ETU Middle Distance Duathlon championships. Germany.

 ETU Powerman Middle distance duathlon championships
 St. Wendel, Germany.
 21st May 2017.
 Run 10k, cycle 60k, run 10k

Its a long one but I need to get this one off my chest, draw a line under it and move on.

Build up

This was to be my spring A race. I had pre qualified for this race after winning a bronze medal at the same distance championships in Copenhagen last year.

Run and bike course profiles.

I followed a strict training schedule from Christmas. Once I found out that the course was going to be very hilly, for both runs and the bike, training was structured around that. It all went very well. I progressed with both my running and cycling. I became stronger on local bike climbs, of all gradients and length, and ran on the Malvern hills weekly, increasing pace and distance. Four weeks before St Wendel I raced Storm the Castle duathlon in Ludlow. Advertised as the 'UKs toughest duathlon!' It was tough, they were right, very hilly. I raced well and was 3rd female overall. This gave me a huge amount of confidence one month before my A race. I had lost a few pounds of weight (fat), had a last minute position change for the TT bike and was feeling more aerodynamic, fit, lean and ready.




The journey there
When the Germans shut motorways, divert you off, but then don't tell you how to get back on....several times, and you have no sat nav....yes, that.

Accomodation and the couple of days before the race

Not a poo bag or MacDonald wrapper in sight

We were staying in a lovey quiet apartment about a 15 minute drive from St Wendel. We usually go for an apartment over a hotel as I'm a bit of a fussy eater and like to cook most of my own food.
There was a perfectly tarmaced cycle path all the way to from our village to St Wendel..perfect for pre race day easy runs/bikes. The weather was very very wet for the few days prior to the race.

On Friday we drove the bike course and walked the run course. I was excited as the whole course was right up my street, everything I like about running and riding (hills, hills and hills) and none of it daunted me.
That night I cooked dinner. Prawns.

Bike recce, photo credit to Nicola Nobles selfie 

On Saturday morning we both went down with a tummy upset....lets just say we both lost a lot of fluid !
I went on the bike recce with our team manager Baron and some of the other GBR athletes and I made a point of drinking plenty of electrolytes for the rest of the day but didn't really have an appetite until late at night and ate late, after the team briefing which didn't start until 7pm.

Race Day.

I woke early Sunday and was as usual, nervcited. I'd got everything ready the night before when I knew I would have a clearer head. This included making up sandwiches for post race refuelling and putting my timing chip in a safe place where I wouldn't forget it. We'd racked our bikes the afternoon before, but were allowed into transition in the morning to check tyre pressures and add water bottles etc. So, I'm pretty relaxed as I know everything is sorted and I didn't need to rush. That was until I suddenly panicked as I hadn't checked what time transition closed on race day morning !!! It was now 7.50am and we hadn't put everything in the car ! Luckily I found the piece of paper I had it written down on and to my relief it didn't close until 8.30am. The next half hour was a bit of a blur. We managed to park close to race HQ and I ran in with my bag which had in it my helmet, water bottle, gels, cycle shoes etc. Luckily I had ran through bike/run in and out the night before so could focus on getting my transition area ready. Wheres my timing chip? Wheres my timing chip? I put it in my helmet so I wouldn't forget it. It wasn't there. I told Barron and Ron and thought I was going to have to go DataSport in the sports hall to try to sort something out. I continued to panic also carried on getting my area ready. I was about to walk away, still panicking,when I realised I hadn't put my cycle shoes out ! Doh! Cycle shoes out of the bag...timing chip inside one of my shoes.....

...As you were.

This was my 7th international representing GBR....WTF was I doing ? #rookie

Team mate Kate 'up the old birds' Morris was setting up near by. We had a pre race hug and photo and I showed here the hole that had appeared in my GB  tri suit that morning #bonding.

Where's Gill Fullen?!

Run 1

And they're off.

Two laps of a very hilly course totaling just over 10kms.  Multi terrain too, very pretty in places but pretty concrete in others. It was potentially leg sapping from the start.One of the hills had a 10% gradient. But all was good, I prefer a hilly race to a flat race. Kate was off and ahead of me from the start, this was no surprise as she was favourite to win our age group. Other than that there were 2 German women in our AG. Claudia Hille, who is a coach and ex Ironman elite athlete with several Kona appearances amongst other achievements under her tri suit,  and AN Other German who's name I couldn't remember on the morning. I finished the run just ahead of Claudia but had no idea where the other woman was.

Showing Claudia Hille the way !

T1
As practiced, no issues.

