It’s looking like my one and only race of the 2015 season, after a year of upheaval and moving city twice, was to be whilst working abroad in Boston. Knowing I would be in Boston for most of the season, I’d already made sure I had all my gear with me, just to keep in shape if nothing else. It was an added bonus to find out that the Boston Triathlon was happening whilst I was in town, and only a 10 minute walk from my apartment. Needless to say, I signed up pretty fast!
10 triathlon rules to know
As I kicked off my season of officiating earlier last month, I was again met with surprise when pulling up some athletes for rule infringements that they didn’t know about. (Or claimed not to know about…) So I thought I’d put out a list of the top 10 triathlon rules that I see broken at events.
Finding a triathlon club
Having just moved city and gone through the process of looking for a new group of people to train with, I thought I’d quickly jot down my thoughts on what to look for when finding a triathlon club.
A simple Google or search of your National Federation’s website, such as Triathlon Scotland, will turn up triathlon clubs in your local area, but how do you pick?
Riding the London 2012 Velodrome
As part of my leaving present from work, I was given some money and a cycling book – my colleagues know me well! I decided to spend a little bit of that money and my new found spare time on a weekday trip to the Lee Valley Velopark – better known as the London 2012 velodrome and site of much British sporting success. Continue reading Riding the London 2012 Velodrome
Gallery: Tour of Britain 2014 – Stage 8b
With apologies for the massive delay to this post (I had some other things happening in life), here is my second gallery for the Tour of Britain 2014. This is the gallery for stage 8b – the circuit race around London. You can see my pictures from stage 8a – the time trial here.
Gallery: Tour of Britain 2014 – Stage 8a
One of the great things about living in London is the variety of sporting events that come through the capital. This year alone, we’ve had the Tour de France, World Triathlon Series and London Marathon and London Triathlon, to name only a few.
Today, it was the turn of the Tour of Britain 2014 to come through London with a time trial and circuit race. I headed down with my camera and turned my hand to some high-speed sports photography!
Triathlon packing list and preparation
If transition is the 4th discipline of triathlon, then logistics is the 5th. Just getting to the start line can be a real ordeal for some events, especially if a wetsuit swim and a flight are involved.
I like to lay everything out the night before, especially with the traditional early starts of local, open-road races. To help with this, I’ve made a handy triathlon packing list, setting out all the tasks I need to achieve. I normally drive to my races, so also need to prepare the bike rack, but otherwise I think the list is pretty general. If you’re packing away from the internet, you can find a downloadable, printable triathlon packing list here.
Thames Turbo Sprint 4 – Race Report
I was eagerly anticipating this final race of the Thames Turbo Sprint Race series for 2 reasons: having been there previously as a competitor and trainee official, I know it’s a great race, but more importantly, it was my first ever triathlon. Time to see how 18 months of training and my TT bike fare against last year’s performance.
Becoming a triathlon technical official
The day after my own race at the London Triathlon at the weekend, I returned to complete my fourth and final shadowing of a qualified official, and became a triathlon technical official in my own right. I am now a “Local Technical Official“, the most junior of officials, and permitted “to be the chief official at pool based triathlon and aquathlon events along with duathlons, including children’s and paratriathlon events … also qualified to be an assistant official at open water events.” Woohoo!
London Triathlon – Race Report
A Saturday afternoon wave at a race in London should be the easiest thing for me to prepare for right? Apparently not, as I always like to overcomplicate things for my race at the London Triathlon. This time it was a work BBQ on the Friday night, chased with a marshaling the legendary Serpentine Handicap and picking my brother (also racing) up from Charing Cross before the race.