Since my first proper races in late March/early April I have been racing weekly as planned, with not necessarily spectacular results, but at least consistent, and I’m holding my own against riders with far quicker bikes. I raced in the Finsbury Park CC Spoco 10 which is a very hilly course, very technical, with tight turns and very much enjoyable in being so. I finished 20th out of 34.

The following weekend was the Team MK 10 on a far faster, flatter course, an ‘out and back’ where you travel out to a roundabout at the 5 mile halfway mark and just turn to come back. My club had been involved in an event the weekend before, so I had an idea of the times possible and was hoping to better my PB of 24:54. However on the day there turned out to be a headwind on the return, so it would be a hard slog after the halfway point. This course (the F15/10) starts on a large hill, so it’s enormously satisfying being able to start and cruise down the hill at over 30mph. With the tailwind I was able to maintain this speed for a decent period of time after, I remember looking at my computer and being surprised that after 2 miles I was still averaging over 30mph. However, as soon as I turned the roundabout it was clear how strong the headwind was, there was nothing for it other than digging in and powering through it, whilst also trying to keep aero.

I was passed by my minute man soon after the turn but he never seemed to clear much distance from then on, he was clearly struggling with the wind too. I took solace in that I seemed to be digging in as hard as he was. My average speed gradually decreased, and thus I posted 25:01, just 7 seconds off my PB. Overall, I was happy, taking into account the conditions.

Over the next few weeks I am doing my first 25 mile TT’s, which require much more thought into pacing and coming through the end of the race strong. As a taster for this I did the ECCA Hilly 20 on a course only 5 miles from home, so it was on roads I know well. It has one long hilly drag, and a smaller one two thirds into the course, but it was far more rolling and pleasant than I was expecting with fast descents. It’s run on a 10 mile course which you traverse twice, which is handy to measure your pacing.

My plan was to take the first lap smoothly, holding back to make sure I had something left at the end, and give the second lap a push. I was off number 1, and I had a disconcerting start as the pusher off (who holds your bike) only turned up with 1 minute to go! I’ve never been number 1 to start before, but I’m sure it’s not part of your preparation to have to ask where the pusher is! The race itself was fine and I stuck to my pacing plan, and I was pleased to only be passed by one rider after 12 miles (who finished third), as I was expecting more over a longer race.

However, I learnt a lesson in keeping your race smooth round corners and keeping composed. I had a coming together with a verge on a tight bend, and then overshot a sharp turn trying to be clever with my brakes, which turned out to be very costly as I lost two places by just one second!!! I posted 52:37 to finish 14th out of 22, two riders just pipped me with 52:36. The rider who finish eleventh was only 12 seconds ahead. If only I had taken the course a bit smoother, and pushed slightly harder, I could have made up that gap. But still, it’s a lesson learnt and I’m still pleased with how I faired. I was the only rider on a road bike with clip-on tri bars, so I take comfort in the fact I am beating some, and only slightly behind others, on far quicker bikes. I’m looking forward to seeing how I do with the longer 25 mile distance, and how close I can get to the 1 hour magic time.

Hi, I’m Mark Threlfall and am a 25-year-old professional Triathlete. With the help of Zoot and ActivInstinct I’ve been able to put up (hopefully, the first of a few) blogs about UK racing, telling you a little about myself and my journey along the way.

Like most athletes I have always been ridiculously competitive; never happy with anything other than first. I remember as a kid my swimming coach decided my lane was too busy and shifted me up to the older boy’s lane. I always had to be the fastest in the lane and I wasn’t going to let these guys change that fact, even if they were twice my size. Still, I managed anyway, and it was probably the start of everything for me really. I was scouted for an elite swim squad, medalled at Nationals and thought my future was in Swimming.

Now, here today, I find myself with two more sports thrown in wondering how it happened.

Well, I had always done Cross Country at school and placed well at Counties, but never actually done a run session, or even a run for that matter! I was so focussed on my swimming that I ignored people’s suggestions to give running a go. Oddly it took a bad stint of over-training for me to consider triathlon.

