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Saturday 30 May 2009

My legs hurt

92k all out effort on TT bike, straight into 6 mile tempo run. Ouch! And in this warm weather today, was tough. The stairs now require one gargantuan effort just to get to the top! I am avoiding them as much as I can. About to sit down with Matrix Revolutions, coke and a bar of chocolate! Feel like I've earned it. The new 2xu Tri kit from DrivenToTri is very good, much impressed after it's maiden outing today. Complete change of colour for me, as I was just so sick of wearing black.
Recovery week to come! Yippee!

Thursday 28 May 2009

Solid

Steve Birtwistle at Half Ironman UK 2008 Name of the game so far.
Just keep going, one session done, move on to the next one.
Another Poole Wheelers 10 last night. Really enjoying these midweek burn ups!! Beats the turbo any time. Friendly club and I have no worries in recommending them to anyone who wants to join a cycling club. I may even join up myself for next season, will see how this season pans out.
Results from last night out on Poole Wheelers website
http://www.pwresults.pipeten.co.uk/

Wednesday 27 May 2009

Twitter

Was just browsing during work lunchtime hour and signed up!
http://www.twitter.com/stevebirtwistle
Interesting to see what the tri pros are up to!

Tuesday 26 May 2009

Half Ironman UK 2009

Well, in the immortal words of Carly Simon 'it's coming around again'. 2 weeks on Sunday sees me return to Wimbleball for a 3rd time. Very excited about getting back there, to what is without a doubt the toughest 70.3 triathlon out there.
Fraser Cartmell will hopefully be back to see if he can make it 3 wins in a row!!
More info on the web http://half.ironmanuk.com

Sunday 24 May 2009

No stoppin him

http://www.stuweb.co.uk/swp/default.asp?a=2&e=296

James Gilfillan wins yet another triathlon, this one in Gloucester, where his sister Ceris was in action and was fourth lady!

Saturday 23 May 2009

James Gilfillan


At last, some well deserved publicity, although they could do more to highlight his fantastic results over his triathlon career.



Well done James!

Wednesday 20 May 2009

Stop thinking!

Well, I've been getting in plenty of pool time but my times have been off the mark. Maybe a bit of tiredness, maybe it's the cold I've had, maybe I'm just not swimming well. But to be honest, the problem is I am thinking about it too much!!!!
Just get in the pool and swim the set and get out and be done with it! I have got back to worrying about my stroke mechanics too much, and not just relaxing and focussing on swimming hard. I just need to grab hold of the water and work with it. I'm fighting it too much.
So tomorrow morning, I'm going to swi mhard and just not even bother thinking about what my arms, legs, stomach, lats, back, feet are doing! They all get in the way!

On a more positive note, had a storming 2 hour tempo ride this evening, over loads of hills! Legs were hurting by the end, but still pushing a high gear, UK 70.3 in 3 weeks, so far so good me thinks!!

Sunday 17 May 2009

Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers 30

Steve Birtwistle
Absolutely dreadful riding conditions kicked off about 15 minutes into this 30 miler! Wind and torrential rain in places. Never have I felt so cold on a bike, or after a race. Completely soaked to the skin!
I had just about got rid of a cold by this morning, but still feeling a little weary and on starting I had no juice to really get up to speed. My speedo wasn't working so I just got into what felt like pushing a reasonable gear and held it at that for most of the race. By the end the surface water was susbstantial and the roundabouts were pretty treacherous, a lot of grease and diesel to be seen. Lot of punctures and DNFs and a lot of non-starters, who must have predicted the weather.
I was about 5 minutes down on what I would normally ride over that sort of distance, but that was my first official '30', so I'll take it as a marker, and if I rode like that on a triathlon bike leg I'd be quite happy. Well done to Julian Jenkinson who rode strongly to win in very tough conditions.

Results:

http://cyclingtimetrials.janet0102.co.uk/Default.aspx?&ge482__geka=zDDQ-6ZV33MzjqeBwbmQrz_ANSkB_T7qN_S6WibhjZQ7lWdVorNhujUmx1ZTuQec&ge482__gevi=bkosVTEcmXX5ekdECVvBmA&gv484__gvac=2&gv484__gvff0=53938&gv484__gvfl0=0&language=en-GB&tabid=109

Saturday 16 May 2009

Swim time calculator

Time to post this link up again, as I am using it more, now open water swim time is upon us.
http://www.swimsmooth.com/strokeratecalc.htm

But unfortunately will not be in the sea today. Full of cold, was off work yesterday. Usual rubbish, loads of people at work with colds in an unventilated office spreading their germs. Just what every triathlete needs! So will miss 3 days training now whilst I get it out of my system. Might do my 30 mile TT tomorrow but depends very much on the amount of sleep I can get.

Thursday 14 May 2009

Curry

Well, bout time I indulged in a bit of a luxury for once. Rest day tomorrow and after posting a very good 10k PB last night and a solid week of training and racing I thought I needed something hot and spicy!
We settled in for some take away and a veg on the sofa. 9pm and sleep is a must!! I am definitely getting old!

