Today is a good day to Tri

Ironman70.3 Antwerp

2011-07-28T12:53:00.000+01:00

It's been a huge amount of time between postings, but I've been on various social networking platforms recently. Anyway, this year has been mainly focused around IM Lanzarote which turned out to be a bit of a letdown. I decided a while back to to do Antwerp as it was looking to be fast and flat. So I thought that I'd have a go.

A week leading up to the event my sore back had really flared up. I had a massage on the Thursday before, but the drive to Belgium made it steadily worse. So the question was, do it or not? I figure unless you're about to lose a limb or you're on your deathbed, there are no excuses. The weather forecast looked bad for this event and yet another excuse to pull out. In fact all of Northern Europe was looking pretty miserable so various events were looking to be pretty wet and windy. Oh well such is triathlon, you can't plan around the weather!

The swim is in a lake just next to the Schelde. Funnily enough it wasn't brackish/salty as I expected. We had a good 17C in the water so it all looked good. The check-in was up until 10h, but my wave-start wasn't until 11:40. This meant waiting around in transition whilst it was blowing a gale! Brrrr.... Anyway, it gave us a chance to watch the pros finishing their swim. Bart and Axel were the favourites and were out pretty early. I saw the disabled athletes come out just after Natasha Badman before our wave was called. I did not have a good swim at all as my goggles kept on leaking for the first 600m. By then, my pack was way off and I couldn't catch them. My back started pinging a bit too, which was a bit worrying. I got out in pretty slow (36 minutes) and off the pace by about 4 minutes.

The bike seemed reasonable until we hit some headwind. We had what I can say is worse than I saw in Lanzarote this year. On a flat course this can be pretty painful too! ;-) At about 5 km we entered the tunnel to link up to the main part of the bike course. By the time we reached the bottom part there was a go slow section due to a fatality on the road. Arthur Aghajanyan (from Antwerp), sadly crashed in the Waaslandtunnel and later on died in hospital. It was an appalling sight, but we all continued riding. Things were okay until we hit a 3-lap section in the docklands area. The headwind got worse and my back was in severe pain. I had to ease off and used very little power. There was nothing I could do about it. The sections with the wind were fun, but again I could not manage to put any power in. There were a few bunches here and there which I tried to avoid. Unfortunately the refs were a bit overzealous and I got a penalty for slow passing! That's a first for me... I think that I managed about 2:56 and about 30 minutes off the pace.

The run was a three-lap affair through the city centre. It was okay, but I think all that wind wiped me out. And further insult to injury was a long penalty lap I had to run! I really hated most of that run. My feet were sore and my back was stiff. A 2:02 and the slowest Half Marathon raced in years. More than a half hour off the pace!

The finish was nice though as my family was around. I also got to see one of my coached athletes finish with a PB. I met Donna Dewick finally which was cool. Finally, I polished off the day with a fine Belgian beer (De Konnick)

Lessons learned:

1- When injured, don't push it and treat an event as training session
2- When it's windy out, eat more as you're expending more energy. Really!
3- Don't wear racing flats on a cobbled course. Ouch!
4- Don't try to pass when it's windy out or the race refs will get you!
5- Sort out that back!

So back to the drawing board. I'm a big boy so I'll pick myself up and hammer myself into shape for the Cologne Half which is in 5 weeks. Laters peeps!

H2O Audio Interval Review Part 1

2009-11-28T20:07:00.002Z

I am a big fool for gadgets and new toys, especially when I hear that it's the latest and greatest blah blah blah... I'm also a big geek for portable audio players. I've looked over the web for quite a while for underwater music systems that you can actually swim with. There are currently three manufacturers that come to mind at this time that are the most readily available: Speedo, Swimp3, and h2o audio. I realise that the last one manufactures cases, but I did say underwater music systems. After going through all the reviews, I decided to go with the h2o audio solution as I really liked the simple way they put this thing together. Anyway, a more formal write-up will follow once I'm finished reviewing this unit. So let me first just provide a simple blow-by blow in the meantime:

I just received the latest h2o audio Interval model and I find it a pretty sturdy unit. If my cold clears up, I'll be set to try mine out tomorrow for the first time. Initially, the design for this 3rd gen ipod shuffle case has been well thought out. There's no issue with button alignment as the latest shuffle requires control via the cable itself and this has been transposed to buttons on the housing. It does take a bit of reseating the phone jack in to get both earbuds to talk, but that's just a fiddly bit that is easily sorted. Also, the case makes a satisfying click when you close it up. I've done the soak test and have had the unit underwater for 1/2 an hour and my new shuffle survived! I have found buds that fit perfectly, which is a bonus. The sound quality is the same as ported through standard headphones. I'm thinking that if I use my goggle straps and stick the whole setup under my cap, there shouldn't be an issue with slippage found by other reviewers. The form factor is quite good too as it hits that sweet-spot right under the skull. As with anything, it may take a bit of trial and error before I get the fit and feel right. Once I get it, I'll tell you how it works out. Anyway, for the time being I think that I will mainly be listening to some of the old speed metal classics tomorrow, so stay out of my lane.

Feeling Groovy

2009-11-12T14:52:00.002Z

Well I finally got the disks from the DVD set that my wife and I did for indoor cycle coaching. These are really good quality! We're actually selling them here: http://www.industrialmultisport.co.uk/products.html .

Anyway, back to the training front... I'm still cranking away. I got in a great 10 mile run in for lunch, so the marathon training is going well. this'll be a nice 50 mile for sure!

Rav out!
__________

Here we go again!

2009-11-09T16:58:00.002Z

Well after a few stops and starts over the last few weeks, I'm finally back out there and feeling good. Back up a few steps... I have a 14-month old who attends a nursery... picked up every darned cold, flu, illness, etc.. and she in kind gives it to yours truly and her moma. Isn't she sweet. Anyway, I'm now on week 3 of my marathon training programme and 15 to go. Yes I know that there's plenty of time to get that weight down and speed up. I guess that it's a case of staying healthy and taking it a day at a time.

Next stop Seville!

Winter is on the way!

2009-10-02T14:54:00.003+01:00

It's been a huge gap between postings. However, all my other social media outlets are pretty up to date. I've had ups and downs throughout the year, but we persevere. IMCH came and didn't happen due to a bout of swineflu. Steelhead 70.3 I sort of went through the motions as I was in recovery mode. What finished off the season well was the Cologne Half where I finished with a 5:10 which was longer than a standard half including an underserved 5 minute penalty. This could have been a sub-5 HIM in real terms. I'll have that I believe. So this leaves me with the rest of the year. Where will it take me? We shall see. All I know is that I shall be doing Nice again and a few 70.3's.

Barcelona Challenge Half Ironman

2009-05-28T16:40:00.009+01:00

I guess mentioning Barcelona here in the UK may be considered a dirty word considering Man U's beating last night, but we're talking triathlon people! Yes it's been yonks since I entered any updates, but I've become a bit of a Twitter junkie lately. Last weekend I took part in the Barcelona Challenge Triathlon on the Costa Brava in Spain (Obviously). This was the first time this event was run by the Challenge team and appeared to have all the quality you'd expect from a Challenge event. I was totally under trained as I've had one cold after another and a bike crash that took me out of action on the bike and swimming for a few weeks. It didn't matter as I was committed to do this event. I went down with a big group from my Triathlon club Tri-Force and it really made this event a real festive one at that. I think that we were about 25 competitors and supporters who went down initially. I brought my wife and our 7-month-old (her first ever flight) which was nice to have around I must say. We spent the first day travelling and checking in. It takes quite a bit of effort getting such a big group on the move... geez. The following days consisted of the obligatory sea swim sessions, bike building and spinning, a run or two, etc. It's really important to try to acclimatise and test out your kit without actually pushing yourself too much. You tend to see people hammering a bit too hard race week as the excitement builds. This is usually a BAD idea. Anyway, to the race itself... The event was straight forward an each discipline was pretty much a one lap affair respectively.

