This morning I received an e-mail from Humanrace which stated that wetsuits are not allowed this weekend. This is due the current warm weather as the water has reached an enjoyable 23.5 degrees. It is unlikely that this will drop by Sunday; however temperatures will be slightly less than the 30+ degrees we are enjoying at this moment. This is the first time in 18 years of Human Race history that this decision was made.

I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad with this decision. From what I understand is that strong swimmers will benefit from this ban, but people like myself might not benefit. At least we don't need to worry about taking the wetsuit off in T1.

I think it is the unexpected unknown that is overwhelming me at the moment. I'm sure I will be fine after all I just had a swim in the Red Sea. I might squeeze in an open water session on Saturday without wetsuit.

This will be my second Olympic Distance and to increase the pressure my parents will be supporting me for the first time.

Good luck if you are racing in Dorney this weekend!

It was 4:10 am, bright and early, after a short night, with interrupted sleep due to heavy rain overnight, I woke up with a clear sky which was good enough for me to participate in my first ever Olympic Triathlon. My wave was due to start at 6:25 and this time I wanted to make sure I was on time ready. 

At 5:15 Shereen and I arrived in Windsor and parked our car, we went to the transition area and I started to prepare my spot. The places are very narrow here, not only between each other but also behind and in front of you. What do you expect 2500 people racing here? 

The transition setup got ready at 6:00 am, with 35 minutes to spare, much quicker than last time, I was able to relax and most importantly visualize the transition and my race objectives. I had set myself a target to first of all complete the Olympic distance, followed by completing without getting any injuries and then I had set a target time between 2:50 and 3:00.

We started watching the earlier Sprint races and some of the Olympic waves. We noticed Richard Stannard giving away an interview. I understood that he was involved in a bike accident and therefore could not race today. When I was pulling up my top half wetsuit I got filmed myself, I'm sure they will cut this piece out but I'm looking forward for the Channel 4 broadcast early July. Whilst we were watching I noticed that the current wasn't as strong as last year and despite of thinking to swim on the right where the current should be the least I decided to go for the left hand side of the bunch, after all I knew it all better and it is shorter. 

With only 5 minutes to spare I made my way to the river side and jumped in, this time I was one of the first ones to get in. I relaxed, done a few strokes, got my position set and waited for the horn to go. I started my stopwatch about one minute before hand, just to make sure I had not forgotten this. 

The swim - 1500m:

The start signal went off and started hard to swim, I was in the front of the pack and I didn't want anyone to swim over me. Despite me starting rather hard I knew I was about to slow down as I would never be able to keep up. At least I got myself in a good position in the river. After a few hundred meters my goggles started playing up, they started filling up with a little bit of water and then this became more and more. I took a break and adjusted them a few times. I have never been sure about those goggles, but then again I never have been sure about any pair of googles I had. There is always something with them, either they leak, they steam up, the straps come loose. Maybe I need to produce some myself. 

After the ordeal of the googles I got myself in a good pace, not fast, but a good pace, breathing every third for most of the time and breathing on both sides. But most of all I was enjoying the filthy river Thames and was enjoying the swim and had only positive thoughts. "I'm doing good" were the key words racing through my head and this really motivated me. Every time when I looked up I could see the swim finish coming noticeably closer. I almost regretted that the swim was over, was I becoming insane? Maybe the water had poisoned my brains. 

Swim time: 40:04

I'm not the fastest swimmer in the world, but at least this time I enjoyed it and I can work on getting faster. 

T1:

The distance between the swim exit and the transition area in Windsor is rather far, this obviously gives us plenty of time to undo the wetsuit during the run up to the transition area. Got my wetsuit off very quickly, helmet and glasses on and ran with my bike out of transition. For some reason I managed to jump on my bike with my feet straight into my bike shoes, I only had to pull up the strap. 

Considering the huge transition area my time was fast. I wouldn't want to change anything. 

