8 Days, no training :-(

Well after a great 230 mile week commuting I went for week 2 of the same. So 210 miles into week 2 and bang, crash ouch! I suppose with the amount of miles i've covered in the last 18 months of training and commuting its inevitable that I was going to get knocked off the bike by a car. I was in the left hand lane which was clear and the right hand lane was static waiting at the lights when some idiot didn't check his mirrors before flashing the lights to let someone traveling in the opposite direction turn right. The guy pulled through after being flashed and I collided with the front corner of his car but with my forward momentum and the fact that he was also still moving forward I was thrown about 2 foot up in the air with enough time to see that I was going to land in the middle of his bonnet. As I landed the bike unclipped, hit the road and bounced back up about 3 foot and fell to the floor and I slid off the bonnet to land next to the bike. I've got off quite lightly considering the hit I took, left knee joint still sore, after 8 days I can now move my shoulder but can't take any weight through it yet and the bruising on my back has settled down. The bike took it quite well, carbon forks broken, front wheel broken, frame seems in tact but i'm not keen to get back on it even though visibly it seems fine. I had to drive all this week but i'm going to see if I can ride next week a couple of days, just don't know what bike to ride though, don't fancy using my good road bike but don't fancy using a mountain bike either. This is the problem with an accident like this, if it was my fault I would pay to get the bike fixed asap but its not my fault and unfortunately I now have the hassle of claiming for the damage to be fixed which can take weeks and at this time I don't have the £445 the bike shop are quoting to repair the bike. I personally would rather see it written off because if the frame breaks at a later date due to fatigue cracking I won't be able to go back to the drivers insurance so would be happier to have it replaced. Crashes are so inconvenient and i'm now really annoyed at being in this position. Not a happy bunny at the moment. Grrrrrr

230 miles

Well I managed to commute all week this week by bike from the new house so i've managed to clock 230 miles of cycling in 5 days! I went swimming Monday and Wednesday, and managed to run 6 miles Sunday, 5 miles Tuesday and Thursday. All in a good week, I think I will have a couple of rest days this weekend and then I plan to bike the 230 miles next week too. I won't do it every week but will try to do it often.

Henlow 10 and commuting

Well I survived the Henlow 10 yesterday, I had trouble increasing the pace as it set me off on coughing fits so had to control my heart rate and breathing. Still despite the remenance of the man flu in my system I managed to run a 58:54 to give me my slowest ever Henlow 10 but still not too shabby. Its strange really as although a fast run, being just off the top end of my pace has made a big difference in the fact that the legs were tip top this morning. So today is my first commute to and from work giving me a round trip of 46 miles to bike, it was cold this morning on the fingers and toes despite overboots and gloves, Anthea called me at 8 O'clock to check i'd got in ok and said it was -1.5 degrees at 7:20 when she got home from nights so I would guess about -2.5 at 6:00 when I set off. I think the winter cycle boots will be out next week if its that cold again. On the plus point my very nice Castelli winter jacket I bought in Belgium in July was just the job, all I had on was a base layer t-shirt and the Castelli jacket and I was toasty warm! Loving the jacket :-)

I've moved house :-)

Well it's been a long time but after 18 months my house sold and i'm now happy to say i'm in my new house. Ohh the space!!! after being stuck in the worlds smallest married quater at Scampton I've finally got some space. I'm now living in a nice 4 bed detached house in Market Rasen, the move went as well as it could do given that I got a really nice dose of "Man Flu" a couple of days before we moved. I was not well for about 10 days in total so i'm just starting to feel better now. I had my first chance to look around on Sunday afternoon at the trails in the woods. Its less than a mile to the forest and I think i'm going to like it hear :-) Off to Henlow tomorrow for the Henlow 10 but not expecting much given the illness last week. If I hadn't paid the entry up front I wouldn't  have bothered going to be honest.

Manx End 2 End Enduro

I would have liked to blog this race report earlier but its been a busy couple of weeks. The great news is my house has finally sold (completed today so I don't own it anymore) so Anthea and I have been busy. We've nearly bought our new one and hope to complete on that one on the 10th October. We are moving to Market Rasen which is north east of where we are at the moment. The house is a really nice 4 bed detached with garage and conservatory so at last I will have room to swing a cat (if I had one). This will be a big difference in my commute too. I will be around 23-24 miles from work. The plan is to drive Monday's with my kit for the week and commute the rest of the week on the bike. How this will work I'm not sure yet, I am looking forward to the challenge but don't want to get trapped in the mind set that its a chore which would make me get fed up with cycling. I will drive occasionally if it gets too much but plan to cycle as often as possible. Also the area i'm moving too has lots of woodlands within 5 minutes of the house and i'm on the Lincolnshire wolds so some nice cycling ground too.

Anyway onto the race. I went across to the Isle of Man for what has become my traditional end of season blow out. This year I didn't have to borrow a bike as I got a carbon Cannondale hard tail in August. The bike is superb and a real out and out race bred machine. I took my hope vision light across with me and my sister and I went out for an off road night ride while I was over. That is some serious fun and I think I will be doing much more of that when I move next month. 1700 people had entered the race this year but I didn't know they had seeded the top 100 based on the previous race last year to form an elite start group at the front of the field. This was nice to be at the front and not have to battle too much to get in the break away, and within a couple of miles I was in the lead break of around 50 riders. We hit the first climb and I felt good, moved through the field to around 20th. Once up the 1200 foot first climb I settled into a good pace as I was aware that i'd blown in the last 10 miles of the race in the previous 2 years and didn't want to do that again. I had 1x750ml bottle of High 5 Extreme on the bike as I don't like camel backs and my sisters boyfriend was doing the fuel stops for us. At the first pick up I grabbed the next bottle containing 4:1 and a caffeine plus gel taped to it and felt strong. It was the third pick up point that I had my first problem, Ian wasn't there with my bottle and I had nothing left in the one I had. I knew it was only about 30 or so minutes to the last place I was getting a bottle so during this time I took 2 High 5 Iso Gels to keep me going. It was during this stretch I had my second problem, I dropped off a ledge that had been a lot lower in previous years and stupidly looked back at the height of it, my front wheel caught the edge of a rut and I was off and rolling down the hill side but it was a nice soft landing on the heather. At the last fuel stop I grabbed the bottle of 4:1 off Ian I had missed at the other stop and was surprised to see my sister there. She had had a mechanical and pulled out of the race, Ian had gone to get her and that's why he hadn't been at the other fuel stop. I also grabbed the bottle of flat coke I was getting at that point and downed it in a oner. I then hit the last climb of the day and did 3/4 of the climb on the big ring, I knew I was in good form as i'd really struggled on this climb in the past events. On to the last big decent of the day and crash number 2 happened. Too much speed on a single track decent and I once again caught the edge of a rut only this time I landed in a gauze bush, not so pleasant. I still have splinters from my ankle to my arse!!! I got up quickly and ran back to the bike, jumped on and set off again. The hard work was nearly done, the last 2 miles is on the road with a big climb to the finish but on the road its much easier. I finished in 30th overall from 1700. To get an idea of how tough this event is only the first 85 finishers got a gold standard finish (sub 4 hours) and my time was 3 hours 35. I can't wait for next year :-)

