Martin Gore

it's nice to be finished

2010-10-04T06:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a long year, but it has finally come to an end and what better way to finish it than with the Lochness Marathon.

Yesterday saw me tackle only my second pure marathon and I'd have to say what a great race Lochness is. It's a point to point run which I really enjoy as you always feel like you are getting to the end and not weaving your way around the streets of a city centre. The course follows the banks of Lochness so it's terrific scenery all the way on quite roads.

Going into the race I had been told it was a rolling course, which I was really looking forward to as it breaks up the monotony of running on a pan flat course. Having now ran the course, I'd say it was a little more than rolling, there were some big climbs and even more punishingly some big descents.

People say that London is a fast downhill start, I've done London and it has nothing on the start at Lochness, I was trying to rain myself in at the start and not get carried away and I still managed to do a 3:24 for my first kilometer, that's practically my 10km pace and that wasn't even the biggest and fast descent. From my garmin my top speed was clocked at 24km/h so in hindsight I think I was probably taking the downhills a little bit too quick and unfortunately paid for this come the back end of the race.

Around the 18mile point where the biggest climb on the course was just up ahead my quads really started to pack in, and it really turned into survival running from there on in with my 2:45hrs target starting to slip away and the sub 3hr running also looking in doubt.

With about 4miles to go a small group of us formed and I began to run well (relatively speaking) again, it sub 3hrs looked possible. Unfortunately for me this group formed a little too early and I just wasn't able to hold that pace for the remainder, with 2 miles to go I started to fall off the back and my pace drop dramatically and those final 2 miles seem to go on for ever. Coming down the finishing straight I saw the race clock, 3:03hrs gutted the sub 3 had eluded me again but I was still on course for a pb so pushed the last 300 meters to come in at 3:04:23 (3:07 old PB).

The race hurt, but I finished it and more importantly I learnt a lot from it, so I can now take that into my Ironman preparations for next year. But for now time to relax and take some time off going to get some rock climbing in, maybe some golf, get back to my pilates and just enjoy being able to do as I please as well as eating and drinking as I please, Cheers everyone :-)

Post Worlds

2010-09-17T05:47:00.000-07:00

Well unfortunately it didn't all go to plan, I made it to the start line after having spent the week doing nothing after being diagnosed with a virus, but it just took too much out of me that I wasn't able to race at my planned intensity.

It was really disappointing not being able to race the race and more just get round as I had spent so long focusing and preparing for that race and felt I had the fitness and capability to take a medal the way everything was going on the run up to the race. Unfortunately these things happen, we saw it with Tim Don and Holly Avile at the Olympics getting food poisoning just before the race. In hindsight it may have come about as I was possibly too light and my immune system just couldn't cope with being that light. I've never been that light before and know now that I can't get away with being that light. With all things those if you don't push it to the limit and beyond how will you ever find out where your limit is, it was a bugger of a race to find that out, but at least I now know.

A big thank you must be said to everyone who was at the race cheering me on even though I was backwards, I would hate to think how hard the race could have been if it wasn't for the constant support, cheers everyone.

After a week relaxing in Turkey with friends its back to training for the last few races of the season before I can take a proper brake before and start thinking about next year. But before all that I have the Lochness Marathon in 3weeks so running is top of the agenda for the time being.

6 days to go

2010-08-29T02:45:00.000-07:00

The first week of my taper has been a bit of a mixed bag. Coming off the Peebles duathlon I recovered really well and went into my Tuesday night running intervals with my legs feeling great. Dan And Niall were both racing and Zac had been ill since sat so he text my the session. 1k, 2min rest, 400m 1min rest repeat 4times, aim for 1k 3mins at slowest and 4oom 64sec at slowest. I saw read that and though, "Zac thanks for the vote of confidence, but 3mins at the slowest is a big ask, so far 3:00 has been my quickest in my sets".

Wow, I have a lot of confidence in my running, but that session put my confidence for the Worlds through the roof. I did 2:57/62, 2:57/64, 2:57, 65 and 3:00/64, it's amazing what a difference having fresh legs going into a session can make. The first 2 sets felt so comfortable, it was great not starting the session already tired.

On to Wednesday and my lest bike interval session on Arthur Seat (WDC race course). This is where my mixed bag week begins, my legs were empty, Rich and Malk were just leaving me for dead on the every rep I just couldn't produce any power, please tell me it was just tired legs from my run session as I did it at night instead of lunch. Here's hoping thats all it was.

For the past few Thursday nights I've struggled to do the club interval session at Silverknowes as my legs have been so tired from the Wednesday intervals, since I struggled so much this Wed I hoped I might have something to give on this session. It was going to be a short session, 5xhill drags just under 1k with easy pedal recovery (~2mins), but aiming for high anaerobic capacity power outputs. On my warm up pedal across to Silveknowes my legs were feeling good so I was optimistic about the session. I try not to focus on my power output while I'm doing the reps, I just good as hard as I can for every rep. The reps felt good, I was dead by the end of the session hitting hear rates of 182bpm, so I was happy I had given everything I had, however would the power concur, I wouldn't know until I got home and downloaded the data.

My confidence for the second time this week was given a massive boost, in my head I had 400W as my target ave power for the reps, previously I had only managed to break 400W in 1 rep over a set, I now did it 3 out of 5 with the other 2 only fractionally missing out. Oh yes I can't believe how good I'm feeling about this, everything is coming together at the perfect time, 9days to go to the worlds and I'm running faster than ever, bike stronger than ever and I'm weighing in lighter than I have ever been, almost 4kg lighter than my normal racing weight, happy days.

My confidence this week has been on a roller coaster journey, up then down then up again where is it going to go from here? Down unfortunately, come Friday afternoon my throat was starting to get a little and on Saturday morning I woke up and just felt knackered. I'd had an easy day on Friday yet I felt like I'd done a load of hard training, I can't believe I'm coming down with something. The weekend has been spent, not training, but consuming as much, honey, protein, green tea and gargling with aspirin in the hope that I can get shot of this before it gets any worse. On the up side at least I got it now and not next Thursday/Friday, so hopefully the forced rest will work in my favour. Fingers crossed.

Peebles Duathlon

2010-08-23T02:33:00.000-07:00

It was another glorious day in the Scottish Borders for the next round of the Borders sport and leisure trust multisport series, which consisted of the Peebles sprint duathlon (5k, 20k, 5k).

I had planned this race as a perfect warm up race for the World duathlon champs in 2weeks time and I wasn't the only one, several Scottish competitors were there with the same plan.

I had tired legs coming into the race after a week of high intensity training, so wasn't sure how the race would go. I took the lead for the start of the run and managed to keep in the top three going into T1 where we had a good gap over the rest of the field. The bike was where I felt my tired legs would show and I knew there were strong bikers behind so I just had to give it everything and hope they wouldn't catch me.

Going into the turn around point on the bike myself and Stuart Kerr were battling for second and third with Iain Grant up the road in first. As we turned at the dead turn we had a significant gap back to 4th and 5th who were Rich and Malk my Wednesday interval training partners and both strong bikers, so that was a great boast for the 2nd half of the race.

Stuart and I managed to stay ahead of the rest of the field for the remainder of the bike and I sneak ahead of Stuart into T2 and got out on the run with a small gap, my legs were feeling OK but not strong enough to hold off Stuart who was running strong and came past after about 1.5k.

The race finished with Iain Grant 1st, Stuart Kerr 2nd and myself 3rd which I was happy with, legs didn't quite have the usual zip in the 2nd run but I think when I'm rested and tapered for the worlds I should be running strong off the bike.

And so the taper begins, I can't wait for the Worlds.

Countdown to the Worlds

2010-08-21T05:02:00.000-07:00

It's now only 2weeks today till the World Duathlon Champs at Arthur seat so the past few weeks training have been specific to the race.

The key sessions of my week have been, 400's and 1k run intervals and bike intervals on the course.

A Friend from work Zac (an excellent Algerian runner, 62min half marathon pb) has been helping me with my running preparation and has had me down at the meadows perfecting my running speed. It's strange how such a short session can kill you for the rest of the day. The first time we did our 400 reps I was wasted for the rest of the night, we only did 6 reps with a run recovery of 60-70secs, but that maximal effort was straight to the point. 6mins of effort, it really is quality over quantity.

With the bike reps I've been training with 2 fire brigade friends who are also doing the worlds, both of whom are really strong bikers, so I've properly been getting a doin every week trying to keep up with them. This week was our biggest and hardest week on bike course intervals, when I told the guy's what we were doing there was slight dread as they knew how hard the session would be, particularly as the previous weeks had been killer sessions and this one was tougher still.

The aim of the session was to do as much of the 5lap bike course as possible (part of the course is the opposite way on a one way road) so we went for 5 laps starting at the bottom of the decent all the way to the end of the main climb, which yes meant us climb up the Wong way of a one way system, but we were careful not to get in any ones way. So all in all we would be doing intervals of 4/5ths of the actual race course laps.

I can tell you know that the race is going to be a brutal one, it's already be doubt the hardest World Duathlon course ever and I think that is definitely going to be true. By the end of the session we were all knackered and that was without doing the 10k before hand and we had recovery reps between the intervals. The good think is it's going to hurt for everyone and I'll have the knowledge of the course in and out and when it hurts knowing I've probably hurt worse in training.

Feedback from all of these sessions over the past few weeks, keeps me positive that I'm in good shape. A good bench mark is going to be the Peebles duathlon tomorrow (Sunday 22nd Aug). It might only be a sprint 5k, 20k, 5k but it will be a good test of how everything is coming together, plus a lot of the Scots doing the Worlds are also racing it so it should be a competitive race. Can't wait to get racing again.

The short and long of last week

2010-08-07T00:08:00.000-07:00

Last week I raced over the short 3x1mile run relay at the meadows midweek and then the Long hard Durty one which was also the British cross tri champs.

The midweek run really boasted my confidence for the World duathlon champs in 4weeks with a new pb of 4:36. I know it's only a mile, but it shows me that I have leg speed at the moment which should equate to fast 5and 10k times.

Form there I went to the cross tri British champs at St Marys Loch for the Durty tri. I was looking forward to the race as my mountain biking has come on from previous years particularly my climbing, I've climbing really strong this year and the course is favourable to climbers.

