Nottingham Cycle Live

21/06/2015 - One week after the Blenheim Triathlon and I'm booked to do a 50 mile ride at the Nottingham Cycle Live event. I'd persuaded a good friend, James, to come along and keep me company. He's only recently got into cycling so I guessed 50 miles might be a bit daunting for him but knowing James I was also confident that he could do it without issue. So I softened him up a bit by letting him know that I'd be round his house to pick him up at 06:00 am. I was half expecting "what! you're bloody joking!" but disappointingly he was absolutely fine about the early start.

As it turned out due to a rather busy weekend involving a lot of driving and a works party it was me that would struggle with the early start. Anyway four thirty in the morning my alarm went off and like a insomniac dogger I sneaked out of the bedroom trying not to wake up my wife, slip into my Lycra and head out to the car. The bike already stowed away in the car and, as I'd had it serviced that week, I was hoping it would do me better than it did at Blenheim. I'd dropped it off, slightly embarrassed to be handing in my little old Carrera in sight of all the lovely carbon beauties in the shop. My mate asked what was involved in the "basic" service I was having done, "Urinate on it I suspect" was my initial response, followed by "I paid for something to be done, what that something was, whether it needed doing or was actually done I don't know. Same thing I've had to do for everything I've ever got serviced in my entire life". So in other words I was just having to trust it was going to be sorted. Service completed I picked it up and tried the "that's not my bike!" line. They asked what my one was and I panicked, could not remember an expensive name, so blurted "one of those expensive carbon ones". They reckon I might have got away with it had I been better prepared.

Where were we, oh yes, driving to pick up my mate. Well that went fine, but when I got there it was clear he was a tad under the weather. He'd not been feeling well and had been debating whether or not to even do the ride as recently as the night before. Still he was keen to go but worried that he might have to bail out or even not start but was determined at the very least to be there. So we put his bike into the car next to mine a set of for Nottingham.

Arrived!

When got there without issue, got parked, hit the toilets, twice, went back to the car, got out the bikes and got ourselves ready for the 09:00 am start.

Preparing for the start.

It's always surprising to me that no matter how early you get to these things the start comes around so quickly. It seemed like we'd only been there a matter of minutes before we were waiting to start. Still there was time enough for James to marvel at just how well prepared I was and how professionally I treated the whole thing, from the snickers bars in my pockets to my grossly under inflated tyres. Apparently a tiny portable emergency tyre pump does not count as a "proper" tyre pump, "That cost me a tenner!" I cried indignantly. James showed his amateur status by turning up on a much nicer bike than mine, smart Cannondale cycle gear, tyres pumped to the max and gels and bananas filling his pockets - sad really.

You should play your favorite love song at this point.

Called to the start line we trundled over and excitedly got ready to set off. As this was a cycle event rather than a race with possible distances of 25, 50 and 100 miles available there was a real mix of bikes and obvious abilities. From the iron calved, carbon investing fitties to the steel buying, basket fitting chubsters - I fitted somewhere in the middle, though rather closer to chubster than I'd have liked.

Behind us

Me and James

In front of us.

The countdown began, 5 4 3 2 1 and we're off, then we're not, then we are again, then we're not, the we are. Finally we're actually riding. The weather was just about perfect. The sun was out but it was reasonably cool and apart from a bit of wind towards the end it remained glorious. After a short ride though Nottingham cities roads we were into the countryside. I was pleasantly surprise not only by just how pretty it was but how light the traffic was. There was still the odd idiot that seemed to feel they owned the road and would decide to fly past the cyclists horn blaring to scream their outrage for being slightly inconvenienced on their not doubt deeply important journey. They were normally met with a seemingly choreographed raising of the middle fingers of the numerous cyclist. In general though the traffic was light and well behaved.