Vitruvian Triathlon - Rapid Running

Two weeks after my European Long Course race it was time for the Vitruvian Triathlon. What do you do with 13 days between a long distance triathlon and a middle distance. Well apart from spend a few days sulking after being so close to the podium on the Wednesday (3 days after the race) I went for a 4 mile steady run. Thursday I did a 3.5 hour mountain bike ride then rested again Friday and Saturday. On the Sunday I did an 11 mile run followed by a 1 hour mountain bike ride then on the Monday I cycled to work the longer way in (18 miles), swam 1500m during lunch then cycled 12 mile home. Tuesday I did the same again then Wednesday I cycled 12 mile to work, decided at 13:15 that I was going to do the Scampton road race so got changed and cycled at race pace to Scampton leaving enough time to change my shorts and shoes before the race started. The course was 5 miles (measured by gps) and I ran 27:59 which is a nice 5:35 average per mile and good enough for 2nd place. Thursday was a cycle to and from work with a swim at lunch then Friday was a cycle to and from work. So Saturday morning at 03:50 and the alarm goes off, I get up but feel tired and really can't be bothered with the race but seen as i'd paid £110 to enter I thought I better do it. I was surprised at the temperature when I arrived as its usually cold down there at this time of year but it was a pleasant 15 degrees at 05:30 which put me in a better mood for the race. After registering and collecting my race pack up which had a nice gillet in it I set up transition then moved across to the RAF Tri gazeebo to change and exchange some banter with the others. At 06:50 I was in the water and the race started, I set off swimming at a good pace and at the end of the first lap thought I was swimming well. At the end of the second lap I thought i'd done a good swim but looked at the watch to see 31 mins so not as quick as I thought, I ran into transition and struggled to get the suit off over the top of the timing chip but once done had a good transition and set off on the bike.

I left transition and got going on the bike, took a gel then got down to business moving through the field. During the bike I was going well and due to the fact I was on the road bike (the TT bike still not fixed) I was able to big ring the whole course only having a 50 tooth compact chainset. Towards the end of the second lap I needed to release some of the fluids i'd taken on during the bike and was planning to go for a p.b on the run part of the course so I stopped briefly. Once i'd emptied the bladder I got back on the bike and quickly passed the 4 people who'd passed me whilst at standstill. I pushed on towards transition and completed the bike in a reasonable but not outstanding 2:22.

Transition 2 was swift as I'd opted to not use socks for the first time in an half ironman after a recommendation from European Champion Pete Norris, so using no socks and the superb Saucony Kinvara I set off to try and run faster than last years 1:22 at this race (a very rapid time anyway) and tried to focus on pace control and work out when I was going to fuel with the 3 gels I'd planned to use. After about 500 meters and a quick think to when my last gel on the bike was I decided that a gel immediatly would be a good move. The other 2 were taken at 8k and 16k. I was moving well and felt strong so kept focussed and concentrated on my cadence, I was aware I was moving through the field at a much quicker rate than most people and came home with a 4:16:30 overall and it wasn't till later when the results went up that I found out i'd ran a 1:19!!!! I'm very happy with that, and I feel that was a nice way to end the season. It was the 6th quickest run on the day too.

4 days after the Vitruvian I had the opportunity to run in the Cranwell road race so I cycled into work 12 miles, at lunch time cycled 12 miles over to cranwell for the run, did the race (5.8 miles) finishing in 2nd place then cycled 23 miles home.

On Thursday I'm sailing to the Isle of Man for my usual end of season mountain bike enduro event/see the family. This is always a fun day out but incredibly hard work, if you've never done a mountain bike race you need to try one to appreciate how much harder a day on the bike can be compared to riding in the time trial position pushing a big gear at a nice constant pace. It really messes you up with the crazy cadence involved for very little gain on the climbs balanced out with keeping your weight in the right place.

I don't know if I will do an end of season sprint or not but I might have a go at the Peterborough half marathon in October as I think if the weather is good a sub 1:15 could be on the cards. 10 days after that is the Henlow 10 and then I will look at some down time before planning out next years racing.

Race pictures from Finland

A few pics that i've had sent from the photographers in Finland.

Antwerp 70.3/Inter-Services/Finland Long

I've been very lazy on the blog front lately so settle in, probably best to get a brew and I'll bring you up to date.

First up - Antwerp 70.3

The short version, slower but faster!
I took Anthea and Beth with me to Belgium for the race this year and we camped at a site about 40km from Antwerp. This was nice as it kept the race and race atmosphere away from the family and as a result we could enjoy the trip as a family holiday as well as a race weekend. Saturday we just popped into Antwerp to register and then headed back to the campsite. We got a nice backpack as part of our race pack up and even better a bottle of sparkling Jacobs Creek wine.

Antwerp 70.3 starts at a more sociable 11am so I had a good sleep Saturday night and enjoyed a slow time breakfast Sunday. We drove into town for the race and I cycled off to T1 while Anthea and Beth had a steady walk through. I caught up with friends Daz Cole and Haldane Van Horan and had time for a quick chat before the race. The time came for us to enter the water and I went to the front right of the pack to try and get some clear water, as the whistle sounded I set off fast and managed to keep the clear water all the way round. I exited after what felt like a good swim on 29 minutes and ran the 150 - 200 meters to my bike and did a good job of stripping off the wetsuit. I had a good transition and set off on the bike but it was very clear that it would not be a p.b day as it was incredibly windy from the off. The course was different from last year with the ride out to the industrial area as normal but 3 shorter laps instead of the 2 long laps. I was pushing hard on the bike and felt good as I entered T2 but was slower than last years bike split but knew it was harder for everyone. Another smooth transition including putting on socks for the run and I was off. I felt good all the way round the run and was overtaking a lot of people and managed to pull a 1:23 half marathon out of the bag to cross the line in 4 hrs 25.

Initially I was a bit disappointed as I wanted to beat last years 4 hr 19 but given the wind I guess it was a good time, the proof was in the results as I was 50th overall but remove the elites and I was the 36th age grouper to finish and the 4th British athlete. I finished 6th in my age group and had the opportunity to take a slot at Vegas 70.3 World Championships but this wasn't on my calendar or in my budget for this year so once again for the second year running I turned down the slot.

