roy's triathlon blog

BLOG HIBERNATION

2011-11-06T17:24:00.000Z

My world has gotten rather busy at the moment with only a small dot of light on the horizon that is Christmas as a short break. Add to that 2012 already looks like a right-off!
have not trained properly for ages now; just some gym stuff and a bit of running.

any way i am afraid that the Original RAF Tri blog is going into Hibernation for a short while. hopefully back at Christmas to up date on my trials and tribulations in the tri world.
train smart over the winter period, remember winter miles mean summer smiles!!!
ATB

Gym Time

2011-10-23T11:10:00.000+01:00

Not that i have been prolific on the blogging front recently, however its going to go quiet for a few weeks now. i have a course to do and that will give me the time to hit the gym and get strong again ready for some more specific tri training.
Train Smart

Bugger

2011-10-10T19:45:00.000+01:00

so my first ever cyclo-cross race was Sunday. picked up the bike on Friday, rode it Saturday and practiced mount/dismount and un-clipping spd's... all good! Sunday drove to race with Preecy and did warm up ride; punctured! bugger, new tube and off again, another warm up lap of the course and on to the start line.... and they are off..... a frantic start at the front but the middle of the pack was more like the turn at an open water swim bouy as we all bunched on the 1st bend and a few went down or into the fencing; a quick dismount and over the 2 hurdles, back on and a fast section across grass and some tarmac, onto the 1st sand pit which was tricky, round a couple more hair pins and suddenly the left pedal felt 'wrong' then really wrong and looking down it was off? the whole bloody crank arm! race over..... and massive sulk! oh well we live and learn, all week to mend and check the bike before next weekend's race. anyway the little bit i did was great fun and it is certainly a hell of a winter training session.

Zepnat Cyclo Cross

2011-10-08T19:56:00.000+01:00

My new toy; picked it up yesterday off the man Westy and racing on it tomorrow!

Its a mix of Durace & Ultegra and as it was Westy's, you know it is a quality piece of kit

the only thing i need to sort is the front chain rings and get something a little more suited to cyclocross

having missed most of the summer i am looking forward to doing some hard work this winter on the bike and that starts tomorrow with my 1st ever cyclocross race! should be interesting..

so another stead added to the stable; that is now the Kuota TT, Trek Madone Road bike, Trek 1200 winter bike, Boardman MTB and the Aargon Krypton Team Road Bike.... the garage is starting to look a bit like a bike shop.
i have finished the 3 week spinal rehab course and there was plenty of improvement, all i need to do is continue the hard work, smash the gym over the winter and get stronger; now i have woken up my glutes from the deep slumber they appear to have been in make sure they stay working... easy really!
TTFN

Champion System Custom Tri Suit

2011-10-02T09:06:00.000+01:00

I was lucky enough to win 10 new tri suits made to my design by Champion System http://champ-sys.co.uk/ who make the suits for a number of pro cycle teams and a certain Javier Gomez! now i have no real need for 10 new suits so had them made for the RAF Halton team;

What do you think?

A Good Week

2011-09-29T19:23:00.000+01:00

A good week so far, plenty of rehab for week 2 and a really good 45 mins of acupuncture tonight has eased off piriformis. enjoying being back in the gym and all of the core stability; fingers crossed things are looking up.

Cav is World Champion

2011-09-25T20:12:00.000+01:00

1 week of rehab done and there is definitely an improvement in my condition; happy! managed 2 x 2hr rides this weekend and have the urge to train again so that is good.
Awesome result for Cav and Team GB at the world champs today and what a finish! GB bossed that race, Dave Brailsford is a Legend and Cav owes those boys a beer, or 10.
I saw an interview with Cav and he was saying that after the Tour of Britain stages he was doing 60-70km training each day behind the car, just to get some extra miles in ready for todays long 266km race.
this week coming is loads more pilates, core stability, stretching, acupuncture, some pool work and my cv work will be done on the watt bike again.

Train Smart

watt bike

2011-09-19T20:17:00.000+01:00

i have been a bit down about the state of this injury since the MRI scan; not the best! (hence a lack of blogging) anyway today i started the 3 week 'spine class' 3 weeks of full time physio/rehab which will hopefully help in some way? well i am enthused and started training again after 2 weeks of absolutely nothing! the bit that fired me up was the watt bike in the rehab gym, so i will get to play on that each day! hopefully more updates on my recovery classes over the coming 3 weeks

MRI Scan

2011-08-31T21:32:00.002+01:00

went to the Sports Specialist Injuries Clinic this morning, was assessed and told i needed an MRI Scan (no surprise there really) can you be in London, (just off Harley St) for 1730 today? now that's a good service! as one of the consultants said, almost as good as a premiership football club. so just in from having my insides photographed, the only problem is that the consultant only does 1 clinic a week and i can't get in to see him now for another 4 weeks after this! a bit more blue square than premiership! oh well, ticking over in the pool, on the bike and just starting back in the gym, all very easy, just no running! more as and when. TTFN

stuff...

2011-08-28T19:36:00.000+01:00

Still injured, still seeing the physio, looking forward to seeing the specialists on Wednesday! been ticking over in the pool as that's about all i can do, no tumble turns cos that really hurts and some steady rides on the bike, still no running...
in my racing absence the RAF lads and lasses who have all been performing exceptional. my Cyprus training buddy, Pete Norris added the European LD title to his National title, unlucky Daz Sharpe finished 4th in his AG and well done to Frank and Marc on their 1st GB outing, Sags had a sufferfest in Almere to finish his 1st IM race, despite an injury and Jase did a 10.24. though top honours must go to Rachael Cadman for being the 1st ever woman to finish the Arch to Arc Triathlon, only the 8th ever person and in the 4th fastest time!
well done all, recover well..

