The lull before the storm

Once Upon A Time there stood many magnificent castles upon a hill in a place on the East Coast of England. There then descended upon this place a terrible wind. A wind of such force and magnitude that it blew down all those glorious castles that stood there.

The winds blew for many years until finally they abated. The local community began to rebuild their lives and their houses until eventually a new village arose. That village was called Wells-Next-The-Sea.

All remained calm and well for many years. Until the winds returned. And they returned with such gusto that the villagers fled once more. They ran and ran and ran…

I have just returned from a short camping holiday with Emily and Adam at Wells-Next-The-Sea, surely without doubt the windiest place on earth. It didn’t rain. It didn’t snow. Heck, it was even sunny. But, boy oh boy, was God busy blowing down on our campsite that week with such force that even my mate Crackers and his travelling companion Ben Fogle would have found it difficult to withstand. Eventually, in fear of our tent suffering the same fate as Aunt Em's house in the Wizard of Oz, a day early and after a night where I can honestly say I didn’t get a single minute of sleep, we decided to call it a day and return home.

That’s not to say that we didn’t have a good time. Spending time together, without the disruption of school, work and triathlon (yes, triathlon), was, as always, a wonderful experience. We did some great things about which we will always remember (surely there cannot be anything better than strolling along a beautiful golden beach at sundown with your children) , but alas, as with all fairy tales, it did have to come to an end, and so we are now getting on with our normal lives before the kids return to school.

So, back home and it's here. My final blog before heading out to Australia to race on 13th September. The lull before the storm, so to speak. I leave on Thursday with the rest of the GB Team, suitably chavved up in my tracksuit and trainers. I can hardly believe that, after all this time, all the training – through wind, rain and shine – and all the expense, D-Day is finally here. I am so excited.

If you're interested, the race will be on t’internet. The races start Aussie time on Sunday at 6.45am which, by my reckoning, is Saturday 9.45pm UK time. Here’s a couple of links from which you might find the live stream:-

http://www.worldtriathlongoldcoast.com/event_guide_schedule.html

http://www.triathlonlive.tv/index/home

It's only a short race - blink and you'll miss it - so you'd better be ready if you want to catch a glimpse of Bradley - GBR - making a dash for it across the line! I'll be the guy with a beer belly finishing near the back.

Back to the week’s activities, and I raced Bedford on Sunday. I did this highly enjoyable event last year, and the lure of it being a Euro qualifier this year brought me, and many other top athletes, back for more. Quite pleased with my time, especially with a) not puncturing and b) not falling off, so I consider it job done. I only really have one eye on the Euro’s, and I haven’t actually checked to see where I came or if I qualified. Maybe I’ll have a look sometime this week.

Big ‘matey’ congratulations to Jev, Dan, Mark K, Andrew and John (mate, mate from tri club, coach (‘ironmate’), mate from Italian training camp, mate from gym respectively) who all had great races. Jev, in particular, who thinks he might have qualified, at his first attempt (smart arse!), for the Euro's. Well done, mate, and a great way to round off a great season.

A few pics of the race. Promise me you won't laugh.






Who ate all the pies?. That CAN'T be my normal physique...




Colin, Jev, Dan...


Hey, there's the Pie-man again...


...and again...


So, that’s it, one and all. The next time you hear from me will be my race report from Oz. I will be thinking of you all next week in windy Blighty. Or, then again, maybe I won't - I will have one or two other things on my mind!

Cheers.

Colin

EDIT: Since posting this blog, Joe has gone and got himself 9 GCSE passes, narrowly missing out on 10 for want of an extra mark at Drama. So, he's now at 6th form with a few more years of studying ahead of him. Am so proud of Joe who did have difficulties combining his social and academic lifestyles, so to come through with so many passes is one hell of an achievement. Well done, son - very, very proud of you.

Run, rabbit, run

Normally, at this time of the year, I am glued to the TV with Adam for the start of the football season. But not this year. Not football anyway.

Adam has been away camping with his mum and siblings, Joe and Emily, this week. And I've taken the opportunity to watch what I want to watch for a change. And what a week to do it, what with the plethora of triathlon on TV.

