DNF at Austria

Its not a nice experience having to write a race report after not finishing one of the most important races of the year but unfortunately my first Ironman was not to be, circumstances were somewhat out of my control but other aspects of it were not and all I can say is ive learnt a hell of a lot from the experience and there is a lot I would change for my next one and yes there will be a next one! Here is what happened.

I knew with the swim it would be solid and as my coach Steve puts it "its just the warm up". The swim has had the least of my attention this year purely for the fact that there are far more time gains to be had on the bike and the run therefore I think ive averaged about 2/3 1 hour sessions per week this year.

As it was my first Ironman I decided to race as an Age Grouper with an eye on a Hawaii slot. The age groupers started on mass about 100m behind the pro start. I was expecting a real fight at the start but it remained calm and was somewhat of an anti climax and found I didn't have to fight much for position. At about half way I had started to catch some of the 50+ pros as they were wearing different coloured caps so easy spot. I exited the water in 52 something and crossed the line with 53:04, that will do nicely! Transition was uneventful and swift thanks to great assistance in the tent from the race staff! (thanks Phil). As I was running through transition I was toe to toe with race number 6 Sergio Marques of Portugal. We left on our bikes together and rode at a similar pace for the first half of the first lap along with Canadian number 22. As we caught more riders the road started to get more and more crowded and I couldn't believe the company I was keeping on the bike and was trying not to get too excited!

I went through the first lap of the bike in 2:23:45 and remember thinking that all I have to do is keep it together and I will be on for a bike split of well under 5 hours. Not far into the second lap my lower back started to get a little uncomfortable so I stretched it out like I have done many times before and thought I can deal with a little discomfort no big deal, it started to get tighter when aero the eased on the climbs. I lost concentration for a little and rode over a pot hole or man hole cover and it sent a jolt through my back as I wasn't prepared for it. It felt ok at first then after a few minutes my back tightened up really badly particularly my right side. Even if I could have ignored the pain to finish the bike there would be no way I was walking anywhere let alone ruining a marathon. It got so bad I couldn't even pedal up the next climb to roll back to the finish. I had to dismount in agony and broken. I tried to flag some of the motor bikes down to help me out and they told me a car would be along soon, well I had to wait 2 hours before I was picked up. I was taken back to the medic tent examined and put on a drip. Lying back on the bed in the medic tent I looked to my left and who was laying next to me, Mr Kit himself Chris Morris!!. There were 3 athletes in the huge medic tent and two of them were tri force!

So my race ended prematurely. Riding over the bump and jolting my back was unfortunate but also unlikely to happen again and perhaps a freak incident. What I have learnt is that I need to work on strengthening my back and core in general and I think next time maybe I would use my other bike for anything over half ironman distance which has a more comfortable position. I have been to see my physio who has given me a clean bill of health although said i may have a slight weakness there so has given me some exercises to do to help my position on the bike. With a better core it should help me even if there are any un expected bumps!

So its onward on upward, I have taken some positives from the race and know there is a good Ironman in me in the not too distant future. Steve and Myself have made the decsion to race an Ironman Distance race in the UK on the 1st September. It was a hard decision because it means missing the British Champs but we felt it was important to get an Ironman Distance race under my belt this year because that is what we have trained for. So the focus now turns to The Big Woody and then the One O One series final in November.

I did thoroughly enjoy the trip and Chris, Simon, Phil and Jonathon were great company and I wouldn't hesitate on doing it again. It kind of puts it into perspective when only 50% of us finished! Chris you obviously went down fighting, nothing more you could have done you will have better days ahead, Jon and Simon you are stars! and Phil what can I say, you looked after us like super stars.

A solid performance at Bala despite near disaster!

1. Mark Stenning Swindon Tri 03:47:06
2. Paul Hawkins Planet X 03:47:50
3.Lawrence Fanous 2XU TFN RT 03:49:33
4. Martin Yelling 2XU TFN RT 03:50:02
5. Mark Couldwell 2XU TFN RT 03:51:44
6. Paul Mountford Parker International 03:53:59
7. Darren Treadaway Arctic Shorter Rochford 03:56:48

(I did 4:05:42 in 2006 placing 6th)

345 Finishers

This was to be my last race before the 5 week build up towards Ironman Austria so I was looking for another solid performance and confidence booster before the big one.

