by Alasdair Hall

[Editor's note: We continue our series on Endurance Corner team members living in areas away from the traditional triathlon hotbeds. Today, Alasdair Hall tells us about the island of Jersey, located in the English Channel.]

Writing a short piece about Jersey is a privilege as the island is a fantastic island to live and train in, although it does take an occasional trip away to recover from "rock fever" and remember that the grass isn’t always greener somewhere else.

Jersey is a small island situated in the English Channel about 14 miles from France. The island itself is just 9 x 5 miles with about 450 miles of roads and country lanes and an island wide max speed limit of 40mph. The population is around 90,000 with an economy heavily dependent on the off-shore finance industry. The weather is slightly warmer than the UK with summer temps getting up to 30°C and the winter down to around 0°C with plenty of rain, wind and occasional snow.

The island has a long history of triathlon with the local club starting up in 1985. Two of the more current successful members are pros Nick Saunders (multiple top 5 ironman finisher) and Dan Halksworth (just joined Team TBB and racing HIMs). The age groupers are also very successful with notable Kona slots. The Jersey Tri Club has a varied race program throughout the year starting with a winter duathlon series followed in June with a sprint tri and the main Olympic Tri in September attracting competitors from France and the UK. The club encourages novices with a short course novice only tri in May and they also have a thriving junior section. Our neighboring island, Guernsey, also runs a race series that includes the biennial HIM, the Granite Man, in September.

This article comes more from a novices point of view rather than a top age grouper as I only took up triathlon a couple of years ago having played a good standard of field hockey and I’m still making the transition. Having started with the Jersey novice tri I then worked up to olympic distance. Once I’d completed a few of these I realized that I needed a more disciplined and knowledgeable approach to training. I did some research and then approached Gordo to gain the help and advice needed to move up to middle and long distance. Over the last year I’ve found EC indispensable in providing structured training that also educates and supports through the forum. Coming from a small island this has been a huge help in connecting me with a much wider community.

The island provides a great base for training with two 25m pools, a 400m running track, plenty of off-road places to run and a good network of roads to cycle, varying from relatively flat to the North Coast with its short, sharp hills not to mention fantastic beaches for open water swims and recovery surfs. Training for long course can be monotonous with a round the island cycle only taking a couple of hours so you get a bit bored passing the same Jersey cow time and again.

All the facilities are close at hand with only a 20 minute drive between work, home, pool and gym meaning you can get a morning and evening training session in fairly easily, although as I work 8-5 the longer bike sessions are best left to the weekend. The only problem with the swimming pool is the limited lane opening times giving rise to crowded lanes with varying swim speeds which can be a hassle when trying to complete a specific set.

The local race series provides a good option, although a lot of the triathletes race overseas with the accompanying travel costs. There are a few olympic distance tris close by in France and the London Tri is only a short flight away. The European IMs and HIMs are also popular.

Overall, Jersey is a great place for training given its weather, facilities, varied terrain, and community, the only thing missing is the lack of elevation and long, steady hills.