It’s been 8 years since I did Windsor Triathlon, back then it was actually my third ever triathlon and first at the Olympic distance. When I set out to plan my year I knew the main event was Sweden 70.3, however in order to there I needed some warm up events. Windsor sat 3 weeks before and therefore a decent event as I plan for that half Ironman.

Training had gone well, managed to improve a lot with my swimming and running, the cycling looks after itself after JOGLE last summer. Each week I swim I seem to get quicker, and some of my brick runs have had some positive average speeds.

Pre Race

Saturday registration was a wash out, I got very very lucky in that the heavens shut up shop just as I arrived and stayed shut until I was back in the car. Camilla got a standard few compliments. One annoying thing was that no bikes were allowed to be covered or locked up over night. Camilla was going to get wet that’s for sure! After registering I popped to my brothers, the family were celebrating my brothers nephews 16th birthday with a BBQ. I stayed clear of all the amazing looking food which killed me, as I wanted roast veg, sweet potato and some salmon for dinner. I thought that was the clean healthy way to go, little did I know it would come back to haunt me in the morning. I’ll get to that. So had dinner, sorted my final stuff, packed my bags and got my head down for the night.

Surprisingly I had one of my best pre race sleeps. I actually woke up at 5:14, a whole 1 minute earlier than the alarm, dressed, tea, porridge and go time!

Well the weather was looking very ominous as I was sorting my transition area. Good job I packed my dry bag otherwise I would have been coming home in wet clothes. As I got to transition I need to do 2 things,

Have a pre game poo

Change into my tri suit

Well although the queues for the toilets were awful, I knew this would kill 2 birds with 1 stone, so got settled into the queue and had a 20 minute wait. Once in the loo, well I won’t be too graphic, but let’s just say it wasn’t a long stop sat down! I changed into my tri suit, but then to top off the relaxed bowel movement, I dropped my fresh on boxers down the pan! Looked like ill be heading home commando! Finished my transition set up and walked to the swim start.

On route I got caught chatting to a guy, it was his 6th Windsor tri. Spoke to him a lot about the change of route, every stage was different to when I last came. We will review that a little later once I tell you how I got on.

The Swim

So apparently the new swim route means you swim with the current for the long section. With all the rain that we have had, the currents were really strong. I jumped in the water, had the pre race wee with 30 seconds to spare. The current was soo strong that we had to back ourselves up to not cross the start line.

The klaxon went and away we go. The swim was pretty brutal, I got hit quite a few times. At the turn it became very narrow. That was when we headed back up stream. Now as good as the current was down river, it took some swimming to head back against it.

Swim was overall, good. Happy with technique and how it went. I did get slight cramp in the calf and hamstring coming back up stream, but all in all, happy.

• 2011 Swim Time – 32:26
• 2019 Swim Time – 31:40

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• 2011 Swim Position – 901
• 2019 Swim Position – 714

The Bike

The one leg that I was really really looking to smash, however…

“Probably the wettest bike ride I have ever been on”

Again, another route change. This meant that the run to mount point was longer than before. I settled into an early rhythm once on the bike, but the heavens decided to open! I think it must have rained for 40 minutes straight! I got soaked.

Getting wet wasn’t the worst part, don’t forget I had just been in the Thames for half an hour. It was coming down so heavy and from all angles. I was remembering the part in Forrest Gump when he mentions all the types of rain, lol, cracking film. I had doubts over my time and if I would get my PB that I was searching for. I was over taking soo many people, I think for the whole race only a handful went past me. They did have TT bikes and were pushing hard. The wet made it difficult to push too hard and the puddles were everywhere. The home straight in through Windsor great park saw me top out at 39mph. Considering the conditions, that’s fast. I came in feeling pretty good, slightly heavy legs but hoping my brick sessions in training would get me through.

• 2011 Bike Time – 1:21:47
• 2019 Bike Time – 1:17:36*

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• 2011 Bike Position – 1116
• 2019 Bike Position – 449

*Also Garmin tracked the bike at 25miles in length, so considering I was able to shave off 4 minutes, with the extra mile I am pretty happy. Garmin also said that it was my fastest 40km ride in my stats.

The Run

I thought the cycle had taken it out of me, yet was pleasantly surprised when I saw my first mile spout at 8:31. I maintained this for the first 2 miles, the middles 3 were slower, then finished back on pace. It was a tough course to be fair, I think the toughest change of a leg since the 2011 race. So I finished strong and was pretty happy with my overall pace and way that I finished.

• 2011 Run Time – 51:09
• 2019 Run Time – 52:54

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• 2011 Run Position – 999
• 2019 Run Position – 798

Summary

Surprised by how many spectators were there given the weather situation last week. It was a pretty big event with around 1300 people completing the Olympic distance alone.

So I had a bit of a nightmare with my Garmin watch. I had accidentally pressed to end the cycle 0.5 miles into the ride. So Garmin now thinks I had a 7 minute bike ride and a 1 hour 15 minute T2! Facepalm moment!

Garmin was also suggesting to me that I was approaching a segment when I came to the start of the long walk. Only had to hear my watch beep every lap when I started back on the long walk.

All in all I am very happy with the race. Looking back at the times I did, I really wanted to PB each discipline and overall race. I did hit my PB in both the swim and the bike, which considering the current and weather (and extra mile), I am very very happy indeed. It was a tougher course, so on reflection a week later, I am super chuffed.

