Remember remember, it's almost November...

Yet more time passes me by, I really do lose track of dates as the day gets ignored and is just replaced by the training sessions that need to be completed. It has been 6 weeks since I last posted and I have honestly been going through some seriously low times as of late.

Issues following the bike crash I had almost 2 months ago have irritated my shins to epic proportions. This appears to not only be a result of a a spinal issue manifesting as shin splints, but also a due to a change in mechanics when running. It has taken 6 weeks to get to the route of this, but it appears a change in posture and foot strike means I no longer need as much support when compared to heel striking.

After seeing an excellent Osteopath (James Walsh, link to follow), it became apparent the crash I sustained had caused a large portion of my lower back to become misaligned and left a large amount of muscular spasm. This was irritating the nerves supplying the anterior and medial shin on both legs manifesting as 'shin splints'. After a few treatments, lots of massage and stretching religiously, I have managed to mobilise everything again and the symptoms have almost disappeared.

Following my visits and lengthy discussions with James, we decided to utilise a process of elimination with regards to the support in my shoes. As such I have changed from a moderately corrective shoe (Saucony Hurricane and Omni) to a Saucony Ride, which is a lovely stable neutral shoe without correction. It now feels as though I am springing along and I am able run pain free.

My swimming and cycling have been going really well and continue to do so. I recently swam 58 seconds in training for 100m freestyle and believe this will be sub 56 in a race situation. If only I could sustain that pace for 1500m.

I know I always go on about consistency being key, but it really is. If I can make anywhere near the progress I have swimming and cycling, my running is going to be awesome next season.

Pain free but slow

After resuming my training again last Monday, I am starting to feel a little more like myself. I really liked having some downtime but couldn't wait to pick things back up again.

After a nice easy 25 minute run and 60 minute turbo earlier in the day I was welcomed back to swimming with a main set of 32 x 100's, yay. I just cruised through, thought about maintaining a good stroke and didn't feel too bad. 5.5k later I didn't feel quite as fresh but happy to have no real discomfort from my elbow or knee. The following day I did a light 15 minute run, and some stretching followed by some electrotherapy treatment on my knee to help speed up the healing process, maybe University wasn't such a waste.

I have continued with the light aerobic work on all 3 disciplines and have not really suffered with any adverse effects following training. I will continue staying aerobic through the rest of this week before I have something more solid drawn up by my coach, really hope I return to my pre-injury state soon.

It is tempting to push things too early but I need to feel comfortable before the intensity returns. Mostly I look forward to not feeling like an elephant when I run, I think I must have left my bounce at the roadside where I crashed.

Downtime

So, it has been a little while since the previous post. Yet again time seems to have slipped me by. Quite a bit has happened since my last post, although none of it particularly beneficial to my progress.

A few weeks after my last post I went to Athlone, Ireland to compete in a European Cup race. My training had been a little sporadic coming into this race resulting from pool closures and some niggles on my left shin, but I thought I may be able to make it through and pick up some much needed points. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

I had a bit of a poor swim and ended up towards the back of the field coming around the final turn buoy. I knew there were a few people around so I was not too worried as it was feasible to catch up on the bike. Swimming upstream the current was strong and caused the other athletes to push me under the turn buoy. I ended up getting my left arm and knee stuck in the buoy rope and this cost me around 8 seconds, this ended up being the difference between making a bike pack which subsequently caught the lead pack. Our pack worked poorly and we lost more time to the leaders. End of race.

I returned home a few days later a little down due to my poor performance. It was only 2 weeks until the London Triathlon at the Excel Centre so I resumed my training with the hope of getting 6-8 days of good work completed. I pushed hard in all three disciplines until the Wednesday preceding the race and started my taper from there. I felt really tired and miserable from the Wednesday though which is not like me and knew I was unlikely to race well. Race day came and I still felt tired and had the shakes just before the swim start, crap.

The hooter sounded and I just tried to stay in contention with the front guys for as long as possible. This ended up being until the turn buoy and I just slipped further and further back. I hit T1 and just resigned myself to getting into a bike pack and working again. This plan came together after about 10k and we had a pack of about 10 athletes andI decided not to bother trying to pull through as my legs felt bad enough. Coming into T2 no ground had been made on the front packs so I just put my head down and ran. I came across the line several minutes down on the winners and posted a pretty terrible run split, considering the course was well short. Sad face.

I then took a week off and decided to resume training once I felt happy to do so. I had a solid Monday training for just over 6 hours and decided to crit race on Tuesday. I did my hour run in the morning feeling pretty good and rode to the race that evening. My legs felt good despite pulling some early turns and quickly the last lap came around. As we came up the final hill an idiot decided to sprint up the grass on the outside of me and then pull straight across my line, nice one. The resulting crash left me on the floor with a rather sore elbow.

I got up and shouted at him muttering a few profanities and after calming down assessed the damage. A cut to each knee, a deep cut to my left elbow and a right elbow I could barely move, but at least my new shoes and bike were ok, haha. I knew my elbow was possibly broken and with the help of my friends caught a cab home so I could go to hospital. After an X-ray I was booked into the fracture clinic the following day for an expert's opinion, "all clear" thankfully.

