Race report by Nick Beer: A lot has happened since I last blogged. I have competed in the national elite champs in freezing cold Strathclyde Park, raced in a very wet Blenheim elite triathlon and contested the Nokia Windsor elite triathlon. 

 Strathcylde was my first Olympic distance race of the year and the water temperature going into it was roughly 12degrees... it was horrible! I went for a warm up swim, just to test it before I took the plunged for the 1500m swim. As soon as I dived in I lost my breath straight away... it was really hard to stay relaxed. Fortunately I found this out in the warm up, but as soon as the gun went the piercing coldness of the Scottish lock hit me again and I was struggling from the word go! Finally, my body calmed down and I adjusted to the external variables and moved my way slowly up the pack. I got out of the swim in the top 10, but my transition was poor and the lead pack just got away. There were approximately 30m between the lead pack and me and it was tantalisingly close, but sadly too far. With people like and Clarke and Brook pushing the pace, it was almost impossible to catch them. The bike was a 7 lap hilly circuit and it was quite ruthless in the fact that if you got lapped you were not allowed to carry on as part of the run course was on the bike course. To give you an idea how savage the lapping rule was... close to 40 men started the race, only 15 men crossed the line in the end. Personally I think it was really bad that they even put part of the run course on the bike course, but I am sure there are good reasons for it. Anyway, after chasing hard on the bike for an hour 3 other guys and myself rode into T2, dismounted and sprinted out jostling for the positions. It took me about 2 laps of the 4lap course to get my running legs, but when they came it felt good. Came a creditable 10th in the end, much better than nationals last year and even got a bit of money out of it.

 Next stop in the British Grand Prix series was Blenheim. A vivid memory I have of this race, last week, was waking up in a Premier Inn about 10miles from the Palace and hearing the perpetual pelting of heavy rain drops on my window and thinking... this is going to be a horrible day! What I remember about Blenheim bike course is that it is hilly, slightly technical and with about 3 or 4 cattle grids scattered throughout the course. Even though they are covered up, on a wet day it does become a major hazard... but exciting at the same time! With swooping bends and testing hills, this was going to be one fun race! Just before the gun went people were moving forward and the canoeists had to push everyone back. This happens in every elite race, everyone pushes forward and every time we are told to move back and then suddenly the gun goes and the fight starts. The swim was very average and just missed the lead pack again (story of my life at the moment), but the hill out of the swim leading to T1 did not catch me out like last year, but sadly I was not quick enough to grab a wheel in the lead guys and was left chasing hard... again! It was a tough bike and I had to really work hard up the hills to stay on a wheel, but sadly we didn’t put any time in on the front pack and exited T2 in the top 20. The run felt very good considering I could not feel my hands or feet. My feet felt like I had rocks tied to them, but my legs felt very light. It was the first time I actually enjoyed the hilly run at Blenheim and crossed the line in a disappointing but potentially pleasing 17th.

 Next stop... Windsor Elite Triathlon. It was the perfect day for the race; it was sunny, very little wind and the temperature was perfect. I chose to do a warm up swim just to get my arms moving, however, when we were called back to the start line I noticed my chip had fallen off and is, even now, lying somewhere on the bottom of the Thames... this minor hiccup meant that I didn’t get any splits, just an overall time. Anyway, the race finally started and i didn’t have a bad swim, probably the best it has felt all season. Came out in a good place, about 15 seconds behind Adams who had a blistering swim but, again, just missed the lead pack on the bike (this will be sorted, trust me!) I was in a pack of 4 and we were working flat out and gaining on the leaders. About 20km or so into the ride a massive chasing pack led by ex pro cyclist Keane from Ireland caught us. It was more of a relief when we got caught because I was red lining it most of the way on the bike and to sit on wheels in a big pack provided much respite for my legs. Eventually we caught the leaders with about 10km to go and as we headed back to T2 there seemed to be a lot of cars on the road than expected. This was very disappointing to see as there appeared to be some slacking in the traffic control as we had to avoid hitting cars on the way through town; very frustrating. Back into T2 safely, I embarked on the 3 lap run and didn’t feel great when I started and took me just under 1 lap to get my legs, but this time my form came quicker and I felt strong throughout. I crossed the line in 8th place. I was happy with how it all went in this race, but still a lot more work needs to be done!

 Having an easy week this week and then back into full training. Next stop will be the City of Manchester 10km and then the European Cup in Athlone, Ireland that will prepare me nicely for London.

 Happy racing!!