Will's Blog....

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Following my return from the European Duathlon Championships in Greece in May, it was painfully clear that I needed to improve my run. I decided that I needed to enlist some help and after a recommendation from a fellow athlete in Greece, I hooked up with Rich Brady from www.tri-monkey.co.uk.

I've since decided to put some serious effort into triathlon too, but my swim stroke makes my run look good - there's plenty of work to do there too.

So this blog will chart my progress with the Tri Monkey from June 2008 until the World Duathlon Champs in Rimini and beyond. I plan to do a few triathlons and run events along the way, so there'll be plenty to report back on as I aim to find out just how much I can improve my performance.....

September 2nd 

Just when you think you're getting somewhere with this swimming lark, something comes along and bites you in the bum.....

Went over to the 50m pool at Bath Uni tonight as James Hart wanted to try a bigger pool before Newbury Triathlon on Sunday - we've got to do 4 lengths of a 75m pool for that one.

Anyway, there was two lanes for us and a load of kids doing swimming club in the other lanes. I'm swimming along doing my front crawl and I start getting overtaken in the lane next to me, by kids doing backstroke. To make matters worse, when I get to the end of the length, I realise that not only are they swimming backstroke, they're balancing cups of water on their forehead at the same time.

How can kids swimming backstroke with cups of water balanced on their head overtake me...? I had to get out the pool, hit the shower and take a long look at myself in the mirror. Clearly my 6:15 for 400m was a fluke. A bunch of kids doing circus tricks have left my confidence shot to bits...... 

August 31st 

Total training for week - 7.75 hours

That's more like it. Seems like an age since I managed over seven hours training in a week.

Awesome session today with Mr Rankin. Stopped off in Stroud after working in Nottingham yesterday and despite the rain, we went out on a tough two hour bike session followed by some pretty hard fartlek running. Was great to be out giving it some, especially on the seriously nice Trek bike Lee loaned me for the ride. There's a map of our route below.

And to thank the 'Stats Man' for his top session, I've introduced a new facility to the blog today. Click on the link and you can view stats galore including distance, speed, heart rate and time and you can even watch the route for our bike and run on a map player. See 'Training with Lee'.

Managed to get a good swim in yesterday too, between timing events at Nottingham University. The pool was amazing. Big wide lanes and I had one all to myself. The Tri-Monkey had given me my biggest session to date of 1900m but I got it all done without any worries. Swimming is feeling pretty good. Hopefully it'll be too hot and dry at Rimini for a duathlon so they'll have to change it for a triathlon and swap the first 10k run for a swim J.

August 28th 

'One ridiculous second. Just one ridiculous second.'

Yep that's all it was but I think James Hart knew how Frank Shleck felt this evening. We both turned up to the Frome & District Wheelers 5 mile TT tonight and with me going off before him, the minute separating us at the start had grown to 61 seconds at the finish.

Pretty amazing how close we are on the bike this year. There's one more chance to even the score next week with the final TT of the year. 

August 24th 

Total training for week - 2.5 hours

It probably looks like the wheels are falling off a bit hey. Work is getting in the way of training a bit I have to admit. Couldn't actually race at the Malmesbury Triathlon today as I was too busy chip timing it. Bit of a gutter but on the bright side the chip timing worked a dream.

I did manage to exert myself a fair bit though as I had to load  steel racking for 300 bikes into the van on my own and then played football for an hour at my Dad's 60th birthday party. Adults against children ...... and we didn't feel at all bad about beating them.

Anyway, the tough weeks with work are really out the way now and the Tri-Monkey is back from Beijing this week too so I'm sure to get things back on track......

August 21st 

Was it the other day I said I'd be picking up the training this week..? Did some serious endurance training yesterday. Drove to Holland and back in 23 hours for a 2 hour meeting. Why you ask....?

Well DB Max are now the proud owners of some cutting edge AMB-it chip timing kit. Same company that timed Usain Bolt's world records. And the good thing about driving to Holland is that you're close enough to the coast  to pick up Radio 5 all the way. 19.30! How good was that...?!