The swim was great, St Marys Loch is a wonderful fresh water Loch to swim in, I was feeling strong the whole way round the course and was in a good pack. Entering T1 I noticed that Sam Gardners bike was still racked beside mine so I must of had a good swim to be out before the race favourite. Saying that though he was just behind me, and with his off road experience he got out of transition before me.

On to the bike and I was climbing well, picking off some of the riders who came out of the swim before me. Things were going well, however it would not stay that way. Coming down the 2nd descent which was a mix of boggy sections and loose rock I managed to go arse of tip on the loose rock, and came down hard on my left hand side on the rocks. When I got up I could barely walk, I really thought I have done some serious damage and that was my race over. After sitting chatting to Rik, one of the marshalls at the next turn I decided it was time to get back to the transition to get changed and warmed up. However as I was riding my hip began to ease off, so I decided to do the second lap, I hate DNFing. I got round the rest of the bike safely, I wasn't trying any heroics to catch up on the field, just get the bike done and run like crazy to at least get a good training session out of it.

I was really pleased with how I run, coming from the back of the field I had a constant stream of athletes to pick off which always help. I've not seen the splits yet but would like to compare my run and swim time with the winners to see where I stand on those grounds, I just need to work on my descending skills to really be up there in the off road races, which is definitely something I'll be looking to focus on in the next few seasons.

A big congratulations to Paul and his team for organising the Durty tri, it was a great race and the hog roast afterwards was brilliant, I wish every race had that post race.

Gullane Beach Triathlon

2010-07-18T06:28:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to say that the improvements in bike power in training have indeed translated to improved racing.

It was the Gullane Beach triathlon yesterday and I was hoping for a good race with a podium place in mind.

Race conditions were excellent for Gullanes standards (last year the swim was cut to 750m due to the swell) the swim was nothing to taxing, with the tide being more favourable throughout the 2lap 1.5k swim. I didn't managed to get into a group for the swim so ended up a few 20 or seconds down on where I would have hoped to be, but in sight of the other podium contenders, well except from Craig, he was setting a blistering pace right from the off.

Exiting the water in 7th I was happy as I still had people in sight to chase down on the bike and contrary to earlier in the year I was feeling positive about my biking.

The bike course from what I remember from the last time I raced it (2003, I can't believe it was that long ago) was tough due to the wind and climbs. Whether it was that I am stronger, of that I've ridden the race roads in training more, but the course didn't seem that hard. In fact it seemed to fly by faster than normal 40k (and Gullane is 42K) courses. After moving throw the feel into 5th Stuart Macleod came charging past, who I knew was a strong biker so I made sure to keep him in sight. Coming into T2 Stuart was still in sight and I was now in 4th place, time to put my running legs to work.

I knew that Craig was going to be way out in front as he is a really strong biker, so catching him was going to take something special. But catching Stuart in 3rd and Andy Turnbull in 2nd was definitely doable, Andy being a strong biker, but not too strong a runner. The run like the previous 2 disciplines is not an easy straight forward one. A 2 lap course which take you up and over one of the Gullane golf courses, with a handful of short but leg draining climbs, is not a fast run. Would this play into my favour.

After weaving my way through the houses at the start of the run I hit the first climb up to the golf course and to my surprise as I turn onto the climb I could see Andy and Stuart 50m ahead off me, excellent I wouldn't normally expect to see Andy until about the half way point of the run, I must of had a really good bike. Passing Andy on the descent he shouted I had about a 30sec gap to Stuart. The course now flattens out now for the 2nd half of the lap which is an out and back so I had Stuart in my sights and was reeling him in. With Gullane being a local race there were lots of club support on the run and everyone was giving great support as I went past transition.

I new Stuart was a strong runner, but I also knew that he was training for Ironman distance racing this year so he mind not have the speed on the flat, so when I came up behind him I move straight past him with a small increase in pace, nothing to explosive cause to be honest I was hurt myself and didn't want to die on the second lot of climbs. Passing transition Penny shouted that I had about 20ms gap so I knew I was at least pull away from Stuart I just had to hang on over the climbs, as his long distance strength might be advantages over the tough sections.

Descending off the climbs and passing back through transition for the last 2.5k Penny shouted that Stuart was out of sight, brilliant all I need to do is keep this pace for the out and back and 2nd place would be mine. I was tying up a little on the return leg into a strong head wind, but held on to 2nd place by 20seconds. Very pleased with the outcome, not running at my best, but thought that might be the case with all the biking had been doing, still 4th fastest run so not that bad.

Well Done to Edinburgh Triathletes for organising a great race. Also congratulations to Graig Dale on a truly exceptional race leading from the off and racing strong all the way to the line, great effort.

Staycation

2010-07-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

After an early start to the season with the Stirling Duathlon in March and a crazy spell of 8races in 7weeks over May and June I was glad to have 4weeks with no races. To top off this racing break I also had 3weeks off work where I could get some good training in and hopefully enjoy a good Scottish summer :-)

Getting the training in was always going to be a definite but the good Scottish summer was always going to be a bit of a lottery, but for once I actually won the lottery. What a glorious three 3weeks I have had, I actually got a bit of a tan. Who needs to go abroad when you get weather like this. When I was leaving Oz last year the guy's were saying "do you not wish you were staying in Oz?" and I said No, Scotland is one of the best countries to train in, sure we don't always get the weather, but when we do, I can't think of anywhere better.

So what have I actually been up? Well from looking back over the start of the season I felt my biking just wasn't where it should be so the focus of the three weeks was going to be on biking. As I'm running so strong I felt I could afford to back of my running slightly. So I embarked on some long base mile rides, which included a lovely 115mile group ride to Moffat climbing over 2300m an excellent day's biking with some great company. I also did short high intensity interval sessions where I was working for 2-4min stints at intensities above 10mile TT pace.
One of the things I also did was look at what makes me such a strong runner, and I believe it is largely down to one session, my long 18km Fartlek session at 10k race pace, so I figured I need to do a likewise session for my biking to get the same results. To do this I took my Garmin GPS data from my run session and just multiplied all the rep and recovery distances by 4 and plugged them back into my Garmin so it would beep at me when I had covered the rep or recovery distances, a great training tool. Once I knew the exact distance of the session I planned a route that was hilly, quite and free of traffic lights and went out and berried myself on the bike for just under 3hrs at a time, it definitely achieved the desired affect.

To mix up my training and to keep it fun I also decided to get some regular mountain biking in seen as I didn't get any done over the winter due to the snow, plus I feel mountain biking is a great training tool for developing strength and bike handling skills. Not to mention I was planning on racing the Dirty tri at the end of July so was really wanting to get my eye back in off road. We are incredibly lucky having some of the best mountain biking facilities in Scotland with Glentress and Innerleithen just a short drive into the borders from Edinburgh and more routes easily accessible for day trips. Kirroughtree down near Stranraer was one of the 7 stanes centres that I hadn't ridden previously so made a trip down with my team mate Niall to experiences some different routes. Well worth the 2.5hrs drive, we did the red and black routes both of which were really enjoyable routes, different from what I am used to at Glentress and Innerleithen which is great for improving your skills, so you don't just get good a riding what your used to.

So has it all worked? From my last threshold power test I'm more powerful than I've ever been, an 18watt increase in 9weeks from my previous test and not only that but I'm the lightest I've been since my university days, which weren't yesterday, ha ha. So all in all I'm very pleased with how my three week bike specific block of training has gone, not only has my fitness improved by I have had a really enjoyable time, some may think it's a strange way to spend your holidays, I on the other think it's a great way to spend your holidays. The true test will be this weekend at the Gullane triathlon to see how the training and power increase translates to racing, hopefully it all equates to strong racing.

A well earned break from racing

2010-06-07T08:39:00.000-07:00

There's nothing I love more than racing, it's why I train so hard so that I can hard. However there does come a point in the season where you look forward to having a few weeks of not racing, and that time has come. I think I've now raced 8 times in the last 7weeks, with running races and sprint and standard distance triathlons. There has been lots of podium places and top 5 finishes which always helps keep you motivated to race when you are racing so often.

Everything culminated for the time being with the Scottish standard triathlon championships at Knockburn, Aberdeenshire on Sunday past. I have to it's a great venue for a race there, I've only raced their once before and that was the first time the champs have been at Knockburn, and I hope not the last. Knockburn is by far my favourite standard distance race in Scotland and Fleetfeet (race organisers) did a great job putting the race on, well done guy's.

All baring the 1st half of the 1st of 3 bike laps and getting out of my wetsuit, I felt like my race went to plan. I was up in a good group in the swim which worked well together and I felt like I was moving fast through the glorious man made Loch. I exited the water in 6th place next to Andy Turnbull, but couldn't get my right foot out my wetsuit and ended up loosing about 20secs to Andy in T1, bugger, if I cut my wetsuit any shorter I'll be swimming in shorts :-) Hopefully it was just a one off.

Like I said above the 1st half of the first lap on the bike was just terrible, I was struggling to put any power down and really thought I had forgotten to pack my cycling legs. Thankfully though as I turned out of the headwind I was able to get my legs turning over a little quicker and it seemed the power was there and I soon caught sight of the next placed athlete. After pacing him I continued to ride well, but out on my own and only passing back markers.

In to T2 and out on the run which is always a positive point for me, however as I left T2 I could see the 1st km of the course and their was no one in sight, thats no good, I'm a good runner but thats really make life hard for myself. I pushed on and finally caught site of 2 runners (Andy and Ian Logan) i was confident I could catch Andy, and I did but catching Ian was going to be tougher. The twisted windy course was not working in my favour and from speaking to Ian after the race he told me he was using the corners on the course to try and sty out of sight as he knew I would be running him down, which I was, however not quick enough and Ian stayed ahead of me. I finished 5th. Happy with the out come.

Now I have 4 weeks till my next race and 3 weeks off work so I'll be putting in plenty of bike miles to help get my biking up there with my running. Lets see if it works.

Dunfermline 10k

2010-06-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night I headed across the water to Fife for the Auld Toun 10k race at Pittencrieff park. I had never done it before so wasn't sure about the course, but from speaking to teams mates it sounded like I wouldn't be getting a quick time as it was supposed to be pretty hilly. From what I saw of the course beforehand I was starting to think the same as there didn't seem to be any flat sections around the park.
It was a glorious June evening for racing, maybe summer is finally here, it was a large Field of almost 400 runners and as usual I didn't really know who to watch out for except from a few familiar faces, one of whom beat me at Penicuik a few weeks ago.

