Lakesman Progress

I completed my first Iron Distance triathlon in 2012 at The Outlaw in Nottingham and after I finished I vowed Never Again!! I have said those words after Ironman UK in Bolton in 2014 and The Bastion this year. I probably would have said them after Challenge Henley in 2013 if I had finished it!

After the Bastion I really meant it and promised my wife that I would not do another Iron distance triathlon, The Bastion was really tough and has a name for being one of the toughest! so it seemed only fitting that I should see this as my last one.

Then The Lakesman was announced as a new Iron Distance triathlon for 2016 based in such a lovely part of the country and my mate Andy was involved with the event. I saw so many comments on Twitter and Facebook and replied to one tongue in cheek that if I hadn't promised my wife that I wouldn't do another I would be there.  This comment found its way back to Amanda and she plotted with my parents and I had an entry to the event as a birthday present!

I am cycling to work as many days as I can which is 16 miles each way and is keeping a base level of fitness, I need to get some longer riders in but for now I am struggling to find the time.

I woke early one Sunday and couldn't get back to sleep so decided to go out for a run, I managed about 6 miles and all before 8am. It was great to get a well done comment from Nicky who was the inspiration for me starting the madness of doing iron distance triathlon, she was apparently still in bed at the time. Despite the fact that she was still in bed while I was out running I know that she will be doing more training than I and will finish the event a good few hours before me!

This early morning Sunday running seemed like a good plan so has become part of my week, I just need to find time to get those long cycles in along with some swimming and I will be good to go in June!!

Cyclist Safety

On my way home last night I read an article that was quoting some comments made by Lord Sugar around cycle safety. (I had to get the train yesterday rather than ride to work!)

He is quoted as saying that he thinks 99% of accidents would have been avoided if cyclists had "situation awareness"

Now firstly I would like to say that I believe situation awareness is an important part of road safety but not limited to cyclists but should equally be applied by ALL road users!

I was on my daily ride to work the other day and a van squeezed past me on a section of road in Coulsdon where there was a bollard in the middle of the road, so had the driver slowed slightly they would have been able to give me more room by passing me after the bollard. I was slightly surprised when I noticed that the van was actually covered in high vis sections and the word POLICE plastered over it! They saved so much time by squeezing through when they did that I caught and passed them again 10 miles later in Brixton!

I would love to see the research that Lord Sugar bases his 99% assertion on, or is it as I suspect a sensationalist headline grabbing comment? How would any of his staff or apprentices be treated if they threw percentages around to justify their comments or actions if they could not back it up with fact?

The article also suggests that Lord Sugar is criticising the work being done around London to improve cycle safety. Having a pop at Boris Johnson, due to the fact that it is affecting his drive in to London, maybe he should cycle it would be quicker!

I have said before and I will say again cyclist safety is not going to improve all the time there are headlines about "Who is to blame?" all too often this gets into a "Them  and Us" slanging match with cyclists defending cyclists and drivers defending drivers no matter who has done what wrong!

I have read in the past articles where a cyclist have defended riders who have jumped red lights or weaved in and out of traffic without due care. Cyclists are not above the law and as it stands at the moment they are required to stop at Red lights as are all road users.

I know that in some instances it is considered that it would be safer to allow cyclists to cross red lights but any change to the law to allow this needs to be carefully thought out and implemented correctly so that all road users are aware of what will happen.

Cyclist safety is about a series of different measures, situation awareness is one so is segregated cycle lanes. Others include Junction redesign, traffic light re-phasing and dare I say it cyclist wearing helmets.  Chris Boardman is regularly photographed without a helmet and I believe part of his reasoning is that cyclist safety is about more than just getting riders to wear helmets. I absolutely agree with this standpoint, no one aspect of safety is more important than others. I have no doubt that I have not listed all of the issues above, there will be many more.

Cyclist safety is certainly not about high profile personalities throwing around sensationalist comments to score points against other people, I am not sure what Lord Sugar's agenda is but it certainly does not seem to be totally around his concern for the cyclists of London.

Brixton Cycles

A little while ago I saw a tweet saying that Brixton Cycles were crowdfunding to raise money to fund a new home and stay in Brixton.

I felt compelled to make a donation to, in part say thanks for getting me out of a tight spot on a ride to work.

I had only just started riding to the office and my route took me up the A23 through Brixton and on in to the centre of London.  The tyres on my bike had seen better days, they were not that old just that they were cheap ones that came with the bike when I bought it.

