Monster Mojito Race Report

Well it really started with the evening meal the night before the race with the Monster Crew, by the end of the evening I was a little bit concerned about;

- Killer Dolphins in the lake, that were willing to be overly friendly to me.
- Coming out the water looking like a blue Smurf.
- A submarine passing me, cruising spectators to the end of the lake to go a extra set of existing toilets.
- The possibility of all the buoys being blown down the lake to the start.

Thankfully none of these happened.

Peterborough Rowing Lake, Morning of the Race from Transition

I had the benefit of staying the Hotel at the end of the rowing lake the night before. This meant I could leave my set up in transition to the last minute, and get some much needed sleep. The wind had dropped a lot from the day before, and the thought of being out on the bike was bearable.

The Monster Mojo middle distance guys had gone 1/2 hour before us Monster Mojito olympic distance guys, it was 10 seconds until the start of the race, I had a good position and plenty of room, this didn't last very long. The starter horn goes, after a quick thrashing around in the water and someone clumping me round the head I managed to settle into a good rhythm. With just the thoughts of the Ely Tri club swim sessions, I had Kevin Chalmers voice ringing in my ears and I was focusing on my technique.

I worked my way towards the buoys in the distance that I was trying to make out as my googles started to fog. I negotiated the first 2 buoys with precision and swam straight into the 3rd one just as I thought I had my sighting down to a T.

There was a clear break from the pack I was in and we were slowing, so I made a conscious effort for a bit of a kick and close the gap back down, which took me about 400m. I then stayed with the new pack, at the end I had coach Kevin Chalmers help me out of lake.

Transition was smoothish although one of my longer transitions, OK I was flapping about like a fish out of water trying to put my cycling jersey on. I also had a change of mind at the last minute and went with 'the gloves' I was c c c c cold. 

Out on the bike with a permanent grin. I had no great expectations but I wanted to at least get a 1:14:55 that I had on my last Monster Olympic although this time was not a PB. I negotiated one of the last roundabouts on the way out before the loop, just spotted a car door opening on the corner of the roundabout, for a split second taking my mind of the direction I missed the turning and had to go all the way round the roundabout, and someone followed me. Lol.
I headed out onto the loop, noting the wind I decided not to push too hard, but keep the strong feeling in my legs. As I'm quite light I made the most of negotiating the rolling hills. My feet went completely numb and I was stomping on the peddles just to try and get some feeling back. I pulled in a group of cyclists on Love's Hill.
There is plenty to focus on and keep your mind busy on the bike, and time seemed to fly by. There we're a couple of real decent cyclists that flew by me on the bike, but I stuck strong to my own pace and didn't get drawn into pushing too hard.
I knew I was nearly back when I heard Wardy clapping and cheering me back in on the most tricky junctions.

It was good to see transition again and I got I couldn't wait to get the feeling back into my feet. In transition I soon realised that I hadn't taken a gel on the bike. So I decided to keep my jersey on to save me transferring my gels from my cycling jersey to the my tri suit. Gloves off and in the right place 'feel good factor' and struggled the get the feet I couldn't feel, into my trainers, it was like trying to put tight shoes on someone else's feet.

On the run, first thing get a gel down me before I have an energy crash. Keep the cadence high and not push too hard initially. My trail shoes are supportive but not quite good enough for my over pronation, I had to focus on technique for a while. It's was towards the end of the first lap and BANG cramp enough for me to stop like road runner skidding to a halt. Naomi Gayler passed me at this point and asked if I was OK and kindly suggested that I stretched it out or eased off a bit. I didn't want to do either of these but it was critical for me to get back in the race.
Onto lap 2 and under the bridge again to collect my second wristband, I batted it out of CamSAR's Elaine Powers hand before I could turn back and pick it up Elaine moved at the speed of light skidding towards me with another wristband. Elaine was that quick she frightened me.
To the aid station I turned the corner and cramp hit me again with a vengeance, doubled over I quickly realised it was the sharp corners that was contributing to it. Looking a bit like John Cleese in Monty Pythons Ministry of silly walks; www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqhlQfXUk7w I picked the pace back up. 500-600m from the finish and my body was screaming at me. With about 200m to go I had Chris Miles in my sight and thought right I am going to have him. With about 50m to go he noticed I was on his heels and he also kicked, and fair play to him he did make it over the line first JUST. What an adrenaline rush 2:24:34 and we had it down to a sprint finish. I cramped up in both legs about a meter from the line.

