Spectating at the GE Blenheim Triathlon

As a result of going a bit off the rails training-plan wise over last week I made the decision not to race the picturesque GE Blenheim Triathlon. Mrs, however, didn't get off the hook so easily, so she was still up early with her race face on and ready to go for some sprint-distance action.

My rearranged diary called for a low-effort Heart Rate Zone 1 session instead, so I got up early and had a 50km ride in the sun (and persistent wind) up to Richmond Park, round it a few times in each direction, and on to the inaugural parkrun event at Crane Park, a few miles west of Richmond in South West London. I was scheduled to run at my anticipated Ironman marathon pace, so I jogged round at the wide end (if the front of the pack is the sharp/pointy end, then the back has to be the wide end, right?) in a relatively pedestrian 27:19.

I was due to complete a section of the ride at 25-mile Time Trial pace so I saved that for the journey back home - a solid 43 minute effort. I got in at 10:25 - a little later than intended, I'd said we should leave at 10:30, but Mrs was all packed and ready and we were back out within 15 minutes.

She was having a tough work day and spent the drive up to Blenheim Palace on the phone - a very stressy period and, together with getting stuck on the Oxford ring road, not the best pre-race experience.

In my role as domestique for the day I parked up, unpacked the car, and assembled the bike. I carried bags and wheeled the bike to registration while Mrs carried on dealing with work. Thankfully for all our sanity the phone reception in the area is atrocious and she soon had to drop off the phone and could focus on her race.

Despite the delays, we had plenty of time to rack up in transition and get ready. I had planned to race and therefore received my race pack, so I brought my athlete's wristband and enjoyed "access all areas" - I could get into transition, help Mrs while she got changed into her wetsuit, and carry all her bags. I tried to do as I was told and be quiet and helpful. Today, I'm just a spectator.

Access all areas

Mrs went down to swim start, I went to grab a coffee and head down to watch. The green-hats assembled, and had the usual good natured briefing. The same guy did the briefing at last year's Blenheim Triathlon (which I didn't enjoy very much - over-cooked the bike and suffered badly on the run), and also the Virgin London Triathlon.

Race briefing

Without further ado, they dropped in the water and were off!

Swim start - affectionally known as "the washing machine"

I cheered and waved along with all the other proud Mums and Dads and Significant Others, and wandered back up the hill to wait at the top of the swim exit. There's a punishing 400m hill straight out of the water and on to T1 - I wanted to see where she was in the order and cheer her on where I knew I could be heard. Out of her wave of what I guess was 150-200, she was in the top 15, and 5th woman - I beamed proudly and shouted "5th woman!" as she went by.

Mrs at the bike mount (with the red tyres, before you say something funny about the guy in blue)

No time to get to transition, so I went to watch the bike mount. I saw her leave on the first of three laps, and then pass twice more. I yelled encouragement each time and think I got through (either that or they guy next to her was wondering why I was yelling "Go-on honey, looking good!" at him).

Looking up to transition - it really is a beautiful setting

Military precision at the course crossing points

I crossed the bike and run route (eventually, there was quite a queue) to get closer to the runners. Mrs went in for T2 and out not he run.

Mrs heading down the ramp on the bridge to the run route, 200m outside transition

I yelled some more encouragement and made my way up to the finish. She was looking really strong in the run (as I yelled a couple of times) and even raised her arms and laughed as the announcer called her name as she went down the finishing chute. I was so happy I forgot to get a picture of her, but she looked strong, fast, and fit - looking good for next week's Ironman 70.3 UK at Wimbleball!

A quick look at the results show her to be in 9th place overall in her age category - an amazing performance out of over 180 in her category over the two days of racing.

It was a good experience being on the other side for a change, as a spectator rather than competitor - cheering along with everyone else and enjoying the spectacle. If you get a chance to go along and support someone at a triathlon, please do - it means the world to have support and you may feel tempted to try it yourself.

Race report from Mrs is here.

