This Sunday I'm competing in the world Age-Group triathlon championships in Hyde Park. I've written a couple of blogs this week for Financial News to illustrate how someone working in the city balances training for triathlon alongside a day job. I thought I would post them on here too, so here is part 2 about my aims for the race and how I've prepared over the past month:
"With just days to go until the race on Sunday, I've started to think about where I would like to place in the field and what sort of time I hope to achieve. At the British Triathlon Championships in Liverpool, where I qualified for this week's event back in July, I finished 14th overall with a time of 1:57:17 - just under 2 minutes behind the winner.
Since then, I have invested in a 'Specialised Shiv', which is a time-trial bike and therefore a lot more aerodynamic than a standard racing bike. This was made possible thanks to an award given to me by Capco for services to our clients.
Since then, I have invested in a 'Specialised Shiv', which is a time-trial bike and therefore a lot more aerodynamic than a standard racing bike. This was made possible thanks to an award given to me by Capco for services to our clients.
Managing to compete and carry out the required training alongside my day job requires a well-structured day and an understanding among my team about the demands I have outside work. The hardest part is when a work deadline comes up and my training needs to be shifted, although being able to incorporate my training into my cycling commute to and from work often helps to avoid missing a session altogether.
I have also invested in some deep-rim wheels and clocked up many more miles swimming, cycling and running. The aerodynamic design of a time-trial bike provides a significant benefit and the deep-rim wheels reduce turbulence, both of which should help increase my speed on the bike. As part of my final preparation, I have also made sure to run at least once a week at race pace. This should help ensure that I am familiar with the speed I need to achieve when I run off the bike.
It is hard to estimate what my total time to complete the race will be as every triathlon course is slightly different, but I am aiming to finish comfortably under two hours, which will hopefully put me in with the sharp end of my 30-34-year age group.
Obviously, the rest of the GB age-group team and competitors from the rest of the world will have been training hard to be at their peak performance for this event and, as a result, the level of competition is likely to be very high.
Similar to my preparation for any other significant race, the last seven days of training is relatively straightforward.
I have also invested in some deep-rim wheels and clocked up many more miles swimming, cycling and running. The aerodynamic design of a time-trial bike provides a significant benefit and the deep-rim wheels reduce turbulence, both of which should help increase my speed on the bike. As part of my final preparation, I have also made sure to run at least once a week at race pace. This should help ensure that I am familiar with the speed I need to achieve when I run off the bike.
It is hard to estimate what my total time to complete the race will be as every triathlon course is slightly different, but I am aiming to finish comfortably under two hours, which will hopefully put me in with the sharp end of my 30-34-year age group.
Obviously, the rest of the GB age-group team and competitors from the rest of the world will have been training hard to be at their peak performance for this event and, as a result, the level of competition is likely to be very high.
Similar to my preparation for any other significant race, the last seven days of training is relatively straightforward.
With the hard work done and the miles in the bank, it is important to allow your body to shake out any fatigue so that you are fresh for race day itself. My plan was to swim at a relatively easy pace a number of times, run once or twice, and make sure that my bike is working perfectly. I also aim to eat and sleep well, as these are two important factors in the final preparation that can be easily overlooked.
Overall, I feel ready, my training has gone well and now it is a case converting my efforts of the past four months to performing in the race itself."
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