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Challenge Henley Iron distance event 10th pro

2011-09-22T00:17:00.000-07:00

After a 3 month build up and countless miles training on the bike, run and in the water, it was finally race day.

Apart from a stressful last couple of weeks trying to sort out an ankle injury, the build up had been great, I know i am in great form currently in all disciplines.

The support i've had in the last week has been amazing. Care for Health in Godalming have had me in for Physio, Chiro' and taping me up to keep me running on an almost daily basis. Pro feet in Fulham were making me new orthotics on the Thursday before the race. My buddie's Sam and Cozza have been massaging and generally putting me in all sorts of pain getting my flexibility right. From not being able to run for an hour 2 weeks before the event I got round a marathon injury free on the day. Thanks everyone, just sorry I didn't get the result I felt i should have given the shape I was in.

I had a pretty good swim, coming out of the water in 55 minutes in a nice group with various other pro's and in 15th place overall. However in T1 I could already tell how cold I was, I could barely remove my wetsuit and get my arm warmers on.

Onto the bike and it took me 2 miles to get my gloves on, my fingers and forearms were so cold. I didn't want to drink as the cold fluid going down my throat was chilling me from the inside too. I was having trouble eating as each bar or gel was taking a minute to open as my hands were so cold.

For the first hour I rode pretty strongly and kept the leaders at a similar gap, and tried to hold the gap to a pack of 6 riders a few minutes ahead of me. I was going through the field and into 9th place. I started to force food into me, knowing that I needed the calories. Nearing half distance I faded slightly and the power wasn't there, and although I carried on gaining places I knew things weren't going right. I had been going so much better in training.

Amazingly, when I hit the run I felt a new lease of life. I think that suddenly my arms had warmed up and I was generating some heat again. My first lap I felt good, and i was running past the 1/2 Ironman competitors like they were standing still. I was eating at every feed station and keeping the energy coming in, however starting the second run lap my legs felt heavier. I thought I'd run through it and get better again, but it wasn't happening, and eventually I was just strugglnig to put one foot in front of the other.

I was confident of running sub 3 hours for the marathon off the bike, having run a 78 minute half marathon off the bike a few weeks ago and felt fresh at the end, but in the end people were coming past me left, right and centre. Luckily all on lower laps or on relay teams.

How I only lost 3 places I'll never know, but I finished 10th pro and 11th overall. Despite a 3hr50min marathon!! Given that is my first ever marathon, I guess that's my current PB!

I feel a bit better about the result today, yesterday I didn't answer my phone, texts or emails all evening I was so upset.

I think I'm trying to do these long distance races with the short distance attitude, and for an olympic distance event or even a half IM, you're only in the water for twenty something minutes and don't lose as much heat and attacking the bike warms you back up. Not so in a full distance.

The future.... Well I'm certainly not desperate to sign up for another IM just yet, and if I do, it will be some where warm. Being very lean (especially at the moment) all my best results have come in hot climates and I've never raced well in the cold. If i recover well in the next few weeks, i'll look to race the Xterra worlds in Maui.

Thanks again for all the support from sponsors, friends and family. Sam

Full view||Back to messagesMarlow triathlon 1st and Alp D'Huez Long distance tri (14th overall and first Brit)‏

2011-07-29T02:24:00.001-07:00

It's been a long time since my last report, but i've been busy racing.

Since Brazil I had a 2 week break and then I did a couple of Wednesday evening races in the F3 series. Where I got a win and a second place.

I then did an Olympic distance race, The Marlow triathlon, the following weekend, which is becoming a big event and went well with another win.

This Wednesday I did Alpe D'Huez long course triathlon as part of my Challenge Henley training.

The distances were 2.2km Swim, 112km Bike (over 3 major Cols, including Alp D'Huez at the end) and finishing with a Half Marathon at altitude.

With 2000 competitors, including many international pro's it was a true quality field. I started pretty steadily after having a bad time 2 years ago and blowing up at 4.5hrs.

This year I got to the foot of Alp D'Huez in 30th place and feeling really strong, I then threw caution to the wind and climbed into 14th place by the top of the climb.

On the run I held this position to finish top Brit and boosted my confidence with a 6hr plus race, 6 weeks before my first Iron distance event.

Xterra Brazil (Amazon adventure) 3rd

2011-06-16T14:54:00.000-07:00

Sorry for so long without a race report. I have been training hard since the Corsica Xtri trying to get ready for Xterra Brazil which will be the end of part one of my season, before a short mid season break on a beach in Rio this week, and then onto Long distance road training for Alpe D'Huez tri and Challenge Henley.

Anyway, onto Brazil and in particular Manaus in the heart of the Amazon.

It certainly been like no other race i've ever done.

This is the race that put's the 'X' into Xterra!

The race wouldn't be put on without the support of CIGS, these are the specialist Jungle unit of the Brazilian army, and known as the most feared army for jungle warfare in the world, many other countries send their troops to CIGS for training. You don't mess with them.

We rocked up on Wednesday before the race on Saturday. As a foreign pro, you expect to help with the odd media commitment especially when the very kind organisers are paying for your hotel and air fare. So on the Thursday I was asked if I wanted to play 'a small game against a team from the army'. Hoping it wouldn't involve physical contact I agreed and met at the agreed time.... I'm not sure if some thing was lost in translation or they thought I'd say 'no' if i knew what it involved, but over the next 2 days I got involved in a televised game show competition with the army against Xterra athletes on a Brazilian TV channel watched by 30 million viewers! Not the best preperation, as we were being whisked off into the jungle at 6am each day and missing meals left, right and centre the day before the race, but certainly an experience, which included triathlon disciplines along with tree climbing, lighting fires and cooking eggs and also eating various grubs and beetles! I guess it made good TV!

Not knowing Portugese hasn't helped out here and there have been many frustrating days when we've felt totally lost, trying to explain simple things. We are also trying to get used to Brazilian time, which is a very loose concept, which means what you're arranging certainly won't happen before the quoted hour, probably 1-2 hours later and possibly not at all.

The best way to deal with BST (Brazilian Sort of Time) is to embrace it with a simple guessing game. Take last nights dinner, organised for 8:30pm. I guessed 8:45, Susan (my wife) guessed 8:50 and we left in the shuttle at 9:45pm, so she won.

Onto the race.....We were up at 3:30am! To meet at the CIGS base at 4am. The army organised these timings, so it ran pretty much on time. From the base we went on 6 coaches with fully millitary escorts and road blocks (yes serious, like a presidential convoy!, possibly not neccisary at 4am?) to a small village on the river Amazon. From here we got on Army Mosquito rapid deployment boats and took off down the river as the sun started rising. Amazing stuff!

The race was held at a special operations base, only reachable by boat, deep in the jungle and our bikes were transported in the day before.

We had a breakfast put on by the army at 6am, and the race started at 8am. Some journalists and adventurous athletes had gone for the full jungle experience, with a training course on survival and sleeping in hamocks etc.

The Brazilians are a damn fit bunch and take their sport pretty seriously. UK triathletes look fitter than the average guys on the street, but these Brazilians were super tanned, not an ounce of fat and really looked like they knew what they were doing! They have a very well supported Xterra national series in Brazil which has been going for several years.

As the gun went, they didn't mess around. It was a total bun fight on the swim with people pulling at your legs, trying to swim over you, the thought of the Pyranna's and Aligators that live in the waters didn't help either! The swim was led out by one of the relay teams that were using an Olympic swimmer! Next out of the water was Ben Allen from Australia who already made his mark last weekend in his first European Xterra with a podium place ahead of most of the favorites. I had a terrible swim and came out of the water in 13th place in the individuals with several relay members ahead of me too, most worryingly I was 5 minutes down and it wasn't going to plan.

Onto the bike and I was on a mission and halfway round the 30km bike I caught up to the 2nd place athlete, local Brazilian pro Felip Moletta, who is winning many of the Brazilian races and had a top 30 at the worlds last year in Maui. Felip obviously had the bit between his teeth in his home race and jumped on my back wheel in my slip stream. I was left with the difficult dilema of whether to tow him round to the end of the bike and keep chasing Ben or to play the tactical game and race for 2nd place and make Filip work with me. In the end I ended up towing him round and we'd gained 2 minutes on Ben, but it wouldn't be enough starting the run 3 minutes back still.

I felt great for the first 4km of the run and got away from Filip and thought I had 2nd in the bag, but the extreme heat and humidity was sapping my strength and Filip got back to me. With only 1km to go he made his move and i couldn't respond and I was left with 3rd place on the podium.

What a race though, you can't replicate it any where. After the race we visited the local tourist sights such as the meeting of the rivers, and saw Anaconda's, Sloth's and the like. It's been a great experience, but i'm looking forward to rest week on a beach in Riio and then the start of my long distance campaign.

Spring mission complete Xterra Guam 1st. 4 wins out of 4 races‏

2011-03-26T00:53:00.000-07:00

I'll be brief after my epic last race report, and also because the after party starts in 30 minutes, and i've changed my flight home to be there as I was originally flying home tonight.

After my crash last week and 3 weeks of pretty intense hard racing, I chilled a bit more here in Guam in the build up to my final early season race.

I didn't have a bad swim, exiting the water in about 6th place I think, and ahead of my main competition, rival Takahiro Ogasawara from Japan.

In Saipan I beat Oga' faily comfortably as he faded on the run badly. I set off on the bike a little bit complacent and got into what i thought was the lead, only to find out that I was 2 minutes down on a relay team with Guam Olympian and good friend Derrick Horton, Derrick had just returned from Australia trying to qualify for London 2012 Mountain bike and road race. I chased and caught Derrick at the midway point. Luckily this hare to chase mean't I stayed ahead of Oga'.

When i returned to transition 2 and started the run, i was amazed to see not Derrick behind me, but a fast moving Oga', probably only 2 minutes behind. The run is pretty fast for the first half with road and easy trails, then it descends a waterfall literally and follows a rocky river down stream, through bamboo forests, and then finishes skirting a beach to the finish line.

For the 2nd week in a row, I had to run really hard, especially for the first 4km. Luckily I felt ok and when i glanced back Oga' wasn't in sight. I eventually finished in 2hrs 30 mins, which was a couple of minutes quicker than last year but less than 3 minutes ahead of Oga'.

I'm looking forward to few weeks off racing now and getting back to my normal life.

Thanks for all the support this season. I have loads of footage of me with all your logos and products in news papers and on TV all over this part of the world. I'll scan some things in an email when i return to the UK and forward it around.

As an aside i thought i'd mention Mike Tree's charity tri4japan.com which is raising money for the disaster in Japan. Tonight we are raising some money at the prize presentation for this great cause. Check out the site and please be generous.

Sam

Tagaman middle distance triathlon 1st

2011-03-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

The 3rd race in my Pacific tour was always going to be the hardest and the conditions we raced in weren't going to make it any easier. There was no question of not starting though. I was here to defend my title from last year, and also win the combined prize for the fastest combined time for Xterra Saipan and Tagaman, which is worth an extra $500US and 7 nights accommodation and Gold card treatment at the exclusive Pacific Islands Club resort. No storm was going to keep me from the buffet here in 2012!

I was awake most of the night before with a tropical storm blowing through the island, the noise of the rain and wind shaking our bedroom as we tried to sleep.

The main competition was likely to come from the Korean contingent who had brought 60 athletes and 12 professionals.

The swim started at 6am and immediately the ITU guys smashed it off the front of the pack like rockets. I was in all sorts of trouble in the strong current, and lost 3 minutes to the leaders in the 1st 1100m lap and a further 4 minutes on the 2nd lap.

Onto the bike and i'd gambled on using a disc wheel as the wind didn't seem too strong on the south side of the Island. After the first 10km start loop I had pulled back 1.5 minutes on the leaders but still lay 6 minutes down with 50km to go. I was frantically trying to do the math's in my head to work out if i'd hit the front before starting the run.