Time: 1:42

The Bike - 42km:

I jumped on my bike and managed to get into a good rhythm. Due to the number of people on the road, it wasn't difficult to overtake people and obviously being overtaken as well. The scenery along the race track is very nice and there are a few little hills on the way, which seems to be in my advantage. My odometer seemed broken and was not giving me any sense of speed. I like to see my speed in order to motivate me and push harder, I started to use my cadence meter instead, obviously this is not the same as the cadence would change depending on the gear you are in. 

The last 5 / 6 miles is all the way down and makes this an ideal time to start preparing for the run section, with speeds up to 38 mph. I knew that we had to bike next to the transition area after we came from the road, however one of the marshall shouted loud and it was not clear to me so I unclipped very quickly my shoes, which wasn't necessary, so clipped back in and went to my original plan to leave my shoes on the bike. 

Time: 1:17:15

After the swim section onto the bike I'm unable to push hard for the first few miles. I would need to think about how I could simulate this. Apart from this I don't think I would change anything at all. 

T2:

This was a quick transition, just had to chuck my bike, throw off my helmet and glasses and pull on my running shoes. In the transition area I was running behind a biker who was trying to get out of transition. This must have slowed me down a little bit. 

Time: 1:29

The run: 10K

Started the run in a good pace, read slow and maintainable. The sun was getting hot at this moment in time and was happy to cool myself down with water. Temperatures must have been 20 degrees, this isn't really hot, but hot enough for me. I cannot imagine how I could cope (or anyone) when running in the desert or an Ironman in Australia where temperatures could sore up to 40 degrees. The run was 3 laps next to the Queen's castle and this hill, short but steep kills when one comes just off the bike. the first lap I had cramps and slowed down to ensure I could control my breathing. Cramps disappeared but stayed in the same mode, and maintained a good running pace, slow but maintainable. 

The last 400 meter are absolutely amazing, and it is those moments which elevate you and make this an addiction. The crowds are not only cheering you on which gives you the feeling of being a champion (despite taking almost one hour longer than the elites) but the sense of accomplishment is huge. What would it be if I ever accomplish an Ironman distance? 

Time: 56:21 

Summary: 

I was hoping to complete my first Olympic Triathlon in a time between 2:50 and 3:00, I completed the entire course within 2:56, so I met my goal. I'm far from the fastest on the course but I can set myself some goals to go faster. Now I know I can complete this distance, before I only dreamt of completing the distance. 

With only a few days until my first Olympic triathlon in Windsor I started reading upon some race information.

How to succeed at Windsor? - The swim description is especially important for me.

Bike course description, with bike course elevation chart

Full map of the Windsor Triathlon course

Motionbased bike course map

Less than one week and then I will be doing my first proper Olympic Triathlon. Last year I planned on performing my first Olympic Triathlon in the Nokia Windsor Triathlon but I had to downgrade to the Sprint version instead due to my fair share of injuries.

I cannot say that I didn't have any injuries this year but I have been able to control my injuries a bit better before they became serious.

One thing that is troubling me is the swim, in the Eton 3Quarter swim I had a bad swim and cannot say that last year I had a good swim either in any of the triathlons I participated in, despite taking swimming lessons from the beginning of the year.

Last Saturday I was planning for an Open Water swim in Mytchett but, maybe luckily enough, I arrived too late and they closed earlier than normal. I drove off to the pool and swam with my wetsuit. Normally in the pool I'm pretty much in control of my breathing and I am able to pace myself. With the wetsuit on this changed entirely, my breathing was crap and my pacing was totally out of control. The only difference is the wetsuit so I figured out I am feeling anxious inside the wetsuit, but even more, every single time I pull with my left arm I get restricted and this feels very tight. On Sunday I went for an open water swim and made sure that I pulled my wetsuit very high up from the legs all the way to my arms. This improved my swimming and I was able to keep my breathing under control. Furthermore I felt relaxed inside the water, and could do whatever I wanted doing I cannot say I'm perfect or fast in any way but for the first time I could feel some improvement.

