Its the small things that make you smile....

It certainly is the small, normally insignificant, things that make me smile. Since last week I have managed to string together a series of training events that have all met with my expectations and I am happy with the outcomes. The piece de resistance is that tomorrow I will have a rest day whoop whoop. But like all things there is compromise.... no lay in tomorrow because I will have to drive to work early to get a parking space....but small thing again, I get to stay dry and listen to the radio and maybe I'll take a cup of tea with me. More small things today make me smile as I ponder(not reflect...too nursey orientated) my training. I have sore legs from racing 15 miles at the Folksworth 15 which is undulating and was extremely cold and windy but last night and immediate post race I had a massage so today am able to walk down stairs fairly normally.

 

 

I did a fast 3hr ride on Saturday to test my legs come Sunday and a great swim session on Friday night with lots of 100's and 50's at threshold pace. All this in aid of build up training to Ironman Melbourne next month. A steady commute yesterday and today to flush the legs has also worked wonders and although the 30 miles on the way home was an extended ride and very cold I felt surprisingly good and upbeat. Small thing again, I managed to get at least 10 miles of it in daylight.

So I get home with a smile knowing I can rest and recover tomorrow and as I take off my overshoes my little dog comes and clambers on my lap, pleased to see me and eager to lick the sweat of my face and neck. Disgusting? maybe but she loves me and she wants to cuddle up as dogs do and once again this small innocuous thing makes me smile just as ten minutes later when I am having a couple of slices of Mediterranean bread with sun dried tomatoes...yummy!

Another thing made me smile today but this one is a big thing......... I have a new wetsuit on the way courtesy of a new sponsor, Xterra Wetsuits UK http://www.xterrawetsuits.co.uk/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=61

Winter training, winter racing?

So....quick update! it seems everyone is not updating like they used to. Whats wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong......one word.....TIME!

Winter is here, the roads are flooded or covered in leaves(they are in Manchester. Bloody shame traffic still managed to move unlike the the trains), its cold and windy(or is that just up north?) and of course having moved the blinking clocks back to keep the Scottish farmers happy....its bloody dark on the way to work and darker on the way home.

So its nearly Christmas so lets get lit up like a Norwegian Spruce and take to the tarmac and get the miles, kilometres for our continental friends, in. Who cares if its dark? I don't. I like it more than Nosferatu because I have a decent set of lights and twisty country lanes that are almost traffic free. Its just the getting there that gets on my wick. beggars can't be choosers my Mum used to say and some ways its better to ride in the street light section to conserve a bit of battery power for the darkness.
Its all in the aid of an early season Ironman. Our winter but Australia's summer/autumn. Ah well, it worked when I raced in South Africa. Three months of winter training and straight into a 40 degree Celsius race day(with acclimatisation) and I came second. Hope it can work twice.
The biking is going well and I'm getting about 8-10hrs a week in at an average of 18mph. The running is going very well, that is to say I am enjoying the running,and I'm getting about 4-6 hours a week. swimming has been reduced for now to get on top of the other two sports and kayaking in ZERO!
I'm loving the fact that having checked out the route in Melbourne that the gradient is simply minimal compared to what I am riding and running. I gain more height on my 8.5 miles run from work than in the whole of the IM marathon and my Tuesday night 30 miles cycle home is 2/3's of the height gained. Hmmmmm is IM Melbourne too flat? I am planning to get the TT bike set up on the turbo for some fast times without compromising the run.

So here's the juicy bit.... estimated times(predictions) for Melbourne

Swim........57min(based on previous performances but hoping for a faster, maybe 55-56)
T1.............<3min p="p">Bike(hmmm pause deep breath)....4hrs 50min
T2.............<3min p="p">Run 3hrs 10min

total 9hrs 3min

what do you reckon? achievable?
honest opinions please!

 

