Jon Bond selected for Team GB long course world championships 2013.

I'm excited to announce that iv been selected to race for team GB this year not only at the ITU world long course champs which is 4km swim 120km bike and 30km run in France in June.
But also at the ETU world middle distance championships in Barcelona in May.

I'm currently reaching out to ask all friends,family,current sponsors and potential new ones to help me with kit and expenses to be able to represent our country.

Thanks for reading people,keep your eyes open for my next blog.

JB

Sponsors for 2013

Id like to say a huge thanks to those sponsors who have already offered there help into 2013.

Ionic balance.
A1 multi sport.
Larkfield cycles.
Solo supplements.
Pro health therapy rooms.


I'd also like to thank all my sponsors for there help this season.

New sponsors

Id just like to send my thanks out to Tony at A1 multisport and Tony at Larkfield cycles for there help and wealth of knowledge with all my kit getting me ready for the 70.3 world champs in Vegas.
http://larkfieldcycles.co.uk/
http://www.a1multisport.co.uk/

Thanks guys all your help has been invaluable.

Countdown to the world 70.3 championships

With just 5 weeks to go until the biggest race of my career the countdown has begun.
I'm just begining  my final 4 week training block before the taper for the world 70.3 champs in Las Vegas.

I will be flying alone to Vegas on the 1 September to prepare and aclimatise for the race on the 9th.
My local bike shop Larkfield cycles have very kindly semi sponsored me with a brand new Trek speed concept 9.9 frameset, I've recently built this up with full Di2 electronic groupset. 

As the weather has been so nice recently I've been doing all my training on my new bike to get it set up and exactly how I want it. Over the past week I've managed to clock up over 700km which has given me plenty of time for tweaks and adjustments, the bike is almost ready now for Vegas.

I've been doing some non wetsuit swims recently and only been about 1 minute slower than with a wetsuit, which has given me a massive confidence boost as Vegas is a compulsory non wet suit swim.

Thanks Tim at Compressport

I would like to say a massive thank you to Compressport UK for my race and recovery products for this season. Have already put them to good use in my training and looking forward to using them at my first race of 2012, Marshman 70.3 http://www.velocity-events.co.uk/marshman-and-mini-marshman/marshman/

Race Results the Wind farmer sprint distance Triathlon.

On Sunday the 25th of September i decided to take part in the Wind farmer sprint distance triathlon. The basis of this race was for me to realise and understand how much a single threshold test actually takes it out of your body and learn how much recovery my body actually needs to perform 100% on race day - a few lessons have been learn't here.

My coach had given me strict power figures to stick to and i was going to do just that, as this was a C cat race for me, purely training and knowledge building. My figure was 255-265 Watts.

The day started bright and sunny and it all looked set to be a great race. As the gun went and the swim got underway i soon realised i wasn't in shape and soon got pushed to the back of the main pack.

As bodies struggled to climb over me my goggles got removed and my nose clip lost.

This made things interesting for me so i turned onto my back and recovered the best i could and continued with my swim. With all my efforts the damage was done and i knew it, i had no choice but to get to transition and hope my legs were able to get the bike moving.

My T1 went very smoothly in little over 1 minute, i now knew i had a huge game of catch up to play.

Out on the bike i got hydrated and concentrated on my target Wattage (255-265). For the first few km's my legs felt sluggish and i knew how empty my tank really was, as i passed each bike i counted until i guessed i was 12th on the road.

As we came to the half way point i decided to try and close the gap on the next bike. It was clear to see the faster swimmers where now getting tired on the bike and i managed to gain another 5 places which i guessed put me in 7th. I was happy to sit there and recover for the final few km's and get ready for the run.

As i flew into T2, legs spinning at over 120 rpm, i lost a shoe which cost me vital seconds at the dismount line, another lesson learn't !!!.

Now it was my turn to try and turn this race around, i set off on the run very calmly knowing i was capable of moving up through the guys ahead of me.

The plan here was a negative split over the 6km loop. After the first km i saw the next guy, i stayed within my HR zone and hunted him down.... finally 6th place. As i approached the water station the marshals informed me i was close behind the next guy. As the watch struck 2km i knew it was almost time to turn on the running legs and get this negative split...... BEEP BEEP 3 km had passed and now it was time to pickup the pace and find my 5th place.