If you had asked me before the race if I would have been happy with 7th then my response would have been no way. But I went around 9 minutes quicker than in 2006 despite finishing a place lower down the field. So although I am still not over the moon finishing 7th I will take it! Even the organiser commented that it was the best field ever assembled at Bala in the 6 years its been running. There was one fatal flaw in my race preparation which I think has probably cost me which I will come to later in the report.

Bala is an awesome setting for a race and I was mesmerised by the scenery and terrain the first time I raced here and have been back twice since.

I got off to a good start in the swim and settled into the second pack nicely. The water temperature was fine but would have struggled if it was any colder. First transition was smooth and it was off onto the bike, spirits were lifted by hearing my name over the loud speaker as one of the contenders. Onto the bike and after about 10 minutes or so I spotted Jon and gave him a few words of encouragement and he did the same for me, its good having people you know out on the course especially in these longer races. Paul Mountford (reigning British Champion) caught me about 1 hour into the bike and to be honest I thought he would steam past a lot sooner so I thought either he was having a bad day or I was going well and I think it was the latter. The rest of the bike leg was uneventful, on the closing straight I was caught by Martin Yelling and we entered transition not far apart which was a big lift to know I was in good company, it was now just a case of how much time I could catch on the rest of the field.

Here comes the f*&k up! I was so busy trying to be with Martin out of transition that I forgot my gels! I realised at mile 1 after spotting Martins fuel belt, it dawned on me that my fuel was back in transition. I thought its not the end of the world the event is sponsored by High 5 so there must at least be some energy drink along the course, but it turned out that all they had was water! They were waiting for the High 5 to be delivered and it never arrived in time. So I had to do the whole of the run on water only! Which I think worked against me mentally as well as physically as I tried to run conservatively and just worry about getting to the turn around and see what I had left to get to the finish. I did struggle back and thanks guys for the encouragement when we passed on the course but by that time the legs had gone to jelly, the vision was blurry and all I was worried about was getting to that damn finish line and collapsing!

An enjoyable but tough day out. Good to have support from the club out there and hopefully we can make it a bigger event next year. Well done to all that finished.

Next its into the unknown Ironman!!

A win at Hillingdon Triathlon and a course record at Colney Heath

Harefield Lake on a good day!

1. Darren Treadaway 01:13:22
2. Steve Hyett 01:19:07
3. Justin Corcoran 01:19:57
4. David Everitt 01:20:21
5. David Knight 01:22:05

67 Finishers

Colney Heath 23rd May 22:57 (previous best 23:52 2006!)

Last Wednesday I ventured out to Colney Heath for the Tri Force midweek time trial expecting a mediocre performance having done a long ride of 4:35 followed by a 2 hour run (big day!) the previous day. So knew the legs were going to be tired. Riding out though I started to feel ok and knew that the conditions were going to be perfect as it was about 25 degrees with very little wind.

I didn't feel that I was going that well and even contemplated pulling out at the turn around. It then began to sink in who I was catching and at what time down the road, various numbers were ticking over in my head and thought I could at least be on for a respectable time.

I crossed the line with 23:27 on my watch as I had started it 30sec before the off when the man in front went. Maths not being my strongest subject I added the 30sec to my time instead of subtracting it and thought hmmm 23:57 that's respectable, it wasn't until Chris Morris who was taking the times came over and broke the news that it was 22:57 and I was shocked, so shocked that I re checked my watch and a couple of other riders! and that confirmed it, new course record 22:57!! Think now 22:30 is possible.

Hillingdon Harefield Triathlon 27th May

This was perhaps my most convincing win to date and probably technically one of my worst performances but glad to get these glitches out the way before the racing gets more serious again!

To start with it was pouring with rain as it has been all weekend. So I thought no big deal, man up get on with it and take no risks, get round in one piece.

