ETU Cup Strathclyde

Things I learned from the weekend: Stepping on to the podium in elite racing is fun, Strathclyde park can reach 27 degrees in May, Strathclyde park is also deceptively hilly, There is no such thing as an easy bike leg with French boys in the pack, The first turn buoy in the swim is always going to be violent especially when it comes after only 90 seconds.

Strathclyde Park hosted its first ever ITU race last weekend and I managed to get on the podium in 2^nd spot. As the venue for the Commonwealth Games it was an ideal chance to get use to racing on the course despite the weather being very un-Scottish. There was a good foreign contingent there with two former World Junior Champions in the line up and some of the best swimmers in the sport also present. This combined with an ex pro cyclist and a Commonwealth Games runner made the race very interesting and hard from the start as the good swimmers tried to get away.

My swim form seems to be coming back to me and I managed to make the lead bunch but we never really made much of an impact on the main peloton behind us. We still had 20 seconds coming into T2 and I was able to make my way up to 2^nd by the end despite a bit of struggle early on in the run where I was back in 5^th.

The race highlights should be broadcast on Channel 4 next weekend with a much better race description than mine. This Thursday I am away to Madrid for the latest leg in the World Championship Series before heading straight out to America for the HyVee World Cup. A lot of cramped plane journeys lie ahead.

Hibernation

Well, the Troon 10km didn't go to plan as I got ill the day before, but having got over that I feel like I am slowly creeping out of hibernation, and getting excited about training again. The Paris Roubaix Sportive is frighteningly close given the lack of training I've got behind me, but at least it will be novel to be coming into June fresh and keen, rather than teetering on the brink of collapse and jaded!

With the SCX dates and venues published, a new cyclocross bike on order, and training beginning to be planned, things are looking up!

BUSA CHAMPS

Last weekend was British University Triathlon Champs all the way down in Wiltshire, Calne which is somewhere near Bath so the sign posts told me. Its the 4th year in a row I have travelled down and the weekend just seems to get longer and longer each year. Driving a van for 16 hours is not fun especially when its gone past midnight and your still not back in Scotland yet. The race itself though is somewhat unique as it doesn't begin until 4pm which at least allows the rarity of a long lie on race day. The format is also strange with a longer than usual bike leg of 25k in a sprint. So a 750metre swim/ 25bike and 5k run was the order of the day.
The swim was a pretty standard affair as it is in all pool based swims. There's no fighting as there is in open water so after 750 metres I left the pool in joint first. The wind on the bike is always a big factor of the race as the exposed country lanes give you nowhere to hide. Nobody else seemed willing or able to take the race on so for the first 15k into the head and side wind I sat at the head of affairs trying to keep the pace strong but not blowing myself to bits. After a sharp 90degree turn I upped the intensity with a tailwind at my bike and quickly opened up a gap. Coming into T2 that had opened up to 40seconds. The 5k run like the swim was pretty unforgettable. I felt pretty average and slightly tired after the bike but managed to grow on my lead to finish almost 90seconds clear.
After 4 years of trying I finally managed to win British Unis. It's a pretty big relief. Now lets just hope Kilmarnock don` t get relegated today.