Mike Adams - Triathlete

Vive le Tour

2011-06-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

I am a triathlete, but like most of you reading this I stumbled into the sport from another area. For me it was swimming and deep inside, regardless of my love for triathlon, I am still a swimmer. I have since grown to love cycling and of course running, though it was in cycling where I found something that I had never been able to get from the other sports in my life. This single event each year in the world of cycling gave me something to obsess over, to watch each day on the television, to research, to visit and watch in person, cheering on the side of the road with the millions of other celebrating cycling fans. This event, the Tour de France, is an epic race. There is no doubt to this, controversy aside, that it is an incredible feat of physicality, team work and mental toughness. Every July roughly 20 teams, each consisting of 9 riders, play a huge game of cat and mouse across France in order to earn their team leader the coveted Maillot Jeune, or yellow jersey, and win cycling’s version of the Stanley Cup...or the Champions League.

In the process they will race upwards of 3,500km across vast mountain ranges and will take part in mile long 60 kph sprints followed by multiple 25km alpine climbs the very next day. For the swimmers and runners out there it gives us an epic battle to follow, a month long super bowl…or like having our team reach the playoffs…every year. It seems an impossible task, superhuman almost, and for many riders both past and present this is true. However, drug controversies aside it continues to draw us back, many to the roadsides and small towns of France where for 3 weeks each year we can draw chalk on the roads, drink beer alongside fellow fans and cheer loudly and wildly at the speeding peleton of brightly coloured riders streaming past at 45kph on their way to yet another sprint or mountain top finish.

This year with Canadian hopes firmly resting on Victoria native Ryder Hysjedal’s shoulders (and Bradley Wiggins for those back in the UK) I urge you all to read the articles, watch the highlights and cheer on the 200 riders as they vie for glory in the countryside of France. I am happy to admit that I love the tour, just as much as any other sporting event, and if I’m being honest - probably a little more.

New Orleans, North Shore and the Escape from Alcatraz

2011-06-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

A long time has passed since I last blogged, disproving the rule I mentioned earlier this year when I said that while injured, athletes tend to blog more. I suffered a pretty severe SI joint irritation late into March putting me out of the game completely for a week and pool running for a further 5. Those who know of my running know that 5 weeks of pool running might sound like a season ending death sentence, but I was assured that a full and well executed pool run program could maintain fitness and even maintain intensity levels. Huge thanks go to my run coach Jerry who kept me heading to the pool for run sets each day and Nicole for the technique advice.

It wasn't until mid May that I was off the ever increasing levels of walk/run I had been managing and into full running once again. 4 days later I was on the plane and headed to Louisiana for 5150 New Orleans. New Orleans as a city was incredible, so much history and culture, maintained beautifully and filled with really nice and friendly people.

I was there with my buddy from Vancouver - aspiring Ironman Darren Hailes, and as a team we managed to see the best bits of the city...and a bit of Alabama, Mississippi and Florida too. Unfortunately for me however the gods of triathlon were conspiring and due to the intense flooding upstate with 30 minutes to go before the race start they pulled the plug on the swim ... granted there were a few small waves in lake Ponchartrain but still ... Mike wants to swim. It was not to be, instead I had to rush a run warm up to get ready for the 2 mile out and back I now had to get through. I was a little apprehensive but considering the 2 months previous I actually ran well and was alongside Chris Lieto over the second half ... which was cool. Off onto the bike though and my legs were not working, being on a road bike into a serious headwind was a factor but my legs just weren't ready for a duathlon. Day was cut short as I came into T2.

Fast forward a week and it's a different story at the North Shore elite sprint triathlon in Vancouver. I have an unusually uneventful swim exiting the water about 5 seconds down but feel like I'm firing on all cylinders in the bike. It took me about 3km to find my legs off the bike but I finish strong and in 6th, definite progress.

Racing back to back weekends can be a double edged sword for many reasons but if the first race doesn't turn out as planned the quick turnaround to the next event can really prove a great way to reset mentally and get a good result in.

I then had a short 10 day reprieve in Vancouver before flying off to San Francisco for the IMG Escape from Alcatraz triathlon this past weekend. This time I took Nicole along with me and Darren flew down at the last minute to help with cheering, both of whom did an amazing job on course - shouting at me the things I needed to hear, and Nicole was amazing at keeping me positive and focussed before the race.

The course is legendary, it started way back in 1980 and has evolved over the years, initially as a mini Ironman around the awesome San Francisco bay and now as a pseudo Olympic/middle distance race with by far one of the hardest swims in the world ... Not forgetting the run course. Craig Alexander was here, Andy Potts, Bevan Docherty, Brian Fleischmann - lots of great athletes. I love races like that, getting to race against the best guys in the word, even if I finish 25th ... And get beaten by Leanda Cave, is an amazing experience for me.

The race starts by being released from a massive boat "the San Francisco Belle" which sails right out to Alcatraz prison. The water is intensely cold, 52 degrees F - around 11 degrees C I believe, and if you speak to the locals, filled with seals, sea lions and hammerheads. The age groupers get to jump off from opened up areas on the deck but the Pro wave has to clamber over the barriers and hang onto the side of the boat before diving the 8 feet into the bay. I had a good start but quickly the combination of very salty water and low temps + the general aggression of a big pro swim, had me feeling a little nauseous so I reverted to breathing 1 in 4 and got some clear water. With no buoys to follow I just followed the guys around me and though I felt as if I had dropped back from the leaders. Once I approached the shore, 2.5km from Alcatraz itself, I realised I was up there within 20 seconds or so of Andy Potts.

You then have a pretty big beach run up and an epic 1/2 mile run to transition which hurts the feet, though about half way through I realised I was running next to Simon Lessing who had been roped into a relay and had just killed the swim - pretty cool! Off onto the bike course and my focus was to stay measured on the 4 big climbs and not kill myself on the 4 equally big decents.

I felt as if I kept a hold of myself mentally very well on the bike, staying focussed and concentrating on working the hills, hitting the corners on the descents and taking in plenty of nutrition. 8 mile run was just around the corner...

The run course was intense, 1 mile flat out of T2 - up 100 stairs and continue the climbing until you are at the golden gate bridge - now you have to run down the other side all the way to the beach again and do a mile out and back in deep sand on the beach - up another set of stairs ... this time 400 of them - keep climbing after the stairs on the road to the bridge then back down the other side and a flat mile to the finish. I felt a little sluggish over the first few miles and the out and back in the deep sand was tough, but the dreaded "Sand Ladder" (the 400 stairs) wasn't nearly as bad as I had thought, most people apparently walk up but I managed a pretty good little jog most of the way, by the top I was feeling great and my pace started to increase. I finished well, coming down from the bridge quickly and holding pace along the final stretch to the finish line, in all I was very pleased with 37th / 2100.

I'm now back in Vancouver for a few weeks getting ready for my next event, where this will be I'm not yet sure, but it will be soon. Had a hard run set last night so feeling it today but will get going with a decent effort on the TT bike tonight. Have been missing home the last few weeks as well but a nice trip to the British food store last night helped me quite a bit, 1 jumbo pack of Custard Creams later and I'm feeling good.

Pictures to follow,

Mike

Racing open water

2011-04-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

I get quite a few emails each month, usually asking for advice relating to what people need to be doing in their lead up to their first triathlon. Every once and a while however I get one that requires a little more thought.

Today's post is a summary of what I recently wrote in reply to the question "I'm heading to France to do my first open water race, do you have any advice?". The type of racing and personal experiences that I'm referring to are all at the Elite end of the racing spectrum, but still, open water racing is a new and emerging form of swimming that can be great fun for everyone and take you to some pretty cool parts of the world. It's great fun and while for most people I'd recommend to just train hard then head out and have fun, the post below gives a little insight into the Elite side of the sport and reading back through it was even interesting for me to see how the racing I've done has made me think, both about open water racing and maybe the areas in it in which I have struggled, reflection is always a healthy thing in moderation.

...enjoy

Racing open water could not be more different from pool swimming.

You can't head in expecting it to be like doing a normal race in the pool. The races are long, veeery long, and the pain will be different, it wont be the same burn you get in pool swimming but for me at least it translates to aching both in my shoulders, back and of course legs. Legs as for a lot of 5km and 10km races your legs are not doing "as" much as they would be in the pool, so can and will get cold.

The best open water swimmers are able to fight when they need to fight, but not get distracted by it, they are able to find clear water and take their opportunities, if a gap in the pack opens up they push, move to the front and begin to increase the pace. However, they are also able to draft without getting kicked in the face every 2 seconds and are able to hold their lines without always swimming into people.

The fighting can really get to you, so expect it, especially from the French, those boys LOVE to fight. In some open water races I've done down there, like one of the french cup races last summer, I was being beat on from the start all the way through the 5km. It was tough, but they were all better at handling the abuse than I was and it got to me more than the other guys. It's nothing personal, its just racing.

You have to be able to sight and sight efficiently. If lifting your head out of the water to see where your going (often you will be in a wavy situation so waves can block your view) tires you out, or makes you uncomfortable, then it will be bad for your performance, so learn to sight well and comfortably, it should become a regular drill you do in sessions both pool and open water if this is something you want to keep doing. It's super easy to get used to, but at the start it can take some time, and often in races you can end up spending most of your time sighting, especially if you get nervous or start to panic about where you are in the group or if you start losing the feet. You just need to stay calm at all times as too much sighting will slow you down.

As races go on and you get tired, groups start to spread out, you start to get cold etc and you will get sore. If it's wavy your stroke will have had to change to adapt to this, often you "grab" for the water and because of the waves nothing is there, and then the next stroke you hit the water early as the wave is coming up. Along with lots of sighting and maybe fighting, you can be hurting in new ways. It's at this stage that its so important to just relaxl, stay on the feet (or find clear water at the front), and really focus on swimming efficiently. The best open water guys can stay out of the fighting, stay out of all the crap that goes on it a group, keep their form, stay efficient and really start to push towards the final 1km.

My problem is usually I am at the front over the first few km's then I get caught up a little too much in the group and take any fighting personally. So I get stuck in and lose energy in the process. If you get caught in the middle and are getting swam over I'd try and drift to one side and swim around the outside to the front again.

You have to learn to be aggressive but also clean and efficient in cold, wavy, aggressive and super long swim races. They are great fun but also tests of endurance (on a scale you wont have experienced in the pool), focus and determination. The athletes who want it most will win, its unlike the pool, you could be the best technical swimmer out there but if you let yourself get carried away you'll run out of energy before the end. 5km is a long way to go, 10km is even longer, so remember that and if in doubt, just hang on at the back, stay out of trouble and get yourself in a good position before the final 500m...it speeds up quick at the end, so don't miss the move.

All those things though I had to learn the hard way, often in foreign countries surrounded by athletes I'd never met before, with no coach or trainer there to give me advice with everyone speaking French and shouting things at each other...then once the race started I'd get picked on and just had to stick in...it taught me lots of things about both racing and myself. So my best advice would be have fun, don't take yourself, the other athletes or the racing too seriously and try and come away learning as many lessons as possible.

Remember, the race WILL end eventually, even though it seems like its going on for ages, and once its done you will feel 1,000,000 times better, so push like hell until then, it's worth it.

My first day

2011-03-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

Today in the gym as I was cooling down (lying on the floor...) my thoughts went back a few years, 14 in fact, to the day I went from a kid attending swimming "lessons" to a kid going to swim training.

At the time it was a big jump. I had always been terrified of competitions, this in fact didn't change for quite a few years, so the thought of starting to race was a bit scary. In fact when the coach asked me after the Saturday morning "widths" swim lesson group if I wanted to make the jump up to competition "lengths" training I said no ... it was only after I had showered and changed that my mum encouraged me to change my mind. As I went to find the coach he was driving out of the parking lot and I had to (this remains a vivid memory) run after his car and hit my hand against the rear window to get his attention.

In hindsight risking my little life in order to tell my coach I had changed my mind might not have been the best idea, but as most 8 year olds I still didn't understand the concept of waiting another 3 days to tell him at the next swimming lesson ... or the idea of phonecalls.

Anyway ... after telling him I now wanted to be a swimmer I made my way home for breakfast, chest puffed out.

Later that morning in a conversation I regard as being completely fair and one a Dad was entitled to have with his son, my dad very kindly and discreetly reminded me that now that I was going to become a "swimmer" maybe I should lay off the cake a bit (I was in fact quite the chubby child). This might seem a bit mean but he was right, if I wanted to become a swimmer I couldn't be chowing down on cookies and chocolate all the time - I had to become an athlete.

The concept of training was still completely unknown to me so I went outside and ran around the garden. Twice. Now our garden isn't tiny but it also isn't huge, I'm talking 200m around at most. So there I was, 400m into my training, standing in front of the mirror inspecting my stomach - as if to be suddenly noticing the instant appearance of a 6 pack.

Little did I know it would take a further 13 years before that 6 pack would fully emerge, but there I was, hoping to see results.

Of course I didn't so that afternoon I convinced my dad to take me on yet another regular weekend swimming pool trip. There I stood in the reception of the Westhill swimming pool marvelling at all the swim accessories on the wall, swim accessories that "real" swimmers wore. And since "real" swimmers were lean and muscley I of course presumed that by buying some of them I too would become lean and muscley. So there I went, into the changing rooms, armed with my brand new pair of goggles and ... wait for it ... a nose clip. I still to this day don't know why I associated the nose clip with swimming prowess but there you have it.

Unfortunately neither the 500m I swam that day nor the nose clip seemed to make too much of a difference, and I guess therein started my since lifelong journey into the discovery of training and the human body.

It is funny to look back at myself as an 8 year old and to think of how little I knew back then, both about training and myself, but then I also can laugh reminding myself of how little I still know about myself, 14 years later.

The lesson I learned that day at the pool was that things take time. No matter how much you want it nothing will come after a few laps around the garden or a few hundred meters in the fun pool. More importantly I learned that no matter what you buy ... even if it is a nose clip, nothing can replace hard work and personal sacrifice. You have to be the one out there training, the nose clip's not going to do it for you.

Mike

Race 1 - done.

2011-03-06T18:44:00.000-08:00

First outing of the year today in Canada with the Bazan Bay 5km run on Vancouver Island.

Went really well, the field was and always seems to be super strong at this race and putting myself up against top runners is the best way to gauge improvement and ensure I keep getting faster. It's been a month now since I started working with my new run coach and I've been working hard on the track and in workouts across the board, so though 4 weeks is nothing in athlete terms it is still exciting to head out and run fast this early into the season. I crossed the line in 16.33 and even went through the 3km 10 seconds faster than my previous 3km PB I set last year, I started strong and though my pace fell off after the first few km's I was still running faster than ever before. The last km was tough but I held on to finish as the last male not to be chicked by ITU superstar Paula Findlay, that is a victory right there - she is quick.

I'm over in Victoria now for 2 weeks to get in some focussed heavy training before my family arrives for a visit on the 19th from Scotland. Next race is another 5km in 3 weeks time, can't wait.

Firmly back into the swing of things,

Mike

ps. Some pictures below taken by superstar photographer and girlfriend Nicole Akeroyd

Getting ready

My Akeroyd family support crew
Practicing their cheers
Possibly the coolest person to ever spectate a 5km
Pre race
Start line

Slacking

2011-02-28T17:34:00.000-08:00

It is very VERY difficult to do multiple things at the highest level.

To be truly great at anything requires 100% complete attention. Usually this is at the behest of other responsibilities or commitments. It has become clear to me however that training at full intensity means the downfall of one of my most important and serious activities ... BLOGGING.

Blogging over the past 3 years for me has often been a crutch when I am juggling too many things or not at full steam in training for whatever reason. It can be a great method to vent or even just pull yourself up a bit with some positive writing. In 2008 and 2009 I was just starting in the sport and in hindsight really didn't know where I was going or what I was doing. In 2010 I had a crazy amount of work to juggle with my final year of university and though I was doing my utmost to train at 100% it just didn't happen, more often than not (always the right call) my studies took the place of key sessions. The base load sessions were there just the high level intensity stuff was missed.

Looking at my blogging past therefore you can see the peak in the winter of 2009 and spring of 2010, highlighting the time of most distraction. I am not saying those who blog more are more distracted, just in my own case it seems as if the more I blog the more I am trying to convince myself of things I am doing that maybe I am missing out on. An online crutch.

Well ... seeing as this is my 3rd blog post of 2011 (a 78% reduction on posts from this time last year) I guess I have been busy - and I have! I am well and truly into the "train to race" part of the winter with all the base miles put away and intensity focus starting to shift into my weekly routine.

I am working with a new run coach here in Vancouver who has taken full control of my run training, Jerry Ziak, the hugely accomplished elite runner, coach and awesome dude.

My first race of the year is next Sunday with a 5km road running race. Looks like most of the Canadian National Triathlon team guys will be racing and though I have no likely chances of being up with them (those of which who run low 15 minute 5kms) but the plan is to run hard and try and I'll be looking for a good time.

This year being full time I genuinely plan to run fast, which in comparison to years past wont be too hard of a bar to hurdle but I am giving it 110. And a big thank you to those who told me to just get my act together and get a serious run program together. Its made a huge difference...but we'll wait and see how that pans out in racing.

Triathlon #1 of the year is in 48 days and I am itching to get going.

Who really wants to read about me though, here are some pictures from this past weekend in Tofino (for my birthday) .... such a nice place:

Triathletes and swimming - the "feel"?

