16th
October 2006 - Can anybody guide me across the channel???!!
Just when I thought everything was going nice
and smooth, we have come up with our first major problem. The
boat pilot that Eddie put me in touch with is fully booked for next
August. I then spoke with a second pilot who, "may be able to
fit me in". Obviously I need a "definitely" rather than a
"maybe".
Not too worry - my last option would be to contact P&O Ferries and ask
them if I could follow one of their boats across!!!!
09th October 2006 - Back to Training, 5 hour run, and news from Julian
My 2-week training break turned into nearly 4
weeks, but feeling totally rejuvenated, my winter's training has got
off to a solid start. With a view to having a nice and easy 5
hour jog around the Snowdonia Marathon in 2 weeks, I have built up to
2 hours for my weekly long run and I clocked a 400m swim TT of 5mins
50sec in my first time in a pool for 3 weeks. Having not done any
threshold swims for over a year, I intend to train this zone over the
winter to bring my time down to around 5mins (PB at the moment 5:25).
Julian Crabtree is also attempting the A2A in
2007. We have spoke over the phone and intend to meet up and get
some training in over the winter. Julian has had some pretty rotten
luck over the last couple of years. He has had to cancel 2
previous A2A challenges through injury and illness. Let's hope
2007 is Julian's year.
Keep up to date with Julian's training Blog
at
His website
16th September 2006 - Swim in the Channel with Eddie
After 2 weeks
completely off training, Lucy, me, both my kids, both my dogs and all
my kit somehow crammed ourselves into a Ford KA and made the rather
uncomfortable trip down to Weymouth to meet Enduroman's Eddie Ette.
Eddie had never seen me swim before, and this was his chance to see if
I have got what it takes. The day was more of a technique test
than a distance test. Off I
swam around Weymouth Bay with Eddie watching and walking parallel with
me on the beach. After about a mile Eddie called me into shore
for quick time out. After stating that I had very smooth
powerful stroke, he said that my cadence was only 47 strokes per
minute. Eddie explained that it did not matter how fast I
travelled at this cadence; moving my arms at only 47 spm would results
in hypothermia during a Channel Cross. "Speed the cadence up,
but maintain the power under the water", Eddie shouted. Ok, I
thought.... so he wants me swim for 12 hours at my 400m pace!!!
I swam the last mile at a cadence of 54-56 spm. I was right.
This was my 400m pace!!
Eddie was happy with my swim. We sat down over a coffee for a
couple of hours and discussed arrangements for next year. Both
Lucy and I instantly liked Eddie. He is a very motivational man
who already had confidence in me completing the A2A.
Before the swim, I had bought myself and Eddie a parking ticket for 2
hours. I thought it was for 3 hours. We returned to find
Eddie's car stuck to a £60 parking ticket!!! Fortunately for me,
I left my parking ticket upside-down on my dash board. As the
ticket warden couldn't see the date on my ticket he must have given me
the benefit of the doubt. Sorry Ed - add it onto the final bill
mate!!!!
All that I have to do now, is learn how to swim as hard as I can for 5
and a half minutes, then carry on at the same pace for 11 hours!!!
Taxi for Steve!!!!
28th August 2006 - Look back... pat myself on the back... plan for the
future
At the end of the season, every
athlete should look back and ask themselves if they achieved what they
set out to do. If they didn't, they need to know why, learn from
these lessons and add these ingredients into their future plans.
If they did achieve their goals, they should celebrate, take a well
earned break and set their next goal.
Although my ultimate goal for 2007 is the A2A, I need to break down
the months and set myself realistic, but challenging goals. Once
I have finished my 2 week break, I will look forward to my next 3
goals on the road to the A2A. These are:
* Complete 1 x 2hr swim and 1 x 4r swim in
one weekend (16th / 17th Sept '06)
* Snowdonia Marathon (29th October '06)
* Tring 2 Town Ultra Distance Run - 45 miles (Jan 29 '07)
I also have some cold water swims to look
forward to with Dan Earthquake but don't expect to see me submerging
myself in ice-cold water with Dan on New Years Day!!!
26th August 2006 - European Long Course Championships - Almere -
Holland
Mission accomplished for 2006.
