French Grand Prix

FGP (french grand prix) Action

It was just after my latest round of `testing in the lab with the usual loss of blood, pain, soreness and ultimate exhaustion with the only thing left to do for the day was to contemplate what to have for dinnerthat the manager of my French team- US Vendome rang to inform me that
`We need you in France tomorrow`.

Well not one to disappoint I booked a last minute flight and less than 24hours after the call I was sitting in Charles de Gaulle airport munching down a croissant waiting for the Czech boys in the team to arrive. The first race of the French season was happening in Dunkirk and I had received a last minute invite to join the party.

Race Day- There was rumours round the pontoon that one of the new recruits this season was in the Beijing Olympics for 1500free. After the swim where a Spaniard left the `best` swimmers in triathlon trailing by 20seconds reality hit. Unfortunately I had taken a pummelling over the first 200metres and limped out the water a lot further down the field than usual and ended up in the second bike pack.

The bike leg was a 4x5k loops round the port with cobbles, dead turns, and roundabouts each lap. I've never raced on cobbles before but have watched many a Belgian classic on television and always thought `It surelyaint that hard? ` My aching back and shot nerves told me otherwise after 20ks.

The 5k run leg was a rather standard affair with me neither excelling nor running bad. I picked up a few places towards the end which gave me a finish of 53rd out of 90- not exactly pleasing but at least its only round1.

British Elite Championships

The morning after the day before- yesterday was the British Olympic Distance Elite Championships and it ended with me DNF when my saddle came loose on my bike which is acombination of bad luck and my own fault.

The race started of well enough with only a few smacks given out and received during the swim and I left the water in the first pack and after a few k`s on the bike I was sitting in the lead pack of 6 - the highlight of the race for me. However from there on in it was all downhill with me struggling to find a rhythm and I ended up getting dropped from the pack after getting a technical section completely wrong.

It was then going round the next left hander that my saddle went from a horizontal to an almost vertical position which led to the end of my race- to be fair I could of carried on by standing for the rest of the bike but mentally it was the end of me.

Moving on my 6k swim in the pool this morning was a mixture of steady swimming whilst I mentally beat myself up followed by erratic max pace swimming when I got overly angry with what happened. This occurred for the entire 90mins I was in the water. I`m sure my run this afternoon will follow a similar trend. Sports a cruel thing..... at the end of the day there is only one winner.

Tabloid Superstar

A month of……….. APRs, swimming in 10degrees water, losing my phone, competing in one competition ,finishing 3rd at British University Champs, finding my phone, photo shoot with the Daily Record, another photo shoot with the Sun on Monday, one exam done, one more exam left, losing track of time and running out of it daily.

It's been a busy time lately with it being exam period at University and dealing with a detour down to Swindon to race at British Uni Champs. That coupled with a twice weekly dose of APRs has left me pretty tired tonight- the wind meant that tonight we battled along at 25kph in one direction and flew along at 50kph the other way. The main thing however is that training has been progressing well and it's almost time to reduce the training load to freshen up for British Elite Champs on the 17th. I'm confident I can produce a good performance but anything can happen on the day so in some cases its fingers crossed.

After British Champs I'll be in a better situation to asses my other goals for the season but racing for my pro French team will be an important goal for it's where the best in the world race so every race is a learning experience. Well im of to bed for I can squeeze in 8 and a half hours sleep. There's a lot of uni work needing done but that can be saved for another day.

David McNamee, International Triathlete

Time Travel

The time trial season is now upon me, with mixed success. Despite an early start (4am feeding Grace, then 7am getting up!) I managed a personal best (well, last few years PB) of 23.19 at the Fullarton Wheelers event at the end of April. Conditions were good with little wind, but equally little warmth (we had to scrape ice of the car in the morning!). I was pretty happy with that until I saw a picture from the race, and was horrified with how un-aero I looked!

Anyway, a few tweaks (a bit more Levi Leipheimer now) and a couple of training sessions on the TT bike, the first of the club TT's took place in horrific wind on the Chapleton course. This involves 5 miles slightly downhill (with a gale behind), then 5 miles back up said hill (with a massive headwind!). 25.11 was pretty decent in the conditions, but 12mph is something one should never see in a time trial!

Round 1 of the Rabbie Burns 250 Series at Eglington tonight was sensibly cancelled. With gusting winds, and a lot of standing water on the A78, visibility was very poor, and it would have been an accident waiting to happen. I felt a bit sorry for the good folks who had travelled over from Edinburgh though - I was at least able to have a burn-out on the turbo when I got home!

The Scottish 10 on the A77 course will be a good leg-stretcher before the Rabbie Burns Series gets underway with the Beatock "25" and the Pennyglen Hilly.