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How to pace the bike leg of a hilly triathlon
Watch the video below for Rob’s advice…
Amazing Racing from Team Oxygenaddict!
Amazing Racing from Team Oxygenaddict!
What a phenomenal few weeks for Team Oxygenaddict athletes!
We’ve had a truly global presence at races over the past few weeks with PBs galore, podiums and world champ’s qualifications. We’ve been overflowing with achievements – results we and our athletes could have only dreamed of when we launched Team Oxygenaddict in January. Let’s take a look at who’s achieved what over the past few weeks…
Long Course Weekend – Tenby, Wales
Conditions were extremely tough this year – plenty of Jellyfish and a treacherous bike course for David Waugh and Gareth Petts to contend with. David, for whom this was a big step up in terms of distance and difficulty did an amazing job to collect his medal, coming home in 15:55. Next step – UK Ironman 2017 for David!
Gareth had a storming race including 7th fastest bike and 4th fastest run. Cruising to a sub-10 hr time (9:59), and 5th overall. A brilliant result and the perfect stepping stone for the Ironman World Champs in Kona in October…
Triathlon X
Coach Rob on one of the many Lakeland passes in Triathlon X
Our very own Coach Rob led by example, completing what has been voted the toughest triathlon in the world – Triathlon X, in the Lake district. An incredible achievement, made even more incredible by the fact that he recorded his exploits throughout the day for the Cup of Tri Podcast – it’s well worth a listen!
UK Ironman – Bolton
A great turnout from Team Oxygenaddict with 6 athletes racing.
Chris Scott was extremely happy with his IM debut coming home in 13:09 – “I enjoyed the race more than any other – the best energy from a course for me. Great day, learnt lots, felt confident and next time I’ll be even better”
Jahn Hanson also successfully made his IM debut, mentally and physically toughing it out on an incredibly painful run.
Pat Walkington, having completed Bolton before, PB’d in the swim, had a strong bike but had to hold back slightly on the run due to an Achilles niggle. His 12:36 was still a PB though – great work Pat!
Nick Faulks unfortunately didn’t have the mechanical gods on his side and had to pull out with bike issues. He’ll be back stronger and faster than ever, ready to make amends.
Matt Wackett had an amazing IM debut at Bolton, finishing in 10:56 on what is not at all a fast course. Matt is a shining example of what’s possible as a result hard work and commitment and it’s scary to think how fast he’ll be able to go with another year’s training!
And finally Andy Heaps finished a few minutes behind Matt in 11:05. Next time Matt 😉
Andy at UK Ironman
Challenge Roth
Roth is without a doubt one of, if not the most iconic races in the world. We had Matt Greenhill and Brett Connolly representing.
Brett soaked up the atmosphere, crossing the line in 13:22 and collecting his medal (and selfie!) from British pro Laura Siddall, and also getting to meet and chat to the legend that is Chrissie Wellington.
With very little run training due to injury, Matt still managed a great day out, finishing in 11:23
Challenge Iceland
Leahn with Heather Wurtele @ Challenge Iceland
Leahn Parry took part in what looks like one of the most spectacular 70.3 races in the world. But he wasn’t there for the scenery – claiming 5th age-grouper overall despite a nasty fall off the bike after being attacked by birds!! That performance secured his spot for the 2017 Challenge 70.3 World Champs in Samorin – well done Leahn!
ETU Long Distance Champs – Poznan, Poland
Roz’s silver medal from the ETU long distance champs
Roz McGinty, who is no stranger to wearing GB kit was in Poznan to compete in the European Long Distance Championships. Swimming, biking and running to a MASSIVE PB Roz then found herself on the podium picking up a medal for 2nd place in her age group. Incredible performance!
The Outlaw
As popular, and arguably as good as UK Ironman, The Outlaw also had a great Team Oxygenaddict showing with 5 competitors including several more iron-distance debuts.
Sylvie Wollaston, who’s only target was to finish her first long distance tri met her target. She did it in style – winning the F50-54 age group by over 30 minutes. What a way to make your debut, well done Slyvie, we can’t wait to see where you go from here!
Sylvie with her AG winner’s trophy at Outlaw!
It was also Roger Knight’s first iron distance event – a perfectly executed race meant he smashed his expectations, crossing the line in 11:47. “Someone asked me which bit of my race was hardest and it suddenly dawned on me that I had actually had the perfect race. I have to put this down to the plan and how well it has worked. I couldn’t have asked for more so cheers Rob – it’s starting to sink in how well it went”
Read more about Roger’s triathlon journey here
Simon Whitby, another athlete that has struggled with running injuries of late put in a great performance to finish in 10:40. Paul Dennett had a great day with a huge PB of over 40 minutes. And not to be outdone, James England also finished with a massive PB of 75 minutes!
