Back from the sunnier climes of Lanzarote that is the fantastic and highly recommended Richard Hobson volcano camp. It was a full on 10 days concluding in an Olympic distance race on Saturday. Richard Hobson was the no 1 Coach and we had Sarah for Yoga and our lovely massage team of Richard and Ron. (very welcoming) Fun filled and hard training in the sun (well mostly)
Club La Santa has something I dont know what but just something.. YOU either love it or hate it. Most come back for more and some leave within a few days. The rentless winds usually knock people out and so does the full on timetable .
I took the first few days a little easy, and opted for a steady get back and see what happens.. It had been just a few weeks since any formal training since my break of a year. This was a treat to see where I was in fitness and how my arm would cope with some proper swim sets. It turned out that my swim times were little slower and the wetsuit was not a good thing for the shoulder, it seemed to make my arm go numb and slow down. But I coped with the volume of work and play!!
The race was an added extra as the week went by we didn’t really consider the race until the FRiday before when evryone suddenly snapped into their own individual race prep mode. The wind and rain the previous night spelt a rather hard bike leg but as the morning arrived the sun shone and wind died down making for near perfect race conditions.
I was about to swim without wetsuit but the previous day tried it and froze.. so wetsuit it was. Race day the sun shone and the water was warm ish..boys first in a crazy mad frenzy start and girls after 5 mins , bliss.
I took it pretty easy for the start and then built up. However I was still 3.5 minutes down on my swim time. In transition I had my helmet on, bike and bike shoes clipped in..running out making up for lost swim time and as I ran out the gates all I heard was shouts ‘RACE BELT!!! but in Spanish, so I carried on as it couldn’t be me right? Wrong, race belt? On the bike? I was so used to racing XTERRRA that I forgot the ITU rules.. I had to go back to transition otherwise would have been DQ’ed.
That added a few more minutes to my time, so I then had to do some more catching up on the bike. I had borrowed a fab road bike from the lovely Tony at my sponsors Bike and Run . the Trek Madone 5.2 great on the hills and the hills were a-plenty in Lanza!
Felt pretty ok on the bike but didn’t get the rules as some overtook on the inside and others outside some drafting some just plain crazy.. Non-Drafting not sure how far I was supposed to be so overtaking was tricky. I guess I’m also used to drafting on the MTB .which is allowed. T2 was smooth and the run off was pretty ok. Three laps seemed pretty long, as we had to do a lap around the track per lap. I had overtaken a few girls and thought I may be in top 10 position but wasn’t sure until the finish. Came in 5th in the end so pleased with that result. Thank you to Blue Seventy for the wetsuit, Craft for the fab kit, Clif bar for the nutrition on the camp and in the race. Suunto for my new Quest watch..love it!, Bike box alan for the eye catching blue bike box which still keeps my bike safe and sound, shock absorber for the swim suits and tops, bike and run for the loan of the bike!
All of whom I could not do without. XX
My times were down on all three disciplines from 2009 when I race there last, but that is inevitable, now an easier week and prep for Alabama. World Cross Champs.2012 19 th May bring it!!!!!!!!
