Ironman Simon

Paradise Tri Training: NICK BALDWIN, Seychelles, 2nd 18-24 Kona Ironman C...

2011-10-14T09:03:00.000+01:00

Paradise Tri Training: NICK BALDWIN, Seychelles, 2nd 18-24 Kona Ironman C...: I would like to share Nick's Blog with you, this is coming from a highly motivated and inspirational athlete even at the age of 23. http...

Norwich Sprint Triathlon

2011-07-04T12:04:00.000+01:00

Race time again and good to be back, after a steady week of active recovery from Reedham 10km I was keen to and ready to be back and racing again. Norwich Sprint Triathlon was on the cards on Sunday, 750m Swim, 18km Bike, 5.5km Run

My Swim went really well and managed to find clear water and also pick up the leaders feet early into the swim (12:22min). Exiting the water down by 20sec I soon clawed this back as I powered through transition in a mere 34seconds, to mount the bike back with the leader. I struggled to get the bike going as there was a tightness in my gluets, purhaps the after effects of the ITB issues. Through out the bike I managed to keep a 30sec gap of the leader, to come into T2 2nd place and 3rd was 4min back so comfortably in 2nd. (29:05min) Once out of T2 I managed to get into reasonable pace running, with the run being off road through woods and 5.5km. The sun was out and getting warm but once again I like heat. Not making much gain to 1st the gap pretty much stayed the same with 1st running 8seconds faster than me. (23:03min).

All in all I was very happy with my performance other than the bike not being being able to role as normal, due to me rather than the bike. The bike itself was a promo bike from www.streetlifecycles.co.uk I was asked to ride the Ridley TT/Triathlon Bike, Phaeton T....... full report on bike to come.

Recovery from ITB problems

2011-07-01T22:40:00.000+01:00

Well after a long 3 weeks of no running, just a bit of cycling and open water swimming, I have now been able to do 5:30hrs of running whilst away in France for 2 weeks. A variation of short 30min runs to no longer than 60min, running in woods and on great Western Coastal beaches in France. Stretching and self-massage has been a daily routine, painful but really beneficial, this stretching and roller massage will continue for a long time on both legs not just the injured one.

On return to UK I entered Reedham 10km road run, really hot day and a reasonably lumpy course. Looking to go certainly no longer than 40min would be good off rehab work, I set off at the front of the pack in the first 10 keeping a close eye on 1km pace.
splits per km; 3:44, 3:30, 3:41, 3:58, 3:57, 3:48, 4:00, 4:01, 3:51, 3:57
5km 18:52; 5-10km 19:37 38:29min really happy with this result 11th overall and a very good well paced. Cooled down well and stretched after.
http://www.gydac.org.uk/sites/default/files/Humpty%20Dumpty%2010K%20Individual%20Results.pdf

Next event is Norwich Triathlon Sprint Sunday 3rd July 2011

Norwich 50 and Rest Recovery

2011-06-06T20:45:00.000+01:00

Name: Norwich 50mile Bike Ride
Date: 5 Jun 2011 8:26 am
Distance: 49.4 miles
Elapsed Time: 2:15:34
Avg Speed: 21.9 mph
Max Speed: 35.7 mph
Avg Pace: 02' 45" per mile

Really pleased with my ride this weekend gone, was able to get out on the TT bike and head down and do some good riding. The knee was still playing up and now also an effect on the ankle, having to ride with a flat foot so will be reviewing the cleats used on my shoes.

2 weeks rest with a bit of recovery of injury and will also start some conditioning and technique for running, also will be doing some swim base session. I'm actually on holiday ing France but well deserved with family and hopefully recover on knee issues.

Injury ITB

2011-06-02T08:57:00.001+01:00

http://www.time-to-run.com/injuries/thebig5/itb.htm

Iliotibial Band Syndrome – ITB

Definition: Pain and inflammation on the outside of the knee, where the iliotibial band (a muscle on the outside of the thigh) becomes tendinous, and results in a friction syndrome by rubbing against the femur (thigh bone) as it runs alongside the knee joint.

Symptoms:
Initially, a dull ache 1-2 kilometres into a run, with pain remaining for the duration of the run. The pain disappears soon after stopping running, later, severe sharp pain which prevents running pain is worse on running downhills, or on cambered surfaces pain may be present when walking up or downstairs.

Local tenderness and inflammation

Causes:
Anything that causes the leg to bend inwards, stretching the ITB against the femur overpronation (feet rotate too far inward on impact) tightness of the ITB muscle lack of stretching of the ITB incorrect or worn shoes excessive hill running (especially downhills) and running on cambered surfaces overtraining

For Treatment Methods go to http://www.time-to-run.com/injuries/thebig5/itb.htm

Tour of Wessex

2011-05-31T14:17:00.000+01:00

It's been a while............

2011-05-16T12:20:00.000+01:00

Well it has been a long time since I have updated Blog, main reason has been that I have been developing myself as a Coach rather than an athlete. However I have not retired from competing, sorry to disapoint my wife. Where should I start well lets's start where I left off.

I returned from Rwanda, took a bit of hard earned R&R, maybe a little too much. However as mentioned above I was in full swing of launching Paradise Triathlon Training and had a lot of work to promote the first training camp to Seychelles in early 2011. I am not really going to mention too much about PTT in this Blog as you can view updates on website or Facebook Page Paradise Tri Training FB

Whilst on the Camp I took part in the ECO Healing 1/2 Marathon in Seychelles. Very warm conditions even though we started at 7am. The course was one of the toughest courses I have done as it undulated along an out and back coastal road. I managed to finish in 1:32hr which I was very happy with considering I had very little miles training in my legs. I finished 7th overall with a sprint finish with 3 other guys.

Through out the camp I was involved in more of coaching the athletes on the camp then any of my own personal training as it was fro their benefit. There is a a lot of feedback and things to develop for future camps and training holidays in Seychelles, but they are all positive and a way forward.

On return to UK in March I have been focusing of enjoying the 3 sports of swimming, cycling and running. By this I mean that I have entered a few events this year that will be challenging but enjoyable. On my return to UK I have done the Bungay Blackdog 1/2 Marathon to which I came home in 1:30hr, not brilliant but once again still able to bring back the sub 1:25hr with a little bit of endurance and speed work. I have entered the Tour of Wessex 28-30 May, a 3 day Sportif cycle Tour 106 / 117 / 106 miles and then a week later I am doing the Dragon Ride another Sportif ride in Wales 200km. So been getting a lot of miles in my legs recently and love being on the bike.

Last weekend I raced at Homepierpoint Nottingham, in the Emergency Service Triathlon Championships 2011. 750m Swim, 20km Bike , 5km Run. I went into this with very little expectations, previous years I have moved up the ranks 7th 2009, 4th in 2010. The swim was really busy and one of the worst swims I have ever had, almost drowning 3 times, taking on water and goggles were knocked even further into my eye socket. I exited the water in about 15th place on 12:03min, really good transition with wetsuit coming of to plan. Out on the bike, head down and driving hard on out section and then back into head wind as always on this course on the way back, averaging 25.26 mph for the ride covering the 20km in 29:32min I came into T2 and out onto the run in 1st spot in pack of 5, with two relay teams just ahead. Running well off the bike for the first 2km, getting into fast cadence and running tall, only one other was able to come with me. We ran together till the 2.5km mark and he came through and ran a lot better into the head wind to the finish beating me by 15sec (20min 5km). I was very pleased with efforts and Silver at National Champs. Awesome

Africa Champs and Tour of Rwanda 2010

2010-12-30T13:24:00.000Z

Have not entered for a few months now so thought I might just paste in some entries from my Facebook page to recap what has been going on .........................

"TTT today at Africa champs Rwanda, very disappointed with my effort I dropped of the back of the team, struggled with altitude 5000ft and heat 35c and the hills. Rwanda is known as country of a 1000 hills. Got rest day tomorrow training at 9 then TT on Friday 33 km very hilly."

"‎33km with 8km hill down and back"

"Feeling a bit better today with a 40km ride in my legs getting ready for TT tomorrow"

"Went a lot better today but still big effort, 21.2miles avg 22mph max speed 51mph (82km/h). Put it this way I was not last today, i caught the guy 1min ahead of me from Uganda. I have realised I am not a hill climber 73kg, most of these guys are 50-60kg, i am the fat boy, but i used that to my advantage on the descent."

"Reckied the road race course at 0900 this morning, wow this course would never be allowed in Europe, 6 speed humps in the 12km loop and some are not humps they are steps and on a descent. 2 sharp corners "steady" and two tough sharp climbs. I will be there on the start line, 150 riders from 22 nations for the Africa Cycling Champs here in Kigali, Rwanda. AFRIca for those that don't know"

"Tour of Rwanda Stage 1 , spent, spanked and eliminated due to cut off time behind winner. I am nakerd check out the climbs on this baby."

Low mileage High Intensity

2010-10-26T20:36:00.000+01:00

With 2010 season being an adventerous one, it has only just begun, Ironman, Crash in Seychelles Tour. For most athletes living in the UK winter starts and training slows down, not for this year. Earlier this year I was given the opportunity to go and ride in the Mid Year Tour in Seychelles for the cycling Federation to see how I ride, or should I say crash. However I have seemed to impressed the Federation to select me to make up the team to go to the Africa Cycling Champs in Kigali, Rwanda. 10 Nov Team Time Trial, 12 Nov Individual TT and 14th Nov Road Race. This is an amazing opportunity to add to my sporting CV and also to represent my country at a high level of sporting event. Trying to travel with a bike on airlines is costly enough but with me taking TT bike and road bike I await for the bill or sponsorship from Kenyan Airways.

