For our first Triathlon report of 2013, we are starting with our very accomplished duathlon racer; Nick Shasha. Not content with following a traditional winter ‘base’ phase, he continued his racing throughout the winter months and has even thrown in some indoor track racing to mix it up, pounding the boards to a 4.11min 1500m, giving him the opportunity to represent GB in a purest sport…
Nick racing at Dorney Lake alongside TORQ user Oliver Swallow
The early season so far has been all about speed and swimming. For 2013 I’ve decided to keep things interesting and mix everything up. From November last year I’ve been regularly swimming in a bid to take a serious stab at triathlon racing in 2013. One of my 2013 aims is to qualify for the Sprint World triathlon champs in London, a tall order for a duathlete who barely knew how to swim 5 months ago and has yet to do any open water swimming!
Nick’s bike in T2 at Dorney (rest of the field to follow! JE)
At the same time I’ve decided to focus the first triathlon-free months of the year on the indoor track season culminating in the European Masters Indoor championships in San Sebastian, Spain where I’ll be representing Great Britain in the 3,000 metres and 5k cross-country. This is also a new departure for me having never raced “on the boards” before.
From April onwards I’ll be ditching the running spikes and developing my swim speed in some aquathons before tackling triathlon (and duathlon!) from May onwards.
So far, so good, I signed off 2012 with a nice victory (my 3rd in as many years) at the Enfield & Haringey AC Boxing Day 5k seeing off a quality field of top runners.
Again leading from the front!
My first duathlon (5k/20k/5k) of the season at Dorney Lake in February saw me gain a podium (3rd) whilst my indoor season so far has seen me record the fastest UK times in age group for both 1,500 metres (4.11) and 3,000 metres (9.00).
I’m hoping to carry this speed through the whole of 2013 with the help of all our fantastic sponsors:
www.huubdesign.com – Wetsuits
www.limarhelmets.com – Helmets & Glasses
www.lakecycling.co.uk – Cycling Footwear
www.jagwireusa.com – Cables & Housing
www.shimano.com – Groupsets
www.max-mediagroup.co.uk – Team PR
www.amphibia-sport.com – Transition Bags
www.schwalbe.com – Tyres
www.lezyne.com – Pumps, Tools, Bottle Cages
www.juicelubes.co.uk – Lubrication
All pro snaps courtesy of Jolekha Shasha
