First Post (kind of)

I suppose that this should be some sort of introduction and explaination, so let's get the niceties out of the way first.
I am a middle of pack (mop to the uninitiated) triathlete. My first triathlon was a sprint event way back in 1989 after I had been getting bored with running, which had always been my main sport. (again, MOP, sometimes a bit higher if a strung some training together). Every five or ten years I would half-heartedly get back into running or even give triathlon another go, lose a stone or so and then stop and put the weight back on. It was a constant yo-yo with no real ambition, aim or point to what I was doing other than the vague aim to 'get fit'. And then about six years ago a colleague at work passed away following a sudden illness and that same week I saw a photograph of myself that had been taken at a family party, that showed me with big rosy cheeks and one more chin than I should have had. These events were the wake up call that told me I needed to get some semblence of fitness back in my life and the next week I had joined my local tri club and was drowning, in only a semi-controlled way in the slow lane at the club swim session.

So where does the paddling and Devizes to Westminster race come into it then? Well, until last year it did not feature at all. The DW was a race that I had heard of but I had no real knowledge of. However, last year was spent with me dealing (badly!) with an injury which completely wiped out my triathlon season so as I had been asked by Jamie to take part in the DW with him, it seemed like a good challenge to give me something to do. It turned out to be one of the hardest, but yet most enjoyable physical challenges that I have ever done and I really wanted to have another go to inprove on our performance from 2010. It also introduced me to a sport that I have got a lot out of; core strength, upper body conditioning, mental toughness, but most importantly it allowed me spend a lot of time with my bro. One of life's good guys who I had slowly been losing touch with.

This year has seen an improvement in my triathlon performance (I completed three races compared to none last year; always a good start). As I am now in the 40-45 age category I have suddenly found mysely moving up in the age group races, which has been a pleasant surprise. I have also discovered the joys of bike time trialling this year in a desperate effort to get my skinny little legs turning the pedals over faster. So all in all, this year, quite unexpectedly, has been a good year. :-)

Blogging is truly self-indulgent and I have written a couple of other blogs, most notably on tritalk, where I have been fortunate to get a lot of advice from people a lot more knowledgable than I about how to train and compete. Then Jamie and I started training for the DW and we started a blog on the canoe and kayak website to log our exploits and get advice on training that would hopefully keep us out of harm's way. Two blogs, quite frankly, seemed ridiculous and quite hard work (I was meant to be training, not tapping away at a computer). So, it seemed like a good idea to combine the two and just have the one place where I posted my inane drivel.

My aim next year, is to compete in my first long course triathlon. With four Half-Ironman events to my name over the last three years and a host of other events, this ambition is long overdue and I hope to give it a really good go next summer. This blog is my way of keeping a tally on what I am doing. If anyone is reading this, then that's great but like most blogs, is about me, me, me, so please don't expect much else. I also have a really annoying habit of changing my plans constantly. (This beacme very apparent the other night when I was looking back at my old blog; the changes in direction were truly staggering.

Anyway, when I've worked out what the next six months might entail, I'll stick it down here.