With my swim coaching booked to start next week, I’ve been thinking about different places where it would be amazing to swim. I’ve been lucky enough to swim in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans already, the Mediterranean, Aegean and Carribean seas, but what about more obscure or adventerous swimming destinations?

A few years ago I cycled along the length of Loch Ness, and aside from the cold that would definitely be a cool plce to swim, but I think you have to look further afield to get really interesting swimming spot…

Bioluminescent Bay is a bay in Puerto Rico which contains massive numbers of bioluminescent micro-organisms which glow when the water is disturbed. Swimming at night creates a blue glowing “halo” effect around the swimmer’s body, so that sounds like an awesome place that should be added to my “places to see” list!

“Jellyfish Lake” also ticks all the boxes for being interesting and adventurous. The late is on one of the limestone islands of Palau, and since the lake is sealed off from the ocean with virtually no predators, the jellies there have evolved to be stingless.

The third amazing spot is known as “Devil’s Swimming Pool“, or “Devil’s Armchair” at the top of Victoria falls in Zambia – 420 feet above the river below! You can relax in the water right up to the edge (in the dry season) and look over the sheer drop – now THAT looks like an amazing place to swim!

Got any other ideas for AMAZING places to swim?  Leave a comment below…

Well, after being told by my doctor to rest for several weeks I’m now feeling very gittery and itching to get back to training.  Due to being laid up for so long I’ve missed my chance at entering the Perranporth Triathlon, so my training will now me base building towards starting Ironman training in January, and aiming for a reasonable time in the Eden Project Half marathon in 13 weeks time.

The schedule below is based on the Sub 1:50 training schedule on the Runner’s World website.  I’m easing into the running gradually over the next few weeks, and will need to listen to my body and adjust accordingly.  I’ll most likely cycle on most of my rest days, and will probably switch the Thursday runs (or at least some of them) to cycling too.

My goal is 1:45 which I’d be very happy with considering that Eden is quite a tough hilly course.  If I can achieve that, or at least get very close to it, I’ll feel confident going into my Ironman training shortly afterwards.

We have a few commitments over the summer, including 2 weddings to attend, and a multi-day stag do which I’ll have ti work around as best I can…

While I’ve been resting on doctor’s orders for the past couple of weeks and unable to train, my wife has been out there pounding the streets, and yesterday entered her very first running event – the Cancer Research “Race For Life” in Truro.

She was a little nervous being that it was her first ever event, and due to being away at Glastonbury a couple of weeks ago she felt that she hadn’t trained enough, but on the day she was fine.

The weather was kind, if a little humid, and it was a really good turn out of around 1,400 runners, joggers and walkers all raising money for a great cause.  The oldest runner was an amazing 94 years young, and the youngest were several babies and toddlers in prams and pushchairs being pushed along by their mums!

It’s a really great event for anyone who is interested in getting into running but is wary of signing up for a 10k.  It’s an incredibly friendly and non-competitive event, and there really are all levels of entrant, from a reasonably speedy 22 minutes to the final entrants walking with pushchairs (and one lady pulling a trolly which her dog was curled up in!)

Best of all, Cress is now training for a half marathon with me, so it will be great to finally enter an even with her… and while the doc told me to rest for 4 weeks, I feel pretty good now so I’m going to ease back into training again this week

If anyone wants info on the Race For Life and to find out where your nearest event is check out http://www.raceforlife.org/

Note – new this year there is also a series of 10k events, open to both women and men.  Check for your local event at here

Well the response to this has been great.  Yesterday the story appeared in our local paper, The West Briton, and since then a ton of people have visited the web page at http://www.squidoo.com/armtrac-security-services and posted comments of support, and stories of their own dealings with Armtrac.

The article in the paper included a quote from a local councillor branding firms like Armtrac as a “blight on the town”, and stating that the council, “must average one complaint a week.  They are driving shoppers out of the town”.

The web page has already received hundreds of visitors, has been “liked” on Facebook more than 20 times, but best of all it’s climbing the Google rankings and currently stands near the top of the second page of search results for both “Armtrac Security Services” and just “Armtrac” so with any luck it will hit page one in a few days, and be easy to find for other “victims” of Armtrac’s scam.