Only a week ago I received a text message from the Seychelles Team Manager asking me if I was available to stay on in Rwanda for the Tour of Rwanda to ride in a team of 6 riders from Seychelles. Once again an opportunity very difficult to decline, however with a 9 stage tour being on the back end of the Africa Champs family are starting to miss me already. www.tourofrwanda.com/

http://www.tourofrwanda.com/

Round Norfolk Relay & Debut for Seychelles

2010-09-27T09:20:00.000+01:00

Racing has slowed down and training is starting to tick over on a low level. At the begining of every season I look through the race calender and start booking them but the Round Norfolk Relay is an event that I just have to enter and be a team member of Tri-Anglia's relay Team. With me only being available after work from 6pm onwards I was put down for Stage 11, 14.64 miles start time approximately 10:22pm. Yes that was pm, the RNR is a 24hr run relay from Kings Lyn round coastal route to Great Yarmouth and then down to Thetford and back across to Kings Lyn a total of 196miles.

Obviously dark when I started, followed by support crew in a car with amber light and high viz vest on me. A good steady start with just the dark loanly road ahead until about 2 miles in I sighted an amber flashing light in the distance. Focused on this and determined to catch the team ahead I started to run them down. It did start to get a bit cold in the open areas but I soon made endsway on the 14.64 miles. My target pace was 7min/mile however I came in to finish with a pace of 6:44 min/mile Very pleased with my efforts and a big thank you to Dave Lines and Mark Philo for supporting.
http://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/G276HRO5UUG3DBTSTFFYQJNQHY

I have now been given the knod from Seychelles, in reference to the Seychelles National Cycling Team. I have been selected to go to African Cycling Championships in Rwanda 10-14 November 2010. I will be taking part in the Team Time Trial 10th Nov, Individual Time Trial 12th Nov and the Road Race 14th Nov. I am hoping to be flying direct to Rwanda to meet up with the rest of the Sey squad. This is my debut for Seychelles and am very excited, however just a few concerns on the organisation of the team and flight details as things are done at last minute most of the time. I am awaiting for the Sey Team to return from Commenwealth Games and then I will get more details on this. It will be tough to continue training in UK as rain and cold is on its way, however the turbo will be used quite a bit I guess.

Rest and Recovery complete

2010-08-27T10:57:00.000+01:00

Well Ironman seems ages ago now, really 4 weeks ago. What have I been upto, now that I have decided to concentrate on Olympic distance I have been doing some speed work and trying to stay fit and well. I have 16 weeks till Africa Cup Triathlon in Mauritius 19th December.

15 August British National Tri Champs 13th out of 67 (30-35 age group)

This was a last minute entry to see what speed I still had in my legs, if any, after Ironman. The swim was where I struggled (alot of work needed) 24:31min for the 1500m. The bike course was potentially a fast course but it was extended due to road works and so was a 43km completing in 1:06:44 (24.01 mph). On the 10km run I felt very heavy legs and struggled to run freely, it was a very congested run course 3 laps flat and fast with 700 athletes on the course 39:04min. Overall I was reasonably pleased with my efforts and saw where I need effort for change form endurance to speed.

Come back down to earth and reality, I need to sit down and sort out my weekly day to day training to do myself justice as turning up on the start line for even just the lowest profile race, I need to be fit and well and have put the triaining in. I have been involved in Triathlons for the past 18yrs, I have achieved many goals and targets.

21 Aug. Nottingham Relays

This event is always a really good training session, being able to go all out for each event and having time to recover between Swim Bike Run. Also I really enjoy the Social side of things with club and fellow Triathletes, catching up with the old and new over the years. Tri-Anglia (my club) managed to collate 6 teams this year which was great and I was a member with Rob, Tom and Ian. We managed to bag 6th place in the Open Team cat. I decided to use my road bike with no tri bars as starting to prepare for draft legal races, I am hoping to get the chance to race in some next year as preparation for ATU Races in under Seychelles.

http://africa.triathlon.org/

Tri-Anglia 2 Open 03:25:04

Rob Lines         06:24    22:09    22:15
Tom Pullinger    08:29    23:48    20:59
Iain Robertson  06:47    29:17    17:08
Simon Brierley   06:52 22:13    18:38

WHAT IS NEXT.....................

12 Sept          Lowestoft Scores Race,   4.75 miles including 409 steps
18/19 Sept      Round Norfolk Relay,      I am running Stage 11, 14.6 miles starting at midnight
                       http://79.170.42.3/roundnorfolkrelay.com/course_map.pdf
10 Oct            Marriott's Way 10km Run
17 Oct            Great Notley Duathlon, 4km/20km/4km
            http://www.born2tri.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/competitorsnotesNotley2010.pdf

Ironman Lake Placid Report

2010-08-05T21:06:00.000+01:00

IM Lake Placid 2010

After completing my first ever Ironman in Roth Germany 2009, I returned to my wife asking me if I wish to do another IM. It did not take long till I was looking to see where to go and with making it a family holiday as well I let Nicola choose where. Training was a lot clearer this time round as I knew what I needed to do and the “game plan” for an IM what it was all about.

7hr flight to JFK and then a very easy 6hr drive to Lake Placid, northern New York State. On route beautiful scenery and then on the approach to Lake Placid town we started to drive on the bike course which was getting me excited for the route as it was beautiful. Enough of the soppy talk from me and start talking hard Ironman stuff. We arrived late Wednesday afternoon to showers and lightning, was it going to be a repeat 2008 race day. Thursday morning swim in the lake and run in the afternoon, Friday swim AM and bike the run course PM and Sat AM swim and bike drop off PM.

RACE DAY

The weather, you could not ask for a better day the rain stayed off avg 25C, slight cloud cover.

SWIM;

The elites had a no wetsuit swim as water was warm, thankfully we were ok for wetsuits. 2600 on the start line, my first ever mass swim start of the kind. I found myself at the front just 5 back and maybe I entered the water a bit too early as I found myself treading water for 15 min to the sound of “Stars spangled banner”. BANG we were off and for the 3 guys just in front of me, they should have not been there, sorry guys for swimming over the top of you. If you have never experienced drafting in the swim this was the time to get dragged round the first lap, exited the first 1900m in just under 27min, finishing the SWIM 1:01HR. Slower 2^nd lap but hey very happy with it considering my lack of pool and lake time for training.

BIKE;

“save something for the run” this was the phrase going through my head through-out the bike. In the first 5 miles you go from flat to steady climb to the 2219ft (677m) then descending to 587ft(200m) in 5miles hitting max speed of 45mph. On my 1^st lap as approached the top of the descent I heard a tapping noise from front wheel, look down and saw a yellow mark going round with my wheel. I ran my gloved hand on the tyre and it was stuck fast. Decided to carry on to the bottom of the descent and then I stopped and only then realised it was a drawing pin, oops PHEWWW. I pulled the pin and obviously had to then change my tyre, not bad I think it took me 6-7min. The rest of the lap is an undulating with a out and back then head home to Lake Placid. For the last 20miles is a steady climb totalling 350m, this course can blow some people to bits if you go too hard on 1^st lap you will suffer the 2^nd time coming home. 1^st lap 2:50hr 2^nd lap 3:00hr 5:50hr BIKE

RUN;

26.6miles the last time I ran this distance I walked most of it, so I was determined to do better. My target was 4hrs for the marathon. I felt good relaxed and ready for the run, I had to hold myself back for the early stages, so focused on no quicker than 8:30/mile, by 10miles I was on 8:49/mile and ran the first lap ½ marathon in 1:57:15 hr (8:56/mile). My moto for the run of an ironman is that if you are going to walk, walk the feed stations, but walk fast. As soon as you start walking it is difficult to motivate and get going, not any sort of encouragement will get you going again if you walk too slow. Pump the arms and drive the legs take on the fluid and food, easier to do walking than running. I walked feeding stations, I admit it but I finished the RUN 4:07hr and I was very happy with that. Coming Home in TOTAL 11:10:23HR

BIB   AGE   STATE/COUNTRY   PROFESSION
354   31   NORWICH SEY   Fire Fighter

SWIM         BIKE      RUN      OVERALL                  RANK   DIV.POS.
1:01:07   5:50:40   4:07:22   11:10:23                        382      70
LEG                       DISTANCE                       PACE      RANK   DIV.POS.
TOTAL SWIM               2.4 mi.   (1:01:07)  1:36/100m     229       36

BIKE SPLIT 1: 30 mi.   30 mi. (1:22:25)      21.84 mph
BIKE SPLIT 2: 56 mi.   26 mi. (1:27:39)      17.80 mph
BIKE SPLIT 3: 86 mi.   30 mi. (1:19:47)      22.56 mph
BIKE SPLIT 4: 112 mi.   26 mi. (1:40:49)    15.47 mph
TOTAL BIKE                 112 mi. (5:50:40)   19.16 mph     350        59

RUN SPLIT 1: 5.7             5.7 mi. (49:48)     8:44/mile
RUN SPLIT 2: 11.9 mi       6.2 mi. (1:00:47)   9:48/mile
RUN SPLIT 3: 26.2 mi     14.3 mi. (2:16:47)   9:33/mile
TOTAL RUN                    26.2 mi. (4:07:22)   9:26/mile   382       70

TRANSITION   TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE   6:55
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN   4:19

4 days to Ironman Lake Placid 2010

2010-07-22T02:31:00.000+01:00

Well it was a 6 hour drive that could have been the worst drive of my life, but it was the complete opposite. amazing clear free flowing roads and in the last 40miles the scenary was really something. So was the rain, it absolutly came down with thunder and lightning. Some of the roads and their descents were crazy and there's me thinking it was the cycle route, it was but the other way, so climbing, more about the bike route later. Arrived at our accomodation for the next 6 days, Schulte's Lodge right on the roadside of the bike and run course and only a mile from the transition and Start/Finish.

Unpacked and put bike together, need to borrow a track pump to inflate tyres. Up for a morning swim in the lake then some breakfast and then a reckie of the bike course tomorrow I think will be good with picnic lunch on course. Went to the "local store" today Big stocked up on breakfast and lunch food and some high calorie food.

Will get a 20min jog in tomorrow in the afternoon, also the Ironman Village opens so will have a visit there.