One day as I was riding in I punctured, so I duly stopped changed the tube and carried on, shortly after I picked up another puncture, so I duly stopped again and changed the tube again. Then a few miles further another puncture, that was it I had used both my spare tubes and did not have a repair kit with me! I emailed my boss to tell him that I would be late as I had a long walk ahead of me, having realised that I had also left my wallet at home so had no way to pay for any other transport!

As I reached Brixton it was about the time that the shop was opening, so I thought I would try my luck! I went in and explained my predicament and that I really could do with a new tyre and a couple of new tubes. I asked if they would be able to help me out if I could get my wife to give them credit card details over the phone.

The guy in the shop said it was a very unusual situation but agreed to help out, so I managed to get my wife on the phone and a few minutes later she had bought me a new tyre and 2 tubes. I was back on the road and a lot less later to work than I would have been!

So thanks to Brixton cycles being located where they are and being a very friendly and helpful team of people I was back on the bike rather than a longer walk!

If anyone feels willing an able to help out they are still on Crowdfunder for a few more days.

Long Distance Triathlon and The Lakesman

When I first tried triathlon many moons ago I never imagined that I would "Go Long", I'm not even sure that I knew about Ironman Triathlon back then!

I did a few pool triathlons at home and quite short distances, although at the time finishing a 10k run after swimming and cycling seemed an extremely long way!

I took part in my first open water triathlon whilst working on a Camp Thunderbird in Minnesota, I borrowed a camp bike and traveled to Grand Rapids with a couple of the other staff, worried that the heat might be a problem. I needn't have worried, the start was actually delayed due to a thunderstorm, my lasting memory is getting to the end of the bike and Hammer shouting "go on Flipper, nice easy 10k". (We all had nicknames at Camp)

Coming more up to date and some friends started to take part in Ironman triathlons and other long distance triathlons (don't want to fall foul of brandnames!) I still couldn't see myself doing one!

Anyway Nicky completed a couple of IM events and qualified for Kona, at which point I foolishly told Andy that it must be his turn next and that if he did it I would, I seemed to be inspired. Andy suggested that The Outlaw would be a good event to try rather than IMUK, as I had just found a job after being out of work for a few months I thought I would treat myself to an entry. Dave also entered and it looked like there would be 3 of us taking part. (the results of this are part of an earlier post!)

I started to train for the event, twisting my old bosses arm for access to the Virgin Active club at Crawley to improve my swimming and then headed north to Nottingham for the event.

I had set myself a target of getting under 16 hours for the event, which at the time I thought was reasonable, I actually finished in 14.51 so beat my aim by quite a distance. This led me in part to say that I would not do another one, I would not be able to achieve as much as I had already.

The following year Dave said he was entering Challenge Henley and did I feel like joining him, how could I refuse! Henley didn't go to plan though and about 20 miles into the bike I climbed off and became a DNF, as imortalised in Laura's book Tricurious, thanks Cuz!

So when Andy suggested IMUK the following year I thought why not I have unfinished business after my DNF at Henley. I was about an hour slower at Bolton than I was at Nottingham but was pleased to have finished and having put that to bed I could say never again!

So back to Laura's book, she invited me to the book launch and was selling raffle tickets for charity, so I duly bought some not really expecting to win anything. Wrong my numbers were pulled out and I had won an entry to the Castle Triathlon Series "The Bastion" another long distance triathlon.

I was the 3rd from last person to finish at The Bastion but it was an enjoyable event although the hardest of the 3 long distance triathlons that I have done, reflected by the fact that it was the slowest!

Now I had done a long distance triathlon, I had done an Ironman event and I had done the hardest long distance triathlon, I really could call it a day now!

Oooh there was a new long distance triathlon in the offing The Lakesman, Andy was involved again somehow, Nicky and Dave had entered. It looked tempting but no I had said I would not do another one and was sticking to my guns!

Time passed and Twitter was full of The Lakesman, Facebook was full of The Lakesman it was certainly tempting, I made some comment about not entering because I had promised my wife I would not do another one, this made its way back to Amanda and she hatched a plan with my parents to get me an entry for my Birthday. So another long distance triathlon journey has started which will end in June next year and then I can say I am definitely not doing another one (until the next time!)

I have trained for each of the triathlons but probably not as much as I should have done, so I really mean to put a real effort into training for The Lakesman to  reverse the trend of my times getting slower with each event I do!  To this end I will try to keep this blog updated with my progress to try and give me the inspiration and encouragement to get as fit as possible to try and beat 14.51!!

