Wednesday 6 February 2013

Have I got news for you…


Biggest, fattest apologies ladies and gentlemen of this tri blog parish. I was out there, spreading the good word of triathlon on a regular, almost-daily basis for the past few weeks and then, like an unreliable shepherd with a booze problem, I once again neglected my flock in favour of other endeavours.

And even this here blog will serve as little recompense, lacking, as it is, any real mental sustenance or edifying value. In fact, all I’m here to say is that there’s going to be some BIG NEWS about my blog coming soon.
Obviously, everything has a context and this will be BIG NEWS (see how I write it in caps to show how big it is! Clever, huh?) in the relatively localised and niche context of my blog, not BIG NEWS in a more global sense, such as pan-Arabian peace talks, or scientists discovering an unlimited, clean and easily stored energy source, or Britney Spears and Wayne Rooney having a baby together.

Anyways, while I’m busy working on this BIG NEWS over the next few days, I’ll not be posting so much so I hope you’ll forgive me and not find comfort in the arms of another blog. Honestly, I think we can work through this, I’m doing this BIG NEWS for you guys, I’ve been thinking of you while I’ve been with the BIG NEWS, I just know we can make this work if you’ll give me one more try…

Anyways, stay posted for more details about the BI.. uh you get it.... 

Monday 4 February 2013

The Monday list: ten twits to follow

Each Monday from now on (well, whenever possible, at least) I’ll be doing a top five or top ten list to start the week. This week, I’m starting nice and easy with my ten fave people, companies or websites to follow on Twitter, with a brief explanation as to why. This list is aimed at those with an interest in triathlon and related subjects, but does not include pro triathletes (ten triathletes who tweet well will be a future list). If you have any comments, recommendations or additions, I’d love to hear them:
  1. @ThirdBrownlee – An irreverent look at the world of triathlon from Alistair and Jonathan’s “little brother”
  2. @TrainingPeaks – lots of great information and technical training articles, even if you don’t use the TP programme for training
  3. @BeginnerTriathlete – loads of advice and features for intermediate as well as beginner multisporters
  4. @dcrainmakerblog – plenty of triathlon information but also the best and most complete reviews of all tri-related technology
  5. @TriathleteEurope – good source of news and interviews
  6. @purplepatch – Purple Patch head coach, Matt Dixon, is a top tri mind with lots of ideas that could be of benefit to age groupers
  7. @trifuel – links to interesting studies, sessions, slideshows, news and reviews
  8. @Doctor_Hutch – as well as being a brilliant writer (if you’ve not already, read his book The Hour), Michael Hutchinson is a great source of cycling-related news and opinions
  9. @BenGreenfield – top triathlete who is also a huge nutrition mind, with loads of links, opinions, videos and podcasts relating to health, wellbeing and sports performance
  10. @slowtwitch – a place where all tri junkies can really geek out  

This list is, of course, in no way exhaustive and tries to include a little of everything but, if you’re a triathlete just getting into Twitter or a member of the Twitterati just getting into triathlon, you won’t go far wrong if you follow these ten handles to start.


Sunday 3 February 2013

A blog post that saves lives and money

There are a lot of things to consider when you move countries and continents. And you can get so caught up with unimportant stuff, like packing, closing and opening bank accounts, new apartment to live in yadda, yadda, yadda, that it becomes easy to overlook the truly important training-related to-dos.

Last week, almost three months since I made the move to Amsterdam, I finally got around to what should be - no, seriously, it should - one of the first things an athlete needs to do when they make such a move: order my new Road ID.

If you don't know what a Road ID is, it's this:


Essentially, a velcro bracelet that you wear for all your activities, containing vital information and contact numbers.  On mine, for example, it says my name, the year I was born, my girlfriend and parents' contact numbers (obviously, they're not blurred out on the real thing!), that I have no known allergies, asthma and have AB+ blood type, and there's even room for a little motivational message to read when you look down during a hard session. Many people have "don't quit" or "pain doesn't exist" type slogans but I prefer the last line of The Streets' great tune, Turn The Page, which is my pre-race anthem.

As many of my triathlon buddies back in Dubai have witnessed of late, in the terrible case of an accident while out biking or running, you could be left unconscious and this type of information - who you are, blood type, allergies etc - could well be critical. As could the support of your loved ones. It's almost irresponsible to train without one of these bad boys on your wrist.

They're only pretty cheap - less than US$20 - plus, if you use the code ThanksMatt22236291 you'll get a dollar off. Can't say fairer than that. This isn't a sales pitch, I'm not sponsored by Road ID, or anything like that... I just think that, as cyclists, runners or triathletes, we sometimes take safety for granted. This is just one of a couple of very simple and cheap steps we can take to limit the risks of racing and training, as going out in a group or run buddy isn't always possible.


