Blog

.........TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER AND GO OUTSIDE

Over the last few weeks training has been steadily improving, firstly getting back to where I was after Muskoka and Augusta, and then pushing forward towards Clearwater. For the first time in over a year I feel like I am running "okay", I have actually been running on the road in the last few weeks and haven't had an adverse reaction (last season and most of this one has been characterised by stress fracture issues). So I decided to put my running to the test with my first road race in 2 years and over the shortest distance in 4 years, 5km!

Off the back of some hard run and big bike miles I was pretty pleased with 16:25 along the Bristol cycle path. Seeing as I've been training for 1/2 marathon for the last 2 years I think that wasn't a bad effort. However it just reinforces my theory that I have to get my 5km down to 15mins if I am going to get fast enough to become a force at 70.3.

Swim training has been effected by the usual swim/run inverse relationship that many people seem to suffer from. My final race pace set before flying out to Florida was turned into a farce by the usual lane fiasco. I started my 2km mainset in lane 5 and mid way through had to jump in lane 2 and negotiate 5 other triathletes and 5 members of the public. I am proud to say I didn't drop a single time, but I'm p!ssed at Teambath for impeding my preparations instead of trying to enhance them.

Biking has been going well, and I have been helped a lot by team mates coming out and pushing me at the back end of rides even though it doesn't fit in with their training.



Jack riding the back end of a 30mile TT with me round Chew Valley Lake

Six years ago Dan and I started university at Bath to explore the crazy notion of actually getting good at triathlon. Back in 2003 Bath was the place for triathlon in the UK, inspring athletes like Julie Dibens, and we even had TWO coaches. Through a lot of hard work Dan and I both managed to get along pretty well and have been racing elite for some years now, but today Dan moved to Leeds - why would he do that??


   Triathlon 2003, Dan in the fetching gold helmet

For 18 months we have had no onsite coach at Bath and limited access to facilities. Current casualties include Matt Sharp, Mark Threlfall, Aaron Harris (European Elite Team, 2nd Nationals) and now Dan has jumped ship too. Not that I blame him, the chance to train with the likes of the Brownlees would be amazing and I would have gone if I wasn't kept here by my dependence on my part time job - how sad is that?!

Teambath is the official brand of elite sport in Bath. I put some time in over the summer highlighting the strengths of the squad (out of 7 athletes still here, 5 of us are ranked in the TOP 50 PROS IN THE WORLD at our chosen discipline). Keep in mind we have done this entirely off our own backs, does it not beg the question how much could we achieve is someone cared??

For Teambath management it was simply a question of numbers. The key issue for the squad is pool time, there are free lanes and we requested that we be able to use them on a daily schedueled basis when they were free. Apparently the act of allocating free and otherwise unused lanes is too much of a financial burden?

Whilst I do count myself lucky that I get free use of the pool, which is fantastic, it is hard to make the most of the facilities when you have to move lanes 3 times a session. How well would you work if you had to move office 3 times an hour?!

The point being, Bath was the centre for triathlon, and we have good enough athletes here now to take it to the top again. But will they realise before everyone becomes too disillusioned, leaves and triathlon at Bath vanishes for good....and we all move to Leeds?

All the best Dan. Come back when you are top 10 in the World.

With the 70.3 World Championships on the horizon I thought it was about time I finally got a blog/website up and running. After a very busy and exciting September racing in Muskoka 70.3 (Canada) and Augusta 70.3 it was time to get back to some serious training.

The week started with a hot box session. People say there is a love hate relationship about running on a treadmill in a heat chamber (read plastic box with a bar heater) I am yet to experience the pleasant side. The aim being to start some acclimatisation work before flying out to Florida as even in November it will be HOT.



If you want to recreate the glamour in your own home it is pretty straightforward. Set your turbo up in the bathroom, shut the doors and windows and keep a hot shower running...

I have also taken over coaching the University of Bath student club alongside Jack Grundy, which is pretty exciting. I've been looking to get involved in coaching for some time and it is part of my long term plan...if all goes to plan I hope to be offering my services as a coach from the New Year.....check back for updates