The elites raced on Saturday morning and were all done by the time we got there - Alistair Brownlee made a triumphant return to racing finishing in a tie with his brother Jonathon, and Jodie Stimpson took it out for the ladies, right in the face of the announcement of the GBR team by the Olympic selection committee. The selection was a messy process, and resulted in some rather public disappointment by the unselected.

A brick session to remember: Part 2

Read A brick session to remember: Part 1 for the back story.

Huddled under the heater in the foyer of the Chevin Country Park Hotel and Spa, me and Mrs watched a chap park up in the car park and walk towards us. He introduced himself as Alec, an assistant to Jonny and Alistair. Evidently, "the boys" as they were regularly referred to, were on their way, just coming up the hill now.

We waited, a little nervously, and made some particularly tiny small-talk. The description had said "train with them on the Yorkshire Moors" and "join them for a run and a bike ride", but we didn't have any idea of what that really meant. The text is always going to imply something amazing to capture the interest, but what would the reality be? Would it be just us and them, or would there be more of an entourage, maybe some other people along as an obligation to their sponsors?

The boys arrived within a minute or two. They rounded the corner of the drive way, came up the path, and dumped their bikes on outside. They were dressed identically, and riding identical bikes. They certainly looked the part. They walked straight in and we were introduced.

We would be out on our own, the four of us, for "about 90 minutes" (we were asked how long we wanted) and then we'd come back, do a quick change, and go for a run for "about half an hour". Sounds awesome. I asked for a picture.

Alec reminded the boys to unzip their warmers so the BT sponsorship could shine through.

We headed outside and picked up our bikes. I asked for another picture :)

We've all got the same Gatorade 750ml bottles. It's a sign. I'm not sure of what, though.

We set off, out of the Hotel, and turned left. Holy crap I'm cycling with the Brownlees!

Very quickly they split up and cycled one each with us, Alistair and me at the front, Jonny and Mrs at the back. It certainly took a little while for me to relax into the ride. We went at a respectable pace, and kept the cadence high. I found it a bit hard to make conversation at first, but soon settled into it.

The boys were brilliant with us. Given they didn't know us from Adam (and Mrs Adam) they made us feel very at ease. The roads we were on were part of their training area, though they obviously go a lot further afield.

We talked about training (theirs and ours), their races, motivators, technique, and all sorts of other things. They would swap round occasionally, and we both had a chance to have a good chat with both of them. Speaking to Mrs afterwards I think we were both having the same conversations with each of them, but they didn't seem to mind.

I spent quite a while discussing grass roots sport with Alistair, and we spent some time talking about parkrun. It turns out Alistair has run parkrun, once before. Leeds run number 71, where he won - taking out the field with a super fast time of 15:36 - over 2 minutes ahead of second place! Here are the race results and his parkrun profile.

Mrs and I had decided to ask and see if they wanted to do Leeds the following morning, but they'd already told us they had "hard run training" the next morning, so we didn't ask in the end. Hard run training turned out to be four minutes full pelt on a grassy hill, then a short break, then three minutes, faster, then a short break, then two, and then one minute. A one-sided pyramid (sawtooth?) session.

We took a rolling route with a few hills, some short and sharp, others longer climbs. I realised it was quite a while since I'd cycled up a "proper hill" - the going was good, but a mental note was made to go and get some hill practice in soon...

Mrs was doing really well. I knew she was nervous going into the day, and worried that we'd all just zip off into the distance. More than once I was really surprised when we got to a top of a hill, and I turned around and she was just cresting it too - I don't mean that at all condescendingly, I've been cycling years and years longer than her, and more seriously, so I'm really pleased and proud of her performance.

Our cycle route.

We headed out along the ridge towards Ilkley, and then descended fast to the town. Taking a right after crossing Ilkley, we headed back up the valley before turning back round and up a long ascent to where we started. We asked for "about 90 minutes", we pulled back into the Hotel after one hour and 37 minutes. Pretty much spot on timing, not bad for guys who weren't wearing any watches!

