Welcome to the Ipswich triathlon club handout.

Entries remain open for the Junior triathlon on 29th August for 9-16 year olds. There is a waiting list for 8 year olds.

The Duathlon has been brought forward to 19th September but we are awaiting the nod from race director Nik Bestow that everything is in place before this can open for entries.

Remember also that the 2010 Ipswich Cycling Association evening cycling time trial series, organised in part by Ipswich triathlon club, are open to members of associated clubs only. See http://homepage.ntlworld.com/tim.m.butler/ or contact antony.birt1@btinternet.com

The ITCH League 2010

Race by race results are given later but the current "work in progress" tally sheet can always be seen at http://ipswich-tri.org/JOIN/itch-league/ITCH-league-2010-main-work-book.htm which was last updated to take into account the races of the late May bank holiday. I have also now added in Richard Peer's score from Wattisham (Richard joined us after entering so I missed him first time round) where he was second novice home. Richard's score takes him to second place in the league at the moment - not bad for a novice!

The league information is at http://ipswich-tri.org/JOIN/itch-league/itch-league-2010-info.htm.

Ironman 70.3 Wimbleball - if you are (still) competing at Wimbleball and want your time reflected in the ITCH league, please e-mail me (again) to let me know, letting me know your race number so I can find you. (The race numbers have been published on www.ironmanuk.com but unhelpfully do not include club names, and I am at that age where I've started forgetting people's names.)

The Club Championship 2010 - Cambridge

Reminder: the event we have chosen as the decider for our 2010 club championships is the Cambridge Triathlon.

Cambridge Triathlon is now closed for entries, with only 15 members shown as having entered.
See http://www.cambridgetriathlonclub.com/ for current news and a "hot spot" link to the on-line entry pages, which takes you to http://www.howesplace.com/ctc/ctc_entry.php . If you think you have entered you might want to double-check that you're listed there.

Charlie Stannett - itch@ipswich-tri.org

June is a busy month for races with members taking part in all distances. To make the club more visible, we’ve invested in a bright red club gazebo, so look out for this at Norwich, Cambridge and other local events.

The gazebo is easy-assembly with ready-connected poles, size 3m x 3m. Simon Palmer (Membership Secretary) has kindly agreed to store it when it’s not in use. Please do ask if you’d like to borrow it for a Triathlon (or duathlon/aquathlon) event.

Finally, huge thanks to all those to volunteered to help out at the Ipswich Triathlon Club stand at the Great East Swim on 19th June. The swim will be even bigger this year with an estimated 2,500 swimmers plus an expected 8,000 + spectators - an excellent opportunity to promote our club and the sport of triathlon. The first swim wave starts at 8.30 with the final wave approx 4pm. I will be around all day and will set up & take down the stand & gazebo.

This promises to be a good day out with the opportunity to watch elite openwater swimmers. There will also be trade stands, activities (incl a climbing wall), refreshments etc and you’ll have a chance to look round.

Good luck to everyone who’s taking part and we’ll see you there.

All the best
Mary

Mary can contacted by e-mail to chair@ipswich-tri.org or on committee meeting evenings.

The committee normally meets at Greshams on the SECOND Thursday of each month.

How did you get into triathlon?
It was originally a drunken pub based discussion (aren’t they all) which led to the Newmarket Duathlon, which in turn led to the London Triathlon. That was in 2006, seems a long time ago now!!

What is your main motivation and/or inspiration?
Triathlonwise it has to be the fact that you get out what you put in to a large extent. We all have such scope to improve through efficient training. Unlike many other sports if you work hard you should continue to improve.

What does your family think about you & triathlon?
My family are pretty nonplussed about my triathlon fettish really. They just seem to have come to terms with the fact that if I go and seem them I will be arriving on a bike.

What has been your happiest sporting moment?
Achieving 9hours 50mins in Iron distance (to keep Charlie happy) Roth last year was a real achievement that was the culmination of a whole year focused on one event. Achieving a goal you have worked on for so long is a great feeling. Apart from that chatting to Roy Keane in the pool last week for half an hour is up there, he was a sporting hero when I was a nipper!!

And what about your worst?
To be honest these days I hate nothing worse than sustained periods of injury. I have had a real bad run this year and it becomes quite depressing.

How much training do you do fit in (on each discipline)?
I am lucky to be self employed so I can juggle things around. But essentially now its lighter I tend to get 8-9 hours on the bike, 3hours swim and 3hours running in roughly a week. I am pretty regimented.

What is your favourite training session?
I love being on the bike and the longer the better really. As a favourite session though I think 100km bike at half IM pace with a 10km run straight off is good. It gives you the best of both worlds.

