Virgin Active London Triathlon 2012

Excited

As Saturday 22nd approached the excitement of my first London Triathlon was building.

My expectations were high and upon arriving these were quickly met as I noticed the enormity of the venue. 

Getting mistaken for Bieber was pretty embarrassing but seeing David Hasselhoff was a highlight!

Now, for the race!

Gathering round for the race briefing with my other HPU Team mates you could feel the excitement and anticipation.

We jumped into the reasonably cold dock and tried to warm ourselves up.

Having an average swim gave me the enthusiasm to really ''go for it'' on the bike and run, catching several competitors, finishing in a respectable 10th place.

Season over..

Well, that's it for the 2012 season, no more races. I've learnt a lot as my first year in the Youth age-group, and treated everything as a learning curve.

Thanks a lot to the HPU and all of my coaches. Treated this season as a 'learning' year.

Next season I hope to improve on my performances in the British Super Series and therefore gain a higher ranking.

Over and out..

Ells.

Blenheim Tri

Unlucky?

After falling ill at the National Aquathlon Championships in Tamworth and finishing short of mid-way, I tried to 'rest & recuperate' for the next race that would be held at Dorney Lake, Eton in a weeks time.

With days off school and not much training I decided to give Eton a miss. Which was a shame as I had been anticipating this event ever since i had entered. However, from what I had heard, the HPU Team raced pretty well. (Well Done Guys).

Back on track?

Blenheim Swim Exit.

Blenheim Swim Start.

Illness over and back on track. With "the big one" (Blenheim Triathlon) soon approaching I felt that I should start to get in some training.




Not a bad swim followed on the day to get onto the bike just missing a chase pack. Sadly I could not catch them so for one of the laps I was alone and the second with one guy who didnt really want to pull his weight. I soon left him on the run after a T2 that was 3 seconds faster than the Brownlee brothers (my claim to fame). On the single lap run course I managed to catch 4 of my competitors to finish 33rd.

New season, new tactics.

This new season brings a higher standard of racing and new tactics needed to be able to race my very best.


The first race- The National Duathlon Champs (Loughborough)- is ideally suited to me as unlike others, the two runs don't phase me. However the cycle is completely different to the standard non-drafting grass racing in previous years of competing.


This year like at the IRC's in all of the races I have entered, drafting on the cycle is "legal". So I've had to adjust to riding in a group (or trying) to get a good overall position.


The duathlon started off well. The venue (picture attached)was an old air-field which had a smooth race track perfect for cycling around it... I came into T1 in a good position and managed to stay with a small pack on the bike for 3 of the 4 laps. Then on the final lap, they all "went for it" and I couldn't quite hold onto them, but after T2 I managed to claw back 2 of them finishing in a respectable 27th position.


During the easter holidays I'm jet-setting off to (hopefully) sunny Mallorca for a 5 day training camp with the Eastern Region Academy. I'll be sure to take some photos and blog my progress for when I get back.


E.Bennett