I am Mark Spitz

Well maybe not but at least I can swim a little. I paid my first trip to the lake last night with a plan to swim 1600m at race pace prior to some longer swims in the run up to next weekend. The weather was glorious with the low sun shimmering off the water as the ripples gently lapped at the quay. I have planned to try and up the intensity on these (rare) long swims to see how much more I could push without using up to much energy. During the swim I was noticeably straighter than previously and was able to put in some fast bursts with no ill effects. I probably managed 5-6 intervals where I increased stroke rate, hopefully without sacrificing stroke length; very difficult to do in my opinion but all good swimmers seem to do this with ease. The result was a 35minute 1600m which is personal best by 3 minutes. Not bad considering the last time I swam in the lake was on the 2nd July. I seem to put in my best times after not swimming for a while. Interestingly I was chatting to one of the great guys who manage the lake and he said that he swims 1:15 for an Ironman no matter how much swimming he puts in. So I reckon my 42 minute 1900m goal is in sight and I can probably beat that if I can get a good draft off someone. I am now at a point with my swimming where I can enjoy the peace and quiet of Open Water swimming, just methodically stroking, breathing easy and relaxing; thinking things over in the same way as people normally do when they run or cycle. I never thought I would have got to that point ever when I first started swimming. I will definitely get some lessons over the winter and try and gain 5 minutes off my time for next year.

One Last Effort

One week of heavy training to go then I can hang my kit up for a few weeks. I am really looking forward to not training which may sound odd but it means I can spend more time with the family and chill out a bit. By not training I do of course mean dropping down to three or four times a week as opposed to six to eight. I think the key to all this triathlon and cycling lark is getting the balance right. I know I could hit some pretty good times if I put the training in, certainly I think I could get close to 60 minutes for a sprint and 2:10 for an Olympic but I would have to train far too much for mine and my family’s liking. This is also the reason I cannot see myself doing an Iron Distance event. If I entered then I would not be content just “getting round” I would need to target a sub 12 hour and that would take too much training. Unless I come into a million or two of course and can afford to take a year out of work! If I that happened, here is the plan: I would get a coach. Swim every day and get my 1500m down to 25mins. I would join the athletics club and do a lot of track work which would drop my 10Km time down towards 39 minutes. More time on the bike and a structured Time Trial plan would get my 40Km time down to 60minutes quite easily: That makes 2:04 plus transitions would make it sub 2:10 which would be pretty high up in my age group. There you go, I have done it already and it was easy  As it is, I have three hours commuting every day and other priorities. So a rest will be welcome on September 21st.

I resolved to put one last effort in for the summer so as to not let myself down on my debut HIM distance race and had a massive training week last week. The only down side was a lack of real swim practice due to work commitments. I hope to resolve that tomorrow with a long Open Water session. I had two bike rides in the Surrey Hills as well which was great although the last one was done whilst suffering the ill-effects of a dodgy seafood meal on the Friday at a client lunch. Heart palpitations and an inability to hold down any food was slowing me down a little. In hindsight I shouldn’t have gone out but when I left home I felt OK. As it turned out, my HR was 40 bpm higher than normal and I was at the back of the climbing group a few times but I really loved the ride – 7 big hills over 80Km with a final timed ride up Box Hill to finish (5% for 2.4Km on poor tarmac). I made it in 9mins 57secs but I know I can do much better. I shall use that time as a benchmark going forward and measure my improvement with it. Rumour has it there may be a TriTalk Time Trial event up Box Hill which would be great fun although I am unsure whether I would prefer to marshal it than ride it, I do need to put something back.

It look like I need to definitely revise my goals for the New Forest Middle. Apparently it is a hilly ride and a hilly off-road run which will slow everyone down. I will try to hit 5:45 and see where I go from there. A few of the guys I ride with have done it and they were very complementary about the race but said the bike and run were hard. Maybe I should have chosen the Vitruvian instead as the bike is 5Km less and the run is easier. Too late now – I shall enjoy the NF middle as it is. I am still suffering from food poisoning so I shall have a day of and start my final big training week tomorrow.

Back on the gas!

I have been very tardy in updating my blog, I have been busy and travelling too much although that is not a good enough reason as I could write on the plane. We had a great holiday in Egypt; way too hot for me but very relaxing with the family. Eight whole days together and not one argument shows that it must have been relaxing. The snorkelling was good fun and the pool and local beer was refreshing. It was averaging around 39 degrees each day and much too hot for exercise. I set off on a 40 minutes easy run on the first day


and almost expired after 20 minutes and had to stop. All the locals were looking at me as if I was stark raving mad. The hotel gym was poorly equipped with CV gear, the gym bike did not work properly but there was a treadmill. I made sure I went for a swim in the “Olympic” size swimming pool each morning prior to a wet lunch and chill out. My lap times were terrible, as expected after a few weeks off swimming. Even after a couple of sessions I wasn’t even close to the times I have hit before even though I felt I was swimming well. So I paced out the pool: 75 good paces which makes it at least 65m long by my reckoning. No wonder my lap times were so poor! So in the end I had yet another week off cycling and running which makes it around 2-3 weeks of poorly planned training.

Only 3 weeks to go to The New Forest Middle Distance and I am in pretty poor shape. My interval sessions are not as long as they were and I push less power than I did 1 month ago; so I plan to make a concerted effort over the next 3 weeks (2 weeks if I rest on my last week). My plan to enter the New Forest Middle as a way of encouraging me to continue training through the summer has failed completely, I shall learn from next year and plan to have my last “A” event in July. That “A” event looks like being the Alpe D’Huez Long Distance Triathlon: 2.2Km swim, 115Km ride over 2 peaks then a finish up the 21 hairpins of the Alpe’Dhuez followed by a half marathon at altitude!



The longest Tri I will have attempted and probably the hardest one around. I think now is the time to do this event as it looks like it will soon be the “Kona” of Europe with everyone trying to get to enter. I fancy mixing this event up with a family holiday to the Alps back where we used to live which would be great. Just need to convince my family :-) Then I may have a year off Tri completely, after retiring from rugby this year and cricket last year, it looks like being a chilled year after Summer 2010.

We have my niece and nephew staying for a few days at the moment, I have forgotten how tiring a 5 and 10 year old can be, they demand so much attention all the time. I am every so appreciative of Jane and the kids who are doing a great job of looking after them. I have no idea how anyone can train for an endurance event and have small children at the same time. Saying that, I have been grateful for the solitude of the open road after a few hours with the kids. I am really too old and too impatient for young kids nowadays.

I have been travelling far too much recently: Japan, Germany, Egypt, Portugal all in the last 4 weeks with a trip to Amsterdam planned the week before the New Forest Middle: Not ideal timing – would be great to chill in Amsterdam after the New Forest Middle... The travelling in itself is not too bad but if it is a day trip then there is no training possible due to early starts and late finishes and if it is an overnighter it is in the lap of the gods if there is a decent gym available which usually means I plan an endurance run on the street and hope they are clear enough to get decent session.

Training done since coming home from Egypt: Bike: 90Km Z2, Run: 40 Minute Z2, Run: 60 Minute Z2, Bike 3x8 Interval; Run: 3x8 interval; Weights; Bike: 60Km in the Surrey Hills.