Wednesday 30 January 2013

The clothes make the man – in triathlon at least


There are loads of sayings and little snippets of advice that involve the threads we wear. “The clothes make the man,” “Dress to impress,” “Wolf in sheep’s clothing,” “The emperor’s new clothes,” “Dressed to kill,” and “Dress for the job you want, not the one you’ve got”…

I’ve always had a bit of a basic, whatever-fits approach to training and working out attire but, over the past couple of years, that has changed significantly.

It was 18 months or so ago, at a big race, that I was chatting to a really top age grouper (sub-9 hour IM guy, it turned out). We were both smugly ridiculing the hundreds of all-the-gear-and-no-idea racers who, by the looks of them, had spent more time shopping at the expo than doing any training; the result being that they all now looked the same – same warm-up pants, same ‘cool’ jacket, same branded visor…

I mentioned to the guy I was chatting to (Norweigan fella, if that helps you paint the picture more clearly) that I just tended to grab any old crap in sports shop sales and mix and match for training. “No, no, no, Matt – that won’t do at all!” he said to me completely seriously, before dishing out the triathlon sartorial advice that I now follow without question (with one exception but that’s coming up…).

His advice was that you should have one or two sets of good quality swim gear, bike wear, and run kit. You don’t need all the fancy track suits, triathlon t-shirts, race visors… you don’t need a wardrobe that looks like a rainbow threw up I it, stuffed with 20 different TdF team bike kits. But one or two good, good quality changes for each sport.

This wasn’t to look good. This wasn’t about saving money (although, ultimately, once I started buying one good pair of bike bib shorts rather than 5 sets of cheap, rubbish shorts, I did save money in the long-term). The reasoning went a little something like this:

·         If you dress like a cyclist, you’ll be treated like a cyclist
·         If you’re treated like a cyclist, you’ll feel like a cyclist
·         If you feel like a cyclist, you’ll train and ride like a cyclist
·         If you train and ride like a cyclist, you’ll become a better triathlete

(Obviously, the same applies to swimming and running too.)

I also find that this process has helped me mentally. When I head to a run workout now, I dress and feel like a runner and, therefore, I push myself to compete with other runners, rather than thinking “well, hey, I’m a triathlete so I don’t have to be quite as good as the rest of these guys…”

With all this in mind, here are some simple tips to get you started:

·         When you wear your goggles around your neck before or after a swim session, you might be thinking “useful and won’t lose them” but all the swimmers are thinking “tool”.
·         ­Unless you’re an Olympic hopeful in the pool or are clocking 25km or more a week in an ITU-style training schedule, the above applies to taking flippers to the pool.
·         Tri suits are for tri races – not bike rides.
·         Tri suits are for tri races – not running races.

But there’s more to this than not looking like an idiot and improving your training. You see, the proper sport-specific kit is almost always the best and most comfortable thing to wear.

As I said earlier, I’ve been sticking rigidly to this ‘dress for the occasion’ principle now for a good 18 months. Except once: my first bike ride after moving to Amsterdam.

I knew it was cold, a little wet – certainly different conditions to those I was used to experiencing in Dubai. But I didn’t need any of those fancy, expensive winter biking clothes, I decided – with all their waterproof this and windproof that. I layered up with what I had, put on a pair of woolly mittens and headed out for what proved to be 90 of the most unpleasant and painful minutes that I can remember. By the time it started raining – and we were a bit lost and 45 minutes at least from home – I’d decided that crawling under a tree to have a little cry would be the best course of action; however, my hands were too cold to actually press on the brakes to stop, so I just had to keep pedalling.
Before: a bit cold
The next time I went out, my road bike was sporting mud guards and I was kitted out in shoe covers, fleece-lined long bike knicks, a proper windproof jacket (with waterproof in the back pocket) and windproof and waterproof lobster claw cycling gloves. The 2 hour ride was a cosy delight.
After: wrapped up, toasty and ready to ride.
Lesson learned - being unsuitably attired is not a mistake I will be making again. It’s not vanity, it’s not showing-off – it’s just the best way to make sure you don’t end your ride weeping under a big tree…

Monday 28 January 2013

All-time top 10 blog posts

As a dynamic, young multimedia go-getter, there is obviously nothing sadder or more pathetic to me than witnessing the slow decline of a chisseled old hack, as they stop taking pride in their work and, instead, just start rehashing stuff they've done before, churning out cheap and easy content rather than investing in fresh new editorial ideas.

So, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I present for your consideration this magnetic, vigorous, fresh and in no way whatsoever cynical rundown of the ten most read posts that have appeared on this here blog over the past couple of years.

Hopefully you'll find them interesting and, if nothing else, it's an interesting lesson in what folks want to read...

1. Wadi Bih Run race report

2. Ironman Wales race report part 1


3. Have you read my latest blag post?

4. Ironman Austria race report part 3

5. 25 signs that you're a Dubai triathlete

6. Ironman Austria race report - the day before the race

7. The things I won't miss about doing tri in Dubai

8. Typical Dubai triathlete conversations

9. Tri Yas - race report

10. The things I will miss about tri in Dubai

The lessons to be learnt are fairly clear. If you want a successful triathlon blog, fill it with race reports coz people love that stuff.