Bike course
Originally I heard that the roads were to be closed to traffic. Then we were told that traffic would be flowing in just one direction...the same direction as us, but on race day none of the roads were closed and there was 2 way traffic all around the course.

The course went up from transistion, immediately followed by a fast descent into town, followed by a short sharp uphill, not long after that the first long climb starts...Its a pretty long drag, about 1.3 miles of climbing, the descent is long and fast.  Then there was a couple of punchy little uphills and a tricky 'chicaney' bit through a small village, another fast stretch followed by the second climb uphill (taking us back into St Wendel) of about 1 mile. Each lap of just over 13 miles had over 1000 ft of climbing.

Lap 1
I was on my bike and away. The new position felt good and the first climb brought no problems...the descent however was a different storty. I dropped onto the bars ready to fly when I was struck with excruciating calf cramp on the right leg. I free wheeled and tried desperately to rub my calf and stretch it out whilst on the move. It was so painful but most of all it was psychologically a nightmare. I haven't suffered with cramp for years, not since I was running marathons. Why was I getting it now? Was this going to be race over so soon. PLEASE NO! I had 500ml of electrolyte drink in the reservoir of my TT bike, I gulped loads of this and then sipped at it through the rest of the lap. The calf kept twitching and threatening but didn't spasm again.
Lap 2 and 3

Heading towards the dismount line

Felt much better, I was able to push harder again. I continued to fuel on the bike with electrolytes, energy drink and gels.
I had pulled well away from Claudia Hille but still did not know where the AN Other was. I had a great race with 2 German women, I was guessing one of them was the fourth 50 plusser. I raced hard into transition and was not going to give anything away.
I wanted that silver medal.
I raced right up to the transition line and on this occasion had decided not to do a flying dismount as I was worried about cramping. So I uncleated one foot as I approached the line, and CRAMPED! Proper spasm...fell off..gravel rashed my shoulder and knee, calf still spasming the marshals were great and lifted my bike off me and made sure I was ok and didn't need medical assistance before I carried on. I was aware of cyclists I'd overtaken whizzing past me as I sat on the floor. Tail between my legs, head hanging low I hobbled through transition miserably, racked my bike and set off slowly on the run sore and deflated.

Run 2.

Very early on I saw Ron, I told him what had happened. He told me how much lead I had on Claudia ! Great, she was still behind, but was I in second or third position at that moment?

Disappointed 

Feeling sore and sorry for myself I carried on. Just starting lap two Claudia Hille came running past me, Noooo  She was so much stronger at this point. I felt so disappointed. Ron saw me and shouted 'don't you dare drop your head, the race isn't over yet' He was right, just what i needed to hear. I dug in and decided I was going to race to the line no matter how much it hurt. This I did, but it wasn't enough, she'd pulled well away from me.

Finish
I crossed the line knowing I hadn't got the result that I had set my heart on. However,at this point I think I've got bronze. I finished 1 minute 45 seconds behind Claudia Hille.

Close, but no cigar.

Immediately post race
As always Ron was there for me. So too was Kate, who'd had a storming race and easily taken the gold for us. She told me it was ok to have a little cry over my disappointment and then proceeded to put her arm around me onto my bad shoulder!
Leslie from Tri247 took this picture and told us that she'd just heard the news that our team mate Gill Fullen had just won the Outlaw half. First female! We were thrilled to bits for her.

As you can see Mozza is already on the gin :)

Medal ceremony

Hob nobbing with Emma

Powerman events are unique whereby the elites share the age groupers medal ceremony. Emma Pooley spent some time chatting with us telling us about her race (she won easily), her new bike and her future race plans,








Ron quickly checked the results table before the ceremony started, good news, I had got bronze, bad news, AN Other German was a DNS !
However, I felt much better when I looked at the overall results for all age groups, men and women, and was really pleased with my performance and overall postition. I was really disappointed at the time but soon realised that actually I had had a good race, performed well even with the unfortunate cramping and gravel rash, and just happened to be up against 2 very high ranking athletes in my age category.

All smiles on the podium with Kate and Claudia

Evening celebrations

Matt, Dr H, Kate, Nicola, Kirsty

When in Rome...

Later that night we headed back into town to celebrate with some of the other GB athletes. The atmosphere was great, it was a fab team. Very supportive of each other, we'd been through a brutal race together and all had stories to tell.

