Edinburgh University Triathlon Club

At about quarter past 8, we left for Aberdeen in the university minibus which was being driven by Ali. Despite the uncomfortable seats, Tom “the man” (self-proclaimed) was able to go to a soundless sleep soon after we got on and was asleep pretty much throughout the trip amidst all the chatter. We arrived in Aberdeen University at around 11 and went to register. After the race briefing, we headed for the changing rooms next to the pool where our race was going to start. The transition area was laid just before the exit from the pool premises. We donned our trisuits, and gathered for a couple of group snapshots taken by the poolside, courtesy of Erin who was not racing but came all the way to cheer for us with the Eutri banner. Our Eutri wonder women started off their 800m swim in the first wave. After all the female participants finished their swim leg, wave 2 started with the male participants. I was in wave 2 while the rest of my mates were in wave 3 and 4. I’m not used to being in any race without having the coach around, so, was a bit more nervous than usual but the cheer from the rest of my team(after 2 warm-up laps) helped me calm down and get my game-face on.

With race season approaching, Chrissie Wellington - British Triathlete and four-time World Ironman Champion (2007-9, 2011) - kindly offers us her 50 tips for racing success:

1. Surf the event website. Study the course maps and take note of any steep descents, climbs, corners and aid station locations (and what food and drink they offer so you can factor this into your nutrition plan). Look at wave start and cut-off times, and the times of the athlete briefing and registration. Seek advice and insights from athletes who’ve done the race before. If you’re driving to the venue, plan your route and pick a place to park (taking road closures into account).

2. Know the race rules. You don’t want to risk getting penalised or even disqualified and having to explain the DNF to work colleagues/teammates/the police. If you’re unsure, speak to the race director or head referee...

3. Massages are great, but not the day before a race as they can leave you feeling sluggish. I always have a gentle rub down on the penultimate day. Shave/pluck/clip/wax and make sure you clip your toenails.

4. Don’t overhydrate or overeat...

Read all 50 on our blog.                                                                             "Chrissie Wellington" by Mariano Kamp used under a CC 2.0 Licence

Triathlon Scotland Membership is available starting tomorrow (20th December) for the 2012 season.

Individual members receive a host of benefits including discounts on race entries and apparel, racing insurance cover and a unique triathlonscotland training gift. triathlonscotland members who race will also help their club to gain points in the hotly contested ranking series. Individual ranking awards are also up for grabs across sprint and standard distances as well as open water, cross tri, duathlon and aquathon.

triathlonscotland is the national governing body for triathlon, duathlon and multisports in Scotland and is recognised by both sportscotland and The British Triathlon Federation (BTF).

With your support, we:

• Offer club and race memberships
• Help clubs to host events and increase participation
• Run national championship events
• Train coaches to gain recognised qualifications
• Coach triathletes to compete on the world stage
• Build a strong core of skilled volunteers

All to achieve our mission

‘realising the full potential of a vibrant triathlon and multisport community in Scotland’.

To find out more and to join us, visit: www.triathlonscotland.org/join.

And you can follow triathlon scotland on facebook.

Two stories + photos up from the great BUCS weekend down in Bath, one from Michael and one from Katherine.

I was nominated for Scottish Young Coach of the Year by Lyndsey and Ali in which you have to be 21 or younger, so I only just made it. Somehow I won that and was shortlisted for the British Triathlon Awards. A few weeks later I received an e-mail saying I had won which was AMAZING, however I was sworn to secrecy for ages.

The awards night was down in Leicester, England. This was unfortunate but we all have to go there sometimes. Triathlon Scotland put on a party bus to take 8 of us down so we set off on Saturday 12^th November. I was thinking of all the hardcore of EUTri runners competing in Braids Hill that day... but soon forgot about them when I remembered Crispy Cream Donuts were on sale in English service stations. Anyway, we got to the Barcelo Hinckley Island Hotel for the awards night safe and sound.

I was, of course, sporting a very cool kilt for the evening. There was a champagne reception where we looked for the Brownlee brothers... but no sign of them yet. All the Scots were sat at one table where, between 8 of us, they provided 4 bottles of wine which was not bad at all!

The 2011 Braids Hill race was a great day out for all those involved. Around 9 competitors from EuTri competed with several good times being posted and most importantly, a case of cider being won.

Our EUTri reporters have been hard at work, speaking to some of triathlons' biggest stars!

Over the next while, we'll be bringing you question and answer series with top professional triathletes, featured on a new professional triathletes' blog.

Get tips on racing, training and inspiration from the best triathletes around. Exclusively to EUTri! Excited? Good.

And now to announce our current featured athlete:

She is one of the most successful female triathletes of all time! We feel honoured that she has taken some time out of a busy schedule to speak to us and so, without further ado, here is an interview with... Catriona Morrison!

Crossing the finish line after a grueling race made me realize why I love triathlon/duathlon so much. Firstly the sense of achievement, knowing that you have pushed your body to its limits and that it not only survived but also gained you a good finishing time. Secondly it’s the camaraderie, although tri is an individual sport there is never a lack of support, encouragement and shared sense of achievement at any race. Finally, once the heart rate has reduced to a normal speed, I reflect on the race and although realizing I did my best, want to do better and cant wait to get back to training.

The ITU World Duathlon Championships was my first international race, and also my first race abroad. The prospect of racing in the heat of a Spanish late summer filled me with gloom and elation, likewise the fact that it was a closed route with no traffic to dodge or obstacles to face was thrilling and intimidating. James and I arrived on the Tuesday before the Sunday race. We justified this as an acclimatization period and spent the days pottering around in fairly nice weather, prepping bikes, going for wee runs, riding laps of the bike course and extensively sampling the local carbohydrates. In the build up to the race we both had the usual mix of nerves and the phrases such as ‘We’re just doing it for fun anyway’, ‘I think we will do pretty well actually’, ‘I’ll be gutted if I get under such a such a time’ and ‘Why the hell are we here?!’ were repeated in succession. Despite the nerves, I reminded myself that I had qualified for the worlds, and had done some great training. So come race day I knew that all I could do now was to push, push and push it harder.

 It was great meeting some of you at the sports fair through the week, and communicating with some of you over email. From the looks of things its promising to be a good year for EUtri!

The club has been running roughly 12 years, and has been developing nicely throughout that time. What started as a few keen individuals has expanded into a substantial club of usually around 80 members, and every year the number increase. Along with members increasing the club equipment and facilities are also increasing so that now we also have equipment such as club bikes, swim paddles/floats; and additional training sessions such as spin, core and circuit sessions to get all triathletes into tip top shape!

For me the nerves of a big race usually don’t kick in till the night before, or if I am feeling lucky, the morning of the race. However in a Middle Distance Triathlon, which is considerably bigger than any sprint triathlon I have done before the nerves kept me up at night about a week prior race day. I was a bipolar mess, on the one hand I loved the challenge of doing a half iron man, and Diana’s training program filled me with confidence. Also I enjoyed having the excuse of ‘I’m doing a Half Ironman next week’ as an opportunity to eat roughly 90% of my waking hours. On the other hand, I also felt under prepared having only done two open water swims (in which we splashed about more than anything) and a handful of sprint triathlons. The jump from sprint to middle distance was a daunting one and made me nervous, which made me eat more, if I didn’t do this race I risked turning into an elephant.

Race day snuck up like a stealthy lion waiting to tear me to shreds, in fact, while I was forcing my breakfast down me at 6am I wished I was about to be mauled by a big cat as opposed to inflict arguably the same amount of pain on myself. I had come this far, had done some serious training and made my mum come up from the south to support me. There was no turning back.