August 17th 

Total training/racing for week - 3.5 hours

Hmmm... well yeah another poor week as far as total training goes but I did get up this morning and do a hilly run, despite working and racing at Reading yesterday. The superb support from my race crew meant that I got away at a decent time yesterday evening, with special thanks owed to James Hart for packing and transporting the rowers.

So the training total's not great for the week and the Reading Rowathlon race didn't go quite as planned but hey, 6:15! 

August 16th 

Well I'm glad that's over. Two events in two weekends has taken it's toll. Not enough training and pretty much worn me out. Haven't done the training log for last week yet but I'm well off the mark on the training hours. Should be able to pick it up again now though.

Question 1: What does Lee Rankin have for breakfast? My Garmin says I averaged 40kph for my bike rides yesterday but he went past me both times like I was dawdling......

Question 2: What's wrong with this picture.......?

Well it's got 'Will's a plonker' written on it - mainly because that 6.5 in the bottom right corner should be a 7.0. Yep, did exactly what I tell everyone not to do in the race briefing and hence had to give myself a DQ in my own race at the Reading Duathlon J

Question 3: What's wrong with this picture....?

Well not much really. Except if you've done so little rowing in a year that a 9 minute 2k gives you a heart rate of 190bpm, you shouldn't be that surprised when there's no gas in the tank for the run. Breaking 30 minutes for the Reading Rowathlon was but a pipe dream yesterday.......

So one mini goal failed but it's only a mini-goal and I don't think I'll need to count to 14 in the rest of my races this year......

August 13th 

Hold the front page folks! Hold the darn front page!

Big result tonight. So big in fact that I didn't believe it. Back on July 2nd I had my thirty-minute session in the pool with the Tri-Monkey and I've been working on the couple of points he gave me since. Six weeks of training with my twice-weekly swim sessions.

My 400m swim time at the Westonbirt Tri on June 1st was 7:29 - a pretty standard time for me from the triathlons I've done in the past. My PB for 400m is 6:51 which I achieved in a flat out clear lane swim, during my beach lifeguard exam back in 2003 - after a fairly intense course of swimming.

Yesterday evening I was scheduled to do the Malmesbury Aquathlon - a 400m swim and 5k run.

Guess what I did for the swim. Go on, just guess......  6:15! Yeah baby! Will Whitmore swam a 6:15. I had to get it confirmed with three different people before I believed it. Dare I say I could possibly go a bit faster too with a lane to myself and giving it everything....

Unbelievable! 

So, Rich spotted the key problem with my swimming and crucially how to correct it - took him about two minutes. Something that everyone before him had simply missed. Goes to show that you've got to be careful who you take advice from. Couple of years back, a bloke called Will Newton analysed a video of both my brother Ceri and I swimming at a training camp. He told us both that our stroke looked good and highlighted zero areas or coaching points for me - we laughed about it all the way home as I looked like a brick compared to him and he can break 6 minutes for a 400m swim all day long.

Regular readers of the blog will know that I'm getting on quite well with the Tri-Monkey training. Have to say though, that even if I got nothing else other than my 400m swim PB and my newfound enthusiasm for the pool......folks, it would be worth it!

My run time by the way was 19:10 and including transition, my first aquathlon finish time was 25:59. 

August 10th 

Total training/racing for week - 1.5 hours

Oh dear. Not a very impressive total that. Basically managed the Castle Combe Duathlon and a swim and that was it for the week. Had a few beers after the Gower Triathlon last weekend and that left me struggling a bit at the start of the week. Hitting the duathlon hard and then organising the DB Max event this weekend, put pay to the end of the week.

Organising fitness events plays havoc with my fitness training ironically............

August 6th 

Blimey! That was tough. I've been sofa camping again tonight. I've got to change that carbon saddle too - been feeling like I've been kicked in the nuts all evening. Might be light and look cool but probably not doing me much good down below.