On reflection
A great race, brutal course that caught a few out. Believe in yourself, its right to be upset if things don't go to plan: get patched up,  have a little cry, a large beer, a few group hugs from team mates and everything is ok again. Team camaraderie really was top notch this time. Loads of support and laughs.
Thanks to Ron, for as always, helping with race prep, being the best supporter and picking up the pieces. Neill for all his help through my training. Barron Mendelssohn for once again being a fab team manager and describing the course as one of the most brutal he's been to!  Kate, Dr H, Kirsty and Matt and Nicola for cheering me up in the evening. Along with the rest of the GBR team throughout the weekend.

Duathlon Cymru

Duathlon Cymru at Margam castle. Sunday 12th March 2017.
Challenge Wales Events.

Motel room 'Selfie' early start !

I had a different race booked for this weekend but unfortunately the company closed down and refunded us our entry fee, so I quickly googled Duathlons for today's date and this one came up. It was sold out but I spotted on their facebook page that 10 extra places had become available and I was quick to dive in and get one.  It was the first running of this event. Two distances were available, Classico and Piccolo. (Olympic and Sprint.) I opted for Classico.

The (short) 10k run was 2 laps through the beautiful wooded trails around Margam castle. Some of it hard standing and some of it trail. There was a short sharp hill to contend with on each lap which added a little sting! I had a pretty good run and finished it as 2nd lady.







 T1 was fluid and I headed out onto the 40k bike route.....2 loops of a 2 lap course. This description confused me so we took time to clarify what this meant, as it also involved several roundabouts, so we drove the course the night before so that I had it clear in my head! It was flat (one little rise) and fast with a really good road surface and very little traffic. I raced well, negotiated the course correctly and came into T2 as 1st lady. 

Earthy.

T2 was good although I should've left my trainers upside down as they were full of rain water when I put them on.

The last run was a (short) 5k loop through Margam park again... wet, muddy, earthy.. lovely, however I was really aware of the short sharp hill this time around! 

Winner!

 I didn't have a lot of company at this point, (other than the horse box that tried to follow me down the course to the finish gantry !) but again I ran well, all be it on stumpy cold feet, and finished the race 1st lady. 

Unfortunately there was dispute as the lady who finished 2nd (she was in the lead at the end of run 1) told the race organisers that she had not seen me cycle passed her on the bike leg. After a short discussion it became clear that she had cycled the wrong course and turned at a wrong roundabout, this must have been when I nipped in front of her as she would have cycled a little further than she needed to.

Prizegiving 'crackajack' style !

In the briefing before the race started the organiser explained the route twice and clearly asked if anybody was unsure of the route, nobody asked any questions on it. Later, on 'Strava' we checked out my 'flybys' and spotted a few others had made the same mistake as the woman that finished second, however the majority of people cycled the correct route.


In the meantime as the official winner of the ladies race I picked up a Slate trophy (cheese plate) 2 pairs of technical running socks, a bottle of prosecco and a beautiful bouquet of flowers! 

I really enjoyed this race but it has to be said that there is a little room for improvement in some areas. However, it was the first running of this event and the first duathlon that the race organisers had put on. For me the positives outweigh the negatives. If this race takes place again next year I would definitely recommend it. The setting is beautiful, the run through Margam park is stunning and the bike course is like a 25 mile TT course. 

Moral of the story, 'know the course!' It's all part of a successful race day.

Margam Castle

First Duathlon of 2017..Worcester/Peopleton Duathlon

Peopleton Duathlon 

Organised by Worcester Triathlon club, Peopleton Duathlon is a great local early season duathlon consisting of 4 mile run, 18 mile bike, 2 mile run. This race always generates a lot of local interest and has been going several years. 

Eleven members of Malvern tri club braved the winds and early season challenge. Some of them taking on their first multi sport event, some of them first duathlon, and some of them seasoned multisporters !

A good turn out from the club

Pre race

I took an extended warm up knowing that I would have to hit the ground running on this short race compared to all the endurance racing and training to last year. 

Run 1

Start of run 1, lets do this.

I started strong and was able to hold it for the 4 miles. I came into transition first female...I was really pleased with this. Race buddy Debbie Bradley was racing today and I know she is a really strong cyclist, so I needed to have a good first run. I wasn't sure what pace I was running at as I had set my Garmin to Triathlon mode, so the watch thought I was swimming ! oh well, good to go on feel sometimes. At the turnaround point I realised on the second lap of this run I noticed I was ahead of all of my club mates bar 1, Cliff. Ah, I was considering using one or two of the other fellas as pacers !! Cliff would be way too fast for me to keep in my sights, oh well, time to race my own race.

Nervcited! Tongue out, concentrating leaving T1

T1
This went well, 'nervecited' as I had brought my new Giant Envie road bike along to race instead of my TT bike. As it was new, I just fancied having a go at this race on it, trial a different saddle etc. (only had half an hour on this bike 2 days before this race!)