2011-01-17T17:46:00.000-08:00

Triathletes as a group seem to struggle with swimming.

Unlike the bike and run elements of triathlon where you can nip out for a quick 10km during lunch or ride on your trainer indoors after dinner while your respective partner sits on the couch and watches TV, swimming is significantly more time consuming.

You can't just "nip out" for a swim. Swimming takes planning. You must find a pool, often find a group to train with, fit that groups training hours, pack your swim bag, drive to the pool, get changed, warm up, FINALLY get into the water, do the session, get showered/dried off, drive back. Definitely not what you would consider an easy process.

When children and work are thrown into the equation swimming is often the first thing to get the axe. Swimming pools have strict lane swimming hours, offering little flexibility to a tight schedule involving a 9-5 job and school runs. But swimming, for literally all triathletes (myself included), is the most important part of training when you look at what you get out of the hours you put in.

Swimming relies on a huge number of things to be done in an effective and powerful manner. This huge number of things is often what puts people off, it can seem awesomely overwhelming. ESPECIALLY when coaches or athletes offering advice seem to refer almost mystically to this thing known as "the feel".

"You just need to get the feel of the water"

"Try and get the feel"

"You'll know when you get the feel"

Ah the glorious feel. Before I start to break it down into simpler terms I must admit my reasons for writing this post. I found the feel today. I've been back in full training mode since early November but today was the day, January 17th, when I got the feel back.

...digressing...

So the feel. What is it? Why does everyone make such a big deal about it? How can I get it?

Well the feel is simply a word used to describe what is essentially a result. It is the result of a number of very important things all swimmers must do in order to get better. None of them more so than the triathlete swimmer. Triathlete swimmers swim less than stand alone swimmers (in general), they also have much busier training schedules given they have to compete in 3 different disciplines, it is of even more importance therefore that triathlete swimmers understand and are not afraid of the "feel" concept. They must embrace it and be willing to go after it, with the feel will come faster times, much more confidence and better races - which in the end of the day is the biggest goal of all.

Swimming is a technical sport. Pulling yourself through the water (without taking waves or fellow athletes into account) is a terribly difficult thing, therefore the more efficient you can be in doing so has a massive effect on performance. The technique of swimming I wont go into (see your coach tomorrow morning on pool deck) but I can say it comprises of a huge number of little things, little puzzle pieces that must all come together.

"Keep your hips up"

"Don't drop you elbows"

"Stretch forward when you enter"

"Don't cross over your centre line"

"High elbowed recovery"

"Don't jerk your head up when you breath"

"BREATHE!"

At least one of these things will have been shouted at you by your swim coach (they are still shouted at me on a regular basis) and they have a tendency of sticking in your head, usually knocking the old pieces of advice out of their way. When thinking about one aspect of technique you will more often than not forget about the others. Not an easy process.

This part of swimming ties directly into the next. Practice.

All those little technical aspects need one thing and one thing alone. Practice. Laps upon laps of practice, continual reminders of what you are doing wrong and embracing the process of improvement. Unfortunately what this requires is plenty of time in the pool, often a struggle. If you can get yourself into the pool regularly, 3 or 4 times a week, even if just for 45 minutes, on a week in/week out regular basis, you WILL see improvement. The things that at one point in time seemed overwhelming will suddenly start happening naturally, your hips wont be dropping as much, your breathing will feel natural, here it comes ... this is the feel.

You won't see it coming. One week you will be swimming up and down, feeling awkward, hitting slow times, over thinking every little bit of your stroke and the next week you get in and just start swimming.

Simple as that. You just jump in and the next thing you know you are 2km into the set and haven't thought about a single technical element ... more importantly your coach is saying "yeh you're looking pretty good this morning".

Your times start to come down, speed is accessed a little easier and there you have it ... the feel is yours.

It is nothing magical nor is it something just reserved for the swimming elite. Everyone can get it, its just a result of working hard, not letting yourself get demoralised and spending consistent time in the pool working hard. Not fast, just hard. Stay focussed and try and let things come to you, if you keep reminding yourself of your points of improvement they will eventually start to happen without the reminders. You will, in short, be pulling yourself through the water a little bit more effectively than before.

With the feel then comes the ability to train harder, the real gold mine. You can start to push yourself without over thinking your stroke, the focus becomes the intensity, where the real gains are made.

My advice would be to focus on getting your stroke sorted, be able to breathe comfortably (and to both sides) and get to a comfortable state where you can swim 2km without feeling awkward and unnatural. Be happy in floating up and down, doing some scull work, some kick and pull. Enjoy the water and the great feeling post swimming when you are exhausted. It's a great thing.

The feel will come to you, just don't build it up in your head or you will never find it.

2011

2011-01-05T16:23:00.000-08:00

Ah what a time of year, I definitely love the festive period.

Well I'm back in Canada, beautiful and snowy here and have enjoyed a lot of great family time over the past 7 weeks. Since last week I've been in Whistler at my family home and enjoyed a great new year with my girlfriend and her family.

I have taken a few relaxed weeks training wise, all in or around the 20 hour mark. 30km of running though in 2 days Monday/Tuesday of this week so still making the most of my time.

After a bike/run at the gym this morning and a 3 hour epic snow trek with my parents I headed into Whistler village for a quick bite to eat. I was sitting in one of my favourite places to eat reading the "2010" edition of the Whistler Question magazine and really enjoyed Whistler local and regular columnist Paul Ruiterman's 2010 summary piece.

"...the year started out with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, which killed an estimated 230,000 people and from which to this day Haiti has not recovered.

The next month an 8.8 quake hit Chile, but the country seems to have taken it in stride — even though 2010 was not yet done with it.

Meanwhile, here in Whistler, we had a few people over for a visit back in February and March. They came, they partied and they watched a good show — several shows, actually. The whole thing had an ugly start when Georgian luge competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed in a serious accident, skidding off course doing approximately 140 kilometres an hour. But organizers where able to keep the Games on track and Canada was on its way to bag 14 gold medals.

Meanwhile the world kept turning and North Korean Dear Leader Kim Jong-il, pissed with the joint anti-submarine warfare exercises organized by the U.S. and South Korea Navies, decided that this was a good time to sink a South Korean corvette. His navy boys selected the ROKS Cheonan for the honour, striking it with a torpedo fired from a North Korean sub. Later in the year North Korea would shell a South Korean island with the result that the two Koreas are still walking a dangerous tightrope as the new year rolls in.

Further north, Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull blew a hole in European civic flight schedules while a few days later the Deepwater Horizon blew a hole in BP’s public image. Eleven crewmembers where killed that day and the worst ecological disaster in American history was about to unfold.

On April 27 Greece’s sovereign credit rating was downgraded to junk, precipitating the Euro crises that would later envelop Ireland and may still do Portugal and Spain as well.

During the Soccer World Cup in South Africa, played between June 11 and July 11, the world was introduced to the vuvuzela — something I could have done without.

Later on in the year Chile received its second shock of the year when 33 miners got trapped 700 metres underground in a mining accident in San José. The world watched as all 33 were brought back to the surface after surviving underground for a record 69 days.

Finally in November researchers at CERN trapped 38 antihydrogen atoms for a sixth of a second, which, in a world where computers do calculations in nanoseconds, is a long time. The creation of antimatter did not cause a black hole to appear, blowing yet another End of Times prediction out of the water.

Since I did promise some names as well as events at the beginning of this column how about a few from the 2010 Hall of Shame? Try Mel Gibson, Tiger Woods or Conan. Meanwhile, our own Leslie Nielsen, no Hall of Shamer, passed away on Nov. 28.

No, I did not forget. We had some local experiences as well.

To wit: an asphalt plant, paid parking, budget overruns, the WB sale, anti-HST simpletons, old growth cutting, and probably some stuff I missed.

But you know what? Been there, done that and meanwhile another year went down the drain while I wasn’t looking."

Great summary of the past years events. Some terrible natural disasters, the winter Olympics, the summer football World Cup, instability in North Korea, serious financial instability in Europe, the historic trapping of anti-matter at CERN, the rise and fall of many a sports, Hollywood and political star but of course a lot of other great and not so great things happened as well, all the while another year passed us all by.

I hope everyone has a great 2011, I'm loving being out in the snow right now training hard and doing what I love. And lest I forget, my big sister's boyfriend asked her to marry her yesterday ... she said yes, congratulations guys you two are an awesome couple.

Here are some pictures of the last few weeks,

Happy 2011

The river Dee back home in Scotland

Crathes castle very near my parents house back home
My awesome dog Basil!
Taking some pictures out at the Banchory Lodge Hotel in Deeside

The Peterculter Heritage centre
Scottish sunset from my bedroom window
Christmas tree!
Parent's Christmas party
Christmas day
Christmas dinner pictures with little sister
Mum and Dad
Callaghan Valley, BC
-15 snow shoeing!
Morning sunrise at the Callaghan Valley backcountry lodge
Snow shoeing :)
Some beautiful snow meadows in the distance past the trees and across the creek

Nicole and I at Callaghan lake
Black tusk in the distance

Train to stay young

2010-12-14T04:48:00.000-08:00

Now the title of this blog post may sound pretty menial as it is pretty widely accepted that training and leading an active and sporty lifestyle is good for overall health, but what I'm referring to is something much cooler and interesting than that.

One of the things I enjoy, as a self confessed science geek, is learning about space. The subjects of astronomy, astrophysics and even particle physics and quantum physics I find fascinating. A lot of people like to tell me these things are boring, and while I agree that the fundamental theory can take a lot of work in order to understand the consequences of these subjects and what they can teach us about the universe is pretty awesome.

Well how about this for an idea - the faster you move, the slower time passes.

This is not just some wikipedia

based fact here, this is Einstein and his monumental theory of relativity. It struck me as I was driving home from swimming this morning when I was recalling a dream I had last week. In it my oldest friend Pete and I had somehow hijacked the International Space Station...I won't continue with the dream but it's safe to say we managed to trash most of it ... but it got me thinking about the Astronauts who pretty much live up there.

They are flying high spinning around at close to 18,000 mph and we are down here on earth moving at a lowly 1,000 mph. According to Einstein then, the boys (and girls) up there should technically be aging slower.

THE PROOF

In 1971 two scientist from the US boarded a plane, with them they carried a very very very precise Atomic clock. Now their buddies in Washington DC also had an atomic clock. Their idea was to travel the world entirely, first in one direction and then in the

other. According to Einstein's theory in one instance the travelling clock should lose time in relation to the geostationary clock in Washington and in the other it should gain.

A very long story short, the experiment worked and the "clock paradox" was for all intense and purposes proven to be valid.

So as for those guys up at the International Space Station you ask? Well as it turns out they are in fact experiencing time at a slower rate to us, so are actually aging slower. The margin? A massive 0.014 seconds a year.

In relation to training then, I figure for all of us guys and girls swimming, biking and running every day, for every second we move faster than everyone else we are in fact delaying the inevitable just that little bit more.

Just shut up and run Mike.

2010-12-10T08:23:00.000-08:00

In the world of sport we are bombarded with advertising at every juncture. Television adverts, famous sportsmen and women covered in branded sportswear, title sponsors of major events, product endorsed races...

Most often along with their cool logos, sports companies have a catchy little slogan, usually this ends up being just a vague statement or rhetorical question and almost always ends up involving an abuse of grammar or punctuation.

Is it in you?

Just Do It.

Impossible is nothing.

Greatness Is Built Into Our DNA.

...you all know what I'm talking about.

The most commonly recognised slogan, in my opinion, has to be that of Nike - "Just Do It.". This was conjured up for an ad campaign way back in 1988 so it has definitely stood the test of time, though until this week to me was just another random catchphrase.

In fact I had always thought of it as a slogan meant to inspire people to get off their butts and not be so lazy. From some of their adverts I know this is what they often try and get across, though the actual words "Just do it" drifted into my head this week during training without any forethought to Nike at all.

In the past few years as a triathlete I would say one of the toughest issues I've had to overcome is the feeling of foreignness in both the sports of cycling and running. As a lifelong swimmer I can almost always jump into a pool and feel pretty good, and if not good then at least "at home", but this has been a definite stumbling block in both bike and run portions of my training.

To be honest with you all however, the same issue I encounter in running especially I also encounter on a regular basis around this time of year in the pool.

I find myself swimming along and analysing every stroke I take, on each arm...every entry, every underwater phase, every exit, every stroke recovery...is all being analysed, or over analysed, by me on a regular basis.

At this time of year when everyone is "getting back into" the swing of things it does take me a while to get the feel back in the water and until then I often over stress and over think the aspects of my stroke that I should just let happen.

Now apply this to the much more foreign nature of running, a sport I have only been training in now for 3 years and the concept becomes a lot more difficult to grasp and as an athlete can feel a lot more concerning.

If you take the previous example I made of swimming, how at the beginning of each season it is important to get back into the water and regain the feel and comfort you had the season before. Well for me as a runner still learning the ropes, it is as if this process is happening for the first time. There is no "previous season" to judge how I should feel, it is the long process of learning for the first time and there is no base marker of how I should really be doing it. Each year feels different as I improve whereas in the pool I have been at (he said hopefully) a steady state for about the past 6 years.

Anyway, training this week I found myself running along the railway line 45 minutes or so into a 60 minute run in the snow and the thoughts in my head suddenly became overwhelming. I had managed to get through most of the run without stressing over positioning and technique but at that moment the thoughts which had first been about foot position had ballooned and were now covering everything from shoulder tension to breathing.

Then ... as if by magic three words popped into my head. I had heard them a thousand times before but suddenly they made sense. Made sense in that particular moment in the particular way I was choosing to interpret them.

"Just Do It."

Just shut up and run Mike.

So that's what I did. I let myself softly relax into the remaining 15 minutes I had left and began to enjoy the process of putting one foot in front of the other. I know there are a million different ways to run and there are things we all feel we need to work on, but in that moment, trying to navigate my way through 3 inches of snow in trail running shoes in the middle of a 30 hour training week probably the best thing I could do is just relax and get through it.

This applies to all 3 disciplines I train in. I often find myself becoming very fidgety on the bike, continually thinking about my position and where I "should" be. Again probably the best thing to do is just accept the fact I have 2 more hours to ride, it is NOT going to be comfortable...no matter how much I try and shift around, and just get on with it.

"Just Do It Mike."

That's what I'm trying to keep in my head these days.

Graduation, Scotland and Winter

2010-12-03T09:53:00.000-08:00

Arrived back in Scotland 10 days ago now, the main purpose of my trip being my long awaited graduation ceremony last Thursday.

I missed the traditional summer ceremony in July due to my being in Chamonix so I had to make an extra trip home so I could pick up my degree in November. Was a beautiful day, snow had just started to fall so the campus looked great, really enjoyed the occasion and being able to celebrate with my family. Not every day that you get to officially become an "educated man" so I made sure to have a drink or two that night!

The snow continued to fall though, ever heavier, over the following week and as of today there must be at least 18 inches sitting in my garden. Has made training interesting but I am plugging away, already at 22 hours this week, mostly on my stationary trainer or on my slow jogs through the snow on the local trails. I'll keep pushing on though, it might be a good thing, lots of long slow sessions in December can't be bad.

Has made for some awesome photography opportunities and I've jumped at the chance, lots of great shots over the past week...a selection of which are below :)

Enjoy!

ps. Yes I did get beaten by my mum on Monday at the "plank challenge"...fair and square, 6:11 for me - 8:30 for her, you are a beast mum!

Grad day, in my kilt

The entrance to King's college

Outside King's college chapel in my robes

Once again outside the chapel

Proud mum and myself

Proud sister and myself

Proud dad...and myself

The chapel

King's college in the snow

My surprise grad cake!

3 hour weekend run at clach na' ben

Sunset over Glen dye

Top of clach na' ben

Glen dye

OCD Driveway clearing

Frozen bushes on the railway line

Frozen railway line path

Frozen river Dee

The sole tree with leaves still on it on the Royal Deeside Golf Club

1st lap of the golf club course

2nd lap of the golf club course ... footprints exactly 1m to the right of the footprints from my 1st lap :)

Vancouver, Victoria and Whistler training pictures

2010-11-15T16:16:00.001-08:00

Autumn

2010-11-03T18:48:00.000-07:00

Back to training it is then...

After a few weeks of chill time I went into a crazed "planning" mode and set out the goals for next season and started working out how much/what kind of training I'll be doing until Christmas.

Everything looked good so a few weeks ago I started to wind things up again. 11 hours of riding in 24 hours plus some other equally crazy things were done in my "prep" week and then last Monday everything started officially.

Last week I was back in the water properly as well as putting away my first track session of the year and a few big rides. This week I'll do about 15km in the pool, 2 hours of gym work, ride around 350km and run around 4 hours. Slowly building it up, but already feeling good.

Anyway I've also been doing lots of other more interesting things...

I've been out training in Victoria for the past week and had some great weather...it was also Halloween was this weekend!

Much serious pumpkin carving was performed:

Halloween day ride, why buy an expensive GPS when you can have a $3.99 laminated map!

SCARY PUMPKINS

3 hour tempo ride today, beautiful views on the way down from Cypress mountain
4pm November sun making West Vancouver look pretty cool, transport tanker added a sufficient amount of manliness to not make the fact I wanted to take pictures seem weird

Panorama view from Cypress mountain, not a bad place to train

Anyway...this weekend I'm off marshelling at the Haney to Harrison ultramarathon Saturday then up in Whistler next week for 5 days. Will take lots more pictures and keep them coming.