This Sunday I will be swimming in the river Thames, and surely this will not be an easy swim. Last year I swam the 750m sprint in 28 minutes, that is about 12 minutes slower in comparison with last Sunday's swim in the lake. For the 1500m this Sunday I'm hoping for 40 minute, but this might as well be 45 minute. I’m preparing mentally for the current in the river.

I should be fine with the other disciplines, I have done a lot of 40K+ bike rides and kept running since the beginning of the year with several 10K runs, however not too many 10K lately.

As you know there are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happening and there are people who wonder what will happen. This Sunday I will be the one who will make things happen, but what about you?

Mixed feelings ... 

Last Sunday, 24th May 2009, I participated in the 3Quarter Olympic triathlon in Dorney, same distance as last years Bananaman Triathlon, which was my first triathlon of the year in preparation for the Nokia Windsor Triathlon.

The sun woke up nice and bright and we could not have wished for better weather, temperatures were around 24C degrees.

At 11:30am I made my way to the transition and was confident to have plenty of time. I started preparing my towel, shoes on the bike, running shoes, gels, sweats, drinking bottles, and ... I forgot my race number belt. Thankfully Shereen was near and was able to run to the onsite shop and get me a new race number belt (£6 !).  In meantime I saw the clock ticking and it was only until 11:55 that I was able to put my wetsuit on. My golden rule is to get ready in time and get into the water as soon as possible in order to relax and to get used to the water and water temperatures. This time I came to the water with only two minutes spare before the race horn went off!

I started swimming and felt I was doing well, until I started sighting and noticed that a whole lot of people were already far beyond me. I was totally surprised and could not comprehend this. How did they get there? This combined with the late preparation took me out of my comfort zone. For some bizarre reason I found time to wave to my wife and son who were watching me, apparently they could tell I was really upset with my position. I was able to calm down and swim more relaxed during the second lap. I came out of the water with the last ten people in my wave. My total time was 19 minutes which still faster in comparison with last years time of 21 minutes.

Transition from the swim to the bike went smoothly, got my wetsuit out fast and was able to jump on the bike with my shoes already on the bike mounted without problems. The transition lasted only 1:09 seconds which turned out to be the fourth fastest in my age group.

On the bike my race came together, I started passing other people straight from the start, which was positive, my average speed was around 21 mph / 33 kph, which I knew was good enough to improve on time. I concentrated on my nutrition and ensured I had taken my gels and enough drinks. I finished the bike in 56 minutes. 

Transition from the bike to swim was smooth'ish, was out of my bike shoes before I came into transition and only had to put on my socks, yes indeed socks and running shoes. I had chosen for socks becuase during training I felt friction on my feet and didn't want to risk getting blisters during the race. Putting the socks on caused me most problems, nevertheless I was happy with a transition time of 1:09 (same as T1). 

I started my run slow in order to give my legs time to recover from the bike and as such I was hoping to push it a bit harder after some time. This unfortunately didn't happen and had to be satisfied with a pace which felt slow. I was unable to push my legs harder and was out of breath very easily. Very weird feeling when mind wants to go faster but there is no way on earth those legs will move faster ahead. At the same time the sun started to burn as well. A few times I felt like walking, but now I'm glad I didn't. I finished with a time of 40 minutes, which is only a few minutes slower in comparison with training. 

I would be satisfied with any time below two hours, and as such improve my time from last year (2:08) which I did and therefore I'm really happy. However my swim was disappointing and my general ranking didn't improve much either. They must have got all faster earlier in the season

Oh yes, the sun has nicely printed a healthy red area around the borders of my tri-suit. It was heaven to pass the finishing line and find a hose pipe to drench myself completely. Just heaven! 

This race has left me with mixed feelings, having improved with ten minutes on my result from last year is fantastic, but what went wrong with my swimming and how can I improve this? 

This was my first ever 1/2 marathon, I was meant to start in this race last year but due to injuries I had to bail out, one year later I came on the start line to prove my fitness progress after stopping smoking for 4 years.

Training had taken me up to a running distance of 19.2k or one mile shy of the 13.1 mile mark. In training I never prepared for the full distance however I felt pretty confident that I could go all the way. 

