Just found this.

I found this pic out for someone the other day and thought I'd share my worst ever Triathlon moment with you all.

Perranporth Triathlon 2004, otherwise known as "The last time I thought I was going to die". The picture looks scary, the reality was even worse. Getting out of the water and seeing a group of your clubmates standing on the beach cheering because they'd quit the swim/had more sense was a sobering sight, especially when some of them are far better sea swimmers than you.

Nasty nasty day!! Funny to look back though. It'll never be forgotten.

This is SUPPOSED to be summer!!

What the hell's going on with the weather? When the hell did the UK turn into the Amazon Rain Forest. It's just rain, rain, rain and more rain. Damn it's annoying. I want to go out and train - honest, but it's just so easy to give it up when all you can see when you open the door is a flaming monsoon coming down. I'm supposed to cycle tonight, I won't (!!!) and I won't replace it with a turbo because I'm just to lazy (and tired). I really do need to sort that attitude out but it's hard when you're never manage a regular sleep pattern and feel constantly drained.

There's talk ongoing that I may well be getting a coach to kick my backside over the next 4 months in the lead up to Florida. More will follow when I know exactly what's happening but it will be a less structured approach than most folks have with their coaches. My situation is more in need of someone who can help me put together what I've got without me blowing my bolt rather than someone who'll guide me every step of the way. I can swim, bike and run well enough but my pb is a good 90mins slower than it should be, that's where and why I need sorting out.

The last week of training has been very patchy. I gave my miracle leg a good testing run over Braunton Burrows with Rosie on Friday and followed it up with a good multi-stroke Squad swim session. The plan for the weekend was to get in (at some point) a 4hr bike and a 2hr run but Saturday was just a total washout and I hardly moved from the house all day. I managed to find a 4h30m gap in the weekends downpours to get my bike ride in which was a bonus, especially as it threw it down about 10mins after I returned home.

On Monday I finished work feeling trashed and just wanting to sleep, I'd recieved an email off my possible/future coach/glutton for punishment and it gave me a bit of a boost. I headed out of the house with Rosie for a small 3 mile run and came back 7 miles later. Last night was very similar to Monday but I finally dragged myself out of the house and down to my running club where I proceeded to run a real solid 8 miles with plenty of working on the hills. Probably the most complete run I've done for a long time.

Tonight nothing will drag me out though which isn't good because I'm working away tomorrow (starting at 3am) and although I'll have some training gear with me I know that on those 15hr working days I really struggle to get anything done.

This weekend though, business picks up - I promise!!!

Challenge Roth is on this weekend and my old buddy Kit (Firestarter) is gunning for a sub 9hr finish. He's flying this year, he's even beaten me (amazing :-) ) and recently set a new Age Group course record for the IMUK 70.3 race at Wimbleball which is a real tough course. Go get em Fat Boy. Make sure you set a time that I'm going to have to work hard to beat in Florida.

One of my clubmates has made a youtube video of the recent race we did at Bude, Cornwall. Don't ask who the fool is who loses his place in T2. After 15 years in Tri you'd think I'd have learnt by now.

I love my body!!!!!!!!!

Well the title's a bit brave and needs an explanation but it's very true.

I'm afraid that I'll never have the sort of body that sends the girlies a quiver, you'll never see the likes of me gracing any macho health magazine and when the sun comes out I turn into a radish. So why is my body so great? Well here's a bit of history.

I've been doing this sport for longer than I care to remember, somewhere around 15years I think. I can't remember what year I started, I can't remember my first race, I can't remember my first prize. I'm a bit slack like that. Before I found Tri I'd had a few years of casual running, nothing special, I wasn't quick.

So what's this got to do with my body being so great? Well, in my 15 or so years of Triathlon I've consistantly done everything wrong. I don't warm up, I don't warm down, I NEVER stretch and yet I've never had an injury!!!!!

Sure I've had niggles and I had to have 3months out once when I wrecked my back digging a pond in my back garden but I've never had a 'proper' sporting injury........ ever!!!

Then came Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!

A 40mile bike ride to a race followed by a 500m sea swim/10mile bike/5k run triathlon. I cramped terribly in my quads on the run yet they've given me no problems since. I had a tiny twinge in my hamstring at T1 and it causes trauma! Ok for the rest of Sunday I woke up on Monday unable to straighten my leg and in agony. Tuesday was the same and I was hobbling all over the place at work. Wednesday was hardly any better either. Long spells sitting on my backside driving means a torture session when I try to prise myself out of my seat.

Then............

I wake up Thursday morning and it's gone!!!! Simple as that! No pain, no stiffness, nothing. Amazing.

