Season done and dusted. The finale should have been a big Saturday at Barca and a hectic Sunday in Fife. Sadly mother nature had other plans for Spain. Funny thing is the exact same thing happened 2 years ago. We had a group of kids heading to Valencia and all was well but the week after..unprecedented floods. Turns out not unprecedented at all. IM now have a bit of an issue with 13 races this year having had the swim or the race cancelled. Even the Outlaw was a duathlon. It will be interesting to see how the many thousands that signed up, paid big cash, trained hard only not to get what they paid for will do next. On Sunday a very different event. Low key, local and joyous. Lochore is sadly in Fife but genuinely a class venue for multisport. 7 different races all in one spot and yet it almost didnt happen. Entries were at a level that meant the race would lose money. All race organisers are finding the same issues. Spiralling costs and too few punters. Same story at Aberfeldy, Craggy Island to name a couple more. The races did go ahead and we were treated to some magical moments. Sean and I had 7 athletes in play and 6 of the 7 made podiums. Could have been 7 but for a navigational issue. Not AG podiums (which are cool) but the actual 123 at the pointy end. Its worth thinking about the race card for next year. All the eggs in one basket or maybe something more balanced?

The bad news? It doesn't happen overnight. Its an apprenticeship. Your best long distance race is NEVER the first one. Its more likely its going to take 3, 4 years maybe even longer. The first one is a voyage into the unknown going somewhere your body and your brain has never been. The next one you learned some stuff so its likely to be stronger but it takes time to build that really deep fitness and mental fortitude it takes to race long. Sure you can complete faster but you arent pushing until you have learned about yourself. Maybe tradesmen know..an apprenticeship is 4 years for a reason.

To paraphrase if you can meet triumph and disaster and treat both those imposters the same.. Every week we can celebrate triumphs great and small but over the season there are far more disasters and downsides. It set me thinking when one athlete went from National Champion to a DNF and a 'gave up'. Then add in flawless prep and execution for a highly diligent athlete only to be robbed by a DQ. Set me thinking so I wrote a wee piece (full version available) and made a wee sideshow. Hope its interesting

First timer on the full IM distance, what’s folks thoughts on wearing cycling shorts/top for full cycle? I have trisuit I wore at Celtman solo, comfort wise was fine but thinking will it be comfortable do the full cycle? It’s a zone3 trisuit. I appreciate time will be lost being a fashionista with multiple outfit changes 😁

Has come up 3 time this week and is something I have been working on in my own swimming. The guys at Swim Smooth were huge on this - their mantra was higher stroke rates are always faster and they did have some great back up data that showed the worlds fastest OW swimmers in tri were at 80SPM. Couple of things I have learned over the years that add in nicely. The bigger you are and by bigger I mean taller, more muscular, bigger hands and feet you do not gain as much as a smaller less powerful athlete by taking the stroke rate up. If you simply try and take your stroke rate up without having sound mechanics - there is a fair chance you lose grip on the water and work harder but actually go slower. Some people present as being 'one paced'. This is generally a lack of gears and is cemented in by them just swimming the same every time with no thought or focus to improve. That may not be deliberate as it does seem our sense of movement can be soluble in water. Gears are important - if we try to vary pace so if we swim slowly we may exert less force or even just swim lazy - both of which train us not to swim well. The stroke should be the same on every repetition - the change in pace coming from the increased speed of rotation. The hands don't move faster through the water - if the do we have lost grip. I looked at a range of swims to see what the data says - you may identify yourself in here. No names to protect the innocent. of course there are too many variables to make this a 'study' but I think it offers some insight. All pool swims. Person Normal pace/ SR Best pace/SR A 2:30/50 2:23/ 54 B 2:26/50 2:18/53 C 2:04/54 1:56/58 D 2:03/31 1:57/34 E 2:00/64 1:47/62 F 2:01/50 1:56/ 54 G 1:49/54 one paced H 1:56/48 1:46/51 I 1:53/60 1:47/63 J 1:46/50 1:28/58 K 1:46/60 one paced L 1:44/50 1:40/50 M 1:46/60 1:34/66 N 1:38/60 1:26/64 O 1:37/60 1:27/66 P 1:35/58 1:24/64 Q 1:35/60 1:18/70 R 1:33/54 one paced S 1:26/63 1:19/66 Whilst not 100% the case there is a strong correlation with stroke rate and speed. Always an exception that proves the rule but pretty much all the sub 2 times are 54 or greater, all the sub 1:30's are north of 60.