I'd had a really good running week in the week leading up to Tagaman, with 2 track sessions, a long run and a great 'Hash' run with the locals. This was making up for lost training with my recent injuries, but I was feeling stronger each session and my confidence was coming back.

Back on the bike ride I passed the point where i took the lead last year in 6th place and with no one even in sight on the straight road ahead. By this point the rain was pouring and the roads which are made of coral were getting very slippery. I didn't want to take any risks on the descents coming up at the North end of the Island and needed to make contact before then. On the 1km long climb at 35km I saw what i thought were the leaders with 4 riders tackling the slopes ahead of me, I worked hard and caught them all on the climb believing I was in the lead. The next descent i took at almost walking pace, so as not to crash. Approaching the furthest part of the course at 'bird island' I had a shock when i saw another rider coming towards me, possibly a minute ahead still. I work hard up the next climb from 'grotto' but still couldn't get him in my sights. With only a short super fast 35mph tail wind section back to the run start I did not have much time to reel him in.

The final dead turn was at 'Bansai cliffs' named after the Japanese soldiers and civilians who committed suicide here in the 2nd world war rather than being captured by the american troops. Coming down the hill towards the turn the wind was howling off the sea and with my disc wheel i was having trouble keeping the bike in a straight line. Rather than get the extra stability from holding the end of the handlebars, I kept in an aerodynamic tuck on the tri-bars, and then another gust hit me and i felt the whole back of the bike leave the ground and the next second I was sliding down the road on my head and back. Without the protection from my Limar aero helmet I wouldn't have got up again. I remember thinking how far I slid! Amazingly my bike was still pretty much in one piece, with a bent USE Tula bar extension and a few scratches. My skin suit was badly ripped on the left thigh and my brand new Bont shoes had lost a lot of Carbon. I got up and continued to the astonishment of the crowd watching, but i was pretty shaken and didn't feel safe riding on the aerobars all the way to Transition 2, so i lost even more time on the leader riding conservatively.

Starting the run I was 1.5 minutes down on the lead, with another 3 Korean pro's within 2 minutes of me. I had planned to put on socks if time permitted but in this case there certainly wasn't time, blisters would be a small problem compared to the mess of the rest of my body. Fuelled by adrenaline I threw on my Mizuno Wave Ronin 3 shoes, and rushed out of transition only to do 2 steps before a searing pain shot through my knee. I screamed in pain and hobbled into a walk as i reassessed the situation. I had almost an hours lead in the double competition as luck would have it as the other Xterra podium athletes had returned to Japan. How far were they behind me? How long would it take me to hobble 15km? How much did I want another year of PIC hospitality? As I worked out the math's yet again I realised that the pain had eased, so i started to try to jog again, I felt stiff and seizing up but not the searing pain when i took the first step.

Maybe i could run properly? 1/2 a mile into the run I passed Susan (my wife) and she shouted that i was 1 minute 50 back. however i was running light on my feet and actually feeling damn good. All i was thinking was technique and breathing.... Keep on your toes, fast leg cadence, relax the upper body..... At the 5km marker I was given another time check of 1 minute 2 seconds. He was now in my sights and at the turn around I used my watch and clocked the gap at 30 seconds. I smiled and did my 'I'm not hurting face' as he came past me in the other direction. I don't know if this psychological trick was going to work but it was worth a try. 2km later I took the lead and accelerated slightly so he couldn't get on my heels. As I approached the short finishing loop I was so relieved at the eventful day I was having, that i started celebrating a bit too early. Susan then told me that another of the Koreans was only 20 seconds behind. The job wasn't done yet but it was one of those rare running days when i always felt i had another gear if needed, so I got my focus back and finished the job off, winning by a minute or so at the end, taking my 3rd race in successive weeks and the PIC competition too.

Next week sees the final race in my Pacific tour with Xterra Guam, but for now I'm trying to grow my skin back and relax after a hectic day yesterday. Let's start worrying about Guam on Thursday....

Xterra Saipan 1st

2011-03-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

The race was over shadowed and dominated by the news of the earth quake and subsequent Tsunami in nearby Japan.

At 7:01pm the night before the race, the Tsunami was due to hit us, Hotels evacuated and everyone was phoning each other and panicing and making plans and Xterra cancelled the trail run.

Luckily the geographical features surrounding the Island took the force out of the wave and life continued pretty much as normal.

At the start of swim they changed the direction of the course due to the unusual current that morning. Having swum at that beach many times i had never seen anything like it. The sea changed each lap too, with the current totally changing direction. The spectators witnessed the sea receeding before large waves hit the shore, like mini Tsunami's which were undoubtably caused by the earthquake.

I had a reasonable swim exiting the water in 3rd place and as first male pro. Since the Philippines I have had a really bad stomach from bacteria in some dodgy ice which a few of us put in our drinks. I expected to be ill for 24hrs, but 6 days later I was in panic mode in the pharmacy trying to buy anything that might keep food in me.

With runner up for the last 2 years candian 'Mike Vine' absent, my biggest challenger was likely to be 'Oga-san' from Japan, who i have had severals battles with in the past at both Xterra Japan and Saipan.

With a lead out of the swim I tried to push home the advantage early and get 'out of sight out of mind'. I increased my lead to 3 minutes half way round the bike lap and finished the lap with a 7 minute lead. However I think i'd gone too hard, my legs were like jelly as i started the run and I knew my body wasn't absorbing the food as it should.

Halfway round the run and i was light headed and having trouble focusing on where i wanted to put my feet. Given the technical run course in Saipan, which goes through caves, down rocky gullys (you wouldn't walk down!), through dense jungle and bamboo forest and then finally finishes with a mile on a strength sapping soft sand beach, I could really do with having my faculties about me if I didn't want to end up in A and E like some of the other competitors.

I stopped at feed stations a bit longer to take on fluids and walked the trecherous sections, which wasn't much slower and gave a chance to recover. In the end I needn't have bothered as 'Oga' was having an even worse run and had been caught by the top 3 Pro women on the run. I won comfortably in the end in a slower time than last year but a win never the less.

Next week is Tagaman road triathlon, so I've got a week to get back on my Cannondale Slice Time trial bike and get used to the position and also to get back running, now my calf is totally healed.

Xterra Philippines 1st

2011-03-12T16:19:00.000-08:00

Last weekend saw the start of my 2011 international campaign, with the first of 4 races in Asia, and the first ever running of Xterra Philippines.

The whole race was a fantastic spectacle, from being greated like royalty at the airport in Cebu by local band, to being putup in one of the best hotels i've ever stayed in, an amazing pre race dinner hosted by the Governer of the Province with 200 local dancers putting on an amazing show in local dress, and finally the race itself, where the crowds lined the roads like you see in a mountain stage of the Tour de France (chanting songs and waving flags).
Competitors came from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States to make it a truely international event.
The race started with a 1.5-kilometer swim in the Camotes Sea near the century old Liloan lighthouse, followed with a 32-kilometer mountain bike and finished with a 10-kilometer trail run through thousands of cheering spectators fronting the San Fernando Rey Parish Church and Papa Kits Marina where we ran on a 200m bamboo walkway above the water.
I was 5th out of the water behind some top local swimmers, onto the bike I was anxious to build as big a lead as possible because I have missed 10 days of run training trying to rest my calf from a recent injury. This plan worked perfectly and although I could still feel my calf injury on the run I was able to jog the run at 80% effort and hopefully not do any additional damage. The 2nd place male pro was the current Philippines 70.3 champion Neil Catiil. The womens race was won by World Champion Shonny Vanlandingham of the USA, ahead of European Champion Renata Bucher of Switzerland.
The race has already received a lot of publicity with 20+ journalists at the pre and post race press conferences. Thanks to an enthusiastic team of local volunteers this race will go from strength to strength in the next few years I'm sure.

Xterra Switzerland (did not start)

2010-09-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

Basically I've been ill since before Vitruvian 1/2 Ironman last weekend.

It's been 10 days now and I'm getting pretty bored of it to be honest! I felt a bit more human and energetic on Weds last week and decided to do The F3 events, Weds night race round Dorney lake which was also the Berkshire Tri Squad club champs, which I'd never managed to race before. I won the race, but felt awfull and really struggled in all disciplines.

Since then my health has not improved any more, I took the trip to Switzerland for the European series final, but on the morning of race day I still felt totally bunged up with cold and couldn't race. It was interesting and fun spectating with my wife and seeing the race from the other side of the fence, and getting very sunburnt in the process!

I'll be seeing a doctor tomorrow now as it's obviously a really deep chest infection I've got and it's taking ages to shift.

Six weeks to go until the world champs in Maui and from all looking good last week with 3 good training weeks and 3rd in the Vitruvian, it's suddenly feeling like an effort to walk up stairs, let alone do exercise.

If things improve, I'll be doing the Men's Fitness Rough Track tri next weekend, which is a good event and I always try to support it. However I'll be having to train through it to make up for lost time.

Oh well, fingers crossed another Lemsip and hope I feel better tomorrow.

Vitruvian 1/2 Ironman Triathlon, 3rd Overall, 1st in Age group

2010-09-05T06:25:00.000-07:00

The Vitruvian is one of the best races in the country. With 1000 athletes, it sold out within 48hrs of entries opening. It has also been voted event of the year several times if i'm correct.

I won the event back in 2005 at my first attempt, but was never able to defend my title due to it clashing with Xterra events.

However yesterday, 5 years later, I returned hoping to repeat my victory.

I have been suffering with an achillies injury for the last month which has meant I've missed 3 weeks of running and only been running for 1 week before the event.

However this meant I had got myself in great bike form.

To top this, a few days before the event I got a sore throat which I was hoping to shake before race day, but it was not to be and instead of being sensible and resting I was so excited to be back I decided to give it a go anyway.

I was pleased with my swim, coming out of the water in 27 minutes for the 1900m, only 2 minutes off the leaders in my wave.

A reasonable transition where i lost a little time putting socks on, saw me onto the bike and on a mission on my new Cannondale slice TT bike. Wow, I love this bike, having borrowed one before for Tagaman earlier this year, where i blitzed the bike. This time I could put my own kit on it such as USE Tulabars and get it just how I wanted it.

My bike leg was going great, passing literally 100's of athletes in earlier waves, then my stem came loose and started to twist on the fork steerer tube. This was entirely my fault, for building it up in a hurry 3 days before the event and not testing it thoroughly enough. Luckily I managed to finish like this ,the the amusement of other athletes, but it certainly didn't help my aim of getting the quickest bike.

In my rush to get onto the run I was penalised for unclipping my helmet before racking my bike, which again was my fault, oops. I really should know better.

The run was always going to be hard, especially lacking so many running miles in my legs recently. I was actually very pleased to run a 1hr 21min half marathon at the end of the race.

All credit to Joel Jamison for an amazing winning time, which all my excuses added together wouldn't have matched. Jonathon Hodgekiss pipped me into 2nd place overall, and got the fastest bike of the day which I would have liked to have got. Maybe I'll have to do more of this road triathlon middle distance stuff in the future, or an Ironman to get some revenge on these guys.....?

Anyway, a great day all round and still 6 weeks of hard training before Maui. Plenty of time to get running fast again.

Next week is Xterra Switzerland where i want to get back in the top 10.

First I need a few days rest, to get over my sore throat which is back with avengence this morning, racing certainly didn't help it!

Tour of Dorset 2010 Road stage race. 1st Overall (Yellow Jersey) 1st Overall Points (Green Jersey competition) Winner of Stage 3‏

2010-08-25T06:44:00.000-07:00

This weekend was my final few days off running to let my Achillies heal properly, and so i thought I'd carry on my big cycling push by joining my Cannondale team mates at the Tour of Dorset.

