Mid Term Report

It is time for a review of my achievements vs. goals, in other words “How am I doing?” Firstly, I feel like I am a better cyclist and certainly a better swimmer. I am not convinced I have improved my running, I think a maintenance of last years’ standard is more accurate. If I do an approximate year on year comparison between two sets of events: The Big Cow Sprint and the Eton Super Sprint then there are some telling results:

Eton 2009: 1:09:34 vs. Eton 2008: 1:11 (92nd on GC vs. 249th)
Big Cow 2009: 1:16:56 vs. Big Cow 2008 1:22:08

My overall times were better and if I take into account the weather conditions in both events this year (wind and freezing rain for the Big Cow and strong cross winds in Eton) then the results are better than they look. I improved from 249th to 92nd out of 1000 at Eton whereas I dropped down the order in the Big Cow which I will put down to a) it being the National Champs this year and b) the bad weather deterring the lower order athletes from turning up. Point a) can also be re-enforced just by looking at the quality of kit on display compared to previous events; the type of kit only used by top end athletes (or very rich athletes)!

If I break down my splits then it is apparent that the training strategy I adopted last year has done what should be expected. My Bike and Swim times are much improved over last year whereas my Run time has remained static. My swim is vastly improved, not only in terms of speed but also in the lower level of fatigue that I have when I get out of the water.

Here is an updated Event table. I have added a new event which is the Big Cow Sprint on June 28th. I will enter this event if I am recovered from the Dave Lloyd Challenge and if the weather is forecast to be suitable.