• 2011 Overall Time – 2:48:39
• 2019 Overall Time – 2:51:51

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• 2011 Overall Position – 1003 / 1634
• 2019 Overall Position – 570 / 1286

I know that I pushed hard though as it has taken me best part of 5 days to sort of recover. My body felt a little battered in the week, like I had been in a car accident!

This was treated as a final big brick session as training for Sweden 70.3. That’s on the 7th July and will come round quick. I have a couple of sportive before then and a final brick session. Outside of that I just need to add some miles to the running training. Where as Windsor was about setting a quick time, Sweden will all be about finishing. I have unfinished business at the 70.3 distance.

Wish me luck!

Where does time go!? I sit here writing a blog post on the eve of my Windsor Triathlon weekend, 4 weeks on from my trip to North Wales and the Slateman Triathlon. It seems like yesterday that I was competing in the back to back triathlons across the weekend. Here’s my blog that I wrote across the weekend.

This race could well be my first finish at a triathlon since New York City in 2015 (fingers crossed). I have to say “could” as I am writing this blog across the race weekend and well, you guessed it, it’s the night before.

I had never heard of the Slateman Triathlon until I was on the San Francisco Belle Hornblower waiting to head out to start the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon. Yep 2 years ago I met a tri coach from Hull, Craig. At most triathlons, you get chatting to others, it’s a very very friendly sport. I had mentioned that I enjoy a challenge and like to do different types of triathlons/events. Alcatraz was an example of that as it had odd distances, a swim from The Rock and not your typical tri. Craig said that I would like the Slateman, set in around the base of Snowdon, cycling and running through the mountain range and slate quarries proves to give a picturesque triathlon. He also suggested that they do double triathlons across the weekend, The Savage!

As explained in a previous post, the Savage is a variation of a sprint and Olympic triathlon distances in the same weekend. You can either enter them individually, do both, or even enter a longer distance tri the Legend (70.3) on the Sunday. Craig was entered into that one this weekend.

I had booked into this event last year following the chat on the ferry from the summer before. I had to pull out due to injury, my knee wasn’t in a good place and last year was all about JOGLE!

My winter training has gone well, I like to keep a balance between exercise and socialising, so yes, there is always the possibility that I will miss a session or two from my plan. I shared my training plan with you earlier this year, it had suggested that by the time Slateman comes around I would have exercised a total of 51 times, remember this was only starting from late Feb. Mixing up swimming, running, cycling and gym sessions. I stuck to the plan as much as I could, swimming took a hit as I cancelled my gym membership. However I managed to get a flow before this race weekend. In total I missed 15 sessions across the last few months, although that sounds like a lot, I am feeling very fit at the moment and looking forward to seeing what the rest of the summer has to offer.

Travel

My last two events have required a lengthy drive. Snowdon doesn’t come anywhere near the distance I drove to the Alpes but was still a good 4.5 hour drive. I had Thursday off work to get all my stuff prepped. I’ve got a list (course I do) saved from a few years back, covers everything I need for a triathlon. So all packed, I loaded the car and set off to Wales. The weather got better and better the I got, it was pretty miserable when I left home. It felt like it took the same amount of time to get from home to the “Welcome to Wales” sign as it did from there to Llanberis. It also took less than a mile once into Wales before I saw my first ARAF sign, which means slow. They are everywhere!

When I arrived and found my B&B, the owner Jacqui was waiting. Very friendly but did think I was mad doing the 2 in 2 days! A theme that I picked up on as I got chatting to people across the weekend. So as I’ve learnt from New York, San Fran and the Alpes. Lower the amount of walking the day before race day. Where I was staying was 0.3 miles from transition, don’t think I could have stayed much closer. Well I could, but they were full! I popped there twice on Friday, so just the mile or so in the legs pre race. Couldn’t get much to eat that was healthy or clean so settled for curry of the day in a pub and headed back to chill and watch England v Pakistan in the ODI warm up game. Got all my stuff ready, sorted my porridge order for breaks and got myself an early night.

Ok so I wrote the above before I settled for the evening. I actually ended up watching Ricky Gervais, After Life. Got through a cheeky 3 episodes, eventually the head hit the pillow at about 23:00.

Race Day 1 – Saturday Sprint 400m Swim, 20km Bike, 5.7km Run

Standard issue, well for me anyway, alarm set for 06:45, body clock woke me up at 05:45, take after my Dad in that respect, def not my Mum. Morning was swift, I got some porridge down me with some honey mixed through, rule 1, never change race day fuel on race day, stick with what you do for any other training day. Grabbed my stuff and headed to transition, was there by 08:15, perfect timing.

Having a low bib number 6, meant I had like the perfect place for transition. I got set up with every thing laid out and had a pre game wee and headed to the swim.

