My Moroccan Adventure

Well that was an experience and not one I’d like to repeat in the near future.

On Thursday I travelled to Tangier, Morocco to compete in the Larache ITU Sprint Triathlon African Cup on Saturday my first international triathlon. The general theme of the weekend was waiting: waiting for my transfer to the hotel (2.5 hours); waiting for my bike (12 hours); waiting for accreditation (1 hour); waiting for race briefing (1 hour); waiting for race start (1.5 hours); waiting for my bag (30 mins); waiting for my transfer to the airport (50 mins) and finally, waiting for my flight home (6 hours). It seems the Moroccan minute is quite different to a UK minute.

Anyhow, eventually my bike did turn up, at 23.15 the night before the race. And when the race finally started, it was a great course- nice warm sea to swim in, a few waves, hilly bike and hilly run. I came 11^th out of 16 finishers. I was disappointed with my result but it wasn’t a complete disaster, I learnt a lot that I’ll take into future races. Other positives of the trip were: a cafe selling ideal pre-race pasta; friendly locals (sometimes a bit too friendly); and a bit of sunshine (unfortunate tan lines to prove it)! 

Three weeks now until my next race, Blenheim Triathlon, on the 9^th June. It was one of my favourite triathlons last year, so I'm looking forward to doing it again.

Race results here

Pendle Tri

Pendle triathlon on Sunday was my first UK triathlon of 2013. The weather forecast was terrible, 7°C, heavy rain and strong winds. Luckily this turned out to be inaccurate and it was really more like light rain and moderate winds. Even so, I laid out my bike jersey and gloves in transition- after Skipton, Wetherby and London triathlons last year I didn’t want to do another triathlon where I couldn’t feel my hands and feet.

The swim was a 750m pool swim, a bit unusual as normally sprint distance tri pool swims are only 400m but it suited me, as normally in an age group triathlon the swim ends up being my strongest discipline. There was a bit of a run up to transition, round the building, up a hill and round another building and my transition took a bit longer than normal as I put on my helmet, bike jersey, race belt and gloves!

Onto the bike and I was so glad to have my extra layers on, especially for the down-hills. The bike course was good, two laps of a hilly loop with marshals all the way around. I’m always reassured to see marshals in a non-drafting race as it makes it much fairer for everyone, discouraging some people from drafting. It was also reassuring to know I was going the right way.

The run course was also nice and very well marshalled. It was more like a cross country race than a normal triathlon run though as we ran through fields, over stiles, up hills, along farm tracks and along a canal towpath. The last kilometre felt much longer than a kilometre, so I was happy to see the finish line and collect my finisher’s Mars bar!

After a warm down jog, shower and change the presentations took place. I was 1^st woman and 5^th overall in 1.13.50, a time I was quite pleased with given the nature of the course. I was disappointed however that the men and women were given different prizes. Only the 1^st woman won a prize while the top 3 men got prizes and only the 1^st man and 1^st local man won large shields.

Overall this was a great triathlon though, very well organised with interesting bike and run courses, especially if you like the hills!

Results here

Endurancelife Coastal Trail Series: Sussex '10km'

Trying not to get stuck in the mud

On the 23^rd March, along with a few friends (all past members of Durham University Athletics Club), I took part in the Sussex Coastal Trail Series ‘10km’. Well, it was called a 10km, but according to my Garmin it was 12.6km and I don't think I went too far off course!

Staying in a cottage in Rye for the weekend we decided to do something a bit active and enter a nearby race. Caroline, Lorna and I entered the '10km' while Andy was a bit braver and entered the half marathon. The race location, near Beachy Head, actually took us quite a while to get to travelling along the windy country roads. But we arrived just in time to register, hear half of the race briefing and do a quick warm up jog. Thanks to Lorna for taking my clothes back to the tent so I could get a good position on the start line! 

The course was great, very pretty scenery out along the coast, good running through some fields inland and then out and back along the coast in the opposite direction. I imagine it would look even nicer in the sunshine too!

I went into the lead after about 100m and managed to stay out in front all the way around. I was able to follow the route OK looking out for the red and white tape. The only negative was that when I reached the final checkpoint (where runners had to place an orienteering style chip into a dock before continuing) the marshal wasn’t ready for me. She didn’t have the docking station ready and she didn’t know which way to direct me home! I lost a bit of time here which was a bit frustrating as I could see a couple of men starting to catch me. Luckily I managed to get away before they caught me and held them off all the way to the finish line. It was quite a nice feeling to have beaten all the men. It was also great to find out that Andy had also won- in the half marathon.

On the way home

Following a warm down along the beach we enjoyed tea and scones at a wee café down the road. We then headed back to the event for the prize giving. Unfortunately, just before the prizes were given out, Andy found out that he’d been disqualified for not carrying the correct equipment!