Training wise things are pretty standard, just lots and lots of hard work, so will try and keep things interesting with some cool pictures :)

Hope everyone has starting training again after the end of your respective racing seasons...if you are still relaxing I want a full explanation!

Mike

The joys of streaking...

2010-10-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

So last night was interesting...

The plan was to head off for a boys night to the BC Lions game (American football) with my old UBC buddies, which was cool as I hadn't seen a lot of them in 6 months or so.

First things first, everyone decided to get very very drunk. I was planning on having a beer or two but was more than happy to wait until the game had actually started before I went down that route. So off we go, cramming 15 guys into a limo for the 45 minute ride across town to the stadium.

Much singing, high-fiving, cheering and general "out of window" shouting ensued. Several scared bystanders later we safely arrive at the PNE. Someone had decided to give all 15 tickets to the drunkest and most rowdy member of the group so after a quick tussle I managed to get the tickets back in safe hands and everyone into the stadium in one piece.

Immediately the fun started; chanting, drinking and screaming abuse at ex and recently fired players (none of which were actually present at the game) - which was great fun for me to watch in the infinite wisdom that soberness seems to bring!

As the game got going...and I quickly realized the Canadian attempt at American football is not really the most interesting sport in the world...the rowdiness levels continued to rise, at one point the token "drum player/crowd exciter" employed by the BC Lions was stuck by one of our group's "missiles".

....many reprimands later....

"DO IT, DON'T BE A CHICKEN"...as Chris "smiddy" Smith was sitting there (remembering it was about 4 degrees out), half naked trying to decide whether or not it would be a good idea to go streaking. Then the surrounding crowd joined in...

"DO IT BUDDY"

"GO ON MAN"

...The temptation of instant fame proved too much and the very much drunk Chris flew past me, shedding the last few items of clothing as he jumped over the (very high) fence and dropped the 20 feet onto the field...unfortunately catching his foot on the railing and tumbling down almost completely on top of the 3 security guards waiting for him.

He managed to get about 30 feet before he was tackled by about 5 police men in total pinning him to the ground.

Luckily for us, and the crowd (who by this point were off their feet cheering for the now restrained streaker while sending equally passionate jeers towards the police) we had another trick up our sleeves in the form of Jordan, probably the second drunkest member of the group and more than willing to strip off in the name of streaking.

Before anyone could blink off he went, stripping off faster than anyone in history, over the 20 foot drop, completely dodging all police (who were busy with Chris), running the first half of the field completely uninterrupted, dodging a BC Lions footballer who made a half attempt to tackle him then going on to dodge all 10 police offers waiting for him at the far end of the field...successfully running into the end zone and high fiving the goal at the far end.

I have never heard a crowd cheer so loudly in my entire life, can't imagine what must have been going through his head has he ran the length of the field, completely naked (bar the fashionable look of white socks)...

Legend.

2010

2010-10-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

Well that was fun :)

I always knew this was going to be a big year - more training than ever before, a heavier racing schedule, more travel all mixed in with my final year of Engineering to contend with.

There were many, and I mean many, times where I felt like I'd taken on too much, especially around January during final exams and then the following 4 months of heavy thesis writing. But here I am, on my final journey of the year, able to reflect on my most memorable season as an athlete yet.

Let's go back and take a look at the past 12 months :)

First off...some definitions and numbers:

The "year" and "season" are slightly abstract principles but in general the "year" begins in late September/early October and lasts, surprisingly, 12 months. Whereas the "season" is a little more open to interpretation. The winter season is the period from around the end of October - March/April where the main focus is heavy training and preparations for the next years races, the race season therefore is the rest of the year May-September where the main focus is racing and the important recovery between those races.

2010 in numbers:

64,152 - number of kilometers travelled by plane

2,570 - approx number of kilometers travelled by car

168 - kilometers of the longest training session of the year

44 - temperature of the hottest training session of the year

16 - number of races

13 - weight lost in lbs between Christmas and August

5 - the number to multiply the number of km travelled by car in order to get the number of km travelled by bike

3 - third full season in triathlon

3 - number of medals won by friends at the Commonwealth games

2 - number of race wins

0 - number of bike accidents this year!

-15 - temperature of the coldest training session of the year

Where to start...

After 2009 my main goals for this year were to start running faster, continue to swim fast and generally be consistent (and graduate from university...). The winter was long and cold but I put in some good work, Scotland suffered its coldest winter since records began so there were plenty of snowy days out on my bike and out running, but I headed out and put those days away regardless. One big change for this year was the fact I was back in Scotland and back swimming with my old team (COAST). In hindsight this helped me massively, the benefit of doing consistent week in week out heavy pool work really took my swimming to a new level this year.

Was bloody hard at times, especially pre-Christmas when I was definitely out of the groove in terms of doing regular 2 hour swim sessions, but after a few months my times were back down and I was feeling like a swimmer again.

New Year was spent in Whistler (Canada) where I was out cross country skiing every day for 10 days, in my opinion the hardest aerobic training you can do. A nice break from the bike as well, something I will be doing again this year for sure.

Back to Scotland for most of January where I was swamped with University work and 2 weeks of final exams. Happy to get them over and done with I hopped on a plane and headed for London where I put in 8 days of just plain insane training with one of my triathlon mentors and best bud Mark Yeoman. The first time I'd ever ran 7 days out of 7. In fact I think its still the only time I've ever ran 7 days out of 7!

In February I was in heavy thesis writing mode but made time for 3 25+ hour training weeks as well as a race at the Scottish Universities Duathlon. There I finished 2nd to Craig Dale, which I was happy with, but as the season progressed became increasingly more happy with as Craig went on to have one of the best age group seasons anyone could have and probably (at least in Scotland) the best age group season ever, hats off.

March included the Scottish University champs (sprint) which was a good outing, though struggled on the run, as well as another trip to Canada. This time I took my bike however and put in some long wet days training in Whistler. By this stage I was starting to feel the physical effects of the stress from training and more significantly university. Sore legs crept in and hung around from early April - the end of June and weren't fixed until the genius who is Neil Maclean-Martin at the Chamonix clinic fixed me up in July.

Racing around this time included a good blast at the Deeside Challenge (starting in Braemar, Scotland)- 54km TT on the bike averaging over 41kph, the ITU Euro Cup race in Strathclyde - where I DNF'd, part nutrition, part not yet sharp enough and a big part of not just manning up, and a 2nd place at the Stirling triathlon as well as a 2nd at the Turriff triathlon.

By this stage I had finished my thesis so could put the books away (for good) and start focusing on racing. My third successive year racing at the Windsor triathlon was a great day, not the overall finish I had hoped for but my swim/bike was a beast. 35 second lead out in the water, with all the required names in the water alongside me to give the result some decent grounding.

Then it was off to the Alps!

My 5 weeks in Chamonix working with the Chamonix clinic were hands down the most productive time I'd ever spent training. I discovered more about my body and its imbalances as well as how they have then affected my running and run training in those 5 weeks than the 21 years previous. I also put in some crazy riding, much at over 6,000 feet...that hurt.

July I raced at the Annecy International Triathlon where I broke the swim course record held by Alexander Brukhankov, raced a proper Alp style Mountain "hill climb" bike race and raced a leg of the French Open Water Swimming Cup series where I literally got punched around by a bunch of French swimmers for 5km.

I said a sad goodbye to Chamonix on July 31st and headed straight for London where the next day I raced the Nokia Thames swim against my old rival Richard Stannard (the old guard of GB Triathlon super swimmers)...and won. A nice confidence boost and set me up well for a good race the next weekend at the London Triathlon, setting the record in 2010 for the biggest triathlon in history with 15,000 athletes racing. I stole 48th place with a solid run, once again adding to confidence.

The period between July 23rd and August 22nd I raced 5 times in 4 different countries and slept in 6 different beds (and a floor). Along with my 5 weeks at altitude this ended up making me a little tired and my race on August 22nd at the ITU Pan Am Cup race in Canada did a good job at showing me this. I had zero in the tank during the bike, after a pretty good swim, which resulted in yet another DNF for this year (which wont happen again...I promise, 4 DNF's in a career are enough to have to live with). Comforting though was my complete lack of nerves on the start line, something that has come in more this year, feeling generally comfortable racing the top guys.

After the tough day in Kelowna I took a few weeks off structured training and instead took on the role of full time Ironman support crew for IMC in Penticton the next weekend. Supporting an Ironman is awesome, but don't let anyone tell you it isn't tough. After my 22 hour day in Penticton I was VERY tired but my girl Nicole won her age group and was off to Kona so I was tired but very proud at the same time.

September was tough as by this time I was feeling better but still tired. Moved into my new apartment in Vancouver, had a relaxing weekend in Whistler, won the Vancouver triathlon, 2 trips to Victoria and started my last epic trip of the year to LA then on to Hawaii for Ironman World Championships.

LA was an awesome weekend, my race wasn't great but had a strong swim and managed to stay with Greg Bennett over the first 5miles of the bike. After this point I dropped off and didn't have anything left. Gomez and Docherty were both racing though and being able to race with those guys was pretty cool, hopefully be able to do that more in years to come.

After the race in LA I had a great day off playing "tourist" in Hollywood, checking out Warner Bros. studios and all the other sights. Was great having the legend Peter Foldy to show me around as well, not every day that you get a number 1 recording artist to be your host in Hollywood.

Off to Kona from LA for the Ironman World Championships where I was once again being race support for Nicole (her blog here), Hawaii was completely stunning, the most insane beaches and water I had ever seen. Never had I been able to go swimming for an hour in the ocean and not be in the slightest bit cold, heaven. Nic had a momentous day for World Champs battling through a killer stomach bug which halted all nutrition efforts in the last 80km of the bike and through the entire marathon. Never have I seen someone pull themselves through a race like that, 100% respect.

Once we got back to Vancouver it was time to settle back into daily life and get planning for 2011. So this is where I am now, sitting at my desk, 6 hours into working through race plans, training outlines, sponsor thank you letters and general brainstorming for next year.

It has been an amazing year, thank you to everyone who has helped me train, race, put me up at their house, given me a snack, given me a hand with a flat tire, passed me their water bottle during a race once I had run out, given me words of encouragement, given me a free race entry, put me in their magazine, said congratulations and just in general been there for me. You guys all rock.

Thanks for a great 2010 and let's do it again in 2011.

Train hard this winter, I'll see you out there.

Mike

LA Triathlon pre race

2010-09-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

So this Thursday I'm off to California for my last race of the year. It's been a LONG season and I feel like I've raced everywhere this summer, so being in LA for my last outing seems fitting.

Excited about the race for a myriad of reasons:

It's LA
Gomez won it last year and is racing again this year
My hero Greg Bennett will be there
It's LA
It's the last race of the season
It's a point-to-point course
It's a 2 lap run (which I prefer to 1 or 4 lap courses)
It's a sea swim
I'm off to Kona 2 days after the race

In terms of how I'm feeling and race performance pretty simply I'm just going to go as hard and fast as I can. Literally have no idea how I will fair, seeing as it is October and has been a long year, but I have gained lots of experience this season and will try and get some more racing the big guns who will be on the start line with me.

I'm feeling perky today (6 days before the race) but from experience I know that rarely means anything though I am relaxed and looking forward to just going out and seeing how things go. One thing I learned from my last big US Pro race was not to litter on the course (even if unintentionally) ... see here for my post race report from the NY tri last summer. As was with New York in 2009 this race will be similar in that it is a rare chance to go up against a literally fully stacked (Javier Gomez, Bevan Docherty, Greg Bennett, Matty Reed etc) field in a non drafting format and just go head to head. Experience wise there is nothing better, just bare knuckle racing, no tactics, no drafting, no ITU transition penalties :)

Will be a fun trip, especially with my little Kona jaunt added in at the end. Being able to support at Ironman World Champs will be awesome, hopefully I'll be the one racing one day.

Enjoy winter training, I'm off to find some sun!

Mike

ps. Will try and get another Mike + GB pic at the weekend

Getting better...

2010-09-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

Whether it be at a skill, sport or in health the process of improving is always satisfying.

Since the Vancouver Triathlon, now 2.5 weeks ago, things have been a little up and down in terms of health - picking up a minor Man cold that took a week or so to shake and just generally feeling the same "tired out" feeling I picked up in late August.

I have managed however to continue in training prep for LA, now in 10 days, and as of this time last week have started to feel pretty good again. I was out in Victoria training with "off to Kona" Nicole for 4 days and put myself through the paces more than I've done in recent weeks and definitely felt good for it. Sunday morning I felt so good I headed out for an hour and a half (of Nicole's 2.5hrs) run and just kept going until 1 hour 50, my longest run ever. Felt great during/after as well, though by Monday I could tell I had ran a wee bit further than normal.

Lots of steady work though with some generally harder stuff thrown in, nothing huge. At this stage of the year (first race was well over 7 months ago) there is so little you can do training wise anyway, it definitely becomes a war of attrition over fatigue and health. Last season I got to the first weekend in September and decided to call it quits, this year has been much bigger though and I'm still trying to battle on. LA will be fun for sure, really looking forward to it, definitely a well respected race and one of the few "point-to-point" races on the calendar. Then making the trip out to Kona after for Ironman World Champs which will be another amazing experience ... I think my "season round up" blog post in late October this year will be a big one!

To all those who have started winter training, hats off. To all those on a training break, enjoy. And to all those who, like me, still have racing to go ... you're crazy :)

Vancouver triathlon

2010-09-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

Ah my favourite race of the year.

The past 2 years, 2008 (here) and 2009 (here), have both been cracking days and it has quickly become the most anticipated race on the calendar. This year did not disappoint, my first win as a senior in triathlon, woo.

Since my last race I've been down with fatigue issues (long long season this year) and even the day before the race I was feeling ill. Race morning and it was lashing with rain, biblical amounts of rain. Headed down to Stanley park around 6am to get set up and ready for race start at 7.

All the speed theory crew were there along with my room mate Gord, fellow UBC Mech Engineers Kelvin (biggest cheerer in the world) and Tetzel and of course my trusted assistant for the day Liz Akeroyd (best person to have along at your race for sure).

The tide was out in the bay so I had a good 100m of 30 cm deep water to get through before I could get going. This unfortunately meant there was a nice band of barnacles to run across before I set off (VERY sliced up feet/hands). Thankfully the water was so cold I quickly lost feeling in my extremities and suffered no in race pain on my cut up hands/feet.

2 lap swim, 20 second lead over the first 750m and held that until we were out, Derek was the fish behind me but luckily I had managed to put 2.10 and 4.30 into my 2 biggest chasers.

Bike was tough, just pouring rain the whole way, but I felt good, legs were firing well and I pushed on. Into T2 with a 90 second lead (4th fastest bike split).

The run was crazy. I have never felt so good in my life on a run. Legs were turning over well, the cold wasn't bothering me too much and I just continued striding out.

I knew guys were catching me and presumed I'd get caught, but once I was into the 2nd lap I knew I still had a good gap so pushed hard. At the 7.5km (small out and back) I saw the gap was holding and the race was mine for the taking. The last 2km I was sprinting, or at least it felt like a sprint.

Across the line in 1.59:56, 36:48 run split, 2nd fastest run of the day.

A memorable day for my first win as a senior, was awesome to have my friends there cheering me on as well.

It's been a long year and certainly my toughest as an athlete. I am now looking forward to my final race of the year in LA on October 3rd, maybe after that I can take some down town and chill out for a while ... maybe.

Keep training,

Mike

ITU and Ironman

2010-08-31T10:16:00.001-07:00

I think my lack in blogging can be attributed to the immensely hectic nature of the past few weeks, scrap that, past few months.

My definition of "being at home" is when you finally unpack. Not unpack your suitcase however, usually if I'm in once place for a week or so I'll empty my suitcase and get organsied, but unpack your toiletries bag. This is something I'll never unpack unless I am firmly "at home". A hotel, friends house, rental apartment, the toiletries bag stays either in the bathroom (packed) or in the bedroom I'm staying in.

So when I got home last night after yet another long day's worth of travel and could finally (for the first time since probably June 10th) unpack my toiletries bag it felt very symbolic. I am now home.

In case anyone is checking in for the first time I'll summarise the past few months quickly. May held the seasons first big races but at the same time my last month at university and the completion of my dissertation. June was full of racing with a great week down in London at the Windsor triathlon, back home for a few days before heading out to the alps (altitude training). 5 weeks in the alps including 3 races, Annecy International triathlon, Les Carroz bike race and the Thonon round of the French open water cup series. August has been the busiest of them all, my first win as a senior athlete at the Nokia Thames open water swim, racing in the biggest elite field ever at the London triathlon (with a total of 15,000 athletes and 55,000 spectators), flying out to Canada, moving into my new apt, 10 days in Whistler with the family, 3 days in Kelowna racing ITU, back to Vancouver for 1 day, 5 days at Ironman Canada as support and now finally back in Vancouver.

I'm tired just writing it down.

That said it's been the best summer of my life, hands down. When I started out with all this "elite" athlete junk I guess what I really wanted from it was some really good memories, so that one day I could sit back, beer in hand, and know I really gave it a good shot. I think this part is on its way to being completed already. Feels good.

Anyway the past few weeks...

