Olympic legend has put me in the zone

WOW. Now, I am not worried at all.

In fact, bring on the London Triathlon.

It is not every day you get advice from an Olympic champion. Sorry, Olympic legend.

But when Ian ‘Thorpedo’ Thorpe popped into the Nottingham Evening Post the other day (top right), he was only too happy to offer me a few words of wisdom about how to treat the next couple of weeks before the big day.

And all those insecurities and fears about the swim, bike and run in London evaporated when Thorpe told me to, well, stop being stupid.

Enjoy the day. It’s party time.

And when a five-time Olympic swimming champ offers a word or two in your ear, you make sure you’re listening.

“My personal opinion,” he explained. “Your training should always have been harder than what the competition is.

“The competition itself is the time to celebrate all of that hard work that you have put in.

“The early mornings, the times when you come home and can barely stay up to eat your meal before you go to bed just to wake up and do it all again the next day.

“It is just about enjoying the competition, don’t be frightened of it.

“Think of that when you are competing, remember the hard work you put in to get there and remember how you got through it, got back up, got back on the bike and kept on going.

“Remember how you kept running even though you wanted to stop and keep all of those reminders there because it will be worthwhile.

“It is one of those things where it is an accomplishment for yourself rather than just going in there and looking at where you come, what the result was.

“The hard work in the lead up is as important as what the end result is.”

And with those words of wisdom, I offered him a shake of the hand, hopped on the train and got back to my training.

But instead of fear, the Thorpedo has instilled a sense of excitement in me.

August 2 cannot come soon enough.

To follow Stevie's progress on Twitter, click here or for the full story behind Stevie taking up the London Triathlon challenge, click here

Visit www.justgiving.com/stevieroden to sponsor Stevie.

American-based sports giant Under Armour have backed Stevie in his quest to complete the London Triathlon and raise cash for When You Wish Upon A Star by agreeing to become his official sponsor.They have provided him with a whole range of their latest hi-tech training gear to help in all weathers, and a new tri-suit for the race itself. For more information visit http://www.underarmour.com/

You can't teach an old dog new tricks

I paid a visit to the swimming complex at the University of Nottingham the other day.

I went down to see Nova Centurion head coach Bill Furniss as he put his charges through their paces.

Stood poolside, I looked on as double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington effortlessly clocked up the lengths.

Dozens were in the pool, of all ages, and I spoke to a few teenagers like Georgia Hohmann, Ann Morris and Dan Mills (top right) who are all heading to this week’s European Junior Championships in Prague.

Bill pointed out that this was a nice easy session, almost like a warm down.

But as the youngsters glided through the water, doing a variety of strokes, they made it look so easy.

With a smile and almost looking like they were not moving, they were covering the 25m lengths in a time I could only dream of. And they were not even trying.

With less than four weeks to go until I battle the London Triathlon, I spent a few minutes looking on to pick up on their clinical technique.

For my 1,500m swim on the first leg in the Docklands, I will probably be doing mainly breaststroke. It will hardly help my time, but it might ensure I complete it without being plucked from the water.

So the following morning, armed with the knowledge of watching Nottingham’s elite and world’s best in Adlington (bottom right), I headed for my local pool.

Goggles on, I went about my repertoire of strokes and it felt good. For about 50m.

Then I began to lose all coordination, I tired rather quickly and ended up splashing around in the water like my old mongrel dog Rebel when we used to let him play in the Hardwick Lakes as kids.

It is too late in the day to teach this old dog new tricks.

Who was I kidding. Watching on for five minutes at a Nova training session was hardly going to help me swim like any of them.

They are reaping the rewards of years of total dedication, week after week of gruelling training to rival any other competitor in any other sport.

Me, I have just been doing enough to ensure I have it in the locker to get over the finish line in the ExCel Arena.

It will be hard. It might look clumsy and a little awkward and lacking the finesse of a Nova swimmer, a Notts AC runner or top biker.

But I don’t care, as long as I make it.

To follow Stevie's progress on Twitter, click here or for the full story behind Stevie taking up the London Triathlon challenge, click here

Visit www.justgiving.com/stevieroden to sponsor Stevie.

American-based sports giant Under Armour have backed Stevie in his quest to complete the London Triathlon and raise cash for When You Wish Upon A Star by agreeing to become his official sponsor.They have provided him with a whole range of their latest hi-tech training gear to help in all weathers, and a new tri-suit for the race itself. For more information visit http://www.underarmour.com/

Pain is temporary, failure is permanent

I pulled on a T-shirt to train in the other day with a slogan that sums it all up.

It was one handed out for competing in the Lincoln Triathlon back in April.

Emblazoned across the chest are the following words.

Pain is temporary. Failure is permanent.

And as my legs buckled underneath me on yet another run, on yet another day of training, it simply acted as a spur.

There is no room for failure. And as the London Triathlon edges ever nearer (five weeks from now), the enormity of the task in hand becomes clearer and clearer.

It is a lot different from training back in January and February. The sun is out for one.
And while it is pleasant, the heat is making the step up in training even harder. But it could be 30c on August 2, so I have to be ready.

