<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Women - Tri247</title><link>http://www.tri247.com/index.html</link><description>Latest women articles from Tri247</description><item><title><![CDATA[Shock Absorber WomenOnly Triathlon filling with inspiring stories]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9552.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[The unique atmosphere created by the Shock Absorber WomenOnly Triathlon looks set to continue in 2012 with 50% of the available places already filled six months out from the event date. Those taking on the challenge will start by swimming in the clear waters of 2012 Olympic Venue Dorney Lake before heading out onto traffic-free roads to cycle and then finishing their triathlon experience with a run along the banks of the lake beside crowds of cheering friends and family.

The event, taking place on Sunday the 10th of June, has grown each year to become one of the highlights of the triathlon calendar and provides a uniquely unintimidating environment for women to take on the challenge of the UK&rsquo;s fastest growing sport. The diverse range of distances offer something for those going for a PB on the fast flat course, through to first timers testing out the water. 

Among the first timers are many ladies using the triathlon as motivation to get fit, lose weight or raise money for a range of wonderful causes. Candia Styles-Coles has already lost over 7 stone in training for the event and is determined to maintain her journey towards fitness in the 6 month run up to race day. &ldquo;When I was fifteen I was really into sports and being able to rekindle this relationship has been great.  I am healthier and fitter than I have been for a very long time and am enjoying getting back into sport.&rdquo;

Fellow early sign-up Jackie McManus has been through a gruelling year after being diagnosed with Breast Cancer and is now on a mission to raise awareness and do her bit to help fund the official charity of the WomenOnly Tri, Breast Cancer Care.  &ldquo;I was inspired to participate after supporting a friend at the event in 2011 and 2010. I have been to support her both times, it was very emotional and now I want to put my whole heart into raising money for Breast Cancer Care. Bring on the training!&rdquo;

Another to take up the Breast Cancer Care mantle, Rebecca Ferbuyt takes on the Shock Absorber WomenOnly Triathlon as part of a ten event challenge during 2012. &ldquo;The events I am doing will total 262 miles of swimming, cycling and running which is the equivalent to 10 marathons! I&rsquo;m doing it to raise money for Breast Cancer Care and to honour my mother&rsquo;s best friend.&rdquo; 

More information on the Shock Absorber WomenOnly Triathlon and the official Charity, Breast Cancer Care can be found at www.humanrace.co.uk where you can also find details of how to enter the event online.
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Olympic Champion enters Ironman UK]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9546.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Rebecca Romero is taking on Ironman UK                        
Olympic  Gold medallist Rebecca Romero MBE has announced that she is taking part in this  year&#039;s Ironman UK. Romero is famous as being the first Briton to win medals in  two sports at a summer Olympics, taking a silver medal in rowing at the 2004  Games in Athens before accompanying this with a gold medal in the 3km  Individual Track Pursuit Event in 2008 Beijing.  Last autumn it was announced that Romero was  leaving the Great Britain cycling team and many people questioned what she was  going to do next. Her sporting history is varied and hugely successful, and it  will be exciting to see how this sporting legend will fare taking on the  world&#039;s most iconic endurance event.
Romero&#039;s sporting career started  properly in 1998 when she became a professional rower. She won gold at the U23  World Championships, and after a series of successes went on to be part of the  Olympic silver medal-winning quadruple scull team in Athens, 2004. Yet within  a year she had retired from rowing, having suffered disc problems since her  time as a junior rower. Romero admitted that she had simply lost her passion  for the sport, &amp;quot;By that stage, I wasn&#039;t enjoying rowing like I used  to,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;I was struggling each day to get through the training  and I knew I had to be 100 per cent committed if I wanted to continue as an  elite rower.&amp;rdquo;  After her competition in  Athens, Romero had gone along to watch the track cycling event and was  instantly inspired and reinvigorated in her quest for gold.  And so, in 2008 she returned to the Olympics  as a 3km Individual track cyclist, taking home a gold medal and astounding  everyone with her ability to succeed to such an amazing level in two very  different sports. 
So then, why did a 3km Olympic track  cyclist decide to enter Ironman UK? 
Romero says that first and foremost she  was intrigued by the challenge of an Ironman event, stating &amp;ldquo;It&#039;s the most iconic  endurance event there is, and I don&#039;t just want to do a triathlon, I want to be  part of a great epic event.&amp;rdquo; She continues, &amp;ldquo;the Ironman is not so much a race,  but a personal challenge, and that&#039;s exactly how I see it &amp;ndash; a personal challenge.&amp;rdquo;  It is certainly going to be a challenge for  Rebecca, who herself admits that she has not swam properly since the age of  eight and when describing the three events said, &amp;ldquo;Stringing them together, well  that&#039;s definitely impossible. At least, it is right now. But that&#039;s why I&#039;ve  signed up to do it!&amp;rdquo; she continues, &amp;ldquo;I should be competent and strong in the  cycling discipline, although a distance of 180km on a time trial bike will  certainly be pushing my limits,&amp;rdquo; 
But an Ironman  race would not be so iconic if it was not the challenge that it is. On 22nd  July, Rebecca will embark on a 2.4 mile swim in  Pennington Flash Lake before cycling 112 miles through the beautiful Lancashire  countryside, finishing the marathon in Bolton town centre. She will be joined by 1,500 other competitors across 52  countries, with 25,000 spectators cheering on from the side-lines throughout  the day. It is a far cry away from the confines of the velodrome, but she is  excited about the challenge that awaits her. Romero is especially  excited to be competing in an event in her home country, saying, &amp;ldquo;I want to  support a UK event to raise awareness of it for both this year and its  following years. I want to encourage other British people to take part in such  incredible events so close to home, and also reach out to those in foreign  countries, showing them that Great Britain is the place to race.&amp;rdquo;
To follow Rebecca on her  epic Ironman journey, and to keep updated with her training blog, visit  www.rebeccaromero.co.uk.    
For more  information about Ironman UK visit www.ironmanuk.com or go to the official  Facebook page, IronmanUK.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[No Ironman for Chrissie in 2012]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9530.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Four-time Ironman World Champion has announced that she will be &amp;quot;taking a break from competing in Ironman during 2012 to explore other opportunities.&amp;quot;
Full announcement from Chrissie&#039;s website: www.chrissiewellington.org.



