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.... 

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.

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.

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…

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.

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:

10 Feb - Schoorl Half Marathon

10 March - The Hague Half Marathon

14 April - Rotterdam Marathon

11 May - Rat Race Dirty Weekend

16 June - Berlin Ironman 70.3

14 September - Challenge Almere-Amsterdam (half iron distance)

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...

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.

What's your biggest challenge?

One of the things I like best about triathlon and endurance sport is that there is always some sort of challenge that needs to be faced and solved... or endured, at least. The physical challenges are, of course, the most obvious examples; however, often more difficult are the mental challenges that swimming, biking and running can throw up. Then, maybe toughest of all, are the logistical challenges.

You have an early meeting but need to fit in an hour on the bike…

You need to pack swim kit, work clothes, running gear and a change of clothes to meet some friends for a drink and need to get it all into one bag…

You have a brick session – an early long ride (likely to be cold) followed by a medium distance run (likely to be hot by then); how many changes of kit, water bottles, sports drinks, energy gels and bananas do you need to get you through and where will you keep them..?

To me, triathlon often seems like less of an endurance sport and more of a complex puzzle.

While living in Dubai, the toughest equation to solve often involved the year’s biggest races being in or around summer when temperatures in the UAE were tipping over from ‘Megan Fox’ to ‘Jessica Alba’ on the hotness scale (which is way more fun than a thermometer). Therefore, the solution to the training quandary often involved very early mornings, pre-frozen water bottles and cooler boxes left in the car.

Ahhhh... let's just take a minute here... OK, carry on reading.

Recently, I’ve been faced with a completely different problem:

The cold is an issue, of course – especially where cycling is concerned – but the bigger problem is that it has snowed two or three times in the past week or so, without once getting out of minus temperatures, so you can imagine how precarious the roads, bike paths and pavements are at the moment.

This doesn’t matter too much for cycling – it’s still very early in the season and a few half hours here and there on the home trainer will do the trick for now – however, having begun my training for the Rotterdam Marathon, it most definitely does affect my running.

And, so, I’ve had to hit the gym – an obvious solution, maybe, but I have always had a hate-hate-hate relationship with the treadmill. After 10 minutes, I’m bored senseless. But the training schedule says what it says and won’t wait for the roads to dry and temperatures to rise and so, yesterday, I headed for the gym ably supported by my MP3 player and an iPad with a couple of shows on it and, for the first time, I blasted out a steady half marathon (21.1kms) on the treadmill.

And this is where the logistical, the physical and the mental all collide – OK, it was just a mid-paced training run but I managed to knock out almost two hours on the treadmill – my sworn enemy! – and the motivation and positive energy I got from achieving that were enormous. Life threw me a curve ball, and I adapted and just got her done – winning the logistical, physical and mental battles all at once. And that, as much as anything, is what triathlon training is all about. While everyone else says "I think I'll skip my run/gym visit today", we just have to man (or woman) up and get 'er done. 

And, to my mind at least, this is a pretty good lesson to apply to life on the whole.

Introducing… the pain corner!

With the year now well underway I decided that, in spite of the fact that I’m currently almost solely focused on running and weight training, it was time to set the bike up ready for a few spins here and there. And, as the Amsterdam winter weather is not always a cyclist’s best friend, that meant getting the indoor trainer ready.

While I would have obviously loved a proper full-on pain cave in the style of Andy Potts or the Lovatos, unfortunately Amsterdam real estate rental prices (and the fact that the missus and I quite fancied an apartment that looked like a home rather than a bike shop) meant that such exercise awesomeness wasn’t possible.

However, I’m pretty pleased with my pain corner.

The home trainer is set up (this time with a proper home trainer wheel and tyre – I learned my lesson after destroying a normal tyre on the trainer in Dubai!). 

I have a nice (currently snow-filled) view which almost helps me to forget that I’m sweating away like an idiot in an upstairs bedroom, as well as space for the iPad, Kindle and MP3 player (attached to my super-cool, not-yet-released-officially Philips sports headphones) to help while away some of the longer, steadier rides. 

As the body temperature heats up, I can simply open the window or, if that’s not enough, there’s a good fan to help circulate that cold air.

The trainer is going to feature much more predominantly in my programme this year. This is really for two reasons: firstly, it is far less time-consuming than taking the bike out which, in turn, means that triathlon training can be fit more easily around other aspects of my life; secondly, as I’m concentrating on 70.3s and less, then many of my bike workouts will be a maximum hour in length, working on increasing speed and power, rather than the long endurance rides needed for Ironman.

