Confessions on Super Sunday

Isn't the Olympic Games exciting? As I sit here now and write this blog, they are calling it 'Super Sunday' for the Brits, with fantastic gold medal performances from our swimmers and cyclists (amongst others) over the weekend. Sweet inspiration.

I always thought that competitors at the Olympics were unpaid amateurs but the attendance at the Beijing Games currently by names such as Nadal, Ronaldinho et. al. led me to do a bit of research.

The English public schools of the second half of the 19th century had a major influence on many sports. They subscribed to the Ancient Greek and Roman belief that sport formed an important part of education, an attitude summed up in the saying: mens sana in corpore sano – a sound mind in a healthy body. In this ethos, a gentleman was one who became an all-rounder, not the best at one specific thing (step aside the 'pure' swimmers, cyclists and runners - make space for us triathletes).

There was the typically English concept of "fairness" in which, bizarrely, practicing or training was considered as tantamount to cheating; it meant that you considered it more important to win than to take part. Those who practiced a sport professionally were considered to have an unfair advantage over those who practiced it merely as a "hobby". In short, professionals were cheats.

This ethos greatly influenced the creators of the Games. In their vision, athletes should be gentlemen and, initially, only amateurs were considered such; thus, professional athletes were not allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. This exclusion of professionals has caused several controversies throughout the history of the modern Olympics and it gradually became clear to many that the amateurism rules had become outdated, such that in the 1970s amateurism requirements were dropped from the Olympic Charter. This switch was perhaps best exemplified by the American Dream Team, composed of well-paid NBA stars, which won the Olympic gold medal in basketball in 1992. Now, apparently, the only sports in which no professionals compete are boxing and baseball.

So, it appears that the Olympics is a sport which allows professionals and amateurs to compete against each other. How refreshing. And how refreshing that the same applies in triathlon, and none more apparent was this than at the London Triathlon recently where first-timers were racing at the same time and on the same course as the world's best.

A major difference between age group and elite racing, of course, is the drafting rule. This is the practice whereby a cyclist tucks in behind the rider in front which has the very beneficial effect of shielding him or her from the wind and, thus, creating less drag. This greatly reduces the effort needed to achieve the same speed. Elites are allowed to draft – but age groupers are not – and many view this as cheating. This brings us neatly back to the original Olympics ethos which banned professionals, so-called cheaters, from competing.

So, why the picture of my beautiful steed – the Planet X Stealth, fully equipped with Union Jack saddle perched upon it - at the top of this week’s blog? And why the title 'Confessions'? Well, alas I have to confess that I have not conducted my racing this year with particular 'gentlemanly conduct'. I have cheated, and the source of my indiscretion has been the Stealth - my very own performance enhancing drug.

I purchased 'her' at the beginning of the summer and have used her for races, time trials and interval training sessions alike. As the months have gone by, my speed has increased dramatically. I suppose that it might have something to do with my training, but I am also sure that it must also be down to the Stealth - the way it is set-up, it's gearing, its weight. It MUST be giving me an unfair advantage over my competitors, and whilst it is not cheating in the conventional sense of the word, I reckon that those 19th century public school masters would have frowned upon its existence.

And why the cheesy Union Jack saddle? Well, two-fold really. As a reminder as to why I am doing all this, of course. Every time I place my fat backside on THAT saddle it gives me that little bit of inspiration. And also in recognition of our fantastic British Olympians over the weekend.

This week's training and racing looks like this:-

Monday – club swim - intervals
Tuesday – rest day (suffering from neck and knee pains)
Wednesday – rest day (still suffering)
Thursday – bike - 10 mile time-trial, time 26:02 - one second quicker than last week, but on a flatter course with a stronger head-wind
Friday – run – easy at 174bpm, incorporating hops, strides and sprints
Saturday – OWS - easy at Blue Laggon with tri club
Sunday - race – Concorde Sprint Triathlon (400 metre pool sprint, 20K bike, 5K run) – 1:10:27 - 39th position overall (278 raced), 15th out of 79 in age group (see event photo below)



The kids are away in France this coming week so I am going to try to cram in as much training as possible to take my mind from missing them. I am also entered into the Bedford Mini triathlon next Sunday - a race which I have done a couple of times before and at which I am hoping to PB.

So, as I finish this week’s blog, I am once again looking at the GB medal board over this weekend which has been completely dominated by the track cyclists. Would Wiggins, Hoy, Romero et. al. have achieved their brilliance without the assistance of their very own Stealth-type carbon machines? Maybe, but perhaps not quite so convincingly. And are they considered as cheats? Of course not. So, I suppose that eases my conscience whilst I sit here studying my ever-improving bike times and clean my Stealth from another hard day at the office.

Until next time, salut! And let's have one last big, fat photo of my current love....



Cheers, C