16th January 2012 &amp;ndash; London, UK:  Four time World Champion and World Ironman Distance Record Holder, Chrissie Wellington has announced that she&#039;ll be taking a break from competing in Ironman during 2012 to explore other opportunities, including the forthcoming publication of her autobiography, A Life Without Limits.

 Chrissie, who won her fourth World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, last October and maintained her unbeaten record at Ironman distance &amp;ndash; making it 13 victories from 13 races &amp;ndash; said of her decision, &amp;ldquo;I&#039;ve given absolutely everything to Ironman over the past five years. However, this year I&#039;ve decided to take a break as I would like to spend more time focusing on other pursuits including dedicating more time to my chosen charities, the publication of my book and more active promotion of the sport in the UK, as well as giving myself the chance to explore and seize new opportunities within triathlon and outside. I feel that I wouldn&#039;t be able to pursue all of these different goals whilst simultaneously dedicating the energy and time needed to compete in Ironman events and treat them with the respect and complete dedication they deserve.

The past five years have been absolutely incredible and I am extremely happy, proud and content with everything that I have achieved in the sport &amp;ndash; topping it all off with the race of my life in Kona last year. I have always seen triathlon as a part of my life, rather than the be all and end all, and am looking forward to a little more variety and balance by pursuing other interests, as well as spending more time with my family and friends. 

I am really excited about what the future holds and being able to spend more time around the sport without the commitment of full time ironman training and racing&amp;rdquo;.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cycletta expands for 2012]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9517.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Growing Cycletta series aims to inspire thousands more  women to cycle in 2012
In 2011 Participate Sport Ltd launched the popular  women-only Cycletta cycling series, which inspired nearly 2,000 women of all  abilities take to their bikes to ride 40km alongside Olympic cycling Champion  and Cycletta Ambassador Victoria Pendleton.

As we begin the Olympic year, Participate are set to build on this success by expanding the series even further. 2012 will see seven Cycletta events being held across England, with five brand new venues and routes added to the series, inspiring more women than ever before to take  part and by doing so supporting Cycletta&amp;rsquo;s Charity Partner, Macmillan Cancer  Support.

The new  Cycletta 2012 dates are:
Bedfordshire  &amp;ndash; Woburn Abbey &amp;ndash; 13th May    Wiltshire &amp;ndash;  Lydiard Park &amp;ndash; 24th June
Warwickshire  &amp;ndash; Ragley Hall &amp;ndash; July (exact date TBC)
Cornwall &amp;ndash;  St Michael&amp;rsquo;s Mount &amp;ndash; 15th September  (at the Festival of Sport)
Brighton &amp;ndash;  Plumpton Racecourse &amp;ndash; 30th September 
Cheshire &amp;ndash;  Tatton Park &amp;ndash; 7th October 
New Forest &amp;ndash;  Beaulieu Palace &amp;ndash; 14th October

