Blog #6

The London Triathlon - 

This was my first ever Elite Olympic distance race and I was defiantly looking forward to it. 

The race started and I got out well in the swim. By the first bouy I could feel I was in a decent position and doing ok. I ended up coming out the water just under 30 seconds down from the leader and beside top British athlete Adam Bowden which gave me confidence I was doing well. This swim was a great improvement from Blenheim considering I was about 40 seconds down and that was over 750m whereas this was 1500m! After the long transition into T1 I came out slightly on my own with Adam Bowden and a couple of others about 5-10 seconds down on me. I tried to go out hard to catch up the back end of what would become the first pack. Suddenly my calves started cramping badly and I had to stretch them out meaning I then just sat onto the back of the three behind. We began working but it slowly fell apart and in the end another couple of packs from behind by the end of the bike. We had lost about 2.5 minuets on the front pack of 13 by the end of the bike. So I new I was running for a top 20 coming into T2. On the run I gave it what I had, it was nothing special but nothing to bad, and was much better than my race at Blenheim. 

Overall the olympic distance felt no different to a sprint distance. It felt just as fast and felt as if it was over just as quickly. I think thats a good thing!? I was happy with my first race over this distance. 

Tour de France Trip - 

A couple of weeks before the London Triathlon myself and my friend Brenden (an Irish cyclist) decided that we would go and watch the tour and cycle alongside 3 stages. We decided we would cycle over from Banyoles (Spain) to Pau (France). That was 500km away… in two days!!! 


Considering my longest ride ever is about 150km and we were going 250km each day with bits and bods in a bag which wouldn’t normally feel that heavy on a short (It does after a while) I don’t think I had quite realised what I had got myself into. I was wrecked after day 1, but I had done it. I eventually got there. 


My best memory from the Tour was Climbing up the col de Peyresourde with thousands of fans cheering at you. Then being just inches away from the likes of Chris Froome and Marcel Kittel just gives you goosebumps. I had an enormous urge to be a pro cyclist after that until I thought better of it. They are incredible athletes and its taken me until seeing them fly up the mountain to realise it! After watching our 3 stages we cycled back eh 230km home in one day going through the Alps, which was also amazing. As painful as it was and as burnt as I got, I am so glad that I did it and is something I will defiantly remember. 

Onto August!

Blog #5

The first race of the season has been and gone already. I came away from it with the feeling of not a good race, but not a bad one.

The British Duathlon Championships was defiantly a tough season opener and the field actually became pretty stacked by the time the race came around. I didn’t quite have the first run I had thought I could produce. I was aiming to be on back end of the front pack which would have needed at worst a 15.15 5k. I came though in 15.54. This is still a 30 second improvement on last year, but I feel I can do better. Font pack was ahead then a very small group of about 4 riders and then my small pack of 3. After a lap we were caught by the large pack from behind and it worked reasonably well. By the end of the bike we were one and a half minutes down on the front pack and only about 5- 10 seconds away from the small pack of 4. I exited transition first from the pack and started of well but soon began to fade. I lost no places from coming out of transition, after overtaking two from the back ahead and being overtaken by two from behind. 

In the end I finished in 19th overall and 8th Under 23. So it was an ok start to the season.

My next race will be over here in Spain on May 13th as a prep for the British Triathlon Championships at Blenheim in June. It is a race which is equivalent to our Super Series back in England so their is some good competition and hopefully I can get a positive result out of it and go into Blenheim with confidence.

A little story from my time out here in Spain. I was riding home to Banyoles from work in my work clothes and saw a rider from Cannondale (it looked like Alex Howes, who does live in Girona) looping round a bridge that would join onto my road that I was coming down. I was only about 2k from home and I decided in the moment that I didn’t want him catching me. So I floored it. As soon as I had said ‘there is no way he’ll catch me’ WHOOSH! He flew by even saying ‘hola’. I will never know to this day how hard he was trying but I have a feeling he saw me go and defiantly put the hammer down himself. I tried to get into his wheel, but he was motoring. I have until this time defiantly highly underestimated how good these riders really are, and I will forever look up in awe of the kind of pace they are going at.

Thanks for reading 

Luke

Blog #4

The season is underway in just one week, and I can’t wait to get going! My training has been going very well out here in Banyoles and there hasn’t been a single problem this whole winter! I feel in great shape and mentally am in a very good place at the moment, so I’m feeling positive. 

Working with Girona Cycling has been fitted very well with my training and they have helped me find people to train with over here making it even more enjoyable. I think the change has been very good for me. I have just been training this past month and been going up the famous peaks around the area, such as Rocacorba and El Mont. Although after the Duathlon next week I will be changing my gearing. Trying to cycle up them in a 39-23 is not recommended! But it made it a challenge. The views from the top were pretty cool swell.

