The week up to Norwich

Planning not to do to much this week as the Norwich Tri is on Sunday!!

Monday 28th, Liam Came up with a great call, down to the beach for a sea swim, we went from just below the school up to the south pier and back, the sea was calm and we had a slack tide, perfect conditions for a swim, Lee Bircham estimated the swim to be about 2500m in total, then when I got home I did a 30 min session on the turbo trainer and did some core strength work.

Tuesday went out for an easy ride out round Henstead and back, did a total of 16.2 miles at an avg. of 20 mph. nice and easy spinning the legs.

Wednesday, Rode to Beccles and back to watch Joe at athletics, a total of 18.5 miles at an average speed of 21.5 mph, had a good push on the way home but rode easy out, warm weather conditions.

Thursday, the plan was to ride out to Caister and on to California, then cut across to Acle and on to the Reedham ferry, We arrived at Reedham after completing 35 miles, to find the ferry was broken, after hanging around for about 45 mins we decided to try and catch the train but after a couple of minutes waiting Mike Davies decided to cycle home, the group with the exception of three decided to follow, a jolly jaunt down the Acle straight and 59 miles later we arrived back at the Commodore, I had a good push on the front and was feeling good, so much for a nice easy ride, an average speed of just over 19 mph on mountain bikes, not bad pace by anyones standard.

Friday I gave the scores a miss after a hard night Thursday had a rest day, drank some wine and relaxed.

Saturday morning I went for a quick swim at Fritton, I only did about 1200m in total.

Sunday was up early for a good breakfast, Then off to Norwich, all set up in transition and feeling relaxed, was going to be a warm day, clear skies and about 26-28 degrees. The course had changed from last year so I would not be able to compare my times from last year, the swim was longer and so was the run route.
I had a good swim kept out of trouble and felt comfortable all the way, I wasn't knackered when I came out of the water, time was 27.13.(27.08 in 2009) first bonus point! then transition went well onto the bike and straight into pedaling and no cramp, second bonus point!! had a good bike ride although was passed by one other rider but did pass lots of others myself which always feels good, the only slight issue I had was loosing my drinks bottle from the cage behind my seat that had my energy gels inside, not to worry still had about 700ml of lucozade in the aero bottle to use, quite a stiff head wind on the outward leg of the bike which combined with the undulating route made it feel like hard work, but in the end put in a good time of 1.02.49, much better than last year. (1.07.32 in 2009) Transitions were quicker as well and felt good straight off the bike and onto the run, although the heat and the hills in the first part of the run route soon slowed me down, not to worry only 2 laps to do so just keep running, plenty of people to pass which makes it easier, the run took me 48.24 which I wasn't to happy with but then I think the distance must have been 7 miles, (I did the run in 41.18 last year)
A total time of 2.20.01 good enough for 10th place overall, a big improvement on my 28th place last year, I'm pleased with my performance in this event especially with my bike time at last I have put in a good performance on the bike, a bit more training and hopefully I'll be contending for the silverware in the future!!!!

The philosophy Train hard race harder must be working.