Due to the conditions the swim was probably the most enjoyable part of the race which is unusual for me. I got clear water at the start and got off the front with one other athlete, as we approached the first buoy the lead canoeist cut inside of it, so we didn't know whether to follow or go round the buoy, obviously with hindsight the course was made up to go around the buoy. So we both stopped looked at each other the rest of the field was rapidly approaching then we got shouted at to swim around it, thank you Mr Canoeist!! We ended up finishing the swim together.

Into T1 which was the swim to run change over. This was the worst transition of my life, the wetsuit didn't come off! my legs were frozen and not doing what my brain was telling them and to top matters off I had pinned my number on the wrong way round so it was blank on the front! I faffed around with it trying to reposition it and ripped it so I now had a number hanging on by one pin. Meanwhile the Duathlon had started and my training partner Jez Cox was getting further and further up the road. The rain was still pouring down, I got to the turn around and got told off for not displaying my number correctly, so more faffing with it, I then put the boot in for the last 3k to see if I could take some time out of Jez.

Into T2 as I went to mount my bike my tri suit got snagged on the back of my saddle and it pulled the suit right into my crotch and I nearly fell off the damn thing! I eventually got settled and into my rhythm. Yes more rain to follow, just went through the motions, no silly mistakes, just a safe ride.

I hit the finish winning by just under 6 minutes. I'm sure a lot of people didnt race because of the condition's but you can only race who is there on the day and a win is a win! Afterwards it took a long time to get warm again.

So a good day for the boys Jez won the Duathlon too!

Redditch Sprint Triathlon

1st James Gillfillan 58:20
2nd Mike Cornes 59:15
3rd James Lock 59:55
4th Tom Curtis 59:55
5th Darren Treadaway 1:00:20
217 Finishers

Made a last minute decision to head up to Redditch for the first BTA sprint race of the year. The main reason for racing being that my team manager Robert Engers was racing and it was a chance to test out my new steed again.

My swim was sound and certainly better than Lisbon so this is moving in the right direction. I then set about riding through the field and worked my way up to 2nd place but had several guys strung out down the road hanging onto my wheel. I gave a few dirty looks which didn't seem to do anything, then said a few words and they seemed to drop back then a few seconds later they were back on again, where were the bloody draft busters!

Very uncharacteristically for me I lost some time on the run and ended up 5th. The legs were heavy on the run which was to be expected with the volume of training that's going in also the fact I carried the guys behind round the bike course meant they had fresher legs than I did! Anyway I got what I wanted out of the day and that was to have a blast on the new bike and it was awesome rewarding me with 2nd fastest bike split to James Gillfillan and we were the only riders in the field to dip below 31:00.

First win on new bike and more publicity

Brickendon Midweek Time trial

My first ever win at Brickendon! A wet and windy evening, I think with more riding on my new bike and better conditions I will go 21 this year.

Darren Treadaway 22:24
Dave Candy 22.32
Ian Coles 23.26
Mike Bridge 23.35
Nick Ison 23.37
Darren Rochford 23.43

Barnet Borough Times 17/05/2007

Run helps top finish

New Barnet triathlete Darren Treadaway finished an excellent 16th in the Lisbon Half Ironman event.

Treadaway, who has just turned semi-professional in a bid to make an even bigger impact in the sport, was up against professional athletes from all over Europe, making his achievement even more remarkable.

The gruelling event was made up of a 1.9km swim (80 lengths), a 90k cycle and a half marathon run (21k).

Treadaway finished in a time of just over four hours, just behind two of the UK's top professional triathletes.

The super-fit Barnet star actually finished the half marathon in a time of 1 hr 16 mins, which was some going after the other two disciplines.

Treadaway, a member of Hertfordshire-based Tri-Force, now benefits from the sponsorship of Potters Bar and Finchley-based bike shop Shorter Rochford and Hunters Estate Agents of Hertfordshire, his employers.

The Arctic Shorter Rochford cycling team, of which Treadaway is also a member, has one of the best pedigrees in the country and has historically enticed some of the best of the UK's cyclists on to its books.

They will be supplying Treadaway with a custom- bike worth thousands of pounds and a race kit.