There's been the London Triathlon and a whopping 3+ hours of live racing at Hyde Park on the BBC. As you might recall from last week's blog, I was actually there watching and racing there last weekend, but I did have the foresight to Sky+ it in anticipation for my delight and delictation during this week's lonely weekday evenings.

So, armed with Jaffa Cakes and Jelly Babies (my junk foods of choice), I sat down and watched over 4 hours of non-stop triathlon. And I loved every minute of it. It has to be said that Steve Trew's BBC commentary was spot on, as usual, but his co-commentator was obviously not an expert in triathlon and it was quite apparent that he didn't actually know what he was talking about (he even once remarked about how the SWIM was undulating). Nevertheless, a great few hours of viewing.

I joined Jev this week for a special Old Thatch Cinema Society screening of Donnie Darko. Actually, it was only me and Jev, preceded by a few beers in the pub and a few more beers back at his.

I had been meaning to watch Donnie Darko for years now, but had never got round to it, so we decided that Wednesday was as good a time as any (Jev's girls had gone away too). A fabulous film, although I have to admit rather confusing, with a brilliant soundtrack. So good, in fact, that I watched it again at home the following evening to try to make more sense of it. And I did make more sense of it. But only a little. So I guess I'll have to watch it again. I'm no Jonathan Ross or Barry Norman, but a highly recommended film.

My turn to take the kids away camping this week, so we're off somewhere (exact venue not yet decided) on Monday, then back for a few days before heading off to The Gold Coast. Joe won't be coming camping with us. He's going to the Reading Music Festival with his mates, and also is getting his GCSE results on Thursday. Fingers tightly crossed for both, and no doubt much to report next week.

So it's all go in the Bradley household at the moment.

It's all go for Jasmine Flatters too. Jasmine is the Age Group Team Manager for Australia (and, coincidentally, was Race Referee at Hyde Park last week) and is planning meticuously to make sure that the whole thing goes smoothly for her team. She has started up a GBR Age Group Team Facebook group and is also sending regular emails to us all with last minute arrangements.

I have been racing for many years, have raced every distance, both in the UK and abroad, from Super Sprint to Ironman, yet never has there been so much to organise as there is for this race. We also have our very own team bike mechanic. Very impressive organisation - but then again it IS the British team, so it should be top-notch organisation I suppose.

Australia is getting very close now. And very real. And very exciting. I can hardly believe that I am only a couple of blogs away to reporting back about the race of my life.

Between watching TV, drinking far too much beer and eating far too much junk food, I did have a great week's training, and I'll post up details shortly.

Next week will be plenty of early morning runs before the kids have woken. One of our options is the New Forest where there's plenty of wildlife. Plenty of rabbits to chase too. Hopefully no giant ones though (fans of Donnie Darko will get the link).

Cheers.

C

Jim'll Fix It

We are all familiar with Jimmy Saville and his marathon exploits.

Some of us, particularly those born before 1980, will remember him on our TV screens making dreams come true on his show 'Jim'll Fix It'.

I remember one show in particular where a youth football team (and when I say youth, I mean 11 year olds) were treated to a game of football against the Manchester United first team at Old Trafford in front of a large crowd. The looks on those boys faces were so memorable. I can still remember them now, some 30 or so years later.

Imagine watching, say, Brazil v Italy (maybe the two best footballing nations in the world) at a packed-out Wembley Stadium, then, when the game has finished, hopping over the fencing, onto the pitch, then playing against the winners. That's similar to what happened this weekend at Hyde Park...

This weekend saw the next round of the ITU World Championship series come to Hyde Park where the best triathletes in the world were racing. I went down there with Anne-Marie, Mitten, Dan and Stuart (and family) for the day, and what a day it was!

Alistair Brownlee is taking the triathlon world by storm by winning all of his three World Cup races so far, and all he needed to do was place top 10 to get enough points to go to the top of the leader board. But he had a pretty impressive field up against him, including Gomez, Kahlefeldt, Tim Don, et. al. And of course his little brother Jonathon.

We found ourselves within feet of the Elite men when they were being introduced to the crowd and a funny thing happened. Some guy (number 7 I think) walked up to the top guys (Brownlee, Gomez, Kahlefeldt) and tried to puff up his feathers by spontaneouosly throwing himself on the floor in front of them and doing some press-ups. Brownlee gave a jovial "boo, hiss", but it was all in good spirits, and of course he had the last laugh by eventually coming out as winner.

