Being used to riding carbon I wasn’t sure about moving to what is generally considered a step backward to aluminium. However, whilst carbon has it’s merits, lower-end frame sets do not necessarily possess all the structural and behavioural features that a high-end carbon setup demonstrates. For this reason I was interested to explore the Cervelo S1, an aluminium frame with a winning history and phenomenal reputation for speed, made by Canadian bike designer and manufacturer, Cervelo.

Many of the favourable write-ups talk of the stiffness, aero-dynamic properties and sheer power offered by the frame. All very appealing qualities for my specific purpose. The brand philosophy also seemed to focus very much on a combination of ideas to create faster bikes. The brand has successful presence within major pro riding teams and quite frankly there’s something very desirable about the brand. I was bought in and began hunting down a suitable used model.

I managed to find a great 2009 example in fantastic condition, so bought it and built it using the components from my Planet X. The results can be seen below.

I was keen to build it up ahead of the Barcelona Triathlon (October 2011), which I did. However, I didn’t have the opportunity to take the bike out for a full test ride ahead of the event, but instead needed to disassemble it, pack it and fly it to Spain then reassemble it, again. The first time I would ride it in anger would be during the race itself, so I made sure she was setup appropriately ahead of racking.

When it eventually came to the bike leg the first thing I noticed was the fit, the main reason for changing the setup in the first place. The bike felt immediately comfortable and the geometry and riding position suited to speed. I was surprised at how easily I was able to accelerate and maintain a fast pace right from the go. One of the unique features of the Barcelona Triathlon bike leg is that drafting is allowed, making for an interesting, if not slightly edgy race.

Riding through the field in search of suitably paced riders to work with was tricky. I was tagging onto the back of trains and finding the ride easy with plenty of speed to give. Leading out I would find myself riding ahead away from the train I had just joined. On lap 3 of 4 I found a group who I could work with. Taking turns to lead out we were able to maintain an average 40 kph on a course full of 90 and 180 turns. The straights were phenomenally fast and felt rock steady.

I was particularly impressed with the performance of the bike tracking around corners and more so on hills. One of the few sweeping gentle inclines on the course felt effortless as if an extra gear had been applied. The stiffness and sheer power transmission was felt on every pedal stroke, every bit of effort rewarded with more speed.

Final time on the 40 Km bike leg was 01:02:39, which by my standards is a PB by a long way and well up there with the elite field on the same race. I can’t recommend this frame set enough.

Looking forward to my next race.

The London Triathlon

Having already entered this year’s London Triathlon I’m now used to receiving a fair few emails from IMG, organisers of the event, inviting me to sign up to some of their other events which I’m tempted to do and no doubt will at some point in the future. IMG’s latest communication however took be aback a little, this part in particular:

“… As someone who has entered the Olympic Distance we wanted to let you know about some exciting options available:

1. Olympic Plus
We have created a new distance at the London Triathlon. This year for the first time you will be able to take part in the Olympic Plus category. This distance is 1.5km swim, 80km bike (usually 40km), 10km run and you are guaranteed to be going to Westminster and back three times! It will start at 6:30am on Sunday morning and will be £40 on top of your existing entry to take part. Initially we have a limit of 150 places available, limited to those who have already entered the London Triathlon…”

Wow, they’ve created a new distance for the already very over-subscribed London event. More like, they’ve created a new way of screwing £40 out of 150 suckers. Now I’m not sure if this new distance is in any way official, but the reason I enter this event year after year is amongst other things to see if I can better my previous time to achieve a PB. I racked my brain to think of a single reason why I would want to part with another 40 quid so that I can be one of the privileged minority who can double the distance of an already testing bike leg. I couldn’t think of a single reason.

Of all the ways to generate a little extra revenue, this really starts to compromise the sport. The Olympic distance is already a well proportioned event, and at London even more so because it’s a fast, flat course. To then have to ride an additional 40 km would surely compromise the run leg in some way or another. The event becomes neither Olympic or half Ironman, it’s some random hybrid in the middle designed to cream that little extra off the top. At £1/km it’s also somewhat steep for an event you’ve already paid to participate in.