2 weekends ago I was up in Kelowna racing the ITU Pan Am Cup race that I did last year. Long story short I called it a day early towards the end of the bike. Zero in the tank but started out with a cracking swim exiting with the lead pack + Mr Whitfield himself, was pleased with this but annoyed I couldn't get into the "race gear" I needed on the bike. Regardless however it was a great weekend with my family and at least they got to see me do some racing.

In reflection it looks as if I'm just a little tired out, I guess as can be expected. So an easy week followed. Last Wednesday I returned to Vancouver so I could then head up to Penticton for Ironman Canada the following day. For those who didn't see the post last year, c lick here to see my reflections on last years Ironman Canada...I had a good time!

It is an amazing event. I am 100% hooked on the atmosphere, spectacle and in general insanity of the race. If I said it once I said it one hundred times, I have almost endless respect for the guys who go out there and race Ironman. Not just the professionals but every single age grouper from the 9 hour finishers right down to the guy who ran across the line on Sunday night in 16 hours 59 minutes and 56 seconds (the cut off being 17 hours).

It is one of the few, if only, events in the world where the respect I hold for the elite athletes competing is JUST as much as the respect I hold for each and every amateur. They are all incredible. None more than my friend Nicole who raced in her first Ironman, killed it, 3.35 marathon at the end and won her age group...a Kona qualifier first time out, what a performance.

Equally impressive performances though from my other friends Cam Mackay and Rob Herron, awesome race too guys. Can't say it enough, you guys are beasts.

Happy to say I'll be on the start line in 2013.

Gotta give a shout out to the two Geoff's at the Bike Barn in Penticon though, thanks for keeping up with my blog and racing, you were both too generous with your compliments. Hopefully see you both soon,

Keep training, racing and exploring...its good for your health :)

Mike

France-London-Canada

2010-08-12T11:26:00.001-07:00

Finally I can put together a half decent blog post after the last few weeks. It's difficult when you are from place to place, in between races, often in airports to sit down and think over things from the past few days and get it all down.

Things really kicked off around July 24th in the Alps with my first race in a succession of 4 over 16 days, most definitely the most hectic little stint of racing I've ever put in, so had a few concerns as to whether I'd get through them all without any major problems. Firstly I hoped I'd still be fresh for the 4th race but at the same time I hoped I'd just get through without any incidents/illnesses setting in.

Everything went by without a hitch though and I put together a really good string of results that I'm definitely pleased with. The first half of the season was slow moving and took me a while to get the "sharp" feeling that I found in July. This probably has something to do with finishing university and writing my thesis which took a lot of my energy, though training was still going well. I did however struggle with some calf issues that, in all honesty, had been around for a while.

Being out in Chamonix though, working with the Chamonix Clinic, was a huge turning point. Naturally my fitness and strength improved by being at altitude and working in crazy terrain but the physiological support I received from Neil was immense. I am now feeling 10 times more solid on my feet and generally stable, especially while running.

My run split at London was still slow but it felt good and by the end of the run I actually felt pretty perky. The goal now is to hopefully build on that over the next 2 months, maybe getting faster too.

Now I'm back in Canada, into my new place in Vancouver and already back up to Whistler to have some family time before my next race. Have enjoyed a few days off/travel days since London on Sunday and getting back into training today. Already been to the pool and met up with all the Whistler triathlon guys again, even met a swim coach in the pool from the Aberdeen swim team in Washington, US. Small world!

Steady 50minute run this afternoon and a hike with Mum, Dad and sister. Beautiful British Columbia eh :)

London triathlon

2010-08-09T01:21:00.000-07:00

Will be able to do a much bigger post in a few days, currently sitting on an airport computer with a broken 'i' button and 3 minutes left on my internet connection. Flying to Vancouver today where i'll be for much of the remaining season, had a cracking race yesterday at the London triathlon as well, such a huge event I was really pleased to have a solid race and more importantly to actually feel like progress was made on my run (finished 48th). After months and months of run struggles to finally have a positive 10km under my belt feels great. Got to go! Time to check in :)

TAPER WEEK

2010-08-05T14:23:00.000-07:00

Fun fun fun,

4 days into my enjoyable taper week, 6 days of it, before the London triathlon this Sunday. Feeling good, will be a fun race, a big race and hopefully a good race.

Awesome course too, fast single loop swim course and a bike course that takes you all the way into central London to Westminster.

BIG POST will follow the race, promise.

Until then I'm enjoying some of the nice comments and press from the race last weekend, some links below :)

http://www.zoggs.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=226:1st-out-of-the-water-mike-adams-wearing-zoggs-predator-goggles&catid=32:newsdesk-zoggs&Itemid=48

http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com/2010/08/03/adams-pryor-win-nokia-thames-swim/

http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/sport/localsportsroundup/8313848.Thames_swim_attracts_huge_turnout/

http://www.tri247.com/article_7332_Nokia+Thames+Swim+goes+swimmingly.html?region_id=&category=

Racing

2010-08-01T08:21:00.001-07:00

It continues...

Yesterday was my last day at altitude, coming down from Chamonix and heading to London via Geneva. Here in London for 10 days before I fly back out to Canada for the rest of the year.

Last weekend was my first of a busy 15 day schedule with 4 races packed in. After landing in London yesterday afternoon this morning was race 3, the Nokia Thames Open Water Swim. 3.8km from the famous Hampton Court Palace to (also the famous) Richmond upon Thames. Pretty cool course but as it was the Thames I was (and still am) worried about picking up some kind of stomach bug from the water. So lots of Coke to kill the Ecoli and whatever else is floating around in there.

So the race...I knew there was a point to this.

It was pretty cool as I had been given race number 1, first time ever, so wanted to take it out hard, even if I didn't win, just to show I had somehow earned the number. Had a cracking start, straight out in front. Was kicking pretty hard and given I had a gap I just kept kicking...and kept kicking...and kicking.

Didn't look back as I was convinced someone was gonna fly past at any minute and just kept pushing. Put in a big surge at around 3km which was tough but it paid off. Won by over 2 minutes setting a new course record of 42 minutes, managed to beat Richard Stannard again as well, twice in a season...with another show down next weekend.

Really enjoying racing right now, finding some good form which is fun and looking forward to next weekend.

Mike

Apologies

2010-07-26T00:02:00.001-07:00

Apologies are in need,

Quite possibly the longest I have gone without blogging, especially after 6 posts in 12 days at the beginning of the month!

The first week here was great as I was easing into training and getting back into the swing of things after May/June racing. The altitude and 35 degree temps didn't help too much either. So it was easy therefore to take my camera along with me and snap away or stop mid training session for a quick video. But once things got going and the business end of training kicked in, everything becomes a little more focussed.

During the 3rd week of camp I had Mr Murchie out training with me, current Scottish Junior Champion (a title he took off of me in 2009 and has held since). We had a blast and worked hard as well, some very tough rides and all the rest. We also took some really cool videos but unfortunately I've been unable to get them up online! I'll keep trying.

This weekend I had 2 races, on Saturday a 10km hill climb bike race and Sunday a 5km French cup open water swim race.

The hill climb was tough, 10km and 750m of incline, 7.5% average with 9% sections. I went off hard and lasted 4km with the leaders, before I pulled back to get my pulse down under 180, I managed after 2km of my own pace and I started to push it on again. Crossed the line out of the saddle at pulse 189, so was going full tilt! Definitely enjoy the bike only events though, fun fun.

Sunday was the the open water race. INTENSE. I guess as it was a French cup race I should have known it was going to be aggressive and of course Triathlon's can be a little pushy at times as well. So I was prepared for the start, lots of pushing, kicking and pulling on shoulders, as well as having to go pretty much full out to keep up, max kicking over the first 500m.

The buoys were VERY far apart across the 2.5km lap, with there being about 600m between each. This was tough when considering the waves which were ripping up in the wind. Annnnyway, enough for excuses! More on the fighting. So the first lap was tough, with lots of infighting within the group, lots of surges and plenty of kicking (I thought we'd stop kicking and start "pull-only" after about 500m...but no!). So I was secretly hoping the second lap would be nice and tame...no chance of that.

The second we hit the beginning of the 2nd lap everyone started surging again, enter another 2.5km of pulling on shoulders, tugging on feet, kicking in the face and of course, swimming at full out. Ahh. Was quite an intense hour in the water. Felt like I'd been in a fight by the time I was out and on dry land again.

31st place, pretty pleased with that :)

Well it's now my last week in Chamonix, which has become one of my favourite places in the world, definitely my kind of town.

Hope everyone is training well and enjoying the summer,

Mike

ps. GREAT job to Ali Brownlee at the London ITU WCS race yesterday, that man is a machine. Serious respect.

Chamonix training camp day 9

2010-07-05T10:27:00.000-07:00

More fun stuff straight outa the Alps :]

Chamonix training camp day 4

2010-06-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

Climb to Lac d'Emosson

2010-06-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

Two panoramic shots of hairpins on the way up

Another two shots from the top, Lac d'Emosson on the right, French Alps on the left in the distance

Any another training video :)

Col-de-la-forclaz

2010-06-27T03:23:00.000-07:00

Beautiful mornings training in Switzerland :)

Morning number 1

2010-06-26T22:31:00.000-07:00

What can I say,

Of all the places I could have come for a summer training camp I don't think any could have suited my personality more than Chamonix. I arrived yesterday to a hoard of Ultramarathon runners getting ready to run the 42.2km "Mont-Blanc Marathon" route this morning from Chamonix - La Tour - Planpraz, an incredible 8,200 feet of vertical gain. Nuts. But it's nice to have a few hundred guys running around town in compression socks, makes me a feel a little more normal.

It's only 7.40am but I had to get up early to cheer the runners off, going to be a stunning day, below are some pictures of the view from my window...

Mont-Blanc getting early sunlight...at 4810m it's understandable!

The start of the marathon

Up close and personal...never enjoy watching other people race when I'm not but today I think I'll leave them to it.

Day 1 of altitude camp so don't want to overdo it, big ride planned though, hopefully will get some good pictures and maybe a video or two...will be up later!

Mike

In transit

2010-06-26T00:58:00.001-07:00

Sitting in Geneva airport waiting for my transfer through to Chamonix, almost at the final destination.

Can't wait to arrive, get settled in and start to train and explore the part of the alps famous for its challenging terrain, not to mention beautiful scenery.

Hopefully by the time I'm back in Geneva airport in 5 weeks time I'll be a little leaner, a little faster and hopefully a little better at French too :)

Un peu plus, chaque jour.

Packing up

2010-06-23T08:29:00.001-07:00

Been a little ill since getting back from Windsor last week, the price you pay for swimming in the Thames. Feeling much better now and have still been ticking over with training, though all hell breaks loose on Saturday.

Flying out to the alps for 5 weeks of altitude training, staying in Chamonix, one of the most famous all round mountain resorts in the world and I can't wait.

Last summer my mid season training break was spent in Gerardmer, France which was a great place to swim/bike/run. This year though will be a little higher and a little tougher as well.

Once I get out on Saturday I'll start taking pictures and keep everyone up to date with training and any other adventures.

Today is also my last day at home for quite a while, after Chamonix it's off to London, Vancouver, Whistler, Kelowna, Penticton, LA and Dallas before winding down the years racing. Will be a long time out of a suitcase :)

EXCITED

mike

Nice to be in the paper :)

2010-06-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.deesidepiper.co.uk/sport/Adams-in-the-swim-at.6364924.jp

http://thewaterisopen.blogspot.com/2010/06/michael-adams-leads-out-of-swim-at.html

http://www.zoggs.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=184&Itemid=48

Good days and bad days

2010-06-13T05:43:00.000-07:00

Here is my theory, if you take the number of hours between a race and a blog post and divide it by 1, you will get the probability that the race went well.

Therefore as I am posting 2.5 hours since my race finished, I had a good day.

3 weeks ago I raced in Strathclyde at the ITU European Cup race. Pretty much just had a sucky day, a very aggressive swim and suffered in the heat. So last weekend it was nice to get over it with a 2nd place at the Stirling triathlon. To prove my rule though I think it was about a week before I blogged after Strathclyde, its tough when things don't go well.

Today was a little better. This was my 3rd year racing at Windsor, another awesome week staying with my surrogate family the Yeoman's. Prep went well, lots of easy sets and short race pace work. Last year I had a super day coming out of the water first by around 20m and staying with the lead pack over the 42km bike.

This year the field was a little stronger with Gave Noble racing as well as Richard Stannard & Co, so before the race I was hoping to swim at/near the front for the first 500m or so before attacking at the turn buoy. Things went my way a little earlier though and after a great start I took a massively different line across the river from the rest of the field. Will have to wait and see the TV footage but I think I was out on my own from pretty much the very start.

Built my lead over the 1500m and came out a mile in front. Not quite a mile but close enough! Ran the 400m through transition pretty steadily wanting to feel fresh on the bike, got to my bike, out of wetsuit etc, out onto the bike first, into shoes, energy gel, drink of water....still no one in sight. It took the chasing group of Noble, Stannard, Jenkins and Halksworth the best part of 1km to catch up, so a good day in the water.

Felt progressively better throughout the bike and once the groups came together/everyone started freewheeling I rode from the back of the pack to the front and off for a while. Didn't get too far ahead but for about a minute I rode off the front making the guys work a little to catch me up, then went again once I was caught. Wanted to string things out a bit as there looked to be all the favourites/good runners in the group. Felt nice to be at the front making a difference though :)

Run was the run. I had worked very hard thus far in the race and definitely felt a little sluggish over the first lap. Did my best to limit the position losses and hopefully didn't finish too far down (results still aren't out)! Felt very good crossing the line though, starting to get more involved in these races and its nice to be out in front, very nice to be out in front.

Blueseventy Helix rocked the swim today, no other suit came close. Also thanks to Zone3 for a cracking new trisuit, SLS3 for my compression (that I'm in now) and Cervelo for my ride.

Good day.

Mike

Stirling tri, packing up shop, off to Windsor

2010-06-09T01:50:00.001-07:00

So after my disappointing weekend in May at the Euro Cup in Strathclyde coach and I went back to business putting in some hard training in the 2 weeks following. Some more race specific stuff and building back into running after a sore calf hampered run work in early May.

The plan had always been to race Blenheim on June 6th but race entry issues (ie the organisers letting in a whole load of age groupers) meant I remained on the "waiting list" all the way until race morning. As a substitute Blair got me an entry (with many thanks to Andy Turnbull) to the Stirling sprint tri.

Race was great, strong swim (8.29 750m), smashed through T1 which was nice after spending all of last season huffing and puffing between swim-bike. Bike course was cracking, flat as a pancake with a few twists and turns in the middle and a nice ascent/descent at the end. Had the tri bars on the S2 so could get into a decent TT position, was nice to hold on to my 30 second swim buffer over the bike course and out onto the run.

Run was solid, nice hill each of the two laps so did my best to work that, managed to hold onto the lead until around 3.5km in when I was passed by Rory Downie. Tried to hold on for a few hundred meters but lost touch on an incline. In my head I could have put it all out and stayed with him but I'm trying to save those extra gears for Sunday.

Sunday is the Windsor triathlon, a pretty legendary British race that I've done for the past 2 years, this year being my 3rd. I always get to crash with my main man Mark Yeoman which is worth the trip in itself, we always manage to entertain ourselves even if its just Mark slagging me off for having a massive head. So should be the funnest race of the year and probably the one I'm most looking forward to. The course is great, an out/back swim in the Thames which should be too crazy, I lead out last year by quite a margin though no doubt guys will be a little more wary to let me go off the front this year. The bike is a 1 lap 42km course with no technical sections but some nice drags, hopefully we can make the break stay away this year and the run is a 3 lap technical course through Windsor itself. Technical in that there are cobbled sections, pedestrians to dodge, a killer hill up to the castle on each lap and plenty of turns and dead turns to contend with. Last year I crawled around the course in about 43 minutes which was my slowest 10km of the year...in fact the slowest 10km I've ever done ever. Hence the goal this year is to go faster! Not too big of a task but as I learned in Strathclyde anything can happen in triathlon.

Will post again before the race but I imagine my race report will come as I am making the train journey back to Scotland on Monday. Currently I am on the train south, free wifi making the 9 hour journey a little better.

Once I get back to Scotland next week I'll be in my last 10 days at home, a scary thought. Last Thursday I finished university (and am anxiously awaiting my marks) and the next 6 months are occupied by foreign travel to racing and training. After Windsor I'm off to ITU Brasschaat in Belgium followed by altitude training in Chamonix France for 5 weeks. Then its the London triathlon, ITU Kelowna in Canada, the Vancouver triathlon, the LA Triathlon and the US Open triathlon in Dallas as the season finishes up in mid October. But more on that later...

Mike

blueseventy and swim times

2010-06-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

How much difference do blueseventy suits make to us triathletes?

100m F/c Max from a dive;

No suit; 57.4

blueseventy PZ3 Swim Skin; 55.4

blueseventy Helix Wetsuit; 53.1 (from a push start)

Moral of the story...

blueseventy=FAST

Do as I say not as I do

2010-05-29T08:59:00.000-07:00

"You once told me to always finish even if it meant crawling across the finish line" is what I was told on facebook this morning.

Very true, I did say that. However last weekend I did not crawl across the finish line. Instead I was slumped in a heap 2km into the run course.

