On Saturday I rolled out at early o clock with my Trek/K-Swiss team mate Joe Gambles for what would be our last long ride before the up coming Ironman 70.3 World Championships. We went up high towards the mountains and into the thin(ner) air. It was only my 3rd ride up there, as opposed to staying on the rolling plains around Boulder itself. I loved the whole ride and stopped to take a number of snaps at various points along the way. This isn’t a holiday though. I know, I hear you. – We got the work done: 6hours, 170km, 2550m altitude gain, 3 coffees, 2 cakes

The view looking towards Nederland; a quaint little town (with a cracking coffee shop!) nestled at just over 8000ft Read on …

Sometimes things just seem to work out … but if someone had told me even just two months ago that I would be able to qualify for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas early next month, I would have suggested they were having a (not very amusing) laugh.

Little did I know. After my racing at the Racine, Boulder and Steelhead 70.3s, I managed to sneak into the 50 slots offered for racing in Las Vegas. Happy days. Team Trek/K-Swiss team mate – and landlady – Julie Dibens was heading down for a recce with her coach, agent and also former Ironman World Champion, Craig ‘Crowie’ Alexander. - I jumped at the offer to tag along with this crew.

Read on …

Steelhead was never a race that I had planned to race at before I arrived in the US – but after the Boulder 70.3 last weekend I decided to make the trip over to Michigan and do my first ‘back to back’ in some time; it could end in tears, or – I hoped - act as another brick on the wall towards getting back to some good race and overall fitness. And it meant I got to go to sea level for the weekend and breathe (and sleep) with ease!

I hadn’t however counted on having to do a duathlon …. I barely have any wish to race one of those when at home! So when at the race briefing on the Saturday afternoon, as the wind picked up, the clouds rolled (extremely) quickly in and the chop in the water increased it suddenly seemed a real possibility. I left with my ‘crossables’ crossed.

Running with eventual (and very deserved) race winner Tom Lowe midway through the half marathon

Read on …