If all had gone to plan I’d hope to be racing at the World Paratriathlon Championships in Chicago this month. Having punctured at the selection event in May that didn’t work out, and since then it’s been hard getting race starts at the World Paratriathlon Events given the focus on Paralympic category athletes ahead of Rio 2016.

Despite that, Iain Robertson and raced at World events in London and Italy scoring 3rd and 2nd, which was great. Added to this, I had the opportunity to race in Edmonton this weekend. Whilst it would have been nice to go to Canada, I just couldn’t justify the huge cost for me and a guide (Probably £3k+).  Sure I could have scored some more points and moved up the World Rankings, but to what end?

It’s not like Rio is on the horizon anymore and it looks like Britain isn’t that keen to send anyone in my category to the European or World Champs, so what’s the point?

We’ll see what happens next year, but I suspect things won’t change until after the Rio Paralympics…

So, to give me something to focus on I’ve come up with a fun end of season schedule. It’s a mix of Triathlon, Cycling and Running with some major challenges scheduled. This includes: –

6th Sept – Autumn Waveney Tri: A local supersprint event organised by Tri-Anglia and my last multi-sport event this year. I was 7th in May’s version, so how high can I finish? Looks like it’s now going to be a Duathlon due to problems with the pool which might dent my chances a bit, but always a great event regardless!

27th Sept – Duo Normand: This is a big international time trial held over 54km on the roads of Normandy, France. Most ride it as a 2-up (2 solo cyclists working together) with Professional, club, corporate and ‘handisports’ categories as well as a tandem section. David McGaw (a Strong TT rider from Cambridge CC) will be piloting the tandem following some training together over recent weeks. I’ve always wanted to do this event, so can’t wait!

4th October – Paracycling National TT Champs: Another cycling time trial, this time in Nottinghamshire, UK. Again David McGaw will be piloting and it will be interesting to see how we come up against the GB pairings currently racing internationally!

11th October – Royal Parks Half Marathon: I’m running this 13.1mile event starting in Hyde Park for Fight for Sight who undertake research into various eye conditions. Might not of done a lot of specific training for it, but it should be a great way to finish the season!

Full calendar is here.

Iain