Standard triathlon protocol, get someone else to zip the wetsuit up. I then noticed a little cut in the suit, not ideal when I have only worn it once before. HUUB will be getting an about that (which they have had). So everyone was cautious of the water temperature. After Exmoor some years back, nothing and I mean nothing can come close to that. It was chilly and when it hit my face, it def woke me up! Swim went really well, happy with my time and my sighting. My open water swimming has come on a lot since the Alpes where I managed to swim an extra 300m than I was supposed to. Onto the bike…

The bike was pretty cool, it was 5 mile climb, followed by a little down and up, then 5 mile descent back to transition. I think I only got overtaken by 2/3 bikes, so have come along way over the years, so better at climbing these days. Upon entering transition I thought I was going to be DQ’d! I unclipped the helmet before racking the bike, the marshall made me stop and re clip the helmet back up before I could run towards my position and rack the bike. I even unclipped once more before I racked the bike and got told off again. I did try to find the marshall later to apologise but couldn’t see him.

The run…WOW! I’ve entered and run some steep runs this year. Benfleet 15, Brutals, Tough Mudders, yet I think this was the worst! First 20 minutes was all uphill, now for a run that is just over 5km, which I can normally do in around23 minutes, that’s a lot of climbing! Some serious hills, lots of walking, it was relentless. The downhill way back was pretty fun though. It was at this point that I noticed my tri suit sleeves had been rolled up since the swim! Gutted for how the pics will come out, yet I will learn for tomorrow.

One thing that did feel weird was not getting a medal at the end. I guess my race isn’t technically over yet, save that for tomorrow.

Although unofficial as I wrote this part of the blog, it looks as though I came 100th today, out of a field of 238. Take that. I was in 88th place in the bike, yet 127th in the run, some of the others were like gazelles going up those hills!

So as I wrote this part of the blog, I had been back to the B&B, showered, stretched, got the recovery compression tights on and headed out for lunch. Went for a ham and cheese sarnie and mushroom soup combo. Wanted to go check if the massage tent at transition was still open, which it wasn’t, then I needed to decide whether to chill or head up Snowdon (by train).

I forgot to mention just how many compliments Camilla received today!

Race Day 2 – Sunday Classic 1km Swim, 50km Bike, 11km Run

So I didn’t manage to get a decent nights sleep, was a little apprehensive into how the knee would hold up and feel today, also how the body in general would cope. Especially when your watch tells you to have 4 days recovery time! Gulp!

Had a slightly later start on Sunday, my wave was going off at 09:40, still opted for the 07:30 porridge though. Transition was similar to Saturday, although a lot more people, a buzz in the air. The heavens decided to open just before we were due to start. I got a little wet before I had even got into my wetsuit. I made a boo boo as I was walking to the start, I still had my socks on! Doh! Oh well, they are somewhere near the start line in the poo covered field if anyone needs some short trainer socks!

The water temperature had dropped overnight due to the rain, it was at 12.5 degrees which was 0.4 lower than Saturday, enough to make you know its freezing, especially when it hits the face for the first time! I am really happy with my swim, considering when I first started triathlons I would come up for a bit of breast stroke every once in a while, today was full on front crawl the whole way. I got hit by a another triathlete after a few minutes into the swim, these things can be carnage sometimes, this was just the one hit. I also had to dig someone in the ribs to get them to move over as they kept on swimming into my direction and getting in the way. They learnt. T1 done, smoothly onto the bike!

The bike was also wet, I was 1 minute slower on the first 5 mile climb, it had set off in the same direction and course as the Saturday race. After that I managed to settle into the bike. Legs started to feel a little heavy after 12 miles, but decided to suck it up and push on, deal with it on the run! At 16 miles the marshalls waved us down to a stop. There had been a road accident, so we had to stop and wait. This cost me 10 minutes waiting. I didn’t really mind too much, but it was on a downhill section where I was flying! The restart saw nearly 60-70 cyclists all go off together, drafting was going to be well out the picture, a peloton style next 5 miles, game on. More and more compliments on Camilla. A swift T2 (not removing the helmet until I needed to) and onto the run.

Well, the lady with numero 1 on her bib suggested that the Sunday would be the easier run of the two days. After a mile, there was about 2 miles of climbing. My back was in bits and really hurting, so I decided to walk a lot of the hills. Especially when I didn’t really know the end was. Once up there, it was very much downhill all the way home with the odd little up. I finished strong in the run, maybe its because that’s where all the spectators are, got to look good for the crowds.

Race was done, time to refuel. Treated myself to a burger and a pint of cider. I had no concerns around sleeping well that night!

Slateman Savage is def one to recommend, not for the faint hearted though. Be sure not to burn out too much on the Saturday, as the Sunday hills will come back to bite you on the arse! The scenery is stunning, definitely one of the most picturesque places I have been for a triathlon.

I had a few day rest once I got home, it was 4 weeks before Windsor and 7 weeks before Ironman Sweden (70.3).

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoy the read!

So as most of you will know, this weekend just gone was 2 week’s before my trip to Wales and racing at the Snowdonia Slateman Triathlon.

On reflection I have just had a big weekend of training!

My original plan from some week’s ago had suggested that this weekend was going to mimic the Slateman triathlon with back to back brick sessions. As the triathlon will be back to back on a Saturday and Sunday. So the plan was to go big on Saturday and then ease off a little on Sunday. This decision was more so in case I picked up any injuries along the way and could only get through the Saturday. Although my knee has been a little tender post some run’s lately and needs a good looking at once the season is over. I was invested in the double brick sessions.