Sure there's something there. I can feel something that seems to be just hanging around watching to make sure that I don't try any stupid track sprint sesions for a while, but basically the problem has simply disappeared. It felt serious too, I was very close to calling a physio, it felt as though it was set in for the long term and I'd finally picked up the big injury that was going to scupper my Ironman plans.

Tonight though I ran 7miles off road at 7min/mile pace quite comfortably. I followed that up with a squad swim which included efforts in all 4 stroke. If anything is likely to play up my hamstring it'll be breaststroke kick, but no. So far so good.

Well, that's about it realy for now.

Enjoy the training .

I LOVE MY BODY - IT'S AMAZING!!!!!!!

PS - I've found my dream bike (P3C) at a rediculous price............ To good to be true?? Am I brave enough to go take a look.

Ahhhh Balls!!

Just as things finally seem to be happening there's a problem - grrrrr!!!!!

Training actually went pretty well last week. It wasn't the longest week in the world but I managed 2 x 20mile bike rides (Monday & Wednesday) and 2 x 40mile bike rides (Saturday and Sunday) with Sundays hilly and windy ride to Bude followed by a Sprint Triathon. The Triathlon is where the problems started though.
It's a long time since I've done a bike heavy week and although the distances weren't great it was a good solid start to biking fitness and I was happy with it. The Monday ride was a Time Trial with tired legs in which I wasn't too far off last years pace and Sundays ride was a Point to Point with a constant headwind and close to 2,300ft of climbing.
So onto the race .......

Bude Sprint Triathlon 2008 - 500m sea swim/10.5mile bike/5k run.

The swim was a real bun fight. The biggest swim scrap I'd been in for a long time. There were tales after the race about how we were funnelled through a small gap inbetween some boats and how a wave caught a bouy and moved it about 10ft just as we all got to it, I never pay to much attention to my surroundings though and can't really comment on any of it. All I know is that I got puched a lot. It seemed to take a long while to escape the pounding but soon we were turning the bouy and heading in which (as always) meant I was catching and passing people with the added benefit of a bit of bodysurfing as the breakers came in. The swim out was hard work, the swim back was great fun

Out of the water and onto the beach I could see a couple of my clubmates around me (we made up 10% of the field so it wasn't hard) who are about my swim standard so I was relatively happy, as we ran up the beach towards T1 I ran past them while trying, trying and trying again to unzip my wetsuit. Both clubmates had put their bikes in prime slots and were soon out on the road, I'd been a bit more casual with my racking choice as I'd ridden down and wasn't expecting great things, then as I removed my wetsuit fully there was a near disaster. While trying to get my wetsuit over my sizeable feet I felt a small cramp like twinge in my right Hamstring. Immediately I stopped what I was doing and thankfully the cramping subsided just as quickly.

Finally out onto the bike and my clubmates were out of sight and well on their way, I didn't feel that I could go chasing them because a) I'd already done 40 hard miles and b) I was mindful that the cramp I'd just had could return at any time. I decided that the steady option was the way to go, having said that though I'd left T1 in a small group of 3 and the others were soon dropped as I 'steadily' headed off in search on my clubmate prey. Around halfway up the bike courses main climb I caught and passed the first of my clubmates. The rest of the ride was a lonely affair as the other one who exited the water with us was taking time out of me but one of the lads who'd swam faster than us slowly came into sight.

After a couple of traffic problems near the end of the bike section I made it to T2 only to spend what seemed like an age looking around for my transition spot (idiot). Finally I found my trainers and got myself sorted for the run, now it was time to make up some places. The closest person to me was my clubs speedy swimmer who was leaving T2 as I entered which meant that he was a good way ahead and I'd only got 5k to run him down.

I ran out of T2 like a man on a mission, it starts with a good small but sharp climb and I flew up it, that's followed by a small run through the town where we'd pass loads of supporters as we head out to the canal. I hit the canal hard and I couldn't have been happier, I was flying. Not only had I already almost run down my clubs swimmer but there were two other people in sight and moving a lot slower than I was - happy days. Next target was my Tri clubs lead man, he was quickly dispensed with and I could now relax safe in the knowledge that all I had to do was run people down and that nobody from my club was likely to catch me.


By the time we exited the canal I'd cut the next runners lead in half and we'd got a real biatch of a hill to climb, he was mine for the taking............. or so I thought!!! As soon as I hit the hill BANG!! My quads just exploded with cramps, both together. I stopped so suddenly that I nearly fell over, I gave them a quick rub and the cramping seemed to subside a bit so I started running again, not catching the lad in front wasn't a problem I just needed to cruise in and finish first in my club. BANG!! There they went again and my language turned blue, I looked down the hill just as the first of my clubmates came around the corner - balls!


