Rother Valley Triathlon... Aiming High!

Another weekend. Another race. Another drive.

This time it wasn’t all that bad, only a two hour drive south to Sheffield. I was apprehensive. Legs felt tired and it was to be a hilly bike course. Furthermore it was over distance; 25.4km. 5.4km more than the usual 20km. Never the less it had to be done.

It was to be a similar standard of field to the previous race at Nottingham. It also carried the prospect of World (2014) & European (2015) Triathlon Championship qualification to the top 3 in each age category.

Arriving at Rother Valley Country Park early; set up and ran through the usual pre-race checks. The time seemed to fly, suddenly I was in the water and the klaxon sounded.

Rother Valley 2014 - Pre-Race

After a reasonable start (for me) I managed to set into a rhythm. There was lots of thrashing arms, an abundance of weeds and an abnormally large amount of ducks about. The swim felt long.

Coming out of the swim into transition was sore, there were stones; everywhere. Not ideal.

On to the bike, with a short technical section out onto the park exit road, and then onto the main road itself to begin the bike course properly. It was hilly. It is usually hard to gauge where you are in terms of position, and this was no exception. I found myself near a few other riders of similar ability, all outside the drafting zones and complying with the draft-illegal race rules (Thankfully. I hate drafters/drafting). Except one swimmer who tried to hold on, and he was soon found wanting and dropped off the pace.

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For the non-triathlon folk, drafting is defined as: “An athlete who approaches from any position to take advantage of the draft” (ITU Rule 5.5 & BTF Rule 27.2). This includes another competitor or motor vehicle.

British Triathlon Federation (BTF) - British Governing Body (Local races such as Rother Valley)

Imagine a box, 3 meters wide and 7 meters long, around the cyclist in front. You may only enter to overtake. Confused? You may be. Oh and you are only allowed to be within this zone for 15 seconds, otherwise you may be penalised for drafting.

International Triathlon Union (ITU) - World Governing Body (World Championships)

Similar to the BTF but this time, a box 3 meters wide and 7 meters long, around the cyclist in front. With 20 seconds to pass.

In layman’s terms:

ITU Visual description of Drafting

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After a tough bike I found myself exiting T2 (Bike to Run Transition) with a small group. I knew there were a few ahead of me as they overtook me towards the latter stages of the bike. I took the first kilometre reasonably quick to establish a rhythm. I soon found myself ahead of the group I left T2 with and closing down on the other two in front. I drew alongside both and passed them in turn. At this point I was going ok, I didn’t know where I was in terms of position. Although I knew I wasn’t in first as there was no lead bike (cycles in front of the first runner to show them the route), I thought I was near the front of the race.

Rother Valley 2014 - Leaving T2

I managed to increase my speed to finish strongly, and as I crossed the line I heard the announcer say second place. Fantastic.

Rother Valley 2014 - Run

I had finished second in my age group (20-24); 8^th Overall; Fastest run split (16:07). Elated. It felt good to be on the ‘podium’.

Full Results

This result meant I had gained automatic qualification to the World Triathlon Championships in Canada this summer as well as European Triathlon Championships in Geneva, Switzerland in 2015. A great way to end a hard race.

Rother Valley 2014 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd (20 - 24 Age Group)

A few decisions to make on where will be my next race.

Thanks for reading and your continued support, I hope you enjoyed it. Why not share it? Maybe someone else may enjoy it as much.

Thank you

Sam

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All Work & No Play

Firstly, Welcome back.

I get asked what I do to relax. Most people see me either working or training. When do you stop? Are you having a night off? The answer to both of them is subjective and most likely, in my case, probably not very often. The definition of either can mean something totally opposite depending on the person you are asking. What defines a night off or a stop? I love what I do, it’s a routine. I still love to have a few beers and enjoy what most others do too; like food, TV and socialising.

Cap de Formentor, Majorca - 2014

At the start of June I spent a week holidaying in Majorca. Chilling out, enjoying the sunshine, with great food and a few beers. Oh and hired a bike. You can’t blame me really. Fantastic roads, scenery and weather, meant it was fantastic to be out and about. This was by no means a training holiday though. The week was used as relaxation. A week which fell straight after an important race and two weeks before the next. To me, this was a perfect time to go. The activity kept me ticking over but nothing too strenuous to tire me out. I rode for the enjoyment of cycling. It was nice to be on the bike for the love of it and not because I was racing. There is a difference; trust me.

Long story short, I trained; lightly. I relaxed; fully. I ate; a lot (what’s new?)

Whilst away, I took a few videos and photographs to show how I like to relax. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it as much as I did in real life.

Thank you for reading and in this case watching. I hope you enjoyed it. Something different. Next up, an important race at Rother Valley Triathlon.