Last weekend was case in point of "having a bad day". I felt good and rested however once the gun went it became increasingly apparent that there was no gas in the tank. It was Scotland's first ITU Cup race ever and luckily for the organizers got the sun they were all praying for, all 27 degrees of it. That seems to have been the root of the problem, mainly the rapid temperature increase from 10 degrees earlier last week to 27 by Saturday. A long drive down the night before also didn't help too much, but in the end of the day I should have taken care of myself better.

The swim was awesome/brutal. I've never been punched so many times in my life, but for a true "fish" like myself it was great fun, bashing around for 1500m is definitely more interesting than a solo break away and the boys in the water were flying. I was pushing near enough full out and wasn't getting any room off the front, but was happy to stick in with the lead group despite the fighting.

The second I got out at the end of the swim however it was pretty clear that something was not quite right. Simply a case of no energy and not managing to recover over the 40km. A couple other guys were suffering and I felt bad seeing Andy Russell of Canada drop back with me, he'd flown out to race and was suffering in the heat (I think, not spoken to him since) like me. Anyway, onwards and upwards. Oh I made it to the end of the bike without getting lapped out! and ran as far as I could before stomach cramps set in. Dehydration at its finest.

So where to go from there. I guess I was disappointed for about 20 minutes but as if by magic the second I got some water in me and a pat on the back from coach I was straight into "lets get training" mode. After a steady 4 days and a great stay on the Queen's Balmoral estate with my best bud Pete I am back to business with training getting ready for the Windsor triathlon in 2 weekends time.

Coach Blair is putting together a plan to get me resharpened up for that race and I kicked it off today with a tough brick set out at the Knockburn Loch training centre.

Final ever University commitment this weekend meaning by Thursday I'll be finished with school...forever. What a thought.

Onwards and Upwards.

Tinley Talks

2010-05-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

If you are ever short for inspiration, no one is better to look to than 2 time Hawaii Ironman champ and general legend Scott Tinley.

He has a way with words;

"...He'd known it all along of course. It was a brilliant tactic from a man who has trouble walking to the end of the block. And he knew that I knew that I knew it but couldn't quite remember it. Because when talking about anything from the moment of conception to the end of earthly life, the heart - from all points of science, study and approach to knowledge - is a central point of departure, regardless of which direction you're headed. And no less can be said about its role in endurance sports.

If our heart is broken from a failed relationship, we can still run miles and miles in an effort to heal it. If it's soaring from some grand victory, we can still feel it break when others who live inside our own cannot share that glee. If we wear it on our sleeve, we must be ready to take what others can sling at us. And if we keep it too closely guarded, we rarely reach the peaks and valleys of human emotion.

The four chambers of the heart drive the fluid that delivers the goods to the muscles that make us go. Blood moves as a clock to the points of the bodily compass. Kids understand this. Adults suffer the consequences of forgetting it. The heart can gush with pleasure if all systems move in synch or stop us cold in our tracks if dammed by the particulars of age and treason of poor choice.

The heart can be observed, dissected, broken, repaired and replaced. We rely on it like a good neighbour, realizing that even if it's always there doing what it's supposed to do, we still need to pay attention to it.

To succeed in endurance sports and in life, all you need is a big heart, but that has nothing to do with size"

Nutella

2010-05-12T03:59:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here at my kitchen table, post run, post haircut and post morning dog walk with a big fat Nutella sandwich in front of me. However as I was informed by a loyal reader that I had not posted since Sunday (which is only 3 days ago!), I will postpone Nutella time for 10 minutes.

In some way as we seem to very slowly creep towards summer, racing and graduation I feel different. There is a huge sense of freedom on the horizon for sure, this will be my first EVER summer where there is nothing waiting for me at the end, no school, no definite plan as to where I am going to be or what I am going to be doing. I will be training, that is a constant, but where and with whom is a different matter.

As my degree gets wrapped up and I start to pack my bags for 6 months of racing I'm just going to take things as they arrive, race by race and location by location. So many of my friends are nearing this stage as well and we are probably the first generation (that of iPhones and the 24 hour news reel) that will realistically be able to travel, live and work wherever we decide.

I could go on about training and my upcoming races but its been such a long winter and my races are approaching pretty quickly so I'll leave that out today. All thats left to do now is show up and go fast, simple eh?

In short I guess the more time I spend thinking about what I really want to do the more time I spend thinking about what other people want. I hope as I get further into the summer, start enjoying my races and travelling I'll figure it all out. But then again if I don't, I guess it's not the end of the world, who says you need to know exactly whats going on anyway?

I'm off to have my Nutella sandwich :)

Mike

Final pre season race-done.

2010-05-09T09:32:00.000-07:00

All done, winter is over and the pre season warm ups concluded just a few hours ago.

Turriff sprint triathlon, 50miles north of Aberdeen, is a tough little race, was one of my first ever races 3 years ago and this year was my 3rd attempt at winning, two 2nd places in 07/08.

Scott Neyedli, a fellow Aberdonian and a great help to my training when he is in town as well as a wise and established Ironman Champ, was racing and he gave me the idea to come up and race with him (for the second weekend in a row). Lewis Murchie a young up and comer as well as some other local "Elite" age groupers were on the start list.

760m swim, 21km hilly bike and a 5km out and back run, all fun and games eh.

Was my last prep race before things kick off on the 23rd and wanted to put in a good effort to see how my legs are. Swim was cracking, 8.25 in a tightly packed lane (including Neyedli wearing his illegal swimskin! ha), 150m run to T1 down some steps, 18 second T1 :), out onto the bike - first 9km are seriously lumpy and the wind was in my face, Scott caught me with 5km to go on the bike, into T2 about 30 seconds apart. 5km run, out and back, straight onto a nice 400m hill which stole my energy a bit. Built into it though and by the turnaround I was about 45 seconds back from Scott. Second half I actually felt good, for once, and picked it up considerably, reeling Scotty back in a we bit to finished 36 seconds back.

My time, 1.02.26

Scott, 1.01.50

Two fastest race times ever, woo.

Back at home now, watching the Giro D'Italia, Formula 1 is recorded and will watch it later. Super hungry but not too tired which is good, legs feel not too bad at all.

Back to business eh.

Mike

Almost time...

2010-05-08T05:27:00.001-07:00

This season seems to have been approaching for a long time. There will be lots of traveling + racing to contend with so the plans have been in place for a while. Doing my final prep race tomorrow up north in Turriff, a hilly sprint course, which will hopefully sharpen me up a little further before the 23rd.

Once everything kicks off it will be 4 races in 6 weekends between May 23rd and June 27th so in no time at all it will be all go.

Not much left to do now but race, tomorrow will hopefully give me some good feedback as to the kind of shape I'm in, I'll keep everyone updated :)

Mike

TT

2010-05-02T06:07:00.000-07:00

Just back through the door after the 54km TT I was doing this morning. Was meant to be down in England doing the British Uni championships but that didn't work out so instead I headed up to Braemar for a 54km time trial.

It was part of the Deeside Adventure Race, which people can do as individuals, teams or a mixture of the two. I was only doing the first part but my friend Scott Neyedli (Ironman Champ) was doing the whole thing, 54km TT, 12.1mile run, 25km TT. Crazy eh?

Anyway we headed up early this morning and 45mins into the car ride and it had already started snowing. By the time we reached Braemar the temp was sitting at -3 and it pretty much snowed on and off in flurries until we left. It wasn't too bad though, definitely seen worse.

Everyone fired off at 30 second intervals, I was off 2nd last and was put 3minutes behind the 3rd last guy. Scott was 3 minutes behind me as well. Mainly so we didn't catch everyone up too soon! It seemed to work for the first 5 miles, as we all encountered snow generally neutralizing the pace for a while but once I got into the swing of things I started to feel really good. Managed to keep it in a pretty big gear all of the way and, every time I checked at least, was well above 40km/h.

Pretty sure I caught everyone in front of me bar 1 and successfully held off Scott attacking from behind to post a 1hour 19minute 54km, average speed of 41.4km/h. Felt strong and my HR never went above 174, so all good.

Just finished up my post race refuel/ice bath session. Pretty much can't walk so Brian my physio will have his work cut out tomorrow!

Mike

Wish I was racing...

2010-04-29T13:29:00.001-07:00

So...

This weekend was meant to be my first proper test of the year, the British University Tri champs waaaay down south in Wiltshire. Unfortunately due to travel logistics (1600km round trip) and my final university project (click here for the post about my project) it has meant that I've had to withdraw. Would have been a fun race, my swimming is definitely on form and I am in general feeling very strong so was looking forward to it.

So the hunt is on for a replacement race, currently it looks like I'll be doing a 35mile bike TT this Sunday and then another race (Sprint triathlon) next weekend. No doubt they will be good efforts for my legs right now...I hope.

After that it is down to proper racing with the ITU Euro Cup race at Strathclyde on May 23rd, Blenheim Elite race on June 6th (but I'm currently on the waiting list) and the Windsor Elite race the next weekend on June 13th. They will all be on TV eventually so keep an eye out if you're in the UK over the summer.

So as I am currently working hard on my final Uni tasks but really wish I was already away racing...I thought I'd put some new pictures up to remind me of the pain :)

Engineering put to use

2010-04-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

So as most people know (as I seem to have told everyone) on June 2nd I officially finish my degree in Mechanical Engineering.

It has definitely not been easy, it's a challenging subject, with the most difficult aspect having been my 4th year thesis that I submitted last week. If anyone wants to read it I'll happily send you the 1MB Microsoft Word file, makes for great night time reading, possibly the driest 18,000 words ever!

Anyway before I can pick up my diploma I must complete a group project with 4 other of my classmates, presumably to prove I am not entirely inept at communication and team work! So yesterday, myself and my 4 other teammates received our design briefs to design a hand powered tricycle for disabled children. In my 4 years of engineering finally a problem that I feel socially constructive in solving.

Most of our problems consist of car doors, ergonomic desks, oil trasfer lines...etc. Not exactly the most constructive design elements, but something that could help disabled children get out and about again, exercise and play with their friends is an exciting prospect for sure.

Currently we are looking at different frames, components, seating options and wheel set ups but it looks as if the group is working well together and we'll hopefully come up with a great design at the end of it.

I keep trying to push for Zipp wheelsets and Shimano Di2 components but the "cost" is apparently too high...for carbon wheels and electronic shifting? No price is too high!

Anyway I hope it is a worthwhile project to someone and some of our research gets used somewhere down the line. Every kid deserves the freedom to get outside and explore, regardless of disability and I hope more and more can.

Mike

Invictus

2010-04-19T02:29:00.000-07:00

A poem by the great English poet William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Juggling.

2010-04-17T10:39:00.001-07:00

For as long as I can remember...and I'm pretty sure I can remember my 4th birthday party, so a long time...I have been a juggler.

Juggling school with training, training with eating, eating with resting, resting with racing, racing with school...the cycle goes on. But it seems as if I've always been juggling several important things in my life. Unfortunately I think over the years it means some things have been pushed to the wayside when they maybe should have not, an active social life, friends and some of the other fun parts of growing up. I am constantly reminded of this by what my friends get up to when not studying and I am out training but it is not very often I'd rather be doing anything else.

To be juggling therefore is something I am very used to.

The last month however has began a transition between that life and a new one. I am well into the depths of "wrapping up" my degree, thesis all but handed in, one group project left, graduation forms sitting on my kitchen table. I have no doubt the new life of training, training and more training...with some racing, will be a juggling act also, but maybe one with a few less balls...and none of them doused in kerosene and set alight :)

It is a nice feeling, my shoulders feel the least tense they have felt in about 5 years and the thoughts of "the future" which at one point were scaring me to the point of narcolepsy, aren't quite as terrifying. Part of me thinks it's because the sun finally came out on Friday...makes a world of difference.

Anyway for the first time in my life I don't have a plan, I like plans, they make it easier to evaluate whether or not things are going to plan, but surprisingly it's not bothering me as much as I thought it would. I'm just going to take things as they come and see where it takes me.

So as can be deduced by my positive tone today training has been going well. The training camp in Canada was spot on, stealing some of Mr Whitfield's run sets certainly can't have done me any harm. I've have dropped a few pounds as well and I find it always helps you feel you're getting faster if you're looking faster, and nothing says "looking faster" than a little less podge around the waist! A lot of guys out there are training for big races right now, Kelvin (UBC engineering student, mtber and triathlon convert) is gearing up for his first ever triathlon in a few weeks (go man go), lots of guys are getting ready for the start of the national and international triathlon summer, Mum is prepping for her first 10km in 30 years (impressive!), Nicole is gearing up for Ironman Canada in August, Murray from SpeedTheory is well and truly into his training for the STP 300+km bike race, Denise is already stuck in to an insane European summer racing schedule and I have a few races coming up too.

Before I get to the start line for my summers racing I still have to hand in my thesis next Wednesday (by 11:59AM), do a little more training and enjoy a 3 day trip to London (Volcanic ash pending) for my best friends 21st birthday...but it's getting pretty close.

For now,

Mike

ps. Some pictures...

View from my window pre-hill reps

Sun, snow, 3hrs on the bike :)

2 hours into the ride, lower altitude, no snow, beautiful

big box of goodies from blueseventy, thanks guys :)

out on a run

2010-04-15T02:29:00.001-07:00

First, very sore, triathlon run of the year (back in March)

Big day, big week.

2010-04-11T22:09:00.001-07:00

Training camp has finished.

Certainly the hardest 2 weeks of my life, not just super heavy mileage but more just a continual stream of quality sessions and consistent intensity. Really pleased with how its gone.

Back in January I did a week I thought was the hardest I'd ever do, 6 days of running in a row. The past 12 days destroyed that week. 9 days of running straight, for "swimmer mike" thats a big deal. Today topped it all off, a 7 hour ride, so I'm all worn out and ready for my long trip home tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone for making it a great 2 weeks, Speed theory, the akeroyds and Whistler tri club :)

Now it's time to focus on the summer, hopefully the start of a sun tan once again (definite sun on my cheeks today), graduating university and the biggest racing season I've ever done.

Many races, training camps, travel, hard times and good times will unfold over the next 5 months and I'll keep it all up to date here,

Thanks for checking in.

Mike

Training high up in the rain and snow

2010-04-07T16:45:00.001-07:00

Where to begin.

Here I am, back where it all started. Whistler, BC has shaped me as a person more than I thought a place ever could. I first came here with my dad back in 98 as a chubby 9 year old, yet to start competitive swimming, yet to really start anything. At that age life basically revolves around friends, nintendo 64, pokemon cards and food...at least I'm pretty sure that's what I was into.

It was here 12 years ago that I began to fall in love with the mountains and snow as well as the trails, lakes and summer sun of possibly the best place in the world. BC certainly dubs itself as the greatest place on earth...and Whistler has to be one of the best places BC has to offer.

At the age of 9 you are yet to make your choices, develop your personality and adult opinions that will stay with you for life. It was somewhere between the years of 98 and now that Whistler managed to nestle its way into my life and make a nice home for itself, I'm pretty glad it decided to do it as well.

The outdoor lifestyle, easy going pace of life and lust for taking advantage of what you've got are all things I feel like Whistler's taught me over the years. Respecting nature, friends, family as well as always doing your best to have a good time, many lessons can be learned from a community...ones that you don't necessarily pick up in school.

Sitting here, 12 years on, on maybe my 20th trip to Whistler in the past 2 years I can say I'd happily never leave. As I've discovered over the past week it can provide a pretty intense training base with its hilly roads (very) and trails as well as quiet 25m pool and gym.

It's one of those places that sucks you in.

Mike

My coach

2010-04-01T08:36:00.001-07:00

Growing up your coach can have a real impact, both in sport and life.

I was lucky enough to enjoy the coaching of Eileen Adams for almost 5 years during my best years as a swimmer. I have no doubt it was her influence and training that made those years so successful.

Now as a senior athlete in a different sport I can look back and see that she was fundamental in my progression, at 21 I am now a better athlete and a better person because of her.

For the past 4 years she has fought a long and hard battle with cancer, never once letting illness take away from what she loved to do. In that time she took her most successful athlete to the Beijing Olympics and witnessed her years of work come full circle, never missing a day on poolside and making every training session...more than most of her swimmers could manage.

Early this morning she finally lost her battle.

To say she helped shape a generation of swimmers does not begin to do her justice, for me she was like a mother away from home, there for me through the ups, the downs and the in betweens, every day, every morning, rain or shine.

The world has lost an amazing woman, coach and friend. Never one to accept anything but the best from people I have no doubt she has left an impact with many people, no more than me.

In memory of my long time coach, Eileen Adams, I write with tears in my eyes, she will be missed.

Back home

2010-03-30T09:25:00.001-07:00

Landed in Vancouver late last night, feels like I never left.

Seems like all trips are "trips from hell" these days and to be honest yesterday wasn't too bad. British Airways unfortunately had to cancel most of our flights meaning we (My parents and I) were on a slightly detoured route through London then Calgary before landing at YVR.

Successfully dodged bike handling fees at Aberdeen, London and Calgary saving me close to $300 but was stuck next to crying babies, coughing strangers and was abused by over aggressive airport staff along the way...but not all bad, at least I arrived in one piece last night after being awake for over 27 hours (as a side note, never do the 530am swim on the morning before a long haul flight!).

As it stands however Westjet have lost my bike, not just lost as in "oh its still in Calgary" but lost in the "we have NO idea where it is" sense. So fingers crossed it will turn up here in the next few hours but until then replacement bike contingencies are being put in place. No mucking around here!

