The ultra-FIT Tri Challenge
Entrants advice
Dorney Lake, Eton Nr Windsor Sunday May 23rd 2010
The event
The ultra-FIT Tri Challenge, held at Dorney Lake, Eton Windsor on Sunday May 23rd 2010 consists of a Half Olympic Distance of 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run plus a 3Quarter Olympic Distance of 1000m swim, 30km bike and 7.5km run.
The swim
The Half Olympic triathlon starts with a 750m swim, a one-lap rectangular course in the Lake. The 3Quarter Olympic Distance 800m swim is a two-lap rectangular course in the Lake. The start will be a deep water start. Keep the buoys on your right as you swim round the course. The swim exit will be clearly marked with a large buoy and flags.
The bike
Then it is a four-lap 20km bike course, which takes you around the lake 4 times. The 3Quarter Olympic bike course is a six-lap 30km bike course, which takes you around the lake 6 times. You must count your own laps!. Drafting on the bike is not allowed. Drafting is cycling too closely behind another cyclist and therefore taking pace from that cyclist. The drafting zone is 7m, so keep at least 7m behind the cyclist in front, unless you are overtaking. An approved cycle helmet must be worn for this section.
The run
Lastly, the Half Olympic 5km run finishes with 2-laps of the lake with the 3Quarter 7.5km run being 3-laps.This final run will be clockwise round the right hand side of the Lake, to finish just outside the transition area. Your race number must be clearly visible at all times. Water will be available on the finish line.
Wetsuit use
Use of a wetsuit is highly recommended if the water temperature deems that wetsuits are optional. Please contact www.triandrun.com for wetsuit hire, purchase or advice. The wearing of wetsuits in triathlon is governed by British Triathlon rules and is totally dependent on water temperature one hour before the start of the race. The rules are:
- Water temp = less than 14 degrees – wetsuits are compulsory
- Water temp = between 14 degrees and 22 degrees – wetsuits are optional
- Water temp = above 22 degrees – wetsuits are banned
We won’t know until each race day whether wetsuits will be compulsory, optional or banned this year. However, we do say that wetsuits in fact help with buoyancy and warmth, so we strongly recommend that you wear one if they are optional. As May is the start of the triathlon season, the water temperature may be less than 14 degrees, so wetsuits could be compulsory for this event.
Venue and car parking
The venue is Eton College Rowing Centre, Dorney Lake, Boveney, near Eton Wick SL4 6QP. Please leave plenty of time to get here. Car parking will be at the side of the bike course. The only access will be via the main access road. Just follow the signs as you come into the venue. You will have at least an 800m walk to the race site, so allow yourself extra time after you have parked your car. The closest station is Windsor and Eton Riverside and taxi’s need to be pre-ordered.
Results
The results will be on the website www.humanrace.co.uk within 24hours of the finish and photos will be available on www.sportcam.net
If you haven’t entered yet it’s not too late. If you don’t think you can tackle the half of 3Quarter distance on your own, grab some mates and enter as a relay team
Enter online @ www.humanrace.co.uk/triathlon
We look forward to seeing you at Dorney Lake May 23rd!
ultra-FIT and the Human Race Team
“The harder you train the week prior to the race, the more you take away from your race day performance”
One of the greatest rewards and feelings in triathlon, is experiencing the perfect race, when all appears to go perfectly to plan in all three disciplines, your transitions were swift and you achieve a new personal best! This can only be achieved following months and probably years of hard work, self discipline and determination, and I have come across many triathletes that rarely experience such a perfect priority race. One of the biggest reasons for under achieving is insufficient recovery i.e. training too much during the competition phase and not allowing yourself to recover pre and post racing and training.
The best way to approach race week, is to make rest the major objective of the week. When a taper is executed correctly, you increase your chances of achieving the perfect race tenfold.
There are a number of different approaches to tapering, and each taper can be individual to the athlete. I would advise you to discuss a specific taper with your coach or attend one of theTriLife.com training days, to find out which approach would be best suited to yourself. A word of warning on tapering. Yes, although I did previously state that the objective the week prior to your priority race should be rest, there are several studies that have shown that total rest causes steady loss of fitness. The happy medium would be between your normal training week and total inactivity. Reducing the volume of training by 40%-60%, reducing the number of intervals within your key sessions by 50% and increasing the normal recovery time between repetitions.
Train Hard and race SMART!
Rich Jones
www.thetrilife.com
