Back in the Saddle

This weekend has been a bit of a break through for me. After a week of feeling ill and crappy I finally got out for a couple of sessions. I missed swimming in the weedy old lake enjoying my first night of proper sleep in a week. With the Eek away I was home alone and got on with all those great jobs that needed doing. Not immediately though as I was coxed into town for lunch with Dickie where we scoffed boxes of healthy tucker from the brilliant Alpha Bar. No it's not a bar as in pub before you all start assuming but a health food kiosk.

I finally returned home with new camo Berks and a shirt - you gotta love sales. With the lawn looking a jungle I fired up the mower and went about my domestic duties. I must thank Dickie for his great raking as I mowed. This meant a tedious job was over in seconds. With time ticking on I finally forced myself out for a run. With Ironman 70.3 Antwerp and Xterra both getting closer I decided speed and off road was the name of the game.

The run up to Shotover saw my heart rate climb quickly. I decided to go for a plod round and attack a few hills but keep it steady. At one point I was chasing a fox through the woods. I did become a little scared as it disappeared when the path narrowed and I was surround by high greenery unable to see below my waist. I was praying the fox wasn't hiding ready to bite my legs as I followed it in.

Luckily I made it through unscathed. It was time to hurt with some hills. I think I entertained those kicking around the car park as I ran up, stopped, staggered around breathless and stumbled back down the hill. By number ten I was completely out of it and trying desperately to hold my stomach contents in but pleased to complete the set. This time I happily staggered all the way down the big hill and ran along the road to spin my legs out.

After a chilled night with a little bike prep I took the P3 out for spin. The plan was to ride at threshold or do intervals if my legs weren't up to it. I had no idea as I haven't been near my bike for three weeks. The rolling route usually takes about 1:40ish and I was looking forward it. With tired heavy legs I set out feeling surprisingly good. With my power meter flat I had no idea what power or speed I was doing. This felt somewhat liberating but did keep to heart rate.

The further I got into my ride the better I felt. Drinking High Five's Extreme always gives my a lift. This stuff is dragon's juice and makes me wanna hammer harder whenever I swig it. That said, I didn't need to, riding steady all the way. I was shocked when I arrived home in 1:26. This is the first time I have done the route on a TT bike this year and can't believe the time. This certainly gave me a much needed boast after not doing much since Ironman Nice and feeling like I was wasting away.

My legs are sore now but I have a smile on my face lifted from the weekend's training. I am now looking forward to a week of good solid training before tapering next week for Antwerp. It's weird not having the Eek around as she's been off at a school reunion BBQ and visiting family. It's far too quiet for my liking although Ren is doing a good job of being the noisiest girl in the house. This will change, however, as she's on her way back now.

Forgot to add I managed to nab a place for Ironman Austria '09. It seems there's Iron fever in the air. Thoughts of Australia, Lanza and maybe something in North America are floating around my head. Watch this space. I did have some bad news though Andy KJ just signed up for Ironman Austria. While I am over the moon he has signed up I just didn't think he would ever do it. This means I have to do Tough Guy - a race I never wanted to do. Remember kids don't make silly bets because they might come back to bite you on the arse. My butts got a big chunk out of it as I type. Good work Andy!

Catch ya soon

The O boy x

Been a While

It's all been a bit crazy town in my nutsio little life. We've been to Nice and I managed to struggled through another Ironman. It was an amazing race in a beautiful setting. During the swim the sun came up making the place look magical. No time to take in the view though.

The bike was absolutely stunning. One of the prettiest rides I have done. The first half was tough with plenty of climbing including one 20km beast. Descending on the way back was mad. Fun times. By the end of the bike the sun had left me with a head ache from the constant heat.

Out on to the run my ultra conservative bike was paying off and I ran the first two laps of four feeling great apart from the obvious heat issue. This meant I struggled to get those ever so tasty gels down and the wheels came off half way round the dreaded third lap. This meant a switch to survival mode and racing for a time was out of the window. The heat of the day kept giving and was murder. Dipping my head in buckets and hosing down completely was the only way to keep cool enough to stay upright. The last lap took so much I had to dig into new places.

I may not have got anywhere near the marathon time I hoped for but was pleased not to just walk the last lap when my body was screaming at me to give in. Crossing the line and seeing the Goblin AKA Dr James - is he really crazy? - was ace. We had a comedy hour trying to get to the massage tent, not throw up and then trying to eat. The athletes garden was more like a war zone. After a quick drink and some pizza we headed back to the course to give the love to those who were still out there. Good to see Steve Slay get round to earn himself some quality bling and a tattoo.

A few days later I returned to France to work filming at the archery World Cup. Good to see peeps so dedicated to their sport. After my return we flew off to Germany to see Tom and H race IM in Frankfurt. Watching those guys give it their all was nothing short of inspiring. While they might not have achieved a slot for the Kona IM World Champs they did put in absolutely everything and never gave up. Well done guys. I hope you have at least a little rest now!

This weekend saw Paul Peros realize his dream of completing Ironman as he battled against storms and lightening out on the course in Austria. Shame we couldn't be there as he's put so much into this and achieved a great deal this year. Next stop Lanza. Must also give a big up to Lee Wagstaff and Guy Roberts for earning their first stripes out in Switzerland. Great work guys we ate BBQ and had a few drinks while you were out on the course. Thanks to Ian and Jane for a great BBQ.