I’ve nothing against IMG increasing their revenue streams, but not at the cost of the sport. The London event in particular is already busting at the seems, please don’t make it worse. Unless of course you’re consciously designing ways to reduce the number of participants through ideas like this. As nan from the Catherine Tate Show would say, “…what a fucking liberty.”

I don’t know what you other participants think, but I’d be interested to know…

Blenheim Tri Sprint course map

Quite unexpectedly I recently signed myself up for this year’s Blenheim Triathlon. It wasn’t an event I was planning to participate in as I’d already signed up for the Windsor Triathlon olympic distance taking place the following weekend on 13 June, but I caved under the peer pressure not wanting to miss out on an event that all my mates were going to be talking about.

Now, I’m not entirely sure what this is going to do to the training regime as I certainly hadn’t planned on two triathlons on two consecutive weekends. The other guys are treating this as a “training” tri, which is fine for them as long as they realise what they’ve let themselves in for. I suppose the Blenheim is a sprint distance event, although I don’t for one minute think that because it’s a shorter event it should be regarded or treated with any less respect or importance as a longer distance event.

Saying that I believe that I am more suited to the standard distance (olympic) as I typically take a fair while to get into the swing of an event, normally taking half the swim distance to effectively warm up. By then I find my breathing is a little more under control (I can actually breath) and I’m thinking about the next leg, the cycle where I am more capable of making up some time.

One thing about Blenheim however is the bike route is quite technical in that it’s fairly undulating to say the least. My riding style is suited to terrain where I can gradually build up a steady and fast pace and maintain for as long as I can bare to, not too dissimilar to a big heavy steam train. I find Blenheim way too disruptive, too many ups and downs, although last years’ wet course didn’t help the cornering which was lethal, and interesting over cattle grids. Another reason I wasn’t intending to sign-up.

The London olympic distance I have to say is one I am very comfortable with. The course is flat and fast despite the strong head wind that tends to beat you down on the bike leg heading towards central London.

Windsor Triathlon on the other hand is making me a little nervous. It’s completely new to me and from what I understand is reasonably technical. Participating in the olympic distance, the swim sounds horrendous, having to fight against the current of the River Thames one way, but hopefully being pushed along a little the other way, I’m hoping. And the run is another of those “undulating” course. sounds pretty knackering to me.

Anyway, this year is a tri of tri’s for me. I’m kicking off with a half marathon towards the end of February, again an event or distance that is new to me. My training hasn’t even really started and I’m still carrying the joys of Christmas on my belly.

I’m thinking I better get cracking with both training and diet. Here’s to a happy and healthy 2010. More later.

Right blade of fork

I’ve owned my Planet X SL Pro Carbon road bike for two years now. Originally purchased directly from Planet X via the Halfords cycle to work scheme I can honestly say that I’m very happy with this purchase, one of my best bike buys to date.

Value and service?

In terms of value, it can’t really be knocked. There are (or at least were) several comparative deals on other brands which I considered at the time, including Focus, Wilier, Ribble, and Orbea bikes. I paid £999 for my Planet X back in the summer of 2007, at the time specified with Shimano 105 brakes and transmission, and a Full Speed Ahead chainset. Since then, the bike has been offered at different price points between £999 and £1,600 plus, in a variety of flavours including Ultegra, Dura Ace and and now SRAM Red. Every now and then I see it available for under the £1K mark with Ultegra, a great deal!

When I first bought it, I spec’d the bike over the phone during an in-depth conversation with the guys at Planet X, who incidentally are very helpful. Great service!

They asked what style of riding I do, the typical terrain I ride, my weight, body measurements etc. On that basis they built the appropriate bike for me (frame size (Small), crank lengths (170 mm), stem lengths (100 mm), number of front chainrings (2), etc). As a result the bike is perfectly fitted and rides beautifully. It’s geometry is not at all aggressive, so provides a comfortable ride experience without having to be to far over the front of the bike with your arse in the air.

The combination of geometry and materials makes for a positive ride experience allowing quick and powerful acceleration. The bike climbs well and is very stable under pedal.

How does it ride?