Race day started with one hour less sleep due to the change in clocks for the summer time. Myself and my wife took the train direction Reading at around 08:20, on arrival we noticed a lot people waiting to get on the free shuttle bus to the Madejski stadium used for Reading football.

In the morning temperatures were just above freezing so I decided to run with long trousers and 2 tops - that's identical to my training sessions during the winter. However this turned out to be wrong choice!

I had lined up close to the 2:00 finishing group and promised myself to stick with the 2:00 pace runner and if I felt well enough after one hour I would increase my pace. I started rather well and kept up a nice pace, slightly faster than training but after all this is a race. I passed the 10K at 54 minutes. The entire race period the sun was nicely shining, great atmosphere but wrongly dressed, I was sweating too much and was very hot. At the first drinking station I took a bottle of water which turned out very chilled and got stomach cramps after. 

Around 16K I was getting it very difficult and had to keep on motivating myself, at some point I felt my body giving in on me and stopping but was able to pick up and keep going. At 18K I was unable to keep motivating myself, my legs were killing me, and I was overheated, I had to give in and started walking. During this break I took the opportunity to have a toilet stop as well. What a relief! I had been drinking much more than usual. The last few kilometers I stop/start walking. Did I hit the "Wall"? Was I burned out? Usually I'm really motivated and I never have to fall back on walking. 

I opted out of wearing my iPod to enjoy music, but this could have been the ultimate motivator who could have taken me through the difficult moments. Instead I was planning to enjoy the atmosphere. Just before the start, when setting my Garmin ready to go start I noticed that I forgot my heart rate monitor strap around my chest. I usually try to stay within zone 3 for these long runs. This time I was unable to rely on this, this gave me some false start. 

But what an excitement! What a feeling when one can sprint inside a stadium full of people, making noise, yelling and shouting when crossing the finish line. This truly gave me tears in my eyes and I felt all the training was really all worth it. 

Looking back the race I need to bear the following in mind for any other race:

• Do not dress too warm!
• If possible carry my iPod as a motivation stimulator. Mr Motivator!
• Wear my heart rate monitor strap and stick with the pace. 
• Train the full distance and just beyond. 
• Stick to my own nutrition's. 

At this moment I really feel that I could I have done better and I could have stayed below the 2:00 race time, but I didn't. I have learned a whole lot of this race and will come back stronger! I will do this again!

The official distance of the 1/2 marathon is 13.1 mile or 21K - Why does my Garmin Forerunner 301 tell me that I ran 22.49K? Did I run too much? Can I rely on my Garmin? 

It has been quiet lately on my blog but rest be assured I have been busy training. I have been swimming twice a week, cycling and or spinning twice a week and running for 2/3 times a week with the view to run the Asics Reading 1/2 Marathon.

I have been training from the beginning of the year with initially building a base around the 10K distance, which is the run distance

in the Olympic distance. In February I lost the rhythm of training due to one week of skiing, working longer hours and during the ski holiday I picked up a small injury. I reduced my run distances for up 5K only, which was a wise decision. From the beginning of March I started with a 9 mile run and increased with one mile on a weekly basis. Yesterday, on Mothers day, I ran 12 miles which is just one mile short of the half marathon distance. These distances are the furthest I ever ran!

My expectations for my first ever half marathon are first of all to finish, without stopping, without injuries and if possible stay below 2 hours.

The profile of the reading half Marathon seems to be reasonable enough with the last 3 miles flat (this is probably where I will struggle).

If you want to look at my training log for 2009, feel free to checkout http://www.buckeyeoutdoors.com/users/traintriathlon . By the time I’m on the start line for my first ½ Marathon I must have ran a distance of 220km for this year. I’m impressed.

All the best to all the other 16K participants!

First of all a very happy New Year from me and may I hope that all your dreams can come true. 

Now we have that one out of the way we can come back to the subject of this blog. 

