HumanRace MudMan 2nd

Saturday saw my opening round of the Human Race off road series having missed the first round, the Wildman, in favour of one last try out on the Essex Course the same weekend.

It's been a really good Cross Duathlon season for me so far this winter and I'm pleased to say I'm still learning and still improving as well. Since September I've had a third place, two second places including this one and four wins but far more importantly for me I've managed to stay pretty much cold and illness free which is rare for me at this time of year. I've been using Maxifuel's Immune Support capsules which, I have to say at first might have had a strong dose of Placebo in them but the facts don't lie : since I've been taking them I just haven't got ill at a time when I would normally be a walking nose cheese factory.  Anyway, on to more pleasant things. Have a read about them here: http://www.maxishop.com/immune

MudMan! (Minus the mud!...) Surrey in December? It could be Colorado in June!.. It was COLD though, trust me...

I could write a waffling race report about how things unfolded but really, it was brutally simple : Doug Hall and I set the pace from the start then Doug pulled away from me and I pulled away from the rest. That's it! Doug was really strong on the day and deserved the win after taking the race to everyone and I'm itching for the next round, the IceMan in January now to see how a more all round course unleashes it's delights on us all.

For a brilliantly worded full race report and results have a read of my mate Jim McConnell's race report here: (PS - I'm looking forward to seeing you back dishing out the pain in the new year Jimbo!)

http://www.tri247.com/article_10967_MudMan%3A+view+from+the+sidelines.html?region_id=&category=

The MudMan's hills are relentless and steep and relentlessly steep. For those of you who did it you'll know that this picture does Heartbreak Ridge no justice at all.

 

Quadmire Series Rnd 2 : 1st

Tom Stead and I jump the first of many Icy ditches on lap one. tom's jumping style was waaaay better than mine!

Round one of Quadrac's Cross Duathlon series in Waddenhoe in Peterborough was greeted by sunny and cold conditions, with much of the courses's  notorious flooded bogs semi frozen. That was, until about lap two after which time they were just a freezing bog as opposed to a frozen one.  Once again it came down to a duel between myself and Tom Stead for the lead and this time, Tom wasn't on his best form and suffering from fatigue he pulled out on the bike leg which was a shame.  After working so hard to hold him off I had then built up a bg lead and so, knowing the Mudman was just a week ago I kept pushing hard to pack in some quality training in conditions that are actually much tuffer than what the Mudman has to offer even if the hills there are a bit longer. 

As always, the Quadrac team of Mark and Richard looked after us royally and I look forward to the 3rd round where, weather permitting I'm toying with the idea of trying the Quadrathon by adding in a kayak leg down the river Nene. We'll see...

Anyway - Enough waffling on. Tom's Dad took some brilliant pics which I'll share here as they so much more that I can in words about the nature of the races and course down there. 

on one of the constant ups and downs that the Waddenhoe course has

This is actually in the race....  I know.... But that's the kind of race it is!

ho d'you like my skinny Cross tyres on my Trek Superfly 29er? Bontrager Cross 3's naturally...

still breaking through new ice even on Lap 6!

How to train for Cross Duathlon

I've recently written an article about how to make the mud, cold and winter race season work for you and it is published on the nations number one triathlon site www.tri247.com.

It's here : http://www.tri247.com/article_10902_How+to+train+for+cross+duathlon.html?region_id=&category=

Essex Cross Duathlon, one year to the Nationals and 1st place

Having had a crazy week and nearly run out of time again I thought I would simply use Multisport Management's report from Sunday's Essex Cross Duathlon here:
over to race organiser Graham Lee ( www.multisportmanagement.co.uk ):


The Essex Off Road Duathlon, sponsored by 53-12.com and Essex & Suffolk Water went ahead despite the weather. The original 4k first run was binned as the route was impassable due to the river bursting its banks, so the second 2.5k run was used to top and tail the event.

Essex Duathlon 2012 - Mudtastic

Race morning was met with very chilly winds but decent enough sunshine after heavy overnight rain, so 70% of the entries decided to get out of bed and turn up and give it a go with five waves setting off at 2-minute intervals. Jez Cox set the pace over the 2.5k first run (9:04) with Kirsty Prior first lady in 10:57s.

The next stage was to tackle the newly extended 14km bike route. One word describes this year's course....MUD! With the previous two years being hard-packed, this year the mountain bikes had the advantage over the cyclocross riders. Jez Cox dominated the bike on his Trek Superfly 29er in a time of 38:50. Kirsty Prior was the fastest female again in a time of 51:17, both athletes streching out their respective leads.