T'was a great day out with great company, watching some great racing (and spectacular crashes!). What more could you want?

Then on the Sunday, I came back to race the same course. It was also billed as the first-time outing for my new GB tri-suit and tracksuit.

The race was, however, a complete nightmare from start to finish.

The swim was a fist-fest. With waves of just 60 athletes, I was hoping for quite a clear run with some decent drafting but it was, quite simply, fisticuffs all the way round. Then I went off course (when will I learn).

Then there was the bike. Oh, the bike. 3 twisty turny laps, and half way through at Hyde Park corner I was off. The Stig from top gear would have been proud of my handling as the bike skidded – steering into the skid – but then before I knew it I was a$%e over t%t. Got up, brushed myself down, and off I went. But after that it was game over and I didn’t really get back into it.

The picture up top is a close up of a certain part of my anatomy which came off quite badly whilst skidding on the tarmac. I'll let you guess which part, but suffice to say I won't be sitting down much until it has healed up a bit.

The run was OK and culminated in a sprint finish against James Cracknell (Crackers to me and his mates!). I think he actually crossed the finish line just before me, with his gangly legs striding ahead of me in a Basil Fawlty kind of way. But I thought that this was a good opportunity for Jim to fix it for me to be on TV by crossing the finish line with him, so I gave it an extra surge to cross with him. Here is a link to the video sprint finish.

I hasten to add that he did actually start in the wave ten minutes later then me.

I might have mentioned previously that I had tentatively registered my interest to qualify for the Europeans in Ireland next year, and Hyde Park was the first of the three qualifying races. Well, I came 7th in the list of athletes who were trying to qualify, so actually it wasn't such a bad day at the office after all, and who knows what might have happened if I hadn't come off the bike. Maybe a top 4 automatic place?

A few pictures of the day, all taken by Stuart's ever-present wife, Sarah...






All this crashing off the bike and puncturing is getting a bit too regular now. I think it’s because I am competing at a higher level nowadays and therefore taking more risks. Thinner, more lightweight tyres which are more prone to puncturing, faster into corners on wetter surfaces. With more risks comes more speed, buy also of course more chance of it all going wrong. And that’s precisely what has happened to me over the past couple of months. But, hey ho, no point crying over spilt energy drink. Tomorrow’s another day, I have achieved my aim of qualifying for the World’s this season, so its not so bad if some races don’t go, err, according to plan. It’s still frustrating though.

Back to football and my team has now reassembled for Summer training in preparation for the start of the season in September. Now in the Under 12 age group (wow - I started coaching them all those years ago as small children in the Under 8's), we have acquired a couple of extra players who have strengthened the squad considerably. We might not have any Torres's and Ronaldo's (or should I say Robsons and Dalglish's?), but I reckon we have a good chance of quite a few wins this season.

A couple of congratulations this week. Anne-Marie and Mitten for completing the Cambridge Olympic distance triathlon. Both in training for Ironman Austria 2010, and Mitten also for the Vitruvian next month.

And also a big fat hands up to Stuart who is entering his fourth decade this week. His present from Sarah was a lovely new pointy helmet which he suitably adorned at Hyde Park this weekend, and it seemed to do the trick because he had a storming bike leg. Well done, Stu!

This week the kids are away camping, so I am on my own. Good oppurtunity to get some quality training in before I take them away next week which will inevitably be an easy training week before my penultimate race of the season at the Bedford Weekender (second Euro qualifier).

In the meantime, enjoy the sudden upsurge in sunshine and temperatures.

Cheers.

C

Slow news day...

Mondays are usually a sluggish day for the newspapers. This week's blog is a bit like that really.

Been training lots, working lots, organising the trip to Oz, bit more training, lots more work, plenty more organising. All means there's not much time to blog, or even think about what I'm going to blog about.

Another PB this week though. This time it was the turn of the 5km run at Bushey Park with 20:33. Very pleased with that, especially since I am still feeling a slight niggle in my groin and wasn't at full speed. Who knows, I might even break that 20 minute milestone someday soon.