Very recently I noticed a blog entry from TriSpace which challenged people to take on a test, which is been used by the British army in order to gauge your fitness level. Initially I was rather apprehensive as I automatically had categorized myself in the "poor" performer category. My wife encouraged me a bit and I could not find a better time then today, at the beginning of the year to benchmark my performance which could be my motivator for the rest of the weekend.

You are supposed to run first 1.5 mile (warm up?) within 14 minutes, and then this is followed by the real challenge, another 1.5 mile. The measured time puts you in a category. Taken from the TriSpace website this is the table. 

I drove this morning, after a New Years party lasting till 3am to test myself on the running track, which is nicely flat. The temperature was 1 degree outside. I started on the running track with just one lap very slow run (not tracked on my Garmin) in order to explain my body what was to follow in the coming 30 minutes. One lap is 400 meter and as such I had to complete 6 laps for 2.4 K or 1.5 mile. 

I completed the first 6 laps in 13:17 which is according to my Garmin 2.46K. I jogged around until my Garmin displayed 14:00, at this point I started the challenge. I started off fast and wanted to quit after 3 laps, my heartbeat was now going more than 165 and completed each lap below 2 minutes. The fourth and fifth lap I struggled and slowed down to complete these laps in 2:04 and 2:07. During lap 6 I gave everything and completed this one in 1:50. 

My total time for all laps during the challenge is 11 minutes and 44 seconds for 1.5 mile or 2.4K which makes me an "Average" runner in the category males 35-39. 13 seconds faster would have made me a "Good" runner, which I'm not at this moment.

As you can see from the screenshot from my Garmin Forerunner 301 the laps measured a little bit more but I'm ignoring those distances as I know that the track is 400 meter long.  

For a complete report, tracked by my Garmin, you can check out all details (including heartbeat, charts, maps, etc ...) on MotionBased. 

Alright this was my first year as a triathlete. Somewhere at the end of 2007 I decided to start training for a triathlon for 2008. I started of in the beginning of this year and everything unfolded all fine until I hit my first injury at the end of January which stopped me from running for 16 weeks, followed by 4 weeks of very low mileage. This obviously had a great influence on my first triathlon. I had to cancel my first planned triathlon one and competed in the Nokia Windsor Triathlon. The original plan was to finish an olympic distance. I was able to practice my cycling and swimming during my injury.

For me it is very important to keep track of every single workout. This stimulates me enormously and I can see my progress in Excel charts. Nice to see them going up and not South. I realize I'm just a beginner and I cannot compete with many more dedicated people out there in terms of the number of training hours put in on a weekly basis. I have a quiet demanding job and need to travel daily almost 4 hours. 

I have swam this year about 62K, including pool and lake swims and I spend in total for 29 hours in the water. I haven't been swimming since my last race. I ran 385K in 39 hours, this doesn't include the treadmill running. I was on the road with my bike for 1800K or 69 hours, this doesn't include the hours lately on my Turbo Trainer. I tend to run 3 times a week for short distances, with a maximum of 27K during one week. I cycle on average 3 times a week and I cycled, as a maximum, for 131K during one week. 

That was it for this year, I will still go out a few times for a run and make use of my new Turbo Trainer and I need to start swimming again very urgently. 

I'm still in doubt what races and when I will be doing in 2009, but one thing is for sure I have enjoyed my first year as a Sprint Triathlete and I'm looking forward to complete my first Olympic distance in 2009. 

Best of luck to all of you if you decide, just like me last year, to start competing in triathlons. 

Many thanks to all the people sending me e-mails and leaving feedback. 

Happy festive season!

I'm ashamed of the little effort I have been able to put in my triathlon training. I was planning to swim once a week, run 3 times a week and cycle during the weekends in combination with 3 strength-training sessions. 

I'm publicly admitting that this has absolutely failed. I'm using the same excuse as I have seen so many times before and I thought I was immune for this: time and lots of work. Even during the weekends I have gone to work, combined with a city break to New York and working from early in the morning until late at night left little time for any training, let alone my family. 

I could take my bike and cycle to the train station and do a run at lunchtime, but I'm just not doing it! Why? Arggh! 

