Yet another event in the wiggle diary, this time we’re off to the Valley of Neath in South Wales as proud sponsors of the UK Xterra Championships Off Road Triathlon and the Xterra Half Marathon Trail Run. 21st June to 22nd with camping and registration starting on Friday.

Xterra is a Global series of Off Road Triathlon and Trail Running. There are events in 50 countries around the world. Each of those countries gets to run 1 National Championships. Xterra UK is on both Global and European tours and the professional athletes compete for the 15,000 Euro prize purse but also points towards the even greater series prize money with the chance to qualify for the World Series in Maui at the end of October.

Come and join us and take in the breathtaking scenery with stunning views over the Brecon Beacons National Park and the Gower Peninsular. There’s still plenty of time to enter, check out www.xterra.uk.com for more details about the events and also helpful tips on training and accomodation. Or just come along for the atmosphere, with a party on the Saturday night it really is set to be a great weekend.

We’ll be taking plenty of Focus bikes along for display and with any luck, some of this great weather we’ve been having.

We will be having a Focus stand where we will be displaying as many bikes as we can. Fingers crossed on the weather and we’ll hopefully see you there.

Introducing our first Golden Ticket Competition of 2008 - Win an all-expenses paid trip to run in the New York City Marathon, worth approximately £3,500, courtesy of ASICS and Wiggle!

We are delighted to announce another once-in-a-lifetime Golden Ticket opportunity. Previously we have sent our winners to Southern France mountain biking with Fabian Barrel, flown them over to Andrew Shandro’s Gravity Camp in Vancouver and last summer we had 2 winners sat in the Mavic and Time Pro Tour team cars following the Tour De France! Now we are giving you the chance to fly to the Big Apple and race in the World Famous New York City Marathon, this is a unique and exclusive prize available from wiggle.co.uk you cannot miss!

Entry to the marathon is normally via lottery only and is incredibly difficult to secure a spot - you can read more on the official website of the New York City Marathon.

The prizes

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Sunday 8th June 2008

Well, I am happy to report that training for the first time since Ironman back in October has been consistent, and going well. I feel really well and have no injury issues…Hurray!
It is funny how when everything feels better, the motivation comes back, and with that, a little hunger for a race or two.

The training has been good. I am really pleased, despite having such a slow/late start I am beginning to feel fit again, however, I think I lack the sharpness and am still a little way off being properly race fit.
My swimming is now consistently back at two pool sessions a week. I have also joined a lake swimming club, and have been loving getting some open water swimming in. I do a regular Sunday morning club session, but also try to get down to the lake mid-week, especially when the weather is good (…so, as of fairly recently!). Overall I am pleased with my progress.
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Hey, well I came here with one unashamed goal and that was to win gold so I’m more than a little gutted to say I have a silver medal in my suitcase :-( It wasn’t for lack of trying - I swear! I led what was truly a weird, surreal race from start to almost finish (with 200m to go a storming 35-min 10k running Aussie came past me - ouch!) but just didn’t have what was needed in my legs to get me down that goddam finish chute first. The GB support was amazing and it’s a race I will never ever forget. My legs are still aching, the Chrono is all packed away and I’m off to the Rockies first thing tomorrow for a week’s holiday with my mum, so I’m really looking forward to that. I’ve had a great time, I’m looking forward to some time off and thank you to every single one of you who tried to shout and holler at me to get me over that finish line first - almost!
Cheers & happy training & racing - it’s always worth it, even if you don’t quite get it every single time…

See ya back in Blighty soon
EK

9th June

With my biggest race of the season just a few weeks away I’m finding it hard to stop thinking about it, my girlfriend Nia is really sick of me talking about it! So rather than talk about it in my blog again I thought I’d give everyone a general insight into my training, hopefully without giving away any of my secrets!

I train 7 days a week, although only 5 days are on the bike. Certain days are easy days to let my body recover. On the 2 days off the bike I do a run and a good core muscle workout. I’ve also started to do a little yoga to try and improve my flexibility, which isn’t great it has to be said.
My training is currently between 20-25 hours a week, and I try to keep it as varied as possible. At the moment there is a rough 75/25 split in favour of road riding, partly because I find it easier to integrate the interval and hill climb sessions I do and partly for convenience. It certainly helps having what must be some of the best road riding in the UK right on my doorstep. Traffic is almost non-existent on some routes and the roads are great just as long as you like climbing! A typical ride for me would be 115 km with 2500 meters of climbing.
One of my main goals this season is to improve my climbing. In Cardiff as a courier the amount of climbing was limited and although I could hold my own in a race I felt that climbing was my weakness. It’s something I’ve been working hard on and I think I’ve made real progress, having gears on a bike helps for a start!
When I do an off-road ride I’m really spoilt for choice. Just 3 miles from my house is a little gem of a track called Cwm Rhaeadr. It’s only 5km long, but it’s really well built and a lot of fun, so even doing several laps does not make it boring. Roughly 20 minutes drive away is Brechfa Forest, which is amazing. If you haven’t heard of this place yet you soon will as the new ‘Black Route’ is going to set it apart from anywhere else in the UK. Table tops and berms as big as houses and all built in a way that flows better than anything else I’ve ridden. Think ‘spooky wood’ (in Glentress, Scotland) but bigger! Then all within 1 hours drive I have Afan Argoed, Cwmcarn, Nant-yr-Arian, the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons.
Living in such a great place really helps the motivation, as no matter what the route or what the weather is doing I am almost guaranteed a great ride. Back in April I was a little worried that the move would knock my fitness, but I’m pretty certain that I have moved forward in every way, but I will know for sure at 2pm, June 22nd when Mountain Mayhem will be over.

