MASTER THE GRAFMAN
2016 victor Michael M Birchmore shares his course-busting tips for Cambbridgeshire’s popular middle-distance race…
Now in its fifth year, the family-run Grafman started life as a double-race event alongside a standard distance (which is now run separately and this year takes place on 6 August). As a single event, the Grafman made its mark on the UK calendar in 2016 when it was chosen to host the British National Middle Distance Champs.
The race has also won multiple awards from English Triathlon, including best commercial event in 2014 and 2016, which is understandable given the accessible entry fee of just £100.
Key people to have raced the Grafham Water course include the fastest woman out of the water in Kona 2015, Lucy Charles, who regularly takes part, and her top-end triathlete partner, Reece Barclay. And here to provide coursebusting tips for all future competitors is last year’s victor, Michael Birchmore…
1 SWIM
The swim is a two-loop course with an Australian exit in Grafham Water Reservoir, which makes great viewing for friends and family. With an early start the sun can be low, which makes it hard to see the buoys so make sure you familiarise yourself with the course the day before. Many races don’t incorporate the Australian exit, so make sure in training that you practise going from the swim to run to swim phase, as this will really spike the heart rate. The run to T1 is short, too, so make sure you’ve nailed getting the top half of your wetsuit down so that when you hit your spot in transition you’re ready to get the rest of your suit off and bike gear on.
2 BIKE
The bike course is flat and quick with plenty of long sections so you can see competitors up the road. Nail your TT position and make sure you’re comfortable as you’ll be on the bars a lot during the 56 miles. This is a course for the gear nerds, so dust off those speed-suits, aero helmets and disc wheels.
3 RUN
You run across the dam, grass and trail during the two-loop course, so make sure your trainers have a bit of grip. It’s a flat, quick course but on a hot day there can be a lot of flies on the dam so be prepared – wear sunglasses!
4 TRAINING
Because it’s a relatively flat course, you’ll need to be able to hold your threshold level as you’ll spend a lot of time at that power/heart rate; you won’t get the spikes as you would on hilly courses. With my home county of Cornwall being so hilly, I did lots of indoor Wattbike and treadmill sessions in the build-up.
5 NUTRITION
As with any middle-distance triathlon, your success or failure will also come down to how you fuel for the race. Follow the age-old rule – don’t try anything new on race day and stick to what you know works – and you can’t go too far wrong. The back lanes on the run can be warm with little breeze so stay well hydrated on the bike. Make use of the aid stations during the race.
This is a great event and really well organised by the team at NiceTri Events. Train hard and prepare for the race but the most important thing is to go out there and enjoy it – and hopefully smash some PBs in the process.