Following on from my first pro podium finish at Wimbleball a few weeks ago, I was confident of another strong performance at Antwerp on Sunday. This was my first 70.3 back in 2008 – I loved it then and every year it seems to get better – so last week I was getting excited about returning. The start list showed defending champion and local girl Sofie Goos would be racing as well as speedy Brit Ironman Rachel Joyce so I knew a good race was on the cards.

Right from the swim start Rachel and I were swimming stroke for stroke and it stayed that way for the entire 1900m. I felt ok (I never feel great in T1!) and led out of transition through the early stages of the bike. I was enjoying cranking up my Focus Izalco Chrono TT bike through the Waaslandtunnel when Sofie came flying through – and there was me thinking I was shifting! She was going well and – perhaps mistakenly – I let her go. I built into the two-lap course which takes riders up to the Dutch border and back into the heart of the city, riding to power throughout. I came into T2 still in second with Sofie now about three minutes ahead and unaware what kind of time buffer I had on Rachel.

Running out of T2 I wasn’t feeling brilliant, but hey, that’s a feeling most triathletes can identify with! It has become abundantly clear in training of late that my run pacing leaves a lot to be desired so I was under strict instructions (thank you Mr S!) to hold myself back on the first of the three laps. The run course at Antwerp is always my favourite part of this race. The crowds are terrific – whether it’s old Belgian men puffing on their pipes shouting “Bravo bravo!”, Brits screaming “Go Wiggle!” or the mad band playing the bongos – there is plenty to get you fired up and grinning like a loon.

The real highlight is the Grote Market, the old town square which athletes pass through four times, and each time the blaring music, booming commentary and packed grandstand give you a boost which no energy gel or aid station cola can touch.

It was leaving the Grote Market for the first time that I realised Rachel wasn’t too far behind so it was a case of really focusing on maintaining good run form and speed. I thought I’d held enough back on lap one to really turn on the gas on lap two and three but maybe this wasn’t quite the case…Plenty still to learn here! All credit to Rachel who ran past me on lap two and showed she’s coming back from her Abu Dhabi injury in very strong form – watch out Kona!

All in all I was pleased to be up on the podium once again. It’s early days for me yet with pro racing: I have plenty to learn, a lot to work on and am starting to understand the importance of patience. It’s a virtue, right?!

Big thanks to all the guys at Wiggle as well as all my usual suspects – and well done to all the Swindon Tri crew who raced Ironman Switzerland on Sunday, nice work!

Happy training, racing and recovery
EK

Neoprene is neoprene – right? Can one wetsuit really be faster than another? It’s Saturday morning, it’s baking hot and I’m climbing into the blueseventy Helix, wondering if this suit – which the likes of world champion Alistair Brownlee swears by – will live up to the hype.

First things first…

Getting into the suit is easy: the legs and body roll up smoothly and I’m impressed by the lower cut neck, which makes sighting easier and reduces the chances of neck chafing (something I often suffer with). The Helix features a reverse zipper (for a speedy T1 – more on that later), so unless you’ve got the shoulder flexibility of a contortionist you’ll need a training partner to help do the suit up for you. Once on, the Helix looks and feels ready for business – and that’s before you’ve even dived into the water.

Making a splash

If you like wetsuits which seal well, you’ll love the Helix. I’d go as far as saying not a drop of water entered the suit from the moment I entered the lake, which not only guarantees comfort and warmth in chillier conditions but also ensures the best hydrodynamic path through the water. The Helix provides a seal unlike any other suit I’ve worn (and I’ve tested a fair few) which is thanks in part to features such as the neatly placed silicon seal arm cuffs. The wide range of sizes (seven in the women’s range, eight in the men’s) also helps ensure you can find a suit which provides the best fit for your body shape. The women’s specific suits – the Femme Fit – are designed with the female form in mind and were developed with the help of elite female triathletes. This is only too evident as you swim: the Helix is an intelligently-designed and researched suit which delivers what many high-end suits promise to but often fall short.