And all this in the space of a few weeks – Phew! We’re incredibly proud of what our athletes have achieved so far. It’s great to see all the hard work and dedication of 2016 paying off in droves – and there’s plenty of the season left yet!
Athlete Stories – James England
Athlete Stories – James England
I have been part of the team since launch date and have loved every aspect. I’ve really enjoyed watching it all evolve and am excited for what the future holds.
My Background:
Before joining the team I had completed 3 ironman triathlons with a PB of 12hr20. My journey started as a overweight 98kg couch potato. Triathlon has completely changed my life and I love it.
The Training:
Having my training all set out on TP for me makes everything so much easier. I just simply complete the sessions and trust Rob and the team. No more worrying if I’m doing enough/to much, if I’m pushing to hard or taking it to easy. All the info is there. I just follow the sessions. No stress or hassle and feel great from it.
It’s all too easy to skip a session if it’s just something you planned to do… when it’s prescribed it seems a lot harder to skip!
Results:
My big goal for the 2016 season was The Outlaw, and If I had the perfect day then going sub-11 hours there. In the end I missed the 11 hours mark by 6 minutes due to windier than expected conditions. But taking 75 minutes off by iron-distance PB in a year – it’s an understatement to say I’m pretty pleased!
Throughout the season I’ve seen a 20% increase in my bike FTP – century rides no longer having guaranteed ‘dark spots’ and my bike fitness is noticeably better.
Running – I have always been very mid pack but shocked myself by finishing top 5 at a 10k recently with a massive 6 min PB of 36:45. Which given there’s been no run training directly aimed at 10km or shorter distances – I’m very happy with!
I genuinely believe Team Oxygenaddict will considerably benefit anyone who joins, what ever level you are at. I can’t see how anyone in the team could not agree. It’s a great environment to be part of. Everyone helps each other where we can and Rob is always available when any questions pop up.
I can’t recommend highly enough.
Athlete Stories – Roger Knight
Athlete Stories – Roger Knight
Roger is one of the founding Team Oxygenaddict members. He’s seen phenomenal improvements in all 3 disciplines over the course of 2016, culminating in what he described as “the perfect race” at his first iron-distance event – The Outlaw, crossing the line in 11:47. There aren’t many people that can say that about their first iron-distance event!
Over to Roger…
Having decided to try a triathlon I managed to get into the first Brownlee Brothers event. I didn’t have a wet suit so I hired one for the day. I didn’t have bike shoes so I wore my running shoes (which meant a very quick transition!). However I jarred my knee getting off the bike as I was going quite quickly and didn’t realise the etiquette of getting off before the dismount line!
That knee injury put me out of running for over 12 months.
I eventually got back to running and cycling and booked myself into the 2015 Slateman tri. However getting nervous before the event and having not done enough training I switched to the sprint event which I duly did and enjoyed, followed by Chatsworth Tri and The Conway Sea Tri (all sprint distance).
I then got out of bed early on the morning of Ironman UK 2015 and went to watch the swim start. It was 6:00, it was raining very hard, but none of it seemed to matter to anyone. Later I bumped into Coach Rob where we had a brief chat about iron-distance events, and he mentioned that by planning far enough in advance anything is possible.
I went home and thought about it and promptly did nothing for 3 months! During that time a couple of running friends starting posting on Facebook that they had been for another run. And then another one, and then another one. Both ordinary people with jobs and children.
It dawned on me that I needed to find the time to do something and that I was wasting a lot of time doing nothing. So in October I booked Outlaw (iron-distance) 2016.
I had so many books on training and plans etc. I got confused as to where to start, but I followed one for a few months, and all was going OK. Then Outlaw offered a training peaks plan for ½ price so I thought this would cut through the crap and give me a focused plan for my event so I took it knowing it wouldn’t start until March or later on in 2016.
Bring on Team Oxygenaddict!
Only a couple of weeks after the Outlaw offer, Coach Rob persuaded me with “we are nicer” and so I joined.
What does OA bring that all my other attempts to train didn’t?
- Community. I’ve been so impressed with the feedback from fellow team mates as well as Coach Rob – it’s made me want to do well.
- Easy to follow training plan. And if there was anything I didn’t fully understand (like some of the swimming terminology), the Oxygenaddict team helped me through – there were even free offers of swim help from some people!
- Everyone in Team Oxygenaddict is on this journey together! I’ve had some dark times out for long hours on my own on the bike, but when I got back I logged onto our Facebook community to see what everyone else had been up to – which made me feel better!