3 days Later and its the Inter-Service race at Belvoir Castle.

Race day at Belvior I didn't know what to expect having no time to recover from Antwerp but it was better than working so I raced anyway. The swim was a bit of a fight with the shallow water, lack of space and before I knew it my goggles were knocked off, I stood up in the knee deep water, got the goggles back on, but within a 150 meters they were full of water again so I had to stop and re-seat them again. These delays had set me up with a 27 minute swim (my worst of the year by a long way). I got up to transition and set off on the bike, being further down the field meant I ended up having to battle with some small groups of cyclists who either didn't know the rules or had decided to draft for the sake of it but it was frustrating as every time I would pass them they sat on my wheel, worked together then all came back past. Very annoying to say the least, but my day was to get worse as approximately half way round the second lap I could feel the front tyre going down and I had no spares with me. With about 5 or 6 miles to go my tyre was flat and I knew my race was now a training day. I nursed the flat tyre back to transition with the intention of trying to run strong off the bike but had lost about 6 minutes on the competitive end of the field. I flew through transition and chased hard on the run. I managed to pull a 34 minute dead run out of the bag on a hilly course which I knew was an accurate 10k as it was gps measured the day before. Not a bad run just 3 days after a 70.3!!!

Next stop Finland.

This was billed as my "A" race for the year with a very realistic chance of a medal. Unfortunately I didn't!!!! Things got off to a bad start with a bike failure while packing the day before I flew to the race. I had been having problems with the front mech and it became apparent what the problem was and that it was not going to be getting fixed for the race. The mech had been dropping at the back end and catching on the chain ring in the big ring and whilst trying to resolve it I found that the mech braze on was not tight and the bolt holding it to the frame wouldn't tighten. With no time to get it fixed and no way of using the big ring I knew that the TT bike wasn't going to Finland. This was a problem for me, I've used this bike all last year and all season this year and now I was going to have to take the road bike. I'd gone from a TT bike with a 53 tooth rotor ring to my road bike with a 50 tooth compact chainset. I also had no tri bars but was lucky to borrow a set from Pete Norris. I arrived in Finland feeling stressed and concerned about the bike situation, not a great start. I set up the bike with the clip on tri bars and got the best position I could but although a fairly good position was achieved it was far from perfect. We went out for a couple of hours on Thursday afternoon and the bike was comfy but I felt slower than Pete, Frank and Mark all looking incredibly aero.

On Race day I entered the water the same way I'd done all week with a forward somersault before we lined up ready to start. The race started and the first 300 meters was a bit of punching and kicking but I soon found space and at the halfway point I felt strong so increased the speed and exited the water in 1 hour and 38 seconds, a new 4k p.b in the bag.

I ran into transition had a gel, glasses and helmet on and I was ready to do the 120k on the wrong bike, I tried not to think too much about it but I could tell I was not going as fast as I would be on the race bike. Towards the end of the bike leg I got passed by someone and looked behind to see a small peleton of about 15 coming past. A little frustrated I shouted the obligatory abuse then thought it would be a good time to stop for a pee, this would save stopping on the run and let the group go so I didn't risk being innocently picked up for drafting.

I got into T2 and socks and trainers done I set off on the run, as I left the stadium the GB team manager told me I was in 8th in my AG. (Last year I was third by the end of the bike) I think this is where the race started to go down the pan for me, looking back now I probably ran to hard on the first 2 laps due to the frustration of being down in 8th and by the 4th and final lap I'd blown up. I was still running but not anywhere near the pace I normally would be and got overtaken with about 3k to go by a lad I'd passed on the first lap. I didn't know at the time because on a 4 lap run you can't work out who's on what lap but I had been in 3rd place until this lad passed me. He went on to put 1 min 49 seconds into me and I was disappointed to find out I was 4th in my age group and effectively let the medal go past me.

It's taken a week to blog this race as I've had lots of ups and downs this week, even had a little cry to myself. I'd spent the last 8 months training and racing for this event, I'd planned my whole season around it and seen my dreams disappear with less than 3k to go. The questions I've asked myself time and time again this week are did the broken bike the day before I flew cost me the race, the wrong bike I feel has cost me at least 5 minutes in which case I'd have been battling for the silver not the bronze, was it frustration that cost me the medal causing me to run to hard early on and blowing up towards the end or was it a combination of lots of things.

I'm slowly picking out the positives from the race, these are as follows,
1. P.B on the swim
2. P.B for the whole race distance
3. My highest finish at a European or World Championship as part of Team GB.

Cest la vie, time to move on and start thinking of next year.

David Lloyd Lincoln Sprint Triathlon

This Sunday was the David Lloyd Sprint Triathlon in Lincoln. This is only 7 or 8 miles from home so I cycled down in my race kit with a set of trainers in the back pack. I arrived about an hour and forty before my start as I had to register by 9. It was perfect weather, sunshine, warm and very light wind. There was a big field for this race (in fact 425 finished), and I was in the 2nd to last wave to start. Due to the size of the field the swim waves were only 2 minutes apart and when I got in the water there was still 3 swimmers in my lane which I wasn't too pleased about. As you can imagine this lead to chaos on the swim and at 70 meters the inevitable happened and I had a head on collision with someone pushing off the wall not looking where they were going causing us both to stop in our tracks. I tried to stay calm, got to the wall and set off again and not 50 meters later I was tapping him on the feet to let him know I was there but he chose to be completely ignorant and continue without letting me by and I had little room to overtake him but eventually blasted past. My swim time was a lot slower than Cranwell on Wednesday and my time into transition was 6:28, I had a fast transition and set off on the bike passing the only person from my wave who had beat me out of the swim in the first kilometer and never really saw any of them again. The bike course was fast with the exception of the 12% climb at about 5k into the race, I passed a huge amount of people on the bike from earlier waves and kept setting myself little targets of who to catch and where I wanted to be past them by. As I got back to transition I had a smooth dismount (demonstrated in the great picture Anthea took) bike time 36:35, and a swift transition before setting off on the run. The run went well for me and I crossed the line in 1:02:18 with a run time of 18:21. I was 3rd overall and 1st in my age group, this was a close race and the winner only beat me by 7 seconds and 2nd was only 1 second ahead, they were both in the last wave and without blowing my own trumpet too much I am sure I would have beaten them if I was in the same wave and battling directly against them. This is becoming a habit getting a podium at sprint races, perhaps I should focus on sprint racing next season! I got a very nice glass trophy and a voucher for TFN Nottingham for my efforts. I cycled home with Anthea and we had a light lunch then went out together for a steady 30 mile bike in the afternoon. Things seem to be going well until today when my doctor called about my blood test from Friday. My white blood count was already a lot lower than it should be (despite the fact that it should be low due to my medication) 4 weeks ago but its gone lower again so things are not as they should be. I've been in a little discomfort since Tuesday last week but have been training and racing OK so not sure what's happening at the moment. I am in for a chat on Friday to see what they plan to do with me, she was calling my gastro specialist at Northallerton Hospital today to see what they think.