Anyway, I had specific instructions from the Tri-Monkey for tonight's race at Castle Combe. Treat the first run as a 2 mile race and then hang on. Sounded a tough way to do it.... 

Went off hard and did a 3:16 for the first 1k. Very weird having people like Ben Lang and Peter Wheddon overtake me after about eight minutes rather than leaving me behind at the start. I averaged 17.1kph for the 2 miles and the heart rate hit 192bpm which was the max for the race.

I didn't feel as bad as I expected on the bike and was pretty close to my best bike time for the course from back in May, despite the wind being far stronger tonight. The second run time was OK too with an 11:46, but man did I feel bad at the end. Never felt like that after a duathlon before and I felt more like I'd done a max 2k row. My finish time of 47:19 was ten seconds off a PB too which added to the pain.

Taught me a lot though. Seems I can go faster at the start of a race without my overall performance suffering as much as I thought it would. Pretty sure tonight would have been a PB if the conditions were the same as back in May, but I've got only got one race left to break that 47 minute barrier now..............

By the way, Lee Rankin asked if I could add a feedback service on this blog so people can leave comments about the posts. Or, as is more likely in his case I suspect, abuse me J. I'll look into it though and let you know.

August 4th 

Total training/racing for week - 6.5 hours

Bit of a recovery week with a race thrown in to boot. A fair few ales on Saturday evening so yesterday was a complete recovery day after Saturday's race. Tri-Monkey Rich is out in Beijing now at the Olympics with one of his clients, but he'll be sending through my training while he's away and I'll be back on it this week.

Bike graph showing gradient and speed from Saturday below. Check out that climb out of transition!

August 2nd 

Fantastic race, great weather and a performance I was very happy with. A superb day all round, although that wasn't looking so likely prior to race start....

Having travelled up to the Gower the previous day, I stuck my head out the tent at 5am and the weather wasn't looking too welcoming. Drizzle and grey skies as I walked over to the toilet block had me questioning the sense in what I was doing.

My kit and bike were all laid out in the back of the van which I'd carefully planned the night before and so I was down at race HQ by 6am wheeling my bike to transition. I decided I'd just give it one last spin up the road before racking it and as it transpired, this was a very wise move. As I attempted to change gear there was a big clunk and my front mech jammed. The chain ring couldn't turn and as I came to a grinding halt I knew that I had a fairly serious mechanical problem. I dashed back to the van and on assessing the damage realised that my front mech had come loose on the seat-tube and was preventing any gear changing or pedal turning. Thirty minutes of tinkering with screwdrivers and cable ties was to no avail and with the race briefing kicking off in the distance, I was forced to go to Plan B and grab my training bike out of the van instead.

The problems weren't over yet as in my haste to change the pedals over, I dropped one in the sand so that the thread wouldn't turn in the crank - I couldn't get the pedal on. I started to think that maybe it wasn't my day but after washing the pedal thread by squirting water as hard as I could from my drinks bottle, I managed to remove enough sand to get it attached and got my bike to transition in the knick of time.

By the time the starter horn went I was just chuffed to be in the race. The swim buoys had moved a little so that we swam an estimated 1000m instead of 750m but that didn't phase me. I couldn't get my wetsuit off in transition and I was stuck in T1 for over a minute, but that didn't phase me either. I was in the race and I was happy.

The immediate climb after exiting transition was a real stinger but I then put my head down at every opportunity and gave it plenty of effort on all the following climbs too. Obviously I missed my race bike but my trusty Trek 1200 stepped up to the mark in its absence and together we took a few disc wheel and TT bike scalps along the course.

I hit 68kph on the main descent with no sign of a 'speed wobble' and I averaged 33kph with an average HR of 167bpm for the 24km bike. I felt pretty strong on the run too and finished that in 17:44 (I made it 4.5k) to take 10th place overall in 1:23:17.

Top race, top location and top organisation. The  family all turned up to watch too and the first proper test since I started the Tri-Monkey training was passed with flying colours - so I'll be carrying on as planned with the programme and working towards the main goal which is to perform well in Rimini.

