Viceroys Treasurer Anna Gilmore’s events for this year are focused towards her big event of the year, which is the Celtman at the end of June.  The Celtman is part of a trio of extreme iron-distance events and it is held in the northern highlands of Scotland.  The Norseman is held in Norway and the Swissman in Switzerland and they all take the same format – i.e. if you can finish it within the day you are doing well – expect it to take nearer 20 hours than the typical 11 for an Ironman.  So it is long-endurance style training that I need to get involved with this year.  

Anna continues: ‘I won’t lie – winter has been tough – with all our “inclement” weather – getting out there has been motivationally difficult and at times, just too dangerous to bother.  I’ve become re-acquainted with the turbo trainer as I wait for the stormy skies to clear.

So far this year, I’ve run in the Knacker Cracker on New Years’ day, which is a fantastic 10k trail race up and around Box Hill.  It was bitterly cold and wet but the hot soup at the end makes it worth hauling yourself out of bed for.  And it serves be right for entering a race on New Year’s day.  I’ll be out doing the Winter Tanners in a week, which is a 20 mile trail “plod” around  Leatherhead/Dorking/Box Hill area and then the final cross-country match is at the beginning of February.  I’ve signed up to several of F3’s events – two of the longer sportives (Big Dipper and Longest Day sportive) and the Windsor river swim.  Other events include the Ballbuster on 1 March and a nice wee trip back to Club La Santa for some warm weather training.

 Ah – warm weather – hurry back to us!  Happy training all and here’s to a great 2014. ‘

Good luck with your extreme training and competing Anna,

As we all know, the winter months can be a tough time to get through until the warmer weather arrives – meaning a brand new season. So to keep you motivated we are asking members to let us know what they’ve been doing during the winter months in an aid to keep you motivated ahead of the forthcoming season. First off is our chairman and coach Mark Yeoman: 

What was your highlight from last season?

Without doubt it was winning the famous Windsor Olympic triathlon. Thought I’d missed my shot back in 2009 when I came 2nd overall. I had a killer swim – setting the fastest swim split of the day and backed it up with a monster bike. Although it was unbelievably humid, a solid run saw me win my dream race and no one will ever take that away. Kept my sponsors happy. 

So what have you been doing this winter?

Well like most, I’ve gone back to basics and looked to build a strong bass ahead of adding speed. I do this by holding a set pace whilst running up hills or sticking to a certain amount of watts on the bike to build that strength. I can be tough at times, so I chase songs on the bike or zone out whilst running. I also looked at areas which need improving and for me this is my running off the bike. So I’m looking to improve my turn over whilst staying within myself. 

What are your plans for the season?
The world champions for the past three years have clashed with going back to school, but this season The Worlds are taking place at the end of August in Canada so I’ve decided to hit the first couple of qualifying races in May to secure a place before racing locally as preparation for The Worlds at the end of season. I’m hoping to be joined by a number of club members to share the experience.  

What’s your favourite training session?

You can’t beat 30x 100m in the pool to really push both mentally and physically. This is my key session throughout the year. I just adjust the goal times according to what time of the year it is. Now is all about consistent pace, come February/March I up the pace and reduce the rest to get race ready.

So, last year we were mildly confused as Simon Tack (dog Simon), Simon Colvan, Simon Pratt (Simon & Suze) all joined Viceroys together and now we have a new Simon – Simon Clark. So how can we distinguish ‘New Simon ‘  (‘Bike Crash Simon’?)from the others?

‘I moved to Walton from Battersea 9 months ago, shortly before running the London Marathon for the third time with the goal of breaking 4 hours.  Unfortunately I got an injury at mile 11, so walked the second half. Needless to say it wasnt the PB l was looking for.  I haven’t really run since, instead concentrating on my cycling which had taken a back seat for a few years.  Living so much closer to the hills I am enjoying how much easier it is to escape the traffic on the bike, although I am not so keen on the 35km it now takes to ride to work.  

Saturday was the 3^rd cross-country race of the season, which saw Viceroys Anna, Carla and Debbie  running for their affiliated running clubs that are part of the Surrey Ladies Cross-Country League Division 2. 