Once again thank you to Monster Racing for another well organised race and all the Marshall's that really provide that great atmosphere that helps make a race that is worth coming back to. A fast course with a PB on the bike for me by nearly a minute. I know you shouldn't get too caught up with comparing times for different courses but an overall improvement of 23mins from my last Olympic distance.

1st and 2nd place of both the Monster Mojo and Mojito walked away with some great cash prizes kindly put up by Eastern Counties Finance and PWR+. 3rd place won some Zone3 vouchers. Great race and great prize fund. What more could you want?! Add this event to your race calendar for 2015 now.

Monster Mojito Pre Race Thoughts

With a short dip in my training schedule recently I have questions buzzing round my head prior to the race.

- Am I prepared? In short, yes.

- Have I done enough training? Not as much as I would have liked too, but I always believe there is more I could have done.

- Do I deserve to be there? Sure, I have made sacrifices of time away from the family. I will make sure that every training session it is not going to be a waste of time.

- Do I have any injuries? No, but I am training short distances and the chances are a lot slimmer than training for the longer races. Maximum run distances have been around 10k.

- Am I hitting PB's? Swim - Yes a bit of an improvement, Bike - No but not too far off. Run - Yes again a bit of an improvement.

1.5 k Swim.
A lap around the rowing lake. It will be the first time in my new wetsuit, so the feeling will be slightly unknown. My last wetsuit looked like a piece of swiss cheese and I might as well had a ball and chain tied to my foot with the amount of drag it created, so anything would be better.

38k Bike.
Once you are past the group of roundabouts to guide you out on the country lanes, you are guaranteed some great speed and great scenery. Caution should be taken on the Peterborough road near Ailsworth / Castor there is some traffic calming measures in the form of sections of cobbled road forcing the cars to slow or stop and go round them.

10k Run.
An off road run around the rowing lake, with,views back across to the transition area in sections, will make for great viewing for the spectators. With the Met Office forecasting heavy rain the day before. I imagine the later part of the run will get quite churned up, off road trainers a must. I will take both both road and off road trainers and take a view on the morning of the race.

Transition.
After getting a time penalty in my previous race, I will not be wearing gloves....

It's the first triathlon of the season, I could be better prepared, but it is not anything to panic about.
As they say at the fairground **Scream if you want go faster**

Monster Duathlon Race Report

Transition opens at 6:30am..... 

I have done this race before it's only a small transition area so no need to turn up too early to get a good spot. Living up the road I thought I could leave as late as possible and benefit from the rest.

Alarm goes off my first thought was straight to the wind I could hear outside. To the Metoffice website; 16mph NE with gust of up to 25mph. Thank goodness for TT bikes.

Arrival at Witchford Village College and some friendly faces soon picks the spirit up.  With transition practiced the night before, I only had to focus on position of my bike in the transition area. This meant getting my bike in a position clear from the bunch of TT bikes that are squeezed on top of each other near the bike exit, this made my transition area tidy. I know my wife wasn't going to come and inspect it, but I had plenty of room.

3mins before the race a quick jog down the road with a go-pro strapped to my chest, it's light, phew!

Paul Heselwood shouts out 2mins to the race, go-pro on for recording we bunch at the start. It's go go go. A gentle start and a need to calm myself and find a rhythm. Great support from the Marshall's, makes you feel like you are just going for a run and waving at your friends. Which is actually what I was doing. Got into a comfortable position on the run with a few people injecting some pace around me. 

