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The Steeplechase 2016

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Thank you for everyone that Sponsored us for the Steeplechase. We have raised over £250 for the Big C and we are almost at our target for £300. So, if you are feeling generous please sponsor us here: https://www.justgiving.com/account/your-pages/TeamDynamic2

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Tower Ten (Photos)

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Dynamic Summer League 2016 (Results)

Well done to everyone taking part in this year's Dynamic Summer League. We had some great results again this year!

Men's competition

John Dye led the way in the Bench Press challenge this year. John has shown fantastic focus and determination every week on this exercise and is looking really strong in the chest and arms.

One of our returning clients, Bobby Burrage, has been firing on all cylinders and it was great to see Bobby fly up Horns Lane for our fastest single time. Great sprinting Bobby!

Last year's Plank challenge winner, Robert Pyke, took the Clean/Burpee/Row challenge in the quickest time for the final challenge on week 6. 

A special mention as well goes to Nick Norman and Paul Barrett for completing each week and giving it a good shot every time!

However, it was Will Howell who dominated the men's league overall, winning 4 of the 6 challenges. Will retains the title for the 2nd year in a Row! Great work!! 

Top 5 Males (17 entrants)

Will Howell

Bobby Burrage

Paul Barrett

Nick Norman

John Dye

 

Female's Challenge

It is great to have some challenges when the ladies can beat the men!, and Paula McGrath showed how her Ultra Marathon training has given her some super strong legs! Paula got the top score overall with 82 Barbell Squats in 2 mins!

It was great to see lots of ladies giving the challenges a go for the first time, including new client Anna Catlin with an amazing score on the final challenge on week 6 :) 

A special mention goes to Alison Middleton for her determination to finish the challenge each week, whatever it took!

Late entry, Olivia Findlay, was back from Uni for the summer and looked like a very strong candidate for the title. Amazing speed up Horns Lane Olivia!

In the end the the race for the ladies title went all the way....

On week 4, Katrina Speirs (last year's winner) and Jane Blackwell were on equal points! So, it was down to the last 2 weeks so see who would take it. Katrina posted some solid times up Horns Lane to pip Jane on week 5, but Jane came back even stronger on week 6 posting the best time overall (including the men!) on the final challenge. 

The title is therefore shared this year - both female athletes will keep the Trophy for 6 months each :)

Top 5 Females (18 entrants)

Katrina Speirs / Jane Blackwell 

Olivia Findlay

Paula McGrath 

Alison Middleton

All results have been posted on the Hall of Fame: http://www.getdynamic.co.uk/hall-of-fame/. The Hall of Fame goes until the end of the year, so plenty of time to try any of the challenges....

Dynamic BBQ 2016 (photos)

ROSS' IRONMAN Blog - The Race

After another good night's sleep I was up at 4:30pm for my Race Day breakfast . Then it was time for an early check out, and on to the shuttle bus to Rainbow Park for the start.... 

 

Swim - 2.4 miles

Alta Lake was absolutely stunning. The low mist over the water, with the mountains above, was a really special site, and an amazing place to start my first IRONMAN!

Swimming has always been my weakest part of the Triathlon but after joining EAST swimming club last year I have improved massively. My fiancee, Sarah, has been great at encouraging me in the pool, and thank you to Jane Blackwell for the new Polarised googles! 

So, I was feeling confident. I knew I needed to stay relaxed and keep my strokes long. All the practice paid off and I had a great swim, coming out of the water after 1h 10 mins, which was the same pace as the Holkham Half IRONMAN 3 weeks ago.

Cycle - 112 miles

As I have never actually cycled over 100 miles before I thought I would break this down into 4 sections...

1st Quarter - The fun bit!

This was an amazing part of the race!! We cycled up the Callaghan Valley, the site of the Nordic skiing events in Winter Olympics. The decent was unreal! I looked down at one point and I was going 45mph! It really was a contest of who had the least fear, to be able to get the most out of this crazy decent!

