My 5 2015 triathlon related resolutions

Here's the five things I want to do in 2015 to help me towards my season goal of racing the best I can for Team Guernsey at The Island Games in Jersey.

1. Eat peanut butter sandwiches with every "at my desk breakfast" after morning swimming sessions.  And add a protein recovery drink.
2. Run sub 17:00 on the 5k in the Park course in Guernsey's Saumarez Park http://www.leemerrienrunning.com/park5km to make sure I have got my run to where it should be.
3. Practice transitions again as I was loosing "free" time on them in 2014
4. Diligently foam roller my lower limbs at least three times a week, and don't shy off doing some extra calf raises. Know your weaknesses.
5. And finally - one to please my yoga teacher, persevere with handstand practice - just because it is a challenge. Power Yoga Guernsey.

Riding west of Bordeaux

This holiday had been a 2 centre holiday where we spent the first part of the holiday near the Atlantic coast west of Bordeaux.  This part of France is characterised by one very large beach that runs down to the Pyrenees and consists mostly of sand dunes and pine forests.  A bit of a simplification but nevertheless fairly accurate.  

The inland lakes at Lacanau and Hourtin offer the contrast of flat water and strong tides of the wild Atlantic coast.  So for a triathlete on holiday it is just about a perfect spot for some open water swimming.  In July the lake was at least 20 degrees so non wetsuit swimming was fine.  In fact idyllic, the campsite we were staying on meant I was 75 metres from bed to lake!  Perfect for an early morning swim before the heat of the day builds.

There is a network of bike paths through the forests which is a good thing as the road network offers fairly limited choices - a big contrast to the Vendee ride.  In particular the stretch between Hourtin and Carcans was very busy with traffic driving up to the ferry to cross the Gironde to Royan.  It was however very flat so you could get your head down and minimise the time on the road.

This ride was about 90km and fairly hot.  Going north was fairly undulating and I managed to get on a dedicated cycle path between Carcans plage and Hourtin L'Ocean which was an old departmental road closed to traffic rather than one of the narrower purpose built cycle routes.

A nice ride, but you have to plan your coffee stop(s) carefully as there aren't many villages to pass through.  You'll get to see a lot of pine trees and sandy dunes and tracks, hear plenty of crickets and in summer you feel the warmth.  Go well prepared with drinks. 

Course at Map My Ride

The vast Atlantic beach - HourtinL'Ocean

Hourtin Plage (the lake)

The marina at Houtin Plage

Carcans Plage

Not many roads to pick from

Ticking a few more boxes for making a great holiday location, this campsite also enables me to rekindle my love of windsurfing with the added benefit of rigging up the sails at the beginning of the  holiday and leaving them rigged until it was time to go.

Time to windsurf on the lake.

Great Bordeaux wines to enjoy too!

Riding in the Vendee

One of the great things I really like about holiday's when I can take my bike with me is the freedom to explore roads that I've not ridden before, enjoy some great weather and seeing new landscapes.

This ride was a 94k loop around the Vendee - west France, starting near Olonne sur Mer heading inland through the Marais - the salt marshes / salt harvesting flats and into the interior before heading north and west to come back to the coast.

It was an early morning ride just after sun rise so the temperatures were pleasant before the heat of the day set in. Here's a few pictures I took as I went along.  Next I'll post up details of a ride I did near the Atlantic coast west of Bordeaux.

The marais

A ruined windmill

It wouldn't be France in July without sunflowers

Hill top chateau

St Giles de Croix

The route at Map My Ride

Swim Smooth CSS based swim training

As part of the build up for the 2015 Island Games the Tri team took part in a technique analysis and coaching session with Steve Bailey, a Swim Smooth Coach.  This was made possible thanks to a bursary from Generali Worldwide, the Guernsey Island Games Association sponsor.

A write up of the weekend appears on Guernsey Tri website

For me the feedback on technique was invaluable and has given me a number of things to work on which I am trying to put into practice in each session.   Added to it is a 10 week swim programme which is based around Critical Swim Speed paced sessions and use if the Finis Tempo Trainer.  Each week our target pace per 25mtrs increases fractionally and the challenge is to stay ahead of the beeps.  Two weeks in and on the challenge session I'm winning 2-0, but I can see that the little yellow tempo trainer is going to be doing it's best to torment me each week. 

Having a clearly defined programme and a bunch of team mates who are highly motivated to improve is certainly working wonders, but it is only the second week of the programme.  The mark of the athlete will be those who can stick with it as the going get tough. 

This little yellow device is set to torment me over the 10 week programme.

End of season open water swimming

It's been a real joy to get out of the pool and into the open water regularly in the last month.  The weather has been pretty good and the swims really social with team mates from Guernsey Triathlon.  This week I took my GoPro out and took a few shots.  See them on my Flickr page here.

10mile Time Trial

The race was most memorable for Nick Despres' fantastic shot of me riding and looking like a pro.  He's an award winning professional photographer so it is no surprise he creates a great image.  You should check out his work via his blog linked above.  Despite being the last weekend in August it was a dull morning with misty rain and a gusty force 6 cross / head wind which made handling the bike a bit sketchy due to the deep section Zip 808 front wheel.  This was made worse by also having a loose tri bar - the gear cable running through it was the only thing stopping it falling out.

I completed the course about 30 seconds slower than my season's best - most of which I put down to bike handling - or an in ability to!  Average power was good showing that I still have some good form.

Nick Despres Blog site - Nick Despres Wedding Photographer website

Riding on the back of Bertha

For me Island Games qualification came down to having to get a result ideally in the top 4 in the last selection race of the season - the Pembroke Olympic Distance triathlon on 10th August.  I was as ready as I could be but just one thing hung like a shadow over the race and her name was Bertha.  

Tropical storm Bertha was a Category 1 Hurricane that still had plenty of energy by the time it reached our side of the Atlantic - fortunately Pembroke is a sheltered bay for westerly winds and swells but the strength of the wind still whipped up a decent chop and swell.  I came out of the swim well placed in 5th and then set about minimising losses on the bike.

Bertha tracks over the UK gusting to 108 mph

Riding the west coast was hazardous with storm debris littering the road and a gusty wind making bike handling sketchy - I'd put a spoked front wheel on the Boardman to give better control and provide a better braking surface for the wet conditions.  Battling the headwinds was one thing, but the strong tailwind and wet roads made the down wind return leg up the coast road scary - going into corners with way too much speed!  

Photo by Nick Despres Photogrpahy.

The bike went well and although I had dropped one place I was still in top 6.  Getting off the bike the legs felt pretty good and despite the lashing rain and squally wind I ran myself up to finish and 3rd place and secure my Island Games place.

Race results here.