Uncharted Territory...

Life is far too short to miss out on things of great beauty. That's why I took a trip up to our local forest in Ashridge the other day to sneak a peek at their incredible bluebell wood. It's a stunning carpet of bluebells, shafts of sunlight picking out the vivid colour and the tall trees giving the whole thing a feeling of grandeur. It took me five minutes to get there, five to look around and five to come back and I took the snap with my iphone so it's not of the highest quality. Just being there lifted my spirits and made me feel glad to be alive.

I think we should all search for moments like that in a day.

Funny really as I've lived close to the forest for many years now and never knew about the bluebells. In a similar way I've been into uncharted territory on the bike this week too. On Sunday last, you'll recall I did a solo 103 mile ride. On wednesday I hooked up with the Team MK fast group (always my plan following the return from Italy) and did another (coincidentally) 103 miles. On Saturday we once again nailed another century, this time a round 100 exactly. For me, this is unprecedented and demonstrates the stamina and strength I've developed this year on the bike. When I took up cycling over two years ago, there is no way I could have contemplated ever doing three century rides in the space of seven days. Following them (apart from my back which I'll touch on in a moment), I feel just fine. I'm delighted with that and also delighted with the times for the rides.

Sunday's ride was 19.7mph average, Wednesday's 19.5mph average and Saturday's was a whopping great 20.5mph average. So my strength stayed good over the week. All in all I feel good and strong on the bike.

Good too in swimming. I swam 9.6km last week, including a 4km pool session and my first dip in the lake with Graham from Team MK. My lake swimming felt smooth and slick and it was a blessed relief not to be turning every 25 metres and losing speed.

Running is more of an issue. There have been obvious consequences for my back in being hunched over a set of aerobars for 306 miles. It's improved considerably but the bike work and a 25 minute run I did after my last bike ride has ensured that it's not yet healed.

I know what you'll say. And I think you know what I'll say right back at you . So let's leave it at that, eh.

So, from last Saturday, my training looked like this:

Saturday - 20 mile bike ride - 80 mins
Sunday - 103 mile solo bike ride, 19.7mph avg - 5 hrs 4 mins
Monday - 2 km swim (easy, testing back)
Tuesday - 4km pool swim (10 x 400 easy off 8' including rest)
Weds - 103 mile bike, (19.6mph) - 5 hrs 15 mins
Thurs - 1.6km open water swim, 2 km Team MK evening swim
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 100 mile bike ride (20.5mph) - 4 hrs 53 mins, followed by 25 min run off the bike at 7:30 minute miles
Sunday - Rest day

Total time training (9 days) - 21.85 hours

Swim - 9.6km
Bike - 306 miles
Run - 3.5 miles

But, all training and no work makes Jevon a dull boy. I'm getting through my writing, and am relishing writing 'long form' as I experiment with telling a story in novel rather than screenplay form.

I've also caught up on a couple of movies. We screened THE GODFATHER PART II here in the cinema at home and had several of the boys round to watch it. A fantastic movie, better than I remember. Pacino was superb and De Niro explodes onto the screen with such a presence. Fiona and I also watched MILK on Saturday night. We're both big Sean Penn fans and, whilst I loved his performance, my nod for the Best Acting Oscar would have gone to Frank Langella for his portrayal of Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon.

I've been twittering too. In fact I'm finding the whole twitter thing quite compelling. You should try it.

So. Ironman Lanzarote week. My friends (see last week's post) are all out there and I wish them luck in their endeavours. I'll report back on their progress next week. I forgot to wish another ironman buddy, Iain Parsons, the best of luck in Lanza. 'Ave it, mate.

Thanks to Lauren at Berkhamsted chiropractic clinic for her continuing good work in freeing up my back. The improvements have been dramatic. Thanks also to Dave for his work on my back and legs too... you've kept me on the road between the two of you.

So... have a good week. Do this for me.

Try and do something that makes you really, really glad to be alive. You won't be disappointed.

soon...

Back to the Future...

I seem to remember barbling on in last week's blog about not training to exhaustion on my Italian training camp.

Strike that.

When I got back from Italy I was exhausted. So, too it seems, were many of my team mates. So many demands had been made on my body that I spent much of last week in a state of almost perpetual tiredness, needing a lunch time sleep and having no energy left in me at all. Coach K said it would be so and, not for the first time, Coach K was right.

Coach K also told me to take it very easy training this week and to come back in if I was doing anything and felt tired. Now I know why. Having travelled sunday and had monday off, I went for a run on tuesday night, initially scheduling a brisk 20km. I decided to jog back in after 10km though as my legs were heavy and I was really tired. Only a couple of hundred metres from home my lower pack 'popped'. I have a history with this particular piece of my anatomy but, since my triathlon days began, it's behaved itself pretty well. I put this down mainly to my weight loss and my lower spine not needing to support a top heavy torso. Sure, it's 'gone' once or twice in the last couple of years but, more often than not, after a visit to the chiropractor I'm back training after a couple of days.

I immediately felt this would be different however. The movement in my back seemed somehow more... permanent. A definite 'clunk'. I could feel the pain setting in as I returned home and immediately called my chiro. Of course, no bookings for a week were available due to holidays. So I found another one. Lauren at the Berkamsted Chiropractic Clinic has been my angel of mercy this week, making room and squeezing me in to a couple of appointments (one only an hour from my ringing) where she could easily have said 'no'. A huge thank you to her.

The treatment initially left me concerned about the scale of the injury, however, as I felt no particular improvement through the week. In fact, I was in agony for three days, unable to function in any way normally, so training was completely out the window.

Now this isn't meant to sound in any way heroic and, if anything, probably sounds stupid. But all I can say in my defence is that I just had to do something. I looked at my diary and realised that eight weeks from last Sunday I would be stood by a lake in Frankfurt and that I HAD to keep training. How the hell was I going to do that? I'm serious when I say I was in great pain sat at my desk writing.

I had a call from Ben on the Thursday. Ben is doing Ironman Lanzarote this year and is good mates with my buddies Tom and Helen. His father isn't well (get well soon, Ben's dad) and he told me he was coming down from Leeds to see him (Ben's folks live locally) and would I like to ride with him on the Saturday. Frankly, there's nothing I would have liked more but there was no way I could contemplate 3 hour hill session. But I did say for him to pop in, say hello, I'd make a coffee and, if I was feeling up to it, I'd ride out with him for a few minutes and ride back just to see if there was any reaction.

Ben came. Coffee was made. I rode out and did 20 miles. There was no reaction other than the constant pain I was getting in my everyday life. So, I figured, why not be sat on the bike as sat on a couch. Getting back from that ride made me feel a whole lot better. I planned a ride Sunday morning, aiming to go further this time, aiming to probe at my back's longevity.

Not only that, but it would mark the 'coming out' of my beloved Cervelo P2C (my TT bike with its low aero position) for the first time this season. Those of you who know me know me to be someone who is not so much talented as relentless in his pursuit of a goal. Sometime that's a curse and sometime it's of benefit. We all have a different make up. That's mine is all. And so, as I got off the bike 103 miles later, having rode 100 solo miles in 5 hours and 4 minutes at an average of 19.7mph, I allowed myself a little smile.

And, as I write this with no reaction from my back other than the (now lessening) pain that would normally be there at this stage of the injury, I allow myself a little smile.

It could all go balls up, of course. But, so far so good.

The lesson from this for me? One I knew already really. Nobody knows their bodies like the folks that own them. And sometimes you just have to get on with things, no matter what obstacles are in your way. Injury and pain are part of Ironman Training... I've been lucky for a while and hadn't had much go wrong. I'd forgotten how it's easy to tell yourself you're injured and you need rest when, actually, you could be showing that injury who's boss... or at least trying to. Don't get me wrong... for the first few days, the injury WAS boss. No way could I move, let alone train. But I'm convinced that the exercise I've done on the bike over the weekend has helped my injury recovery. Whether that's psychological, physiological or a mixture of both I don't know. But sometimes... we just have to do things and see if they work.

Sorry if that's gone on a bit but it's just something I wanted to get off my chest. I'll keep you posted with the back situation but am going to try swimming today and, maybe later in the week I'll try and run. But there's always the bike!

Congratulations this week to Colin, who took part in his first GB qualifiying sprint triathlon on Sunday at Grendon. He scored well and timed in at 1 hour 15 which will put him in the frame for selection. He's confident he can shave the minutes required off his time to automatically qualify in one of his two further races. A training camp in Cyprus this week should help. Good luck, mate and great racing.

Well done also to my buddy Graham M., who timed at 1:14 for the same race. Graham's in great form this year and this was just what he needed to launch him into the last 8 weeks of training prior to IM Germany.

I'm twittering more and more and enjoying it immensely. For those of you who are 'tweeters', follow the link on this site to hook up with me.