Cycletta Ambassador Victoria Pendleton (MBE) said: &amp;quot;Being able to cycle with so many girls during Cycletta last  year was one of my highlights of 2011. 2012 should be a special year and I  really hope that thousands more women will join me on a bike this year.  Cycletta is the perfect event to get on two wheels with the girls and have some  fun!  I hope to see you out there&amp;quot;



Each Cycletta ride will take place in a stunning  family friendly venue and will feature all the unique touches that made the  2011 events so popular. Riders will face a 40km safely managed route on quiet  country roads, with treat stops based along the route as well as the popular  &amp;lsquo;pamper zone&amp;rsquo; at the finish line. All riders will be able to tap into free  pre-event training advice, cycle fashion wear, and a range of motivational  information to make the build up to Cycletta almost as fun as the ride itself!

Macmillan Cancer Support are the official charity of  the Cycletta series for the second year running and participants are encouraged  to join &amp;lsquo;Team  Macmillan&amp;rsquo; and fundraise to help support the thousands of  people affected by cancer in the UK.
Nick Rusling, Chief Executive of Participate Sport and Cycletta said: &amp;ldquo;We are so excited by the healthy growth of the Cycletta series.  The Cycletta events are the most inspiring I have delivered as thousands of  women, many of whom are nervous cyclists, are starting to see the joy and fun  that cycling can offer&amp;rdquo;. 

Entries for all Cycletta events open today. To  register, please visit www.cycletta.co.uk. ]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Joanna Carritt: Going really long]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9473.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Never one to shirk a challenge or the hard work needed in order to achieve it, Joanna Carritt has set herself a new target. Not content with Ironman, in early January she will be taking on the double iron-distance at the second Enduroman Lanzarote Festival of Triathlon (www.enduromanlanzarote.es).

The interesting additional challenge? Training for it while getting over a recent case of overtraining... Here is how she plans to do it.



Going really long...
Despite the fact that my partner Steven, the other half of EverydayTraining, coaches the reigning Enduroman Champion, preparations for my first double Ironman race is very much a voyage into the unknown. Even though I do have access to the secrets of Paul Thompson&#039;s ultra-distance triathlon success, the differences in our age, size, gender, athletic history and lifestyle &amp;ndash; not to mention specific personal strengths and attributes &amp;ndash; make the information as potentially harmful as it is useful. Embarking on my first real &amp;ldquo;very long&amp;rdquo; distance race&amp;hellip; off the back of three hard seasons of racing Ironman and recently an undeniable fall into the hole of overtraining&amp;hellip; has been described by not just a few as &amp;ldquo;madness&amp;rdquo;. Well, who can argue? Whilst it certainly presents a challenge it&#039;s also an opportunity to implement some new training ideas that I have been discussing with my coach.

Firstly, given the short time that I left myself to prepare, and my relatively recent &amp;lsquo;burnout&amp;rsquo; I am placing a fair amount of faith in the high volume of training that I have banked since signing up for my first Ironman in 2006, and our ability to monitor my response as I focus on BIG sessions over the next six weeks - without overdoing it and slipping back into the danger zone.

No matter how many Ironman races I&#039;ve trained for, there&#039;s no escaping the fact that the Double is a whole different level of endurance &amp;ndash; both physical and mental &amp;ndash; and the need to do some very big training days, during which one gets very tired. Without this challenge how can one be mentally prepared and learn to anticipate the needs that might arise on race day? What food works best? What clothing? How can I minimize discomfort on the bike/wetsuit/run shoes? What can I focus on to get me through this bad patch?

It&#039;s fortunate for me that from the very start of my &amp;lsquo;serious&amp;rsquo; racing career my training has been geared towards steady volume. I&#039;ve clocked a lot more hours than the average age-grouper between 2006 and 2010, and maintained an equivalently high training load through the two years since as a professional. 16 Ironman races, several halves and constant summertime/season have taken its toll, and this was manifest in my racing through the back half of 2011. It took long enough (and a DNF at Ironman Florida) for us to realize what was going on and really take steps to address the problem with three weeks off training and time spent re-assessing my training behaviours and beliefs. A somewhat frightening prospect with the biggest challenge yet looming just a couple of months over the horizon but I believe that I have the resources to meet this challenge and that situation has forced me to be smarter than my old ways of simply cranking out the hours to get there.

