(And so has the revision...)
The first big race of the season was early April, The British Elite Duathlon Championships at Windsor Park. The week before I hadn't run much due to an injury in my lower leg caused by the overuse of a muscle. So going into this race I'd only run once in the past week. Not ideal, but nevertheless I was feeling pretty good. My foot was taped up and ready for the 5km run, 20km bike and 2.5km run. My bike preparation has been the best yet, something I've really improved on over the winter so I was looking forward to racing.
It was a narrow start line, around 4 rows deep of Junior triathletes, which made for a busy and hectic start with numerous people around me nearly tripping up. I was keeping up with the back of the first group for the majority of the first lap but after checking my watch at the halfway point and seeing a 7:55 for 2.5km I knew this was way too fast and definitely unsustainable so I had to reduce the pace. The second lap wasn't a struggle, but it was tough like all races are. I entered transition at 17:56 (there was a long run from the end of the run to the start of transition). Mounting the bike went smoothly and I saw a group in front so I made an effort to catch them, but with a hill the first thing ahead it was going to be tough and it was. After half a lap I caught someone who had dropped off the back and we worked together for another lap until being caught by a group of five. We were the third noticeable group on the road and we worked well together, but it was tough to get a good train going as there was barely a flat part on the course. 
In the final lap I started to feel my calves cramping. On the final descent to the bike finish I put in a really hard effort to try to get some distance in knowing I might be slowed down if I got a cramp. I dismounted the bike and ran into transition, which was smooth, but about 200m into the run ..... OUCH! Cramps in both calves. I could barely stand and just fell to the ground trying to stretch them out. I got rid of the left one quickly but the right calf cramp didn't go away for ages. I must have sat there for 5 mins but after seeing some of the Junior women going past I decided to finish there and then. A really tough decision. I hate not finishing but sometimes a DNF makes you stronger. The fact I did not record a result in that race has definitely motivated me to go out in my next triathlon and get a good result. The next race is yet to be confirmed but should be mid-May with my next major race on the 27th May in Lisbon at the European Championships.
On the 16/17th of April I attended a talent weekend for Triathlon England at Loughborough. It consisted of an 800m pool swim on Saturday and a bike and run on the Sunday (20km/5km). The weekend also consisted of talks to do with health and nutrition, injury prevention and how to be a good athlete. The pool swim was tough for me as I am not a pool swimmer so with a time of 11:28 I was near the bottom. Normally being able to make time up on the bike I would have been confident I could improve, but with the circuit only being 2.5km long (8 laps) and a lapping rule in place, I knew there was little chance I'd make it around. I went full gas on the bike, but with the lead swimmer starting around 2mins 30secs ahead of me I managed four laps before getting lapped and having my race neutralised. They allowed us to finish the bike (with one less lap done) and do the run but I don't really know what that counted for or what they gained from it as 25 (yes 25!) out of around 55 Juniors were lapped. I ended up being ranked 41st, but many people believe in a real triathlon the results would have been completely different. This month will conclude with an interesting race this weekend. Steeplechase! My school has decided to enter me for a Steeplechase event at Harrow School in an Athletics competition so I am very excited to be doing that, especially as I have never jumped a Steeplechase barrier before! I will let you all know how that goes in my next blog but for now enjoy the gallery I have put together for this month's racing! 

​I must add by saying a huge thank you to everyone who voted for me in the 220 Triathlon Awards. Unfortunately I did not make the top 3, but making the shortlist itself is something I am very proud of and a huge thank you to everyone who voted to get me on the shortlist! 
Finally I cannot thank my sponsors Pedal Potential and Zone 3 enough for their amazing support. They have really helped make a difference and with some new kit on the way, I really cannot thank them enough for their generosity! 

See you all soon!
​Sam

These past few weeks have been very busy in comparison to the start of the year. The final Cross Country race of the year, the first Duathlon and then the final Modern Biathlon. The last Cross Country race of the year was the Teddies Relays at St Edwards Oxford School. A team of four runners completed the 3km circuit passing the baton round. A relatively flat course with the odd steep but very short hill. The team consisted of Sean Wilson, myself, Matt Braybrook and Ben Davis on the final leg. Sean came down the final straight in third place and passed the baton over to me. Second place was about 50m ahead so I set out to make up some ground. The runner out in front extended their lead having some very strong runners in the early legs of the race, but towards the end of the circuit up the final hill I caught second place and accelerated past him to hand the baton to Matt. It was Sean and Matt's final race for Coopers' so I knew Sean had given everything and so would Matt. I knew I had to gave it my all to give him the best chance for his part of the race. Matt came round having a great run, closing the gap on first, but we were still at good 45 seconds behind. Ben had had a great race at the English Schools Cross Country the week before so was in great shape and that showed closing the gap even further. Ben finished with the fastest lap time of the day and brought us home in second place and only 12 seconds behind first. A brilliant race to end the Cross Country season. 
Next on the calendar was the first Duathlon of the season. The Bedford Autodrome World Duathlon Qualifier. I had decided not to try and qualify due to the race being in the middle of exams and I already have a busy race calendar around that time anyway. 
It was an incredibly foggy morning, you could not see the course at all from the start line. The 5km run, 20km bike (draft legal) and 2.5km run was somewhere ahead of us. As the gun went I set off hard, trying to stay with the lead group, but after a few hundred metres I realised that was not going to work. I settled in to my rhythm and came into transition completing the first run in 16:53. After a small mistake in transition, forgetting to take my run shoes off, I mounted the bike and found myself in a group of 7 or 8. There were one or two people that wanted to do all the work for some reason, but as a group we didn't make much progress and on the second lap of four we were caught now making us a group of 15 and now the increased dramatically. Soon we came into the final few bends of the last lap and a good friend of mine from rgActive, Colum, shouted at me to get on his wheel and he gave everything to get me into transition first. Thanks Colum! Finishing the bike in just over 30minutes I set out on the final run. My legs were feeling tired having given a lot on the bike to get the group working and putting in the odd attack to test my legs. The last run in 10:16 I was a bit disappointed with, but an overall time of  58:33 was pleasing.  Overall I finished 6th in my age group.  I would have also qualified for the Worlds so a good race nevertheless. 
The final event was the second British Modern Biathlon Championships. This time the Schools Championships were held at Crystal Palace Sports Centre. This was another tough event with the best Biathletes in Britain from previous regional rounds committing for the British title. The swim for my age group came first and in a time of 2:27 I was in 8th place and happy with the time. It was nothing special and a long way behind the stronger swimmers, but it was a good time considering we were in a long course pool. After a 45 min wait it was time for the run. Four laps of the running track making up a fast 1600m run. The group set of fast with me and two other athletes separating ourselves from the field. The pace was fast but also comfortable, however going into the final lap someone had bridged across the gap and joined our group. As he joined with 300m to go he went past us with someone else and I tried to follow. I couldn't keep up the pace but with 100m to go I was in third and knew I had to keep third place. Sprinting across the line in a time of 4:44 I was pleased but annoyed as the winning time I have done before. I finished the Championships in 7th place but felt I could have done better. 
As the Biathlon and Cross Country season ends, the Duathlon and Triathlon season starts with tomorrow the British Elite Duathlon Championships at Windsor Park. I will be racing at 2:30 pm in the Junior Elite wave. Hopefully it'll be a good race with another blog next week with my results. 
A big shoutout and thank you to Pedal Potential and Zone 3 for their continued sponsorship and support throughout this year and I look forward to the year ahead with them. Thanks for reading and here's a few photos! 
​Sam