Out onto the final run and Jez and Kirtsy romped home in a time of 9:52 and 12:58 respectively to take the wins and go into next year's English Cross Duathlon Championship as clear favourites.

Roy Young was top male vet and finished second overall, having found a new lease of life in the muddy stuff and Dan Foster was third. Jenny Hartley and Clare O'Neill completed the ladies podium a couple of minutes after Kirsty.

The pair relay teams had their debut in this year's race, with the runner completing both start and finish legs and the cyclist doing the middle section. It was easy to spot who did what, as the runner would have a lot less washing to do when they got home! Well done to Jamil and Jason for fastest male pair and the Jellicoe family for fastest mixed pair.

The 70th Win. It's been a long time coming!

   
         In November 2002, as an Elite Road racer with an offer from a cycling team in Northern France on the table for the following season, I entered Dave Wardle's Autumn Duathlon at the Hillingdon circuit for some end of season training. To my surprise, I won, and not just that but I actually seemed to enjoy the running. In the coming weeks I began to run much much more and so the seed that had been planted began to grow. The French team were offering an apartment to live in with 3 other riders and a full programme of decent races as well as a (very) basic wage.

          Of course, logic would have dictated that I go with the cycling option and do some Duathlon for fun on my return but that's not my way. I prayed about it and waited for an answer and the answer was clear: Stay in the UK and give Duathlon a go whilst building a new life for myself. 6 months later I had fully converted to being a run-biker and had met and moreover was engaged to the beautiful Leda Ray. by this stage I had heard all about the sticky endings for said French team which had folded and sent the riders home having (as always in cycling) run out of money.  Meanwhile I was enjoying the freedom of running and not having to drag masses of bike kit everywhere with me and if anything, as marriage went on, I had more and more time to train and look for improvements as Leda was away racing in far flung parts of the world for most of the first 8 years of our marriage.  All these years later Duathlon has given me so many incredible memories and I have made many great friends through it. I'm pleased to say I have never made a penny from it but what I have gained money cannot buy. I'm now loving putting something back as the GB team manager and I'm also heavily involved with many of the countries best Duathletes and events through my own company, howgoodcouldibe.com.

Sunday's race was a great event where I really felt all the hard work of my recent training coming together. It was a new one to me, the Walden Duathlon in Essex and although I had a great race and could actually feel the results of all my hill training in Stanborough park finally paying out I did also manage to achieve a new first as I reached the milestone of my 70th win in 9 yaesr of competition:  My first race penalty!  As GB national team manager and a coach this is, of course highly embarrassing as I'm always saying there is no excuse for getting penalties and so as such I wont offer any.  I threw my Maxifuel bottle towards my camper as I rode past at the end of lap one and this is classed in the rules as littering. As such I received a 2 minute penalty and was just lucky enough that I had won by 2 mins 17 seconds and so I hung on by the skin of my teeth. So I'll make no excuses........     But I would like to offer a supposition: Suppose this, if you will : Next time, I throw my bottle on top of my camper, or even better, I throw it in through the open skylight in the roof and it lands neatly in my bottle holder. Is that littering!?  I hear what you're saying: leave it Cox, leave it.

I had my camper with me because the night before I had been a guest of British Triathlon at their Awards dinner where we celebrated a great year for the sport. I was on a table with some of the other GB team managers and it was a fascinating night swapping stories of how we deal with the little 'issues' that come up with athletes in far flung places on the world circuit. It was also great to see our Olympians being honored and all this before catching 4 hrs sleep in the car park outside where the temperature was -2 degrees which is, it seems, the perfect preparation for racing!

Waddenhoe Quagmire Series Round One : 2nd

Sunday saw the opening round of the 4 race winter Quadrac racing series which is tellingly known at the Quadmire series on account of the Quagmire that you have to run through on both runs. When I say ‘have to’, that's a literal comment because with a fence to your left and the river nene to your right you have no choice. 

I had heard of the races’ short but brutal nature last year and managed to get an entry in for the final round for which the course was frozen solid.  This, as Sunday proved, had given me a false sense of the course being ‘undulating but nowhere near as bad as people had said. 