The Swim 1.9 km

There was a big swell in the water at about 3-4 meters. I was in the first wave (fast guys, fire/police championship, pros) and got the heck kicked out of me. I held on to a steady pace as well as some speedy toes. The field broke up quite quickly due to the swell. At the turn around point I was doing quite well. Unfortunately, I got pushed by the current towards the shoreline and had to make about 300-350 up to get back to the final buoy. So my swim was closer to a 2250 swim... not nice. Probably the worst swim time of my life, but at least I didn't cheat. I heard later that 100's of my fellow competitors actually skipped that final buoy, cutting out some serious distance off the swim.

Swim time - 43:23 Ouch!

Silly time taken in transition - 5:05

The Bike 91 km

This was a mostly flat bike with a short'ish 11 km climb (out and back) stuck in the middle of the ride. There was an incredible tail wind all along the coastal road bringing up my speed to about 40-45 kph. Sweet! Anyway, even though the swim was a wave start, the bunches started forming after the hill. By the final turn around point at 58 km, it was a "Draft Fest". Now I've done events all over the world, but this was the first time I've ever seen anything like this. There were about 8 peletons formed up as I headed to that final turn. And it's really odd that this occurred as the the very wind that brought us out to this point miraculously shifted in our favour. This sort of negated the survival draft that a lot of people find themselves in when fighting heavy wind. Nevertheless, a pack built around me. So what do you do in this case? Allow the pack to pass you only to be spat out by the following group and the next? Sit back and enjoy it? Fight it out? I tried to jump ahead of the group that formed up around me. At the same time, the race referees tried to break us up. I got in the lead and ended up pretty much dragging along 50+ riders for about 8 km. It's funny actually as when I got tired and slowed down, so did the pack. When I pushed the pace, the whole group fought to keep up. I finally had enough and sat back for the rest of the ride. I know, but there wasn't much of a choice in the matter. Consequently, we found out later that about 250 cyclists were DQ'ed and it wasn't officially announced until the race actually finished! So no draft penalties handed out at all! Automatic disqualification. Un'ffing believable. So finally I ended up dropping the group in the final kilometers of the bike portion of the event and finished strong! Bike time - 2:35:16 Cool!

Yet more silly time taken in transition - 5:38! Grabbed the wrong run bag and had to run back and get mine. Aren't those bag hooks always too close together?

The Run - 21 km

Once out of transition, I certainly did not feel my usual speedy self. Nevertheless, I managed a cruising 11.5-12 kph. With my trusty Garmin I proceeded in hammering out the run. The nice thing about a an out and back course is that it gives you a chance to see the Pro's hammering it out. Man, Paul Ambrose was looking great out there as was Timo Bracht. There was just no beating Clemente Alanso as there was some heavy daylight between he and Timo and Paul. Anywho, we had a headwind out to the main turn around point with a lot of sun. I just knew that the last 10 km was going to be hot and testing without that cooling wind. Consequently, it was steamy out there with very little protection from the sun! There were loads of holiday makers out there eating pizza, drinking beer, and cooling off at various pools and beach areas (b@sta@rds). And to make matters worse, my Garmin died (freakin batteries!) at about 14 km..... I dropped my pace a bit here and started treating the aid stations like moving feasts. Not really, but I started walking them a bit dumping copious amounts of water on myself as I really started to heat up. The running surface throughout this event was so varied; sand, wooden slats, cement, ashphalt, etc. It kept things interesting. One last turn at about 19.5 km and we were heading into town to the finish. The organisers put a brutal little hill in there to finish up at the sports stadium. It was like a little Tour de France climb with spectators closing in on all sides. I walked for a couple seconds, but was finally pushed up that hill with such great support from the crowd. Then finally, we hit the stadium with just a half lap to finish. Run time - 1:56:28

I crossed the finish line with a total - 5:25:47 . Way off target, but I'll take it!

The Barcelona Challenge was a good way to start the season in anger. There were some serious organisational issues that need to be worked out (as there's a full distance event in October). These were numerous; we needed a better race briefing (wasn't worth attending), a start gun perhaps (didn't hear anything and went with the flow), resolve the drafting issue(TDF - course change?), course marking for the bike (almost non-existent - rubbish spray paint on the run) and proper/professional refereeing (no Draft penalties? Only DQ's). Nevertheless, I had a safe and enjoyable event. If they resolve these issues, I might come back.

Now I'm just in recovery mode, doing a bit of training this week. I have a self-supported century planned for Sunday as I couldn't get into the Chiltern 100 (left it too late). Six weeks from now I've got Ironman Switzerland. I'm hoping for a PB and go under 11 hours, but as I've proven time and again anything can happen during an Ironman. ;)

Tring to Town

2009-02-03T14:11:00.004Z

Tring to Town was my first Ultramarathon. It's basically a point to point marathon on the Grand Union Canal between Brentford and Tring here in the UK. It's roughly 40 miles end to end and is run two days consecutively. I decided to do one day and I think it was enough for me for my firs foray into ultra running. Anyway, I'm not that crazed... yet!

We got to the race HQ at the hotel in Brentford the night before to pick up my number, map, and have them inspect the required kit I had in my running pack. The first thing I noticed was how low key the whole event seemed. Don't get me wrong, Ambition is a professional team that hosts events worldwide. They know what they're doing. So they checked to see that I had all the essential stuff for the race. Everyone was required to have the same things kept in their bags throughout the whole of the event (food, compass, space blanket, lamp, etc.)

The first bit of good news was that we were going to start an hour later in the morning, which meant a 9:00 start. That's great. I have been sleeping in lately and early mornings do not suit me these days. The next thing was that we would be starting from the hotel itself.This meant that S and the baby would be able to see us off and still remain warm.

We arranged to stay with friends close by which was fantastic. We were treated to the obligatory carbo-loading session with pasta, chicken with green pest, topped off with a very generous apple crumble! Whew... that was a lot of food. Thanks Rob and Fi! Relatively early to bed and early to rise. For breakfast, I decided to go very conservatively with the amount of food I took in and stuck with a carb drink, a bagel, and some coffee. That hit the spot and we were off to the hotel.

The race briefing area in the hotel was full of runners already kitted up by the time we got there. A few minutes to spare for a few nonsensical questions and we were about ready to go. S took a few photos pre-start and we were off!

Race Start

We had about a half mile before we hit the canal and ran as a group. At this time I realised that my Camelback drink bottles were leaking like hell! Not a good choice for ultra running (lesson learned). Anyway, it really felt like a festive atmosphere as we all seemed to be taking it easy. The fast boys didn't take long before they started putting the hammer down. After about 2-3 miles, they were gone! I think that was a pack of 5-6 runners. I decided to run conservatively and kept an even pace for a while. This is when I met Mimi Anderson and a couple others. We kept to together picking up a few runners who slowed a bit. By the time we hit about 14 miles, we had 7 people in our group. It was really nice. We were trading off stories about events and races. It was a really nice time we were having. Every once in a while we traded off the lead pace until I took it. I knew this section of the canal well and put the pace up a bit. This was the section near Harefield between Uxbridge and Rickmansworth. It' a nice long stretch full of green and the occasional canal boat.By the time I hit check point 2 at about 20 miles, I was all alone. Oops! Well at this point I felt good, I was well hydrated and was taking in gels frequently. I was maintaining low 8:15 miles or thereabouts. It wasn't until I hit the marathon distance did I regret this. I managed 3:48 at that point. This isn't my race pace for marathon, but it's not shabby considering the terrain (stoney, ruts, muddy). One of the group I was with caught up to me, gave me a few words of encouragement and continued on. I caught back up with him at CP3 which was at 30 miles. I stopped for some water and jelly babies. I got passed by another one from that original group. That was a great pick me up as I ended up pacing with that guy for a while. We had a chat about what to do at this point of the event. You really need to watch your footing as mistakes can be made easily! I suddenly had to drop back as my energy levels started flagging again. I had 5 miles to go and realise that my speed had dropped to 11 minute miles! My quads were really going at this point. Every lock or incline was a serious drain on me and hit my pain threshold. I got passed by a few more people including Mimi. She just flew past me and the guy in front of me (little did I know that she actually missed the exit off the canal and ran an extra 7 miles!). I finally got to the ramp off the canal to the hotel finish. I got to the top of the bridge and the signs didn't really point anywhere. Time to consult the map! By the time I got it out S was arriving in the car. Funny coincidence as I could've been at that T-junction an hour later. She told me to follow her! Right! She told me that the GPS in the car said 1/2 mile to destination. I put down the hammer and followed. I finally got to the finish at beautiful Pendley Manor in ummm I think 5:54. I made it under my targeted time, in about 13th place, got my medal, and the t-shirt!