I love stage races and find that they generally give me great form, so this was an ideal build up for the Xterra world champs 9 weeks away.

Stage 1 was a short Prologue time trial and I finished in 8th place, joint on time with my Cannondale team mate Mike Cotty. We were less than 30 seconds off the Leader. It was decided that we'd share the leadership and try to get in breaks on the next flat stage.

Stage 2. Points and bonus seconds were awarded every lap on the finish line. After several breaks, it looked like it would all come together for a bunch sprint. However 2 riders clipped off the front and gained almost a minute and became 1st and 2nd overall. I got a break midway through the stage and gained a 5 second bonus and some points towards the Green Jersey. However I lost 10 seconds as a penalty for crossing the white line on the road (oops). GC position 12th.

Stage 3. This is where it all happened. The finish line is at the end of a 2 mile climb, nice! Lap 3 and I launched a solo attack purely to get the 5 second bonus that went with it. After this excursion i went back to the bunch and hid...until... I got in another break of 3 riders and made a deal that I get the sprint points, this got me another 2 laps points, then we got caught by the bunch. With 2 laps to go, the main break went and i'd missed it. I was just getting Cannondale to organise a chase when another rider attacked to try to get across, I jumped on this riders wheel and we worked together until the foot of the climb, the gap was still 200m at this point. It was a now or never moment and I attacked alone to try to get across the final 200m against the group of 7 riders. Slowly inch by inch I got across and on making the junction we worked well and soon were out of sight and we all knew this would decide the race. I got the points yet again on the penultimate lap and coming into the final 5 miles, last years winner Crispin Doyle attacked. No one else responded, so i got across on my own and we pulled out a 30 second gap. On the final climb I dropped Crispin to win by about 10 seconds, taking both the Green and Yellow jerseys.

Stage 4. I basically owe this one to my team mates. They chased down all the important moves and sheltered me through out. In the end it was a bunch sprint which I didn't contest. Mission accomplished.

Sore legs today but hopefully some really good bike form coming. Next weekend I am doing the Torq 12hr enduro with a Team of 4, supported by USE Exposure lights. Then I have got the Vitruvian 1/2 Ironman Road triathlon, which is one of the UK's biggest events and I won in 2005 and haven't come back to race since. Back on the running from today with all eyes on Maui in 9 weeks time.....

Xterra Saipan 1st, Tagaman 1st, PIC double 1st

2010-03-19T22:56:00.000-07:00

Hafa adai (as they say in Saipan). My first major goal of 2010 was Xterra Saipan, which I won in 2009 and is one of my favourite races on the circuit.

With a week of acclimatisation to the 30 degree heat and high humidity, I was disappointed on race day to see it raining like back at home (almost like the UK, except it was still 25 degrees). The sea was pretty rough when the gun went at 6:30am, making it difficult to see the buoys, and impossible to swim in a straight line. With the swim completed, I was in 5th place just behind fellow brit and training partner Michael Hiscott, 2 minutes down on my major rival Mike Vine and a minute behind another previous winner Aussie Jason Chalker.

After a reasonable first transition Michael and I set off to chase down the opposition. On the first major climb I could see Jason ahead, but it took me until the second climb of this very hilly hard course to pass him.

Not long after this, I got my first glimpse of Mike Vine. I was not reeling him in as quickly as hoped however and it took a longer than last year to catch him. When I eventually did make contact, I attacked almost straight away and worked on getting a decent lead in the remaining half a lap. My new 17lb Cannondale Flash with its single front chain-ring danced up the 30 minute long climb to the top of Mt Tapochao.

Into T2 I had a 2 min 15 second gap over Mike. Little did I know the carnage that was occurring further down the field with Jason taking a tumble and cutting himself to the bone and Michael spending more time on the dirt than on the bike!

The run starts with 2 km of flat paved paths round a park, where I tried to get in a rhythm before it hit the jungle proper. I didn’t look back and just concentrated on the rocks and roots in front of me. Entering the dreaded ‘gully’ towards the end of the course, which is a deep rocky ravine with a 100ft long cave section where the Japanese soldiers hid from the Americans in the 2nd World war, I apparently had a 2 minute lead still (which I found out afterwards). The rocks were covered in a thick coating of slippery moss from the recent rains, and a rockfall since the 2009 race had changed some of the route. I thought I ran this pretty well, considering there are sections where you have to clamber down 10ft drops where European Health and safety would suggest the use of ropes and harnesses, I had one nasty moment where I slipped over on a slick rock and bashed my hip pretty badly, but somehow Mike had closed the gap to 45 seconds.

Luckily I looked back on the straight section and saw him chasing. From then on I just dug in for the last 2 km along the beach back to the finish. Breaking the race down and treating every palm tree as the finish. Amazingly I only lost another 2 seconds to defend my title and carry a 43 second advantage into the Tagaman middle distance road triathlon the following weekend.

The other british contingent finished nicely in the money and raced well, with Michael getting 5th in the mens pro race, Emma Ruth-Smith and Daz Parker (both in their first ever pro race) got 4th and 5th respectively.

Tagaman is the final event in the Saipan sports fest (which had a Marathon also the week before Xterra). It consists of a 2.2km swim, 60km bike and a 15km run. This years event had a great international field including most of the Xterra pro competitors and a large contingent of Korean pros, a Japanese Olympian and also several Aussie pros. In previous years I had got 3rd (2007) and 2nd in 2009, not matching the record of Tagaman legend (and my very kind 2XU sponsor) Mike Trees who won this event several times and podiumed plenty more. In order to be fresh, I had a relaxed week of light training, scuba diving with my wife to be and eating far too much fantastic food at the host hotel, the PIC.

The swim started with a false start possibly caused by your truely, and we were all called back! On the second attempt we got way properly and I realised why I was leading the first time around, as the Korean ITU pros got to work at the front and got a good gap. A bad line by all competitors on the first lap (in the half light at 6am) led us over beautiful but razor sharp coral in very shallow water. The fastest swim of the day was by one of local guys called Kai who also put us all to shame in the Xterra swim too.

I exited the water in 17th, 2 seconds behind Michael Hiscott (as he continues to mention to me), had a good transition and got on my new Cannondale Slice which they very kindly loaned me for this possibly my only road tri of 2010. I was about 3 minutes down on the leaders.
The bike was predominantly head wind for the first half and a group of 4 Korean pros took advantage of the lack of draft busters and held a commanding lead, while first Jason Chalker, then Mike Vine and finally I struggled to catch them. When I did make the junction I attacked on the opposite side of the road, so no one was going to get on my wheel. From here it was a do or die effort to gain enough time on some potentially very fast runners that I knew little about. I must thank AW cycles for lending me some posh carbon Fulcrum wheels before I left the UK, which certainly helped today. Over the next 40km I managed to build a 3 minute lead, over the chasers. I had been careful to consume plenty of Maximuscle viper to keep my carbs and fluids up in the heat, but there was still 15km left to run and last year I knew how I faded last year and didn’t want the same to happen.

The run turned into a repeat of the Xterra with Mike Vine chasing hard and gaining time, but eventually running out of road, and I took the tape with less than a minute to spare yet again, but extremely happy with the result after 2 years of taking the lower steps on the podium, I was great to finally get my name on the same trophy as Mike Trees! Michael Hiscott ran the 2nd quickest run split of the day to move from 8th into 3rd at the line. Emma Ruth Smith finished a superb 4th and Daz raced very well to finish 7th in a large 30+ pro field.

Winning both these races guarantees me the prestigious PIC double prize, which as well as some cash includes 7 nights accommodation next year at the PIC resort. Next week is Xterra Guam, where I again hope to defend my 2009 title, Emma and Daz are racing again too.

World Champs Maui DNF

2009-10-26T00:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the late race report. I have been pretty devastated and down all week, since the race. I had worked so hard for it and was in the shape of my life at the time. In a perfect world, had I got the position I deserved, it would have paid for the trip nicely and hopefully opened the door to some decent financial support next season. However as you'll read I'm now left with deflated tyres and a deflated morale and the need to return to a job for the winter and hunt for decent sponsorship for next season.

After breaking a chain in 2008, I was leaving nothing to chance, fitting brand new tyres, chain and cassette the day before. Then testing it thoroughly! At 9am the sky was slightly overcast in places, but when the sun did poke through, you knew it would be hot later. There was a lot of creeping forward and pushing on the start line, as 500 people fought to get the best position. My race strategy was to go really hard for the first 200m of the swim, hopefully get on some fast feet and get towed round. It worked for me in Austria, but unfortunately not here. I was immediately grabbed and swum over, it seemed like forever until I could get 2 strokes in succession before being clobbered again. Yellow age group swim hats swamped me and then stopped in front of me leaving me with no-where to go. Although I swum the best I've swum at Maui, I was still way further back than i should have been and 4 mniutes off the leaders.

I had a minor problem in transition when the zip caught slightly on my Maystorm speed suit and I had to pretty much dislocate my shoulder in an escape artist type manoeuvre to get out of it. Onto the bike and I felt good immediately, I had felt pretty tired the previous weekend and so I had a week’s taper, instead of the 5 days I’d planned to have, this left my legs feeling super fresh. I caught Michael Weiss (2nd last year, and another poor swimmer) on the first climb, and although he got back past me on the following descent, I passed him again soon and rode away. Shortly after this I caught Julie Dibens, which was way sooner than usual, and seeing Julie’s times at the end it wasn’t her hanging around! On the hardest climb of the race, Ned’s climb (named after mountain bike and Xterra legend Ned Overend) I got within spitting distance of favourite Nico LeBrun in 6th place. However on the next descent ‘the plunge’ I punctured. I repaired it fairly quickly losing possibly 5 places, and 3 miles later I was back in the top 10 and charging, only to be hit with yet another puncture and this time my gas cartridge didn’t work properly. I eventually borrowed stuff from other athletes, but I had lost 20 minutes or more.

I didn't start the run, I came to Maui for a top 5 finish against the best in the world, and I'm positive I'd have acheived that. I was on for the fastest bike split by at least 2 minutes, Michael Wiess got the quickest bike split in the end and I was 1 min 15 sec up on him when I punctured. By my calculations I might well have started the run in the race lead. I was running well too, doing my mile reps comfortably in just over 5 minutes. However all this is speculation and no-one will believe it until I get that result to prove it. I know in my head that on my day there is no one in the Xterra that is impossible to beat any more.

The season has gone great really with 2 world cup wins (Xterra Saipan and Xterra Japan), and another win in Xterra Guam. 7 victory's in all including UK races. 3rd place in the European tour and 3rd in the European champs also. 3rd also at Xterra Malaysia and 4th's at Xterra North East US cup and Xterra Czech. I was the only male athlete to finish in the prize money at both the European tour and the US tour.

Thanks again for your support this season, time for a big swim push and change of swim coach to be starting the bike with the leaders. Watch this space, but sponsor permitting I am hoping to race full time next season again too.

Maui World Champs T minus 17 hrs

2009-10-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

Just off for a power nap. Bike all cleaned and working, getting kit together now. Weather is hot, course is dusty. I have done less training this last 6 days than in previous years, we'll see tomorrow whether it works. I hate this time of just waiting, trying to stay out of the sun etc. Might go for a slow jog later. Must keep drinking water and electrolytes.....

Xterra Japan 1st

2009-09-01T01:28:00.000-07:00

Xterra Japan 2008 was my first Global Tour win and a fantastic experience. I had promised at the time to return and try to defend my title this year.

Even though I love the course (which is known as the most technical bike course on the Xterra circuit), the venue (which is a tranquil and stunning spa report in the Mountains, with no phone reception or email access) and the people, I was very tired after back to back races in Germany and Austria the previous 2 weeks. Flying in on Thursday morning, with an 8 hour time difference for a Saturday race was a little close for comfort too.

