Athlete Performances

I am adding a new page to the site to bring you some of the results that athletes under my guidance are achieving. Find the page here.

2010 The Blog

Christmas 2010

Skiing & the hardest run of my life?

We took the opportunity to visit my sister in her winter residence in the French Alps and try our hand at skiing for the first time.   Well I've come back mostly intact - my knees ache - but with a degree of satisfaction for having acquired the basics of a new skill.  I did not think it was going to be quite as hard as I found it.  The children needless to say were almost intant experts.

One afternoon we took off from skiing and enjoyed a fantastic country walk through snow scenes like the Chronicles of Narnia. Afterwards I ran from my sisters house to the the resort to bring the car keys back to my sister and her partner. The run started at 1350mtrs altitude and ends at around 1450mtrs covering 3,600mtrs in about 14mins and it was abosolutely exhausting. My average HR was at tempo intensity range, respiration rate was high all the way.   It was -9 degrees C, so I had quite a lot of layers on plus a rucksack with extra fleeces for when I got to the finish.  Perhaps the hardest slow run of my life!

27th September to 15th October

XIX Commonwealth Games, Delhi, India

It was a strange feeling travelling as a Team Manager to the Games after having been a competitor in Melbourne 2006. It was nice to be involved with the buzz of the whole affair but strange at the same time to be going to a major event and not competing. With all the stress about the state of the of the athletes village before we left and the constant concern over security we travelled with a sense of nervousness.

In the end nothing materialised on the security side of things which was very welcome and the Indian people that we enountered generally couldn't (try) to do enough to help you - though sometime you wondered whether anything would actually happen.

The Games Village was really well set up - an onsite sports centre with Running Track, 50mtr training pool, leisure pool, gyms etc.  All the normal facilities for eating and entertainment and then the accommodation in tower blocks.  The great shame of the accommodation for the Indians was the opportunity missed.  With a little more care and quality in the finishing of them the effect could have been fantastic.  Instead the developers are left with tower blocks that probably need "rennovation" before they can be sold in an as new state.  I don't think our appartment in block 7 was unusual  - but details in the bathroom such as a general grime, no grouting between tile edges, a wet room floor that didn't have the drain as the lowest point, a rough repair to what must have been a broken off corner to a stone bathroom surface took the gloss off.

The first few days in the Games Village was all about acclimatisation and for the athletes putting some final training in. We had a number of athletes in recovery from injury so we had a fluid situation to manage.  Working with the sport admistrators was difficult - no information, requests about changing athlete events were un-answered.  It wasn't until the technical meeting after the opening ceremony that things started to move.  It was a good job that the top officials were very accommodating to getting things sorted out.

Opening Cerermony

All the concerns about whether the Games would be ready on time were firmly quashed at teh opening cereomny which was a real wow. OK it wasn't as impressive walking into the stadium as it was walking into the MCG but the spectacle was nothing less than amazing.  

To be continued.

11th September

Inter Insular Track & Field, Guernsey

In this annual match I pulled off a surprising win in the 5,000mtrs. After following fellow Sarnian Steve Dawes for about 6 laps I sensed his slowing and pushed through, to be very surprised that he just went straight out the back door! I wasn't feeling great and eased myself round the last 3 laps as it begun to hurt and just dipped under 16minutes ( 15:57.1) Not especially quick but it was the result that counts - a Guernsey 1-2 which contributed to the Men retaining the Burton Trohpy yet again, and notably our Ladies wrested their trophy away from Jersey too.  So a good day all round.

On Sunday I rode round the Velo Club's MTB course in the Guet - my son raced so I was obliged to be there and decided it would be as well to ride round for the training.  I took it very cautiously as I am not the gretaest mtb technician, but as the laps progressed I became a little more proficient and even started to surprise myself.  On the last lap when I thought I was getting the hang of things, I crashed twice, the second time on a steep slope I ended up falling head over heels - once I had come off the bike.  Still at least the bike didn't bang me on the head.  To my aches and pains from the track race, I can add scratches and bruises!

4th September

ITU World Duathlon Champs, Edinburgh

Result: 2nd Place Age 45-49. Making it to the start line in a condition to run was an acheievement in itself, so coming away with silver medal in the 45-49 age category was a statisfactory outcome. Though my aim at the begining of the season was to win the race, my calf injury in July knocked that on the head and at one point I was wondering whether I was even going to make the trip.