Tour de France

2011-08-14T20:04:00.001+01:00

race day for the tdf, how fast did they hit the bottom of that big hill?

we finally meet and earlier than i had hoped

the tete de la course

peleton

next group, inc sky rider

chasin hard

more chase groups

still flying at the back

more sky riders

Alp D'Huez Triathlon recce

2011-08-14T19:41:00.001+01:00

recce the bike route, 2 more Cols

La Berarde

2011-08-14T19:13:00.000+01:00

what was a steady ride up another hill, there was plenty, got interesting when some of the road appeared to have disappeared!

2011-08-14T19:04:00.000+01:00

the ride up Alp d'Huez 3 days before the TDF was finishing on the top!

Alp D'Huez Triathlon

2011-08-14T18:52:00.000+01:00

the next day

finish, at last, cold and wet

foor, the way foorward

the madone race ready,

check out that race face

meeting a local celebrity, the mighty reg swallow

some of the crowd are on the pitch...

2011-08-09T19:46:00.000+01:00

they think its all over....
my season is now!
well it was on 2 June when this all started!
the physio today finally referred my to a specialist and an MRI for my back injury.
more info when i can be arsed and a race report from ADH. that was an awesome experience and i will write it up soon but sign up for it as your race CV wont be complete till you have bagged that one. tougher than IM!!!
TTFN

Au Revoir

2011-07-17T14:21:00.000+01:00

just packed for the France trip, havent trained properly since the week of Odiham tri??? tried 1st run since 70.3 UK on Friday and all is not well; just walking is difficult! oh well lets see when i get there, race day is a whole 10 days away now, i will let you know how the 6 week 'full stop' taper plan works! (i think we all know the answer to that one!)

its time to HTFU & JFDI

Tour de France

2011-07-12T20:43:00.000+01:00

all appears quiet in blog land? perhaps people are glued to eurosport or itv4?? i know i have been, the tour is awesome this year with so many crashes and talking points, and the highs and lows of Team Sky! i cant wait to get out there next week and see it all unfold live on Alpe d'Huez.... well i have now swum 2 days in a row, cycled tonight short but intense and fessed up to the physio that i rode for an hour on sunday! he was cool about it and we have agreed a plan for this week before i go to France that includes traction weds and allowed a run on Friday before i see him for another traction/accupuncture session. fingers crossed!

Trek Madone

2011-07-10T20:29:00.000+01:00

sneaked out for an hour on the Madone today... all seems ok, should i tell the physio tomorrow???

NEED A NEW BIKE?

2011-07-09T10:24:00.001+01:00

Towards the end of this year we are EXPANDING the TRI UK store. Another 5000 sq feet of retail space is being built – plus we are adding on a 1400 sq feet Coffee Shop – serving coffee directly imported from Kona, Hawaii!

So in readiness of this latest TRI UK expansion we need to clear space for the builders! Please find below a whole list of ‘bling’ bikes with drastically reduced TRI UK Special Prices. The various columns show the RRP of each product plus the best web price available at time of sending this....then it shows the even cheaper TRI UK price! Some of these bikes have up to 45% off. So have a scroll down and see if anything catches your eye. Also please feel free to send this to as many friends or training mates as you wish. These stocks must go in the next month or so.............

Race Walking

2011-07-09T10:18:00.000+01:00

I am just watching the World Youth Athletic Champs on Eurosport and caught sight of the results from the 10km walk times for the boys and i was sure it said 40.16?? 40 mins for a 10km walk! cant be.. where's google!
check this out:

The IAAF has approved the 10km Race Walk world junior record by Stanislav Yemelyanov. The prodigious Russian walker clocked 38.28 at the IAAF Race Walking Challenge final on home soil in Saransk

Then from the Race walk UK website i got these times!

Mens British Record	40:06.65	Ian McCombie	4 June 1989	Jarrow, United Kingdom
Womens British Record	45:18.80	Vicky Lupton	02/09/95	Watford
Mens World Record	37:53:09	Francisco Javier Fernández ESP	27 July 2008	Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
Womens World Record	41:56.23	Nadezhda Ryashkina RUS	24 July 1990	Seattle, United States

These people are walking faster than many are running a 10km! wow...

ACUPUNCTURE & TRACTION

2011-07-08T20:01:00.000+01:00

Wednesday was getting stretched out on the Physio's rack, the Traction Table, yesterday was a good dorsal raise session, today i got my booked in traction session which has increased each time, today was 22kg pull on for a full 15mins, and i got a free acupuncture session afterwards. a cheeky set of 8 needles, 4 for pain relief and 4 for my 'well-being'! i still have no reflex in my left Achilles or foot? but the knee is back and strong and i am taking less pain relief.

this is exactly how my traction is set up!

i have found out a bit more on the injury itself:

Lumbar Herniated Disc

As a disc degenerates, it can herniate (the inner core leaks out), which is known as a disc herniation or a herniated disc. The weak spot in the outer core of the disc is directly under the spinal nerve root, so a herniation in this area puts direct pressure on the nerve, which in turn can causesciatica. Pain that radiates down the leg and is caused by a herniated disc is called a radiculopathy.