With slightly tired legs warming up I made sure I didn't get too excited at the start and go tearing off. One runner took the lead straight off and I and a few others formed the chase group of 4. Halfway round the 1st small lap 1 of my group started pulling away so I tried to go with him, but I was at the back of the group when he went and just didn't react quick enough so was never able to get onto his heel and ran the start of the first large lap on my own before the next two reeled me in where we ran the majority of the race together working well together in our group of three.

Coming up the last drag with about 1.5k to one of our group came to the front and tried to push the pace and drop the other 2 of us, but was unsuccessful. When I saw him ease up a fraction I thought it was my turn to go, so in true Tour De France style I pulled out from the back of the group and shot across to the other side of the road using 2 back markers as blockers as I went by. I could sense the 2 behind hadn't managed to come with me so kept pushing on over the top of the drag and down what I thought was the last decent before a short climb to the finish line. You should really find out where the finish line is before you start a race, as it wasn't where I thought it was as the start and finish were in separate places, DOH! Thankfully I was running strong so the extra 2 draggy climbs to the downhill finish didn't seem to bother me. Coming down the finishing straight I was pretty sure I had 3rd place wrapped up but I was still keeping the pace high purely to get as quick a time as possible. I'm glad I did as about 5meters before the line I noticed the race clock and it read 33:54, my PB is 33:58, I quickly picked up the pace for the last few strides in the hope I beat my PB.

I got 33:57, with a chip time of 33:55, Sweet! :-), I can't believe I got a PB on that course which had over 700ft of climbing and very little flat. I defiantly felt like it was my kind of course, I really like those draggy climbs and constantly changing gradient it keeps it more interesting. I wonder if I could go much quicker on a flat course, it will be nice to find out as I would love to got sub 33mins this year, Musselburgh 10k 24th July, it's supposed to be flat so we will see then.

Some day you have it some days you don't

2010-05-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

After my last race in Gala I decided to get a good two weeks of training in before my next bout of races.

The two weeks training were great with some excellent session from a 22mile run, and the start of my run most loved run session, the BEAST! an 18km off road fartlek session, which lives up to it's name, there is no other session which makes me hurt like this one, but boy does it make you run fast

At the end of those 2weeks training I had the first of my race of the next 3weeks, the Penicuik 10k, which was either going to go really well after some solid training, or was going to be 10k of hell has my legs were so tired. Unfortunately it was the latter, I just had nothing in the tank. At the start of the first climb the lead runners kicked and started to pull away and I just had nothing to give, even when the second group came through I couldn't stick with them either. I ended up running the rest of the race in no mans land and came home in 10th place. Not great, but an easier week should get the legs back for the my trip to Fort William for the trail 1/2 Marathon.

The weekend past saw me make my first trip up to Fort William to take part in the inaugural trail 1/2 marathon. An absolutely beautiful part of the country and one I can't believe I've never been to before now. What a great location to train, great roads for biking, some of the best mountain bike routes in the world and amazing hills to run in. If you've never been up there I highly recommend heading up.

The half marathon was the concluding event of the weekend run by Nofussevents, as Saturday saw hundreds of mountain bikers take on the challenge of 10 under the ben. A big congratulations go out to my good friend Lelsey Ingram who won the solo ladies race with 9 laps, 1 more than any other female an amazing ride, well done dude.

On to my race which would be ran over similar routes to those of the mountain bikers the day before so I was expecting some very muddy trails. The weather thankfully was far kinder to use runners with the sunny shinning and occasional light showers to cool you down make for great conditions for the race.

Not knowing the route or the competition I decided to just go to the front, take up the lead and see what happened. Myself and one other runner (Kenny Riddle) broke away from the Field and ran together for the first few k. On the first climb of the course the other run pushed the pace to test me out, I was able to stay with him to the top of the climb, however as we swung left the trail leveled off a bit but I just wasn't able to keep the pace up and he slowly pulled away from me. From that point on I was left chancing hoping that as the course went on I might be able to pull back some time. Like the Penicuik 10k the previous week I ran the rest of the race in no mans land and just had to focus on running at my own pace and trying to keep pushing on as the course continued to climb, descend and weave it's way through the trees.

I ended the race in second place in 1:21:46hrs, initially I was quite disappointed with my performance in the race, as I wasn't able to keep with Kenny when he pushed on and I really struggled on the final 5k, I just didn't feel like I had the strength in my legs for that course. I think due to the lack of running over winter when I had my shinsplints. When I saw my time however my feelings on the race did change as I was not expecting to cover the course that quickly, I was thinking more like 1:30+hrs due to the terrain. So to finish in 1:21hrs only 4mins off my road 1/2 PB I was very pleased, even more so when I downloaded my Garmin to see we climbed over 1800ft during the race.

Check out the link below from MTbcuts who filmed the race, and well done to no fuss events for organising a great race, it's great to see event organisers triing new things.

http://blip.tv/file/3642941/

Like chalk and cheese

2010-04-19T09:49:00.000-07:00

My first 2 races triathlon races of the season couldn't have been raced in any different conditions. Cupar 2weeks ago was a glorious spring day, warm with no wind. Compare that to Gala last weekend where race day conditions were cold, wet and windy. So cold that people were dropping out after the bike due being frozen.

Cupar was the ideal racing conditions, yet I didn't feel I raced to my best. After a good swim with probably my equal best ever pool swim, then it was on to the bike with the competition in sight when I left transition, I was confident I could keep with them on the rolling roads of Fife after my strong bike at the Stirling Duathlon. However I just didn't seem to happen, no matter how much I tried to push on on the bike I just seemed to loose ground, before being caught coming to the tail end of the bike by Andy Fish and Ian Logan, who I thought I was well clear of.

Going into the run I thought I was sitting in 7th places and knew I had to hammer the run to get anywhere near the podium. Leaving T2 with Ian Logan I pushed hard to try and get away from him from the start and catch Andy, which I succeeded in doing however was unable to run anyone else down and was was sure I would finish in 5th. However it turned out that David Ogg who I thought was in front of me, was actually behind me and Steve Clark had punctured on the bike, so I finished in 3rd. Pleased with the placing, but not 100% pleased with the performance, hopefully Gala would be better.

Going into Gala I wasn't optimistic about a great race as I picked up a sore throat after Cupar and only trained twice the prior week to racing. Perhaps that forced rest was the best thing for me as come race day I felt great, I had a PB in the pool and on the bike I felt like I was able to maintain I high power through the duration of the race, which was reflected in my power tap date with a higher average from Gala than I had in Cupar.

Coming off the bike I was in 1st place with Andy Fish hot on my heals coming in to T2, after both our run performances the previous week I was confident in out running Andy and the rest of the Field, however still pushed on hard for the first of 2 laps over a great cross country run course. Coming to start the second lap one of the marshalls said in was in the clear with no one in sight, so I was happy that my fast first lap had been successful in putting distance between myself and the rest of the Field. Coming down the home stretch I was feeling confident about selling my first win of the season, until I heard some footsteps behind me, who to be honest I thought was a back marker trying to sprint me, so I kicked to get to the line first. As it turned out the athlete chasing me down wasn't a back marker, he was a modern pentathlete giving triathlon a tri and doing it rather well as he had ran me down for over 1minute, a very impressive run. Saying that though I did manage to hold on for my first win off the season, and was very happy with all elements of my race, everything went well except from my second transition, my hands were that numb I struggled to get my trainers on. Hopefully the weather wont be so bad next time and my entire race will be perfect.

Thanks to East Fife tri and BSLT for organising 2 great races.

The season is finally here

2010-04-09T08:21:00.000-07:00

For what seems to have been a long, cold and white winter, spring has finally arrived and with it the start of the 2010 racing season. And what a way to start, my opening race was the Scottish Duathlon Championships which was also a qualifying race for the World Duathlon Champs in September at Edinburgh's Arthur Seat.

Going into the race I was not sure what to expect as I had only been back to full running for about 4weeks after suffering from shin splints over the holidays. The good think about being a multidisciplinary athlete meant that as I was not able to run I could spend more time working on my strength and biking which is possibly the weak link in my racing.

It was a very windy morning on race day with the flat Stirling bike course offering no shelter. The wind wasn't an issue on the run as we wound our way through the business park 4 times on the first 1ok run. With not having the running miles in my legs, I purposely started the run at a slightly reserved pace with the plan of increasing the pace as I went through.

For once I actually did as I planned, as I would normally plan to pace the run and end up going off with the leaders and then fading. This time once we all settled into position I progressively worked my through the Field picking people off every lap finishing the run in 10th place.

On to the bike and time to find out if all that strength work and bike miles had payed off. My main goal is always to limit the places I lose, so being well placed on the run I was expecting the Field to come charging passed me at some point. However it never happened, Craig Dale passed at the start of the 40k and from then onwards it was myself and Frank Boyne out on the course battling with each other to keep our run advantage. It wasn't until winding though the University that Catriona Morrison came by and the three of us entering T2 together.

Franks marginal lead going into T2 saw him out on to the run before me and that was how it stayed with the final 5k run highlighting my lack of speed work as I was struggling to make any ground on those in fornt. I finished the race in 10th place, 3rd in my age group (25-29) so totally delighted to have qualified. With the worlds not til September, I can spend the summer getting my run speed up and getting stronger on the bike. Home course for the Worlds so plan to get plenty of training on the course.

This weekend I have my first triathlon at Cupar, Fife. This time I'll get to see how my swimming coming along, here's hoping it goes as well as my biking.

Where has the time gone

2009-12-02T06:26:00.000-08:00

I've now been home for almost a month and it seems like a life time since I was out on the Gold Coast training under clear blue skies and the warm of the sun. So 1 out of 3 ain't bad, we have had some beautiful clear days here, it's just a shame the sun has lost it's heat.

It's taken a while to get back into the routine of being home, especially as I'm working 5days a week at the mo, not my normal 2.5, but I can't complain as the extra money is very handy to help pay for the amazing trip I had. The morning after I arrived back it was -1 in the morning for my cycle to work, so that was a big shock to the system see as I had just left San Francisco which was more like 240C. Thankfully that was just a bit of a freak cold day and the weather, temperature wise hasn't been that bad.

