A win at The Big Woody!

3 time world champion Spencer Smith presenting me with my prize

1st Darren Treadaway Arctic Shorter Rochford 08:50:36
2nd Andrew Davies 08:52:07
3rd Gavin May FVS 09:31:51
36th Simon Perkins Tri Force 11:25:31

57th Roderick Elder Tri Force 12:31:26

81 Finishers

This is probably the most satisfying race win ive had to date for a number of reasons. Firstly I had to contend with crashing my bike while doing a recce of the course 5 weeks before the race and secondly I contracted a stomach bug 3 weeks before which really messed up my training. Not to mention having to work 6 days a week covering holidays. But I had hoped the work had gone in pre Austria and that it would see me through and whatever the result was it would be something to build on and improve. Ironman Austria which I didnt finish because of back problems was my only taste of Ironman racing thus far.

Unfortunately my arrival to the race venue was delayed by tail backs coming past Oxford and I didn't make it to the campsite until 10:30pm and Rod and Simon my tri force club mates had already setup up camp and had left me half a pizza. I was hungry after my journey so tucked right in and got to bed by 11pm, not great race prep I know! Didn't get to sleep until 1pm as a group of yobs, hoodies, youths whatever they are called these days were keeping everyone awake until they eventually got board and left.

The Alarm went at 4am and it was time to force a bagel and some cereal down in preparation for the big day ahead. I felt much better after the sleep and we left the camp at around 5am taking a slight detour to get to the lake! Eventually arrived in plenty of time to setup the bikes and started to walk to the start. Everyone seemed so relaxed and chilled out, absolutely no ego flying around, maybe it was because we all respected what was ahead and were more intimidated by that than each other.

Before the race I did have my eye on the prize of a wetsuit for leading out the swim as I broke the collar on mine at Bedford the previous week, so I bodged it together rather than buy a new one because i knew that if I had of splashed out for a new one then I would have ended up winning it! The swim start was quite a relaxed affair and I settled in nicely behind the leader before the first buoy. It was evident that if I wanted that wetsuit then I was going to have to go into the red to get it and in the end I made the decision to hang back rather than sacrifice the whole race. The swim was an interesting and enjoyable affair starting in one lake climbing out and doing two laps in another lake then back to swim across the first lake. I enjoyed getting in and out because it broke things up a bit and kept it interesting. On exiting the water I checked my watch which said around 40min so the swim was obviously short as in Austria I managed the swim in 53:04, I didn't dwell on this as it is the same for everyone. I was about 2:30-3:00 off the lead man and feeling fairly good.

Onto the bike. Now having done a recce of the course 5 weeks earlier I had the up most respect for this course and if anything I probably started a little too conservatively. The first time heading up English Bicknoor I treated it very gently and was well within my comfort zone. On the first lap I was getting regular time checks from people out on the course and towards the end of the first lap I was now 4 min down. I was though feeling awesome and thought lets up things little and see how the legs are today. The next time check was 2 min so I knew I was closing, then eventually at 80 miles I caught the leader and he wasn't looking in good shape at all. This to me was like a red rag to a bull and I immediately attacked the last 30 miles. Every climb I got out the saddle and I really went for it. In hindsight maybe I pushed too hard as I was later to pay the price on the run. The bike course was never going to be fast and on a fast course like Austria I would expect to be around or just under 5 hours, today I rode 5:39 to take the fastest bike split of the day so the difficulty of the course had a large impact on the times and only a handful of us managed to sneak under 6 hours. As a comparison my club mate Simon rode a whole hour slower than what he did in Austria as did several other people.

It was a big lift to hit T2 leading the race and I had built up a reasonable cushion. What I was wondering now was would my lack of training and fitness show and had I over cooked the last 30 miles on the bike! The run consisted of 5 laps of a playing field and an out and back loop though the forest with a very steep section right in the middle. Up until now I had never run a marathon before let alone after an Ironman bike leg! so this was uncharted territory. First lap I was actually feeling surprisingly good and full of running. I took on board what I could from each aid station and tried to avoid the coke until a little later on the run. At the turn point I could see and work out the gap I had, I reckon it was about 6min, the race was now mine to lose. Lap 2 I was starting to get a little bit uneasy and the constant change of terrain was upsetting my rhythm. Lap 3 I started to have my doubts as to whether or not I was going to finish let alone win. I just kept saying to myself on lap 4 just get through this one and the final lap will take care of itself. By this time I was walking the aid stations and not in good shape at all. I could see my winning margin slowly being eaten away. I was relieved to see Simon who gave me some encouragement which really helped because it made me realise I couldn't quit as I was racing for them too and it made me think of everyone back home who has helped me. The last lap was shear hell my lack of running training was starting to show and the win was slipping away. I did hang on though to win by 90 seconds but I was too wasted to even celebrate and collapsed over the finish line. My friend Rob helped me get back on my feet and sort my gear out so yes Rob I owe you 2 now!!

So I am delighted with the win and I did it tough against everything I had thrown at me in the last few weeks! It was clear that the swim and run were short but you can only race the course that's put in front of you. The bike though was mega tough which almost balanced things up and I hope they at least keep this element of it for next year.

The plan now is to head out to Texas at the end of the month to stay with my friend Mark Cathcart and I am racing the Long Horn Half Ironman the week after and hoping to improve upon my best half to date which was at Lisbon earlier in the year where I clocked 4:03:54. Work has settled down again so I should be able to get at least a good 2/3 week solid block with plenty of recovery thrown in. I have taken a lot from my win here and I know what needs to be done to improve and start making the top 15 in some Mdot races next year.

Well done and thank you to the guys at tri force (Simon, Mike and Rod). You are all stars in your own right.

Podium at Bedford at last!!