Ross eschews upper body cover while on training camp in Lanzarote

Apart from triathlon, what are your other obsessions?
Sad really but work and my cat!! Anything else is not fit for print!

How do you indulge yourself on a rest day?
By doing some training. Rest days are boring….

What are your plans for the near future?
I am off to IM Lanzarote on 19th May, which will really be a ‘get round’ effort given my injuries of late. Then hopefully I will be fully fit for Roth in July.

Tell us about your bike
Which one… OK my tri bike - I have a Scott Plasma frame, which I have put a compact groupset on. For a normal race I would use a 4spoke front wheel and disc rear. However for Lanzo I'm gonna go with the 4 spoke and a standard rear wheel. These days it would appear my frame is quite old but it is the perfect geometry for me and I run well off it which is key. I'm all about function these days. I think I have come through my ‘bling’ phase!!

Postscript from CDS - Ross's times at Lanzarote

Photographs may show that Ross was not wearing club kit at Lanzarote. He assures me his privately-sourced club kit was stuck with his supplier so I'm letting him off this time on the "still awaiting kit" excuse. Kit notwithstanding, his performance was pretty good, and I think his league score of just under 110 points is the highest since I've been looking after the data.

Good jawb...

You can follow e-mail Kate via kate@ipswich-tri.org or follow her at www.twitter.com/ironfishy and you can e-mail Ross via ross@ipswich-tri.org or follow him at www.twitter.com/http://twitter.com/RustyWelton

3rd Jun - Fynn Valley run
10th Jun - Bike ride (approx 1 hour)
17th Jun - Christchurch Park hills
24th Jun - Dales road run

Please watch out for e-mails/Twitter updates about forth-coming Thursday sessions.

Time is as before (9am - 10am) and we might need to cancel the odd date if it clashes with a race. Also, if you know of life guards who could be called upon as necessary, could you let Greg know.

Please note that on some occasions we will be reserving one or two lane for use in coaching.

If you want to be on a ring round list for notification of changes at short notice then let Greg Allen have your number. Greg is on 07501 464143 or e-mail greg.jamie@talktalk.net

From Elmstead Market, take the A133 Colchester Road, just after you’ve left Elmstead Market, turn right (north) into Tye Road as usual. Shortly into Tye Road (about a quarter mile?) there will be a double-gated private farm road on your right.

This arrangement is strictly for club members only.  The facility has changing, toilet and shower but the owner would like to limit it to 10-15 swimmers at a time. Car-sharing is requested, to limit the number of cars going through to gain access to the reservoir.

You can do a 1400-1500 metre lap, water quality is good and the reservoir is 30m deep in places, all for a couple of quid per session.

You will be asked to sign a disclaimer; you must wear a wet suit and bright hat; and already be a competent swimmer - this is open water swimming, not formal training. Safety is all users' responsibility looking out for each other, possibly on a "buddy" basis.

For further information about swimming arrangements, contact Greg Allen on 07501 464143 or e-mail greg.jamie@talktalk.net

Jun 02 - Crowfield Rose  - 10 miles
Jun 09 - Crowfield Rose  - 10 miles
Jun 16 - Crowfield Rose  - 10 miles
Jun 23 - Crowfield Rose  - 10 miles
Jun 30 - Crowfield Rose  - 10 miles

Jul 07 - Henley Community Centre  - 10 miles
Jul 14 - Henley Community Centre  - 10 miles
Jul 21 - Henley Community Centre  - 10 miles
Jul 28 - Henley Community Centre  - 10 miles

Aug 04 - Henley Community Centre  - 10 miles
Aug 11 - Henley Community Centre  - 10 miles
Aug 18 - ITC event, volunteers needed - Henley Community Centre - 5 miles
Aug 25 - ITC event, volunteers needed - Henley Community Centre - 5 miles

See http://homepage.ntlworld.com/tim.m.butler/ for start times and further details of Ipswich Cycling Association.

Volunteers needed for ITC-organised events - contact antony.birt1@btinternet.com if you can help.

Isabel - 22 March 2010

I've no full report for Waveney, but congratulations to Barbara Tottle on getting an age-group placing. The "pts" column refers to the number of points earned for the ITCH league.

Full results at http://www.tri-anglia.co.uk/WaveneyTriathlon/WaveneyTriResults2010.html

I've no race report for Newmarket.