This was a great event one of which I would recommend to people considering doing as their first ultra. I'll definitely have a go in the future and see how fast I could run it or maybe do both days. Consequently, I'm currently recuperating from this effort and am having a nice active rest this week. Then it's back on with Ironman training!

It's Go time

2009-01-30T17:38:00.002Z

Tomorrow I'll be doing my first ultramarathon the Tring to Town. I am completely jumping around the house! I know that it should be taken as an event and not really a race, but I can't help myself. We're going to go register tonight at the race HQ in Brentford (how exotic) and then stay with some friends close by. The forecast looks good and we are good to go. Full report follows!

Week in Review 25/01/09

2009-01-25T19:50:00.003Z

Scores are on the doors. This week is the first week taper before my Ultramarathon. So here are my results for the week:

M - 10.21 miles 1:24 Steady Run
T - Off
W - 14.2 miles (am) 2:00 Ultra Pace Run, 5.86 mile (pm) 0:53 Easy Run
Th - Core/Stretching 1:00
F - 5.51 mile 0:48 steady Run
S - 10.03 Tempo Run 1:13, 2500m Technique Swim 1:00
S - 15 mile 2:09 Ultra Pace Run

Back in it next week! Woohoo!!

One week to go!

2009-01-24T12:59:00.003Z

I feel great today. I just had a stonking good run this morning and I can't say how great this makes me feel. I did a 10 miler that should have been at a cruising pace, but after the 1st mile warm-up, I just had to up the tempo... and again...and again. My last mile was a 6:30 split (race pace). I felt awesome and I had much more left in the tank!

As some of you know, I've been training for T2T which is on the 31st. It's so close I can taste it. Funny thing is that it's not even an A race for me. I just always wanted to do an ultramarathon. Honestly, I can say that it's actually been easier than training for an Ironman triathlon that's for sure. The amount of time is the same, it's just the ratio of training has shifted, drastically. I normally do about 40-45 mile running weeks as a maximum and concentrate mainly on cycling and swimming at this time of year, but obviously I've had to shift this. The long runs of 4-5 hours don't even feel any worse than being on the bike. Actually, I sometimes prefer these long runs over a long bike. I tend to hit a plateau at about 4 hours and then I feel like I can go further. Having done a maximum in training of 32 miles, the extra 8 required for T2T doesn't seem unreasonable. Anyway, one last long run of 15-20 miles tomorrow and I'm shutting down for the following Saturday. We are go!

Tick Tock!

2009-01-21T16:50:00.002Z

Ten days to go before the next big event! The Tring to Town race feels more real as I get closer to it. I'm currently on a two-week taper phase, but it is definitely harder than last week. I had a bit of a low week with no long run. I suspect that my rest phase between 30+ mile runs is 10 days and not 7 days. Glad I skipped that last 45 km run. Instead, I've done a series of 10 mile runs and am in the process of a 2 run day today. I got in 14.5 miles for lunch and will hit the roads this evening to round this out to 20 miles. One more longish run on Sunday at 14-15 miles and I'll be on a light week before the event on the 31st. My legs feel like they are going to make it.

Ultras take a bit more planning than Ironman races for some odd reason. However, running is so simple... you just need a pair of shoes. I believe that I will do another one next year.... but which one? Anyone? Comments would be appreciated. I'm thinking of the Western States 100.

Off Road Running Shoes - Saucony ProGrid Xodus

2009-01-12T12:33:00.007Z

I know that I've been saying that I would start doing product reviews on my blog, so here we go!

Hello. My name is Rav and I am a running shoe junkie. I've run in everything from track spikes to paper thin racing flats. This season, I've been doing various events on a pair of Nike Vomero+3 shoes. I love them so much as they are really comfortable to run in. I'm currently training for an ultradistance marathon that is purely off-road, so I needed something more specific to multi-surface running. I already have some off-road shoes, but they are flat and uncushioned. After about 10 km you'd be hard pushed to go any further. About 10 days ago I ran some of the Grand Union Canal with road shoes and found that they really didn't really suit the surface conditions as they were just too soft. So I decided to go out and get some new shoes...

I did some shopping around and decided to go for a pair of Saucony ProGrid Xodus shoes. My first impression of them was whoa look at those shiny things! Saucony has really started to design some nice looking shoes. I got the grey and yellow ones from my local running shop Up and Running in Watford. They are surprisingly light when you pick them up, but they are made of some seriously durable materials. With the ripstop material on the top and the Vibram soles, these things really looked the business. Ryan at the shop (who happens to be a very accomplished trail and ultra-distance runner himself), offered these up as I told him that the GUC (Grand Union Canal)really tore up my legs whilst wearing road shoes. The Xodus seemed to suit my requirements as they are neutral and cushioned while at the same time stable enough for uneven multi-surface running. I decided to take them out on my run the very same day as I wanted to break them in a bit before my long run on Sunday.

On my first run (the maiden voyage) I took them out on a short circuit of 6 km though local trails and they seem to respond well to the twists and turns that this particular loop consisted of. On my second run I kept mostly to the trails and did my hill session in them. The hill repeats were actually on a paved section close to the Arsenal training grounds. The cushioning in these shoes were certainly adequate for paved downhill running as I didn't feel too sore afterwards. This is important as I've had offroad shoes that really don't have enough cushioning to do very much on the road. Finally, I took them out on my long run on the GUC, which consisted of a 52 km out and back run along the footpath that runs along the canal. Unfortunately, as the surface was still frozen in the early hours of the morning, it was a hard and uneven slog to get the first 32 km in. This absolutely tore up my legs. I don't think that it would have mattered what shoes I was wearing at that time. As the sun came up and the temperature rose, the frozen mud on the footpath actually started getting mushy. It was like the difference between night and day. After about another 10 km or so, my legs started feeling better, but not great. I finished about 10 minutes faster at 50 km than 10 days before, so that's a good thing. In order to tell if these are the right shoes for long distance trail running is still up in the air, but it's certainly looking positive. I'll be back in a few posts to give you a more definitive review of these shoes...

Another week in the bank

2009-01-11T17:46:00.002Z

I don't usually do training updates, but I thought that I'd do one this week for a change. I'm currently training for an ultramarathon this winter which kicks off on the 31st of the month. Anyway, here's my week:

Monday - 10km - straight run, 2400m - aerobic swim
Tuesday - 11km - interval session
Wednesday - 6km - steady run, 2600m - speed swim, weights session
Thursday - 11.5km, 30km indoor cycling
Friday - 6.5km - steady run
Saturday - 17km hill session, 3400m - long set swim
Sunday - 52km - canal run, 35km - indoor cycling

Scores on the doors: 8400m swim, 65km cycle, 114km run (woot), weights x 1

It was a good week indeed. I came up short on missing a weights session, but made up with an additional swim and a few extra runs. I'm really pleased with hitting 70 miles this week even with the weekend being a bit bottom heavy. My run today was awesome! It hurt, but it puts me in the right place physically for the run in a few weeks. I'm also getting in good shape for my triathlon base training. I'm a bit concerned about the lack of cycle training, but I should be fine come the end of February.

