I’m literally just on the train on the way back home from Manchester airport after a very busy (as always) last couple of weeks racing in Estonia and Germany. It seems ages ago I was sat here on the train with Desiree heading off to the new Star 111 race in Estonia. I had decided to race here after talking to Ain Alar Juhansen at Ironman Lanzarote earlier in the year, it seemed such an exciting race to go and do, somewhere I would not normally go and the distances, well, they seemed perfect to me!

So, we flew from Manchester to Riga via a very expensive hour in Copenhagen airport and then got picked up at the airport for a 3h drive across Latvia and Estonia to a small village just outside Tartu where the race was based. What a location it turned out to be too; Beautiful scenery, a perfect road surface to ride on, no traffic and a stunning lake in which to swim in. It was triathlon heaven. We went to dinner and could not believe how cheep the food was, and were not talking a greasy Joe’s here it was good food, and to see so many great athletes there supporting the event, Thomas Hellriegel and Chris McCormack to name just 2, it was always going to be a week to remember!

We did so many great things even before we got on the start line, there was a roller skiing marathon the day after the race so we borrowed some skates to see if we could get the hang of it in the hope we may toe the start line but it was to no avail, we were both useless and couldn’t even make it out of the car park never mind skate 15 or 39kms. We also took part in a zip line race – basically you hurl about 250m across some fields strapped to a zip wire, unclip yourself then run up this huge hill to another zip wire and clip on and fly back down to the start, it took me 2mins 30seconds in all and it was so much fun, everyone got really competitive and its something in definitely going to work on in the next year so I can come back next year and try and get in the top 3! It’s a wonder we didn’t get to the start on Saturday tired everything we did and the fun we had before the race even began!

So, race day and it was a very respectable 11am start. More race organizers need to take heed of this, no-one likes getting up at 4am and as I have now been branded a schleepyhead by Yvonne Van Vlerkken I could get used to later race starts! Everyone was talking about how fast the swim would be with it just been 1km but you have to realize that 100k on the bike is a long way so I was not so eager to swim flat out knowing it was supposed to be 35 degrees when we got to the run! I managed to start ok, nothing fantastic and by 500m found myself swimming tempo at the front which was perfect so I lead out of the water, hopped on my bike and did my best to follow Bjorn Andersson for as much of the bike as I could. He was just riding like the train he is and I had to go so hard just to follow him! I got dropped a few times and just about made it back to him but after 80kms the elastic snapped and he just flew away and got over 2 minutes on me in the last 20km, it is some of the best riding I have ever witnessed!

By the time the run came it was toasty hot and I think everyone walked every aid station it was brutal! I caught Bjorn at 3km of the run and I felt good but around km 5 I really did start to struggle and had to walk a section that was only about a 2% gradient but it was in the baking sun and just suicidal. I got to the drinks station after 7k and started to feel a bit better and pushed all the way in, I had no idea how fast I was running and some of those behind me looked really good, none more so than Desi who put in an awesome bike on her 1st race on her new Specialized Shivette and put in a run that I think many of the guys would have been proud of to get 9th OVERALL winning the woman’s race by a comfortable margin! It was such a good feeling coming into the finishing shoot 1st for the first time this year and it was so good that I had managed to overcome some daemons I had had about me not been able to race well away from home and in the heat. I know I can do it know and it gives me so much confidence moving forwards! I was so happy Bjorn managed to hold on for 2nd, he had an amazing day and he is such a gentleman, one of the nicest guys on the circuit!

So, whilst everyone else went off and partied the night away we retired to bed knowing 70.3 Germany would be a very different slice of CAKE!

We stayed a few days in Estonia after the race training and exploring all we could but to be honest we were both pretty tired! It gets to light there on a morning it’s more or less impossible to sleep in and the weather is so varied! One minute we had 35 degrees, the next 60mph winds blowing down trees then a huge lightening storm and rain, so much rain! Onto Frankfurt, we flew across on the Wednesday from Tartu International Airport, the smallest airport iv ever been where you just walk in the the door and your there at check in, no need for trolleys here! The trip took more or less all day, we went via Riga and after landing we got the train to Wiesbaden and then a taxi to the hotel. All in all, the trip was a lot more complicated and hard work than it sounds!

So, tired, dejected, hungry, and been foreigners in a place where we didn’t speak the language apart from my A in GCSE German which was a long time ago we went out looking for food, and you would not believe what we found! We trapsed down the street and found this Italian place; it was the only place to eat in about 1km so we looked at the menu and decided why not, it was the only place we were going to get any food anyways. This quite possible turned into the best decision we had ever made, it was a fantastic family run place and we ended up going there 4 times in 6 nights it was that good. The food was out of this world, the waiters were hilarious, in particular one character called Gino who we got to know quite well, I described him as the embarrassing fun uncle everyone has, the one who gets drunk at weddings and does stupid things! After the race we even took Bjorn to try the food, I think he approved!