UPDATE : As of Monday 12th July the web page now ranks #1 for “Armtrac Security Services” on Google.com and Google.co.uk

OK so this is not the sort of thing I normally blog about, but this got me REALLY annoyed…

On Saturday my wife and I were issued a “parking ticket” by a private security company named Armtrac Security Services… WHILE I WAS SAT IN THE CAR!!!

We had stopped in a parking bay adjacent to a shop in a local town. There were plenty of empty bays, including the one next to ours, and I stayed in the car with the keys in the ignition while my wife popped inside quickly, and within a minute or so an unmarked van had pulled up close behind our back bumper blocking our car in.

The driver who was not in any sort of uniform jumped out and took a photo of the car, and when I asked what the hell was going on he said I was getting a parking ticket. I said no worries, that I would move my car, and asked him to move his van which he refused to do. No matter what I said he refused to move his van while he wrote out the ticket, then he handed me a “Charge ticket” for £60 and then left.

The parking bays to my left and right were empty, and by delibarately parking on the road so as to block me in he was the one causing an obstruction, double parking a silver mini-van opposite and preventing any other vehicle from passing.

The ticket states that we have 7 days to pay, otherwise the price increases, and that “If you have reason to appeal a £5.00 administration fee will be charged.”

What a joke. So as soon as I got home I went online to find Armtrac’s website, and it turns out not only do they not have a site, but the address they give is a mail forward, and the phone number is an 0871 redirect… basically they are hiding!

Well not any more. I’ve created a page all about Armtrac and their dodgy business in the hope of exposing them. I’ve also been interviewed and photographed by our local newspaper, and I’m waiting to hear back from a researcher at the local radio station who says they are looking into it.

These guys are scammers, their entire business model involves “pouncing” on people to issue these tickets and I’m sure it’s illegal. I’m taking legal advice and will fight them all the way, but in the meantime hopefully anyone searching “Armtrac Security Services” after getting one of these tickets will find this page and the Squidoo lens and realise that they are not alone, they they should NOT pay the ticket, and that Armtrac need to be stopped!

[rant over]

Well it’s been a rollercoaster of a few weeks, and unfortunately that has meant this blog has been sadly neglected. I’ve been ill, but after seeing the doctor I now know it’s nothing serious, have been given something for the pain and told to rest and that I should make a full recover in another 3 – 4 week… so much for running my first triathlon at the end of the summer then!

But I guess whatever plans and goals we make, life is going to get in the way and we just have to deal with it. Hopefully I’ll be well enough to start my swim coaching later this month, and I’ll just have to change my goals a little and run my first tri as early as possible next year. I still have the Eden Half Marathon in October to train for, and it means I’ll have a lot longer to get my swimming sorted before my first race.

Other than that, I was at the Glastonbury Festival last week which was awesome apart from missing quite a few bands I wanted to see due to being ill, and having to just rest in the tent while everyone else was out having fun! I still managed to have a great day on the Saturday though, and still some some amazing acts including Muse, The Lightning Seeds, Willie Nelson, Rolf Harris and Vampire Weekend to name a few. I’ll write a proper post about the festival over the weekend, and next week I’ll need to sit down and really re-evaluate my goals and training to see where I’m headed…

Yesterday I was forwarded a YouTube video of a guy named James Lawrence, a triathlete doing an amazing challenge for charity whose bike was trashed by Delta airlines, who refused even to give him a refund on the air freight for the bike! Here’s the video:

James is trying to raise $5 million for drought relief in Africa by competing in 20 half Ironman triathlons in just 30 weeks. He’s already completed 4 of the races, and he’s already registered for the other 16.

Anyway, after watching the vid I checked out his site at Tri To Give A Dam and the project is amazing. Incredible pictures of the project’s work in Africa, and some a truly inspirational challenge so I just wanted to share it and maybe help send a few more people to the site and raise a few more dollars for a great cause. Talking of which, this will give you an idea of what the charity does and why it’s so important:

So, go check out James’ site and blog, follow his progress in the challenge on Twitter, and if you don’t agree with Delta’s treatment make sure you forward that video on!