Although I would love to say that I finished on a high;
performance-wise I did, but I would think twice about re-visiting this
race again. At first they moved the swim start due to the sewage
found in the harbour, but I think we just didn't see the sewage at the
new location as there was a current. The water tasted almost as
bad as the German beer but the worse was yet to come. The 120K
bike route was flat, with featureless roads that had no land marks
other than the occasional wind generating tower. Humour came to
the bike course by the way of groups of 20 or more German / Dutch
drafters who quite openly blanked the bike referees instruction to
split the group. I saw one particular group receive 5 separate
warnings. The results show zero time penalties and I believe
Bella Comerford put in a formal complaint about the same nationalities
in the elite race. This is an issue the ITU desperately need to
address.
By choice, I would have chosen Ironman UK to complete my 3rd long
course of the season, however my wife Lucy was in the running for a
medal and I was overjoyed to see Lucy win the silver medal in the
30-35 age group. This was Lucy's last race as an age-grouper and
she is the first athlete I have coached from AG to Pro status.
20th August 2006 - Date confirmed.... well...
sort of!!!
Having decided to attempt the
challenge in August 2007, the next thing to do was to narrow it down a
little further. I have the opportunity to be quite flexible but
my support team will need to know what time they need to take off.
There are 2 tides per month that a swimmer is able to swim across the
Channel. Julian Crabtree, fell ill this year before his solo attempt
and has planned to attempt the A2A again next August. Having
failed due to the first-come-first-served basis, it looks like I will
be going late in August 2007 during the second tide. What this
means is that the world record of 80hrs and 5mins might not be the
record that I will have to try and beat!! You can keep up with
Julian's progress at
www.arch2arc.org
6th August 2006 - 3 Hour Swim
Completing my 4th set goal with
only one to go, I am glad to say that this was the easiest yet.
This was probably helped by the increase in water temperature but I am
going to try and kid myself that it was down to my improvement in
swimming long. I completed almost 3 Ironman distance swims and I
averaged around 1 hour and 4 mins per each Ironman split (2.4 miles).
I had set my sights at 3 Ironman races and 1 x 3
hour swim for 2006. With one more goal to go, I travel to Almere
for the European Long Course Championships in 2 weeks. Then I
will travel down south to meet Eddie in September and try and prove
that I can actually do this thing and have a dip in the dirty blue
stuff that they call the English Channel.
16th July 2006 - Ironman Austria
A late change on the bike course
meant that it was a little more lumpy than expected but everything
else lived up to all the hype about this fantastic Ironman race.
With a record 2400 athletes lining up at the
swim start, it was a bit like 10 grown men climbing into a washing
machine!! Things calmed down after the first 400m but due to the
number of swimmers, where ever you were placed at this point, was
about where you would finish. You could certainly slow down but
overtaking was almost impossible. I aimed to have a more casual
swim than Lanza, as I wanted to push that little bit harder on the
bike. After drafting some bloke in a shortie for 3.8km I was out
of the canal in 63mins so my timing was pretty good.
Sticking to the same heart rate as Lanza, I
finished the bike split in 5:46. Half way round the bike course,
Lucy my wife flew past me thanking me for the bike turbo sessions I
made her do in the winter. "Bugger!!" I thought, I wished I had
joined her now instead of placing her own £1.00 coins on her shoulders
and keeping them if they fell off due to too much movement!!!
The bike was over in no time at all and a
marathon route that was lined with bikinis helped to focus the mind on
something else other than the 37 degree temperature.
I finished in 10hrs 56mins. My recovery
has gone much better than Lanza and after a couple of rub-downs I am
starting to feel well rested.
The Ironman distance should always be
respected, but the distance is very "doable". 2 down - 1 to go
for this year. 2 weeks until my first 3 hour swim. Bring
it on.....
5th July 2006 - Plans for the coming months...
One week on Sunday (16th July),
sees me compete in my 2nd Ironman distance race of the season in
Austria. Other than the infamous
Rupertiberg Mountain, I am hoping for far less lumps than
Lanzarote!! On the 6th August, I will re-visit Swan Pool and
attempt to complete my first 3-hour swim. I am fairly confident,
as my last long swim of 2hrs 11mins was non-wetsuit and I plan to
cover myself with rubber this time!!! Then on 26th August,
I travel to Almere for the European Long Course Championships. I then
plan to take a couple of weeks off, before visiting Eddie Ette in
Weymouth for a jolly up and down the channel.