I for one had never done a race like Wiesbaden before. We went to register and noticed we didn’t get numbers, put two and two together and figured we must get them at the pro briefing where they were doing blood tests on every single professional athlete. So, the way the day went was we had breakfast, went to have the drugs test whereby the guy took some blood then everyone had to wait in a room together whilst we had the race briefing and then wait for at least another hour until the results from the tests had got back from the hospital and only until then could we get our race numbers. It is so reassuring to know this type of testing is going on now even if it did take nearly 3h until we were free again to rack our bikes! I even got tested again, this time urine, after the race even though I was 8th Pro!

Race day in Wiesbaden could not have been any different, it was windy, cold and it really couldn’t have rained any harder as we put our bikes in transition. It did manage to clear up for the race start and once again I had a good swim but putting socks on in T1 I lost a lot of time and from there on the front of the race just seemed to go away from me. I really didn’t have the legs and as much as I tried things just were not happening! Bjorn flew away with Michael Raelert but it was good to be out there, I have only once raced in worse conditions, the National Junior Triathlon Champs in Wales but some of the descents were just crazy, the road was closed so one didn’t have to worry about cars or anything which was so good to have for such a big race but I have no idea of how much time I was loosing to the guys upfront. I had too bugger gear on for the climbs so I was grinding away and then been super cautious on the descents so there was nowhere where I could really make any time up. Even if I was having a mediocre race Desiree was having an awesome time in what must have been an amazing race to watch as her and Yvonne duked it out on the run Mohammed Ali style! I simply got off the bike and ran as hard as I could for the ½ marathon, possibly setting off a bit too fast for my own good but I wanted to push on all the way round and at least get some good training in. I eventually finished 8th Pro which for a European Championship I was pleased with given how I felt but I was completely unaware on how Desi was getting on and the battle that was unfolding. It was a 4 lap run and I hadn’t seen head nor toe of her for the entire time so to see her after the race and for her to tell me she had come 2nd was amazing, I felt so happy and I know it is a sign of things to come!

So, after taking Bjorn to our little piece of Italy in Wiesbaden we had one day left to see the sights of Wiesbaden, which has a huge Lutheran Cathedral by the way and a wine festival that lasts 10 days every summer! We hunted for a cinema only to find it was shut and the only English film it showed was at 6pm on a Thursday but we were both really tired, it has been a tough two weeks racing but I have loved every minute of it and cant wait to get back on that start line again.

I race the European Olympic Distance Championships in Ireland at the weekend as part of the GBR team and although I was there to race I don’t have that kind of run speed yet so I was put in there to just see how things went! With all the traveling I have been doing I have not been putting in the swimming sets I am used to so it was a relief to make the front main pack just behind Alistair’s breakaway which he managed to get out of the water. It was a different race to what I am used to but I was pleased with how I did in the swim and bike even though I had an atrocious run, its nice knowing I can at least keep up with the majority of those guys on the swim and bike. As a team we had a number of good results, especially Olly Freeman’s 9th in my race which was nice to see after an injury plagued year last year, he is bar far the most talented triathlete I have ever seen! Im home now in York for a while anyways, its nice to be back and im going to try and recover from all the traveling and racing I have been doing, someone pointed out id started 1 ironman, 2 70.3s and an Olympic distance race all in different countries in 6 weeks with the ironman the only race I didn’t finish (Lanzarote where I pulled out 1mile into the run but it was still one of the hardest days of my life!). It’s a few easy days for me now before I get back into proper training again, I need to let the mind and body have some time off at least!

I’m on a pre European championship camp at the moment in Portugal in a lovely place called Rio Maior. It’s my second time here, we came a few years ago and I got a good solid block of training with the British triathlon guys and it’s just as I remember. The running is fantastic, so fantastic I got lost and was out for 1h 45min in 94 degree heat in the forest wondering where on earth I was. Anyways, the purpose of this camp is to get us all together in one place so we can sort of gel as a team, even though we already know each other inside out, and get some race prep under our belts.

Coming from 70.3 straight here was not such a good idea, on the first day we did a hammer bike sessions and then the 3h ride the day after more or less killed me! I have been trying to lie low for the past week until yesterday when somewhat lost my way and had to walk into dinner to everyone looking at me knowing I had got lost, so very embarrassing but I didn’t really care as long as I had something to drink!

We leave here on Thursday and go straight to Ireland for the Europeans, it will be my 1st time there and I am looking forward to seeing what its like as I have only ever heard good things! More flying, I can’t wait!

It’s been a crazy few weeks for me! I had a race to forget in Mexico, my 1st ITU world cup was a disaster so I decided to race the US 70.3 pro championships in Galveston. Really, I just wanted to race Chris Lieto and have some fun after been very annoyed at how I raced the previous weekend. I’m going to keep it short and sweet as it was just a training race really but I had an ok swim, tried to take things to Lieto which was fun and I even managed to get a bit of a gap at one point but on the way back I let him get a gap and then I got a drafting penalty for drafting cars in a moment of weakness, was a bit of a dodgy call but that’s how things go sometimes.

Anyways, I was 2nd off the bike and tried to run hard for 15k until I got passed for 6th when I decided to just jog in and save myself for wildflower 6 days later, I ended up 8th and that was that.

