Very late with this post

So since I last updated you all I've done a couple races, those being the BUCS sprint triathlon and the Slateman sprint triathlon. Even though the were both 'sprints' they were different distances the BUCS one was a 750 metre pool swim, 25k bike and a 5k run and Slateman one was a 400 metre open water swim, 20k bike and a 5k run. Both of them were just as challenging as the other the BUCS was completely flat and slateman was basically a hill.

So first the BUCS race, now this was possibly the worst race I've had. I had a reasonably good swim doing the swim in 11:16 which I was pleased with. However when I got out of the pool I could just tell something wasn't right, I just didn't feel right. Nevertheless I got on to the bike and set off, that's when I really knew it was going to be my day. Every time I tried to get up to race pace I would get pains which went from my lower back into my gluteus and hamstrings, this happened all the way around the bike course which meant I finished the bike in 50:16 (#tortoise). So on to the run, I was really tight coming off the bike but I wanted to try and make so time up but that wasn't to happen as I finished the run in 19:45. Overall my race time was 1:23:45! Which I was not happy with. 

The following day I spent about half an hour stretching and half an hour on the foam roller just to try and loosen myself off and it help a lot. I now had roughly 2 weeks to get ready for slateman and I didn't let up that week we did one the hilliest rides I've ever been on, and it wasn't a slow one (there was a bit of willy waving going on I think) and then there was chain gang the day after which was done in torrential rain, that was also done at quite a quick pace! Then there were some other rather hard running sessions through the week. I decided that I would drive home on Wednesday two days before the race so I could a open water swim session in before the race. I also booked a sports massage on the Thursday to try and avoid a repeat of the BUCS race.

So Saturday came up rather quickly and so did the race! My mum and I got to the race an hour before I got all my stuff ready and just before setting off to the transition zone I thought I'd pump my tyres up and as pulled the pump out the bloody tyre burst! Now I was left panicking whilst I change the tyre which ate into my warm up time. Once I had fannyed about with my bike I ran to transition to try and set up in time. I had about 15 minutes before I started and I had only just racked my bike. I had allsorts running through my head the main one being "well this is going just great".

Everyone in the first wave was called to the start. I jumped in the water and tried to do a bit of warm up swim. BUT NO, my goggles were leaking! I went back to the shallow bit and tried desperately to get them to stop leaking but as I was doing they decided to start the bloody race! Rude much? I through them one and just closed one eye all the way around. There is absolutely no way I swam 400m It must have been about 600m, I couldn't stay in a straight line! However after all of that I still managed to get out the water in a time of 8:36 and in 8th position! 

After a long run from the swim into transition I was on the bike. I didn't want a repeat of last time so I absolutely hammered it out of T1 to see what my legs would do and they seemed fine! Hallelujah! I hear you cry, he's finally going to stop moaning! Well I wouldn't get ahead of yourselves, I decided it would be a fantastic idea to not pay attention to the road a went over a bloody big pot hole (idiot). I ended up stopping outside of the mountain rescue centre and all of the people in there were watching the race, as they could see I was rather annoyed. One of them shouted over to me "you alright?" to which I answer "no punctured *frowny face*" (I didn't say frowny face obviously). There was a silence and he said "would you like an inner tube and pump then?". I don't think ive ever been so happy, he ran inside and came out with a inner tube, track pump and tyre leavers! As soon as I saw him I paused my watch and began to change the inner tube, it took me about 9 minutes and I was back on way!! So now I was chasing everyone which was great! I was going passed everyone that had passed me at the side of the road. I went on and finished the bike in 51:04 however I clocked 41:54 but you know that doesn't really count (which sucks).  

After a reasonable transition I was onto the run and holy crap that was one hard run! There were bits of it where you could have done with rock climbing gear, I have to admit I was reduced to a walk at time but I don't know many that weren't. I however fly down which I think helped me gain a few seconds at least. Once I got onto the last straight to the finish I felt surprisingly good, don't get me wrong I don't think I could have ran any further I just didn't feel like I needed a trip to the hospital after! So I finished the run in 27:59 which I guess I'm happy with, considering I've never ran 5km up a vertical hill. My overall time was 1:30:10 and I managed to finish 38th out of 431 which I'm very happy with considering I had a 9 minute rest on the bike! I worked out that if I hadn't had the little rest I would have come around 8th/9th but you know there's a MASSIVE if there.     