What I didn't realise was my left knee took a whack, either on my bars or stem and swelled to twice it's original size, so much so I couldn't even see my kneecap. I knew there wasn't any ligament damage and it was just a haematoma (bruise with pronounced swelling), but this has ended up being more problematic than the elbow. After 2 weeks it has almost settled down so I will try to run tomorrow for 20 minutes, fingers crossed.

Fundamentally that is the end of my racing season, back into winter training I go. I have to prioritise my swimming and running to get them to an appropriate level for the next season. After my 2 weeks off I am really looking forward to training again, it is indeed true that absence makes the heart grow fonder. I just have to make it through tomorrow and things will continue to improve from there.

Some more help thanks to Saucony...

After my finish at Windsor, I have been fortunate enough to have Saucony offer to help me out until the end of the year. Considering all I spend my money on is nutritional products, bike parts and running shoes, this will help me massively.

I would just like to say thanks to Helen @ Saucony for sorting this out for me.

If you get the chance, check out their website for both shoes and apparel. The Omni 8 has also just been released, definitely a great shoe at a great price, only £84.99. Also my shoe of choice =)

Other results...

Not such a long winded report on these ones as they served more as training than an aim for the season.

Most recently was the Dorney Lake midweek Tri on the June 24th. I had a few hard days coming into this one after starting back from my 24 hour bug caught the day after Windsor. I lost alot of my strength overnight along with 3Kg's of my body weight taking me down just under 61Kg's, not a safe weight for me. I spent the next week regaining this body weight and began training again the Friday after Windsor feeling very weak.

The Monday saw me complete 5.5 hours of training in the form of swimming and a brick session, but I really felt this on the Tuesday. Another tough swim session that evening coupled with a long run left me feeling quite flat. I decided to swim on the morning of the race to spin the arms out, but this really didn't work. I completed a short run with some strides in preparation for the race that evening and thought I may just be ok.

After 2.5 hours in the car I arrived and had 15 minutes to set everything up, oops. I had also forgotten my helmet but a kind spectator allowed me to borrow his, thanks again Mr Man. I set up my transition and proceeded to put on my wetsuit in a hurry, putting my finger nails through the top layer of neoprene, boo.

Race briefing started and ended, we jumped in the lake and the hooter went. I sprinted away with a constant burn in my arms and just put up with it. I led out the swim, putting about 90 seconds into the next competitor. I kept my head down and TT'd the bike trying not to get caught and came into T2 still in first place. I ran out of transition and just pushed hard but felt sick the entire run. I posted an ok run split of 18 min's and 8 seconds, and thought this was ok considering.

I finished in 1st place overall and drove home feeling even flatter. I continued on with the training for the rest of the week and since then I have returned to my pre-Windsor condition.

Prior to Windsor was the Blenheim Triathlon. Very little shall be said about this due to rather disappointing race. Here is a description in not many words. Swim, wrong place, poor spotting, turn buoy, miles down, exit water, run up hill, hit bike, pack are lazy, shivering due to cold, off bike, run, still cold, cross line, rubbish. Is Windsor really nxt week?

The only other result I really had, posting a very disappointing time whilst messing up the swim, was at the Thames Turbo Sprint Race 3. Basically, I got in, moved into the next lane too soon and got shouted at. After another couple of mess ups I was back on course. Hit the bike, got stuck at the traffic lights that you do have to stop at (and always should, of course) got caught and had about 4 minutes put into me over 21k, I have concluded time trialing is not my forte. I came into transition, racked my bike, went out on the run and wasn't really thinking about it too much. I went a bit too easy and posted a disappointing run split.

I placed 1st in my category, but 9th overall. Not good and a real wake up as this was only 4 weeks before Windsor. This served well as it made me aware it was time to get my butt in gear.

Windsor Tri

Well, I haven't really posted too much of how things are going in terms of results so here goes...

So far my best result this season came at the Windsor Triathlon, where I placed 11th overall in the Elite wave (after corrected results). The race itself went ok but there is still lots of work to be done. I started off the swim pretty well, but after about 300m had the lovely experience of being pushed under the water and having my goggles hit off on the right hand side. I don't remember the last time I felt so miserable in a swim but just accepted it and got down to business.

I exited about 50 seconds down of the front pack with a small group of other athletes. I didn't panic too much as I knew there were a number of other athletes behind and a pack would form. After about 15k a big second pack had formed and we were motoring along, although the work being done was quite infrequent, but a few of us took our turns. Heading towards the turn point on the bike, we caught sight of the front pack and knew we would catch them in a few k's. With about 10k's to go, the two packs had merged and a few attacks went off of the front. I was sitting a little too far back in the pack though and learnt this was not the place to be. I came into T2 at the back of the front pack but had lost about 30 seconds on the front runners, a tough deficit to pull back.

