It was a busy weekend for SBR Ambassadors Chloe and Lewis. Chloe travelled to Outlaw Half Nottingham for her first ever middle-distance triathlon, Lewis to Llanelli for his first ever triathlon. Both wearing the Kona Long Sleeve Trisuit they certainly looked the part.
Chloe, who took up triathlon this time last year may still be finding her feet in the sport (her words), but she’s certainly racking up the results. Despite some pretty nasty blisters (check her Instagram), Chloe ran a 1:27 half marathon, the fastest female of the day, to finish 5th overall and win the 20-24 age group.
Chloe said: “I was really nervous in the week before the race as it was my first time stepping up to the middle distance and I had no idea what to expect. Training had gone as well as it could have but it had been really tough to fit it around full time NHS work, particularly the bike miles, and I was worried this would let me down. The race went so much better than I could have hoped though, it was tough but Outlaw put on an amazing event and I loved it all. My nutrition seemed to work well, I swam and biked quicker than I had expected and to finish in the top 5 and win a very competitive 20-24 age group was the icing on the cake. It was great to run the fastest run leg of the day but I feel if I hadn’t got some nasty blisters this could have been a few minutes quicker! To do a sub 5 hour 70.3 on my first attempt and mostly self-coached has given me a huge confidence boost. I’m looking forward to getting back to training, I’m hoping to spend some time focusing on improving my bike and getting some guidance on progressing this. Next up for me is the Ride London 100 mile event followed by the British age group Championships in Leeds.”
Heading over to Llanelli, Lewis tackled the Llanelli Sprint Triathlon. Coming from a mountain biking background, Lewis has raced competitively for 10 years in multiple disciplines. Completing an Ironman has always been on Lewis’s bucket list, so this year he will be on the start line at Ironman Wales in his first year of the sport. Lewis ticked off his first ever triathlon on the weekend, finishing 17th in the senior male category.
Lewis said: “Before the race, I was calm and relaxed as I knew I was surrounded by good people and I knew I had prepared as best as possible. Signing on beforehand and already knowing the course definitely helped me.
I wanted to enjoy it as well as being competitive, I thought top 50 overall and top 25 in category would be a good expectation.
My swim form went to bits and I think that was because of two things. The first being full of adrenaline and wanting to get onto fast feet. The second being that my training has predominantly been distance training and not ‘swim sprinting’. I need to add some fast swims and get used to different types of breathing techniques.
The bike went really well and was obviously my strongest, I was happy to be 22nd overall on the bike leg! I probably could have pushed on in the last 2 miles but I wanted to be sure I could run well off the bike.
My run was great, I managed to have the legend Shane Williams come out of transition at the same time as me so I had fast feet to follow, although he had me by a few seconds in the end! I possibly could have pushed the last 2km but I wanted to finish more than anything!”
I now have a benchmark ready for this year in terms of fitness and experience so I’m very happy! The event was well run as well. Also, the SBR Trisuit stood out as it was super distinctive and I had tremendous support from people who have seen me on social media which was fantastic!”