I am puzzled when it comes down to choosing the right training style and plan.  You might remember I don't have a great background in sports at all, I have a smokers background who used to hang out in the worse possible places for your health, up to 3.5 years when I decided to make a change for the better. 

As I consequence of my poor background I don't know how much training a body can undertake and at which point in time of the year one should increase or decrease their levels of training. This is a steep learning curve for me. 

I could join a gym or get myself one of those personal trainers or even virtual personal trainers but again that's not really me, I don't want to become dependent on times and days that suits others, this is something I want to control myself, Just call me selfish! Nevertheless I recognize the importance of having a swimming instructor and this is something I'm considering at the moment for next season. 

With the triathlon season well finished here in the UK I started thinking about my winter training, this is an area which I'm not familiar with so I started doing some research and found that most people maintain their bike, run and swim training by doing this just once a week in combination with some strength training. Others are concentrating on just the run section and place their bike in the garage for the winter period, shame I haven't found anyone who gives up all tree sports during the winter and just sits in their couch.

Personally, I have noticed that It has become more difficult to start cycle training during the evenings when it is dark after work, for now I have reduced this to only some bike training during the weekend. I haven't done any swimming anymore for some time now but kept on running at least 3 times a week. 

Last year when I decided to take on triathlon I started my 5-month BT Olympic training plan in the beginning of November, which looking back at it was too early. This year I'm planning to start my training plan in January but in the meantime I need to find the motivation to start swimming again in the pool before going to work with a combination of strength training which seems very important. The importance of strength training the abs, lower back, upper back and the core has become more and more apparent to me after my many visits to the physiotherapist lately and I want to learn from my mistakes and avoid at all cost any injuries.

In summary I will try (read: try) to swim at least once a week, run 3 times a week and cycle during the weekends in combination with 3 strength training sessions at home until I start my training plan in January.  

I'm not yet convinced about the winter training program followed by the men on the picture I might consider ...

I'm not planning on providing many additional words as the blog from Chrissie Wellington is beautifully written by an extraordinary sportswoman who managed to win all her races this year including the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. 

As she mentions herself: Never, ever give up! 

Many congratulations and sure I enjoyed watching the event live. 

Only a few hours left now and just over 1800 athletes will start the grueling race. For one or the other reason I'm very nervous and excited about this race. I don't know why as I don't know of anyone personally who is competing but maybe just because I started to understand a little bit how big this is and how though a triathlon is and maybe because somewhere in my own mind I might consider such a grueling race - one day - in my dreams. 

To all the people who are competing today, for at least 8 hours and most of them for 10 hours and more I wish you all the best and I will tune in on Ironman.com to start understanding just a little bit more what a great athletes all of you are!

Looking forward for a great endurance race.

This is the link for watching the event online: Live Webcast

I entered the ballot in April of this year in the hope to get a spot in this event. Last week I received a present from the organisators from the London Marathon. I received a nice magazine together with a fleecy top. But everywhere on top of the magazine, on the front page, almost within every advert it was made very clear that I DID NOT get a a place in the London Marathon - like they had to rub it in over an over again.

Obviously very disappointed not to get a place I'm determined to run my first Marathon next year, even if I have to run the same track the day after

Anyone has some good alternatives? (I might explore the alternatives on Runnersworld.)

With just more than one week until the Ford Ironman World Championship 2008 in Hawaii the pressure is on for many age group athletes and professional athletes. I don't think the event will be broadcasted on television in the UK so I will have to connect my laptop to the television and follow the championship through IronmanLive.com. 

One of the most heroic achievements, beside the moment my wife gave birth to our son, that I have seen is are the crawls of Julie Moss which must have raised the level of drama to the triathlon sport for years to come . Julie Moss was leading the race while fatigue overwhelmed her exhausted body, she dropped to the ground but was able to recover enough after every collapse to reach the finish, she found the strength to push the spectators away who were trying to help. Only a few meters before the finish line she was overtaken and ended in second place. Kathleen McCartney claimed the title in1982. See the historic moment in the following video, after swimming 2.4 mile, 112 mile on the bike followed by a Marathon distance of 26.2 mile. 

