We're bloggin...

... we're bloggin', we're bloggin', we're bloggin', we're bloggin' and I hope you like bloggin' too.

Paraphrasing the words of the immortal Bob Marley, of course.

It's been tricky getting back into things following my holiday in Portugal. We had an amazing time over there where we were joined by three other families. Fiona's brother Christian, my brother Sean and my best mate 'Arps all brought along their two children (and partners, of course) and were staying within a few miles of each other.

The kids had a blast, hanging and playing with cousins/friends on the beach, swimming, exploring caves etc. The adults had a great time too, doing the more sedate adult things like BBQ's and drinking far too much Sagres (pictured left).

I'd picked up a TV commercial before I left, so had to find a local internet cafe to do a little work every couple of days but that didn't in any way take the gloss off what was a great time.

Getting back into the swing of training has been tough. With this year's Ironman challenge all done and dosted, the only thing left to keep training for is the sprints that I do towards the end of the season. I felt sluggish on my return - even though I'd knocked off a couple of 15k runs with my brother when out in Portugal - and have forced myself back into fast twitch training.

It's been tough.

But rewarding.

In fact, so rewarding that one aspect of it set me thinking - on a subject the like of which I've blogged about before. I'd been busy all day yesterday and, as I couldn't make Team MK's 10 mile Time Trial, I decided to take out the bike and do my own TT on the course that Colin and I use to test ourselves. The weather was good and I was feeling frisky. A PB beckoned I thought.

The ride went well. I pushed myself hard (never easy when you're on your own) and, with the sweat pouring out of my aero helmet (no gags please) passed the 10 mile mark only to see my time was 23'39" (my PB is 23'16"). Gutted doesn't do it justice. I'd felt fast, my legs were pumping and I was hammering a big gear. Why the hell handn't I PB'd? I twittered as much and, sure enough, a reply came back from my mate Tom who said "you can't be Iron all the time."

I thought about this. One thing you learn about Tom is that he's usually right. I heard what he was saying but what was the essence of it? There was something deeper than 'keep your chin up'. And here it is. I felt better having failed in my ambition than having not tried to achieve it. And I realised (once again) that 'failures are the building blocks of success' (I just made that up... use it if you want).

Keep trying. Whatever you're trying to do and, eventually, you will do it.

Period.

Or... Full Stop; if you don't want to adopt an Americanisation.

I'm going to enter my remaining events tomorrow so will let you know next week what they will be. Lots of sprints. I'm also thinking of another marathon this year. Amsterdam is tempting in mid October.

Fiona and the girls are with my brother and his family in Amsterdam at the moment so I'm missing them terribly but I'm busy enough for the time to pass quickly. Before they went - on Saturday night - we dropped the screen in the cinema and watched 'Edward Scissorhands' together - a movie I hadn't seen for years. What a treat! Fantastically visual movie - Tim Burton at his simplest and best. See it again if you haven't seen it for a while.

I've been thinking of ditching the blog but, to be honest, I've enjoyed writing again this week. Sorry it's been such a long time but a boy occasionally needs a break.

Speak soon...