My mind is also turning to which Ironman to do next year. Decisions decisions. I guess it will be a European one again and I have no desire at all to do a sea swim which would rule out Lanza and Nice. UK doesn't appeal except in a novelty way. Maybe Switzerland? Or Austria again? Trouble is, you have to decide and book now as they all sell out within 24 hours of opening for registration a year prior to their start date.

Tom and Helen are tapering well. Follow them on their blog here. They, and Ben, should be in great shape for Lanza. Take it easy guys and rest up. All the hard work is done. Good luck tapering too to Gabriel, who's also doing Lanza. I'm doing The Beaver half Ironman that day (May 23rd) but will be checking in when I can for your splits.

In the meantime, I'll be writing, training, being a dad and catching up on all my episodes of The Wire - true televisual crack cocaine.

Catch you all next week...

Due Volte Cippo

Forgive my absence. It's been quite emotional. I have, as you know, been away in Italy on a Big-Cow Training Camp. And what a terrific experience it was. Big-Cow is the events company run by Mark Booth, our team coach at Team MK and a good mate of mine since I joined. Their duathlon and triathlon events are extremely highly rated and Boothy runs a very professional team. I had no reason to doubt that the training camp would be anything but the same. I wasn't disappointed.

The camp takes place in Riccione, on the Adriatic coast of Italy, just below Rimini. Some 45 athletes took part, most of them there for seven days - with some taking a longer, ten day option. Nearly all were Team MK, with others being from FVS Tri Club or independents. It was a friendly, inclusive group who were able to train and play hard.

Assistant coaches Adam Bowden and Joel Jamieson looked after the swimming and running groups, whilst the bike groups were in five levels of ability, with group 1 being the highest level. Whilst my cycling has come on this year, I had to be honest with myself and placed myself in group 2 with my regular cycling buddy Graham Mackie, which - it transpired - was the right place for me. Trying to hang on for a week in group 1 with the testosterone flying would have been a step too far too early in my cycling career I think and I now have a goal for next year's camp.

We arrived on Ryanair's flying bus on Sunday April 26th and immediately set off on a bike ride to acclimatise ourselves. The weather was poor at first, but became warmer and sunnier as the week progressed, ending in a couple of perfect days. The training was superb and - most importantly - sensible. This is no 'epic camp' with athletes training to exhaustion, rather an opportunity to put in four or five quality hours per day and include massages and stretching too. I went with the goal of completing every session and returning feeling strong, not exhausted. I achieved my goal and worked hard throughout the week, feeling particularly strong on the bike as the week progressed (while many were feeling weaker) and, all importantly, running off the bike - regularly putting in short 4 mile runs of sub seven minutes per mile after grueling hilly bike rides.

The week prior to Italy was a warm up week, with me completing around 12 hours of training. Then, on Sunday... off to camp... (it should be noted that distances don't equate to UK times due to the amount of climbing on the bike)

Sunday - Travel to Italy, 2.5 hours 4o mile bike, 30 minutes run off the bike at sub 7 min mile pace, 10 mins ice bath recovery

Monday - 1 hour 3km hard pool swim. 3 hours 45 mins hilly 60 mile bike, 20 minutes run off the bike, 20 minutes massage and 10 mins ice bath recovery.

Tuesday - 30 minutes core and stretching, 2 hour track session featuring timed mile (5'38"), 800m, 2 x 400m plus 8 x 400 m. Total distance run 6.75 miles. 10 mins ice bath recovery, 45 minute bike ride (spin to cafe), 20 minutes recovery.

Wednesday - 1 hour hard 3km pool swim. 3 hour hilly San Marino 50 mile bike ride. 45 minute 10km run, 45 minutes massage/recover/ice bath

Thursday - 1 hour sea swim in wetsuits (first of the year), 1 hour 15 min 9 mile run, 30 mins recovery, steam, ice. 2 hour 35 mile bike with 15 minute run off the bike. 15 mins recovery, stretching and ice.

Friday - 6 hour bike (Cippo - see details below), 20 minute run off the bike, 10 mins ice and recovery

Saturday - Easy 2 hour bike ride.

Sunday - Home and rest.

The ride referred to above took in the toughest climb in the region, the Cippo mountain. A regular feature on the Giro D'Italia road race, it features an 'easier' incline at 10% (still a nightmare when it goes on for seven km) and the tougher climb of 18%. Which side you go up is up to you. Groups 1 and 2 took a longer, tougher approach to the Cippo and went up the 'easier' side - which, in itself, was by far the hardest climb I've ever undertaken (we were climbing relentlessly for nearly two hours). Then, at the foot of the mountain, having a coffee, we noted that Group 3 had taken the tougher ride up having cycled directly there. There was nothing for it - some of us decided we had to go up again... the hard way. And so it was that Group 2 (with a couple of Group 1 boys as honorary members for the assault and our guide Renzo muttering 'mad English') mounted their second challenge on the Cippo in the space of an hour. It wasn't easy, it wasn't pretty and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth but, with knees popping and muscles straining we managed to do it. The pic at the top of the post is of those Group 2 members who became part of the 'Due Volte Cippo' legend. Well done fellas.

To put it in perspective, Graham mapped the ride out against our local 'hilly' rides here in the UK. The red line is our ride through The Chilterns taking in our most difficult local hills. The blue line is a similar ride towards Aylesbury with Brill Hill registering at around 30 miles.

In green line is our ride in Italy.

Now I know what hill riding is really about. Man and machine against mountain. No stopping allowed. Only one can win. Bloody hell it's fantastic.

Frankly I could ramble on forever but I won't. It's great to be back for a couple of days rest before ramping up and mounting a final few weeks training prior to tapering down for Ironman. Wherever you are... I hope your training's going well, your family are healthy and, like me, your life is still full of possibilities.

The first ton is the toughest...

The first 100 miler of the year is always a tough one. I've been putting it off now for a while, filling my time with countless sixties, seventies and eighties, getting up to an 85 miler a week ago. But on Friday I took the opportunity to cycle from home down to Bath which was billed as 99.97 miles but ended up at 104 miles. A tough ride on a miserable and wet day but 5 hours and 40 minutes later I allowed myself the luxury of a few beers to celebrate.

In fact, I allowed myself the luxury of two days golf and beer to celebrate so I'm running short on training time at the moment. I'm also feeling extremely guilty as I've had a light week so will keep the blog ultra short this week.

I have a week of training before heading off to Italy on Sunday for the Big Cow training camp. My girlies think it's a holiday but I keep telling them how grueling it will be. I'm looking forward to it and will report back when I return. If I can update the blog from there I will.

So what of training this week? Like I said, pretty light...

Monday - 2 hour 15 mile run
Tuesday - 3.5km swim set, 5.6 mile run
Wednesday - 25 mile bike
Thursday - 30 mins turbo plus 1 hour bikes setup
Friday - 104 miles bike ride
Saturday - Golf and ale
Sunday - more golf

Swim - 3.5km
Bike - 139 miles
Run - 20.6 miles

Total time training 12.65 hours (including bike set up)

Thanks this week to my father who acted as support crew on my long bike this week. Also to the boys of the Ebola golf society for another suitably raucous weekend.

The girls are back at school, the sun is shining and I'm off for a swim.

Right said Fred...

Time to rock n roll. Time for the gravy. Time to get serious. Today marks the end of my build phase towards Ironman, having completed base training and increased base training for the past three months.

I'm now ready to get serious about all this.

I only wish I had a plan to share with you but, as its Easter, I'll be getting my next week's plan from Coach K sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. I'm looking forward to ramping it up though. The past few months have seen me emerge stronger, fitter and lighter than last year at this time, better and faster (I'm convinced) in all three disciplines. It's now time to remain focussed and train towards the all important Ironman Germany race.

Yep, that's right... 'race'.

I'd never looked at it this way before, just seeing Ironman as an 'event' but chatting with my mate Tom (more of why I was able to chat with him in a minute) on a long-ish bike last week, he told me to forget the notion of 'taking part'... at the level I'm at now, I'm 'racing'. And he's right. It's about performing and shaving time. Perhaps even shaving legs. Though I think that might be a step too far for my long suffering wife.

We've had a good week here at Old Thatch. Monday saw me taking Erin up to Manchester to catch a performance of Macbeth (you may remember I'd raved about it in a previous post). It was just as good as ever and, most importantly, Erin was knocked out by it. We also took the opportunity to look around my old alma mater, Manchester University, visiting the John Rylands University library and not only looking around its vast stacks containing millions of books but also seeing the fragment of St John's Gospel which is on view there. We took a walk around the Drama Department and also dropped into my old Hall of Residence -Woolton Hall - where Erin saw my (now somewhat faded) name on the President's board. We returned late on Tuesday after a great couple of days together.