This time last week I had lunch with Dean at work, that’s when the plan started to go out the window…

The gym we both go to, Fit House in Chalfont St Peter were all entering the Henley Tough Mudder on Sunday. Dean tends to go to more classes than me at the gym there so was getting pressured into entering. He said to me, he would love to do it but would need me to pull him through it! Can tell he is in sales as I started to get the pitch, discounted entry, don’t have to do the electric current obstacle, be a laugh, and so on. So I had a little think, reviewed the site as never entered a Tough Mudder before. 9 mile course and 25 obstacles, now I guess I shouldn’t have really entered as I could have picked up an injury from the obstacles. However thought to myself I could mix up the training for the weekend and still fit it in. That distance of a run was going to be longer than I was planning to run in the brick sessions, so why not.

So I updated the plan, go out for just a ride on the Saturday, mainly so my knee would be fresh for running on Sunday. Tough Mudder on Sunday and then a mini brick session on Monday. Wanting to do about 40 miles on Saturday on the bike, then around 20 miles and 3 miles for bike and run respectively on Monday (if in a state to run).

Saturday Ride

Camilla (my bike) got a well overdue full body clean on Saturday morning. For those of you that remember an earlier post, I revealed that I now use baby wipes on the frame (fragrance free). I went for a full deep clean on the cassette, derailleur, disc brakes and all other areas. As I was doing this, the weather was taking a more and more turn for the worse. At this point I was also planning to head over to my parents and see my nieces, so took the judgement call to shorten the ride to 30 miles and skip the coffee stop in Henley.

This ride was horrendous, I mean my average mph was ok, not the best. It was cold, windy, slightly damp, for those that know me, I am such a fair weather cyclist that this weather pains me! I even got caught up in hail at one point, where a large hail stone caught me on the lip, so much so I had to check that it didn’t draw blood!

Time to recover for Tough Mudder

Tough Mudder

My first ever Tough Mudder, I didn’t really know what to expect. I had entered and run in Nuts Challenge and Brutal runs, but nothing with obstacles like you see at Tough Mudder. I genuinely really enjoyed it! It didn’t start that way, I must have drunk too much liquid pre race as I was busting for a wee before we started and no toilets in sight! About half a mile in we hit the woodland and I jumped off track to have a toilet break! It was a long one, so much so that I then had to run pretty fast to catch the rest of the crew up! I felt better straight away!

Tough Mudder has a mixture of obstacles, all with a variety of toughness, some allow you to level up, which basically just means it’s harder. You were wet through within the first 3 miles, which mean’t you then had a long old time recovering, trying to get dry. Then every time that would materialise, bang, back in the water to cool you down! Some of the group we were with were a little bit lower on the old body fat than me. They were shivering to such an extreme that I almost felt bad enough to shiver with them. The puppy fat I have kept me warm enough, well not really warm, I still had to slide into an ice bath at one stage!

I came out of the race with bruises and scratches on my arms and legs. My knee’s felt battered! My upper body was also aching a lot from all the hang tough style obstacles. My hands were ripped to shreds with one of the hanging obstacles, so decided to drop off it and save some skin whilst I could.

Monday Brick Session

Monday brick session went near enough to plan, would have preferred to have a little more higher average mph for the ride but again, weather played a part, as did a couple of hills. Managed to get out on this ride with John (friend from Wycombe who also rides). We managed to have a good catch up whilst cycling for just over an hour. At some stages during the ride I was contemplating knocking the run on the head. Wasn’t sure how the knee would feel. We managed to talk lots about cycling in Majorca, somewhere John has been a few times and somewhere I am going on a family trip in August. Looks like I am definitely taking some cycling gear with me and hiring a bike for a few days! Apparently it’s like a ski resort for cyclists.

I took the run as easy going as I could, again, slightly windy so was bitterly cold out. Managing to get out for a couple of miles and at an ok pace. Knee was feeling pretty good actually.

Weekend Summary

So all in all, a pretty decent weekend of exercise. I think the change up of the plan worked out well in the end.

• 50 miles cycled
• 10.5 miles run
• 5768 calories burnt

Some pretty good numbers to reflect on, getting through a new event and also coming through unscathed, well just minor scratches and bruises. Voltarol is now being applied post exercise to manage any potential swelling on the knee. I managed to get to see friends and family for some good company, good food and some laughs. A couple of nights I didn’t have the best sleep, but something I will learn from moving forward

Slateman Savage

So I thought it was about time I had a little look at the bike and run profiles for Slateman at the weekend. As you may know by now, the weekend will be back to back triathlons on the Saturday and the Sunday. Saturday is a little shorter than the Sunday but both have some pokey hills to climb during both bike and run sections.

The weekend starts with what they call a sprint triathlon, 400m swim followed by 12 miles on the bike and 3.5 mile run. As you can see below the bike route is a straight out and back again, so long climb, short descent followed by short climb, long descent.

The Sunday is the classic distance which is a 1km swim, followed by 30 miles on the bike and 7 mile run. This also starts with a sharp climb, then after that a gradual increase before a majority downhill ride. The run on the classic looks to be a long climb of about 2 miles before it starts to descend again. Really looking forward to that one!

With profiles like that I can almost guarantee the cider waiting for me Sunday night will be very well earned!

The next couple of weeks will see me taper off a little from the training, will be swimming a lot more as it has less of an impact on the joints and will allow the body to recover. Another brick session on Saturday at a higher race pace, followed by my first and only open water swim session on Sunday. Been delaying it for as long as possible, waiting for the weather to pick up. However I need the distance, the practise and also to test the new wetsuit I treated myself to.