The organisers did a fantastic job as ever of making us feel welcome and collecting us from Tokyo airport, transferring us up to the Onsen resort and checking us into our authentic Ryokan rooms, before a traditional Japanese dinner. The memories of last year came back as we were presented with 15 different dishes per person, each immaculately presented in its’ own bowl and we generally had no idea what any of them were. Every meal time is an amazing and somewhat educational experience.

With no time for sight-seeing afterwards, Susan (my girl friend) and I spent Friday afternoon going to a nearby town called Nikko which is a world heritage site and packed with temples and shrines and a 100m waterfall .Not ideal pre race preparation, but heah, you’re not in Japan every day.

On race day the jetlag was still there as I woke at 4am. When the gun went at midday, it was Australian pro Matt Murphy (an ex ITU racer) that led us round the first lap. Matt had been ill leading up to the race and it was touch and go whether he’d start or not. The effects of his illness certainly didn’t seem obvious yet, I exited the water almost 2 minutes down, in a pack in 6th place, with Japanese pros Oga and Yu, both well known Xterra athletes. Deciding to err on the side of caution (with blisters still from Austria) and put socks on, I missed starting the bike with these guys.

Oga (who finished 2nd last year) dropped Yu and caught Matt after about 5km of the bike and they worked hard together. My race was not going quite to plan however, as I eventually caught Yu, then promptly crashed and he rode away again. Halfway round the bike I was in 4th, with no one in sight, why did we do that last temple yesterday, or arrive in Japan so late....

Hitting the main climb I put in a do or die effort for at least a podium spot. Catching Yu again, I was spurred on and managed to catch a glimpse of Matt, who had been dropped by the flying Oga. When I got up to him, halfway up the climb, he told me Oga was about 40 seconds ahead and riding well. I eventually bridged the gap just as we started the descent, but Oga’s world cup Mountain bike skills (from racing as a pro on the Gary Fisher team) helped him get away from me yet again. I was going to have to work very hard to win this one.

Passing the lake, with a short 2km bike loop before T2 I caught Oga again and immediately attacked, knowing that he outran me a year ago. I started the 2 lap run with only a 30 second lead and didn’t look back, would it be enough? After 2km the run went up a very steep muddy bank where competitors needed to use a rope to haul themselves up. Soon after I started up it I felt the rope go tight from behind as Oga, it certainly seemed like less than 30 seconds. The whole lap went like this. I was running scared and fading fast. Luckily, Oga wasn’t making much inroads and starting lap 2 the gap was still 30 seconds. Only 1km from the end did I know I had the race won, and I virtually collapsed over the line, relieved more than elated with the victory.

That night was relaxed at the banquet dinner serenaded by a traditional Japanese drumming and dancing troupe. The victory sunk in and I was reminded what a fantastic event on the Xterra calendar this is.

Xterra European champs Bronze medal

2009-08-26T00:51:00.000-07:00

Xterra Austria was one of my breakthrough races in 2007, when I came off the bike in 2nd behind Nico LeBrun, but that year I faded on the run and lost a lot of time and places. Last year I struggled with form and with the emergence of the the new breed of pro's such as Michi Weiss and Franky Batellier, I barely managed a top 10. This year I was motivated and desperate to get both series points and the extra prize money that was on offer for the events' new European Champs status.

In the gorgeous aqua marine waters of the warmest lake in Europe I started hard on the 1.5km non wetsuit swim, desperately hanging onto any ones feet that came by me. After the first buoy, when things had calmed down slightly I realised I was swimming with top US swimmer Brandyn Roark Gray and UK's own Nicola Duggan, for me this was esteemed company. Stay in this pack and you'll only be a couple of minutes down on the leaders I told myself. Some how I made it out in that group, just outside the top 20 and only 2.5 mins down on the leaders.

On the 500m run to transition I gave it some gas to catch last years winner (and World Champs' silver medalist) Michi Wiess who was just 100m ahead of me, I knew this could be a good wheel to follow and get me up the field. Swiftly on with my Bell helmet and we exited T1 together, but before we could start doing the damage Michi punctured and ended his race. I'd have to chase on my own! I got into a great rythmn on the hilly technical course, keep the cadence high on my new Rotor Q-rings. My Canondale Taurine was handling great as I passed rider after rider. Just after half way round the first lap I caught the German pair of Ronny Dietz and Felix Shauman who were 2nd and 3rd last weekend at Xterra Germany, I knew I was going well at this point as I never caught them at all last week. Pushing my Schwalbe tyres to the limit I caught the flying Fin Vanstarata on the final descent of lap 1. At the turn around point I then realised I was in 4th with only Olivier Marceau and the 2 leaders in the European series (Frank Battelier and Karel Zadak) just ahead of me. As I caught Olivier (which I've never managed to do before), I pushed things too far and crashed over my USE carbon handlebars, luckily nothing was broken and I got back in my rythmn and set about chasing after Karel.

All race I had the run problems of 2007 in my mind. I kept drinking my Maximuscle Viper and taking solid food too. Guy's like Olivier and the other ITU road triathletes were going to chase like mad on the run and not take any prisoners. Another solid lap in the muddy conditions with the drive chain still running smooth from Squirt lube and not collecting dirt and my Sundog shades keeping the muck out of my eyes. I exited the final descent on Karels wheel. We shared the work up to T2 where we were only 1 minute behind Franky.

A smooth transition, on with the Montrail shoes and the 2XU number belt and cap. We would now see if I could finally run with the top guys and get on the podium in a championship race. After Global tour wins in Japan and Saipan, today was my chance for a medal at the European Champs. We settled into a good pace together on lap 1, taking turns to keep the tempo at the front. Halfway round the final lap and my legs were heavy it was pure adrenaline keeping me going, Karel tryed a few attacks and on the 3rd attempt he got a 10m gap. I was in major pain and just couldn't close the gap, slowly it became 20m and then 30m as the finish approached.

Luckily Olivier and the others hadn't made any inroads to our lead and I straightened up the 'Panasonic' and 'Snow and Rock' logo's on my chest for the press, and celebrated my Bronze medal with a victory leap through the finishing pond that the organisers had constructed.

A great party followed the race and then it was a quick bike clean and back in the bike box (bikeboxalan.co.uk), to be opened in 4 days time in another continent. Two days of washing kit and light training and off to Maranuma for my chance to defend my first ever world cup win in Japan last year.

9th Xterra US Mountain Champs

2009-07-18T18:14:00.000-07:00

With a swim start at 7500ft, the bike climbing up to 9000ft, transition 2 at 8500ft and the run climbing up from there, I knew I was going to suffer here. Just walking up the stairs in the week before left me out of breath. 3 days in Boulder and 2 days here wasn't nearly enough. The swim felt awful, any slight effort, or a mouthful of water (which happened a couple of times), leaves you out of breath for the next minute. However I exited the water only 3 minutes behind the leaders which was a lot better than last week so i can't have been that bad. Onto the bike and I just tried to keep it steady, knowing that is all you can do at this height. I caught up to 6th place and felt pretty good considering. It was a great course, using a very exclusive ski resort 'Beaver Creek', with amazing summer mountain bike trails. You should have seen the posh apartments where the pro's got housed, loving the spa jacuzzi bath. I know I've been running well, with 2nd quickest run last weekend and 4th quickest in Czech, so I was hoping to gain places and get a top 5. However, it wasn't going to be! The local guys living at this height were soon snapping at my heals as I weazed my way slowly to the top of the climbs. Place by place they came past me, in the end I was hanging on to the final cash spot (8th), but this too slipped away with a couple of Km's to go. All in all it was a lot of hard effort for no reward, but a fantastic place with great scenery, and it'll be cheap to get drunk at the altitude tonight! Returning to the UK tomorrow for 3 days, before leaving for France and Alpe d'Huez road triathlon. Hopefully this week at altitude should help me for that race which will be considerably lower.

4th Xterra Vermont US Points race

2009-07-13T07:36:00.001-07:00

This weekend was the first of 2 races stateside.

With 5 weeks of heavy rains it was extremely muddy, however it had been warm enough to make the swim non wetsuit for the pro's, and i hadn't packed my super speedy blue seventy zero point 3 suit, because of baggage restrictions. So on the start line I was the only pro without a swim skin of some variety. How much advantage they give and how much was psychological I don't know, but I lost far more time than usual. In the end this was to deny me 2nd place.

Onto the bike and I was in my element in the 'British' conditions and I had the 2nd fastest bike split, ahead of guys such a three times world champion Conrad Stoltz, renown as the best biker in Xterra in the US. I used my Cannondale Scalpel, with Schwalbe Nobby Nic tyres which proved to be superb in the gloop, with Sundog eyewear keeping it out of my eyes.

Conrad and 2006 World Champion Nico LeBrun entered T2 together in the lead, with Seth Whealing and Dan Hugo together in 3rd and 4th, I was in 5th and had them in my sights and was closing fast.

Onto the 2 lap run I was inspired by my 4th quickest run split in Czech 2 weeks ago and started fast. I could soon see Dan Hugo and knew I was closing on him, I caught him nearing the end of lap 1 and could then see Seth Whealing just ahead of me, and heard that Conrad was in 2nd and fading fast.

On the final descent of lap 2 Seth managed to catch Conrad and nip past in an exciting sprint finish, I couldn't quite bridge the gap in time and ended up in 4th, but with the 2nd fastest run split of the day. If only I had that swim skin.

Sitting in Burlington Airport now at 6 am East Coast time on my Panasonic laptop, about to fly to Colorado for the US Xterra Mountain Championships. Looking forward to catching up with Julie Dibens for her first Xterra of the year, after her very successful weekend this weekend. Next weekend should be very different, starting at 8000ft elevation and getting lots higher, in an epicly hilly course. It's going to hurt!

Thank you very much for Joe and Maggie (and Kelsey the labrador) for putting myself and Renata up in their house for the last few days. It was great fun.

Xterra Czech 4th

2009-06-30T06:21:00.000-07:00

I was not feeling that great in the few days leading up to Xterra Czech. All week I had been very tired from Mountain Mayhem the week before (where Julie Dibens and I finished in the 2nd Elite team), which speaking to the other guys on our team was the general feeling.

The weather had been awfull with storms so torrential that 12 people in the Czech republic were killed.

As the gun went for the swim I got badly swum over and ended up missing the front pack and getting stuck behind loads of age groupers swimming loads slower than me.

Onto the bike and again I felt sluggish initially, not really reeling in people for the first 5km. Then we hit the serious off road and I began to feel better. It was super wet and muddy and very slippery, making the bike leg into 1 hr 45 minutes long for us leaders. I had no idea which position I was in until I returned to transition 2 and saw only 4 bikes there. Maybe it wasn't such a bad day after all?

Heading out on the run I just felt better and better. Soon I was up into 4th place with Michael Wiess (Xterra Austria champion and 2nd at the world champs in Maui) one place ahead of me. Unfortunately I couldn't quite catch him and I finished in 4th, equalling my best European tour finsh ever and improving my series ranking into the top 6.

I am back in the UK now for 10 days, before I head over to the US for Vermont and Colorado rounds of the US series.

Mountain Mayhem 24 hr team MTB race 2nd

2009-06-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

Mountain Mayhem is the biggest prize purse on the UK Mountain bike calendar and is the biggest Mountain bike event in the world.

In various teams we have tried to pocket the cash in the 12 years it has been running. Eventually managing 1st place in 2006 with the Elite Mixed team of Julie Dibens, Jody Crawforth, Jamie Newall and myself.

This year we had a near identical team but with Dave Collins stepping in for Jamie Newall and we were riding under the USE Exposure lights banner with great help from them. Our main opposition was always going to be the Scott team, also on Exposure lights.

