brass monkeys

Bit chilly this morning on the ride to work, had to break out some of the autumn gear, so on my ride to work this morning i had on the following,

1. Socks
2. Specialized shoes
3. sidi over socks
4. Dhb Knee warmers
5. Tri shorts
6. Base layer t shirt
7. Dhb Arm warmers
8. Short sleeve cycle top
9. Gore wind stopper gilet
10. Full finger running gloves (not good enough for the job today)

Was cold for the first 2 miles but warmed up except my fingers, I need some mid season (not winter/not summer) gloves if anyone can recommend some.

So I see Sags has a poll on his blog at the moment, I did laugh when I read it and it's very good fun. It will be interesting to see how the vote finishes and how accurate it is. I think Sags will be quicker on the bike to be honest as I haven't trained since Antwerp 70.3, just been commuting and I also had a big 11 day lay off this month while on holiday. Historically both of our bike times have always been very close so which ever way things swing on Saturday I think it will be close. Sags is swimming well too at the moment it would be great to see him put in a good swim split on the day.

My concern for Saturday will be the temperature when we start the bike leg, given this mornings experience it will be hard to know what to do for best. Do you waste time putting on a bit more clothing? or do you stick with the tri suit only and hope it warms up quickly? so many decisions to make.

So I will be camping at Rutland for the first time and plan to be there about 2pm on Friday so I can set up camp and have plenty of time to chill out instead of the usual rush around on race day.

So to sum up my final blog entry before the race I am going to say that wheel choice is still unknown, clothing choice is still unknown, weather forecast looks ok and if all goes to plan and I get everything right on the day I am going to target a sub 4:20. There you go I've laid it on the line now for all to see, best I pull my finger out now and try and live up to that bold claim.

usual question - disc or 50 rear

So its only just over a week to the Vitruvian triathlon so I need to start thinking about wheel choice. The question i am asking myself is does the extra weight of the disc balance out over the advantage it will give, specifically thinking about pulling it up the ripple on the second lap? I am not sure so will have to have a think. I am swaying towards the cosmic carbons front and rear but as a strong cyclist could I drag the disc up the ripple on the second lap, and if so will I lose any time compaired with that gained on the rest of the course. I'm not really fired up for the vit at the moment as unlike Sags my swimming has taken a real hit. I had 12 days out of the pool whilst on leave and since then it would appear that my swim fitness has packed its bags and left for the year. Also during that 12 day period I only ran 3 times, and cycled twice. It was nice to have a break and spend some time with Anthea and Beth, we went to Germany and Belgium camping, followed by a few days in the Isle of Man at my mum and dads. Whilst over there I did get roped into a mountain bike race using my sisters spare bike. Now that was a hard day at the office. It was 85% single track with loads of tree roots and extremely technical, something i struggled with to be honest and the cadence/gearing needed for this course was crazy. To give you an idea of the difficulty of the course it was 3 laps of a 6 mile circuit and it took me 2 hours 40 minutes to finish!!! On the last climb my legs went with just 1/2 a mile to go and I lost a place dropping down to 10th. As a result of such failure I gave the bike to my dad to take home for me and I ran home to punish myself for not being good enough. I hope i perform better in the Isle of Man End to End enduro race the week after the Vit but the course is less technical with more open fire tracks etc with a chance to get the power down.