FIRING PAST FRODENO?
Charles-Barclay is nothing if not ambitious. Striding past Jan Frodeno’s 7:35:39 at Challenge Roth in 2016 is a huge ask and would lop 43 minutes off Chrissie’s official world record. But it’s a measure of the confidence coursing through the south-east athlete’s veins. And is it that far-fetched for an athlete who only learned to ride a bike in 2014? Who turned professional just two years after? Who finished second at Ironman Hawaii 12 months later? Maybe. What’s clearer is that nemesis Daniela Ryf was asked first but declined. Charles-Barclay was happy to be promoted from bridesmaid, and is looking forward to working with – and against – 2012 Olympic champ Spirig. “We can interchange tactics and I’m sure there’ll be a lot of interaction through this process to try and make it [breaking eight hours] happen. But both of us will want to keep a weapon or two back. There’s still that competitive element.” A competitive element that, through the barren Covid period, has if not flourished been cultivated with indoor racing. Back in April 2020, CharlesBarclay started competing in the Zwiftfuelled Pro Tri Series, her opening salvo resulting in second behind Flora Duffy. Fast-forward to February this year and she’s still at it, securing victory in race one of this year’s series. Ultimately, CharlesBarclay would take second overall in the 2021 series behind Meredith Kessler – a fine effort considering the much-reduced distances compared to her iron norm. Though perhaps her indoor aptitude’s hardly surprising. The Team CharlesBarclay YouTube channel’s up to 42,000 subscribers. One of the most alluring insights into the life of Lucy and Reece is their decorated pain cave, which is arguably the world’s greatest home gym. It’s where the couple spent much of their training time before Covid. Since, it’s been a second home. Traditional treadmill, Woodway treadmill, indoor trainers, a Red Bull fridge, weights, physio creams, Swiss balls, screens for Zwift, mood-setting lighting depending on session intensity,