Pro triathlete Andy Potts' pain cave!

While knocking out three hours or more on the home trainer sounds about as much fun as having my head kicked-in (longer rides will still be done on the roads), I really enjoy using the trainer for shorter sessions with different effort levels and incorporating plenty of short, sharp intervals to keep it painful but interesting.

This is the 'pain garage' of married pros Amanda and Michael Lovato.

I’m somewhat flying by the seat of my pants (love that expression!) this year, creating my own programme, schedule and periodising based on what has worked in the past and what I think will work for me. As with the rest, this short, hard turbo trainer focus may end up not working out and, next year, I’ll go back to a more traditional programme, but I really feel that you have to keep changing things up as a triathlete – for motivation and sanity’s sake, as much as for seeing improvements.

Of course, there are some who like to follow the same schedule year-in year-out because they know it works for them, but I tend to have a touch of ADHD about me in all that I do, so – like a swimming, biking, running Madonna but without the flappy skin on the elbows, or the conical boobs, or the embarrassing granny dancing – it’s all about reinvention, evolution and moving forward for me. It’ll work or it won’t, but I enjoy the experimenting.     

If you fancy building your own full-on pain cave (or you're just looking for a bit of inspiration for a little pain corner like mine), check out these videos:

Top ten triathlon resolutions

Ok, ok, so you’re supposed to make your New Year’s resolution on January 1^st – I get that I’m a little late with all this but, as the old saying goes, better tardy than not at all… or something like that?

Anyway, here are my slightly delayed resolutions for 2013:

1.       Laugh, smile and always have fun –even in light of all the tough and painful moments, that’s what we do this for.

2.       Do something new. It’s important to keep things fresh so, this year, I’ll be doing more run races than before, my first ever 70.3s (yeah, I’m one of those guys who went straight from sprints and Olys to full Ironmans… sorry!), as well as an epic obstacle course race. Excited!

3.       Work on my weaknesses. As I’m now living in Holland and, therefore, can’t really do much to improve my laughably terrible hill climbing, 2013 has become all about strength training (something I’ve neglected these past couple of years) and doing more running than Forrest Gump.

4.       Remember – it’s just a sport. I’m going to try to make sure I never take triathlon, or myself, too seriously.

5.       Say ‘thank you’ more. That means to swim and run coaches, the trainer at the gym, all volunteers at races, as well as my supportive friends and family.

6.       Volunteer. The beginning and middle of the season are pretty busy but there are quite a few big run races here in Holland towards the end of the year, so I’m going to make sure I give something back and volunteer to marshal or whatever’s required at one of those.

7.       Take a non-triathlon/sport related holiday. This means leaving the bike at home and not even hiring one there. It probably even means not taking run trainers. Apparently, the earth will continue to spin…

8.       Goals = gear. It’s easy to trick ourselves into thinking that we’re not a little faster, or making the top 10/podium because we haven’t got the right bike, or wheels, or trainers, or bottle holder, or saddle, or (deep breath…) helmet, or bike jersey, or Garmin, or bike computer, or goggles, or wetsuit, or tri suit, or… well, you get how this goes. In reality, there are very few gadgets that can make as much difference as a block of good, consistent training or, in fact, losing a few unnecessary kilos. So, this year, the theory is that I’ll buy some minor tri-related additions – when and only when, I’ve achieved certain pre-set goals.

9.       Be less selfish. Triathlon is, by definition, a selfish sport. But I’m determined to find a balance this year. For every weekend of big training or racing, there’s a day at the beach, in the park or at a music festival. For every early morning race start, there’s a night out. Every time I have to tell the other half I can’t do something because or triathlon, I’ll make it up with something else or better.

1.   For those of us who’ll never top podiums, it’s important to remember that PBs and kicking your friends’ arses are also magnificent victories in their own right. I’m hoping to bask in plenty of PBs and dole out several ass-kickings this year! 

Bike porn...GRRRRRR!

As every triathlete or cyclist knows, there is one feeling that eclipses all of life’s other emotions and experiences. Sure, reaching the top of a gruelling climb feels pretty cool; watching the bike computer nudge past 80kmph as you smash through a long downhill is awesome; that little internal sensation you get when you’re in a race and know – just know – that you’re in great form and killing it is sweet too…

But none of these come close to the sheer primal exhilarating rush of buying a new bike!

