Vuelta Time

It seems like the Tour De France has only just finished, but on Saturday the Tour of Spain (Vuelta) commences. I love watching the big cycle tour races and am ready for some good viewing. The first stage is a 4.8k TT on a pan flat circuit in Assen, Holland. Well, it's near Spain. Actually, it's no where near Spain but visiting other countries seems to be the way that tours tend to plot their race. There must be a financial incentive behind the venues!

I haven't actually logged any training activity on this blog for a while. In fact, I haven't logged any training anywhere since my achilles injury! I have just bimbled along from one Time Trial to another. Now that I am slowly getting back to my running, I suppose I had better get organised. . . Na. . . . more bimbling along me thinks. I have, however, been missing swim training lately. I have not been swimming for over 2 months now and it is going to be hard work (nothing new really) getting back to the H2O. My local pool reopens after refurbishment on 7 Sep. So that is the day of return for me. You never know, I may yet get fit for next years' triathlon season!

Training:

Tuesday - 1 hour average 20mph with some short ramp ups. Averaged 26.9mph for 5 mins but had a tail wind 8-)

Wednesday - Rode out to club 10 mile TT. Very windy. Did TT in 23:48 (dodgy timing as I made it 23:44). Rode home nice and easy for total of 30 miles. Ran 3 miles easy.

Thursday - 30 mins easy run on treadmill. 50 mins easy spin.

Friday - Haven't made my mind up yet! Probably an hour steady bike.

Sat - Plan to go and recce the hill climb TT route that I will ride on Wed at the Club Hill Climb Champs. Maybe run 40 mins EEEEKKKKKKK!

Catch you later

Busy Weekend

Well that turned out to be quite a busy weekend. After continually wincing at my old Giant OCR 3 road bike hanging in the garage in a terrible state of repair, I decided to give it some TLC. I took the chain off and, as it was so rusty, I could virtually hold it outstretched horizontally! In the bin with that! Anyway, the crux is that I ended up stripping the entire bike, degreasing and lubricate everything. I am always having trouble with brakes and I was slightly concerned to see the pile of odd shaped metal bits in front of me! However, they all went back together ok and the bike runs again. I took it for a spin this lunchtime and it was nice and smooth. This will be my winter bike; just got to put the race blade mudguards on when the weather gets worse and it will be ideal.

Saturday afternoon was the Team Sanjan Design 10 Mile Open TT. It looked to be a good day and we were hopeful of some decent times. As it turned out, most people were complaining about the weird conditions that looked good but gave non-too good times! I did 22:10. Paul did 22:41 (another PB) and Hamish did a great PB of 25:16, knocking over a minute off his Sawtry course PB. I would have liked a sub-22 clocking but I have one last chance to do that again this year at the F1b Open 10 Mile TT on 13 Sep. This is the course that I set my PB of 21:25 on; it is mega fast if the conditions are right. Hamish is doing this one too, and I know that he desperately wants to dip under 25 mins this year. The mad fool is also doing a 50 mile TT in Sep!! I ran off the bike after my TT on Sat – just an easy 16 mins - and my Achilles was not too bad.

On Sunday I thought my legs could do with a spin out so I was up early and out on the single speed for 40 miles. It was a lovely morning and I was enjoying it until the wind got up. The ride ended up being a bit of a grind then! In the evening I ventured out for another run. I wanted 4 miles but miscalculated and did 4.9 miles. My Achilles was ok - just a slight ache towards the end. This is the furthest that I have ran since my injury and I am quite pleased! An average pace of 7:33 per mile is also the fastest I have run. Didn’t really try and run faster; it just happened. I am finding that by running ‘taller’, my Achilles seems to be better. Maybe I am not sinking into the running stride so much by doing this? Anyway, I am a bit tired today so it was just 30 mins spinning for the day.

It is really good to see Daz ‘fast man’ Sharpe hitting some form. Check out the results from the Berverly Triathlon last Sunday. He bagged second overall and was very close to the win, finishing just behind the winner of the Inter-Services Triathlon – Mr Chralton-Wheedy (is that name real?)