Freedom and speed

Some wetsuits can feel restrictive as you swim, particularly around the chest and shoulders, but the Helix offers greater flexibility and buoyancy, resulting in an unimpeded stroke and a higher body position in the water, both of which will lead to faster swim splits. The buoyancy panels throughout the suit will help even the most heavy-legged triathletes improve their body position. Features such as the proprioceptive arm panels (OK, it sounds like marketing jargon, but I’ll translate it into English soon enough) prove once again that the boffins at blueseventy really did do their R&D when it came to the Helix. Aside from looking very smart and psyching out the opposition, the arm panels are designed to promote better arm position and improve catch, power and propulsion through the water. Maintaining a high elbow through the early catch phase of the front crawl stroke is something which many triathletes fail to do, yet these arm panels are there to help you do exactly that. With this in mind, it’s suddenly no surprise at all that world and Olympic champions are falling over themselves to get into this suit.

Fast transitions

The Helix is great in the water, but truly proves its class when it’s time to get out of it. The reverse zipper came into its own as I ran at full tilt out of the lake: it can be easily grabbed, yanked and released on the fly so that within moments you are flicking the suit off your calves and reaching for your bike gear. It also means if things get really rough and ready in the swim on race day, it’s impossible for someone to pull down your zipper. Always a bonus! Having worn earlier generations of the Helix, I knew it was a winner in T1 and, based on recent experiences with the latest generation suit, blueseventy has made the best even better. I’d stake my swim splits on blueseventy’s Helix and recommend this suit without hesitation.
I would say see you in T1, but if you’re not in a Helix you don’t stand a chance… ;-)

Check out Wiggle’s full range of blueseventy gear – from goggles to wetsuits and transition bags – Click Here

Return to the Wiggle blog next week for Emma-Kate’s review of our blueseventy goggles

You know you’ve not left anything out on the race course when you’re scraped up off the finish line and carted into the medical tent. Running down the finish chute at Wimbleball on Sunday was probably one of the most surreal experiences of my life. My brain was telling my body to keep pushing just a few more steps – you’re almost there, you’re almost there – while my body was telling my brain it was kaput, finished, empty. My mind was a blur, my legs leaden and the crowds either side of the finish chute barriers seemed to be coming in at me, almost as if I was hallucinating. The very moment I crossed the line that was it – down I went after four hours and 56 minutes of what I absolutely love: racing my heart out. And what a race it was!

I’ve been struggling recently with swimming because my right shoulder has been subluxing (popping out), but on Sunday I think I re-found some old form and felt stronger than I have for a while. As I came out of the water I heard commentator Don Ryder say I was second woman which gave me the boost I needed to get my butt up that horrible hill into T1.

The bike course is an absolute beast featuring almost 1800m of climbing over 56 miles but having ridden it twice in two days last month as part of a training stint in Exmoor I was confident I could tame it. My Focus Izalco Chrono was awesome, I truly love this bike, and to make it even better last week I was fortunate enough to be sent uber cool Fast Forward Powertap race wheels by the kind people at Paligap which meant I could ride the course to power.

I was first off the bike and through T2 with about a two-minute lead and the crowds were superb, absolutely phenomenal. As I ran out onto the run course there was an almighty cheer and it lifted me so much, both physically and mentally, that I couldn’t disguise the dirty great big grin which was plastered across my face. If you were there and cheering – thank you! Thanks also to all the Lidbury clan who I could hear above everyone else (no surprise there really!).

With seasoned Ironman champ Bella Bayliss on my tail I knew it was going to be one helluva hard run. I told myself “just treat it like one lap, you’re just running one lap” and tried to get my brain to kid my body into believing it. It seemed to work, as after the first lap I still had the lead. Come lap two, I did the same, and I still had the lead. But Bella was eating into the deficit fast and come lap three I was starting to feel it. I lost my footing mid-way through the third lap and went down hard on my right side and although I was able to just dust myself off and get back running, I’m not sure I regained the same mental focus. Unfortunately I wasn’t quite able to hang onto second place, but was stoked to make it down that chute for third place and my first pro podium finish. After some testing times last season, it feels great to be heading in the right direction now and I’m very excited about the season ahead. This result also qualified me for the 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, Florida, in November, so I can’t wait for that.