I’ve ridden it mostly on a range of undulating Essex and Hertfordshire country roads. It’s also gone multi-purpose and served as my weapon of choice in several triathlons, hence the aero bars in the image gallery below.

In no uncertain terms I’m extremely surprised at how comfortable it is. I’ve never experienced back ache after riding the bike, and have always felt it to be setup in a very natural position for riding, so comfortable on longer rides, perfect for sportive.

Thinking about when I first picked it up and took her out for a spin I was shocked at the power transfer to the rear wheel from the pedal, blistering. It felt really twitchy and I was genuinely scared when taking it for a full speed straight road blast. The speed pick-up was quick, great acceleration throughout and the responsiveness, tracking and feedback was incredible. Bear in mind back then I hadn’t ridden a road bike for 16 years and was only used to comparatively bouncy MTBs, so the difference was immense.

When I ride the bike now I love the precision of it as well as the highly engineered feel. I adore the clean, snappy gear changes, and having picked up speed I’m really liking the noise of the whirring wheels and efficiently sharp transmission.

Having upgraded my old SPD pedals to Ultegra SPD SLs I can feel even more positivity through the drive.

I love it to bits.

What does it look like?

Check out the images below. Click on the first image to view a gallery of larger images.

The frame set you see in the pictures below is now FOR SALE. Click here for details

Do you own/ride a carbon road bike, or want to ride one. What are your experiences? Let us know below…

“…one of those sports where there are so many rewards…” Couldn’t agree with you more, Tim.

My splits went like this:

On the whole the experience was one of mostly positive mixed emotions, excitement, nervousness, tension, and at times panic. I felt much more at ease this year than I remember feeling about the last two years at the London Triathlon. In each discipline I undoubtedly felt more comfortable, especially on the bike and run legs. The swim was still very tough especially during those first few hundred metres, but this event was the first I can recall actually enjoying the swim, once I was past the half way point.

It felt larger than ever before, and indeed it was, evident throughout by the longer times to get around the transition area pre and post race. A symptom of both the event and the sport’s success, which is good news by all accounts.

Hoping to maybe fit in another one, possibly two more triathlons this season to keep the momentum going and avoid slowing down too much for the winter, something I’ve been guilty of in the past. Hopefully by maintaining decent fitness throughout the winter and keeping the pounds off and ideally shedding more I can launch into next year’s events with renewed fitness rather than having to focus on weight reduction first.

To keep motivated I’m glad to say that myself and my compadres (known as Team Ting Tong – don’t ask why) have already stumped up and entered into the 2010 event securing ourselves another bout with the Victoria Dock. I’m looking forward to it already.

On the whole another thoroughly enjoyable event, made even more pleasurable by the presence and support of my family and friends. Thanks!

“Try get in a lake, it is different. In a swimming pool try swimming a length with your eyes closed and you’ll be bashing off the lane rope, because that’s what happens in triathlon…”

Courtesy of the latest ads from Oakley

That's me heading back towards the Excel to complete the first lap

Now onto the third and final leg of the London Triathlon 2009 the swim feels like a distant memory.

The run section has always been my nemesis to a certain extent. My physique hasn’t typically been suited to running and still isn’t, I can’t imagine it ever will be but it’s something I’ve been working on over the past six months or so. Nonetheless, I’ve always tended to struggle with the run either through dehydration or general tiredness.

My run out from T2 lasted a total of 4 minutes and 2 seconds (including running the bike back in) which although could’ve been quicker was respectable enough. I needed the breather to be honest.

Anyway, the run out was surprisingly more comfortable than anticipated. Usually I’m hobbling along with jelly legs, holding my cramp pained stomach in my hands. This was a far more pleasant experience where thankfully none of those symptoms were present. Instead, I was suffering from a full bladder, a side effect of over-hydrating I guess. My mind was wondering what to do, should I continue for the entire run with the uncomfortable sensation, or should I do a Paula Radcliffe and do something about it without bothering to stop. I opted for a halfway house, not being as dedicated as Paula I actually took the opportunity to relieve myself in a corner around the back of the Excel. Perfect!

