ok, lets do this. I have started to write so many times, but always struggled to find the flow, and now I’ve got so far behind, my excuse is that I don’t know where to begin. Therefore, to cut through the crap, I am simply going to begin right here and see where it goes. …
Toyohashi Ironman 70.3 Race Report
Endurance sports are incredibly popular in Japan, many being sold out months in advance, with interest level seeming to rise with the increasing length of the race. This is never truer than with triathlons, and the local community had awaited the revival of Ironman brand after the last of their races in Japan had fizzled …
A few plans and lots of navel gazing
Well, here we are again, the summer is approaching and once more I am preparing for a selection of races, starting off with Toyohashi Japan Half Ironman this weekend. I haven’t raced an official Ironman event since Cozumel 2021, although I did do a local “longer than a half but shorter that a full” event …
Reasons to be cheerful
As I write this, I’m sat in the reception of the hospital that saved my life 13 years ago. I’m just in for a check-up, but back in 2009 I was rushed in here for heart surgery, culminating with a stent being put into my heart, opening up a 90% blockage. At the time it …
Hokkaido Triathlon 2022 – Race report
Way back in the annals of time, around spring, when I was still recovering from my little jaunt across the Sahara, I decided to pick out a few races to encourage myself to focus and get out of my “post MdS funk”. I had a whole bunch of Covid postponed races coming up, but realising …
My Marathon Des Sables – Race Report 2022
It has been quite a while since I finished the MdS, actually 12 weeks to be precise, and I am beginning to feel ready to write a little bit more about it. I have never felt so drained emotionally or physically after a race, which I suppose is to be expected seeing how extreme it …
And done! Marathon Des Sables is in the books
I will write more later but for now, just a quick post to say that after two years of preparation and cancellation, I managed to successfully finish the 2022 version of Marathon des Sables, a 250km 7 day stage race across the Sahara Desert. Was one of the toughest and most amazing experiences of my …
Continue reading And done! Marathon Des Sables is in the books
Marathon Des Sables: Multi-Day Training Camp – Part One
It’s now almost 2 months since Ironman Cozumel, and things have moved on swiftly. I probably over did the recovery period, and that combined with too much festive cheer meant my weight shot up and my mileage dropped dramatically. By the end of December I was aware that my focus had slipped and I was …
Continue reading Marathon Des Sables: Multi-Day Training Camp – Part One
Cozumel Ironman 2021 – Race Report
(No race pics at moment as still sorting out an issue with FinisherPix, I didn't want to wait anymore, so will add once its sorted) So I did it !! Yep, despite the fact I didn’t update my blog for several months, rather than it being due to me flunking out and slinking back into …
Training for Ironman Cozumel – its coming together.
It’s been a month since I’ve posted, I have no excuses other than I just haven’t felt the desire to sit down and write. This doesn’t reflect that things have gone bad, nor that I’ve lost motivation, actually its more to do with the fact that I have been training hard (and even working hard), …
Continue reading Training for Ironman Cozumel – its coming together.
Getting into the swing of things.
It’s now been a month since returning to Japan, and my 7 month sojourn in UK and Spain seems a distant memory. I’ve got back to some sort of routine, although things are far from normal, with many offices and shops being closed and a state of emergency in place, meaning restrictions on what you …
Cozumel Ironman : 17 weeks out
As mentioned in my previous blog, the past week was my first week back in Japan, and it’s really good to get home after unexpectedly being away for so long. When I first touched down I was required to spend 3 nights in a quarantine hotel, officially not allowed to leave my room until the …
Happy to be back in the land of The Rising Sun
Good morning from hot and humid Tokyo. I have just started into my second week of self-isolation here having already spent 3 days in mandatory hotel quarantine on my return to Japan, before being allowed out to isolate at home. The Japanese government have cracked down hard on people entering the country, with a maximum …
Continue reading Happy to be back in the land of The Rising Sun
Is this what we really miss most about racing?
Its nice to be in England as summer slowly creeps up on us, although I must admit I had forgotten how much it rains here, even on the warmest sunniest day, clouds suddenly appear and the heavens open to soak the unsuspecting. The beautiful green of the countryside along with bright early mornings and long …
Continue reading Is this what we really miss most about racing?
Up, down and up again
It’s been an interesting couple of weeks, and I have a very good excuse for not updating recently. Thought I would just drop a line now to explain where I am at, and once everything has settled fully, get back to regular posting – news I am sure will please and enthral my prodigious global …
Wow I can see!!!
I wasn’t planning on writing anything this week due to having NLR surgery (natural lens replacement, which is basic cataract surgery but using prescription replacement lenses), however as I am feeling pretty chipper and positive, thought I would get a brief update down.Firstly – wow, I can see!! I was first prescribed glasses in elementary …
Sleep deprivation, Normatec and Bionic Eyes
Another quiet week passes by, really nothing exciting or out of the ordinary to update anyone on. Living in such an isolated way as I am now, without any real interaction with the outside world, tends to be what one may loosely term as “boring as hell”, however it is conducive to great training. The …
Continue reading Sleep deprivation, Normatec and Bionic Eyes
12 weeks before Ironman Vitoria Gasteiz
This week's post is a little late, and somewhat truncated. I actually have no idea where my time went, but seems I’ve been too busy/tired/lazy to get anything done, and now it's already halfway through the next week. Time is weird like that, I’m lucky that I don’t need to work a normal 9-6, I’m …
The pools are open, the pools are open!
As of April 12th, England opened up a little and while many were celebrating being able to go to the shops, get their hair done or go out for a drink and a meal, for me the big change was that the pools would open. Since December last year my only chance to swim had …
A sad farewell, a jab and some progress
The big news for the UK this week was the death of the Duke of Edinburgh. I am a bit of a Royalist, although not at all nationalistic having spent so much of the last 40 years out for the country, so I do find it sad to witness the passing of an era. He …
Time to Tri Harder 