"Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records". William Arthur Ward

Its knowing where that breaking point is that sets everyone apart. Some sail close to it and enjoy the thrill of being close to the edge, others stray away and never know what it actually is whilst some go too far and forget the line and create new boundaries to be explored. I used to break new boundaries regularly with my training but nowadays I like to sit in my comfort zone and enjoy the ride.

Next week is my first competitive outing. The Meon Valley Sportive. Not exactly a competition but with Turbo turning up and the usual service rivalry I can see blood sweat and many tears left on the course. The one thing I do know "I promise to ride it like I stole it".

This year is my first back after a good season in 2009. I am not expecting anything but I do hope to enjoy it. With alot of my time devoted to mentoring the new referee's and the ITU/ BTF elite program I have had to re-establish my season. Even the Mess dinners and Summer Ball have made me re-think races. Not to worry, I will be doing everything I can at the key races. Dambuster, Vitruvian and any of the IS events I get selected for. The key races affected have been Cowman (Summer Ball the night/ morning of race). As Baldric once said I have a cunning plan! All will be revealed soon.

I had the most enjoyable weekend at the Dambuster Duathlon last week. Mark Shaw was the perfect host as usual and even supplied good weather... how many race organisers do that for such a reasonable price. Working alongside Liz and Dr J we even managed a 10k run round the dam afterwards. Despite Liz taking it easy I can see that see has already taken to the crazy gang and the sport, I would say like a fish to water but I haven't seen her swim yet. If Mark is going to put on events this good then I can't wait for the Dambuster, June 18th.

The last big session was Sundays ride out. 3 hours in total and 80k is not bad on the single speed. I did manage to keep a constant 27kmph. The most enjoyable part had to be the company, I final got to meet Tristart or as Doug and Helen refer to him Tristan (I don't think it will catch on). I can see he's going to be a handful and already practising evade and capture by wriggling and fidgeting a lot. Congratulations anyway, I believe next week will be his first swim session. 25m badge by August and a Nationals medal before his first Bday.

The rest of the week has been very simple training wise. The swim sets though have been good and I invite you all to try out todays drill set from Dr J. Follow the Training Peaks Link. Let me know how you all get on if you can still use your arms!!!