Josh Holman is a #TeamRutland Ambassador and GB Age Group Triathlete. Find out more about Josh >
The Championship was held on the 3rd June 2018 at the incredible X-Bionic Sphere,a multi sport complex in Samorin, Slovakia. The race was a Middle Distance Triathlon consisting of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and 13.1 mile run. In order to qualify, Age groupers were required to submit a top 6 finish at any Challenge event during the qualifying period, which meant that those attending the race had earned the right to be there.
I arrived a couple of days ahead of the race in order complete my registration, have a look around the course and most importantly, meet my fellow competitors! On race day, the start time was slightly later than normal at 10:00am which meant I could afford to sleep in a little while longer, eventually rolling out of my hotel bed at 06.30am. First things first, COFFEE! Having spent the last 36 hours without caffeine I was excited for my first brew of the day! Followed closely by two pieces of toast with jam, a bowl of muesli and a banana.
We left the hotel to head down to the venue at just after 07.30am and I arrived in transition for 08.30am to go through the normal pre race checks, which usually involves a lot of standing around staring at your bike until you can find something to fiddle with. Bags racked and out of transition by 09:00am, the temperature was already in the mid 20’s so I went to find some shade and started to go through some stretches and think about my strategy for the race.
The Swim
The professional athletes set off first, with the men going off at 09:00am and the women 10 minutes later. It was great to see the start of what turned out to be some truly epic battles and I was pumped heading down to the start line.
Entering the water it was pretty obvious that it was going to be a rough swim. The wind was picking up and the currents were strong! The first leg of the swim was a constant battle with the waves, smashing you in the face every time you went for a breath, but despite this I felt good and found myself making decent progress, although I was all on my own chasing a handful of guys just in front of me. I exited the water in 29:23 which I was pretty happy about, considering the very chopping conditions and in comparison to Richard Varga who came out of the water in 24:42 and we all know just how fast that dude is!!!
T1 was a super long transition, exiting the water, running down the steps and over the bridge to find your swim to bike bag. This took roughly 2 minutes to reach and then another couple of minutes to change, grab my bike and get to the mount line. Once I was on the bike though it was all about getting my head down and riding hard!
The Ride
The bike course was pretty much a straight out and back except a small section along the river bank. We had a nice little tail wind on the way down so it was important to capitalise on that, knowing it was going to be a battle on the way home! Other than missing a turn by 100m and having to come back due to some poor marshalling, the bike leg was super fun, but equally challenging with the head wind coming back into transition. I managed to average just over 25mph (40kph) over the 56 miles and finished the course in 2:13:34 which I was over the moon about, although I know I’ve got more in the tank. But this is a big PB for me which shows that all of the hard training sessions in the pain cave have been worth it!
I also believe that my Giant Trinity Advanced Pro 0, complete with Zipp 303 on the front and Zipp 404 on the back, provided me with a great set up to launch an attack on the flat course. This was my first time using a deep section set of wheels and boy did I feel the difference. Initially you can feel the aero drag benefits as you slice through the air, then as you build speed you start to notice that even in crosswinds, they are easy to handle and remain composed whether going in a straight line or diving through the corners!
Giant Trinity Advanced Pro 0
Josh is racing the 2017 model of the Trinity Advanced Pro 0. Engineered using Computational Fluid Dynamics and dynamic wind-tunnel testing, the Trinity delivers supreme aerodynamic performance in a race-ready package. Made for real-world triathlon performance, it offers a comfortable fit for long distance training and racing. And its unique AeroVault system includes an integrated front hydration unit, top tube storage box and downtube water bottle that, together, actually improve the bike’s aero performance on the road.
- Frame - Advanced-Grade Carbon Composite
- Fork - Advanced-Grade Carbon Composite w/Alloy OverDrive Steerer
- Drivetrain - SRAM Red eTap 2x11 Speed
- Brakes - Giant SpeedControl SL Calliper
Into T2 with another pretty long transition, I racked my bike, located my bike to run bag and set off on the 13.1 mile course. At this point it was nearly 1 o’clock in the afternoon and the temperature was up to 28 degrees with very little clouds in the sky… I knew this was going to hurt!
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The Run
It was a 3 lap run course over a mixed terrain or grass, sand and tarmac. After the first lap I was flying, knocking out fairly consistent 6 minute miles. I knew that I was in a pretty good position because I passed a lot of people on the bike and was only passed by one other. But not knowing exactly where I was and who I was running down made it difficult for me to push on, so in the end I just tried to focus on my race and keep putting one foot in front of the other. The run course was great because you could really interact with the crowd, and having my girlfriend there was even better because every time I ran past her it would give me the boost I needed to keep moving! Heading into the last lap I did my best to push the pace and I was still going past people all of the time, although with the course full of age groupers it was hard to know exactly who you were passing.
When I made the last turn to come down the finishers straight I heard the commentator come over the tannoy, he called my name and to my excitement announced that I was about to cross the finish line in 2nd place! Wow what a feeling! I completed the run course in 1:19:12 which gave me an overall time of 4:08:54 and a PB by over 8 minutes. I was over the moon to walk away with a silver medal in my age category and 6th Age Grouper overall and I’m even more motivated to keep working hard to get better and better. I’ve got 5 more weeks until the ITU Worlds in Denmark and I’ve got my eyes on another podium place! Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me this far, Your messages and comments mean more than you could know!
Josh Holman
Instagram: ironman.josh
Twitter: Ironman_Josh
I am an amateur triathlete and Team GB Age Grouper in Long Distance Triathlon. I first embarked on my triathlon journey back in July 2016 where I completed my first and only triathlon at the time, Ironman UK. Having totally fallen in love with the sport, I have not looked back since, completing a further two Long Distance triathlons and a number of Olympic Distance triathlons.
During this time I have represented my country at the European Long Distance Championships, taken part in a few crazy cycle rides, the most famous being the ‘Cambridge Pork Pie Ride’ to Melton Mowbray and back, and also a number of marathons, most recently the iconic London Marathon, all whilst trying to share my passion and inspire as many people as possible along the way.
My goal for this year is quite simple. Strive for progression every single day and enjoy the process! I have recently PB’d at the London Marathon in a time of 2:42:20 and my next race is the Grafman Middle Distance Triathlon on 20th May, followed by Challenge Samorin-Slovakia 70.3 on the 3rd June and then the ITU Fyn World Long Distance Championships in Denmark on the 14th July. I will then need to sit down with my coach and discuss what races I will do in the second half of the year, but for now, I am excited, motivated and looking forward to pushing myself to the limits.
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