1 Week to IM Lake Placid

2010-07-13T11:16:00.000+01:00

The past few weeks have been a mix of training and racing, finally recovered from my crash over in Seychelles at the Mid Year tour. My swimming has taken a back seat with the lack of disciplin and my work shifts clashing with time for Lake sessions. Biking has been really good getting in some good long rides and also combination of 1-2hr TT's with 2hr runs off the bike.

Norwich Tri was my last race before IM LP, a hot day ahead and having trained the bike course I felt I was on for a good finishing time. The swim was long after a 26min swim (very long 1700m), I struggled to get the bike going slight head wind 61min and as for the run well this was good for me as IM training with distance, run should have been 10km but it was 11.5km I took 47min. Finishing in 2:16hr, a whole 13min longer than Fritton lake. I came 4th overall for Norwich.

Recovered well and continued training, now with only a week until I depart to New York I have decided not to Taper but just tick over as I have not hit the 17hrs /week of training more like 10-12hr and then the last week I will reduce down to 3-4hrs with very short sessions.

They have changed the Bike course for IM LP, but for the better as they have taken out a hill, but it is still going to be challenging.

The Run course is one of the toughest hilly courses on the IM circuit but looking forward to it.

Seychelles Tour Ends in Crash Stage 4 of 5 Stages....more later

2010-06-13T12:21:00.000+01:00

25th May 2010

2010-05-25T11:32:00.003+01:00

Sponsorship Reynolds Wheels
I have recently been in contact with the UK Rep for Reynolds Wheels and they have agreed to offer me sponsorship for the season. I will riding two different wheels which I can vary on the rear.

Well I have started to be very busy with races under way now for 2010.

999 Emergency Service Sprint Tri Champs

Very cold water conditions caused the swim to be reduced from 750m to 500m swim thankfully, however the sun was shining. Swim went ok I guess could have been better came out the water in in 32nd position 7:45min 40seconds down on the leaders. With a head wind on the back straight for the bike and tail going out I soon got into rythym and a very pleasing ride for the 20km in 29:32min (avg 25.24mph) and heading out onto the run in 7th place. Chasing down and running very well managed to bring in 3 others to finish a 19min 5km run and in 4th place overall.

www.xtramileevents.com/eventresults/2010/VUE-National-Emergency-Services-Triathlon/9.html

Coventry 1/2 Marathon

Wow what a scorcher 27C and also a fast day for me. Really pleased with my performance and was able to run 1:23:33hr 6:22min/mile. My quads were starting to tighten up in the last 2 miles, being chased down I pressed on and was able to hold a 6:25 and 6:49 min mile for mile 12 & 13. Finishing 14th out of 2200 entrances and 1900 finishes for the day.

Suffolk 50mile Ride

2010-05-11T12:35:00.000+01:00

There is me thinking the weather is going to be getting better, turned up to Woodbridge Bike event in Suffolk on Sunday. Decided to change to the 100km route rather than the 100m, but due to signage being moved I ended up doing only 50miles. Used my QR TT bike and felt very comfortable and was able to maintain an average speed of 20.1mph, finishing in 2:30hr. Got back to the car wet and cold, and managed to get changed and drag my self off for a 6mile run. Very happy with my motivation to do brick session and through the run i ran out of drink and had no gels with me. Felt like I had done an Ironman, far from it.

Last week I did my first 10mTT Kettringham, 25:02min, lumpy course but pleased with first TT of the Year. I also took part in the Ixworth Criterium racing, different sort of racing and hard and fast miss the front row from the grid and you will be left behind. 800meter loop ride for 20min then 5laps. Hard, did I say that already.

Trying to sort out a new Road racing bike as my training Felt is good for training and started to wear, but need something lighter and faster for road races.

Monthly Totals

2010-04-15T10:04:00.000+01:00

My Totals for the past 28 Days :-

SWIM  - 24,000 m      10 hrs
BIKE    - 430 miles      23 hrs
RUN     - 69 miles        10 hrs

RACING - Duathlon 2.2m Run/ 25m bike / 4.4m       1:50 hr

Warm Weather Welcome

2010-04-08T09:21:00.000+01:00

Temperatures have started to increase in the UK, sun is shining but still rain loomes every now and then. The past few weeks haver entailed an average of 7-9 hrs training mainly bike sessions. However my running pace is becoming comfortable and relaxed, working on running under the body, upright, not overstriding, mid-fore foot striking and a rythmic cadence of 90-95/min.

Yesterdays run was 13.8 miles, the time does not really matter, it is more about looking at my Heart Rate and which was an average of 144bpm I finished fresh and was even able to run the last 2 miles at an increased pace. The majority of my run was 7-8 min/mile pace, looking at maintaining this for another 13 miles. Possible !!! It is all about the initial pace from off the bike, find your feet slow and steady, maintain a relaxed style and comfortable for the first 10miles. Then the next 10miles will require concentration to maintain good body position, foot strike, relaxed upper body, nutrition and bring it home.

EPiC Week ended on a HIGH

2010-03-29T13:04:00.001+01:00

For the past week Sun 21 - Sun 28 March I decided to increase my amount of training hours, seeing that I had a few days off work but still had to work night shifts.

Sunday 21st   Bike   1:50 hr 33.32 miles 18.2mph

Tues   23rd   Swim       1 hr 2000 meters

Wed    24th    Bike   3:30 hr 65.55 miles 18.7mph
                       Run        51min 6.2  miles 9:38/mile

Thurs   25th   Swim        1hr   2500meters
                       BikeTT 1:02hr 23.06miles 22.2mph
                       Run      1:56 hr 13.6 miles 8:32/mile

Fri        26th   SwimTT 23:22min 1500 meters
                       Bike    1:24hr 25.59 miles 19.5 mph

Sat       27th   Bike    4:07 hr 70.41 miles 17.1 mph

Sun      28th   Run/Bike/Run 2.25/25/4.5

POS Name Run1 Bike Run2 Total

1 Simon Brierley 00:13:57      01:06:54     00:29:24     01:50:15        6:12/mile  22.42mph 6:32/mile
2 Mark Nowell      00:15:59       01:07:09      00:34:12      01:57:20
3 Dave Maslen      00:14:24       01:11:44      00:32:05       01:58:13
4 Chris Clarke       00:14:24       01:11:46      00:32:41      01:58:51
5 Matt Spillman      00:15:52      01:10:12      00:34:10      02:00:14
6 Graham Coulter    00:15:30     01:13:25      00:32:43      02:01:38
7 Radek Bohm      00:14:38      01:19:02      00:28:59      02:02:39
8 Nigel Hodge      00:14:37       01:20:59      00:31:52      02:07:28
9 Mark Philo         00:16:38       01:16:39      00:34:34      02:07:51
10 Lynn Emmett    00:15:00       01:21:30      00:32:50      02:09:20
11 Roland Shaw   00:16:33       01:18:45      00:34:34      02:09:52
12 Roger Slee       00:16:38       01:16:40     00:37:26       02:10:44
13 Ian Chatten       00:18:25      01:22:21      00:36:56       02:17:42
14 Glyn Thomas     00:17:11      01:24:35     00:41:56       02:23:42
15 George LWilliams 00:16:28   01:29:52     00:39:19       02:25:39

TOTALS
SWIM         6000 m                                     3   hrs
BIKE          242.93 miles (391km)              13 hrs
RUN            25.67 miles (41.3km)             3.5 hrs
                                                                   19.5 hrs

EPiC Camp

2010-03-16T13:39:00.000Z

Well next week I was supposed to be travelling to Seychelles to launch the Seychelles Triathlon Federation, however due to delay in the launch I have found myself with a week off work. So I have arranged to do a solid week of training, otherwise known as an EPiC week. A week of training that trains the body and the brain to make it through, doing more than a normal weeks training. To help me get through this I have invited some fellow Triathletes to accompany me on some of the sessions. Some can make it some can't, the likes of Rob Lines who is in his Taper weeks to Ironman Oz http://www.roblines.blogspot.com/ check out his build up 2 weeks to go.

Drop me an email to say if you would like to jon me on some of the sessions ironmansimon@yahoo.co.uk

or Join the Facebook Group

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=372350049548

Wednesday 24th

0900 - 1000 UEA SWIM
1030 - 1400 UEA SportsPark BIKE Long bike (4hrs) Run 60min off bike

Thursday 25th
1000 - 11:30 Whittlingham Lake BIKE TT 25 mile
1130 - 1400 Whittlingham Lake RUN Long Run (2:30hr)
2000 - 2100 Riverside SWIM, EAST SWIMMING CLUB

Friday 26th
0900 - 1000 UEA Sports Park SWIM TT 3000m
1100 - 1300 Whittlingham Lake DuathlonRUN/BIKE/RUN

Saturday 27th
0800 - 0900 UEA SWIM, EAST SWIMMING CLUB
0930 - 1430 UEA BIKE Long Bike (5hrs)

Wymondham 20 miler

2010-03-07T20:26:00.000Z

Well it was a good start to the 20mile run today, 10 mile at 65min, but then at 15 miles my niggle from the begining of the week came and haunted me. Left outside calf really sharp and sore, could not run for too long so was resorted to walk/run/walk/run and so on. Will now have to recover and not run for the rest of the week will have chance to swim and bike but will have to see and get leg sorted, need to keep moving and will try and sort runnig out by next week.

Joined up with New Race

2010-02-23T13:42:00.003Z

http://www.streetlifecycles.co.uk/streetliferacing/

With the new season approaching very fast I have been invted to join up with a Streetlife Race Team which is run mainly through Streetlife Bike shop in Norwich. However the riders are linked and supported by Norwich City College, For Goodness Shake "Food for Sport", Specialised and Extreme Sports Therapy Unit.

Streetlife Race Team supports a select number of riders who specialise in biking sports (Road, cyclo X, MTB, Time Trialing, Triathlon etc) Not only will they be able to support me with tehnical advise, but also through the efforts of other teams members training together, I will advance my training an racing to better my performances over the coming season.

