the bike with the leaders. Watch this space, but sponsor permitting I am hoping to race full time next season again too.
Saturday, 24 October 2009
Maui World Champs T minus 17 hrs
Just off for a power nap. Bike all cleaned and working, getting kit together now. Weather is hot, course is dusty. I have done less training this last 6 days than in previous years, we'll see tomorrow whether it works. I hate this time of just waiting, trying to stay out of the sun etc. Might go for a slow jog later. Must keep drinking water and electrolytes.....
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