Approximately 90% of disc herniations will occur toward the bottom of the spine at L4- L5 (lumbar segments 4 and 5) or L5- S1 (lumbar segment 5 and sacral segment1), which causes pain in the L5 nerve or S1 nerve, respectively.

L5 nerve impingement from a herniated disc can cause weakness in extending the big toe and potentially in the ankle (foot drop). Numbness and pain can be felt on top of the foot, and the pain may also radiate into the buttock.
S1 nerve impingement from a herniated disc may cause loss of the ankle reflex and/or weakness in ankle push off (patients cannot do toe rises). Numbness and pain can radiate down to the sole or outside of the foot
TRAIN SMART, and good luck in Roth this weekend.

....traction

2011-07-04T19:14:00.001+01:00

Physio today, another new approach and 20mins of traction. 2 more sessions this week.
http://www.justgiving.com/ROYBRUNNING

Swim Smooth... Team Sky... Cow Man

2011-07-03T15:40:00.002+01:00

my back is still buggered! thats enough about my aches and pains; laying here n the floor (its comfy) watching the TDF team TT its great; in 2 weeks or so i will be in France watching those boys smash up the AdH and then a TT in Grenoble, the last 2 days before Paris.

Bradley's tt bike! averaged 55kph in the team tt today... ouch!

this morning i went up to MK to watch the British Middle Distance Champs at the CowMan race, weather was great and good to see plenty of RAF tri there. this seasons fast guy Pete Norris TriUK had another stormer finishing 9th overall and 3rd in his AG so his 1st National Medal. if Pete had a stormer the evergreen Sags was even better winning his 'old-man' AG (thats also my AG) So in his prep for Almere LD race later Super Sags is National Champion. well done mate thoroughly deserved, especially after your injury plagued last season. lots of other RAF Tri racing there, Jase Walkley had a top 50 Mike 'tinman' Masters went sub 5, there was also Brian 'race every weekend' Hagen! Rambo and his misus and a few new faces.
just seen the results from IM Austria; Marino Vanhoenecker set a new world best time 7.45.58.... that is fast!
Tom Lowe 4th set another new GB best of 8.11.30 (14 seconds faster than his IM debut last year in Arizona) Mr Bayliss was 5th.
i earned another £3 in commission today from the internet's best swim resource swim smooth so that will be going on my Just Giving site for the RAF Benevolent Fund, you can still sponsor me on there, just follow the links, thanx! alternatively, go to the swim smooth website via a link from this site and if you buy something the commission will go to the ben fund; easy! i did some coaching on Friday with mad Marc Preece using the swim smooth wetronome, he certainly found it useful for pacing, he always goes off too fast! he also has a copy of the catch masterclass dvd, a fantastic swim training aid
no training at all again last week; though i am allowed back to swimming this week and 3 physio appts and 2 days on the road, might see some of you at Cranwell next week. TTFN

Good News-Bad News

2011-06-28T20:02:00.000+01:00

Bad News - Another week of zero hours training!
Good News - I saw the physio today and he is really pleased that i was in so much pain over the weekend???
it means that freeing the muscle spasm in the QL worked as it showed what the spasm was hiding. that is a pinching of the sciatic nerve at S1 which is why i have a numbness in my left foot, no reflexes and a shooting pain all the way down that leg!
Bad News - The treatment is NO training for the rest of the week.
Good News - see Physio again Friday for a re-assessment!

.....sciatica....

2011-06-26T18:47:00.001+01:00

sciatica is a pain in the arse; literally!

its mad, i went for an easy hour on the bike in the sun today (after an hour of stretching ) as i was getting down about not training because of the pain i have been in and everything was fine! as soon as i stood off the bike the pain was back shooting down my left leg?
yesterday i spent 3 hours stretching, foam roller trigger pointing and core work, then longer scouring all my stretching and sports injury books and the internet for info, looks like i am just going to have to take it easy on the training, and stretch and foam roller myself to within an inch of my life in between the physio doing his evil work.
July's races will be Cranwell and Alpe D'Huez so getting rid of this pain is a priority.
you can still sponsor this battered old body to compete in these events in aid of the RAF BF at: http://www.justgiving.com/ROYBRUNNING
thanks to those of you who have already taken the time t sponsor me.

cheers all
PS
massive well done to the RAF guys and gals competing this weekend; Jim Sills 'you are an Ironman' at Nice in 11.49 also Jase Parr at Nice, Ted Hamilton AG Bronze medal at the euro sprint champs I am sure there are more Brian H was racing at liverpool, some top results

Quadratus Lumborum

2011-06-23T21:00:00.000+01:00

after a week or so of nasty back/sciatic pain today i saw Tony my physio-terrorist and i knew what was coming! it was time for needles.... ..... big needles.................. effin big needles!
my QL back spasm a while ago appears to be the cause of the sciatic pain so it was time to release the knot in the QL to allow the blood to flow through it again, oxygenating the muscle and so releasing the sciatic pain! sounds great in theory. the plan was to stick a long acupuncture needle into the muscle so that the muscles tensions around the needle then wiggle it abut to flex the muscle and eventually the muscle will release the needle, sounds easy? just the muscle gripping the needle bit is where there is pain involved... quite a bit! in fact rather a lot... after the 1st go he decided he was enjoying himself and needed to get into another small knot so in he went with another needle... ouch. tonight, as predicted, i feel like i have been kicked in the back by a horse; oh well only another 2 sessions booked for next week! but if it works i don't care.