Basically; down, along a bit, and up.

Occasionally when flying round some winding roads on a descent my mind wandered to what would happen if I accidentally clipped a wheel and one of them went tumbling off... "Careless oaf dashes Olympic dream" the headlines would read. Not the best way to end up in the newspapers. Anyway, nothing like that happened!

This is the full Garmin log of our ride.

We got back to the hotel, completed the longest T2 ever (about 10 minutes) and went out the front to meet the boys again. Mrs and I exchanged looks while we got changed - was this even happening?

Running was even more personal than cycling - the four of us could talk together. Well by talk I mean I could gasp the odd question and they could chat happily in response!

The most striking feature of our run was the effortless grace with which Jonny and Alistair seemed to cover the ground. Years of drills and circuits, and a mantra that the more time you spend on the ground the slower you are, has led to them almost floating over the terrain. It's a wonder to watch, it really doesn't look like there's enough time spent on the ground to lift off again with any force.

Running certainly separated the men from the boys. I found it tough to hang on at times. We were 100% off road, and went through woods, across uneven rocky areas, and sometimes where there weren't any paths at all. The Brownlees grew up in this area and have been running here all their lives - and it showed.

Our run route. Note the way it's nowhere near any roads or paths.

We talked about running technique, and the benefits of off road training with reducing injury and delivering a more rounded strength workout as no two steps were the same.

At the end I certainly felt like I'd run more than 5km, but felt very differently to after a normal run. There was no feeling of repetition in my knees or ankles - I felt more like I'd done a gym session!

This is the full Garmin log of our run.

We returned to the hotel, I was on cloud nine. We agreed to meet at 7 for dinner (yup, we were having dinner with them too!).

Mrs wrote some notes for her blog, I just had a shower and snoozed to repeats of Red Dwarf. I had a really odd dream about losing my way in transition, not having the right shoes (my SPD commuter shoes, not right for my tri-bike), and the lead female runner finishing before I'd even got out on my bike. Very odd.

We met in the hotel bar and took a table. Discussing money in triathlon, sponsorship, and the lack of a UK league system in triathlon meaning the boys race for a French team, we relaxed and felt very at ease. It felt like we were just sat in the pub with some mates. For all their Olympic potential, and clear hero status in British triathlon, they're just a couple of guys - happy enough to kick back and chew the fat as much as the next guy.

We moved through to the dining room and took our tables for dinner, still the four of us. Me, Mrs, and the hopeful Gold/Silver Olympic triathlon duo. I tried to imagine sitting in a similar place with two footballers - Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney maybe. Not only would you be absolutely mobbed by people and press, but the conversation wouldn't be half as interesting! The Brownlees were well spoken, polite, and interesting. They were bright and articulate. They are and will be great ambassadors for triathlon in this Olympic year, and beyond.

We talked more, covering diet (they eat whatever they want, near enough), drugs in sport and drug testing, sports science, training, and other non-triathlon topics. We talked about us a bit too, what we do, triathlon racing experience, successes and failures, and more. They seemed genuinely interested and listened.

We wrapped the evening up at about 10. Jonny had to be in in case the drugs testing crew turned up! Apparently you need to give an hour every day and say where you'll be, they can turn up at any time, and obviously without warning.

The Chevin Country Park Hotel and Spa.

So that was it, our day with Jonny and Alistair. They were great for their sponsors and really did commit a whole day of time - more than me and Mrs ever thought we'd get.

That was "meet your heroes" week. I'm not sure I'll have another one like that. I'm sure there will be other meet'n'greet poster signings, but I don't think we'll ever have a day with anyone like the Brownlees again - particularly with no PR, management agents, or entourage.

Thanks to Richard Downey from the Professional Sports Group for being so efficient and organised, thanks BT for having a ball, and thank you so much to Mrs for the +1 invite.