I'm quite happy now because I've proved to myself that I can actually ride a bike. Its also made me realise how much I've actually improved over the off-season. And I really want to thank all the people who are in the tri squad at Uni because if it wasn't you guys I still think I'd be plodding along on my bike and splashing around in the pool. So again a big thank you! I'm already looking forward to get back to Uni in September just to be in that training environment because it really is something else!     

Getting there!

Hi there! Hope everyone had a good Easter.

So I may have forgotten to update my blog after my race a couple of weeks ago... So I'll let you know how I did now.

My Swim time + T1 was 6:08, my T1, Bike and T2 was 1:02:30 and finally the bit where it all went wrong was the run which I completed in 40:19! D: The reason I had such a shocker of a run was because I got a pretty horrific stitch, it came on as soon as I jumped off the bike. I was hoping that I would just be able to run it off but I was wrong, I had to walk the first lap then  jog/walk the second lap. I felt pretty bad, I'm not going to lie! However, looking back now, I can take the positives from it; I had a good swim, and as far as my cycling is concerned I had a pretty good ride. :)

Two weeks on and I've had some good training and feel almost back to normal! I stress the word almost. Coming home for Easter has been good so far; I've been able to get out and see people from college and school and+ been able to get some training in with the lads from The Endurance Store  and TriTeamWigan. The Endurance Store do a really good mini duathlon every Tuesday; It's only a bike/run, but i's still difficult. The ride is always hard and the run is just as bad; for me it's a good way to see how I'm running off the bike, which at the moment is going quite well. I manage to keep at 5:30 per mile pace off the bike even if it was only 2 and a half miles!

I also quite like going to park runs, I think it's a great way to get some race pace training in (and also a good way to try and get a gift voucher from sweatshop, if you manage to win! Last Saturday I did the Park Run at Bolton and managed to get a new PB, I somehow managed to take off 26 seconds! 

Everything was going great until Sunday, when I woke up at 6 ready for The Endurance Store Sunday ride when I realised my throat was killing; naturally I thought I'd just slept with my gob open but to be on the safe side, I checked my throat in the bathroom, only to reveal ulcerated tonsils! So that was me back in bed.  Now I'm sat here with tonsillitis, waiting for it to clear up before I can start training again; It really does feel very stop start at the moment.

That's all from me now, hopefully you'll hear from me before the BUCS Sprint on the 4th of May.

Until then, take it easy!

James    

Not long now!

Hi again! It's not long now until my first race of the year, in fact it's tomorrow! I'm really looking forward to it as well! I'm doing the Clitheroe pool triathlon, which is a 400m swim, 30km bike and a 7km trail run; If you're in the area come and have a watch!

At the moment though, I'm not quite 100% fit; three months ago, during a 10k, I developed a pain in my foot. I finished the race, but for the next week I couldn't put my foot down.
I went to see a podiatrist to have it looked at and, lo and behold, stress fracture! Go me! It was recommended by the podiatrist that I took 6/7 weeks off running to make sure it would heal up, so I did just that.

After six weeks, I went for another check up and was given the all clear to start running again; So I went out on a slow 4 miler, but when I got in I couldn't walk again. You can imagine how annoyed I was.
My foot has been doing this for the past two months, every time I ran it would hurt and afterwards I wouldn't be able to walk again. However, finally (three months later), my foot has decided to stop hurting! Hurray! A bit too late though really as it chose to do this just six days before my first race! Good one...

So tomorrow I'll be starting my season off and hopefully I'll have a good day. The weather doesn't look to great, but this is Lancashire so what else would you expect? Not being able to run has actually done me a favour as I've been able to focus on my cycling and swimming which, if I'm honest with you, were the bits that needed work...a lot of work.
I think it has been paying off as well, I feel stronger on the bike and stronger in the pool.