Just need to get my race bike sorted now in time for Castle Combe on Wednesday.....

Triathlon results are available here

July 31st 

Got my final swim session done today before Saturday's race and that should have been it. However, my run club were holding their annual Avon Valley Mile this evening and it's an event I'm always keen to support.

It's an out and back course along the river at Bradford on Avon and although I've obviously not been training to run a mile, I figured it couldn't be that tough. So shortly after the gun went off, I decided to tear through the field to the front and try and leave everyone else behind. 20+ kph felt very comfortable.... for about 15 seconds and then physics, biochemistry and reality reared their speed-sapping heads and the rest of the mile was a lung rasping slog. Finished 10 seconds quicker than last year though, so that's still progress - even if breaking 5 minutes is some way away.....

July 29th 

Umm, I don't know where to start with today's post. I was going to have a laugh about my crap 10 mile TT performance and tell you a funny story, but having learned a little more about what may have caused my experience, I'm not sure it's quite so amusing any more.

Unfortunately there's a phenomenon out there known as speed wobble or 'shimmy' that us cyclists have to contend with. I'd never heard about it until last night but as you'll see, it introduced itself to me in a big way.

I've had a couple of problems with my beloved race bike of late and Matt Brett and I worked on it on Sunday and Monday night to get it back on the road ready for my upcoming races. It looks as though my knee problem was being caused by a dodgy pedal, but to cut a long story short, our work on the bike involved drilling, rivet guns, tub repairs, greasing bearings and all manner of tinkering, but by Monday night it was good to go. I didn't however want to leave my first race effort until Saturday's  Gower Triathlon, so I decided upon an unscheduled 10 mile TT and headed over to the weekly event hosted by Somer Valley Cycling Club on the A361 near Frome.

I went straight from work and by the time I got there the wind was pretty fierce. This made me a little wary as I'd not ridden the route before and I only had my deep-rimmed front wheel. Got underway though and was ticking along fine and caught the bloke ahead of me in around 5 minutes. I would have done well to leave it a little longer though, as at the very next roundabout (Marston Roundabout) I went the wrong way. It didn't take me long to realise my error and I turned round and got back on it, determined to atone for my diversion error.

The next part of the TT course is known a the 'ski slope' - an awesome section of straight, downhill, road and a perfect place to catch up after my wrong turn. Down on my aero bars, max effort to build speed and then it hit. I'm not sure what happened exactly. I thought a big gust of wind got me, giving me a bit of a fright so that I came off the aeros and on to the brakes. But I was all over the place, fighting with the bars to regain control. 

Even though I was slowing up, the wobble wasn't stopping and I thought my headset must have come loose - I expected to eat tarmac at any point. Whether by luck or judgement, I managed to steer towards the verge and as I finally lost control, a supreme stroke of luck saw me go down on my left side with my knee hitting the grass verge and not the tarmac. Because the verge was elevated too, as I slid and rolled a bit my bike lifted a little and didn't hit the tarmac either. Picking my bike up, I checked the headset which was perfectly tight and thinking it must have just been the wind, I got back on. My only injury was a grazed knee so I decided I could complete the course. A bit jittery after what had happened though, my heart wasn't in it, and I hardly touched the aero bars but had a decent workout getting to the finish in 25:29.

Looking at the stats from my Garmin, I was travelling at 68kph when the problem hit - you can see the point shortly before where I had to turn round too. 

Chatting to a couple of guys at the finish, revealed that nobody else had suffered any major problems with the wind, but talking to both Matt Brett and James Hart later, I discovered that they had both had a similar sort of wobble when travelling at high speed in the past.

And so have others it seems. There's a few theories about what causes it and it seems it can be largely due to the rider, or a combination of the rider and bike. I've dug out some links to articles about 'speed wobble' at www.sheldonbrown.com, www.calfeedesign.com and www.slowtwitch.com and there's also a forum discussion with loads of thoughts and stories at the link www.bikefanclub.com.  