Week in Review

2009-01-05T14:44:00.000Z

I managed about 70 miles last week which is pretty good for me. This is going up yet again with a long run of 33-35 miles! I'm pretty confident that I should make it through ok on this as the 50 km I ran last week was after NYE and little sleep.. Fingers crossed. Keep up the good training all!

Event List for 2009

2009-01-05T09:48:00.002Z

I've so far decided upon the following triathlons and road races for 2009:

Tring to Town (40 mile ultra)
Reading Half Marathon
Barcelona Challenge
Ironman 70.3 UK
Ironman Switzerland
Ironman 70.3 Steelhead
Ironman 70.3 Monaco (Potentially)
Dublin Marathon (Possible)
And a number of local triathlons and running races..

Now we're getting somewhere

2009-01-01T19:57:00.002Z

To ring in the New Year I decided to go for my long run for the week today. I finally got down to the Grand Union Canal to do a bit of a simulation in preparation for Tring to Town. The weather was perfect today (grey, cold, but dry). Doing a run after a late NYE was a challenge to begin with. Doing 50 km is another thing. So at about 11 am I drove over to Watford and got running. I went south towards Heathrow. I was aiming for two 12 km out and back runs, but I decided to go for it and run out 25 km to my turn around point. Erm.... a slight mistake that! Once I got to about 32 km I started to fall to pieces! You see almost all my long runs have been on the road with no issues. On the canal the surface is somewhat uneven and it really kills the legs after a while. Compound that after a few hours and ouch! Anyway, the last 18 km was a bit tortuous to say the least! Once I hit 42 km I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then some of my fave tunes started playing on my iPod. A bit of Rammstein.... some Sonic Youth.....Linkin Park. This really helped. The final 5 km just went by like a dream! Nice. Job done! I have hit 50 km and my first ultradistance in 4:56! I'll check in later with some observations and tips on how I could've done this with less pain and a bit more speed.

38 Km Baby!!

2008-12-21T10:29:00.002Z

So I got in my planned 38 km running yesterday (in 3:25 I might add). Felt good. Much better than last week's stumble home. I tell you though, that recovery takes it's time. I'm still going to top off the week with a run after driving to Belgium so I can reach 100 km (woot). So I'll be blogging from my mother-in-law's throughout the week.

Eva's sleeping now (tfft). She's already 12 weeks old. Man we're going to have to start marking off her age in months now. This is the first time that we're taking the little one on a road trip. I hope that she doesn't freak! Channel Tunnel here we come!

Gotta get the car ready for the drive now gang. Anyway, expect lots of reports about food and running --some usual introspection as well!

I even impress myself!

2008-12-17T20:19:00.002Z

If only that were true. I just finished a run tempo session this evening. I have no idea what my stats are. In fact, I don't really care to be honest. I can only say that I felt really strong out there. I think that my training is really coming together now. I have about 6 weeks before the ultra and I believe that I might do better than just complete this thing. If my legs hold together, that may actually happen.

Time for dinner, but before that.... I am a bit ticked off! I've been mulling this over since I heard last week and now I just have to say something. NPR's show Day to Day is getting canned due to budgetary reasons. how freeking lame is that? This is a show that has given me so much. Most of you who know me knows that I pretty much listen to speech-based podcasts during most of my training. It so happens that Day to Day is my bread and butter. I listen to them every day! Come March of next year, it's all over. Finished! Nadda! Consequently, there are a number of sites, Facebook pages, etc. dedicated to saving this show. I for one will join this cause in some way or another. Once I decide how, I'll tell you. Anyway, it's just a frightening thing that this is just the tip of the iceberg. One can only imagine what Public services are going to be cut both in the US and here on my side of the pond in the UK. I guess we'll find out when it's too late and they pull the rug from under us once again. Rant over....

Winter Training Can Be A Breeze

2008-12-16T19:47:00.002Z

So he says. I'm just gearing up to hit the roads once more. Charging up the Garmin, my iPod, looking for suitable clothing, blah, blah, blah... and so it goes. Currently where I am in the UK it's 3 C which isn't so bad for this time of the year. I generally go out with way too much kit on. Originally being from Michigan just has me programmed to go out dressed for the worst. I guess that has to be it. That or I'm really a weirdo who likes being smothered in tight fitting running apparel. I digress once more.

I believe that I mentioned that I'm running the Tring to Town Ultramarathon (http://www.tring2town.com/ ). I'm actually doing day one which is Town to Tring and a total of 40 miles. It's the uphill direction towards Tring along the Grand Union Canal. It takes place on the 31st of January, so I'm expecting classic English weather which consists of rain and wind. Nice thought eh? Up to this point I've managed no more than 21 miles running for my longest runs and I'm totalling about 50 miles per week. On top of that I'm maintaining my triathlon training which consists of 2 swims, 2 bikes, and 2 strength sessions per week. I suppose that I shouldn't be too concerned about the short mileage due to the excess above that in cross training. Anyway, eventually, that mileage will creep up to about 30 miles for the long runs and about 70 or so miles a week. I sort of set a goal of about 600 km from this week on to get the hard training in. I'm a noob at ultra's, but my successive Ironman racing should put me in good stead to finish strongly, erm finish...

I've recently caught the twitter bug as I finally had the time to use it. I find it very infectious and at the same time therapeutic. There's so many like-minded individuals out there sharing there human experiences with the rest of us. Of course there's a lot of chaff, but that usually happens with these kind of things. What I really like about the whole deal around social networking is the interconnectivity between all the social networking sites. The transitions are smooth and somewhat seamless. It's pretty cool even if I don't always have a great deal to say. It's just a wonder that there are so many people out there that do!

Where was I? Oh yeah, uh Winter running. It's getting dark and quiet out there. That's just how I like it. A nice hour should do it. Back to the roads for now.

The race that never was

2008-12-08T14:15:00.004Z

What a weekend! I was down for the Luton Marathon relays with Darren and Mark on Sunday. What happened was completely unexpected. It was about -3C in the morning with frost everywhere. I think that we had 4 teams signed up. My team had a good chance of a top'ish finish. Unfortunately, it was not to be as there was an accident on the course. Apparently a car caught a bit of black ice and flipped on its roof. The road conditions degraded throughout the morning so it made it nearly impossible for the recovery vehicle to shift the wreck. It got to the point that the organisers had to call the event off due to the lack of time and daylight required to ensure a safe event (http://www.lutonmarathon.org.uk/). Most of my fellow Tri-Force club mates decided to go for a short run as we were all together and ready to go. We still managed about 11 km on a very slippery surface. Even with all the problems with a DNS for the whole field, it ended up a really pleasant day with loads of sun and good friends to chat with. I still feel that need to get some more competitive events under my belt before my Ultramarathon in Tring. I'm sure that I'll find one or two. I just need to start looking.

Coaching Children

2008-12-06T10:46:00.002Z

So I'm back to coaching the juniors today. It should be a gloriously crisp afternoon for it. S will be walking in the woods with the baby. What a nice plan for the day!