The starting point was to evaluate what I think I can handle at this point. Historically I have an average training week of 25 hours, with about 50-60% of that consisting of weeks with over 30 hours. Periods with very high volume interspersed with races over a 3-4 month period has proven detrimental &amp;ndash; however, my history has shown that I can sustain the 25-30 hour week for a long block and race well afterwards if allowed sufficient recovery time or taper. In this instance, a long taper is not an option &amp;ndash; so it&#039;s a question of taking that 25-30hr week and being smart with it. Historically I have been negligent of the need for recovery, until I get to a point where I&#039;m so bombed I have no option. Here, the plan for Feb 4th-5th is to have recovery periods interspersed in my week.

I do have the flexibility with my coaching work to include a big day in the middle of the week &amp;ndash; this enables me to structure my week around two high-volume blocks: Saturdays will be my longest ride (because I don&#039;t swim on Saturday mornings) followed by a short pace-oriented run. Sundays will be a short ride followed by a long run. At peak this should amount to 12 hours riding and 3.5 hours running over the weekend. I anticipate that Sunday&#039;s run at the end of this big weekend will be very, very challenging for me and as such the focus of that session will be how to get through it rather than pace or distance run. Mid-week will be a continuous swim-bike-run day, and as the race approaches and I become more familiar and confident with the long sessions, I&#039;ll look to include some Ironman intensity into this session. The other four days of the week will be very short training days with workouts focused on stability, flexibility and keeping my &amp;lsquo;top end&amp;rsquo; active in the pool. I will also include one full day off each week which is something that I have never done previously.

From 3rd January I will be based at La Santa in Lanzarote, which will enable me to get these long days (and nights!) done without fear of freezing or iced roads, or too many other distractions.

That&#039;s another advantage that I have over Enduro-Champ Paul T :-) ]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Gossage signs with High5]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9428.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[High5 UK has put its support behind one of the UK&#039;s most promising long course professional triathletes, Lucy Gossage. 2011 was Lucy&#039;s debut year on the professional circuit after being one of the countries best age-group athletes. Her impressive first year results include winning Ironman 70.3 Ireland, third at Ironman 70.3 UK and third at the Challenge Barcelona ironman-distance event as well as winning the TriGrandPrix Navarra in Spain and coming second at TriGrandPrix UK.

Lucy is thrilled to be officially partner with High5, &quot;I&#039;ve been racing and training with High5 products since I started triathlon so I am extremely excited to be sponsored by them in 2012. High5 produce a variety of energy sources for different race durations and climates and I&#039;ve definitely found them to be the best source of fuel for my triathlon racing&quot;.

Raphael Dienhart of High5 is equally excited to support Lucy, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re delighted that High5 is the product of choice for Lucy Gossage. She&rsquo;s a fantastic athlete and we are looking forward to a successful partnership. We already know from research that our latest generation of 2:1 Fructose Sport drinks with a moderate dose of caffeine offer substantial performance benefits to endurance athletes at all levels. With the correct nutrition strategy we hope that Lucy can look forward to another successful year in 2012.&ldquo;

In 2012, Lucy will race a variety of half and full ironman races throughout Europe. And, when not training and racing at the highest level, Lucy can be found in the lab at Cancer Research UK completing her research work on kidney cancer. You can follow Lucy on her website for all news and updates.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Jenkins takes runner-up]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9425.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Helen Jenkins was the runner-up in last night&#039;s BBC Wales&#039;s Sports Personality of the Year, she was &#039;beaten&#039; by Chaz Davies the motorcyclist. At least the Welsh had the decency to include women in the shortlist and congratulations to Helen on securing second place with paralympic F57 javelin world champion and world record holder Nathan Stephens in third.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Wellington wins sports award]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9410.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Chrissie Wellington received the Pat Besford Award for Outstanding Performance at the SJA British Sports Awards on Wednesday for winning her fourth Ironman title in October, as well as earlier in the year breaking her own world record.

Read the full story here, seems like the BBC took a bit of a bashing over its SPOTY shortlist!]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Vote for Helen Jenkins in SPOTY Wales]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9401.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[There may be a distinct lack of women on the BBC&#039;s main Sports Personality of the Year shortlist which has caused more than a few ripples but we&#039;ve just found out that Helen Jenkins is one of five shortlisted for BBC Wales SPOTY 2011. I wonder if we can really give her an honour she richly deserves? Voting opened on Monday 5th December 2011 and will close at 1800 GMT on Saturday 10th December 2011. Please note that votes will not count after this time, although you may still be charged for the call / text. You find the voting information here.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[An evening with Rachel Joyce]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9398.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Tri247 had a pleasant evening with ITU World Long Course Champion Rachel Joyce, kindly organised by Steve Trew. We will be looking to put some of the video from the night up over the next few weeks but as a quick taster, Rachel told us about her plans for 2012 and a big move.

]]></description></item></channel></rss>