A win at the RAF Sprint Championships

Wednesday was the RAF Sprint Championships at RAF Cranwell. I arrived in good time so I could speak to Nick Davies as I needed to go in an early wave so I could be finished and get on my way to Stamford to pick Beth up as it was the last day of term. Nick put me in with the 8 minute swimmers with strict instructions to be considerate of the slower athletes in the water. There was lots of abuse being thrown at me by fellow competitors regarding the fact I was in wave 10 but a bit of friendly banter is part of the fun. I started my swim and was quite lucky really as I only got held up at about 200 meters for probably 5 seconds at most. I exited the water not knowing what time I'd done as I didn't start my watch but as it turns out I did the 2nd quickest swim of the day, a bit of a result for a "non swimmer". I had what turned out to be quite a slow transition all though it felt fast at the time and was out on the bike and on my way in very windy conditions, the new course is much better than the old one and quite a challenging route. After about 18 or so kilometers we picked up the old course and the road back in to camp was a strong tailwind and involved some high cadence in a 53x11 gear so I would think around the 40 mph mark. As I entered transition Pete Norris and Jase Walkley were spectating and told me I'd done an 8 min swim which gave me some concern so I bolted out onto the run and pushed very hard. I was passing people at an alarming rate but don't forget I was in the middle of the race and not with the fast boys. I continued to run hard and finished with the only run under 20 minutes to take the win. I then did my first ever T3 as I threw everything into a bag, chucked on shorts and t-shirt and ran to the car to set off for Stamford arriving with just 2 mins to spare. I didn't find out I'd won until about 4:15 when Mat and Pete text me to let me know. So that's it, RAF Sprint Champion for the 2nd year on the run, I guess I'll have to go for it again next year now!

Tomorrow (Sunday the 10th) I am racing again in the David Lloyd Lincoln Sprint Triathlon, fingers crossed for a good result then on Tuesday its back to the important business of longer stuff with a long bike/run brick planned, this will be the last big outing before Antwerp 70.3 on the 24th July.

Humber Bridge Half Marathon - How hot!

I entered the Humber Bridge Half Marathon about 6 weeks ago as I thought I could use it as a good training brick by cycling to the race and after the race cycling back. This seemed like a good plan, I checked the map to plan my route avoiding the A15 and trying to use smaller quiete roads. Using map my ride I measured it to be about 39 - 40 miles each way. The plan was in place. On Friday and Saturday the weather forecasters were busy telling us that Sunday was setting up to be the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures maybe reaching 30 degrees. I got up on Sunday and it was warm already, I filled a 2 litre bottle of water with High 5 for the return journey and 2 750ml sports bottles for the ride up. I took a lot of gels with me but didn't use as many as I thought. I arrived at the start area and found somewhere safe for the bike and my bag with about 15 minutes to go before the start and just changed my shoes as I'd worn tri shorts and a sleeveless cycle top to ride up, a quick wee and I made my way to the start. As the klaxon sounded I set off at the front of the 1800 strong field in a small group but at 2 miles in just 11 minutes I decided I wasn't going to play at that pace because of the ride home. I normally would have been happy at that pace but made a sensible decision to remove myself from the group and do my own thing. At the 4 mile mark we had the first of the climbs on the course, and I didn't feel great to be honest but was still on sub six min mile pace so cruised the next mile, the heat was really kicking in by now. I was moving at a good pace but at 8 miles I started to feel better than ever and lifted the pace a little before getting to mile 9, this was the main climb on the course which is about a 10% gradient and goes on for nearly a full mile. I felt strong on the climb and overtook another athlete who was struggling and once up I passed another, I was pushing on but the bridge its self is a bit of a climb with 11 miles in the legs. I felt good all the way to the finish and crossed the line in 1:21:10 which was good enough for 11th place overall. This is a tough course, check out the reviews on runners world, most people say they have clocked their personal worst on this course! At the finish I had a bottle of water, changed my shoes and top, packed the bag then cycled the 40 mile home, lucky for me it was a head wind all the way back just to keep it interesting. All in good days training, I had a 750ml serving of protein shake then went for a shower, I weighed myself before showering and was 2kg lighter than I was in the morning, so realised I would have to get a lot of fluids in during the rest of the day.

Dambuster Triathlon - National Championships

Well Saturday was the Dambuster Triathlon incorporating the National Championships. I am now the very proud owner of a National Championship silver medal!!!

I got up at 04:15 knowing the forecast wasn't promising and when I got down stairs to let the dog out it was tipping it down, needless to say the dog refused to go out and got straight back in bed. I must admit I was tempted to do the same! I had a latte and some toasted fruit loaf for breakfast and set off down to Rutland Water. I probably should have got up slightly earlier really as it was a bit of a rush getting down in time to register and pick up my race numbers etc. I was in transition with just half an hour to go before the start and only saw Brad Goggin out of the 40 or so RAF athletes until I got to the waters edge where I saw a couple of the others. We were called forward into the water and I swam out to the start. I somehow ended up right on the front of the start line with nobody in front of me. I've never started right on the front before and as the whistle was blown I set off and it was great to have clear water, I swam quite hard for the first 200 meters and never got knocked, kicked or punched once. At the first turn buoy I still had clear water and maneuvered into a group of 5 who seemed to be going at a pace I was happy with. The swim was totally uneventful and I stood up and had my goggles and hat off in 22:14 (actual time over the mat was 22:34) and for those that know me will know that's the fastest I've ever swam at Olympic distance (maybe the extra swim work is paying off or it could be the Xterra wetsuit). Anyhow I thought this could be a good day until I got to my bike, I had the suit off except for one leg because my timing chip had rolled down into a big knot and I was struggling to get the suit over it.

Eventually (after 1:29) I got out of transition and set off on the bike. I didn't feel on fire on the bike like normal and the first couple of miles I had a bit of a battle with one athlete but I got the better of him and didn't see him again and started to pass lots of people. It was a strange feeling as it felt slow but I was passing lots of people all the way round as there had been a wave starting 10 minutes before us. This was still within the first week on the new wheels and I didn't enjoy them at all! I was cursing in fact and swore blind I was selling them after the race as I was just getting blown all over on them and was very worried on the fastest descents as I kept having to feather the brakes to keep it under control. I was glad to pick up the A606 for the last few miles as it was a head wind and felt happier with the handling. The bike was done in 1:07:58 which is far from my quickest time round this course. After the race I spoke to others with 80 - 90mm wheels and they all had the same issues so it wasn't just me and I don't feel so concerned anymore. Apparently a couple of riders with deep wheels were blown off the road and crashed into the hedge.