Looking Good For The Winter

2008-11-07T17:52:00.002Z

So I'm at a stage where I am keeping my training base at a percolating level. We had our baby about 6 weeks ago and S is giving me the time I require for my addiction. Little Eva is my greatest fan! Now it's time to start looking at gear, kit, technology to get me motivated! I know that running ultramarathons and competing in Ironman races should be enough to get the blood going, but still I need more. I suppose that it has to do with the darkness of winter closing in and all that. It certainly isn't the weather as it's been pretty mild up to November. Sipping hot tea is nice. Hmmmmm.... I guess that a bit of shopping for stuff will do it. I'm now on the hunt for an Ant+ compatible powertap wheel to go with my Garmin 705. That will be a sweet combo, but it's a big chunk. It's pretty much the same as buying one of those good value Planet X carbon road bikes..... Although I could get some more winter gear for those cold rides too.... Decisions, decisions.... but... but...those new wireless Sony headphones will increase my listening pleasure!

Bugger it, I better go for a run!

TTFN All!!!

And then?

2008-08-25T18:39:00.006+01:00

Well uh, I didn't actually make it to Bedford after all, but that's a whole other story.... Let's move on shall we? So we've hit uncharted waters at this point as my season has come abruptly to a halt. Is it running season? Do I really have to hang up my wetsuit for the year? Who is that lady in my bed? So this is where I figure out how to keep that fitness going and keep that keen edge that I feel that I've finally got. However, S and I have a baby to look forward to in about 4 weeks. Now that is going to be the next challenge! I am really in that continuous mode of excitement and anticipation. It's really a weird place to be as you want it to happen and it's really a feeling that you're out of control and you don't know what to do next. A triathlete who is not in control of things around him.... what an odd concept. It's time to get out of the triathlon bubble for a while I think -- as it does tend to get a bit stifling at times as many of you know. That doesn't mean to say that I'll vanish off the planet, never to be seen again... it'll just be different. I just really don't know what to expect.

Boom! Reality bomb... back to today. Think I got that off my chest. Went out with a few of the Tri-Force boys for a nice bimble on the bike. They were tuning up for the Vitruvian Half Ironman and I was just along for the ride. I think I was being a bit of a horses arse at times and I sucked wheel a lot, but it was some fun. The conditions were a bit breezy, but no rain for once. TFFT! It was good to ride with other human beings for once as the last few weeks were getting a bit tedious. We got a nice 80-ish km in and attacked a few hills as well as a few flats. It was a very useful day indeed. Now I need to start thinking of what I can do with my fitness. I'm looking to do some road races, time trials, and a marathon up until the end of the year. It should be enough to keep me busy, but I need goals people!

By the way, I didn't get the 705 running today as I left the darned thing on all last night..... There will be updates about it soon!

Changes and Toys

2008-08-22T17:28:00.003+01:00

For anyone who has been looking at my blog, I've just made a few changes. Just a few touches here and there. Anyway, it should have a closer look and feel to my website now.

And now for the rest of the story.....

I just took receipt of a Garmin Edge 705 bike computer. Edge 705 pushes you to do your best, then shows you the way back. This GPS-enabled cycle computer knows no limits. Get heart rate, cadence, turn-by-turn directions, power data (from ANT+Sport™-enabled third-party power meters) — the works. Even share your data with other Edge 705 buddies after your ride. All wireless with a color display, this is no ordinary cycle computer.

It is very nice indeed.I've taken it out for one ride and it fits nice and snugly on my old Profile Carbon X bars. It is totally badass!! Full colour screen, all the stats you want, and a great little colour map just in case you get lost. I'm sure to put in more updates about how it goes. I'll be putting it to the test at the Bedford Triathlon on Sunday, so maybe it will help me PB!

A little bit of this and that

2008-08-17T20:39:00.002+01:00

Good week of training. Another one before the Bedford triathlon .
This will be my last triathlon for the season. I feel like I'm actually getting faster this year. Not bad for a 40 year-old. Anyway, I'll try to make it count!

London Triathlon 2008

2008-08-11T07:48:00.001+01:00

I got in this year thanks to Paul over at Grove House. The consequence of this was a 6:30 start today. This was the first time I actually have done London, so it was something one should experience. The scale of this event it truly amazing! However, races like these tend to have issues that are blaringly obvious. I'll get to this later.

Anyway, here is how my day panned out. The alarm goes off at 3:45 as we had to get to transition at around 5:30. This hurt! Nevertheless, we had plenty of time to have breakfast, pack up the warwagon, and get onsite on time. Oh did I tell you than my 8-month pregnant wife insisted on joining me today? As it happens, the entry to the transition area was delayed due to "organisational issues". No worries then... Once I finally got in, there was copious amount of space to park your bike and kit. 10 minutes later and I was at the race briefing area. A bit more waiting, some kind words from the race organiser, and we were sent out into the water.

The swim:

This was an anti-clockwise swim in the Royal Victoria Dock. The water was nice and chilly (to me at least) and the sun finally decided to show itself. The gun went off at precisely erm 6:39? 6:45? and about 500 of us set off. I decided to take it easy and hang back for a nice enjoyable time of it. There was very little of the usual bum fight as with such sizeable groups, so I just kept with a steady rhythm and finished with an extremely slow 29 minutes WTH? A quick transition and...

The bike:

I was lucky to be able to do the Westminster loop. Apparently there were some nice sights to be seen, but I was too busy to play the tourist (you know how it is). This was a 2 lap course and well... the wind didn't decrease in any way, so we had to live with it. It was an easterly which meant that we had a testing headwind each time we went towards the City. There were some narrow bits after St Catherine's Docks and man oh man oh man were there ever bunches of drafting b@st@rds. There was very little to be done to break them up. So I concentrated on my own race. I finished up with about 1:08 on the bike, which I'm pretty pleased about. Another swift transition...

The run:

Well I finally got my mojo back since IM Germany as my running rhythm has finally returned today! TFFT!! This run is a simple 2 lap affair that encircles the Dock. There's a bit of cobble around, but it didn't appear to give me any trouble. I kept up a high cadence up to the second lap. Then disaster hit. I was behind about 4 guys and I believe that we turned to early and missed about 400m off the run course! There were no Marshalls to be seen at this turning point, but heh no timing mat, errr no finish. I didn't realise this until I made it to the finish line at around 41 minutes after passing a good number of fellow age-groupers! I guess I can estimate about 43 minutes for this run, but officially it will count as a DNF me thinks.

So a total of 2:23 and an estimated 2:25 if I bothered to go around the correct turn and the official timing mat. I still finished strong and enjoyed the event. I believe that there are some obvious holes on the organisational side, but even the big races have them. It happens....

So what does this mean to me? Not a great deal. However, I think I need one more official finish before I call it a season. I might actually do Bedford in a couple of weeks.

Anyway, I have to say that my wife Suhela was a real star. She was there for the whole event even with her present condition. She deserves today's medal more than I do. I also hope that the minor contribution that I have made to Grove House helps them continue the great things that they do for their fellow man.

One Month To Go!!

2008-06-06T18:23:00.002+01:00

Haven't posted for a while and it's really due to the huge number of social networking, blog sites, forums, etc..... but here I am. Anyway, I have 4 more weeks until Ironman Europe and I am kicking my own @55! I'll check in after a big training weekend. Laters everyone

Rav

Wow.. awesome!!!

2008-04-13T22:07:00.002+01:00

My buds over here in the UK have really done it today!!! A double win for the TBB twins Bella Comerford and Stephen Bayliss at Ironman South Africa.

Stephen actually smashed the course record and Bella recovered from a huge deficit following a puncture! I am sooooo pleased for them. I just don't have the words as it's been a long time coming. Congratulations to Bella and Stephen!

WTF?

2008-04-06T19:59:00.002+01:00

Snow? In England? In April? I don't get it. Really.... I woke up this morning for my long run and there was about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground from last night's storm. It's Belgium all over again. I wonder what next week is going to be like.