My New Friend

In my quest to get back to running whilst rehabilitating my achilles injury, I have a new pal - his name is treadmill. I had been running on the grass and road but the treadmill seems ideal for longer runs whilst I am in this transitional period. I managed a massive 26 mins on Tuesday, albeit very slow. My achilles was not great but at least I can hop off and stretch it out with some added weights. The other good thing about the treadmill is the ability to glance down and study my running gait.



Oh dear! As hard as I try, I just cannot stop my knee from dipping inwards. When looking down I can compare my right knee with my good left leg; it is plain to see that alignment on the good leg is spot on, whilst my right leg dips in at the knee. But, surely, I must have been running like this since. . .well. . . since I was able to run! Why is it causing me hassle now?

Wednesday was the club 10 mile TT and I was still using the Xentis 4 spoke wheels. I clocked 23:16, which is only 24 sec off my course PB. The wheels are light and ideal for a lumpy triathlon course but for most TT courses, a disc suits better. Hence last night I finally got my mitts on me new Planet X disc wheel. It is the one I borrowed from Ian Cammish a few weeks ago so I got a decent deal for a second hand wheel that was, essentially, brand new! I have the Open 10 mile TT on the A428 near Papworth tomorrow. Really hoping for some good conditions and a sub-22 min clocking, as is Paul F. Hamish is after a sub-26, which is within his grasp if the wind stays down. Hopefully I will get some piccies from the event too.

Tough Going

Well, the 25 TT went ok on Sunday. I clocked 58:32, which is ok for that course. There are a few lumps towards the turn and it was never going to be a clocking close to my best. I seem to be able to go under the hour on any course now, which is something that I could not do last year. The tough part lately is adding running to my training. Man, after 4 months of no running my legs seem permanently sore from very little running! This, in turn, is making my biking feel like a real struggle. Now these whinges are not really that important because my legs should get used to running again. The bad bit is that my achilles is tender. I can run on it but it certainly is not back to normal. So far, I am up to 5k of running at a very slow 7:50 miling pace. It seems unbelievable that I ran London Marathon at sub-6:30 miling pace in 2008. I sure hope I can return to that level of running.

Last night I ran 5k and then went for a 15 mile spin on my TT bike. The legs felt the normal knotted mess! I reckon some massage would do me good at the moment. Plans for the rest of the week are to do the club 10 TT this evening (and watch Paul Fullalove burn past me no doubt!) and then have a couple of easy days before I race at an Open 10 mile TT on Saturday. The course is the F2b on the new A428 between Papworth and Cambridge. The surface is smooth and, if the conditions are right, some fast times are on the cards - if the legs decide to function properly! Paul and Hamish are racing too and PBs are possible, especially for Hamish. His current PB is on the Sawtry course, which I estimate to be about 1:30 slower than the F2b.

Listen to me! I must be turning into a TT tester! I speak in course codes and constantly study weather forecasts in the hope of understanding what difference air pressure will make on a TT effort. And on still warm evenings that I am not doing any TTs I curse the weather for not timing the good stuff for TT days. To be honest, I am looking forward to October so I can regroup and sort my head out with regard to training. World Long Course Triathlon in 2010 sounds good to me. However, if the achilles continues to hassle me then it's time to turn into a freaky full time tester.

TT Time

Yep, it's TT time again. On Sunday I ride on the F1B 25, which is the on the A1 from Tempsford to the Baldock Services roundabout and back. This course is slower than other 25s I have done so the challenge is on to break the hour on a slower course. I am getting a Planet X disc but the delivery is complictaed! Hence I have managed to borrow a lovely Xentis Mk 1 wheel set for this race. This is thanks to my St Ives TT buddy, Mick Hod'. He is on the comeback trail himself after many years out of action. He has already clocked a 10 at 20:53 and a 25 at 54:50! I guess he has some good genetics!!

Vintage Vit 2005

To remind me that I can run and that the sun does sometimes shine at Rutland Water, a change of Blog pic!

Who Am I!

Strange question eh? But I am wondering who I am! Am I Sags the triathlete? or am I Sags the cycling TT man? Now that I have started running again, I am confused. When I run now I am worried that I am losing my bike legs. When I just cycle, I am thinking that I really must get some running done! I need to know who I am. Any suggestions?