The first lap starts with a 1km run, followed by the bike lap, with my triathlon background it was me that started off the race. Finishing the run in 5th I was pleased to be back on the bike. I got into the lead fairly comfortably and had a 45 second lead finishing the lap.

However this was as good as it got, Scott got back to us on the next lap and we traded the lead for the next 4 hours, eventually they drew slightly ahead and never let up. They rode a stong race and deserved to win. Eventually completing 34 laps to our 33.

It was another 2nd place to add to the list, but a great team effort by the riders, mechanics and support crew. Especially Susan, giving out time gaps and getting us out on our bikes at 2am.

Maximuscle energy and recovery drinks kept us going which was invaluble. Obviously USE lights, seatposts and other equipment was used. Used both my Cannondale bikes and they were great as ever.

Next race Xterra Czech on Sat, watch this space.

Xterra Malaysia

2009-06-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

Malaysia race report.

It’s been a busy week. I had 7 hours at home from returning from Xterra Italy, before going to Xterra Malaysia. All the travelling, stress and time difference left me pretty tired on arrival. However I was looking forward to racing at this new destination on the Global tour, and getting behind the event.

The local media were very excited about the arrival of the foreign athletes for this first edition of the event, and had hyped it up into a big rematch between Mike Vine (the current US champion) and myself, after our recent battle in Saipan where I edged him out for the win. The dark horse was Scott Thorne from New Zealand, who had the advantage of less jet lag and an extra 3 day actimatising to the extreme heat and humidity. Scott narrowly missed out on winning Xterra New Zealand this year so was always going to be one to watch out for along with the other Japanese, Malaysian and Philipino’s making up the pro field.

Still heavily jet lagged and relying heavily on some super strong local hotel coffee I got to the start line for the 8am start. The day was pretty overcast, compared to the searing heat of the previous week. Warming up 10 minutes before the start Mike Vine was stung by a Jellyfish (which we’d not seen in previous few days), he was in obvious pain, but we decided (hoped) it wasn’t a fatal portugese man of war sting. Maybe I shouldn’t have laughed at his expense because 20 minutes later I felt my hand touch something soft and jelly like and sure enough half a second later I felt a shooting pain go up my leg, wow those things hurt. Despite this I had a reasonable swim, exiting the water in 4th, 2 minutes behind Mike, and a minute behind Scott and the Japanese pro Taro.

The bike started with 7km of road, where I desperately gave chase after Taro and Scott who were working together to catch Mike. I made contact with them after 3km and we soon dropped Taro and I worked with Scott on our chase. It was a very interesting and eventful bike leg. I dropped Scott on each climb, but first missed a corner on a descent and he got back to me, then the heavens opened and he got back to me a second time on another descent. Finally I could see Mike 200m ahead and had got rid of Scott for good (or so I thought), but a police marshal sent all 3 of us the wrong way and when we found out and turned round, we were all 3 together again! We worked together on the subsequent road section and were still neck and neck with 10km to go. This did not leave me with much time to build a lead against 2 guys that were known for being top runners. When I did manage to get away on my own it was only 2km from transition and I only managed to get a 20 seconds lead on Mike and maybe a minute over Scott.

It must have had for great television for ESPN (the channel covering the event in Asia). I kept my dwindling lead for about 4km, then Mike caught me and coming onto the 2nd and final run lap we were again separated by only 5 meters with Scott chasing hard and closing. Mike eventually pushed home his advantage on lap 2 and I had to think about holding Scott off for 2nd place. It all ended in a sprint down the finishing funnel on the beach in front of the Malaysian crowds with Scott taking 2nd leaving me in 3rd with all 3 of us separated by less than 1 minute in one of the most exciting races I’ve ever been in. How so many things could have sent the result a different way and any of us could have won.

I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight (the first time in 12 days!), and having a weekend off racing and being spectator next weekend at Windsor triathlon. My next races are Mountain Mayhem 24 hour mountain bike race in 2 weeks time (the UK’s biggest and highest paying race) where I am racing for the USE all stars team. Then the following week I have round 2 of the European tour, Xterra Czech.

Thanks as usual to all sponsors, writing this on my Panasonic laptop now! Thoroughly recommend Squirt chain lube for not collecting the sand this weekend like most lubes do. Despite all this travelling, jetlag and racing Maximuscle products have been essential with my recovery and keeping my immune system strong. Thanks obviously to Snow and Rock and Cycle surgery for their support also and to Bikeboxalan for a case that has kept my bike undamaged in over 12 flights so far in 2009.

Xterra Italy 11th

2009-06-03T04:35:00.001-07:00

Xterra Italy 2009 saw the biggest field ever in a European race, with 500 competitors in total and about 50 pros including the guys that got 1st and 2nd in the recent world champs. It was going to be damn hard. The race was also combined with the ETU (European Triathlon Union) Cross Champs, which is off road title they promote. This in turn attracted some more ITU road triathletes. Great Britain fielded a large contingent of nearly 30 athletes, making us one of the biggest teams.

The hot weather of Thursday, Friday and Sat, had made the water temperature 21 degrees, which according to ETU rules means it was wetsuits for the age groupers and no wetsuits for the pros. Race morning however was a lot colder, raining and over cast as the pros shivered in the ocean with a 20 metre headstart waiting for the age group athletes to swim over us in their much faster wetsuits. Sure enough this happened, but I still made it out of the water in about 80th place.

Onto the bike I was on a mission and immediately set about making up the lost ground. At the end of lap 1 I was in the top 10 and on the 2nd and final lap I passed Michael Wiess who got 2nd at the world champs, which put me into 5th position approaching the transition area to change for the run. It was here I made a very costly mistake, I hadn’t checked out the exact entrance to transition (which turned out to be on a high speed blind corner), as I came to it I was caught up in a battle overtaking back lappers and we were waved onto another lap, continuing on the course. Around the next corner, and the next I expected to be waved into transition, but after 400m I realised I was embarking on another 16km lap. I quickly turned round and headed back to transition, but this costly mistake lead to a big argument in transition with an official for riding in too fast, left me in about 8th place, and more importantly I lost my focus and had a bad run.

In the end I finished 11th, whereas I’m sure I deserved to be about 6th or 7th. I was and still am annoyed with the amateur errors which I can’t afford to make now this is my job, and it cost me several hundred euro’s. Well done to the British age group winners in which we had considerable success.

Oh well, time to put it behind me. I am sitting in Kuala Lumpur airport currently, on route to Xterra Malaysia. Several top pro’s are making the trip including the current US Champ Mike Vine, South African Champ Leiwe Boonstra and other New Zealand, Japanese and Australian pro’s. One thing is for sure, I’ll be double checking out the entry and exits to transition this weekend!

Tagaman road tri, Saipan

2009-04-25T09:05:00.000-07:00

Writing this very tired and weary from Saipan airport. Not looking forward to 48 hours travelling home.

It's been a great trip, we've made many new friends and caught up with old friends too. Thanks to Tyce and Angie Mister and Joshua and Mamiko Berger for putting us up in home stays and making us feel so welcome. Thanks also to two of the best hotels in the Pacific, the Hyatt in Guam and the PIC in Saipan for housing both us and the races.

Tagaman road triathlon consists of a 2000m swim, 60km bike and 15km run. I've got to admit, that after winning both Guam and Saipan Xterra's it was hard to totally motivate myself for this event. Fatigue was catching up from all the racing and travelling, and 4 days scuba diving doing our PADI course didn't help!

However the prize for doing the 'double' of fastest combined time in Xterra Saipan and Tagaman is return flights to here for next year and 7 nights accomodation for 2 at the PIC including a gold card for all meals and also another $500 cash. So it was essential to defend the 12 minute lead I had over Australias Andrew Noble and win this challenge.

In the swim I lost about 4 minutes on the leaders and exiting the perfect Pacific waters for the last time I set about getting this time back. I managed to catch Andy Noble at about 1/2 distance but I was still 2 minutes behind the flying Japanese competitor Masauki Matsumaru. I worked so hard in the searing heat, but only inched closer to Masa. I had the quickest bike split, but was still 2.5 minutes down as we entered Transition 2. After a terrible transition losing my shoes I set about chasing Masa on the run. After about 6 km, he was well in my sights and I was only a minute down. With another 9km of running to go I thought I had the better of Masa. Andrew was not closing on me and I knew i had the 'double' crown, barring any major problems.

However I didn't manage to get any closer, Masa ran the last half superbly and I faded slightly. With a mile to go, the gap was still one minute and I resigned myself to 2nd place and jogged home.

It was a great end to the Saipan sports festival and I urge any Brits wanting to do the races to join us there in 2010.

My main goals on returning to the UK are the 2nd round of the Mountain bike National points series, and then Xterra Italy in 5 weeks time. Let's hope the season continues as it's started.

Xterra Saipan 1st.

2009-04-18T01:35:00.000-07:00

It was a mixed British result at Saipan after our great race in Guam.

I had possibly the best race of my Xterra career, winning my 3rd international Xterra race and 2nd Global tour race (Guam didn't have Global tour status). World champ Julie Dibens crashed heavily on the bike and sustained some nasty injuries but nothing broken we hope and started the run in pain but with a slight lead over Renata Bucher from Switzerland, unfortunately Renata got in front on the run and Julie was left to salvage 2nd place. Jim McConnel had another consistent race with 6th place despite nursing an injury and against a quality pro field.

I managed to exit the water in 11th place and set about chasing down the guys ahead in the blazing Saipan heat. It took almost 1/2 a lap to catch last years winner and ex world duathlon champ Andrew Noble from Australia and he announced the Mike Vine (the current US champion) was leading just ahead, with this spuring me on I managed to catch and pass Mike, and worked on building as much of a lead as possible before the run, where I knew Mike would be hunting me down.

I left transition 2 with a 3 minute advantage and ran as hard as I've run, even with a mile to the finish when I knew I had it in the bag, I still pushed harder, knowing every second counts for the Saipan sports festival double competition which takes the combined times for Xterra and next weeks Tagaman race, I wanted as much of a cushion as I could get. I was amazed to only lose 5 seconds to Mike on the run in the end and win by close on 3 minutes.

With Mike now deciding to go back to the States and prepare for the first US race in Vegas, and 3rd place Sacha Wiggenfield of Germany returning to Europe it now leaves me with a 12 minute lead over Andrew Noble for the double competition. The prize for the fastest combined time is a free flight to the event next year from anywhere in the world, 7 night accomodation and food at the Pacific Islands club where we've been staying and also an additional $500US.

Watch this space for next weeks instalment of the Pacific tour 2009.

Big thanks to all sponsors as ever, Cannondale bike was faultless, Schwalbe tyres have had no punctures or crashes all trip, Maximuscle kept me hydrated, Sundog eyewear blocked the rays, big thanks to everyone else too.

Xterra Guam 1st!

2009-04-03T21:47:00.001-07:00

Today was the first race of our Pacific racing tour, Xterra Guam.

After an eventful week, where my bike never made it further than Dubai before getting delayed, let alone the other 3 flights!

Good job it was in it's new Bikeboxalan hardcase and arrived eventually unscathed.

Still suffering with Jetlag due to arriving on Weds and a 9 hour time difference, I was not sure quite how I'd perform on the day.

Luckily it went totally to plan. I even managed to get on two times Xterra world champion, Julie Dibens heels in the swim for 100m which helped me break clear of the pack behind. Prefering to draft and conserve energy, I eased up and swum in the lead pack, with Julie blazing away on her own ahead.

A swift transition and I left T1 with fellow pro's Michael Le Roux from Australia and Takahiro Ogasawara from Japan, hitting the 3 1/2 mile road climb I went on the offensive and left the other 2 guys. Knowing that Jim McConnel from the UK would soon be chasing us down and not wanting to be near the whippet on the run I worked hard to get a decent lead.