That was it really. I ran a bit, cramped a bit, jogged some more, cramped some more and slowly drifted further and further back through the field (no idea how far, there's no results yet). Ah well, these things happen I suppose. I put it all down to experience and hobbled back to the finish line where I rejoined my clubmates and we all went out for a feed (which was great).

Now is where I have my problem though........ My quads which spent the last 2k of the run constantly cramping are fine. My hamstring though which had a tiny little spasm as I removed my wetsuit feels totally wrecked and is causing PAIN! I managed a steady 40min run with the dog last night without anything snapping but it's struggle to straighten my leg at the moment. I'm hoping that a few days of kneeding it and Nurofen will sort it out, but if it's still niggling me next week I'll be looking up one of those dreaded Physio type folks - grrrr!

Weekend Warrior

After last weeks post where things were finally picking themselves up I had a bit of a slack one.
On Tuesday I did nothing and on Wednesday I did the most pathetic 30min turbo session ever, a real waste of time if ever there was one. Thursday was more interesting as I went out for a messy old run from Gordano Services in Bristol where I got totally lost, ran along a public footpath through 4ft grass only for it to suddenly stop in the middle of nowhere and where I ran across the M5 Avon Bridge.

On Friday the weather was awful and I was asked to do some extra stuff at work so I only managed my normal Squad swim session, although it did include 13 continuous 4x25m IM's and a 50m Butterfly Time Trial in 39secs at the end.

Saturday was the day of the Goldcoast Beach Aquathlon. Pre-race I had to do a couple of laps of the run course putting signs and tape out, then when I got back with 15mins to spare I thought I might as well have a go so I slipped on my wetsuit, talced up my trainers and headed down to the start.

There was no pressure for the race and the run from the start line to the sea was done near the back of the field while chatting to one of my clubmates. My first dive into open water for the 'M' shaped swim reminded me of something ---- the sea is bladdy cold, brrrrrr!!!! As my head froze I swam to bouy 1 with my head up in the air and with occasional breaststroke (girlie). The swim back to the beach for the small run section was steady but once back in the water sections 3&4 seemed to be real easy and I was flying past people as if they weren't there.

The field was stacked with some seriously quick swimmers but even so 23rd out of the water in a field of 65 was pathetically slow for me, I'd normally have been aiming for top 10, still there was no rush as it was just a bit of fun.

There were 3 of my clubmates ahead of me and it doesn't matter how lightly you're taking the race Club Pride matters so I set off in hot persuit. Very quickly I started moving up the field and soon there was only 1 clubmate ahead, gradually I reeled him in and listened to his potty mouth as I ran past him to take the lead in the only race that really mattered, the race for club honours. As the race went on I slowly worked my way through the field until I eventually finished happily in 4th position not far behind 3 very classy athletes and ahead of some equally classy athletes.

Job Done for the day ---- or was it???? Not quite...

After the race there was the small matter of clearing up all of the race gubbins before heading out on my planned run home, all 11 miles of it. The run was an absolute pig and included a 4 mile stretch of beach which was like running into a sandstorm. At one point my HR was close to 160bpm and I was running 9:30 min/miles, crazy slow. I fought my way back though averaging 8min/miles.


The plan for Sunday was a 90+ mile ride to Perranporth, Cornwall. I didn't fancy 6+hrs of riding into a headwind though so after riding the first 23miles in 90mins I turned around and headed back before tacking on a little loop to take the total to 60miles. The 2nd wind assisted 23miles took 60mins.

That'll do for now, some of us have work to do and there's already far too much rubbish on here.


Iain

Finally training?