Full results and photographs linked from http://www.newmarketcyclingtriathlon.co.uk/

An amazingly beautiful venue for a tri! We had to register our entry on the Saturday before 3pm, but this was a casual affair and good 'old' Greg did that for Mark and I as we were predictably on the drag. We did make it to Bucklers Hard where we would start from in the early hours the next day to listen to the compulsory race brief. If you don't mind horses, donkeys and cattle to name but a few of the native wildlife, this event was Hampshire heaven, except for all the grockles milling about. Great place for a pre-race pint in one of many quaint pubs! The event was well organised and exceptionally friendly.

6.15am start. The swim was in the Beaulieu river amongst Nelson's old wrecks, sadly for me a mass start against the strong tide, resulting in us all getting bashed to bits in washing machine like fashion, not good for a pb  We were also warned about the jelly fish that apparently come out to play when the water temperature increases, which it did a pleasant 16 degrees, (luckily for most none were seen)! Two swim laps of turmoil was followed by a gentle incline of 400m to transition, this little lovely was also included twice on the run leg, and seemed to increase by ten fold by lap 2!

The bike leg was 49miles of idyllic New Forest countryside, taking in Beaulieu, miles of heathland Lyndhurst and a quick glimpse of the Isle of Wight. Gently undulating but a relatively fast course, with plenty of long good surface roads to enjoy...and I did.  The sun was well and truly out by the time I got to rack my bike but the run course took us off road along forest trails as well as along country roads and there were plenty of water stations along the way. Complimentary tea and cakes were waiting for all competitors at the end of the race, with the local pub poviding welcome beverage and bbq to be enjoyed while resting on the banks of the river Beaulieu to reflect.!!!!!!!!!!

Dave Kay, Chris Tye, Greg Allen Clive Quantrill, Mark and I finished (despite Mark's calf and Greg's back) and all in all a fabulous day out!

Full results and photographs at http://www.racenewforest.co.uk/

Lucy adds: Sadly a member of the Southampton Tri Club collapsed and died mid event - ours thoughts are with his family.

Success at Fritton Lake Sprint Tri on Saturday was just the tonic I needed to restore my confidence after psyching myself out during the Wimbleball familiarization day 2 weeks ago and withdrawing from the event.  My little brother (only 46yrs old and 6ft 4ins) decided to do Fritton too and show me how easy triathlon is. He started 7 mins behind me in wave 2.  I had to keep ahead of him at all cost!

I kept surprisingly calm during the swim and it was panic free if a little slow! Snuggling up under 2 swim caps must have prevented me hearing the sound of my own breathing and in effect reduced one source of stressful stimuli. I concentrated on lengthening my stroke and exhaling slowly in the water. By about 700 meters (the swim nearly over) I began to really enjoy it!

My transition onto the bike was a bit of a mess. I lost my timing chip inside my wet suit for a start. I also thought I would try clipping my shoes into my bike pedals like the pros do and run barefoot to the mounting line. I remembered it being quite a jog over gravel to the mount line and I ruined my cleets last year. Well I should have practiced this!  I ended up yanking the shoes off the pedals and having to get into them the conventional way.  Kev shouted "what the **** are you doing? Such embarrassment! I was cross and humiliated but my adrenaline kicked in for a fast bike ride.

My new Zipp wheels went like the wind and I made up loads of ground. I was back a whole 4 mins sooner than I had anticipated. Only 20k I know but I could'nt believe it was over so soon.

My run was uneventful and I was overtaken by some young and lean types naturally but I was smiling all the way. I got through that swim and above all I was having fun.  I crossed the finish in 1:29:34.  Little bruv came in behind me (YES!!) in 1:35:22. Then, to top it all I got the prize for fastest elderly lady........um I think I was the only elderly lady. Ho hum.

Full results at http://www.fritton-lake-triathlon.co.uk/

I was really chuffed to find a bottle of Adnams in the goody bag but otherwise I'm afraid I was a bit disappointed with this race. I was happy enough with my swim (the main reason I was doing it) but not with the weird 45 degree "start line", nor the water which made London docks look positively crystal clear by comparison.

The bike course had some wonderful tarmac on it - fantastic - but an appalling lack of visible marshalling at a junction with a dual carriageway. And there were just too many opportunities for people to cheat on the run with unmarshalled short-cuts (and, yes, I did see people taking short-cuts).

That said, I'm told there may have been marshalling problems arising from a late minute change of run route - and the substitute run was a lot better than the ploughed fields I had been told to expect.

But, better than that, there was a wobbly log in the children's playground which, as I was already way behind, I decided to have a go on during the second lap of the run. Just as well I didn't spot the aerial zip wire ride otherwise I'd have had a go on that as well...

