The day dawned warm and sunny which was a good start. I felt in a good place as I packed my bag for the day. I had sustained a niggle in my abductor RHS the day before during the run but was hoping the sea swim would be quite therapeutic.Rich kindly drove myself and Jimmy down to Worthing for the inaugural 2km Birdman swim. The plan was that Rich and I would ride home and Jimmy drive the car.Worthing was packed with people awaiting the very popular Aviator event(where people dress up and jump off the pier!) so we had a captive audience! We registered and waited for race instructions…the sea looked quite choppy……Once race briefing was over we all got into the water to warm up. It was hilarious,the sea was more than choppy! This was going to be a challenge!The beach start was the usual scrum and swimming out to the first buoy was bonkers. A mass of feet,arms as normal all mixed up in a big swell that obscured the buoy most of the way. Around the first buoy and after a moment where I had to have a stern word with myself about settling down to swim I got on with the job. It was tough to see where I was going such were the size of the waves but I managed to get in a bunch of 4 guys and followed the feet.It was difficult to find any real rythymn and I was pleased that i seemed to be getting stronger as the swim progressed. I went passed a couple of people and had a strong finish. It was very cool to stand on the beach and whoop and yell for jimmy, Keith and Rich, all of whom had a good swim.We waited  awhile to see if they announced the results but felt that we needed to get going on the bikes.Richard and I set off, map in pocket,the sun shining and the weather warm. We were very soon on some scenic fairly quiet lanes and Rich set the perfect pace. The course was rolling with some challenging little climbs but the scenery all the way was spectacular. We set a comfortable pace of between 17 and 18mph and our overall average was 17.2mph which I was very pleased with. We rode 62 miles home in 3:32 which was a great ride for me. It was great to have company and I am also grateful to Richard for map reading - left to me we might still be out there!Map reading NOT my forte.Back and out on the run in the evening. It was good as this would be about the same time of day that I will be running the marathon section in Kona. The run was slow(IM shuffle around Hildenborough!) and I did cut it short as the hip muscle was quite painful and tight. I had to weigh up getting the training effect of running off a long bike and not doing too much that the niggle became something more serious.Overall I was really pleased with the day - I later found out that I had won the Birdman as first female, a lovely bonus. The bike was perfect and the run adequate given that I was sore.Race simulations help you mentally prepare, practice your nutrition and any other race plans you may have. You can safely experiment and see what works and what doesn’t .My next one will be in two weeks when I do the Vitruvian event - a 1/2IM distance race in Rutland. From there go to Lanzarote for the third time this year to get some big mileage in and probably a third time round the IM bike course there this year!

My weekly chat through with coach Will is always cool. This week was ultra cool….we talked about how to distance yourself from the physical when training whilst remaining mentally in the process and how to harness excellance by watching the best at what they do.As I have mentioned, I have been reading Michael Phelps’ autobiography which has proved fascinating. He shares how he watched video after video of Thorpe swimming when he needed to up his game in the 200 freestyle. This week coach Will told me to watch Bekele run in the 10,000m at the worlds in Berlin. My aim in doing this was to watch the fantastic running form and then imagine that as I was running(asking myself “how would it feel to run like Bekele?” ). It is a very powerful exercise and one I use in my work as a Neuro Linguistic Programming practitioner. I have sent clients to you tube etc to watch an excellant sport performance, then to hold an image of how that would feel in themselves.This weekend brings a big weekend of training for me - following a great week of sessions. Today I will do the long run(delayed from Thursday) and tomorrow is the first race simulation; it will be a long day but nothing I have not done before. The weather forecast is hot and sunny which is perfect, I will map out and practice race nutrition and try to make everything as close to how I want it to be on October 10th. I will be visualising how I want to be feeling as I race on that day and I can feel that I am starting that slightly inward journey that happens before a big race…..so forgive me if I see anyone and seem a little more off with the fairies than normal!

Had a good week training this week finished off with the Worthing triathlon.On Weds eve had a cracking chain gang session (thank you Gary for doing the turns with me).Thurs was the 120km ride of the VO2 sportive route which was challenging but gave me confidence that I can still do the longer rides! The route is fantastic, very scenic with all the local hills and rolling country lanes.If the weather on the 27th September is anything like it was on Thursday it will be stunning.On Sunday a few of the VO2 race team competed in the Worthing triathlon. My objectives for this race were to get a sea swim under race conditions, and, having driven the course, to stay on my tribars on all the inclines/hills/upwards drags( as this is what I will need to do in Hawaii). I also wanted to do a faster run than at Bedford.The sea was calm on race morning(which dawned clear,warm and nice!) so the swim went well. I was able to draft well which was useful as the sun blinded us on the return leg. Out of the water into a good T1 and out on the bike. I achieved my objective on the bike and stayed on the bars on the uphills. I didn’t put in a very fast split but felt I had had a steady bike. The run was mentally very tough. It was pan flat but felt like it went on and on forever! It was an out and back on the sea front with a nasty loop halfway along!I was not happy with my run but it was faster than the Bedford split.Next weekend brings a race simulation day, my first for Kona. It will start in Worthing for the Birdman 2km swim then a bike ride home (thanks Rich for riding along and to Jimmy for support car) followed by a long run. It will give me a good indication of where I am.