Relieved of some extra weight I confidently headed away from the main building and around the first turn where runners were handed gels one of which I grabbed and consciously decided to consume no more than a quick sip of the Raspberry flavoured gloop and leave the rest, tossing the remainder towards one of the bins provided. Not sure I could stomach too much of that stuff, it does no favours for your guts.

Running away from the exhibition centre and over the newly installed temporary ramp that crosses the car park entrance I spot my family at the bottom of the ramp, a great boost at a well timed point in the race. Surprisingly I was was feeling strong despite having pushed hard on the bike leg, a welcome feeling. As a result I thought about how fast I could push the run and decided to push harder at that point where I maintained a pace beyond my usual. This was a little unusual, but I went with it.

Feeling comfortable as I pounded the dock side where last year I remember slowing to deal with stomach cramps, I noticed Gavin coming towards me in the opposite direction heading back to the Excel to complete his first of two laps. Following twenty or so seconds behind him was Simon who I acknowledged as we passed each other. OK, that only leaves Steve who I suspected wouldn’t be too far behind. Indeed, another kilometre down the course and several minutes later I spied Steve’s tall frame bounding towards me.

As I passed Steve I began making some calculations in my head about the remaining distances and current time frames. I couldn’t have been more than ten minutes behind Steve, which filled me with confidence. I pushed a little harder.

As I approached the turning point for the first lap (2.5 km) I was keen to find out my time, interested to know what I had to do to beat last years time to attain a PB. I knew my swim time was awful, like last year, but I knew the bike leg was strong, in fact particularly fast, and my running fitness had improved, however I had no idea about the time I could achieve. I was hoping for a sub 2 hours 50 minutes.

To keep the pace moving I was chasing down runners ahead of me, picking them off one by one, a useful technique by the way. Feeling good and keeping myself hydrated I made sure to take a sip of water from each water station.

Heading past my fan base (thanks yet again) I was on my way to completing the first lap. The 5km point was in or around the Excel building where the large digital clock hanging over the finish line was visible to the left. As I ran past the turning point I glanced over to see the time, which having worked it out a couple of times suggested that I’d been on the go for 2 hours and 20 minutes. Whoa, it then occurred to me that if I completed the next 5km in 25 minutes I’d smash my goal by five minutes. The thought drove me to go harder, or as hard as I could.

I promised myself that this year I would be more focused on the job in hand and less concerned about distracting myself by those around me. It was working and on that final lap I was determined to catch that PB. By the time I hit the 7.5 km mark I knew the end was near and the extra effort would be worth the pain. Mild stomach cramp started to set in, but I kept focusing on the pace and tracking the man in front down. Still feeling strong despite the mild cramp I persevered.

Not far now as I approach the twists and turns as the coarse nears the Excel along the dock side. The temporary ramp is in sight and at this point I know it’s the final push. Keep going, keep running, I pushed it up the final ramp and around the corner into the building where the cheers become more evident and the crowds thicker. Where last time round I was turning right to do another lap I had to bear left to the finish line. As I turned onto the wide red carpeted final straight I was focused purely on the space beneath the large digital clock. In my peripheral vision I could spot my family cheering me through. What a buzz rush as I crossed that line.

Over the line with my goodies and pride intact

As soon as I ran through the finish I’m quickly adorned with my finishers medal, a nice square bronze looking thing with a thick blue ribbon. I’m also handed bottles of water and energy drink as well as a nice towel courtesy of Virgin Media. A little disorientated I join a queue to what appears to be the exit into the main expo area where the crowds of supporters have been patiently waiting for their athletes to cross the line. It turns out we’re queuing to get our photo taken. Just then it occurred to me that I hadn’t taken note of my finishing time, which must’ve happened a couple of minutes prior. By the time I made some rough calculations the realisation hit me, I completed in approx. 2 hours 45 minutes making me a very happy person indeed, significantly improving on last year’s time and giving me a respectable PB.

When the final official timings came through I was pleasantly surprised to learn I had completed in 2 hours 43 minutes and 41 seconds, beating my previous PB by a whole 15 minutes. Impressed by my own performance I met up with my fellow athletes who had each also gained new personal best times two of whom, Gavin and Simon, cracked their ambition to break the 2:30 mark, an impressive feat by anyone’s standards.