For those unsure whether UK 70.3 is a race they’re brave enough to tackle, I’d say don’t hesitate to sign up when entries go online tomorrow (Wednesday June 23). It is definitely one of the toughest races out there, but as long as you’re well prepared for it, you’ll absolutely love it and you’ll be grinning like a loon for days afterwards. The event is superbly well organised with everything athletes need and I can personally vouch for the medical tent staff. A HUGE thank you to the two Sues who looked after me and brought me back round to the real world. Final thank yous to Ozzer, Stenning & Rob King. You all got me to the start line ready to race and race hard ;-) Good luck for Ironman Coeur d’Alene this Sunday Stenners! I’m passing the racing baton to you now fella…

This season for me is all about racing 70.3, but with Blenheim Palace on my doorstep I couldn’t resist the opportunity of racing at the Blenheim Tri and using it as a solid speed session ahead of Wimbleball (UK 70.3) in a fortnight. I did my first ever tri at Blenheim back in 2005 and, as anyone who’s raced here knows, it’s a special race with a terrific atmosphere and a truly stunning setting.

The women’s elite race was off at 9.20am and not long before that it was announced it would be a non-wetsuit swim. Cue panic from me, as I’m stood wearing my favourite two-piece (with nice roomy pockets in the back – arggghhh!) and wondering whether I can make it home in time to grab a tri suit and still get back for the start. (Five years doing tri and valuable lesson learned: always pack several kit options!). I decided against it but looking around at the swim start I realised I was the only one not in a tri suit. Doh! The swim proved pretty disastrous for me; I certainly should have been in the top half of the field getting out of the water, but hey, there’s nothing like making life interesting/hard for yourself and bringing half the lake out in your pockets!

Out on the bike course, Jill Parker & I teamed up and rode well together to make up a few places and I was determined to ride and run well to get something out of this session. My new bike, the Focus Izalco Extreme, was an absolute dream to ride and it climbs brilliantly – love it! My run split was a minute quicker than last year which is definitely something to smile about and bodes well for the season ahead. I’ve had good run consistency in training over the past few months so I’m sure this will translate to some strong half marathon running off a 56-mile bike in the races that count.

Thanks to all my friends & family who came out to support – awesome as ever! Great to see so many Oxford Tri-ers too. And well done to Ozzer – fastest 40-44?!

Looking forward to a good two weeks of training & preparation now ahead of Wimbleball on June 20. Probably won’t blog again until after the race but will be feeding my Twitter addiction no doubt. Hope all who raced at Blenheim had a great time.

Happy training & racing
EK

Race: Ironman 70.3 Florida, held at Disney World, Sunday May 16

It was my first major race of the season and training going into it had gone well. I’d been out in Florida for 10 days prior to the race and was confident I was well acclimatised, although even Floridians doubt they’re ever truly acclimatised to this heat and humidity! As expected, heat and humidity on race day was pretty brutal.

I had a solid swim but as I went to run out of the water and onto the beach before I knew it – SMACK – I was down in the sand! My left calf had totally cramped up and there was nothing I could do about it. It took me a while on the bike to get into a rhythm but I soon started making up places and and left T2 in good spirits in 7th place with the 6th place girl in my sights and feeling confident I could run myself into the top five. Oh how wrong I was!

Having survived the cramp in my calf, I was then struck by the cramp monster in my quads whenever I tried to up the pace, and it soon became an ordeal just to 8-min mile – WHAT?! NEVER a good sign! By the final lap, it was taking every ounce of mental strength not to walk, stop or DNF (plenty of pros did just that) and by mile 10 some serious self-talk was going on (make it to mile 11 and you can have a cold beer tonight; make it to mile 12 and you can have beer and chocolate cake; make it to mile 13 and you’re almost home, anyone can run the last 0.1 of a mile). By the time I made it to the finish line I was ecstatic to have got there and far from feeling disappointed at my 10th place finish, I was totally stoked. Lots of lessons learnt and plenty of valuable experience.

Racing Stateside

Greetings from the U S of A where it’s hot, sunny and a whole lot of fun. I’m out here for Ironman 70.3 Orlando which takes place this Sunday morning at Disney World. We’ve been Stateside since last Thursday, flying into Miami and hooking up with some terrific guys from the South Florida Hammerheads Tri Club who were nothing short of brilliant hosts. We swam, biked and ran in some of the most beautiful spots around the city, seeing some amazing sights while training with some great athletes. Huge huge thanks to Steve & Jill who have made our trip here absolutely awesome.