Wednesday saw our good friends Tom and Helen joining us for a couple of days. Unfortunately T and H live in Leeds and, true to form, the M1 was shut on the morning of their journey south. Still, with a bit of route planning with my Team MK bike buddies we managed to divert our ride and meet up with them in Stewkley, riding 52 miles together and following it up with a quick 2 mile run off the bike. The weather was so glorious that we had to pop home, have some lunch and, as you do, nip out for a hilly 13.1 mile cross country run. The following day we banged out a quick swimset of 2km and then went on a 62 mile bike ride followed by a 2 mile run. If you don't know Tom and Helen by now then you'd be forgiven for thinking they were either mad or Ironmen. In fact, they're both, training for Ironman Lanzarote in six weeks time where they hope to qualify for the World Championships in Hawaii. They're great friends, great fun to have around and we're looking forward to seeing them soon, whenever that may be. Today's photo is taken on our 62 mile Thursday bike.

Whether it was a reaction to Liverpool's thrashing by a much improved Chelsea or a little over training, I was under the weather for the next couple of days and took a rare day off on Saturday. In fact, it's been a wonderful family Easter, with lots of quality time in the company of the girls and - belatedly - getting back into training on Sunday with a 42 mile bike and 2 mile run.

The week was like this:

Monday - 80 mins 3.1k swim set
Tuesday - 30 mins recovery run following Sunday's duathlon
Wednesday - 52 mile bike, 2 mile run, 13.1 mile x country run
Thursday - 10 x 200m swim set, 62 mile bike, 2 mile run
Friday - 1 hour hill walking, 5.6 mile run
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - 42 mile bike, 2 mile run

Swim - 5.1km
Bike - 156 miles
Run - 28.5 miles

Total time training 17.75 hours

Big thanks this week to Helen who took some fabulous photos of the girls and our home. Top talent, that girl. Congratulations to Colin who, after mucho hard work, ran a PB in his 10k race at the weekend, setting himself up nicely for a final month of training before his first qualifying race.

Thanks also to Marcus for helping me fit my compact chainring ready for my upcoming training camp in the mountains of Italy. I'll be climbing like a mountain goat, especially since my weight has dropped below 14 stone for the first time this year. And that with all the easter eggs too!

Hope you've had a great Easter.

Soon.

Sucka'...

You know how it is... training is going well again there's a warmth in the air, the sun is on your back, you're suddenly getting the bike miles in and your TT bike is staring at you from the rack where it has hung all winter.

What shouldn't you do? I'll tell you what you shouldn't do... you shouldn't take it down, stick it on the turbo, and completely change the saddle and bars position. That's what you shouldn't do.

Of course, that's what I did.

Suffice to say that my introduction to duathlon at yesterday's National Duathlon Championships was a painful one. True, it would have been painful anyway as a 10k run, 40k bike and 5k run isn't something you'd do to relax. But I knew something was wrong when I got off the bike. My glutes were stretched and sore, something I've never experienced in three years of cycling and the 5k run was a bit tricky to say the least. A bit of ice and massage helped and things aren't so bad today but Coach K will be round this week to put my saddle back to its proper position.

I was a little disappointed with my biking in the duathlon, I felt my power output would have resulted in a better time. I'm going to put much of this down to my incorrect positioning and also the fact that these 'middle' distance events are not my strength. My huge engine means I can go long with relative comfort and I can hold my own in the sprints with a decent range in explosive power. But Olympic distanc events are always tricky for me. It's hard keeping a frame my size going at near sprint pace for between two and two and a half hours. But anyway, I had a decent enough day, 40 mins for my 10k, 1 hour 09 for my 40k bike and 21 mins for the 5k run (actually it's apparently 5.3k)... for a total time of 2 hours 12 mins. I placed about one third of the way down the field which I'll take for a 46 year old doing his first duathlon in the National Championships.

My week's training had eased back a bit once I knew I was going to do the event (I entered on the Tuesday of last week) but still I managed a respectable amount of time in the saddle whilst juggling the demands of a busy week at work.

I've been finishing off a series of ads for a client which have required much to-ing and fro-ing with Clearcast, the regulatory body that approves ads as being legal, decent, honest and truthful. It went to the wire but we managed to get our ads on air in the form that we wanted. I'm not gonna jinx anything with my writing by saying any more that it continues to go well. I'm still on the long form version of the story which I will then develop into either a book or a screenplay or both. Watch this space.

Oops.. maybe I just jinxed it. What the hell. Life's too short.

The girls have finished for easter so it's great to have them and their laughter around the place. Alice had her buddies around on Saturday and they 'walked' the rabbits (believe it or not, you can buy leashes and harnesses for rabbits so they can be walked around the garden). They also then played 'mums and dads' where the rabbits played the part of the family dogs! Needless to say, Rosie and Tinkerbelle spent the afternoon cream-crackered, snoozing in their run under the warm springtime sun.

And, speaking of the girls... I have to make a fulsome apology. Fiona tells me that I must make it clear that last week's photos of the girls were not representative of how they normally look seeing as how they were slathered with make up. I fully accept it might have looked like we were presiding over a village-based Lolita factory and my intention was solely to indicate how they had grown up rather than trying to make them appear like wannabe Miss Junior America winners. Erin was actually going to a fancy dress party which accounts for the Tiara and strange dress, and Alice was going to take part in a dance performance.

There... apology complete. I'm a good dad again.

I'm currently waiting to see if I can get tickets for Macbeth tonight in Manchester. If I can then Erin and I are going to drive up tonight, watch the play, stay overnight and I'm going to take her to see my old Drama Department at Manchester Uni.

This week's training was

Monday 75 mins 3km swim sets, 45 mins tempo recovery run
Tuesday 75 mins endurance 3km swim sets
Weds 5 hour 85 miles Team MK ride - easy/medium pace. 5.5 km run off the bike. Strong
Thurs 45 minutes 15 mile ride on Time Trial bike (first of the season). 1 hour Team MK swim session
Friday 45 minutes 15 mile ride on Time Trial bike
Saturday 75 minutes 40km bike ride, 15 min run off the bike
Sunday National Duathlon Championships, 10k run, 40k bike, 5krun - 2 hrs 12

Total time training 15 hours

Swim 7.8km
Bike 165 miles
Run 20.5 miles

Big ups this week to Helen for her fantastic 50 mile TT time and to Ben G for the same. Also to Thomas Peoples, aka Tri Talk's Poet, for a fantastic sub 2 hour duathlon time. Top work fella.

And so we must depart... I haven't even had time to catch any movies this week. Hopefully, Tom and Helen are coming down on Wednesday for a training day so we'll have a long ride, long run and short movie.

More next week...

Toodle pip...

Back in the saddle...

I've been meaning to buy myself a new saddle for some time now. In fact, since I bought my Specialized road bike a couple of years ago I've been sitting on a razor blade which is cunningly disguised as a bike saddle thinking to myself... there must be comfier ways to travel. Anyway, I finally decided to experiment with the selle Italia brand and, having christened the little fella on an 80 mile bike ride, I can report that I'm delighted. There is, metaphorically speaking at least, a smile on my cheeks.

I know you're itching to know how my writing is going and I'm pleased to be able to report that I'm back in the saddle as regards that too. My story is finished and I'm currently engaged on a full treatment which will equate to some 20,000 words - enough for a small novella - prior to commencing the script. I'm finally at peace with my characters and the story I'm telling and I'm loving the process of adding layers to it.

It's been great to be back home after a couple of weeks working on the road. We were able to support an Afro Caribbean evening at Alice's School to support the year 12's that will soon be traveling to Malawi. Before we know it, Alice will be embarking on all that stuff... time truly flies. And to validate that fact, a couple of pics of my daughters (Erin, left 14 and Alice, right 11) who - only yesterday it seems - were being pushed by their dad on the village green's swings.

-- Sigh --

We also enjoyed a fantastic Sunday lunch at Christian's (Fiona's brother). He and Sarah have two boys, Luke and Joseph and Fiona's other sister Jane joined us with her husband Guy and their two little ones, Thomas and Emily. These are my most perfect of weekend days... lazy sundays when the training is done, with a dozen or so family around, playing cricket with the kids, laughing and joking. I think maybe I should have been Italian.

Having mentioned training... what of it? Well, it's been a very strong week - in fact a record week for excluding 'special' weeks like training camps or two days doing mad things with Tom and Helen. I'm still running out of power at mile 50 on long bike rides, though interestingly enough on my recent 80 miler, the power and strength returned by mile 65. Coach K and I are working on it and I'm enthused by my current form. But a long way to go yet and I must work on retaining a sensible and balanced pattern of training.

