First Blowout of the Year

A late start to the racing season for me this year, and it started with the local East Grinstead Triathlon a nice sprint triathlon to wake the body up from it's training slumber. This is a great local race and one where it really does have a relaxed feel about it.

To be honest you would have thought that with some of the training I had been doing that I would be primed for a sprint triathlon rather than the main focus of the year which is half ironman and ironman races. Time to put all that fast paced work into action I suppose.

The weeks leading up to the race were full on training weeks, first a nice week out in Spain with lots of volume, as well as the standard fair of intensity in nearly every session. After this I was slightly hoping for an easy week leading into the triathlon, unfortunately for me when looking at the training plan it was clear it was going to far from an easy week. It meant a hurried e-mail to Darren to ask was there any point in doing the triathlon, I just didn't see the point in doing a race and under performing due to fatigue. Darren had other ideas and just told me to race it as hard as I could and let's see what the outcome was, the focus is on my first half ironman in a few weeks time. Basically MTFU and just get on and do it.

The day before the race was a frantic affair as well, rear mech shifter on the TT bike decided to break and wouldn't stay in the lower gears. It meant a few bodges to the lever but I managed to do a temporary repair on it that was good enough to race with.

Race day, a lovely hot day in fact possibly a bit too hot but better that than the freezing cold and raining. I was off quite late in the elite wave so I had plenty of time to get myself sorted, cheer on quite a few teammates doing the race and just generally chill before my start.

Swim: As part of the elite wave we all start together, this gives you plenty of space in the pool and some quicker swimmers to match yourself up against. I was hoping for a sub 8 min 500m, not super fast but fast enough not to lose too much time. The swim goes well I keep well within myself and climb out in 7:59, a bit slower than ideal but a decent enough time, and 4th of the elite wave. Felt good running into and through transition.

Bike: First time racing with shoes already clipped into the pedals, no flying mount for me but a quick mount none the less. Found it quite easy getting my feet into the shoes and then we were off. I had come out just behind one guy, I went straight passed him within a few 100 metres and apparently was 3rd on the road of the elite starters. I would have liked to race by power but my Garmin had decided it didn't want to boot up in transition so it was a ride on feel type of race. Given my training load over the last few weeks it was probably better not to go via power as I didn't really have any clue of what I could sustain. It just meant a go as hard as you can for as long as you can and see what happens, it actually didn't feel too bad. About 6 miles in I caught up with the 2nd place elite, Paul Savage, knowing he was a much faster runner than me I just tried to make up as much time as possible on the bike. I did wonder where the first elite guy (James Amey) was, as although I was passing slower riders these were all from the general starters. I did get a few glimpses as I got near the end of the ride and arrived at T2 about 15 secs behind. A decent ride but nothing spectacular compared to my very best.

Run: This is where I felt I was going to feel the training fatigue, but just tried to go as hard as my legs could go. I didn't know how far Paul Savage was behind me, but I could just see James up the road in front of me. I tried to catch him but after the first lap he had pulled away slightly, but Paul hadn't caught me yet. With the shouts of a certain Charlie Pennington and all the girls from the Tri Spirit Team urging me on, I just tried to keep a similar pace, Paul eventually passed me just after we started the 2nd lap, I tried to latch on but by now the fatigue and the heat of the day was getting to me. As he slowly eased away I just tried to keep up my pace as I had no idea of how close the other guys were behind. The end result was a very close battle from 2nd through to 6th, with us all being within a minute of each other.

I finished 3rd in the elite wave, but as per normal you never truly know where you stand as some of the fast guys aren't part of the elite wave. This was the case for this years winner, Sam Begg, a superb time of 1:06:32 which was the class of the field. Another early starter ended up in 4th place so I finished 5th overall, but did manage to bag the V40 1st place prize with a 1:09:52. A bit of an unexpected bonus was the fastest bike split, still half decent on the bike I guess.

I was happy - honest

A bit surprised with the result if I am honest, Darren obviously knows what he is doing, and even in a fatigued state it was faster than last year and overall a much better performance from me. I do think about the 46 secs to 2nd place and what could have been in a fresher state, but as Darren says this event wasn't a focus for me so I have to be pleased. It was a great race overall and great to have a little running race at the end, even if I am still slow compared to some.

Next event is the Gauntlet at Lough Cutra on the 29th May, can't wait for it and I have been promised I will be tapered for it :)

Thanks to Darren for the coaching, Secret Training for the nutritional support, Go Resource for your continued support and the Tri Spirit Team for all the continued encouragement.

