Sorry – I thought I’d done more !

I’ve just checked to see what my last post was and it seems it was an age ago.  I know how some of you like to get to work on a Monday and then do very little except drink coffee and see what I’ve been up to over the weekend – no wonder the European economy is so far up shit creek…..get a grip and get back to work !

As you know, I was due to swim around the Burj Al Arab hotel on Friday.  Well, all went to plan and the swim was successfully completed in just over 15 mins (I finished 212^th out of 678 which I guess wasn’t too bad).  My time was a little disappointing (beaten by Psycho by 3 minutes….this is going to have to stop !) but I suppose I now have a line in the sand to judge several other things by, not least I’m now able to try and estimate a target time for the Triathlon next week (I’ve agreed a target time with Psycho but secretly I’m trying to beat her first ever Sprint Triathlon time – I fear it’s all going to end in tears but we have to try !) – before I had no idea what my swim time might be.  I’ve always been able to have a guess at the bike and the run because of the work I’ve done on equipment in the gym and using my satnav thingy when I’ve been out in the desert.

Anyway – moving on.  The rest of Friday was a bit more relaxed and I even took myself to the cinema for something to do – saw Tower Heist, which was all right I suppose, slightly disappointing ending but you can’t have everything.  There didn’t seem much of a choice at my local cinema so I just had to go with the flow !  The best thing about Friday was getting back from the cinema and discovering that my Le Mans friend Greg had a spare ticket for the F1 practice and qualifying at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi for the next day – Hurrah !  (This picture is for the two Js, Justine & Justin !)

Greg is over here staying with some friends in Dubai specifically for the Grand Prix and due to a slightly complicated scenario involving changed flights for somebody else’s in-laws it meant that someone wasn’t going to go to the Qualifying and therefore if I could be somewhere at 9.30 then I was welcome to join them.  And join them I did !

Those of you that follow these things will know that the race takes place at dusk here (all to do with making sure that you Europeans get your television coverage at around 1pm on a Sunday) and as it gets dark here in about 10 minutes they run the qualifying over the same period so that everyone gets used to the conditions.

To sum up, been there, done that, bought the tee-shirt, so a BIG thank you to all concerned.

Yesterday saw a long day with the drive to Abu Dhabi city for a meeting at 0930hrs (due to finish at 1100hrs which lasted until nearly 2) and then a long drive out into the desert to stay at the Tilal for most of the week – where mercifully I seem to have excellent internet access for a change.  Last night I arrived, unpacked jumped onto a bike and did 20k around the camel track and back just to remind my legs what they’d been missing.  I don’t think I’d been on a proper bike for a good few months (just gym kit) so it was a good opportunity.  I can’t remember if I’d mentioned that I’d discovered that I could rent a road bike from one of the shops in Dubai and therefore I’ve entered a Triathlon on the 25^th and hired a bike for that, and the week before the race so that I can get used to it.

I’m bringing the bike down to the desert next week for an acclimatisation session (along with my whizzy new triathlon cycling shoes – I could spend an entire blog telling you about those……..but I’m not sure you’d be all that interested…….).  I have all sorts of things I need to practice, such as the two transitions involving bikes – which make such a difference in time saved if you get them right, and can be humiliating if you get them wrong !  So can’t wait for that actually.

This week will see a ramping up of training followed by “tapering off” next week in the run up to completion next week.  I was explaining my training plan to Psycho last night and she was very dismissive (very rude !), I think the concept of tapering for a Sprint Triathlon wouldn’t cross her mind – she’s doing the Olympic distance next week and her idea of winding down for that is a half marathon on Friday !  I’m absolutely determined to beat her fair and square one day, without any excuses, it’s one of my big motivators – and be assured that you well be one of the first to find out when it happens !  I haven’t really got long though cause she’s off to Australia towards the end of January to go back to University for a year so it may all have to be done on paper !

Right – time to upload and go for breakfast cause like it or not, I have to do some work at some point !