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

I raced the London Triathlon last weekend. I was really excited to race as this will only be my third race this season and also because London is such a big event.I was relaxed going into the race, i knew i had to be to get the best performance possible.

I swam a lot better than i did at nationals missing the main pack by only 20 seconds but unfortunately this proved to be too much and i failed to catch the main pack and had to settle with the group I came out the water in. We rolled into transition too far down but i still ran hard as it was a good opportunity to get a hard run in for me.

I was a bit disappointed with the result [29th] but am sure that good results will come.

I got some good news earlier this week when i found out that I’ve been selected for the European Under 23 Championships, so i will be working very hard to get into the best shape possible to defend my title.

Ritchie

British Cycling have put a report of Sleepless in the Saddle on their website with a bunch of great pictures of the intense mud bath that Focus & Wiggle sponsored rider Matt Page stormed to victory at.

Here’s a few quotes from the report:

Read the full review at britishcycling.org.uk

I’ve just been flicking through bikeradar.com checking out some of their Olympic features (Go Team GB!) and spotted a few pictures of German Champion Hanka Kupfernagel riding her awesome Focus time trial bike and, in last weeks road race, on her Cayo Venus.

The Izalco Team from Focus has always been one of our stand-out racing bikes, with a full carbon frame packing a SRAM Red groupset. Many of our sponsored athletes have choosen them in their fleet of race and training bikes including Stuart Hayes and Andrea Whitcombe and now we have our first official review from the fanatical testers over at RoadCyclingUK.com….

“When the 2008 Focus range was first revealed to RCUK, the Izalco Team immediately stood out as the pick of the bunch, combining a reasonable price and a cracking spec. The Team sits third from the top in the Izalco range, and the frame, aside from the integrated seat mast, is virtually identical to the two above.

Rarely does a bike manage to pack such a punch on paper, with the Team’s spec comprising a full SRAM Red groupset, Fulcrum 1 Racing wheels and top-end FSA carbon finishing kit, not to mention the full-carbon frameset nestled in between the sparkly components.

Happily the Team delivers once it is being ridden as its looks demand. The oversized carbon tubes give the frame huge torsional stiffness, steering is well-balanced and out of the saddle climbing is a joy. The low weight makes ascending something to savour, and in the sprint for the town name signs it’s a match for any other bike.

A short headtube promotes a low, racy and aggressive position, so hands on the drops and head down is the position of choice, and it is when in this mode that the Team most excels. Around race circuits, it absolutely thrives, pitching you out of corners with a frightening velocity. There’s just enough flex in the frame to soften imperfections in the road, but don’t expect the Team to reward those seeking a comfortable long distance cruiser for sportives. It’s just not the Team’s cup of tea. Racing is where it’s at.

So for the budding racer seeking a well priced and top-specced bike revel in the Izalco Team, and it offers an engaging ride for riders seeking that quality.”

Read the Review on www.roadcyclinguk.com

See the full spec and buy now on wiggle.co.uk

TV sport correspondent and budding Triathlete Craig Doyle was kind enough to take a break from both his busy TV schedule and his dedicated tri training on his Focus Cayo road bike to write us his thoughts on the Olympic Triathlon next week.

Isn’t it funny the things people notice?

I was belting around the Wicklow hills on Sunday trying to put in a few decent miles after months out injured, when out of no where this chap (who was far too big for is lycra cycling gear) came along side me. Now I was 50 km into my ride and facing yet another climb, so was in no mood for a chat.

“Wiggle” he said.

I was thinking who is this sick b*****d who wants me to wiggle?

“What”, I replied

“I see you got your bike from Wiggle”, he said.

The guy was right, although I don’t think he was referring to the tiny Wiggle sticker that takes up the smallest part of my bike, but he was obviously aware that my full carbon Focus Cayo is only available here from the good people at wiggle.co.uk. This was the main focus of my new friends’ conversation. He was thinking of buying a bike off the net and wanted to know what I thought.

“Buy it” I replied, and pushed away from ‘porno bike guy’.

I was a panting mess of chamois cream and sweat when a guy on a mountain bike came along side me – “nice bike” he said in a thick Spanish accent “I like Focus, but what is this Wiggle” - he obviously had eagled eyes and had spotted the sticker. He loved the idea of buying off the net and I think they might be getting an order from a Jose from Bilbao very soon.