Past DUAC members: Caroline, Lorna, Seonaid & Andy

All in all though, we enjoyed the event and would love to go back to the area, especially when the sun’s shining. Interestingly, speaking to my parents later on I found out that Beachy Head was one of their favourite places to run when they lived in Eastbourne when I was a baby, so a nice coincidence that I had the chance to revisit.

Prize giving

Trigirl Kit Review

Thank you to Trigirl for the lovely kit to take on my NZ adventure

Enjoying the evening sun after Nelson Sea Swim

I wore the one piece trisuit for the Nelson Sea Swims I took part in. It fitted perfectly and was very comfortable, the material felt really nice and it didn’t rub under my arms, as many swimming costumes do. The extra grip around the legs stopped it from riding up, even when putting my wetsuit on. The tri suit also looks great and the style is very flattering.

I wore the two piece tri top and shorts for running and cycling training. Again the kit fitted perfectly and was very comfortable. I enjoyed looking a lot smarter than normal for training, wearing matching kit for a change!

 

One of my favourite rides-out to Kina Peninsula

I wore the little cycling gloves every time I went cycling, so pretty much every day. They were great at providing grip on the handlebars, protection from the sun and preventing blisters. They were also very ‘handy’ when I fell off my bike on some gravel, protecting my hands completely from any damage. Unfortunately I ended up with quite a few cuts and bruises on my legs though!

All in all, I thought the Trigirl kit was lovely and would recommend it to all women looking for new tri kit for 2013. Now it would just be nice if all this snow would disappear so I can wear it all again in the UK!

Training and Racing, Kiwi style

Recently I spent 3 weeks in New Zealand. It’s an ideal place for triathlon training with warm weather, quiet roads and fantastic scenery. Whilst we were there, I also took part in a few small races: the Nelson Sea Swim Series; the Nelson Team Triathlon; and the Wellington 3-9-3 triathlon.

Nelson Sea Swims

Martin, Seonaid & Jamie at Nelson Sea Swim

28.02.13          2^nd woman, 10^th overall

7.03.13            1^st woman, 4^th overall

14.03.13          2^nd woman, 6^th overall

Results here

The Port Nelson sea swims are held weekly throughout the NZ summer. They are brilliant events- really good fun and great open water swim practice. There’s a relaxed and friendly atmosphere yet the swims are very well organised. Each week there are two courses to choose from, a short swim (200-500m) or a long swim (1-1.5km). The courses are different each week depending on the conditions and the courses are drawn up on a white board at the start for swimmers to work out where they have to go. There’s a short race briefing for further clarification and then without further a do, the races start. There are kayaks out and about should anyone get into trouble and there are kind volunteers at the finish to help you over the slippery rocks and onto dry land. Before and after the race everyone was really friendly and happy to chat away, discuss tactics and share stories of poor navigation decisions!

Nelson Team Triathlon

Team Tri-nations: Jamie, Seonaid & Allysa

2.03.13                        1^st woman, 5^th team (Seonaid, Allysa, Jamie)

Results here

As with the sea swims this was another friendly event with a great atmosphere before, during and after the race. In teams of 3, each team member had to complete a super sprint distance triathlon (300m swim, 9km bike, 3km run), so nice and short and even better, it was draft legal! The swim was a short lap of the marina from a pontoon start. The bike was 3 laps up and down the road. It was pretty windy, but fine if you got a good draft ;). The run was then 2 laps of a shorter loop with good crowd support each lap and on the finishing chute. We finished 5^th team in the ‘mates’ category and were the first team to contain 2 women. I also found out later on that I had the fastest split by a woman. There were no prizes for 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd etc, but there were loads of spot prizes and our team won a LOT of crisps!

Wellington 3-9-3 Triathlon

Flick winning the Elite Women's race

9.03.13                        1^st woman

Results here

The atmosphere at Wellington was a bit more serious as the Olympic distance triathlon was the Standard Distance Age Group National Champs and there were elite races on too. I was only doing the super sprint distance though, so could get on with my race and then enjoy watching the elites afterwards. The swim started at one point and finished 300m further down the coastline. The bike was one 9km loop out and back along the coast. It was very flat (surprising for Wellington) but quite windy and sadly it was no drafting this time. The run was again out and back but finishing in the same finishing chute as the Olympic distance race had and the elites would later on. I was first woman after the swim, second after the bike and ran back into first again on the run. We stuck around after the race to watch the Elite Women’s race and cheer fellow Leeds  triathlete Flick on to victory! Yay, well done Flick! After trying to win some more spot prizes (in particular the car!) but with no such luck, we headed out into Wellington for a celebratory dinner.