Taking inspiration from Brownlee & Keane

It is always frustrating coming back from a lay off, whether chosen or forced. So coming back from a month off is again trying.

The struggle for motivation or the frustration at how your breath is lost far more easily than you remembered is hard to break. The feeling of going backwards during a swim session is not a pleasant one, no matter how much I expected it.

This all came to mind as I watched latest round of the ITU World Series in Kitzbuhl last weekend, and in particular the astounding performance of Ali Brownlee. This was his first race back having spent four months on the sidelines with an acute Achilles tendon tear. The initial prognosis of the injury was such that Brownlee considered his future in the sport.

Nonetheless, Ali took on the field as only he knows how; from the front. In the previous round, his younger brother, Johnny, was imperious in taking victory in Madrid. But even he didn't have an answer for Ali's sheer determination and power. Less than 1km into the run the older Brownlee was already clear and over the next 9kms the gap only grew. His final winning victory of almost one minute was emphatic.

Four months off and Ali comes back as strong as that! That’s definitely a way to make a return.

Then on Sunday as I looked up Hell of the West results, another top triathlete was back on the circuit having been off with injury.  Brian Keane, one of Ireland’s professional triathletes, was making his season’s debut and his victory was as emphatic as Brownlee’s.  And having had a long year of injury problems in 2011, his return was great to see.

So what is it we can take from all this?  Don’t rush back after injury. You are no good to anyone, least of all yourself and frustrations are guaranteed. So I’m going to shut my mouth, endure the tough swim sessions, extend my cycles and get out running some more.

If I do go racing before fully fit and ready, I’ll have to manage my own expectations. I can’t expect brilliant times. It will merely be a step towards getting it right.

Time to put those frustrations in check and just get on with it.

Is Armstrong good for triathlon?

So Lance Armstrong's Ironman career is over almost before it even started following the latest drug charges brought against him by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Why should that really matter to me, a weekend warrior?

There are two sides to this, one that Armstrong's return to a sport the sport he first competed in professionally as a 16 year old was only going to increase the profile of the sport. The other that with the ever-present cloud of allegations hanging over him, would triathlon look like a sport that was trying to cash in on a tarnished star.

Following the latest charges laid at his door, the seven times Tour de France winner has, as ever, come out fighting and again sought the advice of a large team lawyers to rebuff the USADA charges.

So why does this matter to me?

When the American came back into the Tour De France and began establishing him as one of the world's top cyclists, as an avid sports fan and supporter and as a lover of the 'against all odds' sports story, I was delighted to see Armstrong atop the podium.

His charity foundation, and the yellow bracelets connected with it were a must have. But as searching questions were asked of him, his team, his coaches and his doctors about his possible drug use, his continued defence against mounting evidence became more and more difficult to believe. 

The former Radio Shack cyclist’s ultra aggressive defense strategy - sue the journalists, threaten team mates and counter-accuse others - was not pretty to watch and quickly he became a picture of bitterness.  And as almost every other top cyclist he beat to his record number of titles were found guilty of a range of doping charges, Armstrong's claims of innocence ran more and more hollow.

My support for him waned.

I watched with interest as he announced his Ironman plans late last year and he began the year steadily with a  couple of podium finishes before making his mark at his home 70.3 event (half-Ironman), winning in Texas.  His impending full Ironman debut due in France this weekend would also be watched eagerly by a wide audience.

But the approach and attitude Armstrong brought to Ironman is not one that befits the sport. Nike and several other manufacturers have produced uniquely specced gear for him, unlikely to ever be available to any other competitors, let alone the ordinary triathlete. He has an extensive support team both for training and on race day.  For many of Armstrong’s opponents involved in Ironman their support team consists of me, myself and I.  The training squads are made up of other like-minded athletes who are training in the same town, or share the same coach..  And while their sponsors will help with a lot if expenses, quite simply Armstrong's support team is on a different level.

His subsequent disrespect for other athletes also grates. No acknowledgement when beaten (on the line), Twitter spats over drafting and doping checks (sic) shows a lack of interest in improving the sport of triathlon and simply another sporting box to tick.

