We are offering lucky Bloggle readers and Wiggle customers the chance to ask elite GB triathlete, Michelle Dillon any questions of your choice!

Many will have learned a lot from Michelle’s regular diary entries exclusively here on the Bloggle… but now you can get an even greater insight in to the mind of the triathlon guru who can still proudly claim to have recorded the highest finish of a British athlete in Olympic Triathlon.

Introducing…
Michelle Dillon Question Time

You can get expert insight into training & recovery tips, info about her bikes and race equipment, chatter about her career past, present and future… It’s up to you!

Simply email in your questions to news@wiggle.co.uk with your name and where you are from and we will take care of the rest! We will send as many as we can over to Michelle for her to answer and we will post them up right here on the Bloggle.

Ask Michelle Dillon a question now!

I arrived in Chicago on Thursday afternoon; it was a direct flight from London, which was great. I decided to pay for a Premium Economy seat so I could get the extra leg room and I feel it made a difference with my legs feeling better than usual from a long flight.

I stayed at the Hilton race hotel and it made my stay very relaxing. Everything was going great in my race prep. Then suddenly from no where the night before the race my knee began to swell to a point were I couldn’t walk, there was no pain but I couldn’t bend my knee which meant I couldn’t walk. After a couple of hours I decided to go the Hospital and get the doc to have a look. After having an X-ray I was told I had swelling but no joint or bone damage and said it was a cartilage injury and to take a couple of weeks to heal then re-hab. So at this point the race went out the window and $1300 dollars to American Health services. I got back to the hotel and went to bed on nothing to eat except for a Megaburn bar which is all I had on me and it was too late to get any descent food.

I Got up the next day and still couldn’t bend my knee so went down stairs for a Greasy fry up and loads of dirty American pancakes with Cream. All of a sudden from no where walking back to my room the swelling started to decrease and I could bend my knee. So I decided to start the race and I felt great through out and took the win by 1min 30 sec, which was a huge surprise to me with what had happened and I think it was a shock to some of the other athletes as well. They had seen me limping around the breakfast hall earlier that morning and I sat down telling them the same story I’m telling you now.

The lesson I have learnt from this experience is try not to get to nervous before the race as it does effect your performance - I had so much more energy than usual.
Stu

As we see the close of the Beijing Olympic Games, I feel myself reflecting on several different feelings I have felt during the last two weeks. As many of you will know, I have been suffering from a de-generative back disorder that has progressively got worse. During last winter the pain and symptoms increased and reached a point where I was physically not able to train with this pain any longer. Since then I have been receiving treatment and have just received the word that it now needs to be operated on. Throughout my career I have suffered my fair share of injuries and my back problems have popped up quite frequently. One of the most memorable times when my back caused distress was before the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, when I received an epidural in my spine before the race, just to get me to the start-line. This makes my 6th place in Athens such an achievement, however at the time I suffered from disappointment as I so dearly wanted to be on the podium with a medal around my neck as all Olympians do. Little did I know that even after the 2008 games my 6th place would remain as the most successful British Olympic Triathlon performance to date.

Watching many of Team GB receive medals in Beijing was emotional knowing what you go through as an athlete and this inspires and motivates me. I cannot describe how privileged you feel to represent your country in your sport and I can only imagine how it must feel when it ends in glory. The thought of standing on the podium listening to your home Nation’s Anthem actually gives me goose bumps, just thinking about it. Team GB’s achievements this year have been fantastic and I hope that the results encourage more people to become involved in sport….

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The success of Team GB out in Beijing has undoubtedly inspired so many people over the past fortnight - and will hopefully keep inspiring us for another four years. I happened to flick the TV on yesterday afternoon just as the team was landing at Heathrow to receive a heroes welcome. With cameras flashing, TV crews jostling to get the best shots and journalists already quizzing our medallists on what it felt like to be back in Blighty, the likes of Chris Hoy and Rebecca Adlington looked completely shocked and surprised. They admitted they’d been in a “bubble” in Beijing and so had no idea just how proud and impassioned the nation had been as they continued to make winning Olympic gold medals look as easy as winning the egg and spoon race at a local school sports day.

I don’t think a day has passed since the Games began when I haven’t been watching the coverage and felt a surge of pride as God Save the Queen rings out again or a rower/sailor/cyclist/swimmer/runner adds to the medal haul. More often than not I’d feel goosebumps on my skin or a lump in my throat as the athletes stand atop the podium to be crowned Olympic champion - because you can see on their faces just how much the medal means to them and what they’ve endured to achieve it.

So when I switched on the telly yesterday and saw Hoy and Adlington being given the sort of greeting usually reserved for superstar ‘athletes’ like David Beckham I couldn’t stop beaming. At that point, I’d been putting off doing a 90-minute turbo for some time. I knew it had to be done at some point, but my turning on the TV had been one of the last-ditch attempts at distraction. Sure, it distracted me - but in such a positive way that by the time the Beeb was showing Gordon Brown chatting away to Tom Daley I already had my turbo gear on and was muttering to myself “gold medals don’t win themselves - I bet Nicole Cooke never slacked off turbo sessions, get on with it Lidbury”. And I have to say, 90 minutes later I’d completed one of the hardest but finest turbo efforts of all my turbo-ing years. I hope Team GB has the same effect on your training.

Enjoy!
EK

Wiggle and Focus sponsored triathlete Staurt Hayes went “from ER to finish line overnight” as he recovered from a swollen knee to win the Accenture Chicago Triathlon across the pond.

Stu spent over 2 hours in the Emergency Room on Saturday night and then took the gamble to race the next day… it paid off as he crossed the line first in 1 hour 48 minutes 9.2 seconds.

“The doctor told me to take off two weeks, I guess he’s not going to like that I didn’t listen.”