My focus on training will then switch from Long
Course to Short as the World Ironman 70.3 Championships are being held
in Florida on November 11th.
If this all works to plan, I will rest up
until the New Year and start my A2A preparations in January 2007.
25th June 2006 - Royal Diva Standard Distance Triathlon - Chester
This was my greatest challenge to
date. A tideless swim with beautiful scenery all around, a pan
flat bike course that rose only 30m above sea level and an even panner
/ flatter run course. Ok....everybody deserves an easy one now
and again!!!!
10th June 2006 - Mammoth Lifestyle join the team!!
Mammoth Lifestyle (website),
club sponsors to Stafford Triathlon Club have joined the A2A challenge
team for my attempt in 2007. Gary Foord and his wife Kay will be
providing all mechanical support and physio treatment for the
challenge.
His
bike shop in Milford, near Stafford provides the perfect haven for the
triathlete and cyclist providing the finest cappuccino this side of
Milan!!
Check out his store for all your needs from
bike sale and hire, to wetsuits, nutrition and outdoor gear.
7th June 2006 - Lucozade Sponsor the Arc to Arch Challenge 2007
Thanks to my good friend Brian Pestana, I have managed to secure a
sponsorship deal with Sport's Nutrition giants Lucozade. The
company will be providing all my nutritional needs during my training
and the A2A itself.
Right then, let's see if I can do the same with Stella Artois!!
4th June 2006 - 2 Hour Non-Wetsuit Swim
Dan Earthquake from Sandwell Long Distance
Swimming Club held the club's first Channel Swim training day (see
entry 10th May '06). My goal was to swim for 2 hours
(non-wetsuit). The longest I had swam for previously continually was
1hr (Ironman), so it was a bit of leap into the unknown.
Surprisingly, fatigue was not a problem. There was 6 of us on
the start line and I remembered some old guy splashing on heaps of
cream. I can see why swimmers take the mick out of triathletes
for wearing their snug, warm wetsuits. Even though it was a
lovely summer's day out of the water and a couple of friends who had
just been for a dip before the swim in their wetsuits had told us how
warm the water was, after about 3 laps of 800m I started to lose the
feeling in my hands. After the 4th lap I started to get
disorientated - at the end of every lap, the swimmers have to tread
water and call out their names to keep track of the distances swam.
I was finding it very difficult to string a sentence together, and
remember what my name was!! The teeth (what I have left) started
chattering on the 5th lap and a definite truce was made with my wife
Lucy who swam with me, that we were to stop after 8 laps. We had
stopped to feed every 2 laps, but again we agreed that it would have
been a bad idea to let the body cool down so we pushed on for the last
2 laps.
When we finished, we collected our well earned certificates from the
Channel Swimming Association and before leaving I made a comment to
Dan about how well the old guy was doing. "The old guy?" replied
Dan, "His name is Mike Reid - He is the King of the English Channel.
He holds the world record for the first person to have swam the
English Channel 33 times". How small and irrelevant did I feel!!
The next Channel Swim Day at Sandwell is the 4th August. Target:
3hrs.
Dan Earthquake is an accomplished swimmer in his own right. Find out
about his rather mad days out at his website at
www.danearthquake.com.
Mike Reid - Vice President Channel Swimming Association
First succeeded in 1969 ...
overtaking Des Renford to become 'King of the Channel' in 1979, and
from 1984 he held his title with 31 Swims until overtaken by Kevin in
2000. In 2002 Mike notched up his 32nd swim to become joint Record-
Holder
and in
2004, at the age of 63, with a 15 hr 29minute swim from England to
France he notched up his 33rd successful Swim and so regained the
title.
26th May 2006 - Ironman Lanzarote
Lanzarote perfectly lived up to everything that
was expected of it; blistering heat, sterile inflicting road surfaces,
the chance to share the transition area just before your race with
party people just leaving the clubs and bars who kindly left behind
their dinners from the evening before, the highest wind speeds on
record for the event that could make your underpants turn inside out
whilst still wearing them, a pure Ironman atmosphere and a relentless
bike course that just went on and on and on......