Sunday was quite the opposite. Unlocked by what can only have been conditions marginally above freezing and lubricated by relentless horizontal rain the course was unrecognisable from the one I had remembered. The River Nene had decided the best option was to split up and branch out into, well, all areas of the course and the Quadmire which I had sniffed at having danced across it last winter to take a comfortable win came back to bite me. Or swallow me, which is perhaps more appropriate.  Following on from last week Tom Stead was once more up there with me on the first run, the two of us running shoulder to shoulder and each stopping at various points to help lift the other back out of the quagmire in a most sporting manner forced more by reciprocal hope of survival than good sportsmanship.  As soon as we got onto the bike, Tom opened up a smallish gap on me which to his credit he held all the way to the finish.  He's really come on over the last year and I look forward to some tasty battles with him on the Waddenhoe course this winter. 

Box End Park Autumn Cross Duathlon. 1st

           Entering the last 3 days of a course of antibiotics I decided it should now be fine to not just race but do the first bit of exercise for three weeks and I'm glad I did as I love the course down at Box End and it always suits me well. It was a cold, sunny day and ridiculously windy as well. The Box End course consists of a long flat loop around the edge of the water ski lake and then a series of small hills which should make things harder but as it was, with a very string Northerly wind blowing down the country it meant that the ride and run up the lake was like climbing a mountain after which, coming back, you barely had to try.  

            It was really good to have talented young triathlete Tom Stead up there with me on the first run and it was a shame that he managed to trip on the grassy course and lose time as its always good to really push each other. After that, as I got on the bike, I really got into my stride and all the benefits of my Trek Superfly 29er became immediately apparent as it just rolls so fast over that kind of terrain. That's exactly why I sought out the best 29er for next years inaugural Cross Duathlon nationals and it more than proved its worth on Saturday feeling effortless compared to my old 26 inch race bike.    


          As a coach I would never have recommended any of my athletes to race after 3 weeks off ill but sometimes it can be worth the risk and thankfully I now feel 'back at it' again and hopefully ready to have some fun these next few weeks as I start the Quadmire Duathlon series and then build to the Essex Duathlon and the start of the Human Race series.  On the downside, my lovely wife, the gorgeous Leda Jane has now come down with a really heavy cold so get well soon Leda!xx

Ill again and getting restless....

          Have you had it yet?
I'm back on the dreaded Anitibiotics again after 2 weeks of doing nothing except tending my billowing nose and emptying my Ectoplasmic lungs. I literally haven't had the energy at all to run or ride now for over two weeks going right back to the first race of my cross season, the Xtreme Terrain Du. 
Sometimes that's how it goes though so instead I've been buying myself in my spare time doing up my bikes (oklay, I admit, tinkering with them and then taking them to Tony in Bike and Run to undo my ills)  and fixing niggles that I've been carrying. I've actually had a knot in my calf since my last early morning run in Nancy where I was with the GB Duathlon team back in September. Now, I'm a big believer in treating like with like and so a Knot should be treated with a little help from a Knott! Graeme Knott to be precise, a good friend of mine and by coincidence, this year's GB team mechanic. 
Graeme Imports 'The Stick', an ingenious self massage stick described as 'the tooth brush for muscles' and so I put it to work on my calf and then went to town on my back and quads too and have been using it ever since as you can really feel the difference. I'm trying not to sound like this is a blatant plug as it isn't, its just one of those things that works so well it would be rude not top recommend it. Have a look here for more about them: www.the-stick.co.uk 

Xtreme Terrain Duathlon, 4th

Well, my cross Duathlon season got off to a reasonable start even though I rode pretty poorly on my brand new 29er Trek Superfly. The bike was brilliant.  I was... hmm.... I bit hopeless. There we go. Sometimes you're the statue and sometimes you're the pigeon and today I was all statue on the bike and just went through the motions on the run. That's not to take anything away from the guys that beat me though as they were simply far better on the day and that's that. It was great to see Daffed Hollis win too because he really is a talented off roader with all the right attributes that make a great cross Duathlete. 

It's taken me all week to write this and that's mostly because I came down with a cold the next day after the race and am only just now able to think clearly without being distracted every two seconds by sneezing, coughing or wiping my snout. I've actually done really well avoiding all sorts of illnesses these last few months and I put a lot of that down to the Maxifuel Immunesupport capsules I've been taking. That's not just a plug by the way, I genuinely mean it. I catch colds so easily and since the Maxifuel guys got me taking them I've been pretty cold free until now.

Anyway - Toby Jenkins and his allabouttriathlons team put on a really good show and here are some of the high quality pics from Sussex Sport Photo:

 

The Cross Duathlon season starts here!