Read more about the race on the Chicago Tribune site and we will have Stu’s full report in his latest diary entry later this week.

Matt is our sponsored super-star MTBer and has recently topped the podium at both the Endura Sleepless in the Saddle solo and the Bontrager Twentyfour12 12-hour race solo.

He has been out meeting and greeting and recently met up with the guys from BikeMagic to give them a rundown of his ride - his carbon full suspension Focus First Expert…

Read the full article here

I realise it’s a bit late to write a long explanation about the London Tri so I’ll just give a quick summary. I was disappointed to only finish 4th having won this race twice before. Unfortunately I just didn’t swim well enough to make the lead pack. It’s been a difficult time for swim training as the swim squad I train with have been at the National Champs and so for the 2 weeks leading into the race I swam by myself. Admittedly I find it pretty tough to swim without a group. I cycled hard and myself and Jodie Stimpson did the majority of the work to come into T2 two minutes down on the leader Julie Dibens. I ran well but just couldn’t quite do enough for third spot. Finishing 4th just about made up for the horrendous journey I had from Wales to London, which took over 6 hours in the car – no thanks to the overturned caravan on the M4!

Last week I spent 5 days of pure laziness, slobbing in front on the tv watching every bit of Olympic action possible. I love watching the Olympics – just a pity I couldn’t actually be in Beijing taking part.

Emma Snowsill, winner of the women’s triathlon was superb. I think it’s fair to say the British results were disappointing. I feel gutted to read that an athlete’s main aim is London 2012. What about Beijing 2008?! I was desperate to race in Beijing for a medal not for experience.

Here are a few great quotes said during the Olympics:

Brendan Foster angry at the lack of middle/long distance running success: “I’m sick of hearing about promising youngsters that never quite make it……we need to look at the people in charge.”
(Mmmmm…..)

The BBC’s Matt Chiltern commentating during the men’s triathlon race: “Tim Don’s fans will be glad to hear that his first transition only took 26 seconds, one of the fastest.”
(unfortunately there aren’t any medals for transition times!)

Matt Chiltern commentating nearing the end of the women’s triathlon race: “If she (Emma Snowsill) doesn’t stop celebrating she might not break the two hour mark.”
(as if that would have tarnished her gold medal!)

In September 2008, 100 participants from Portsmouth and around the country are cycling in support of the Faith and Football charity, which is headed up by professional footballers Linvoy Primus (Portsmouth FC) and Darren Moore(Barnsley FC) in the event - Pedal for Primus

The aim of the ride is to raise funds which will allow the charity to extend its ever increasing work with young people both in the UK and overseas.

The Challenge:
The ride will follow the route taken by Linvoy’s playing career. It will start at Charlton FC on Friday 5th September 2008 when participants will ride to Barnet FC. On Saturday 6th September the route takes us from Barnet FC to Reading FC and finally on Sunday 7th September from Reading FC to Portsmouth FC. A total journey of 160 miles.

Simon, who works as part of the wiggle merchandising team, will be taking part in this epic event to help to raise money towards this worthwhile cause, if you wish to support the charity donations can be made via the Just Giving site at the following link http://www.justgiving.com/johnmcgee

Following on from Lisa Hall’s post we now have the reaction of our other London Tri Competition winner, Carl Myhill. Apologies for this coming up slightly late but we enjoyed a few technical probs with email!

Saturday, August 09, 2008
London Sprint Triathlon (750m swim/20k bike/5k run) - 1:20:54 - 107th (of 1,405) - top 8%

The day of the London Sprint Tri dawned wet and stayed wet. I may have been slightly less enthusiastic to accept the Wiggle prize entry to the event had I known what the weather would be like!

(photos available from SportsCam)

After such a hectic time to getting to the race it was with considerable relief that I jumped into Victoria Docks. Visibility wasn’t terrible, you could see about a foot, - in fact I saw many feet during the swim! I gradually got used to the temperature and made my way to the deep water start over the other side of the dock. I hadn’t been there long when the race starter started shouting encouragement to the swimmers to quickly get to the start line. They weren’t all there when the horn sounded for the start and we were off.

At the club relays the week before I was uncomfortable in the swim, couldn’t settle and was borderline panicing. In this swim it was a mass start with 285 people and quite a narrow course. Oddly, although it was a bit of maul I managed to finally feel some benefit from swimming close to other swimmers - the swimmer version of drafting. I really noticed this for a while when I found some clear water and it felt like harder work. Unheard of for me, I headed back into the crush! My first race victory was my mental state during the swim. I had settled from the very start and despite the worst maul I’d been in. Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration since I think the London Tri has a huge proportion of novices so they are perhaps kinder in the water than the more gnarly regular triathletes….

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After a few triathlons this summer I’ve decided to concentrate on my running in preparation on the Nike 10K Human Race, so as a fellow employee of Wiggle I am always trawling the site for new products, yesterday I came across the ‘Nike Plus Ipod sensor and Receiver Kit’.

After a quick check I confirmed that my super-comfy Nike + trainers were compatible and then I popped down into the warehouse to pick them up. The instructions state ‘Chips fits in your Nike+ shoe and sensor plugs into your iPod Nano; Instant audio feedback on speed and distance travelled. Wireless connection; flexible and easy to use in any conditions.’ I thought to myself this seems amazing it cannot be that simple something has to go wrong! Sure enough I popped the sensor into my shoe and away I went. The Nike + option pops up onto your Ipod Nano menu screen and you can choose many settings; from how many calories you burn to the distance you would like to run. A voice updates throughout your training regime how far you have travelled and how many calories you have burnt. I couldn’t believe this little piece of technology marketed at such a great price could give me so much joy. Check this product out on the website I promise you’ll be amazed. Amy @ Wiggle