Suffice it to say, I didn't run this morning. I planned on a long swim instead, but suddenly got hungry. What did I do instead? Went shopping of course. We actually went looking for baby stuff for the first time seriously. My god there are all manner of accoutrements for bringing up babies these days. I have no idea where to start so what do I do next? Start building a database for our needs over the next few months. I think I shall call it babdb. Catchy isn't it?

Anyway, I'm glad I didn't bother with a flutter for the Tour of Flanders. I would never have chosen Belgian champion Stijn Devolder as today's winner. Well done Stijn. What a great career this guy is having.

There was a great result for Team TBB today with Chrissie Wellington winning yet another Ironman at Australia. She is a machine. Big up for Chrissie. Chrissie, get on my Podcast please! ;)

I finally got my lazy butt out after 6:00 for a nice 18km bimble in a finishing time of 1:20. This included my warmup. I'm pleased with this as I wasn't even winded. Portugal is going to be better than I planned methinks! I just have 2 more weeks to sort my swimming out. Is this a mission impossible? I don't think so.

iMultisport is online!

2008-04-01T09:39:00.003+01:00

I finally got my website up. It needs a few bits and pieces like a feedback form and more details around coaching and such. Anyway, please have a look at www.industrialmultisport.co.uk

I'm pretty happy that things are really coming together at this point. iMultisport is a reality and I hope that it becomes what we wish.

Maybe More? I really hope so.

2008-03-31T14:07:00.004+01:00

I had a good weekend of training for once. The weather was unforgivable on Saturday and was so blustery that I really couldn't wait to get off the bike. We ended up with about an 80 km ride followed by a 30 minute brick run. This hurt bad!

Sunday was really supposed to consist of a 1:30 run, but of course I got lost. I just couldn't get off this trail! Ended up with 27 km under my belt and knackered legs. It was really muddy out there. A true baptism for my overly white shoes.

I came across an article that talked about Sheila Taormina. Man she really is inspiring. She first had a Gold in swimming and raced in the women's triathlon event previously. She actually is shooting for a third time at the Olympics doing yet another event, Modern Pentathlon! What a hardcore lady. If anyone knows how to get in touch, please tell me as she would be a likely subject on my Podcast. Here's a like to her video : http://current.com/items/76390862_olympic_badass

Cycling in Belgium?

2008-03-24T18:36:00.006Z

Hi gang. I've been in Belgium for a part of the Easter weekend. The first half of the weekend consisted of a horrible time at getting my studies done for my Level 2 British Triathlon course and the final exam. A few hours burned and we were on the road Saturday afternoon heading for Folkestone. It was horrible driving on the continental side. I was so glad to be at my relative's house in Overijse. Anyway, Suze and I decided to take an extra day off and come back on Tuesday. This gave me a few days to get out and ride. It was really necessary too. I've only had a few days of it, but I already feel the cobwebs blowing off. My routes have been out to Leuven... one of the capitals of beer! Anywho, I've done one of my favourite routes that takes me through Leuven and then onto the Dijle Canal. Which is a somewhat bumpy, but enjoyable of rides. Fortunately, I got a bit lost on the way back and almost ended up in Tienen! This gave me a nice 3 hours solid. Today I rode around Terlanen and over to St Joris Weert (SJW). I got in about 1 1/2 hours today and experienced the biggest variety of weather that I've ever seen! Wind, rain, snow, sleet, sun, and snow again! What an experience. Tomorrow we're going for a meal at SJW after about another 3 hour ride, then we're off back to Old Blighty!

On another note, I've been thinking about new bikes again. I'm really stuck between a nice (really nice) roadbike or that absolutely beautiful Specialized that was released this year. It's just my cup of tea. If I had a choice between this and the Cervelo P2C..... I'm not too sure. Any comments out there? I'm chomping at the bit at the moment. .... grrrr.

Keep it going!

2008-03-18T14:09:00.004Z

Well, I've kept on moving. This is a good thing as I have been pretty much consistent with my training over the past few weeks. Anyway, I missed out on Sunday's race as I overslept and it was peeing down!!! I did finally get out late in the morning and got a good 24 km in. I took Monday off and felt good for that.

Is this guy still in front of his PC? Shut down!!!

I've got my Level 2 Triathlon coaching exam and haven't studied very much! Ouch..... I must start today. I'm sure that I'll pass, but I need to get the time to do it over the next few days....

Windy... and how!!!

2008-03-13T09:54:00.002Z

What a windy day. I took my standard 12 km loop towards Frogmore yesterday. I ran it anti-clockwise and almost got blown over by those gusts!! This still took only a little under an hour. Considering the hills, I think that it's not a bad pace at all. I should be in good shape for Sunday's torture fest in Wendover!!!

Anyway, I've been thinking about who to have next on my Podcast. I've been taking several directions at once, but I still like the idea of having the series of technology innovators as an ongoing theme. I hope that we can get some more small endurance sport companies soon. If you have any contacts, drop me a message gang.

Reading again!!

2008-03-12T10:27:00.006Z

Another Reading Half Marathon has passed. It was definitely a good day out. I helped a mate through this event and paced him. It was a good event for the both of us!! Here we are before the event.

These are two tough looking dudes!! When are they going to take off those silly hats?

Here we are close to the finish. We finally hit the finish line at about 1:51 which is just fantastic for a first timer at this distance.

Well.... where to next Neil?

Purple Patch Half Marathon

2007-11-11T16:53:00.001Z

What a good morning out! Most of you probably don't know this, but I used to live very close to the Grand Union for about 10 years, so this was my old stomping grounds. I didn't see any other Tri-Forcers, but I was incognito myself. I had a good start and was about 8th person at mile one - uh, oops! I dialled down to a more comfortable pace, but blew up a bit at mile 9 near Ricky. I had this guy on my shoulder for about the last 4-5 miles which I didn't mind as it kept me going. The last mile went up the hill in Cassiobury Park which made a very uncomfortable finish. :P... Ended up with about 1:37 on the line, which is okay for this time of the year. However, lessons learned here is not to go out on the bike the day before a Half Marathon ---it hurts. :'(

Ricky 9

2007-10-28T19:28:00.000Z

I can't believe that I haven't used this blog in ages. Anyway, a lot has happen this season. I went to the European and World Long Distance Triathlon Championships.

I've been kicked back for a while since, and have been doing road races the pas few months. Nothing really riveting, but that's things so far.

Anyway, today I had a good day out at the Rickmansworth 9 Mile race (www.rickyroadrun.co.uk ). This is my 3rd outing for this event as I like it very much. It's really a lumpy one that follows along the outside of Chorelywood. We used to live in the area for about 5 years. For the UK, it's actually pretty quiet and chilled out. Anyway, back to the race - here's an image of the race start. There were about 600 starters today. It's the highest number to date.I actually PB'ed for this course at 1:01:50! I haven't gotten down under the magic hour as the weather gods weren't with me. It was very windy out there and started to pour down at about 6 miles.

Here's me pouring it on towards the finish. Su actually is the photographer. Take a bow Su!

So that's me for the moment. Su and I are waiting on the results of our Level 1 Triathlon Coaching exams. We're probably going to progress to the next level in the Spring, so all you newbie triathletes watch out for coach Rav. ;)

Dubai Tri Club Triathlon

2007-04-20T11:19:00.000+01:00

Three Tri-dudes Hi all. Had a great little race here in Dubai. The Dubai Triathlon Club held an aquathon today at 7am local time. The Short Course race kicked off as the first wave and then 5 minutes later came us men. Our course was an 800m swim followed by a 5km run was evidently quite competitive. I didn't struggle thru the swim as usual, so it was a suprise to me when I got out of the water in a little over 13 minutes. Then the transition was pretty smooth even with a pair of normal laced trainers. The run was a double loop on the hotel Marina, all nice and open. Ended up with a total of about 36 minutes (32nd out of a 104). This has got to be the shortest race I've ever done. ;) It was good fun.