On top of this it was a great feeling to be met by close friends and family and their very supportive congratulations. Awesome, I can’t wait to do it again next year.

Coming soon, a summary of the London Triathlon 2009…

Read Part 1 all about the swim leg and

Read Part 2 all about the bike leg

L-R: Steve (holding Lottie), Paul (Me), Gav, Simon

A full two days have passed since completing this years Olympic distance course of the Mazda London Triathlon based at the massive Excel in London’s Docklands.

Having dropped the bike off at transition the day before the big event, I eventually arrived at the venue on the Sunday and quickly tracked down and met up with my race buddies Gav, Simon and Steve. Gladly it wasn’t just me who was feeling hyper nervous, we all felt the same way with churning stomachs and the shakes.

Having attended the pre-recorded race briefing we anxiously made our way to transition where we (wet) suited up, applied timing chips, readied our bike and running gear for (hopefully) speedy transitions and then slowly headed to the swim meeting point where it all begins. Here we are given a secondary briefing by the race organiser and encouraged to support each other to the chants of Oggy oggy oggy, then we make our way into the water.

Having tread water for 5 minutes in the Albert Dock we have a final chant of
Oggy oggy oggy followed by the long anticipated starting klaxon. Slowly, the 405 participants of this 14:10 wave begin the 1,500 metre swim out to a blue
buoy sitting somewhere beyond the horizon and then back to Excel for T1.

Well that’s how it all started. Then it continued…

My plan was to approach the swim in a relaxed way, hoping for a consistent pace and relying on the  buoyancy of the wetsuit to keep me afloat whilst I propelled myself with a good stroke, the reality however was somewhat different. Despite feeling comfortable during the build up as well as the first 10 strokes, the melee began and like a shoal of fish chasing a single piece of bread we headed off towards the first turning point, hands brushing feet, feet kicking faces, splash, breathe, splash, breathe breathe. Slowing to breast stroke to avoid swimming over the guy in front whilst avoiding being swam over.

Finally some clear water. OK, now concentrate on breathing and establishing some sort of rhythm to carry me through. It must have been when approaching the 650 meter mark that I finally got into a sustainable rhythm and managed a consistent pace. The midway turning point proved to be just that. Once the home stretch was in sight and the waters cleared it became easier to focus on just the swimming and not the other bodies, breathing, the cold, and the constant noise of jet planes taking off overhead from nearby City Airport.

I found myself pacing with two other competitors who kept me on a straight line to the exit point apart from the couple of times I bounced off the swimming lane marker rope, bear in mind visibility in this water is no more than 20 inches. I can even remember thinking how much I was enjoying the swim at one point, something I never would’ve imagined.

Exiting the swim stage removing wetsuit, cap and goggles whilst completely disorientated

Final push to the exit ramp keeping my head down and and pushing the front crawl until I could touch the floating pontoon at which point I was thankfully helped up by one of the many fantastic event marshalls and proceeded up the ramp and onto dry land. Adjusting to the solid ground under foot and recovering from the dizziness whilst hearing muffled cheers of support another marshall was thrusting a large clear bag at me into which I had to put my wetsuit, cap and goggles. It felt like an eternity taking that wetsuit off whilst still coming to terms with being out of the water. I eventually scraped the suit off at which point I spotted my support team (family and friends – thanks so much for your support and encouragement) who spurred me on to the next phase, T1, the first of two transitions, this being the bike transition.

Swim completed in a fairly disappointing 40 minutes and 19 seconds, it took me another 4 minutes 58 seconds to complete T1, which involved running up an extremely slippery set of stairs plus approx. another 200 meters to my racking point where I dumped my swim gear and donned my helmet, glasses and cleated bike shoes, then grabbed my bike and ran a further – what seemed like – 800 meters on a treacherously slippery surface to the bike mounting point where I could finally start the ride proper.

Read Part 2 all about the bike leg and

Read Part 3 all about the run leg

With less than two weeks to go until the starting horn blows and the melee that is the swim start kicks off, literally, I’m feeling OK about it all, now. As always, I wish I could be leaner, meaner and fitter, but for now I’m confident that I can improve on last years time of 2 hours 57 mins, aiming this year for a somewhat ambitious 2 hours 45 minutes, let’s see how it goes.