But as I wilt with the sweat pouring, I have those words etched into the back of my eyes.
Failure is permanent. Failure is permanent.

And as if I did not need any extra pressure piled on me, it arrived the other day in the form of a man I have never met.

Notts County kindly put a small piece on their website earlier this week, telling of my bid.
As I used to cover the club for the paper, their press officer gave it a plug.

What I did not expect was for one Magpies fan to support my bid and When You Wish Upon A Star by donating £100.

The name - David Wilkinson.

A generous, kind, welcoming act for which I am so grateful.

But when such sponsorship comes in, as it has been of late in various forms, you know there is no room to mess it up.

I must complete the 1.5k swim, 40k bike ride and 10k run. The pain will fade, letting people down would never go away.

So that slogan from Lincoln will stay with me now right to the finish.

I do not want to be remembered as a failure forever.

To follow Stevie's progress on Twitter, click here or for the full story behind Stevie taking up the London Triathlon challenge, click here

Visit www.justgiving.com/stevieroden to sponsor Stevie.

American-based sports giant Under Armour have backed Stevie in his quest to complete the London Triathlon and raise cash for When You Wish Upon A Star by agreeing to become his official sponsor.They have provided him with a whole range of their latest hi-tech training gear to help in all weathers, and a new tri-suit for the race itself. For more information visit http://www.underarmour.com/

Great triathlon training advice in the Nick of time

After almost six months slogging away with my training, I needed a little inspiration to get me down that final straight.

And this week it arrived, in the shape of an e-mail that popped up on my screen while at work.
The sender. Nick Dunn (top right).

Immediately, the name rang a bell.

He is the West Bridgford triathlete who finished an astonishing second in last year’s London Triathlon. The winner of the 2008 Nottingham Triathlon.

The man who stormed to victory in the Mansfield Sprint Triathlon back in April - my first ever one in which I finished nearer 200th than first!

I knew his name as I wrote an article about him a couple of years ago and by chance, he stumbled across the story of my bid and called in with some advice months ago.

Turns out he was sifting through his e-mails, spotted my name and dropped me a line to ask how I was getting along.

At the bottom, the line of if you need any advice, just...

Before I could finish reading, I had fired one back. I’ll take up that offer. After all, this is a leading triathlete, a man with a successful personal training business in the city. I would be silly not to ask for a few pointers.

And by the time the day was out, there it was. A detailed e-mail back instructing me how to fine tune, get fitter and build myself up in the last few weeks to be in optimum shape for the rigours of the London Triathlon - 1.5k swim, 40k bike ride and 10k run.

Boy, do I have my work cut out. I have a feeling I will not have much spare time on my hands.

A mixture of long distance, intense and mixed sessions stand before me and Sunday August 2 when I take to the waters of London’s Victoria Docks.

But, unlike before, this variety has given me that spring back in my step and a thirst for more training.

Just six weeks. Six tough weeks.

But thanks to the tips and advice of Nick Dunn, I feel I might just get over that finish line.


To follow Stevie's progress on Twitter, click here or for the full story behind Stevie taking up the London Triathlon challenge, click here

Visit www.justgiving.com/stevieroden to sponsor Stevie.

American-based sports giant Under Armour have backed Stevie in his quest to complete the London Triathlon and raise cash for When You Wish Upon A Star by agreeing to become his official sponsor.They have provided him with a whole range of their latest hi-tech training gear to help in all weathers, and a new tri-suit for the race itself. For more information visit http://www.underarmour.com/

It's about time I got back on the bike

I must get back on the bike this week but to be honest, I am dreading it.

And not because I have just had a slight break from training while I enjoyed a week on holiday.

More because just before, a friend of mine I was riding with came crashing down at about 20mph. And it wasn’t pretty.

Thankfully, there were no broken bones.

And I am glad, as I think I might have caused his crash!

Hurtling down the Five Pits trail, my mate Phil had dropped a good 20 metres behind after we had finished an uphill sprint.

Thinking he was taking a breather, I carried on pushing a little harder believing he was well back on the gravelled track.

That was until I slowed down, inadvertently drifted to my right only to hear some kind of warning scream and than a buckling of my back tyre.

He had been racing up behind, going past me when I wondered into his path and I heard the screeching of brakes, a slight tug on my back wheel and then the noise of Phil and his bike careering across the gravel into a hedge bottom.

Blood from head to toe, some pretty bad cuts but as he jumped up quickly, it appeared nothing broken.

With a bridge and steep drop just a few more metres up the track, it could have been a lot more serious. But he found the heavily bramble-filled hedge to the side of the track.

A steady ride back to base, a clean up and soon he was feeling the full force of the crash, sore and struggling to walk.

He took it all in good spirits, but I think he was glad I was away soon after on holiday so we did not have to hit the trail again. He would be safer on his own.

And after I punctured his tyre on his road bike in the Macclesfield Triathlon a week or so earlier, I doubt whether he fancies coming out biking with me again!

Either way, I need to dust mine down and get some miles under my belt this week, after all, the London Triathlon is just seven weeks away.