Very Hot.... Hotter than a Hot Thing!

2007-04-14T19:52:00.000+01:00

I finally wedged my colleague out of the apartment to get down to the beach. We had a really nice lunch at the Limetree Cafe. Really good food run by some expats over here. It was really heaving. We eventually got down to the public beach and it was way too hot!!! About 38 C today. I only managed one lap in the harbor, as there were jellyfish all over the place... Ughhh.

Took a nice rest and siesta this afternoon and just chilled in the apartment in order to wait for the temp to cool down, but it didn't...... So I went running anyway. I took a clockwise route around the Dubai creek. One thing is that I managed to leave my water at the apartment... and this was a big mistake. I really suffered at about 11km. It's very dry here --- being a middleastern country. ;) And ended up with a nice 14 km loop. Runners are still a bit of an oddity here, but you can still manage without any trouble here. A little short, but very useful.

Off to swim at a hotel tomorrow morning. Later peeps!!

It's Hot Man!!

2007-04-13T14:10:00.001+01:00

I'm in Dubai at the moment. I rode with Wolfi's group today. Left the apartment at 5:00 this morning! :oops: Started out from his shop past the Bur Dubai at about 06:00. We joined the main group after 10 km of warming up. The main group we joined was over 80 people. It was a nice thing to see I must say. We headed out at a brisk 35 kph. What a ride. We then hit about 40 km and split into 3 groups (70,100,120 km). I went for the 100 km group as a majority of the fast boys went for the 120. All was good until we turned to head back at 70 km. There was crosswind, headwind, sand... erghhhh. Then the main group excellerated and I got dropped...... I tried to pick up the pieces with the rest of the stragglers, but no one wanted to work together. So I gritted out the last 30 km and pulled a few people thru. We did get some people to work at the front eventually, but the wind kept changing as we made various turns to get back to Jumera. We all kind of went into survival mode at this point. Got to the Lime Tree Cafe finishing with 110 km! Just in time for breakfast at 9:30!!! A nice ride with really nice people.

That's some fine weather!!

2007-04-05T20:32:00.000+01:00

Man what a day. It was just so nice out there. I think we hit something like 20 C. I got out on the bike and put in a good 50Km during lunch, but man the traffic was heavy. I guess it was due to the early leavers for the Easter weekend. Anyway, I did a loop that covered Borehamwood, Barnet, Enfield, Hatfield, and then back home to Napsbury. Felt like treacle today.

Here's a piccie of a dog I saw on the road. Isn't he the coolest thing in a car?

Schtatischtics

2007-03-29T09:05:00.000+01:00

Ironrav and his trusty steed

Well ya know I'm still a bit fatigued from Sunday's efforts at Reading. Nevertheless, I managed my swim on Tuesday and a good 10 x 1 mile set on the bike yesterday. It was a beautiful day out there for a ride.

Today is looking like total crap as it's threatening to rain. However I need to do a run speed session and a brickie as well. Grrrrr.

Anyway... I forgot to mention this, but last week I picked up my new Landrover Freelander 2. It's an HSE model so it has all the bells and whistles. I now have the space to carry the bikes and other stuff!! Take a look at the photo attached. There will be more to come.

Here's my new baby!

Photos from Reading

2007-03-26T13:52:00.000+01:00

Ironrav and Friends Before the Race. It was obviously a cold one out there and was it ever windy!!!

Oh! And here's me finishing. Nothing like the satisfaction in getting the job done! I'm well on track for Florida. I just need to Swim and Bike better.

Job Done

2007-03-25T21:54:00.000+01:00

Well, what can I say? Things went ok this morning. I ended up with a 1:33 time at the Reading Half Marathon.

It started out cold and breezy, but once we got started all was good. I immediately went into the zone, which felt good. My splits were kind of all over the place, but were mostly around low 7 minute miles. Another good day out at Reading. ;)

Shakin in my boots!

2007-03-24T18:30:00.000Z

Had an active recovery ride this morning in preparation for tomorrow's Half Marathon. And then..... we picked up my new Land Rover Freelander 2. It's absolutely booootiful. Oh man! I'll stick some photos later.

Wish me luck for tomorrow peeps.

Rav

All Change Please

2007-03-23T19:17:00.000Z

Hi Gang! I've added a link to my music broadcasting link. I'm doing this for my Second Life site and as an open radio station for all you triathletes out there. Also, I've created a new forum for all my SL Tri members. Anyone can join - all are welcome. http://sltri.21.forumer.com/index.php

I got a nice brick session in today. Not too hard... as I'm racing on Sunday at the Reading Half Marathon. Am I going for a PB? Maybe - I guess it depends on how hard I go on the bike tomorrow morning.

Be cool!

Been a while

2007-03-20T16:07:00.000Z

Training is going well. I finally hit a groove for my second build phase of my training... finally. The weather here in the Southeast of England has been bizzare to say the least for the last few days. There's been heavy wind, sleet, snow, sun, and bitter cold... WTF? I guess it's Spring trying to get a move on.

I had a good session during lunch with a 10 x 1 mile rep set on the bike. I tried keeping it on one road, but got bored seeing the same thing over and over again. This was a bit of a mistake as the wind just cut me down for a few of those intervals..
I'm off for a swim in a couple hours for a series of 200m intervals and then it's Miller time. Hehehe.

After dinner it's back to giving an online turbo session with my SL Tri buddies. Lately, we've been building up our SL Tri group and it's going ok. We're going to have some special guests coming over the next few weeks which should bolster our numbers. We need more of you triathletes out there to take the plunge and join us. It's good fun and is much more dynamic than a forum or chat interface. So come on down and check us out at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Envy/148/62/26 .

We hope to have the second ever virtual triathlon in May, so watch this space.

Going along swimmingly

2007-01-30T12:50:00.000Z

I missed a few days blogging. OMG! Such is the busy life of a consultant. ;) Here's what I've been up to. I checked out the new Land Rover Freelander 2 and I love it. I have booked an overnight test drive and I can't wait! They are beautiful vehicles.

Sunday's bike ride was relegated to a 2 1/2 hour turbo as it got too late to go outdoors for one. I made plenty of nice puddles.;) I got a lot of shirts ironed on this day. I am a star.

I actually took a day off yesterday (my second this month) and went out for dinner instead. It just got too late last night considering traveling, meetings and so on. A day off ? Me?

This morning I swam in the hotel pool here at the Westin to work the kinks out. It did me a world of good. The water was a much better temperature today as it was not like bath water as last time. Tonight's activities will be an hour run up north from the hotel and a movie. Weee!!

Another good one!

2007-01-26T11:03:00.000Z

Still progressing. Twenty-four out of twenty-five days!! That's a record for me. I did a very nice run for lunch.. struggled to warm up and then did 4 reps at 6 minutes hard and 3 minutes easy. Ended up with an odd 9 km, but it was useful. ;) I then went swimming again last night. I'm sure by May I should be pretty damned fit!

Today's just a very long spin on the turbo (1:45) - gag. Let's see how that plays out.

Have a good day all and be healthy!

Swim Fitness / Virtual Cycling

2007-01-25T08:14:00.000Z

It was a good day indeed. After the snow cleared, it was a bit to wet to ride. I decided to take one of coach Troy's free session number 4 on the turbo and stretched it to an hour (http://spinervals.com/). It really was cold in my garage for the first few minutes, but I still made some good puddles.

I finally got to Cannon's for a proper swim set. I'm using Steve Tarpinian's The Triathlete's Guide to Swim Training. I highly recommend this book as it's got a lot of good fundamentals and triathlon specific training in it. I'm currently working with the long distance 16-week programme that fits perfectly with my build for Florida.

I started early, so I should be able to get out for a run this morning. Woohoo!! I also have a swim planned for tonight.

