Fancy a new challenge? Got a weekend free in September? If so, why not check out the Dell Corporate Challenge!
The Dell Corporate Challenge is a 2 day adventure race which has running for 9 years. The event involves teams of 6 members (plus 1 support member/ substitute) competing against up to 30 other teams in a 2 day adventure race which encompasses canoeing, trail running, hiking, mountain biking and map reading.
So its been suggested that as a few of my coached triathletes have written race reports, then perhaps the coach should write one too, so here goes! You might want to grab a coffee, this isn’t short!
Ironman Mallorca 70.3 was going to be my ‘A’ race of the 2014 season and in the months coming up to the race my training was going pretty well. As with most triathletes I was carrying a few niggles which I hadn’t let on to anyone, including knee issues (after a recent beach half marathon), shoulder pain (after increasing my swim training) and a sore groin (from my longstanding hernia problem), but I was adamant this wasn’t going to affect my race.
As the guys have mentioned in their race reports, we arrived a few days early to recce the swim and bike course and generally get a feel for the area. We all had a few bike issues when rebuilding our bikes but a quick visit to the local bike shop soon sorted that out.
Following on from the previous Ironman Mallorca Race Reports from Tom Foster and Richie Bowen, here's one from Ironman Wales finisher Butch Stephens:
Sometimes when you book things so far in advance you think they’ll never come round. It was a bit like that with IM 70.3 Mallorca. In a post IM Wales blurry high I jumped on the WhittleFit bandwagon and booked my place on the start line for this race on the beautiful Spanish Island.
We usually take Lindo’s Mum away for a week so this seemed the perfect opportunity to combine the two. They had each other and I had the race. Perfect!
The first thing to mention is bike boxes are big, much much bigger than even a female’s large suitcase. So when we picked mine up we soon realised that 3 people, cases and the bike box weren’t going to fit in our Prius. So a plan involving taxis and hotels was forged very quickly.
I’ve never felt so cool as I wheeled the bike case through the airport. Anyone who tells you they don’t feel like a pro at this point will be lying. Or maybe it’s just me? It helps when the case you’ve hired has loads of stickers from other races around the world. “Ironman Texas you say?”
A few coached triathletes did the Llanelli Sprint Triathlon last weekend and one of them was endurance athlete Vickie Woodsford. Vickie has been a coached athlete for quite a while, successfully concentrating on running (she has completed half marathons and marathons, and even conquered the Everest Marathon), but she has now moved into the world of triathlon. Vickie would be the first the agree that there have been quite a few nerves about this move into triathlon, mainly as she sees swimming as her nemesis! Anyway, lets hear what Vickie had to say about her first triathlon race:
I entered Llanelli sprint on a whim, as I wanted to capitalise on a training day I went to, in London, whilst my new knowledge was fresh. I managed to talk my mate Angela into coming with me and so the date for my debut was set!
Race day alarm set for 4.02am! I'd learnt my lesson with the stress of racking at mumbles duathlon, we weren't taking any chances, I was arriving in plenty of time! I showered, put my make up on, dried and straightened my hair. Yep all that and the first thing I was going to do was get in the sea! Madness, I know but that's what I do before every important race, its the routine that gets my "game face" on.
Richie Bowen raced his first Ironman 70.3 triathlon in Majorca last week, here's what he had to say about the whole affair:
Build Up: I couldn’t believe how quick this had come around. I remember sitting down with Mark (Whittle) in October 2013 to talk about competing in Mallorca 70.3. I had originally planned to do it on a family holiday but circumstances changed and before long it had snowballed into a full on ‘WhittleTrip’ with several of the guys making their way to the Island for the race.
Mark, James McNabb and I were staying together in an apartment and between the three of us the logistics were sorted. My responsibility was the flights. I can honestly say I don’t think I have checked a flight manifesto as many times as I did this one in the build up. I have booked flights for groups before but this trip differed, as everyone had not just invested their money, but a lot of their time and effort in months of training. For that to be all screwed up because numpty over here mistyped a passport number, was more stressful than the race itself. Once we were on the plane I finally relaxed and started to enjoy the trip.
