….which is exactly what Liz Blatchford and I were doing on Saturday morning with a bit of ‘throu and off’ TT work on my new favourite road – the Berninapass, which has absolutely stunning views of a glacier at the head of the valley.

Don't tell Liz I was taking pictures...

First up on Saturday was the ITU WCS in Kitzbuhel, Austria. The team bus left here on Thursday with the Brownlee boys and young Hollie Avil aboard – they were all last seen floating around the track early doors. Fantasitc results all up with Alistair taking the win (yet again) with a cracking front running 10k straight out of T2 to prove he is without doubt the hot property in draft legal racing at the minute. Not to be out done, Johnny gave it to himself mixing it in the top 5 for a good 8k before ‘fading’ to a superb 13th in only his 2nd World Cup event. Someone should remind him he is only a Junior!!

Most importantly however; David ‘Maccers’ McNamee took home a fantastic debut performance of 17th, within 2 minutes of Bullet-Brownlee and less than 60 secs behind veteran racer Will who himself was a very solid 7th.

Then today I was once more glued to the updates screen, watching Quelle Challenge Ironman Roth unfold. – This race sounds amazing, and I can’t help but wonder if it will be on the cards for me sooner or later??? Fast times and huge crowds?  -Sounds good to me.  Chrissie Wellington duly smashed the world leading time with an outstanding 8.31, but huge kudos goes to Catriona Morrison who continued her excellent season with the fastest female debut IM performance of all time in a cracking 8.48. – Not so long ago that would have challenged the Scottish mens record! However, we now have my T.R.I team mate Graeme Stewart looking after that crown, and he impressively lowered his own mark to 8.23 by finishing in 13th place in a truly world class field.

Finally, there was an Xterra US event in Vermont where fellow triathlonteam bloggers Conrad and Dan notched up 3rd and 5th spots. – I’ve lost count how many times these guys have raced during the past couple months.

Well if that wasn’t enough motivation for one w/e, I’m not sure what is. -  Aerobic 5k swim and a 90k bike for me tomorrow. Best get to bed.

So there has been 3 very interesting races so far in the newly formed ITU World Championships Series. The most recent just having been in Washington D.C. I pretty much eat, sleep and breathe triathlon and therefore would happily describe myself as a tri-geek. Or perhaps as a ’student’ of the sport? Either way I follow all aspects of triathlon and am reasonably opinionated on the subject.

The ‘hot topic’ at present seems to be the fact that at the previous two mens WCS events in Madrid and D.C there has been a break away which has – and shudder the thought! – stayed away, resulting in those in the chase pack effectively racing for the scraps. The podium for sure and the top five virtually, being gone and out of reach.

There seems to be an air of discontent in the ranks!

This type of racing is superb. It is how triathlon – a sport of three diciplines lets remember – should be raced and provides a winner of serious credit. Don’t get me wrong, i’m not going to start harking on about draft legal racing being all about athletes who ‘can just run’ – I think this is a ridiculous argument, and one that is only voiced by those who don’t have a clue how tough ITU racing is at that top level. No no, i’ve got no problems seeing someone running from a pack of 50 in a time hovering around the 30minutes mark – if that’s the way the races goes, so be it, the swim and bike are still damn fast regardless. But boy, when a break occurs after the swim and it’s capitalised upon, that’s cracking racing!

So I was ammused to read these comments by Bevan Docherty where he comments that “I was very motivated to work and catch the leaders, however, it seemed like a select few only wanted to pull their weight on the bike, the others were content in sitting in and doing nothing!”  And even more interested in his later remark that “I’m certainly very vocal on the bike towards the lazy athletes, to try to get them motivated, but that’s the nature of the sport now they don’t have to work.” – It’s certainly been a while since I raced at ITU level, but I have been in my fair share of bike packs with Bevan – both small and large – and where he says ‘vocal’ I read ‘bully’.  Fellow online tri-member Will lamented earlier in the week that ”the main problem is these 5 guys are very strong and very motivated… They never miss a turn” whilst discussing the Washington break away. Very true.