So I've been thinking about how to set up virtual spinning/turbo'ing on Second Life and am getting there. I just need to rent some land and get some additional software to allow voice input. I should have something workable very soon! If anyone is interested, please leave a note.

Snow? In England?

2007-01-24T11:25:00.000Z

It snowed last night. It's unbelievable as it must have come down between 12-6 last night. It was so beautiful out there this morning. The trees were coated with snow, the road was covered - everything was white. ;) There's only a telltale amount out there right now, but I'm hoping for more.

So in the training front, things changed a bit. I'm very flexible in my approach, but I do eventually get the job done. I ran a very easy 7km run for lunch. It was a simple out and back towards Radlett.

Whilst running I was listening to a Podcast by Simply Stu (http://www.simplystu.com/) and heard some interesting things in regards to going slow for your base training. This was very interesting stuff and suggest that all you out there listen to the valuable words in this podcast. I've always said that the guys that always go out and blast it out on the roads and pool day in, day out are just wasting valuable time. It's this time of year that is so important for building that base and working on that heart muscle.

I also was listening to the second part of that podcast discussing Core Performance (http://www.coreperformance.com/index.php). There's some good stuff available on this site. The programmes look very useful. I signed up for the 1 week introductory offer and did the first session last night. Each element of the workout has a companion Quicktime video that shows you how to do the workout. The session that I did was a very good workout that wasn't too hard and lasted for about an hour. If you want to re-balance those muscles and get the best out of your body, this may be a very good method for getting there.

So today will be a bike swim day. Let's see if I stick to it. I'm really thinking that I quickly need some help with the old swimming next month. I might be on the lookout for some coaching. ;) Have a good one everybody!

Brick Day

2007-01-23T09:35:00.000Z

On what used to be my recovery day (Mondays)I'm actually doing my brick sessions now. I do them in my garage which is great! Before living in this house, I hadn't had a garage for years!!! Anyway, the session was simple and consisted of a 45 minute turbo followed by a 15 minutes on the road. Man it is getting cold out there! Brrrrrr.... This has been the 3rd or 4th week in a row where I'm doing proper bricks now. I'm going to start increasing distance and tempo over the next couple of weeks. I'm hoping that this will alleviate the race shock of transitioning from a really hard bike to a run come race time.

Today's line-up is a lunchtime swim and a track session with the Striders. This will mean a hard training day for me. Nice!

Garmin 305

2007-01-22T00:40:00.001Z

Before I forget and I usually do about these things - I got a Garmin 305 for Christmas and will be commenting on this for the next few months. So far I am much impressed. I'd like to keep a running listing and commentary on these kinds of products, so anyone is welcome to provide input. ;)

Garmin 305

2007-01-22T00:40:00.000Z

Before I forget and I usually do about these things - I got a Garmin 305 for Christmas and will be commenting on this for the next few months. So far I much impressed. I'd like to keep a running listing and commentary on these kinds of products, so anyone is welcome to provide input. ;)

Biking or Turbo that is the question!

2007-01-21T20:42:00.000Z

So I got up late today to ride and had to do the uusual weekend things. I sort of feel like I almost back-pedaled on my plan for the year as to the train every day thing... but I couldn't let that happen. I ended up doing a hard one hour turbo session by sitting through Coach Troy's Big Gear Strength - Workout 11.0 (http://spinervals.com/). This is a very good one for building up those quads. I recommend this for any of you budding hill climbers!

Busy busy busy!!!

2007-01-20T08:44:00.000Z

Another 45 minutes before a nice hour long hill running session. I'm also doing a real swim set finally. No more bath temperature pools for me! Should be good, but I am wasted from yesterday as I have had way too much going on in my working life these days and the year has only begun!!

---Nice run btw. It must of rained like hell because it'e REALLY muddy out there. ;)

If you didn't know this about me, I'm a big Second Lifer. I have an avatar that's been alive for about 3 months. I've built a small triathlon group called Triathlon SL. Please join it if you can as I'm trying to justify developing an area for a site - portal for triathletes and other distance athletes. More info to follow.

Travel Day Blues

2007-01-19T12:41:00.000Z

Flying back to the UK from Malta is equivalent to half a transatlantic flight. I do not like it as I am totally knackered. I lucked out by missing that terrible wind storm! Anyway I'm set for a run swim day. This will make 18 out of 19 days of training so far this year!!! For all of you who don't know this, I'm really trying hard to train just about every day this year --I know, I missed a day already... I find that it's all about moderation and adaptation. I have to push myself out the door some days, but I know that it will help me with my ultimate goal from top performances this year. So I'm just about ready to hit the trails for a nice jaunt around the lakes. See y'all later. ;)

Malta Trip

2007-01-18T15:16:00.000Z

This is my third trip to Malta since the beginning of December. It's a business trip as I'm stuck around the airport during the daytime. Training here is pretty good. We're staying at the Westin Hotel (http://www.westinmalta.com/) which is pretty nice. They have a well appointed gym and all the facilities you need to keep the fitness up. The only small thing is the pool. It really is on the small size and WAY too hot, but you can't have everything. The hotel has a good map for a 5 and 8 km out and back run. I did this last night and hit it hard. I just tipped under 37 minutes for the 8 km loop which felt good. This morning I immersed myself in that pool they call a bath, so I'm on target. Tonight is going to be about 2 hours on the exercise bike followed by a well deserved meal with a colleague. I have an early start tomorrow for my flight back...(7:30 flight) oh man!

InfinIT

2006-07-14T11:54:00.000+01:00

Well I finally tried my first batch of InfinIT (http://www.infinitnutrition.com/inf/servlet/inf/) and it seems to do what it says on the tin. I went out for an 1 1/2 bike, 15 minute brick on a pretty warm evening last night and this drink kept me going. I know that it's early days, but I'm hoping that I can integrate InfinIT into my training regime in time for the Cowman.

My first impression is that the drink is light on taste, which can be good for me. I get tired of some of those sickly sweet drinks that are constantly on offer at shops and races. One thing that I need to get used to is the heavy saltiness to this drink. As this is a personalised drink, the sodium content is about 18% - and you can taste it! I'm going to try to change this by diluting it a bit so I don't feel like I'm drinking my own sweat. I'll add to this later one I've had a few more sessions....

Nike+ hits the shops

2006-07-14T10:42:00.000+01:00

I just took a look at the new products launched by Nike and Apple for their Nike+ line (http://www.nike.com/nikeplus/#overview). I was surprised how inexpensive these items really are. The footpod/wireless transmitter package only costs about £18-20. Of course you need to buy a pair of Nike+ compatible shoes in order to insert the footpod, but it still seems to be good value. The only thing I see lacking is the HRM element for a whole training package. One can only assume that this will come out in a later release. I just called a unit of the Sweat Shop in Milton Keynes and they have confirmed receipt of a number of Nike+ items. The shop rep told me that they are trying it out with a few items to first see how the public reacts to this new product line. They currently only have the Nike+ shoe in stock and will have the Moire by next week. I'm going to pick up the initial kit along with a pair of the neutral trainers to try them out. Anyway, if it's good enough for Paula and Lance, it should be good enough for people like me.... right? Watch this space for a review.

2006-07-08T17:34:00.000+01:00

AERODYNAMIK (Kraftwerk)

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Recovery Mode

2006-07-06T19:01:00.000+01:00

My training partner (Ian) and I participated at Ironman France on the 25th of June. This was a tough race that is taking a bit of time to recover from. It was a long one, but Ian and I had a good day out.

So we'll have a good 4 weeks to build for the Cowman in Milton Keynes.

Welcome Aboard

2006-07-06T15:06:00.000+01:00

Hi All,
I thought that I'd set up this Blog to track what actually goes on in the mind of a lifer triathlete like myself. So pull up a chair , have a cuppa, and stay a while.