Out with the old, in with the...er...old

No, not another blog about mountain biking or such like.

I have a client who was a very successful A & R executive, discovering the likes of The Boomtown Rats, Sinead O’Connor and Kool and the Gang (get down on it!). He is now no longer in ‘the business they call show’ and is enjoying his well-earned retirement. Out with the old, so to speak.

I recall very amusing stories over the years involving some famous singers, bands, musicians and the like. One involved a very young, and foul-mouthed, Bob Geldof calling around record companies to get a record deal. Apparently, Sir Geldof eventually did quite well for himself, and also for the world in general.

Another story involved one of my client’s young ‘runners’ (an errand boy) whilst he was at EMI who was very keen to get involved in the music industry. This young lad had absolute no musical ‘ear’, apparently, but had a big mouth and was very canny. His name? Simon Cowell. Mr Cowell is currently doing quite well for himself, but not, as many would argue, for the music world in general. He has been around for a while now so he’s not exactly new to us, and is currently very prominent on our TV screens with the new series of The X Factor. In with the old, you could say.

Recently in the worlds of triathlon and cycling there has been a similar scenario.

Simon Lessing won the South African National Championship in 1988 at age 18, the International Triathlon Union Olympic distance world championships in 1992, 1995, 1996 and 1998, the ITU long course world championship in 1996. He had wins at big non drafting classics at Chicago and Alcatraz, dominated the French Iron Tour, was victorious at the 1994 and 1996 Goodwill Games, and triumphed at an indoor race in Bourdeaux and a super sprint in Koblenz. Add to this a still-standing course record Ironman debut at Lake Placid, up to a flash of greatness in July 2008 in which he broke his own course record at Boulder Peak – Simon Lessing was the perfect illustration for an encyclopedia entry on excellence, triathlon version.

Lessing was the best in the world just as I was getting into triathlon and so was a great inspiration to me. Regretably, but I suppose inevitably, he announced his retirement from competitive racing this week at the age of 37.

I never raced against Simon, but a friend of mine, Simon Lamport, did and I remember an amusing story he told me of running down the home straight at the Windsor triathlon (on his first lap of 2), when the crowd lining the edge were shouting and screaming his name. “Simon, go Simon. Yeah, go, go, go. Simon, Simon, Simon”. Just as he flung up his arms, taking in the applause, Simon Lessing then sprinted past him towards the finish line (lap 2 of 2) whilst Simon Lamport turned the corner to continue his race.

Simon Lessing - very regrettably, out with the old.



Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France a record-breaking seven consecutive years, from 1999 to 2005. He is the only individual to win seven times, having broken the previous record of five wins, shared by Miguel Indurain (consecutive) and Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Jacques Anquetil.

Armstrong survived testicular cancer in 1996. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy, and his prognosis was originally poor. He retired from racing on 24 July 2005, at the end of the 2005 Tour de France, but, very recently, confirmed that he will return to competitive cycling for the 2009 season. I am not sure I am happy with this. He went out at the very top of his sport and I fear that his comeback will not be the spectaculor all-conquering return that everyone is hoping for.

Lance Armstrong - a rather sceptical in with the old.



The first of four weeks of completely unstructured exercise and training this week. A club swim (quite hard actually), a couple of hard’ish MTB sessions (one with Jev, the other a wonderful pub-crawl with Anne-Marie) and a couple of football training sessions. I am not making a log of my sessions, which is part of the off-season recuperation, and am thoroughly enjoying the lack of pressure, both self imposed and from my running coach Mark K.

No triathlon races to report this week, but a 'big up' to my mate Alex (far left below) who posted a PB at the Ridgeway Run organised by my running club, Tring RC. After loads and loads of long, hilly runs over Ashridge during the Summer, Alex's training has obviously paid off at this week's race.



That is not to say that there is nothing going on in the world of triathlon. The biggest Ironman race of the calender, Hawaii Ironman, is taking place as I type this blog and doubtless I shall comment upon it next week.

For the moment, however, all us Brits are routing for Chrissie Wellington (amongst others). Last year, Chrissie took the Ironman world by storm by winning Ironman Hawaii at her first attempt. Then it was most definitely ‘in with the new’ and I suppose you could say this year, still as a relatively newcomer, it is ‘in with the newish’. Good luck Chrissie.

Cheers.

C