Worried about James and conscious of how ill he'd been feeling I didn't want to push it out on the bike.We had had a talk about it and agreed to just take it easy and enjoy the ride, that I was very happy to just cruise along and that we would ride at whatever pace James felt comfortable with. Chatting away, me nagging his ears off as is my want, we progressed happily along. Just before 25 miles James asked if I minded if we stopped for a break so that he could stretch his legs. So at the 25 mile marker we pulled over. I felt we'd been plodding along at about 12 or 13 miles an hour, but when James checked our average pace was a surprising 16 mph. After about 5 minutes, stretched and refueled we set off again. Over the next 25 miles, mile by mile, James started to tire. I'd check he was OK, by this time I think I was the only one talking to any extent, he'd say yes and I'd wonder if we were getting close to having to stop when he'd come flying past, chasing down someone who'd gone past us.

I could see the last five miles were tough for James especially as it seemed the steepest and longest hills had all been placed in that five miles. Eventually we were back into Nottingham city, pass the football ground and across the finish line. We found a free patch of grass and relaxed, 52.4 miles completed. James lay down while I went for a beer. We sat a chatted for a while before grabbing a bite to eat and getting the car home. I'd had a brilliant day, the ride was fantastic, the weather just about right and the company great. Looking at James it knew he'd had a good day too and I was so impressed that he'd completed the whole thing feeling nowhere near 100 percent. In fact looking how fresh he still looked I reckon fully fit the 100 miler would not have been beyond him.

James - Just leave me here for a while.

Beer o'clock

As we were putting the bikes back into the car James noticed that I'd not tightened up the front break when I'd put the wheel on that morning, oops. I did wonder why the front break had felt a bit spongy and the back was sooo much better. That aside the good new was the service I'd had done proved to be well worth it, none of the gear issues I'd had at Blenheim. The gears clicked into place without a fault during the entire 52.4 miles and the bike felt if anything better than when I'd first bought it. Thank you Kinetic Cycles of Hitchin - http://kineticcycles.co.uk/kinetic-cycles-hitchin-now-open/

So great day and I'd do it or something like it again like a shot. In fact next year I'm going to do a few. Thanks to James for being amazing, making me laugh and keeping me company (no easy feat to do without getting all stabby).

My medal

The Blenheim Triathlon 

14/06/15 - Been a little lazy since the Manchester marathon so the Blenheim triathlon was a good way to kick me back into training. My wife offered to come along to support so what was a trip there on race day became a weekend in a lovely 5* spa hotel, not that I'm complaining. So after work on the Friday we set off to the Old Swan and Minster Mill Hotel in Minster Lovell in the Cotswolds where we were watched as we parked the car by Parker the cat. He watched us park then came over for stroke and to do his job of welcoming new guests to the hotel.

Parker the cat

Having a sleep after a busy day

We got settled into our room that had a lovely conservatory at the front and a small garden at the rear then went for a meal.

Morning coffee.

Next day we went for a walk, I got us a little lost, we got very wet but managed to find a really nice pub for a beer..... or two.

Having got back to the hotel soaked we dried out, had a massage and cracked open a bottle of Processco. Which was nice. So suitably refreshed I was up early for the race on Sunday. Nice full breakfast, car loaded and we were off. To be honest I was not looking forward so much to this race. I'd done very little swimming since last year and not as much cycling as I'd have liked. Also I'd decided that this was my last triathlon as I was not doing the swim training and was a bit fed up with the faffing about on race day. Still I was there and I'd paid for it. I got set-up in transition chatted a short while with a mate whose wife, Sam, was competing and also in my race wave before I walked round to the swim start. In the water and before I know it we're off. The swim was OK, I placed myself outside the group so that I could have a clear swim and I pretty much did. It seemed a lot further that last year and the swim from the last buoy to the exit definitely felt a lot further than last year. Reading some posts on Facebook it seems many people were saying the same thing and people with GPS were recording distances of 840 to 860 meters. This would explain why I was 2 minutes slower (that and my lack of training).

Swim stage complete, off to T1, Sam chasing my tail.