Off to Victoria and the Canadian NTC tomorrow, will be great to train with those guys and see what a foreign performance program is like. Have been involved with performance programs and centres for the last 8 or so years but never in Canada so looking forward to doing some sessions with the guys.

Will keep everyone up to date as the week goes on,

Mike

CANADA

2010-03-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

Flying to Vancouver tomorrow,

2 weeks of swim/bike/run....

Cant wait

Swapping sessions

2010-03-25T06:49:00.001-07:00

A text from my best bud Pete this morning;

"Hey Mike, go and skip your run set tonight to come and see Avatar 3D + go out for dinner"

Hmmmmm that's not going to happen...

...then as if from magic, I get a text from 3 time Ironman 70.3 Champ and recent 4th place finisher at Abu Dhabi Fraser Cartmell;

"Hey Mike, driving up as we speak, will be in town in 2 hours, wanna run?"

RESULT.

Avatar 3D, dinner out, no missed training sets plus a 10km with an Ironman Champ...a good day.

Training

2010-03-25T01:31:00.000-07:00

So Wednesdays are my hardest training day of the week, but yesterday's session was full of fun.

Was in stitches at one point when I overtake a parked car while out on my bike and a farmer is pushing a SHEEP into the back seat. Awesome.

Later on I'm running through a forest and come across a complete random dragging a chainsaw along the ground...weirdo...but certainly glad I was the one running and not him.

That is all.

Sums it up

2010-03-22T04:56:00.001-07:00

This is why I love multi sport, everyone can do it, everyone can have fun and it doesn't have to cost you a fortune, just pick up your old mountain bike and off you go. I checked the results and this pic is of Alicha Reid from Edinburgh, I hope she doesn't mind me using it, she looks awesome and I'm glad she is having such a good time.

Was a tough race and for me she sums up why it is an amazing sport.

Racing

2010-03-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

So that's it,

after 196 days of winter training, racing has recommenced.

Rusty, tired, but faster. And though its hard to stay positive when you're knackered there is definite improvement over the same time last year and with another few months of super hard training to go...things are looking good :)

The race was the Scottish University champs in Edinburgh, all the guys showed up and it was great to hang out with friends again for the day. I swam fastest, coming out in 8mins25, then headed out onto the VERY windy bike course. 31 minutes later I was back into T3, now in 3rd place. A heavy bike took it out of my legs and I was no where near race sharp on the run, but it wasn't slow, not fast either though! Still, crossed the line in just over 59 minutes, once all is said and done an approx 4 minute improvement over this time last year.

All good.

Now its time for a recovery afternoon, before training starts again tomorrow morning. A quick massage then straight into hard work again running up to my Canada training camp in 7 days. Lots more running, biking and swimming before my next race on May 2nd down south.

Other goings on:

Spent the night in Edinburgh on Saturday night, was fun to hang out with my best mate Pete for a while. Watched the rugby, good to see Scotland win! And had fun driving the 130 miles back and forth to the race as well, employed the "drafting" technique tucking in behind faster cars...mainly to hide from any speed traps but also for fuel efficiency!

Will sleep tonight, but with a tough 3 weeks coming up...think I'll be tired for a little while longer.

Mike

Tired out?

2010-03-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

I know how those guys feel.

MIKE IS TIRED.

But working hard this week. Training camp to Canada in less than 10 days as well, can't wait to get across and eat/breathe/sleep training for 2 weeks, love it.

First race this weekend, most definitely for training purposes, but a race is a race. Will keep y'all posted :)

Random entries

2010-03-12T06:34:00.000-08:00

Mainly as an excuse to not be writing my thesis for the next 10 minutes I thought I'd turn my attentions to my blog.

Over the past 18 months blogger has turned into an outlet, diary, journal for my day to day activities but most of the time I end up feeling like it is just a another cookie cutter example of an "athlete in training" column. Its hard to avoid, seeing as most athletes are doing the same things day in day out, half of us very similar sessions...and almost all have the same memorised responses for the same questions.

"yes I'm working hard"

"yes this season is going to be great"

"yes I love my sponsors"

So not ignoring the fact that I do love my sponsors very much I guess I would like to start including more thoughts and fun stuff into my writing, every once and a while, along with the usual training updates and race reports (once racing starts).

So I shall continue...

Back in the day (possibly my favourite phrase) when I was a swimmer, the group of guys I trained with on a day to day basis became some of my best friends. We were a great team, full of potential and dominated the swimming scene for a few years. We would head to nationals and pick up at least a medal in every event, some of the longer distance freestyle events...we'd take up the whole podium. It was a fun time, definitely made me appreciate being part of a team.

Well around 2006 the squad essentially disbanded, most of us moving away to university elsewhere or like me, just taking some time off. Most of the guys are still on indefinite leave but there are a few of us still sticking in, myself still training 4 mornings a week in the same pool and at the same time as I used to back then.

Though the squad split up a new one was created filled with younger swimmers, the average age dropping by about 4 years and for a good 3 seasons it wasn't the same. Though there was still talent there, there was no motivation and no team spirit. A lot of us thought our era was the last, and it wouldn't be the same again.

Last year when I moved back to Aberdeen, before the 2009 season started I jumped on the phone to the new head coach and asked if I could come in for a few sessions with the "new" top squad, even younger than the one created to replace mine. I trained with them a bit over the summer and by the time the season had finished and winter training started I was in with them 8 hours a week.

It quickly became apparent that there were some great swimmers in the squad, though a huge lack or moral was affecting everyone. The "fun" was minimal and as a consequence there was no inter-swimmer support or encouragement for each other during sets. Things started to change though and by the time November came around it looked like a different group of kids.

This weekend past was yet another successful medal haul by the squad, further north in Inverness at the District (regional) championships. Almost everyone improved times, which at this time of year is great, and a few records fell. One in particular. One of mine.

I set it almost 7 years ago in the same pool, off the back of a great 1500m the month before where I took over a minute off my PB, I was flying. I went into the race clear headed and ready to take it out fast, I did and ended up taking another 20 seconds off my time. 2 weeks later I would take another 27 seconds off my time, 2 weeks after that I'd set the fastest long course time for my age in the UK. It was the best 3 months I ever had in swimming.

Well for 7 years no one has touched it, I was very proud of that record, but I am still proud that it took someone 7 years to get it. Tim McGovern who I've been swimming alongside for the past 8 months took it by a massive 8 seconds to go 16.20, and he's only 14.

It was one of a group of great swims from the weekend but definitely the one worth a mention by me. In fact it now means I no longer hold any 1500m swimming records in Scotland, with another one haven fallen to an equally impressive swim in November by yet another of my young training partners Euan Inglis.

These kids are fast, but they always were. Now though they have the confidence to go out and do it, it's not a confidence they achieved individually but one they worked together to get. When I leave in June for the rest of my season abroad and then in August to Canada where I'll be staying for the forseeable future, I'll miss them for sure. It's been great to train with younger athletes again, they have the guts that quite often older athletes seem to have lost.

Mike

Why athletes get sick

2010-03-10T10:34:00.000-08:00

So I'm sitting around at my desk on Monday afternoon, minding my own business and quietly getting on with my thesis. When from around the corner appears the ILLNESS TRAIN, final destination - MY FACE.

That's how quickly it hit me, I mean I'd had a weird throat/sinusy feeling since early Sunday morning but nothing major. Then in the matter of minutes I went from good to sick, like a punch in the nose.

Luckily I can report that by the time it had settled in on Monday night I was finished my days training, and by the time I woke up today (Wednesday) it had all but departed. Meaning I only had to take 1 sick day, only my 4th of the winter.

All serious athletes suffer from the same few problems. We all train hard, usually throughout the winter months, in the cold and wet. Almost all of us have to be around other normal people, usually all of which are sick. Because we train hard we are tired and our immune systems get fed up, so one day when we get cold enough and wet enough, and some normal person coughs in our face...we get sick.

Then however we just make it worse. Due to our crazy personalities we cannot live without training, so we convince ourselves that regardless of the mad coughing and nose running that we are indeed healthy and in perfectly good shape to train at full steam. As you can imagine though this just makes the problem worse, so at some point we must admit our weakness and take a session off...the horror.

Some of us however are worse than others, because as we almost all push ourselves enough to make the illness worse, some crazy soles then make the mistake of returning to training too soon when the virus/cold/flu/infection is still lingering. That harmless 30minute steady run in the cold is enough to bring that sneaky virus/cold/flu/infection flooding back...in turn making everything worse.

We sure are a weird bunch eh?

Illness avoided. Result.

"If someone suggests you lower your sights a little today, tell them they should raise theirs a little instead"

2010-03-01T07:05:00.001-08:00

Today's title is taken from one of my friend's blogs before yesterdays Men's Hockey gold medal match. What a game.

Last week was my 21st birthday, so I'm officially a man...but I don't believe in that rubbish. Was still a significant birthday though, my best yet, my family and I had a great time...though my little sis (who is slumming it in South Africa) was definitely missed.

It was a welcomed rest from the stresses of University and pressures

of pre-season training, which have been in full swing since October. I NEVER take holidays, but 3 days off last week did me a world of good, if anything it made me realise once again that I will never be able to survive without training, ha.

Back to the Olympics.

We'd all be lying if we said we didn't look at an Olympian and think "I want to be one of them". Sometimes as an athlete its too easy to avoid questions, both in public and in private, refusing to admit you're intentions. But I'd love to go to the Olympics

and I have no problem in saying. The last two weeks in Vancouver proved the human spirit, grit, reliance and respect of a nation and of every nation who took part. It was truly an awesome spectacle and I'll remember what I saw forever. A country coming together, supporting its athletes and more than that the spirit of the games. It reminded me more than ever of my focus and that thing inside that somehow makes me believe, unequivocally, in myself.

Watching the hockey last night it was easy at times to think "they might just not be able to pull this off". It made me think about whether or not I could handle that

pressure. When I thought of those guys it was easy for me to see how they could win, but hard for me to truly believe they could.

Of course they could, and they did, just the way they deserved to. But then I started thinking about the future and what I wanted to do, it all seems pretty abstract and out there, thinking about things you "might" be able to achieve, if all goes to plan. The more I thought though the more I realised I believed in myself, regardless of what happens, where I go or what I choose to do. I believe I can do it and other people believe I can too. Things will change, some will come in on target, other things will mix it all up a bit, but I guess I believe I'll get through it regardless of the things along the way and come out of the other end with a smile on my face...

...definitely makes getting up in the morning a little easier.

Thanks Vancouver, you sure pulled it off.

Mike

Confidence

2010-02-21T08:02:00.000-08:00

Well there we go, first race of the 2010 season under my belt. It also marks the last training session of a very solid 9 weeks without any specific recovery, meaning I've been tired, so totally looking forward to my ensuing recovery week and 21st birthday on Thursday!

It was the second race in the newly formed Scottish University league, consisting of 2 aquathons, 1 duathlon and a tri. Today was the duathlon, the triathlon which also acts as Scottish University champs will be held in 4 weeks time outside of Edinburgh, my first tri of the year.

The league is the result of some really hard working and keen University Tri captains, very much including the University of Aberdeen's Ben Christman. The whole Aberdeen team this year are better than ever and today we had a great turn out bagging (I would say) the majority of the top 10 spots. I look forward to doing some training with the guys and representing the University twice more before the season ends.

So the Duathlon today was a 4km run followed by a 20km bike. However, I woke up on Friday to a blizzard and (in Aberdeen at least) 4 inches of snow. This pretty much convinced me it would be cancelled which was a bummer as I was looking forward to testing out my completely knackered legs. By today the temperature had risen slightly (around -2 this morning) and the sun was out thawing much of the bike course. The run was still slippy as mud, with much of it being mud, and all of it off-road, including 500m in the snow. 400m was added to the course to allow for a location change for transition so the run ended up being ~4.4km, going through the 4km marker at 14minutes 10seconds.

Off onto the bike and the 20km loop, after leading the run for the first 3km or so Craig Dale from Edinburgh University got 20m on me and was out onto the bike first. I spent the first 5km catching up with him but from 5km-15km he steadily put about 20seconds on me. Over the last 5km I definitely got my legs and started hammering it back into town, 50kph on the flat. After a short mishap with a slight wrong turn I was back on course and across the line in 2nd, feeling great.

After the tough 2 months I've just had and the level of my fatigue this week the result was very encouraging. It looks as if my running has improved as we'd all hoped and my bike is strong.

It's definitely time for me to rest now though and enjoy my 21st birthday. The recovery will do me good,

First race down, whole season to go. Let's do it.

Mike

Cool Runnings

2010-02-17T08:17:00.000-08:00

I was already writing this post in my head last night as I ran around the 10mile Tuesday night loop in the snow. It was meant to be the weekly Metro Running club hard set that I've done each week on a Tuesday since early October, but the heavy snow and below zero temps kept everyone, and I mean eeeeveryone, at home.

By the time I showed up at the meeting spot the snow had turned to heavy rain and the wind was blowing in pretty strong from the sea. Don't ask why we run by the sea...maybe as it makes running harder? But annyway I sucked it up and headed out alone for the 17km loop, tried my best to go hard, but came in a little slower than usual in 1 hour 8 minutes.

Definitely one of the hardest runs I've had to do, needed some company, or an ipod...or a beer! But I got through it and quickly drove home for some spaghetti pie...and cookies!

Would like to give a shout out to my buddy Andrew Young who's racing today at the Winter Olympics in the Nordic Skiing events. He raced on Monday in the Men's 15km and will race the sprint event today. I've trained quite a bit up at the Callaghan Ski centre where the events are being held and I hope Andy has a great race today, he loves Whistler almost as much as I do and these games are probably the closest thing he will get to a home Olympics. At 18 he has a pretty amazing career ahead of him, so good luck dude, race like you stole it.

Another shout out to my buddy Zack from Vancouver who met Simon Whitfield last week and proceeded to ask him about me. No not Simon's 2 Olympic medals or multiple world cup victories, but me, which is both funny and awesome. So thanks to Zack for being an amazing friend and supporter but also to Simon for saying nice things about me and also being an all around cool dude.

That's enough for one day, I'm off to play with my new Sidi bike shoes (birthday next week) and head off for my evening bike set,

Stay Classy,

Mike

Pre season

2010-02-16T00:27:00.000-08:00

Last week after a solid 50 straight training days I headed down to Stirling for a much needed 5 days with my coach before the season starts.

The proposed season start date was set at March 21st with the Scottish University champs but that's still sooo far away...so I'm doing a University series duathlon this weekend. It will be my first run/bike race and first proper effort of 2010.

That said last week in Stirling had some pretty decent efforts. A lot of big swim sets as firmed up my confidence in the water and feeling much stronger on the bike as well. On Sunday I headed out for the Stirling Tri Club's 96km Reliability ride, I set off with the last group and stuck in for much longer than I thought I could, especially after the previous few days. Thinking back to last year, even last summer, that ride would have floored me. So its all good.

So this week will be tough again before my race this coming weekend, followed by a much needed relaxing few days around my 21st birthday on the 25th.

On another note my summer plans are firming up, I'm now confirmed to race Pro at the LA Triathlon in October my second race in California after the Santa Barbara Tri in late August. As more races are confirmed I'll keep you all in the know.

Hope everyone is training well,

Enjoy the winter Olympics!

Mike

ps. Thanks again to everyone for their support and encouragement over the past few months, it's been great.

February

2010-02-07T04:06:00.000-08:00

Been a good week, made some decent progress on my University thesis (due in 10 weeks) and got in 3 swim sessions, 5 run sets, 5 bikes and 6 gym workouts (26 hours).

Did another leg of the Aberdeen 3km Beach run series on Friday, finishing 3rd this time around, my mum also raced taking 22 seconds off her PB, good family progress :)

Weather is still rubbish up here, my Sunday ride today was very dreary ... but it just made it that little bit more solid, all good preparation.

First race of the season in 6 weeks, time to get fast then...

Thanks for checking up,

Mike

Training Videos from Sunday 7th Feb

Week from hell

2010-01-31T06:41:00.000-08:00

Ouch.

Firstly let me clarify, the titles use of "hell" is meant to refer to the kind of hell we all enjoy, the pain and suffering we put ourselves through, voluntary, sadistic, heart pounding pain. The good stuff.

Secondly a fact that many already know, Mark Yeoman (with whom I've been staying this week) is an absolute tank. In the WW2 sense of the word, a beast. For those who doubt, today we were out for 3 hours re coning the Windsor bike course and he was happily pushing 40kph on the flats, into the wind, with a grin on his face. Was the best ride I've been on, ever. Very hard work but gave me new confidence in my legs and a better image of the bike course for June. I know it's 5 months away but its never too early to do your homework.

This week has been t-o-u-g-h, and I've put myself through the paces as requested by the coach. My heaviest week yet, ever, especially in terms of running. Tuesday, I ran. Wednesday, I ran. Thursday, I ran. Friday, I ran. Saturday, I ran...you get the gist.

A lot of my sessions I was in the capable hands of "The Yeo" and he works hard, so was great company. That said I think if I was down here all the time I'd quickly run myself into the ground, competition in training is an awesome tool, for occasional use. So I'll definitely be back to put in more hard weeks, especially for my run up to Windsor in June and the London Triathlon in August.

If I get my way I'll be able to drag him out to the Alps for part of my summer training camp as well, then we'd be in business.

