The year ends, mixed feelings

Well its the end of another year, I have mixed feelings about it. The good feelings are that despite a disastrous start with a patella tendon injury forcing me to pull out of my first 3 races it was in fact a fantastic years racing for me. I had p.b's at Henlow, The Vitruvian, Antwerp 70.3, The Dambuster, I won the RAF Standard distance championships and won the RAF Sprint Championships at Cranwell. Can't grumble at that, I had some other great races with top 5 overall at the Yorkshireman Triathlon, the first ever triathlon to be held in the Humber River, and also top 5 at the Driffield Triathlon, the first race back from injury. The only other race was the European Championships for GB finishing 7th, I was happy with that result but my run cost me a championship medal. On reflection I would put that down to too soon after a serious injury, although I was capable of the distance of the run I just wasn't fit enough to cover the distance quickly. So all in a good years racing.

The bad feelings are with the rest of life. After being posted to RAF Waddington things have gone from bad to worse. The house sale fell through, my car I was selling fell through the same weekend of the house sale falling through, and then just another load of trivial things none of which on their own would be an issue but all of them added up are really getting me down. I still don't know what racing to do in 2011 as unless something comes up soon I just don't think I can afford to race. I will have to spend my Christmas money on the Dambuster Triathlon and Clumber Duathlon, I've entered the Vitruvian thanks to the sale of an old frame from the shed. I think the end of 2010 will be a good thing to be honest and I hope 2011 is better.

So to change the subject I did have a nice Christmas in the Isle of Man, not much training, 2 runs and to mountain bike rides in 8 days. I got some very nice Oakley Radars after loosing mine in 2009, I have got the BMX Chrome edition, very shiny and in your face. I got a Specialized Stumpjumper full suspension bike too from my sister, her old bike but it was a men's medium so fits a treat. I had some good fun on that on boxing day, 3 hour ride in the snow all off road. Pictures of both the glasses and the bike in the next day or 2.

All that remains is to wish all the readers of this blog all the very best for 2011, I hope its a great year for you all and a better one for me.

Being priced out of the sport?

Well I've entered the Vitruvian Triathlon this week. I have a couple of issues with this, the first is timing. We all know that this event will fill completely, we all know it will fill quickly, what bothers me is them opening it the week before Christmas. Why? If its going to fill and fill quickly why not wait until the new year. Not many people have a spare £110 lying around the week before Christmas, but some might have Christmas money they can use to pay the entry. As I said I'm entered but only because I have just sold my old training bike frame could I afford it. This brings me on to the second concern, the price. £110 is a lot of cash for a race. I was reading a thread on Tri Talk forums this week about entry fees for events. I have never wanted to do the Windsor Triathlon, it doesn't really appeal to me, but even if I did I would not pay £87 for an olympic distance race. The cost of entry to any triathlon is getting silly in my opinion and soon I fear that the only people racing will be those that can afford it. The average working man/woman is being priced out of the sport. The thing is that this is only going to continue because the quicker the events fill the more the organisers are going to put the price up and it would seem that it is just becoming about the profit rather than the race. I bet that if you put an Ironman entry fee up to £1500 they would still fill in less than a week? I have some provisional ideas of what I would like to race next year but being able to afford to enter the events and having the money to enter them before they fill up is debatable. I can see me retiring from triathlon due to the cost of the sport long before retiring due to age/injury etc.

A weekend doing nothing

When I got home Friday night I had managed to clock 191 miles on the bike for the week which was the turbo session from Sunday and the rest was commuting to work. Was planning a long-ish run for the weekend but decided in the end to just do nothing. I cleaned out the shed in order to make space for the mountain bike which will be coming back with me after the christmas holidays in the Isle of Man. I then cleaned and de-greased Anthea's old winter bike and my old winter frame in preparation to sell as they are no longer required and are just taking up space. So that was my weekend of nothing, no training!! Not done that for a while.

And another record

How cold? Yes I've broken another p.b for the coldest ride i've done after cycling to work today in -15.6 degrees. I thought it was colder than yesterday but had to wait until the news and weather tonight for confirmation. Bring on some warmer weather!

Coldest since records began

Cycled to work this morning, it was cold!!! The news tonight says that Scampton recorded the coldest temperature for the area since records began. -14 degrees, no wonder I was cold riding in.

3/4 Mile sheet of Ice

That's what I have to get across in the morning to get to the main roads on my bike. So today I didn't go out on the bike I set the turbo up instead. 3 hours later I'd covered 66.5 miles. Not the most exciting way to cover the distance but its another good session in the bag. Its about time the weather sorted itself out.