yesterday i had a really good swim coaching session with Mad Brian who ran 11 miles to swim for an hour b4 running 11 miles back! anyway i am sure i saw a light bulb come on and he left swimming faster, with less strokes, therefore far more efficiently; good news before he takes on his 1st IM.
off now to ice my back,
laterz

70.3 IronMan UK - Wimbleball - Race Report

2011-06-20T11:52:00.000+01:00

70.3 IronMan UK Wimbleball

Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack has called this the toughest 70.3 race in the world! These stats tell some of the story:

Bike; 56.4 miles / 5905 ft of climbing over the whole 2 lap course / 2 laps

Run; 13.1 miles / 1323 ft of climbing over the whole 3 lap course* / 3 Laps

My race weekend started on Friday as I was up early to pack, drive to Ten-Point to pick up some new CWX Compression tights (more on those later) and Helen kindly took the time to kinesio tape my dodgy back, thanx all before I travelled down to Exmoor through some atrocious driving conditions. I had a pitch booked at Lowtrow Cross Camp Site for 2 nights and arrived in time to set up in the rain! Fantastic! the stay was brilliant a really nice quiet site clean, friendly, i couldnt ask for more (apart from sunshine) Tent sorted etc.. and it was time for a good feed and the Lowtrow Inn next to the campsite had some great reviews and now I know why. I have eaten some good, bad and down right ugly food in my time but this was excellent! Friday dinner was lambs liver, mash and onion gravy with a dish of vegetables; red cabbage, carrots and cauliflower, all fresh. Delicious. Then it was off to bed early with a copy of Triathlete Europe. It rained hard through the night and the wind got up but I slept ok. Saturday was the same, rainy miserable start to the day. I made the 10 min drive down to Wimbleball lake and registered early for the event and had a look around the huge TriUK marquee, then it was back to the car to get changed in to my Synflex wetsuit and a jog down to the lake for a easy swim of the course. It was raining again and bloody freezing cold. 30 mins was enough to turn the arms over. Dried off it was a drive of the bike course on the way back to the camp site for lunch with Charli B who had arrived to support. An afternoon nap and then dinner at the pub again. This time tagliatelle with chicken in a creamy coriander sauce with a hint of chilli, followed by sticky toffee pud and custard; yummy! Another early night listening to the rain bounce of the tent and wind howl. Race morning was still and the rain had stopped, up early (0445) packed up and across to the race site, pre race bike check, loiter, pre race toilet stop and into wetsuit. Warm-up mobility stuff (some arm swinging and stretches) and walk down to the pond. National Anthem and we are off. 1600 athletes entered, 1250 registered and started the race. Now I had a race plan for this race, I wanted a nice easy swim, take the 1^st lap of the bike easy, 2^nd lap was pick up, but keep HR 140-150 and power around 200w, then see how the run goes, keeping the HR below 150 again so a steady effort.

With 1250 swimmers on a 1 lap course it was a punch-up all the way around and especially at the 3 turns. I stuck to my game plan and took the swim easy trying to lengthen out the stroke when I could. 38mins and I was out of the water and on the 400m up hill run to t1. a steady transition and out and on to the bike, feeling cold and off on the long (2 mile) up-hill drag to start the 2 loops and my rear brakes started rubbing so a quick stop to sort that out( 90 secs) off again and keeping the up hill efforts steady and HR down meant I was getting passed by quite a few but expected to catch them later in the day? On the flats I was going well and passing plenty, the wind and drizzle meant a rather twitchy front end and I was very very cautious on the down hills, i would definitely use a road bike set up (with clip on aeros) if I was doing this again. End of lap 1 and unusually for me a wee stop on the bike, I think my 1^st ever? (another 90 secs) lap 2 was no more eventful, lots of up hill (plenty of people bike walking!) followed by more down hill! Into t2 and off the Kuota. Bike stats were 57.48 miles – 3 hrs 30 mins. Max HR 157 Av HR 141. Max Power 620? Av Power 191 so not to bad. Now time for my next faff, I could not find my run bag the rack numbering was, different, to say the least! After a couple of mins running around I finally got a helper to help! And after explaining to me loads of people have done that!!! (another 3 mins lost) after what seemed like ages, she found my bag; thanks, newtons on and out for what has to be the toughest half marathon on the circuit; all off road and hilly doesn’t begin to describe it! Again I started steady with the plan not to walk any of the hills (plenty did) and keep HR down still. Lap 1 and despite not taking lots of fluids on the bike, another wee stop? (another 90 secs!) a steady plod around the course and it was soon onto lap 2, oh dear now I needed another loo stop?? What was going on with my insides? Trying to hold out I ran on and onto lap 3, it was no good I had to stop! Pulling in to the next feed station I had to wait to get in the portaloo and eventually got my turn… a good 5 mins lost here and I was out on the final half lap into the finish for a 6.23.

My pre-season hope was for a 5hr race here but after a poor winter I re-adjusted that to a 5.45, poss 5.30 if it goes well. As we got to race day re-evaluated and went with the steady strategy and stuck to it. I was happy with the way the race went, I felt good getting out of the water and not thrashed (my usual feeling) the bike was steady and again I felt fine getting off my trusty stead finally the run was ok and I could have pushed harder if necessary.

Race splits are now up:

00:39:00

00:05:45

03:28:58

00:03:42

02:05:50

06:23:13

504^th overall from 1105 finishers and 131 DNFs!