Not being able to run has really opened my eyes, cycling and swimming are actually quite enjoyable. Albeit when the sun's out and it's about 18 degrees... I joke, of course, cycling isn't even fun then!

Anyway, I'm going to finish this sticky toffee pudding and get my stuff ready for tomorrow.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!

Just a little (probably quite long) intro

Hi there, thanks for reading.

So I'm going to give writing a blog ago after my sister keeps nagging me to do one. Now before you go on reading I must apologise in advance for my horrendous grammar and punctuation. The reason why its so poor is because I have dyslexia but that shouldn't really be an excuse.
Anyway, this blog is going to be about my endeavours in triathlon. First though, I would like to give you a little insight into how I got into triathlon, considering triathlon isn't really the most appealing sport in the world with it being three disciplines and all; let’s be honest, you have to be a little bit mental to swim, cycle and then run!

My journey into the triathlon world started with the failings of grassroot football. You see I love football, I absolutely love it! I would play football all day and all night if I could which made it such a hard decision to change sport. When I was around 7-10 years old, I used to play football for a local team which was fantastic, however I came unstuck when I got severs disease. Severs disease is an inflammation of the growth plates in the heels, which causes pain at the bottom of the heel when put under repetitive stress for example, when running. It's supposed to only last around 2 years unless of course, your name is James Scott-Farrington, in which case you get it for the maximum amount of time - 4 years. By the time it had subsided, I was about 14-15 and had missed most of the development stages for skill sports such as football - I had a lot of catching up to do. By year 11, I was playing football for a local team, but only played two or three games in a whole calendar year before we moved up to the adult league.

I'm a patient guy and quite often ill just get on with whatever job I'm given, so without much complaint, I found a new club to play for. Despite being quite easily the fittest person there I was finding it difficult to get any time on the pitch, which really started to grind on me. I had a word with the guy who had put me in contact with the team and he told me that there was never any chance of me getting a game because A.) I didn't go to school with any of them and B.) I wasn't in the local having a skinful every Friday night . Instead he found somewhere else for me and I trained with them for about 3-4 months until it ended pretty much the same way.

When I was with the first club I had started running about 5-6 miles every other night and, after I started to realise that football was a joke unless you know the manager or your the next Messi you've no chance, I started running some more.
There's probably a lot of people who would agree with that running is pretty dull, I mean come on, running for 40-60 minutes breathing out your arse on a concrete road isn't the best thing you could be doing! So I started to wonder what else I could do. What could make running more interesting? I don't know maybe swimming and cycling before it? 

Around November 2012 I went up to Leigh sports village, the home of tri team Wigan. It turned out I had visited on “time trial night”, whatever that means! I was told to warm up with everyone and do some strides to get ready for a 3km run around the track. I have to admit, I didn't really know what to expect as there looked to be a lot of fit people around me, so what should I do? just give it my best shot I guess. When the coach shouted go, I shot off; normally when someone new turns up and they shoot off at the beginning they normally die after the second lap. Not me though, I just kept running and to tell you the truth it wasn't very hard; I came in 2nd and I think I may have shocked a lot of people. That's when Mike Myers the main man at TTW came over to talk to me about what sessions they did and when.

Ever since then I've been hooked!
I had a good first year competing and I’ll be honest with you, triathlon is the one of the best things you could do. The atmosphere at races is incredible, the people are incredible and most importantly come the impending zombie apocalypse, you'll easily be to out run getting eaten! I joke of course, we're all screwed if the zombies take over.

At the moment I'm at Leeds Metropolitan University studying sports therapy and the Triathlon squad here is pretty unreal! Back at home I was the fastest runner, one of the quickest swimmers and average on the bike. Here at Uni however, I'm average at running, rubbish at swimming and well, the worst cyclist EVER! I wouldn't have it any other way though, as the only way to get better is if you train with people who are a lot better than you!

I think that's enough babble from me now! I hope you enjoyed reading,  I should be posting a few blogs pretty frequently considering its getting close to race season. Don't worry too much if you don't hear from me, I'm probably getting distract by 'Uni work'
Thanks for reading!