Sandstorm2008 - Check it Out!

For the next few months all my blog postings are going to be on http://sandstorm2008.blogspot.com/, which will be covering the Marathon Des Sables 2008 challenge for Ben Ragless and me.

The London Triathlon 2007

The day started with Claire and I getting up at 04:00 Sunday morning and leaving for the Excel Centre in London! Ben and I had a wave (start) time of 06:30, which suddenly seemed very tight after arriving in the main hall at Excel with only 30 minutes to spare.

We found our designated bike rack and laid out all the kit we would need in the right order to ensure a quick, mistake free transition. Last on was the wetsuit with a splash of baby oil to help with getting it off after the swim. Fortunately there was a 15 min delay to the start for Ben and I to talk tactics!

We jumped into Victoria Dock at 06:45 and surprisingly it wasn't cold but was slightly salty and quite brown?! About 250 25-29 year old guys set off on the 1500m swim as the above picture shows. It was pretty exciting and rough at the start but soon things calmed down and I could get into a rhythm. Due to my lack of freestyle ability I did a mix of breaststroke and front crawl, which served me well. I scrambled out of the dock and began taking off the wetsuit to some greatly appreciated cheers from Claire and Annie! As people staggered into the main hall to get their bikes I ran, as I thought this was easy time to save! The first transition went well, with no slip ups and I headed out on to the bike route and my favorite discipline of the tri.

The 40 km bike course comprised of 2 laps, with the final lap taking competitors up to Big Ben and back to the Excel centre, I have never travelled through central London as fast as Sunday morning! My aim was to keep an average speed at 20 mph, which I could see from my computer as that would put me close to a certain Mr.Cameron's time! It was quite a push but just managed it. I arrived back at Excel in 1hr 8 mins and tried to locate my bike rack, to pick up my trainers for the run. Eventually I found it and did a quick change and set off on the 10 km run.

As I exited the Excel centre Al was on the sidelines cheering away shouting "Pull your socks up Summers"! I was a bit confused as I wasn't wearing socks but appreciated the support anyway and gave him a thumbs up.

When I got outside I realised just how hot it was and it was only 09:00! The run was tough, really tough, I hadn't done enough bike-run practice and I really felt it. The course was 2 laps round the docks and mostly in the sun! Thankfully I had great support and loud cheers from Claire and Al and that kept me going and helped push me on. Strangely I found the second lap a bit easier and to back that up, my time for the 2nd lap was a minute quicker than the first! The first time I've done a negative split.

I crossed the finish line in 2hrs 30mins 52 secs and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and it won't be my last tri!

You can see a breakdown of our times here - http://olympic.triathlonresults.co.uk/ResultODMale2529_2.htm

Claire took some great pictures on the day (please excuse all the sweat!), which are on my Flickr site - http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicksummers

The nearly Chasing Gurhka route

So here goes another map (through MyMapPlus) but this time its interactive! On Trailwalker I carried my Garmin etrex round just in case we got into a spot of navigational bother, of course we didn't need it!

However I kept it running and recorded the complete track of our route, along with the waypoints. I've used the waypoints and embedded our celebratory checkpoint photos from Flickr, just for fun!

You should be able to click here to view the track in Google Earth.

BRICK

A week after Trailwalker and yesterday was going to be another tough one! With less than 2 weeks to go until the London Triathlon I feel very under prepared, as running/walking 100km's is so different to the high heart rate and bursts of speed required for a triathlon.

So yesterday I did a 10 mile bike around Welwyn Garden City, a quick transition in the back garden, then headed out on a 5.5 mile run. The bike and run combined in a training session is know as a 'brick' due to the way your legs and feet feel! I have done one before and that was at the Bude Tri, but I'm conscious that I'm really not used to this kind of thing, so want to get at least another two done before 5th August.

The brick training went to plan and although pretty tough heading straight for the run, it was manageable and got round in 1:10 mins. The bike was 32 mins and run (included Knightsfield Road!) was 35mins and the rest being transition.

Today is a rest day! Back to the pool tomorrow though : )

Trailwalker Rankings

The Trailwalker 2007 times are finally out and we officially came 16th out of 196 of teams that finished as a team of 4 people - many did not! Our ranking of Male teams puts us 13th!!!

It was no surprise to see 4 Gurhka teams leading the way, with the winning team crossing the line in 10 hrs 34 mins 12 secs. Well done guys!

A full breakdown of the results can be found here - http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/events/trailwalker/downloads/20070718-TeamRankings-250ops.xls

Some early video footage!

Courtesy of Claire Nally Movies Inc we're all very lucky to have some early video action from Trailwalker 2007!

There's going to be more coming from my Dad following some much needed editing out of cheesy smiles and lack of conversation I expect!

There are some more YouTube clips below:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mlkNolXcl_U (Check out the Pasta Feast! - Checkpoint 2)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5viOl0lOe9w

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EyowJPG5J9k (Ben's new Trainers!)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vkfXi4elbjw (Jack & Jill Windmills - Checkpoint 8)

TRAILWALKER 2007 - In Sub 17hrs!!

Yesterday at 22:51 the Chasing Gurkhas (Ben, Me, Dan, Sim) completed the 100km Trailwalker event across the South Downs Way!

We achieved both our aims of finishing as a team of four and doing it in under 18 hrs, we actually managed to complete the 100km's in an official 16 hrs:51mins:7secs.

We're still waiting to hear our final finishing place...as soon as we get it, I'll post it!

The Trailwalker Route

It's three days to go until the 100 Km challenge across the South Downs Way and The Chasing Gurkhas team (Ben, Dan, Sim and me) are raring to go and final preparations are in full swing!

Today I banged into my Garmin etrex the waypoint/checkpoint locations, so we know ETA's at checkpoints and just in case we not sure where we are on the map, we can always check the GPS!

I'm also hoping to write a list of food supplies we need for the trip as well and pick everything up tomorrow. There's lots to consider as carbohydrate is the order of the day but it can get boring and sickly, so I'll probably be mixing it up with some raisins, nuts and cold pasta to keep me going.

Click here to check out the Checkpoints along the route.

To view in Google Earth click this link - http://sandstorm2008.com/kml/trailwalker2007waypoints.kmz