Harry Wiltshire

Mar 06

Keep on Running!!

It’s a couple of weeks since I wrote, in fact I have been really lax and haven’t updated the site since Christmas. I just looked on the British Triathlon hompage and they have gone and put a link to my site, so panic stations…. Update needed.

Lucky I have been writing a blog for city runs, so I’ve managed to quickly adapt that, and I’m still going to make my afternoon ride in the rain. I think this has kicked me into action, so some new photos and maybe even an update in the rants and raves section when I have done my miles.

The weekend saw the end of our big block of running for a couple of weeks – I had a really good block of work and in a strangely sadistic way are already missing the big sessions. I took the “If you can’t go fast, go long approach” and hit 110 for the last three weeks. It’s only been 4 days since the big miles finished but some very strange things have happened since then!

1) I can actually feel my legs

2) I’ve been seen out on my bike on two consecutive days

3) The profits of Morrisons Garage in Tavistock have halved since we stopped running home on a Tuesday and Thursday. All those at Tavi AC should understand this but it relates to our addiction to 39p bags of sweets (3 for a £1!) and Coca Cola after a long, hard session with a 6 mile run home to follow.

Morrisons will be pleased to know we’ve only called a temporary halt to big mileage in the lead up to Eastleigh 10k on March 16^th. The start list came through yesterday and it’s pretty stacked with 30-32 minute runners which is ideal for fast times and a great race. In the lead up to that it will be a couple of short fast sessions mixed in with some easy, shorter runs to keep the mileage reasonable. We had 8×4 min (1 min rec) at Tavi AC on Tuesday which was a great race pace session and set us up nicely.

Away from the training I’ve been setting up the South West Triathlon Talent Academy and am currently drowning in a sea of application forms. There are certainly some talented youngsters out there; fortunately they mainly seem to be girls, so hopefully I won’t be spotting anyone to beat me.

I also picked up a new pair of Trainers from Brooks called “Ghosts” – how cool is that! Hopefully I’ll be so fast no one will see me! Look out for them in shops soon.

Harry

Dec 24

Happy Christmas

Training No Comments »

Happy Christmas everyone,

I owe some updates on the last month or so, there isn’t a whole lot to tell, I’ve been running lots and really enjoying the miles. I have never run like this before and as a result have felt like i’ve been doing sessions with my feet in concrete blocks at times. As Martin from Brooks keeps telling me “you have to push a spring down if you want it to bounce up).

I raced the Westward League in St Austell a few weeks back and the Devon Cross Country Champs 2 weeks ago. I got my first bout of Winter Sickness at the start of this week but a few days in bed has probably acted as a good taper for the big race of the year…The Pool Park Boxing day run!!

Saturday also saw the first of my South West Talent Squad training days. Mountain Bike extrordinare Jim McConnel came down to help me run skills session on the edge of the moor, then the kids had a chance to get their own back in the swimming pool. Highlights of the day included Lawrences big crash riding out of a car park, Tamsin leading the group into the middle of a gorse bush and Naomi totally psyching out Jim with a death stare before the relay race.

Right i’m off to work on my fancy fress for boxing day, have a great Christmas and i’ll try and post some pictures as soon as possible

Nov 12

A morning with Zest Tri and harry’s last few weeks

Coaching No Comments »

Yesterday I went to help out with Tavistock childrens Tri Club Zest, The clubs got a fantastic atmosphere and (I hope) everyone enjoyed my sessions. We did an hour in the pool without the lane ropes practising some open water skills and succesfully avoiding any major collisions then 45 minutes of running drills and relays where my lack of sprinting speed was well and truly shown up. Thanks for having me along guys…It was a really fun morning and I wish you all the best with your training and racing.

Its been a little while since my last update. Winter has arrived in Tavistock, For the first time this morning I had to scrape the Ice off the car before heading to circuits. It’s really nice to be back into a winter routine, I’m plugging away with the miles and really enjoying the big run sets with Tavi AC on a Tuesdsy and Thursday along with the Burrator long run on a Saturday morning. I’ve got some cross countries coming up and might even try a 3km on the track next week if i’m feeling adventurous. There isn’t alot of speed at the moment, but it’s all about consistency and i’m certainly getting strong as Jo Hinde always used to say back in by Bath days “winter miles summer smiles”

On the coaching front I’m off to Loughborough next weekend for the last installment of my Level 3 coaching course, then the following weekend Driven to Tri have a run training day at Bath University (a couple of spaces still available). I’m going to head home and see my Parents after the day in Bath so i’m plannng to pop into the tri expo at the BIC in Bournemouth on the 24th of November. I now only have one space for one to one coaching still available.

Last but not least I put on my talent ID hat last week and went to the South West Schools Biathlon Championships at Millfield. There are some great talents about and it was brilliant to see over 300 youngsters competing over the swim, run and really enjoying themselves. All they have to do now is add in some biking and take out the 3 hour break inbetween the discplines!!!

Oct 17

The Bike Show

Training, Racing, Coaching 3 Comments »

Last Friday I headed up to the Bike show at Earls Court. All the manufacturers were showing off their new offerings for the 2008 season, and as a man without a bike sponsor I was very keen to have a look around. There are some very shiney machines coming out next year!!

I also had a go at the Jim Walker Duathlon challenge on the computrainer and treadmill. I had a go in the first wave of the day. I wasn’t around to see the full results but I believe Richard Stannard had a go at the end of the afternoon and just pipped me for fastest time of the day. As you can see from the pictures it was a good way to work up a sweat.

I also caught up with Barney from Sundog and Wraice who sorted me out with a couple of very cool pairs of shades…Thanks Barney!!

On the Saturday I headed on to Paul Newsome’s Windsor Swim Smooth training day, to offer a bit of advice. Picture of the coaching team below.

Sunday was back to work with the first round of the Westward League Cross Country in Redruth. A tough course and a very high quality field, but as always great fun and the perfect way to get strong over the winter. I’m really enjoying being back into winter training getting the miles and the circuit sessions in with the guys at Kelly College and keeping warm on the long runs in some really funky new Brooks kit.

Some more pics below Read the rest of this entry »