I’m not feeling particularly good about the dreaded swim, but I’ll just have to battle through that and try to keep plugging away whilst acclimatising as quickly as I possibly can. With respect to the road ride, as I’m starting in one of the many afternoon waves, we unfortunately don’t get to ride all the way to Westminster, instead turning at Tower Bridge for a slightly less windy ride (the river bank does encourage a head wind). The run is something I hope I can improve on very slightly.

In truth I’m hoping I can trim some time in transition. This year for T1, no socks, no gloves and I intend to already be wearing my tri top in the swim, saving even more time. Again in T2, no socks for the run so just a quick change of shoes, no gloves to peel off either. Oooh, that should save at least 20 valuable seconds. Anything to beat last years time.

Another first for me is the use of tri bars. Hoping they’ll allow me to shave a few more seconds off the bike leg, although I suspect by usingthem I’ll just be pushing harder and perhaps using more energy.

Anyway, I’m in my last week of training before tapering down and carb loading, so wish me luck.

More soon, honest.

Receiving the pack makes it all that much more real and closer, only 17 days to go. Now need to start thinking about the logistics of getting there with all my gear and the family for moral support, followed hopefully by a post event picnic with family and friends.

Really need to have a look at the wetsuit to make sure it still fits, that it’s clean, hasn’t rotted away, and to check that animals haven’t decided to take residence within it. I’ll have a look at that tomorrow. Gels, energy drink, recovery drink, kit, lotions and potions all need to be organised. Will write my list in the morning.

More of that later. Until tomorrow.

With 18 days to go, training is finally gathering pace, somewhat late you might say, but hey, hoping that the Blenheim Tri will be more of a training event for the upcoming London Tri at the beginning of August. It starts here and now.

This week has been fairly physical. So far, 4 x 22 km rides (commutes), 1 x 1,750 m swim, and 1 x 5 km run. At least it’s something every day. The only trouble is that soon I’ll have to begin tapering down for the main event. Feeling confident that I’m almost ready for the sprint event, which should be a good prelude to the longer Olympic distance of the London Tri.

Another good piece of news is that my 3 other Tri buddies are competing in the same wave, so at least we’ll be starting together, and hopefully finishing not too far apart from each other.

Hoping to fit another run in tomorrow lunchtime, which to be honest I’m finding the hardest discipline to get motivated about. I’m simply not built for running, cycling yes, but running, no. I’ll maintain my steady pace of around 11.5 km/hour hopefully and complete the run in approx 27 minutes, slowly but surely.

More later…

Rather than talk about what I haven’t done I’ll tell you about what I have done. Despite my promises to start training in a more serious way eight weeks back, I’ve been fair weather training and eating to my heart’s content. My first triathlon on the season is in less than three weeks and today feels like the first day of real training.

Having not cycled into work for the past two weeks, not gone for a serious run of any kind for a least three, and not gone for a swim since last year at some point I can’t even remember, today I worked it.

Cycled into work, head wind was strong but I battled through. The ride home was fast so either I had a tail wind helping me along, or all that energy I was storing up burst into my ride home, probably the best time I’ve achieved since riding to/from work. Then, in the evening I managed an unexpected and rather stonking 70 laps of my local pool.

Damn, I’ve never seen so many plasters and hair bands in my life, all on the floor of the pool, minging! Anyway, I must’ve burnt a few thousand calories and don’t even feel I was compensating for anything I ate today.

So the question is, can I keep this up, or is it going to be a flash in the pan training session? It’s hardly as if I’ve committed myself to a hard core training regime of any sort. Anyway, yet again I’ll keep you informed.

Hoping to do a quick 5 km at lunchtime tomorrow. Will let you know…

Following last year’s London Triathlon where I attained a personal best under the 3 hour mark, I vowed to strengthen the two disciplines that let me down the most, the swim and the run. You simply can’t rely on the one stronger discipline, cycling in my case to achieve a significantly better time.