Came out of the swim was powering (stumbling) up the hill when I hear "Stuart!" and look behind to see Sam just behind me. I wave and storm (stumble) on. I hit transition determined to do better than the woeful 6 minutes 48 seconds it took me to complete T1 last year. 6 minutes and 48 seconds later I exit T1 and mount my bike. 

Very very fast ..... honest.

I set off and immediately have issues with the gears. The derailleur must have been misaligned or something, like I have a clue, as the chain would slip, gear would jump etc. Bloody annoying but hey ho I was quick on the downhills (small and heavy wins downhill).

Struggling with the gears.

Finished my 3 laps feeling OK and I was out on the track for the last 5.8k run. I decided just to enjoy this last bit and not to push too hard. The weather was lovely and the views stunning so it was easy to enjoy the run.

Up the hill

 Two laps done and a sprint to the finish, a drink, a bite to eat and the chance to buy some merchandise.

Winner - probably.

Had a great day, it's a great event and though I'll not do it again for a while it as good fun.

My medal

Just the Spitfire Scramble to train for in August, and I really have to step up the training and a 1/2 marathon back at Blenheim Palace in October and that's it for the year. I need to start planning next years events :)

ASICS Manchester Marathon

22/04/2015 - 2015 is the year I turned 50 and to celebrate my wife and I decided to start the year by buggering off on a cruise around the Caribbean in February. So we flew over to Miami and after a night in a hotel board the Carnival Cruise ship Freedom. Setting off we watched the sun set over the ocean while downing a few cocktails.

I had planned to start the year training for the ASICS Greater Manchester marathon which was scheduled in mid-April but I had cracked a tooth at Christmas and it had caused an infected jaw. Several weeks of antibiotics and an extraction two days before traveling to the USA had meant I'd not run pretty much at all in January. Once on board the ship I made use of the gym and the running track to do at least a few 5k's and one 10k while I was at sea. It helped that I got to swim a bit at some of the island visits. St Kitts was my favourite and we've decided to try and see if we can holiday there next year.

On the Beach - St Kitts

St Kitts - lovely.

We had a lovely time though all the food and drink was not helping with my training or weight. It was my birthday while on board and the chap who looked after our room decorated it and I got a lovely birthday cake. I've had worse birthdays.

So back home an I decide I really need to up the mileage and start doing some much bigger runs at the weekends. First one a 16 miler, then a 19.5 miler, slow but they felt good. I never managed more than a 20 mile run but I was please enough considering the fact the the jaw infection had stopped me running at all in January. I had time for a bit more fun before the marathon so my wife and I went to see Paloma Faith at the O2 in London. An amazing show. Not content with that a few days later we met with some great friends and we went back to London for a cracking meal Babylon, rooftop garden restaurant in Kensington.

 

After a couple of glasses of bubbly and a lovely dinner we headed over to Brixton to see Sam Smith in concert at the Brixton Academy. Another amazing night of music to cap an amazing day.

Sam Smith - best seats :)

So all the fun aside it was time to have a crack at the ASICS Greater Manchester Marathon, which was to be a bit of a warm up for the Spitfire Scramble Ultra I'll be running in August. I traveled up to Manchester the night before to stay with my brother and his lovely family. I was very well fed and watered and even got a lift to the race and back after - thanks bruv and thanks to Andrea his understanding wife who's going to be doing a half marathon herself this year.

I got into Manchester and the race village nice and early and was very pleased to have met a few of my friends from my favourite Internet group (you know who you are). We had a chat then moved to the start line. I was going to be the slowest of the lot so hands shaken I waved them off as they headed towards the sharp end of the race.

It was not long before the race started and 10 minutes later I crossed the start line and the race started for real. Just over a mile in and I see a familiar face. Another of my Internet buds was just ahead running her first ever marathon. We had a chat and wished each other the best and as we had different pace strategies we head apart.

After a few miles I got chatting to a chap called John who was running at my pace and good company. Turns out he'll be doing his 100th marathon this year, wow. We kept each other company until I think about mile 14 ish which meant the time flew by and I was feeling great and felt I could up my pace a bit.