No matter how good your intentions, or how important a project is sometimes things happen and life gets in the way!  For the past week I’ve not managed to run at all due to a twisted ankle, and I’ve not had time to blog due to a crazy work schedule.  These last 2 days both of those 2 things have been stressing my out, and I’ve been worried that I’ll not achieve the goals I’ve set for myself but this morning I decided not to let it get to me, and just deal with it!

While I’ve not be able to run I did swim last week, and I went cycling on a very nice Cannondale tandem on Friday.  As I mentioned in a post last month, my father in law is going to be cycling from John O’Groats to Land’s End for charity in the summer, and since he is blind he is riding a tandem.  His partner for the trip is away on a climbing trip so I offered to cycle with him so he could keep up with his training.

It had been a long time since I rode a tandem, and since his new Cannondale had double sided pedals (flat one side, SPD on the other) I decided to wear flat shoes.  That was a good decision, since finding your balance when pushing off on a tandem takes practice, but after a couple of hours I got the hand of it again so next time I’ll wear clipless shoes.

I also made time to get out and about on Saturday.  It was our wedding anniversary so Cress and I went hiking on the south coast.  I was a little worried about my ankle, but in fact it wasn’t a problem and we did a new route starting at Rinsey and explored the cliff paths around there.  We climbed down to an isolated little beach for a picnic lunch, and generally saw several groups of climbers out on some great looking granite faces… Definitely a cool spot to explore any time you’re in Cornwall!

View Larger Map

Climbers and a kayaker near Rinsey

As for blogging, the reason for not having time to get on here is mostly due to launching a new product/service for my business – Speedy Websites.  I’ve been developing the duplicateable sites over the past month or so, and last week we did all the promotions and launched the site.  I think it will still be busy for a little while longer, but it’s not as crazy as it has been so hopefully I can find more time to blog from now on… but when I don’t have time, I’m going to try not to stress about it!

This week has gone by SO fast!  Only 2 weeks to go to the Plym Valley Challenge though, and today was my last long run before that.  Good job too, since my foot (largest metatarsal on my right foot) is quite sore so I’ll need to rest it up a little this week and do more cycling and less running.

Only 1 swim this week but it felt good, like I’m starting to make progress, so hopefully I can continue to build on that.  I’ve also made good progress with my “one hundred pressup challenge” although I was just too tired after my run today, so I’ve put that off until tomorrow.

This week’s training log

Running : 17 miles (3 sessions, with a long run of 9 miles today)
Cycling : 1 hour (I can start increasing my cycling time now)
Swimming : 1 hour
Plus an hour’s yoga and an hour’s squash

No long run next week, since it’s the week before the Plym Valley Challenge, and also our wedding anniversary so we’ll be doing something special next weekend – hopefully the weather will be decent and we can go for a cycle picnic, and maybe go gliding!  No yoga class this week either (half term) but apparently we’ll be working on handstands next term which is great since I’ve never quite managed to nail that!  So think I’ll work on handstand and forearm stand myself during the week…

Wow this triathlon thing can get expensive!  I’ve been going over my “shopping list” the last couple of days and it’s really starting to add up.   Apart from the actual race entry fees (the Perranporth Triathlon in a few weeks is £40 which isn’t too bad, but the Ironman is £345!) and swimming coaching (£60 per hour) and travel/accommodation expenses, there’s a whole bunch of equipment needed both for training and racing.  It kinda got me thinking – what is the minimum equipment needed, or put another way – how cheaply can someone get into triathlon?

Minimum equipment for triathlon

Now a bunch of this is going to be stuff that a lot of people already have, but quite a bit is fairly triathlon specific and will involve an expense for anyone wanting to get started with the sport, so let’s take a look at each stage in turn:

Equipment for the swim

Well the biggest expense here is going to be the wetsuit, unless you’re lucky enough to live somewhere warm enough that one isn’t needed.  While a lot of active people may well already own a wetsuit it almost certainly won’t be suitable.  Wetsuits for surfing, kayaking or diving for example are too bulky and restrictive for swimming efficiently, so at the very least you’ll probably want to “splash out” on a budget triathlon specific suit.  From doing a little research the budget suits made by Orca look like a good deal for beginners.

