Old Trafford - 06 Dec 2008

Went up to watch Man United v Sunderland with Dean. Sunderland came for a draw and were very unadventurous and United were all over them although it took until the 90th for the goal to come

Seaford Triathlon

Seaford 08 was a great event helped by the one day in August where the sun shone all day long. This event was the first head to head between myself and my brother who lives near Brighton. It was also a chance to swim in the sea in competition conditions as I had already swam lake and river triathlons so far this year.

The course is very user friendly, conditions in the swim were fairly choppy but the water was warmish and there was lots of room during the initial scramble. The exit out of the water and run up the pebble beach to the bike transition was made comfier by a thin carpet which started after 5 or so metres after the water exit, coming out of the water breathing heavily i completely forgot about the painful pebbles under foot.

The cycle was 6 laps on the Seaford Esplanade, the road was good condition and there was little wind. The run took the same route but on the pavement adjacent to the beach. I thought this event was excellent for spectators as our watching family only had to walk from the beach to the esplanade area and were able to watch the cycling and running without moving again as watching triathlons must very boring!

My result was 1h21m finishing 22nd out of 92 competitors, a full eight English minutes ahead of Neil although i think next time he will be not taking so long towelling himself down during transition.

Overall: 01:21:17

Swim: 00:15:38

Bike: 00:39:41

Run: 00:25:58

Marco Bortalomi and Carlos Nieto at the Jug

, originally uploaded by davstar8.

The Captain of the Gloucester (and Italy) rugby team plus a Argentinian prop dropped into the Brown Jug today to officially open new extension out the back.

Upton Upon Severn Olympic Triathlon

The Triathlon Course for Upton was as follows

Swim: downstream open water swim in the River Severn. On the day it was raining throughout the start of the swim and river was flowing very fast which allowed for a personal best 1500 swim though conditions certainly helped with speed!

Bike: the new bike route for 2008 followed wide open roads out in the countryside. The standard distance was 2 laps.

Run: a flat 5km circuit; over half of the route was a combination of a quiet, rural lane and private farm tracks. The standard distance was 2 laps.

		Avg. Speed	Avg. Pace
Swim Time	00:19:06(60)	4.71km/h	00:12:44
Bike Time	01:27:03(115)	27.57km/h	00:02:11
Run Time	00:52:21(112)	11.46km/h	00:05:14
Overall Time	02:38:30

Worcester Sprint Triathlon

This was my first UK based triathlon time and I was nervous before the start, luckily being with Beano the season professinal helped calmed the nerves. That said no matter how many events you have completed its still a buzz to get the adrenalin rush at the start of any event.

The course included a lake swim out at the Top Barn activity centre near Worcester. Gusty wind conditions meant there was quite a strong current making the lake quite choppy for parts of the swim. The wind also made the hilly cycle even more challenging.

		Avg. Speed	Avg. Pace
Swim Time	00:18:40(56)	2.41km/h	00:24:53
T1	00:02:12	-	-
Bike Time	01:00:57(74)	24.61km/h	00:02:26
T2	00:01:15	-	-
Run Time	00:26:48(68)	11.19km/h	00:05:22
Overall Time	01:49:52

New Bike - Cannondale R1000 Sport

Well, 2nd hand. A very light and fast chariot with slick tyres and Look pedals, great for falling off outside supermarkets when you can't get your foot off pedal!

Melbourne Grand Prix 2008

Elwood Sprint Triathlon 2008

Overall Time: 01:24:41

Swim Leg
Time	0:13:16
Place	726
Bike Leg
Time	0:38:33
Place	601
Run Leg
Time	0:29:12
Place	667

Beach Road Bike Ride

View Larger Map
Total Distance 30KM

This is the bike ride route I take from my house in St Kilda. It is a loop so you do return the same way but this is worth it as the scenery is very good along the coast. The turn around point is the Clock Tower at Black Rock

St Kilda Sprint Triathlon - Nov 2007

It really was an awful morning with rain and thunder. After waking up at around 6am, I had the short walk across the Esplanade to the start at Catani Gardens on the St Kilda foreshore. This being my first real event it was all very exciting even if the Aussie sun failed to appear. I had a dry run triathlon the week before so knew what to expect, i just wanted to finish in one piece.

There was rain and thunder rumbling as the start of the swim went. It was very choppy and the first 200-300 metre were very tough but once got into rhythm it went well there was also the benefit of the rough water causing quite a nice wave which aided the swim back to shore.

Bike and run were all completed without problem, it was during the cycle i realised that my hybrid city bike wasn't really ideal for this type of event as all the racers with thin tyres kept zipping past me. This did make me think that I was doing this race on equipment that actually made the race harder so in fact I was making more of an effort than someone on a really fancy bike!!!

Swim: 00:09:26
Bike: 00:42:59
Run: 00:24:07

Overall: 01:21:16


St Kilda beach on a stormy day.