Winter Progress

As Spring arrives it is always good to see how the winter training has gone. In previous years I would be thinking about racing but this year I have decided on a later start date, in fact there are no triathlons until May. It is almost 3 months since starting with Darren Jenkins as my coach so always a good time to review that progress as well.

I guess that is a good place to start, I seemed to have gelled pretty well with Darren. Obviously I knew Darren already so that was always likely to not be a problem. We did have some issues which in all honesty was probably a lot more of my making than his, as I think my pride got in the way of me being objective. I mean no-one really likes to admit they have lost power on the bike, but for me I suppose it was always going to be inevitable, I just don't train as much on the bike as I used to and thinking my FTP hadn't gone down from it's heyday was a tad stupid on my part.

What this meant was sessions that Darren thought weren't that difficult eventually took a toll on me and I really started to suffer with actually completing them, I was starting to doubt if things were going to work. Luckily for me I have always been honest with a coach (no point in having a coach if you don't give good and honest feedback), and Darren obviously saw there was a problem. I always think it is a sign of a good coach if they take time out of their day to phone you up and discuss the issues, even more so when they are currently the other side of the world. This was really appreciated and it helped massively with the confidence I had placed in Darren and the confidence in myself, which I had seriously started to doubt.

As I said in my previous blog, training was a bit different to what I was used to but it actually didn't take long to get used to it. Apart from the wobble I had in one week I think it is probably the most consistent training I have done over the winter and this is really starting to show itself in terms of how I feel. Recovery has been good between sessions this last couple of weeks and the training has become enjoyable again. I did have a week out in Majorca which I had hoped would be a nice warm weather training camp with the family, I admit it was warmer than the UK, but warm it certainly wasn't especially when riding through the mountains. I suppose we did eventually get a couple of decent days where it wasn't raining or windy or cold, I don't think Heather was that impressed with the weather, I did sell the week to her as a chance to get some sun.

At the Top of Puig Major Looking Down on Soller

The training out in Majorca went pretty well, it gave me a chance to get some good bike time in as I felt this was the more worrying thing about my winter training. In all honesty it was a bit of a pointless worry, cycling 6+ hours in the mountains wasn't really a problem and although top end power might have dropped actual long duration bike fitness is still well and truly there.

Cap Formentor on a Rare Sunny Day

The running is going very well, and almost every run has some form of intensity in it. The most pleasing things is even with the extra intensity, it is done in such a way that I still felt pretty good after each session. It also makes the runs a bit more interesting as to be honest, for me running at x pace for x hours isn't the most stimulating so I enjoy the changes in pace and effort.

Swimming is still making progress, up until I started with Darren I was swimming with some masters swimmers for the majority of my sessions and this has made swimming really enjoyable and challenging. When I first started with Darren I switched entirely to his program and whilst the change in session structure was good, and a really new stimulus, I wasn't entirely happy. On 2 days of the weeks, trying to fit my sessions around 8 other people doing something completely different meant these sessions were disjointed and difficult to complete to the plan. I explained the issue with Darren and asked if joining in with them on these 2 days was a possibility. Darren being the good bloke he is agreed and now we work my other sessions around these 2 days. I personally think this is ideal as I really am tested in the session Darren sets, and then try and hang on others feet in the 2 other sessions. At least I get good practice at drafting.

Overall training has been pretty solid, I've put in some of the biggest training hours in January and February yet still feel half human LOL. Fitness is slowly rising and if I am honest I probably am fitter now than I was going into IM South Africa last year so given the later start of the year I hope to be able to build on that, avoid colds and illnesses and start racing both fitter and healthier than every before.

Getting All Motivated

Now 2016 has arrived one could start panicking about the season ahead, after all it isn’t that far away and it is easy to think that you still have a mountain to climb. I am sure we are all the same and I have similar doubts about how training has gone so far during the winter.

I started training properly for the 2016 season in November, but even this was pretty easy sessions just getting back into the regular ritual of training, it is only now after all the Christmas festivities are over we are getting down to the nitty gritty of harder training. It really is time to blow the cobwebs away and start doing the occasional above race effort intervals.