Me and John.

I was actually hopeful that I'd do a much better time than I'd hoped as my only objective other than finishing was to get under 5 hours, 4 hours 35 was perhaps possible? Well no, not today. By mile 20 I started to feel it, having not run greater than 20 miles in training was biting me on the arse. I pushed on but I could feel my earlier energy dropping. By mile 23 the 4:45 pacer had caught me. I stayed on his should for a mile but eventually, on a small hill, dropped back. Last mile and I made the mistake of walking a bit, which lead to walking a bit more. Kicking myself up the arse I got running again and turning the corner and into the home straight I pushed through the pain and sprinted home. Crossing the line was bloody amazing.

I'd try to duck under the 5 hours on the clock but I missed it by 3 seconds though my chip time was 4 hours and 50 minutes, a PB by 25 minutes so very happy despite the last couple of miles. My new friend John finished just behind me in 4 hours 57 minutes. I was met by my brother who laughed as I staggered back to his car and he drove me back to his house where my car waited. A four hour drive home and I was knackered but happy.

Loved the Manchester Marathon and I am very tempted to do it again, though I also fancy another crack at London. Next race though is the Blenheim Triathlon in June then the Spitfire Scramble in August.

https://www.justgiving.com/Stuart-Fielder-ssafa/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fundraisingpage&utm_content=Stuart-Fielder-ssafa&utm_campaign=pfp-share&fb_ref=Default

After the Thunder Run 2014

27/07/2014 - Now - Well the race complete and if you've read the post about it you know I learnt a lot, a lot about how not to do it. So I've determined to do a proper job of it next year and so I decided that I would have another crack at an Ultra, but I'll get onto that later.

Since the TR24 I've not booked any other races for this as I've been too busy with other things, mainly moving my daughter up to Birmingham for her first year in Uni. Before that though I did manage to pop over to Lake Garda for a weeks break with the family - lovely as always. The weather was not as hot as last time but still hot enough for some lovely swimming in the lake. I was also that "weird guy" at the hotel as when I was not swimming in Lake Garda I was doing lengths of the pool for hour long stretches. It was not a massive pool so I was a bit like a hamster in a wheel.

Straight on the Prosecco

While there we discovered a lovely new Champagne drink - Ferrari, bloody lovely stuff. We liked so much we even bought a couple of bottles back, sadly they did not last long. Got to find a UK supplier.

Anyway after a relaxing break it was back to old Blighty and back on the bike, out for runs and a bit of open water swimming (not that I'd not been swimming in Italy). We've been having some cracking weather for old Blighty so the lake I've been swimming in (http://www.boxendpark.com/watersports/open-water-swimming.php) has been lovely and warm. The bikes been my main "thing" this summer as I expect to be running more in the winter months due to the weather. This has proven to be the case as it's got colder and wetter but I did manage to get out recently and cycle to Cambridge. Not expecting to get to Cambridge but I got a bit carried away in the sun but 60 miles later I'm enjoying a beer and sporting a big grin.

Back home and back on the bike.

Oh I nearly forgot, while I visited Malcesine I popped into my favorite bike clothing shop at the base of a mountain (Monte Baldo) and bought a couple of new tops. Now I know Italian cyclists are tiny but still it feel wrong buying "large" tops but that's what I went for. Taking the tops to the shop owner and asking if I could try them on he took them from my hands, looked at me, looked at the labels, looked at me, looked at the labels, shrugged and replied with a shrug of the shoulders "Well you can try." Well they were a bit.... aero.... but in no way was I going to exit the changing room and swap them for the XL. Firstly because.... well... just because, and lastly I did not want to give the shopkeeper the pleasure. Anyway I was going to be losing some weight wasn't I, that's what I'd said to myself, after the holiday of course, at least before Christmas, certainly in time for next seasons races!

Super Aero !!