These guys are effectively spending so much time looking around at each other in the early stages of the bike – the crucial first 10-15k – that they miss turns, don’t iniate a bullet proof chase and before they know it the gap has exponentially increased. -  What seems bizarre is that nobody seems willing to lay it all out and put ‘the smack down’ – it’s daft to take the stance that ‘if everyone isn’t taking their turn, then why should I bother?’, since that will never happen. It’s logical to realise that if you want to catch “these 5 guys who are very strong and very motivated” then surely you too must show similar motivation and determination!! – That means burying yourself for the cause – taking extra turns, plugging the gaps that appear due to the ‘lazy’ athletes who are not riding for ‘the cause’ – and after all, why should they, I mean I agree totally with Gav on this one – in reply to Bevan and his ‘encouragement’ of the ‘weaker’ athletes; he simply shouted back ““It’s your money motherf%&ker, you do the turns” … clearly if Gav is not in a position to battle for the money positions come the run (yet), then why should he bust a gut helping others to do so on the bike. –  His (and others) time will come, and until then, it’s a conservation of energy game!

At the end of the day I’m just a fan of the sport and I am as interested as the guys actually racing these amazing races in the whole dynamic of the situation, and yet, I’m not racing, so my thoughts are simply that – thoughts and musings! For what it is worth however, I reckon it will not be the last time such a situation arises this year. There are substatially more Benjamins on offer and there is clear commitment now amongst the boys who manage to sneak a few extra seconds out of the water – whereas before I think there was maybe a half hearted attempt to ride hard for a lap but no more. At T2 in D.C the chase was 2.10 in arrears – and the Russians, who caused swim havoc in Madrid the month previous, were not even racing! – it could have been closer to 3 minutes with them added into the mix. I look forward to Des Moines this afternoon – no doubt I will be proven utterly wrong mind you.

The bottom line appears to be that the swim has become a fundamental once again.

Blair is back up North (and on the longest w/e in Scotland that means very little darkness which is really cool) in Inverness ready to hit the Highland Cross tomorrow morning. He’s been training regular enough and is really looking forward to attempting to break the 4hr mark. Stirling Tri Club have the team title to defend too

I am in Holland.

Well, I couldn't find a picture of us all ....

Firstly I must comment on The Caveman, Conrad, who recently elevated himself to hero status here in 8D Alloa Rd, through his blood -and -gore antics last w/e racing in Richmond. The good luck streak appears to have hit a stumbling block this week though, as his latest post highlights. – Surgery for the big man means the other guys can actually have a shot at winning in the seemingly-never-ending-race-series that is Xterra. -  Dan can potentially notch up his 2nd win in Xterra Little Rock this Sunday.

Over in Capitol City/Washington D.C, Mr Pink is hitting the pontoon in his first ITU Super World Cup Series event alongside 50-odd other hardened speedsters – one of them being our very own Mr Clarke.

Good luck boys.

I too am hitting the races. Perhaps i’m a gluten for punishment, but I reckon the legs have pulled up ok at last (i’ve basically done nothing all week since the UK 70.3) and so tomorrow I am heading to Amsterdam airport and beyond, for the Dutch Long Distance Champs. 

We’ll see how it goes since it will be my first attempt at ‘backing up’ long course w/e’s. Might have to suck it up, but eiher way it will be a new experience and I am looking forward to going and trying something different.

I’ll be back Monday with some news.

we struggled a bit here too....

I would have talked a bit about everyone on our online team who raced over the weekend (Conrad, Dan, Will, Igor, Dejan, Aleksandar and even Nikola), but all I will do is re direct you over to Gavin here since he has captured it masterfully.

As only he can! (It is worth a read).

I’ve been pretty busy in Stirling, (as Gav might say) seeing many men about many differnet things (it seems) and yet here I am trying to remember where and when exactly!

I do know I have been out training regularly, what with the build up to Wimbleball, UK Ironman 70.3 ramping up daily. I’ll put together a wee post on the specifics of that race soon enough, as there will be plenty of folk heading down to the Exmoor moors in addition to myself I am sure.

So for now I’ll call it a day on this post, for it really didn’t go very far after all.

Alas, I tried!

Not quite sure what I am smiling about, dnf and all....

My race got off to a great start in the water till, oooo, lets say 100m, when I got the good ‘ol dunkin in the water and the goggles ripped knocked off. It’s a long time since that has happened, but it – as ‘they’ say – is racing, and you must deal with it. It happened again midway and I really became unsure of where I was in the state of play. As we neared the jetty I realised I was probably in a good enough spot and sure enough as I ran up I heard the announcer explain that Olly Freeman was mere seconds in front. Safe.

Onto the bike in 3rd and I just found a really solid pace early doors. This always helps set the tone I find. Quite quickly I could see the two leaders in front and by 10 miles I had passed them, but had also in turn been passed myself by Björn Andersson doing something of a rocket-impression. Off he went. I soon ended up riding on my own for a few miles, until at 25 I was caught by the group of very capable bike riders that had formed behind.