I'm now into my 3rd week of winter and it's going ok, I'm trying to just break myself back in gently after 3weeks of doing nothing apart from sightseeing, drinking beer and eat lots, so the old waistline is a little bigger than normal. On the positive side, it should hopefully help to keep warm this winter. As part of my braking myself in gently plan I've decided to try Pilates for the first time. I organised a friend of my who is a Pilates instructor to take a class at our club training weekend and I really enjoyed it, it's harder than you might think. From this I have started attending a pilates class at Westwoods once a week which I have been enjoying as something different in my training plan. However I'm not taking to kindly to the 60year women beating me at it, they must be cheating :-), I'm only jocking. So hopefully I will see some improvements in my core and swim, bike, run performance come summer.

Not only have I started pilates but I have also bought myself a set of bike rollers to help improve my core and my bike handling, Oh man they were a bit scary the first time I got on them, I was cacking my pants and just couldn't take my hand of the table I was using to balance. I really thought I was never going to get it. However it wasn't until a few days later that my dad pointed out my rollers were not set up straight and the front roller was not parallel to the back ones. No wonder I couldn't keep my balance. After fixing this and moving them nearer a wall where I could hold on a bit higher up I managed to crack them and get pedalling comfortably. They are way better than a turbo trainer, they have such a more fluent feel to them and as you have to keep focused the whole time, time seems to go by way quicker than it does on a turbo. I would definitely recommend getting a set of rollers, you get a really good session out of them.

This weekend sees my return to cross country which I'm looking forward to, but I know it's going to really hurt as I've not done any threshold work yet, not to mention it's the East of Scotland champs so it will probably be really competitive. It'll be all good fun though, I'll just have to try and convince my self of that during the race. I'll let you know how it goes.

MG

Perth, the final race of the season

2009-11-05T16:16:00.000-08:00

The racing season is always long, with cross country running in the winter then the proper season starting in April and finishing in September. This year however has been longer than ever with me staying on in the Gold Coast to train for the World long distance champs 3k swim, 80k bike, 20k run) which were in Perth on 25th October. Being on the Gold coast and training in nice weather and on new routes really helped me to keep on going for that month longer than normal, however my body was really starting to fall apart at times with new and unusual niggles coming and going over the last few weeks. Saying that though I made it to Perth injury free and felling a good shape for the race and really looking forward to it.

This was the first time being part of the long distance GB team, so I didn't know anyone going into the race, but I quickly made Friends with several of the guy's Scott from Cornwall, he was mad he had done a double Ironman that year already and was planning to do the triple next year and the deca Ironman (10 times the Ironman distance) the following year, now even I think that's crazy. I also met Robbie a really nice guy from Barnsley, Simon the team mechanic, John and Aurelie (Aurelie was the team masseur, and she was really good, I was really needing that massage, it had been a while) and Tim the Team manager who was from Carlie.

From there race info and the briefing the race looked like it was going to be fast with a flat bike and run course. However Perth being the kind of place it is and the bike course being so exposed the wind could end up playing a major part in the race. And play a part they certainly did, however it was more in the swim than on the bike. With the strong winds on the morning of the race the normally flat and calm swan river became very choppy and tough to swim in especially with the first 1800m being into the wind, so it was hard work. Thankfully unlike Gold coast, my breathing issues were all under control, starting the race breathing every 4 strokes for the first few cycles has solved the problem. A lot of people went of really fast at the start of the swim, as I was nearly at the back of the Field after the first few hundred meters, but I wasn't concerned with that as 3k is a long way especially in those conditions. As I got into the swim I started passing a lot of those swimmers who got too excited at the start of the swim and also those from the wave before mine and the wave before that, which really gave me a boost that I was swimming well. At the turn point I was really looking to make the most of the tail wind and blast the last 1200m, that was wishful thinking as the current must have been with us on the way out as when I turned even though the chopped died down I still wasn't moving anywhere fast. By this point I must have passed most of those in my wave as I didn't see anyone else until the last few hundred meters of the swim.

At the exit of the swim the water became shallow quickly so I thought I would use a method of getting my wetsuit off that Brad showed me in the Gold coast and which I had practiced the day before and it worked perfectly. What you do is unzip your suit then grab the neck and pull it down slightly then duck under the water allowing your suit to fill with water, then as you stand the water pulls your suit right off you. This technique worked perfectly, I had the top half of my suit down before I even reached the steep steps to get out of the water, perfect, or so I thought. AS I was running to transition I heard Tim shouting at me "Martin pull your suit up" which I thought was really strange as I had pulled it down, why should I pull it back up. It wasn't until I looked down that I notices my tri suit had also come down when I pulled my wetsuit down, I had to try and get it back up as I was running through transition, which isn't easy with these new rear zip suits.

Suit back on and fully zipped up it was on to the bike course which was an X shaped out and back pan flat course, which I wasn't particularly looking forward to as I hate flat course, I prefer something that has some climbs or at least is undulating to break up the monotony. The first out and back was tailwind out head wind back, but the rest of the course seemed to be head or cross wind the whole time. As is always my aim for the bike, I was trying to not loose too many places after the swim, and I'm really happy to say that I only lost one place to the guy's in my category, the long swim must have been playing into my favour. It was a hot day, with the forecasted temperature to be 31Oc so I was taking in plenty of fluids on the bike in preparation for the run. At the start of the final lap of the bike I needed to pick up a water bottle as I had finished my 2. I picked up the 1st bottle at the aid station and put it in my bottle cage, then quickly grabbed another one to pour over my head to cool off. After I pured half the bottle over my head I squirted some in my mouth, and it was then that I realised I had picked up one of the electrolyte/carbohydrate bottles. Great I was now covered in a sticky carb drink, thankfully it was not that strong and a quick spray from my water bottle managed to clean most of it off.

For the run I decided I need to have a strategy, after my Ironman marathon last year where I just had planned to run about 50min/10k and ended up running the first 10k in 43mins and suffering big style at the back end of the race. So for this race, even though it was shorted I planned to start steady and pick up the pace after the first 10k. Going through transition I quickly out my GPS on (Garmin 405) to help me monitor my pace, and it was a good think I did. After the first 500m's when I had settled into a comfortable pace, which I thought was steady, was actually 3:35/km pace way quicker than I had planned to run, I slowed it down to about 4:20 pace and was able to hold that.

Unlike the bike and swim, someone decided to turn off the wind and turn up the heat, After the race I heard it hit 36Oc on the run and there was no shade. With the temperature heating up a lot of people were suffering, but I was not wanting that to happen to me, so every aid station, which was about every 1-1.5k I was grabbing 4-5 cups of water to drink and throw over my head and at one aid station they were giving out ice, at that one I was taking 2 cups, one to pour down the front of my trisuit and the other to pour down the back, it was so nice. I think the combination of water, ice, pacing, nutrition and probably the acclimatisation on the Gold coast I managed to keep running well through out the run. I planned to pick up the pace on the final 5k and I thought I was as I was passing a lot of runners from my wave and other waves, however it wasn't that I was speeding up, it was just that I wasn't slowing down compared to the rest, and I finished the run in 1:27hrs and 4:40hrs for the entire race, 22nd in my category.

It was a great race, but also a tough one with the conditions, I couldn't stop sweat all night, even after a cold shower and having plenty to drink. I was really pleased with the outcome of the race, it was a great way to end a long and mixed season. And I would like to thank my sponsors for helping me throughout the year, Westwoods health and fitness (www.westwoodshealthclub.com), the fitness box (www.fitnessbox.co.uk)a nd Tunnocks biscuits (www.tunnock.co.uk), thank you to you all for your support it has been a great help during the season.

Now the racing and training is over I can have some time to chill out, so I'm off to Melbourne to visit a school friend for a few days before heading to Fiji for 3days then on to San Francisco for 4days before flying home and getting back to winter training, oh yeah and work, thats going to be tough going. I better make the most of the sun while I can :-)

Gold Coast no more

2009-10-23T18:34:00.000-07:00

Well my time on the Gold Coast has finally come to an end, it's been a great 7 weeks there with loads of great training and sightseeing.

My last week and a half on the GC were pretty jam packed training, a 2 day trip to Frazer Island and helping out at a local charity triathlon race in aid of breast cancer.

The trip to Frazer island was amazing, it's a sand island with a 75mile stretch of beach where your only way around is by 4x4. I went with a tour group so we were travelling around in a 4x4 bus which was cool, but at times you were thinking how in earth was this bus going to get through the trails. One of the disappointing thinks about Fraser island is that the sea is so amazing you just was to get in a swim, but it is so dangerous that you would probably die, either from the incredibly strong rip which would pull you out to sea for miles, the jelly fish if they stung you would kill you and if avoided those two the tiger sharks would eat you, and there were lots of them I saw them. Also the tour guide said the biggest ever tiger shark caught was caught off Frazer island and it was 8meters long, that was longer than our tour bus, so with all that I was quite content to stay on the beach. In contrast though, what was amazing was that the inland lakes were fresh water, as the sand would act as a filter and filter the water for hundreds of years. These I had to go for a swim in as they were just so beautiful.

After I got back from my trip to Frazer island I only had a few session left to do before my taper started. One of the the sessions was an hour and a half run with the Southport guy's in the local wetlands which was a conservation sight. IT was great to be running off road I as I hadn't really don much of that since arriving, but one of the best things were the number of kangaroos that were around. The guy's warned me about them before we started but I figured we would be luck to see one. Practically every corner we turned there was at least one if not more and some with little joeys in their pouches, it was just great to see. One of my final rides was the beachmount climb which i did earlier in my stay, but this time I took my camera to capture the views as they were just amazing, plus it was a really nice climb which I loved doing so was happy to go back up it again. I have to say a big thank you to the Southport Triathlon team for welcoming me to their club while I was there and also a big thank you to Gus Sweeney the head coach who was a great help while I was out there. You guy's made me feel like I was back home training with my club. Hopefully see you guy's in Hawaii in 2011, good with your race season guy's.

Although I was sad about leaving the GC as it had become like home over the past 7 weeks, i was looking forward to getting to Perth to see another part of Australia which everyone says is just beautiful, plus I was looking forward to meeting up with the GB team and to get racing again. First though I had to get packed and try and find away around the massive excess baggage charge I was likely to face at the airport. I decided to as much of my clothing into my carry on bag and even take the small rucksack off on my check in bag an took that onto the plane full of kit to try and get my baggage weight as light as possible so my charge would be as small as possible. After packing my bike though i was not so confident this would save me much as my bike box seemed to weigh a ton, It felt even heavier than when I came out, I couldn't understand it, so I just figured I was going to have to take the hit on the excess baggage charge. It must have been my lucky day though, when I checked my luggage in the girl at the desk just ask the weight of my bike, which I lied and said 23kg as it still had it's 23kg tag on it from the way out. My bag ended up being 15kg and she just checked it in and told me to take my bike to over sized baggage, no mention of any charge, so I wasn't hanging around there for her to change her mind. I practically sprinted off to the over sized baggage desk to get ride of my bike before anyone could say anything. That was an absolute bonus of a start to my trip Perth.