Some great RAF performances, Pete Norris 17^th overall 2^nd in AG turned down his slot for Vegas, Trev Batey, 35^th overall and 6^th in AG, Steve Hyett 5^th in AG 189^th, Nick Huntley 206^th with a 5.45 and a puncture. There was another RAF guy there, I saw him on the run but not sure who he was?

a good tough race well organised good for spectators, a good free massage at the end only downside was they had run out of food by the time i got to the food tent; i know finish quicker! however that meant only the top 3rd of the finishers got fed at the end of the race! not good, i am sure there will be people moaning about the weather and the boggy site, hey its Britain and it rains, fields get muddy, either live with it or race abroad.

My Garmin is playing up at the moment and cant/ wont find any satellites? So the data download is crap. Anyway, Job done recover this week and continue to improve ready for September. Next up a little race in France up a hill called Alpe d’huez!

If that race report inspires you to sponsor me on my summer tour, all in aid of the RAF Benevolent Fund you can go to: http://www.justgiving.com/ROYBRUNNING

Cheers

2011-06-20T10:02:00.000+01:00

I wondered where i was!

1250 start the race

fast Trev out of the water

Big Nick, just ahead of me

on the 400m up-hill run to T2

there was

nice arm warmers!

at the start of the bike

good enough for 17th overall

On the run - sort of!

a great race for Trev

not such a good time

Another race ticked off on my RAF Benevolent Fundraising Summer Tour; http://www.justgiving.com/ROYBRUNNING
race report to follow...

camping

2011-06-17T21:05:00.000+01:00

been busy last 2 weeks at work and sciatica has returned to my back/left leg! ouch... now i am in a tent in a field in Devon, its pouring with rain and after a long drive in crap conditions i am off to bed. i am in a brilliant little campsite near Wimbleball lake ready for IM 70.3 on Sunday. just had the best lambs liver, mash onion gravy and veg in the pub next to my tent! awesome! sleep time now, nite nite....

RAF Odiham Sprint Triathlon

2011-06-08T20:40:00.002+01:00

a long day, a well org'd race; thanks guys

went off too fast on the swim, 2 lap bike went hard, set up felt good! (as in pics in last post) hung in for the run, will have to wait for the splits but a 1.13 overall?
well done Nick Smith for the win a rising new talent fast daz 2nd, sags, mal, jase, good to see the mighty turbo there and some old faces form the good old days, plenty of new blood coming through which is good to see
some Max/Av data from the bike;
speed - 33mph/20mph
HR -164/155
Watts - 530/236
cadence - 156/73
43.06 for a 14.39m bike (include short runs to t1 & t2)
more soon after Coach Cass has looked at the files.

TTFN

kuota k-factor with ffwd powertap wheels

2011-06-06T20:57:00.000+01:00

Saturday was a steady long run,

Sunday was a medium brick - 2hr bike - 1hr run

today has turned into a rest day? tomorrow will start with a swim and end with an easy spin on the bike.

Wetronome

2011-06-04T12:47:00.000+01:00

With all the swimming this week i have also dug my wetronome from the bottom of my swim bag and been playing with that. i find it really useful for pacing and not going off too fast on the 1st few lengths. if you have not heard of this little swim gadget then look no further.... and some cheeky stats for you Stato's out there... you know who you are

*Approximate Olympic Distance Triathlon Time Saving:*

Bike:	Aero Helmet	$150+	30 seconds
Bike:	Aero Wheels	$1000+	1-3 minutes
Run:	Racing Flats	$100+	10-20 seconds
Swim:	Wetronome Mk2	$85	Improved Rhythm & Timing: 1-3 minutes* Better Pacing Skills: 1-3 minutes* Fitness Gains From Improved Training Quality: 1-2 mins*
*typical times saved after training consistently with a Wetronome Mk 2

The Wetronome is a match box sized timing device which you wear under your swim cap or goggle strap whilst swimming. The Wetronome beeps either:

In Stroke Rate mode, simply time your strokes to the beep.

Every stroke so you can control your stroke rate accurately. Do this to improve your stroke technique by removing deadspots and pauses from your stroke or to help you lengthen out.

Every lap (or half lap) so you can swim with perfect pacing. Think you already have good pacing? Think again! Most swimmer start out much too fast and then fade - this ruins their race performances and decreases the benefit they get from their training.

Check out the Swim Smooth site for more info on this clever little gadget

Train Smart

RAFBF

2011-06-04T11:46:00.001+01:00

http://www.justgiving.com/ROYBRUNNING

Pairing Garmin 310XT with a Powertap

2011-06-04T11:43:00.001+01:00

I was asked the other day how to do this after my last post on the subject so here we go:
switch on Garmin
press mode
select settings
select bike settings
select bike 1
select Ant + power
switch power meter present to YES
select restart scan and spin powertap wheel
garmin should now 'find' the power tap

Schimples....
http://www.justgiving.com/ROYBRUNNING

let me know if this is any help?

foor

2011-06-03T22:22:00.001+01:00

Foor is the number of swims i have done this week! A Rest Day today; so squeezed in a 40 min swim lunchtime. 2100m - 7 x 300m Pull with band.

Practice What You Preach....

2011-06-02T22:19:00.002+01:00

easy day today 45mins gym lunchtime - 50min swim after work

swimming feels better the more i do? strange!
the phrase practice what you preach springs to mind.....