Full results (& a photo of Rab Wallace) at http://www.fritton-lake-triathlon.co.uk/

So the idea of doing this Triathlon was as training for the Ironman, even though I was scheduled to do an Olympic. I hunted and couldn’t find an Olympic for that day so settled with a full sprint.

The organisers describe this as a fairly testing Triathlon with a few hills, speedy last section on the bike, and is ideal for novices.

Well on arrival I was greeted by Born2Tri, East Essex Tri club, both competing there club championships (both being of very good standards also). I hunted round looking for the mountain bikes to give some hope that this was indeed suited to both novice and not so novice. There it was a mountain bike with a satchel on the back, 3 x locks, and an Evian bottle in his/her water cage. Very pleased. However this was the only one. This was not going to be an easy day at the office after all.

There were a few things that to me let the Tri down a bit. The amount of time competitors had to wait. I arrived at 07:30 to register, but wasn’t swimming until 11:45. Although this was bought forward to 11:15.

Also, this confused a lot of people. But the organisers chose to start the club championships first. So numerous numbered athletes from all over the place were starting. Number 2 was followed by number 156 etc.

OK so this was good for the clubs, but no so good for the single competitors. When asked by one competitor. “Where do I cue?”. She was replied “Anywhere in the line, we will just start you when you get to the front”. This  meant fast swimmers were going with the not so fast swimmers.

One more wee gripe before all the positives. Why were mobile phones banned from transition? Apparently if you use your mobile phone in transition, even to text you will be reprimanded.

So back to the race when I eventually started.

I was paired up with a swimmer who was actually my own speed. I did my usual, and even though in training can blast 400 metres, decided to go just above comfort. Hopefully because I had Ironman in mind.

I swam stroke for stroke with my opposite number, until the last two lengths when I though I had at last pulled away, only to jump out the pool with him jumping out the same time. (Time 6:42)

After a short run it was onto the bike, and out on the road.

The bike course itself is both extremely fast, and depending on fitness can be extremely slow. It is defiantly a case of what comes up goes down. My fitness has improved so was gliding (not racing) up the hills, and going some serious speeds downhill. For once nobody overtook me, and I thought I was going to post a great time up with the fast riders. Alas no, still five minutes behind them. How do they do it. I couldn’t have gone any quicker if I had jets on my shoes.

I did have one scary moment going through a village. I think I must have been in the top twenties, head down, pumping hard, then a car slammed his break on at a zebra crossing, followed by three other cars and then me. I slid for literary 15 metres, before manoeuvring just alongside the rather posh A6. I did curse at the first driver as I went haring past them. But afterwards thought maybe it was my fault for going so quick.

Sadly my chain came off at one point a little later, and I spent what I think about 30-60 seconds putting the bugger back on. Two competitors I had overtook previously now went past. One asking if I was OK.

Once back on bike I hunted them down again. One of the guys shouted. “I hope you ain’t going to do that a 3rd time”. I smiled but knowing how much further we had, how skinny he looked, and how crap my running is. He would no doubt catch me on the run.

All in all there are a lot of hills. Just long enough you cant sprint up them, and not long enough to warrant a small gear. Very nice.

The final part of the bike leg was supposed to be super fast. Yes it would have been if the wind was bang in our faces. There is also the fact new crappy gravel had been put down. I believe this crap gravel tarmac is a conspiracy. If it slows a bike down, it slows a car down, making both the cyclist and the driver inefficient. Therefore needing more fuel. Meaning more tax in the governments pockets.

So back into transition, quickly changed, and I couldn’t believe it, my legs wanted to give it some. I was flying out of transition. Not the usual back pain, legs complaining. I have done a lot of transition training and it had proved very fruitful.

The run itself is partly in a residential area, and mainly on grass, with a few very short and steep hills. Because of the twists and turns it makes for a great run. Tough but enjoyable.

And yes, the previous guy I overtook on the bike drifted past me without even seemingly being out of breath.

So what have I learned:-

Practise getting on and off bike, could save up to 30 seconds.

Sewing my race belt up so it didn’t come loose last year might have been a good idea at the time. But now am a stone and a half lighter it fell off in transition and on the run loads of times.

Glad all the painful transition training had paid off.

Would I do this Tri again. Definitely,…. Would make a nice club sprint championship ;)

(You can follow Jason as he prepares for his Ironman at http://twitter.com/TheIronWay )

Race organisers' website is at http://www.born2tri.com/

Fuller results are on the ICA website - http://homepage.ntlworld.com/tim.m.butler/

Ipswich - 28th May

Kirton - 4th June

Stowmarket - 11th June

Overall series results can be viewed via the Ipswich Jaffa website