Last week was:

Monday 65 mins 2.5km swim session, 50 minute 6 mile recovery run
Tuesday 76 mins 3 km intensity swim
Wednesday 3 hrs 40 mins low heart rate 61 mile bike, followed by 10 minute run
Thursday 1.5 hours slow run at 75% Heart Rate. 11.5 miles with 10 mins effort in middle of session. Half hour stretching and 1km easy warm up with Team MK swim group before supervising the kids' lane
Friday 72 minutes 2.8km swim sets, 45 minutes 6 mile tempo run
Saturday Fairly brutal 82 mile bike. Strong headwinds, 4 hrs 57 minutes followed by 30 mins strong run off the bike. 7:40 miling... just under 4 miles
Sunday 45 minutes 6 mile tempo run, 30 minutes easy spin recovery turbo on Tri bike

Total time training: 17.5 hours

Swim - 9km
Bike - 157 miles
Run - 34 miles

Last week's film quote was from THE FIRM, and was spoken by TOM CRUISE as MITCH McDEERE. The connection was that both this and the previous week's movie, SUPERMAN, starred Gene Hackman.

And it's a sad goodbye to the film quotes. I don't enjoy setting them any more. And I rarely do things I don't enjoy unless it's for the benefit of folk I care about. And, care about you though I do, I don't think the blog experience lives or dies by film quotes.

In fact, I'd be far better telling you a little about the movies I see during the week. This week I saw I AM LEGEND, an inferior remake of the 1970's Charlton Heston movie THE OMEGA MAN. Frankly it was pretty poor. A great waste of the sometimes fine Will Smith. Much better was THERE WILL BE BLOOD boasting a barnstorming central performance by Daniel Day Lewis. Strangely unbalanced though I felt, unable to decide if it was a pic about the history of oil exploration in frontier land America, or a story about a man who wanted a family but had none. Ultimately, my thoughts were that it fell between two stools and I'm glad that NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN won the Oscars instead of it.

I've signed up for my first duathlon on Sunday, the national championships at Emberton Park near Milton Keynes. It's run by my mates in the Big Cow group so should be fun. I'll report back on next week's blog.

Congratulations to 'Arps who goes from strength to strength. After experiencing some kind of epiphany whilst riding Arnold he's entered two triathlons, the second of which, The Blithfield Olympic, I'm entering too. It's three weeks after Ironman Germany so should be good fun.

Speaking of good fun... I want to have some so must leave you.

Ciao...

"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing."

I'm sure you knew that the words above are taken from Macbeth... Act V Scene 5 to be precise. It's my favourite speech from my favourite play. I mean... seriously... can you believe that someone was able to write words of such depth and clarity over four hundred years ago. Genius doesn't begin to describe the talent.

But why am I rabbiting on about Billy Shakes and 'The Scottish Play'? Well, I'll come to that in a roundabout way.

I've had a wonderful week. Not as much training as I'd like but I've needed a quiet week and, as I've been mainly away on business, this has been it. Tuesday evening saw Erin and I go to The Milton Keynes Theatre to see a production of Waiting for Godot with Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Simon Callow.

Okay... I'm going to go off on one a bit here. But bear with me.

I studied for my degree at the esteemed Victoria University of Manchester where I took and emerged with an honours degree in Drama. All my school life prior to this I'd acted. I loved the immediacy of the theatre, the challenge of pitting your nerves against a live audience, the skill of performing under pressure and the art of forming different characters beneath your own skin. I continued to 'hone my craft' through the university years (amongst other things, of course) but somewhere between leaving Manchester and the beginning of the nineties my love of theatre waned and remained at the back of my consciousness on a kind of artistic life-support machine.

Why? Well, I think I obviously became more involved in film with my career. I also moved to London where I began to see vasty overpriced, pompous productions that played out to an audience somehow removed from the action. (I admit here that this was by my choice - there were and are plenty of more intimate productions for consumption in the capital). But I think this was part of the shaping of my experiences. For, until this week, I never really realised what it was in theatre that I loved so much.

So, back to this week. 'Godot' was perfectly fine. Standard theatrical fayre. Famous play, movie star thesps. Tickets £ 38 each. And it was... okay. Not great, not poor. Just okay. But 'Godot' shouldn't be just okay... it's a ground breaking piece that can startle and storm an audience's barricades, even at fifty years old it should still have the power to do this. But it didn't.

So I drove up to Manchester the next day for a few days work and checked into my city centre hotel (linked here as a recommendation). Wednesday afternoon after my meetings I wrote until about nine o'clock and then took in a movie at The Printworks... Bronson. It was decent enough.

Thursday I worked on my commercials and, during a nip out at lunch time to buy some Mother's Day presents, I passed The Royal Exchange Theatre. For those of you who don't know it, it's a fantastic space... ultra modern, designed like a giant space ship that simply sits inside an elderly, almost gothic, building. Inside the theatre is in the round... no stage, just a small circle in which the actors work.

And guess what was playing.

Macbeth.

So I figured I'd risk £ 8.50 on one of the banquette seats at the front, within touching distance of the actors. And it was... I think... the best £ 8.50 I've ever spent. What a performance. Everything I loved about the theatre was brought back to me. The energy, the rawness, the power of an amazing work rendered modern and relevant by intelligent direction, a sparsity of propping and design, ingenious sound and lighting. It was as if a long lost love had returned to me and, single handedly, it has re-kindled my passion for the theatre. I will now seek out more and more work like this and, you will be pleased to know, will almost certainly never be moved to write so much about a single theatrical experience again.

Macbeth plays at The Royal Exchange in Manchester until April 11th. I'm taking Erin on a four hundred mile round trip to see it in a couple of weeks. See it if you can but know that it's bloody, dark and disturbing (as today's pic from the production demonstrates). Not for the faint of heart.

Billy Shakes would have approved.

So, it seems strange to move on to matters of training but move on I must. I was feeling tired at the beginning of the week so Coach K. and I agreed on a quiet recovery week. Hence:

Monday 30 miles recovery bike, spinning in the little ring. 18.3 mph average and 70% HR. 10 minute run off the bike
Tuesday 25 mile bike (5 mile warm up, 15 miles at above 85% HR, 5 miles warm down). Short run off the bike
Wednesday 75 mins 3km swim set
Thursday 50 minutes run, 6.5 miles, 30 minutes swimming
Friday 55 minutes run 7.5 miles
Saturday 25 mile bike ride then off to Twickenham for England vs Scotland and too many ales
Sunday Rest day

Total training this week 9 hours.

Swim 4km
Bike 80 miles
Run 17 miles

I was amazed nobody got last week's film quote. It was spoken by GENE HACKMAN as LEX LUTHOR in SUPERMAN. The link with DELIVERANCE was that Ned Beatty appeared in both movies.

Here's this week's:

"Hey Ray, wouldn't it be funny if I went to Harvard, you went to Jail and we both ended up surrounded by crooks. "

Who needs congratulating this week?

Well, The Mighty Reds, for sure... for keeping their winning streak going and heaping more pressure on Manchester United. I still think United are in the box seat but at least we're fighting for it.

Tom and Helen, for two great performances at The Ballbuster Duathlon. Well done guys.

Oh yes and to me again. For not being an idiot and taking my first day off training this year. Frankly it was becoming silly!

And, of course, you, fair reader, for once again sitting through a blog that is increasingly becoming less about triathlon and more about life. Still, that can change, eh...

But it's getting late and...

"I must become a borrower of the night
For a dark hour or twain."

Laters...

That was the week that was...

Frankly, weeks like this don't come along that often. I'm referring to sport as it was a remarkably unremarkable week in all other respects.

On Tuesday I took my dad to Anfield to see my Mighty Reds play Real Madrid, the most successful club in European history and - along with Manchester United - one of the two 'biggest' clubs in the world. Liverpool were fantastic, going at them from the first whistle and - ninety breathless minutes later - emerged 4-0 winners. Anfield was at its raucous and intimidating best and we both had a night to remember.

So, I wasn't holding out much hope when Liverpool played Man Utd at Old Trafford on Saturday. But, once again, we came up trumps, thrashing the phoney reds by four glorious goals to one. Needless to say, I've been inundated with mails from all my Man U supporting friends... NOT !!! I know several of you 'lurk' and read the blog (Mick in China, Roger in Kuala Lumpur...) so allow me at least a moment of triumph.

There, that's it... moment gone.

I figure lightning wouldn't strike three times when England played France on Sunday but ... bloody hell... come half time, we were 29 - 0 up and the game was won. A much improved England performance too, boding well for my trip to Twickenham on Saturday to see the England v Scotland game. I'll report back on that one.

Another revelation this week on the training front. I think I might be human after all. The weekend saw me... wait for it... tired and heavy legged. I think, simply put, that my efforts to overcome the effects of my recent operation have finally caught up with me. I rode a 55 mile bike on Saturday and felt like I was carrying a sack of coal on my back. Sunday's 30 miler wasn't much better. But I rested well and listened to my coach this morning and today's 30 mile bike ride was much better, just spinning in the small ring for an 18.3 mph average and very low heart rate. Top man, Coach K... maybe I should listen to him more often!