Thanks all

Sam

I mentioned some time ago that I was about to cancel my current gym contract and sign up to a few different places that offer more flexible membership options. Let me introduce you to The Fit House, a fairly new gym that has opened up in Chalfont St Peter.

I first heard of this place through a friend of mine, Dean lives locally and said he was going to HIIT at a gym close to home. Upon looking into the website I saw that they offer a free trial in the hope that they get you hooked. I was a little cheeky and asked to come along to both a HIIT and Strong class before I made my mind up. Now that I’ve been to both classes let me give you a little review in case you’re wondering what the place is like and whether to head down.

The gym is based at a cricket club and has a hall on the 1st floor, the hall is mixed between half wooden floor and half rubber mats. They offer a variety of classes (at the bottom of this post), I will be reviewing two different types but may well try to get down to others to check them out. The gym has all the essentials for classes with a row machine, bike and ergo ski machine (always wanted to have a go at this). So therefore it is more setup for classes than it being a gym where you would go for individual sessions with lots of weight machines. It’s not a pretentious place at all and in the couple of classes I have been to, members of all shapes and sizes were there, all putting in their own effort and all enjoying themselves. The owners Rachel and Frazer are creating a family feel to the place, it’s the little things that go a long way. Frazer reaching out to me after my first class to see how I liked it and if I was going to come back was a nice touch. They also make a real effort in remembering everyone’s name, don’t think you can say that about many classes at the big establishments. Offering classes for families, teens, kids, Mum’s and Babies they are creating a gym that covers all ages. You have the option of either pay as you go or direct debit, If you are likely to go several times a month then the direct debit option may well be best for you. As for me I like the idea of pay as you go. They also offer personal training sessions throughout the week, which is ideal for those of you that have never been to a gym, or prefer to have someone coaching you through your effort on your way to your goals. There is no booking system, you simply turn up and join in whenever you want!

HIIT

High intensity interval training (circuits as my Dad says), is a class that offers 45 minutes of hard work. Like any class or any form of exercise, you only get out what you put in. This class had me sweating big time! I think I might have been able to wring out my shirt and fill a small cup with the amount I sweated. The class starts with a little warm up to get everyone ready. My class seemed like a busy one, there were at least 20+ people in the class and every station was pretty much taken. I’ve actually been to a couple of the HIIT classes and they were also different both times. The first class was a selection of stations where you spent around 45 seconds performing an exercise with a little rest, repeat the exercise before everyone rotates round to the next. A mix of exercises, press up’s, lunges, sit up’s, plank, battle ropes, rowing, ergo ski, bike, medicine balls, shuttles and more. The second class I went to was slightly different, offering exercises where everyone performs them at the same time. We did a 7 minute circuit of walk outs, burpee’s, sit up’s and squats, building up from 2 then 4, 6, 8 and so on until you reach 7 minutes. We then moved onto other varieties of this model whilst always having someone from the class on the bike and ergo ski machine hitting 15 cal before moving on. The class ended with a team effort of total amount of burpee’s in a set time, you rest whilst your partner works. Both sessions were really good, I was aching for days after the first class as I was beginning to use all those muscles that I don’t get to work out when I swim, cycle or run.

Strong

I went to this class three days after HIIT, I nearly bailed out as my body had’t fully recovered. I decided to go along and check it out, as I said before, you only get out of a class what you put in. So I could always ease off a little if I was feeling it. I realised during this class how weak my core is, I was struggling a lot on the core based exercises, well mainly the v sit up’s. I was also struggling a little with press up’s, although I blame my arched back for that. It just means I have to work a bit harder to pull my tummy in and flatten my back. This class didn’t seem to be as busy as the HIIT class but still managed to get around 12-14 of us. Some of the exercises were similar to HIIT and some were new, introducing TRX row and weighted squats, lunges and shoulder press. I feel like it was a good blend and difference from HIIT and enough that you would want to introduce both into your routine to keep variety and build a good base of fitness with strength conditioning.

The verdict…

I really enjoyed my first couple of classes and decided to sign up to more, I went for the £90 for 10 sessions as I want that flexibility to be able to miss classes and opt for a run or a cycle should the weather pick up (fingers crossed for a repeat of 2018 weather). Not being tied into a contract gives me this, I am hoping that over the course of a couple of months my decision to cancel my old gym and sign up to more of these credit based classes works out more cost effective.

So if you’re looking for something new, something different or something with a little more flexibility, run by a couple of lovely people and friendly atmosphere. Then get yourself down to one of the classes below and enjoy yourself!

Up until a couple of years ago I had never tried spin classes. I guess I didn’t really know what to expect from them, plus had always been more of a fan of the great outdoors. A saying in the family when the weathers nice is, “it’s a good day for sport, well any form of exercise” means that I would always prefer to be out in the fresh air than in a studio riding a stationary bike. Well for the most part that still rings true, however when I was introduced to spin classes by my car share, namesake friend I haven’t looked back. I’ve had some good times, some bad and lots of different experiences, so I want to let you know what you’d be setting yourself up for if you do take a turn at spin (pardon the pun).