I've been in Perth now for 3 days, it seem a nice city from what I've seen and I've met up with some really nice guy's and girl from the GB team so that has been nice training and socialising with them. It's definitely a far smaller affair out here for the long distance race than it was for the Olympic distance, the GB team for a start has only 79 members in it and I think the over all entry is about 700, hopefully this means the drafting issues from the GC will not happen here even though it is another pan flat bike course. However the strong winds could be a strong factor on the bike and the it's supposedly going to be 31oC tomorrow so the run could also be hard even though it's flat as there's no shelter anywhere on the course. I'm looking forward to it though, it should be a good race.

Well I need to go and get my bike sorted out as I have to go and check it into transition soon before we have the racing briefing.

Good luck to all the GB team racing tomorrow.

Another week and another race

2009-10-05T00:05:00.001-07:00

My second week of training on the Gold coast has not quite followed the high of my first week. I started the week great with a really hard interval session at 5am on Monday morning with the Southport tri guy's, and a great 120k ride on the Tuesday. However the rest of the week I have been really tired and had very little energy. I think it could possibly from doing so much training the previous week when it was my first week back, but it may also be that I've been spending a lot of time post training reading my book in the back garden catching some rays and I've not refuelled properly and it's just drained me. At the back end of the week I was starting to get a little concerned a I had entered a local race for the Sunday and the way I was feeling I didn't think I would be up to much. To try and get ready for the I decided to really ease back on training on the Thursday and Friday and stay out of the sun as much as possible and make sure I was eating and drinking plenty and hope that Sunday would go well.

The race on Sunday was going to be a strange distance, the sprintman as they call it was the secondary race to the Gold Coast Half Ironman that was taking place at the same time and which a lot of the Southport guy's were doing in preparation for their Ironman race in 12weeks. The distances of the sprint man were 1k swim, 33k bike and 7k run which I thought would be a good quality session for me in preparation for Perth.

The swim again was an optional wetsuit swim even though the water was 22.1oC, the ruling for this race was, it had to be above 24 before suits were band. I was disappointed, but it was probably a good thing to get a competitive swim in in my wetsuit for Perth, as I've really not been wearing it much since I've been out here. With all the disasters I've had recently with my swimming I was hoping to rectify them and have a good swim, as I've been swimming really well in the pool out here. From chatting to Craig Dale after the worlds, he said he had had the same breathing related problems before and he found it was because he went from resting to sprinting and breathing every 2 strokes right from the start, so ended up taking in too much oxygen. He now starts races breathing every 3 then goes into every 2. When I look back on the races where I have had these problems it does make sense as they we were always kept n the start line for at least 5mins in those races so my heart rate would have slowed right down from my warm up. Any way I thought I would give it a try and long story short, it worked for me. I got to the front of the pack and when the gun went off I took off swimming hard, but breathing every 4 strokes for the first 3-4cylces then went back to every 2 as I settled into my race pace. Man I was so pleased to be breathing well as I was swimming well, so well I actually came out of the water 3rd in my wave, however I thought it was 1st out of the water as 2 guy's were really good swimmers and got out of sight really early with out me noticing. Thinking I was first wasn't all bad as it gives you that extra boost of confidence at the start of the race.

The bike leg was a fairly flat course with a few rolling roads in it and it went out and back over some really nice smooth roads and some really bumpy roads, they really made me feel at home, especially with the nice head wind. The only thing that gave it away were the clear blue sky's and the 20+oC at 6am, pretty perfect conditions for racing. I felt I was going well on the bike passing several people from the wave in front and only allowing 3 guy's to pass me from my wave.

On to the run which was a 2 loop in and out the house job I was 4th and running ok at the start. I past the third place guy with in the first km and had my sights set on 2nd place. He however was a good runner and I wasn't making much ground on him. The out and back windy route seemed to go on forever as I hadn't gone round it before hand and the maps meant nothing to me. Start of the second lap and only 3.5k to go so I upped the pace as I was feeling good and finally managed to catch the 2nd place runner who had pulled back ground on first place, who I was able to make another small increase in pace and pass him 500m later. I probably had about 1.5k to go and the 2 lap run course was now really busy with the all the runners from the later heats now on the course so I just had to keep running hard to get the finish and hope there was nobody else out in front or charging from behind. Coming into the finish area there was nobody about, so I figured I was be first home, delighted, I've come to Oz and taken my first victory of the season, or maybe not. Those 2 swimmers that I didn't see in the swim had continued to get away from me on the bike and run, so unfortunately I was 3rd not 1st. Still I was really happy with the result as I felt I swam, biked and ran really well and I am really happy with my fitness at the moment leading in to Perth. Plus that was my first triathlon podium on the season, what better place to get it than in the home of triathlon. Good days work.

Post race recovery today has consisted of climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge, which I must say was spectacular. If you ever come to Sydney you have to do it. If your wondering what's he doing in Sydney, I've just popped down here for 2days to do a bit of sightseeing before heading back to Southport to finish off my training. It's not a bad way to spend a rest day. If anyone is getting jealous though I will say that it is raining at the moment here in Sydney if that makes you feel any better. :-)

week 1 of training on the Gold Coast

2009-09-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

When I first arrived here on the Gold Coast, I was a bit sceptical about it being triathlon paradise as the roads were so busy, cycling just seemed so dangerous. However since I've started training here with the local tri club South Port, I've found that it really is a great place to train. Last week I notched up 25hrs on training in my first week here, all of it in glorious sunshine.

Swimming with the South Port guy's has been great fun, the ausies really know how to swim, no wonder though when they have the facilities. We are training at The Southport School which has a 12 lane 50meter out door pool and a 25meter pool. These guy's are so lucky they get all 12 lanes for the 50 strong swimmers coming along to the sessions. Beats our 3lanes at the commie that's for sure. So far all the sessions I have done have been between 3.5 and 4.2k in length and I have never used my fins and paddles as much as I have here. ERC guy's watch out as when I get back I will be bringing a lot of the swim sets from here back with me, so get those fins and paddles out and dust them off.

One think which I thought I would struggle with out here was the early morning training, however it's been easier than I thought. If I'm training on my own then I'm up at 6am and out for 7 to bike or run. If i'm training with the tri guy's I'm up at 4am and out for 5 to meet up with them for a session. It's nice biking along the waterfront watching the sun rise, plus your training is over and done with so early. On Saturday past we did a 150K bike with a 45min run off the bike and were finished before 11am, perfect that meant I could spend the rest of the day reading my book in the sun and watch the Ausie rules football grand final in the afternoon. It couldn't really get any better. Yesterday I went on a long solo ride on one of the routes Emma Snowsill recommended, and it really was hilly. I thought if anything it was going to be rolling, not hilly like back home, man I was wrong. At the start of the hills there was a 14% climb for 800m, then the road went up and down for a while varying from 8-10% and finished with a 2.8k 10% climb, I'd have to say I was missing my 25 sprocket, after only bringing an 11-23 with me as the race courses I'll be competing on are going to be flat. Other than that though it was some great climbing with good descents and no traffic so you could use both sides of the road. I think I'll do that route again.

Running wise I've done several runs on my own just heading out along the water front and back, the sights are pretty nice, not only the sun rise and bikini's but I've also seen whales playing out in the water when I was running one morning, that was pretty cool. On Sunday when I was out with the group the TV crews were on the beach filming something. We thought it might have been a whales as one of the guy's thought he saw one surfacing, then again it was a hot day so we weren't sure if he has just dehydrated. However when I got home I heard on the news a whale had been trapped in the shark nets just off the beach where we were running, but thankfully it got away safely. I've been running well while I've been out here with some good track sessions and a good hard interval sessions on the road on Monday morning at 5am after a long hard weekend, so I'm really looking forward to Perth as training is going well. But before Perth I have a local race this Sunday at Colypso Bay, it's a bit of a strange distance, 1k swim, 33k bike and 7k run but I'm looking forward to it to see how I'm going. Plus a lot of the guy's from the club are going up to the race as there is also a half Ironman on at the same time so it should be a good day's racing. After the race I'm going to head down to Sydney for a few days to do some sightseeing, do the bridge walk, visit the zoo, have some good food so hopefully that will be a nice wee break after a good hard race.

I'll let you know how the race goes next week.

Holiday over, now it's down to business, well maybe

2009-09-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

Well thats me back on the Gold coast now after being away in Carins and Uluru for the past 5 days. Both trips were amazing!! I went diving off the great barrier reef, that is so much fun, I now your not a big fan of the but it's so peaceful and beautiful down there I really think you would love it. What are the chances though, my dive instructor was a Scottish girl, not only that but she was from Edinburgh, what are the chances? A trip to Carins must have been the think to do after the worlds as on my boat there were 4 of the Mexican team, a guy from the Brazilian team who was my dive buddy and an American guy. I also went on a rain forest trip which I though was going to be really good, however most of the day was spent in the tour bus with only a few short stops a different locations, what we saw was pretty amazing, nut to much time on the bus for my liking. I tell you made full use of the week off training and eat plenty of junk with some good food, there are so many good Thai restaurants out there I just couldn't help myself, I love Thai food.

After Carins I flew to Uluru for 2nights, that again was pretty spectacular although at times too hot for me, thankfully not when we were walking round the rock more so in the afternoon. I happened to get chatting to a group of Girls from Brisbane who were out there for one of their 40th Birthdays and they have invited me up to Brisbane for the weekend to show me around which should be cool. One of them is a sailor with her own Laser so she might even take me out for a sail, I'll have to try and remember as much sailing chat as possible. Unfortunately it's not much, the fact that I guest her boat was a laser was about the extent of it. I also met a really nice English couple who I left my Cairns hostel at the same time as, sat beside them on the plain to Uluru and then ended up sharing a dorm room with which was a bit strange. They were telling me about a website Couch surfing that they have been using while travel, which is basically like face book but instead people invite you to stay at their place when you are there and it's all free. They made the way across the US doing this and absolutely swear by it, so it might take a look into it for when I'm in Melbourne and San Fran as I don't have any accommodation sorted out yet. The last night we were in Uluru there was a guy playing live music, he was really good and myself, Steve & Donna (the English couple), Lynn our other dorm mate and the 3 Brisbane girls (Lisa, Suzanne and Anna) ripped up the dance floor all night long, it was an amazing night I've never had so much fun with a group of people I've only just met. My trip to Brisbane should be fun as those girls are mad.