The next best thing to buying a new bike, of course, isn’t setting a new PB or winning a race… it’s showing off pictures of your latest steed. And so, in true Slowtwitch style… ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to my latest set of wheels.

BOOM! This little beauty is a brand-new (erm, well, about seven years old) Altra Bravo. You can try looking that up online but you won't find a website coz it's just so darn, like, custom and niche and specialist and stuff...

DING! Oh yeah... it's got a nice shiny bell from Halfords. Does your Shiv have that? Does it??? Didn't think so...

BANG! Look at that bottom bracket! And the kick stand! And the chain protector cover thing that keeps your chain a bit clean and stops your jeans from getting dirty. Cutting-edge.

BOSH! Told you it was cutting-edge. The T3 is, I believe, SRAM's response to Shimano's Di2 gearing. After all, who needs 20-odd gears when you can just have three? (has an added feature that means you have to actually hold the lever in 1st gear for it to stay, and have to stop pedalling for a couple of seconds to allow it to change).

WALLOP! That's a lock that goes through the back wheel. And a pannier rack. And some elastic thing. All fitted tightly around the back wheel mud guards for maximum aerodynamic efficiency. Apparently, the geniuses at Altra (or Bravo - not sure which is the brand and which is the model!) spent months in the wind tunnel perfecting this design.

PING! A rear-mounted extra scooter lock on the back tucked into the elastic thingymajobbies.

SQUEAK! Ohhhhh yeah. Now this is a bike riding saddle. How do I know? Coz it's got pictures of people riding bikes on it. Didn't think of that, did you ISM? Missed a trick there, hey Fizik?

Anyway, that's my latest bike. I realise that you're probably feeling pretty jealous now, so where can you pick one of these bad boys up? Well, RRP is €60 from some dude in southern Holland who has a house and harden full of second hand bikes (that may or may not be stolen...). You can find him on marktplaats.nl (Dutch ebay). Happy shopping.

New year, new start

Well, what a year 2012 was. Personally, the changes were immense: from Dubai to Amsterdam; from living alone to shacked-up bliss; from Managing Editor to, erm, well, freelancer/job seeker... But it was a breakthrough year for me in terms of triathlon too, and that's something I'm hoping to continue into 2013.

This year, I spent Christmas and New Year at my folks' house for the first time in around five years and it was terrific. I caught up with friends and family, ate, drank and was merry. The girlfriend was there for most of it too and it was fun to show her the way us Brits celebrate Chrimbo and New Year (the traditional pantomime was a bit of an eye-opener) ... as well as introducing her to the football Mecca that is Goodison Park.

After a bit of northern uproar, we headed down to London Town for some more thrills and spills... maybe a few too many as, by the time we got back home to Amsterdam, I was sick as a sod and spent the next couple of days shaking like a nodding dog in the back of a bulldozer, with a head that felt as if it had been used as the ball for a Stoke vs West Ham match.

This long-winded, overblown and probably, now I think about it, a bit unnecessary exposition is basically my version of the school boy's "the dog ate my homework, sir" excuse. I'm supposed to be two weeks into my marathon training programme now and, instead, I've done two sessions.

I didn't mind missing a few sessions while back in the UK. I've put in some solid base miles (following the MAF principles) in the previous months, so an extra few days of enjoying myself wouldn't hurt, I decided. But I was eager to dive right back in as soon as we got back Dutch side, so the flu virus that wiped me out for a few days was a kick in the teeth.

One thing I did learn last year was that ignoring illness, injury or fatigue doesn't work. So I accepted defeat, rested up and waited... I was champing at the bit by the time I headed out this evening and, although it was only a little 7km run at 5.25/km pace, I was happy and excited to be out. That's one of the real benefits of taking breaks - something that doing triathlon in Dubai didn't really encourage - you need to get a little fat and lazy sometimes; you need to wake up and think about what chocolate bar to eat first rather than how far to swim that morning; you need to measure a day in pints rather than kilometers... That's where motivation and true long-term results come from, I think. It certainly seems to be the case for me, at least, because I'm now more excited about getting race fit again than I have been since Ironman Austria back in July.

And so it starts... I'm happy to be back in proper training and that means that normal service is resumed in terms of the blogging too. So, good news for those of you who get easily bored in work... You'll be hearing plenty more from me soon enough.