With my planned season ahead, doing all of the Castle Triathlon Series Gauntlet races and The Bastion it would be so easy to overdo things and in this vein I have decided to use a coach again. The guy I am using, Darren Jenkins, did exactly what I am doing this year and I thought what better person to understand the challenge of trying to do either a half ironman or a full ironman every 2 weeks in the middle of the year.

This has meant a pretty big change for me, in the past I have been a bit more of a volume athlete, though I have always done above race effort intervals even in the winter. Now the volume has been cut down a bit and some of the intervals are pretty hard, especially the running and swimming, I am having to come to terms with that reduced volume, it isn’t easy at times. Make no doubt the training is still hard and challenging, I just need to rethink of how much volume is really needed, especially when your first real target event is in July.

With regards to training, I am pretty sure everyone suffers from the motivation to train at times, we aren’t machines and at times getting yourself out of bed to do those early morning swims, or dragging yourself of the sofa to get out and do the second session of the day can be a real challenge. In times like this I think back to the Howard Castle Triathlon last year and the video that went viral of Bailey Matthews, who has cerebral palsy, completing his first triathlon. Here is a little lad who has a very hard challenging life, yet he doesn’t show it and gives everything 100%, what an inspiration. If you ever lack motivation, take a look at the video, it really does give you a different perspective about the difficulties of training. Over Christmas it was so heart-warming to see Bailey win the Helen Rollason Award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, very well deserved and he showed true personality and spirit that a lot of professional sports people seem to lack. I hope to be able to meet him during one of the Castle Triathlon Series races, it would be a real honour.

Talking of honours, I am really honoured to be asked to be an ambassador for the NSPCC for 2016, this will see me race all the Castle Triathlon Series races in NSPCC kit and try and raise as much money as I can for this wonderful cause. Again if we think we have it hard at times, think of those kids that always have it hard and know nothing other than suffering, they deserve all of our support, and I hope you will consider helping me raise as much as possible for them.

My first race of 2016 is likely to the be the East Grinstead Triathlon as a warm up for the first of my real challenges with the Lough Cutra Gauntlet at the end of May, and beautiful location for a stunning race in the West of Ireland. I’ve been assured that the water will be warm so why not think about doing this race, they offer a range of distances for every ability and the Castle Triathlon Series do put on a magical weekend of racing, plus you get cracking Guinness in Ireland, what’s not to like.

Keep training and keep motivated.

Running the Gauntlet

Sometimes I feel really blessed, I am lucky to have a superb supportive family who have nothing but encouragement for the silly activities I partake in. I am part of a wonderful triathlon team that is like a big family, the support for each of us when racing and training is just something else. Even though I have only been doing triathlon a short amount of time, I have built up a real fantastic group of friends, both competitors and organisers.

I think I have said before, one of my most favourite events is the Castle Triathlon Bastion, and with it the Castle Triathlon Series. I was slightly shocked recently when I was asked to become an ambassador for the Castle Triathlon Series next year, but I jumped at the chance. That really blessed feeling just continues. I am immensely proud to represent a great organisation that aims to break down the barriers to those thinking about entering a triathlon for the first time, and providing a great event experience for all those taking part, whether the first timer or an experienced triathlete. Each event is unique in it's setting and atmosphere, though they all are very rewarding events.

All of the Castle Triathlon Series races take part in stunning settings, these being Lough Cutra Castle in Ireland, Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire, Castle Howard in Yorkshire, Chateau de Chantilly in France, and Hever Castle in Kent.

What it means is I have 2016 pretty well planned out, as I will be racing all of the Gauntlet races in the series, and also for the 3rd time, the jewel in the crown of the series, The Bastion at Hever Castle. The aim of 2016 was to step down a distance for a year, and to have some fun. I think next year will certainly be major fun, and I really am itching for 2016 to roll around fast.

29th May at Lough Cutra
26th June at Cholmondeley Castle
10th July The Bastion at Hever Castle
24th July at Castle Howard
28th August at Chateau de Chantilly
25th September at Hever Castle

I guess the real focus will be on the Bastion, though the thought of doing 2 x half iron distance, sandwiched either side of the Bastion in a 5 week period does slightly concern me, though no doubt I can speak with Darren Jenkins on how to manage it as he did the same this year. If you want to see how I get on, why not take part yourself. I can assure you it is great fun.