As I said I'm now back on the Gold Coast for the start of training and I did my first bike ride this morning, 3hrs in land which was really nice, although I was starting to struggle near the end, not sure if it was the heat (prob about 21-22 at 7am when I went out), not having done anything for the past week or that I've been eating shite and drinking shite over the past week or more likely a combination of the lot. Starting to feel good now I've eaten and been out the sun for a while. Got my first swim session with the Surfers Paradise tri guy's tonight so looking forward to that and getting to meet some new folk.

Also can't remember if I posted this picture but thought I'd add it anyway, seen as it's not everday I get to meet and an Olympic champion :-)

world Champs

2009-09-12T17:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the World triathlon championships here in Southport, Gold Coast. After the Aquathon on Wednesday I was feeling really positive about the race as I ran and swan really well.

After all the Ausie talk about the water temperature being 22oC all week it's strange how come race day morning the temperature suddenly drop to 19oC so it would be a wetsuit optional race. When it's optional everyone wears them as you can swim faster with them. I was rather gutted as I was looking forward to a non wetsuit swim for a change, plus I'm a half decent swimmer so not having a wetsuit on wasn't going to slow me down as much as the weaker swimmers.

Over 100 Male 25-29 athletes were lined up on the start line on the beach all in wetsuits, and we were made to stand there and back in the morning sun for 5mins before the start, they wouldn't even let us into the water to stay cool. The hooter went and we all charged into the water for the 200m sprint to the first turn buoy. It was carnage everyone was on top of each other, I just couldn't seem to get into any rhythm and to top it all off I had the breathing problems that I had been get in the past few races back home. My breathing just went so erratic and the only way to calm it down was to break out the pack and do some head up breast stroke stroke until it calmed down again. I really don't know what is causing this, I thought it might have been the cold water back home, but that obviously isn't the case. I really need to get to the bottom of this as it's really starting to piss me off as it's killing my races. Once I got my breathing back to normal I was able to get a good pace going and start to pull back so of the Field, however the fast guy's were already out of sight and I ended up coming out of the water in 23:07 (78th place), I knew I had a lot of work to do on the bike and run if I was to get any sort of respectable time.

The bike course was pan flat and was going to be fast. With the course being so flat the race turned into team time trails with massive packs chasing each other around the course. It was impossible to get round the course without drafting, unless you were going to sit on the front of the pack and let everyone sit on your wheel. For the first lap of the bike I was busting a gut to try and get away from everyone and pass anyone I caught on the course, but then I would turn at the turn point and see 20 guy's behind me or have a group of guy's come past me. I know your supposed to drop back when riders come past you, but if that were the case I would of had to freewheel the whole course to try and stay out of the draft zone, and I'm just not going to let guy's get away, not when the whole field are riding in packs, it was just getting silly and dangerous at times. So much so that there were some horrific crashes. Frank Boyne told me of one that he just managed to avoid. A rider from a pack heading back to the start of the loop swerved out to the right for some reason and went over the white line the collided with and oncoming pack, even worse though, the draft buster motorcycle was behind them so he slammed on the breaks and ended up coming down and sliding into the back of the already mangled pack of cycles on the ground. I've not heard what injuries came from that crash, but I can imagine they were pretty serious.

Thankfully my bike was uneventful and came off the bike in a large 25-29 group (82nd) ready to run as many folk down as possible. I was feeling great on the run, possible due to riding in a pack for most of the bike, then again so had everyone else, and started to work my way through the field. It was starting to get hotter on the run course, but thankfully there were 4 water stations the 5k loop. I could really see how the heat was affecting me as once I had gone through a water station and soaked myself I was able to up the pace again, which would tail off slowly until I made it to the next water station. As always there was great GB support on the bike course cheering everyone on which always help when you are starting to tire at the end of a race. I was able to keep running hard all the way to the line ending up in 62nd place in 2:06:51. Not great as I was really hoping to be further up the field than that, it was a competitive field and who knows if I had a good swim how would that of changed things, no one will ever know.

Watched the Elite men race yesterday, man Alistair Brownlee is amazing. When we saw him exit T2 with a 1:06 deficit we really though this wasn't going to be his day, but with in a lap and a half he, Gomez and Fredeno had already ran in to the lead. I don't know what time he did for his 10k but it must have been fast as he was motoring past us on every lap. Today is juniors and Elite women, hopefully we'll see some more British success with us also taking 1,2 and 4th in the women's U23 on Friday.

It's now a bit of chill out time for me before I get stuck into preparation for the long distance champs in Perth in October, so I'm heading up to Cairns on Monday to do some diving and sightseeing and then heading to Ulluru for 2 days. I'm really looking forward to getting away from training for a while as it's been a long season and with Perth it will be prolonged by a month from what I would normally do.

I'll keep you posted on how the tans coming along :-).

1 race down 2 to go

2009-09-09T01:28:00.000-07:00

I've now been in Oz for almost a week and settling in well. My accommodation is perfectly located to the race venue and is really nice as I have my own entrance, living space, bathroom it's just the kitchen that we share. Jo my flat is really nice, a hyperactive Kiwi who loves her rugby. I finally found out that she's a touch judge not a player, as I was getting confused when she emailed saying she was a goal assist, I couldn't figure out what sport that was from. I've impressed my self already, I was only in the country a few hours and I'd managed to get a bird back to my room.

It's hard no to like it here when the weather is so nice, it's just a nice temperature warm but not too ridiculously warm that you can't train. I've meet up with a few guy's from the GB team, Dean who I met on the plan and the rest of the Scottish guy's that are out, Brad Gilbert, Craig Dale, Graham Cox, Shona Girdwood and Dan Sims and we have been out for a few easy swim, bike and run sessions. With the race on Saturday I'm not wanting to do too much, just enough to stay fresh after the 20+hrs of traveling.

They have a great set up for training here, especially swimming. The first day I arrived I headed down to the local pool with some of the team, there was a 50m pool, 25m pool and a diving pool with 25m lanes in it as well, all open air. It really does put us to shame, with our 1 50m pool which is closed. Along with the great pool, there is a 100m shark proof pen in the sea where we have been doing most of our swims. It's not Porty but it will do :-)

Today was the World Aquathon Champs (2.5krun, 1kswim, 2.5krun). I figured it would be a good short, but fast race to give me one really hard session to help get my body into race mode for the week, and I'm really glad I did. going into the race I really wasn't sure how my running was going, I know I was swimming well as I had some good hard sessions before I left home. The start of the run was the most Bizarre thing I have ever seen at a race. My wave was made up of the male 16-39 athletes. When we got to the start line everyone did the usual and found a place on the start line ready to go. This obviously isn't the way the aussies do it. We were told to form a line in number order, smallest to largest. with me being 1198 (1000-1200 racing) I was pretty far back at the start. Once we were put into order we were allowed to enter the start pen, where I was still about 15 rows back, not impressed. When the horn went, the start pace was so slow due to the massive pack, I'm sure I go faster at the start of marathons. I managed to work my way through the field over the first run and enter the water fairly high up the field, I think, it's hard to tell when there are that many people racing. The swim was great, water temperature was 22.5oC so swimming without a wetsuit was really pleasant and a first for me. And I'd have to say I wish I could do more often as I made up a lot of ground on the swim as those fast runners were missing the buoyancy of their wetsuits. Coming through transition for the final time I was adamant that now one would pass me on the run. I felt great coming out of the water and wanted to test my legs out and push the final 2.5k as hard as I could. I felt great, I must have picked off more that 30 folk and nobody came past me. I really feel like my running is back to where it was at the start of the season. I've not seen the results yet, but I've been told I was fairly high up, hopefully things will go that well on Saturday, if the water stays the way it is it will be a non wetsuit swim, fingers crossed it is.

Me and Craig before the Auqthon.

Anyway I thing that's been more than enough for today, I'll post again after the worlds on Saturday.

mg

Aberfeldy Half Ironman

2009-08-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

The weekend past was the Aberfeldy Half Ironman and Scottish Middle distance championships. It was going to be my first middle distance race of the year and only really decided to do it to get some race practice for the ITU World Long Distance Championships in Perth, Australia on 25th October.

Going into the race I knew I was going to be on great form as I've not done a great deal of specific training for that distance but was still hoping for a good race. This was going to be my first race riding with my Powertap as I normally only ever train with it. However racing over that sort of distance (56miles) I felt using the Powertap to pace my race would be a great advantage. From some of the training rides I had done over the the past few weeks I felt happy that my target power of 215W would be about the right power to give me a good bike time without leaving my legs empty for the run.

The swim went fairly well, conditions were a little rough with the wind creating some chop, but nothing that would have a major affect on your time. I exited the water in 30mins and about 27th according to Linda, so I was in the mix with people I would expect to be.

On to the bike after a slow transition putting on socks, arm warmers and giliet to help keep the elements out. I was feeling good and sitting at around the 230-240W, higher than the average I was looking for but have to take in to account free wheeling and cornering so I aim at a slightly higher value than I plan to average. Going over schiehallion for the first time I was holding my own with only 1 or 2 athletes coming past me so I was feeling confident that my pacing strategy was going to plan. However on the decent and going around Loch Rannoch a lot of competitors back to come past me which really made me think that I had under predicted my pacing strategy. I decided that I was still only halfway round the bike so things could change, maybe these guy's have all gone out to fast into the head wind. I had to keep to my plan as if I didn't I wouldn't be able to say if it worked or not. And to be honest this race was all about trying things out in preparation for Perth.

When I hit the other side of the loch and got the tailwind, things began to change and I started to pick of a few riders, which really helped my confidence in my pacing. Apart from 2 riders catching me coming back over schiehallion I held my position from 30mile point home. Back to transition and ready for the run where I was hoping to run a lot of the Field down.

