Alex Lawton is one of the fastest age group triathletes in the UK and has agreed to join the TORQ Triathlon Team. How good is he? Well, you would be racing for second if he turned up! He has an impressive résumé and his 2014 plans are for a solid season of racing where he has already achieved his first win. This is what Alex has to say…
“I’m really pleased to join the TORQ team and hope I can take it up another level (Alex was a little modest at this point, so below are his impressive results from 2013 – JE)
• Manchester Senior Cross Country League – 1st
• Oulton Park Duathlon – 2nd
• North West Duathlon Championships – 1st
• Horwich Triathlon – 1st
• Wilmslow Sprint Triathlon – 1st
• Deva Triathlon – 4th
• European Age Group Championships – 2nd (25-29 AG)
• English Standard Distance Championships – 5th overall /3rd 25-29AG
• British Triathlon Age Group Championships – 2nd overall / 1st 25-29AG
• North West Sprint Triathlon Championships – 1st
• English Sprint Distance Championships – 2nd overall / 1st 25-29AG
• Salford Triathlon – 1st
• North West Sprint Triathlon – 1st
• World Age Group Championships – 21st overall / 10th 25-29AG
When I first started triathlon it was the ‘sponsored’ athletes who you always wanted to beat most. So, it sets you up as a bit of a marked man with an expectation that you should be competing for overall wins, not just within your age group.
Winter training has gone well in general, an IT Band injury meant defending my XC league title wasn’t possible but, with help from Andy Chalmers, (www.maintainandtrain.com) I was back up and running by Christmas. This meant I hadn’t lost too much form and was very pleased with a 32nd place at the Northern XC Championships at the end of January. 32nd doesn’t sound great but when you consider Jonny Brownlee was 21st and David McNamee 49th, I took a lot of positives from it.
Swimming continues to form a large focus of my training and has continued to improve through coaches at Manchester Tri’s swim sessions. Despite the 05:40 alarm call, these have gradually become my favorite/most satisfying sessions of the week. Whilst these sessions have helped enormously, I’ve also had some very useful feedback from a 1-on-1 session with Dave Quartermain (www.uswimopenwater.com), pointing out areas for improving technique, power, efficiency and overall speed. Combined with the regular swim sessions, what was once a 400m PB time is now a relatively moderately paced swim in training, showing the signs of improved fitness, power and overall efficiency in the water.
The bike has been ticking over nicely too and, up until January, it had been a relatively dry and mild winter, not once had I needed to don the thermal bib-shorts or pray that a housemate was home due to my frozen fingers not being able to turn the keys. More recently, there has been a regular long group ride going on Sundays, which usually involves me trying to hang onto the wheel of some local professional triathletes.
So the new Triathlon season is nearly here and, with a couple of races already done and dusted, my provisional schedule for 2014 looks like this:
Race / Result
MACCL – Boggart Hole 6th
Northern XC Champs 32nd
Fearless MTB Duathlon 1st
North West Duathlon Championship
Elite Duathlon Championships
2014 Triathlon England – National Duathlon Championships
Horwich Triathlon
British Sprint Championship
Deva Triathlon
Rother Valley Sprint (TBC)
Triathlon England – National Standard Distance Championships (TBC)
2014 Triathlon England – National Sprint Distance Championships
North West Sprint Championships
British Standard Championships
Salford Tri
Club Relays
Helvellyn
Snowman (TBC)
Off Road English Championships (TBC)
This weekend saw the first multisport race of the season with a win at Uberfit events ‘Fearless’ off road Duathlon, my first win for TORQ and hopefully not the last!”
With Thanks to our 2014 sponsors:
www.wilier.it – Triathlon Frames
www.ffwdwheels.com – Race wheels
www.huubdesign.com – Wetsuits
www.zyro.co.uk/altura – Triathlon and cycle apparel
www.ismseat.com – Saddles
www.invisciddesign.com – Speedfil hydration systems
www.schwalbe.com – Cycle Tyres
www.limarhelmets.com – Helmets & Glasses
www.lakecycling.co.uk – Cycling Footwear
www.jagwireusa.com – Cables & Housing
www.amphibia-sport.com – Transition Bags
www.lezyne.com – Pumps, Tools, Bottle Cages
www.fenwicks.info – Lubrication
www.kapz.co.uk – Custom headset caps
www.racewaredirect.co.uk – Chain catchers and phone cases
www.shimano.com – Groupsets
www.camelbak.com – Bottles
www.max-mediagroup.co.uk – Team PR
www.joolzedymond.com – Photography