For those who have done a Gauntlet at any of the locations, consider stepping up to the Bastion, it is a great event and one that provides a welcoming and family feel that you will be used to, yet provides you with the big event feel of other mainstream long distance events. It is certainly an event to remember and I promise you won't come away from it disappointed. For anyone that hasn't done a Castle Triathlon Series event I urge you to give one a go, they offer a huge selection of distances to try, and they even offer a children's triathlon at all the locations so fun to be had for the whole family.

For more information on the Castle Triathlon Series, please visit the website and there is a wealth of information on there. If you do have any questions, then I will be pleased to try and assist, or you can contact the Castle Triathlon Series via their website.

It's All a Bit of a Steathy Secret - A Review

The other month I was lucky enough to win a load of Secret Training goodies, I promised I would do some testing and write a quick review for them.

Having been an endurance athlete for a few years now I have tried nearly all of the nutrition products on the market, and although some have proved decent, a lot are either sickly tasting or don't really provide the required energy boosts.

I will start by saying I am not a huge fan of gels, their consistency in general is not pleasant and although I have used gels in races, I avoid them like the plague when it comes to training.

My winning pack from Secret Training consisted of various flavours of Super Hydration Drink Mix, which is basically their energy drink with electrolytes to keep you fuelled and optimally hydrated. There was also some gels, and like I have said above although I don't normally use them in training I did try a few for the review. The last things in the package was the Whey Protein Drink Mix, which is used as a recovery product.

The Super Hydration Drink Mix came in pre measured sachets, that are designed for 500ml bottles. This was good for the bottle between my tribars, but I generally use a 750ml bottle on the frame so I would be interested to taste the difference between the two solution strengths. When mixed with the 500ml of water the taste is very pleasant, it isn't sweet or sickly at all and it did provide a nice source of energy. Even when mixed with 750ml of water the taste was still pleasant, though as you would expect with a weaker solution each mouthful was as energy laden. You can actually buy in bulk as well so make the correct solution strength for any bottle size. Each 500ml provides 10gms of carbohydrate.

I also tested the drink in a race scenario, I like to carry as much as my own fuel as possible in drink form. This is to avoid taking on drinks from aid stations that may vary in their strength and as such energy intake. To do this I make up a strong solution in a 500ml bottle and take on water at aid stations to wash this down with. For Challenge Weymouth I used 4 Super Hydration Drink sachets in the one bottle, making it 4 times stronger than it should be used. Now you might expect the taste to be overpowering and real sweet and sickly, but it wasn't. It was a stronger taste but it still felt very palatable, I was actually sorry when it ran out as even this strong it tasted nicer than the official race supplied energy drink.

I would say if you like your drink with a mild refreshing taste you can't go much wrong with this, my favourite flavour is the Mango and Passionfruit, but they all were very tasty and refreshing. As for the fuelling I never felt underfuelled in any of my training or racing using the Super Hydration Mix, and even though I sweated a fair amount at Challenge Weymouth I suffered no signs of cramping or electrolyte balance issues. I also suffered no GI issues throughout the day which is always pleasing when doing a long distance triathlon.

The gels were 3 different types, I had some advanced isotonic gels, some real fruit gels and a caffeine and betaine gel. The consistency of the gels was OK, it seemed to be a good consistency to eat on go, not too runny (that gets everywhere), or too solid (difficult to actually get down your throat). The banana flavour was really nice, and although not being a fan of gels it was one of the better tasting ones I have come across. The other one I tried was an isotonic one, these are ideal as you don't need to take on water as well as the gel. Again the consistency was nice and it went down very easily and the citrus flavour again was a very pleasant taste. Packaging isn't too big and fits easily in jersey pockets, and even the small pockets that some trisuits come with. Each 60ml gel provides 22gms of carbohydrate.

The last thing to try was the Whey Protein Mix, I was a bit sceptical about the Cherry flavour I had received, I am more of a chocolate person, but I thought I would see what it was like. I mixed it up as per the instructions and the first thing I noticed is that it was very runny. I am more used to a thicker solution, but that is personal preference I guess. The taste was actually very nice, still not as nice as chocolate but very palatable. Being a more runny solution it drank very easily and it did seem to help after a 6 hour ride with recovery.

Would I recommend Secret Training nutrition products, then that is a big YES, they really did surprise me and it certainly will be used by me again, especially the Super Hydration Mix, it simply is one of the better tasting energy drinks I have tried.

One thing I would like Secret Training to develop though is some little energy shots, similar to what Powerbar and Clif do. For me these are easier to stomach and eat when training and racing, they are far easier on the stomach compared with a gel. Something to think about guys ;)

Challenge Weymouth 2015

So so close to a ETU Long Distance Championship medal, but ultimately just not quick enough on the day.