The week saw me working away in Manchester, producing a set of commercials for Unibond. My training is done on the fly with me running from wherever I'm staying and swimming wherever I can find a pool. On one evening I stayed with my parents and used their local village pool, a small 20 metre swimming facility full of gently breast stroking ladies (you know what I mean). Needless to say I was soon crashing up and down in full Ironman mode, swim hat and goggles giving me welcome anonymity as I knocked out my 120 lengths.

I was also coming back to running this week so was intent on running gently and getting back into some kind of rhythm.

So, training this week was as follows:

Mon 75 minutes 3.3km endurance swim sets
Tues 45 minutes recovery run, 45 minutes 1.6km swim drills
Weds 40 minutes easy run, 1 hour swim 5 x 400 m sets
Thurs 1 hour 6 x 400 m swim sets
Fri 45 mins easy 10k run
Sat 3 hrs 10 mins, 55 miles bike below 80% heart rate. 17.6mph average and 74% of Max HR average. 20 minute run off the bike at 7:54 min miles
Sun 1 hr 39 mins, 30 miles bike at below 80% of HR. 18mph average and 70% of Max HR. 25 minute run at 7:54 min miling and 78% of HR.

Total training time this week: 12 hours

Swim: 9.3 km
Bike: 85 miles
Run: 23 miles

All in all a good week training considering business took me away. I'm pleased with the 'feel' of my swimming so far although the proof of the pudding will be when I'm in a lake in the wetsuit. My running feels smooth and easy again which is terrific after the operation. The only think slightly down this week is cycling but I can live with that as I've made mucho progresso this year.

Last week's quote was tricky for you. It was uttered by BURT REYNOLDS as LEWIS in DELIVERANCE - a fantastic movie from 1972, directed by John Boorman (father of Charlie, the heir apparent to Michael Palin's 'globetrotting TV nice-guy' crown). The connection was that Reynolds starred in both Boogie Nights, from the previous week, and Deliverance.

So, here's one:

"Do you know why the number two hundred is so vitally descriptive to both you and me? It's your weight and my I.Q."

Come on... you have to get that one.

Any congratulations this week?

Well, to Liverpool, of course. And to me, maybe, for winning a Best Improved Ironman Time award at the annual Team MK awards.

Modesty almost stopped me from mentioning it.

Almost.

Say Hello to 'Arps and Arnold...

This is my best mate Keith. Actually, only I call him Keith. And his clients. To everyone else he's known on as 'Arper or variants thereof. So let's call him 'Arps.

We've known each other since we were eleven and have many things to thank each other for but more recently it was 'Arps that started me on my second life in sport. Following a relatively sedentary decade after rugby, I was looking for a new challenge when 'Arps announced he was going to run a marathon. The lure was too great for me and I signed up for the Shakespeare marathon in Stratford upon Avon. It would have been 2004 or 2005... to be honest, I don't really remember. All I do know is that since then we've kept each other up to speed on our pursuits, 'Arps following his running career and I moving into triathlon via Ironman. When we go to see the 'Arps family or the 'Arps family come to see us, we usually run together. When our families holiday together, we take our running shoes.

So it's not been great to witness the injuries that have been plaguing the poor fellah. Planto this and strained that. The lord only knows, it's enough to drive a man to taking the weight of his feet. And, this week, that's exactly what he did. After having me blather on about cycling for the past few years, your friend and mine went out and purchased a shiny new steed - a Ridley to be exact (which is a Belgian variety of two wheeled travel) - with lovely Shimano 105 components and lots of nice carbon bits. He's up and running. Or, more accurately, up and cycling, already. Good luck mate and I can't wait for our first ride together.

The bike, needless to say, is Arnold.

Strangely enough it seems as if the world and his mum are turning to triathlon. Many of my friends in the village are about to dip their toe in the proverbial (and literal) water. Some are doing a relay event at Dorney Lake, another is doing a sprint, another is undertaking a London to Paris bike ride. It's a hotbed of new sporting activity in the sleepy village of Edlesborough - and, if 'Arps is anything to go by, villages and towns all around the country. Long may it continue.

My leg continues with its remarkable recovery. Stiff and sore but no more than that. The scars are pretty much healed and the bruising on the leg has all but disappeared. If you'd have told me that two weeks after a general anaesthetic operation on my right leg I'd have been on a 60 mile, 3000 feet of climb, ride, followed by a two mile run off of the bike, I would have called you a 'flipping fibber' or something very similar.

But you weren't fibbing and I was on that ride. Amongst other things which looked like this:

Monday 70 mins easy 2.8km endurance swim, 30 mins, 3.6 mile easy run (soft ground)
Tuesday 50 mins 14 mile bike including my first Bison Hill this year
Wednesday 3 hrs 45 mins 61.25 mile bike ride, 2 mile run off the bike
Thursday 30 mins easy running, 1 hour Team MK swim set
Friday 1 hour swim drills, 30 mins easy run
Saturday 2 hours 50 mins 50 mile solo bike ride at 18.3 mph avg, 3.16 mile run off the bike at 7:40 miles
Sunday 5.62 mile run (concrete) at 7:30 min miles, 20 mins core and weight training

Total training time this week: 13.72 hours

Swim 6.6 km
Bike 125 miles
Run 21 miles

I'm away on business this week so have some time to regain my running mojo which is returning slowly. I'll need to work on the musculature of my lower right leg but - touch wood - everything seems to be in good shape.

Gabriel - if you're reading this, I have some tightness in what appears to be the tendon on the medial ligament running from groin to knee. I'm assuming this is just a reaction to the disappearance of the vein? Icing and Brufen seem to help. Let me know via the comments if possible.

The rest of you - please forgive the above paragraph... I'm a bit of a tart when it comes to recovery advice.

So... to what else this week? Well, family things first. Erin has chosen her options and will be taking GCSEs in English Language, English Literature, Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, French, Drama, History, Business Studies and PSHE (for all you like me out there, that last one is the compulsory Personal, Social and Health Education). We had a great chat with her, reminding her that anything is possible in life, that she can achieve anything she sets her mind to and that there is no pressure right now to decide on what the rest of her life holds. I've always embraced the fact that my chilren grow older. It's pointless doing anything else. Get over the fact that they won't be sitting on your knee forever and help them develop and enjoy their lives as best you can as they move through it. That's my (our) mantra anyway.

Congratulations also to my dad, Michael - a long standing supporter of my Ironman activities and support crew on both so far as well as the upcoming Ironman Germany. He sings with Bolton's Cotton Town Barbershop Chorus; current UK champions and who, at the weekend in Amsterdam, added a European Silver Medal to their haul.

Big up to my training buddy Graham who PB'd his half marathon at the weekend. 96 mins is a great place to be Graham... five minutes faster than last year is some going.

Well done to Tom and H for sailing through another epic trip to Lanzarote and hammering the bike. Looking forward to having you down here for a training day when we can fix it up, guys.

A recommend from this week's movies is JUNO which is a treat - warm, witty and touching with a light touch that leaves you wanting more. Hong Kong's MAD DETECTIVE was disappointing and SHOOTER, with the below mentioned Mark Whalberg, was passable Hollywood fayre.

Speaking of Gabriel (which I was, a couple of paragraphs previously), the languid one correctly identified last week's film quote as being spoken by MARK WAHLBERG as DIRK DIGGLER in BOOGIE KNIGHTS. The link was that both that movie and the previous week's (MAGNOLIA) were directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

What about this?

"Now you listen, Ed. Damn it, we can get out of this thing, without any questions asked. We get connected up with that body, and the law, this thing's gonna be hangin' over us the rest of our lives. We've gotta get rid of that guy."

One thing I can tell you... 'Arps won't get it...

Isn't Technology Brilliant...

... I'm often minded of the bloke from 'The Fast Show' who used to wander around proclaiming the simplest things in life were 'brilliant'. There I was on Friday, writing at my desk, early morning, headphones on and a bit of Neil Young waking me up for the day. I figured I'd heard the six or so albums I have so many times I could do with some more so off I toddled to the itunes store, selected three more, downloaded them and - five minutes later - I'm listening to new music. I've never really thought much about the technological advancement that has allowed us to do this (and that we now all take for granted) but, in the words of Paul Whitehouse...

... isn't technology brilliant!

Speaking of things moving on apace, we went to Erin's GCSE Option evening earlier in the week. They have six core subjects to take and need to take another five as options. Not much different to the system that was in place when I was at school really. The head teacher, Alan Rosen, gave an excellent presentation highlighting the importance of making sound choices and part of his communique was that many of the most popular jobs now available to school leavers and graduates didn't exist five years ago. So, the schools have the job of educating our children for jobs that don't yet exist in a world where technology is moving so quickly that predicting what it will be like when they leave sixth form or university is a near impossible task. They have to be on their toes and quick to change.