Swim, Bike, Run

2011-06-01T20:29:00.001+01:00

a BIG thanks to those who have sponsored me so far at; http://www.justgiving.com/ROYBRUNNING45min run lunchtime; a steady 90 mins on the mtb this afternoon, i went back and re-did the tricky bit that threw me last time and yes it is rather 'rooty' but took a better line in and hopped through with no probs! that said i did blow a tyre just after and i mean blow, not just a puncture, this was a full-on rip of the tyre not sure what i hit but will need a new one now! anyway back in time for a quick 2100m in the pool this evening. job done!

BRICK

2011-05-31T20:49:00.002+01:00

Bricks are for building, so hopefully i am building some triathlon strength and speed? Coach Cass had me doing another tough session this evening and a swim lunchtime!

I forgot to mention that i took a tumble again yesterday! on what was my recovery MTB ride i thought i might have picked up an injury!!! thankfully the swelling on my knee and hand went down overnight after a bit of ice and a few pills! i really must improve my mtb handling skills!

Garmin 310xt.... paired

2011-05-30T21:41:00.000+01:00

I have been playing with Garmin 310XT and the new CycleOps PT tonight and managed to get the 2 paired up.... its surprisingly easy when you look at the handbook rather than just press buttons randomly!

Preecy and i managed to finish 2nd and 3rd in the 60 mile blast around the Chilterns yesterday despite feeling crap. Marc could have rode harder and would easily have had the fastest time overall, had he not been carrying me!

today was a recovery mtb in the hills followed by an hour in the gym.

CycleOps POWERTAP Pro+

2011-05-29T19:11:00.005+01:00

I had a good play with my new toy today; the PowerTap Pro+ wireless power gadget, built on a FFWD wheel set. i purchased them from Kelda (thanks they are awesome) and they arrived on Monday the same time as i picked up the new Argon 18 and they look sooo good together.
This morning Preecy and I went off to have a go at the VC10 sportive, 60 or 100 miles! strangely we chose the 60m cse, the horrendous winds and the very tough course with 4289ft of climbing - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/88206047 so we opted for the easy ride! it gave me a chance to have a play with the new PT.

course description:
The ride has been designed to take in the character and sights of both the North and South Chilterns, passing famous spots like the Windmill from the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The view down onto Turville from the road by the windmill reveals the village used for location shots in the Vicar of Dibley.

Heading through quiet lanes to the switch back climb of Tom’s Hill. Views out the north east of the chalk lion at Whipsnade are a precursor to the descent down Ivinghoe Beacon before passing through Mentmore and the location of the Great Train Robbery.

Rolling roads take you west then a turn to the south as you head through the private Rothchild’s estate of Waddesden Manor and Eythrope. The Chiltern come back into view and the final task in hand, the 20% plus ascent of White Leaf.

BEFORE......

here are some stats for you Stato's (Turboman) and i can leave it for Coach Cassonz to decipher and explain to me!
HR
Av - 149
Max - 166
Watts
Av -203
Max - 681
Spd
Av - 16.8
Max - 43.6
that all included a 5 min stop at the feed station to drop a layer of clothing and load up on free Torque Bars!

AFTER!!!!!!

It was a tough day in the saddle and for some reason i just wasn't feeling up to it? the legs were just not there today? but it is a great piece of kit and after a few more 'plays' with it i should have half a clue as to what i am doing? it was a well organised event by the VC10 club. that said, an overall time of 3.21 was still good enough for the the GOLD standard on that course!
Massive well done to the RAF guys and girls racing at the Beaver this weekend. Super-fast Pete Norris just missed out on another podium finishing 4th at the middle distance and Daz Sharpe is starting to find some form with an 8th. plenty of other great performances; well done the Light Blue...
Post Note: just checked the little beaver results, age group win for Helen Davies and 3rd places for Penny Grayson and the ever green Fred Harbottle, National Silver medal for the Super Bev in the Speedy Beaver... fantastic!
TTFN

finis swimsense performance monitor

2011-05-28T13:15:00.001+01:00

Check out an e-mail i received from the Swim Smooth team this morning.

We've been testing the SwimSense in Perth for the last couple of months and have been getting some great results with it. It's very easy to use and the software works really well and for the more technical swimmer fully integrates with Training Peaks / WKO+.

If you like to analyse stroke rate with your swimmers it's the only watch we've found that accurately records stroke rate (others include the push off which adds a significant error). Accurately recording stroke rate alone is worth the price of entry! Of course it measures much more than that: distance swam, lap splits, stroke count etc. For the un-coached athlete it makes a great training partner.

As a Swim Smooth Affiliate, for each one of these purchased using this link:

http://www.swimsmooth.com/1014-6.html

i will be donating £5 to the RAF Benevolent Fund.

So what are you waiting for???

sort your swimming out and support the RAF Benevolent Fund all at the same time.... Schimples...

ARGON 18 KRYPTON

2011-05-27T22:11:00.001+01:00

I took my new TriUK Sponsored Team Bike out for the 1st time on Wednesday, a cheeky little ride up and over Ivinghoe Beacon with a couple of mates Stylsey and Tony R. i must say it is a very nice ride, extremely comfortable and responsive. the micro-shift takes no time to get used to with shifting that is very precise and smooth. downhill was a little twitchy on the new ffwd wheels with a cross wind but nothing to get excited about. so, all in all a very nice bike indeed and if you get the chance have a closer look at one.