Julie mean while was on a mission and it took me 20 minutes to catch her and pass her. Infact she was still in 2nd place as we entered T2, and Jim had moved up to 3rd place with all 3 Brits in the top 3.

On to the run and I knew as long as I didn't do anything stupid I should have the race in the bag. I successfully negotiated the slippery run down the waterfall sections and then while concentrating too hard on my line along the rocky stream, I missed a course arrow taking me left up the bank. I realised this 30 seconds later and quickly retraced my steps in a panic.

Luckily no one got by and I ran home the victor, Jim chased down Julie and finished 2nd, and Julie rounded out the British top 3 and won the womens race convincingly from Renata Bucher of Switzerland. Michael Le Roux of Australia rounded off the mens podium.

Tomorrow we are off to Saipan for 2 weeks training and then Xterra Saipan, which features top Xterra pros Mike Vine (who won the US champs in '08 and has won Xterra Saipan before) and Andrew Noble (Ex world Duathlon champion and winner of last years Xterra Saipan) amongst other competitors. Then Jim and I are racing Tagaman road triathlon in Guam, while Julie is returning to the US for St Anthony's Olympic distance non drafting race.

Human Race Mudman 2009

2009-03-09T03:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend was my first multisport race of 2009. I won the same race in 2008, so knew it would be very hard and hilly, but along with all Human Race events it would be well organised and have a good field.

Missing from the start line were rivals Colin Dixon and my Panasonic Toughbook team mate Jim McConnel who got 1st and 2nd at the recent Human Race Iceman event. However Eliot Chalifour and Paul Davies (also from Panasonic Toughbook) would provide the competition instead.

On the first run, I was happy to stay behind Eliot for most of the lap, knowing that the race would be close to 2 hours long and confident that I could get a gap on the bike. So into transition we ran neck and neck, with a 2 minute lead of Paul (who had been short of running miles due to an injury).

I really think my training full time is paying off and the additional biking i've been doing recently and using a power meter, helped me to create a 5 minute lead by the end of the bike section. My brand new Cannondale Scalpel soaked up the bumps and without my Schwalbe Nobby Nick tires I'd not have been able to ride the climbs each lap.

Onto the 2nd run, I just had to keep a good rythmn and not panic. In the end, my 2nd run was less than 2 minutes slower than my first and I inceased my winning margin by another minute to almost 7 minutes in total.

I am very pleased with my current form, I am now planning 3 more big training weeks before I fly out to Guam for a month away racing in the Pacific with Jim McConnel and current womens world champ Julie Dibens. Here, we will be racing Xterra Guam, Xterra Saipan and also the Tagaman middle distance road triathlon.

Look out for Men's Fitness May Issue which is due out at the end of this month. This will feature a 4 page article on the different types of triathlon including Xterra with plenty of pictures of me in kit and plugs for my sponsors too.

Hope you're all well, I'm off out training soon. Sam

Maui blues

2008-11-19T14:31:00.000-08:00

I've not had much motivation to write a blog since the worlds. The race was a bitter disapointment. I had trained harder than ever before in my life and was in really good form.
I honestly felt like I was taking it easy in the swim and swum 3 minutes quicker than last year. Onto the bike I felt in control as I rode past last years 3rd place finisher and quickest biker, Brian Smith early on. Then the first mechanical struck as my chain over shifted at the front and I had to dismount to put it back on. As well as losing places it lost my rythmn.
Trying too hard to catch up time on a descent, I crashed badly, bending my rear wheel so much it rubbed against the frame, and also damaging some tendons in my ankle. It certainly hurt.
For a 3rd time I started catching riders, getting back into the top 10. Physically I felt really strong, but again fate dealt another blow.
My chain rings must have dug into some wood in the crash and the chain refused to stay on the middle ring, where the wood was lodged. More time was spent removing this. Another over shift of the gears into the spokes at the rear and I pretty much lost the plot.
A TV camera man tried to ask me stupid questions (as I tried to wrench the chain free), which i wasn't in the mood to answer. So much pain and effort in training and now the race was fallnig apart.
My bike which only arrived 2 days before the race had seemed perfect on test rides round the local roads, but I didn't want to risk damaging it or to ride hard off road this close to the race. All these 'what ifs' kept coming up. Could I have checked these things before?
They happened! The repeated gear problems must have weakened my chain and as I tried once again to get my head straight and at least finish the race, the chain snapped. Without the tools to fix it, I was almost relieved to be able to legitamately retire, instead of finishing in a much lower position than my form deserved.
Anyway, writing this has helped with the therapy. Lot's of unfinished business next year! Instead of 6 weeks beer drinking and no training like I did this time last year, I am already keeping some training going, with a couple of short easy sessions a day, and feel in reasonable shape still.
Next season I have the once in a life time chance for an 8 month sabatical off work, sponsors are in place and if my sums are correct i can afford it. Every little thing will be analysed and nothing left to chance. Roll on 2009!

Xterra US champs Tahoe

2008-10-18T16:06:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the Xterra US champs. After the world champs in Maui in 3 weeks time, this race has the biggest prize fund in the world. It carries double points for the US series and it must count as a scoring round for that series. Because of that all the US athletes were there, along with pro's from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, Austria, Costa Rica, Mexico and many more countries.

Having done the race last year and suffered with the altitude, I decided to sleep in an altitude tent back in England for 2 weeks and then get 1 week at altitude here. General theory is that you need 3 weeks at proper altitude but this was the best I could do around a full time job!

I certainly felt a lot better than last year come race day, however I was still having big trouble breathing on the bike and run. I had a good swim coming out ahead of 3 times womens world champion Melanie McWaid (who is a good bench mark and was beating me by several minutes last year), I was in the top 25 overall at this point too.

On to the bike and I got in a good rythmn but always felt my legs could go loads faster but my lungs wouldn't let them. I came off the bike in 9th place.

Onto the run and again I felt like I couldn't get going and I lost 2 places to finish 11th and in the money, just!

I am now staying up high for another week, before I go to Maui to get 2 weeks of sunshine before the big day!

Thanks to all sponsors, all products performed faultlessly. Sam

Xterra Austria and Japan

2008-09-08T02:01:00.000-07:00

Hi guys.

You might have already seen the news on tri247.com given the ammount of emails and facebook messages I seem to have recieved. Good news travels fast, especially when I have only spoke to one person in the UK since the race, cheers Mrs Dibens!

I WON my first Xterra world cup this weekend in Japan! Known as the the most technical Xterra course on the plannet, and made even more technical by the torrential rain in the previous few days, they almost shortened the bike because it would have been dangerous. At the last minute they decided to run the whole course, and i am very glad they did. I had the best swim of my life, knowing that one of my main competitors would be an ex Japanese mountain bike champion and team mate to british olympian Liam Killeen. I exited the water in 3rd position and with a swift transition I was in the lead at the start of the bike. With the chance of a clear track I attacked the good old British muddy conditions. In a day where I could do little wrong I had a great bike leg and built up a comfortable lead. I lost a little time on the hard jungle run but still crossed the line with a few minutes lead.

The womens race was won by Rennata Bucher of Switzerland. My poor Japanese prevents me from finding the full results on the website unfortunately. Taro the organiser has been fantastic in organising our trip, with collections from the airport, transfers to the race 4 hours away, putting us up in the poshest hotel room in the fabulous race hotel )with volcanic spa). Far too many free beer tokens too! Thanks for all the help.

Almost pailing into insignificance now is last weekends Xterra Austria result where I finished 10th. This means a top 10 at every European race and 7th currently in the series. Given that I am having to miss the final French race I might well drop a place or two, but it has been a consistent strong campaign on the European front this year.

The day after I fly home next weekend I am doing the Mens Fitness Rough Track off road triathon at 12:30pm near Windsor. I have then got a few weeks off before the US champs in Tahoe on 6th Oct and the World Champs in Maui on the 27th Oct.

My Cannondale Taurine was fantastic as usual (with USE bits), Schwalbe Nobby Nic tyres worked great in the mud, Sundog eye wear kept the muck from my eyes until they got too caked and I lost yet another pair on a descent (sorry Barney!). Maximuscle kept me well fuelled. Montrail running shoes meant grip all the way round the rocky, rooty run. Thanks to these guys and everyone else for the support.

National Mountain bike Champs 2008

2008-07-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of report after last weeks National Mountain bike champs. I managed to defend my title and get loads of publicity as usual for wearing compression socks in a Mountain bike race! See link below http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/mtb/EventReports2008/20080720_xc_national_champs.aspThe race didn't go quite as planned, I missed my pedal at the start and from being gridded first I went all the way back to about 30th place. It took me a lap to even get near to the front. I eventually attacked with 2 laps to go and crossed the line with a slim 20 second lead.My lap times would have placed me about 7th in the Elite National champs, but I think the Masters jersey looks good on me and gets more publicity than 7th in the Elite.

All sponsors equipment worked faultlessly. Sundog orange lenses worked great in the low light woodland sections. Racing Ralph tyres did the job again. I used my Cannondale Scalpel full suspension to win on this course, instead of the hardtail Taurine I used last year.

This weekend just gone, I helped guide a charity ride from London to Paris for the 'Big issue foundation'. This was great fun and 260 miles on a mountain bike with knobbly tyres in 3 days is good training!

I have got 3 weeks off until Xterra Austria and then Xterra Japan. Back to hard training now. Sam

Xterra France

2008-07-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend saw the 4th European Xterra round, set high up in the French Alpes in the ski resort of Auron.

After tactically missing the Czech race last weekend I knew I had to score some good points to get me back up the standings.

I suffered a bit with the altitude, especially at the swim which was at 1800m above sea level, where i lost 2.5 minutes, which is about a minute more than i should have done.

Again on the bike i lacked that little edge on some of the climbs, due to the altitude, but I was riding well technically and in my first race on my new full suspension Cannondale Scalpel I came off the bike in 4th place, in good company behind Current world champion Conrad Stoltz, ex world champion Nico Lebrun and ex pro mountain biker Jorg Sheiderbauer. The bike handled fantastic especially with the Schwalbe Racing ralph tyres and i'll be using it at the next round in Austria.

Onto the run and again i felt the altitude and the hard work i'd done on the bike and i lost 3 places to finish an exhausted 7th, but gaining essential series points. I am currently lying in 7th place in the European standings, but I can drop the Czech round which i didn't race where as some of the athletes ahead have to drop a result still.

My next goal is retaining my Masters title at the national Mountain bike champs in 2 weeks time. I'll be having a week off hard running this week in preperation for this.

Xterra European champs and Xterra UK

2008-06-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

It's been far too long since my last post. Loads has gone on. I won the first round of the national Mountain bike series Master category back in April.
More recently the European Xterra tour has kicked off in ernest. Xterra Italy was also the European champs and more than 350 athletes lined up on the start line in Sardinia. It was a very fast race, which was won by the in-form Swiss athlete Olivier Marceau. I had 2nd fastest bike and got up into 5th place before fading slightly on the run to finish 9th.
Xterra Uk was a stark contrast to the sunshine and heat of Sardinia. Being Wales it rained constantly, but it didn't dampen the spirits or the racing. A smaller but equally quality field lined up and it turned into a battle of the world champions at the front with Nico LeBrun of France the 2005 world champ beating Conrad Stoltz of South Africa in an epic race. I had a reasonable swim, but couldn't get going on the bike and ended up losing 6 minutes to leaders and coming off the bike in 7th, I had a good run and gained a place to finish 6th, retaining my title of British Champion.
This weekend is a weekend off, before Xterra France the following week. Where i hope to once again be in the running for the prizes and improve on my current series standing.