So I've been doing a fair bit of cycling, some running - keeping running on the low as I've picked up a bit of Plantar Fasciitis - and a weekly lake swim. I really need to start beefing up the running now though as I've booked myself on the Manchester Marathon and the Blenheim triathlon already, especially if I'm going to do a proper attempt at an ultra than I achieved this year. It's 100k on nothing! (by nothing I mean something less than 100k). I've got a big old plastic boot thing I wear to bed which is supposed to help it heal but at the moment the only thing it seems good for is accidentally kicking my wife awake in the early hours. Still she got her own back by dropping my "garden" shoes in the bin while I was distracted. These I've had for years, sure they had no laces, sure she "claimed" they were "dangerous", sure I used them up ladders etc but I loved those shoes. I will point out that the number of accidents caused directly by the wearing of those shoes, excluding people tripping over them, was barely into double figures. In retaliation I have taken to wearing her flip flops.

Looking good in my new flip flops.

With two races booked the TR24 emailed to advise the date they were opening up for booking at 12 in the morning. On the day I sat up watching the clock sitting at the laptop and as soon as it clicked into 00 I hit the refresh button. Then spent a massively frustrating hour trying to book myself into the race as a soloist. The site was overwhelmed and just not working. Towards the end of the hour I'd got as far as the payment screen to be met with a screen that actually gave no method of payment. By 1am and needing to be up at 6 am for work I admitted defeat and went to bed. I set my alarm a little early for 05:30 and struggled to sleep. Beep! Arse 05:30 and I felt crap. Got up and logged back onto the laptop and the TR24 website to be told that all places had been taken. So after four years of attendance I was not going to be doing the TR24 next year and if that's the standard of the booking system I'll not be doing it again, life's too short. So I bought myself a consolation 2014 TR24 buff as a reminder of the good times.

So no TR24 but a desire to have a better crack at this ultra running lark I looked for an alternative. In the end I opted for a new 24 hour race much closer to home, the Spitfire Scramble (http://www.spitfirescramble.co.uk/). So I booked myself in as a soloist and it'll be fun being part of a race at the beginning of it's hopefully long and successful life. 

Oh and I got stitched up for this ice bucket challenge ...... here's where a devious character comes in useful. My neighbours granddaughter and a member of my family both nominated me, both got suitably soaked and waited for my response. My neighbours granddaughter in particular was out to get me back for a previous misdemeanor on my part. Here's my ice bucket challenge.

The Adidas TR24 Thunder Run 2014

26/07/2014 - 27/07/2014 - I list the Adidas Thunder run as one of the permanent races in my yearly calender so was frustrated that I could not get a team in this year due to the race filling up within a day. Not wanting to risk missing it I decided to go solo instead so duly booked my place. So here I was on the Friday before the race camping in the soloists camping section of the campsite at Catton Park.

Settled in.

Arriving shortly after me was a friend I'd previously ran in a team with who was also running solo. As you can see from the size of his tent compared to mine, his is on the right, he came a lot more prepared than me. This was typified by the fact that I turned up with all of my food having been brought from a garage on the way and was mainly microwavable food. In fact he was prepared much more physically as well as I'd not done too much running since the London Marathon. Anyway making the best of things I cracked a beer and hoped that the weather would cool down a bit for the race as it was very hot. A couple of beers later and having beautifully cooked my microwave cottage pie into a hot soup I decided that I'd need an early night.

Surprised how well I slept and although I was awoken at 5 am by a wood pigeon making a racket but I dozed off again and did not rise until 07:30. Decided not to fry up any of the microwave food I'd brought so went and had a bacon roll and a coffee at the food court. It was early but it was already getting very warm in the sun. As is the way of these things time marched on quickly and within seemingly no time I'd put my kit on and was at the start line awaiting the start.