But then this was followed by a slow 10 mile bike time trial with Stuart from the tri club in 24:48. Funny, only a few months ago I was dreaming of sub-26 minutes, but now if I don't achieve sub-24 then I feel I have failed. Conditions were not perfect though, and it did follow a hard hill session up Ivinghoe Beacon the day before, so I don't feel too bad about the slow time.

Big congratulations to my mate Alex whose wife, Angie, gave birth to their first child - Ethan Alexander Lotter-Maggs. Congratulations to the Maggs, and looking forward to wetting the baby's head sometime soon.

Mixed feelings about next week/weekend.

Happy that it is the ITU Elite Race at Hyde Park on Saturday where I will be spectating with Anne-Marie, Dan and Stuart from my tri club, followed the next day with me and Stuart racing the sprint race on the same course as the Elites (which also doubles as a European Qualifier in which I have tentatively registered my interest).

But sad that the kids are going away camping for a week, and I just know that I am going to badly miss them and the sound of Joe and Adam arguing! Hey ho, gives me time to fit in some more hard training in preparation for Oz. And maybe think of something more interesting to write about for next week's blog!

Until then, enjoy the sunshine.

C

Chavtastic!!!

"Dear Colin Bradley
Membership Number: 12788

Congratulations on your selection to the Great Britain team for the ITU Triathlon World Championships – Gold Coast Australia, Sprint Distance. I hope that you continue to train safely before heading over to the Gold Coast for the 13 September. This letter confirms your place on the team."

I received this email from the BTA this week. Good, innit?

This week I’ve been reflecting back to my result from Blithfield and my selection to the GB team.

I have had many emails, texts and calls congratulating me on my selection, but perhaps the most poignant was from Richard, a fellow coach from my football club, who admitted that he hadn’t avidly been following my blog (tut, tut), but that he had been following my progress from time to time.

Richard said that when we were kids we would all dream about representing our country and that I was now actually going to do that. It was only after reading that that it really dawned on me what I had achieved. Yes, I HAD always dreamt of representing my country, although it was as the next Kevin Keegan and obviously that never happened. So, what better way than by doing so in the sport which I now love – triathlon. So, I suppose I should be quite pleased with myself, really.

Still reflecting back to my days as a kid, it was all the rage to wear designer tracksuits (Diadora, Kappa, Lacoste, etc., etc.) in the early 80’s when I was a teenager. As a bit of a fasionista, I could always be seen in my favourite Kappa jumper, Diadora tracksuit bottoms and Nike trainers. Until, that is, one day when I was 'taxed' (the practice of being mugged of your designer clothes) by a local thug named Vince Hughes.

Not since those days have I worn a designer tracksuit. Nowadays, such clothing is the reserve of the audience of the Jeremy Kyle show and the shell-suit posse. Until now, that is, because this week I took delivery of my GB Age Group team tracksuit kit (see photo up top and below), and I haven't felt so 'cool' wearing it since my teenage days. Very chavtastic, don’t you think?



Hopefully, I will receive my named trisuit (currently on order) in time to show it off at my next race which is the Hyde Park Sprint at, yes you’ve guessed it, Hyde Park, in two weeks time.

The race is a Euro qualifier, and although I have tentatively put my name down as trying to qualify, to be honest the pressure is off now that I am going to Australia. The weekend promises to be very exciting with the elites racing on the Saturday and I shall be going down to watch them strut their stuff with my mate Dan from the tri club.

Big, big congratulations this week to some other friends from my tri club – Sarah, Paul (aka Pablo), Tony and Andy – who all took part in this weekend’s UK Ironman in Bolton. Sarah came 10th female overall (beating an elite) and Paul and Tony successfully completed the course. Unfortunately, Andy DNF’d – haven’t yet heard what happened, but hopefully he is OK. As has been said many times before, it’s getting to the start line which counts. Finishing is just the icing on the cake. Well done guys and gals.

My training last week was almost non existent which was how I had planned it. Back to the serious task of training this week for a rather important race in just over a month. I certainly WON’T be wearing my tracksuit though – that’s packed away for special occasions. Now, where’s my audience ticket for the Jeremy Kyle show…

Cheers.

C