Dave Scott who is another legend has won the triathlon Ironman championship in Hawaii 6 times in a timeframe of 7 years with 3 consecutive wins between 1980 and 1987. Dave came out of retirement to claim a second place in 1994. His main rival must have been Mark Allen who won five consecutive victories between 1989 and 1993. Dave Scott's best time is 8:10:13 which is still 20 minutes slower than my all time Belgium favorite Luc Van Lierde who completed the Ironman event in a record time of 07:50:27 in 1996. This record still stands today. Coming from Belgium myself I remember this day clearly with all the newspapers having only one headline - the little Belgium guy who went and won in Hawaii one of the most grueling events on earth in a record breaking time.

An identical impressive result is last year's Chrissie Wellington who claimed victory after just started as a professional for one year and performed only her second Ironman last year whereby she won the first one as well.

She is absolutely in top shape this year with already a few impressive wins. She is very fluid and light on the feet and has been named as the top number one woman to claim victory in the Hawaii Ironman of 2008. I guess there will be a bit more pressure this year as she has written a great name for herself. But she is one of the if not the top favorite.

There are a few very impressive names on the participant list this year. Luc Van Lierde will be present, age 39, I doubt he will go over his record time from 1996 but after seeing his performance from this year and a great recovery from injury I can see him ending in a top 10 place. Rutger Beke another Belgium Ironman athlete who had trouble in the past but this seems to be in the past has claimed victory in the triathlon of Knokke this year. No doubt we have to include Chris McCormack (aka Macca) who has finished the Ironman Germany in an astonishing time of 7:59:55. Norman Stadler, from Germany, had a weird year, dropping out of Ironman Germany and Ironman Lake Placid - but if he gets his chance on the bike the others will have to dig deep on the run. After an impressive second win in the Antwerp 70.3 Ironman this year Marino VanHoenacker, from Belgium, will be another candidate for a top 10 place, after all he came in fifth position in 2007.

If you fancy participating in the Ironman Hawaii the Lottery program opens today 1^st October 2008 and closes on 28^th February 2009. Good luck. Here is the page to put your name down in the lottery.

If you fancy reading more of these impressive stories then read the book Becoming an Ironman which I have reviewed last month.

It is all over again ... On Saturday I participated in my first Duathlon with a Mountain Bike (my old yellow banger). I opted in to take part in the Sprint Duathlon which is a 5K run, 12K MTB and another 2K run. The event is held near the Gibraltar barracks in Hawley lake in Camberley. The course track is hilly, muddy, wet and with overgrowing branches. This made the course track Xtreme and for me this was the first time I participated in the event, I got carried away by seeing their online video a while ago and a few weeks ago I took my MTB out in the rain and I truly enjoyed this. Just like a little child again, coming back full of mud and mummy had to wash my clothes. 

The weather was forecasted to be a great day with temperatures possibly going up to 20 degrees. At the time of arrival it was only 9 degrees and very misty, I was unable to see the lake, luckily for the people participating in the triathlon the mist cleared when it was their start time, but t was only 12 degrees at this point in time. 

The event was organized by AllAboutTriathlons and they did a great job, on arrival you got your race pack with timing chip and t-shirt. I arrived around 7:20 am, for a race starting at 8:40 am. I rode my bike to the transition area and noticed that I was the first to rack my bike. I had the opportunity to choose the best spot, whatever that might be, in the whole transition area. The transition area did not had any numbers for our bikes so I choose to rack my bike, close to the "Bike Out" and not too far away from the "Run Out" gate. This turned out to be  good choice. 

Obviously with arriving early I had plenty of time to get used to the environment, I took the opportunity to thoroughly inspect the transition area including the start of the run and the start of the bike.  Around 8:15 I started to stretch slowly and warmed up with a light jog. During a last check in the transition area I noticed that my glasses where wet from the fog, I dried them up and hoped that they would still be dry once I needed them on the bike. 