New Home, New Training Routes

2010-02-11T11:34:00.000Z

Well it has "only" taken us 3 months to finally move house, we are now in the Northern suburbs of Norwich and settled but still a few full boxes in the garage. Training has been on hold quite a bit, through sickness, stress and also due to weather, aswell as my bikes being stored in the garage behind everything else.

My order has gone in for a Powertap rear wheel, which I am renting and will be used in my training. When people ride a bike they tend to get into an irregular rythym, fast slow fast slow. With trianing with a Powermeter you get to measure the amount of power being produced by each pedal stroke, once the cyclist has found out their optimal power output they can then train to maintain that over certain periods of time and distance. Also utilising Heart rate the cyclist can compare power output and amount of effort the body is going through by comparing HR to Power output.

Here are a few run sessions I have done this week......

Run TT
3 miles
6:38 min/mile
19:56 min
http://api.motionxlive.com/motionx-remote/api/gps/host/8e48678e-9516-4e53-8b2a-c9fdf56c7356

Run City-Home

6.2 miles

8:14 min/mile

51:08 min

http://api.motionxlive.com/motionx-remote/api/gps/host/f580dd1f-238b-4e2c-a85b-5261c1e35d36

2 Days of Gym work

2010-01-09T19:10:00.000Z

Have been off once again for most of the Christmas and New Year period with no training, had flue for 2 weeks and now back and reasonably well. The weather has hindered me and I have not been that committed to go running on roads or trail running so done 2 gym sessions.

Session 1. 20min row (5km) and 20min run (5km) Treadmill- cooldown and stretch with core work
Session 2. 10km treadmill run (50 min) - cooldown and stretch for 20min

24th January is the Tri-Anglia Duathlon training session, other than that it will be back into training. Still in the process of moving house and once this has happened will be changing from Wymondham Gym/Pool back to the UEA Sportspark.

Salts or No Salts

2010-01-06T12:29:00.000Z

There are those who swear by salt tablets, and there are those who swear against them. There are those who swear by 'sports drinks' for the salt and other 'electrolytes' in them, and there are those who sneer at them. There are those who believe in the recent fad for drinking huge volumes of water, and there are those who never do it and think it is dangerous (which it is).

Water makes up around 60% of the total body weight, and major reductions impares normal body performance

Sweat contains the following electroyltes - Sodium, Chloride, Calcium, Potassium and Magnesium - technically these are all salts

Many ... sports drinks contain the above electrolyte to a similar concentration as normal sweat - however the sodium concentration is often HIGHER than the sodium concentration in blood. Sodium (in salt as we know it) absorbs water, and is discharged through the body. Therfore excessive levels of sodium found in sports drinks actually blocks the absorbtion of water in the body.

These electrolytes are best managed by eating a healthy balanced diet,

The Australian Sports Commission and Australian Institute of Sport advise that it is not possible to drink too much water [WRONG] as the body will dispose of what is not necessary. HOWEVER, if a person slips into shock from dehydration water CAN be fatal [true] (follow normal shock proceedures - sipping, moisten lips etc)

I recommend to athletes to begin hydration well before training - 2-3 hours. For high performance I recommend begining hydration before going to bed the night before, drinking plenty of water before sleep and then a further 2 litres on waking. Sure this causes heavy peeing but the body is fully hydrated then for a full days training. I follow similar guidelines before my own training.

The causes of cramps are multi-factorial:- cramps occur in conjunction with heat, cold, dehydration, low blood sodium and/or potassium (& probably other eloctrolytes), fatigue, low blood sugar, high intensity (anaerobic) weight training, low intensity (aerobic) training, etc.

Sometimes cramps occur for no apparent reason (like the cramps I get in the arch of my foot in the middle of the night).

There is great individual variation in cramping - both between individuals experiencing the same conditions, and over time by an individual experiencing the same conditions.

There is no 1 solution to cramping, and many professional athletes continue to suffer cramping despite the assistance of Sports Doctors, Exercise Physiologists, Dieticians and Trainers.

The application of salt (in tablets or drinks) may help some individuals who have a low dietary salt intake, sometimes. However, if the cause of the cramp is not due to low electrolyte levels, electrolytes would probably not assist.

3 weeks into training

2009-10-18T09:55:00.001+01:00

Well what a beautiful morning to start to, tri anglia 10 km run. I'm running to heart rate so 135-146 need to warm up and cool down. See how it goes hold back early days.

Ride with Seychelles National Cycling Team

2009-10-02T10:39:00.007+01:00

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Untitled

www.connect.garmin.com/player/15011675

Shared via AddThis

North Norfolk Triathlon

2009-09-29T16:02:00.001+01:00

http://www.racetimingsystems.com/public/results.aspx?raceid=891

North Norfolk Triathlon

2009-09-05T23:17:00.001+01:00

Well here we are, still ploding along for the close of my season 2009. I am way up in the upper northern parts of Norfolk, Wells to be precise, for the 2nd year running of their Olympic distance triathlon.

Not feeling to great a few niggles from fire cricket match yesterday. Will be happy with 2:14hr, but would like to aim for 21min swim, 1:05hr bike and a 38 min run. So that should be 2:05hr, doesn't really work like that let's see as it is my first Olympic distance for almost 2 yrs. I'll get back to you, need to go to bed now up at 6am night.

Nottingham Weekend

2009-08-26T08:22:00.007+01:00

Well it was good to be back at Nottingham again for National Relays, but for the first time I was not going to race in my club colours or relay team. I offered my services to any team that had had someone drop out at last minute. With which I gained a slot in the Lincoln Relay Team and raced Saturday afternoon. 400m swim, 15km bike and 5 km run. The format for the relays is that 4 in a team everyone completes the swim one after the the other then back to no.1 in the team to bike which everyone does after eachother and so on for the run. Takeing upto 3-4hrs for the quicker teams. I was pleased with my performance concidering I still had Ironman "speed" in my body;

SWIM 7:02 min

BIKE 22:55min

RUN 19:54min

Then on Sunday I was entered into the Sprint Triathlon which was an individual effort not team and a a bit longer than saturdays event. 750m swim/20km bike/5km run.

I felt really sluggish in the swim and did not get into it very well, once on the bike and back into the TT world I pulled out a very pleasing effort and averaged 23.5 mph, there was a strong head wind on the back straight of the loop and it was a 4 lap course. My transition T2 went smooth and was soon off and running at good trunover on leg speed running down 3 people for the run and no one overtaking me 6:41/mile.

SWIM 11:35 min

BIKE 31:41 min

RUN 20:47 min

TOTAL 1:05:40 hr

Finished 13th out of 315 overall very pleased with efforts and wanting to get back into training already. http://www.pacesetterevents.com/docs/results/2009/nottingham09results.pdf

This weekend is my last weekend in completing my Tutor and Assessors course in Triathlon Coaching. I have been taken on by British Triathlon and now part of the Coaching Workforce for BTF in the UK. Training and assessing future coaches at Club level through out the year and on. I also finally completed and sent off my porfolio for Level 2 Club Coach in Triathlon, so expect to be signed off and qualified any day soon.

On Monday I am still tied up in South England with my new coach Rick Kiddle. I have my induction day with Rick and as a result he will be comprising a training programme around my time, family life, work life and also targeting my "Goals" which one is for Ironman Lake Placid as I am entered and looking to take a chunk of a time off my Roth time certainly Sub 11hrs.

Rick has certainly got a history behind him as an Elite Athlete in the World. Ex British triathlon Champion Rick Kiddle competed as an elite athlete worldwide. He has used this combination of 20 years competition experience along with 15 years coaching knowledge to create sought after, successful and innovative training programmes that will help novice and elite athletes to train and race for the results they seek. I'm all yours Rick.

http://www.rickkiddle.com/

Widget

2009-08-24T12:09:00.001+01:00

On the road again

2009-08-17T10:39:00.003+01:00

This week we will be going to Nottingham, for the National Club Relay Champs Saturday and the Nottingham Sprint Triathlon on Sunday. However for the first time in ages I am not in a Relay team as Tri-Anglia has was to late for a team to be entered. SO I AM AVAILABLE TO ANY CLUB NEEDING ONE MORE.

I am however entered into the Sunday Sprint Tri, haveing raced on this course earlier this year at the 999 Emergency Services Champs. I am not Sprint race fit but will give it a good go and it will be nice to be back in triathlons since Ironman.

10:05 750m Swim ; 29:19 20km Bike ; 22:52 6km Run, times from 999 race longer run.

I say "we" are going to Nottingham, Nicola and Joel are coming aswell and we have been kindly lent the in-laws caravan. We go Thursday and have a few days chilling out.

Good Result

2009-08-10T16:52:00.005+01:00

http://maps.google.com/?t=p&z=15&ll=52.5661506652832,1.7068730592727661&q=http://api.motionxlive.com/motionx-remote/api/gps/host/de8c5070-db9b-4646-9e68-2d9057bcf86c

Very pleased with my efforts for the weekend Sunday, had a busy 2 nights on duty so was not very fresh for Sunday morning. Decided to just go out with the leaders on the day and see how my heart rate went in the first few miles, then settled down to just under 170bpm and maintained a good pace. Reached mile 8 and then started to pick the effort up and took heart rate to 170bpm was split at around 6:40 min/mile, at mile 11 I easead off and just slowed it down to bring it home, jogging across the line in total time of

1:26:04 hr pace of 6:33min / mile.

I have been running 1:25 all season for my 1/2 marathons, so very happy with time and effort as I could ease off for the last mile. Finished 8th overall out of 196, but not to concerned about placing more on the time which is GOOD........... Top 3 finishers of Tri-Anglia resulted in us winning 1st Team prize.

Great Yarmouth 1/2

2009-08-08T22:46:00.001+01:00

Well I have been off training for 3 weeks now, rest and recovery, also having quality family time. Ran 7 miles on Monday legs felt heavy and well worked for the session. Biked to work 3 times 48 miles in total this week.