Ride London 100

I, along with many other I am sure, have entered the ballot for the Ride London 100 each year and been unsuccessful each time.  Unlike many others I have been lucky enough to win a place in the ride during its first year and also this year. Last year I volunteered to help at the start, so have had some involvement each year.

After being unlucky in the ballot  again this year I registered to volunteer handing out goody bags at the finish and was all set for a long day on The Mall congratulating all those who had made their way around the course.

I was training for a triathlon and was due to go for a run one weekend when I saw a competition on Twitter from SkodaUKCycling to win a place in Ride London 100. All I had  to do was take a selfie at the start and the end of a ride, so my run that day became a brick session!

I was sure that I wouldn't win, does anyone ever enter thinking that they will definitely win? anyway after the competition had closed and the results came out, I had a tweet from Skoda telling me that I was one of the lucky winners!

A parcel of kit duly arrived so that I would look the part in fully Skoda branded shorts, shirt, socks, mitts and water bottle. Then a few days before the event another package arrived, this time it contained VIP passes for the hospitality at the velodrome for the start and in the Grandstands in the Mall, result!

Logistics for getting to the start and home again from the finish the first year I took part had been a bit of a mission, so this year I thought about something different.  I drove to The O2 to park and then ride through the Blackwall Tunnel, which had been specially closed to traffic so riders to go through, to the start. We were directed where to go initially but then directions seemed to dry up and we were just following the riders in front. Eventually someone decided we were going away from the start so we all did a U turn and found our way back.

On arriving at the Olympic park I was directed to the Velodrome where porridge, coffee and bacon rolls were all on offer, there were quite a number of people in Skoda kit and we all sat around discussing the oncoming ride.

Laura Trott arrived resplendent in the colours of her new Matrix Fitness team, sat at the table next to us for her breakfast, I don't recall seeing her with a bacon roll though.

At about 7am we were called over the tannoy to make our way to the start, I headed out to collect my bike from the bike park and off down the path to the start, within a few minutes we were on  our way, 100 miles stretching out in front of us.

The first part of the ride is quite flat and fast taking in the delights of Richmond Park, I was surprised at how quick the first 40 miles went past. After a while we hit the first major hill at Newlands Corner, I was pleasantly surprised at how my legs coped with getting up, I usually really struggle on hills but this wasn't too bad.

Then it was on to Leith Hill, at the bottom of the slopes were signs indicating that slower riders should stay left and faster ones to the right. Now was I a slow rider or a faster one, I decided to ride to the right hand side of the left lane, I felt this was a good compromise! Anyway it seemed to work I was passing riders whilst also getting passed myself.

One of those who passed me was Rochelle Gilmore, I managed to stay with her for a couple of yards before she was off in the distance!

Box Hill came and went in a similar manner, I was quite pleased with my climbing form, although it was still not quick it was better than I expected.

Riding through the various towns and villages on closed roads was amazing, the support from the crowds was again superb.

As we came back into London the roads were again fast, I managed to catch a few wheels and pick up some speed. Coming onto Whitehall only about half a mile from the finish several riders came down in front of me, after stopping briefly to ensure all were ok and marshalls were looking after them I continued on towards the finish.

Final few hundred metres up the mall to the finish were amazing with the crowds cheering and banging on the boards as I sprinted to the finish, not sure I will improve that strava segment on my rides to work!

Having collected my bag I managed to make my way through Green Park to my office, locked my bike in the garage, had a shower and then returned to the park to meet Dad who had just arrived to watch the rest of the event and the Classic finish.

We made our way to the Grandstands where we bumped into my Cousin Laura and her friend Cathy, she who kept passing me going up the hills at the Bastion!

Being able to watch as the leading 4 of the Pro race came sprinting up the Mall was amazing, being so close and seeing the turn of speed, just incredible.

Now on to the final part of my logistical plan, as my bike was safely locked in the garage at the office I could just get the tube back to The O2 to collect my car. I would get the train to work Monday to collect my bike!

There are a distinct lack of photos in this post, I did my usual trick of riding as hard as I could to try and finish as quick as possible, which I managed in 5hrs 7 minutes so about 20 minutes quicker than 2 years ago. However I think it would have been nice to not try as hard but to enjoy the views from the top of Box Hill a bit more and maybe get some photos.

Thanks must go to Skoda for the place in the ride and the amazing hospitality throughout the day including the opportunity to watch the finish of the Classic race from the grandstands, to all the marshals and volunteers around the course who looked after us as we trundled around the course. To all the supporters around the course cheering us on and supporting us as we passed through their towns and villages.

