Martin got his season off to a flying start at the Monikie Duathlon recently. Being based on the East coast of Scotland, Martin has struggled to prepare him self properly with snow continuing to fall (the rest of the UK as been pretty clear since Christmas). However, a solid 4th place in the Monikie duathlon obviously means that he will be aiming high this season with his peak being Ironman UK later in the year. Below are Martin’s thoughts on his race and his new sponsored products.

The Monikie Duathlon series is normally a 3-race event held over the first weekend of December, January and February, however snow & ice curtailed the series to two races, both in February.

I was lying 4th in my age group after the first race, 1 minute 30 sec back from 3rd; a solid duathlon performance for me especially so early in the season. The next race should be good with the new Merida Time Warp bike expected to be in play!

My pre-race preparation was somewhat risky! I was up until 2am the night before building the new Merida Time Warp with USE Tula bars and Jag Wire cables and then I turned up at 9am for the race with new Lake CX311 Tri shoes and Limar Speed Demon Helmet and ride TORQ’s latest weapon of choice for the first time! My risk paid off and I’m glad to report that all went well – a testament to Merida, USE, Lake & Limar with their quality and products that don’t need braking in.

The race plan was to stick with the 3rd place person in my age group on the first run (4k) and hammer the bike (20k) and then see what happens in the last run (4k). All went to plan and by the end of the bike, I had the 1 1/2mins required to snatch 3rd place, but by the end of the run, the 2am bike-building session caught up on me and the legs started to cramp up, so I slipped back to finish 4th in age group for the series. Happy to console myself that those in front can’t swim!

An excellent warm up to the 2011 season and a good indication of running form and the potential of the Merida Time Warp frame, a few adjustments to the USE Tula bar positions and I should be even faster on the bike!  Now off to Majorca for a 10-day training camp in the sun.

Martin

Many thanks to all our sponsors this year including:

Delicious, natural and healthy nutrition: www.torqfitness.co.uk
Frames – Merida: www.merida-bikes.com
Cycle Shoes – Lake: www.lakecycling.co.uk
Helmets – Limar: www.limarhelmets.com 
Cables – Jagwire: www.jagwireusa.com/
Aerobars – USE: www.use1.com 
Wetsuits – 2XU: www.2xu.com
Wheels – Fast Forward: www.ffwdwheels.com
Powermeter – Powertap: www.cycleops.com