Posted by william newbery on Tuesday, October 11, 2016,
In the early 2000s I did a ski season in Courcheval. I had a sticker on the back of my helmet (it was the time when helmets were just coming in) and it said WilWorld. I was slightly different back then but I still feel like I live in my own little world. And the last 10 days or so I have lived in a little bubble in the middle of the pacific ocean. Hawaii has been an absolute blast but I am ready to come home now please. Ready to come home to start a new chapter in my life. Nothing has changed...
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Posted by william newbery on Tuesday, October 4, 2016,
I seem to have a habit of waking up at 3:30. Which is Kind of annoying as I'd like to have 1 good night's sleep but on Saturday I will have to be up at that time anyway - I guess it is quite good that I seem to be functioning quite well at that time, although I had a little snooze in the car at about about 12:30. So with a little bit of matchbox mathematics I will need to take a caffeinated gel at150km on the bike!!
Today was back into training mode. Off to swim in the sea once more and a crac...
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Posted by william newbery on Monday, October 3, 2016,
Sunday, day 3 and I have a bit of company in the mansions! Picked up Pablo last night from the airport and James and his girlfriend this evening.
Today was going to be a recovery day - in fact recovery day makes it sound too planned. Let's call it a do some fun touristy stuff day. But first we headed to the pool at the Kona aquatics centre. It is a real hive of activity and every time you turn around you see a different Pro. Sebastian Kienle, Yvonne Van Vlerken, Siri Lindley, Luke McKenzie, He...
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Posted by william newbery on Sunday, October 2, 2016,
Today was the Ho'ala practise swim. A chance to swim the whole course with others. Great experience and some useful insights - such as sighting is hard. No real land marks - hoping there will be more buoys on the day as kept drifting right.Had no oomph in my arms at all and came in exactly on 1 hour. Had some lovely fruit after, sitting on the grass watching the athletes finish and soaking up the atmosphere.
After some coffee I decided to run to Energy Lab. Glad I did as it is further than I e...
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Posted by william newbery on Saturday, October 1, 2016,
End of day 1 and it has been amazing. It is most definitely living up to expectations.
Swam a bit of the swim course and the water is so clear. There are fishes galore. It was very salty - as if I was licking a packet of salted crisps with extra salt!
After the swim I drove to just past the airport to a place called Donkey Crossing. Apparently it is called that because donkeys cross there.....
The first 3 minutes were ok. I was riding with Jan, a lady who I coach, and we were making nice progr...
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Posted by william newbery on Saturday, October 1, 2016,
My watch says it is 16:24 Thursday Hawaiian time but my body tells me it is 03:25 the day after and I have been dressed for 22 hours and according to the in flight planner thing I still have 3 and a half hours of flying time left and then a car trip to the condo at the end of Ali'i drive.
I managed to get an emergency exit row on the way to LA and so I had loads of leg room and could come and goals I please. However the flight to Kona is slightly more cramped and I am sitting over the wing, I...
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Posted by william newbery on Wednesday, September 28, 2016,
I've just realised it is only 10 days until race day. How has that come so quickly. My usual travel strategy of get to the race a few days before can't be implemented here obviously so I find myself confused and surrounded by bits of bike and clothing and wondering how I am going to get a training session in today. Not going to happen so I'll just have to do laps around Heathrow and LA tomorrow to keep myself sane.
My number for the race is 1723 and the race will be streamed live on Ironman Li...
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Posted by william newbery on Tuesday, September 27, 2016,
Here I am. 2 days from flying to Kona. I cannot quite believe still that I am actually going to be boarding a plane in 48 hours to travel to the Big Island and that I will be hanging out (from afar) with some of the Rock Stars of this sport. The plan is to play it cool and act like I belong there but I know that I will stand out like a sore thumb for one very obvious reason - my tan. Or lack of it. I will be doing my very best Caspar the friendly ghost impression.
Over the next 2 weeks I will...
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Posted by william newbery on Sunday, September 11, 2016,
This week has seen a bit of a drop in training. Picked up a head cold and so I am popping the vitamins and drinking lemon and honey like never before. It has affected my training this week - but I think it was needed - I did however manage a rather successful attempt at 4 hours on the indoor trainer on a particularly wet day on Saturday. Hooray for Netflix!
This slightly quieter week has actually come at a good time for me. I am being quite realistic about my goals at Hawaii. Sure I have times...
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Posted by william newbery on Saturday, September 3, 2016,
So the last post was all rosy and was I was in quite a positive mood. I can't promise this update will be as upbeat.