I arrived back at T2 and had a smooth transition at 38 seconds and was off running and it felt fast. I felt strong and was running well passing lots of people but couldn't be sure who was in my wave so just kept the pace as high as I could. I got over the finish line in 2:06:38 giving me a run time of 33:59. I had to wait for a couple of hours as they didn't have the computer up and running to see how I'd done but once the results were available I found out I was second in my age group and a national silver medalist. This is the first time I've had a national medal and as you've probably guessed I'm very happy.

Next race is the Humber Bridge half marathon on Sunday 26th June. I am using this as a training day for my longer races in July and August so I'm cycling the 40 miles up to Hull, running the half then cycling back. Should be a tough day but a quality brick session.

Dambuster looming, weather forecast pants!

Well this weekend is the Dambuster triathlon and the weather forecast is looking pants as usual. Not feeling fired up for this event at the moment, Sags suggested we register, get the T Shirt, have a bacon and egg sandwich and go home! It's sounding like a plan at the moment.

On Friday I’d been emailing Sags for advice as I wanted to get a long bike/run session in but I was tired so needed a couple of rest days so didn't know what the best plan was. I would have struggled to fit it in Saturday as I had things to do and as I said I was tired from the weeks training I’d done. Sunday was a non starter as I was down in London all day at Wembley for the Capital FM Summertime Ball. I was getting a bit stressed about it as I felt I needed to do the long session, but I was struggling for time and was tired. Sags gave me the idea about taking Monday off instead thus giving me 2 rest days and no worries about time.

Plan in place Monday I was on leave and did the long bike/run brick I wanted to do. I had a lie in (8:15 which is a long lie in for me) got up and had breakfast with a large latte and about 10:30 had another large latte and prepped for the session. I took 2 x 750ml bottles of high 5 4:1 and 5 gels (1 of them was caffeine plus) with the plan of 1 gel every half hour. I laid out the shoes in the kitchen and 2 more gels for the run and set off. This was also my first ride on the new wheels, it was suitably windy which was a good chance to see how much more of a handful 80's can be over the 50's I was used to. Yes they do keep you busy! But they do feel fast. Anyway the bike went well and I arrived home on 2 hours 45 mins but could probably say the ride was more like 2 hours 35 - 2 hours 40 as I’d been delayed a couple of times at level crossings. I did a race style transition grabbed the gps and gels and went for the run. I was planning to do a minimum of 10 mile but a half marathon if I felt ok. I didn't feel ok, I felt great at 9 miles so went for the half marathon. Now here's the bit that made me happy,


I ran 1:21:47!!!!! My fastest half off the bike ever. Let’s just hope I can stay in one piece and not burn myself out before the Euro long distance champs in August but its looking good.

Odiham race and new carbon bling

Went down to Odiham on Wednesday for the sprint race. Not really planned this but a late decision (5 days before) realising I could have a full day off work to do it!! I didn't do any sort of taper (not that I would for a sprint anyway) and went down a little bit tired after a hard few weeks of training. It was good to meet up with the old crew and we (Sags, Turbo, Roy B, Jase and Mal) sat in a group after the race brief as the heavens had opened. We were talking about how many new faces were about and how few people we knew. There seems to be some new and upcoming talent in RAF Tri at the moment which is great as I'm sure the "old crew" can't be relied upon for ever to sure up the RAF Team. We also discussed (Sags please take note) that we would be better off putting our vets in the vets team for the inter-service race in July rather than using them in the men's team as we have more chance of winning the vets race against the army.

Anyway, on to the race. I had Brad, Sags, Paul Fullalove and myself in my wave (2nd from last) and as the swim started I felt my pace was nice and even throughout. Not as fast as I can do but consistent, and exited the water on 6:01 and at the same time as Paul. Brad was already out and suspect he swam about 5:35. I had a good transition and saw Sags as I was leaving so he wasn't very far behind. I set off at a fast pace on the bike and as we joined the main road I could see Brad at the bottom of the first decent. I wanted to catch him as quick as possible and pushed hard up the first climb. I caught Brad just about half way round the first lap and moved ahead. Unfortunately when we got to the main town I was delayed a little in traffic and Brad came past (on the kerb lol) I passed him on the climb up out of the town and never saw him again. I later found out he punctured but am confident I would have dropped him anyway. The second lap my heart rate settled and my pace got faster (plus I knew the corners this time). As I got back to T2 I had a quick glance back but saw no sign of the chasers. A good transition and I set off on the run, after leaving T2 I was about 50 meters up the road when Sags came in off the bike. I pushed hard on the first half of the run with only a slight delay for a cyclist and car at the road crossing. As I neared the turn around I saw Mal first then not far back was Jase who shouted that the turn was just ahead. On the way back I saw Sags who looked to be going well and then Nick Harris on his run and he looked fast. I pushed on and had a clear run over the road on the way back. I finished 2nd just 21 seconds behind Nick so I'm happy with that given I'm not a sprint athlete.

On to the new carbon,
I decided it was time for a change having been using the Cosmic Carbons for 3 seasons now and the disc for the last 18 months. I sold the disc to Breezy on Wednesday and Mat Stephenson is having the Cosmics for his girlfriend so was on the lookout for something around the 80mm mark. I had done a bit of research on weights etc and had a short list. I ended up with the Profile Design Altair Carbon 80's (which were on my short list anyway). I've just put them on the bike today and changed the brake pads out for the carbon specific pads so just need a test ride now. Hopefully they ride as well as they look because I think the look superb. They weigh in 14g lighter than Zipp 808's which were also on the list and for those interested that's 1906g. They came with spare spokes, spoke key, brake pads and valve extenders and I've set them up on a set of Schwalbe Ultremo R1's.

You Tube

I had to share this video with you, it makes me laugh every time! Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGeKSiCQkPw

That is all

Beaver Pics and Stats

A few pics courtesy of Marc Preece (borrowed from his blog!) and a couple of stats.

Swim 33rd (happy with that as I claim not to be a swimmer) swim time was 32 mins which included the huge run to T1. (Only one person in the top 10 went sub 30!)

Bike 8th (only passed by 1 person so finally finding form)

Run 9th (took a lap to warm up but picked up for the last 3 laps)

Beaver Fest

It's the day after the Beaver Middle Distance. Legs not as bad as I thought!! So how was it?

This would be my first proper test of the fitness building up to the long course in August in Finland, and I am happy with the current fitness level.

