Challenge Weymouth recce trip.

I decided to take a few days away, and visit Weymouth for a recce of the Challenge Weymouth half course. Not been to Weymouth for a long, long time, since I was a child, and I was blown away by the beauty of the area! Arrived at The Riviera Hotel on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The hotel is designed so that all rooms have an external door, making it very convenient to keep the bikes in the room. Checked in, built the bike and went out for a walk, to explore the local area. Monday morning, following a good breakfast I was out on the bike. The Challenge course was downloaded in my Garmin 800 and off I went. Initial part of the ride, exiting Weymouth has a few little digs in it, but once out the back of the town, the course opens up and gently rolls through some fantastic countryside, with spectacular views around every corner. The Garmin recorded 90°F on the ride, and I was glad that I had applied plenty of sun block on my head, as there’s nothing worse than a suntan gained through a cycling helmet! Not a very flattering look. Passing Monkey World was quite a surprise for me, as I wasn’t expecting to see primates sitting at the top of poles, above the tree line, as I rode by! The course gently undulates as it works it’s way back to Weymouth. Unfortunately for me, we were staying at the Riviera, which has Jordan’s Hill separating it from Weymouth sea front, so this had to be ridden before and after each ride. Once back at the hotel, I took advantage of the outdoor pool, and cooled my legs off. Walked along the seafront in the afternoon, all the way to the Sea Life tower and back, followed by a steak in the hotel restaurant. The next morning was more of the same... A hearty breakfast before heading out to ride the course, yet again, this time alone and faster ;) Still very warm, I enjoyed the day. The good thing about the course is that the decents are all quite simple, no tight twisty roads, just very fast downhill sections... A joy to ride. Back at the hotel, I cleaned up, changed and headed out. Down to the beach for a sea swim. No wetsuit, the water was great, so I had a nice swim in the ‘bathing’ section. Again, this was followed by stroll along the front, working up an appetite for the fish supper on The Esplanade. Up early for breakfast, followed by 2 laps of the Challenge Weymouth run course, along the sea front, without doing the twisty bit in the town centre. Back at the hotel, showered and time to check out. Before going home, we took a drive over to Durdle Door. Had a walk down to the beach, then across, over the cliff’s, to Lulworth Cove. Quite a hike! Really looking forward to going back for the race in September, and spending a few more days getting to know the area.

Fritton Olympic Triathlon - 15th June.

At long last... I finally get round to updating my blog! Had three good, solid weeks training on the rig, and felt in good shape when I arrived back home. I was off the rig a day early, but had to spend 2 days in Aberdeen, on a course. Saturday was spent packing and checking all my equipment, ready for the Oly distance tri, the next day. I’m OCD and have a check sheet for the various length tri’s I do, but still have to check and recheck everything packed. Popped down the road to Fritton and registered with the officials. Collected my race pack and went home. Nice early start, up at 5am. It’s only a 3 mile drive, but still need to get up and be at destination early. Arrived at Fritton just as registration opened. Formalities complete, I now had my timing chip, the final piece in the puzzle. Racked bike, checked out transition, then off back to car, to get changed into trisuit and wetsuit. Noticed the area outside of transition exit was chippings, so decided to put shoes on, before jumping on bike. For now, all I could do was hope for a dry race. With a slight delay, we finally started the main race around 9am. It was a simple course of buoys to follow, though I still managed to take a wrong turn, costing me about 150m of extra swim. Nearly got my teeth kicked in, by one erratic breast stroker with quite a violent kick! Exiting the water, I was gutted to see that I had taken 40 minutes. No time to dwell, I run to transition, pull the wetsuit off and prepare for the bike leg. Good choice to put shoes on first, as I passed a few riders tippy toeing through the gravel. Out on the road and I felt quite comfortable. The course was 2 loops of a nice rolling route, with only one section of busy road to navigate. Into a rhythm, I tapped away on the bike course, gradually pulling in a few riders. Glad to see that the rain had held off, for most of the race, with only a light spitting, in a couple of places. Back in transition and off the bike. Bike shoes off, socks on, Oh! Wait a minute, left sock is on right foot! OCD kicks in, and because I can clearly see an ‘L’ (Left), I have to pull it off and put it on the right foot. Right, now to hot foot it through the next leg... Only 10k. Temperature certainly rising now, I take the offered water bottle at every stop. The run course is all trails, so I keep a good eye on the ground, trying to avoid injury. As I run, I begin dissecting the race already! Can’t understand why I took 40+ minutes, to swim 1500m. The unfortunate diversion wasn’t that bad, surely... Maybe the course was long... Maybe I am just a crap swimmer! Now to the bike... I should have pushed harder, maybe. I felt good, going into the run, so perhaps should have dug deeper, but where is the tipping point?... Two laps into the run and I start to increase tempo. Not far to go, just one more lap, just keep pushing on. There’s the finish... Already! I sprint to the line, but too late. Too late to make up time, and too late to empty the tank... I hadn’t paced that as well as I thought. A disappointed look at my Garmin confirms my fears... Outside my target for my first Olympic distance. Official time was 02:56:04. Swim: 40:36. Bike: 01:17:19. Run: 53:15:00. Oh well, I can chalk up a lot to experience, and now look forward to the London Active Olympic distance, on the 3rd August... Pictures to follow...