Training for last year’s London event consisted of 4 months of cycle commuting, 2-3 times a week, a couple of 5km runs each week and a single swim at the local pool to make sure I could last the distance. Pretty pathetic, however, it got me through and quite clearly the more you put in the more you get out.

Since the beginning of this year I’ve managed one swim and was hoping to go for another today, however that’s not going to happen due to family commitments, or is it just Sunday laziness, or is it because I’m writing this instead of hammering out some lengths at the local pool? I will swim more; I must swim more this year. Surely a bit of effort at least once a week and I could shave five minutes off last year’s swim time. Surely?

On the bike front, I’m happy that I will have done enough. Ramping the commute up to a constant three times a week, 6 x 15 miles will certainly help along with the weekend roadie and MTB outings. Sorted, although I could do without the head wind this year.

When it comes to the run, I’m hoping to shave another 5 minutes off my PB. Optimistic? I’m unsure at this point. Lunchtime runs are slowly becoming routine calendar events for Tuesday’s and Thursday’s, each a 5km blast along the north and south side of the River Thames. The weekend 10km runs will add a little stamina to the training, although I suspect I need to make these a more regular feature of my weekends.

Besides the three main activities, there’s another major part of my training regime that simply isn’t coming together as effectively, my diet. I love food, I love eating, I don’t want to have to not eat as much, but will have to try. I’ll let you know how that goes from now as I attempt to curb my calorie intake.

As part of the physical aspect of the training, I’m also recording it using my Garmin Forerunner 405. You can see training progress on the Garmin Connect site, as well as my regular updates on my Twitter. What I also hope to do soon is put together a rolling graph of my progress over the next few months.

Let’s see how it goes in the lead up to the Blenheim tri, which is eleven weeks away. Panic!

The delay in posting, having thought about it may be due to the mental block suffered as part of my participation. Scarred by the experience, I’ve only just recovered enough to write about it. In honesty, it wasn’t that bad, but it was no walk in the park either.

Having completed the London triathlon back in the summer, myself and a few close buddies that took part thought it a good idea to enter an event that would keep the fitness levels up and provide a challenge before the year end. After a bit of Googling, we came across the GRIM Duathlon, a new event that entails 5 km run, 20 km off-road bike, then another 5 km run, all cross-country based terrain, on an army training facility in Aldershot, Surrey.

Not knowing what to expect we turned up to what was a very well organised and run event. There were plenty of fairly serious competitors mixed in with the more have-a-go types, like myself, all of which contributed to a fun vibe throughout. Before the starting gun fired I took advantage of the portaloo facilities, which considering the location were well kept, providing a surprisingly sanitised experience. Having flushed my system of the morning coffee and nervousness, I set off towards the starting line where my two mates were.

Final stretches (not enough), event briefing done, BANG! We’re off, to what is a relatively slow start, building up pace the field begin to spread out. Looking ahead I noticed a pinch point as we entered the forest section, not quite sure what was going on I just followed the crowd, then oh oh, we have to drop into a mud filled river bed, wading waist deep through water. Great! As I scrambled up the river bank on the other side the squelching of my soaked trainers turned into my pacemaker. What I thought would give me an advantage turned out to do opposite, unfortunately, when drenched, Gore-Tex shoes hold water, rather than keep it out. Oh well.

Completing the first run section, I eventually climbed onto my bike and pretty quickly found a speedy pace. The bike section, not surprisingly, is my stronger discipline, which became clearer when I realised that throughout the entire bike section, not a single person overtook me. Granted, the majority of the 300 strong field were already ahead of me (well, half of them anyway), but I must’ve passed at least 120 fellow competitors. I was blasting the bike course which consisted mainly of fire road mixed in with some off-road, mud moguls, and boggy hill climbs. Trying to gain any advantage I could on the bike, I was motoring along up until the point I felt my calves ceasing up. They got worse to the point of agonising pain at which point I had to get off the bike, walk and stretch it out until I could bare the pain whilst riding.

Fortunately, I was close to the end of the bike section when it got bad, but I made it to the next transition where I stretched, changed back into my drenched running shoes from my SPDs, then made it out again on the final leg. This I knew was not going to be fun and was more to do with stamina, patience and endurance than anything else. Stopping regularly to stretch, I made sure that I was able to keep running, or hobbling until finally reaching the finish line 5 km later, 167th of 300, taking 2 hours 18 minutes. Despite the pain I was gained a sense of satisfaction and on the whole it was actually a fun event.