Part of what I love about this sport are the people I've met and continue to meet through it, most of my friends are now either coaches, athletes or somehow connected to triathlon. Mark and I met at Worlds a few years back and he's helped bring me along a lot, when we met I was racing my 7th sprint event, in the rain in Vancouver. I finished 4th, it was a turning point for me and since then I haven't looked back.

It's been, to quote a Scottish phrase, a "mental" 18 months and I have a feeling the next 18 will be even better, Mark is one of the best guys out there especially at making me believe so too. Once your standing on the start line its a solo effort, but every step, second and stroke until that point is a combination of work from a whole team of people.

Thanks to everyone for making the last 6 days great fun and hopefully a week I can look back on in 6 months time as one that made a difference.

Time to head back to Scotland,

Mike

You know you're in Surrey when...

2010-01-28T05:49:00.001-08:00

...In a 2hours 30min training ride you pass 2 houses equipped with moats and are almost run off your bike by a Lamborghini.

I finally made it through my exams and down to London on Tuesday. As I mentioned at least twice already last week I'm staying with my good friends the Yeomans. Mark and Lisa have had me to stay lots over the last 18 months after meeting at the 08 World Champs. Mark is literally a beast (think the Russian off of Rocky 4) and a great training partner, so this week we'll be swim, bike, run and gyming together with some sessions by myself thrown in as well.

Last night we hit the gym for a run set on the treadmills, at the time it was tough with my pulse getting above threshold by the end, last night it was sore and was hardly able to get up the stairs...but this morning I was back to normal and ready to hit out another hard day. This is a big change from a few months back when I started increasing my run intensity, back then I'd have a hard run set and pay for it over the next 48hours, whereas now I can just move on to the next session with a lot more ease.

So I woke up early again this morning and headed to the pool for a steady 5500. As it's my birthday coming up Mark invested in some presents for me, one of which is a super cool underwater MP3 player. So this morning in the pool, for the first time in 12 years, I had musical entertainment as I was paddling along, quite weird at first having Vampire Weekend playing while you do a set of 8x600s but definitely made the time pass quicker. For sure would recommend it to anyone just getting back into swimming who maybe finds 30-60minute swims just too boring...music makes it fly by.

Literally just through the door from a steady ride (still in my kit) and about to have a quick nap before a fast run set (again) tonight.

Will have some cool pictures of London up by the weekend, keep training hard,

Mike

Winter eh

2010-01-24T06:18:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

So this morning I sucked it up (after having pledged on Friday to actually ride outside this weekend) and put on my winter gear for 3 hours in the saddle...and outside for once.

It's been over a month since I rode my bike on the roads, a 12 day XC Skiing training camp in Canada accounted for a bit of it but mostly its down to the feet upon feet of snow Scotland has suffered over the 40 days. I was sick and fed up of sitting in front the TV watching Scrubs re runs for hours upon end, also it has warmed up around here, sitting at about 5 degrees all week. So most of the snow is gone and as long as there isn't any ice around I guess riding is safe enough once more.

This morning was a balmy 4 degrees when I headed out and it just seemed more wet than cold. Within an hour there was snow on the road and my route ended up taking me onto the B974 which the police had closed...due to snow. So suffice to say it was a chilly 3 hours and with some dodgy moments sliding around to add in a core workout just for a bit of fun.

Yesterday I was out at Raemoir House Hotel again for yet another fantastic run up the many hills. As expected by 500feet we were surrounded by snow and at the top there was over a metre in places...VERY difficult to run across. An inch of solid stuff on top then 3 feet of slush below...wet feet is an understatement!

...By the end I was pretty tired out

Ah well, comes with the job.

As a lot of you know I'm currently in the middle of my final university exams. 4 years goes far too fast.

My last is tomorrow, (Dynamics - think of machines rattling around, its about the rattling part) and then I can move on. Notes will go into storage (never know when I might need them again) and I'll pack my bags for London. 6 days staying with Mr Mark Yeoman will do me good and give me a boost after a few weeks of soul destroying exams.

Time for mega training once more,

Mike

Examinations

2010-01-20T13:28:00.000-08:00

Hellooo,

Currently I'm 2 down/2 to go, or in other words, only 2 more exams to complete...for the rest of my life. Forever, my last 2 exams...ever.

Now that's exciting.

Hellsyea.

I'm fitting in training around 6 hour study days as well as days with exams. The stress gets to you at times for sure. With that in mind I've booked a ticket to London for next Tuesday to stay with my good friend Mark for 6 days.

It will be a great escape from the hectic last few weeks up here and I really need it. To be able to just focus on training again for a week will be the perfect medicine. Last time I was down was for the week long run up to the Windsor Triathlon last season and it ended up providing me the lead up for one of the best races of my life. I hope next week will give me another boost heading into vital training as we are faaaast approaching the beginning of yet another season, with more work, more pain, more chances.

Mike

Not getting faster, just slowing down less

2010-01-13T13:14:00.000-08:00

day by day, step by step...

Back home

2010-01-10T11:44:00.000-08:00

Hey,

Tell you what, I leave the country for 2 weeks and "climate change" decides to happen overnight!

Hit -23 in Scotland on Friday...the South Pole was only -22.

Arrived back into the UK last night after delays in Canada, -10degrees in London with 54 of British Airways 58 flights cancelled. Luckily Aberdeen airport was open so I got back home and into my bed by 11 last night.

WIDE AWAKE however at 4am, always a nice surprise.

"crap I'm awake, should I look at the clock?

I'm going to look at the clock. I bet its after 6, it must be after 6.

4.10am..."

Up I got and was at the supermarket by 530am picking up groceries for the house, managing to wake up EVERYONE in the process of unpacking the cereal in the kitchen at 615.

Sunday is usually the day for a long ride, but considering it was -8 outside with snow everywhere and I was a little tired from the journey I just stuck to my trainer and put in a solid few hours in front of the tv...

The rest of the week will be focused on studying and getting in some more solid training, lets hope it warms up a bit outside.

Here are some cool pictures from the last few weeks in Canada...

New year training camp - day 8

2010-01-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

New year training camp - day 6

2010-01-03T17:13:00.000-08:00

More relaxed day today here in Canada, took in some of the slopes and even enjoyed some apres ski on the way down...

New year training camp - day 4

2010-01-01T18:50:00.000-08:00

New year training camp - day 3

2009-12-31T14:31:00.000-08:00

New Years eve in Canada, tough day

Training camp day 2

2009-12-30T20:06:00.000-08:00

Update from day 2 of the winter training camp in Canada, TIRED

The Video Diaries

2009-12-29T18:23:00.000-08:00

Santa brought me a fancy new ipod for christmas which happens to include a cool high res video camera. As my ipod is with me on most training sessions from now on i'll be taking little videos during my sets (especially if there is a good view) to let you all see what goes down.

Here are two from today, day 1 of my new year training camp

Training Camp

2009-12-27T10:16:00.001-08:00

Clothes have been laid out, training kit accounted for, adaptors, ipod chargers, cameras, nutrition, trainers and gloves all packed away...all I have to do now is zip up my bag and head to the airport.

Tomorrow I'm heading to my favourite place on the planet (Canada) and my adopted home for a winter break with my family and 12 days of hard training. It is a cracking place to train and I had a great 2 week heavy block there in the summer which put me in good stead for the rest of the season. There will be no riding as the roads are pretty snowy but plenty of XC skiing, swimming, gym work, running and yoga to keep me more than occupied for 2 weeks.

I'll be staying about 2 hours north of Vancouver for most of it in the ski resort of Whistler, host resort of the 2010 Winter Olympics in 2 months time.

I have been heading across since I was about 8 and its a truly beautiful place, below are some awesome pictures I've captured over the past few winters and some of the reasons why I love it so much.

Hope everyone has a great New Year

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T01:14:00.000-08:00

Would like to wish everyone a happy Christmas and a safe New Year. I hope 2010 will be a great year for everyone.

The past 12 months have gone insanely fast on my end, I vividly remember last winter training hard in Vancouver. This time next year I'll be doing the same again.

I've already thanked everyone for a great season and first part of winter training, its been a tough 3 months but support has been amazing and I can't wait for next year.

Flying out to Canada on Monday for a 2 week New Year training camp, will post again with some more pictures once I land. No doubt it will be beautiful, they have had over 22 feet of snow in 8 weeks! A lot of snow running, swimming, gym work and cross country skiing to come I think.

Have an awesome Christmas!

Mike

PS. Here are some pictures from the last 2 weeks of snowy training in Scotland

This is how I occupy myself when I'm not training, studying, eating or sleeping. OK not quite but it was an afternoon project, 68 chocolate fudge bars later and you have yourself the best Christmas present ever!

Unfortunately it collapsed soon after this picture was taken...

...I am an engineer...honest

Everyone's allowed a hero

2009-12-17T10:09:00.000-08:00

It's official

My bedroom is now a shrine to Lance.

Gotta get your inspiration from somewhere...

Matters of the mind

2009-12-14T05:51:00.000-08:00

It took me 4,500m to warm up this morning.

Granted it has been a long two weeks and with Uni stresses mounting up plus a whole weekend at -5degrees training has been tough. But still, I thought taking well over an hour to warm up in an early morning pool set was a tad ridiculous.

Back in the day (...about 5 years ago) we used to do some pretty long warm ups during heavy training, but at the most 2500m. So I took it as a sign that I was indeed feeling the effects of heavy winter work, nothing I can't hopefully handle though.

The important part for me was that the length I realised that I had finally warmed up I got myself refocused and managed to start reapplying some speed. I continued to then have a good set and finished up feeling much better than when I had started. It is very easy to convince yourself you're feeling rubbish and that it's OK to take the set, day, week, month easy. I don't argue the fact that if you are truly not 100% it is definitely OK to take it steady for a while, the hard part is however once you are back to normal being able to get back to it...and quickly.

Annnyway this lead on to a discussion after the session between Coach Stuart and myself about Tiger Woods and his exploits...on and off the course so to speak. It has been very easy over the past few weeks with all of the gossip emerging about Tiger's private life to jump to conclusions and quite easily decide that maybe he just wasn't the person we all thought he was ...

...but does it not deserve a little more thought? He has until the last year or so it seems lead an exemplary life. A true role model, amazing athlete, philanthropist and spokesperson. Someone who has re energised the game of golf and in the process become the single most well paid sportsperson in history. Does his behaviour of late not seem a little odd?

Certainly I found myself jumping to the conclusion that he simply was just a slime bag in disguise, seeing the revelations it was pretty easy to think that. However does it not seem odd that after a life of success and happiness he suddenly throws it all away in a year of cheating and disrespect?

There is clearly something wrong underneath the surface, his actions blatantly point to that. His unhappiness, anxiety, depression...whatever it may be, needs to be addressed. He needs help and support, probably from the people who currently wish to give him none of the above.

He has alienated his wife and family, the most important people in his life and the only ones who can truly make him happy again. I hope they stick together as a family and pull through, he is a great athlete, man and role model to a generation of aspiring golfers, sportsmen and people. I just hope the public can forgive him and he will return a happier, stronger and better person.

All the best Tiger.

Mike

PS. Supporter of the month goes to Mr Neil Gilles, my most devoted reader! Thanks for the support Neil and hopefully you'll give in to peer pressure and complete your first triathlon next year, you've got it in the bag already.

PPS. Here are some training pictures from the past week

3.5 hours in the cold and all that's left is an orange flavoured slushy

Out riding with Rob Foietta

Frozen countryside

Front of the S2 covered in ice

2.30pm sunset

Me looking decidedly grizzly after a few hours in -2! :)

3km Mum

2009-12-04T10:19:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post tonight, almost missing out on the start of our celebration dinner!

Celebration is definitely in order today, my mum, after a 25 year hiatus returned to racing this afternoon with a cracking 3km road race at the beach in Aberdeen.

Around this time last year after 20 years of working hard looking after 3 crazy kids she decided to get back into the gym with the goal of being stronger, lighter on her feet and maybe able to keep up with me and dad a bit more on the morning dog walks. She started out on a full programme after the new year and by the summer was feeling a lot better for her efforts, in late October she went for her first run in 25 years. Since then she has ventured out a few more times but no serious run work of yet.

Out of the blue last week when I said I'd be doing the Aberdeen 3km beach run next Friday she jumped (with a little bit of persuasion) at the idea and decided to come along and race. Today however we found out (from the results from last months race) that the field was in general pretty fast (average time of 12 minutes [40min 10km pace]) and I figured she'd decide against the idea. She picked herself up though and even at the prospect of finishing last she was still adamant that she'd take part.

For me it was awesome to see my mum with so much courage in a sporting event. I've been doing this my whole life so know all about nerves and being in too deep, it took a lot for mum to want to race today and I was proud even before she started running.

I had promised that once I finished I'd run back along the course and finish the race with her. I had a good run and finished in 5th but I didn't waste any time and immediately ran back across the line (in the wrong direction) to find my mum! I spotted her pink jacket about 800m back down the path and quickly caught up to her.

She was running alongside another beginner racer and they were really pushing each other on. I did my best to shout encouragement while running alongside and she came across the line in 18 minutes and 13 seconds. Her goal was for under 20mins so she did awesome.

I've never been so proud of my mum in my whole life,

A great feeling :)

November in pictures

2009-12-01T09:26:00.000-08:00

Realised today I documented the month of November very well this year with the help of my digital camera.

I wont write a big long post tonight but will just show you 15 or so of the pictures that help describe how November went. Thanks to all my training partners throughout the month, Lewis and Kimberly for our killer ride a few Sundays ago, Dad for trailing out with me at least twice a week on some random session and Robbie for that killer run a few weeks back.

Already in December...should be a good month!

November in pictures:

Mountain biking in the dark, Pitfichie forest

Stopped at a junction near Knockburn, 3 degrees, out riding with dad

More mtbing, getting dark this time, beautiful view over towards Alford, very windy!

Lewis Murchie ascending the Cairn O Mount

View of the sunset

Feugh Waterfalls, Banchory, Scotland

River Dee sunset, Durris, Scotland

View over Alford from the top of Pitfichie forest

A CRAZY big sheep

Lewis Murchie, Myself and Kimberly Preston

Kimberly, Myself and Lewis after the ride

Out mtbing with Robbie Simpson

Pete Patterson looking mean in the dark, mtbing at night, woo

Dad getting ready to head out on the Cervelo's

Myself and Robbie Simpson after a mornings training

Annnnd finally, the most christmasy truck you will ever see!

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop

2009-11-23T11:10:00.000-08:00

There are many phrases, all harking to the same sound; keep at it, one step at a time, day in day out, you can...

But it all comes down to the same principle...

Work hard, very hard in fact.

Do the very best you can each day and don't let things get to you. If you stick at it for long enough, through the crap and the rubbish and all the associated aches and pains...it will pay off.

It might be in a year or it might be in ten, no one can tell you when. But what you can know for sure is it will pay off, down the line, probably when you least expect it.

...And it will all be worth it, a million times over.

Quite a simple principle really, just keep your head down and don't give up.

How putting it into words can make it sound so easy!

Now of course I am relating this to sport but it goes for everything across the board, it's just I'm learning these lessons through my sport, I am very grateful for that. It takes a medium to learn lessons through and sport is a great are to learn about life. I feel as if I am only a few miles into the marathon, but my legs are feeling good and the sun is out. If I keep it up it might end up being a good run.

As they say...one step at a time.

OK that is my weekly cliche fix over with, it's healthy for me to get it out.

I'm at the end of a few tough months well and truly into the winter. The sun set today before 4 and it's definitely chilly outside, I've ventured out on more than one training session in the past few weeks in my terrifying winter balaclava...

Definitely gives the members of the public a good scare when I storm past.

Anyway I was meant to be writing about my weekend.

I received an email a few months ago from a local runner, Robbie Simpson, of Banchory (10 miles away). Rob's 18 and is already a very well established mountain runner. Of a similar mentality to my own, there's no way to beat the big guys unless you get out there and race them. So he's been out racing the big boys over the past year and hasn't done too badly at all. Top 20 at Junior World Champs in the summer plus a hoard of other top 5 and top 10 results in Senior events all over during the past 12 months.

He also bagged himself a spot on the Saab Salomon Outdoor Team, pretty jealous as Salomon have some wicked cool shoes, you can check out the team page here http://www.saabsalomonoutdoorteam.com/team/robbie-simpson/

Annnyway, as most of you know my running is still in its development stage...so the crazy part of my brain thought it would be fun to head out with him on a training run, 1.5 hours, off road, up hills. Luckily he is a cool dude so I quickly forgot about the sore legs and we had a blast, bashing around the hills and sliding all over the trails. Damn those mountain runners can storm downhill.

Afterwards we headed out on the MTBs for a recovery spin, I even had another ninja mtb skills moment (for a quick refresher on my previous mtb exploits see reference link here http://michaeladams-triathlete.blogspot.com/2009/10/you-wish-you-had-camera.html ) where I managed to skid, drop the bike and launch myself off all in the same millisecond...landing miraculously on my feet a few yards down the path. Good times.

Anyway, the next day Rob entered and won a local trail race...while I was still nursing the sore ankle and quad from the day before. Damn Crazy Runners

Great Scots

2009-11-19T13:09:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I last blogged, a week has gone past and another 7 or so tough days under my ever bulging belt!

One day at a time as they say.

Anyways, I am just about to head off to bed for good nights sleep before my last morning swim set of the week and my mind started wondering. I am from and have been brought up in a tiny little country, but size aside it has been one of the greatest in history.