Back with another,, somewhat more original (but only a little somewhat) post soon enough. Cheers.

Thursday 24 January 2013

Wacky races - 2013 race schedule


One of the biggest advantages of having moved back to Europe - other than hot chocolate on a cold day, and, y'know, actual culture and trees and stuff - is that there are so many events to choose from. With that in mind, over these winter months when snowfall, sub-zero temperatures and 4pm sunsets have made summer triathlons feel a long way away, I've diligently gone about building my race schedule for the year ahead. 

I've mentioned on numerous occasions that Dubai was a wonderful place to discover triathlon but, due to the 12 months a year schedule if you're doing a big summer race, it also had its drawbacks.

With those drawbacks in mind, this year's race schedule (my first ever European summer schedule) looks a lot like this:

14 April - Rotterdam Marathon

As well as these, there are a couple of bike sportives I'll tackle in spring, there's a canal swim race in Amsterdam at the end of summer, and there are a few local sprint tris I'll do either individually or for my Tri Club (draft-legal... should be fun!) but, essentially, they'll all be parts of the build for the bigger events.

It's a schedule I'm excited about for a variety of reasons. Firstly, in spite of having done a couple of full Ironmans, I've never done a half IM so looking forward to trying a couple of those. Secondly, as I wrote in my 10 triathlon resolutions for 2013, I wanted to try something different and exciting this year and the Rat Race Dirty Weekend (the world's biggest ever obstacle course - 200 obstacles over 20 miles!) is certainly that.

Significantly, it's the sort of season I didn't manage in Dubai where I feel I just trained continually and maybe looked to peak once during the summer for an Ironman. This summer, I'll look to peak for the Rotterdam Marathon, Berlin 70.3 and the Half Challenge Almere-Amsterdam - my A races that are all nicely spaced out. Thanks to this, as well as the weather, it also means that during the early season I can focus on my run (my weakest discipline) like I never have before, while swimming and cycling take a back seat for a while before being picked up in the spring.

Finally, I feel like it's a schedule that's going to help me see some significant improvements as I build up for another Ironman in 2014 and look to shatter my 10.59 in Austria. I might be wrong - it could turn out that I'm just the kind of athlete who benefits from 3 swims, 3 bikes, 3 runs a week all year round, but I don't feel like that's going to be the case. Best of all, it's a schedule that has me super motivated and just champing at the bit to get out there and start racing again. It's been a while...

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Going long for the fatties…


As regular readers will know, this blog is where I harp on and on about me, myself and I – my own impressions, experiences and general barely-thought-out waffle – but today I want to draw attention to somebody else entirely.

This morning, over in Dubai, my friend Ed Hawkins started a self-supported ultraman which will see him cover 10kms of swimming, 448kms of cycling, and 84kms of running over the next three days.

His schedule looks like this:
Day 1 - 10km swim and a 174km bike ride
Day 2 - 274km bike ride
Day 3 - A double marathon, an 84km run

This isn’t an official race (tho Ed will time the run to coincide with the Dubai Marathon on Friday) – Ed is alone in doing this. So why is he doing it? To raise awareness for weight-related health problems and diabetes – major issues everywhere but particularly in the fast-food, no-exercise, drive-everywhere culture of the Middle East.

I guess this particularly strikes a chord with me as Ed’s story is similar to my own: both sporty kids who, for one reason or another, got pretty big and unhealthy in our 20s and, mainly through discovering endurance sports, managed to turn that around. In Ed’s case, he turned it around in spectacular fashion, becoming a fantastic triathlete (and Kona qualifier!) in the process.

So, today, rather than waxing lyrical about ’10 things that annoy me about wetsuits’ or ‘why I hate treadmills’, I’m just going to be following Facebook updates to see how Ed (and his superb team of supporters and cheerleaders led by his wife Sarah) is getting on and doing some online pompoming.

Follow Ed on twitter: @ehawkins
Check out his blog: edhawkins.blogspot.com
Follow his ultraman progress: facebook.com/ChallengeUltramanDubaiDiabetesAwareness

Finally, if you’ve accidentally stumbled upon this and are thinking that your life is maybe heading in an unhealthy direction, I’ll give you the advice that finally brought it home to me: it’s only going to get harder to put right tomorrow. If you want to be fit, active and healthy at 60, you need to do the right things at 30, otherwise you’re going to be sat wheezing in your chair, wishing you’d made changes while you had the chance.

And, of course, you don’t have to become a triathlete or an Ironman – it may sound overly simple, but turning my life and health around was as simple as committing to doing 45 minutes of sport or exercise three times a week (no excuses) and deciding what my single biggest bad eating habit was (pasta, double helpings, three times a week) and changing it. Those changes created a snowball that is still rolling and (I hope) getting faster.