Bike leg

It was a fast start with the wind behind us, the bike felt great, light, fast and really responsive, but instinctively I wanted to get down on TT bars which of course weren't there! Considering I haven't had a bike fit I was also really comfortable on this bike. About 9 mins into the bike leg the inevitable happened....'Go Viks' was what Deb shouted as she came past me!! I pushed on, couldn't catch her but could just about see her all the way round so it was great and gave me motivation to continue racing hard.
I really enjoyed this ride and managed to overtake a few fellas along the way. Conclusion....
I love my new bike!

Whoosh!

T2

Smooth dismount

Feeling confident I went for the flying dismount ! Which resulted in very wet socks/feet for the final run but it was a smooth landing and smooth T2. 

Run 2

Surprisingly my legs felt great, but my feet were very cold and wet and feeling a bit stump like. A chap running in front of me asked me if his legs were actually there! I went past him,....a couple of minutes later he passed me ....he obviously found his legs. 

I started to fatigue about a mile in, which is unlike me as I generally have a better second run than first, so I'm guessing this is just due to it being early season and not enough training in my legs yet. Having said that other than the legless man overtaking me I didn't lose any more places and ran 7 min mile pace which was still pretty good. I couldn't catch Debbie, she was looking really strong on this final run. I realised I was going to have to settle for second place but didn't let it stop me from pushing, I wanted a good finish time. 

Still working

I finished second female overall , and was really pleased with that. I feel I had a really good race, fell in love with my new bike and really enjoyed the morning. I was second home for the club, with Cliff being first and winning the male Super Vet category., he really is a super vet! Jayne won the female Super Vet category. Wine and prize money for all three of us.

The club did well

Thanks to Echelon cycles for selling me a beautiful bike frame, Ron for building the rest of the bike up perfectly for me, Neill for all his input, Debbie Bradley for providing a race target, Richard for the photographs and the rest of the club for fab camaraderie and support....whens the next race?

2017....the year I become a successful triathlete!..(PMA) !

Let training commence....(again)

Showing off 

I took a clear break from training over Christmas and New Year and enjoyed vegging out with friends and family and enjoyed a few social rides and runs, plus of course some fantastic walks on the Malvern Hills sporting my World Champion Rainbow stripes Big Bobble hat!






It was great whilst it lasted, then came the first week into January and I was chomping at the bit to start some regular specific training again.

I'm now four weeks into some base training with my spring goal being the European long distance duathlon championships in St. Wendel, Germany on the 21st May.

However, my big goal this year is to finally spend some time swimming, and become a triathlete. I have booked a middle distance triathlon in August. So, from week one this year I have been factoring 2 swims per week into my training schedule. One of which is technique focused with the Malvern Triathlon club coaches.

So on this fourth week into my schedule I have taken things a bit easier and instead concentrated on 3 main sessions and produced some 'benchmark' times

OK so I need to work on my 120 degrees

Swim 400 and 200 yrd TTs in the  pool to give me a CSS pace (picking up the jargon!) Tempo trainer ordered and podcast downloaded. Mirrored/tinted goggles needed before the OW season starts.

Bike 10 mile TT, (slow, but I'm blaming the winter bike, cold weather, multiple layers of clothing and a lumpy course for that) Summer road bike cleaned, serviced and ready for sale. New bike frame purchased, just awaiting a few more wage packets to buy the remaining vital parts !

Run I raced the Raceways Mad Dash 10k this weekend for a 10k benchmark. It didn't seem an impressive time but I was 2nd lady to finish so a pretty good start to the season. This was  a really enjoyable and very well organised event, a 20k option was also available.
Decision on new 'race day' trainers needed to be made before May !

Mad Dash 2nd lady

2016 the year I became a WORLD CHAMPION!

OK....feeling happy, smug, relieved...tired !

50 years old, bring it on!

This was my first year in my 50s and I wanted it to be memorable and successful. The ultimate plan was to race at Powerman Zofingen, so to come away with a GOLD MEDAL ! and the title of WORLD CHAMPION ! was just the icing on my 50th birthday cake.

January: On the 17th I celebrated my 50th birthday with lots of friends and family.

In work mode, Fitness Pilates anyone?

This month I also became a Fitness Pilates instructor and immediately started teaching it several times per week. I feel the extra core and flexibility work from these classes assisted my training and recovery.