As I think, do we all, both in business and in our training.

I've continued to make great progress this week, sticking by my goal of not having any days off following my operation. It's important to me to get back on top of my game as soon as possible. Others have different ways of doing it and I have mine. So far, I feel good about it. Although, in the spirit of being quick to change... I had a nasty run experience on Monday when I went out for my first strong run since the op. Seeing as it was less than five days since the knife, a 10km at a steady 8 min mile pace should possibly have rung an alarm bell. Anyway, it didn't and I don't mind saying that I got it wrong. My leg was in agony from half way round the loop and it took a good 24 hours to settle down. I went swimming the next day though and was really pleased to come through that with no ill effects, managing an easy 1.6km (albeit wearing my 'Skins' compression tights to avoid inflicting the mess that is my leg on the pool). I've knocked out another brief session with Team MK swimming and a 5 x 400m session on Saturday. So... swimming is back on the agenda. The real victory this week though has been on the bike. My form has been strong so far this year and I was determined not to let a bit of discomfort turn that form to rust. I've been out four times this week for rides of 17 miles, 33 miles, 22 miles and 35 miles. Now I'm ready to ramp up the distance a bit more this week I think and I've instructed Coach K to prepare a week of swim and bike.

Coach K, by the way, is naturally a little concerned by my fairly full throttle approach. He wants my leg to 'recover' and I can see his point. But how can I best explain? Let me try this - one of the key things I've learned in my brief time doing Ironman is that the battle is between mind and body. One must never outreach the other. You have to know EXACTLY what your body is capable of and have the strength of mind to pull back the moment you feel you are 'red-lining'. Likewise and slightly conversely, I believe you have to trust your body to perform at times, allowing it the freedom to see how it can do. It might just surprise you. But, the moment you feel any of the tell tale signs - often difficult to sense due to the presence of testosterone and adrenaline coursing through your system during exercise - you have to check back and get the balance right again. So that's what I've been doing. I feel its as valid a part of Ironman training - this mental game we play with our bodies - as the simple physicality of training and, frankly, it's been a valuable experience for me.

So, last week's training looked like this:

Mon 45 mins 10km run
Tues 1 hour easy bike with Peter and Dave
Weds 30 mins easy 1.6km swim
Thurs 1 hour 48 mins strong hilly bike. 33.5 miles at 18.6mph avg
Fri 1 hour 15 mins bike. 22 miles at 18 mph avg
Sat 1 hour 2km swim session. 5 x 400m including drills
Sun 2 hour 36 mile bike at 18.1 mph

Total time training this week... 9 hours

Swim - 4.6km
Bike - 108.5 miles
Run - 6 miles

Today's pic is of my good mate Dave Jones who came a cropper on a relaxed bike ride I took with him and other friend Pete earlier this week. Dave would be the first to say he's not the most experienced cyclist and this, combined with gazing around whilst Pete and I were braking, resulted in the crumpled wreck you see in the pic. And his £ 50 ebay Peugot bike wasn't in good nick either.

The previous week's film quote was a bit tricky. It came from MAGNOLIA, was spoken by TOM CRUISE as FRANK T.J. MACKEY and the link with The Usual Suspects was that 'Suspects' was written by Christopher McQuarrie, who also wrote Tom Cruise's latest movie VALKYRIE.

How about this:

"I am a star. I'm a star, I'm a star, I'm a star. I am a big, bright, shining star. That's right."

Name the movie, who said it and what links it to the previous quote...

Huge thanks this week to Ray at Snugg Wetsuits, who fixed up a massive rip in the neck of my wetsuit for £ 25 including postage. Suberb, personal service and I'm now thinking of getting a top range Slipstream wetsuit from them rather than the 2XU or Blue Seventy. (I've heard that most of the pro's that get the latter suits send them to Snugg for custom fitting anyway). You make your own decision but consider this small, bespoke British company if you're looking for a new wetsuit this year.

Strangely enough a light week of movies, catching only one last week, which was THE BIG LEBOWSKI. I've seen it before, of course, but it was the perfect movie for an Old Thatch Cinema Society evening where the boys descend with beer and popcorn and ten of us or so screen a movie in the cinema.

The Dude abides...

Oh Danny Boy...

This is a huge rush as I'm about to go to Erin's GCSE options evening... I know, it doesn't seem a moment since she was in nappies. Bloody hell, that's the way it goes.

Also, it doesn't seem a moment since I took myself off to The Empire Leicester Square to see a little British movie called SHALLOW GRAVE. I remember then thinking that its director, Danny Boyle, was bound for great things and Danny (a good Lancashire lad) got his just reward earlier today when his movie SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE cleaned up at the oscars.

Well done everyone concerned with this great movie.

Quick news then... my leg op was - I guess - a success. The process was simple and straightforward, in and out in the day and under the knife for an hour and a half of general anaesthetic. My recovery has been good too, with only moderate pain and - if I'm honest - far too much activity culminating in a very painful 10km run today, so I'm now going to ease back a bit.

The week's schedule was as follows:

Monday 30 miles recovery bike ride, 1 hour 38 mins
Tuesday 45 minutes easy run
Wednesday 5km run followed by operation
Thursday 5km walk
Friday 10 mins weights, 10 mins jogging, 15 minutes cycling
Saturday 30 mins run at 8:30 minute miles
Sunday 5 mile walk (easy) then 19 mile bike ride on road bike at 18 mph average speed

The hardest part of the training is getting past the initial pain and discomfort of the wounds themselves ( I have a 3cm wound in my groin and a similar slice at the back of my knee, plus dozens of smaller nicks all over my calf where smaller pieces of the vein where removed). But I'm happy I can move on from here and I'll be taking my barbequed leg swimming at some stage this week (though I'll have to wear my compression tights as children would be running screaming from the pool where I to not cover it!).

I was very proud of the fact that my heart rate was 43 beats per minute immediately before the op, causing the heart rate monitor to which I was wired to emit a warning beep every few seconds. I told them about the Ironman thing and they smiled understandingly (secretly thinking I was a complete dingbat). The guy behind me told me they were laughing about it when his heartbeat reached 127 !

Anyway, here I am, out the other side and thanks to everyone for their positive thoughts and good wishes. Here's the last ever shot of the veins prior to them being whipped out but after being 'marked for death' by the surgeon's marker. It's the first time in 20 years that you can't see the damned things !!

More film quotes next week I'm afraid, just a word about some movies I've seen this week. I watched the Spanish movie .REC which was a very good horror flick, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD which is over-rated crap with a cast that should know better and IN BRUGES which is outrageously black and funny and I urge you to see.

Checking up my oscar predictions I think I got three wrong which I can live with...

Congrats to Ben who's also back training.

Sorry to rush but school beckons. I tell you, it's no fun getting old, but I'm glad it's not my 'O' Levels again !!!

Soon.

And the Oscar goes to...

A bonus post this week. Oscar predictions? Well, here's who I'd like to win with an acknowledgment of where I think others might pip it due to sympathy etc... no doubt I'll be way off...

Best Film - Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director - Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actor - Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best Actress - Angelina Jolie, Changeling (though Kate Winslett will probably get it)

Best Supporting Actor - Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress - Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona (though Marisa Tomei may well get it for The Wrestler)

Best adapted screenplay - Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

Best original screenplay - In Bruges, Martin McDonagh

Best Cinematography - Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire (though Claudio Miranda may well win for Benjamin Button)

Best Editing - Chris Dickens, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Achievement in Art Direction - Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo, Benjain Button
(though I hope Nathan Crowley gets it for Dark Knight as he's my mate)

Best Costume Design - Michael O'Connor, The Duchess

Best Make Up - Greg Cannom, Benjamin Button

Best Original Score - AJ Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Song - AJ Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Achievement in Sound - Ian Tapp, Richard Prkye, Resul Pookutty, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Achievement in sound editing - Richard King, The Dark Knight

Best Achivement in Visual Effects - Eric Barba et al, Benjamin Button

Best Animated Feature Film - Wall E

Best Foreign Language Film - Waltzing with Bashir (Israel)

Best Documentary - Man on Wire (UK)

Best Documentary Short - Absolutely no idea
Best Animated Short - Absolutely no idea
Best live short - Absolutely no idea

We shall see...

Under The Knife...

I've been training hard this week. Two reasons really. Reason one... I like training. Reason two... the snow has disappeared. Reason three... I go under the knife on wednesday.

Okay I grant you, that's three but what's a reason between friends.

Dealing with one and two first, it's been a pleasure to be able to get back on the road again for all my disciplines (simply driving to the pool has proved difficult over the past few weeks). The snow finally cleared around thursday meaning that my road bike (newly refurbished thanks to Marcus at my LBS) could be unclipped from that most evil of torture machines, the turbo trainer.

