Our Zone3 Local Hero for 2016 is Andrew Diplock, has had his first race of the season in his brand new Zone3 Vision 2016 wetsuit. He’s updated us on his races, his first of the season qualifying for the World AG Championships in Mexico and his plans so far for the season.
Andrew in his Zone3 Vision 2016 wetsuit - Nice Tri ITU Standard Qualifier at Grafham Water
Sunday 8th May was my first triathlon race of the season - Nice Tri ITU Standard Qualifier at Grafham Water. We’d had a lot of cold weather leading up to the race, so I wasn’t particularly looking forward to the swim! It was a cool 13 degrees, and the race director almost shortened the swim distance at the last moment, but decided to keep it at 1,500m. This played into my hands, coming from a swimming background and armed with my new Zone3 wetsuit (see photo).
I was a bit nervous about the swim as it would be the first time swimming in my new wetsuit, and everyone says you should never try new kit for the first time in a race! The swim ended up going really well. I was so pleased with my swim split, as it was around 3 minutes faster than my previous 1,500m time. My new wetsuit feels really fast in the water, and it fits really well too. Thanks to Mike at the Cambridge store for the wetsuit fitting!
Andrew’s sprint finish in his new Asics running shoes from Advance Performance
The bike and run also went really well. The run was my first time racing in new kit again, being my new Asics running trainers from the store. They are the lightest trainers I’ve ever owned, which also means they feel really fast when I’m running in them. They aren’t very padded, which is the reason they’re so light. This gave my slight reservations about running 10km in them, however they felt fine in the end and I’m glad I chose them over my more padded running trainers.
My goal for this race was to qualify for the World AG Championships in Mexico and I’m glad to say I did it! I put everything I had into the race and left it all on the finishing line.
I also had races on 22 May and 28 May, in Eton and Nottingham respectively.
The race on 22 May was a sprint distance race, and my first ever draft-legal race. This means that you are allowed to draft other competitors on the bike discipline; usually this is not allowed in amateur racing. I ended up coming 7th in my AG, which I was really pleased with.
Another big race was also taking place on 22 May, which was the British AG Middle Distance Champs at Grafham Water. Some great results were had by Tom, James and Barney, all making the podium in their age groups. Also, Lauren had a nasty crash on the bike, but somehow managed to pick herself up and not only continue, but finish the race. What a warrior!
The race on 28 May was another sprint distance race in Nottingham. I had a really good swim, exiting the swim at the front of pack 2 and feeling quite comfortable. Unfortunately, the race didn’t end well, puncturing on lap one of a four lap bike circuit. That was my race over! Still, I got to stay and watch Tom finish the race, putting in the fastest run split of the day and coming 5th overall!
My next race isn’t until 3 July, which will be my first ever half ironman distance race! I’ll be spending the next few weeks enjoying the weather and trying to build up the training again.
Well done Andrew and we look forward to further updates and the result of his first half ironman
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