The weather didn't look to friendly when I got up Saturday morning, I could hear the rain on the back door and could see it was windy too. When I got down to Belvoir Castle I met up with Pete and we went up and racked the bikes. Transition set I went back to the car and got changed into my superb XTERRA wetsuit (love it, its amazing to swim in) and we walked down to the lake, this turned into a brisk walk/jog as we were being called into the water for our wave to start. It was very crowded and when the klaxon sounded the first stretch up to the turn point was a bit of a battle. It settled down a bit after that and I got into a bit more of a rhythm. I felt good on the swim and the second lap picked up the pace. I exited the swim on 30 min 15 seconds by my watch which I was happy with as the course was technical with a lot of hairpin turns. For those that have done the course you'll know all about the run to transition but for those that don't it's about 3-400 meters up the field. I opted to strip the suit at the waterside and run with it and on arrival at T1 I popped the socks on to save doing it later for the run.

The start of the bike is hard on that course, it doesn't appear to be much of a hill but it's enough to stop you getting up to speed. You quickly hit the first decent but the cross wind made it interesting and then at the bottom you started the 3-4 mile straight which was into a hell of a headwind. I took a good 7 or 8 miles of the first lap to get going on the bike but then felt strong as I was passing lots of people. I continued to pass loads of people as there had been a wave in front of us made up of women and I think some of the young age groups. During the bike I only got passed once which boosted my confidence and it seems I'm finally getting the bike back to where it normally is for me. On arrival back in T2 I was very pleased to see just 9 bikes on the racks, I had a good transition and set off on the start of the 4 lap run.

The first lap I was beginning to think that I hadn't brought my running legs to the party, especially going up the hill as cramp kicked in to the front of the quads. Once up the hill I tried to get into a rhythm but was thinking it could be a long half marathon. Coming back down the hill seemed just as hard on the first lap but when I got onto the field to start lap 2 the runners legs arrived and I felt great. The next 3 laps up the hill were fine, after the first lap it was hard to tell where the 9 runners ahead of me were but I could see Pete each lap and he was holding his lead he had over me. By the 3rd lap I was almost sprinting down the hill and on the 4th lap I could see I'd made some time on Pete but not much. With about 500 meters to go I passed a guy I recognised from the first lap (he was leading on the first lap) and he offered no resistance, by the finish he was some 25+ seconds behind but he was later Dq'd anyway for a biking offence.

I finished 9th overall and 3rd in my age group. Pete managed 4th overall and was 6 minutes clear of me. I'm pleased with my race I feel it all went well and can't really pick fault with any of it, not very often that I'm happy with everything but the overall package is coming together nicely. No pictures yet but I think Marc Preece might have some so will post them when I get hold of them.

Lack of internet access = lack of blogging

Well the reason I haven't blogged for a while was the 2 week course i've been on and I had no internet as well as no tv, mobile signal etc. The course wasn't a difficult one and infact I had a lot of spare time and as a result probably over trained!!! Since getting back I've been a bit busy so today I finally get to update the blog.

Whilst at Collingwood I managed to swim (a lot) 12k on the first week and 10 on the second week. OK it might not be a lot to some people but for me that's a lot of swimming. I was in a bit of a catch 22 situation on the first week. Do I take advantage of the spare time and do a big week or keep things steady so as not to be to tired for the inter-service time trials at the weekend. I did train quite hard but felt OK for the 10 on the Saturday and the 25 on the Sunday.

The 10 was probably the most windy day I've ever raced, as a result the time was poor at 24:02 but then everybody was off the pace. I got back to Collingwood feeling very disappointed with the time. The 25 looked promising on arrival as there was no wind but about 10 minutes before the first rider the wind whipped up again. I did a 1:01 which again I was disappointed with but when I got back to the car I stuck the trainers on and ran a strong 10.5k and this cheered me up again. That afternoon back at Collingwood I popped out on the road bike for a steady 25 mile spin so a good days training.

I probably didn't ride anywhere near the miles I wanted to during the 2 weeks down there but felt very uninspired by the local terrain. It was just so busy all the time, even the morning I set off out at 0600 there was already tailbacks!!

On Saturday I met up with Pete Norris to check out the Beaver race route, we did 3 laps in practice for the race this weekend and then did a couple of laps of the run. I was reduced to walking the last mile due to fatigue but not from the morning alone but the fact I had ran Thursday late evening for 10 miles at sub 6 min miles for 9 of them only slowing down for the 10th mile to start cooling down, in fact mile 8 - 9 was ran at 5:40! as a result I would say that's why I was a little tired on the Saturday morning. Pete is in superb form and I predict a podium for him this weekend, as for me? who knows, its all just part of the game plan and a long build up towards the European champs in August.

Quick update

Wow I've been really rubbish at updating the blog lately. After a week in Germany with no Internet access and then a week of being too lazy I've just not been fussed about doing it. I've only just today got round to reading everyone Else's blogs too. So anyway just to update, while in Germany I did no biking and little running and that may have contributed to my poor performance at the IS duathlon. I had an OK first run but felt lifeless on the bike, I was going OK but lacking something and just had no pace. The second run was pants too, and I had cramp in both calves, I've never had this problem before and couldn't understand why. Was my performance due to lack of training? was I tired from the 10 hour drive back from Germany the day before? Who knows but something just wasn't right. Anyway I did manage 3 open water swims in the Mosel River in the new XTERRA wetsuit. Now I'm not just saying this due to sponsorship but it is awesome. I love it, it's just so much more flexible than my old suit. I did another ride at the weekend on the TT bike and still wasn't happy with the bike and on closer inspection noticed the seat post was set on number 6 instead of number 5 so was in fact 1cm lower than I normally have it. I must have set it up wrong after I got back from Lanzarote earlier this year, i've done 3 rides on it this week at the proper height and it feels much better. Hopefully that will not cause any more problems. I've joined Lincoln Tri Club now and did my first open water swim with them on Monday at Hykeham, its a good lake with an 800m circuit marked out so I just did 3 laps for my first week. I'm off to Portsmouth on a course on Sunday night so hoping to hook up with Turbo Man for a couple of rides. I was going to do the Isle of Wight next weekend while down there but I've now opted to do the Interservice time trials instead. On Saturday the 14th I will do the 10 mile TT and on Sunday the 15th its the 25 mile TT. I've not done any TT's for a long time especially the 25, my last one would have been 2004 in Cyprus. Be interesting to see how it goes.