Before long i was steadily approaching and passing the guy i had been chasing in 5th place, with less than 1.5km to go i picked the pace up as much as the HR zone would allow and went in search of 4th.... 4th place crossed the line 100 yards before me and i run in just behind him.

As the swim had been so eventful i didn't have a clue how well or badly i had done.

I had managed to get:

1st in Age group.

2nd fastest bike.

3rd fastest run.

4th overall.

What a result all things considered a great training event.

Thanks to my coach Ben Ward for teaching me such a valuable lesson.

A bit of history :)

How I became to be a triathlete.

My plan for 2012 is to train and race full time at middle distance triathlon. 

I am quite a newcomer to the tri scene and realise there are aspects I need to improve on,  mainly the swim!!!

To date I've raced 5 duathlons. The biggest which was my first race was the London Duathlon in Richmond park, this being the worlds largest duathlon. Having only owned a bike for 5 months, I set about my training and went to the event with a hope of finishing in the top 100.

When I read the official results and found I had finished 16th overall, I was seriously shocked.

This result got me thinking...... And so over the winter I spent many long hours out on the bike and running trying to improve my transition times and off the bike run times.

When the new year arrived I signed up to the Winter Duathlon series at Dorney lake. These races consisted of 5k run 20k bike 5k run.

My results were:

                         First round 8th overall.

                         Second round 7th overall. 

                         Third round    6th overall.

As the year progressed I decided that I was getting fitter and faster by breaking my training  down into 3  disciplines being - running, cycling and swimming. This gave me another plan....Triathlon....

I entered my first sprint distance Tri and after a hopeless swim managed to pull a large amount of time back on the bike and set a blisteringly fast 5k run time. This got me my first Tri finish of 25th.

Next on my list was a Mass start open water swim, here once again I didn't exit the water with any fast times but once again showed that my bike and run skills could  carry me to the finish in a respectable time. I finished this race 12th overall.

So as you can see I've now got the Bug and am enjoying this kind of racing. 

During February I was lucky enough to meet 2 X Iron man Lanzarote winner Estonian born Ain-Alar Juhanson, I worked with him at the TCR show at Sandown race course. He invited me to his home town to race  the Tri-Star Estonia111 middle distance Triathlon.

I took this offer very seriously and  begun my 6 month training plan. I will be honest - it had its up's and down's but overall I enjoyed the longer rides and runs.

On the Friday 5th August my 29th birthday there was a charity 5k race which I decided to enter as it was for many great causes. To my shock I crossed the line first, feeling 100% fresh and ready for my first long distance Tri.

As Sunday approached I began getting all my kit ready, with lots of help from a good friend Ben Ward, who has done this long distance racing for many years. He helped to calm my nerves, get me ready and reassure me I would be fine.

As I'm sure you will know by now my swim wasn't the best but I was far from last. The race for me begun when I exited the water in a little over 20 minutes. T1 went very smoothly in little over a minute and I was out on the rolling roads of Estonia, the bike course was far from flat but I enjoyed the 100k loop and entered T2 with a bike time of 2:41. As I left T2 I followed the advice my friend and coach had given me: start slow and finish strong. 

The run was a 10k which was also far from flat, but I managed a time of 40:40, very impressive after 101k of racing.

Its wasn't until the awards evening and my name being called did it actually sink in that my first race went very well, I managed 40th overall and 3rd in my Age group claiming Bronze.

testing

                                                                 TriStar Estonia 111

On the 7th of August 2011 I raced my first “long-distance” triathlon. It took place in the most wonderful northern country – Estonia. The weekend was full of different races (5 km charity run - which I won - 11.1 km and 33.3 km triathlons) and social activities (concerts, auctions etc). All in all, I had great time!

My race was 1 km swimming, 100 km cycling and 10 km running, which all took place around Otepää, so-called winter-capital of Estonia.

Racked and ready for my first race.

The uphill aid station.



First race and on the podium 3rd in Age Group.

111k of Triathlon finally finished..



Still smiling after 101k

me, Ben and Dan - team Solo