Truth be told, my trusty Specialized is running as well as it ever has, as it should thanks to Marcus fitting new Shimano 105 wheels, a new ultegra 12-25 rear block, new chain, new brakes yadda, yadda, yadda. I was out today on the annual 'Tour of The Brickhills' a tough and unforgiving hilly 55 mile ride organised by North Bucks Riding Club. Despite coming off in the ice I was pleased with my ride (I'm not a mountain goat and never will be) of 3 hours, for an 18.3 mph average and 22nd overall in the company of some strong cyclists, several of whom were Cat 1 level.

I've obviously been keen to put it out there too due to my upcoming varicose veins operation which is on Wednesday 18th. For those of you keen to know what the procedure involves, there's a link here to give you all the gory details. I particularly like the movie that explains how they stick a wire into your veins and strip the offending beasties out of your leg. Anyway... I'll keep you posted on how I go.

Being quite mad by now due to incessant exposure to ludicrous amounts of training, I'm going to attempt to train every day, including the day of surgery. My plan is to go for a 5k run the morning of the op just to get the heart racing, recover through Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning and, on thursday afternoon, do some light weights and core work. From there on I'll do a little every day, hopefully seeing the green shoots of recovery in short order.

That's the plan, anyway. As a veteran of half a dozen or more general anaesthetics, I'm aware that the anaesthesia itself can be as debilitating as the surgery. I'll listen to my body and - rest assured, fair reader - a sensible course will be steered.

This week's training looked like this:

Mon - Rest day, 45 minute 10km run in the snow
Tues - 1 hour 2.7km swim session, 65 minute tempo run
Weds - 1 hour 2.8km swim session, 2 hrs 25 minutes brick session (20 mins on turbo at 85% MHR followed by 3.5 mile run x 3)
Thurs - 80 minutes 2.8km swim session, 40 minutes turbo session (high cadence), 15 mins upper body strength weights
Fri - 1.5 hours easy bike with lunch stop
Sat - 2 hour long slow run, 25 minutes easy spinning on the road bike
Sun - 3 hours 55 mile hilly bike, 15 mins running off the bike

Total time training 15.5 hours

Swim: 8.3 km
Bike: 110 miles
Run: 39.7 miles

Mark Robson got last week's film quote. It was spoken by KEVIN SPACEY as VERBAL KINT in THE USUAL SUSPECTS and the link with the previous week is Pete Postlethwaite who was in both movies.

Here's this week's:

"In this life, it's not what you hope for, it's not what you deserve - it's what you take!"

Who said it, in what film and what (or who) links it to last week's quote?

I put the latest story treatment of my script to bed last week and sent it off to my Agent Sean and my writer/director mate Robert in LA for reading. I guess I'll hear back this week. I'm happy with it and, for me, that's a lot of the battle.

Enjoyed my ride out with Colin this week. We ride out to a tea room in Stewkley and have soup and a baguette and, sometimes a little extra treat. I had a 'lightweight' samosa this week, Colin took the 'heavyweight' option of the Lasagna... the pic says it all - and he was surprised he was slower on the way back !!

I've been keeping up to speed on the movie front, seeing a few this week in addition to last week's THE LOST BOYS and GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK. On Wednesday I saw Michael Hanecke's CACHE (with an acute accent on the 'e') or HIDDEN to give it it's English title. I'm a big fan of Haneke's work - check out the original Austrian version of FUNNY GAMES for a really scary movie - and HIDDEN was an intriguing piece that still has me thinking as I write this. The following day Fiona and I continued our 'Oscar Watch', going to see THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON which looked great, was superbly directed but frankly didn't add up to a hill of beans. SLUMDOG all the way for me in this particular race. Friday I saw 28 WEEKS LATER which was a formulaic sequel to Danny Boyle's excellent 28 DAYS LATER and - the best till last - last night, Fiona and I watched THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD. I remember my favourite critic - Mark Kermode, announcing it was his movie of the year in 2007 and I found it equally inspiring. If you want to see a great Brad Pitt performance, save your dosh and rent JESSE.

Good luck to Team MK members Alan and Lynne Coldray who have just started up their B and B in France, catering for all but specialising in looking after cyclists and skiers.  Looks great and there's a link on the right.

Anyhow that's it. Next time I chat with you it will be in a lighter vein.

(Geddit)

Have fun and think of me on Wednesday morning...

The Hard Yards...

"Ironmen are made in winter." So says a good friend of mine. It's a saying I hold dear to my heart and it means that when it's tough outside, it's time to get tough on yourself. Get out there and put in the hard work.

And so it was that this estimable mantra was put to the test this week. As I reported in last week's blog, we'd had snow and the children were off school for the day. In fact, last week, the snow continued almost unabated (and is still with us, thick and crunchy) and the girls managed only one day of school - imagine their disappointment.

So I had a couple of dilemmas. First dilemma - do I work through this (unfortunately, with an office five metres from my front door I can't claim transport problems) or do I play with the kids?

You know me too well.

My theory was this. There will be many days of work ahead and, when I eventually look back, I'm not sure I'll remember the days I spent working whilst it was snowing any more than I would a million other work days. But days with my children, spent sledging and snowman building... well, those are days you remember for ever, aren't they.

And so it was that, for monday and tuesday, we had some serious fun. Alice (11) and her buddies are old-school kids - like we were - they get out, get wet and cold and have no truck with adults 'nannying' it over them. They'd found a sledging spot some two miles trek over the hills and I was summoned on tuesday to join them. The pic I snapped shows them marching over to their destination. We had a great time and, although I think my best sledging days may well be behind me, it's a day I'll never forget.

Another similar day was Friday, when Fiona and I watched Erin (13) and Alice with their buddies having huge snowball fights on both the front and back lawns. Truly magical times.

All that said, it's presented me with dilemma number two: a training problem. Why? Well, look at the photos of the front garden and the road outside my house. Biking is obviously a no no, as is conventional running and the road to the swimming pool is fraught with danger and difficulty (more of that later).

So what's a boy to do? Well, improvise is what. For a start, it's my 'quiet' week this week in my 'three weeks on, one week off' cycle. So my levels weren't due to be as high as previous weeks. But this year's rule is absolutely no junk. If you can't make a session count, you don't do it. I needed a bit of canny planning but managed to improvise with judicious use of the turbo trainer (indoor bike trainer) and running around the snow on the Village Green.

The locals thought I was insane (as did Fiona, Erin and Alice) and it was hard going as the turbo trainer takes no prisoners and the heat and sweat of effort suddenly become the icy cold of a freezing run on the brick efforts I did (for the uninitiated, 'bricks' are blocks of bike/run, one after the other).

But the end result is a week of training I'm proud of. Some of the hardest yards I've managed, not particularly in the training itself but in the process of applying myself to the task in hand and knuckling down to the job of not letting a bit of the white stuff get in the way of my Ironman preparations.

So what did the week look like?

Monday - Rest day, just 30 minutes core and weights
Tuesday - 50 min 2.5k swim session, 45 minutes cross country run in snow
Wednesday - 1 hour 2.6k swim session, 2 hours arctic brick session with Graham ( 6 x 10 min bike plus 10 min run)
Thursday - 1 hour turbo session (increasing heart rate session), followed by 20 minute run
Friday - 1 hour turbo session followed by 15 minute run
Saturday - 1.5 hours turbo session (3 x 20 min bike plus 10 min run) followed by 45 minute 2.2k swim session
Sunday - Long slow x-country run in snow drifts. 1 hour 21 mins, followed by 35 minute 1.8k swim session

Total time training this week 11.86 hours

Swim distance covered - 9.1km
Bike distance - (turbo at, say 20 mph minimum) 80 miles
Run distance - 27 miles

Lots of you got last week's film quote, from WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S ROMEO + JULIET, starring Leo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. The words were spoken by Romeo and the link was, of course, Australia. Last week's movie, Muriel's wedding was an Australian movie and WSR+J was directed by Baz Luhrmann who hails from down under.

There's a link to this week's quote which is:

"It didn't make sense that I'd be there. I mean, these guys were hard-core hijackers, but there I was. I wasn't scared, I knew I hadn't done anything they could do me for. Besides, it was fun. I got to make like I was notorious."

A couple of curiosities this week... I'm having to use Fiona's car as mine is confined to the garage. Why is mine confined to the garage? A good question. Especially seeing as it's a BMW 730d turbo with more bells and whistles than a man could ever possibly want or need. I mean, the thing has a TV, fridge compartment, electric boot opener and closer yadda, yadda, yadda.

BUT !!!! Can it operate in the snow? Nope... it's like Bambi on ice - just slippin' and slidin' for all it's worth. And, when it hits anything too tricky - like the snow on my driveway, the computers take over. And you know what computers always say... computers say 'No'. I jest you not... wheels begin turning of their own accord, stopping, re-starting. And not only wheels on the same axle... the four hubs develop minds of their own. The beast got stuck on the driveway and I had to recruit a posse of eleven year olds to help push me clear while Fiona steered the thing back into the garage. Where it has remained since monday.