On duty tonight and have Great Yarmouth 1/2 marathon tomorrow looking to just get round nothing fancy. Need to keep an eye ony right foot/ankle ligaments or tendons tight. Let's see how we get on.

Have got Nottingham sprint tri on Sunday 22nd. August soon so need to do some training.

Lake Placid Ironman 2010

2009-07-29T09:39:00.001+01:00

On this Monday just gone I managed to get an entry into my first "Ironman" branded race for 2010. I suddenly realised how commercial ironman has become, not only entry fees but accomadation is doubled, you can only qualify for Worlds through "Ironman" races and not any others like K266 races.

Well I'm in and now just have save money, training will commence once again. I am concidering in being taken on by a coach for next season, still in discussion. So my next season goals will be announced in the near future.

Next event:-
Sunday 9th Aug. Great Yarmouth 1/2 Marathon
Sat 22nd Aug. Club relays
Sun 23rd Aug. Nottingham sprint

Woweeeeeeeeeeeeee..................

2009-07-13T16:36:00.009+01:00

Well , I am trying to think how it is best to sum up this epic adventure............

It started at 0400, eating breakie was not as difficult as previous races, felt quite relaxed and ready the day. A drive to Roth to pick up the athlete shuttle to Hispoltein (Swim/bike start), managed to get on the last bus which still left 20 athletes standing on the pavement when we departed. Once I had relocated my bike from the night before check in, intacted thankfully, placed bottles and spare tubes and co2 canisters on bike and transition kit sack in bag zone near swim exit, only your helmet allowed on your bike.

SWIM
Managed to see all 9 other waves start and also the elite men and women exit, the water was calm and the day was starting to warm up as the sun came out. I was up for a good swim aiming for 60min 3800m swim, from the gun start I was off and had clear water with only one other just infront of me. I hit the first bouy turning at 1600m in 22:42min, catching swimmers in the 3 waves ahead, then my right calf cramped and then my left coming into the finish 1:01:23 (1:35/100m).

4 min for transition try to spend not too much time in T1 but made sure I was ready and prepared. Locating my bike was interesting as there were 3000 odd bikes in there, went down the wrong lane first but thanks to the numbering posts at the end of each row I got it ok.

BIKE

112 miles, 2 lap course, pretty lumpy course, the longest hill was 6 miles long climbing 200m in altitude. Obviously what goes up must come down, so the descents were fast and furious (max speed 45 mph) with harpin bends and straw bails on the bends not too difficult to negotiate just a lot of faith in ur tyres and their tread. Solar Hill was the "tour de france" moutain stage equivalant, with atleast 10,000 spectators only a bikes width apart cheering you on up the hill. What an rush and encouragement can't beat it. Just starting my 2nd lap Norman Stadler the lead elite at the time came past me, he had done 2 laps. I decided to go with him (not draft) and kept him in my sights for the next 10km and then I looped round for my 2 lap and he took off to T2. My nutrition and pace was good through out the bike and was very happy with my time of 5:34hr averaging 20.4mph. Thankfully no punctures or time penalties or accidents, a good ride overall.

Off the bike and picked my T2 sack up into the transition tent to change, or in my case just get running shoes on and a bit of a stretch and walk through feeding station to get some coke and water down me.

RUN

The first 11km was good and i was running well at a steady pace, takeing on water and ISO High5 drink, struggling to eat anything and also my gels were makeing me feel sick. I have since learnt that you need to force yourself to take on food and liquids at every station even if you feel sick, keep a fine balance. I covered the first 10km in 58min which was a very comfortable pace to hold. The crowd carried you at the original stages then it became a very lonley straight run along the canal where the only spectators where in the turn round towns and then the feeding station volunteers. I was soon reduced to walk 5 min and then run 10min, but this did not last long. I reached half way 21km in 2:33hr so I knew it was looking at being over a 5hr marathon. Still trying to fast walk/ jog but moving now at 13 min/mile I was determined to finished. Others were reduced to walking around me but there were more running past me. I teamed up with a Germany guy Andreas Dahms, by the finish we had covered life history and motivational conversation with eachother. For the last 2km the sense of adrenalin kicked in and I was determined to run, my heart rate went from 90 bpm upto 170bpm, the finish arena is an amazing mini atheletics 100m loop so walking across the line would not have been very good. Reaching for my Union Jack with 200m to go and enter the arena with it is a feeling not to be missed YES !!!!! marathon 5:39:47 hr

SWIM 3800m 1:01:23

T1 4:21

BIKE 112 miles 5:34:42

T2 7:20

Run 26.2 miles 5:39:47

12:27:32

At the finish line i was approached and acosted by Chrissie Wellington, she recognised the Tri-Anglia kit wow what an houner to meet and talk to her. After the race i went for massage and food not that i ate anything. Got really cold after massage and ended up in medical tent with a drip in my arm to rehydrate and get sugars and salts back into me asap, it really did help.

Now ready to go

2009-07-10T21:12:00.005+01:00

Today was a long day, had a 20min swim in the Canal this morning, very warm water. Sun has been out most of the day, a few showers here and there. Came back to hotel for breakfast, none of of the local produce just safe oats, fruit and yoghurt. Will take some trusty Jordans museli to breakie tomorrow.

Drive the bike course was the main task for the day, being a 2 lap 180km bike course we managed to get round atleast 60km of the course. The bit with the short sharp hills in it and one section with a very fast and technical descent, and i mean fast. The hay bails are out on the 4 hairpin bends and just to remember it is 2 laps of all of this. Stopped and had lunch at bakery in afternoon, not bad food nothing special.

This evening I went down to Roth, the Triathlon Expo and purchased some last minute items. Also attened the Pasta party, where i mananged to meet with one of my earlier Triathlon year heroes, the man known as "Hell on Wheels" Thomas Hellriegel. Wow that felt great, inspirering.

This afternoon I had a phone call from Radio Norfolk to give an interview for Drive time, was able to push the justgiving site and the 2 charities a push in the interview.

Tomorrow will be a day of swim in morning and then i am going to take my bike to Roth to try and get the chain and gears cleaned up ( they are all dirty from being on the back of the car travelling down), back for breakfast. Sort kit out and bags for transition, chill relax and then go to Hispoltein Swim start finish/T1/bike start to drop bike and kit bags off for saturday night. Have main meal at lunch and drink water through the day. Dinner will be early and try and chill for wake at 0400 on Sunday.

Finally Arrived

2009-07-09T22:05:00.006+01:00

Wednesday was taken up by mostly ferry crossing and then 2hr drive to accomodation in Zevenaar, Holland, for a night stop over in Motel. After a a restless night, and waking at 0300 we finally got on the road again for the 300miles further journey.

Arriving in Roth and deciding to go straight to registration, picked up athlete pack and no.s and free stuff. Walked straight back to the car and di not bother to look at the expo stalls, you could spend £thousands there, will have a look tomorrow.

http://www.schlosskreuth.de/ Arrived at Heideck, our accomodation B&B, unloaded the car and went out on the bike for 30min and a 20min run straight after, nice and steady nothing fancy. Felt good comfortable, especially riding on right handside of the road. The roads are very smooth and clear and clean, weather was good today 20C, and looks like it will stay that way until Sunday.

Went out for chinese dinner, not really taking notes of Rob and crew in Nice 2 weeks ago (tummy problems for them ) no gurgling in the stomach yet. Need to go to bed now as tonight I need sleep and might grab some more tomorrow afternoon if not good tonight.

Packing for the road trip

2009-07-07T12:43:00.003+01:00

Well today is the day that the long road trip is comencing, dad is enroute to me in Norfolk on train/coach and then we both travel to Carlton Colville to Mike (Father-in-law) for the night. Early ish start tomorrow for the ferry at Harwich 0900 and we stay in Holland tomorrow night Zevenaar. Then Thursday down the rest of the way to Roth, we are staying in a place just south of Roth called Heideck only just under 10miles from race HQ.

I need to start getting kit laid out and going through my race check list mmmmm an endless list that is. Had a quiet night on station last night but woke at 0545, I suppose it is the nerves or excitment starting to take over. Weird because I have done triathlons now for 18 yrs and thought I would be used to it by now. Like I say this is the real thing Ironman and it is spending the day in water, on bike or pounding the streets on the run or is it walk. Positive thinking, Zone, Focus.............

Still ok

2009-07-03T09:28:00.001+01:00

Well today is bike run, 30min bike straight onto 1:15hr run both zone 2 hear rate. Nice and steady. The sun is out but cloud cover is cooling things down a bit.

Starting to prepare mentally if you can but also going through race plan; pace , nutrition, clothing, kit, equipment etc. Will pick up race wheels from shop on moday or Tuesday.

This weekend it is the Norwich tri, I am helping out at. Also club member and friend Matt Ellis is racing European champs on Sunday, a few other members are racing Ironman Germany. All the Best Everyone

2009-07-03T09:17:00.001+01:00

11days to go

2009-07-01T15:31:00.001+01:00

Countdown is becoming more and more real now. Swim session tonight at the lake 2000m might do run after see how I feel. The knee is a bit sore, ended up icing it this morning, ok now.

June totals.....
Swim. 16000 meters
Bike 340 miles 20.3hrs
Run. 40 miles. 6hrs

Feeling good

2009-06-23T09:31:00.004+01:00

Last week was my last full week of training, had a good week of plenty of miles, time and effort. 18 miles running 143 miles on the bike and 7km in the pool/lake. Felt tired by the middle of the week but here comes the tapering weeks.

This week starts today having yesterday off, out for 5hrs on bike and 15min run after today, sun sun sun and more sun. Good weather out there. Lake swim tomorrow, Thursday Swim morning, physio afternoon and 90min TT on the bike. Friday swimming morning, 60min Fartlek run evening, Saturday bike to and from work and finally Sunday 2hr endurance run with 30min easy bike. That will complete a 15hr week then it reduces down to 10hrs week 2 taper, then 4hrs for race week.