There is a cracking show on channel 3 right now highlighting some of the greatest Scot's in history, over the past few weeks I've been watching intently and taking a few notes along the way. Here's a very summarised list of my favourites:

Sir Alexander Flemming
-Discovered Penicillin and single handedly forged the way of modern medicine. Nobel Prize winner

Joseph Lister
-The father of modern surgery, introduced the idea of sterile surgery

James Clerk Maxwell
- Formulated the electromagnetic theory and fundamentally changed the world of physics

Andrew Carnegie
- Led the US into its Steel Building glory days, in today's money would be the richest man on the planet ($100billion) and was one of the most significant philanthropists in history

John Logie Baird
-Demonstrated the first working television, invented colour television and in 1928 showed the first ever high definition pictures

Robert Burns
-One of the worlds greatest ever poets

Alexander Graham Bell
-Inventor of the telephone

Sir William Wallace
-Kicked the English's butts

Robert the Bruce
-Kick the English's butts

:)

The list goes on and on so I just chose my few favourites, quite an inspiring bunch. I guess what I wanted to say was that even if you are from a little country, high in the north sea with the crappiest weather ever seen and more rain than the rain forest it doesn't take a lot to take one step away from the crowd and do something special. The guys I've mentioned tonight are some of the most influential people in history and all they did was work hard and never give up.

A lot can be said for our small little country and a lot can be said for giving whatever you choose to do a darn good shot.

Mike

Important questions

2009-11-12T13:12:00.000-08:00

Evening,

This is the end of a tough day, in the middle of a tough week, during a tough month etc etc ... you get the picture.

No day is easy but today was pretty rough, a very early morning, hard 2 hours in the pool...ride in the afternoon then a hard run set tonight. Doesn't sound too insane but along with the rest of the week, the racing of last weekend and the new strength & conditioning programme my legs are wrecked, eyes are tired and I still have quite a few more days to go before a day off and a sleep in.

May sound like a grumble but its the exact opposite, you have to do your best to feed of all the tough stuff just as much as you can easily feed off the good days. So after a tough morning I manned up and got on with it. By the time my run set finished tonight (in the pouring rain) I was buzzing :)

Days of highs and lows are not uncommon and if you can get through them there's no big celebration...its just the alarm going off at 5am again for another day. Quite a playboy life!

Annnnyway, I've had quite a few very good and important questions asked of me over this past week and during the last few days I've had a good chance to think them over.

This past weekend a very well respected swimming coach and old friend of mine sat me down and asked me some good questions relating to the past 10 years I've been racing. He's known me since I was 12 so has seen me grow up, it meant a lot to sit back down with him as an adult and chat about growing up as an athlete.

Q: Mike if there was one thing you were allowed to go back to your 14 year old self and share, in the knowledge you have now as a senior athlete, what would it be?

A: Ahh, I mean there would be a thousand things I'd want to say. I'd want to warn myself of the ups and downs, remind myself of the goals and the commitment...but really all of those things are there to be discovered, dealt with along the way and in turn make you a stronger person and athlete at the end of the tunnel. So much of what I know now could have helped in training and racing as a teenager, maybe I would have been more positive, more confident in myself but again what you are now is a direct result of what has happened in the past. You wouldn't want to go messing with things that could have a negative effect in later years.

(Once I had thought about it for a while I came up with a good answer though)

I guess if I had to tell myself one thing it would be this: Give 100% everyday, every training session is just as important as the last, be it a steady or max effort set. In races give 100%, you WILL not die, it may feel like you are about to but trust me (my younger self) you wont.

I know full well I could have been told that every day as a 14 year old and I still would never have done it. Life is too busy, things are happening very quickly and the little big things in sport get pushed to the side. I was given so much awesome advice and constant daily reminders about what I should be doing and most of the time I didn't listen.

Without all those reminders though, without the nagging and being yelled at. Without NOT listening and learning the hard way I would never have made it this far...and I would never be as determined as I currently am now, sitting in my bed, writing past my bedtime...and feeling guilty for it.

The question I was asked allowed me to rethink some of the things I've gone through in the past and what has shaped the path I'm currently on.

The moral of the story?

Think about the past, rethink, analyse. But don't wish it had turned out differently, it's what made you what you are today and trust me, that's not a bad thing at all.

Mike

Mitchel Trophy 2009

2009-11-08T13:00:00.000-08:00

Phewww

I would be lying if I said I wasn't tired, but I would also be lying if I said I didn't have a complete blast this weekend.

I left swimming almost 3 years ago and it was great to be back in the pool once again, something I said I would do. This years Mitchel Trophy had a great turn out with the best of Scottish swimming showing up, great to see old friends, both swimmers and coaches. Times have changed since I was 15 but this weekends event was one of the funnest I've ever been at.

I was racing 200, 400 and 1500 across the 2 days, all of them in direct competition with the younger guys from the City of Aberdeen Swim Team. I've been training with them since the summer and have seen some of the great work they've been doing in the pool, we had been giving each other some serious banter running up to this weekend and it looked like there would be some good races.

The 1500m on Saturday morning was the big one, both Euan Inglis and Stuart Mcintosh (COAST Performance squad swimmers) were in the same race and both were more than happy to show me how the full time swimmers would deal with the triathlete. Euan has put down some pretty serious training recently and backed it up with a 16.20 long course at the end of the summer, I have no trouble saying he kicked my butt yesterday and threw down a very impressive first 400m (4.06) taking him to a 15.47. Swift.

Stuart didn't hang around either and even though I kept him honest through the first 800m he put a good 17 seconds into my over the last 600! Not shabby at all. 16.30.

Both those guys have some good swimming in front of them over the next few years and I hope we can train well together over the winter. I see a lot of my old self in them so it was great to see them both do well this weekend.

Mike's 1500. 16.47 (59, 2.04, 4.17)

The 200 later on yesterday was a lot more competitive. I may not have the high end speed of a swimmer I can still rip out a fast 200 for sure...especially when the heat is on! Euan and Stuart were both in the race before me so I got a chance to check out the competition. Euan smashed home in 1.58.04 and Stuart in 2.00.60. Off I went. Good first 100, decent to 150 but then I turned on the turbo legs and brought it home hard, was really happy with a 1.58.4

400 today was more of the same, except this time I took it out a little hard. I had just watched Stuart bring it home in a 4.10 so I pulled out all the stops to try and beat him. Managed to lead the race over the first 50 and stayed in near enough the lead until the 200 mark. Then Euan put on the turbo's and took off, leaving me pushing hard over the final 8 lengths. 4.11, not bad for an old triathlete :)

In all Euan took me down in all 3 races and Stuart in 2 of the 3. They did a good job but it's not over, they're gonna have to keep training hard if they want to beat me again in the spring!

Time for a good sleep and a recov day tomorrow. Then back to heavy training...for triathlon.

Mike

Pre Mitchell Trophy

2009-11-05T13:24:00.000-08:00

OK guys, we're two days out from comeback central.

I've officially been out of the water for over 1000 days, missed just over 900 training sessions (compared to that if I had still be swimming full time) but in the time since I've ridden thousands of km's on my bike, raced at World Champs, raced in NY, London, Vancouver, been on the odd run and matured as an athlete too.

I left my goggles and cap at the Scottish Short Course Nationals just under 3 years ago swearing it wouldn't be the last time I raced, even though I have raced a lot since for some reason this weekend feels more significant than maybe it should. The Mitchell Trophy is a classic competition in Scottish Swimming and it was one of my first ever meets over 10 years ago. Unfortunately it was shelved in 2007 ... that is, until now!

It will be the first time the competition has been held further north in Inverness, 3 hours away in one of the fastest short course pools around, the Aquadome. I set a few records there back in the day and in fact the last time I swam a 1500m in the pool there I managed to set a record that I think is still standing. That coupled with the fact that the last time I raced at the Mitchell Trophy in 2005, I won the 1500m which is definitely making this weekend a little more exciting for me than maybe it should be.

For the record I have no chance, there are some great guys racing this weekend, a few who I'm training with at COAST. I hope they have a good weekend as they are training like maniacs...with me usually followed a few meters behind, and will no doubt do well.

I'm also swimming the 200m and 400m freestyle so I have many chances to redeem myself over the two days in case the COAST guys kick my butt.

That said with only 6 weeks of winter training in me at 4 swim sets a week I am no doubt way off the form I once had in the water a few years back. I'm a little bit older, a little bit slower but a lot less afraid of that 1500m than I used to be though...so let's see how it goes.

Mike

ps. some historical Mitchell Trophy race results.

2005 (16 yrs old)
1st 1500m free: 16.16.29 (1.00.05, 2.04, 4.13, 8.37)
4th 200m free: 1.56.92 (55.63)
5th 400m free: 4.09.83 (last 100m in a 1.01 =])

2004 (15)
3rd 1500m free: 16.30
3rd 400m free: 4.10
4th 200m free: 2.00.57

2003 (14)
2nd 200m free
2nd 100m fly
2nd 200m fly
2nd 200m back
3rd 100m free
3rd 100m back

Think my results from this weekend will look a little different!

You wish you had a camera

2009-10-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you do something that is such a combination of luck and mad skills that it should have been caught on film.

My poor blue land rover broke a few days ago (see knackered prop shaft) so it was parked up across town getting fixed. Today then I was stuck at home with no transport.
Luckily though at around 2 I got a welcomed call from the 4x4 centre (about 12km away) who had done a rapid job repairing the beast and it was ready to go. How to get across?

MOUNTAIN BIKE.

It's been raining heavily in Scotland for the past 2 weeks so the bike paths are a mess, this however seemed fun so I kitted up and headed out on my bike. About 8km of the journey is on an old railway line (that the Queen used to travel on) that takes me from my house all the way into town to Duthie Park. As you approach the park though it gets pretty congested so you constantly have to dodge delinquents, pensioners and dog walkers ... an acquired skill.

There is a sharp downhill right hand 90 degree bend just before the end of the path that takes you down into the park itself. As I was approaching I saw 2 huge people (5ft5 and 250+lbs) out for a crawl and quickly had to make a decision...do I slow down (again) and wait to be let past, or do I keep on at full pelt (30kph) and try and squeeze by. I chose the latter option and kept on at full speed, dodged right JUST missing the elbow of woman #1 and managed to squeeze by ... though chased by a torrent of foul mouthed abuse from the two characters.

Having not thought this through properly I was then still at full speed but now FAR too close to the sharp downhill bend...in fact I was already on the downhill. This meant 1 thing, RACING TURN. Now, a full speed racing turn is one thing, in the dry on a Cervelo with Zipps. BUT pulling off a racing turn at 30kph on a mountain bike on a slippy path covered in leaves...going downhill is quite another.

It turned out pretty much the only way it was going to. I flicked the bike left, dropped my right knee and pushed the bike across the path towards the apex of the turn. Immediately I knew I had done a bad thing, my back wheel decided to start a race with my front wheel...the "who can end up in the park first" race.

With the back of the bike quickly moving towards where the front should have been something amazing happened. In the split second when I would normally have just gone "oh, I'm going to fall again" I had an epiphany. Suddenly I was no longer the unsure biker of old, in that split second I became some sort of ninja rider. My right foot was coming off of the pedal, my front brake was being applied, my weight was shifting, I was no longer out of control, this was awesome I thought.

It only got better though, due to the slipperiness of the leaves on the path, my quick decision making which had instigated a masterful save of my impending bike crash had turned from a cleverly planned manoeuvre into a freestyle bike trick! My bike should technically have come to a stop facing side-on half way down the hill with my right foot on the ground - uphill of the bike. BUT NO! In my ninja-esk manoeuvre the bike continued to rotate around the front wheel and the back just kept on spinning. Before I knew it I was still in the saddle facing back up the hill, right foot still on the ground (pivot point!), but we kept on moving until I finally came to a stop facing back down the hill. A FULL 360.

By this point I was screaming in a fit of joy hoping some unsuspecting film crew who were about to film a short documentary had managed to catch it all on camera. Unfortunately there were no cameramen in sight, so I quickly looked around. The two irate and overweight walkers were still slowly approaching...probably still shouting and cursing me for my earlier overtaking trick, when I span around and gave them a look which said "aaaaaah did you see that!?" ...

...unfortunately they had. Instead of appreciating it for what a combo of luck, leaf positioning and skill it had been they somehow perceived it as some kind of celebration dance for the earlier manoeuvre and near miss I had pulled off in passing them. It just seemed to make them even more mad and their earlier waddle had now turned into an almost walk...time to make a quick exit I thought.

Very very fun though, put a smile on my face for an hour or two.

After that I made my way to the car garage and recovered my car, its back in the driveway and it feels good to be with a mode of transport again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's amazing how easily you get used to luxuries, a car, ipod, laptop etc. My laptop also broke last week (motherboard) so it is also being repaired...or if the PC World Insurance policy is any good...replaced. But just as you feel lost without your item you very quickly get used to coping without it.

Humans were not meant to be reliant on mobile phones, google or xbox360, we were meant to be outside, working hard or inside thinking hard. Happily, most of my days consist of quite a few hours outside (and in a pool) working hard with an equal number inside thinking. Very often my brain struggles with the thoughts, some are too complex and require more understanding, others just struggle due to long days. Even more often my body struggles with the hard work of training, some sessions are testing, pushing new limits and building new fitness. Others though are just tough because I'm tired, mentally and physically.

Being tired though is an amazing feeling, it makes everything seem better. Warm water, clean clothes, food, bedtime or just 5 minutes to relax all seem better when you are worn out.

If you look at the news these days, read the papers or even just listen in on peoples conversations at work, on the bus or in the shops it seems as if maybe people need to get back to basics and appreciate the simple things once more. Something that tests you physically or mentally WILL tire you out, it maybe wont be fun at first but the simple rewards in day to day life it might bring about are worth it a million times over.
Humans are meant for hard work and challenge, so we might as well try it out.

Personally I'm wrecked after all those insane bike tricks today!

Mike

Horror movies, the Panther and a smashed old lady

2009-10-21T11:47:00.000-07:00

Woo

What a day. I forgot how Scotland's weather can go from one extreme to another in hours, we've just had a week or so of stunning winter weather, 15 degrees and sunny, very very rare this far north.

Weeelll this all changed today, winds picked up over night and a massive rain storm moved in. According to the met office it's due to stick around at least until early next week, but today alone we had 70mm of rain.

The rainiest place in the ENTIRE WORLD only gets an average of 32.5mm a day...so it was pretty nuts here today. Luckily my huge blue truck proved a worthy match for the weather and could be seen storming through road floods in the afternoon, sending gallons of water high into the air...and over the nice people on the pavement :)

An afternoon run/evening bike was on the cards for the day, with the evening session being my weekly indoor trainer set (so no wet riding today thankfully). I headed to the Lonehead forest at the top of Bieldside for my afternoon run set, having never ran there before I was pretty excited to see what the terrain was like.

I left the house around 4pm just as it was starting to get pretty dark and the rain was turning on the taps. I should have realised at this point that my outfit was slightly intimidating but I'll leave that description for later...

I did my best to warm up before I left so when I arrived in the car park I got straight to it, headed right into the trees. There was a pretty clear path setup so I just followed the markers and didn't pay too much attention to the surroundings. Before I knew it I was right in the centre of the forest and trust me, it was creepy. The trees were super dense so no light was being let in, both from above and around, so when you looked out into the trees it was just black, I really should have had my headlight on. It definitely resembled a horror movie forest...at one point I was a little scared, thinking a crazy dude would run out of the trees at any moment. But I would quickly find out it wasn't me that had to be scared...

I started doing the main part of my run set which involved some shorter fast efforts, the forest was pretty bumpy so some reps were uphill, some on the flat and some sent me shooting down the path on pretty slippy descents. Trust me I didn't think anyone else would be out on the trails walking today, I was pretty confident I was alone.

My outfit.

In hindsight I looked like a murderer, full black compression top with black gloves and a full winter balaclava covering my whole face...except my eyes. So here I was, shooting along at full pelt, covered in rain and mud, head to toe in black with a BALACLAVA on and I find myself starting to slip as I run down a small hill. Well just as I get to the bottom I almost lose my footing and let out a quick shout "ahhh".

I'm laughing even as I write, because then to my surprise I almost run head on into couple out walking along but frozen solid in the middle of the path looking like they are about to be killed!

Imagine the sight, they're just out for a nice walk when all of a sudden they see this maniac running at full speed down the hill with this intense look on his face wearing all black, black gloves and a balaclava...who then as he approaches proceeds to shout!

Oh dear. It took me a while to realise why they looked so scared, but once I did I had a good laugh...then got on with the rest of my run, training like a panther as usual.

Got home, a good stretch, quick snack, showered off, compression socks then ready for the trainer set. The last week in this first block of harder Wednesday night trainer efforts so was a good hour or so of work, rocking the LIVESTRONG kit too, represent :]

Once I finished I had unclipped from the Cervelo and proceeded to swing my back leg over the saddle. In a fit of joy I decided to swipe at a figurine of an old lady with my shoe and knocked her straight off the shelf ...smashing into a million bits. Let's hope my mum doesn't read my blog eh!

Mike

Muddy Muddy Muddy

I was even freaking myself out!

Unhappy legs

Happy legs

Quick stop at the painting to pay my respects

Setting up the S2

Rocking out the main set

My main set stare, straight ahead, no distractions

Head down @120RPM!