Mixed week of sunshine,showers,cracking sessions and very frustrating ones…all normal for triathlon training I am sure.It seems nearly everytime I touch my trusty training bike,The Condor, something strange happens! Having sorted the puncture,gearing issues a couple of weeks ago, this week has found me having to buy new brakes and looking for some one who can tune a wheel(a mavic). I am very fond of the old Condor…she has seen me through a world champs (2005) and my first ironman (2006) plus many a standard triathlon and winters training. She was my trusty training bike leading up to Lanzarote but I feel there are lots of parts wearing out now…bless her….So having realised last Friday that the back wheel was buckled and the rear brake caliper was not functioning, I managed to get home,change the wheel and headed off optimistically on Sunday for an early ride. imagine the mood when I punctured on this wheel and shredded the tyre! Fortunately I had a spare at home and 10 mins later set off again!In the midst of these two eventful rides I have had a cracking multi brick session. On saturday I headed out at midday in the heat of the day to do a multi bike/run session. It was a mixture of tempo and threshold work which was punishing! Ideally this session would be done to power on the bike, as training to HR on this sort of session is tricky due to the fluctuations and variations that HR is subject to. It was a very satisfying session and the key session of the week.Had a very murky swim in the lake on monday night - I am sure our local training lake is just emulsified duck poo! Good to get the wetsuit on though and train with Keith and Jimmy around the loop…1.6 miles according to keith’s garmin.Off to Worthing this weekend to do the local triathlon there. It is a sea swim which will be useful training and it will be a nice facilitated brick session.The long bike this week will be a recce of the 120km VO2 cyclosportive tomorrow (www.vo2cycling.co.uk…27th September…come and do it!!!) then a day off, pre race brick on Saturday and race Sunday.Next weekend I will be doing a break through session, or race simulation day( I quake and laugh hysterically when coach Will announces these!) - so I am doing the Birdman 2k sea swim in Worthing followed by a bike ride home then a long run off the back of that.Biomechanically I am pretty good, the calf has cleared up nicely and I am feeling the “trained” feeling ie everything vaguely aches! I know i am back into a proper training regime not as I feel I could sleep at any time day or night!

Tests are necessary but your heart sinks when you see them in the schedule. They are the way to assess how your training is progressing and how you are improving.They have a peculiar effect on you too. At the start you know you are safe in the knowledge that this is going to hurt and you can only imagine the long drawn out pain.However once you are warmed up and the thumping tunes on your ipod are motivating you (some of my songs have been on the shuffle since the world champs,Hamburg 2007!),you allow yourself some thoughts.the thoughts today as I worked my hardest on the turbo ranged from “ooh 5 mins gone already,thats good!” to “this really really really hurts now…”.Other things came through too…like Michael Phelps. I have been reading his autobiography and it is terrific in terms of learning about an atheletes’ total commitment, sacrifice and triumph. I watched him swim the 100m butterfly at Roma 2009 this weekend. I was blown away by the raw emotion, the total focus before the race and the explosion of emotion following the race.I have watched many swimming races in my athletic career and I can honestly say this was one of the most exciting. It proved also to be very inspirational, I sat there thinking whatever he has I want some of it. These thoughts entered my mind as I pedalled and it reminded me of why I do what I do, it reminded me of what I was doing this for and what I achieved in order to be having to do this!I glanced at the watch and saw there were only 5 mins to go..woohoo…suddenly all the feel good hormones came flooding in and my feet were floating on the pedals, it seemed suddenly effortless and I knew not only would I finish the test but would be able to recover and learn from it.

7.45am  last Sunday found me on Eastbourne beach with two teammates,our wetsuits and a very kind teammates’ partner to look after our kit.The sea was choppy and the current was quite strong - we found it hard to sight and to swim in a straight line! Had a good 40 mins in the sea then out on the bikes for a ride…very windy day and I worked hard.Rewarded ourselves with a good lunch at a Belgian Cafe(complete with chips and mayo!). Managed to get sun burnt as we sat there in the sun drinking coffee and chatting about bikes, triathlon,bikes,the tour,oh…and bikes!As with my Lanzarote training I am very grateful to the boys for sharing training rides - it has helped me so much.Day off on Monday and felt ready to run on Tuesday,also my birthday. Started out to run and then stopped as a shooting pain raced up my calf. I initially felt devastated as I have had a history of calf issues. I did have a great birthday with family and friends but must admit to feeling quite fed up this week and the weather has not helped with motivation to get out and train.There is a lot written about sport and performance and the huge part the mind plays; so it is with the training process. This week has been about training my mind as much as the training of the body.I have decided to opt out of the half marathon scheduled tomorrow and preserve the calf.My thinking is it would be better to rest it rather than take a risk that could rule out running for longer. I will seek advice on it on Monday and tomorrow will be another long bike ride. Sunshine please!!