Unfortunately that was not going to happen this time. The first 2 miles of the run felt good, however I had a runner in my sights at this point and was planning on running him down, my legs however were not thinking the same as me. I was just struggling to keep any pace going, whether it was the lack of specific training or whether I paced the bike poorly, I think it was the former.

Any way the run was now all about getting it done, I still felt a 1:40hr time was possible if I could just keep fuelling and keep this pace. Unfortunately it was definitely not my day on the run, with about 5 miles to go I was starting to feel a niggle in my groin and it didn't go. For the remainder of the race I had to walk/ jog just to get to the finish.

Over all the race had it's good points and bad points, other than the groin injury I'm glad I did the race as it is a great race and venue I highly recommend it. From the outcome now where I am in terms of middle distance racing and now what needs to be worked on when I'm out on the Gold coast training towards Perth.

Edinburgh RC as a team had some great performances, congratulations to Ben 4th over all, unfortunately not able to defend his title from last year even with a quicker time. Dermott and Ali both had great races. Dermott all the best for your Ironman in a weeks time, if you race like you did at Aberfeldy you'll in for a great time.

As for myself and my groin, the ice bath I had after the race seems to have helped along with a few days rest. I've now swam and been out for a short bike ride and it feel ok, the test will be tomorrow when I go for a run, fingers crossed it will be all good.

I love it when a plan comes together

2009-07-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

Since about 2006, when I found out the World Champs were going to be held on the Gold Coast, Australia in 2009 I planned on being there.

With Ironman being my main priority over the past 2 season, this year was all about getting faster over the Olympic distance to get out to Oz. Winter training was all going really well and I was supper positive about my chances of getting in the team. However a cold over Easter and a dip in performance at the first qualifying race back in May at the Little Beaver tri start to make me think that I may miss out.

Sunday Past was D-Day, Strathclyde park Olympic distance and the final qualifier for the worlds, it was do or die time. With the previous weekends race at the Scottish sprint champs not going great I was left doubting my performance and hoping it was down to fatigue after a hard block of training.

The week running up to Strathclyde start great with a really tough swim with the club where I was flying, excellent great start to the week. However my next 2 session on the bike and back in the pool blow all that confidence as I was feeling tired and had no power on the bike or in the pool. It was a taper week anyway so the rest off the week consisted of rest days and short aerobic sessions to help keep my legs moving. However rest just didn't feel it was enough so I headed to the Fitnessbox to get a pair of compression shorts just to help with any recovery that my legs were needing. I also started taking ice baths, one a day helps keep the doctor away, or is that apples? I always forget. Anyway I the combination of the rest, compression shorts and ice baths worked and by Saturday my legs were starting to feel fresh and rearing to go.

Race day morning as as so often is the case when I race as Strathclyde it was cold and wet, which I was actually thinking could be in my favour as the English guy's may find the water a little to cold for their liking, I couldn't see it being colder than the Firth of Forth at the start of May so I felt I'd be ok. And I was the right, the water temperature was really pleasant, a nice temperature for racing.

The swim was a deep water start with 2 rectangular laps. As seems to be my track record with Starthclyde swim starts I got off to a shocker. As soon as the hooter went and I put my face in the water to get going I got clocked right in the face by the swimmer in fronts feet. My goggles didn't come off, but I couldn't see anything as both sides had filled with water and been suctioned on to my face. The next 50-100meters was head up survival swimming until I could get my goggles fixed. Finally managing to get my left eye sorted so I could see I managed to get into my rhythm and just not bother about seeing out of the right hand side. Apart from that nightmare start I actually had a really good swim, maybe it was the adrenaline maybe it was just the swim training, but I managed to get going and pass a lot of the guy's who got away from me a the start and exit the water in 20:08, I'm pleased with that.

On to the bike which is always me weakest discipline, so I knew I had to give it everything and not let up for a second. The multi lap course at Strathclyde really helps me as there are always people up the road for you to pick off, even if their not in your heat or that your might actually about to lapping them. Like the at the British Champs David Moffat was racing, so yet again I was using not being caught by him of the bike as motivation to keep going. And like the British it worked as he didn't catch me until the start of the final lap, as he said when he went past "either he's getting slower or I'm getting quicker" I'd like to think it's the later. I came off the bike having passed more people than passed me, I think, it does get confusing on that course with who's where on the course.

Coming out of T2 another E athlete came past me right away so I just jumped right onto his feet and used him as pacing for the first Km. after the first km we were starting to pull David back so I moved to the front to close the gap even further. At the first turn point I noticed I had distanced myself to the competitor I left transition with by about 10-15meters, so knew that if I could just keep this pace up I should be able to stay away from him. For the rest of run David managed to keep about a 15meter gap on me , I just didn't seem to be able to close the gap and it wasn't until the final turn at 7.5k that David managed to get away from me and I really had to dig deep to keep off the guy's behind me and pass a few more guy's on the way back to the finish. When the finish finally came into view it was a welcome sight as my legs were really starting to hurt, I had given it everything I had, now I had to wait to find out if it was enough.

In true Hollywood dramatic style the organisers announced that there had been some problems with the timing system so the results would not be out as early as they had previously thought, more waiting. Finally on Wednesday afternoon the British team manager had made it through the E's on the results had had posted the qualifiers, YES!! success Graham Leitch (Fusion tri) and myself had taken the first 2 of 4 slots in the E category. Gold coast here we come.

Even better news , I also found out that I was successful in my application to the GB long distance squad for the World Champs in Perth, Australia on 25th October. 10 weeks in Oz, I can't wait, I just need to get my flights and accommodation booked as I plan to leave in under 5weeks, AH!!

Finally I have to say a big thanks to Sooz, her Mum and Linda who all came out to support on Sunday and shouted at me endlessly throughout the race, I even heard Linda shouting at me on the run from across the Loch, thats some serious shouting, she's normally so quite as well :-)

Well I better get booking and training as their is still work to be done before Oz.

Racing, it's a funny old game!

2009-07-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

Sunday past was the Scottish sprint tri champs at Lochore Meadows. going into the race I was in 2 minds as to how I felt the race was going to go, part of me couldn't wait for the race, after the past 3weeks of hard training I know I was swimming, biking and running really well so was eager to see it all come together in a race. However as much as psychologically I felt good, physiologically my legs were telling me, Not yet!

Race day morning I felt really excited about the race, it was a bit cold and windy, but I felt good. For the swim I had in my mind where I would like to come out the water, in a good competitive position. I knew I would not be able to stay on the feet of Craig Dale or Rory Downie, these guy's are just to quick in the water for me. The aim was to come out in the next group not too far behind them so I had a fighting chance on biking and running them down. Cause of the beach start to the race the swim spread out really quickly and there was no aqua boxing at the start which was good. I got in to the my rhythm really quick in the swim and had a comfortable swim all the way round, exiting the water right where I wanted to be in the second pack, leaving T1 with Andy Turnbull, Graham Leitch and Dan Sims, 2mins down on the lead swimmers a slightly bigger gap than had hoped.

From the bike off Andy and Graham got away from me, I just couldn't seem to get my legs going and generate power to keep them in sight, which was disappointing as I felt my biking was getting stronger. I just had to put my head down an pick off the riders from the previous wave who were out the on the course. I have to say it was great to have them out there to keep picking off, especially going along past Loch Leven as the head wind along there was so strong, if you had been going along there on your own you would have felt like you were going backwards. Thankfully when you got to the end of the Loch Leven road and turned left the wind was behind me and I was able to getting going a bit better. This was also helped by Bud Johnson and Dan Sims and us battling each other all the way back to the loch.

Off the bike and on to the run and it was the same tactics as on the bike, just pick off anyone I saw in front of me and try and real in the guys in front of me. I was running well but not great and with not felling at full power on the bike I'd left myself too much to run down and wasn't able to pull back any places on the run, finishing 7th overall (6th male senior, Sanderson I'll get you at Strathclyde).

Reflecting on the race, and trying to figure out why it all didn't go to plan, I think I was just a little over optimistic on my bodies recovery capabilities after the past 3weeks training. The culmination of my 3week build was my first 5000m track race (16:12, very happy), which I thought, it's hard but short so I can recover pretty quick from that, ready to go for Lochore. In reality, I wasn't just recovering from the 5000m I was also recovering from some very big and hard bike, run and bike-run sessions so my body was needing more time to recover than I initially thought.

Overall not completely disappointed with the race, I had a good swim and at the end of the day the race was always there as a stepping stone for Strathclyde park next weekend which is the final World Championships qualifying race, probably the biggest race of the season so far.

So for this week tapering and watching the tour, go on Wiggins!

It's good to be training

2009-07-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

As much as I love racing, it's why I compete, it's been nice to have the last 2 week free to train and what a two weeks it's been.

This season I've been training with a powertap on my bike, so all my sessions are controlled by specific power zones which has made session far more productive. Another great benefit of the powertap is that you get great feedback on how your improving. Over the last 2 weeks my average aerobic, tempo and threshold powers have all seen big increases (20-30W) from the start of summer. I'm really looking forward to my next TH power test in 2weeks where my new power zones will be calculated as I'm working at the top end of these zones.

On Thursday at work we were getting trained on the new CPX (Cardiopulmonary Exchange) machines we had bought and we need to run a VO2 max test on them to get a feel for how they worked. So I took the opportunity to get a performance test done as it would be good to see where my running was at this point in the season plus I hadn't done one in a while, and in some strange way I do enjoy the pain of them, strange I know. The test that we did was 3mins at 10kph, 3 at 13kph, 3 at 16kph then keeping the speed at 16kph begin to increase the gradient 2.5% every minute. The last time I did this test I scored 65ml/kg/min after complete the 10%stage. I was aiming to try and get further than that. The test as it always does felt easy at the start, however this time it was still feeling comfortable during the 5 and start of the 7.5% stages which was a new experience and a very promising one. As treadmill gradually climbs up to 10% you really start to feel the legs burn but I was adamant that I was getting through this stage and with the help of the rest of the guy's in the lab, Les, Rus, Sooz all shouting at me I got through 10% and the treadmill went up to 12.5%. And I thought 10% was steep and sore, it had nothing on 12.5%. the next 30secs seem to go on and on as I was moving up and down the treadmill fighting against gravity trying to pull me off the back, try and finish 12.5%, another push to the top of the treadmill, but this time no amount of shouting from the guy's was going to do anything for me. Done, the big red bottom was hit and I hit the floor. Happy to hear the test was a success, the new kit works and I had ran further than I had ever done before and recorded and VO2max of 66.5, a good day's work.