February: Whilst out on one of my solo long winter bike rides I got a puncture, I was proud to change my first roadside inner tube all by myself, in the freezing cold !  Later that month I raced the Peopleton short distance duathlon as part of my early season training where I was first female, 2nd athlete overall, to finish.

Cut glass from Tempo winter series

February was also the last race in the Tempo events winter series, I had completed the series and picked up 2nd female overall for the series. A good start to the year. (see previous post) 




March: Ramped the training up a bit!

April:  My next race was a little more important, the British Championships for standard distance duathlon held at Windsor. I picked up a silver medal, Coming in second to the amazing Gill Fullen., so I was thrilled with this result. (see previous post)

Silver at British Champs

Podium hoggers at Copenhagen

May:  The ETU Long distance duathlon championships in Copenhagen.  This was my first big target this year as I wanted to race well and finish in a good place to qualify for Zofingen later in the year. I was absolutely delighted to pick up a Bronze medal, which was perfect to gain me a place at Zoffingen. It was fantastic to share the podium with fellow Brits Gill Fullen and Kate Morris..GBR podium take over ! (I've only just realised that I didn't blog about this race ! sorry)

Bronze

June:  Training changed for a few weeks following Copenhagen as my next challenge was the ITU Standard distance duathlon championships held at Aviles in Spain. (I had pre qualified for this World Champioinship event as reigning British Champion at this distance the previous year) So as the race distance was a fair bit shorter to Copenhagen I needed to sharpen things up a little. I did two 10 mile TTs this month and clocked 25:50 and 25:54. These were my first ever 10 mile TTs...I really enjoyed it and fancy doing more. I raced really hard at Aviles and could not have gone even one second faster at any point, I came home in 4th place. Close but no cigar ! Not bad for a world championship though. (see previous post)

Trying my best at Aviles

This month I also raced my first 'Fell race' Darrens Dash. Througout all of my training I was keeping a lot of hilly stuff going on both with the running and the cycling as I knew that my main goal this year was Zofingen. At Darrens dash I was 4th female overall and first in age. Happy with that!
I also raced Shifnal half marathon. A challenging multi terrain undulating half marathon. I was thrilled to finish second female overall. I really enjoyed both of these run races.

July: Time to get more miles and more hills back into the bike training. So I did two long hilly sportives, Velo Sportive tour of the Cotswolds and The Malvern Mad Hatter.  I also raced the Wyre Forest half marathon organised by Amazing feet running club. This is  a tough trail half, I really enjoyed this race and it was great prep for Zoff. I was 4th female to finish, 1st in age. (see previous post)
This month I was also part of a relay at Upton Triathlon. I did the 40km bike leg for Team Porridge. I was really pleased with my performance and didn't let the team down.

August: More long hilly rides and runs. I completed another long hilly sportive, the Cotswold Sportive.

RESULT!

GOLD!

September: The main event. Top result !! World long distance duthlon agegroup championships, Zoffingen, Switzerland GOLD ! ....always believing ;) (see previous post)

'You're about to be chicked' at Oulton Park

October: Just for fun! Oulton park standard distance duathlon, and agegroup qualifying race. I thought I would pop along and have a little race whilst I had so much training in my legs! Happy with 2nd in age, faster than when I race this course 2 years ago.


This month I also took on the inaugural Storm the Fort long distance duathlon. I was delighted to finish first female at this brutal, but brilliant event ! (see previous post)

Delighted to win as I cross the finish line at Storm the Fort!

What a year of achievement! My best yet. A great medal haul...all my hard work, dedication and commitment has paid off.

£300 of 2xu goodies

Could live in this stuff!

November: A great bonus happened this month. I was the lucky winner of £300 worth of 2XU compression clothing and a fabulous triathlon bag. This was courtesy of My Challenge HQ, take a look at their recently revamped website and follow them on facebook. A great place to find new challenges and share some general race chat. I was obviously over the moon to receive this, I've made great use of all of it already. Thanks again Charlie and co at My Challenge.



December: I was extremely flattered to pick up the new award of 'Club Ambassador' at Malvern Triathlon Club annual awards dinner in December. Thank you all so much for this special title.
And special thanks once again to Ron and Neill for their generous and valuable help and (in Ron's case) patience!

Club Ambassador. With Roger and Sarah, Vice Chair and Chair. 

I'm feeling successful ! but not finished....I feel there is more to come and I am not about to hang up my trainers or sell any of my bikes just yet...
...however.....I feel that I now need to get up close and personal once again with my wet suit. Bring on 2017 ...the year I intend to sort this swim lark out and revert to Triathlon training and racing....watch this space.

Signing off for 2016,

Vikki Sivertsen World Champion.