See you soon,

Sam

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Twitter: @samnbrand
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“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” - Benjamin Franklin

It’s true, preparation is key. Whether it be work; racing; an exam; there is no difference. Making sure that all the hard and essential work has been done is the difference between a fantastic race and a mediocre one. This however doesn’t mean a spontaneous race is not achievable.

Druridge Bay 10km

When I found out that two of the TriPack were racing in the Commonwealth Games Triathlon Test event in Scotland I mentioned the day before that they could pitch up at my place after. Racing wasn’t on my mind. Why would it be? They’d just raced. On their journey up they had asked me to find a race for the next day. Were they joking? No. Did I find a race? Yes. Druridge Bay 10km Run .That was that.

A 30 mile cycle there; a twisty 10km race (including a mile on sand); then a 30 mile cycle home. Safe to say it was going to be tough. I had hoped that they would decide to drive. No such luck. After setting off and getting mixed up, the only choice left was to cycle down the main A-road. Fast! We arrived about 20 minutes before the start. We signed up and meandered to the start. What was the course? What time was I going to do? Did I have the legs? How would I run?

Unknown Photographer - Druridge Bay 10km 2014 (Bib no.383)

It started fast. I had recognised one runner in particular and knew it would be hard to stay with him, let alone beat him. After the first mile, I had settled into third, ahead of him. There was a decent gap already to the front two and a sizeable one to fourth. I thought it may end up being a solo race for me, although I always feel people are catching me. I started to pull back the runner holding second place. After heading on to the sand for what felt like an eternity, we were level. After the leg sapping sand, approximately a mile to go I had decided I needed to put some distance between the two of us. Which I did. I had finished in a time of 34:34 which was just two seconds outside my PB, on a very tough course. I was chuffed to bits. On the other hand I was dreading the journey back on my bike.

The race was fantastic. Very friendly and enjoyable.

Results

Nottingham Sprint Triathlon 2014

This was a race I had competed in, in 2013. Last year it was the British Sprint Triathlon Championships. Personally, I like to race the same races, it allows me to see improvements (if any) as every race is different.

This year I am on placement, so haven’t enjoyed as much free time as last year. It hasn’t been easy mixing training, studying and working, but I have and still am enjoying it none the less.

Prior to travelling to Nottingham a series of unfortunate and ill-timed events led to being delayed for the journey down from Newcastle. I won’t bore you, but it involved two bikes on a bike rack which proceeded to break and throw both bikes off the back. An event I managed to witness entirely through the rear view mirror. Stressed wasn’t the word.

After arriving very late in Nottingham and fixing the bikes up as much as possible, I needed sleep. It was an early start. In the morning I had racked my bike without knowing whether there was any damage I couldn’t see, that might force me out of the race. All was well, apart from my rear brake, which I managed to adjust whilst still riding. Just.

The race started well, I swam better than before, although I was slightly disappointed still. I cycled well, apart from the minor adjustment I had to make to my rear brake. I struggled in parts due to not finding a rhythm, (people talk a lot about finding a rhythm. Is there such a thing? I believe so, but never mind). Having come of the bike behind a fairly big group, that had bunched together in the melee of T2 (Transition between bike and run for the non-Triathlon folk), I knew I had a lot of work to do. I settled in and ran as fast and steady as I could. I managed to gain some ground early on, and was able to take a few places. Through the second half of the run I tried to maintain the effort and continued to work my way through. I had run well.

 

Nottingham Triathlon 2014 - Post Race

  

Prior to the race I had the goal of finishing in a quicker time than the previous year, over the same course. Coming to the end I could see that the clock was still under the hour. This was something I had wanted to achieve, but didn’t think that could be today. Finished. The race was over.

I had completed the course in 59:39. My first sub an hour race. 3 minutes and 21 seconds faster over the same course than 2013. I was elated. The standard was an awful lot higher this year. I had gone from 116^th overall, 9^th in my age group (2013) to 25^th overall (2014) and 12^th in my age group. This just shows how much the standard has been raised. It’s great to see.

2013 & 2014 Nottingham Triathlon Results

Results

  

A lot of thanks have to go to the fantastic support network I have, family and friends. This includes coaches and training groups. They always have a lot of time, support and advice to give. 

Once again, if you got to this point, thank you. Thanks to those who read and shared the last post. I really do appreciate it. Sorry for the delay on this post, I was lucky enough to have a week break In Majorca. The next post will be slightly different (I hope) and something I am confident you may enjoy.

Thanks again, if you enjoyed it and think someone else might, then why not hit share.

See you soon.

Sam

Follow my Twitter and Instagram:
Twitter: @samnbrand
Instagram: @samuelnealbrand