The course at Edinburgh was probably one of the hardest I have ever raced.  Based in Holyrood Park the first 10km run was simply run out for 1.25km, climbing for the last 300mtrs or so before a dead turn and a run back to transition.  The bike was based on loop around the park, plus a dog leg to one of the exits and back, so, one initial distinct climb (I'm pictured cresting this climb below), a descent to the turn point, an undulating climb back to the loop and then a killer final climb to the skirt round the top of Arthur's seat. A rapid descent (60km/h) and back on the flat to transition.  Second run of 5km - 2 laps of the first.

I took the first run very cautiously, stayed with a chasing group whilst Phil Makepeace darted off to an early lead. T1 went well, until I tried to put my foot in the shoe on the bike, and the strap had come completely out so I had to patiently thread it back through the eye. Just after I got going properly Kenny Riddle came past and blasted up the first hill with Paul Rogers not too far back, I lifted the pace and followed, but Kenny just rode away. I probably stayed on pace with Paul Rogers a little too long as feeling stromng on the second lap I left him on the climb and tried to make some in roads to Kenny's lead. Doing some approximate timings on the dog leg I could tell Kenny was riding away, so when Paul Hone and Danilo Palmucci rode up to me I was welcome of the company.

There seemed little point in trying to ride away from these guys though I gave it some beans a few times just to make sure it wasn't too easy. I hammered into T2 and zipped through as fast as my now tightening up legs and back could carry me.   It dod the trick and I opened up a nice gap, but he legs were feeling battered and after the first descent on the run my hamstrings were trying to cramp so I had to ease through the last two thirds of the second run. I could see the gap was getting bigger behind me, and also see that Kenny Riddle well away and in the process of becoming a very worthy world champion.

Earlier in the day one of the lads that I coach - Nathan Gosling placed 10th in the Mens 25-29 age category which was a solid performance and demonstrating the progress he has made this season.

July

The month of pain

The day before the Inter Insular tri in Guernsey I am doing an easy brick session and shortly after starting to run a get a searing pain in my right calf and shudder to a halt. It's clear I cn't run on as it is too painful, so I hobble back home.

The following morning I wake up and it doesn't feel too bad but as soon as I try to jog down at the race, I find I can't run on it. I still take the start line - after all I need to train and have a fair swim and then end up biking with Jon Greenfield. Dan Hawksworth was off in the distance, until he catches us up going up L'Eree - seems like he went worng on the bike. We end up biking together into T2, where I stopped, and Dan runs away from Jon.

The next weekend I was booked to race in Feins, France and the same scenario played out, I had not run all week and could jog a little in warm up, but running from the lake to T1 was painful and when I tried to run after the bike section it was apparent it was not going to happen.  So I abandoned again.  This is not good with a duathlon world championships coming up.

13th June

Bump and bash ! - Ammareurs Tri

You'd think with 40 people on the start line the start of the swim would be quite easy - no way - got left a bit and then a wall of bodies - took a few bashes before getting through. A fair bike leg and a decent run sealed the win.

A lot of fast action behind - nice one Mr President, where did that speed come from !

30th May

Austria IronMan 70.3 St Polten

My first time at an M-dot event and what an experience and a great result - won my age group in 4-16-27 and 42nd overall out of about 3,000.

Swim was good fun in lead group feeling very comfortable until we went off course after last buoy!  Still at least it affected the whole lead pack.  Transition seemed to take for ages - a lot of ground to cover - and all the stuff with bags - inadvertantly dropped my Garmin 705 in the swim bag deposit bin and had to jump in and fish it out !  Must have looked wierd especially as had the aero hat on!

Getting out on the bike was amazing 56miles of closed roads and speed was amazing - unofficial pb's through 5m and 10m according to Mr Garmin - just shows how slow Guernsey roads are.  Photo below shows me at top of shorter climb above the Danube - despite that climb and a stop to pick up my spares bottle and contents after it bounced out and spilled across the road, I still went through 40k in 59mins.

The big climb at 60k was tough though, really could have done with a 23 or 25 sprocket - had to get out of the saddle a lot just to keep going!  Coming off the bike was great - passing bikes for 2hrs 20 and no-one came past me!  Run was quite controlled though feeling it.  An annoying stone in my shoes bothered me the whole way and a nasty blister to show at the end!  Lovely post race masage was very welcome - heaven, really worked on my periformis which was good! 

Think I'd like to do another M dot 70.3 next year.

Could have done with something easier than a 21 sprocket on the disc though!

9th May

Rennes Olympic Distance - Drafting

Pleased with my race, new wet suit felt really quick on the swim and came out in about 10th and managed to run up to 5th by end of T1. Formed a group of 4 on the bike but two were too strong and they attacked and got away - I was on the rivet and could barely come through. Rode second half of bike with another guy sharing the work. Legs were fairly dead on the run following such an intense bike section, but still picked up a couple of places to finish 5th overall. So a pleasing result.