Finally my thoughts go out to the family and friends of Stephen Green.

The Bastion

A while ago I went to a book launch for my cousin and her friend's book Tricurious, Laura and Katie were running a charity raffle during the evening so I bought a few tickets, not expecting to win anything.

Anyway I came away from that evening with an entry to a Castle Series triathlon event, Laura and Katie convinced me that The Bastion was the one to do. Now The Bastion is their iron distance event based at Hever Castle and as such seemed like a good idea, when will I ever learn!

On the 3 other occasions that I have entered an iron distance event I have had over a year to contemplate what I have done, this time though the event was only about 19 weeks away, fortunately I am still riding to work regularly and running a few half marathons and Brighton Marathon so all I needed was to get back into swimming.

As the event was quite local it was a much more relaxed affair for me that previous events and I could stay at home and sleep in my own bed the night before, bonus.

I arrived at registration in good time and found my way around before Laura and her team arrived, they were doing the relay with Charlotte in the swim, Cathy on the bike and Laura doing the run. We had a quick look at the lake and the swim exit before making our way to the briefing. After the briefing and quick walk around the transition areas I was off home for a good nights sleep.

The morning of the race was here and after a shortish drive to the castle and final preparations it was into my wetsuit ready for the start.

I started as usual not being able to swim properly, I have never really got the hang of open water swimming after my nightmare at The Outlaw, anyway after a while I was getting into a bit of a rhythm and actually about half way round the first lap of the swim found myself in uncharted territory, I was actually enjoying the swim!

As I came up to go under the bridge and back into the lake to start my 2nd lap I could see Amanda and George on the bridge cheering me on, the 2nd lap came and went with as much enjoyment as the 1st then I was out on the run to transition.

Having changed into my bike kit I was off on my way, at first it seemed like we were going uphill forever but it was a good ride through the Ashdown forest, I'm sure I heard Winnie the Pooh cheering us all on from the woods!

There did seem to be more up hill sections that down hill which I guess on a circular route is not really possible! I came past the castle I think just over 2 hours after I started on the bike and with my impaired brain function was calculating that I would struggle to make the bike cut off time.

About half way round the 2nd lap I passed Cathy on one of the downhill sections only for her to come back past me on the next uphill, this game of leapfrog carried on for the next lap and a half with Cathy finally getting the better of me just before transition.

As I arrived back at the bike finish my supporters had swelled in numbers with the arrival of Jennie and Dave, I was hoping that Dave was going to take over and do the run but apparently I had to do the lot!

After depositing my bike with the team I was into the tent to change into running gear before setting off on the final part of the event. Amanda, George, Jennie and Dave were all there cheering me on as I shuffled my way around the course.

I managed the 1st lap in about 1.30 and again my muddled brain was worrying that I wouldn't make the final cutoff at 9.30pm. As I went round the course lots of fellow competitors were issuing words of encouragement and I must apologise for not having the ability to respond with other than a mumbled cheers!

I made it round onto the final lap well before the 9.30 cutoff and was issued my final band and a headtorch, I was definitely going to finish now!

As I came round to the final stretch one of the event team came down to meet me and give me some company up the final section, as we hit the last straight home I was determined to run the last section and, with the words of caution about the bridge and change of surface from my companion for the last few hundred metres, I was off down the finish chute to an amazing amount of noise from all the spectators that were still there. A few high fives from the team on the corner and onto the finish line with tape to run through, then my medal and handshake of congratulations from the race director, I had finished what was definitely my toughest event!

I had been told that the Castle Series of triathlons are great events and now having done one I can confirm that they really are, they are well organised and most definitely are more athlete focussed than some other events.

Thanks must go to all the marshals that were out around the whole course not only showing us which way to go and providing drinks and food but all of them without exception were so cheery and full of words of encouragement, without them the event would have been so much harder!

Thanks also to Amanda and George for getting up at silly o'clock to come and support me round the course. Dave and Jennie for turning out to cheer me on, Cathy for our game of cycle leapfrog on the bike course, even though she didn't initially realise it was me! and to the organisers who put on a fantastic event.

Finally thanks to Laura (yes I nicked the photo from you), although I am never buying any more raffle tickets from you!!  

Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire

IronmanUK announced that they were going to out on a new 70.3 event in Staffordshire, demand was expected to be high but I was not that interested in doing another Half Ironman at the time so didn’t bother.  Dave did and managed to get a place in the event, demand was indeed high and it sold out in an amazingly quick time.

