Well That It's For 2012

Hi all ,

Well I never did a blog following the Chester marathon, so I thought I'd sit down and write a few words on the subject tonight now that everyone in our house has gone to bed.

Chester was my 1st marathon and I won't lie it was bloody hard, some might say "you should have trained more" perhaps, although I felt I 'd done as much as I could have given all of the other activities I've done in 2012.

I completed the course in 5hr 5min which I was pleased with. Chester is a good course pretty flat all the way around, it wasn't over crowded and the support was brilliant throughout.

Amanda did much better than me, and I was so pleased she dug deep and tried for a sub 5hr time. 

I had a wobble at 22 miles , and got quite emotional; my body had an argument with my brain and I started to loose it, and the next thing I knew I was filling up ready for a good old cry.

But you see that's it with these types of events , you test yourself to the limit, it doesn't matter if your Seb Coe or an average Joe, you give it your all and the real strength comes from having a little cry and then manning up and finishing the event and not quiting; and that's the approach I've taken all year.

In 2012 I've done the lot, and completed everything I started...

• Mumbles Duathlon - 1st Multi sport event
• Brecon Triathlon ~ 1st Marathon
• Dragon Ride ~ 1st Sportive, 80 miles of killer hills 
• Aquathons ~ 1st Swim then Run
• Pembroke Olymlpic Distance Triathlon ~ 1st Olympic bloddy hilly course! 
• Blenhiem Palace Sportive ~ 1st ever 100 mile sportive
• Chester Marathon ~ 1st Marathon 5hr 5min

And finally, to my long suffering wife Amanda and my wonderful kids , Tara & Caitlyn I'd like to dedicate all my medals to you , the support you've given throughout the year has been truly awesome, so thanks guys your the best.


So with those thoughts in mind, and one eye on a lovely Christmas dinner cooked by my wonderful wife, I bid you goodnight and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Andrew

September draws to a close ~ autumn is here!

Well September is almost completed , and its been a hectic few weeks. Whilst there have been no new sporting 1st for me, we did manage to attend two fantastic events.

On the 8th September we were fortunate to get tickets to the Olympic Park and where we watched the Paralympics Atheletes.  It was very inspiring day, the weather was hot, and there must have been well over 200k people in the park.

As a nation we should be so pround of ourselves for the way in which we held and attended the games, especially the Paralympics. I won't say much more other than please feel free to watch outr short video of the day. Gilbert Family Day Out Olympic Park


The other 1st was our visit to Tenby and witness the aswsome event known as Ironman Wales.

2.4m Swim ~ 112m  Bike ~ 26.2m Run


The atmosphere was electric, the actual electricity was created by the supports and one in particular our very own Rob Govier.

Rob just seems to have this ability to create an atmosphere which made the few hours we were there brilliant for those supporting and those running.

The only way to explain what it was like is to tell you those that walked started to run, those running ran that little harder as they passed .

Training for Chester marathon has gone really well, I've managed to stay injury free, with recent mileage increased to 35+ miles per week, its only in the last week due to flu that I've not been able to run.

Overall I'm looking forward to it, and Amanda & I should be okay, our aim is to enjoy and just finish.

One event which brought my personal tri season to a close was the Neath Valley Tri 

400m Swim ~ 20k Bike ~ 3k Run 

It was my best event of the season , I completed the course in 1hr 10min.

Many thanks to those have been reading my blog throughout the year.

Andrew

100 Mile Sportive Completed

My August blog is all about the Blenheim Palace 100 mile sportive which I took part in last weekend.

The day started at 3am with a long drive to the Cotswold's; its a part of the world which I've never been to before. Arrived at 6.30 and picked up my race number, had some food and waited for my friend Helen and her friend Sandy to arrive.

The race started at 8am , and we eventually set off at 8.15, there was about 1500 riders of all abilities cycling the 60 and 100 mile course. The weather was dry, a bit humid, but for me it was nice to be somewhere where it didn't rain for once!

We made the first feed station at 24 miles in about 2hr 15min, so far so good, and after filling water bottles and sampling the energy food [chocolate brownies] we headed off on the 100 mile course, no turning back now.

I won't bore you with every detail of the course, however I would like to point out that the Cotswold's isn't a flat place, its surprised me how hilly it was , and the course seemed to find every hill on offer!

At the 64 mile feed station we started to realise that we were behind our schedule, and our average mph had slipped below 10mph.

At 75 miles one of the event motor bikes supporting the riders stopped and explained that the event was shutting at 6pm , this surprised us as we were under the impression we had 12 hours to complete the course, the 6pm deadline meant we had a choice, carry on , but increase our speed towards average 20 mph to finish in time or retire.

Helen and Sandy decided to retire from the event, however my legs still felt okay, and recent time trialing with Celtic Tri gave me confidence to carry on.

I rode like a mad man for the last 25 miles and made the finish line in time, overall it took 9hr 58min, a lot longer than I thought it would take.

What I've learnt from this ride along and the Dragon ride is that 1st feed station is crowded and you can loose a lot of time waiting your turn to fill bottles etc.. The next event I do I will take enough food and water to make it to the 2nd feed station.

Summary, another 1st completed, and I would like to find one more sportive before the year is out, and apply what I learnt from the 2 sportive already completed and look to finish with an average of 14mph.


Only one more 1st left Chester Marathon in October 







   

Olympic & Sprint Success

As the month of July draws to a close, I thought I'd just pop a quick update to say

"he only when and bloody done it"

Pembroke Coastal Olympic Triathlon

On the 7th July I lined up on the beautiful sea front of Broad Haven to start what would be my 1st Olympic distance triathlon.

The swim went much better than I expected and I didn't need to stop much only to sight the markers, and empty the sea water from my goggles! The sea was nice a flat, not much wind, a slight swirl , but nothing to cause alarm.