So while it might be interesting to see how Armstrong would get on in Ironman and in Kona, it should not be to the detriment of the sport which he may eventually being into disrepute.

So as a weekend warrior I only want triathlon in the news for all the right reasons, not the Armstrong reasons.

A busy summer's viewing ahead

EURO 2012. Ireland Vs New Zealand. The Olympics. Wimbledon. The British Open. This is quite a summer for sports fans.

What am I most looking forward to? It has to be The Olympics.  The idea of all of the above events though, is that Irish athletes and sports people will compete valiantly and nobly but more than likely in defeat. And many will be told they have failed.

Other though are truly world-class. They can and do compete with the best, and some of the above were Olympic sports, Ireland would be very much competing for medals.  Brian O'Driscoll, Paul O'Connell and Rory McIlroy all fight well above their weight in their sports.

In the run up to previous Olympics the weight of a nation rested on Sonia O'Sullivan's shoulders. And now this weight has been transferred to the small shoulders of Katie Taylor, which until lately she may have thought she would have to take care of on her own. But the emergence of triathlete Aileen Morrison has shown that Taylor will not be our only female medal hope in London.

Morrison has recently brought the profile of triathlon nearer the surface of mainstream sport coverage, and the reporting of her recent 2^nd place in Spain by all media can only be looked at as very positive. But how likely is it that the sport can remain there is another question. Two things will largely stand against it happening. Female sports, to a great extent, don't get mainstream coverage, and then at the moment triathlon is still a minority sport.

Much was made of the outstanding Chrissie Wellington not making the BBC sports personality of the year short list last December. Indeed, the case for her inclusion far outweighed her exclusion, and her achievements in a very short time are mind-boggling. However, Ironman is not a live TV friendly format, so mainstream coverage for the sport is always going to be difficult.  While the recent appearance of Lance Armstrong in Ironman events has raised the level of the coverage to a certain extent, the long form distance of the sport may always fight an ongoing battle.

With Morrison riding high in the ITU World Series, and an increased interest in the shorter triathlon races, it must be a hope that The Olympics could change that.

Roll on London 2012.

Watching from a distance

With the arrival of my darling daughter I have not had a chance to keep up my training. Surprise surprise!  What I have had time to though is to see how much triathlon has consumed so many other things in recent months. 

Despite having started doing a few triathlons last year my involvement in the sport has gone to a new level this year. While I obsessed over my results (much like Darren in his recent race report - http://www.piranhatri.com/news/reports/997-triathy-race-report), this year it is up again. Average time. Percentage location per discipline. Discipline splits. Any hope of a reverse split (I didn't even know what that meant 9 months ago). And all of this to try to find something positive out of very average results. That search for progress. 

Then there has been the vocabulary. 2011 - wheels; 2012 - Clincher Vs tubular. 2011 - gears; 2012 - groupset. 2011 - bike; 2012 - TT. You know I could go on. Fartlek anyone? So between the nods, agreements and unknown approvals in the midst of a tri conversation, I have slowly begun to get some sort of understanding of what all this means. That, unfortunately does not mean that it has made me a better triathlete. 

To further get involved with the sport I have been following various pro triathletes on twitter. Lance Armstrong is now on the IM (Sorry, that's Ironman) circuit, but who the hell are Craig Alexander, Simon Whitfield and Christ McCormack? As for these Brownlee brothers cracking the ITU circuit - I still don't know which is which! - it's also great to follow the Irish pro exploits of Gavin Noble and the ever improving Aileen Morrison.  I even now have the ITU world series on series record... 

As for the Irish scene, and the club scene, this is a truly new level. Mariusz Olejniczak, Bjorn Ludick, Russell White, Con Murphy are all names that are becoming more familiar. And over the weekend I was poring over TriAthy results to see how all from Piranha Tri Club got on. First timers, ever improvers and the top advanced girls and guys. With a few tris under my belt I now have people to compare myself against as well as trying to emulate in the coming months. 

In the meantime, while I eagerly await the delivery of my next issue of 220 Triathlon magazine - that's normal, right? - and try to learn more about the insides, the outs and the transitions of triathlons, watching the sport from a slightly further distance than normal, I have a nappy to change.