X-Tri Race Photos

2011-05-27T21:15:00.001+01:00

swim exit

exit t1

smashing the bike

almost running!

come on the Air Force

this was race 1 of my summer sponsored events for the RAF Benevolent Fund please click on the link to donate.

It's CHRISTMAS......

2011-05-23T20:57:00.003+01:00

A great day today, popped down to TriUK to get measured for my new Team Bike. Chris and Ali were in the store today so had a real good chat (haven't seen Chris in ages) and a mooch around. they have had another re-org of the store and were telling me of the plans to make the store even bigger and stock even more tri-bling! the World's Largest Tri Shop is getting bigger!

My 'tidy' garage, Kuota TT, Trek Madone, Trek 1200 (on Turbo), Boardman MTB & Spinning Bike, bike box, bike bag, wheel bag, white board for TT sessions and HR, tool box, roof box/bike carrier, bike rack and some general junk .....

Any way i had a good session there getting measured for my new ARGON 18 Krypton Team Bike....

The New Addition to the Family

The bike has a wicked carbon frame, that has some very nice 'lines,' i must say i approve! as a road bike it is a very welcome addition to my 'stable' and will be getting some hammer in the Chilterns very soon... after all winter on my sturdy 1200 with big tyres (28mm gatorskins) i will be flying up the hills...

there is quite a mix of components on the bike but the SRAM Rival 'microshift' gears are quite clever and i think i am going to like them. the shifting is very smooth and defined.

Add to that my new FFwd wheels with built in Powertap in the rear wheel arrived in the post and they look like they were made to be together............ like eggs and bacon or peas & carrots! life is like a box of chocolates.....

i purchased the wheels from Kelda, aka Cavegirl (http://grokgirl.blogspot.com/) who is retiring from competitive triathlon for the non-competitive world of sportive riding. the wheels are awesome and i know they have been lovingly cared for. they also came with some GP4000 and a cassette so i am well pleased.

add to this the wireless power from the CycleOps wireless Power/HRM meter i cant wait to get out and ride to see what i can do? then start to train a bit smarter on the bike or just harder? you can see i have thrown an old pair of Look pedals on so it is ready to roll... if only it wasn't raining and blowing a gale!

Can someone let me know if its worth my while up-grading from Look Delta to the Keo's? i will need 3 pairs that is why i haven't changed yet; a pair on the Trek 1200 winter training bike, a pair on the TT Kuota K-Factor and a pair for the Trek Madone Road bike, and now there is my team bike??? HELP!

The 'Mad One' now without aero-bars and a full road set-up

while we are doing bikes, i have found a place that restores carbon frame bikes so i am going to get the Madone brought back to its former glory, it is starting to look its 8yrs old and is in need of a 'facelift' so this weekend i plan to strip it down ready to send away. my only issue now is what to have done? do i have it back in the same colour scheme? a custom paint job? or a new colour? i did see a very fetching matt black cervelo with black decals today? decisions, decisions????? MORE HELP PLEASE!

TTFN

CHARLI B - RACE FOR LIFE

2011-05-22T21:31:00.000+01:00

No1 Daughter is doing the race for life on 11 Jun please check out her fundraising page! http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/charlottebrunning2802

Mud and Mayhem... X-Tri Race Report

2011-05-22T15:36:00.001+01:00

Oh this off road malarky is fun, but blody hard work and there are some fast youngsters out there today!

Check out the Desert DPM Camelback!

up early 0500 for a big porridge feed and drive to Northampton's Delapre Abbey, very nice setting for a race. again i was a little nervous, 1st tri of the season and the 1st for over a year! i was really just hoping to stay fit?
register at 0700; 2 separate transitions a mile apart to negotiate, race brief 0800 and off at 0830.

Post Race Fashion at its best?

a 1500m river swim, the lying commentator told us it was 16 degrees? my arse... it was fffffff...cold! and very windy. anyway a good punch up ensued as we all set off from a deep water start, 700m up, turn, back down the other side past the start to the exit where i was hauled from the murky depths in my FOOR Synflex! the swim was the easiest of the 3 to navigate today! into T1, bike shoes, MET helmet, shades and camelback full of Gatorade! lesson learnt from last mtb race when i couldn't take my hands off the bars long enough to drink, the course was that technical. out and away in my very nice RAF Tri Suit. my plan was to ride the 1st of the 3 laps easyish as i never got the chance to recce the course. oh well the best laid plans..... it started off and i thought it didnt seem that technical and a small group of us were bombing along some trails, then a bit of a up hill drag, some fast descent then a good technical bit through the woods where i overtook a couple then some more uphill, some fast technical down hill were with the exuberance of youth... ok not so much youth, i over-cooked a turn and did some ploughing through a wood to get back on track and catch those who now re-passed me! off on a fast flat track bit and my fitness took me past them again till i missed a turn back into the wooded area and had to stop and turn around, dropping more places. more haste less speed Brunning! chasing like a man possessed we came to a wood chippings path through a nice little wooded area that looked like a place to make up some time, here we go again! some of the turns were really tight and twisty, perhaps for this part of the course i had a little too much pressure in the tyres (only 40PSI?) well the front wheel went from under me and i was flat on my arse again! bouncing straight back up and onto the bike i realised the handlebars were now through 90 degrees so off again to straighten them, back on and away to start lap 2! so that was the easyish lap???? lap 2 was not so bad now i had an idea of where i was going though i still managed to over do it into a few bends losing loads of time, lap 3 was very similar. into T2 and camelback off Newtons on and away, nearly forgetting helmet!!! schoolboy error! with all the bricks i have been doing (helps my excuse as they are off the turbo so no helmet to take off) my running legs felt good from the off and i was quickly into my stride, clipping along and reeling a few in! 2 laps of a lake and around the Abbey, all very nice, still bloody windy! i did have a 'something about Mary moment on the run? as i bit the end off a maximuscle viper gel it exploded goo all over my sunnies, hair and face... Mmmm attractive! i dont have any splits yet all i know is that it took 2.24 to complete? the garmin lost satelites during the race so i only have a time and HR graph. i had a MHR of 169 av HR of 132 over the duration. i know i need to do more mtb stuff as technically some of these riders are in a different league, there were a few internationals there, i counted 5 GB kits and an Aussie, some fast youngsters who had clearly been brought up on fat tyres ( i went from a 3 gear Raleigh Chopper to a 10 gear racer). so reflection on the day. swim seemed ok time wise (i had transitioned and was away on the bike before i looked at watch and it was on 27mins?) but there was quite a few ahead of me. bike.. must do more homework! and run, felt good considering where i have come from. that could all change though when i see the splits??? that said it was great fun, again; a little bit 'old school' triathlon from back in the day. a well organised event, marshaling was great though they could have done with a bit better sign posting on the course. free tea and cakes at the finish a t-shirt and a medal, what more can you ask for. plenty of time to improve now before my next off road tri in Sept and mission accomplished, raced hard and finished injury free, even after stacking it twice! yeeeeeeha..