 

I now felt a bit like I actually wouldn’t have minded giving it a go but too late all places had gone. I mentioned to Jennie that we should enter a relay team when they opened entries for that, she enjoys the swimming! So we did and it was set, Jennie would Swim, I would Cycle and she would Run.

 

We travelled up early on the Saturday as registration was due to close by 13.00 on Saturday, on arrival at Shugboroughtraffic was quite bad getting in the car park but eventually we were in and made our way to registration.  Dave an Jennie were a bit behind us but we spoke to them just before 11 and they were in the queue to get into the car park. 40 minutes later they arrived at registration.

 

Registration was painfully slow, in the massive tent about ¾ of it was given over to trying to sell stuff and the final ¼ at the far end was where registration had been squeezed in. When we got to register various comments were made about not enough athlete rucksacks being provided for all competitors, bit of an oversight, they knew ages ago how many had entered!

 

We just about made it to the briefing, which was about twice as long as it needed to be, I really could have done without listening to the presenter talking africaans to the 3 South Africans in the tent. They started off by stating that they had not expected the majority of people to register on the Saturday, my reaction “Why not?” I would have expected the majority to come down on the Saturday, a lot of people work on Fridays and would not have taken the day off.

 

Logistically it was always going to be a nightmare, one single track road into Shugborough and no vehicle access to Chasewater where T1 was. So we all had to walk over a mile with Bikes and Bike gear bag to be racked and then back to cars to make our way to the hotel.

 

The following morning we were up at 3.30 to drive to Shugborough to get the shuttlebus back to Chasewater due to no parking at the start, unless your name was Gordon Ramsey and then you could park your Range Rover right next to T1!

 

Having checked the bikes we then had several hours to wait until the start, there was very little undercover areas for the athletes to wait, indeed we ended up sitting on the floor in one of the buildings.

 

Dave was first of our group to start followed by Nicky and finally it was Jennie’s turn along with the other relay swimmers. We saw them all off into the pen and then made our way back to transition so that I could take the baton from Jennie when she had completed the swim.

 

Jennie then had to get to Shugborough in time to take the baton back and complete the run, this wasn’t going to be a problem as there were shuttle buses laid on. Apparently there were very few buses and most of the relay athletes were getting worried that they would not get back there in time,they were all moved to the front of the queue and on the first bus available. Amanda had to wait over an hour for the next bus and just about managed to get to Shugborough about the same time I did! Fortunately Jennie was in transition waiting for me but had only got there about half hour before me.

 

I then went to cheer the others on from the Relay meeting point an when Jennie came round for the 3rd time joined her on the final run into the finish, then it was off to wait for Dave to come round to finish, having cheered him home I collected my bike from transition and joined the queue to exit Shugborough, about an hour later we were on the road home.

 

I must thank all the Volunteers and Marshals that looked after us on the day, they are amazing and deserve all the thanks we can give them. As for doing another IM event I think I will steer clear and go for the other non IM branded events, it seems that IM has become too commercialised and less about the athletes.

Tour of Cambridgeshire

When I saw the Tour of Cambridgeshire advertised I thought it would be a nice event to ride and it had a few personal connections.

The event started and finished in Peterborough which is the place I was born. Sue Ryder were the charity connected to the event and they have a hospice at Thorpe Hall, this used to be a hospital and was where I was actually born!

So I had entered the event and now I had to actually ride it! I left home about 6 am and drove to the arena, arriving about 8.30 which seemed a good time to register. The queues were non existent and it was straight through very easy.

The only issue was that when I entered one question was if you had a licence, now I checked a few times to see if there was any reference to Full or Provisional, not having found anything I duly answered Yes due to the fact I have a provisional licence.

I obviously wasn't the only person to get this question wrong as the other 2 people registering at the same time as me were also informed we couldn't go on the racing pen.

Anyway having registered I returned to the car and rested prior to heading to the start pen. I joined the back of the queue for Pen 2 at 10.30 and already there were plenty of people in front.

The event didn't start until 12 so there was quite a bit of waiting in the Pen but when I looked back I was glad I had joined the queue when I did.

When we started off it didn't take too long to get going and we were out on the closed roads. Interestingly most of the riders stayed over to the left of the centre line leaving the right hand side of the road quite empty!

I rolled along initially next to the A5 Rangers who had quite a group together, before stretching my legs and passing quite a number of people. About 7 miles later a blue train of A5 Rangers came steaming past!

I spent most of the ride leapfrogging various riders sometimes not realising they had come past me again, I think my speed stayed fairly constant but others around me seemed to jump on wheels for a bit before dropping back.