We were off and immediately showed the other proper ultrarunners my novice credentials by running off with the team runners. The atmosphere and seeing a couple of friends on the way got the better of me and my plans to take it very easy was forgotten. About half way through the first lap and my second stupid mistake made itself apparent. After the rains of last years TR24 I'd bought myself a pair of trail shoes to use should similar rains occur again, stupidly I'd decide to that the first time I'd wear them was the first lap to see how they'd be. Well they were not good. I could feel hot spots on outside of the ball of the foot on both feet so cursing myself for being such an idiot determined to swap them with my trusty Lunar glides as soon I this lap was done. Ignoring the issue I carried on having fun. At the finish of the lap I ran into the solo area and to my tent and pulled off my trail shoes and could feel large blisters had already formed. "Sod it" I thought, put on my newest Lunarglides and headed out for my second lap.

Out on the course.

Second lap was much like my first really good fun and going way too fast in the heat considering how many hours I hoped to be running. Lap done and feeling good I headed in to take a short break and to take a look at the feet. Oh dear. Huge blisters. Fortunately my friends wife Lisa, who was there as his backup crew, came to my rescue. Blisters popped and Compeed plasters applied (brilliant things) I grabbed a drink and a bag of crisps and headed out.

Just one of my blisters.

Lap three and I was still feeling great if rather hot, the sun had been beating down and according to my car had hit 30 degrees C. Then as if someone had flicked a switch, about half way round the lap I suddenly felt terrible. I struggled round and crossed the line and got back to the tent where I sat down for a minute feeling dizzy and with a banging headache. I stood up to make cup of tea and started to shiver uncontrollably. I was freezing so grabbed a warm hoodie and made that tea. That calmed things down a bit so deciding I might have a touch of heatstroke and dehydration I went over to the concession stalls and got a large fruit smoothie and an ice lolly. Followed that up with a can of coke and a bottle of an electrolyte drink. I then retired to the tent and still shivering wrapped myself up in my sleeping bag. It took about half an hour to stop moving from shivering cold to unbearably hot and to feel well enough to leave the tent.

My left knee was giving me jip so I strapped it up and headed out. Fourth lap felt really good, I guess all the fluids I'd taken after lap 3 had done their job and like an idiot I took that as permission to run for fun again. Lap four done I topped up my drink bottles and met with Pete, my mate in the tent next door, and we decided to do a lap together so we went straight out for lap 5. Pete set a good pace and I had to work to keep up. Once I hit the 26.2 marathon distance I got Pete to take a picture for me.

26.2 miles completed.

Fifth lap complete and back in the tent was hit by another round violent shivering -  I suspect a combination of heat, dehydration and a lack of food had worked against me. Same procedure as last time, fruit smoothie and as many fluids as I could. I was struggling to eat anything. Even crisps were proving tough to eat, everything was tasteless and dry and had to be eaten with a drink to stop it catching in my throat. Managed to get a bag of crisps and a few chicken strips before heading into the tent wrapping up in the sleeping bag and feeling appalling. Went through the process of shivering cold followed by sweating heat. Some time later Suddenly I realised I felt, apart from my feet, sort of OK, and exited the tent. Standing outside in the dark I thought "well I better get going then" and head torch on set off for lap 6.

Lap 6 felt pretty good, running smoothly, the left knee had settled so I was hoping I'd manage the ten laps I had arbitrarily set myself as a goal. I felt so good at the end of lap 6 I refilled my bottles and headed out onto lap 7. I was feeling pretty confident that I would be hitting my target of ten laps and throughout lap seven, even though I was going slowly, I felt OK....ish, sure the last 5k was hard but that lap 8 was a shoe in.

Finishing the lap I was tired and went over to the concession shops to find them closed - damn no fruit smoothie. Back at the tent I had a cup of tea and tried to eat. Unable to eat I drunk as much water as I could I started to get cold and the violent shivering started again. I wrapped up in a jumper, coat and leggings but still could not get warm. So knowing I had time in the bag I decide to get back into the sleeping bag and get my head down. I woke up a while later and could hardly move my legs. I'd fallen prey to yet another rookie mistake - stopping. I contemplated another lap, could I do it, sure it would be a stagger round but just maybe. But then I a bit of sanity crept in and as I had no support crew I'd be driving myself home after the race and could not afford to end up in the back of an ambulance on a drip. A young chap in the tent next to me had had to drop out at lap 6 with dehydration and heatstroke so it seems a lot of people were suffering.