The Run

All on time, at 8:40 am the start signal was given after a brief briefing. I noticed that it was a fast start and settled immediately in a position with maybe about 30 people in front of me. I wasn't planning to kill myself on a race track which I didn't know what to expect, I wanted to be prepared for any hills or jumps and needed to keep my full concentration for any branches on the rough track. I had my heart rate strap on my chest but after a short time this was hanging on my waste, this was due to the nature of the track. This never happened during training to me. Within 30 minutes I finished the 5K track and was pleased with this. 

The Bike

This was meant to be a quick transition as I didn't had to put any other shoes on.  I visualized the way I would transition during the run and this helped me tremendously but my glasses were fogged up and I had to take them off and put them on my t-shirt instead. I rode all the way without glasses. My gloves were not immediately fitting either, so I lost some time here. I got on the bike and could feel my legs suffering and it took me a while (1K) before I really got going. Thanks to Grace Jones and her song which was playing in my head I found the necessary power to push with a good Rhythm. The bike track was made out of 2 laps of each 6K and took us in the woods, under branches and above branches and obviously through the necessary mud which made it really cool and fun. At some places I had to come off my bike as pushing it up the hill, even with Grace Jones still playing in my head, going up wasn't possible anymore. I finished in 40 minutes times, which turned out to be a very good time indeed. 

The Run - Again

I was looking forward to this part, as it was only 2K. Surprise, Surprise the first 1K was hard, after having to spin and push on the bike so hard, but the last 1K I felt good. I finished the second run in 13 minutes

Official results

Position 19/61

Run 5K: 29:47 - position 35/61

Bike 12K: 40:21- Position 7/61

Run 2K: 13:26 - position 33/61

Overall time: 1:24:59 - For the official results have a look here.

Summary

A great fun factor was present during the race and with a better than expected nineteenth position and a great bike time I am very satisfied with tte result.

After much speculation Lance is going to ride for Astana in 2009. The seven times Tour de France winner wants to highlight his fight against cancer by stepping back on his bike. 

I can only take my hat off for him and wish him all the best with raising further awareness for cancer and at the same time I hope he can make the Tour de France a bit more exciting in comparison with the last few years. The Tour de France has not been the same again without him. 

Wouldn't it be nice if he, at the age of 37, goes even faster to the top on the Alpe d'Huez then his fellow competitors - Carlos Sastre was this year more than 90 seconds slower than Lance in 2001!

This could only mean a good thing for the Cycling sport to me.

For more on this have a look here, here and on the LiveStrong website. Have a look at my recent book review.

Go Lance!

For weeks  I had planned to participate in the Xtreme Terrain Festival 2008 but had not registered until tonight. The reason I was holding off was because my leg was still playing up from time to time but this seems to be healing now and I have become very confident that the end is in sight now. 

After a 50K bike ride on Saturday and a 15K run on Sunday without feeling any pain during or after I must conclude that I'm on the better hand. 

I have not been maintaining my swimming and temperatures are coming down, yes call me a wimp, I will not do the Xtreme Terrain Triathlon (XTT) but will do the Xtreme Terrain Duathlon instead. I was considering the full distance at some point (10K, 24K, 5K) but after reading the comments which mentions that it should not be underestimated and that the track is tough which made me decide to participate in the Spring Duathlon instead. The Spring Duathlon is a 5K run followed by a 12K MTB (Mountain Bike) race and ending with a 2K run. The race track will be in the forest for both the run and the bike session. The event is held in Hawley Lake, Camberley, Surrey. 

I had a look at the results from last year and just looking at the bike results for 12K I can only gauge that this will be tough. The first one arrived after 38 minutes but the majority of the people finished around 45 minutes for 12K biking. 

I have been racing with my road race bike over the summer but have never raced with my old banger of a mountain bike, this is going to be fun! 

One thing is for sure this race track looks like great fun, have a look at the YouTube video yourself! 

If you are planning to race this weekend (27th of September 2008), then come and say hello, I will be racing at 8:40am.