It is has been a couple of months now since the Cadence Kona Challenge weekend in New York and I finally have the chance to draw breath. It has been a roller coaster of a ride so far. My initial application was a ‘fire and forget’ email and I really didn’t expect to hear anything back. The selection weekend in New York was amazing. The Cadence facilities and staff were both top notch. I got the opportunity to meet Sam McGlone straight off the back of her fantastic second place finish in Hawaii and we were wined and dined at a swanky SoHo hotel penthouse bar – very cool.
My fellow finalists are all really great people and I look forward to reading their blogs. I have been assigned my new coach, Holden Cameau, and been expertly fitted for my new Cyfac bike by Colin Sandberg at Cadence’s Philly centre (also very nice). I am now four weeks into the new training program. So what have I learnt so far ...?
… although I was very happy with my old Felt S22 the new Cyfac le Mythique is in a different league. It looks stunning in its deep blue and black paint scheme and after a few rides I find it very fast and stable. The Zipp 606 wheelset and Vuka bars are beautifully engineered and I cannot wait to race them next year.
… Ironman training is hard work. I am really tired at the moment and I feel like I did 9 months ago when I first started training for triathlon. I have gone from a 2:1 build to recovery ratio to a 3:1 ratio and I have also seen a significant increase in training volume. At the moment my body is in the process of adjusting to this increase in training.
… I do not photo well. I have just received January’s copy of Triathlete Magazine and I look as if I am half asleep in my photo.
… I still benefit from group training. My new coach has kindly tied my new routine in with that of my local tri teams (www.triteamz.com) program as much as possible. This allows me to keep in contact with friends and team mates that I have made over the last year and also to benefit from mutual encouragement that naturally occurs during group training. As an added bonus many of my team mates are training for Ironman Lake Placid so I get to train with people who have the same goal.
… my age group (30-35) is very competitive. I have had a quick look at some of the qualifying times for Kona and they are fast. Although I find this a little intimidating I take comfort in my fellow finalist Randy’s blog, “failing”, and I have cut back on my part time studies to devote as much time as I can to triathlon. I will give it my best shot and I know I will never regret this experience.
Whatever happens I am looking forward to the ride. I am very grateful for this opportunity and for the continued backing of my wife who supports my efforts despite the long hours involved.
The cheesy photo is of me and my new bike.
My fellow finalists are all really great people and I look forward to reading their blogs. I have been assigned my new coach, Holden Cameau, and been expertly fitted for my new Cyfac bike by Colin Sandberg at Cadence’s Philly centre (also very nice). I am now four weeks into the new training program. So what have I learnt so far ...?
… although I was very happy with my old Felt S22 the new Cyfac le Mythique is in a different league. It looks stunning in its deep blue and black paint scheme and after a few rides I find it very fast and stable. The Zipp 606 wheelset and Vuka bars are beautifully engineered and I cannot wait to race them next year.
… Ironman training is hard work. I am really tired at the moment and I feel like I did 9 months ago when I first started training for triathlon. I have gone from a 2:1 build to recovery ratio to a 3:1 ratio and I have also seen a significant increase in training volume. At the moment my body is in the process of adjusting to this increase in training.
… I do not photo well. I have just received January’s copy of Triathlete Magazine and I look as if I am half asleep in my photo.
… I still benefit from group training. My new coach has kindly tied my new routine in with that of my local tri teams (www.triteamz.com) program as much as possible. This allows me to keep in contact with friends and team mates that I have made over the last year and also to benefit from mutual encouragement that naturally occurs during group training. As an added bonus many of my team mates are training for Ironman Lake Placid so I get to train with people who have the same goal.
… my age group (30-35) is very competitive. I have had a quick look at some of the qualifying times for Kona and they are fast. Although I find this a little intimidating I take comfort in my fellow finalist Randy’s blog, “failing”, and I have cut back on my part time studies to devote as much time as I can to triathlon. I will give it my best shot and I know I will never regret this experience.
Whatever happens I am looking forward to the ride. I am very grateful for this opportunity and for the continued backing of my wife who supports my efforts despite the long hours involved.
The cheesy photo is of me and my new bike.
4 comments:
James,
Hello from the other side of "the pond" here in Blighty.
It has been fascinating so far reading your emails and blogs about the Kona Challenge and your training schedules. Like everything you do it seems like your taking it very seriously and I'm sure you will achieve a lot of success.
(although not much talk of bikes with engines in your emails which is disappointing)
I am looking forward to reading more about your training as you have already inspired me to get of my arse and start training (even considering attempting a triathlon myself in 2008). So far done my first half marathon (Gosport not as exciting as Washington but still 13.1 miles) and taken up indoor rowing (might be in Boston in late Feb 08 for the Indoor Rowing Championships with the Royal Navy team).
So keep up the good work, although top tip I'm sure your cycling will improve if you use cycling shoes rather than the sandals your wearing in your photo??
Derek
Derek,
Great to hear from you. Sorry for the lack of motorbike talk, apparently in US Triathlon they consider the use of motorbikes instead of road bikes to be cheating - go figure!
Glad to hear that you are considering having a go at triathlon it is great fun. Please let me know if you are coming to the states and we can try and hook up otherwise Wendy and I will be coming back for a visit next summer so we can meet up then.
Many congratulations on the half marathon and good luck with the rowing. Take care and thanks for popping my comment cherry!
James
Hi James
Helo from down under. I am impressed with your dedication, the best I have managed is a half marathon walk and that was enough!
Very interesting challenge and I wish you luck. You will have to come to NZ for some real iron man competition - we will be your support crew!
Good luck with the training and hope the job is going well
Tony
Hi Tony,
Its good to hear from you. I would love to compete in NZ and I will definitely hold you to the support crew offer. Have a great XMas and look forward to keeping you all up to date as things progress.
James
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