Total mileage today was just over 200 which felt good considering that included a mountain (can’t remember the name but still a part of the Rockies) which was 10,500 feet high. Matt still resting but hopefully he will be okay to do some of the legs tomorrow. It was nice to have him in the support vehicle cause he knew exactly where I would need water etc but I missed him massively over the course of the day.

I managed to get the first 100 miles at my desired average mph which we set at 20, in fact I was just under the 5hr mark by 10 mins which was a bit of a pb for me. After the climb and great descent I had to contend with one of the most boring bits yet. It was basically one straight road for 72 miles… I felt quite alone for the first 30 until the rv caught me up. I had gone well averaging around 25mph for this leg but slowed for the last 3 miles as I was on my last few drops of juice.. It was a hot few hours as the sun had come out after the lunchtime rain. Refulled and juiced up I ploughed on hitting over 30 on the flats (thanks to matt smuggling me a red bull!) I kept going on the same road, which I think I will need to see a therapist for complete recovery, until we eventually hit a town called juntha (or something like that). I had around 30 to go and managed to keep going until we hit our rv spot for the night. I’m just in bed now and looking forward to going through dodge city tomorrow… People at last!! Night…
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Cutting to the chase… Matt had to pull out after 22 miles into todays ride. We have been having pee tests every day and matts haven’t been looking very good for the last 3. He had a kidney problem last Autumn and it is the aftermath of that… He wasn’t bonking yesterday it was to do with this issue. Dr De has been concerned since the weekend and she said that matt’s body would ultimately answer the question. So very reluctantly he withdrew from today’s ride at the first water . We were all gutted. Matt needed to rest, he had no choice.

I got myself together and we worked out a new strategy which meant that the rv would follow me as opposed to leapfrogging ahead. The route took us 100 miles up to the bottom of wolf creek pass. I felt strong ( I think the rationed budweisers the night before helped, plus my new infatuation with alphabet spaghetti) so although going solo, I was actually looking forward to the 22 mile climb. The gut wrenching thing about matt missing this ride is that we have been talking about this specific challenge since we planned the route. Anyway I just had to get on with it. Apparently the scenery was stunning, I didn’t see much of it as my head was down for almost all of the assent.. It proved to be a massive test of my mind and body, averaging somewhere around 7 miles an hour for 22 miles is not much fun.
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Just a quickie as its lights out here in the Colorado Mts. We had a good day by and large although Matt bonked in the last hour today which is never a good thing especially after 170 miles with another 30 or so to go.. Anyway, we are all good now and resting up for 2 big climbs tomorrow. We cycled through monument valley today which was spectacular. We were hitting our desired speed with a wind helping us more than hindering us. Temp was kind with cloud cover keeping it down. Bikes are holding up very well.. Only major hassle is the punctures we are getting, which is due to the soft shoulder and number of stones that are present.

We ended up in Cortez which signifies the end of the desert… (My prayers have been answered! ). In fact the big man upstairs has been really good to us in the last 2 days with clouds and pleasant winds, more of the same please! Tomorrow is mountain day in the Rockies which we are really looking forward to.. Sleep beckons, night.
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After a few weeks of what seemed like relentless travelling and racing, I’ve recently been enjoying some solid weeks of training - and with the sunshine making the occasional appearance too the Chrono and I have been loving being out on the road. I think above all else consistent training is the key to good performance, so it’s great to have clocked up a few good weeks now since Vancouver. My next race is a fortnight away, Antwerp 70.3, which will be my first half Ironman event. I’ve only ever raced Olympic or sprint distance, so stepping up a distance will be a good challenge for body - and mind! The beauty of 70.3 is that you don’t need to alter training that greatly from Olympic distance training, although I have been doing some longer brick sessions which have been experiments with nutrition as much as training sessions. You sometimes learn things the hard way. What do you get if you do 100k on the bike followed by a 75min run on two bottles of energy drink and three gels? You don’t get home easily, that’s for sure…

In one of the oldest running World Cups on the circuit it was triathlon veteran Andrea Whitcombe of Great Britain to top the podium for the first time since 2005. Whitcombe’s time of 2:02:48 beat her closest rival Felicity Abram of Australia by 46 seconds in the hot and dry conditions. Abram’s silver medal today comes off a second place finish at the Hamburg BG Triathlon World Cup one week ago. Beijing-bound Mariana Ohata of Brazil rounded out the podium in third a further 33 seconds back.

“I can’t believe it,” explained the 37-year old Whitcombe at the finish. “I’ve been so injured. I haven’t run at all in three months. I can’t believe I won.”

“It was a really hot day,” commented Abram. “Coming off last week from Hamburg, I was pretty happy with my second place there. To back it up again with second place here. I’m very satisfied. Consistency is my goal this year. To keep my ranking up as high as I can.”

From the starter’s horn it was Sarah Groff of the U.S. taking an early lead in the swim, exiting the water with local Margit Vanek of Hungary 23 seconds ahead of a group of four including Abram, Ohata, Whitcombe and Helle Frederiksen of Denmark.

