Well, I'm out in Houston, Texas doing some pre-Kona training to get my body used to the heat and humidity that will be a part of the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona on October 12th. After a very hectic last few weeks, I'm pleased to say that I can now chill a bit more and fit some blogging in between training.
So, back to ITU World Champs at London. This was an amazing experience, racing in front of the home crowd, with people I knew lining the course and shouting my name to give me the best motivation yet. I believe it was the best performance I was capable of under the conditions. I finished 13th in 2:08, and was rewarded with a hug from Chrissie Wellington at the finish line. The swim was shortened to 750m which was very disappointing for such a big event on a world stage. This was due to the difference in temperature between the water and the air, but for September in the UK, in my view, it was a very predictable situation. Had the race been one week earlier, we may have had a freak weekend of warmer weather but as it was, many athletes were bitterly disappointed with the organisers' decision.
Anyway, I raced as hard as I could and was pleased to have got there in the first place, and been part of a memorable event. It was, however a challenge not to get a cold when there were some 13 hours of hanging around in the freezing cold rain at Hyde Park over the weekend.
But I survived healthily into my taper for Kona and now I'm sucking up the wet blanket training conditions in Texas, and remembering all the things I miss about living here. I can buy stuff in 24 hour stores, I have been musing over the strange collection of Britishness that is collected in the International section of the supermarket: 'Marmite, Ginger Nuts, and Golden Syrup' how odd. Plus I while away my hot and sweaty runs by looking for alligators, sighting of which doesn't happen too often in Bushy Park. So far, its been 3 turtles, one racoon, several rabbits but no armadillos.
So today's task, apart from running and swimming in the heat, is to work out why I can't get my new Garmin Vector pedals to work since I unpacked the bike in Texas.
They worked fine last week, so more tweaking is clearly needed. Will update you when I finally get some good data from them.
So, back to ITU World Champs at London. This was an amazing experience, racing in front of the home crowd, with people I knew lining the course and shouting my name to give me the best motivation yet. I believe it was the best performance I was capable of under the conditions. I finished 13th in 2:08, and was rewarded with a hug from Chrissie Wellington at the finish line. The swim was shortened to 750m which was very disappointing for such a big event on a world stage. This was due to the difference in temperature between the water and the air, but for September in the UK, in my view, it was a very predictable situation. Had the race been one week earlier, we may have had a freak weekend of warmer weather but as it was, many athletes were bitterly disappointed with the organisers' decision.
Anyway, I raced as hard as I could and was pleased to have got there in the first place, and been part of a memorable event. It was, however a challenge not to get a cold when there were some 13 hours of hanging around in the freezing cold rain at Hyde Park over the weekend.
But I survived healthily into my taper for Kona and now I'm sucking up the wet blanket training conditions in Texas, and remembering all the things I miss about living here. I can buy stuff in 24 hour stores, I have been musing over the strange collection of Britishness that is collected in the International section of the supermarket: 'Marmite, Ginger Nuts, and Golden Syrup' how odd. Plus I while away my hot and sweaty runs by looking for alligators, sighting of which doesn't happen too often in Bushy Park. So far, its been 3 turtles, one racoon, several rabbits but no armadillos.
So today's task, apart from running and swimming in the heat, is to work out why I can't get my new Garmin Vector pedals to work since I unpacked the bike in Texas.
They worked fine last week, so more tweaking is clearly needed. Will update you when I finally get some good data from them.
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