We travelled from Miami to Orlando on Monday – starting the day at 3.30am (ouch – I thought setting the alarm with a number beginning with ‘4’ was bad…) – in order to start riding (“wheels up”) by 8am in Clermont in central Florida, an area popular with triathletes from the southern end of the state because it has some rolling terrain. No kidding, riding in and around Miami is flat, flat, flat, real time trialists’ heaven – if you want an incline your only option is riding up the curb!

We’re now in the craziness of Orlando and Disney and enjoying race week: shorter swim, bike and run sessions with plenty of intensity to stay sharp but not too much volume to cause unnecessary fatigue. It’s my first real race of the season and my first 70.3 since August last year, so above all else, I’m just very excited to get out there, put all my winter’s training to the test and have a great race. It’s undoubtedly going to be a hot and humid one – the temperature is sitting comfortably around 30 degrees C and humidity is high too – so getting nutrition and electrolytes right will be important. Wi-Fi permitting I’ll be Tweeting over the next few days and will post up news from the race soon after Sunday. I can’t wait. Bring it on!

It seems (a) dull (b) uneventful and (c) against the unwritten rules of blogging to start a blog with an apology for my recent lack of blogging, but hell, there you have it, I’m starting by apologising for my lack of communication over the past few weeks. If I was to say I’ve been so busy writing, training and working would you believe me?! The fact I’m writing this in the bath on my iPhone says it all really: the past few weeks have been crazy busy, but crazy busy in a great way.

I am happy to report that my glamorous jetset lifestyle has seen me travel as far afield as Portsmouth (home of Wiggle HQ), the small town of Cricklade (btw Cirencester & Swindon – home of Lidders HQ) and London. I mention this not because Wiggle Blog readers might have any kind of interest in my daily travels but more because it’s proving to me what really works for me and my training. You see, in the same period last year, I’d travelled from Noosa to Sydney, Sydney to London, London to home, home to Majorca….you get the picture… In that time I rarely felt happy, settled or fit. Fast forward a year and I’ve travelled a fraction of the miles, but feel a thousand times happier and fitter. As a creature of habit who loves routine, I have my set training week with my set runs, rides and swims, and I’ve seen myself get fitter, stronger and faster week on week.

On Sunday I raced a half marathon which proved what I thought I knew: I’m getting there. I ran 1:27.15, which is just a few seconds outside my pb, and felt strong and in control for the majority of the race. My long runs listening to Marathon Talk are starting to pay off (brilliant podcast by my friend Tom Williams and his partner in crime Martin Yelling) and Mister Stenning’s evil turbo sessions are also paying dividends.

While we’re talking about support, I’ll also take this opportunity to drop in a shameless mention of Shock Absorber’s new run specific sports bra. I ran in it on Sunday and it is sublime, so good in fact that you’d forget you were even wearing a bra if it wasn’t for the fact your bust (or lack thereof in my case) is neatly tucked away so you can get down to the business of racing with one less thing to worry about. I urge any girlie who loves her running to take a sneak peek.

I’m racing this coming Sunday at the Duston Tri near Northampton so will hopefully return to the blog soon with good news about the start of my multisport season.

Happy training and racing folks
EK

Growing up in the ’80s, if you’d have told me I’d spend part of my 30th birthday hunting through charity shops looking for a Margaret Thatcher outfit, I’d have told you to take the loopy juice out of your cuppa. However, last Friday, that’s exactly what I found myself doing. The reason? I was staging an 80s themed fancy dress party to celebrate my 30th birthday and the Boy Wonder and I had decided – for pure comedy kicks – that we’d go as Maggie T and Ronald Reagan.

The masks arrived, we promptly put them on (terrifying the cat and our next door neighbour in the process) and I soon realised the mask alone was never going to do Mrs T justice…hence the reason I found myself dodging mothballs in some of Oxford’s finest charity shops until finding the little beauty of a suit you see here…

The party was great fun – thanks to all who came and made such a top effort with costumes – we had a truly entertaining evening.