On reflection, If I’d known about the terrain I would have used different tyres to cope with the soft, sandy ground. This could’ve given me at least a couple of minutes on the bike section. The run (or hobbling jog) on the other hand, could’ve been improved with some basic preparation, or training come to that. Now at least I’ll know for next time.

Keep checking back for the next event…

It all came back to me as myself and three other tri buddies attended the pre event open water training session. Despite not having trained for the swim part of the race – and I still haven’t with only two weeks remaining – it was all worse than I actually remember.

There was one little gem that came out of it for me, and that was “flush the wetsuit”. I only wish I’d attended this session last year instead of wearing the wetsuit for the first time at the event without prior training or advice. When we dived in and took the first few strokes it was as if someone had taken my breath from me and I didn’t know how to move my arms, not fun I assure you.

After one lap we were asked to get out and “flush” the wetsuit. This involves flooding the wetsuit with water through the neck opening whilst in the water, then once out of the water, releasing it through the wetsuit until all water is effectively squeezed out. The difference was amazing, I could swim again.

You live and learn, only this time I wish I’d had more opportunity to do some swim training. Maybe next year…

Despite the improvement in strength and general fitness, it became very evident that more had to be done, especially following a 10 Km forest run, which seemed to drain every remaining ounce of energy I had left in my exhausted body.

In a vain effort to make up for lost ground, I sense I may have overdone it on the riding in to work front, when after the fourth ride during my second week I attempted a brick session consisting of a run directly after the 16 mile ride home. This truly did me in, and for the remaining weekend completely wiped me out, so much so that I didn’t feel up to the scheduled Monday morning ride into work. I must say that I was grateful of the rest and as a result felt stronger for it.

This week has been a bit of a write of due to the horrendous rainy conditions. I know what you’re thinking, but I really couldn’t face riding to work in those abysmal conditions. Only today did I muster up the energy to commute in, and even managed a 5 Km lunchtime run, which wasn’t as bad as it could have been. The ride home was strong, so there’s hope yet.

The Tour de France has started, which always makes for good inspiring watching. You’ve got to love Wikipedia for the excellent info on Le Tour. Check it out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France

By the time I actually got round to getting my running gear on it must've been at least 8:45 pm. Nonetheless, out in the drizzling rain I venture and pounded the tarmac for 30 minutes or so.

It was a good session, felt strong.

Let's see if I can get along to that swim tomorrow…

There was a time when I could confidently quote the above without feeling guilty about bending the truth. Is it because I am still aspiring to fulfil all those activities I always dreamt of doing, or is it because I’m older, have family commitments and no time to do anything? Hmmm

I’ve just entered myself into the 2007 London Triathlon in the hope of fulfilling two ambitions. Firstly, to complete the event in one piece with a respectable time, second, to raise money for Asthma UK. I’m very happy to have entered into the event and effectively committed myself to completing it; however I worry about my ability to do so.

I am a confident person, I believe in myself and my abilities. It’s been a long time since I’ve actually partaken in such an event, it’ll be five years ago. Since then, I’ve got married, had a child and managed to reduce the amount of exercise I do quite dramatically. My worry about not being fit enough to complete the event is not without good reason. For starters, I haven’t begun training yet. With 5 months to go, I know I can do it; the question is when am I going to fit all this training in?

With my new commitments to my family, my home, and my job, by the time I get round to doing anything, it’s time to go to bed and start the day again. I’m not the most organised person at the best of times, so organising my life around a training regime is going to be interesting.

I’ve taken positive action this weekend, by making it my last blow-out weekend, where I eat and drink as much as I like in the knowledge that from now on I’m going to be leading a healthier and more active life. The problem is, I think I’ve been doing the same each weekend over the last two months.

This time though, it’s for real.

Over the next few months I’ll be writing about my efforts to get fit and healthy for the London Triathlon that I hope to complete on 5 August 2007.

Any advice is welcome…