Race round up

Congratulations to all those who have been competing over the last couple of weekends. Here’s a little review of how the team went.

The forecast was pretty awful for the Cowman Middle Distance Triathlon. Thankfully the weather gods chose be kind to the LFTC crew that headed to the race which was also the National Middle Distance Triathlon Championships. When we registered on Saturday the transition looked more like a bog than a setting for a race. A very substantial feed of Italian (thank you Steve Marks) on Saturday night set everyone up nicely for some massive performances on race day. It was an early start with the first wave heading off at 6:30am and the second wave at 7:00am.

Richard Jelfs was the first of the LFTC lads to exit the water in 30:51 followed by Jamie Kerr in 32:31 and Nick Hill in 32:38. The big man held his lead with a solid bike leg of 2:47:36. Stuart Hitchcock was gaining ground though and posted the fastest bike split of the day from the LFTC crew with a 2:43:00. He passed Richard at the end of the first lap of the run and held the lead into the second lap of the run. Joe Dale came storming through the field with the fastest run split of the LFTC team in 1:13:53. Unfortunately a school boy error from Simon Tulloch ment his time was not registered. How many ways can you go wrong with a timing chip? Probably just the one. You put it on your wrist and not your ankle!

Gail Wilkinson was the first of the LFTC girls to cross the finish line. She went on to finish 6th in her age group. Remember this was a National Championships so that is a fantastic achievement. Kristel Pous was first out of the water in 35:05 followed by Jane Dennyson in 39:37. Gail had the fastest bike split of the girls, she took the lead with a 2:57:53 bike, she was followed by Amanda Wilmer in 3:15:37. The fastest run split of the girls went to Gail in 1:33:44 followed by Amanda in 1:36:03. Deborah Coyle finished first in her age group. Middle Distance National Champion female 35-39! While she was racing in Grenwich Tritons race kit but we will claim her as one of ours as she comes to our Saturday sessions on occasion. Nice work Deborah! May be we’ll let your wear the LFTC colours next time. Well done to all those LFTC athletes that raced the Cowman. It was a great day out with such a big team involved.

The Hillingdon Triathlon was last weekend. The last of the triathlons in the London League Series. LFTC had a sizable team participating again. Unfortunately Felipe Almeida suffered a puncture on the cycle leg (which comes last by the way) and had to pull out. Amanda Wilmer was the first of our girls across the line and Jamie Kerr was the first of the lads. Am I right in saying this was Shahab Udin’s first triathlon? Again well done team. Two more races to get the club on to the podium!

Ironman Switzerland was also last weekend. Unfortunately Guy Holbrow had to pull out due to illness. Gabriel Sayer, Joe Dale, Nathan Dytor and Tom Picking all completed the event. Joe, Nathan and Tom were competing over the Ironman distance for the first time. Gabriel was the first man home, then Joe, then Nathan and Tom on the exact same time. Nice work fellas. You are all now Ironmen!

This weekend we go back to the short stuff. It’s the latest round of the ITU WCS for Hamburg. This is a great event that attracts a massive crowd to watch the best triathletes in the work race around Hamburg’s city centre. There are no Brownlees and no Helen Jenkins but otherwise the men’s and women’s fields are stacked with talent. A win in Hamburg in the final race before the Olympics will give a couple of athletes a huge psychological boost. It is a sprint distance race so it is guaranteed to be fast an furious from start to finish.

You’ll need pull buoys and fins for this week’s swim sessions. Saturday is our long swim. We’ll be mixing up some long intervals and short sprints. Sunday is our technique swim session. It’s a great little set with a mix of drills to tune up your stroke and improve your breathing control.

See you in the weekend, Tim (LFTC Coach).