I'm right at the beginning of this winter's Cross Duathlon season and the first thing I am delighted to say is that through a deal with Trek UK in Milton Keynes and in conjunction with my team Bike and Run London, I will be racing on a Trek Superfly 29er. When ever I was beaten last winter on the Cross Du scene it was almost always by guys on 29ers and so this year, at least I can't user that as an excuse. I took delivery of the Superfly 4 days ago and I have the first race on it this Saturday and I am pleased to report that it feels really stable and incredibly fast, particularly once you are up to speed. 

Lets see how it goes on the gravelly trails of Hawley lake this Saturday at the XTD and I'll report back. In the mean time. Here she is:

CEP compression : welcome aboard!

I have been racing in a pair of CEP compression socks for the last 4 years and I'm pleased to announce that for the 2012/13 season they are coming on board as an official sponsor. A package came today with the updated Medi Compression version of the full length sock and then the pink version of the compression sleeves. Yes. I said pink. My wife, Leda has banned me from wearing them but as I know how good their compression is, I will be wearing them! They are the sort of thing though that if you do wear them, you simply have to perform so that's always a good thing. Thanks CEP!  www.CEPsports.com

Nuclear Burn Ultra distance Cross Duathlon, 1st Place

         

          A summer Cross Duathlon! Now that's a rare and welcome thing. In it's inaugural running, the Nuclear burn at Kelvedon Hatch's secret nuclear bunker site was a great success for a company who's background is in adventure races and mass participation 'finish or die' events (as I like to call them).


         Regular readers of my blog will know that I love racing in Essex and for some strange reason I always seem to go well there and thankfully this was no exception. The course was suitably testing and extremely muddy for June and I decided (without telling myself) to celebrate the occasion with an over the bars sortie mid race whilst leading on the bike. Now, if you were to cut down a small tree in the middle of a wood and stand back to look at your handy-work, do you not presume you might think it best to remove the last 2 inches before heading off for a cuppa? No? Anyway, I didn't see said stump until I stood back up again a good 5 metres from the bike.  Still, mustn't grumble, I got back on and back into the groove before the final run to take a cross Duathlon win in June which is a nice rarity.  


        The organisers, adventureraceessex.co.uk are keen to make it a really big summer fixture so next year should see it being even bigger. 

Flash! Ah-ahhhhh, saviour of the universe!

           Whilst I was away in Lanzarote, Tony at bike and run ( www.bikeandrun.co.uk ) worked his magic on my race bike, fully stripping it down and priming it for the summer after a long winter in the mud. She's looking awesome as I'm sure you would agree. Now all I need is some rooty singletrack through a wood lined with bluebells. Oh, and some summer would come in handy too!

Summer Planning...

I've just come back from 2 great weeks getting the miles in on Lanzarote and amongst enjoying our lovely weather back here in Blighty (ahem) I've been drawing up plans for the summer. For me it's really all about continuing to bring my Mountain biking on and building towards next winter's cross du season with the goal of winning the Asics series. It was last winter and I didn't succeed but I am doggedly stubborn and wont give up on it!


I'm going to add to it but here's my initial programme which still needs some trail running races added to it plus some smaller running events and mid week leagues:

May :

Gorrick 100 Enduro mtb xc

13^th, Eastern MTB XC Champs, Thetford

16^th, Beastway MTB xc

23^rd, Beastway MTB xc

30^th, Beastway MTB xc

June:

5^th Hawridge International Duathlon (maybe?..)

9^th, Nuclear Burn Cross Duathlon, Essex.

13^th Beastway MTB xc

14^th, South Downs Way Attempt.

20^th Beastway MTB xc

July:

9^th Beastway MTB xc

15^th, National MTB Xc series, Langdon Hills, Essex

22^nd Alpe D’Huez Duathlon  (maybe?)

Aug:

5^th Box End Quadrathlon, Maybe...

26^th National Cross Tri series, Surrey. (Team)

Sep/Oct/Nov etc.. The start of the Cross Duathlon series...

If you've got any suggestions of any trail races that you'd recommend thgen please do let me know at jez@jezcox.com  thanks.

I hope to see some of you on the trails! 

Start with a win, end with a win. Mud and Mayhem, Thetford, 1st Place.

              Back in the Autumn sun of September I started my cross Duathlon season with a win and new course record at the Boneshaker in Wantage, in between I had a winter of ups and downs and have some how managed to tie it all back together by wining the final cross du of the winter season, the Mud and Mayhem at St. Helens in Thetford forest. 