“it’s a good day for sport, well any form of exercise”

Any Rutherford Family Member

My first spin experience came at a Nuffield Health gym, back then it was a Virgin Active. The studio had just had a revamp and was offering classes labelled as “colour spin”. The idea of this session was to spin at an RPM that reflected in a colour on your digital read out. You could adjust the resistance until you were in the colour zone for that period of the class. I found these classes vary in enjoyment. The instructor for the first few classes was very good, making sure that all levels felt like they had a place at the class, clear instructions on what the class was going to at any time. Then came the downfall of Nuffield Health! I had instructors that were hard to understand when giving commands, some that liked to get off the bike and walk around, and one that didn’t like it if you were chatting! Now come on, i’m a grown man and I had paid for that class, so if I want to speak to my spin bike neighbour I will. What topped it off for me at Nuffield (and probably why I wont go back) was the one instructor that as part of the class turned the music off! I mean seriously! For those that don’t spin, it’s almost like going out to a club, dark room, odd bright light, and loud club music! This actually really helps a lot of the people that go to the classes, I also find music helps me pace myself and keep in a zone. She did this a number of times and then I had enough. So if you are a member of Nuffield, think about getting your spin fix elsewhere!

I have also been to a few spin classes through my work gym, these classes are perfect to get a little sweat on whilst at work. Over the years they have offered morning, lunch time and evening classes. The only downside to these classes are the bikes, having been to some of the new age classes these bikes feel a little prehistoric and could do with a revamp. They are just a resistance bike in essence, not offering any form of digital read out of the current resistance level or RPM, both stats that other classes use as a baseline for the session.

Ride45

I was first introduced to Ride45 by a friend of mine getting her body ready for emigrating down under! Ride45 (named due to the 45 minute class) is based in Chalfont St Giles and offers a single studio with a variety of classes throughout the week at all times of the day. This class is a pay as you go type class that allows you to buy credits in bulk with discount and use them as you need. This was when I noticed the spin game go up a level in terms of technology. It was my first real experience with Spivi (smart technology for fitness clubs), a system that links your spin bike to a virtual race on a screen behind the instructor. What this allows the instructor, and the whole class, is your effort at anytime. Typically starting from a resistance that you are comfortable riding around 90 rpm the class then varies from hills to speed tests. The screen can be changed from a virtual race to a grid system that displays every riders current power, rpm and zone. There really is no hiding these days when it comes to spin classes. Although Nuffield had this technology it chose not to use it, they may be due to not wanting its members to feel out of place, so I guess I shouldn’t go too hard on them. Ride45 offer credits with discount and this means the classes can cost on average £8-9 a session. This is a little more up my street as it means that if i don’t go I don’t pay, meaning I don’t have to worry about missing out when the weathers nice!

Digme

Now we’re talking a whole different ball game when it comes to spining! If Nuffield was Conference league, then this place is Champions League (yes references to football leagues when it comes to standards). A friend from work who is a very very strong cyclist, made me aware of this place last year. As I was busy with races last year, then he had shoulder surgery, last night was the first time we have been able to go together. Digme is based in Richmond but have other studio’s around London and out in Oxford. Well I knew it would be a decent place as Sean had told me it was decent. What I wasn’t expecting was the stylish layout of the entrance lobby, slick changing area and locker room. They provide cycling shoes that are laid by the bike you reserve online, pre laid out towels for you to use and also provide water should you not have your own. I said to Sean as soon as I sat down “does the bike ride itself”. This was now a different league of a spin class. The class I chose to do was a power and strength class, a little different to the standard class at 75 minutes long. It offered a FTP test for 3 minutes, then a distance challenge for 12 minutes and also lots of comparison to your earlier achievements with the FTP when it came to power and power per KG. Very similar to Ride45 with the type of bike used and also the technology used with Spivi. Only difference is I can link my Digme profile to my Strava and they automatically upload it following your class, along with an email confirming all your stats from the ride, very impressed! The one downside to Digme and the reason I may well end up heading to Ride45 more is the price, at a discount rate you can buy credits in bulk, however on average you are still looking at between £15-20 for a single session.

Below shows that the machines them selves haven’t come a long way in terms of looks, they have though when it comes to technology.

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If you’re a little skeptical about heading to your local gym or spin class, then let me reassure you they are a lot of fun! With most classes now offering the pay as you go system it doesn’t tie you in nor does it force you to go. So go check it out, although remember, you only get out of it what you are willing to put in!

Happy Spinning!

#ride45 #digme #spinning #spinclass #wintertraining

So here it is, my race calendar and supporting training plan for 2019. Some of you would have seen in the previous 2018 reflection post, the races that I have planned to take part in through the 2019 season,

• April 13th – Brutal 10km Run
• May 18th & 19th – Snowdonia Slateman Savage Triathlon
• June 16th – Windsor Olympic Traithlon
• July 7th – Jongkoping 70.3 Ironman

In order to be fit and ready for the above races I have put together a training plan across the next 4 months that will see me (if stuck to) exercise 71 times in 126 days! Hopefully with an aim to smash as many of my 2019 goals as possible. A little reminder of what my fitness goals were for 2019,

1. Break Olympic Triathlon PB at Windsor
2. Sub 7 hour 70.3
3. Sub 23 min 5km (I will get you this time)
4. Lose body fat (Xmas weight)
5. Plan something big (USA) – Maybe top to bottom of NZ

Creating this plan a lot earlier than I did last year means I can focus on building my strength and conditioning across a longer period of time. I am also in a better position to create this plan this year as I am not suffering from the knee injury that impacted the start of my 2018 season. Having to cancel the Slateman traithlon and slowly build up my fitness following months of little to no running at all.

