A great start...

Well, it's 24 hours since I started my new "job" as a full time triathlete. (I'll be using the "" for the word job until I start making some money.) To be honest it's been a pretty crappy start but with two decisions which I think demonstrate the changed mindset I now must bring towards this sport.
First the cloud:

1. Lost my Oakleys! They ain't sponsoring me yet so that's four pairs in just under a year!
2. Niggles, lots of them. I've had to pull out of Bedford due to a tight Achilles which is not helping my IMUK prep.
3. I ended up leaving for my first ride as an athlete late and thus missed my time target.

Silver lining:

1. I made the decision not to race Bedford. Bedford is a C race, it doesn't matter in the scheme of things and if two/three days of running and a day or two off cycling are what it takes to be 100% then that is what NEEDS to happen. Consistency is key.
2. I've started a food diary. Everything I do now must be professional, that doesn't just include training but nutrition and recovery.

So the cloud still out weighs the silver lining but hopefully by the middle of next week the balance will start to shift.

Good luck to all the Hillingdon athletes competing at Bedford.

Off to Roth

First race of 2010 planned and it's Quelle Challenge Roth. Gunning for a time and the pressure is already on as I put myself in the sub 9:00 catergory... going to have to live up to that or I'm going to look like (more) of an arse.

Last big training is banked before IMUK. A huge 8:30 training day which as always resulted in me digging a bigger whole than I thought I had. Tuesday's run was attrotious and I'm now experiences niggles galore. Pretty standard then...

Bedford race report will be up by Monday. If I can break 2:00 I'll be a happy bunny.

Where I will be

Things are really hotting up in terms of triathlon related activity over the next three months. With less than 100 days until Kona and only 7 days (unreal) until I will have to refer to myself as a full time age-grouper it's no surprise. Two more races have been added to the calender, Bedford Classic on the 19th July and the Little Woody at the end of August. For those who care this is how the next 12 weeks is shaping up.

19th July - Bedford Classic
2nd August - IMUK
15th - 22nd August - Tri Topia training camp
29th August - The Little Woody
26th September - travel to Kona
10th October - Ford Ironman World Championships

It's shaping up to be a great few months and I'm really looking forward to seeing how my fast twitch muscles respond over the Olympic distance in what looks to be a very quality AG field.

Good luck to Lee @TriTopia who is racing Roth this weekend. I can't wait to head out there and experience the place for myself.

Happy training folks.

Priceless...

Food to get me round 107 miles and up and down 9000ft - £7
Petrol to drive me to the hills - ~£5
Remembering why I love cycling - PRICELESS!

I will soon be leaving London, on the 20th July my teaching contract ends and I will be heading back to God's own country (where you don't have to drive 30 miles to find hills). This coming weekend demanded a serious bike workout on the TT which invariably requires a measurable loop on a rolling course with as few stops as possible, ergo duel carriage ways for around 5 hours.
As a way of saying "goodbye" I chose to ride the Chiltern Cyclosportive gran fondo route... and what a route! There's practically no flat in all 107 miles and some of the climbs were brutal. I clocked 6:16, only 6 minutes shy of the gold standard so not too bad. More importantly, somewhere between Bison Hill and Great Missenden (excluding I remembered why I love cycling so much. It feels like I've spent two months in the aero position on dual carriage ways trying to hit a specific wattage and it was a refreshing change to just ride.

Training continues to plod along, I know now that I cannot handle 20+ hour weeks whilst teachingn and have come pretty close to the edge during high intentisty sessions, just had to listent to my body instead of ego... difficult at times.

Cowman Report

A race I really enjoyed last year it didn't feature quite as highly in my race calender this year. It was to form a really high quality training session during a rather big block of intensity and it certainly served that purpose.

Despite scorching heat on Saturday they ended up delaying the start by 15 minutes as we couldn't see the buoys for the fog! My swim was crap, despite 7 weeks of swimming 14k a week, drills and coaching I am now officially slower than last year. Nearly a minute over the same distance. As I headed out on the bike I felt pretty despondent especially as I spent the entire time trying to send the message to my legs that my HR needed to be higher than 145. My bike was relatively consistent and despite never really feeling like I was motoring I came into T2 4 minutes quicker than last year in around 2:31 in 13th place.
T2 was speedy and as the sun came out I found it had a positive effect on my running. I left transition hoping to run four 19 minute laps and with the exception of lap 1 I was close to that target. On lap one the top 15 or so followed a duff sign which had been altered by some pesky kids. They recalculated our run splits based on the average time out other 3 laps so I don't think it effected the results to much. I kept running just waiting to blow, much as I had done last year, but it didn't happen. I managed to even split and moved from 13th to 4th with the second fastest run of the day! Only a "back to fitness" Joel Jameson was quicker. Never finished a run wishing I had another lap to do.All in all not bad, really not pleased with my bike as I can't help but feel if I'd been on form I could have been pushing the 2 guys above me but the run is really promising. Experience has taught me that you can run down almost anyone in 26.2 miles so we'll just have to see what Bolton holds.Thanks to my parents for coming to support, Fusion for some nifty racing gear at the finish line and Big Cow for another great event.

You can have a day off when you're dead!

Happy Father's day padre... yes, yes its technically 6 hours and 50 minutes late but I also rang him during the allotted 24 hours in which its socially acceptable to tell you Dad how great they are as long as its done subtly with minimal emotion and certainly no touching, except possibly a hand shake.

My Dad has taught me many things but two particular memories will always stick in my mind and continue to influence me today.

1. When I was about 6 living in Sheffield we had snow, not nancy London snow where everything stops because there is a foot, proper Northern snow, the kind global warming has killed off. I remember the railings of the school opposite just showing over the top and they were 6 foot high (in those days to keep the kids in rather than undesirables out!). Nothing was working and everything was closed. Being 6 and having no where to be this was officially the greatest day ever and I was up at about 4am. I'll never forget the image of my Father, climbing up the snow with his bike to cycle to work at 7:30! To give you an idea of how bad it was they had to send a JCB to plow us out at around 3pm. My Dad worked the whole day...

2. Aged 17 I was feeling lazy when my Dad (whose job it was to walk me and my brother) came in at 7:30 (which seemed early at the time) and told us with all the sympathy he could muster it was time to get our arses in gear. "I don't feel well, can I have a day off?" I whined. "You can have a day off when you're dead." Came the response. That was me told. I now try and live my sporting life by these words. Never miss a session, never give in, and if you have a rest day planned, you better make sure you kill yourself on the day before...

126mile bike @ IM wattage + 10mile run at 7:08 miles - JOB DONE!

Happy Father's Day!

My Interval Workout

To all those who dislike me talking shop stop reading now.

No blood but a descent set. 5x10min (2:30 rest) descending. 5:58, 5:53, 5:48, 5:42 5:31. Managed to hit 302w/307w on the 2x20m as well. Currently 2 weeks ahead of schedule on the bike, lets hope it carries over to the longer stuff. Only 135 miles will tell...