It almost seems as though I've started to get my head around IM training, even if it is 6 weeks later than planned. That's not to say that I've suddenly smashed out a couple of century bike rides, but I have managed a few decent sessions.
After last weekends long bike I had a rest day on Monday to recover, then with my work hours having changed lately I managed to have a rare session at my home town running club. I got there to be told that this was the night for the 'Tarka Mile' - balls!!! The Tarka Mile is a monthly challenge and my Running Club, basically you run 2.5miles out along an old railway track (the Tarka Trail) where I do lots of my training at a nice steady pace. The whole club groups up at a line and then we all race for a measured mile before heading off in various directions to finish our session in whatever way we want.
On the way out my legs were feeling really tired and I wasn't looking forward to the mile at all. I'm no sprinter and to run eyeballs out for that distance would hurt a lot.
I knew the boys that I 'should' go off with, but decided that I'd be better setting off behind them and running with the next group, so that's what I did. It wasn't long before I decided that I'd probably made the wrong decision, I was feeling far to comfortable sitting in my pack and decided to push on ahead. I chased down two of the four members in the lead group and finished in 5:10 which I was really happy with after expecting a 5:30 at best.
Wednesday I was off work so put in a 1h40m bike ride and an hours run over the Burrows with the pup (Rosie).
Thursday was a long day at work and I ended up in the middle of nowhere so had another day off.
On Friday myself and my training pal Phill had our normal Squad swim session, but for the first time this year we rode the 28mile round trip there and back. We're a good 5-6 weeks behind the time of year where we normally start this activity, but now we've started we'll hopefully continue for the rest of the summer. That's a good 90mins a week training rather than sitting in the car and driving there. The swim session was very congested as the local beach lifeguards seem to have decided that they need to get back in shape for all of the holiday making girls that will be hitting the beach in the near future.
Saturday was my first proper solid long run for a good while. I drove to Fremington Quay which is an 8 mile run away, then I ran home and collected the dog (and Shelly on her bike) for the return trip. We then had something to eat and drink at the hideously expensive Fremington Quay cafe while we cooled down.
Oh yeah, nearly forgot.............. I got sunburnt!!!! Summer is here!
Yesterday was supposed to be a 4hr+ bike ride, but my legs were in pieces after Saturdays run and I only managed a 2hr 36mile out and back ride before returning home to sit like a vegetable infront of the TV for the rest of the day.

Well, that's it. Update complete for now.

Oooops, nearly forgot. Congratulations to Kit 'the git' Stokes who was obviously so buoyed by his victory over me at Burnham on Sea Sprint Triathlon 2 weeks ago that it spurred him on to 9th overall and 1st Age Grouper in the IMUK 70.3 race at Wimbleball yesterday. Once again his swimming was disgraceful, but once out of the water the boy's an absolute monster. I hate him so much :-)

Hit and Miss

Well May finished with a fluster and a 10hr week, June on the other hand has started with a bit of a splutter. The month started well enough last Sunday with the Burnham on Sea Sprint Triathlon.
Barring a total disaster for my old sparring partner Kit Stokes I was only going to be racing for 2nd place. The days of challenging him have long gone, he may swim like a brick, but once he's out of the water he's awesome. Look out for him going sub 9hrs at Chellenge Roth this year.
The Swim - 4 of us started in a lane together (including Kit), we seeded ourselves and being the quickest I headed off first with the others following at 10 second intervals. Kit was last to leave 30secs behind. I caught him after 3 lengths and then caught him again near the end so followed his feet to the wall. 500m and out of the pool in 6:49, a pb for the race.
The Bike - A small shower just before we started made the early corners a bit tricky but that feeling soon disappeared as the road dried. I got stopped for a few seconds at a set of traffic lights but they're accounted for in the results. Other than that the ride was pretty uneventful, except for Kit (grrr!!). I'd got 90seconds on him, could I hold on ahead of him uptil T2? Could I heck!!!! Just 7miles had passed when I heard what sounded like a low flying fighter plane by my side, it was Kit on his new Cervelo P3C with his disc wheel humming away. A few seconds later he was away ahead of me - git!!! That was the last I saw of him until I rolled into towards T2 and he was running out.
The Run - It was solid enough without actually being anything special. I was quicker than last year and this was really the big difference between the 2 years times, I was still a minute slower than Kit who went on to set a new course record of 57:52. I worked solidly but just failed to push it hard enough to crack the hour mark for the first time.
The Result - I managed to hold 2nd place with a time of 1:00:12 which shows that although training has been lacking there's obviously something hiding away in there. Now I just need to work out how to make the pace last for 4 or 5 times the distance.

After the race the week fell apart somewhat. For my work I had to spend a week in (not so) sunny Bedford. This involved lots of hours, working through from Monday to Saturday and also lots of company paid food & drink. To say that I expect to have put on a couple of pounds is an underestimation. I only managed one run on Tuesday night where I found a nice Country Park to run in, at least it would have been nice if Bedford hadn't just recieved a months rain in 48hrs. There were times where Wellington boots would have been more use than my trainers. It was right up my street though, I loved it. After my run I made my way to the Hotel room where I preceeded to stand fully clothed under the shower and turn 'everything' a lovely shade of dirt brown.
The weekend has seen things pick up slightly although I can't pretend to have enjoyed either yesterdays 1hr run, or todays 3h45m bike ride. At least the fact that they're done has helped my training volume look lightly more respectable.
Hopefully, now that I'm back at work and (for the moment) working more sensible hourse then there's the chance of a slight improvement in training - we'll see I guess.