But after seeing a crash at those speeds first hand, I am a little bit daunted about getting back on two wheels.

Well, I’ll have to be man about it. It’s time to up the training as time is running out.

To follow Stevie's progress on Twitter, click here or for the full story behind Stevie taking up the London Triathlon challenge, click here

Visit www.justgiving.com/stevieroden to sponsor Stevie.

American-based sports giant Under Armour have backed Stevie in his quest to complete the London Triathlon and raise cash for When You Wish Upon A Star by agreeing to become his official sponsor.They have provided him with a whole range of their latest hi-tech training gear to help in all weathers, and a new tri-suit for the race itself. For more information visit http://www.underarmour.com/

Bubble bursts in Macc Land

Forget Rookie of the Year, more like Chump of the Year following a disaster at the Macclesfield Triathlon.

High hopes of completing the 400m swim, 25k bike ride and 7.2k run were quite literally blown apart.

After borrowing a proper road bike, I was flying at the start of the bike course, making my way through the scenic back roads of Macclesfield. I felt in great condition.

Overtaking a few of my fellow competitors, confidence was growing. This road bike makes a real difference.

It was only just after half 8 in the morning, I had been up since 5.15am and made the 75-minute drive over the Cat and Fiddle to get there. The swim had gone well, it all seemed so worth it.

That was until I turned onto the A34 and within seconds, I struck a hole in the road and my back tyre blew apart.

I could see it coming, I just could not avoid it without risking pulling out in front of an overtaking car.

As the thin tyre popped, the bike shook violently from side to side as I came to a shuddering halt on the grass verge.

A few expletives sprang to mind, especially as it dawned on me that with this new bike, I had no spare inner tube. No back up plan. No mobile phone. No chance.

A few competitors came past and the friendly nature overtook that competitive edge as they asked if I was okay, fearing I had an accident.

I waved them on with a smile before realising I had a good five or six mile trek back to the transition zone at the local leisure centre.

It was like a run of shame, pushing the bike along where I had just come from while wave after wave of triathletes went about their work, many offering their commiserations as they flew past.

But to end with a DNF against my name was a miserable experience, especially given the effort put in to training.

Maybe I should have put a little more effort into the planning in case such a blow out happened!

Lessons learned and one more to help me make a successful trip around the London circuit come August.

I just wish now that early morning alarm clock had never gone off.

A lie in would have been much more rewarding that a wasted trip to Macclesfield.

To follow Stevie's progress on Twitter, click here or for the full story behind Stevie taking up the London Triathlon challenge, click here

Visit www.justgiving.com/stevieroden to sponsor Stevie.

American-based sports giant Under Armour have backed Stevie in his quest to complete the London Triathlon and raise cash for When You Wish Upon A Star by agreeing to become his official sponsor.They have provided him with a whole range of their latest hi-tech training gear to help in all weathers, and a new tri-suit for the race itself. For more information visit http://www.underarmour.com/

Stevie Roden - Rookie of the Year?

I can see it now, Stevie Roden - Rookie Champ 2009.

Medal wrapped around my neck, maybe even the national anthem.

Hang on, I am getting carried away a little bit.

It is just this Sunday will see me compete in my third Sprint Triathlon - this time in Macclesfield.

But I noticed the first person back out of the first-year competitors will be crowned the rookie champ.

A chance to really put myself to the test. Rather than flagging down near towards the 200th finisher, I could have something to aim for over the 400m swim, near 26k bike ride and 7.2k run.

Training has been going well and I have finally got my hands on a road bike.

An old mate of mine, going back years, has popped up to team up as my training partner when he is free.

And Phil Ashmore has come to the rescue by letting me borrow his gleaming yellow road bike. It is the real deal.

Now, I have mentioned in the past how much quicker I could go on this. It could shave a few minutes off my time. And practice has gone well.

The real test will come in Macclesfield.

So, a better, more purpose-built bike over the bulk of the course will stand me in good stead.

Rookie champ it is then.

Well, a quick look at the times of the Rookie winners from the past two years made it clear. I should dream on.

It appears, looking at their times, I would need a propeller on by back in the pool and not just a road bike but two wheels that are powered by petrol. And as for the run, maybe a pair of roller blades?

If I wanted such a title, to get into that kind of shape I think I would have to quit work and train full time!

I should forget Rookie of Macclesfield. Instead, I should concentrate on just staying awake.

An 8.05am start time means getting up at 5.15am on Sunday morning.

Forget Rookie champ, rising at that time at a weekend will be an even bigger accomplishment.

To follow Stevie's progress on Twitter, click here or for the full story behind Stevie taking up the London Triathlon challenge, click here

Visit www.justgiving.com/stevieroden to sponsor Stevie.

American-based sports giant Under Armour have backed Stevie in his quest to complete the London Triathlon and raise cash for When You Wish Upon A Star by agreeing to become his official sponsor.They have provided him with a whole range of their latest hi-tech training gear to help in all weathers, and a new tri-suit for the race itself. For more information visit http://www.underarmour.com/