This is something I am still having to work at in my racing – an ability to really dig deep when on my own and capitalise on any gains I may have made in the swim. – I can ride a very quick pace when I am able to pace off of another rider (I said pace not draft) but on my own I struggle to really push that extra gear necessary. It will come in time.

We rode up and over the hills which dominate the second half of the race, and I was determined to really work them as hard as possible. I love that sort of terrain and I had forgotten how good a course this really is. – A really solid, honest bike course, where drafting really won’t be much of an issue I doubt. At 45 miles the Swiss athlete Ronnie (for I cannot spell or pronounce his surname) who was 4th at Hawaii last year zoomed on by and I made an effort to tag along. This effort expired around the 50 mile marker and I was then sucked back into the group of 6 as we entered T2.

I started the run, simply so that I didn’t have to stop in T2 and look like the village idiot who didn’t undertstand what he needed to do. – Run like the rest of them! So I got myself down to just past the first mile marker and walked off the course, which, as I said, sucked.

All in all it was worth it for sure, and I am bouyed by my swim/bike effort. There are no dollars to show for the racing, but I will get my head down and continue to hit the rehab work hard. 

Jog along son. Jog along.

GavinNoble.com I would imagine you have already been a regular reader, and if not, why not?

The newest member of our small, but every growing tri-web family (otherwise know as the Nekada Triathlon Team) is the ever endearing Irishman Gavin Noble, known for his tact, and his ability to beat around the bush. Em, NOT. - He says it as it is, and I quote “I have a style, and am not to be sensored”, as he told Nikola – The Mad Serbian, (Gav’s words, not mine) at the helm of our internet operations.

Also, as I have mentioned already on these pages, a couple of the ‘youngsters’ (how old am I!) from British Triathlon are giving 70.3 racing a go this w/e in the Oceanside 70.3 here in Southern California. I have done a bit of swimming with Olly Freeman and he has just re-vamped his website, and has kicked it off with a great summary of his thoughts leading into the race this w/e within his blog section – check it out if you have a minute or five – OllyFreeman.com.

Trusty old diary, laptop, Garmin and GENR8 grape flavour

I raced 2 weekends ago in Miami, and had been jogging along that week, but very limited. The race didn’t ‘flare’ the leg up, but I also didn’t fel like I was progressing so I stopped having any time on my feet last week, and actively searched for a good physio to start some treatment when I got here. I have been having ‘ART’ – Active Release Techniques, which is basically another way of saying ‘deep tissue massage’ in American-speak…. and seem to be responding well to it after a couple of sessions (yet to receive a bill though…yikes!).

So, otherwise, I have ridden the bike a fair bit. 17 hours or 485k. Approx 300 miles in old money? And I have swum a fair bit too – 33k in yards, which I think is just shy of 30k in meters. Mostly on my own, BUT not all. Aha – I joined in with a squad. The North County Masters in fact. They swim in Enchinitas down at the coast in the YMCA (I had never been in a YMCA building before). There are a few triathletes drop in – Michelie Jones was there one of my swims before heading off to race at IM Oz, and Luke Bell was in the other day ready to race in Oceanside next w/e too. And then I did a sesh with Olly Freeman, and the past 2 days I have had Will Clarke to train with. Both of those guys are making their 70.3 debut at the w/e.

So it’s been a good week’s work. Fingers crossed the leg holds up, I get a few more run miles under my belt, and I’ll race at the weekend, just like planned.

Caught in the act ….. that there on my lap is a pie. A chicken pie. I think if nothing else, South Africa has an affinity with Scotland in its love for the Pie. The things is I would never usually eat a pie at home.  Funny really that when I ride the 4 Passes route – all 128 hilly K’s of it – I feel that eating a pie is justifiable. I blame Will Clarke to be honest. For he started the trend this time last year!

I forgot to bring my camera along for the ride, so I have stolen the pics that Dan Hugo snapped. The ride was completed alongside Dan, Mari – my housemate, Johhny Kritzinger – who’s house I lodged in for a month during my stay in S’bosch last year, and we also had Christoph Sauser along for the first hour. However he turned round when the hills began at Sir Lowry’s Pass (the 1st Pass of the ride) – these multiple World Champions huh!? I should note that he rode it solo the day before in 4 hours and 10 minutes … which could well be record time. Myself and Will Clake may attempt a two-up to challenge that time in Feb when he pitches up…….

Some views that Dan took of the ride below:

And finally – the last descent dropping us back into Stellenbosch; Hellshoogte – representing the ‘4th Pass’: