Mersey Tri Duathlon - The Final

The Mersey Tri Duathlon Final was the culmination of the duathlon series that had taken place from early Spring.  Earlier races had been held in February, March and April and were organised, marshalled and run by some selfless club members.  This race was a handicapped race, whereby we would all start at different times based on a previous race time.  

The races are a good chance to catch up with friends and club members who you don’t usually meet up with or train with.  The races, although competitive, are not taken too seriously either.  There was a very good atmosphere prior to the race, made all the more special with the sight of Peter Roome coming through the entrance gates on a unicycle!  Funny!!


Although a race in itself, The Mersey Tri duathlon final was in my calendar as a chance to do a high intensity training session incorporating a short, fast brick run.  It was also a chance to try out the TT bike for the first time this year. 

This race was a handicapped race, whereby we would all start at different times based on a previous race time.  I was due to head off last, almost 20 minutes after the first athlete started.  It was a big ask to try and win this race!

The strategy going into the race was to try out some different pacing.  Previous races were based on a fast first run and then hanging on for the rest of the race!  This time my plan was to go easier on the first 5k, put in a big effort on the bike and then try and blast the 3k run, finishing fast and overtaking people at the end.

The 5k run started, and I was feeling great!  I made a fast start, with the first kilometre completed in 3.41, but felt comfortable.  I deliberately slowed a little after this to keep me in the ‘comfortable’ zone.  Without looking at my watch I knew I was going well as I overtook Mick (who had started 1:20 ahead) after about 3k.  I finished the 5k in 18.45 (a PB for the 5k distance!).  So much for my pre-race strategy!

An unspectacular transition followed.  This was the moment I was looking forward to most.  I would get to try out my TT bike.  I started a little wobbly on the aerobars but soon got to grips with them, and started to increase my speed as the k's clicked by.  I always forget how much I enjoy riding the TT bike – it is such fun!  

I managed to pass a few people on the bike – passing one rider on the way out and then two more on the way back in.  This race was going well!  There were still quite a few people ahead of me as I reached the end of the bike leg.

As I exited transition onto the 3k run, I heard a shout of ‘you can win this’.  I bombed out of transition at 3.30k pace.  I managed to pass one, two, three people.  However, I was running out of road and was not going to be able to catch the race leaders.  As I neared the end of the race I could see the leading runners finish 200m ahead of me.  Nevertheless, I had a great 3k run, finishing in 11.02 (a PB for my 3k!).

I managed some great times for all sections of the race.  However my transitions were tardy and the weak point of my race.  My legs felt great throughout and there were no effects of the hamstring issues felt earlier in the week.  Overall, a great race, a great session and three new PB’s!!

	Time	Pace (per k)	Position
5k Run	18:45	3:45	1 / 15
T1	1:20	-	10 / 15
15k Bike	25:17	1:41	2 / 15
T2	1:20	-	12 / 15
3k Run	11:02	3:41	1 / 15
Total	56:42	-	1 / 15

Although I managed to record the fastest time of the day, because of the handicap system I finished the race in 6th position overall.  Congratulations must go to Nick Wood who won the race and Helen Michael for finishing in second place overall and first female.

Many thanks to all of the organisers and marshals who made the race series possible – keeping us safe and on course!

Can’t wait for the club aquathon series now!

And the training continues ...

April was officially a good training month!

The sun was shining, there were plenty of days off with bank holidays and I was in the mood for training!!

Consistency is still good, as it has been for most of this year, managing to do some sort of training activity on 28 of the 30 days in April.  In fact, I managed to total 50 different sessions during the month!  Two a day training sessions are now becoming the norm.

Mersey Tri Duathlon

According to the training log, I completed 60 hours of training in April – which is my 2^nd highest month ever!  It is second only to May 2010 – where 30+hrs were logged during the MerseyTri training week in Ireland.

For me, the biggest achievement in April was clocking up in excess of 1000k on the bike (1088k), which included 6 rides of more than 100k (the most I've managed in a single month!).  This is my second highest total ever - once again behind May last year (Ireland trip). Most of the 100k+ rides were with Mersey Tri but two of them were on my own, including one up to Rivington for a lap of the IMUK bike course.  The bike legs seem to be getting stronger, with the pace of the rides improving together with stronger hill climbing.  If I want to keep up with the other cyclists on our Lands End to John O'Groats trip, and improve my Ironman performance, cycling is something that needs to develop further.

Mersey Tri Duathlon

I've been running more frequently than previous months (20 sessions compared to 18, 13 & 15 in the previous three months) but only completing similar overall distances (180k).  This obviously means that I'm doing more shorter runs.  Two thirds of my running sessions were less than 10k, compared to 40% of my runs in March.  During the month more focus was placed on speed, tempo and shorter interval work.  I did manage my longest run of the year though - a 31k effort, running at 4.48k pace, complete with negative split.  I need to do several more of these types of run during May and June.  

I managed two PB's during the month.  The first was for 5k (at the Mersey Tri duathlon) - 19:16.  The second was the Mersey Tri running session where we did a 3k time trial - 11:03.

Swimming volume was less than March, as this was sacrificed towards the end of the month for more bike miles - a very conscious decision.  Seven sessions were completed, totalling 21k.  My 1000m TT improved by 8 seconds - hitting 13.40.  I also swam my first 4k+ session of the year.

The month of May will see the end of Base Training, and the start of the Build Period.  The emphasis switches from volume to more specific 'race like workouts'.  According to Joe Friel 'success will be determined not by what you did in general on a weekly basis at this time in the season, but what you did specifically in a few key workouts each week.'


Friel goes on to say that 'not every workout should be racelike.  If you tried to do that you’d soon be toast.  You also need recovery days.  These are easy days when physical adaptation takes place.  Without adequate recovery the intensity of your racelike training sessions will diminish over time due to fatigue.  You will only be going through the motions while checking off workouts on The Plan.  That’s just a waste of time and doesn’t get you ready to race.  Every key workout must have a defined and measurable intensity'.

May and early June will therefore include some open water swimming, the dusting off of the race bike, some longer runs and some good brick sessions.  That said, May will also include the Mersey Tri annual training camp in Ireland, which will include a fair bit of volume, particularly on the bike.


The Build Period and race season is nearly upon us - and I can't wait!!