Why is it after I stop feeling really tired from Ironman and want to train that I have too much work and the cold fairy comes along? I hate all this snot and feeling rubbish. Staying up late ready to sign up for Ironman Austria last night didn't help. Yes I've stupidly gone and entered another one despite promising myself never again. I just wanna get out there on my bike and ride my legs off ready for Antwerp half Ironman in three weeks rather than spraying slime out of my nose. At this rate I wont have trained much before it's time to taper. Oh well.

Great Weekend

It's Monday morning after a great weekend. It kicked off with a run around Sunil's HNC photo exhibition at Oxford CFE. I was well impressed with his work and a couple of others. Really good ideas and beautifully executed. Shame some of some of the other stuff was so contrived and ripped off. I then stuffed myself with some great homemade pizza thanks to Anthony Brown's culinary skills. Great to catch up with the ABBs and the Herdsfolk.

Saturday kicked off with an ace swim session at the 'weedy old' lake, where there aren't any weeds yet. The sun was shining and the world looked like a great place from lake level. I had a top swim in what felt like balmy bath water after being in Canada's icy drink a week previously. A good session saw me getting in seven 500m laps with a little warm up and cool down stroking out to the first buoy. Great to catch up with some familiar faces from the club and Lanza legend Ian Loades after his superb first Ironman.

It was so good giving my nephew a BMX I made it up for him with the help of Alex. His little face lit up. Next thing he was cranking around in his PJs. After a tongue lashing from his mom he was changed and off. I didn't see him again. Great. I know just how cool it is to have the freedom of a bike whatever it is. And age doesn't matter ;-). No I'm not trying to make an excuse for a new bike. Although...

Sat night saw us head off down to Wimbleball Lake for the Ironman 70.3. It was nice to catch up with Paulie P and hear all about his journey from tri virgin to middle distance man while preparing for IM Austria in a month or so. After a snug kip in the back of the race wagon we headed down to the swim start where mist rolled beautifully across the stunning lake. Great to see a mass start although a little scary when the swimmers disappeared into the mist. Luckily they all returned and there were no stories of ghost ships.

I was working so had to keep an eye on the guys up front while giving out the love to Tom W, H, Sammy and Daz as they flew round possibly the toughest 70.3 course on the circuit. It was good to shout on the Oxford Tri guys I saw too. At the end of the day Tom W won his age group with a stunning performance. The Head never ceases to amaze with his training hours, dedication, positive thinking and voice of reason. I'm thoroughly impressed and I think this boy will realize his dream of earning a slot to the magic kingdom in the middle of the Pacific.

H threw down a great race and shattered her target of six hours by a proverbial mile. Then Sammy came home to nip just inside the six mark although left it to the last minute to keep us all on edge but didn't disappoint. Finally I have to mention Daz. I first saw Daz race here a year ago. In a year he has come on a long way, killed his previous time and as ever never left a thing out on the course. I admire how he puts everything into his race. I think yesterday really hurt him as he was staggering about and quiet. But as they say you can't keep a good man down and his usual gutter level humour soon had us all in cracking up.

It was also good to meet up with Rick and Andy. Rick worked my legs with a great massage pre worlds and Andy helped me out at Profeet a few years ago. Both are top men and I didn't know they knew each other. Small world. Good to see their friend Nick S putting in a top race for fourth spot in the elites.

To round off a long drive home I was lucky enough to head home to my mum's for roast and to wish my old dad a happy father's day. I dunno what my mum does to a piece of beef and some veggies but not in all my years have I got anywhere near replicating it. Very tasty. A great end to a fun weekend.

After a much needed long sleep race week is upon me. It's only Monday but I know this week will fly by and I'll soon be in pain management once again as Ironman Nice has its wicked way with me. Looking forward to it and after watching the weekend's racing I feel up for it again after the World's had left me so flat. I also get to collect EK as the wanderer returns from his travels around the Rockies post race. I can't wait to see her as it's been pretty odd spending so much time apart. I'm sure she'll be back to monkeying me around in no time.

New Blog

I got reading a bunch of blogs today to catch up on the news and thought it was about time I did my own since Eek and I stopped writing our blog when we returned from Australia.

Getting back into training has been tough after the disappointment of the World Champs in Vancoucer. Motivation has been low and the tiredness jet lag dishes out certainly hasn't helped. I'm sure going to watch friends race the UK 70.3 this weekend in Wimbleball will be a great motivator. I look forward to seeing Tom, H, Sam and Daz take on the toughest course on the circuit with the likes of Macca and Brian Rhodes.

Today's picture is at the World Long Course Champs in Lorient in '07. I thought I'd put that up as I have decided to can it this year in favour of doing Xterra Austria. After the disappoint at Vancouver and let down of the Euro Champs I decided it was time for a change and hope that I get better value for money. ITU events just aren't going to get my cash for a while. I am always left feeling only the elites matter and age groupers, who pay a considerable amount to be at the events, are classed as second class citizens. So the GB kit is packed back at the bottom of the drawers for the time being.

I'm looking forward to rejoining the Iron family in Nice in just over a week. I really missed not doing one in '07 despite enjoying doing some faster stuff. I can't wait to hit the big day out and get that special feeling only Ironman can deliver. It will be great to be on the starting line of this superb race with some great friends both seasoned veterans and newbies from Oxford Tri.

And I'd like to finish by saying how proud I am of the Eek for putting in a stunning performance at the Vancouver Worlds. You put in a superb race and you should be very proud of your silver medal. Much deserved. I can't forget Jane Bell's brilliant performance in the sprint to take gold either. Amazing stuff.


Ozzer