1st Steve Harrison FVS TRI 01:59:49
2nd Jonathon Hotchkiss Sigma Sport/Orca 02:00:24
3rd Darren Treadaway Arctic Shorter Rochford Road T 02:01:33

315 Finishers

Ive never been so happy to finish 3rd! I have won similar races of this calibre in the past such as Worthing, South Coast Classic, Tidworth and had podium results at Chester and Swanage but Bedford has always seemed to stump me and I have been 4th here 3 times in the past and 7th last year! It was one of the first races I ever took part in and ive watched it change from a nice local event to a National event in its own right with good quality fields reaching 500 athletes over sprint and olympic distance. Maybe the course here doesn't agree with me or maybe ive just been unlucky. I made damn sure that this year things were going to change, Ironman training or not!

Several guys on the performance programme at Loughborough were on the start list so I knew there were going to be some fast swimmers to chase. I got a good start in the swim and settled into a small group behind the leaders. About a quarter of the way in my wetsuit started to let a little more water in than usual and on closer inspection its gone round the collar so looks like todays prize money will be spent on a new one. It didn't hinder me too much, maybe just made my arms a little heavy. I'm yet to have the perfect race with nothing going wrong!

I exited the water in about 12th place and set about riding through the field from the off. I felt great on the bike today as my biking has been really good this year. I didn't know how I would fair time wise as the course this year had changed, it was a nicer course but certainly a lot slower which brought the overall times down by some margin. I clocked the 2nd fastest bike split of the day which is very pleasing and was still nearly 2min down on my time on the old course! So really pleased with the bike as everyone is in the same boat. I was a little worried coming into T2 that I had over cooked it a little and jumped off the bike in about 1:30 down on the leader. My Dad shouted out that I was 4th and I thought there is no way I am settling for 4th again so set about running down the guy in front who was one of the guys from Loughborough, who pulled out shortly after I went past. In the end I hung on for 3rd spot not far down on the two guys in front who are class acts and big names in their own right.

Due to the new course it wasn't a day for fast times and this years swim times also appeared to be a little down on usual. But its still a cracking race and I will certainly be back next year. It goes to show you still can mix it over the shorter distances whilst training for Ironman.

It was god to see tri forcers out flying the flag today and thanks for waiting around for prize giving guys.

So next stop The Big Woody!

Tri Force Duathlon

Darren Treadaway 00:59:50
Jez Cox 01:00:33
Howard Davis 01:11:13
Chris Carradice 01:11:38
Mark Heaney 01:14:10
Tamsyn Allen 01:16:03
Jamie Hamilton 01:20:47
Graham Meager 01:20:59
MarkWoolhouse 01:25:47
Trace Allen 01:28:17
Paul Carter 01:28:26

I wouldnt normally write a race report for what effectively is a training race but this one deserved a special mention.

There was a lot of talk and speculation beforehand about myself, Jez Cox, Mike Jubb and Dan Corner all showing up! Now I by no means would have been the favourite had they all shown as they have all won medals at various European and World Duathlons and I myself am training for Ironman. It arguably would have been one of the best quality duathlons in the country! But I know I am in good shape and was looking forward to bashing some duathletes!

Some were taking it rather seriously and there was talk of using pyro plates and waking at 3:30am to eat breakfast in preparation! But I myself was just looking forward to having fun and a good work out! Unfortunately it wasnt the show down I had hoped for and it turned into a head to head between myself and training partner and good friend Jez Cox.

Now Jez (top British ranked Duathlete 2007) has taught me a lot on the bike over the winter from bike position to maintenance to race nutrition so I owe him a lot and his advice given selflessly to me probably cost him the race today.

I knew to stand a chance of winning I would have to get a sufficient gap on Jez on the first run otherwise he would have used me on the bike. So I went out hard from the gun and managed to get 25 seconds on him into T1. A quick transition and I attacked the bike hard nervously looking over my shoulder to see if he was making ground on me, I still had a good lead. I held on to T2 and further extended my lead on the second run.

So could Duathlon be another string to my bow? I certainly now intend to give a few more a go and look forward to more battles with Jez who i'm sure will be up for revenge next time!

Another DNF at Swanage and hopefully the end of my bad luck!!

I haven't blogged for a while because things have not been going that great. Since Austria ive had to get through a bike crash and food poisoning to get to the start line at Swanage. The crash happened when doing a recce of the course for The Big Woody in September. At the time it didn't seem too serious but it put my knee and shoulder out of whack and has made doing intense sessions difficult but just as I was getting on with it I contracted a bug I think from the local deli as there has been illness creeping up and down the high street where I work and it knocked me for six! I couldn't train properly for a week. So more time on the sidelines.

So onto Swanage. Well my body was working and I was over the food poisoning just, so managed to line up looking forward to one of my favourite races where I have placed 2nd and 3rd in the past and hoping for the win this year.

The swim was the usual fight to get to the first buoy, it seems rather ironic that various people have said lately to me that they have had panic attacks when swimming open water, ive always been extremely confident in water and never had a problem but I got out to the first buoy with the leaders and got hit round the head and my goggles pulled off. I let people swim over me while I re grouped and put my goggles back on but I felt very anxious so I can now appreciate what the others I spoke of have gone through. I got my self together the lead was gone so I carried on as normal but was too far back from the lead group so stuck in no mans land.

Onto dry land and a solid transition and I started to bring the field back on the bike and I think worked my way up to around 3rd place. Going out of Swanage I was confused by a sign making reference to the sprint race that was going on and I took the wrong turning. I wasn't the only person to make that mistake either! Both races were going in the same direction so all they needed was an arrow for all competitors and I wouldn't have even questioned it. My fault though I realise for not making sure I knew the course. I re joined the race and just rolled back into T2 and went for a sausage sarnie by the sea!

I hope my run of bad luck is now over and its back to business.

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!