If you've got any stories or experiences yourself, I've started a thread at www.tritalk.co.uk and it would be great to hear about them, especially if you have any advice on dealing with the problem. I was travelling at about 42mph when the problems hit and I felt like I could have accelerated more. Just not sure if I've got the bottle to head over to the 'ski slope' and give it another go - and practice dealing with 'speed wobble' if and when it occurs.

Still, I escaped pretty much unscathed and just as importantly, so did my bike. Best plan might be not to dwell on it too much and just get back out there as soon as possible!

July 27th 

Total training for week - 10.5 hours

So a little less in total this week but I did the 5k race on Thursday and missed an easy ride on Monday  - after a tough weekend my legs needed an easy, easy, sit down and don't go anywhere ride. Don't feel too guilty though and hopefully the Tri-Monkey won't kick my butt, as it's the only day I've not trained on since July 5th

Been trying to solve the problem with my race bike today and it looks as though my left cleat had moved on my bike shoe. Hopefully this will cure my knee problem but not sure yet as if it's the cleat, it should have affected me on my training bike too.... 

I'll be trying it out this week though ready for the first big race this Saturday (Gower Triathlon). Hope the weather holds as I'm camping - plus if you have the weather, the Gower's just about the best place you can be for a day on the beach!

July 26th 

Blimey, biiiiiig ride this morning. Great weather as I headed of with Matt Brett again and today we were joined by Nigel Ashman too. Training programme said 'easy ride with hard work on the hills' and much like last week, the intensity was somewhat higher than that. Nigel lead the route which you can check out on the map below.

A mega 3hr 35 in total - 104k at an average speed of 29kph with an average heart rate of 138bpm. Spent a lot of time struggling not to get dropped or catching up after getting dropped on the climbs. Climbing still a weakness although my performance must be affected by the fact that I'm riding a five year old Trek 1200 with training wheels, whilst they're the proud owners of a Cervelo Soloist Carbon and a Planet X Ti. That's my story anyway and I'm sticking to it......

The 15 minute run off the bike was tough and the Tour de France final time trial gave me a good excuse to make the sofa my best friend again for the afternoon!

July 24th 

The Tri-Monkey had today down as a 5k race and it felt like my first test since I started the coaching. Yeah, I've done a couple of max efforts over the course of the last five weeks but today felt like the first race since I've got back to full fitness.

I was feeling yesterday's bike session in my legs but nevertheless, I headed over to Malmesbury for the 5k run organised by James Higgs at the Activity Zone.

Difficult to gauge as it was a hilly course which stung a fair bit, but finished 5th in 18:54. Couldn't believe how far the first 2k felt, but after going off hard as instructed, I felt pretty strong for the final hill climb to the finish. Adam Horder e-mailed to ask how it went and I'm pleased to report that that's a quicker time than the flat 5k I did with him near Byron Bay back in December. Stats for gradient and heart rate below folks.  

July 23rd 

Well I'm chuffed, if a little bemused, to hear that this blog's building a bit of a following. Thanks for your messages and I'm taking your points on board. 

For starters, I'm stepping up with the training data today. Had a call from Lee Rankin saying 'very nice to hear how you feel and that, but where's the damn stats?'.

So, today's session was an absolute corker on the training bike. It included a climb that is fast gaining a bit of a name for itself. The 'Tame the Horse Climb' leads up the Bratton side of the Westbury White Horse. You're allowed a rolling start from the first telegraph pole just past the junction and the clock stops at the summit by the Byway sign. Today I did it four times with a 3 minute rest as part of a 1hr 45 bike session.

Check out the elevation and heart rate stats below - just for you Mr Rankin.....

July 20th 

Total training for week - 12.5 hours

Check out that training time folks! What a week. That includes a couple of swims and a bike to work, but up there as my busiest week ever I think.

Saturday was a big day. The Tri-Monkey had prescribed a 3 hour easy bike ride, but working hard on the hills. However, I went with Matt Brett so it became a 3 hour tough bike, but blowing a gasket or two on the hills. Awesome route out to Avebury Circle and up on to Salisbury Plain for a total of 96k. The weather was fairly kind by recent standards although we still found time to get rained on and buffeted by some fierce winds up on the plain. 