Though primarily a triathlete, Treadaway's all-round ability means he is able to compete at the highest level in both cycling and running as single-sport events. He recently finished 33rd at the Reading Half Marathon and 13th at the Watford Half Marathon.

Tri-Force chairman Howard Davies said: "Darren is a force to be reckoned with in triathlon. As well as being an incredible asset for the county's profile in triathlon, he is a hardworking and very humble member of Tri-Force, who always has time to pass on support and expertise to newer members."

Tri-Force is Hertfordshire's top triathlon club and welcomes new members of all standards and experience, including juniors. For further information, log on to the Tri-Force website at www.tri-force.org

My new bike is here!

A big thank you to Darren and Alan Rochford from Shorter Rochford Cycles. Ive been out on it tonight and its so so quick!! Looking forward to Brickendon tomorrow night!

Lisboa International Triathlon

1 Johnsen, Jimmy DEN 03:45:48
2 Koefoed, Jens DEN 03:48:17
3 Sundberg, Swen GER 03:50:03
4 Cartmell, Fraser UK 03:50:23
5 Benocs, Zoltan HUN 03:51:44
6 Monteiro, Frederico BRA 03:56:14
7 Gomes, Pedro POR 03:55:20
8 Woodward, Alun ENG 03:56:26
9 Saunders, Nick ENG 03:56:40
10 Hovgaard, Esben DEN 03:58:05
11 Petersen-Bach, Jens DEN 03:58:18
12 Kaczmarek, Finn DEN 03:58:43
13 Hugelshofer, Patrik SUI 04:00:20
14 António, Custódio POR 04:03:23
15 Hecht, Mathias SUI 04:03:48
16 Treadaway, Darren ENG 04:03:54

Right the quick version is that I am really pleased with the result and feel I am getting closer to the best guys in the world so the extra time commitment is clearly paying off and I hope the result is something I can build on. Looking at last years results I felt the top 10 was achievable and last year I would have placed top 10 but this year the race moved up in class with athletes from 19 countries, some as far away as Brazil turned up! It truly was a world class field with the reigning European champion and various Ironman winners and World Cup athletes.

It wasn't however all plane sailing and ive really until now kept this under my hat but my ankle injury didn't clear up as quick as I thought it had and in hindsight I rushed back too quickly so my head was a mess leading upto the race but ive come through it ok and if anything my run will get stronger in the next race.

Onto the race. In the race itinery it said that the Elites were going to get their own start so I didn't really stress about fighting for position, so I waited and waited hanging onto the pontoon and nothing. Suddenly out of the blue the claxon went! and it looked like we were off. I managed to get clear water a little too easily then realised that all the fast guys had started on the far side so I had to cut across to try and get on the back of the chasing group, which I never caught and found myself swimming in no mans land for most of the race. Anyway it probably cost me a minute, no big deal in a race this long, maybe a lesson learned for next time.

The bike for me was the most enjoyable ride ive had in triathlon, I felt so strong with my new position and the extra miles had made a huge difference. I started catching people very quickly and felt well within my comfort zone and worked hard going out into the wind and got my bars and gels down me coming back with the wind behind me. On each of the 4 laps you go into the town centre where the atmosphere was electric and a big lift each time you came round.

I was relishing starting the run as I already knew I was having a good race and was looking forward to my usual blast through the field on the final run but it didn't happen as it normally does I think possibly for two reasons, the first being that at this level everyone runs fast and secondly I had maybe lost a little run fitness with the injury. I started on the first lap rather cautiously, probably a little too cautiously as I was worried about blowing to pieces as the temperature was hotting up, I eventually settled into my rhythm and laps 2 and 3 were solid and lap 4 was about hanging on with some useful encouragement from Rob as I passed him. I needed a shouting at as the wheels were starting to fall off so thanks Rob!h

Thank you to Laurence from Tri Force for accompanying me on the trip and well done on finishing despite not being at your best, lesser men would have pulled out!

I will be back next year, fitter, stronger and ready to go top 10 under 4 hours!

You can now post comments on here so feel free! Just want to make sure that at least someone reads my waffle!