Before you say "oh great, another winging Ironman athlete saying training is hard blah, blah, blah" and close the page I urge you to stay here. You might learn something - not just about me but also what it takes etc etc.
I have never been able to hold a high volume of training without my body rebelling and shutting down. In the last 12 months my biggest month was 73 hours of tr...
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Posted by william newbery on Wednesday, August 17, 2016,
10 days or so into my prep for Hawaii and things are going well. I have managed to get in a couple of longer 80 mile rides in with confidence boosting runs after them both. The ride/run combo yesterday was done at the hottest part of the day and my Garmin bike computer said the temperature was about 88 degrees. I have no idea how accurate that is but I will put it in the good heat training box.
I tend to do most of my training on my own. Not because I am anti social or a grumpy bugger rather ...
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Posted by william newbery on Sunday, August 7, 2016,
I have never been that good at keeping this very up to date. Consistency in training is vital and I guess it is a good sign that I prioritise training over reporting. However I am hoping that some new found skills in organisation and planning will mean that over the next 8 and a bit weeks (eeeek) I will provide you with an insight into what will be my final Ironman distance race for a while. I think 3 in 1 year is enough and I intend to race shorter and more local races. It is a concept I hav...
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Posted by william newbery on Tuesday, July 26, 2016,
I don't think I realised how much I wanted to go to Hawaii until that roll down procedure.
For those that don't know I finished up outside the automatic slots by 2 places. So I was relying of a few variables the most important one was that 2 people didn't want to go to Hawaii or had already qualified. It turns out that 1 person ahead of me had already qualified so I was relying on 1 person to not want to go. Which I didn't think was very likely as it was a very competitive field.
What made ...
Posted by william newbery on Tuesday, June 21, 2016,
Last year I raced Ironman Nice. Most of you will know that I
had a solid race and managed to come 6th in my age group and thus
qualify for Ironman Hawaii. I expected my times to be what they were but I did
not expect to come 6th let alone get a sought after slot. So when
booking my flights, I came back on the Monday morning therefore not being at the
presentation awards where you have to be to accept and pay for your entry. In
fact, I am sure as I was in the taxi to the airport I could hear m...
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Posted by william newbery on Thursday, April 21, 2016,
In the past few days I have had the pleasure of spending time with some people on a camp in Mallorca.
I have offered tips on swimming, I have videoed them running and try to help improve their cycling and with the help of Tridynamic we have put together quite possibly the best camp lead by the best guides in the most amazing location.
I am fortunate enough to have been to some amazing places - for races, camps and holidays - but this has been a truly memorable experience.
But there is one thin...
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Posted by william newbery on Wednesday, April 8, 2015,
Don't say it too loudly but give yourself a pat on the back. You have survived another winter. Cold, dark and wet nights. Muddy trails and poor road surfaces. Cold swimming pools and warm beds. You may have managed a few winter 5k races, maybe even the odd sportive to keep the competitive flame burning, that familiar rattle in the lungs, burning of legs and click of multiple gear changes from people around you.Your main race is looming and you looking for that extra edge, that little somethin... Continue reading ...
Posted by william newbery on Sunday, June 29, 2014,
It has been a while since I have done a race report. Things have been busy. From a coaching point it seems that everyone is setting pb's, qualifying for championships races or winning age groups and races overall.
In September, after the World Championships in London, I felt I had got to the end of this cycle of training and racing and I wanted to go long again. The last time I made that decision in 2008 it was because I was looking for a new challenge, that I had got to a point with racing th...
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Posted by william newbery on Friday, March 28, 2014,
It's been a week since I returned from the recent Joe Friel and TriDynamic triathlon camp in Mallorca. I've had the fortune to work with the two giants of triathlon and camps for the las three years and the lure of some warm weather training in March made me more excited than a kid in a sweetshop.
Packing my summer bike clothes felt strange, but not something I was alien to. When I was ten we went on a family holiday to Tenerife in February and I couldn't get my head around getting a burnt no... Continue reading ...
Posted by william newbery on Friday, January 10, 2014,
For two years I have been racing and training with a focus of going fast(er) and hard(er). I reacquainted myself with the lung busting, leg burning, brain frying training sessions that would lead to being able to go as fast as possible.
Anyway, during my short course years, I still had friends and athletes I coach doing long course racing and training. Seeing them go for 5+ hour bike rides didn't make me think I really want to do that. I'd get back from a long ride (90 minutes) and think "so g...