Could have been worse as Matt came within inches of being hit by a big white truck which came flying round a corner at break-neck speed, almost skidding out of control and toppling over on the gravel track road. We were undecided about whether we would have helped the driver or lamped him, had his truck actually gone over.

Quite tough to finish the little run I had to do off the bike but got it done and then camped out on the sofa for most of the afternoon. My Garmin said I burned 4700 Kcals for the session.... that's about 16 Mars Bars!

Sunday was down as a 1.5 hour hilly run and I decided to leave it until the evening. After a big Sunday roast and an afternoon watching the Grand Prix and the golf, it was a little tough to drag myself up and out the door. I live by a canal now too so hilly runs aren't as easy to come by as they were in Westbury. However, I found a pretty good route that took me along to Bradford on Avon and then off the canal and up Jones Hill. Quite a tasty climb and after a wrong turn at the summit I enlisted the help of a young lad on a BMX who guided me back to the canal at Avoncliff. I needed another hill on the way back and ended up on a route that took me through Seymour estate (sometimes known as the Bronx...). Bit of a trip down memory lane as I ended up running along the first road I lived on in Trowbridge back in 1974 and also ran past the garages where I learned to ride a bike - age 3.

All done for the week then. Swimming's still feeling pretty good so might time myself for 400m next week. Rich has got me down for a 5k race too so I'll be heading over to Yeovil or Malmesbury on Thursday evening for a run there. Got to get my TT bike sorted though. I'll be needing it very soon....

July 17th 

No TT tonight but a session on my race bike instead. Headed over to the Semington bypass looking for a decent road to put some efforts in on. Wasn't bad but will probably swap my deep-rim front wheel over next time - very hairy when the big lorries overtake......

Good workout and timed it about right as the light was fading as I headed home.

Unfortunately though I seem to have a bit of a problem with my race bike. The last couple of times I've ridden it, my left knee has felt a bit odd and then swollen up afterwards. Pretty sure it's my race bike as my knee is fine on my training bike and when I run. Bottom bracket seems to be making a bit of noise too so Matt Brett's going to have a look at it for me. Otherwise I'll have to do the Gower Triathlon on my training bike.......

July 13th 

Total training for week - 11.25 hours

Feeling pretty pleased with myself this week after completing just about every minute of the sessions on the Tri-Monkey's programme and putting in my busiest training week of the year. Plus I managed the weekend bike and run sessions without getting soaked!

The odds were against me completing my swim workout yesterday. Had a choice of a morning session or an afternoon session at my local pool and plumped for the later session so I could catch up on a little shut-eye. Hit the pool in Trowbridge at around 3:40pm with the session due to end at 4.30pm, but after just four lengths of my warm-up, the life-guard kicked us out - someone had been sick in the water. Lovely stuff....

Soon discovered that there's no going back in either once this has happened, so had to get changed in double-quick time and hot-foot it over to Melksham where the pool closed at 5pm. Got there in time to swim and despite there being no lane and having to dodge the kids a bit, I got the session done and the full week ticked off.

Having sessions prescribed by a coach is helping me in a couple of ways. 

Firstly, I have to do them. Previously, if something came up that distracted me from training, or some mishap occurred (like someone losing the contents of their stomach in my pool), I'd just miss the session. Now however, I'm driven to ensure that I complete all the sessions in the weekly plan. I'm on a permanent mission to get them ticked off - it's like I have a constant motivator in the shape of my programme. Obviously I've always trained and I've never been afraid to push myself, but now I have more structure to my sessions and an extra reason to complete them.

The second way it appears to be helping, is when my girlfriend starts bending my ear about me training too much. I no longer have to think of excuses or reasons. "Sorry, it's on my programme" I happily inform her. "Yeah, but you trained this morning and these pictures need putting up". "Well I know, but Rich said" I counter and that seems to be enough. It's like it's the law. I'm a little concerned at what's in store for Rich when he and Jess eventually meet, but for now I just marvel at the extra hidden powers of my new training plan.

