The start of the year didn't go quite to plan. I had hoped to build some really strong run fitness by aiming at Paris Marathon at the start of April. This was going well, until i got ill, really ill. The kind of ill wear you are begging for it to end, you have to crawl up the stairs to get to bed your whole body aching. I was completely smashed for 6. Paris marathon was a write off, i didn't even pack my shoes, we went to watch as it was all booked, but that was almost too much.
There was not much time to rebuild my fitness before the triathlon season kicked off and for some reason (which still has me perplexed) all the British age group championships seem to be at the start of May when the water is at its coldest and everybody has barely dusted off there summer bikes.
I had i great training camp planned (by Lauren!) in Denia, Spain. I wanted to use it as a spring board to launch my bike and swim fitness. The camp was mega fun, and a great success. Apart from i managed to be involved in a high speed crash. I am still amazed how i didn't break anything (apart from the bike which was destroyed). I crashed straight into a rocky verge and came to a complete stop from at least 20+mph with nothing but a few cuts and bruises.
My fitness was starting to return especially on the run front, which always comes back quickly. The Thursday before Grafman (Sunday) i gave the legs a good thrashing and went sub 16min at the local 5km league, so i knew i was fairly good run form. My swim going into the race was a complete unknown. with the few deep cuts i received post bike crash i had barely touched the water. I was similarly unfit last year, but the race came together, so i was hoping for a repeat.
GRAFMAN aka. GILL HUNT
Swim 29:14
My good friend and training partner James ‘Quadziller’ Gill was racing and he was in fairly decent shape. This year is a very unique year in that we are in the same age group. It only happens once every 5 years! He qualified for Kona last year and being one of the fastest swimmers in the sport he was going to put some good time into me early in the race. 4min as it turned out. My swim wasn't terrible considering but being completely untrained has consequences that hit you after the swim. It takes your body a lot longer to recover and transition into ‘bike mode’, during this time i missed the bus.
Bike 2:26:29
Whilst my body was still transitioning to the bike the bus aka. Tony Cullen went past me like a horse racing a donkey. The race was slipping away from me. Once I hit the first turnaround i could see that i was quite far back and that the main bike firepower in the race was in front of me. I knew my race for overall glory was over. All i had on my mind was hunting down The Gill. He was now my race and it would not be an easy race. Gill had been riding like a beast on training camp, so was most likely going to extend his 4min lead on the bike. I just had to not let it get too out of hand.
I pushed hard and mostly solo for the first 1/2 of the race. just after half way i was joined by a few guys, which gave a bit of relief. At the last turnaround point i timed myself 8min back on Gill. In my mind that was the limit i could catch him for. I know i am a stronger runner, but he is no sack of potatoes. Even at 8min i would have to run well. any more and i would be relying on him exploding. when i got back to transition the gap was 7-8min this was going to be a tight race to see who was king of Cambridge!
1:21:28
I went out hard. The two lap Grafman run starts with an out and back long flat tarmac section across the dam and is followed by an out and back undulating trail section. This gives the athletes a good idea of how far the competition is away. Every dead turn i was getting closer and closer to Gill but at the start of the 2nd lap i still had a few minutes to close down. In my head he was the end of the race. I was nervous of pushing too hard to catch him and then exploding only to see him stroll back past. So i kept relaxed and gobbled up my gels. At the start of the 2nd lap Gill put in a effort to try and hold me off. I could see him on the long flat tarmac section with his hi-vis hat bobbing up and down. I knew he was still running well as i was moving quick, but didn't seem to be closing in that fast. It was deep into the race before i caught him and It was quite a relief. It was at the stage in the race where your legs feel beat up and i was not sure how much longer i could keep punishing them. Though we placed further down the order than i would have liked we both still made the podium in our age group. Im glad that in catching Gill i just pushed him down to 3rd and not off the end of that podium. Next race i wont be so vulnerable. Gill you missed your chance!
There was not much time to rebuild my fitness before the triathlon season kicked off and for some reason (which still has me perplexed) all the British age group championships seem to be at the start of May when the water is at its coldest and everybody has barely dusted off there summer bikes.
I had i great training camp planned (by Lauren!) in Denia, Spain. I wanted to use it as a spring board to launch my bike and swim fitness. The camp was mega fun, and a great success. Apart from i managed to be involved in a high speed crash. I am still amazed how i didn't break anything (apart from the bike which was destroyed). I crashed straight into a rocky verge and came to a complete stop from at least 20+mph with nothing but a few cuts and bruises.
My fitness was starting to return especially on the run front, which always comes back quickly. The Thursday before Grafman (Sunday) i gave the legs a good thrashing and went sub 16min at the local 5km league, so i knew i was fairly good run form. My swim going into the race was a complete unknown. with the few deep cuts i received post bike crash i had barely touched the water. I was similarly unfit last year, but the race came together, so i was hoping for a repeat.
GRAFMAN aka. GILL HUNT
Swim 29:14
My good friend and training partner James ‘Quadziller’ Gill was racing and he was in fairly decent shape. This year is a very unique year in that we are in the same age group. It only happens once every 5 years! He qualified for Kona last year and being one of the fastest swimmers in the sport he was going to put some good time into me early in the race. 4min as it turned out. My swim wasn't terrible considering but being completely untrained has consequences that hit you after the swim. It takes your body a lot longer to recover and transition into ‘bike mode’, during this time i missed the bus.
Bike 2:26:29
Whilst my body was still transitioning to the bike the bus aka. Tony Cullen went past me like a horse racing a donkey. The race was slipping away from me. Once I hit the first turnaround i could see that i was quite far back and that the main bike firepower in the race was in front of me. I knew my race for overall glory was over. All i had on my mind was hunting down The Gill. He was now my race and it would not be an easy race. Gill had been riding like a beast on training camp, so was most likely going to extend his 4min lead on the bike. I just had to not let it get too out of hand.
I pushed hard and mostly solo for the first 1/2 of the race. just after half way i was joined by a few guys, which gave a bit of relief. At the last turnaround point i timed myself 8min back on Gill. In my mind that was the limit i could catch him for. I know i am a stronger runner, but he is no sack of potatoes. Even at 8min i would have to run well. any more and i would be relying on him exploding. when i got back to transition the gap was 7-8min this was going to be a tight race to see who was king of Cambridge!
1:21:28
I went out hard. The two lap Grafman run starts with an out and back long flat tarmac section across the dam and is followed by an out and back undulating trail section. This gives the athletes a good idea of how far the competition is away. Every dead turn i was getting closer and closer to Gill but at the start of the 2nd lap i still had a few minutes to close down. In my head he was the end of the race. I was nervous of pushing too hard to catch him and then exploding only to see him stroll back past. So i kept relaxed and gobbled up my gels. At the start of the 2nd lap Gill put in a effort to try and hold me off. I could see him on the long flat tarmac section with his hi-vis hat bobbing up and down. I knew he was still running well as i was moving quick, but didn't seem to be closing in that fast. It was deep into the race before i caught him and It was quite a relief. It was at the stage in the race where your legs feel beat up and i was not sure how much longer i could keep punishing them. Though we placed further down the order than i would have liked we both still made the podium in our age group. Im glad that in catching Gill i just pushed him down to 3rd and not off the end of that podium. Next race i wont be so vulnerable. Gill you missed your chance!