The hosts for the 3^rd race were the running club Thames Hares and Hounds, and the race was in Putney Vale/Wimbledon Common.  It was a 2-lap 8k run, and the course was cracking with two steep hills, large wooded sections and lots of trees and branches to jump over.  The biggest natural obstacle was the MUD after all the heavy rain and it was tough-going – even with spikes.  Anna nearly lost a shoe and runners had to jump a brook about 3 quarters of the way through each lap and Carla proclaimed: ‘ Anna has put it mildly, it was a BOG, GRIM conditions – excellent fun though the calf muscles were feeling it the morning after.’ Continue reading →

Viceroys cyclist Kevin Argent, sprint cyclist, has been racing the Imperial Winter Championships in Hayes – the Hillingdon Circuit in West London. He tells of his road to victory this weekend:

‘I’ve put the work in over the summer and took a week of easy riding going into the first round where there was no less than 6 crashes in the first 2.5 laps! Taking out half the field in the second one (and me!), I had to  limp home 17th (60 starters) . 

Round 2 : This time I was off to a better start and pulling at the front of the group in the 3rds before my seat came loose and I had to take a lap out and change a wheel too! The sprint came round and I was forced a little wide and hit the grass, this time I had to yield and roll over the line in 12th  

Round 3 : DNF due to illness 

Round 4 : 12th just had a tough time and couldn’t sling shot out properly!  

Round 5 : Race ABANDONED due a crash and they had to stop the race 

Round 6 : Ready……. 2nd! (In the 3rd CATS!) For once most things went my way! I managed to keep it tight at the front and chased down a few breaks before sitting up and resting in the middle of the peloton before moving up with 6 laps to go…. 3 laps to go I made a move towards the front and sat on 7th / 9th wheel (there was already a break away of 2 riders so 3rd was up for grabs! (And top 3rd CAT) with 3 corners to go I got on the drops and with out Bernie there (Mark Yeoman) telling me to wait I had to use my brains for once and waited and waited and waited then BANG! Off I went and hit the front! Holding onto 5th at the line and 2nd 3rd CAT by a tyres width! Happy Days! ‘

Awesome work Kevin, but maybe a bit of translation is needed for us non cyclist… what exactly are 2^nd and 3^rd CATS?

Kate, Jon and Rory all continued their into the more extreme end of cross country races with both the Grim Challenge (8 miles) and the Hell Runner (10 miles) during  December and January.

Both races presented different challenges for each competitor – Kate preferring Grim it was the one race of the 2 where despite the mud, water, tyres, cargo nets and undulating terrain, you could at least run without thinking for a couple of miles, whereas the much less forgiving Hell Runner course was unrelenting in its hills, sand,mud and water. After December’s rain, some water obstacles even had to be swum as opposed to waded! Hell Runner was also a real challenge even for competitors like Rory, as the narrow course had 3 waves – Rory at the front of wave 3 had to dodge not only the natural obstacles, but competitors from the previous 2 waves.

Rory did his Viceroys kit and self proud, coming 10th out of a field of 1065 at Grim and 22nd (but first in his wave) out of 1774 at Hell Runner: Kate and Jon wach had a personal victory, as she was ahead by the end of Grim, but he was victor at Hell Runner.

Alan tells us : ‘ I came second overall, my time chip gave me a time of 3:12 and an average off 19.1 mph , although the views are amazing the elevation of climbs was so up and down the whole 62miles. Me and Andrew Tugwell worked together and put it as hard as we could and showed Isle of Wight What us viceroys are all about .NEVER SHOW WEAKNESS  . Not much wind and dry and just the right temperature =
Perfect day’

‘I moved down from Scotland to Weybridge in January 2012 for work.I have always been active and since I was young had a keen interest in the mountains and climbing.
Sadly with no mountains in Surrey I had to keep active to stop the waist line increasing.
Earlier this year I bought a road bike, followed by a wet suit and have really enjoyed all aspects of running, cycling and swimming around the area.

I did my first sprint not long after buying my bike then following a years subscription to Triathlon plus magazine I was hooked. I cycled LEJOG soon after and  the following weekend competed in my first middle distance triathlon in Aberfeldy under the shadow of the Schiehallion and the beautiful idyllic Loch Tay. My reason for joining the Viceroys was to meet like minded people who can keep motivation high ,looking at the website it looked like a fun active club that was very close to home. So there was no excuse not to join. 
Looking forward to meeting some if not all of you at the Christmas Bash.’

‘I moved to Surrey from Somerset a little over 10 years ago –  I have always been active and played numerous sports. I used to swim and run at school so I always had that in me. Once I moved here I played rugby at The Vandals but over time I have slowly been less involved. I have ran with The Elmbridge Road Runners for a few years and have joined The Viceroys for some extra variety. In 2012 I ran 2 marathons, 2 half Iron Man events and the Grand Fondo Dragon Ride (Bonked but finished). I am keen to do something like that again in 2014, already signed up for the Paris and Berlin marathons. I look forward to training, learning and more importantly socialising with The Viceroys – hope to enter a few events with you all too.’

Welcome to Viceroys Calvin.