2nd Quarter - the obsession with 20mph average

Im sure you know that I am pretty competitive!, so when I saw my pace was hitting 20 mph average I wanted to keep it. I spent this quarter of the race going back and forth with an incredible female triathlete. Her body position was so flat that she would fly on the downhills, and my legs were strong so I passed her on the uphill.

3rd Quarter - the flat (yes there was some!)

Going through Pemberton was incredibly flat for miles and miles. My main focus here was to ride with good technique - keeping my core strong to keep my upper body still, and also keep a good cadence with my legs. I was absolutely cruising, and the countryside here was beautiful!

4th Quarter - the hills!!

After getting to 100 miles with my average still over 20mph I realised this would now change! The hills for the final section were brutal. So many athletes were struggling, with the sun beating down on your shoulders. Gas Hill did not really pre-pare me for this! But I kept pushing to the end.

I came in off the bike in 5h 50 (average 18.9kph) and I was happy with that. 

 

The Run - 26.2 miles

Straight away I could tell this was going to be a battle! My game plan of running 8:00/miles went out of the window straight away! I ran 7:40/miles in the Half Ironman but this was so different - I quickly realised that this Ironman run was going to be a battle for survival! 

So, I broke the run down into 5 mile chunks in my mind. The plan was to run each 5 mile chunk, then walk 1/4 mile through the closest feed station at that point (this would bring it up to 26 miles). This plan worked for the first 10 miles but I slowly found it harder and harder to keep running! I have never had this before, as running has always been my strongest discipline. However, I was in all sorts of pain - the stomach cramps were the worst, then the stitches, then my knees. 

This 2 loop course was tough and the sun was still so hot. I managed to basically just get myself through the last 10 miles, knowing the pace was slow but now i just wanted to get it finished!

Coming into the finish line I saw my brother, Mitch, on the corner. It was so great to have him there cheering me home!!

I went over the line to the words 'Ross, you are an IRONMAN'

 

 

Ross' IRONMAN Canada blog - Pre Race

Departure

The adventure started at 6am in Norwich on Thurs 21st July, where my bike was expertly packed into the bike bag for the flight - thank you to Andy Blackwell! The bike was then loaded onto the plane at Gatwick - easy as pie so far.

On the flight I went through my race day plan. It was great to have some focused time to break down each part of the race and decide about the pace I wanted to race the swim, bike and run. I also used this time to plan my nutrition - such an important part to the success of a good race.

It was really helpful reading James Walsgrove's ebook, 4 Hours Faster, to get some good tips for the race too! 

Arrival and Athlete check in - day 1

After a cracking first night in Vancouver with my brother, Mitch, I was on the bus to Whistler the next morning. What a beautiful drive! Arriving in Whistler was stunning, and there were signs everywhere displaying 'IRONMAN Canada'. This just got real!

Whistler Olympic Square was the venue where all the action was happening and it is also where the finish line is. Check-in was easy and I decided to get a visor for what is going to be a potentially hot and sunny run on Sunday. 

The athlete briefing was very good too, with some inspiring speakers giving everyone confidence for the race. Phrases such as: 'don't give up', 'just keep moving forwards', 'remember your training', 'anything is possible'..

Bike and Run Prep - day 2

After a great night's sleep I woke up early (in prep for the early start tomorrow) and had the same breakfast as I will have on race day - muesli, banana, energy bar, coffee, electrolyte drink.

I then put my run stuff in Transition 2 and got the shuttle bus to drop off my bike at Transition 1.

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So all the preparations are done and now all I need to do is relax (I have a free Spa pass for the Whistler Scandinavian Spa!) and have a good high carb dinner this evening.

I am really looking forward to my biggest challenge so far! The race starts at 6:50am local time and 2:50pm (BST). If you want to follow me then you can do so on this link: http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/coverage/athlete-tracker.aspx?race=canada&y=2016#axzz4FGnSqE9C. I am race number 838.

Almost time to smash it!

Ross