Most of all, thanks to Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee for a day of your time - good luck this summer, we'll be cheering you on until our voices are hoarse.

A brick session to remember: Part 1

I'm North of Leeds, near Otley, in an odd but pleasant enough little country spa. It's cold. I've got two racing bikes with me, and untold layers of warm running and cycling gear. I left London at 17:45 yesterday, after work, and drove until about 22:30 to get here, and I've been looking forward to this day for months.

What am I up to, you ask? (You did ask, I heard)

Mrs occasionally gets invited to special events through her job, I get to play +1. Last year we were fortunate enough to get a couple of seats at the BT British Olympic Ball. This was a fundraising event for the British Olympic Association that was held on 7th October last year at London Olympia.

Ticket, programme, and auction goodies

We got dressed up, arrived, at and set about getting acclimatised with the help of a few of the glasses of fizzy that were in generous supply. There were a lot of Olympians, past, present, and hopeful with well over 80 GB Olympic medals had been won by attendees, and hopefully many more to come. Our sporting interests are fairly polarised, so we recognised a couple of cyclists including Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish, and a few others who have are very active in sport and broadcasting such as Clare Balding, but there were many more faces that looked familiar but we couldn't place. All the guests had made a big effort to look their best, and we spent some time admiring the amazing dresses on display.

Almost immediately we spotted Alastair and Jonathan Brownlee. We circled a bit, nervously, then I approached and asked if we could get a photo with them. They graciously agreed, and we got a brilliant snap for the album:

I'm the one that isn't a girl or a Brownlee

We took our seats and looked through the goodie bags. There was a selection of products from the sponsors, plenty of pamphlets and adverts, and a few moments. I was particularly happy to get some chocolate from the BT Tower [@bttowerlondon] - we chat occasionally on twitter, and he/it even put my name in lights last summer. Don't judge me, I often speak to inanimate objects and have a tendency to anthropomorphise.

We hadn't done any research on what the night would involve, and were happily surprised when it turned out that the night was to be comparéd by Stephen Fry and Miranda Hart, both of whom me and Mrs are big fans of. After a song and dance into and a demonstration of some BMX riding where they seemed to spend more time upside down than downside down, Stephen and Miranda entered to get proceedings underway. We heard from many seniors in British sport and the Olympic Association including welcomes from Sir Clive Woodward CBE (Chairman, BT British Olympic Ball), Sir Michael Rake (Chairman, BT Group PLC), and Lord Moynihan (Chairman, British Olympic Association). Before the meal prepared by Tom Aikens (youngest ever chef to be awarded two Michelin stars) Grace was spoken by Denise Lewis CBE, and following food a toast by Ben Ainslie CBE, and a Team GB address by HRH The Princess Royal (President, British Olympic Association). We were also treated to a turn from from Rory Bremner and some entertainment from Tinchy Stryder and Dappy.

We ate, and drank, chatted to the other people at our table, and generally had a really nice time getting gently inebriated.

There were two auctions on the evening. One was the Grand Auction, a conventional live auction hosted by Edward Rising, with some big ticket items such as multiple holidays, first class flights to exotic locations, and a battery of Olympic tickets. I have honestly never seen money spent so quickly with the bigger items going for many tens of thousands to much "ooh-ing" and "aah-ing" and applause as each item sold. The second auction was a silent auction that was running in the background all evening. The items were listed in a catalogue and the current bid price for each was scrolling on TVs which were up all around the dining and bar areas. Bids were placed via what resembled credit card and PIN pad readers, one on each table. The cards for this auction were provided in the goodie bags, and unique to each guest. They were registered to you by filling in the registration card and handing it in to one of the helpers who were on hand.

One of the items in the silent auction was a training day with the Brownlee brothers.

Note the picture, it's an unrelated GB age-grouper also named Brownlee!