I have Fridays off work so after my early morning swim session I headed out on the bike for a 5hr ride into the Scottish borders. The plan was to head down to Broughton and finally get up and over Tala. I've always heard it was a big climb but have never made it down there. The ride down was nice not too warm thankfully, as the day before the temperature had been in the 30's, with a slight head wind which helped to keep me cool. When reaching the bottom of the climb I finally found out how steep the Tala was, 20% according to the sign at the bottom, surely it can't go on for too long, or can it. I ride with a 25 on the back and I was out the saddle all the way pulling on the bars trying to keep the bike moving. I wasn't moving very fast but I was generating a lot of power, 400W+ at times. Finally made it over the top and what a lovely long fast descent down to St Mary's Loch and a tail wind all the way to Moffat and the next big climb, the beeftub. The beeftub is a far nicer climb as it's just long with a far nicer gradient where you can get into your rhythm and stay seated all the way to the top. Again it's another climb I hadn't done before, I'd only ever come down it on my big Ironman preparation rides last year, so I was really looking forward to getting to climb up it.

It's a great climb and I managed to hold my target power zone from bottom to top, I was starting to fatigue a bit nearing the top as I had now been in the saddle for over 3:30hrs keeping to the high end of my aerobic power zone. Starting the descent back to Broughton the rain came on and didn't stop all the way home, which I'd have to say was really pleasant to cycle in as it wasn't cold. Thankfully I had left the car at leadburn to reduce the ride by 1:30hrs at least as I was starting to feel my legs coming into the final few miles. That was my longest ride since my Ironman training last year and 1hr quicker than what I was doing for my 140K rides last year, largely thanks to the pacing of the powertap and the slightly better weather conditions.

A great ride and happy to say I've finally been over Tala and the beeftub.

On to Saturday and the Edinburgh Triathletes 5k running TT. On starting the warm up I felt my legs were really tired from the previous days ride so I wasn't sure what I was going to be capable of so just went for it and just wait and see how long I could last. Myself and Dan Sims were set of first on the out and back course. I went straight to the front to set a high pace from the start which is often my tactics in in running races. I was surprised as at the start my legs felt good and breathing felt relaxed and it sounded like the elastic between myself and Dan was beginning to stretch. On one of the short downhill stretches I increased the cadence to try and create the gap, and it worked I managed to pull away from Dan and at the turn around (7:23mins) I had a 10meter gap. Now it was all about getting home without loosing too much time as it was now up hill and into a head wind. With my trademark sprint finish over the last 200m I came home in 15:34 and new PB by a long way, absolutely delighted particularly with the 140K in my legs from the previous day, woohoo!! Dan was not too far behind, not sure of time but probably under 16mins aswell, good running mate.

After the end of a solid 2weeks of training it was off to visit some friends down south for the rest of the weekend before getting stuck back into another hard week of quality training in preparation for the Scottish Sprint Champs at Lochore Meadows on 19th July where hopefully all this good swim, bike and run training will come together.

Tapering really does work

2009-06-24T12:09:00.000-07:00

It's was a pretty quite week last week with the British champs in Northumberland at the weekend gone by. I was really just trying to recover from the past 2weeks of training and racing hard. Most of the sessions were aerobic in nature with maybe a few short tempo efforts so as not to have heavy legs for the weekend.

For me I like to have at least one short hard session in a taper week to make sure the body does not switch off completely. For this I choose the Portobello 4 mile running race, which was ideally organised for the Thursday before the champs.

As much as I do favour running out of the 3 triathlon disciplines, I never really know the competition at running races, so it's always nice turning up at races and just concentrating on my own race as I don't know any of the other runners and their abilities. So come race start I just lined up on the start line at front and just see what I could do.

The race is practically flat the whole way, except for a short drag to bring you off the prom just before the end of the 1st mile. I was sitting in second place at this point and decided to hit the front and push the pace going up the drag and see what would happen. I used this tactic last year and I managed to break the field and stay away, so hopefully the same tactics work. They did, I managed to string the Field out and get away from everyone, except for one runner.

We managed to work well together heading back along the prom into some strong cross winds, until about 2.5 miles where he decided to up the pace ever so slightly and as much as I tried to go with him, I just was capable. For the 2 of us the positions remained the same until the end, I had hoped he might have gone to early and I would be bale to pull him back nearing the finish, but he's a very strong runner and he was able to stay away.

Thoughts from the race, yes I would have loved to reclaim my title from the previous year, that aside, I posted a quicker time this year and it was tougher conditions so happy with the out come and the way I'm running. All bodes well for British Champs.

The British Olympic distance champs are always competitive races and from my pre race cycle of the bike course, it looked like it was going to be a quick course with a practically pan flat 7laps on the bike making up the 40k course.

Race day morning conditions were ideal for racing, over cast and what appeared to very little wind. The start of the swim for once was not a boxing match as the 100 odd athletes in the lake were well spread out on the start line. I was really happy with my swim as I was able to get into a fast rhythm from the gun and managed to get clear water all the way to the first buoy. At the midway point of the swim I was swimming side by side with another swimmer, seen as neither of us were making any ground on each other I decided to make a b-line for his feet and get a good draft to the finish.

Exiting the water and on to the bike and it was going to be no stop power all the way round no real hills on descents on the course. The up side to having a 7 lap bike course means there are constantly people on the course for you to chase down, even if they were off in heats before you, psychologically it's great to be passing so many riders. My big aim for the bike was to stay ahead of David Moffat for as long as possible. With him catching me on the bike after 5k last week at Peebles, I was really wanting to improve on that performance. And improve I did, I managed to hold him off until half way round the 6th lap and managed to hold his pace until the start of the final lap before he managed to get out of sight on the twisty course.

On to the run and I was planning on pushing the pace after my good run performance at porty on Thursday. Before starting the run I already know it was a short 10k, possibly only even 8.5-9k which originally I was disappointed about as I normally like to capitalise on my good running to pull people back. However after that flat bike course my legs were not quick as strong as they could be and it took me the first lap of 3 to get into my running pace. From this point I was able run well and pick off a lot of runners in front of me. However with it being a 3lap course your never sure if your making up places or lapping athletes, so it was just run everyone down I saw.

Overall I was really pleased with the race, finishing 6th in the 25-29 age group (I was aiming for top 10), one place behind David. Good race from the 2 Scottish boys.

There was a large number of Edinburgh RC and ET members at the race as well with Penny flying as always winning gold in the J category and Louise taking Bronze in the F category. Well done guy's excellent performances. Lets take this form into the Scottish Champs in a few weeks.

A good weeks training

2009-06-15T11:53:00.000-07:00

With having 3 races, three weeks in a row, culminating in the British Olympic distance championships next weekend, I decided to get some good base miles in before racing at Peebles.

It's something I've been missing since the start of the season as I had turned my attention to speed work and cut back my long sessions. Post Ironman last year I really felt speed work was the way forward for the shorter distance races. However I really think that keeping aerobic sessions going over the summer are crucial to getting faster, training is a fine balance of aerobic and threshold work. Plus how could you not want to run in the Pentlands when you get weather like we've been having, it's such an amazing place to train.

Going into the Peebles race on Sunday I thought I might be a little tired, particularly with the long run in the Pentlands on Friday, however I was feeling really good. I was hoping to get close to 10mins on the swim and during it I really thought it was possible as I felt relaxed and smooth through the water and I was in a good lane where I ended up sharing the pace with one of the other guys in the lane, however we ended a little off the pace. On to the bike and I know I had to give it everything as David Moffat would be out the water soon and chasing me down. With a slight tail wind out I really felt like I was flying, however David was also flying and he caught me 5k in. I managed to keep him in sight to the turn but thanks to those windy traquare roads he managed to get out of sight on the way home. Onto the run and there was only 5k left to catch David so I put everything I had left into the run, I know I had 2nd place wrapped up but I wasn't happy to settle for 2nd place, I was running really well and able to keep a fast pace all the way round the route. However David was equally as stubborn as my self and wasn't going to give up his lead with out a fight.

The race finished with David first and myself second, another great borders series event. If you haven't raced the borders series before, then you should get yourself down there, great roads, great routes and well organised races.

Next weekend off to Northumberland for the British champs.

Finally things are starting to come together

2009-06-08T08:08:00.000-07:00

So far the 2009 triathlon season has not gotten off to as good a start as I'd hoped. After a great winter training and some promising pre season race results (1st Deerstalker, 7th Edinburgh half Marathon) I was really excited going into the start of the season. Unfortunately as so often is the case when you are racing well and overloading your body training, you end up opening up yourself to infection. Unfortunately this was the case and I came down with a bug over Easter and ended up missing the first race of the season which was really disappointing, but these things happen so not to worry, a few tweaks to the original training plan and all will be back on track.

After a few tough races and getting back to base training it finally looks like things are starting to come together with a 5th place finish at the Stirling sprint triathlon last weekend.

Stirling is possibly one of my favourite Scottish races, which seems to be a popular feeling with so many others as the race filled up way back in April, I had to end up banking on other competitors dropping out as I hadn't gotten my entry in fast enough, note for future, enter Stirling as soon as it opens.

Amongst the entry were names like Stuart Fraser and Fraser Cartmell both of whom are Elite long distance athletes who lead the charge at the front of the Field with Fraser running away for the win in 58:32, almost 4mins ahead of 2nd place. Fraser looks likes he's on good form to defend his Ironman UK 70.3 title later in the month, all the best Fraser.

On my race I was really happy with my swim putting in a pb in the pool 10:28, which is strange as I really didn't feel that strong in the pool so hopefully that's a promising sign for things to come, looks like all that time in Porty sea is paying off. On to the bike and I was hoping for a strong bike after setting a new pb at the Kirky 10 on Wednesday, however it just didn't seem to be 100% there, but I did have a good battle with AndyBuchanan with us passing each other several times before he managed to get away from me just before we started to head back to the Uni. With Running being my strongest discipline I was confident I would be able to run him down however it was tougher than I had expected with me not being able to pass Andy until the start of the second lap, Cheers for the support Hugh it definitely helped at that point.

All in all happy with the out come of the race, 9th out the pool and finishing 5th with the 3rd fastest run of the day. Good day at the office, with plenty more to come.

Next week Peebles sprint and another head to head with David Moffat.