Slowly but surely I am coming to the end of my 24 week programme, already trying to come up with things to target next. Let's get through the Ironman first. The rest of the Ironman Tri-Anglia club team are in Nice France this weekend 28th June www.roblines.blogspot.com
All the Best Team 10 in total.

Weather forcast Roth, Germany http://weather.weatherbug.co.uk/Germany/Roth-weather/local-forecast/7-day-forecast.html?zcode=z6286&lang_id=en-gb

Things not so bad

2009-06-15T20:42:00.004+01:00

Well I am still in the hands of Physio, but it is not as bad as I thought it was. Basically I have had a slap on the wrist, should not have done Edinburgh so close to Ironman, and also should have continued with training programme and even done some light training after Edinburgh. Any way have to move on and not ponder over the past, "learn from your experiences" not from your mistakes.

Anyway back in action and back on full programme, this is my last week of full hours of training 16 hrs this week and then I will start my tapering down for 3 weeks. My official Taper is 2 weeks.

The goal of an IM taper to make sure you are physically and mentally ready to execute on race day. Period. Half a second on the bike doesn’t matter when you have T2 and, oh, 26.2 miles to run afterwards.

2 Weeks Out –
70% of typical week’s volume. Key Workouts are 2 Bricks, both 90mins bike, 30mins run. Bike should include 3 x 8 at just over goal race effort with 4 min recoveries. Run should be 15 mins out hard, 15 mins back jog. Include 2 open water swims to practice sighting, etc. Consider a massage this week and buy all the extra gear you could ever think you need. Consider taking you bike to the shop to get all cables, gears, chain, brakes, etc., checked.

1 Week Out / Race Week -
50% of typical week’s volume. Swim every day, especially on the course. Bike 2-3 times, with longest ride being 60 mins on the run course to check it out. Run 3-4 times with longest run of 40 mins. All workouts should include 3 to 5 x 30 seconds hard with 2 min recoveries to stay sharp. Focus is on getting all your stuff together, memorizing your race plan, and preparing for potential damage control.

Norwich 100 Bike

2009-06-09T07:35:00.003+01:00

Another 100 bike session under my belt , however this was a different performance. I don't think I had recovered from my Marathon. I rode with work colleague , Dave does cyclo-x and mountain biking. First 45 miles was good effective riding averaging 19.3mph, not in team time trial format as i was doing most of the work at the front. Stopping at half way "ish" point then carrying on just when the rain started. Norfolk Norfolk Coast has good views but noit in the rain, our group was down to 3 now but soon to 2 as they punctured and got dropped by Dave and myself.

My knees started to go through quite a bit of pain around 60miles so had to stop to try and stretch them out. Pace dropped as I was unable to get an effective pedal strike, dropped into spinning gears and plodded on. Dave dropped me with 10 miles to go and I just found a comfortable position to bring it home.

5:33hrs average 18 mph

Needing to have some rest now and also will need to see the physio to get some treatment on my knees. At the moment the discomfort is coming from just above the patela region, there are a few things it could be but I will wait to see physio and get some sessions in before "I" day (Ironman Day)

May Totals and Results

2009-06-04T09:56:00.004+01:00

May Totals.............
Swim 3:20 hr 10700 meters
Bike 11:01 hr 207 miles 134 bpm HR
Run 8:59 hr 75.5 miles 134 bpm HR

Race Results;
Suffolk 100mile bike; 5:36hr 17.9mph

Fritton Aquathon; 16:45 min

999 Sprint;
swim 10:05min, bike 29:19 (25.4 mph), run 22:52 (6:08/mile)

Marshman 1/2 Ironman
swim 27:35 min (1:27/100m), bike 2:44:56hr (21.4mph), run 1:35:59 (7:20/mile)

Edinburgh marathon
3:31:49hr (8:05 /mile)

3:31:49 Marathon

2009-06-04T09:01:00.009+01:00

Wow what a HOT weekend, of all places Scotland at least 26 degrees C with no coastal breeze and very little shade on the course. I always new this was going to be a quick course but along with the weather a challenge of watching your fluid intake.

After a review of my race, heart rate and pace there is a few conclusion and experiences to be taken on board for Roth (37 days to go).

My initial pace was too quick, difficult to control as you are running down hill for the first 4 miles covering it in 27 min. Tried to settle into relaxed running position but just found myself crusing

10km; 42min.

1/2 ; 1:37:32

30km ; 2:18:24

20mile ; 2:26:55

26.2 mile ; 3:31:49

Average Heart Rate 146 bpm
Average Pace 8:04 min/mile

It all started to go wrong around 21 miles, my knees started to hurt, I felt good energy wise and the heat was not effecting me as I had taken on good fluid. Started to have quite a bit of pain on my knees and they decided not to be pounded any more, so I submitted to walking. Completing the last 5 miles in 55mins, 11 min/mile not good, I was on for a 3:10hr marathon, but hey I did not do that. The last 3 miles were tough but I took it easy as I did not want to do any more long term damage for Roth.

Happy as can be and pleased with my nutrition and fluid for the race. I have recovered from the marathon now and my finally training race is the Norwich 100mile bike ride this weekend. I will be running for 30 min after the ride.

http://www.edinburgh-marathon.com/?p=searchable&action=search&name=&number=1947&position=&year=2009&sex=&category=

Track my progress for Edinburgh Marathon Sunday 31st

2009-05-30T22:51:00.004+01:00

GPS tracking powered by InstaMapper.com

click this link and refresh page by pressing F5 every now and then to follow me during the Marathon tomorrow start 0900
http://www.instamapper.com/ext?key=14974387190169486625

Edinburgh Marathon

2009-05-27T11:12:00.007+01:00

Well it has been a relaxing 2 weeks, however I have just got over a bit of an inner thigh niggle which came on after the Marshman. Fully recovered and keen to go for this weekend.

Edinburgh Marathon

From the Profile potentially a fast course, it is one of the fastest marathon courses in the world, however let's not get carried away yet. I am looking to achieve something a lot better than my London Marathon 2007 attempt (which was my 1st marathon ever) 4:20hrs. So the plan is to be approaching it from the angle of good pace, good nutrition and negative splits. Negative splits basically means that as I go through the splits, in this case looking at 13.1miles and then the next half, I run the next split faster. So first 1/2 8:00min/mile, second 1/2 7:30min/mile or better. This will bring me in at half way for 1:44:52hr and then the second 13.1 miles 1:38:19hr. Bringing me home in 3:23hr ish, which I will be very happy with.

Let's see how it goes.................... MY RACE NO. 1947

I will be running my GPS tracker device again so keep an eye out for that on Sunday morning click this link............

http://www.instamapper.com/ext?key=14974387190169486625

Marshman 1/2 Ironman

2009-05-18T12:53:00.009+01:00

It was the 1st hosting of the Marshman ½ Ironman, however after many changes to course routes and distances they finally settled on the 1900 m Swim ; 58.4 mile Bike ; 13.2mile run. The Swim was a “z” shape swim in a small pond on the Romney Marshes region. The Bike course was potentially a very fast course being what I thought was flat, however there was some short and sharp climbs throughout the route, also I think the whole country was hit by the high winds today they got up to 40mph gusts, not nice losing control of your bike several times.

The Run, has potential for a fast time not having any hills in it as we ran around the Marshes. Out on a tail wind and then on return for the last 3 miles, you guessed it turn around and hit the gusty 40mph head wind. Also having to cross 4 farm styles, which took a bit of an effort.

Not all that bad personal goals for the day was to run under 1:40hr for my ½ marathon, which was achieved 1:35:59hr. With my Ironman Roth in 8 weeks this was a good time for something like this events. Finished 8th overall and very pleased with times and efforts.

Swim Time Avg. Speed Avg. Pace
00:27:35(12) 4.13km/h 00:14:31 T1 00:02:17

Bike Time
02:44:56(10) 32.74km/h 00:01:50 T2 00:02:28

Run Time
01:35:59(14) 13.13km/h 00:04:34 Overall Time 04:53:16

FULL RESULTS
http://www.stuweb.co.uk/swp/default.asp?a=2&e=245&s=y

Aquathon and 999 National Champs

2009-05-15T21:11:00.004+01:00

Thursday Night was the first chance to try out the new wetsuit Orca 3.8. Fritton Lake was the location 400m lake swim ans 2.5km run. Very cold water 12 deg C, was 3rd out of the water and 2nd onto the run, finished 2nd overall. Not really up for the sprint stuff these days, hence Ironman training is a lot longer.

RESULTS...... http://activeoutdoorsport.co.uk/sites/10161/files/fritton_aquathlon_race_1_results.pdf

999 National Sprint Champs (Friday 12 noon)

750m Swim / 20km Bike / 6km Run (should have been 5km)

Wow never seen so much rain before, it stopped rainy by the start thankfully, even colder water today, well it felt colder. A field of about 140 athletes all from different Emergency Services (Police, Fire, Ambulance, LifeGuards/Boat, Coastguard)

Awaiting final results online and splits hopefully

RESULTS......

http://www.xtramileevents.com/event_results.asp check here for results

The Fire Service pulled off the Top spot winning overall and the top 5 fire service athletes won the team event. I finished top 10, I think I was about 6/7th waiting for overall results.

Travelling to Kent tomorrow for my 1/2 Ironman event on Sunday

1900 meter Swim / 56mile Bike / 13.2 mile run...................................

Suffolk 100 mile Bike

2009-05-11T12:00:00.007+01:00

Well yesterday was one of the longest rides I have ever done, so new challenges on fitness and also nutrition use. Things went really well it was not a race it was a fun ride for upto 400 people raising money for Action Medical Research Group.

http://www.routeyou.com/route/view/21756/cycling-route-suffolk-sunrise-100-long-route.en

At mile 15 we had to stop and climb on board a ferry to get to the other side at Felixstow, interesting and different, like I said it is not a race. I had arranged for "support crew" family to meet me at mile 63, which was a good point to have a fuel stop and enjoy the fantastic weather. Getting going was tough after that, but got going and back into my rythyme. Mile 90 was where I started to fall a bit dropped in avg speed to 14mph and just poodled home to finish in 5:34:17hr avg 17.9mph.