So, before I went off to Wildflower I wanted to race the Austin South Mopac TT on Tuesday night. Previously I had ridden 15min 44sec on the 8 mile course, setting a new course record by just 1 second and I wanted to see how my form was. Anyhow, I ended up riding 15.59, a 30mph ride which I was happy with just 2 days after a 70.3 in tougher conditions that previously.

So, off to wildflower and one of the most beautiful settings of a race I have ever done. Well, it is equally as nice as 70.3 UK but I have done a few running races and TT’s in the Lake District that do just beat it, but is stunning all the same!

I really wanted to do well at Wildflower, it was the 1st race with a big specialized presence and the field was just so strong I wanted to try and race to my potential, something I have felt I haven’t done so far this year. Race day came round soon enough and although feeling a little tired I was really enthusiastic about racing on such a hard course which I feel suits me down to the ground.

The swim was easy enough; I was out at the front but dropped my chain going out of T1 and lost a bit of time but nothing major. On the bike however I really didn’t feel good, I just had to follow the wheels and hope my legs started to warm up. Conrad Stoltz flew past like a machine, I tried to follow but had to let him go and bridge back up to him on the large climb at 40mies, more intelligent racing than anything else. I therefore rolled back to T2 with me and Conrad in 2nd and 3rd and Michael Raelert up the road. I ran out of T2 feeling good and ran in 2nd until 4 miles when Joe Gambles past me going up the biggest hill on the course, it was a killer! I loved the masochist nature of the run though and although Eneko Lanos past me at mile 11 I managed to get home in 4th, a result I was ecstatic about and one I would rate over my win at 70.3 UK last year. It was made even better by the fact that all the Specialized team, male and female, finished in the top 10, it was one good weekend!

So, what next? Well, I hope to get my own back on Eneko at Ironman Lanzarote in 2 weeks, it should be a good race on another really tough course. Between now and then however I have to get back from Austin where I have been staying for the past 7 weeks or so, I have had such a good time and made some friends for life, I’ll be back before long. See you on the road.

It was 70.3 UK last weekend and I went back to defend my title in possibly one of the most beautiful race settings anywhere in the world. It was always going to be a very tough race, there were murmurings Macca would turn up, Faris al Sultan was there and Fraser Cartmell who has been having a fantastic season also towed the start line making this the strongest field I had ever raced in the UK.

After a pretty atrocious performance at Eagleman 70.3 the previous weekend where I felt flat all day and died on the run I flew back to Britain on Tuesday, got in the house on Wednesday and tried to put down some good training particularly getting in some hard last minute bike legs to try and wake them up from the long flight.

I was thankful to the later start though I was freezing on race day; I got out of my tent shivering and made my way down to the swim start. I had a pretty average swim, I was in 2/3/4th place all the way along then at the end the front 3 went wrong and I took a more direct line to come out 1st. I then ran as hard as I could in the 400m up to T1 and then hammered the first part of the bike. I got a gap of somewhere just over 3mins after 15miles and then put another minute into Fraser Cartmell on the rest of the 56mile bike. I did die completely on the bike and getting off I was a bit worse for wear but I soldiered on round the run, Fraser flew past me near the end of the first lap of the run but I managed to hang on in there for 2nd, a result im more then please with! What next? I go to Portugal for a training camp and then Ireland for European Triathlon champs where I hope to have a good race and get in the points!

Well I have been here in Austin, Texas for nearly a week now and I’m really enjoying things! I decided to come down here see what this much talked about place is like and I can report that’s its pretty awesome and the gorgeous weather just makes things better! Swimming with University of Texas masters is good, there are some quick swimmers and the sets are, well, pretty tough! Once you get out of town the riding is also fantastic, really quiet roads with some good company too, and there are some nice trails to explore on the running front and a nice track not so far away! I’m yet to see Lance yet though, I will keep you informed if I spot him around! On the racing front, I have got my 1st ITU world cup in 3 weeks in Mexico so I’m hoping for a good result there and get some points on the board, then Wildflower triathlon in California which should be a good learning experience, lots of people have told me the course will suit me but I have no idea, we will just have to see!

First race of the season is now in the bag! I was supposed to race last weekend but the weather here in the UK has been horrific to say the least so was cancelled! It was pretty unforntunate that i came home from my training camp in spain early to specificially prepare for what would have been my 1st race of 2010, a 10 mile TT, on a fast course about 1h away from my house but when the morning came, so did several inches of snow. So, i had to be patient and wait another 7days to ride the Shiv in anger for the first time in 2010, and looking at the forcast i prepared myself for another write off but luckily the weather gods prevailed and i managed to open the 2010 account with a win and a 20min 8seconds clocking over a cold and very windy 10 miles. there was no taper this week either, i went out with 'the lads' yesterday for a 110k smash up and had a little run off it so the legs were not feeling so great. It was particually reasuring that last year, on the same course in what i would say were easier conditions on the same weekend i rode 20.51, so to take almost 45seconds off where i was this time last year fills me with confidence going forward! Hopefully next weekend i will be able to go under 20minutes and do that 30mph ride for the first time this year!