Category Archive: Website

1. Good Friday Triathlon and Swicle – Radley College, Oxford, 29th March.

   March 30, 2013 4:36 pm 2 Comments

   Nice early start ruined by a flat rear tyre; it didn’t take long to repair but it was something not in schedule. I had enough pent up nervous energy to run a small village and the tyre issue didn’t help much. After the staple had been extracted from the tyre and everything returned to where it should be, the patch seemed to hold.

   There had been a lot of discussion Facebook about this event, two old school friends were taking part in the triathlon: one in the Sprint event and one in the Novice event. I’d caught up with Andy a couple of years ago but hadn’t seen Kate since we left school in 1988. Facebook and this cycling lark have been good for meeting up with old friends.

   I found out about this event from a colleague at work who had completed the Sprint Triathlon, he mentioned that there was an event for people with rubbish knees called the SWICLE (Swim/Bike), this sounded a great alternative so I signed up early last year. I had spent a lot of time swimming as a child but it took a while to remember what I was supposed to do in training. I have been training for this one event since October last year but the preparation was hampered by a dodgy back in November and a chest infection at the beginning of March; I wasn’t as fit as I had wanted when I lined up in the pool.

   The whole day was excellent but as a total newbie to multi events I was overwhelmed by all the things to remember. The race information e-mailed prior to the event did actually make sense but I wasn’t reading it properly. The race brief was good and I had time to look around to clock all the transition exits and how the pool was set up etc. I saw folks with all their gear in plastic storage boxes, neatly folder for a quick transition; mine was stuffed into a rucksack. I had worked on an order for getting my stuff on at transition but made a last minute change around my top.  The plan had been to expect seasonal weather and not have to worry about winter gloves, socks and a top; the weather had other plans and started the day at 0 degrees warming up to a massive 4 degrees by the time my race left.

   I chose my cycling jacket as the insulation, purely to keep a cool wind chill on the outside. It was a toss-up between this and a micro-fleece; in the end I was happy with the choice.  I left the jacket poolside for transition and lined up with the others for our wave to start. I attached the timing chip to my ankle, worrying that it would fall off and then promptly forgetting it was there.  I grabbed a 10 minute warm up in the diving pool followed by a quick stretch, going well so far.

   Due to the low numbers in the SWICLE, there was only me and another person in my lane so I was confident of a straight swim with no holdups; I was first off followed by my goggled friend 10 seconds later. I pushed off for 16 of the best lengths I could put in, a total of 400m which I planned to swim smoothly for the first 200m and then gradually increase the effort for the last 200m. Once again, I had gained wisdom from Simon about the best way to swim efficiently and had been practicing this in my training sessions. I had swum timed 400m’s in the pool but it was usually after swimming 1,500m or so during a training session. Today, the lack of fatigue was liberating, I had to concentrate to make sure I counted the lengths correctly and followed my plan instead of going out too hard. All good but then I caught up with the other person in the lane and had to get around her. This took a reasonable amount of energy and wasn’t in the plan but there is not a lot you can do. It happened a second time and this time I had to put my feet down in the shallow end which felt like the seconds flying out the window. I finished strongly and was first out of the pool by 30 seconds, struggled to get my jacket on because it stuck to my skin and then hit the outside air to get to my bike. It was a touch chilly as I crossed the timing mat ending the swim time.

   I had practiced transition at home, tried to focus on speed and efficiency to avoid panic and lost seconds. Socks, shoes, glasses, lid, tri-belt (holds race number) and gloves (which stuck to my skin and wasted seconds), un-rack bike and go!

   Steve was lurking with his camera and snapped this during the dash to my racked bike. Notice how he expertly captures the expanding bald bit.

   

   My cycling shoes weren’t that great for running in; I went out at pace and soon regretted that show of bravado!  By the time I had negotiated the gas works and milling people who all seem to go into moron mode I was running out of oxygen!

   Part 2 coming soon!

2. Book Cover Shot….it can’t be that difficult, can it?

   March 13, 2013 1:35 pm 1 Comment

   I had planned to get a cover photograph last weekend but the weather forecasts were so shocking that we just didn’t bother. Today’s forecast was better so we decided to give it a go.

   One good thing about this whole project is the resurrection of old friendships from my school days. During last years ride, Wayne May put me up at his house in Cornwall and Penny Mumford made the effort to feed and water me at Ludlow train station to name two. Today I hooked up with David Clements, he still lives and works locally and hasn’t really changed that much since 1988. We played a lot of school rugby together but, as we left school to pursue their own lives, friendships went on hold for a bit. David is a keen photographer so I pitched the idea of getting a cover shot for the book.

   Thinking myself just a bit clever for checking the forecast on Sunday and deciding that tonight would be bright and sunny, we planned to meet at 5pm on Chain Hill, just south of Wantage on the Newbury road. I had prepped my bike at the weekend with things like racks and bar bags; the panniers were stuffed to make them look full and my summer gear was neatly piled up ready to go. The brief for the picture was ‘long, winding and undulating road, solitary cyclist struggling with kit on a sunny day’…no problem with the struggling bit as I am still trying to shake off a liberal dose of fatal man flu; the weather changed it’s mind around 3pm which buggered up the simulated summers day a treat.