hills hills and more hills

It seems when you move up north you have to expect the terrain to change. And by jebers is does. I don't often train with others as I like to do my sessions when I want and at my pace without having to get into a ego fight every time the tarmac elevates or a cyclist is spotted in the distance. As it happens doing the hills comes into virtually every ride I do and some are bigger than others.
One of my favourite rides is starting from home or Ali's home and heading out to Whalley Bridge and over Long Hill to Buxton. Ive just found out today that this is a category 3 hill and I always try to ascend at 12mph plus. After Buxton the road can either turn right and head over the infamous Cat and Fiddle (yesterdays ride) or continue stratight on for Leek which is what I did today. The road then takes in another category 4 climb and although I was going up at 8mph it is considerably shorter to the highest point. The bonus is the decent into Leek with the odd undulation thrown in but I managed to hit 54.8mph freewheeling.
Taking the Macclesfield road out of Leek I was hoping to meet with Ali on her ride as she was taking the shorter route over the cat and Fiddle. I managed to catch up with her near Bollington and we rode the last 7 miles together and taking the slightly longer route via High Lane from Hazel Grove.
I thoroughly enjoyed the ride despite the cold biting wind and Ali's flapjack went down well about halfway round.
Ali has a target for 540 bike miles and 80 run miles for November in her build up to Ironman Melbourne. Mine will be more but I have my sights on a Kona slot, a podium place and a personal best in that order. 9:19:21will be tough to beat especially as it was set nearly 8yrs ago but never say never.
Ive finally succumbed to using mapmyride/run so see today's ride in the link below. I did it 15minutes faster in reverse a few weeks ago.
todays bike route 2296 ft climbing

almost the end of season....must be time to start training again!

Since the last instalment of race reports I have raced again and I can say I have quite enjoyed the prospect of the ever approaching end of race season. Despite the fact I much prefer racing to training, I am excited about the next adventure looming in March!! More on that later.

So the last race of the quad season was in Bude. The Awesome Foursome as its known, is tough! A sea swim of 800m(very long this year! 15mins last year 22min this year) over two laps with a sandy beach run and a long transition run.The bike then takes in 30km of extreme hills including a 30% climb which I am ashamed to say this year involved me walking the last 10metres. Not that easy either wearing cleats. This blog is a reminder to take a road buike next year with a compact chainset and not Q-rings on a TT set up. The kayak comes next in this change of format and the first section of a few hundred metres is open and choppy and gets progressively worse as more and more athletes take to their boats. Luckily I'm second onto the water behind Stefan Tiechert from Germany who had lead since the gun. I'm soon overtaken by a few others and loose more time at the tight turn turn at one end of the canal and the windy choppy end at the other. I do not like turning clockwise in a kayak! I doesn't seem natural to me.
The run cannot come quick enough after the 10km kayak and proceeds along the canal and up over fields and along the cliffs of Devon. I put in a fast run and move from 4th back to 2nd overall and claw back four minutes but Stefan is nowhere to be seen and finishes 2minutes ahead. I must learn to paddle faster and take a road bike.
The last race in the National Series and World Cup Series gained me more points and I had enough points to take the National Trophy Series winner but unfortunately I was one race short to qualify for the World Cup series. I blame the Channel Tunnel company for hoarding tickets and demanding £300 for an overnight trip. Just not worth it.
So next weekend is another race but an adventure race. The Fabian 4 is the Conway ascent kayak race of 13km then a 13km fell race followed by an 18km off road bike section. Hmmm! I am trying to borrow a sea kayak as it could be lumpy and bumpy. Good old Solihull Canoe Club have come up trumps unless I get a closer to home/race offer.
in between all this is the training. getting ready for Ironman Melbourne with Ali and Breezy. Flights are booked and paid for. Accomodation booked. Bikes booked. Just got to train properly. More on that later but this week so far(5 days) I have run 1hr 40min (90min Sunday to add), Kayak 4 miles, Bike 113miles(50 tomorrow to add) and off swimming now(prob about 3-3.5km).
speak soon peeps!

Strange prizes

So whats the strangest prize you have ever won? There is marathon in France were you win your weight in Chateau Lafitte and I have heard of an athlete winning a cow and of course theres the athletics Diamond League were the winners get a share of a $million if they are unbeaten throughout the series.

Well in the recent World Quadrathlon Champions in the Czech Republic, also known as the Czech Diamond Men, I received a few strange prizes. Apart from winning 40 Euros of which the Czech tax man took 10 Euros back, thank you very much! I won a shelf.....a wooden shelf. Furniture seems to be the tradition for the world champs and the winner gets a lovely carved handmade arm chair. Miroslav Podborsky must have a house full by now. hes only lost on a handful of occasions during the last 20 years.

I also won some cleaning agents. Google translation tells me one is carpet cleaner for manual cleaning and the other is a universal alcoholic cleaner. Nice! Add to that some cans of Monster and Red Bull then of course the obligatory medal for finishing 2nd in the Vet 40-50 category and also GB coming 2nd in the team prize. If that wasn't enough add in a glass nail file....very useful. I thought it might be a letter opener.
So there you have it, my strangest prizes. I am grateful I won anything and achieved some great times and I also spent a lovely few days away with Ali, Tony, Maisy and my son Elliot, who was watching me compete at world level for the first time. We had a great time, the weather was kind(ish) and we had some cheap lovely food and some very cheap 12% beer. The race organisation is fairly low key and everyone has a fantastic time. Hopefully next year we can host it in the UK!

