Since my last blog, I have had a really nice rest enjoying the off-season, settling into my new school and meeting new people. It's been great and I've made some amazing new friends, but now training must begin again and I must start working towards my 2016 goals.
Despite the rest, I have had some competitions, including something I've never done before, a Modern Biathlon. The race I had been entered for was through my new school and was the Eastern region Modern Biathlon Championships. A Modern Biathlon for U19 year olds consists of a 1600m run followed by a 200m swim, but with around 2 hours break in between. The run was my strong point for sure and having this first was a real benefit as I could be as fresh as possible and gain maximum points. A time of 4:49 put me in the lead with 1229 points. This gave me a 182 point lead, but second place was a student also from my school and I knew he was a much better swimmer than me. Being used to a violent swim with hardly any space between each other and buoys to turn around, racing in a pool with maximum space and walls to turn seemed very weird to me, but nevertheless I finished with a time of 2:28 and gained a further 1014 points to finish overall with 2243 points, 28 points ahead of second place. My first Modern Biathlon ending in a win and qualifying me for the National Modern Biathlon Championships! The overall rankings placing me 9th in Britain for U19's! Not bad at all.
Another new experience for me was completing a 40km TTT. This team time trial was held near Bishops Stortford and was a two man team time trial. Me and my partner Brett Savidge, along with other members from RGActive Essex, went along to give our first time trial a go. It was an undulating course with nothing too steep. We worked hard together and finished with a time of 1:06. It was a great event and experience, something I would do again for sure!
Sunday the 18th October was RGActive's Club Hill Climb Championships of which a few photos are below. Two very hard hills on the bike, along with two reps up a very steep off road hill made for a challenging morning of racing. With a gradient of up to 18% Mott Street definitely is a killer on the bike and makes for a tough ascent. A great hill to train on if you're around Epping.
Finally on Thursday 22nd October I competed in the my first cross country race of the season, the Havering championships. Competing in the Senior Boys I was delighted to finish 2nd in Havering. The race was 5.5km off road on rough terrain and was a tough run with a fast and hectic start which narrowed quickly. After settling into a good tempo I found my self pulling away from those behind me, but just couldn't close the gap on first. Nevertheless it was great fun with a great result and I can't wait for the next cross country run!
Time now to look at next years race calendar, which is looking to be very busy. I have set a main target to qualify for the World Championships in Cozumel in September, so qualifying for that will be the priority, with the British Super Series making up most of the of the main races.
Finally a huge thank you to Pedal Potential for their continued support throughout the year helping me to achieve my goals! Your support is invaluable!
In the next few weeks I don't have much racing planned, just a lot of winter training and studying, but I'm sure there will be some events that pop-up through school that I will let you know about in my next blog. See you guys soon!
Despite the rest, I have had some competitions, including something I've never done before, a Modern Biathlon. The race I had been entered for was through my new school and was the Eastern region Modern Biathlon Championships. A Modern Biathlon for U19 year olds consists of a 1600m run followed by a 200m swim, but with around 2 hours break in between. The run was my strong point for sure and having this first was a real benefit as I could be as fresh as possible and gain maximum points. A time of 4:49 put me in the lead with 1229 points. This gave me a 182 point lead, but second place was a student also from my school and I knew he was a much better swimmer than me. Being used to a violent swim with hardly any space between each other and buoys to turn around, racing in a pool with maximum space and walls to turn seemed very weird to me, but nevertheless I finished with a time of 2:28 and gained a further 1014 points to finish overall with 2243 points, 28 points ahead of second place. My first Modern Biathlon ending in a win and qualifying me for the National Modern Biathlon Championships! The overall rankings placing me 9th in Britain for U19's! Not bad at all.
Another new experience for me was completing a 40km TTT. This team time trial was held near Bishops Stortford and was a two man team time trial. Me and my partner Brett Savidge, along with other members from RGActive Essex, went along to give our first time trial a go. It was an undulating course with nothing too steep. We worked hard together and finished with a time of 1:06. It was a great event and experience, something I would do again for sure!
Sunday the 18th October was RGActive's Club Hill Climb Championships of which a few photos are below. Two very hard hills on the bike, along with two reps up a very steep off road hill made for a challenging morning of racing. With a gradient of up to 18% Mott Street definitely is a killer on the bike and makes for a tough ascent. A great hill to train on if you're around Epping.
Finally on Thursday 22nd October I competed in the my first cross country race of the season, the Havering championships. Competing in the Senior Boys I was delighted to finish 2nd in Havering. The race was 5.5km off road on rough terrain and was a tough run with a fast and hectic start which narrowed quickly. After settling into a good tempo I found my self pulling away from those behind me, but just couldn't close the gap on first. Nevertheless it was great fun with a great result and I can't wait for the next cross country run!
Time now to look at next years race calendar, which is looking to be very busy. I have set a main target to qualify for the World Championships in Cozumel in September, so qualifying for that will be the priority, with the British Super Series making up most of the of the main races.
Finally a huge thank you to Pedal Potential for their continued support throughout the year helping me to achieve my goals! Your support is invaluable!
In the next few weeks I don't have much racing planned, just a lot of winter training and studying, but I'm sure there will be some events that pop-up through school that I will let you know about in my next blog. See you guys soon!
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