I have to remind myself to sit tight and be patient at this point and try not to follow and push too hard. Off of the disused WW2 airfield and John Mac is beside me and going to run with me for a section picking my moral up, letting me know what's happening up ahead, it's nice to know how well your team mates doing. It's always good to have John beside you and something I have never experienced during a race.

On first leg of run - Note gloves on.

Back towards transition go-pro off, for a split second thought someone had moved my bike for a joke, then remembered I had moved it for a better position to exit. Smooth transition, thus far!

Out on the bike, clip the feet in eventually. And off. This is where it gets really exciting for me, every time I get on he the bike I feel like a kid. How fast can I go? Out of Witchford picking a couple of people off, next thing whoooosh. Someone just passed me at lightening speed. I didn't expect that!!!!!

Again sat tight, before the BP roundabout I had realed him back in. A lorry pulls in front of me at the BP I jump to the cycle path slowing me down slightly, the guy was up on me and overtook at the roundabout I managed to take him back quickly. An almighty push from the wind see me at the next roundabout before I could say. Supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus. 

Sit tight here comes the head wind, head down aeroposition, I decided to go without a speedometer and go based on feel. So got a comfortable cadence and focus on trying to pick people off.

At this point I could see someone ahead on a Giant Trininty bike, he was going to help take my focus off the wind and someone to aim for. At the foot of Coveney hill I managed to get on his tail, and use my 15secs of drafting time to give me a hop up at the bottom of the hill.

All I remember is wind in my face until I got to A142, With a nod to Carl Ward, I couldn't hear what he said because of the bloomin' wind.

Finish of the Bike, and back into transition

Back to transition I can see Gary Wilberforce? I must have got too caught up with seeing Gary. Off before the dismount line executed to perfection. Transition smooth. Not wanting to lose too much time. Gloves still on I had thought if I'm feeling slightly warm, my initial thoughts were 'I would take them off for the second run'. Im on my way out of transition and thought, 'hey I don't need these lovely gloves' so put them in the bush to the side of exit. (Hold that thought).

Out on the run, initially cramping up, slowed for a few seconds, while thinking 

1. I wish I had Gary's legs right now

2. How long will it be before Gary turns into a dot on the horizon.

Marshall's going crazy giving me a great push, and feeling good I watched Gary slowly disappear. Did I say slowly I mean disappearing quicker than Paul Daniels.

With my mind on my cadence made it back past the great Marshall's keeping me going, I lost a couple of spots on the run, but by noticably good runners. 

On second leg of run - Note gloves off!

Back to the finish line with Michelle Emerson shouting at me: THIS WAY, THIS WAY, THIS WAY, oh it's you Jay. With a little smile and thumbs up I crossed the finish line. 

Now cast your mind back if you will; to that moment were I put my lovely gloves in that bush as I exited transition. Turns out it wasn't such a good idea. The nice BTF official thought I was looking a little quick and also thought I could do with some extra time added on (2min time penalty, daaaaame). But rules are rules and another lesson learned.

I caught up with the guy at the end who whooshed by me on the bike, found out he cycled in from Longstanton. He probably would have beaten me on the bike if he had a bit more rest.

Thanks to Monster Racing and the great Marshall's that help make the event, for another well organised race.

Progress of Man v's Monster, below;

Monster Duathlon Pre Race Thoughts (Two).....

The monster Duathlon is going to be the first race that I have returned too. With a well organised friendly bunch of people and a time to beat, why wouldn't you return? I usually search out new races that would add a new dimension to the race. It might be;

- A hillier bike

- Where I have grown up

- Where the club are heading out as a group

- Open water swim

- Sea swim

- Off road to mix it up a bit

There are obvious mistakes I have made in the past that I will be making sure that I avoid 'touch wood'.

- Blowing up on the bike after going out too hard on the swim and bike. Resulting in my legs almost ceasing up.

 - Almost mounting the bike before the mount line. Which resulted in me jumping on my saddle and touching the saddle for about 0.5 of second before jumping off in a comedy fashion. The organisers face where a picture.

- Almost running out of T2 with my helmet on.

