Out with the old, in with the new

Season 2008 ended with a no-show - rather like it started.

I was entered with my mate Jev into the final Bedford Sprint of the series. Waking at 5am to heavy wind and rain, a couple of texts later between myself and Jev, and that was it – ZZzzzzzzz – back to the warmth and comfort of my bed.

Reminiscent to what happened at my first race of the season – the Thames Turbo sprint in April. The circumstances were similar – a quick peek outside the previous night to see heavy snow and that was it – no way, and a no-show.

Now that the season has ended and that aspect of my life has (temporarily) closed I am moving into another phase. Enter my new coaching companion for the next few months – Scotty.

Scotty is my new (and first) Mountain Bike, and she and I have already forged a strong bond between us with a slow romantic jaunt in the woods on Saturday (see pictures up top from the top of Pitstone Hill over-looking a long-time local open water swimming venue). When I say slow, I mean REALLY slow - I have run the same course quicker. Here’s my online training log to prove how slow I went.

Many of my friends – Alex, Simon, Paul, Jev - have recently been extolling the virtues of MTB'ing, especially for some off-season interval-type training, and I am positively salivating at the thought of getting down and dirty with Scotty over the coming months. This starts with a much-anticipated forthcoming trip to the Afan Valley in Wales with my tri club on 17th and 18th October. I have to admit that the cycling is really going to be secondary that weekend (no doubt to the scorn of the serious MTB’ers). Food, beer and great company are higher on the agenda for me.

Another person who has finished one phase of his life is my youngest son, Adam, who has just taken his 11+ exam this week after many months of concentrated coaching and practice. Adam's results come through in November so, fingers firmly crossed, here’s hoping for his success. Whatever the results, he has put in 150% effort and I am very, very proud of him. Well done, Adam.

Hardly seems worth putting it up, but here's what I did last week:-

Monday – no training

Tuesday – no training

Wednesday – run – easy at 180 strides per minute, 60 minutes

Thursday – no training

Friday – no training

Saturday – bike - great, fun Mountain Bike over Wacky Racers course

Sunday – no race or training (Bedford no-show)

Over the next few days I shall be evaluating my season and sit down and make plans for 2009. But until then I have hung up my wetsuit and am taking 4 weeks out to recuperate and recover from some hard training and a hard season's racing. Combined with some lurv with Scotty I am sure to be rejuvenated in time for the start of next season’s base training come mid-November.

Until next week, C.