This was my first step towards the A2A in 2007. My aim was to finish,
and to finish strong. As my main focus this year is extending my
swimming distances, I was pleased exiting the Atlantic in just over
58mins before the run up the beach towards transition. Nutrition
went exactly to plan on the bike at 500kcal / 1 litre of water per
hour. I kept to a pre-determined heart rate through the bike
which saw many riders pass me. I started the 4-lap sea-front run
fresh and strong which saw me pass the familiar faces that overtook me
on the bike.
I can understand why Lanzarote is the home of triathlon in Europe.
The whole island came alive to support every athlete from 7am until
the last athletes finished after midnight.
20th May 2006 - Press Release - theft of speech!!!
While browsing the net in Lanza I stumbled across
the following
press release. Somebody has been stealing words out of my
mouth!!! Kev.... is that you?????
13th May 2006 - Mammoth Lifestyle Sponsors??
Ex world mountain bike champion Gary Foord, a
close friend of mine, (he doesn't know it yet!!) and owner of local
triathlon shop Mammoth Lifestyle near Stafford is my club's (Stafford
Tri's) sponsor. Gary also coached cyclist Liam Killeen to
Olympic Gold at this years Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. His wife
Kay is a superb sports masseuse and has treated me before for old
man's back syndrome. The Mammoth duo appear to be the perfect
sponsors to cover all mechanical and injury issues during the
challenge. Will I get them for sponsors? Not too sure yet. This
may be a good excuse over the coming months, to spend a lot of money
on bike gadgets in their shop and use this angle to justify the
expense!!
12th May 2006 - Mark's a dark horse!!!
I was doing a bit of maths and adding up all the costs for next year.
I decided to contact my business partner Mark Barfield to see if he
wanted to be involved in the A2A. To my surprise, he is the
proud owner of a motor home - a valuable asset and essential bit of
gear for the challenge. If I had of known this earlier, I
would have become friends with him years ago!!!
10th May 2006 - Channel Swimming Training Days
Local long distance swim club Sandwell, are planning 2 Channel
Swimming Training days on June 4th and August 6th 2006 at Swan Pool in
Birmingham. This will be a 6 hour - non-wetsuit swim (sorry
about the French!!) on both days, that swimmers need to complete
before swimming the channel. As my training so far is only
directed at IM distance races I figure a 2 hour and 3 hour respective
swims will be just what the doctor ordered. Finally asked the
better half - I think she said yes!!! Or was it maybe???
7th May 2006 - Lydney Triathlon
With Ironman Lanzarote only 2 weeks away, I made the trip down to
Lydney near Gloucester to compete in their sprint triathlon.
Good training for Lanza - got lost in transition due to marshals
sending me the wrong way, the bike route was awful - thin windy roads
with terrible road surfaces that went up and up for the first 7 miles
of the 13 mile course. I then rode past the entry back
into the leisure centre as there was no marshal on the turn point!!
With all that said, it was a good day organised by a group called -
"Tri Coaching UK"!!!! Sounds a little familiar - will have to
check our copyright legislation!!!
3rd May 2006 - British Long Distance Swimming Club
Swimming through the chilly temperatures of the Channel is one of the
many factors that I have to take into consideration when planning my
coaching program. My next step was to join the BLDSC, with a
view to take part in their endurance swimming races. None
wetsuit swims will be excellent training for me. Triathlete??
None wetsuit?? Heavens forbid!!! Just remembered,
haven't asked the missus yet!!
2nd May 2006 - Registration with Enduroman
Contact was finally made with world
record holder himself, Enduroman's Ed Ette. Before athletes can
take on the A2A challenge, Ed first likes to witness them swim in the
Channel. This was a reminder that not everybody has the
privilege of even attempting the challenge. Arrangments
were made to meet Ed in September 2006 and go out in his boat in
Weymouth. I assume that I won't actually be in the boat, but
swimming in the sea instead!!
25th April 2006 - Decision made!!
The temptation for the challenge was too great!! Many nights were
spent pondering with the idea of taking on the world's most
challenging triathlon. Commitment is a funny thing. It
only comes when you are perfectly sure of the reasoning behind wanting
to do something. But to take on something like the Arc to Arch,
you need the support of those around you. Oh yeah....better ask
the missus!!!