The week leading up had gone well, I felt I was well recovered and the little sessions I had done had gone well. I still had a few niggles that were present, but there was nothing I could do about them, what will be, will be.

The weekend was pretty relaxing apart from seemingly losing the car keys sometime between the morning bike ride and racking my bike. After checking all my bags in the hotel, there was only one place I could think of them being, 2km's down the road in transition, bugger it meant another 4km of walking when I could have been resting, and the worry that they might not actually be there after all. Luckily they were in one of my shoes so panic over and I had a nice enjoyable walk back with Tom Vickery.

Sunday dawned pretty nice, there seemed to be just a very small breeze, though the wind was due to pick up during the day. I felt pretty relaxed, though it was nice to have some excitement over the race. I will admit there was a certainly a bit of pride pulling on a GBR trisuit for the first time and representing my country for the very first time, even if was only as an Age Group athlete. The sea thankfully was alot calmer than last year and it looked like it was going to be an ace swim.

Swim:

Once the pros were off it was the ETU AGers 5 mins later, I got near the front and started swimming quite strong, it was noticeably that the outward leg felt slow however, but I settled down in a pack of swimmers and felt pretty much in control of my breathing and effort. As we turned at the first buoy and across the bay the pace seemed to pick up and this leg and the final swim back to shore seemed pretty fast, out after the first lap and a run along the shore it didn't seem as though I was doing too bad. The second lap seemed harder than the first and it was noticeably more choppy and more difficult to see the buoys. Even swimming across the waves seemed harder but at least the final swim back to shore was still fast. Out of the water in 1:13, not quite the 1:10 I was hoping for but a similar swim time to South Africa so all in all pretty solid and I didn't feel as though I had taken much out of myself.

Bike:

Out on the bike I took the first part pretty easy and tried to get some nutrition down me. I had decided to take the hill out of Weymouth at a nice steady effort and wait until we got to the top to start pushing the effort. The wind on top of the ridge was starting to make itself known and I soon realised it probably wasn't going to be a fast day, but things felt good and I pushed on at a pretty solid effort and started passing faster swimmers. Nearing the far end of the course the wind was really picking up and although the return leg was with a tailwind, with a lot of it being sheltered it never seemed that much help. At the end of the first lap I had caught the leader in my AG, and looking at the intensity I had done the first lap at (0.78 for anyone interested) and the time (about 2:25) I decided that it probably wasn't worth trying to hold that for the second lap. I knew that going that hard would massively impact my run so the second lap I decided to ease off slightly and and just try and make sure I still put in a decent effort, but try and ease off whenever the wind/terrain allowed.

The second lap was slower and felt a lot tougher even with the reduced effort, the wind really had picked up and some of the sections were a real slow slog. I was now catching some of the younger age groups and it was becoming increasingly difficult to make clean passes within the time limit so I just concentrated on keeping a legal distance and overtaking when I felt I could pass cleanly enough. I felt pretty strong throughout out the ride and it was nice to have a great ride, though slower than I really wanted but that was due to the weather and even the pro's were slower than last year. I was pleased with a solid and sensible effort. I came in 1st in my AG, but I knew there were faster runners not that far behind so it meant a bit of a do or die type effort for the run. A decent 5:03 bike split.

Up the hill out of Weymouth

Run:

After speaking with Darren Jenkins at the Bastion and how he approaches the run I decided to try it, I had nothing to lose in reality and I knew I probably needed a 3:30 marathon to get a medal. I started off feeling great and running at 4:50/km seemed easy, but I wasn't brave enough to actually run any faster than that, I knew I would slow but I was thinking that with slowing down to around 5:15 towards the end, it would equal out. The wind on the promenade was brutal and it just seemed to get stronger and stronger whilst you get weaker and weaker. The first lap went well and I was maintaining the pace I started off at, though various niggles that have plagued me all year were starting to annoy me, not really slow me down but causing me to be more circumspect to the pace I was trying to achieve. I did start slowing down but I was still maintaining 5 min km's so pretty happy and the niggles didn't get any worse so I felt pretty much in control still.