Reasonably happy with my efforts, 8 weeks to go and will need to get few more miles into my legs just to get me home for the 112miles of the Ironman bike course.

April Totals

2009-05-11T07:47:00.005+01:00

April Totals.............
Swim 5:35 hr 15000 meters (1500 TT 18:47min)
Bike 15:12 hr 249.6 miles 127 bpm HR
Run 9:52 hr 84.5 miles 141 bpm HR (Bungay 1/2 marathon 1:25:20hr)

Definate increase in milage and training time, unfortunately was sick for about 5 days during April. Fantastic 1500 TT swim time 18:47min, Bungay 1/2 marathon was good run felt comfortable and pace was steady.

May Events.
10 May Suffolk 100mile bike ride
14 May Fritton Lake Auquathon (400m swim / 2.5km run)
15 May Emergency Service Sprint Championships (750m swim/20km bike/5km run)
17 May Marshman 1/2 Ironman (1900m swim/56 mile bike/ 13.1 mile run)
31 May Edinburgh Marathon (26.2 miles)

Ironman Simon Tracking

2009-05-08T11:25:00.004+01:00

I am doing 100mile bike ride on Sunday in Suffolk, big event fun ride but I am using it as a training ride. You will be able to track me as I am doing the ride on the map below. Feel free to follow on Sunday early start but will be live for 5-6hrs, trying out the new technology. I will only activate it when i am doing long rides or runs.

GPS tracking powered by InstaMapper.com

Miglio Jewellery

2009-05-07T23:02:00.004+01:00

http://www.miglio.co.uk/

Thanks to Miglio for sponsoring me and donating money to the Charities. Organised by Nicky Channon (Area Sales Rep) and Miglio HQ. Fantastic Jewellery, take a look at their web site and make some orders for gifts or own purchase.

Items for SALE

2009-04-30T09:12:00.004+01:00

There a few items that I am selling as I have just purchased a new wetsuit and they are not cheap these days.

BELL AERO HELMET
Triathlon or Time Trial Helmet, main structure of helmet in very good condition. Right side of ear has a small crack, but this does not effect the safety of the wearer.
£40

MAVIC HELIUM WHEELS + BAGS

Fantastic light weight wheels, mavic hubs, mavic scewers, radial spoked, mavic bags. 9 speed shimano cassette, Newish tubs fitted. Excellent condition. £80

Bungay 1/2 Marathon

2009-04-20T11:01:00.011+01:00

What a good weekend, made my way down to Bungay, Suffolk, on Sunday morning with bike and running gear. Decided to do a 2 hr bike before taking part in the Bungay 1/2 Marathon, back to back training (brick session).

Now out on my race bike as only 12 wks to go and need to start tweeking position on my bike and getting used to it. Managed to get 1:45hr covering 30 miles.

PICS FROM 1/2 MARATHON

http://www.derekhaden.com/09apr19bungay/M/index.php?image=B19409_0452

1/2 Marathon
A field of 500 people for a start of 1230, by this time the sun was high and hot, yes hot 18C. Just finished my bike session 10 minutes before run start and was feeling good. Took off a bit fast but managed to maintain a good rythme and relxed body position. The first half was a lumpy course and reached the half stage in 41:20min (6.60miles), first 10km 38:40min.

My total time was 1:25:20hr, 6:28 min/mile. average heart rate 165bpm finished 9th out of the 498 finishes. results........ http://www.bungay-marathon.co.uk/downloads/2009BungayHalfMarathonProvisionalResults.pdf

Really happy with my performance for today and now know what i am capable of doing, even at this stage of my training.

What's next?
3 weeks of straight training, 10th May is the Suffolk 100mile Bike Ride, then a week later 17th May I have my first Triathlon of the session Middle Distance (70.3 Ironman) Marshman in Lydd Kent. http://www.velocity-events.co.uk/events-mainmenu-33/17-triathlon/46-the-marshman-sunday-17th-may-2009

March Totals

2009-04-02T12:01:00.003+01:00

Well March has not been good sick twice, it is very difficult to avoid the sickness when a little one is running round snotty nosed. Joel can't be all to blame, I have been doing my British Triathlon Level 2 Coaching course (Club Coach) in Chichester, and on Sun just gone we were in and out of the pool for 3 hrs as we coached and were coached. The weather has been fantastic on the days I have been sick at home.

On Friday 20th March I went down to Adenbrooks Hospital in Cambridge, to their Sports Department http://www.sport.cam.ac.uk/injuries/performancelaboratory.html where I had a VO2 Max test done on a bike. I am still waiting for my compiled results and will post them when I get them.

So March Totals.............
Swim 2:34 hr 7.1 miles (3000m TT 49:10min)
Bike 7:42 hr 121 miles 122 bpm HR
Run 3:27 hr 23.9 miles 137 bpm HR

My up and coming events in April................
19th April Bungay Black Dog 1/2 Marathon

February Totals

2009-03-01T20:22:00.004Z

February 1st- 28th
Swimming 6:56hr 10.3miles (1000m TT 14:23min , 1500TT 22:10min)
Running 9:11hr 67.8miles 139bpm H/R (Bury 20 mile 2:23:05hr)
Cycling 12:21hr 194.3miles 123 bpm H/R

January 1st - 31st
Swimming 4:18hr 4.7 miles (1500m TT 23:49min)
Running 2:50hr 20.2 miles 145 bpm H/R (Reedham 10 mile 1:09:54hr)
Cycling 9:42 hr 150 miles 129bpm H/R

December 1st- 31st
Running 1:52 hr 11.9 miles 136bpm H/R
Cycling 2 hr Turbo sessions

November 1st-30th
Running 5:42hr 42.9 miles 148bpm H/R
Cycling 6:27hr 102.9 miles 135bpm H/R

October 1st-31st
Running 4:20hr 32.3 miles 146bpm H/R
Cycling 4:11hr 70.6 miles 140bpm H/R

Bury 20 mile Run

2009-02-22T19:47:00.006Z

Well it is now the end of Week 5. Things have been going smoothly, today was the test for my knees to hold up for some serious mileage in running. I took part in the Bury St Edmunds 20 mile run http://www.raceres.org.uk/mdhome%201.htm.

Finished in 2:23:05 hr 41st / 351 finishers
Average HR 157 bpm
Average pace 7:05min per mile

Pictures from Bury 20m run.........
http://www.derekhaden.com/09feb22bury/20/index.php?image=B22209_0513

Very happy with the result and was able to keep an eye on my HR, adjusting pace and effort. Used a new Fuel Belt which had gels held in little bottles, good easy concept and easy to use.

Knees have held out but a bit sore after that. My next event is Bungay 1/2 marathon 19th April then Suffolk 100m bike ride 10th May. I am looking at doing a 1/2 Ironman (70.3) on 17th May but not sure if I can get cover for work .

Reedham 10mile run

2009-02-07T16:06:00.017Z

1st February was the Reedham 10m run, cold conditions but the sunny and clear skies. Very happy with my results as I kept a steady pace and also steady heart rate. Finished in 1:09:54 (33rd out of 226)

http://www.gydac.org.uk/sites/default/files/Reedham%2010%20results%20%202009.pdf

You can just make me out in the picture 2nd from the left black hat, leggings and red top.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/11842507/Reedham-HR-Graph

Avg HR 159 bpm and Average pace 6:59 min / mile

January Totals

2009-02-05T18:53:00.003Z

January 1st - 31st
Swimming 4:18hr 4.7 miles (1500m TT 23:49min)
Running 2:50hr 20.2 miles 145 bpm H/R (Reedham 10 mile 1:09:54hr)
Cycling 9:42 hr 150 miles 129bpm H/R

December 1st- 31st
Running 1:52 hr 11.9 miles 136bpm H/R
Cycling 2 hr Turbo sessions

November 1st-30th
Running 5:42hr 42.9 miles 148bpm H/R
Cycling 6:27hr 102.9 miles 135bpm H/R

October 1st-31st
Running 4:20hr 32.3 miles 146bpm H/R
Cycling 4:11hr 70.6 miles 140bpm H/R

Week 1 of 24

2009-01-23T10:08:00.004Z

Well it has been a good start to my training and happy with it, structured, goal worthy and targets were all met. Day off today,Friday, got bike session on saturday and swim session on sunday before work at 9am on sunday.

I have recently moved to Norwich city Fire Station and joined White Watch there, there are a few guys on the watch who are serious fitness gurus. One does cyclo x and the other does triathlons (2nd season for them), and a few Footy boys.

Nice to have a day off and spend it with Joel.

No races this month, February 2nd 10mile run Reedham and 22nd feb Bury 20 mile run.

Lactate Testing

2009-01-17T07:58:00.011Z

On Thursday last week I had Blood Lactate Testing done at the UEA (University of East Anglia) by David Cosford.

I will be using the results in my training for heart rate calculations.