- Countless inspiring stories from team mates in our private Facebook group!
- Great webinars for us team members – really effective and easy to understand.
- Good feedback to questions raised in the group by other team members that help everyone
- Plans built around my events – and all the help and support I needed to alter my plan where necessary, tapering etc.
- Great results! This year I have got PB’s in Marathon, 5K and done my first 70.3 in the heat at Bala.
So I would recommend Team Oxygenaddict to anyone – especially if you’re worried about the loneliness of iron-distance training. I was warned but not fully prepared. Team Oxygenaddict gave me structure and support to get me to the start line of my first iron-distance race in the best shape possible.
The original training peaks plan had no life to it. It just turns up in my inbox and means nothing! Whilst I am sure it has a place, 140.6 needs a support mechanism in my opinion and being part of the team has done given me that…
Claire Hubner’s 70.3 Staffordshire race report
Claire Hubner’s 70.3 Staffordshire race report
This is a guest blog from Claire Hubner, one of our Team members who recently took part in Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire to raise money for MacMillan Cancer. Claire had won a Team Oxygenaddict membership as part of our partnership with MacMillan, and we were delighted to see her safely finish after all her hard work in training. Well done Claire!
Let me start by saying, I am a novice Ironman 70.3…
So race weekend is upon us. Myself and husband travel up on the Friday afternoon (without children), it is teaming down with rain delaying our travel progress and we miss the second novice briefing of the day. Oh well, at least I can collect my race pack, I’m very excited but trying to be cool about it!
By this point, coming towards the end of the day, the athlete village is eerily quiet. It does however, allow us to take in the wonderful surroundings of Shugborough Hall. Wow! what an operation it must be to set these events up, totally inspiring & I daydream ahead to Sunday with the finish line in sight..
Saturday sees a very busy organised day of sorting kit, racking the bike and getting everything in order. Everyone is so helpful from all the volunteers to fellow athletes, there is most definitely an air of excitement. Wanting to soak up everything on offer over the weekend, we attended the Ironprayer on Saturday evening, not entirely sure what it would entail we joined Christine Ironman Chaplin and a handful of athletes & their supporters. A pleasant 45 minutes reflecting upon training efforts and essentially on race day, what will be, will be! Simple and true.
I didn’t sleep well at all, you know that feeling when you’ve an early flight to catch & don’t want to miss it, that feeling!!
Race day = a very early start. The butterflies had been with me since the beginning of the week and now they were in full flight, perhaps they can lift me round the course?! A very well organised swim start and we’re off… I’ve trained for this event and now it’s here & I’m on my way, see you across the finish line 🙂
The swim wasn’t as I envisaged, being dunked or kicked, it was thankfully uneventful apart from cramp!
The bike leg saw my chain come off four times (it has now been sorted) but thankfully no punctures. The rain came down from around 25km for me which was tough as I started to get cold towards the end of the ride. However, the scenery was glorious and the support along the way was immense, having closed roads meant that residents and supporters lined the streets in many locations. It felt like I was taking part in The Tour of Britain! Coming back into the Shugborough estate & I see my husband, who duly runs on to tell the rest of my super supporters who are waiting outside the transition area!
I’ve made it back safe & sound and now for the run… walk… run… walk… walk… run & a sprint finish! A three lap course along the paths of Shugborough estate & village, who knew there were so many paths oh yes and one hill! The volunteers at the feed stations were brilliant and very encouraging, as were the residents & supports who lined the streets, a party atmosphere. Myself and another lady realised we were run walking at the same pace so we joined forces & encouraged each other. I got to high five the commentator as we approached the finish and then you hear those words.. You are an Ironman! Wow!! I crossed the finish line with the biggest smile ever, I was elated, I had made it back without any major mishap or injury. And to top it off my supporters (and my passing head) were featured on the Channel 4 highlights show!
I wouldn’t have felt ready for this event without the brilliant training plan from Oxygenaddict. It was tailored perfectly, although some days were tough physically & mentally I certainly reaped the benefits on race day.
The support I’ve had from family, friends & colleagues has been second to none, from words of encouragement, looking after the children and of course the £1000+ raised for Macmillan Cancer.
This has been one of the best experiences. I have loved every part of this journey, the training, the support and upon reflection even the self doubt.
I now know that Anything is Possible!
Ironman UK – Competitor Guide
Ironman UK – Competitor Guide
If you’re racing Ironman UK at Bolton, we’ve put together a quick video to talk through the logistics of the race, and things of note on the swim, bike and run.