The text says:

44. Training with the Brownlee brothers 

Two guests will meet Alistair and Jonny Brownlee - the athletes to watch in the world of elite Triathlon and train with them on the Yorkshire Moors where they are based. Jonny is currently Sprint Triathlon World Champion and his older brother Al is European Triathlon Champion. You will join them on a run and a bike ride in the countryside surrounding Leeds and have the opportunity to take photographs and get autographs.

We talked about what an amazing day that would be, and given that there were no bids yet, the reserve was affordable, and we were both nicely lubricated by now, we thought we'd kick it off and place a bid at the reserve price.

Before long someone outbid us. Oh well, never mind. Although it was still an affordable amount. A shared thought and knowing look. We placed another bid.

Excitedly we watched for our lot to come round again on the TV. During dinner the price edged up slowly. It was starting to get a bit out of control, and moving from the realms of an unplanned but affordable impulse purchase to something that would require some planning to fund. We worked out what our maximum would be, gulped a bit, and placed the bid.

Then an amazing thing happened. Stephen and Miranda wrapped up, and announced that Tom Jones would be playing a set! I'm not a Tom fan, but the opportunity to have a dance to absolute classic songs, and be within about 2 metres of the man strutting his not inconsiderable stuff was too good to miss. We went for a dance. As is often my way, I danced for perhaps a bit longer than was necessary. Thankfully, there were no podiums.

Tom Jones, rockin' the mic right

I had to drive up to Wakefield the next day for a stag do, so we couldn't sty out for too long, so at about midnight and before the taxis turned into pumpkins and our clothes to rags, we gathered our things together and set off home.

On the way out, and really quite tipsy by this point, I insisted we waited by one of the TVs to see where the Brownlee bidding had got to. No further bids had been placed since we were last outbid - it seemed clear that just us and one other bidder had pushed the price to where it was now. Well, I'll have the last laugh! I popped over to the nearest table, borrowed their card reader, and nudged the bid up another few hundred - that'll teach him!

We left and headed home. The next day I got worried that we might have accidentally won, but I got no phone call or email, and after a few days thought nothing more if it. At least we'd pushed the lot up to a good price, and done our bit for the Olympic movement.

And then, quite a while later, I got a letter. We'd done a bit more for the Olympic Association than we'd thought...

Biggest drunken purchase. Ever.

And this is how me and Mrs ended up in North Yorkshire, huddled under a heater in the foyer of the Chevin Hotel and Spa in full cycling gear, waiting for Great Britain's triathlon prodigies and Gold/Silver Olympic Triathlon hopefuls Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee to come and meet us for a bike ride in the countryside, followed by a bit of a run.

The state of play when we left at midnight, and that's the way it remained. Oops...!

Part 2 to follow...

"Meet your heroes" week

I'm a relative newcomer to triathlon, but already there are three individuals who have never ceased to affect me with their dedication, athletic achievement, mental strength, and utterly inspiring performances.

Chrissie Wellington [@chrissiesmiles] - Reigning and four-times Ironman World Champion (wikipedia, website) 

Alistair Brownlee [@AliBrownleetri] - Reigning ETU European and ITU World Champion (wikipedia, website) 

Jonathon Brownlee [@jonny_brownlee]- Reigning Under-23 World Champion and Sprint World Champion (wikipedia, BTF profile)

This week I am lucky and honoured enough to be meeting them all.

Since just before Christmas, AudioFuel have been running a promotion on twitter. Donate £5 to Challenged Athletes Foundation and be entered into a draw for a ticket to an audience with Chrissie at a bike shop in London where she was to launch Tri Harder, a new collaboration between her and AudioFuel, and then hold a Q&A and meet and greet, pose for photos, and give out autographs.

Me and Mrs entered and thought no more of it until last Friday I got an email telling me where to be and when! What a great start to a Friday. Mrs checked her mail and didn't see one - awww, it's OK honey, I'll take some pics and get something signed for you- but no! There it was! Mrs was coming too - it couldn't be any better.