Swim time: 35min

In and out of transition and on to the bike course, Pembroke is a good course, but it was very windy, but still managed to maintain a steady 16mph

Bike time: 1hr 40min

In and out of transition, and on to the 10.5k run course, by this stage my legs were in bits, the 1st 3k takes you from sea level up 300 foot via a coastal path, I basically had to walk this part of the course. from mile 3 I managed to get my legs to do something , and eventually between me, and my brain we managed to tell my legs that they needed to run!


Run time: 1hr 17min

Overall Time: 3hr 38min

Gower Sprint Triathlon 21st July 

Most recent event, and I have to say the best yet, the whole weekend, event, venue, and weather was perfect.

Port Eynon is really nice place to swim in, the sea was very calm and made swimming a real joy.

Swim Time 16m 01s

I took the bike section easy, and kept to 15mph, the course is good, one decent hill, with a fast decent 40mph.


Bike Time 55m 56s


Taking the bike section easy gave me a little more than usual for the 5k run bit, the course was okay, 2 laps but the course does take you on the beach for about 500m and then gets back on to level ground,

Run Time 28m 50s

Overall Time: 1hr 44min....And a medal.

For those of you that know me, you will know that I'm a little shallow and love a medal and at the end of Gower we were all given medals. 

A big well done Scott Powell for holding a fantastic event which must be up there as one of the top triathlons in Wales to compete in. 

Finally a big thank you to my wonderful wife and kids who were there cheering me on; and of course it goes without saying Rob Govier who was standing half way up the 1st hill with his famous IM cowbells :-) cheers Rob legend.

August has another first for me - 100 mile Blenheim sportive, I'm really excited about this event, as it will be good test to see how I get on covering 100 miles.

Over & Out 

A 

Jubilant June Completed

Well what a month, 3 first and I'm still feeling fit.

2nd June - Sprint Triathlon completed
10th June - Dragon Ride - 80miles of tough hills
17th June - Llanelli 10k
28th June - Parc Bryn Bach - Aquathlon [750m swim followed by 5k]

Tonight event was a tough a lake swim, full of bloody weeds which ends up tangling your feet and putting you off your swim stroke. I won't be doing the next one.

Upon returning home, wash kit, have some tea, log on check e-mail. I hear the echo of the sound of email downloaded, as I flick through, guess what I find? its only confirmation of my entry in the Pembroke Olympic Triathlon!

Gulp....I couldn't cope with a 750m swim, how on earth am I going to swim 1500m! with time limit of 1 hour.

Okay don't panic, get a few more swim session build stamina, oh....theres only 8 day until the event.

Why oh why do I keep entering events thinking "yeah I can do that!"

So it's 1500m Swim, 43k bike , and 10k

Jubilant June could soon become Jaded July!

125km Dragon Ride Complete - Another 1st

Here's a quick summary of my Dragon Ride. 

I arrived at Margam park at approx 8.30am, the car park had a buzz of quiet chatter amongst riders, many completing their last checks before they headed down to the start. 

The start was well organised with riders self sorting themselves by their expected finishing time. We were set off in groups of approx 50 riders at a time. 

I commenced my epic journey at 9.11am the plan was to complete the course within 6hr 30min, and keep to an average of 13 mph.

I was excited to finally be riding on what would be one of my longest riders, in my bag I had plenty of food, and gels to keep me going. 

In my mind I'd split the ride into 3 phases. The first stage would include 25 miles out to Aberkenfig, then on towards Maesteg then on towards Neath. 

This 1st phase went really well and I managed to keep my average speed to 16-18 mph. 

The second phase of the ride would see us head from Neath, towards the Dulais Valley which is slow gradual climb, I passed the 1st feed station as I'd arranged to meet Amanda and the girls at the top of Coelbren for more food and drink. 

At the top of Coelbren I was so pleased to see my family, it means so much to see them as their support really makes as difference. At this stage of the ride it was half way, and my split was approx 2hr 30m, 30min ahead of schedule, however the tough bit was still to come. 

 The 3rd phase would take towards Glynneath, up the infamous Rhigos bank which was the 1st of two long climbs of the dragon ride. the 1st climb would take me 40min to complete, climbing 917ft, covering 3.3 miles.

I was pleased to be over the top of Rhigos and heading towards Treorchy a fast 6 mile decent. At this stage I had covered 57 mile, and it marked the onset of two things extremely painful cramp which would last for the rest of the ride, and 2nd climb up.

This final climb almost forced me to retire from the ride, the cramp in my legs at times was unbearable, the climb to the top was 5 miles long, ascent of 1196 ft which took me 56 min to complete. 

Before the decent to Cymmer I stopped at the last feed station for food, malt loaf, and the last of my gels. 


It was all down hill from here, and I made it back to Margam Park in 6hr 25m 16s. 


72 hours after the race I feel refreshed, and so pleased to have accomplished another 1st.

   

It's now 24hrs since my first ever triathlon, and another 1st completed in this my year of 1st.

I couldn't have chosen a better tri than Brecon for my first triathlon. The event is geared towards newcomers to the sport, and it doesn't fail in anyway.

My overall time was 1hr 34m 45s


Swim:  400m +T1       - 11m 58s
Bike:    20k+T2          - 49m 32s
Run :     5k+T3           - 33m 15s                

I'm now thinking of moving away from the pool swim to the more traditional sea swim with a mass start.

Just need to loose that belly, and I should start to clock much faster times.

Big thanks to my long suffering family and support crew, who cheered me all the way, thanks guys.

Next 1st will be next Sunday 10th June when I complete the 2012 Dragon Ride, 75 miles of some really steep hills in and around the Welsh valley's.

As they say in Wales, nos da