Anyway Jose and I got chatting and before long I was boring the nuts off him about triathlon. He was adamant that Javier Gomez would win the men’s race. There is no doubt the Spaniard is some performer, I’ve watched him up close a few times covering the race for the BBC, and in full flow he is very impressive. With 7 wins from 8 races this season, bookies rightly have the current World Champion as favourite; I’ll certainly be backing him….

(more…)

24 hours is a long time. Perhaps not in the context of a lifetime or even a year, but try and do one thing for a whole day solidly and time seems to drift by much slower than usual as if your in slow-motion.

For the last few years I have been training hard for a single goal. To become a top class 24hr solo racer. All the hours spent as a courier, all the training I have done since moving back to Llandovery, all the sacrifices I have made but especially the sacrifices other people have made to help me achieve my goal. It is now, after this race that everything has paid off and made it all worth the effort.

After a tough 12 hour race only 2 weeks before my preparation was less than ideal! I had no chance to test my body out before racing, so I was just hoping that I had been able to recover quickly enough. I did however organise and plan everything in the same meticulous way I approach every event. My bikes were all working perfectly, we arrived on site early enough to get an excellent pit-area spot and I had a team around me that were prepared to sacrifice their time to helping me out.

The conditions on the build up to the event were OK, the course was pretty dry but the forecast for the event was not good. Heavy and consistent rain was due on Saturday with showers forecast to continue through Sunday. The forecast proved to be accurate and mid-morning Saturday the rain started coming down.

The race got underway with the familiar Le-mans style run, I paced it well and arrived in the arena at the same time as my main competitors. The first lap on the bike went to plan, the mud was very wet and I had no problems riding through it. At the end of the first lap my bike was wet but not muddy, at this point I had quite wide intermediate tyres on and although I knew mud tyres would be needed later I continued onto lap 2 with the same tyres…..

(more…)

Going into the London triathlon I was quite nervous, its been a long time since I’ve been a favourite for a race and ranked number one. I think the last time was when I was a kid at school.

The lead up to the race was perfect, I had a great two weeks after the National Champs and felt good all week so I new I had a great chance of winning.

It was a bit of a messy start, with a false start at the beginning which I was in. I’ve been to too many races where a false start happens and they don’t call us back as the whole field went. But in this instance, I went too and was at the front, and we got called back. On the second start a canoe got in my way and I had to go under water to get by, that’s the London triathlon for you, its a great race but you have to be ready for things as you are racing on a course made for first timers and safety with great numbers.

One the bike it was one large pack, I tried a couple of times to get away but it came to nothing until the end when 8 of us got a small lead into transition which gave me some room to get a clean T2. On the run I felt good and new that Robo and Petzold were going to be there, Robo likes to keep changing pace which is very bad for me as I never do this in training which is going to change now. It came right down to the wire and after lots of attacks I cracked with 200 meters to go and had to settle for 3rd which to me was a little disappointing because I wanted to win but I gave it everything and that was my best on the day.

Stu

I have just received the reaction from one of our London Triathlon Competition winners - Lisa Hall from Cambridge, who completed her first ever triathlon!

You’ve got to love the sign in the background…

I survived. In the 7 days leading up to the London Triathlon I managed to source all the necessary equipment and ingrain the rules and regulations of each event into my slightly panic stricken head. I managed to complete the sprint distance in 1 hour and 38 mins, coming in at position 219 out of the 715 women who took part. I really enjoyed the thrill of the event and the energy created by the crowds- particularly during the swim in the Thames which was literally ’sink or swim’. I have since managed to enthuse my friends to join me next year and who knows, with a bit of training perhaps I can make it into the top 200…

It’s been a busy racing weekend with Nicole Cooke sprinting to victory in the women’s road race in Beijing and many of the wiggle sponsored athletes flying the flag back home.

The London Triathlon is the biggest tri event in the world and the weather couldn’t put a dampener on things as over 13,000 entrants competed.

Stuart Hayes raced really well and climbed the podium finishing 3rd and Andrea Whitcombe dug deep and put in an amazing performance to finish 4th. Ritchie Nicholls also entered and finished 29th.

All the info on the race can be found on tri247.com and hopefully we will have our athletes own reactions in their diary entries soon.

Matt Page, our MTBer, won at Sleepless in the Saddle - the 24 hour endurance race too. Keep an eye on the Bloggle for his reaction which should follow shortly!