Midway through March, the Volta a Catalunya came into the area. It was the Team Time Trial stage and the start and finish line was just two minuets from my apartment out here. It was very cool to just be meters away from top cyclists like Froome, Thomas and Contador. We also had an international mountain bike race in Banyoles and even the women out there, let alone the men would make my bike handling look like a beginner cyclist.

I have tried a couple of treadmill sessions this winter. The set being 8x30 secs on and off @20kmph - 60 secs recovery - 6 mins on @21kmph - 60 secs recovery - 3 mins @21kmph. I know if I can translate this onto the road and into the British Duathlon Championships, I am confident I can make the front end of the first run and then out onto the bike. We shall see…

Thanks for reading

Luke 

Blog #3

So I'm now out in Girona getting some good training in on the nice smooth quite roads!

I started the month with my final cross country race for this season in the sussex league at Hickstead  It was a very muddy one, but that's how I like it. It was a mix of under 20's and seniors. I started of hard from the start and managed to hold on for 2nd under 20 and 6th overall, which I was very happy with and was my best overall result in a cross country to date, so I can't complain.

Midway, through February, I made my way over to Girona, and was greeted with very warm weather! Fiona, one of the owners of the cycling and triathlon hotel (Girona Cycling) which is where I will be working part time picked me up at Barcelona airport and took me to Banyoles where I will be living. I also met Brenden who is an Irish cat 1 cyclist who I will be sharing my apartment with, so he has already been showing me how to really cycle.

I am hoping to maybe to some sort of race of a Triathlon, Duathlon or 10k run, before I head back to the UK for the first national series race of the year at the British Duathlon Championships on April 9th. 

So until then, I will continue to enjoy training out in this new location!

Thanks for reading

Luke

Blog #2

I’m going to start this blog by saying yes, I too have had that christmas/early January cold that everyone seems to have had. It hit me as soon as 2017 started and stayed with me right through to the end of January on and off. However, it has now fully past and surprisingly I can say that I haven’t lost any sort of fitness and I am exited about what is to come in 2017.

The winter rides and any sort of training in the cold, I am going to admit have been a struggle, with I think just about each one making me look like I had just come from a swim session, but I guess thats what makes us brits hard core! However, I have Girona/Banyoles (Spain) to look forward to in 2 weeks time and I cannot wait to head out their for some warm rides.

I took part in one cross country race during the month of January in The Sussex Cross Country Championships. This was the first time I had raced there, where the day could be a running race, rather than a mud sliding race. Although to me, the mud is what gives the fun to cross country. It was an 8km race and was a mixture of the under 20’s men and senior men with the senior men doing an extra lap to total 12km.

I started of strong just sitting behind the front group of seniors as I new they were going to be good pacers as they had the extra lap. I could see after the about 2k I was in 2nd and the person in 3rd was just hanging about 15 meters behind me. Unfortunately after holding that position for most of the race, I was overtaken in the last long straight of the course to the finish line with myself crossing in 3rd. However, with it being my first medal at a Sussex Cross Country Championships after all the years of competing in them, I was very happy. I have qualified for Nationals, but will not be taking part due to being out in Spain.

So by the next time you hear from me, I will hopefully be settling out in Spain, continuing to train hard for my first race of the season, which will be the British Duathlon Championships as well for the rest of the season to come! 

Once again thank you to Pedal Potential for the support for the 2017 season.

Thanks for reading

Luke

Blog #1

So my preparation for the 2017 season has been underway over the winter for the past 3 months now already. I am writing this blog with my first illness of 2017 as well, so a good start to the year for me! Over the past 3 months I have been training at home in Eastbourne with my Triathlon Club Team Bodyworks. I have decided to put University on hold for one more year. Everything has been going pretty smoothly. After a disappointing 2016 season, I am feeling more refreshed and determined to do better in 2017. I’m already hitting times better than last year, especially in the pool, and just feel happier during my training. 

In mid February I will be making a big change in my life to go and live, train in Girona, ‘a cyclists paradise’ for the next 7 months. I have already spent a week out there in the month of October and it was easy too see why so many pro cyclists and triathletes choose to live and train out there. I’m looking forward the the change in scenery for a bit and well as the cracking tan lines that I will gain out of it. I will also be doing some part time work with Girona Cycling to keep me going which I am also looking forward too. I will still be travelling back to the UK to take part in races throughout the season. 

During the past three months I have got back into the cross country routine, having missed out on it last year and I really have missed them! I have been taking part in the Sussex League and am now racing against the senior men which is bringing a big challenge which I am enjoying. I have the Sussex Championships up this Saturday so am looking forward to that and although I have had this cold, I don’t feel this has taken any of my fitness away, and am feeling ready for the race.

The coming months should be testing. But with racing in 2017 already beginning to feel closer again, I am excited to continue training hard. I aim to write a blog for each month of 2017 to let you all know how i’m getting on.

A big thank you to Pedal Potential for the support again going into the 2017 season, they are a big help and support a lot of talented athletes all with great ambitions. 

Thanks for reading

Luke