Survival of the Muddiest!

What a great race! Myself and a few other RAF triathletes (Greg Mc, Jase, Nick D, Paul F, Granty) turned out at the 'Mens Health Survival of the Fittest' race at the weekend, down in Nottingham. It was a real blast! 10 main obstacles to contend with over a 12km route through and around Nottingham. There were hay bales (first obstacle), army style assault courses, skate parks, football terraces, river crossings and more, with the final 'Wall of Fame' to conquer...it was muddy, wet and a bit tough!

Considering there were around 4000 on the start list, the RAF Tri lot did pretty well! Greg had a great run finishing 4th and apart from his known pedigree as a runner, he was like a flipping squirrel over the obstacles! I was happy crossing the line in 14th, having lost touch with Greg at the first major set of obstacles. Nick seemed to enjoy himself and came home in 23rd with Jase about a minute behind in 33rd. Granty finished 87th and Paul F 112th. The ice bath and FGS at the end were well deserved!

I would recommend this race to anyone who enjoys a run with a difference! I was aching all over for the next couple of days and my knees were battered, bruised and scratched...but I'll be back next year!

A Soggy End To The Season.

All the races I have competed at this year have been blessed with decent weather...until the Humber Sprint last Sunday!
It was a downpour from start to finish...I reckon I was drier in the pool than I was on the bike!!
It's not very nice racking your bike in pouring rain, having to put your shoes in plastic bags to stop them filling with water! I've never raced in the rain before and I hope I don't have to do it too often.

Having finished my 400m swim in over 6 mins I ran out into the rain for a 150m run, through the puddles to T1.


Once I got going on the bike, even though it was wet and windy, I wasn't as cold as I was expecting to be. It was a mistake putting shades on though...I thought they would help keep the rain out of my eyes but I could barely see the road and ended up pushing them down my nose like a pair of reading glasses until I needed them on the downhill sections, when I'd push them back up! There were also a lot of big puddles and rivers of water to contend with, which caused a few scary moments on some of the fast descents!



I was glad to get off the bike and into my running shoes, despite them being a tad soggy! The run was supposed to be 5km, but it clearly wasn't, as I clocked a time of 15:33 mins...I wish!




I finished 5th overall and 1st in my age group, which was very pleasing, but I took more satisfaction from registering the fastest run split of the day!









Looking forward to the 'Survival Race' this weekend with a few fellow triathletes, and to be honest I don't care if it rains at that race, it'll just add to the fun!!




Train well.

What Blue Green Algae?

While some people were chilling out in Hungary last weekend, competing at some low profile race or other, winning medals of varying colours, I was racing where it really mattered...Bala!!!

The mid Wales weather was very kind for the Bala Standard last Sunday (apart from a bit of a stiff breeze). The race had been threatened by the usual Lake Bala 'Blue Green Algae scare', which seemed to cause the organisers a lot of headaches in the lead up to the event. Apparently, this algae thrives when the sun shines and Wales had some sun...I know, sun in Wales, crazy isn't it! But in the final 2 or 3 days before the race, the rain and wind came and dispersed the algae enough to ensure the race was still able to be ran as a triathlon rather than a duathlon.


My race went ok, could have been better, but it was ok.


The swim was pretty standard, time wise, with no real issues and I even managed to draft of some blokes feet for half the route, which was a first for me! Although I did feel as though I was swimming slower than usual, I just relished the thought of preserving a bit of energy. The swim exit was a bit 'nasty' with loads of big stones to walk across which I later found out had bruised my poor little 'plates of meat'.


The bike was the usual Bala out and back route, with the wind in your face on the way out. I felt ok on the 'out', but coming home I sort of struggled to 'get in to it' really. I wasn't feeling the love for the bike, and it felt like a slog. I reckon I was a bit tired from going eyeballs out on my fitness test a few days before. As a result, my bike split was a bit slower than I'd hoped for and very similar to the previous year. (But I did get to level 14:11 on my fitness test!)


The run went well and was my best discipline. This has been the case on all my races this year. I ran 2 mins quicker than last years race, so I was very happy with that!



I finished 49th overall (800 odd competitors) and 6th age group, in a time of 2:06:49, about a min quicker than last year and about 30 places better.


I like this venue, it is extremely picturesque and when the sun shines it's even better!

One more triathlon to go, a sprint near Hull in a couple of weeks.

Train well.