'Augcember'

England 4, Croatia 1!!!! Theo Walcott scores his first hatrick for England, fantastic stuff. Walcott is clearly a very talented footballer, however correct me if I am wrong but as a winger/ striker/ attacking midfield player is it not his role to be penetrating defences and scoring goals?? I guess it's the madness that we call the British media, but come on the young lad has simply done what he is on the pitch to do. Of course the media wagon will gain momentum, investigating his private life and making all sorts of comparisons, Gary Lineker scored 6 hatricks for England, so young Walcott you've a long way to go. There were more Walcott media pages post the Croatia game than for all our successful Para-Olympians, they are the real sporting hero's this week.

Unfortunately I haven't managed to watch as much of the Para-Olympics as I'd have liked but what I have seen is awesome. Ultimately these guy's are doing exactly the same as the athlete's a few weeks ago, devoting hours of their live's in the pursuit of sporting excellence, training, competing and living the life of a top level sports performer. I took a great deal of inspiration from the athletes a few weeks ago, but there is even more inspiration to be taken from the athletes achievements at the Para-Olympics, absolutely fantastic!!!!

Big new's this week was that Lance Armstrong will come out of retirement to compete in the 'Tour de France 2009' I am a huge, huge fan of Armstrong, and can't wait to see if he will be competitive on a bike again. One things for sure he's got some suffering to go through on his bike in the coming months!! If anyone can endure suffering then I guess it's Lance!!

'Augcember' was a new month that Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse invented as they presented to the Dragon's in the Dragon's Den on their new comedy show. I really enjoyed Harry Enfield in the late 80's early 90's as he played various character's on 'Friday Night Live' and 'Harry Enfield and Chums', Stavross the kebab owner and Loadsamoney, however they both looked very dated on Friday night. It feels a little like 'Augcember' at the moment. My race season is all but over, a 25 mile tt next Sunday, possibly a 10 mile tt a week later and posssibly a Relay Triathlon in early October. I am looking forward to these races but all are quite low key. Given that I haven't done much in the way of time trialling this season it will be less about absolute time trialling performance and more about giving me an idea of where I am as I enter the winter. For some athletes this time of year allows for a month of rest and recuperation. I feel quite refreshed, and given that I haven't done that much since Ironman Switzerland I don't really need a rest. IM Lanzarote seems a long, long way off, and it doesn't quite feel like it's time to start building the base miles. Where does that leave me? During the next few weeks of 'Augcember' I am trying to establish some training routines that I will stick with throughout the winter.

One of those routines aims to inject some quality into my running. On monday evening I did my first run interval session (for a long, long time). Just out of my village there is a very quiet, dead end road measuring 3/4 mile, on a very steady incline. I ran each interval hard, covering the first downhill interval at 6.09min/mile pace, up at 6.28 pace, down at 6.16, and up at 6.38 min/mile pace, all on 2 minute recoveries. I was pleased with this session and aim to do something similar each week.

My second aim of the week was to run to work and run home again. Wednesday morning was bright and warm and I covered the 8 miles in 64 minutes 30 seconds. It is a mixed terrain route 3 miles of road, 3.5 miles of grassy river bank, and 1.5 miles of road to finish, so it's an 8 miler with a little variety. After a pretty active day at work, a game a badminton, and a couple of rugby training sesisons I set off for home. I arrived 64 minutes later, feeling good. I was pleased to have done this session, and aim to complete it weekly throughout the winter. I think the key to completing this session is to spring out of bed, change and go, leaving no time to change my mind or investigate the weather. At the other end of the day I just need to avoid the temptation to seek a lift home.

In addition to my run's I have cycled into work on 3 days. Overall it's been a very steady training week, but I have hit both of my run aims. During the month of 'Augcember' I'm not going to be beating myself up if I don't manage a long ride, or I decide to take an additional rest day. I will be looking to build a weekly training platform, which includes much more running to complement the cycling volume that will accumulate quite naturally.

Next Sunday's I will race a 25 mile time trial. It has been a long time since I've raced in a '25' and I'm looking forward to it. My Dad will also be racing, so that will be great. I am confident that I can push myself for 25 miles and will hope to see a heart rate into the high 170's, what I am a little unsure of is how fast I will go. I'd hope to be around the 60 minute mark. If the weather is kind and my legs deliver I think I can dip under the hour, however I am being realistic. One things certain when the starter say's '5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO' it will be game on and 60 minutes deep inside the hurt box, bring it on!!! I will let you know how I get on next week.