Merrrell Mudman 2008

2008-03-09T01:29:00.000-08:00

Knowing that John Lunt and the crew at Human Race always put on a good event, I thought this would be an ideal opening multi sport event for 2008. The race was an off-road duathlon with 7.5km run, 15km bike and a final 7.5km run.
Over 100 athletes lined up on the start line on this damp day. The first run was led by a french guy called Cedric Lassonde, who I later found out has a pedigree as a top 1500M runner. He was followed into transition by Elliot Challifour and myself. The run course was brutal with 6 climbs that you could barely walk up, and so steep running down that the soles of your feet got bruised. I was very pleased to get onto the bike and into a rythmn again. The bike leg went well for me, getting into the lead comfortably, with my new Cannondale Taurine performing faultlessly. Other bits of equipment I was testing included Canterbury compression top and socks, whether they helped or not is difficult to say, but i had a good second run and didn't cramp unlike a lot of people.
My second run was only 9 seconds slower than my first, which I was very pleased with. Most people lost at least 3 minutes. All in all a very pleasing first multisport race of the year with a 3 minute victory. I still have 3 months until the European series starts, so I am not far off where I want to be already.
I am off to Lanzarotte next week for a spot of training with Julie Dibens and some other athletes, then my next race will be the first round of the Mountain bike national points series, where I intend to wear my National Champs jersey with pride.

Xterra worlds Maui

2007-10-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

600 athletes including almost 100 pros lined up in Maui, Hawaii for the world championships yesterday. The best field ever assembled included Olympic medalists, 8 world champions, several top ITU road athletes, mountain bikers, Ironman champions and the best Xterra pro's.
After spending 3 weeks aclimatising to the heat here on Maui, I was very motivated to try to get the quickest bike and top 10 overall. Unfortunately I just missed out on both accounts, with 2nd quickest bike and 14th overall, however looking at the athletes behind me and ahead of me I know i have stepped up a level, beating many of the top Europeans that have beat me most of the season, and most of the US athletes that beat me in Tahoe a month ago.
Looking forward to a couple of weeks here in the sun, surfing and chilling on the beach. Then back to the grind of slowly improving my swimming.

Tahoe US champs and Maui world champs

2007-10-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry for no posts for ages. I am in the middle of a 7 week adventure tour stateside. The first race was the US champs in Tahoe, I've never raced at altitude before and don't want to again without better preperation!! All the athletes ahead of me either lived at altitude or spent 3 weeks or more there before the race. Basically i struggled round the race, all 3 disciplines i felt like i couldn't breath. The following weekend I went to Canada for my cousins wedding, had a really good week, drunk too much and hardly trained at all! I really needed this to clear my head before my Hawaii build up.
I am writing this from Maui currently, been training really hard. Great to have Julie Dibens here too currently as it's easier to drag myself out to the pool with her nagging at me!! 10 days until the race and all is looking good. Then i'm looking forward to a rest for a few weeks. Congrats to Chrissie Wellington on her Ironman result, great stuff. Off to enjoy the last couple of hours of sun. Sam

Xterra UK

2007-09-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

Not quite the race i'd hoped for, but at least i started and made some impression on it. I ended up driving down at 6am on the day of the race, in the back of my mind i knew i shouldn't be doing it. I had tried to run the previous night and again it ended in pain after a few minutes. The plan was to turn up, do the swim, get the quickest bike and not run, but it didn't quite work like that...
I had a reasonable swim, exiting only 3 mins down on the leaders. On the bike i felt great, very fresh from a nice easy week beforehand. Unfortunately in my haste to catch up the leaders i crashed really heavily on the first descent, landing hard on my left quad. I could feel this all the way round the race, gradually seizing up. I wasn't helped either by a slow puncture at the end, which i rode to finish, ending up riding on the rim! How I manged to get the quickest bike split was pure adrenaline.
Instead of being sensible I decided to do the run, to try to defend my 6th place overall in the series and my 6th place on the day where i started the run. Unfortunately as i knew would happen, my knee gave way again. I could barely walk the descents and hobbled to my slowest ever 10km. I dropped to 7th overall and 9th on the day, exactly the same as last year amazingly.
A very turbulent week of lots of extra work shifts, intense physio, the unfortunate break up with my girl friend of 6 years has left me exhausted mentally and physically. One more day of training and hten i fly to Tahoe for the US champs. I am going to do as well as i can here, but with the main aim of getting ready for Hawaii in a months time.

Bad timing!!

2007-09-14T15:00:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago i helped out my very kind sponsors Fatface at a PGL holiday camp they were helping promote. I had a great time trying all the activities, meeting fab new people and guiding beginners around a simple off-road course. It was here, with my low boredom threshold i decided to practice some technical riding, jumping from one set of roots to another. After a few goes i must have lost concentration and ended up smashing into a tree with the right side of my body. I finished the ride, feeling very bruised, shorts ripped and with a very sore knee and back.
The following day i trained but only gently and felt very stiff, but things seemed to get better during the next week.
In Germany last weekend the knee injury was aggravated with the long, fast, rooty, off camber descents on the run course. So much so that i was limping the following day. I first tryed to run this Wednesday and couldn't even manage 400 metres, before again limping home in agony. That evening it swelled up worse and i could barely walk. Thursday it hurt all day, even when pushing off the wall at the swimming pool. Today I have been pummeled by the physio, popping ibuprofen and Maximuscle ache-free like they're going out of fashion. Sitting here now with ice pack on.
I had been looking forward to UK Xterra for months, travelled down to Wales twice, ridden 3 laps of the course, checking lines... I'd even trained through Germany a bit and planned to rest this week. I am absolutely flying on the bike, but now can't even run 400m!! Still got 36hrs, will try to run tomorrow afternoon, to decide whether to travel down. Please if there is a god....

Xterra Germany

2007-09-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

Not the best result of my season (14th overall), but another solid race and part of the never ending learning curve as an athlete.

In the swim i exited in about 30th place again (21minutes, but it was slightly short), which is a major improvement from last year and certainly heading in the right direction. However with a water temperature of 14 degrees and a similar air temperature i suffered really badly with the cold once i got on the bike. Being very lean naturaly and especially so at this point in the season, I do lose heat very easily.

On the bike I struggled to catch anyone for the first half a lap, even though the major climbs should have suited me. I finished the first lap of the bike 8 minutes down on the leaders and then completed the 2nd lap in the same time as the leaders. Given that I have won the bike leg in every triathlon this year including 3 global tour races, 10th place on the bike was a major disappointment.

The run went ok, but i felt a little flat, possibly due to the hard training i have put in since Austria. I lost 2 places right near the end which was very annoying, putting me in 14th overall in a very strong elite field, where Ironman world champion Faris El Sultan struggled to make the top 20.

This week is major recovery week before one of my seasons big goals, Xterra UK in Wales on Sunday. Sam

Xterra Austria

2007-08-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend saw the 3rd round of the European tour, Xterra Austria. It was a new venue from last year, so no one really knew what to expect. A small but very happening town greeted us warmly, Xterra posters were positioned everywhere and scantily clad girls in low cut xterra tops handed out flyers at every bar. Surrounded by mountains but with crystal clear lake (warm enough to swim with no wetsuit), it was a postcard perfect location for a race.
The swim went reasonably well for me coming out of the water 33rd losing a couple of minutes less than I did last year. The bike was very hilly, with plenty of technical sections wiht roots and rocks thrown in to cause problems. I managed the fastest bike split yet again (every race this year so far!) catching all but 2 of my rivals. Unforunately my water bottle bounced out of its cage on one of the bumpy descents on the first lap, leaving me without fuel for an hour and a half.
As i started the run, I knew I had pushed it hard on the bike and was dehydrated and tired, luckily so was one of the competitors ahead and to my suprise I finished the first 5km loop in second place, looking for my best ever European tour finish and a posible podium. Unfortunately lap 2 of the run saw me struggle home, losing 3 places to finish an eventual 5th.
Although not my best European result it was my most satisfying, against a very strong pro field.
This result moves me up to 7th in the series standings, with the German course likely to suit me and the home advantage at the final UK round, things are looking good for a top 5 overall. As well as these up coming races, I am also now looking to race the US champs at lake Tahoe in Nevada, on the way out to Hawaii for the world champs, it's going to be a very busy couple of months!

Xterra training weekend and Xterra Denmark

2007-08-21T09:37:00.000-07:00

The Xterra training camp went really well. Not a huge turn out, but it was really well recieved. All the feedback was good and we all learned a lot as coaches. Next year it will NOT be on the same weekend as Nottingham relays and it will be anounced earlier in the year. We are currently writing a report for Xterraplanet.com website and news letter. News of our venture reached the head people at Xterra and they heard it was a success too.

Xterra Denmark was on Saturday. Last year I placed 11th on a course that doesn't suit strong bikers at all. This year i was looking for a higher place, preferably a top 5 position. I felt i swum better, losing less time than last year, but still too much to make up. Even getting the quickest bike split of the day by 2 minutes only put me into 6th place. On the run i knew i'd struggle only having been injury free and back training for 3 weeks. I was actually pleased with only losing one position, finishing 7th in the end. Fellow GB elites Jim McConnell and Nicola Duggan finished 13th and 5th respectively. The party of nearly 20 GB athletes had a great weekend with several age group medals including 3 golds.

Tomorrow i am off to Xterra Austria for round 3 of the European series. This should suit my strengths a lot more. Having a great training day today so far and looking forward to a top 5 this time hopefully!!

London to Paris ride

2007-08-01T06:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had a change from training and racing and helped out guiding a charity ride from London to Paris. The ride was to raise money for The Big Issue. Over the 3 days we managed to get 50 recreational cyclists over a lumpy 250 miles in all weathers to Paris, including a final 100 mile day. We didn't manage to lose anyone either (well not permanently!) . Seeing the sense of accomplishment on the riders face when thewy finished was great, they all felt very proud of themselves and rightly so. It was a great weekend, I met some lovely people and no one talked racing or techy gear ratio talk at the dinner table.
In order to get a greater training effect I rode a mountain bike with knobbly tyres, but despite my best intentions I only ran and swum once each. I think the change of routine has helped though and a good night out on the town on Saturday night! This week I have knuckled down to some hard days training with Xterra Denmark looming up very soon. I'm not expecting to be on top running form, but hopefully by the UK round I'll be getting close.
There are still a few spaces left on our Xterra UK training camp in 10 days time, get those cheques in to reserve a place, or check out www.driventotri.com .

