Bordeaux - 3rd

East Leake Triathlon Champion

After 40 hours of travelling, 13 time zones and 43 hours back at home i was ready to race East Leake triathlon. Waking up at 3am(not nerves) was not ideal but after a few cups of coffee everything was back to normal. This is probably the biggest race of the year with 4 other family members all taking part. So the pressure was really mounting and i had to pull something out of the bag. I took the swim pretty casually and took off on the bike. Had a few issues on the bike and consequently suffered. Nevertheless i headed out onto the run and started to eat up the ground clocking 16.11min for the 5km. I was happy to win but the performance left alot to be desired. Next stop France. Boom. Ciao for now.

Nelson Mail Triathlon Champion

New Zealand National Elite Aquathlon champs - 3rd

Tricamp Mallorca

this brings back memories.

Back to basics

We all use it, couldn’t live without it and most certainly spend a lot of time and money on it. I get off my bike and check my powertap, finish a run and stop my garmin. There seems to be no escaping technology in sport these days. Athletes will tell you that they need their garmin for tempo runs or base training and that they need their powertaps to make sure they are training at a specific threshold. Where does technology stop in sport and when does it go from helping to hindering?

Sport has apparently moved forwards and with the help of technology; athletes are able to measure their improvements and push themselves whilst being reassured by technology that they are doing it right.

Looking back in sport, athletics in particular, the likes of Lord Seb Coe, Steve Ovett and Steve Cram were setting not only British and European, but World records. They trained without the aid of technology, like your GPS watch, and yet still hold records that modern day athletes cannot emulate. They also trained, and sometimes raced, on cinder tracks without such technologically advanced products such as Lucozade, which if you believe the science behind it would have made them run for 33% longer!

With the introduction of carbon wheels, frames and feather light running trainers you would have thought that triathlon speeds would have gone through the roof. Triathlon has certainly become more competitive across the board, but has the top-end really pushed on with the introduction of super lightweight bikes and wheels?

Technology hasn’t just stopped at GPS or carbon. We are now using CGI to measure someone for a bicycle so that they get the maximum output and performance from their bike. People are spending a lot of money on positioning themselves (???).  I doubt the likes of Simon Lessing and Hamish Carter had computer generated positioning for their bikes. They probably popped the saddle up to their hips and made sure the stem was in line with the brake block (a tip if you don’t want to spend hundreds of pounds).  Yet these two men won World and Olympic titles. They were seen as major forces on the bike. Would the Brownlee brothers be able to drop Lessing or Carter, when they were in his prime, on the bike?

There is a lot to be said for just getting on your bike and riding it without the thought of watts, or going for a run without constantly checking your distance or speed. A friend once told me to “ride your bike like you stole it”. If I had just stolen a bike I most certainly wouldn’t be checking to see if my cycle computer was working for fear of not logging those watts.

Is it time for us to consider the basics first and secondly use the technology sparingly?  If we want to be world class, that is.  

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