Alex Prince.
A brief summary of me and my sporting history.

Age:36
Dob: 12/06/71

Occupation: Osteopath
I have been working as an Osteopath for 11 years and have a specialist interest in sports related injuries.
I have worked with Professional and Amateur athletes in a range of sports including, Track and Field athletes, Rugby and Football players, Swimmers, Skiers, Endurance Athletes, Runners and Triathletes.
I spent two years working with Professional Rugby players at a sports injury clinic. This clinic also attracted a broad range of other athletes.
I also spent a year working in New Zealand, which opened my eyes to outdoor adventure pursuits and the injuries that come with it.
A season in the French Alps working with injured skiers was interesting, rewarding and a lot of fun!
Since 2000 I have been UK based, and I now work with athletes and non athletes from a broad spectrum of lifestyles. Currently, part of my week is spent doing gait analysis on injured runners and triathletes.

Sporting History:
I have always had a keen participant in a wide variety of sports; snow skiing, Waterskiing, Mountain-biking, Sailing, Hockey, Squash and Tennis to name a few.
Largely however, Rugby was my major and most loved sport. I played competitive rugby at school, university, county and club level, until injuries got the better of me and I hung up my boots in 1999 at the tender age of 27.
On a round the world trip I had the opportunity to trek in the Himmalayas. And during my year in New Zealand I became more aware of the multitude of adventures and challenges that could be had in the great outdoors.
I worked a ski season and then completed the “Haute Route”, a challenging high altitude ski tour in the Alps.
Running was always a keep fit hobby, but in 2002 I decided to develop this.
Initially, I built up to half marathon distance, running the Reading half in 1hr 30, and although nothing special I really enjoyed it.
In 2003 I ran the London Marathon (3hrs25min). This I found hard and I was rather injury prone throughout my training, probably due to the 14+stone I was carrying.
For me, adventure races and triathlons were the answer, with less emphasis on pounding the roads my body responded much better.
From 2005 onwards I started participating in endurance adventure races such as the KIMM, the Devon Coast to Coast. The Full Monty.
I still regularly try to compete in Adventure Races and other off road events, mainly in the winter/spring…and have even won a few team events.
In 2005 I also started road cycling and swimming. I competed in my first Triathlon in 2005: Worthing Olympic distance (2hrs 39mins).
I now try to target a few triathlons as well as cycling events, duathlons (on and off road) , running events and adventure races in the course of the year.
I don’t take these events that seriously, but I do like to compete (albeit at my rather mediocre level!), and I do find it keeps the body and mind in shape!
But most importantly for me, it is all about enjoyment.

Below is a summary of my last 2 seasons:

2006:
January: The Full Monty- A tough 2 day multi sport adventure race.
March: Reading half marathon (1hr 28mins)
April: Forest of Dean spring classic (80 mile cyclosportif)
May: Triathlon training camp- Snowdonia (Cold and wet!)
Lydney sprint Tri (1 hr 09min)
June: Weymouth Middle distance Tri (5hrs 08min)
Safaricom half marathon (Kenya)1hr 40min.
July: Bournemouth Olympic distance Tri (2hrs 28min)
August: Cycle tour from north coast to south coast of France (7 days).
November: Cirencester off-road duathlon.

2007:
I targeted Ironman distance and used other events as training races.
Feb: Cirencester off-road Duathlon.
Coastal half marathon (Devon)1hr 50min.
May: Training camp-Pyrennes…Mainly road cycling over 1 week, but with early morning swims and often a short run off the bike.
Day 1 of the tour of Wessex (100miles- 6hrs)
June: Eastnor Castle, Malverns, Middle distance Triathlon. (5hrs 23min – 13th place)
July: Bournemouth Olympic tri (2hrs 26min)
Sept: Elbaman (Ironman distance tri), Italy (12hrs 18min – 55th place)

I really enjoyed the Elbaman, both the event and the training, and in many ways would like to repeat it, but I, like most athletes, need to balance home life, work and training and Ironman distance took up a lot of hours.

2008: Plans
My plans for 2008 are perhaps more modest in terms of time, but I would like to improve on my Olympic distance triathlons.
So far my plan for the year is a little rough, so I can add or subtract events as I go.
However:
Jan: Coastal half marathon-Portland 26th Jan.
Feb/March: Off road events including: some short off-road runs and the Devon coastal half marathon. I also hope to do an off-road duathlon.
April: An adventure race and an Early Sprint Triathlon
May: Triathlon training camp in the Pyrennes again. We will hopefully be cycling some of the classic mountain sections of the “tour de France”. We will also swim most mornings and do a few runs off the bike.
Tour of Wessex(end of May).
June/July: 3 triathlons, probably of Olympic distance: Bournemouth & Worthing, and perhaps a middle distance event perhaps Weymouth/ Eastnor Castle.
August: I may look at a Quadrathlon, for a bit of fun. And of course the national relays where I will be with my club, BAD Tri.
After August I see how I feel and go from there!

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