I threw my running shoes on and headed out of T2 ready for the 10k ahead, by now the conditions had heated up significantly. It took a little while to find my legs and when they arrived they really didn't feel that great. I realised I was not going to get close to the top guys and decided to run my own race. I think dropping my gel on the bike didn't really help too much.

Three laps later it was time to head towards the finish line. With a little sprint finish I crossed the line with a final time of 1.57. After looking at the run splits, I noted I had run 37 mins which is miles off of what I should be running. As such, some tough brick sessions have been put into the programme to increase my run strength. Hopefully this will bring me closer to the 33 minutes I expect to run this season. All I can say is bring on Athlone on July 18th.

Ok, time to sort this out...

Apologies... It has been ages since my last post again, I just seem to be losing track of all time at the moment

So, what has been going on in my world I hear you ask?

Since the last post I have been working on a modified running technique moving towards a forefoot strike and heel touch. This has been going pretty well, although the calf soreness I suffered with initially was not particularly nice. I am feeling considerably lighter on my feet and my actual posture when running is much more upright and relaxed. I have managed a few decent mileage weeks hitting 100k several times but unfortunately, I have been having a few issues with my shins due to the change in foot mechanics brought about by forefoot striking. This has resulted in needing my orthotics to be modified, yay. Therefore it is back to the podiatrist I go for some in shoe pressure testing, although not for another month

I have also been crit racing up at Crystal Palace on Tuesday nights. This is excellent for getting some much needed bike strength and leg speed. I have also been running off the bike after the 60 minutes of racing to get the legs used to the hurt of the first 2K's of the run. Despite many attempts I am yet to get away in a break but one week it will come together.

My swimming has been getting stronger. Now it is just a case of transferring the strength I have from weight sessions to the water by increasing the number of K's per week. Over the next few months I will be looking towards 25k of swimming with some 4k sets on low swim and rest times

Right... Time to get back to work before I upset the general manager.

Catch you soon.

Back from Ireland

I have arrived back in London following a short training camp based in Limerick, Ireland. I spent the week training with a number of the Ireland Triathlon Squad, all of whom are a great group of people who I would like to thank again for making me feel so welcome.

It was good to train with a squad again, something I have missed since returning from Australia last year. All your sessions become much more enjoyable, and no matter the discomfort you feel you know other people are hurting too.

We went out on a few rides, a couple of short and one long. The shorter rides consisted of some interval work whilst the longer ride rolled around a few of the hills in the Irish countryside. A spontaneous King of the 'Undulations' contest arose on the long ride with victory going to
David O' Toole, but I still contest I did not know where the top of the climb was.

This timing of the camp served as an excellent indicator of work that needs to be done before hitting race season with good form. I definitely need to do more strength work for in the pool and need to increase my running mileage whilst improving technique too. Fortunately there is still time to do this so I remain positive that I will be in good shape this season.

Thankfully the weather was good for the entire time I was there so the wet weather gear didn't have to make an appearance. Fortunately, it looks as if this weather will continue for the next few days too helping me maintain the benefits of the camp. Time to unpack.

Huh..? March already...

I really can't believe it is already March. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad thing as it means Spring is almost upon us. Reluctantly the cold weather gear starts to make it's way to the bottom of the draw, although it is still too early for it to take it's place there for a prolonged period of time.

After my disappointing end to 2008 I have started to use a slightly different programme consisting of a 5 week cycle. After putting two of these cycles together I am starting to feel strong again, consistency really is the key. Swimming feels easier, I feel stronger on the bike and my run feels like there is a spring in my step.

I am off to Ireland this Wednesday for a 6 day training camp so a few easy days prior to this are in order. This will let me regain my flexibility and recover from my last couple of weeks of hard training. I am really looking forward to getting away from London for a few days, and especially looking forward to a 45 mile bike race that a few of us will take part in this weekend.

After returning home I will have a couple of easy days to benefit from the training before it's time to ramp it up again. Bring on the hurt and racing season.

Thanks to Craft clothing

I would like to say a quick thank you to Craft clothing for helping me out with some running gear for the winter months, this has certainly made it easier for me to put in the miles in the bitter cold that seems to have swept over the UK.

I would like to make special mention of the compression socks they sent through, which are great to train in and really comfortable. Compared to another manufacturers compression socks, they are easier to put on and a much more suitable length. Keep an eye out for them as they are soon to be released.

Another year closer

2009 is upon us and to me it serves as a reminder of how quickly time passes. It has been almost 7 years since I started to take part in Triathlon and the progress I have managed to make is clear, but the rate at which I have improved needs to increase.

How can I improve quicker? Efficiency, consistency and recovery; vital ingredients to every athletes training. After the poor end to my 2008 this is what I will be striving for in the next few months, although this alone may not be enough of a change.

The foot injury I picked up in November has eased enough to allow me to run without consequence the next day. I have also managed to start building up the muscle mass I lost when I was ill helping me to feel stronger in all disciplines.

But training must be resumed gradually as it is at these times you are at risk of picking up injuries and getting run down again, something I certainly can't afford to happen.