Anyway, just three weeks to go now until the Gower Triathlon. Had a chat with the organisers and sounds like it's going to be a top event. Other than that it's five weeks to go until the Reading Rowathlon, nine weeks to go until the Chippenham Half Marathon and 11 weeks to go until the big one - Rimini!

Lots of work to do!

July 10th 

What is going on with the summer...? I think I've been getting wetter on my bike this last ten days than I was back in January!

Week's going well though. Completed all my sessions so far and ...wait for it.... goal 1 was ticked off tonight. The 10 Mile TT at Frome & District Wheelers saw some pretty strong winds again, but my time of 24:14 was enough to take second spot and more importantly, was 7 seconds quicker than Mr Hart. 

Definitely feeling stronger again and looking forward to a TT in calmer conditions in a fortnight or so - when I'm sure James will be back seeking revenge.

In addition, the run sessions I'm doing now are top draw. There's a mixture of paces within each session and having to do some speed intervals and then hold a moderately hard pace afterwards, is tough for me. Rich adjusted my run training slightly to target my speed and leg cadence after seeing me in action last week - and these sessions feel like they're hitting the spot!

July 6th 

Total training for week - 7.5 hours

All done for this week after a wet and windy weekend.

Procrastination was 'word of the day' on Saturday. A long bike ride on the programme but I didn't get out in the morning because of jobs around the garden. These spilled over into the afternoon with me telling myself 'Yeah, I'll get going in a minute'.  I finally got my bike kit on for 5pm but seeing a few rain drops start to fall as I opened the front door, I thought I'd hang on for a bit - ten minutes later I was dozing on the sofa and before I know it, I'm into Doctor Who is killing Davros and the daleks and it's almost 8pm!

I think if I hadn't had a programme to follow I would at this stage have sacked it, but as I knew I had to tick the session off, I put my bike lights on and headed out. The weather was very summery - raining relentlessly and gale force winds. Half an hour of enduring driving rain and battering winds and I was wet through and thinking this is my punishment for whoosing out all day. 

I vowed not to throw in the towel though and stayed out taking mother nature's worst for around two hours. I even felt pretty chuffed with myself by the time I arrived home, but the punishment was set to continue as my girlfriend wasn't best pleased at being left on her own for a Saturday evening. So yeah, the late, stormy weekend ride was an experience as a one off, but I'll have to leave procrastination off the game plan for the rest of the summer.

Sunday was run day and I needed a 90 minute off-road route, but I knew there was a 10k trail run starting at 5pm. Had a plan to run it steadily and then go round again afterwards, however once the gun went off and people start sprinting past me, running steadily did not compute. Top event but the good old weather had it's input again and the going was a little sketchy to say the least in places, so I decided one lap was enough. Hope the Tri-Monkey agrees.......

July 4th

Big day on Wednesday. Technique session in the pool with Rich, followed by the 'Monster' Duathlon at Castle Combe.

First up was the swim and I'm pretty confident in saying it was the most effective thirty minutes of training I've done this year. After a brief analysis, some clear instructions were given and dare I say it, provided immediate results. My stroke definitely felt stronger even by the end of the relatively short session and I finished up feeling motivated and enthusiastic about hitting the pool. So, that's the ball rolling for goal 4!

A quick shower before heading off to Castle Combe for the 2 mile/10mile/2 mile/10 mile/2 mile duathlon event. I'd half expected to treat it as a hard training session with my legs still struggling from the Cotswold Relay, but as things got underway, I felt reasonably strong and had a decent race. Not quite firing on all cylinders yet, but hopefully I'll be back on top form next month for the standard distance race, ready to attack goal 2.

In addition to the swim session and watching me race, Rich had time to explain his thoughts on how we should aim to achieve my goals through training. Add to that some feedback on improving my run speed and it all turned out as a very productive day at the office. 