The wind did start slowing down progress but gauging my pace of the faster runners I know seemed to show I was still comparing well, so I just kept going as fast as I could. I was passed before the half way mark by the winner of my AG, and at the time there was no way I was going to be able to keep pace, I just kept telling myself to keep going at the effort you can achieve. I started to walk the aid stations just over half way, just to make sure I got enough fluid in, and to get some aches and pains a brief respite.

The lack of decent long distance runs started showing around the 30km mark where I went through a little bit of a bad patch, I was passed by another in my AG so although I wasn't 100% sure I thought I was in 3rd place, and I knew 4th place was only about 500m behind me, but we seemed to be running at a similar pace. The bad patch melted that gap however and at about the 36km mark he passed me. I tried to keep up but the I was suffering and he slowly pulled a gap. I got to the far turn for the last time and with a bit of a tailwind I just tried to bury myself. I did manage to speed up but it was tough work, and I never managed to close the gap, even a shout out from Darren Jenkins on course couldn't help much. I finished just 1:12 away from the bronze medal after a pretty solid effort and I got a 3:40 marathon so certainly the fastest full marathon I have run.

Post Race Thoughts:

A total time of 10:05 wasn't quite the sub 9:30 I thought might be possible, but a lot of that was the weather, on a calmer day I would have been close, but I also realised that I didn't quite have the same bike and run fitness I had last year and it made itself known towards the end of the race. Still you have got to have targets to aim for and there is no point making a target a soft target, and that's what I thought would be needed to get a medal. Happy with the race though, it was a race where I went for it and I truely felt I was competing rather than just completing and it was a race I have learned a lot from. 26th Overall and 4th in the 45-49 AG is a result I am very happy with.

Massive congratulations to Joe Duckworth, Paulo Margarido, and Ken Holder on their medals, and thanks for making it a great race. Thanks again to my Mum and Dad for great support on course and to my most wonderful wife and little lad for your unending support. Thank you Ruth Eyles for your coaching skills and guidance over the last 6 years.

One great thing about the weekend was finally meeting some Twitter and Facebook friends for the first time, and catching up with others, thanks for a great weekend Matt Molloy, Karl Alexander, Alan Murchison, Tom Vickery, Lee Cook, Alice Hector, Matt Dowle and all the other great athletes I met over the weekend. Also thanks must go to Tim Whitmarsh from British Triathlon for your support throughout the build up and the weekend. Also thanks to Sundried for their support this year.

Now it is time for a bit of downtime and get to know my family a little bit better and do jobs around the house that I have been putting off for months now. Next year will be all about the shorter distance of middle distance, and just the one long distance, but that exciting news I will leave for another blog.

Last Hurrah for 2015

With just over a week to go to Challenge Weymouth and the ETU Long Distance Championship and I am into my final taper of the year. After the euphoria of 2014, this year has seemed a bit of a struggle at times. Training has gone very well some weeks and then just hit and miss the following week either through fatigue or life just getting in the way.

The build between the Bastion and now has been OK though and I feel faster in my swimming and the running finally seems to have come together, though I haven't done any durations similar to what I did last year, well apart from 2 IM marathons. Biking as always is strong, though you don't really lose this overnight and I have done plenty of bike work to keep this in good nick.

I keep asking myself, what goals do I want to attach to Challenge Weymouth, I could take the "just enjoy it" route but to be honest I don't think I can whilst racing in GBR kit. The only other option is to attack it and try and do my best and this is what I intend to do, I have had too many races this year where I have thought I was just taking part rather than competing.

I have also decided to stop being coached for next year, I have been coached by Ruth Eyles for 6 years now and together we have achieved a lot, it would be great to bow out with a great result. Now what result would be great, well given how I performed at Challenge Weymouth last year the logical answer is to finish on the podium and get a European medal. Is it possible, then the answer is yes, but as I well and truly know, a long distance tri is a bit of a beast and anything can happen to scupper any ideals you might have thought about.

The course for Challenge Weymouth is again an ace course, especially for me. The swim course hopefully will be better than last year, but even if it isn't I am a lot more confident in open water this year and don't expect any issues like I did last year. The bike course is potentially faster now we don't have the slow out and back to Affpuddle, though if we have a stiff wind from the West the return to Weymouth each lap will be a slow slog. The run course is as flat as a pancake so the ideal run course for me, I should be able to plod myself to a half decent time even if it does all fall apart.

It's going to be an enjoyable weekend no matter what, there are quite a few friends taking part so at least I hope the atmosphere should be a nice relaxing and jovial one. Let's finish 2015 with a bang :).