So on a pleasant and mild January evening we made our way excitedly to a bike shop I hadn't been to before called Bespoke Cycling [@bespokecycling] in Farringdon. I'll definitely be going back, there's a large quantity of bike pr0n there to be drooled at. There were 100 tickets available, and there seemed to be about that many there, give or take a few. I don't know if the event was oversubscribed, or by how much, but it was clear we were going to get a real up-close and personal experience.

The cleared out downstairs showroom at Bespoke Cycling, Farringdon

Chrissie started off with an introduction to her AudioFuel workout sessions - a preparatory piece to get you in the mood before you head out "Lace-up with Chrissie", some big cycle and run sessions "Run Faster" and "Bike Harder" both available in different workout durations, and a relaxation mix called "Relax with Chrissie" for winding down and visualisation during rest periods.

Chrissie's intro to AudioFuel's Tri Harder with Chrissie Wellington

A trainer from Barnes named Elly did a demo on the bike, and then Chrissie took to the treadmill. The chap from Audi Fuel who was on the mixer let her have about 30s of warm up, and then jumped to one of the 30s intervals which she took at 18km/h. Although she was clearly needing to work to sustain 18km/h, the fluidity of her running was astounding. There was no unnecessary movement, she was perfectly aligned, and it looked biomechanically very efficient. I'm no sports physiologist, but it's clear she has an enviable aptitude for running - which explains her phenomenal run at Kona last year, and why the press ask her if she plans to take on the marathon at world athletics level.

Elly's cycling demo with AudiFuel's Sean Blair at the controls and Chrissie looking on

She then moved to a Q&A session to the audience and fielded questions about winter turbo training, when to use the Audi Fuel sessions, her state of mind during Kona, and many other topics including a couple via twitter. She clearly relaxed during this part of the evening and seemed much more comfortable fielding questions than fulfilling her marketing obligations. She gave long and detailed answers, and I felt shared some truths about her 2011 Kona race and her psychology during the event. Chrissie learned that day what it was like to stand on the start line and genuinely not believe that she was going to win - and as undefeated over the Ironman distance that must have been a tough lesson. She was racing against herself, to do the best she could. As the race panned out though, and she moved up through on the bike and then reeled people in on the run, it became for maybe the first time for her a real genuine race - she had to give it everything to catch and beat Miranda Carfrae in the closing stages. She gave it everything to do that, and it made for a wonderful experience as a spectator, and the victory even sweeter for her.

Chrissie taking Q&A from the audience

I asked the last question, it was along the lines of:

I've entered IM Wales as my first full Ironman distance event. Do you have any advice for the excited first-timer?

Chrissie explained that with Ironman distance racing, as it takes so long to prepare, you have to enjoy the journey. Don't focus too much on the day - particularly this far out - but think about your training, enjoy the progress, get your build up races booked in, and find where your limits are during training. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you need to do tens and tens of hours per week, make each session count.

Good advice. I need to stop thinking about Wales at this stage, it's just too far away - instead focus on consistent and productive training. I've never managed to sustain a set programme for more than about 3 weeks in a row before. That's my biggest challenge right now.

Following that we queued up in a mainly orderly fashion to get an autographed poster, and exchange a few words. Again I was struck at how personal she made the experience, Mrs and I were talking to her for what must have been a couple of minutes at least, and there were 80 or more in the queue behind us. I hope they all got the same opportunity.

Me and Mrs with Chrissie demonstrating why her twitter name is @chrissiesmiles

Following that excitement, we went off to Ginnan chinese restaurant and had lovely pork and vegetable Gyoza followed by Chicken Katsu Curry. Our first meal since quitting the booze. No beer didn't seem to be too much of a problem, and it made the price a nice surprise!

What an amazing, inspiring, and motivating day. I feel privileged to have spent some time in the company of Chrissie Wellington, and I'm sure I'll be talking about it for quite some time (do stop me if I bang on about it too much though).

Oh, and me and Mrs are off to meet the Brownlees on Friday, but I'll tell you all about that at the weekend.