Best way to avoid transition mistakes is to run through the process in your head as you approach transition.

There are 4 main aims for me while racing the Duathlon;

1. Keep my cadence up on the run.

2. Make the 2nd 5k run leg quicker than the first. No I'm not going to walk the first leg.

3. Try and smile as I cross the finish line, I'm never going to make it look as easy as Lucy Gossage. But if I can force a smile, it's a bonus.

4. Get a better time than 2012. Overall time 01:28:12. 

Wish me luck.

Monster Duathlon Pre-race thoughts.........

First Pre-season brick.

With the Monster Duathlon in sight, I thought I had better sneak one in. The first one of the year always seem the toughest. A short 3.2k run, 23k bike ride based on the Monster Duathlon bike route, followed by another short 3.2k run.

Date and Time;

16/02/2014, 1:30pm start.

Conditions;

Sunny 8deg. Wind speed of 12mph and 18mph gusts. A lot calmer than we have been experiencing the past week.

Choice of clothing;

- Trisuit

- T-shirt

- Arm Warmers

It felt the perfect temperature on the bike and at 8deg. would be fine without the t-shirt.

If it is a few degrees colder it may be worth a warmer layer than a t-shirt.

Parts of the course to be aware of;

The extremely uneven surface, as you approach Coveney Hill, on the short straight section of road before you get to Coveney. If you avoid this by moving to the centre section of the road, beware of on-coming cars.

Other than that the road was clear and I made full use of the wind on my back on the A142 towards Ely. At this point it was a great relief. If only the wind followed me all the way around!!!!!

The run just after T2 was a gentle reminder of that feeling of running in treacle with lead shoes on, when you jump off the bike.

Man v's Monster......

With 2014 looming, my race calendar is on the forefront of my mind and know I need to organise my races sooner rather than later.

If you want a guaranteed place it's always best to get in early. However, if you know a race isn't going to sell out too quick, sometimes it's better to hold off for a while make to sure you are prepared before you commit. 

I know that 2014 is going to be the year for me to complete my first half Ironman, for me it has to be the Monster Middle. I have helped monster racing out with the Middle Distance race for the past 3 years, I have seen behind the scenes and I know it is well organised and the routes are well thought out, it has great reviews from those who have raced and it is on my doorstep.

I like to have a fairly laid back approach to my races, my initial school of thought was to build throughout the season. 1. Sprint distance triathlon, 2. Olympic distance triathlon then of course 3. Monster Middle. Easy I just have find some local races. I usually start with the Triathlon England website, then I can chuck in some extra races for good measure of course. 

Monster racing have just announced that there are going to be some new races this year great. 

Official Monster Racing list of events click here.

So why not take on the whole lot? Sounds like a good idea to me. (my initial thoughts)......

The Monster Duathlon. I have done before a great start to the season, and it will help me understand how my fitness is. I do not need to be peaking at this time for sure, otherwise it will certainly be down hill.

The Monster Mojito. This will only be my second Olympic distance triathlon, I will focus on a more structured fuelling strategy. I will also aim to have a better run fitness.

The Monster Sprint. A new race but still nice to keep it short at this point of the season. But in the village that Chrissie Wellington grew up? Why not? It's only up the road.

The Monster Middle. My training for each discipline at the moment is pretty much at these distances, but I haven't put all the disciplines together before. I also have the option of the Olympic distance race. I have raced this distance last year and was not disappointed. The swim and the bike went perfectly, I could have prepared a lot better for the run.

The Monster Marathon. Well were do I begin? It will be my first Marathon and of the back of my first Half Ironman this will take some meticulous planning. At the point that I should be tapering my running training for my Marathon, I will have to be completely resting from the Monster Middle. I will certainly have to run the Marathon conservatively.

The Monster Intrepid. After just completing my first Half Ironman and Marathon, I will complete this race quite late in the season. Extending my race season longer than normal. It will be a tough slog to the finish.

I will be posting pre-race thoughts and race reports, so if you are interested in the local races you might find the blogs useful.