What is Lactate Testing ? http://www.scribd.com/doc/10922239/Lactate-Test-UEA

Lactate measurement is used by sport scientists, coaches and athletes to accurately determine Heart Rate training zones, recovery and much more. Lactate is a metabolic product that can be measured by taking a drop of blood at a finger tip the same way diabetics monitor their blood sugar level. The blood lactate level increases with exercise intensity and shows clearly the transition from aerobic to anaerobic activity. Since the measurement is completely individual it gives a precise method for testing and monitoring training intensity and recovery.
Lactate measurement is far more precise than the outdated and inaccurate method of using percentages of maximum heart rate to set training zones. Because heart rate is an individual response, heart rate training zones need to be determined by measurement of physiological variables not set by mathematical formulas. Lactate measurement differs from, and is complimentary to VO2 Max testing. VO2 Max is a great tool for identifying anaerobic threshold and calculating training zones. The training zones are then used to determine training intensity from recovery to max effort intervals.
Lactate Threshold testing measures the accumulation of lactate acid in the blood stream. With the proper protocols you can measure both the aerobic and anaerobic conditioning of an athlete. Because lactate is produced by the anaerobic system and used by the aerobic system it is the only marker available for measuring each system. The amount of energy an athlete can produce per unit of time depends on the development of both systems which is why they have to be balanced. (Essentially this means training the anaerobic system to a level that is appropriate for the athlete's aerobic capacity.) Basically, Lactate Testing is the best tool to determine steady state race pace.

New Year 2009

2009-01-01T15:09:00.004Z

Not a very good December, unfortunately I have been sick for the 2nd time now, also my family has been down with it. January 1st now and hoping it will clear by the end of the week. 19th of January is approaching fast D'day for training day.

Still awaiting news for a vehicle sponsor and also a swimming pool sponsor for training facilities. Also will be joining up with some new sponsors in the New Year from companies in Norwich area.

Most important thing is to sort out last minute adjustments on Training programme, also I have had very useful tips and advice from Russell Clarke (multi Ironman racer "experienced") So I will be putting nutrition into my training sessions.

Next Races :- 14th Jan RAF Barnham X-Country
1st Feb Reedham 10mile run
22nd Feb Bury 20 mile run

December 1st- 31st
Running 1:52 hr 11.9 miles 136bpm H/R
Cycling 2 hr Turbo sessions

November 1st-30th
Running 5:42hr 42.9 miles 148bpm H/R
Cycling 6:27hr 102.9 miles 135bpm H/R

October 1st-31st
Running 4:20hr 32.3 miles 146bpm H/R
Cycling 4:11hr 70.6 miles 140bpm H/R

Welcome Pedal Revolution

2008-12-08T19:54:00.005Z

A huge Welcome and big thanks to Pedal Revolution, Norwich store. www.pedalrevolution.co.uk/ . They have come aboard as a key sponsor, with supplying me with equipment, services and use of race equipment.

Training is ticking over and now only 1 month to the start of serious business, obviously got to get through Christmas first not planning to eat or drink too much. Started doing weights in the gym and trying to build a bit of winter power and strength.

Totals so far

2008-12-01T20:13:00.004Z

November 1st-30th
Running 5:42hr 42.9 miles 148bpm H/R
Cycling 6:27hr 102.9 miles 135bpm H/R

October 1st-31st
Running 4:20hr 32.3 miles 146bpm H/R
Cycling 4:11hr 70.6 miles 140bpm H/R

Race Day

2008-12-01T16:30:00.007Z

Norwich 1/2 Marathon 1100 am start, well after a delay, very cold. The course was a 2 lap route with a hill at the end off the laps. 1:25:17 hr, 6:30 min/mile avg. Very pleased with my time. I was aiming to do a TT for this and now my training will slow and get longer, working towards Edinburgh Marathon. My knees are a bit sore today (Monday) so will rest them well and then get back into it.

Results; http://www.theresults.co.uk/theresults/Results/2008/Running/20081130_Norwich_Half_Marathon.pdf heresults.co.uk/theresults/Results/2008/Running/20081130_Norwich_Half_Marathon.pdf

Norwich 1/2 Marathon

2008-11-29T20:47:00.008Z

Eve of the Norwich 1/2, recovered from a busy night shift on Friday morning 0300, caught up on sleep and ready for start tomorrow. 11 am start at the Show Grounds Norwich Norfolk. During the past week I have recovered fully from sickness last weekend, done 3 sessions in the gym at Station.

Weights on Arms

Weights on legs

X-trainer session 45 mins

Lets see how it goes, will let you know results. Finally I am entered into the Edinburgh Marathon 31st May 2009.

1st Sick Hurdle

2008-11-24T20:27:00.006Z

Well I was supposed to take part in a Running relay Peterborough way, but 3am Sunday morning vomitting and the "runs". I ask "How many more sessions of this will there be?" and i have not even started my 24wk programme. Also I have lost 11lbs in body weight in the past 3 weeks no thanks to the weekend.

Norwich Half Marathon Sunday this week, hoping to use it as a TT (time trial) looking in the region of under 1:30hr at the worst.

Direct Ferries, Sponsors

2008-11-14T16:01:00.012Z

www.directferries.co.uk/
Fantastic NEWS, hot off the press. I have just had a phone call from Direct Ferries, saying that they are willing to sponsor me by supplying free ferry crossing Harwich - Hook of Holland. A very big thank you to Rebecca for all her hard work in pushing this through her management team.

If you wish to assist in the form of Corporate sponsorship, contact Simon ironmansimon@yahoo.co.uk

October 2009 Totals

2008-11-13T15:12:00.003Z

October 1st-31st
Running 4:20hr 32.3 miles 146bpm H/R
Cycling 4:11hr 70.6 miles 140bpm H/R

Nothing fancy just foundation work November is picking up already exceeding Oct's totals

I'm not sure where i will fit this training session into my programme, benefit to me for Ironman well swim start "washing machine" indeed....................
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=U_6tOzt-nfM

Training to Date

2008-11-06T09:12:00.003Z

Well things are ticking over well at the moment, unfortunately I had 2 really busy night on duty this week Sun and Mon night (flat fire and building fire). I managed to get a Turbo session done on Sun morning and also a run on Mon between shifts.

Sunday Turbo Session
70min session

Warm up 15 min

Main Set: 3x3min as ; 20sec fast spin, 40sec easy, 40sec f/spin, 20sec easy, 1min f/spin, 1min easy

6x3min as; 3x (45 sec at >100rpm) 15sec <100rpm)>

2min easy spin after each 3min interval

Cool Down 10mins

Monday Run

9.6 miles; 1hr 30min; 127bpm HR; 9.45min/mile Good run and very happy

More Press Release

2008-10-29T11:02:00.000Z

Great Yarmouth Mercury http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/content/yarmouthmercury/search/story.aspx?brand=GYMOnline&category=news&itemid=NOED23%20Oct%202008%2013:36:46:143&tBrand=GYMOnline&tCategory=search

Coventry 1/2 Marathon 13.2 miles

2008-10-19T21:12:00.000+01:00

Very happy with today's 1/2, 1:42hr, avg 7:45min/mile. Avg 150 beats /min HR

Ran most of it with an steady incriment on my heart rate, finished fresh and would be happy to run again. Not bothered with the position as i finished 348 place, have done 1:21hr for 1/2 before and PB is 1:19hr so big difference but i achieved what i wanted to do out of it.

Right knee a bit bruised but happy and relxed.

Thanks Colin Durrant for running with me and putting up with my chatt.

2008-10-10T19:07:00.000+01:00

Well money coming in slowly, managed to get Press releases. Norwich Evening News did a full page spread, fantastic, hope this brings in the money. http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/News/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=News&tBrand=enonline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED09%20Oct%202008%2013%3A30%3A02%3A057

Will be doing Live interview with Radio Norfolk, "Drive Time" on Mon 13th October at 4pm ish, just after.

Training

Did a Speed/Stride session today for 7miles. Got into a good rhythm, concentrated on stride pattern, driving forward and pushing right back, lifting up a relaxed foot on recovery. This was done on Great Yarmouth Promanade, so flat and easy to stride. Conditions were warm and tail wind on the way out head wind coming back.

1 Week Sunday to Coventry Lady Godiva 1/2 Marathon, looking for 2hrs exact, running with an old Race Team member (Juke Box Cycling Team) Colin Durrant, and some old friends from 5-a-side Footy from Coventry.

2008-10-04T17:59:00.000+01:00

Very cold today 6 deg C, went out on the bike at 0900, met up with Tri-Anglia riders at UEA and then we went out got 2hrs on the bike. It was cold and I'm sure it will get colder this Winter, oh well just have to pedal faster.

2:07hr
34.4 miles
16.6 mph (28.5 km/h) avg speed

Not in for London

2008-10-03T20:44:00.000+01:00

Well got my answer finally in the post, I am not in London Marathon, very disappointed. I will now be entering Edinburgh Marathon 31st May 2009.

Early days on the sponsorship, nothing yet but hey it is just getting the adverts out there to people. Will be pushing forms around fire stations at work, normally a good reply on them from previous experience.
Picture shot when i wasn't ready, 2008 open water training Whittlingham Lake Norwich. Will be back in there next year before ironman.

Off on bike session tomorrow for couple of hours, hope weather will be good.

1st October 2009

2008-10-01T15:44:00.006+01:00

Today is the launch of my Blog and the "Just Giving" Web sites for Ironman Simon. It is a long way to go until the 12th July 2009, but i am getting the administration out of the way first. My official Ironman Training will commence in January 2009 on a 24 week Training programme.

IRONMAN
What does it consist of; The Ironman Triathlon distance is the same Worldwide, consisting of

Swimming 3,800 meters
Cycling 180 kilometers
Running 42.195 kilometers

With the fastest times coming in around the 9 hour mark, i have boldly put down 13hrs as this is my first ever Ironman distance.

There is a lot more to an Ironman than just swim, bike and run. The training is not to be taken lightly, also during the event "nutrition" is a must, you get the nutrition wrong and could mean DNF (Did Not Finish) being on the results list as well as a ride in the ambulance.

I am currently working on slowing my efforts right down and realising that a 29 yr old wippet is not going to get me round the course, so currently I am just ticking over averaging about 20 miles a week running and 2-3 hrs on the bike. My swimming will pick up over the winter.

Completed training sessions will be added to my Blog so check back and see how i am progressing towards my goal. London marathon is a target for early next yr waiting to see if i am in or not.

Got Coventry 1/2 marathon on 19th October 2008 as my next event then 30th November 2008 Norwich 1/2 Marathon

Check back