           I must admit, after my battle with Tim McDowell last year and seeing he wasn't back for more I though I'd be able to enjoy it a bit more but Iain Robertson of Anglia Tri had other ideas and really pushed it on the first run.He was really strong on the bike as well and I could see that it was going to be a very close race in the thick of the forest. For once, it was me who was able to draw away from him in the technical singletrack which makes Thetford so much fun to ride in. He did then claw some time back on the final run but pushed hard all the way I hung in there to take a win, determined to dedicate it to my Lovely Mum Anne on mothers day.  On a further note - Big respect to my mate Fay Cripps for smashing it up today, winning the women's race by miles and finishing 6th overall. 

The start of it all up on the Ridgeway of the Boneshaker

          
            I've got a little bit of a break now as I'm on GB team manager's duties next week up at Oulton Park (hope to see lots of old and new faces (in pain) there. After that, I'm off to Lanzarote for two weeks of training the first week and coaching on a training camp the second. If you're at Oulton next week do come and say hi (I'll be the plonker stood around in a GB tracksuit) and if you're out in Lanza over Easter do let me know if you want to hook up for a ride or run and we'll see what we can do..... jez@jezcox.com

Trailman Asics Final. 5th place

             I have the pleasure of writing for www.tri247.com and www.duathlon247.com from time to time and the moment you can read my race report from Sunday's Asics Finale, the Trailman.  
Here's a preview of it but do skip over to tri247.com for all the latest reports, interviews and news but if you are not yet converted go have a peek.


 The Trailman, the  5^th and final round of this winter’s Asics Off-road series was widely acclaimed by many as being the hardest even though on paper, with its rolling undulations and grassy slopes that was unexpected.  The course and venue were entirely new and as is so often the case in the off-road scene we got to race over trails that we would never be allowed on at any other time in the year. The wide open expanses of Eridge Deer park in Kent provided a stern test made infinitely harder by the deep mud sections which littered both the run and bike courses. This is a ‘Humanrace’ event after all and throughout the whole series they pride themselves on creating those ‘are we seriously going through/over/under/up/down that!?’ moments for the unsuspecting competitors who round the corner of some deep dark wood only to be presented with the aforementioned ‘treats’.  For the Trailman it was deep clay lined mud pits which sucked off trainers and made carrying the bike through it the quickest way. It goes without saying that race times were the slowest for the whole series taking the distances into account but that didn't make the racing any less intense.

On the first run with fellow Maxifuel athlete Sam Gardner and Oli Mahoney

Nearing the end of the Trailman Bike leg

Speaking personally I have had a pretty poor winter off-road season and was determined to try to salvage a good result from the final round. As I suspected, the race went off at lightening pace with around a kilometre entirely downhill to start with and from the off it was Colin Dixon and series winner Richard Stannard pushing the pace with Phil Westoby, Paul Davies and myself giving chase. As always, ladies series winner Kate Robson was not far behind and dominating the ladies race. For Kate however, the final race was to be wrestled from her by off-road specialist Fay Cripps who had excitedly shown me her brand new Carbon ‘29er’ race bike just before the off. She was very unsure as to how the new bike would feel, admitting to me that she had only done one ride on it since getting it and that was a race which she only won by some 20 minutes so not a conclusive performance, I’m sure you’d agree.....  Joking aside, she took command of the lead of the bike leg and was then able to win on the final run. Fay finished 9^th overall and Kate was 14^th so despite most of the men being ‘Chicked’ it also made the lead men sit up and take notice of two seriously good athletes. 

Back with the men, Richard Stannard used his strength on the bike (also riding a ‘29er’ by the way) to put the race beyond doubt before finishing with around a minute in hand over a hard chasing and effervescently evergreen Colin Dixon. Paul Davies completed another strong off-road winter series by taking 3^rd and I did everything I could to catch Oli Mahony as we approached the finish but couldn’t quite get there.  The racing has definitely been a lot tougher in the series this year. Last year, I started the series by winning the opening round by over 3 minutes and this year, coupled with the fact that I have been going like a bag of spanners on the bike the competition has been much tougher.  The series’ success not only demonstrated Humanrace’s commitment to Duathlon and their ability to unlock special venues but also the growing number of multi-sporters in the UK who only race off road.  With a number of winter series now and the Scott national X-Tri series spanning the traditional tri season,  the UK race scene seems to be harnessing the potential for traffic free adventure and a sense of having ‘got through it’ above just ‘completing it’. 