Its been a while

Been a while since I blogged, not done loads to be honest. 10 days ago I was out on the mountain bike with Beth cycling into town. Beth was on the cycle lane/footpath and I was on the road. Decided to hop the kerb to get behind Beth (the kerb was 3 foot lower than the road) poor timing and lack of speed ended with me not getting my foot out of the pedal and taking a heavy fall landing with all my weight and the bike weight going through my left arm. Needless to say sore wrist, sore elbow, sore shoulder. Went to the docs and they seemed confident it was all soft tissue damage but now the muscle and joint tissue seems to have healed my wrist is still unable to take my full body weight and really aches in the middle of the joint although I do have full movement available. Not much in the way of swimming going on but hoping to swim in the Moselle River this week when I go camping in Germany. Will be a great chance to try out my Xterra Vendetta top of the range wetsuit which arrived about 2 weeks ago, along with some other goodies. Hope to see some of you soon at the IS Duathlon.

Why does the tri season have to start at 5 a.m?

Reality check, not

done a triathlon since the Vitruvian in September, forgot about having to get up at 5 a.m!!! So today was crunch day, how has the winter training gone? am I in any sort of form? My training has been going well but I knew I was off the pace for the swimming. Chatting as you do with the others in your start wave I predicted a 6:20 for the swim and ended up with a 6:19 by my watch. Not sure of the official splits yet but will need to add some time from climbing out of the pool to crossing the timing mat. Quite a long run to transition and I also forgot how hard your breathing after the swim. I had a good smooth transition and set off on the bike and within 10 meters was ahead of the others in my wave. The course has quite a long gentle climb at the start but once up I felt like I was going well and got some 53 x 11 action going on. A left turn and then the course climbs again and seems to keep climbing. After a fast decent and a chance to recover I felt like I was flying and had a glance behind to see no one anywhere near me. I also started to catch others from the earlier wave who started 5 minutes ahead. I was pushing hard on the bike and it was hurting a little but I knew if it was hurting me then it was definitely hurting the chasing riders. I arrived at T2 and racked the bike, a smooth transition and off on the run. That also was a wake up call, I've only ran off the bike once this year in training. I quickly found my feet though and was moving well, at the first dead turn I did a time check to have a look where the others were and things looked good. There was only one wave behind mine and I seemed to be ahead on time by a big enough gap. I ran hard on the second lap and crossed the line feeling tired. I had the 2nd fastest time of the day and no one beat me from the wave behind. So 2nd overall, very pleased with the result and very pleased to have my first triathlon of the year under my belt. My prize was a set of commemorative £5 coins by the Royal Mint for the 3 year countdown to the Olympics. Very nice and a nice change from trophies. All in a good day and glad I've raced now as before the event I was unusually nervous, letting the pressure get to me after lots of people telling me I was the one to beat having won the event before.

One season ends and the next starts Sunday

Well the X Country season finished today with the Cranwell race. I managed to do 7 out of the 8 races in the Lincolnshire league, on Sunday my triathlon season starts with the Humber Sprint. I wanted to run nice and steady today so I tried a negative split for the first time in a race. The course was 2 laps so I ran the first lap behind Pete Norris and then on the second lap picked up the pace and opened up a gap quickly on Pete and passed another lad to move up to 5th. The league is your best 6 races to count and I managed to finish 3rd overall getting a nice trophy, and also picked up a prize as a member of the winning "A" team from Waddington. I'm a bit nervous about Sunday as its my first tri since the Vitruvian way back at the start of September. I don't know how my biking is and swimming isn't going great but looks like i'm running ok. Guess i'll find out Sunday!

Fantastic new sponsor on board!

I've been exceptionally lucky to have found the backing from a new sponsor who will be supporting me through the 2011 season. My new sponsor will be Xterra Wetsuits http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/ and I must first of all thank the US rep Glynn and UK rep Victoria for all their help so far. I am looking forward to getting my new wetsuit and getting it in the water. You will notice the company logo on the side bar of my blog which will take you directly to their site. I have also been given the opportunity to offer a very healthy discount code and should you be considering a new suit for the season please feel free to contact me, my email is available through this blog. I will update soon about the new suit.

Why the Inter-Service race will be harder than usual

Well I've just realised that the Inter-Service Championship race this year will be harder than ever for me. Its all about recovery and the fact that I am doing Antwerp 70.3 on the 24th July and the Inter-Service race is on the 27th July. Never thought that through very well when I put my season race plan together. Still i'll have a go anyway, i'm sure I will get through it somehow.

Sponsorship

It's great having a sponsor, Paul and Lisa at Hilderthorpe Cycles/Cyclelife have now been sponsoring me since 2008. They have been great and are firm friends as well as sponsors. The race bike needed some work done before my first race on the 3rd April in Hull. I went up to see Paul and Lisa on Saturday and Paul spent a solid couple of hours putting new cables on the bike (a real pain in the you know what due to them all being internally routed) set up the gears and also had to tighten up the bottom bracket. As a result the bike is running like clockwork now and has been cleaned and degreased, re-oiled and is now ready for the first race of the year. Hopefully I can do the bike justice in 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to racing, it's been a very long winter. I see that both Sag's and Pete Norris had superb results in their first race of the year at the Dambuster Duathlon, congratulations to both of them. I've just been away for a week on a course for work, I managed to get some training in and of course I had the bike with me. I will try and get back into a routine this week, and I have cross country on Wednesday afternoon to look forward to. I think that's all for now.

Edit,
Pete was DQ'd, not sure why but I believe he would of been top 5 overall.

My kind of day at work

Yesterday was a good day at work, 12 mile cycle to work, lunch time 10 mile cycle to Digby for the XC race, 5.5 mile XC race, 18 mile cycle home to Scampton. Great day's training. I think the winter training has gone well so far as I feel really strong at the moment. First race will be a sprint on the 3rd of April, then I will know just how well the winter training has gone but I feel in better shape in comparison to other years. I'm ready to race :-)

Its a Family thing

Check out my super cool little sis on her Giant XTC Carbon hardtail! Must be in the genes.

Feeling good after a 14.5 mile steady run this morning. A couple of hours playing on the mountain bike in the morning I think is on the cards.

Main races now in place

I've gone through a few weeks now thinking out what would be my game plan for this season. I qualified to represent GB at the European Long Distance Championships early Feb although I knew I would given the results I had last year. I've now entered 5 races so far for 2011 although it's 6 including the European Champs. So my races so far are The Beaver middle distance in May, The Dambuster in June, Antwerp 70.3 in July, European Champs in August, The Vitruvian in September and the Isle of Man End to End Mountain Bike Race. I will fill in some of the gaps with a couple of sprint and Olympic distance events very soon. Antwerp 70.3 is a month before the European Long Course, the timing couldn't be better for me as I will recover well and hopefully be in great shape at the Euros. I've been very lucky with great support from the RAF Sports Lottery/Sports Board who have given me a healthy grant to assist in funding this years racing. Things look like they are finally starting to fall in to place, fingers crossed things will work out as I've planned.

Ouch

For those that didn't see the crash on the track at the weekend. Ouch!!

