Break Your Limits

While Team BYL Perth spent the weekend working on their suntans, we at Team France felt the need to hold up the fort and so to kept ourselves busy with a weekend full of racing. The challenge: two races in two days and a little training thrown into the mix for good measure. What else are you supposed to do when not racing?

Day one – Saturday. The first race was ‘Les 10 Kilometres du Puy-Sainte-Reparade’. Having thoughtfully made race start at 2pm, the organisers provided the perfect opportunity for a little pre-race warm up. And so it was, on to the bike for a three hour stint at a solid pace. A nice little way to make sure the legs were nicely toasted (just in case the five hours of the previous day had not done the job sufficiently). While I was on the bike Claire packed the mighty Punto and headed to our rendez-vous – 15 minutes before race start and it was off with the bike gear and into the run gear. I had a good race and came home in a touch under 36 minutes (in 18th). Powered on by his new BYL shirt, Nico came in about minute ahead of me and Francois, like all good triathletes spent the morning complaining of tired legs before ripping out a casual 33 minutes for third place – nice!

In the company of giants - Francois on the left and Nico on the right

No sooner had we unpacked, washed and rested that it seemed like Sunday morning had arrived and it was time to do it all again. Race 2 was the ‘La Course du Coeurs’ – a 17 kilomtre run from the Cours Mirabeau, situated right in the heart of Aix (and rated the second most beautiful street in all of Europe!) to a nice little village by the name of Chateau Neuf Le Rouge.

The Cours Mirabeau - nice place for a race start

Unlike yesterday’s course, this one played a little more to my strengths. A stack of hills, a 5 kilomtre stretch of off-road running and a little more distance were sure to slow the pace down a little and put more of an emphasis on strength and endurance, rather than speed. I am very happy to say that I managed to get my first french podium with a third place and a time of 1 hour and 4 minutes and some. It was a great run for me and very pleasing to see that all the work we have been doing is paying off. All in all a great weekend of training and nice to have a solid 27 race kilometres in my legs. And a great way to finish off a very satisfying week.

Race winner Abdelali and me

The week just gone has been a big one with some highs and lows but such is the fickle nature of this game. And this brings me to the fact that there are many people who I must thank. So from here on in, this blog becomes little like a cliched post-match sporty interview – I apologise but I feel I must do this.

First of all the boys at ESP (Nico, JB and Gil). After some dissapointing test results on Monday the boys sharpened their pencils and pooled their collective knowledge to get to the bottom of what was going on. Hence I was back in the ‘lab’ on Thursday for four hours while the guys patiently and enthusiastically worked away like mad scientists. Two more tests were done followed by much analysis and in then end, we got some very pleasing results and we also gained some very valuable knowledge. I left the lab with high spirits and renewed motivation. Guys, you have been great and I cannot tell you how lucky I am to be part of your team. Thank you. 

The race just gone, was my first time at testing out the new BYL race outfit and I have to say that it is ‘da bomb!’. They say that the best gear is that which you don’t notice while racing or training. I have to say that while gutsing out a solid 17k, the suit worked brilliantly and I did not notice it all – no discomfort whatsoever. Ray, thank you! And thanks to 2XU and all who helped by supporting BYL.

And of course to Claire who spent the weekend driving from start line to finish line with a car packed with sweaty sports gear and and a greasy bike. For always being so supportive and encouraging and for feeding me the best and healthiest food going around. It’s no wonder that I was able to recover so well. Thank you my love!

This week I have truly learnt the value of being part of a good team and I consider myself a very lucky person. Quite how I managed to stumble my across such a good group of people is beyond me.

Next week we head to St Tropez for the first triathlon of the season. A nice little 750/20/5 smack session by the sea to blow away those winter chills. Sorry but I have to say another thankyou to Francois for getting me a race start at short notice.

And finally thanks to you for reading!

Gotta go as Claire and I off to have a celebratory Pastis or two