Last year was also different as I was creating a plan to support both triathlons and cycling the length of the country. This was difficult to make the triathlon side successful, as you can read in my Alpe D’Huez summary post. Working on endurance for JOGLE meant I never had the strength and power to complete at shorter rides in triathlons.

Although it may come as a surprise to some of you, I have also made a decision to cancel my current gym membership. A great benefit from work offers you a gym membership at Nuffield Health for free if you go 8 times a month. Now for some, this total is easily achieved. I can hear you all saying now “that’s only 2 times a week, easy”. Well it would be if I didn’t enjoy the outdoors. The majority of my training comes from time in the saddle or time on the tarmac. Both of which you can do in a gym, but I hate a treadmill and find the spin classes at Nuffield being led by instructors that don’t seem to have a clue! I have therefore decided to sign up to more “pay as you go” type places for exercise classes and spin. Planning to use Wycombe Rye and Liquid Leisure for my pool and lake swimming respectively. Spin will be between Digme and Ride45, I am checking out Digme tomorrow night in Richmond (looking forward to that). Then for other general fitness I am looking at classes held at The Fit House, using them for HIIT and Strong classes.

What I have decided to do this year is create a plan that is aimed at the individual disciplines of the triathlon.

Swimming

Although from the pictures it will look like I am just planning to swim 1km here and then, what the plan doesn’t explain is that some of those sessions will be interval training sessions. I have also included open water swim sessions in this years plan, something that I over looked last year. Having upgraded my wetsuit for this season I am keen to see how much the technology has moved on in the last 10 years! In adding these lake swims, it may also give me an opportunity to get over my slight irrational fear of open water swimming. Something that plays on my mind during training, yet seems to disappear on race day! Going to be checking out the Wycombe Rye facilities for my swimming, its only a mile away from where I live so will plan to cycle there and back on my fat wheel bike! Always looking to gain a few extra miles on the 2 wheels!

Cycling

This year is going to be heavily aimed at pace and power! I do not want to be anywhere near where I was on the Alpe D’Huez cycle leg last year. I want to work on getting out on the bike for shorter rides, focusing on pushing myself to ride hard and fast in these sessions. I am also going to include a lot more brick sessions, get the body used to the jelly leg feeling as you transition from one discipline to another. A lot of the cycling training will also come from spin classes, I had never been to a spin class until only a couple of years ago. I love them! Again its something that you get as much out of as you are prepared to put in. Oh and I sweat a lot in these sessions! Looking forward to spending more time out with my cycling friends The Dawnay Raiders, I get the feeling many a slice of cake will be had at Velo Cafe in Henley!

Running

Probably the easiest of the 3 disciplines to train. Simply a case of pulling on some trainers and getting out there. I already have some running miles in the legs from a January 15 mile race in Benfleet. A race that felt like it was 18 miles plus with its steep hills. I want to try and work on a mixture of pace and distance this year, so will be mixing up sessions from longer runs at a slower pace to short fast runs. Hopefully this will allow me to run a decent 10km time in the Windsor Triathlon yet also have enough endurance to complete the half marathon at the end of the 70.3 in July.

The plan above is already in progress, kicking off with a 45 minute spin class on Monday at work. Yes my work has a gym that offers classes for employee’s during lunch breaks. I was also able to get out for a 4 mile run on Sunday, running the same route as I did on Boxing Day. Shaving off 4.5 minutes, which I suppose looks great but doesn’t explain that last time was after 10 days of sat on my arse and also Dad pulling a hamstring less than half a mile from the start!

Look out for training plan updates through the race season, I will also be posting some updates following some of the races. I also need to get the odd sportive booked in, when I do ill be sure to let you all know!

I sit here on New Years Day following a morning Parkrun (start as you mean to go on), wanting to share with you my 2018 high’s and low’s and reflect on what was an extremely busy year.

2018 Goals

Let’s start with the goals I set myself a whole year ago and how I got on with them. I wanted to achieve sub 23 and 45 minute 5km and 10km respectively. I wanted a sub 6 day JOGLE ride and a sub 9 hour Alpe D’Huez Triathlon. Although I never managed to hit any of these, there is reasoning behind it. Firstly my main focus of the year was the daunting task of JOGLE, sum what 900 miles in a short space of time. I decided early to make this a 7 day cycle rather than 6 judged on what I truly felt confident in completing. With all my focus concentrating on the successful completion of JOGLE I was training my body for endurance without realising the impact this would have on my speed and power. The detriment to both of these meant that I was not going to go sub 23 minute or in fact have the power to push through Alpe D’Huez Triathlon (might be worth having a read of my blog from that event). The 10km goal was also not going to be hit as I didn’t enter any last year. So looking back, although on paper I never managed to tick any goals, I did a bloody good job in giving it a go!