I walk into my downstairs toilet and there hangs my BTF National Champs Medal from this years' National Duathlon. I think "Yes!, I am a triathlete!" Well, actually I am a duathlete who tries to swim! But then I look at me TT clockings and I am all for trying to beat the cyclists down at the club TT. A 25 mile TT in 55:49 and a 10 mile TT in 21:25 aint bad. And there may be a chance of further improvement next season. Ahhhhhhhhhh. My head hurts!!

All this sounds pretty trivial when compared to real life hardships! It's crunch time. I am 45 next month. Should I continue to run (which feels bloody awful at the moment! 8 min miling is killing me!) or I turn to cycling. . .

There is a 3rd option! Just squat in Costa Coffee and chill?

A Strange Week

The weather has been getting me down this week. So much rain!! The club evening 10 mile TT managed to go ahead but everyone got wet at some point. The conditions didn't seem too bad reall - apart from the wet roads. This was proved to be correct as many people rode course PBs. I did not! I was over a minute off my best. Not sure why but found it difficult to get going. Paul Fullalove and Hamish (26:13) both rode to PBs, slashing their previous course bests by some margin! Well done to both of them - Paul is now top dog as his 23:39 beat my 23:53. Nice one Paul!

We all intended to do the Cambridge CC 10 mile TT on the F2a course yesterday but the rain came down in buckets. The event was cancelled and the chance of a spin out on a fast course was lost!

I continue to try and coax my running legs back. After the TT on Wed I ran for 10 continuous minutes. Today, I ran for 12 continuous minutes. Both outings were successful but my injured achilles feels 'different'. I don't have the pain I had previously but there is something still not right. I will continue to build the runs and see what happens. You never know, I may be up to a 30 min run before long!

Yes Running Man!!

Yes! I did used to run! But I still pulled ugly faces! A packet of Jaffa Cakes to the first person who can name the event!



Yesterday was a big day for me. I ventured out for my first run since 19 April. After receiving treatment at Headley Court and continuing to do rehab exercises my Achilles seems to be responding well. That said, it feels ‘different’ to my good Achilles on the other leg (why wouldn’t it be on the other leg!). Anyway, like a good patient, I started running as instructed by the experts at Headley. In total, I ran for 19 mins at a very slow pace. The run was in the form of a pyramid session, so the maximum stint of continuous running was 5 mins. The Achilles held up – hoorah! My legs felt terrible! They were really screaming at me for not pedalling and I think it will take some time to get back any resemblance of speed into my running.

My goal is to get enough run training completed (with a healthy Achilles) in time to race at the Oulton Park Duathlon on 4 October. This is the final UK Duathlon Series ranking race. With a 3rd and 1st already achieved, there is an outside chance of still getting a ranking for 2009. Whilst I would love to get back some 35 min 10k run speed, I don’t think that there is enough time. I need to build up the running gradually and I will be happy if I can get to a 40 min 10k. If I can retain my improved bike speed, who knows what may be possible on the day. It’s a smooth race car circuit – purrrrrrrrrr. Here is Jase racing on the course earlier this year – he is very military isn’t he?!



Last Sunday I completed an early morning 25 mile TT on the F1 course. My legs didn’t really get going and it was a bit of a struggle. I clocked 57:58 but my actual time on the results sheet was 58:17. This was due to my late start. Not quite sure what went wrong but never mind; it was a good training session. The event was a middle markers event for those riders that had not broken the hour for 25 miles. As I had broken the hour after entering this event, I was not eligible for any prizes – but I was fastest on the day. Paul and Hamish both had great rides for their first 25. Paul clocked 1:00:16 (I know what it feels like being so close mate!) and Hamish 1:09:30. Another winter of bike work, and these 2 guys could see significant improvements.

More happenings recently that have caught my eye recently are Westy’s Antwerp 70.3 race. 4:20 is a good time and qualifies him for the World 70.3 Champs. What a great season Westy is having! Daz Cole also did this race and was not far behind Westy. If we could just get Daz out in RAF colours!!

Also, we have some new Ironman triathletes, in the form of Reg Swallow and Mal Rose. It sounded a tough old day at IM UK Bolton – sounds exotic eh! Won’t get me doing that race!

Some more evening TTs for me this week but I think I have used up my quota of PBs for 2009!