» News Daz Parker

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!!!!!!!!

The race I used as a test of how my arm was going to hold up . It seemed ok, I was only around 1.5 mins down on my swim time. Pretty good considering I haven’t been able to swim for 9 months. Or train for that matter.

It was a great trip back to the Philippines as we always get such a warm reception and teated like celebrities from the minute we touch down at CEBU to leaving.

Staying at the fabulous CRIMSON hotel the press conference was an abundance of press from all over the Philippines, the hype and excitement grew every day . Race day itself was twice as big as last year. With thousands of specattors. The race grew that much, local celebrities had joined the fun and that pulled the crowds in.

It was very exciting to be part of such a great and fun race. On race day I was feeling pretty ok if not a little nervous. The gun went off and I stayed at one side out of trouble incase of any mishaps with arm entanglements!. My swim felt ok except a numbness that appeared half way through. The sea was pretty calm and very warm, no sign of any of the ‘sea lice’ that tend to give a nasty sting.

I came out of the water around 26 mins and headed for the bike ( ripping my swim skin off as the zipper got stuck (Blue Seventy- need a new suit!) not surprised the rest of the pro bikes had already gone. The start of the epic 2 lap bike course had changed somewhat from a flat road race with a little technical bit at the end to pretty technical all the way round. Added some mileage, a 36km and hard work on the legs. One of the challenges was to navigate across a very narrow section with a sheer drop to the ocean that the age groupers were not allowed to ride. Then a very stoney section which was bearly rideable unless you were equipped with a 29′er (which most pros had)

About 10 minutes into the bike and I was shocked to see Carina Wasle (also my room mate) running down the path toward me She asked me for a tube, as she had a flat.

I duly gave her my only tube without question along with my tyre levers. I carried on my way until I veered off course 20 mins later and bang/ fizzzzz I had a blow out. Now I was stuck. No tube and no levers.

Asking the many passing riders who whizzed by, most had no spare tube. I eventually got one from a kind soul. However I had no levers of C02 left. I then had the fortune to have Paolo ( what a STAR!!!!) stop and help fix the puncture and I was on my way again after around 10/15 minutes of delay.

There was a very tricky part of the course called the graveyard this was the heavily populated by the crowds to see many spectacular falls, BUT I did not oblige this time and sailed smoothly down.

I then saw that Carina was 5 minutes behind me so I put the foot down and rode fast. It was only until the end I realised she was on her first lap when I saw her! I had assumed she fixed the flat and was on her way to catch me up as I was now in third position. The bike’s second lap really was now more tricky and I began to suffer, the many thousands of cheering locals all along the course helped lift me tho when I was flagging. Luckily the heat was not so bad as last year, it was overcast and had rained.

I managed to negotiated the tricky section with a few issues as I was getting tired but came out unscathed, into transition in third place, headed for the run. A 10 km multi terrain pretty run along the local roads, hand made bamboo bridges, sea crossings, parks and streets lined with school kids with more waving and chanting! Fabulous.

I was convinced that Carina was close behind so tried to stave her off for as long as I could, but she never arrived.I got to the finish 3 1/2 hours later. Carina was not just behind she was actually one hour behind.

I also missed the section just for pros as well as there was a volunteer standing with a flag who told me not to go there as he assumed I was an age grouper. I thought maybe they had closed it for some reason could not stop to argue so had to make a quick decision. At he end of the race I went straight to the race organiser to tell him of my mistake and they informed me that it wouldn’t make any difference due to the time of the fourth position. Congrats to Renata (1st ) and Jacqui ( 2nd) what a fantastic job. And to Cedric, Olivier and Ben (3rd to first)

What a nerve racking come back. My time was not great but at least I completed the race knowing I have it in me to get back now for the season and can only get faster.This is just the beginning…

Daz Parker

Volcano training camp and race. Club La Santa again!

XTERRA Philippines race report.

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