About 50 miles my computer stopped working so I had no idea how far we had gone or how much further to the finish, so I just had to keep going until I saw some landmarks I recognised.

At one point I was at the back of a small group traveling along at a fair pace and something happens just in front and 2 of the riders hit the road quite hard. I just managed to miss the young lady in the middle of the road.

All of the group stopped to help out I put myself and bike in front of the lady on the floor to guide the oncoming riders around her whilst her friends helped her.

Once her and the other rider were on the side of the road and out of danger the other people with them said they were ok and thanked me for stopping, so I was on my way again.

I was still unsure how far was left to the finish so just had to keep going, eventually as we turned a corner the marshals were shouting encouragement including the fact that there was only 2.5 miles to go!

As we came back into the arena my legs found enough strength to sprint a bit, well it felt like it to me anyway.

So there it was I had finished the Tour of Cambridgeshire!

Thanks must go to all those involved in the organisation of the event, the people out around the course cheering us all on and the various councils for allowing the event to take place on closed roads.

Yes there were things that could have been done differently on the organisation front but it was the first time this type of event had been run in UK. The organisers have said they will take on board all feedback, not that there was much improvement needed.

Brighton Marathon

Today saw the 6th running of the Brighton Marathon and also the 6th time I have taken part, yes I am becoming one of those people who can claim to have taken part in every race since it started!

I was a bit apprehensive due to the fact that the organisers had put out a note before the event that the drinks would be in cups.  I have never got on with drinking from cups during a run so was not looking forward to it. My worst fears were confirmed when I ended up with Gatorade all over me.

Anyway I decided it was better to walk through the drinks station and at least get some liquid inside me than over me. This was not ideal as getting my legs to start running again was a bit of a mission!

I had started out at 9 min mile pace and was feeling quite good but as I hit half way my legs started to complain, I managed to push on and finish the race in a PB of 4hrs 16, some 8 minutes quicker than last year.

Heading along the seafront I was catching a man wearing a mankini so I put on a bit of a spurt to get past him and out of his way to avoid having him photobomb my finish photo.

After staggering through the finish getting my medal and retrieving my kit it was time to make my way back to the station and get the train home. Whilst on the train I had a congratulations text from my friend Jennie who had obviously been following me online. My turn to follow her and Dave in 2 weeks when they run London.

My day was finished with a congratulatory tweet from Jenni Falcolner who had been working for channel 4 on the coverage which is due on next weekend, must set it to record!

The race was once again a great event, the support form the crowd amazing and the volunteers again did a fantastic job. Already entered for next year but I may have to rethink my hydration plan for next year if they stick with the cups, I really can't get on with them!

I’ve Read a Book

Now for those of you that don’t know me and for many that do, the title of this post probably doesn't make much sense.

When I was sat at the table the other day with a book laid out and me reading it, my Wife walked in and exclaimed “you’re reading a book!” her tone of shock was probably due to the fact that other than reading books to my children I have probably only read 2 books in the 20 years that we have been married.

So what was this book that had me so engrossed? Well on 25^th March I had been invited to a book launch by my Cousin who, along with her friend, had written her second book, sorry I hadn't read the first one!

The book was called Tricurious and the launch was in an establishment that was for that night selling an ale called Tricurious, so all in all I felt it only right I should attend, I would support Laura, buy some raffle tickets and have my arm twisted to try some of the beer!

The launch was a great night, the beer was great and several of my raffle tickets were drawn out and I was given a copy of the book signed by both of the authors.

Well in less than a week I had finished the book, laughed out loud on the train a couple of times and been inspired to want to give The Bastion a try, even though reading the book made me feel quite old.  I had probably completed my first triathlon before Laura had mastered the art of pushing down hard on the pedal of her first bike!

I even had a mention in the book, although I’m not sure that being carted off in an ambulance part way through an irondistance triathlon is much of a claim to fame. To put this in context, I was taking part in Challenge Henley and about 20 miles into the bike I felt really dizzy, now as I only had 2 wheels under me carrying on riding seemed like a bad idea!

For anyone that is thinking of doing a triathlon, or indeed anyone who already does them, I would recommend reading the book.  Not because I am related to one of the authors but because it is a very good book full of tips and advice that is very down to earth.

I swore after ironmanUK in Bolton that I would not do another long distance triathlon but thanks to Laura and Katie I have now entered The Bastion, part of the Castle Triathlon Series.  Now following the advice in the book I just have to find a sports bra that fits to wear under my wetsuit!