Pleasing result and a good confidence builder for Austria IM 70.3 at the end of the month.

3rd May

Takes you breath away !

With Rennes triathlon coming up next week I thought I'd better try some open water swimming down at the Bathing Pools to test the new wetsuit out and get a feel for the open water again. Though the sun was shinning and the water looked inviting the experience was bracing!  Ice cream forehead - if only that as the limit of it!

11th April

Big Cow Emberton Duathlon

With sights set on a possibility of targetting a 3rd World Duathlon Age Group title, step 1 is to qualify for the team. I hadn't fancied Clumber Park as it was so early in the year and with the cold weather the thought of racing was not very inticing. Weather usually gets better around Easter and Emberton has a good reputation so I thought I'd give it a go.

Race morning was not quite blue skies, freshening easterly breezes and a definite chill in the air. It will warm up soon I thought and I was about the only one wearing only a Tri Suit, everyone else seemed to have base layers, arm warmers... Still a brisk 10k warms you up, I thought I'd be setting the pace as third wave was Males 45+, but no I get dropped after about 1k and watch this little guy dissapear into the distance.  Still my first run is not too shabby in the low 34's and a lot more comfortable than Easter 10k and the heat generated kept me just about warm enough for most of the bike.   It's a great feeling to be continuously passing people on the bike, only two or three people came past and none of them had an I on their leg.  I caught the   little guy about 1/3rd into the first bike lap so from then on it was a case of building lead.

T2 came round in a flash and setting out on the run was not too bad.  Back and hips largely recoveed from last week's problem and as the run went on so I got better.  Second run was slightly long which was no bad thing for me and I end up with a pleasing 9th overall and a clear M45 win. Two M40's are quicker, but I'm satisfied with the result.

Step 1 accomplished.

13th February

The (old) boys are back in town! : Hyde Park Relays

Great weekend meeting up with my old chums from Southampton University Cross Country Club at the Imperial College Hyde Park Relays. Had a satisfactory run round the 5 and a bit Km loop, but that was largely secondary to having a good time.   I've now created a mini web page for the old boys to share a few photos that I took after running

24th January

Portlet Duathlon - a win, but boy was it hard!

Wow, it was a hard race! I have not known such a competitive local duathlon in Guernsey. Luke Walton was a bit of a surprise as he has not been seen on the running circuit so I was unsure how fit he was. He dropped back just before halfway on the first run and I thought he might have been going a bit too fast and then he powers right back up and drove the group of me & Tim Coates along.

I eeked out a little lead coming out of transition and led the bike all the way to the turn after which Luke came past. We could see that Rich Stapley and Ian Scholes were closing up fast too.  Lessons learned, & lesson to learn. Apparently Rich checked that his aero helmet was on the right way round, and Ian 'fessed up to forgetting to take his running shoes off in T1 - oops! Mental rehersal of what you are going to do in transition is a key to not making mistakes.  

Coming back down the coast was helped with a bit of tailwind and Rich & Ian caught us at L’Eree and then it was a bit cat and mouse to the finish but with no let off on the pace.

T2 was pretty swift and we all came out together and Luke was setting the pace – again ! At that point I knew I was going to have to run really hard. I sensed a bit of a lull in the pace after about 1km and then started to press on and opened a gap. Conscious of how Luke came back at on the first run I really started pushing for home after the turn to stretch it out.  I was running well and could hold it all the way home.  Ian came home in 3rd, Rich in 4th and new kid on the bloke Dave Crossland was 5th.  Unofficially my run splits were about the same which is a quite something – especially as we ran pretty hard on the first run!  Time only about 20 secs slower than my course record.

17th January

Coming back

Travelled to Cardiff with Steve Dawes and my daughter to compete in the McCain X Challenge Series.  A day of heavy rain had cleared the last of the snow away and conditions underfoot were surprisingly good. Katie had a cracking run in the u13 Girls coming 2nd in a desperately close sprint finish.

The senior men's field was quite small and I had decided my strategy was steady start and see what happens.  The immediate rushafter the gun had me at the back of the main group which very rapidly became strung out.  Steve Vernon went on for a massive win and I just gradually picked runners off all the way through, eventually finishing 28th just over a minute behind Steve Dawes (24th).  Satisfactory.  Think the course really suited me.

Looking towards the finish in Cardiff.

9th January

County XC Champs cancelled

Hampshire AA cancelled the cross country championships which caused a few problems, though it enabled me to get some much needed additional training in and a decent run session showed a few signs of returning fitness.