I'm taking advantage of some nice evening sunshine to sit outside and post a few thoughts on where I've been of late, and where I'm looking to head to.
Last week I walked you through my amazing trip through the French Pyrenees and Alps - so now need to add in some supplementary details.
The second climb we did on Day 2 was called Horcquazette or something like that...
...then the epic climb we did on the day before La Vaujany was Col d'Izoard not the Col D'Soulor
as I over-enthusastically stated.
Apologies for the errors - guess it was the adrenalin kicking in!
After last weeks post a few people have enquired about my kit & nutrition choices
for such a long trip.
Kit-wise I wore some retro Santani bike tops from some of the old school teams
such as La Ve Claire & Mapei.
These are available from prendas ciclismo - and are really good quality - plus add a
bit of fun to the occasion.
You may have seen my photos from Alpe d'Huez when I wearing the full Mapei kit -
which definitely draws the attention!
Bib-shorts were a mix of Skinfit and Rapha - both really good quality and value for money
in my opinion. Believe me when I say it is worth investing in a good pair of nix as the consequences
of not can be brutal.
Shoes - I wear Sidi Carbon Genius - again very good quality.
Bike - Pinarello Prince - my baby, my love, my life...!
If any of you do have any questions about kit - please just ask - as I've tried out most things over the years
but have now settled on the key brands I've mentioned above.
At the end of the day - you usually get what you pay for.
Similar principles apply to nutrition - although there is a lot of over-priced, over-rated nutrition products out
there which would have you believe that they will make you perform like a world-beater.
Those of you who have been following the blog for a while will know that I now only use Clif Bar products
for my sports nutrition. I use both the Clif Bars and Clif Blok Shots as they taste great, are natural and
most of all have never let me down.
I can't tell you how many times either the Bars or the Shots have gotten me out of a hole and given me the fuel
I need to carry on.
So if you're sick of using gels, energy drinks, horrible tasting energy bars - I'd strongly recommend checking out
the Clif Bar product range.
A good place to get these from is www.endurancesportsnutrition.co.uk
Finally the last key addition to my nutrition plan is from the guys at Biestmilch.
I've been using their Chewy Tablets and Biest Booster for a few months now and
have really noticed the difference in my physical & mental health.
The Boosters are a superb source of energy - which lasts for over 6 hours but doesn't have
any of the spikes & crashes that caffeine or sugar sources do.
The products are based on colostrum - so you know they are natural and are doing your body and
immune system a lot of good.
If you are looking to protect and improve your immune system - which you should be - and are looking for a source of long-lasting energy -
check out the Biestmilch product range.
The Biestmilch products provide a nice segue into my next piece...
As I have been so impressed with the Biestmilch products - several months ago - I got into with them to share my positive experiences
and complement them on their brand and products.
To cut a long story short - it quickly became clear that Biestmilch have a very similar philosophy to myself on
living a healthy, active & productive lifestyle.
So we both agreed that it would be good to share our thoughts & ideas on a few things so I went over to Germany to meet the team
for the first time in March - and had a great few days with the guys.
Then in June, the team got in touch with me as one of their sponsored athletes - Chris McCormack had been invited to race at Ironman Germany in July
- and the team were putting on some promo activities.
Obviously - the chance to mingle with the team and Chris (my triathlon hero) was too good an opportunity to turn down
so I agreed to go over again in early July.
A great few days were had - culminating in an afternoon spent in the company of some of the biggest names in Ironman triathlon (not including myself of course!)
I make no apologies in name-dropping here - so imagine Chris McCormack, Cameron Brown, Lothar Leder, Yvonne Van Vlerken, Nicole Leder,
Meike Krebs all hanging out, swapping stories and tales from the Pro circles.
I was in dream-land - and it was so refreshing to see how down to earth these Pros were - certainly compared to Pros from other sports I have met over the years.
It was amazing to hear there stories and thoughts on both the past & present of the sport The knowledge & experience these guys possess between them
could fill a library.
What all of this did to for me was make me realise that these guys are winners - not just in the races but in their mind-sets.
It has really given me a new focus and determination to return to Ironman racing with a new perspective - so not just complete but compete.
So that is exactly what I am planning to do in 2011.
I'm not going to go back to the full distance at first - I want to learn how to race hard at the middle distance first - take the learnings and then look
to have a real go at a sub 10 hour Iron-distance race in 2012.
This year - I've gone longer in the bike & run than I ever have - so now have the confidence to step down to the
"shorter" stuff without fearing the distance.
Next year - its going to be out not how far I can go but how hard I can go.
This will be a different challenge for me both physically & mentally - and one which following meeting with the
top of the Ironman world - is one which I am relishing on taking on.
I'll leave you with a link to a video of Chris McCormack which I find really inspiring - especially as this is how Chris is -
there is no spin or PR here - I know I'll be referring back to this many times over the coming months.
I hope you all find it as motivating as I do - not just for your sport - but for how you approach life in general...
"Above all train hard, eat light and avoid TV and negative people" - Scott Tinley
Sparky
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