Reflection Time

Knowing that it was going to be a busy year with lots of different events I set off with a fitness plan that involved lots of different activities throughout the week. January saw me complete a few Parkruns and build a base of core running strength, the rest of Q1 was a mixture of running, swimming, squash, football. It was a very busy Q1 which in the end took it’s toll on the body and led to me picking up a knee injury on the 29th March. This took weeks’s to recover from as physio’s didn’t really know what I had done, due to me stopping before I did further damage. In this recovery period I concentrated more on my cycling and swimming. It did however mean that I would be cutting it fine with the first event of the season the Snowdonia Slateman Traiathlon. After some deliberating on what to do, I made the decision that JOGLE being the main focus, mean’t I should defer my Tri entry and make sure that the body is fit and healthy for cycling.

Q2 was going to be a little busier, I had my standard issue April sportive with Angela, I was riding a DEMO bike at the time for my new Wilier that I was buying. 2nd May was in fact new bike day, my Wilier Cento 10 Disc Remato, Camilla! I will do a review on this bike in a future post. She got her first outing when I got back in touch and riding with the Dawnay Raiders on the 5th May. I could see the benefits that this bike was going to give me, this was evident when I managed to take a full 5 minutes off my 18 mile route on 12th May. Later that month I took the first fall on Camilla, riding up a steep hill on a sportive, a guy cut me up when I was going walking pace and down I went. My knee got cut up pretty bad and I still have the scar to show!

June was originally going to be when JOGLE would take place, I decided to push this date back based on the knee injury and a clash with my parents 40th wedding anniversary. I was now increasing my mileage in this month with rides down to the coast, back to back 100 mile rides to build up the endurance and stamina. This was also the first time I had weighed myself in the year, I had lost 1st 8lb since Jan 2017. I also picked on my first pair of ON Cloudflow running trainers in June, they are sooo comfy that it has made me go purchase the trail version Cloudventure! I really recommend these trainers, best fit I have ever had. Also decided to ditch the elastic laces this time, I don’t think the extra 30 seconds will harm my transition times that much! The reason behind this purchase was the running I needed to bank before JOGLE in prep for the Alpe D’Huez event.

JOGLE – WOW (that’s all I am going to say about that, head over to the JOGLE page to read all about that one)

What goes up must come down, something that can also apply to emotions. The heights and elation of JOGLE was sapped from me when I DNF Alpe D’Huez in August. Another blog post that I would suggest reading if you want to know more about that event and why it went horribly wrong. It took me an awful long time to get over this and actually enjoy cycling again.

My first event that I enjoyed post Alpe D’Huez was the Nuts Challenge in September, 14km obstacle run that was a lot of fun! This was at the beginning of the busiest month of the year for me. Another cancelled triathlon in the Sandman (differed Slateman entry), as I jet setted off to Singapore and Boston for pleasure and business. With a less than 24 hour turn around in between the two. Whilst out in Boston I was able to complete the Tri State Sea Coast Century ride with an old friend. My first 100 mile ride since JOGLE, my body was fine with the endurance, however I lacked any power and couldn’t ride at a fast pace for the whole thing.

A trip out to Barbados in November wrapped up my year nicely, although this was mean’t to be pure chill time, I still managed to get a couple of runs under my belt along with some glorious open water swimming in the Caribbean sea. I put this swim training down to the fact that I broke my 1.5km swim time in the pool when I got home.

The year ended with the 8km Brutal run on 29th December, running with some friends through this trail and mud run. Odd bit of water wading and lots (LOTS) of hills.

Across the year I have picked up lots more stash, finding new makes in Rivelo and Komraid for my cycling. Even have some kit from the bike shop that provided me Camilla, ill tell you more about that great shop when I review the bike. Finished the year with an additional trisuit purchased and a HUUB wetsuit, replacing my first wetsuit that I have had for nearly 10 years.

Stats

The moment most have been waiting for, my statistics throughout the year of 2018. The majority of these have been pulled from Strava as all my data is automatically uploaded to Strava from my Garmin watch that I wear. These also only come from the events where I have used my Garmin devices, for example the Nuts Challenge (14km obstacle race) was not tracked, didn’t fancy damaging the watch. So give or take a few miles here and there it pretty much sums up my year and what I put myself through. I am pretty impressed with the numbers, but like any competitive person, it’s just set the benchmark that I need to beat this year!

121 days active
211 hours of exercise
2301 total distance
13.3 miles swam
1940 miles cycled
147.8 miles ran
135,180 calories burnt

2019 Schedule / Goals

So my 2019 schedule is already taking shape, kicking off with a 15 mile run in January at Hadleigh Castle. This will be the longest run I have ever attempted by sum 5 miles! So starting off easy hey. February typically is when I head out to somewhere for a weeks skiing, so going to try and do some strength and power training before I hit the slopes. In May I have the rescheduled Slateman Triathlon that I had to cancel last year, June see’s me return to Windsor Olympic distance where I want to beat my previous time. July is the big Tri event for the year as I take on another 70.3 in Jongkoping Sweden. So who knows what the rest of the year holds in store for me, maybe a little mini break from work and a sabbatical to cycle East to West coast of USA…!? Watch this space.

My fitness goals for 2019 are as follows,

1. Break Olympic Triathlon PB at Windsor
2. Sub 7 hour 70.3
3. Sub 23 min 5km (I will get you this time)
4. Lose body fat (Xmas weight)
5. Plan something big (USA)

Happy New Year everyone, remember, a goal without a plan is just a wish, let’s go smash 2019!