Luckily she has a manual car and we've been using that. Perfect. Not a problem. Trouble is, that's a built by our friends from Bavaria too so I'm not sure whether to be happy or mad or just laugh. I think I'll just laugh.

I also came across this on the internet recently in a moment of googling. It's the DVD cover of my last movie which has obviously been released in a new territory. France? I haven't been bothered to look it up but if anyone's got any ideas, let me have them. I kind of like the cover though.

Writing is going well... damned well. I've finished my latest treatment, given it a new (working) title, read through it and now must act on the 158 notes I gave myself.

This week sees me heading off to MK hospital for a pre-op assessment for my Varicose veins operation which is coming up on Feb 18th (more details next week). They made me laugh on the phone when I asked what it was for.

"To assess your fitness", they said. (I assume they meant my fitness for the operation).

"Well, if there's one thing you can be sure of", I replied, "it's that I'm fairly fit".

Until next week my hearties...

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

It's not snowed properly for a couple of years around here, so imagine the excitement when we awoke to this.

The girls rushed out onto the village green to celebrate school closure and I allowed myself a lie in as the whole of southern England appears to be doing much the same.

For those of you who are interested in the geography of these things, I'm now sat in the large picture window of my office (to the left of the picture, above the double garage doors) typing my blog.

Old Thatch is gonna have a bit of snowman activity this afternoon I think.

Another reason for sleeping in was that I'd taken my first drink (or, to be strictly correct, my first few drinks of 2009). Colin - who's also had an alcohol free January - and I met in the pub last night and downed a few to toast the eleven months ahead. Forgive the quality of the iphone photo and the fact that it was taken by Westy who's obviously got a bad case of the shakes.

So what news this week? I've not really been keeping you up to date with my writing, have I. Latest is that, frankly, it's been tough but I'm coming through it. I'm still working on the treatment and structure of the story I want to tell before committing to a screenplay. Needless to say, that story needs to go through several passes to get it right. I found myself floundering a little recently but have re-grouped and applied a secret formula to my writing sessions which is enabling me to come up with some interesting new angles on the whole thing. Hopefully, after this pass... I'll have the thing ready for writing the script. I'll keep you in the loop.

A good week training, capped off by my ride yesterday in my first ever organised cycling sportive, an organised ride for club cyclists on the public roads. There were fifteen of us from Team MK and I surprised myself by cycling strong for an average of 19.6 mph over 70 miles, in very strong winds and snow showers, completing the course in just over 3.5 hours and coming fourth overall out of the whole field and second Team MK cyclist overall. All that too at an average heart rate of slightly less than 75%. There's a long way to go yet, but the seeds of my cycling improvement are slowly being sewn.

So:

Monday Impromptu day off. Totally knackered.
Tuesday 50 mins, 1.9km endurance swim session, 45 mins, 5.6 mile Tempo run
Weds 50 mile wet and windy hilly bike ride with Graham, Olly and Rob (Team MK), easy 20 minute run off the bike
Thurs 45 mins 1.9km endurance swim session, 45 mins interval (IM, Mara and 10k pace) run session
Fri 50 mins 2.45km swim session (drills and endurance), 45 mins tempo run
Sat 1 hour 17 mins slow x country run with Mark K
Sun 3 hr 32 min, 70 mile Bike Ride, 19.6mph average followed by 35 minute run off the bike

Total time training this week: 13.37 hours

Swim 6.25 km
Bike 120 miles
Run 32 miles

Last week's movie quote was from MURIEL'S WEDDING and was spoken by MURIEL, played by TONI COLLETTE. The link was that Toni Collette also appeared in The Sixth Sense. Well done Westy for getting it.

Have a crack at this:

"Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die."

Film, actor and link please.

Speaking of movies, I saw only two last week. One was rubbish - 'Untraceable' - some serial killer on the computer thing. The other was sublime - Darren Arranofsky's THE WRESTLER, with Micky Rourke rightly nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. I think it's gonna be tight between The Rourkester and Frank Langella. See the movies... let me know what you think.

Until then I must leave you... I have snowment to build and stories to tell...

'Good night, you princes of Maine... you kings of New England'

A Spanner in The Works...

Anyone who's done an Ironman will know that training is only half the battle.

Sure, you need to put in the hard yakka, spending hours on the bike with your hands freezing and toes like those of an Everest climber. You need to pound the pool until what's left of your hair stinks almost permanently of chlorine and you need to strap on those Asics and run more miles per week than you previously drove.

But once you've done that for six months and you're ready to compete, that's when the real battle begins. You need to be equally agile of mind as you are in body. A day of Ironman throws up many challenges. A two and a half thousand mass start in the swim could mean your goggles are ripped from your face. How are you going to swim two and a half miles with no goggles? Your bike punctures. What do you do? It punctures again... what do you do? Your chain snaps... you collapse on the run... you forget to take a key piece of nutrition... well, you get the picture.

What I'm trying to say is that as Ironmen competitors we need to be unflappable and calm, seeing positives in any situation. We puncture... okay, we change our tyres but at the same time, we get our heart rate down, we take on food, we fill our water bottles... we turn the situation to our advantage.

A potential spanner in the works can become an oiling of the machine.

I've been thrown a potential spanner this week as I've been given a date for my operation on the varicose veins in my right leg. These haven't been causing me problems but I'm assured they will in later years so I've been waiting (on the NHS) for a surgery date to have them removed. Following numerous meetings, scans, ultrasounds and communication by NHS letter, a lovely lady named Sally called me at 8pm last thursday night (go figure) to tell me I could be sliced open on Wednesday February 18th.

A spanner flew into my otherwise clockwork-like training works.

However, I've had long enough to think about this and, after discussions with Gabriel - my Ironman mate who's also a vascular surgeon (Rule number one , never do business with friends, rule number two, never let them take out parts of your body) I'm seeing it as an opportunity rather than a problem.

I tend to do that in life... opportunities rather than problems. Always helps keep a smile on one's face.

Gabriel reckons if I do a - and I quote - "mega ten days before the operation, then treat the aftermath like a reverse taper" then I'll be back to full training in three weeks. So we'll go for it and I'll keep you posted on things.

Training is going well. In fact, I may well have been guilty of overdoing it slightly this week. I've done a couple of hard bikes in the cold and slow winter weather (the ice makes it almost impossible to descend at any speed leading to reduced average mph times) and continued to make my Saturday bike session with Team MK the hard session of my week. I managed to stay with the top group this week for 57 miles of climbing so was pleased with my improvement on the week before.

The week that was looked like this:

Monday 45 mins swim (1.9km endurance sets), 45 mins run (35 mins in Zone 3 HR)
Tuesday 50 mins swim drills, 1 hour solo bike at 20mph average
Wednesday Long bike with Graham, 50 miles in 3 hours, followed by Back2Back 2.5 mile run in 21 mins
Thursday (rest day) 1600m very easy swim (30 mins), 15 mins core gym work, 15 mins strength gym work
Friday 45 mins swim (1.9km endurance sets), 30 mins easy run
Saturday 3 hour 17 mins bike (57 miles) followed by 45 minute Back2Back 6 mile run at 7:35 min miles
Sunday Long, slow, solo run. 13.5 miles hilly cross country. 2 hrs 20 mins

Total Training time: 15 hours 20 mins

Swim 7.05 km
Bike 127 miles
Run 31.1 miles

So... today... I'm having a day off !

No takers on the film quote last week. It was, of course, from THE SIXTH SENSE, the link being Bruce Willis who starred in both TWELVE MONKEYS and THE SIXTH SENSE. See if you can get this... again, there's a link between it and THE SIXTH SENSE.

"I haven't listened to one Abba song. That's because my life is as good as an Abba song. It's as good as Dancing Queen."

Had a fantastic week with movies. Our cinema movie this week was FROST/NIXON which I'd highly recommend. A complete tour de force of acting drama with Langella and Sheen both giving top notch performances. Shane Meadows' THIS IS ENGLAND and Wes Anderson's THE DARJEELING LIMITED were also superb. I also enjoyed WHAT IT TAKES, the story of four athletes' preparation for the 2005 Ironman World Champs at Kona, not least for Peter Reid's admission that to keep his weight down he simply buys what he needs for every meal and cooks it (then there's no extra food in the house to tempt him) and he goes to bed every night with a headache due to being so hungry!

But special pride of place goes to Sean Penn's magnificent INTO THE WILD which might just be one of the finest movies I've ever seen.  A wonderful, moving and truly accomplished film.  Search it out from your DVD supplier and watch it.

Now... if only I could crack this bloody film script I'm trying to write...