Lavandou Vert Triathlon – Saturday 27th September 2014

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Insert from Var Matin on Saturday morning

I did my first triathlon yesterday after 7 years. The Lavandou Vert Triathlon which is a cross country triathlon with a 600m sea swim followed by a very hilly 15Km MTB and then a very hilly trail run.

The swim was in a wetsuit and I was knackered after that. This was followed by three circuits of a very hilly MTB ride. The first 3km uphill followed by a downhill stretch. After the first one because of the steep hill felt like giving up but carried on walking in places as it was 28-30C. After that I did a 4.5km trail run which was really interesting starting running down the busy sandy beach. Then climbing over a rocky section with the sea lapping up. Finally running through a nudist beach which was packed and got a lot of cheers, especially when I pulled my tri shorts down. Then to cap it all we climbed into the hills on a very rocky and steep trail run, eventually coming down to the finish line – whoopee I did it which was only goal for the first cross country or green triathlon! I won my age group but came last. Never mind it’s taking part that is important and all the people were  more than 20 years younger and were experienced and this was a very hard Xterra type course!!! I was glad I completed it without a heart attack as it was 28 – 30C as they started the event at 13.30 which was a little silly. But saying that a great event , well organised and only wished I trained more on my sea/wetsuit swimming and steep MTB hill climbing more.

Next week, I am doing another Tri in the Verdon starting with a 500m swim in lake St Croix. This will be followed by a 25 km hilly road cycle and a 5km trail run, should be good event and is sponsored by Occitane and will let you know how it goes after the event, A bientot!

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Before the event with and without coach FB

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CAMTRIER exiting the 600m sea swim

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After slow transition starting the MTB leg.

Allez CAMTRIER

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In Var Matin on Sunday 29th September 2014

Sunday 30km Hilly Ride towards Bargemon

Working towards two TRI’s starting in two weeks. The first is a cross sprint Tri in Lavanadou, Sea Swim:600m, MTB 15km and Trail Run 4.5Km, This will be followed by another a week after in les Salles sur Verdon called L’Occitane Ekiden TRI, Swim in lake St Croix 500 metres, Bike 25km and a 5km trail run. Today did a hilly bike ride of 30km road bike ride in preparation for the second one which was the first road bike ride for several years, feeling great considering, but probably due to MTB training outlined below.

For Last several weeks been doing several hours training including hilly MTB rides (15-20Km), training pool swims (500-1000m) and hilly trail walk/runs (5-8km) in preparation for the first TRI in Lavandou with coach FB.

Trivert St Cassien 2013 & Training session with coach FB

Went on leisurely training session with coach FB 11km around 2 hrs. Also saw the triathletes in the above event. Did the run portion backwards and its a tuffy. The event is 1500 metre Swim in lake St Cassien, 27Km on the hilly terrain around the lake, and 10km hilly trail run. Need to up my training to take part next year as a great event to take part in. Allez coach FB
https://www.facebook.com/TrivertSaintCassien. See finish below

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Stepping up the training with coach Fudgy Boy.

Hello Tri World

ImageI am a recreational vet runner coming back from injury and turning to triathlons for fun, fitness, weight loss and to raise money for The Meningitis Trust in memory of my beloved son Marcus who died 10 years ago from meningitis. This blog will follow my progress to my first Tri and some of the challenges of moving from a overweight beach whale with poor and very slow swimming and biking prowess to a lean mean tri-ing machine with slightly rusty joints. When posting my events for charity give generously to motivate me and eliminate this disease that took away my beloved son……..onwards and upwards and keep on tri-ing

CAMTRIER