So a little down I decided to call it a day. It took a while for me to stop feeling like I'd failed and start thinking that I'd completed 70 kilometers (43.4 miles), something I'd have thought impossible a couple of years ago. I also knew that I'd learnt so much that if I ever did an ultra run again I'd be much better prepared and better able to implement the race. So I decided to treat this race as a successful learning exercise.

One last thing - the support runners get from the spectators, soloists in particular, is simply amazing. One group of spectators were making a list of all of the soloists numbers and their names so that they could encourage you by name as you went past - brilliant. Kids were spraying runners with water pistols, great fun for the kids and lovely for the overheating runners. Support for soloists from the other runners was so good that on lap 7 I put a coat on so that my "solo" sign was covered because my throat was so dry I did not want to say thanks to the shear number of people clapping me on the back and encouraging me on. Thank you everyone who encouraged me and called me an inspiration for making me feel special inside even if I felt like crap outside. See you all next year when maybe I'll live up to the praise I was getting as I did feel  bit of a fraud. Having said that the course is a tough one, there's not a single flat piece of earth on the entire run, it's all hill, cambers, roots and tree stumps, all rather technical.

My 70k Medal

Oh and my mate Pete completed 10 laps and only stopped because of blisters - next year Pete I'll hit the 100 club :).

Blenheim Triathlon 2014

08/06/2014 - So it was time for my first triathlon of the year, the Blenheim Palace Triathlon. My wife and I had travelled up on the Friday so that we could spend a couple of days at the Palace. We had a friend who was competing on Saturday and my wife wanted to take time to look around the Palace.

We had a lovely drive over and got settled into the Premier Inn at Bichester, 12 miles from Blenheim. As always with Premier Inn the hotel was nice and room clean and amenable but the Brewers Fare bar and restaurant was to prove a disappointment. Looks lovely but they forgot our order and a very simple couple of dishes took 1 hour and 20 minutes to actually make it to our table. To their credit they did at least refund the food cost and give us a free drink. So apart from breakfasts which were nice we never ate there again.

Saturday morning and we set off to Blenheim. It's beautiful round that way but we could not see a lot of it as the weather was appalling. Rain was hammering down and I felt for the people who would be already doing their triathlons. We got to Blenheim Palace, got parked and had trudged through the mud into the grounds.

Heavy weather

We had a look round to get a feel of the set-up for my triathlon the next day and waited for our friend, Helena, to arrive who was doing hers that morning. She arrived and after greeting us she set off to transition and down to the water for the swim start. Literally as her group stepped onto the pontoon to get into the water the sun came out and the sky cleared and for the rest of the weekend it was hot and sunny. Anyway I enjoyed watching the racing, cheered on Helena and had a great time while my wife disappeared into the Palace not to be seen for several hours.

Moving on to Sunday and I was up early, way too early but I was excited. My first triathlon of the year and my first ever open water one. It was the swim that was making me the most nervous and looking at the lake the day before the distance looked formidable. But I'd swum much further in training so I should be prepared. It was a beautiful day and the issue today would be the heat not the rain. We got everything out of the car, I popped the front wheel on the bike and we set off. A good friend of mine, Gareth, was already there so we met up for a post race chat. Easy since we were also going out in the same group - wave 8.  We're an odd couple what with me being a short arse and him being an actual giant - see below.