QX Wasing Cross Duathlon 2nd

The start of the QX Wasing Duathlon 2012

As the Cross Duathlon season draws to a close I was on the look out for a race to use to keep sharp as we approach the Asics series final, the Trailman, next Saturday.

Quest Xtreme's events ( www.qxmultisport.co.uk ) were something I had seen advertised for a couple of years now and so I decided to try their 6k/20k/6k Cross Du on the Wasing estate  near Reading.
It's a great place to visit and like a lot of these off road races you would never get the chance to ride or run over those hardly used trails  were it not for events like these.       I'm running quite well at the moment but (and as a coach I am quite happy to admit this) my bike form is simply awful.  I think it's just one of those rough patches that you go through and I'm not particularly worried about it but it is annoying when it stops you being able to enjoy just good trails because you feel like the brakes are on the whole time.  Anyway - Stop complaining Cox! - Jay Horton came bombing past me on his 29er after I'd headed out onto the bike with a good lead and there was no way I could catch him after that. It was a good win and he's starting to run really well now so I have to wonder - is he going to step up to the Humanrace Asics series next winter? I hope so.  Speaking of which, the final round, next week is still open for entries for the next two days I believe so if you're keep then get over to  http://humanrace.co.uk/events/duathlon/trailman  I hope to see lots of you there.

MTB leg at the wasing QX Duathlon

Asics Tuffman and the return to feeling.....better?

Winter really has finally kicked off with a flurry of snow and freezing weather in the UK hasn't it? 


After going over my last calf niggle and cold I was delighted, I have to say, just to be on the start line at the Asics Tuffman in Sussex last Saturday. It was the scene of my worst performance in the series last year and I'd be the first to admit that the technical, ever changing cambered nature of the bike course is not to my liking and so my goal was just to get through it and see what happens (note to all the athletes I coach: never do this for a race..!) 


The race was completely different to last year's muddy conditions in that everything was frozen solid and so, actually, the bike leg became much faster. Not that that helped me! I had a reasonable run and then just didn't get going on the bike. I clawed back a few places on the final run and 9th was, well.... I finished. I'm happy in that respect. Paul Davies had a great run and it was looking like his day until he had contact lens problems and the race in general was a real demonstration of the strength in depth of British cross du/tri racing at the moment.  

Richard Stannard continued his domination of the series this winter by winning and Kate Robson, who was in my Worlds team in Spain last September also continued hers by winning again. 
Over the next few weeks I'm going to try to build to the final round, the Trailman and see if I can end the series on a high. We'll see.

In and around that I've been making plans for the next few weeks and these include doing the Kingswood Cross Du in Kent, then the QX Cross Du in Reading, followed by the Trailman and then the road bound (Argh!!) Bison Challenge in my beloved Chilterns before heading to Club La Santa for two different training camps back to back.  Bring on the sun, sand and green team sandwiches. And Fries. And a large Coke. And an ice cream. Spot of crazy golf? Is that the time? Doppio Espresso please... Man I'm hungry.

Another cold, a district team title, another win, a course record and a calf injury (busy...!)

After the disappointment of missing out on both the first two Asics races my ill tempered and disobedient body decided to throw in a cold for good measure which was washed down with yet another sinus infection and a liberal sprinkling of antibiotics. 

Happy New year by the way! 

So,  seemingly clear of that I managed to drag my body around the county XC champs in Stevenage to help St Albans Striders to the team title as the 5th counter of six. I was on the last two days of antibiotics at the time and so as I have always found when on them, my powers of recovery were zero and I was subsequently  treated to a good 3 days of being only just able to walk.

Recovered in time by last weekend I took to the start line of a race I have never done before, the Waddenhoe Quadmire Duathlon in Buckinghamshire. It was a great race and on a really tidy short sharp circuit. Its a classic example of where I believe Duathlon should be headed in this country and in a way it is much more in keeping with the continental style of sprint race based on a short, sharp, feature packed course.  I actually felt great and went on to win and set a new course record but could really feel my left calf tightening over the final run in my spikes on the rough, frozen ground and now, a week on, I have not been able to run at all. It is healing but two days before the defence of my Wildman title in the Asics series it's all up in the air again..... 

Hey ho. We take the rough with the smooth in sport and as I always say, without the troughs there are no such things as peaks. It's all relative! I hope to see some of you on Saturday in the sands of Hankley Common.