   Not to be beaten, we decided that the shot would be a moody weather scene instead. I cycled off down the hill for a few hundred yards, turned around and selected a big gear to add to the effect of struggling up a hill. So far, so good, no cars in the shot and the rolling hills appeared in the background. The cold was making itself know by the pain in my fingers; despite wearing gloves, David still struggled to operate the camera. Having got the first run of pictures out of the way, we did another couple of run throughs and seemed to get some nice shots. By this time, it was getting very unpleasant and I was relieved to get back to the car.

   The beauty of this picture revolves around the fact that I am in it but my face will not be visible, always a bonus when you are trying to get people interested with a photograph. The cover shot should make people pick up the book and read a little further (hopefully turn it over and read the blurb). If I could have ordered up the weather, I would have gone for blue sky, sunshine and fluffy white clouds but this was not to be. A more threatening sky and landscape with a lone cyclist would fit in nicely with how I felt at the end of Day 9 near Dalwhinnie in the Highlands. It was cold, damp and windy with a definite sense of being the middle of nowehere.

   I’m looking forward to seeing the results once David has worked some magic on the raw pictures, I can then move onto the next stage of getting the cover designed. Thanks for your help mate, another debt of gratitude to be repaid in the bar!

3. Lunchtime ride; an alternative to the gym.

   March 5, 2013 8:55 pm Leave a Comment

   Given all the usual pressure on time, I had planned a few laps of the local roads near work with a colleague, Simon. He is training for a number of events this year, the next one being a run-bike-run near Newbury.  His main thing is running but he is no slouch on a bike; having recently bought a Specialized Allez he has used it to good effect in various triathlons and an iron man. I wasn’t sure what to expect pitting my mountain bike against his road bike, I knew it would be uncomfortable but this turned out to be an understatement!

   The weather was perfect, slightly cool but in no way cold and the sun was shining. After a winter of freezing temperatures it was a liberation to ride without a jacket. Having said that, I kept the winter gloves and snood under my lid.

   The loop was about 3.7 miles in length and the plan was to do 4 loops with a leader and a follower. At the end of a lap, I would push my split button on my watch and the leader would become the follower for the next lap. The terrain was flattish but it did have a climb split into 3 individual climbs, in other words a nasty hilly interval. There was a light wind against us on the outward leg, then the climbs, then a fast downhill that flattened out after half a mile or so. Upon reflection, it was a nice mix that got the heart rate going a touch.

   Our gearings are different; uphill was fine for me with plenty of gears to chose from but down hill I simply ran out of gears. At one point I almost lifted off the pedals were turning so fast. With this in mind, my plan was to hang on to Simon’s wheel on the flat bits, take the hill in my stride and then kick just before the top of the hill to ensure a good start down it. That way I should have been able to keep pace.

   The first lap was OK,  Simon led and we made it round in 12:45, not too much damage in the legs or lung department. The second lap was quicker at 12:33 but, by the end of it, I was starting to hurt. Simon kicked for the third lap and opened up a 30 metre gap on the outward leg into the wind. It was as much as I could do to hold that gap. As he approached the turn to the hill, I tried to up my effort and at least catch him on the slope.  I did, but I have a feeling he eased off slightly as he apologised for dropping me at the traffic lights! I was gagging at this point, legs burning and nausea encroaching on my consciousness. Just before the top I tried to kick a little and pulled level, maintaining this until the start of the next lap where it was my turn to lead. Job done in 12:45, pretty consistent. After a slight delay of 20 seconds or so at the traffic light, lap 4 began.

   The final lap was hateful, I knew I had to simply push through the pain in my legs despite the wind hampering things. Drop a gear on my bike and you risk the guy behind ramming you.  There was nothing for it but to mash the pedals until the turn for the hill. As we rounded the corner I stood out of the pedals to relieve my legs a little before the hill started. This is the point where the pain really began, if I was going to put in a best effort I had to get up the hill and over the top in good time. The last section was taken out of the saddle; my legs were on fire and I was desperately trying to drag air in and get that little kick over the top. As the downhill began there was still work to do, gravity helped only so far and then the terrain started to flatten.

   The last 3/4 of a mile saw a small amount of energy come from somewhere as I dodged the speed humps and on-coming cars. I put on a good pace with Simon tucked in behind me to finish strongly. The final lap came in at 12:35, again consistent and nice to do a similar time to lap 2. We stopped for a while before returning to work, my legs were shaking and my lower back was reminding me of my age, rolling out of bed tomorrow would be interesting.

   I know Simon could have gone quicker so I was always trying to squeeze every last bit of speed out of my bike to justify his invite to train with him. We both agreed that doing this run regularly would see some improvements so it’s same time, same place next week. The only issue for me is it knackers my flexi time but you can’t have it all! Gentle recovery ride in tomorrow I think!

   I have posted the results from my watch on FB for those remotely interested!

   www.polarpersonaltrainer.com/shared/exercise.ftl?shareTag=144166cca00889a362092be101f7c7d3#.UTZZ_74Xd6k.facebook

    

    

4. LinkedIn

   February 1, 2013 2:20 pm Leave a Comment

   Explored the world of Linked In today; something I have resisted for a long time, it feels like a starchy Facebook. I’m hopeful that connections will generate some books sales but I am still reluctant to admit to ‘networking’. However, the reading I have done around marketing books suggests that this kind of thing is essential to promote the author and his/her works. We shall see.