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Posted by william newbery on Wednesday, October 2, 2013,
In :
Races
This is the race report I had been looking forward to
sharing with you all for ages. The one where I would write how the race went
perfectly from start to finish – how I swam at the back of the front pack, made
a few positions through transition, had a solid bike where I rode to the front
and got in a good group before coming in to transition and battling hard for a
place on the podium.
The reality was so close. I just didn’t know about it. I
have no excuses. I have no regrets. My equ...
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Posted by lorraine baker on Tuesday, September 17, 2013,
Challenge Henley Race Report – Sunday 8th September 2013
Tony and I arrived in Henley late Saturday morning to have some lunch before
walking to Phylis Court to register and drop off my T2 run transition bag,
containing trainers, socks, cap and 3 SIS gels. They use separate transitions at
Challenge Henley so we had to rack my bike and drop off my bike transition bag
next to the swim exit in T1 at the Henley Business School 3kms away from T2 at
Phylis Court. My T1 bag contained tri shoes,...
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Posted by william newbery on Friday, August 16, 2013,
I found myself entering this Longish distance
duathlon race for a variety of reasons.
1st was that I went to school in
the sleepy Dorset town and had missed the boat when the Ironman and Half Ironman
was held there.
2nd was that people had hinted that I could be quite a
useful duathlete.
3rd it fitted nicely into a mid season break from
racing that happened after Bournemouth.
In the week after taking the win
at the Bournemouth Triathlon I sat down with a friend of mine and respected
coach... Continue reading ...
Posted by william newbery on Sunday, July 7, 2013,
I have done The Bournemouth International triathlon 5 times before today. Some times the weather has been amazing and other times it was pretty shocking. Today, race number six in ten seasons, was a cracker. Still sea conditions, little or no wind and nice and warm.
After my qualification for the London World Championships at Dambuster 2 weeks ago training has just been ticking along. Bit of riding, small amount of running and some good swimming. It's hard to motivate yourself when your A race...
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Posted by william newbery on Sunday, June 23, 2013,
Two years ago or there about, when I heard that the World Olympic Distance Triathlon Championships were coming to London I knew I had to be part of it. Some triathletes put down the whole representing your country thing. I don't get that. Triathlon is amazing. What other sport lets you compete against the best of the best on the same course at the same time. Where else can you stand next to world champions knowing you are about to experience what they experience. How else can you do that whil...
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Posted by william newbery on Friday, June 14, 2013,
This report/update had been a little while in coming. For that I apologise.
After the disaster that was losing the father’s race at my son’s year 1 sports day it was time to move to more the familiar territory of all things Swim, Bike and Run with the Primera Swashbuckler Middle Distance Race.
Organised by the Race New Forest Team at the stunning Buckler’s Hard location I knew the race would be a high quality event and with the event being the club championships for Thames Turbo I...
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Posted by william newbery on Thursday, May 23, 2013,
I woke up early on Wednesday morning having slept well. I made Oscar and my breakfasts and lunches and sat down with him at the table - he read Joe Lion's magic Boots whilst sipping an apple juice and I had a coffee and read the paper. The sun was shining and we discussed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and what causes Tornadoes. A normal Wednesday school day for us. Then I remembered it was his school sports day.
Last year was cancelled three times due to rain. This year it was game on. Oscar...
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Posted by william newbery on Tuesday, May 21, 2013,
In :
Races
It has been a while since I last blogged. I am sorry for this, I'd love to say I have been hibernating in a training dungeon smashing out quality session after quality session, but the reality is that I have been slack with getting fingertip to keyboard.
Training and racing have gone well. I won the Ringwood triathlon for the second year running with a solid performance, and as last year it was great to see so many of my athletes doing it - some their first triathlon. I even managed a 1-2 with...
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Posted by william newbery on Tuesday, March 12, 2013,
2012 was always going to be a tough year to follow. Most races I entered I was lucky enough to finish on the podium - ranging from sprint distance through to 3/4 Iron Distance racing. I was lucky enough to be supported by some amazing people to train with and provide me with what I think is the best kit out there. This is vital to any athlete. Having confidence in you equipment is key and I am grateful to work with those companies again this season.
When I hung up (temporarily) my Ironman boo...
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Posted by william newbery on Wednesday, November 14, 2012,
It is only 22 weeks until the Virgin London Marathon and although April seems a long way off now is the time to start getting into the habit of regular training.
We have some amazingly good value packages that are on offer -
- A fully customised and progressive weekly training package, including your own free Training Peaks account, data analysis, feedback and regular contact.
- A tried and tested 19 week marathon program - perfect for those who have the motivation to get out and run, but a...
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