After the madness of my birthday weekend, I’m now settling into my 30s – time to let it all go now, right?! Errr, nope, not quite… Training is going really well at the mo, I’m even Tweeting about it ;-) I’m doing exactly what I wanted to do this winter: consistent quality training with fire in my belly and a head full of hopes for the season ahead.

A visit to Wiggle HQ earlier this week meant picking up some superb goodies. I was blown away by Exposure giving all of the Team Wiggle athletes their own personalised Exposure Toro Light and Exposure Joystick.

These will come in extremely useful and I know for a fact there was one Ironman triathlete at my party on Saturday night who would not have made it home without his Exposure lights (Hanno biked from Oxford to the party in Swindon and back home again – all in one night – and still came in fancy dress!). That certainly qualifies as a top effort in my book!

Happy training
EK

More 30th Birthday Photos

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A Bit Of Sunshine

As I sit typing this, snow is starting to fall outside and I’m hoping it’s not here to stay. I’ve just returned from a cracking week’s training in Lanzarote where the 20C sunshine was exactly the booster I needed. Within an hour of being out of the airport – winter coats off, shorts and Birks on – I couldn’t help but smile. I’d forgotten just how much of a mood lifter sunshine can be.

It wasn’t hard to get some great riding in – I think Lanza is one of the best places in the world to log some quality miles. When the hills aren’t hurting you, the brutal wind is. The photo below is the view from Mirador del Rio – one of the tastiest but most beautiful climbs on the island – and one all you IM Lanza folk will know and love well ;-)

With some big hours planned, rest and recovery between sessions were top priorities. Although the hotel pool was a tad too small for a decent swim sesh, it proved to be an ideal ice bath post-sesh. Needless to say I got a few funny looks from nearby holidaymakers….

We clocked up just over 600k with the Focus Cayo and my Powertap proving to be trusty sidekicks (huge thanks to Paligap for sorting some last minute repairs for me just before I left). Riding to power is definitely the way forward.

Having suffered a fair few injuries last year, quite a few athletes I’ve spoken to suggested getting a professional bike fit. I’d heard loads of positive stuff about the Retul system (as used by Stadler and Crowie, among others) so before going out to Lanza I spent a couple of hours with John Dennis and the lads at Velomotion in Milton Keynes. What can I say? Two hours extremely well spent. Quite a few changes were made, but I’ve never felt so comfortable on a bike as I do now and as someone who usually has an aversion to climbing, I felt totally dialled in after the week in Lanza and was able to climb better than ever. V impressed. I’ll be taking the TT bike back soon.

Happy training
EK

44

It’s Snow Fun Any More

OK, so I might sound like a killjoy now, but the snow’s novelty factor is definitely wearing thin (as are the lame puns, apols about that blog title). I’m starting to crave being able to ride my road bike on the road and being able to run along on smooth, ice-free tarmac. I know, I know, not that long ago I blogged about how I wouldn’t being going to Australia this winter and that I’d train through the British winter come hell or high water/snow, so I guess I should shut it and instead entertain you with some positive news from Camp Lidders.

Despite weather conditions, my training is going really well. I know I’ll probably get sectioned after writing this, but I’m actually not minding the turbo too much. Yesterday, I was part of a three-hour group turbo sweatfest which was great fun. The Swindon Tri boys and I set up our turbos and proceeded to do two 90-minute sessions with only a brief loo break/iPod changeover in between. The only disappointment was the lack of Bee Gees on the playlist ;-) Thanks for a great workout guys – and perhaps most importantly, thank you Wiggle for the Udderly Smooth Chamois Cream which definitely saved my behind!

I’ve also been seeing more of the treadmill than I’m used to, but I’m not even minding that too much as I’m steadily building a consistent base which I hope will set me up for a cracking (injury-free) 2010 season. Earlier today I ventured outside and did a steady five-miler in the slush and snow, but that was a bit slip-slidey in places so I’m thinking tomorrow’s 1hr40min long run might be on the treadmill like last week. Thank the Lord for iPods!

Needless to say, I’ve not been back on my MTB since my first outing which ended up with me in A and E. My left shoulder is recovering well and although I’m still not able to swim very much, the progress I’ve made in the past few weeks suggests I’m a quick healer and I’ll be back in the water and resuming full pool training soon. Bring it on!

Happy, safe training
EK