I’d also like to say a huge well done to Emma-Kate, fellow Wiggle athlete for a fantastic result in the World Triathlon Championships in Vancouver!

Matt

It was one of those days where luck didn’t strike for me…… after a great swim exciting the swim in 3rd place I sat comfortably in the lead pack on the bike with all sorts of weather conditions being thrown us. At one stage it was torrential rain and thunder storms which didn’t help the leaner athletes from staying warm as they started to fall out of the race one by one. And it also meant that loads of mud, dirt and rubble was washed onto the road and it was on the 4th lap of the bike when I realised I had a rear wheel puncture and borrowed a wheel from a fellow athlete already retired from the race.

I had lost 2 minutes in the change over and continued to chase the pack when I punctured again this time with the front wheel. This time too far away from the wheel stop I had to ride on my rims before retiring from the race with extreme disappointment.

I was really frustrated to have gone out of the race this way, I came into this race in the best form of my career and was having a great day out there feeling on top of everything before the first puncture came. Although I’m disappointed right now I know it will make me determined later on in the season to do something else. So now I have to make another race my Olympic games.

I got straight back into it this weekend at Blenheim and took the win which is great. There will be some Channel 4 coverage of it in a couple of weeks. I will race London and the National Champs as well, but before that I going to race in the States. It’s the Des Moines World Cup in 2 weeks, then some non drafting specials in Minneapolis and LA on the Izalco Extreme.

Take care,
Stu.

To celebrate the launch of the amazing new range of 2008 Easton kit on wiggle we are giving away 3 fantastic prizes guaranteed to add that extra bit of class to your ride. The lucky winners can choose being top of the range road or MTB upgrades.

Simply buy any item from Easton on wiggle.co.uk before 30th June 2008 to be in with a chance of winning!

The prizes

How to enter

Buy any Easton product from wiggle.co.uk to get entered into the draw for a chance to win these great prizes. Every product you buy will count for one competition entry each. Therefore, the more you buy, the greater your chance of winning!

Competition specific terms and conditions

1. One entry to the draw per Easton product, per wiggle basket.
2. The prize is non-transferable and cannot be sold - giving away to direct relations is at the discretion of wiggle.
3. Competition closes 30th June 2008.
4. General Wiggle competition T&C’s apply. See here for details.

Sadly after a DNF in appalling weather at the Olympic Qualification race in Madrid last weekend Focus rider Stuart Hayes missed out on an Olympic spot but he’s shaken off the disappointment is getting ready for a full season of races. Next up is the Blenheim Triathlon this weekend followed by 3 triathlons stateside. His current race schedule is below and we will be keeping you up to date with all the results and Stu’s reaction right here on the bloggle!

2008 Race Calender

Mazda Blenheim Triathlon 8th June
http://www.theblenheimtriathlon.com/

Des Moines World Cup 22nd June
http://www.hy-veetriathlon.com/

Minneapolis 12th July
http://www.ltftriathlonseries.com/

New York City 20th July
http://www.ltftriathlonseries.com/

British National Champs, Bryn Bach 26th July
Anybody know the site link?

London Triathlon 10th August
http://www.thelondontriathlon.co.uk/

To celebrate the launch of Crank Brothers new and super-stylish 2008 range we are giving away real head-turning set of prizes worth almost £1000!

Simply buy any piece of Crank Brothers kit from wiggle.co.uk before 31st July 2008 to be in with a chance of winning!

CrankBrothers are one of the youngest and most innovative companies out. Since they started they created sleek looking tools, new ways to remove tyres and pump them back up again, and new ways to attach shoes to bikes. Their innovation is always backed up with sound engineering and loads of style.

The prizes

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Its been a while, but the Friday Game is back and this time the game is actually pretty good.

Keys:
Arrow keys to control.
Space to jump.
B to speed up.