National Mountain bike champs win

2007-07-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

What a week! On Wednesday I drove to Chelmer cycles for a (routine?) service to get my bikes perfect for the National champs. At 15:30 the eagle eyed mechanics there spotted a hairline crack in the frame of the Taurine bike i was planning to race at the weekend. It was a prototype model and has been thrown around so many planes by baggage handlers this year, crashed multiple times at Mountain Mayhem and thrashed (sorry tested) by Single track magazine. It was too late to dispatch a new frame from Holland that day and i was leaving at 9:00 on the Friday for Plymouth. The best bike shop in the world put other work on hold and stripped down a stock bike to get me moving again by Thursday evening. I battled with rush hour traffic round the M25 for a second day in succession (8 hours on that road in 2 days!) and arrived home exhausted but relieved to have a bike at 21:00 Thursday evening.
Friday saw major flooding and we feared we wouldn't even make it there, especially after the car hit a huge puddle and ripped the mud flap off, making a massive noise.
Things got better from here luckily. I was happy with the fast, dry (some how!) course with hard climbs. As long as had a fast start I was quietly confident.
Not being gridded on the front row didn't help and a mistake by the rider in front of me left me in about 25th place at the foot of the 1st climb. I took a bit of a risk and rode on a really rough tricky line up into 3rd place by the top of it. Smiling to my self through the pain, I knew I was on a good day! Halfway round the first lap I was still in this position and feeling comfortable. I looked at who was in the lead group and decided I'd see who was strong. A minute later I was on my own, this wasn't the plan, but i thought I'd ride hard but steady and see who came back. At the start of the treacherous 'Mine shaft' descent I was joined by Matt Barratt and Jamie Newall. I rode this really well (especially considering the mess i'd made of it on both practice laps the day before) and was on my own again at the bottom. From here it was a solitary ride for 4 laps. I honestly can say it was one of the best races of my life. I paced myself perfectly on every climb. I was never close to crashing and rode good lines all the time. My hastily built bike was perfect all race. The tyre choice of Schwalbe Smart Sam (rear) and Jimmy (front) was perfect. I never missed a bottle of Maximuscle drink. If every race went like this i'd be very happy.
On the last lap I toyed with the idea of doing an extra lap so i could compare my final time in the Masters with the elite winners. I certainly felt fast enough to be in the top 5, where I used to finish when I raced the Elite Nationals, this idea was forgotten as I decided to savour the moment and my first National Champs jersey (In a few hours you can bet I'll on time laps website adding my slowest lap time to my finishing time to see roughly where i'd have placed in Elite). I was really happy for my best mate Jamie Newall who finished second, I know he'd wanted to win, and if it wasn't my day i'm glad it would have been him winning.
Now it is back on with major run and swim training. 4 weeks until Xterra Denmark and then it is all go with Austria, Germany, UK and France Xterra's all within 6 weeks. Followed by my major build for the world champs in Hawaii. May be i'll treat my self to a few beers tonight, before i forget one of the best races of my life.....

Mountain Mayhem race

2007-06-26T03:14:00.000-07:00

Mountain Mayhem is a 24 hr Mountain Bike race, generally done in a team of 4. It has big corporate sponsorship and a decent prize fund. You don't get any sleep and it hurts like hell, but......
WE DID IT!!!! After racing this race 5 times and being on the podium every time, we finally won it! I was guesting on the BMC mixed elite team and we were always near the lead but never comfortable. Even after 21 hours of racing our lead was still only 3 minutes!
The support we received from Extra was fantastic, thankyou very much to Damion the mechanic and Kirsty (who did all the timings, woke us up, made food.....). Thanks to Fatface for supplying us with a masseur to use, Nic was brilliant.
Usual sponsors to thank. Schwalbe Nobby Nic mud tyres rule! USE exposure lights too! My Bell helmet survived countless crashes in the mud! Cannondale (and BMC) bikes were both great and no major mechanicals at all. Maximuscle Cyclone drink helped me recover between laps.
All the team rode superbly, thanks to Jamie Newall and Jodie Crawforth for inviting me to join them. Julie Dibens our team girly did the quickest womens laps of the day and we proved that a couple of triathletes can mix it with the top Mountain bikers in the country!
I'm off to catch up on some z'eds, before an attempt at gentle training, 3 days of no swimming Richard Stannard will tell me off! Promise you won't tell him. Laters, Sammy G.

Congratulations Dibster!

2007-06-14T00:52:00.000-07:00

Well done Julie on your National Championships win. what a great season you're having this year, if i was British triathlon i'd give you loads of lottery money! Good luck for UK 70.3 this weekend but don't get too tired, Monday's going to be hard! Talking of British Triathlon, i'm still waiting for a reply to an email i sent last December to their performance program, not very impressed with how they treat/repond to their elite athletes! A reply to me would have taken 5 minutes saying 'You might have a little talent and high aspirations but you're not welcome at any high performance centres to improve your swimming' I'll check my mail again tomorrow, he laughs!

On Monday Julie Dibbens and myself are going to check out the Xterra UK bike course. This is partly for our own good and partly to find route for the official Xterra UK training weekend that we are running! So sign up for the course which runs on the 11th and 12th of August. Learn from the UK's top off road athletes and race a warm-up event on the Saturday on some of the same trails. We are also checking out other routes from the accomodation we have booked and then I might even buy Julie a congratulatory pint in the pub we plan to have dinner in on the training weekend (you've got to check these things out!).

Winning weekend

2007-06-03T06:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend I raced the 3rd round of the national mountain bike series held on a hilly course in Margham park in Wales. It was my first national event of the year and after not racing at all for 2 months due to injury and illness I was a little unsure of my form. I decided to race the Masters (30-40yrs) category, which is a similar speed to the Elite race (but a lap shorter), with many ex Elite riders such as myself in it. On the first lap I was struggling to stay with the pace at times, moving up from 12th to 4th as the lap progressed. I joined forces with Scot Forbes (ex top elite triathlete) at the start of the second lap and together we tried to catch the 2 leaders. Scot then suffered cramp and I continued my assult on my own, catching the leader Geof Beetham at the end of the second lap. The final 2 laps I rode on my own to a comfortable and vey satisfying win. My full suspension Cannondale Scalpel was faultless as ever, flying up the steep hills (thanks again Chelmer cycles for the servicing).. Racing Ralph and Smart Sam tyre choice from Schwalble was spot on too. Sundog eyewear kept the rays from my eyes on a great sunny day and I have now got a 100% win record in Bell Helmets (not that I'm superstitious).
One reason for racing was to test my form before Mountain Mayhem 24hr mountain bike race in 3 weeks time which has good prize money (always a good motivator!). This race is in a team of 4 and the other team members Jamie Newall got 3rd in Masters, Jodie Crawforth got 11th Elite and Julie Dibens is super fast this year so all is looking good for a pay day soon!
My swimming is coming on leaps and bounds with my altered technique, and I am meeting rep times I'd have never managed a year ago. There is still a long way to go, but at least it's headed in the right direction.
My physio has given me the go ahead to start running again on Monday which is good. I'll be taking it steady for the first few weeks, and getting used to my new orthotics which I am wearing now as I type. Still got lots of exercises to do, but we're heading the right direction I hope.
Roll on August European Xterra's again, i'll be fatser than ever at all 3 disciplines!

Racing again

2007-06-01T09:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in posting again. Things are looking up. My 100m rep swim time has come down by 4 seconds in the last couple of weeks, which is equivalent to a minute over 1500m, which I am very pleased with. If it carries on improving like this I might even do some elite drafting races if i'm going to make it out in one of the packs. I have just returned from the long bank holiday weekend spent in the Belgium Ardennes. It was a fantastic trip, open water swimming in the rivers, riding some of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege cycle route climbs. Some fantastic mountain biking and also a ride out into Luxembourg on a Tandem. Great food, a few cheeky belgium beers, good time all round. Tomorrow I am doing the 3rd round of the Mountain bike national points series in Margam park in Wales. This wil be a good tester, not having raced for 2 months, and will give me an idea of my form with the up coming Mountain Mayhem 24hr race and the Mountain bike National Champs. I was disapointed to not race the European Xterra champs in Italy last weekend, but the good news is my knee seems to be healing, my new orthotics have been made and fitted to my shoes. I have been told I can run again from next Monday. This gives me 12 weeks of running before the August European Xterra events, which should be enough to get fast again. Keep an eye on my site for details of the official Xterra UK training camp which will be a great chance to ride swim, bike and run on the actual courses to bew used in the race. All is on track, more news to follow soon. Sammy G.

Managing 2 jobs

2007-05-16T14:12:00.000-07:00

Hopefully this post will help explain my current hectic lifestyle. My first full-time job with Surrey fire brigade is a great job for an athlete. It pays the mortgage a lot easier than trying to explain to bank manager that my injury will be better by next month and I reckon I might make some prize money to pay Northern Rock! My watch at Egham are very supportive and when our days work was done today, my boss (Roy) let me get in the gym for the last hour of the day to do my physio exercises and weights session. An hours bike session at 7am this morning before work started the day, including 40*15 second big gear efforts to build strength, second session was in the gym at work. In order to earn time off for a pre Hawaii 2 week altitude training camp, I am very lucky to be able to work additional shifts to take off later in the year, so I took advantage of doing an extra night shift tonight (this was how I managed to take a month off in March for my Saipan trip). In order to have my compulsory hour break (fire brigade rules!), a colleague (Gerry) works for me at 6pm while I rush to the pool and do my aerobic swim set 25*100's off 1:45, then straight back on duty. This good will and appreciation of my efforts by my colleagues is vital and I'm so lucky to have it. So here I am at 10:50pm on a night shift at work, in order to take time off in October. Tim Don doesn't have to do this!! My day since waking 3 hours training, 14 hours at work (inc my break) and not much else. I can't wait until tomorrow when I'm off all during the day and can do a long bike ride and sleep a bit. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but it does wear me down trying to train up to 5 hours a day around a full time job. In 2009 I have been granted a sabatical year where I can be a full time athlete for 12 months. I'll be 35, which is roughly the same age Nicolas Lebrun, Hamish Carter, Ned Overend and others have won the Xterra worlds, hopefully I won't be past it by then?!

Fresh start + 1 week

2007-04-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

Still healthy! I started the week pretty easy, doing barely an hour a day, coughing up half my lungs as soon as I started working at all. I had no strength what so ever, and got over-taken by some old dear carrying her weekly tesco's shop, this didn't deter me, I was in the fresh air and healthy! By Friday I was out with Richard Stannard and Clayton Payne on the bike as in the good old days, I certainly wasn't going to challenge them up the hills but I didn't want to get off and walk and no old ladies with shopping baskets went past me.
I also started my new swim push, Glen Walker reviewed my underwater video analysis and gave some great advice in the pool on Tuesday, taking things totally back to basics. Howard Vine from my club BTS backed up all of Glens findings (which was reassuring) and gave similar clear advice on drills to do. I have a long way to go, but at least now I am bringing my Lat's into play (they certainly ache after each session!). I need to by Richard a beer tonight when we go for a curry (by the way it's my birthday) to get him to video me again next week! Maybe if I advertise his site richardstannard.com it will help me?
As for running, I have been stretching religiously, doing my 10 mins a day cross training on stepper, my physio at Care for Health will be so proud of this post! Today I did my first run, a huge 20 minutes. No pain from my knee so far.
Things are looking up on all fronts. Motivation is back, roll on next week and proper training! Firstly, I got a date with a bottle of kingfisher lager tonight, out of here. Sammy G.

Fresh Start Monday

2007-04-21T03:43:00.000-07:00

What's been in the press of my year so far has been really positive. However, if the truth be known since Saipan and Guam things have been less than great. On return to the UK I had a lot of extra shifts to catch up on at work, which left me tired on top of the jet lag. I then got a chest infection, missed a week of training, started back too soon, and got ill again. On top of this is have been trying to clear up some nagging patella tendonitis on my right knee. In the end I quit training for the last week to work on decorating my house, which was yet another niggling 'to do' stopping me from training properly. Moral hit rock bottom, to the point of almost tears! I need to rule a line under this 3 week period and Monday is the day!! Chatting to Richard Stannard at his birthday BBQ, we decided this and the following day filmed my swim stroke under water for the big swim push. On Monday I am collecting my posh new Cannondale System6 bike, starting work with my new swim coach Howard Vine. Motivation is coming back, health is improving and my buddy Clayton Payne will be back training after his Atum22 launch www.atum22.com on Tuesday. The training group of Richard, Clayton and myself will be once again be reunited and back on track! I am thinking of missing the European champs now in Italy because I don't think i will be back to fullform, decision to be made in 3 weeks time. Signing out, Sammy G.

Saipan and Guam

2007-04-16T05:33:00.001-07:00

The Saipan and Guam trip was great in term of race results and publicity, but has left me quite tired and run down and with a slight knee injury. I am looking to resume running today after 2 weeks rest. I am also in the process of changing swim coaches and look forward to working with Julie Dibens and Glen Walker.