I’ve spent the last 2 months in South Africa and choose the worst week to return! From hot, sunny, 40 degrees, I arrived back into Heathrow to cold, miserable weather and a car that wouldn’t start - but luckily the helpful people at the car park gave me a jump start - and apart from being tired, I got back to Swansea in one piece.

Training was great fun and very hard(!), with Tim Don, Dann Brook and Fraser Cartmell. We had some great bike rides, including one when I got three punctures, and a few snake sightings on runs which left me paranoid for the next few days!! Outside of training was great fun as well, staying with a great guy Pete Wiermier. We had no time to rest as we always had somthing to do, like hitch hiking to the beach after the car broke down on us!

I’m in great form after the last few months and have planned a few early races. I will race in Crete (mid April) as a “first race” then two weeks after I’m racing Korea World Cup which is very exciting for me as its a great oportunity for me to show what i can do against the worlds best.
I will update in a few weeks after my first race

Ritchie

We are very pleased to present our newest ‘athlete’ to the bloggle, Mike Hutchison.
Mike approached us with an idea with a weekly weight loss entry and well, we said yes.
Welcome to the Bloggle Mike.

Hi Guys,

Who is this new athlete added to the athletes pages I hear you say, how did he sneak over the fence to get a Blog in the athletes diaries, I ask that myself at times. Did you not know there was an Olympic sport of Sumo Mountain biking, if you have not then your well behind the times and totally un-trendy. Talking of being un-trendy I was a bit concerned by what the guys in the wiggle workshop were listening to music wise the other day!

Seriously though, this has been brought about via discussions with Rob at Wiggle and an idea I put to him and I am glad to say is now happening.

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Our sponsored triathlete Ritchie Nicholls and his Focus Cayo have been featured in The Sun website for their new Mars sports promotion.
Good work Ritchie!

click the picture to be taken to the page.

BBC2 will be showing live coverage from the UCI Track Cycling World Championships from Manchester starting at 7pm this evening. There will also be internet coverage taking place on the BBC site, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sport website
More info can be found at:
BBC site
World Championships Site

Had a great Easter - managing to balance training with catching up with family and friends, which can sometimes be tricky. I did one of my toughest mornings of training yet on Saturday doing a hard 5k swim first thing followed by a 90-minute turbo session which was a real killer. Am starting to put in some speed sessions now to sharpen up for the season ahead and they’re never easy…
After I’d crawled off the turbo, I headed back home to see all the family and on Easter Sunday underwent a different form of endurance training: an Easter egg hunt with my seven-year-old cousin Joshua. It took a little longer than planned, partly because he couldn’t remember where he’d hidden most of the eggs and no-one else had a clue either, so I’m sure there are still a few out there for Easter 2009. All good fun!
Back to work and chocolate-free living tomorrow - oh well :-(
EK

Back in February we ran a competition to celebrate the launch of our new Gold and Platinum Customer loyalty scheme. To enter all you had to do was become a member of each scheme respectively by February 29th and the winners were chosen at random.
The Gold prize was for a £100 Wiggle Voucher and the Platinum prize was for a £500 Wiggle Voucher.

We are pleased to announce the winners are:
Gold: Jason Evans from Aberystwyth
Platinum: Paul Morrison from Bristol

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I have been in Brisbane for over a week now and have settled in nicely. I chose this place on the internet as it said it was near two 50m pools and was ‘clean and affordable’. Affordable – just, clean – not so sure about! I’m out here as the first world cup race is in Mooloolaba on the 30th March. I usually come out in Jan time but as I’ve now got a mortgage and have had my funding cut I can’t afford to spend months abroad preparing for the season.

Training has been going well and I should be able to put in some decent performances early season. However, whatever happens the only race that matters is the Madrid world cup on 25th May as that is the Olympic qualifying race. We have only one qualifying race this year as it is supposedly about ‘performing on the day and not about consistency……’? The thing is, my consistency (and world ranking) has earned Great Britain one of only 2 Olympic slots but I have no right to this slot. To me it’s like working really hard for four years and then seeing someone else get your bonus!

Anyway, back to Brisbane. I thought the riding might be disappointing as I’m staying in the city but it’s amazing how many cycle paths there are here. We could definitely do with more traffic free routes like these in GB. I’ve been settling into the feel of my new Focus Izalco bike and so far it rides like a dream.

Enjoy the Easter weekend; I’m off to scoff my special low fat sporting Easter eggs (as if).

Andrea

A classic i think you’ll agree.

Sun 16th March.

I’ve had another rather mixed and inconsistent training period. The usual excuses apply (tired, very busy, minor injury niggles, other priorities etc…) and I guess that’s the distinguishing features between me (along with many others, I guess) as a rather social athlete, and those of us that are more focused and driven, and as a result more competitive.
Last year my training was focused towards a particular goal (ironman). Mentally and physically I prepared well and as a result reaped the benefits of personal success. This year without that big goal, I don’t seem to have engaged that mental dedication. That fear of not performing come race day. That competitive edge is lacking and so with it my motivation (it seems!!).

After finishing 25th in the Coastal half (which if I’m honest I was pleased to get round) my knees blew up like balloons in protest of the punishing steep descents in the race.
Following this, I had a great week of altitude training, in the form of a ski holiday. A great break from the busy few months. Pushing it hard on the slopes I’m sure would have done my fitness no harm, although the good stuff was promptly countered by some very committed “après ski”!!

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