General round up.

Back from Lanza.
Great week with great weather, actually I lied about the weather because on the Saturday it rained for 5 minutes!! I had a great time, we arrived Tuesday lunch time and the weather was superb so Anthea and I sat in the sun all afternoon. That evening I built the bike and went for a 35 min run up the volcano (the same one I recked my knee on last year). Wed was a 1 hr 45 bike loop followed by more sitting in the sun and another 35 min run in the evening. Thursday 1hr 45 bike loop with a 30 min sea swim in the evening. More sitting in the sun. Friday I did a 2hr 15 bike with a 35 min run off the bike up the volcano. Saturday I did a 2 hr walk with Anthea to the market (where we had our 5 min of rain) but after lunch is was lovely sunshine so mid afternoon I did a 1hr 30 run taking in 2 trips to the top of the volcano. Sunday was another 1hr 45 min bike loop in the morning and a 30 min sea swim in the evening and i'm sure you guessed it more sitting in the sun. Monday, the last day to train was 1hr hard on the bike with a transition to a fast run up the volcano. More sunshine and then packed the bike in the evening. All in I feel I didn't do mega miles but I did do quality sessions. Not loads of swimming you'll also note but the sea was quite rough most of the week as although it was warm and sunny it was a windy week.

Weight loss.
I've raced for years at 74/75 kg's but last year lost some weight and dropped to 70/71kg's and p.b'd at most events. Over the winter I went back upto 75kg's so the last three weeks I have been wanting to get down to 72kg's. I've not done much in the way of carbs for a couple of weeks (p.b for those that know) and yesterday weighed in for the first time since the hospital check up 3 weeks ago. I was most pleased to weigh in (first thing in the morning before breakfast) at 70.2 kg. Weight lost I would like to now maintain that for the season.

Cross country.
Had a cross country race on Wednesday after only getting back from Lanza on tuesday night, went well considering, running 37 mins for the 6.1 mile course. Finished 6th (again) ahead of Pete Norris (again). Pete and I have had 3 close races now so it will be good to see how we compare on the tri scene this year. I will need all the bike and run form I can find though as Pete will be out of the water well ahead of me so I will be chasing him down in most/all of the tri's this year. Look forward to that.

European Championships.
I've received confirmation that I will represent GB for the 4th time on the long course at the European Championships this August. I hope that things work out and I can go to the race. I would like to try again after last year, where I was in a medal position by the end of the bike. My run let me down on that occasion but I was on the comeback from injury. Had I of run my normal time I would have got a medal. Fingers crossed I can put it all together this time round.

Think that's all for now.
Daz

Not much going on

What's been happening? Not much is the answer. Raced at Wittering for the lincs league cross country race 10 days ago, first time i've done any sort of speed work since November. It was hard work but managed to finish 6th so quite happy with that. Had a good battle with Pete Norris all the way through the race with a constant gap of just 10 seconds (to my advantage) and finished 10 seconds ahead of him. Wednesday just gone I got asked short notice to go down to Halton for the RAF cross country champs to help secure a team win for Waddington, we won! I finished 15th overall which i'm happy with due to the lack of speed/effort sessions this year and put a healthy 30 seconds into Pete this time. Thursday I was on a course so no training and Friday I just did a 20 mile ride on the mountain bike, it was a tad on the windy side. Today (Saturday) I did a 32 mile ride in the wind and rain this morning and this evening did an 11 mile run taking in Lincolns "Steep Hill" a cobbled street of approx 20% gradient. Feel quite good now too. Not sure what tomorrow will bring yet, probably a turbo session and Monday will be packing the bike down as Tuesday at 0730hrs I fly off to Lanza for a week. Beth is at school so its just me and Anthea going and she's cool with me training out there so should be a good week. Hopefully get some sun on my skin and more importantly I don't want a repeat of last year when on the second day out there I tore my patella tendon :-( so fingers crossed for a good weeks training. Really looking forward to some good weather, biking in shorts, running in the sun and sea swimming. Will do updates and pics as the week progresses.

And a front puncture on the way home!

Well after this mornings rear puncture on the way to work, I got a front puncture 3 miles from home on the way back tonight. I had used my gas cylinder this morning so decided to ride on a flat tyre as I didn't fancy the walk. All was going OK (or as OK as can be) until the last mile where I broke a spoke as well. Managed to ride all the way home but need to do some work on the bike now. Never mind it could have been worse.

Cold Showers and a Puncture

First week of commuting after the Christmas period, how's it going? Well the building I work in has no hot water and is not likely to have until at least the end of the month. Icy cold showers for me this month then. Its been hard work getting up at 5:30 everyday this week but only tomorrow and then its the weekend. Swimming has been hard work too, why does the swim fitness dissappear quicker than the run/cycle fitness? Today I had my second punture whilst commuting, can't complain though at 2 punctures in six and a half months of cummuting. Tube replaced, co2 cannister emptied and back on my way, still made it to work on time too :-)

Marathon decision has been made.

Got up this morning and something has happened since earlier in the week. I felt positive about things. Maybe its because the sun has finally made an appearance! So I finally got to where my new Oakley Radar BMX Chrome Edition whilst doing a long run. I scanned the map and decided on a route, got ready and set off with the GPS on to measure the new loop. With a new list of tunes on the ipod I was enjoying the nice (yes you heard me - nice) weather. As I got to the last junction before heading back up towards home I had a check on the GPS, I was 9.4 miles in at an average of 6:30 per mile. I decided to push harder for the last few miles to try and lower the average and finished at 13 miles on the dot with an average of 6:25 for the total run. So at the end of the first week of training for 2011 I would say my base fitness isn't too bad. Back to work on Monday so the biking and swimming starts again, I think by Friday night I will be quite tired. So onto the Marathon decision.........................I'm going to give it a miss. Once I check the roster at work on Monday I will hopefully be able to enter the Clumber Classic Duathlon in March, I hope to carry the running form from last season and think I will go well in the duathlon.

Shall I rename the blog?

Daz Sharpe's whinging page? might be more appropriate the way things are going. So is it just me or is everyone else getting sick of the bloody weather? Struggled to run the first and last mile of a 7 mile loop this morning due to black ice on the road and pavement, no traction = no speed! Not that i am in any shape for going fast at the moment anyway. It's time to try and get some consistency into my training and hopefully that will come next week when I go back to work, the commuting and swimming at lunch times should get me back in a more positive frame of mind. Still no game plan for the 2011 season yet, or at least nothing set in stone. All I have entered so far is the Vitruvian and the Dambuster. I'm still sitting on the fence with regards to the London Marathon, I have the entry form here but can't yet decide if I want to do it. Its a big commitment and my history with this event isn't good! Decisions?