(post note) Provisional times are up now:
total: 02:24:07 1500m swim: 00:24:33 T1: 01:14:43 28km MTB: 00:01:17 T2: 00:00:45 10km run: 00:42:46

Not the 1st time today this bike was on only 1 wheel......

Huge well done to those Black Fish Tri (and everyone else) who raced Lanza yesterday, some great performances from Ten-Point's Helen and Jez.

I am off to TriUK tomorrow to get fitted on my new Argon 18 Team bike; i cant wait!
ATB

RAF Benevolent Fund

2011-05-21T08:41:00.001+01:00

So seeing as I have not done anything for charity this year, apart from sponsor other people, I have decided I should do something to raise some money and this time it is for the RAF Benevolent Fund.

It all started after a little encouragement (banter) from our very own ‘Micro Triathlete,’ Frank Whittle and I said that I would donate the money that I earn in commission from sales of Swim Smooth products as a Swim Smooth Affiliate. So if you go direct from my blog by clicking on the links to SS and purchase DVDs, coaching programmes, wetronomes, paddles etc… then you get your new toys and I get a donation to charity. It’s Win Win!

I will also be competing in three 70.3 Ironman races; 70.3 UK on the very tough Wimbleball course that has 5905ft of climbing on the 56.4mile bike course. The Iconic Alpe d’Huez triathlon where the 122km bike course is quite simply legendary, with two mountain passes on the programme – the Alpe du Grand Serre (1375 m) and the Col d’Ornon (1371 m) – as well as the climb of the 21 switching bends of the ascent to Alpe d’Huez. Finally the Vitruvian Triathlon in and around the picturesque Rutland Water.

Other events I am competing in this summer are 2 extremely tough X-Tri races: 1st the Mud and Mayhem Off-Road Triathlon, a 1500m swim, 28km off-road MTB and 10km cross country run on 22 May and the GB X-Tri Champs on 24 Sep over similar distances.

Hopefully, work commitments permitting, I will compete at 2 RAF Sprint Triathlons, Odiham and Cranwell, and maybe with a little twist, just to add to the challenge???

In July the RAF Benevolent Fund encourage athletes to raise money for them by racing at the British 10km in London so I will be running this and again I might add a twist nearer the time to encourage more sponsorship? http://www.justgiving.com/ROYBRUNNING

So there you go, a short resume of my fund-raising events for this summer with a few new races added and there will be the odd twist to some of the events? Please dig deep in your pockets and sponsor me to race/complete or compete at 1, some or all of the events.

http://www.justgiving.com/ROYBRUNNING

Why the Benevolent Fund? Well, those who know me will know that I have done lots in the past for H4H, the Big Salute (5 separate military charities) local First Responders in Lincolnshire, Charity work in Kenya, Red Nose, CiN and my obvious ties to Cancer charities (who could forget Movember?) to name a few. So this time I wanted to do something a little closer to home but sticking with the Military theme. Help for Heroes rightly attracts a lot of attention and money, but this is arguably at the expense of other military charities so for me this time it is the RAF Ben Fund’s. They do a huge amount of fantastic work for the RAF, Here’s some info on the Fund:

Our vision

Every member of the RAF family has access to support whenever they need it.

Our mission

The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund is the RAF's leading welfare charity, providing financial, practical and emotional support to all members of the RAF family.

We are here to help serving and former members of the RAF, as well as their partners and dependants, whenever they need us.

Who we are

· The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund is the RAF's leading welfare charity.

What we do

· We provide financial, practical and emotional support to all members of the RAF family, from childhood through to old age.

How we help

· We help members of the RAF family deal with a wide range of issues: from childcare and relationship difficulties to injury and disability, and from financial hardship and debt to illness and bereavement.

Who we help

· Any member of the RAF family can approach us for help, which includes serving and former members of the RAF, their partners and dependants

http://www.rafbf.org/

So go to http://www.justgiving.com/ROYBRUNNING and support those who have supported you.

Show me the money!