Just prior to meeting up I'd set off into transition to drop off the bike and the kit I'd need and I took my time in transition to check over the bike. Good job to as I'd nowhere near tightened the front wheel enough and would have looked a bit daft wheeling off into the race with no front wheel. So finished my business and out of transition, chatting completed, toilet attended to we set off for the swim start. I was very glad to have Gareth there as he'd done this one before which in my book made him an old hand at this stuff and since he was not panicking I chose not to. I'd set myself a small but essential list of things not to do in the swim, drown or shit myself, I was hoping for a 100% hit rate but would settle for 50/50. Good news was the water was a bath tub 18.2 degrees C, oh yes, and the lake looked bloody lovely. So after a bit of moral boosting pre-swim briefing and a reminder to have fun we were off into the water.

I'm there somewhere.

After 5 swimming out to the start I positioned myself at the back and waited. We were in the water for about 5 minutes when the start horn went off. I swam about 10 feet stopped, took off my goggles, adjusted them, swam about 10 feet, took of my goggles and adjusted them, swam about 10 feet took off my goggles and adjusted them. By now I'm firmly at the back and kicking myself for being a plonker. So head down I start swimming. I found a nice rhythm and before long I found myself in amongst the pack and for now both afloat and shit free.

Not entirely sure what to do I was weaving myself through and eventually thought, sod this, and swam out to the side and had a clear swim though it did mean I had to swim a little further. Quicker than I'd thought I passed the big floaty thing (buoy) that the super sprint peeps would turn off at, brilliant, head down keep going. Then up ahead loomed the big floaty thing (buoy) we had to turn at. Here again I took a wide berth swam round and headed for the exit pontoon. Getting there I climbed out, well was hauled out by the guy standing there and some nice helper unzipped my wetsuit for me - really good that. It's a 0.37 mile run up to the first transition and it's a damn steep climb too in a wetsuit. I was not sure how to play it so I held back a bit worried that I might knacker my legs before I even got on the bike. A few hundred yards up and Gareth passed me, I was a little surprised that I had got past him in the swim but he was making up for that.

I'm actually only a foot behind, he's sooo tall.

I dripped into T1 and faffed about at the bike and generally taking way too much time, approximately 2 minutes longer than Gareth to get out on the bike. But then again he did not have a cool Italian cycling top to put on - something he took the piss out of my for doing since it was just about the hottest day of the year. So I eventually left transition and tried to make up for lost time on the bike. The little Carrera doing a splendid job of getting me round.

Love my little bike

I was loving the riding and was really going for it on the flats and the down hills. Once again though I felt that it's the up hill bits that are letting me down. I need to really work out how to do them properly. I suspect it's my stubbornness that's the issue here though. There were people getting off and pushing their bikes up a particularly difficult spot yet there was I out of my saddle flatly refusing to drop into the smaller gear cog choosing to remain in the hero spectrum of gear cog selection - twat.

That being said I loved the bike section but all too soon it was over and I was back into transition, bike racked, nice Italian jersey off and heading out for the run. For some reason I ran the first lap as a bit of a stroll. I think I was perhaps enjoying it all a bit too much and forgetting to run, which it fine and I was really enjoying it.

"We can dance if we want to....."

So second lap I kicked on a bit, running like I should have run the first lap and it was at this point I decided I really, really should grab some water.

Well that went well as I very nearly choked myself by chucking down my throat and spent the next minute coughing up my guts. Near certain death avoided I finished my second lap and headed for the finish.

That is the "F Bot" my version of the Mo Farah "Mo Bot", though now I can see it's backwards so lost some of the effect.

Up the finish straight I see Gareth shouting me on from the sides so run past for a high five before doing a stupid dash for the line.

Boobs out for the lads!

"Run Forest run!" - obligatory.

So across the line and grabbed my medal, a bottle of water, a can of free energy drink but turned down a beer - it was alcohol free. Well there was Champagne to be had and my wife went and bought a bottle which we enjoyed a little later. Well I must say I absolutely loved it, no not the Champagne, well yes they Champagne but I meant the race. I grinned the entire way round. Deffo do this one again and it's given me the drive to do the Standard or "Olympic" length triathlon, maybe later in the year.

He's even taller than me when I'm on the top of the podium ffs!

I love my Carrera