(more…)

For the first time in over a month I’ve been able to do some quality training sessions and I’m feeling great for it. With the taper and recovery from the recent events it’s not been possible to push too hard so I’ve tried to make the most of this week.

Last weekend I entered the Brechfa team enduro which was a little different to other events. You competed in a team of 3 around the fantastic 72k course. The event used the new ‘Black’ route at Brechfa which is simply awesome – I think it’s the best trail in the UK. The event wasn’t a race, more of a challenge and I was able to use it as a training ride. It made a nice change not to be in race mode and be able to have a chat with Rich and Warren my team mates for the event on the way round.

The next few weeks for me are pretty busy. I have a 12 hour race on July 26th and a 24hr on August 9/10th with my birthday squeezed in between. I’m feeling pretty good at the moment so I have high hopes for the weekend. My only worry is that I will be able to recover quickly enough in the 2 weeks I will have before the 24hr ‘Sleepless in the Saddle’. It also looks like we might finally get a taste of summer!

New York Triathlon July 20th

In Extreme humidity and what turned out to be a day of mixed emotions and drama, Greg Bennett successfully won his 4th New york City triathlon, and I was 2nd and Andy Potts was 3rd.

It started in the Hudson River with a fast flowing current with the swim being a lot shorter than expected. Then everyone had to run on concrete for about 600m to the bike transition! Paul Tichleaar led the swim out but I was right on his shoulder then Greg Bennett , Simon Whitfield & Brent Mcmahon. Andy Potts came out about 10sec behind due to swimming the wrong line.

Onto the bike leg and immediately Bennett threw down the pace and was riding hard, I went with Bennett for 20km and we had broken away from the rest of the field. Bennett continued to extend his lead and came into transition 25 sec ahead of me with Brent Mcmahon catching me coming into transition.

Onto the run and Bennett was strong he ran away with the race, I ran with Mcmahon head to head until the last mile when Mcmahon surged away. Coming into the finish straight Macon looked to be in trouble he was severely dehydrated and collapsed 15m short of the line. I ran past into 2nd place and still McMahon tried to crawl to the line.
Then Potts came across in 3rd and Tichelaar 4th and finally with every ounce of energy Mcmahon crawled across in 5th place then was rushed to hospital.
I understand he is ok, and wish him speediest of recoveries poor bloke.
It was a day of emotions and excitement, congratulations to everyone that finished this race it was so hot.

My next race is the national champs next week so look forward to the tough bike course. Its one of the hardest bike courses I have ever raced on. Bring it on.!

Stu Hayes.

I don’t want to tempt fate, but there is a small possibility that we learnt how to manage the heat. Today was a reasonable day and we have made good progress east, in striking distance of the Grand Canyon.. We have to climb some mountains tmrw which will make a difference to the motonoy of the incredibly long and straight roads that our route is taking us across. It really is becoming a test of managing a bruised bottom and the mind games of being on a bike for 12or so hrs a day…

We had an interesting end to the day as the RV got confused and went another way.. We were expecting a water break that didn’t come which isn’t that much fun in the middle of the desert. We started to flag down the random cars that passed and quite soon a kind man stopped and offered us water; it was enough to get us to the next town and a godsend that perked us up for the last few miles home. The rv followed us in and realising their mistake agreed that I could have sausages for breakfast. De and Pip are watching every move we make so it is difficult to sneak any luxury items into my stomach… Having said that, I have now got my appetite back so eating has become enjoyable and not so much a chore. Our afternoon break today was by a vast dam which despite the sharks, bears and rattle snake warning signs proved to be a lovely venue for a much needed dip. Matt chickened out and went to bed for a sleep…. Lights out here too…

P.s. One more cayote today, 2 kittens and mum, 8 eagles and thousands of cactus.. Or is it cacti??

Anyway, night…. Andy
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Feeling poorly still so am in bed again… We had a good morning and hard afternoon… We are in a place called Parker, Arizona.. Matt had another puncture today just as we were going to start the pm ride… It was a test of temperament changing the inner in 120 fahrenheit. The rv got stuck in the sand on the hard (soft) shoulder.. Had to wait 2hrs to get it pulled out… We were in the middle of nowhere… Quite a few americans stopped to see if we were okay.. - wonder if that would have been the same scenario around the South East, UK? Anyway it was very reassuring. Total mileage was about 100…. Its just the heat that is affecting us.. We need to catch up so please pray for cool westerly winds across Arizona… Lights out, sorry its brief, hopefully will be better tomorrow..
Andy
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Focus and Wiggle sponsored triathlete Michelle Dillon was featured on the cover of the great new Tri mag ‘Triathletes World’ and inside gave a great insight into her mental toughness and the secrets to her success.

Here’s a couple of pics including one of her with her awesome Focus Izalco Extreme.

You can pick up a copy of Triathletes World for just £3.75 from your local magazine retailer.