Box End off road quad

The Box End quadrathlon is the only off road race of the British qaudrathlon series and its bloody tough for a sprint distance. Thw swim is like most lake swims and visiblity isnt bad. I couldn't stay with the  leader and he seemed to verr about so I stuck to my line and finished in 11:17 but i think that includes the transition time. This is where I messed up a smidge... thinking I was in a triathlon I donned my helmet and shoes before noticing the paddle perched next to my bike. Hmm will anyone notice? My daughters boyfriend did.... on camera, oops. Time lost.
Into the kayak and a few wobbles from the start straight away. After a few hundred metres then its a portage over the spit of land. This is where you get out of one lake and enter the other. Its a little awkward and throws your rhythm. It is also annoying when you're not sitting straight and wobbling even more. I had a mare in other terms. Not my usual kayak phase and I got overtaken and ended up in sixth place but managed to claw back a place when Tom Stead fell out the wrong side when docking. Bloody shame as he was paddling really well and has improved immensely.
Onto the cyclocross/MTB phase and I planned to work really hard. I had my tyres pumped too hard and came a cropper on the 180 degree downhill turn, slipping on the wet grass. I dont think changing to new brake blocks the day before helped much. I caught a few of the paddlers but as there was a triathlon running similtaneously it was difficult to know the overal position. Tom overtook me in the middle lap on his home turf and put a decent gap in despite my efforts to get on to his wheel in the draft legal race. I seemed to make ground on the last lap, maybe he fell?
I know my running is my strong point and knew I would catch him but what about the others. Tom's Dad was given time checks and I asked about those ahead to which the answer was I was leading. I didnt exactly stop for a chat but kept running. Running down the side of the lake to finish I noticed other runners had overtaken Tom and that they weren't going to catch me so I saved my legs for the World Champs next weekend and eased up. Tom lost a few more places against stronger runners and maybe more experienced athletes but he has improved a lot and has more to come.
I was only a minute quicker than last year but Ali managed to take 7 minutes of her time. A fantastic swim and paddle followed by a very impressive bike ride on her heavy MTB to finish with a similar run.

So now I lead the National Trophy Series after two wins and a third. Another decent race in Bude should clinch the title for 2012.

World Champ? sadly not....only 5th!

Fresh from a win at Box End last weekend to lead the National series, we set off mid week for a 1000 mile drive from manchester to Sedlcany in the Czech Republic for the 2012 World Quadrathlon Championships.
Leaving early was meant to allow time to recover and get some training in locally. The cahnnel tunnel does save time on travelling but driving through the night to arrive early on Thursday morning did not leave Ali, Tony and myself with energy to do much. A quick paddle and a swim in the lake then a singlre bike lap on the Friday to check over the road surface and that was it.
Come race day I was nervous about the kayak section as I had not felt comfortable since becoming the Bristish and European Champ at Brigg. What has gone wrong? trying to hard I suspect.
Confidence was high in the other disciplines and I was to come second in the swim behind Stefan Teichart and lead all the other title contenders out of the water 1:25 down on Stefan.
The kayak was next and I had wobbles from the start and never got a rythym going during the 7km 5-lap course. Only posting the 15th fastest kayak i was leaving a lot to make up on the bike. I quickly set about getting into the top ten and making up lots of time. Having the 2nd fastest bike leg behind the winner got me up to 5th place with only a hilly 10km run to the finish line. Michael Hasa(CZE) was behind me so I knew I could not cruise through and supporters gave me a time check of 4 mins to the runner ahead. Posting the 2nd fastest run split left me only 24 seconds from 4th. Oh for another mile!
I am happy with the results overal and i am under no illusion that I will ever make the olympic kayak team but have another winter to get it sorted. Hopefully the coaching at Runcorn CC will pay dividends.


                                           Leading out the main contenders on the swim.

Paddling could do with some work!

Ali had a great race taking 10 minutes off her last years time, compared to my 3 minutes despite being 3mins slower on the kayak part. Ali's brother Tony also finished but had difficulties with a hip injury and had a great race in his first full distance quad.

Germany sprint distance champs at the end of the month! hoping to better last years 5th place.