It wasn't that long ago that I could have been heard saying 'Ha, I'd never get a coach. The best person to train me, is me!'. It seems however, that in a rather short space of time, I'm considering eating those words..... 

Next week's training plan has just hit my inbox, so there'll be more updates for the blog soon. 

..................By the way, I didn't sleep Wednesday night. Felt pretty worn out but just couldn't sleep. Following morning I checked out the ingredients on the energy drink I used for my race. I'd run out of my usual one but had a tub that had been sitting in the cupboard since I was given it in Dubai last year - called Catapult.

Umm... 200mg of caffeine per scoop. I'd had four scoops. Isn't that about 30 cups of coffee...? Must remember to read the ingredients........

June 29th

Pretty tough swim session on Friday but it was great to get it done. Included a mixture of slow, medium and fast lengths, but I soon learned that after about 50m I only have one pace. Maybe it's because I don't float too well, but there is no such thing as swimming an easy few lengths for me J. 

Meant to get to bed early on Friday evening but was up until 1am unfortunately. Then up again at 4am to drive to Chipping Camden for the first leg of the Cotswold Relay for the Avon Valley Runners team. What an awesome run! 

The route basically follows the Cotswold Way but there's no race signage or anything, so you have to know where you're going or, like me, try and keep up with someone who does. Some steep hills to climb and descend and some great views, and it was all going swimmingly well until about ten miles - then the wheels fell off pretty rapidly. Legs blew up and the last two miles hurt a lot but great to finish even if I did lose about ten places in the final stages.

Anyway, everything moving in the right direction again. I'd expected a ten mile run and told Rich that it was ten miles too, and if it had been I'd have faired pretty well. The extra two miles were a bit of a challenge, but once I get my legs back I'll be full steam ahead for next week's sessions. 

June 26th

Sessions pretty much done so far this week as prescribed but today was 10 mile TT day, with the Frome District Wheelers. I just couldn't resist.....

Some serious wind saw a shaky start with my new front wheel, but soon got going and had a good blast. Well off the pace though with a 25:17 and lost my unbeaten record to James Hart to boot - by 40 seconds!

Rimini in September is the goal though - this is just training and starting to get back into it now after the lay-off.

Programme's looking top-draw and meeting up with Rich next week too for some swim analysis. 'Swim analysis...?!' I hear you say. 'There's no swimming at Rimin!'. It's true but I'm giving triathlon a bit of a go as well and my swim..... well it's usually a bit of a shit-fight.

Got an entry to the Gower Triathlon in August so that will be the first test.

Best set some goals......

1) Beat James Hart at next TT J

2) Break 47 minutes at Castle Combe this year.

3) Break 30 minutes for the Reading Rowathlon.

4) Improve my swim.

5) Rimini, Rimini, Rimini!

June 21st

Bike day today and had my planned workout all ready to go. But with Matt Brett, Lee Rankin and James Hart accompanying me and putting the hammer down from the start, the structure went out the window a bit and it was just 'go hard'. Plenty of hill climbs and 1 hour 40 into it saw the dreaded 'tame the horse' climb.

Matt equalled his PB and the record with a 4:45, followed by Lee in 5:15 and James in 5:37. I came in 4th....OK last, with a 5:57 but great to be back on the bike.

June 20th

First run back after the lay-off and 16k in 1:20 felt tough.....

June 19th

Well a delayed start to training with the Tri-Monkey as I suffered a cold which turned into a pretty major ear infection following the Westonbirt Tri. Guess the moral is, if you're coming down with something, don't race! Will I learn? Probably not.....

June 5th

Following my return from the European Duathlon Champs it was painfully clear that I needed to improve my run.

Seems that in a duathlon race, I can hold my own on the bike and so too on the second run to a lesser extent - but my first run.....? Erm..... well off the pace!

I needed to enlist some help and after a recommendation from a fellow athlete in Greece, I hooked up with Rich Brady from www.tri-monkey.co.uk.

So this blog will chart my progress with the Tri Monkey from now until the World Duathlon Champs in Rimini in September. Just how much can I improve my run...?