After a long break to get myself back healthy I struggled to hit my times in the pool again. It was so demoralising, and I started to hate everything about swimming. I had put so much time and effort in to the sport so I couldn’t just let myself bin it. I finally listened to those suggestions and gave a triathlon a go. It was insane and even re-kindled my love for swimming too!

I was quickly put on to the British Triathlon World Class Performance Squad and racing elite internationally. I moved to Loughborough to study Industrial Design whilst training with the British Triathlon Performance Squad. It was a tough few years juggling study and sport, but I still bagged some pretty decent results considering…and passed my degree, which helps I guess! With university out of the way I wanted to see what I could do when I put all time into triathlon. However, this time I wanted to play to my strengths, and so moved across to long distance racing.

My first Ironman 70.3 was in South Africa and I placed 4th. I then got my first Ironman 70.3 podium, with a 3rd, a few months later on home soil in the UK.

I had a less than ideal start to this year with a broken collarbone, after getting a little carried away on a downhill mountain bike trail, but I’m back in the game now though, in great shape, and ready to race!

I’d encourage anyone unsure about triathlon to give it a go – I didn’t even give it a second thought, and now it’s my job, and a job I absolutely love.

Hopefully, I’ll see you again soon, so look out for more of my posts. Seeya!!

IF A TEAM SKY RIDER WINS THE TOUR DE FRANCE, GATORADE WILL REFUND ALL PURCHASES OF THEIR PRODUCTS MADE BEFORE 29TH JUNE 2013.

In 2012 Gatorade fuelled Team Sky to success in the Tour de France. This year, if any Team Sky rider wins again, they’ll be celebrating by giving their customers their money back. All you have to do is:

1. Buy any Gatorade product* from ActivInstinct – www.activinstinct.co.uk – between 20th April and 29th June 2013

2. Register your purchase at www.gatorade.co.uk within 14 days.

3. You’ll then receive a purchase registration certificate via email.

4. Then, if a Team Sky rider wins the Tour, send your receipt of purchase and certificate to Gatorade, If We Win, You Win, PO BOX 133, Uckfield TN22 1HH within 21 days of the winning ceremony and Gatorade will refund your money.

For terms and conditions and to register your purchase, click here.

*Offer excludes Gatorade G Series Elite Packages and G Series Pro Packages.

So a little while back, well last February to be precise, we ran a competition here at ActivInstinct to win tickets to the Yonex All England Badminton Open at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. Those lucky few turned out to be Eileen Teo and Chen Fird Cheng (tip of the cap to them both), and so they, along with their families, headed off to Birmingham to see Long Chen’s 21-17, 21-18 win over Chong Wei Lee in the men’s final.

Now, to win the same amazing prize again, there is the small matter of waiting until next year, so at ActivInstinct HQ we thought it might be an idea to hold another Yonex competition sooner rather than later, but this time with the chance of winning a load of Yonex kit.

To wrap up the tournament, our friends at Yonex have given us a goodie bag, worth around £300 no less, fully loaded with some of their high-end equipment; just the type of stuff you need to take your game to the next level.

The bag includes a YONEX ArcSaber 11 racket, loaded with Cup-Stack Carbon Nanotube technology and strung with high repulsion BG-65 Ti strings, for more powerful shots while increasing the control of the shuttle.

Then there are the YONEX SHB-01MX shoes, made from a newly-developed material that provides 3% more gripping power and is 20% lighter than standard material. Of course we’ll give you the Yonex Pro Badminton Backpack so that you can bring on court all the stuff you need (and even the stuff you don’t).

Then, to top it all off, there is an exclusive t-shirt from the All England Badminton 2013 competition that’s been added.

Of course, all this now means that there are no excuses not to perform well on court. With these brand new goodies, your training sessions, and matches, should be a lot enjoyable, a lot more effective and a lot easier!

To enter the competition, all you have to do is to click the link: http://woobox.com/a6szec

From all of us here up in ActivInstinct towers, we wish you a large slice of luck and hopefully some success along the way!