Tuesday 12 May 2009

Happy Birthday Elliot


My little boy is one today!!! Doesn't seem 5 minutes since my other little boy, Henry, was one!! Where has the time gone!?!

Sunday 10 May 2009

Disappointed

Today in transition pre-race, I heard two athletes talking about some of the early starters who would have been finishing well down the field. There were really quite disrespectful and if I had not been trying to sort my bike out and get myself ready, I would have gone over and said something. We have all started out in triathlon from humble beginnnings and whatever level we are at, we put in the effort to test ourselves. Some people need reminding of that from time to time. If I hear such talk again I will definitely be saying something.
Everybody in the sport should be suppportive of every athlete whether at the front or the back of the field. And it matters not what clothes people wear on the bike or what shoes they run in. It's all about challenging yourself, and above all else it's about having fun!!

Dorchester Triathlon results 2009

http://www.conceptsport.co.uk/resources/uploaded/Dorchester%20Web%202%20Results%2009.htm

provisional results, no splits yet.

Report
Glorious weather today for May, real Spring day. Was nippy thismorning riding over and there was quite a lot of early morning mist. But nice to stretch the legs for 25 miles beforehand. Usual check in and found myself nice and relaxed.
And to the race. I was in a good swim wave and was alongside James Brown who was 3rd at Ballbuster duathlon. I tagged along in the swim on his feet and we both exited and into transition together. I managed to get held up whilst running to mount my bike and he got away but a mile down the road and I ent passed and concentrated hard on building a lead, as I knew James is a very strong runner. However, a couple of roundabouts later and my lead had been cut and we came back into T2 alongside again, and that was it! He was off, and I was left to foolow. But I didn't disgrace myself and gritted my teeth and ran better than I have before and finished in a very repsectable 1:06:11, 400m swim, 15 mile bike, 4 mile run. James Brown was 2nd in 1:03:12. Just my run speed really, but that will come over time as I learn to suffer a bit more and get my legs moving quicker! So 5th overall and age group win, and a very enjoyable day! I am now actually 'racing' and it feels good!

Wednesday 6 May 2009

Poole Wheelers 10

New course, well different from the last 2 weeks, harder, and wind made it rather tricky. Certainly the 5 mile out was hard work and got to the turnaround at around 13 minutes. Came back very quick and felt good. 23' 36" in the end, winnnig time was Max Baldock in 22' 22", out on his own again, 2nd and 3rd were 23' 23" and 23' 24 respectively. These are only provisional so I'll post the linkto the website when official results are up. Go to http://www.poolewheelers.com
Top end speed is coming good and I find myself just dropping my cadence a little and pushing a higher gear, seems to be working for me. 25 mile TT next Wednesday evening, really looking forward to that, and should come away with a good time. Then a 30 mile TT the following Sunday, on the same '25' course, with a variation, but should suit me, and it's great because it's only 5 minutes from my front door to the start line!!

Monday 4 May 2009

Dorchester Triathlon 2009

Sunday 10th May, 9:45am. I'll be setting off again on another whirlwind of a race, 400m pool swim, 15 mile bike and 4 mile run. This is very much a training race, but I still want to go there and race hard. I will ride over there, about 20 miles and back again, just to get plenty of miles in and a good warm up. Seems like a quality field again. James Gilfillan might be there again, if I can persuade him to race. He was in winning form again yesterday at the New Forest Traithlon. Results on http://www.tri247.com
So I had a fairly restful bank holiday weekend, got out yesterday for a long run which I haven't done for a while, and seem to be going well. Was out for a 90k ride today, hilly and an regular route of mine taking in Blandford, Dorchester, Weymouth and Wareham. Nice and steady, pushed on at race pace in the last hour and my bike legs are ok. Just need to find some more hills to ride up and down before UK 70.3 which is less than 6 weeks away!
Back to schedule tomorrow, in the pool and interval run set, and then evening 10 time trial on Wednesday, and a sea swim at some point. Then ease down a little into race day.

Friday 1 May 2009

May First

Well, 4 months gone of 2009 and I'm sat here with tired legs and weary body wondering just where it has gone. But equally pleased that I have managed to get to this point of the year injury free, just one bout of sinusitis that interrupted what has been a tough training schedule. But it's all about consistency, and that's where I've made big improvements.
4 hours swimming a week, 200-250 miles on the bike a week and between 30 and 40 miles running, all at various intensities and varying sessions to keep it interesting and to help keep me motivated. Not raced much, just Ballbuster duathlon and Winchester tri, which have both been training races, and it's all been very positive. I've suffered both mentally and physically and it's not always been happy, happy, happy!! Some sessions I have hated, some I've not wanted to do and yet I've stuck it out. Hopefully this will pay off in the long run. Some big races to come this year, UK 70.3 in 6 weeks, Antwerp 70.3 in August and possibly Clearwater, Worlds 70.3 in November. Hopefully I can stay fit and healthy and with more of the same then the rest of 2009 should be good, and will lay a solid foundation for longer racing in 2010.
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