After the wetsuit the swim stage isn’t too costly – a decent pair of goggles is essential, but anyone who already swims probably has a pair.  Other than that, you just need a swim suit of some description – while a triathlon specific suit might be ideal for shorter races especially, I see no reason why beginners can’t get away with a normal swim suite or pair of shorts under their wetsuit.

Equipment for the bike

OK, here’s where it gets expensive!  If you’re lucky then you already have a road bike you can use, if not then this is where you’ll need to be spending some real money.  Triathlon bikes can be very expensive, but beginners are recommended normally to start on a normal road bike anyway.  I come from a mountain biking background and have been riding Specialized mountain bikes for years, so I’m intending to get a Specialized Allez.  There also appear to be good budget offerings from Scott, Trek and a few other brands.  I think this is the one piece of equipment that it might be worth checking the second hand market for.  I’ve seen some amazing deals on second hand bikes in the past, so shop around and check places like eBay and the classifieds ads in your local paper.  There are a LOT of options when it comes to the bike though, so I suggest either grabbing the abslute cheapest second hand bike you can find, doing a couple of races, then selling it again and upgrading now you know what you want… or doing some real research before making the investment in a bike that will last.  Apart from the make and model, you need to decide on frame size (get fitted at a local bike shop!), gearing (double, triple or compact chainset, size of cassette etc>) and a whole load of options like brakes etc.  If you’re using clipless pedals then you’ll also need compatible cleated shoes.  Note – when you’re budgeting, remember that most decent bikes won’t come with pedals so you need to include the price of whatever pedals you want in your budget (but many bike shops will give you a deal on the pedals if you ask!)

Apart from the bike itself you’ll need a few extras.  First and most important is a helmet which is compulsory in all races, and essential for all training.  If you already ride a mountain bike you’ll already have one, otherwise head to a local bike shop and try a few on for comfort, but luckily they are relatively low cost these days.

You’ll also need one or more bottles and cages for carrying drink, a pump, and preferably puncture kit and/or spare tube (and know how to use them!)

For clothing on the bike, you can either keep a tri suit on (if you wore one for the swim) or wear cycle shorts and a jersey.  You’ll also want some gloves/mitts and last but not least some sunglasses to protect your eyes, believe me you don’t want to be flying down a hill and have a bee or a piece of grit from the road hit you in the eye!

Equipment for the run

OK so the major expenses were dealt with for the bike stage, and if you already run you may well have everything you need here.  The most important thing of course is running shoes, and this is one area not to skimp.  If possible visit a specialist shop and get fitted.  Find a pair which are suitable for your foot type, and are comfortable – you’re going to be doing a lot of miles in them and a decent pair of shoes can make the difference between trouble free running and knee/ankle injuries.

Other than the shoes, you can probably get away with whatever you have available – shorts, vest/jersey and keep your sunnies on from the bike stage.  You might also want a hat/visor if you’re running in a sunny climate, and as an optional extra you can go for lace locks which will help you transition faster, rather than wasting time tying shoe laces.  Finally, a race belt might be a useful addition, allowing you to attach your race number and simply clip on rather than messing about with safety pins in transition (and some can attach energy gels too)

Wow  that’s a lot of stuff, and potentially a lot of expense.  Add to this items like energy bars/gels/drinks, magazines and books about the sport, and all manner of extras like heart rate monitors, cycle computers, bike tools and spares, wetsuit lube, muscle rubs, hydration systems and all manner of race and training aids you’ll see for sale in shops and online and you’ll quickly see that this is not the cheapest sport, but I believe it can be done on a budget if you’re careful about what you buy and stick to the basics.

Personally I’m currently looking around for a suitable bike (probably Specialized Allez if I can find one at the right price) and will need to invest in a wetsuit in a few weeks, but other than that I’m just going to use what equipment I already have, and focus on the training (while my wife is helping to satisfy my geeky gadget addiction by buying me a heart rate monitor for my birthday!)