Flash! Ah-ahhhhh, saviour of the universe!

           Whilst I was away in Lanzarote, Tony at bike and run ( www.bikeandrun.co.uk ) worked his magic on my race bike, fully stripping it down and priming it for the summer after a long winter in the mud. She's looking awesome as I'm sure you would agree. Now all I need is some rooty singletrack through a wood lined with bluebells. Oh, and some summer would come in handy too!

Summer Planning...

I've just come back from 2 great weeks getting the miles in on Lanzarote and amongst enjoying our lovely weather back here in Blighty (ahem) I've been drawing up plans for the summer. For me it's really all about continuing to bring my Mountain biking on and building towards next winter's cross du season with the goal of winning the Asics series. It was last winter and I didn't succeed but I am doggedly stubborn and wont give up on it!


I'm going to add to it but here's my initial programme which still needs some trail running races added to it plus some smaller running events and mid week leagues:

May :

Gorrick 100 Enduro mtb xc

13^th, Eastern MTB XC Champs, Thetford

16^th, Beastway MTB xc

23^rd, Beastway MTB xc

30^th, Beastway MTB xc

June:

5^th Hawridge International Duathlon (maybe?..)

9^th, Nuclear Burn Cross Duathlon, Essex.

13^th Beastway MTB xc

14^th, South Downs Way Attempt.

20^th Beastway MTB xc

July:

9^th Beastway MTB xc

15^th, National MTB Xc series, Langdon Hills, Essex

22^nd Alpe D’Huez Duathlon  (maybe?)

Aug:

5^th Box End Quadrathlon, Maybe...

26^th National Cross Tri series, Surrey. (Team)

Sep/Oct/Nov etc.. The start of the Cross Duathlon series...

If you've got any suggestions of any trail races that you'd recommend thgen please do let me know at jez@jezcox.com  thanks.

I hope to see some of you on the trails! 

Start with a win, end with a win. Mud and Mayhem, Thetford, 1st Place.

              Back in the Autumn sun of September I started my cross Duathlon season with a win and new course record at the Boneshaker in Wantage, in between I had a winter of ups and downs and have some how managed to tie it all back together by wining the final cross du of the winter season, the Mud and Mayhem at St. Helens in Thetford forest. 


           I must admit, after my battle with Tim McDowell last year and seeing he wasn't back for more I though I'd be able to enjoy it a bit more but Iain Robertson of Anglia Tri had other ideas and really pushed it on the first run.He was really strong on the bike as well and I could see that it was going to be a very close race in the thick of the forest. For once, it was me who was able to draw away from him in the technical singletrack which makes Thetford so much fun to ride in. He did then claw some time back on the final run but pushed hard all the way I hung in there to take a win, determined to dedicate it to my Lovely Mum Anne on mothers day.  On a further note - Big respect to my mate Fay Cripps for smashing it up today, winning the women's race by miles and finishing 6th overall. 

The start of it all up on the Ridgeway of the Boneshaker

          
            I've got a little bit of a break now as I'm on GB team manager's duties next week up at Oulton Park (hope to see lots of old and new faces (in pain) there. After that, I'm off to Lanzarote for two weeks of training the first week and coaching on a training camp the second. If you're at Oulton next week do come and say hi (I'll be the plonker stood around in a GB tracksuit) and if you're out in Lanza over Easter do let me know if you want to hook up for a ride or run and we'll see what we can do..... jez@jezcox.com

Trailman Asics Final. 5th place

             I have the pleasure of writing for www.tri247.com and www.duathlon247.com from time to time and the moment you can read my race report from Sunday's Asics Finale, the Trailman.  
Here's a preview of it but do skip over to tri247.com for all the latest reports, interviews and news but if you are not yet converted go have a peek.


 The Trailman, the  5^th and final round of this winter’s Asics Off-road series was widely acclaimed by many as being the hardest even though on paper, with its rolling undulations and grassy slopes that was unexpected.  The course and venue were entirely new and as is so often the case in the off-road scene we got to race over trails that we would never be allowed on at any other time in the year. The wide open expanses of Eridge Deer park in Kent provided a stern test made infinitely harder by the deep mud sections which littered both the run and bike courses. This is a ‘Humanrace’ event after all and throughout the whole series they pride themselves on creating those ‘are we seriously going through/over/under/up/down that!?’ moments for the unsuspecting competitors who round the corner of some deep dark wood only to be presented with the aforementioned ‘treats’.  For the Trailman it was deep clay lined mud pits which sucked off trainers and made carrying the bike through it the quickest way. It goes without saying that race times were the slowest for the whole series taking the distances into account but that didn't make the racing any less intense.

On the first run with fellow Maxifuel athlete Sam Gardner and Oli Mahoney

Nearing the end of the Trailman Bike leg

Speaking personally I have had a pretty poor winter off-road season and was determined to try to salvage a good result from the final round. As I suspected, the race went off at lightening pace with around a kilometre entirely downhill to start with and from the off it was Colin Dixon and series winner Richard Stannard pushing the pace with Phil Westoby, Paul Davies and myself giving chase. As always, ladies series winner Kate Robson was not far behind and dominating the ladies race. For Kate however, the final race was to be wrestled from her by off-road specialist Fay Cripps who had excitedly shown me her brand new Carbon ‘29er’ race bike just before the off. She was very unsure as to how the new bike would feel, admitting to me that she had only done one ride on it since getting it and that was a race which she only won by some 20 minutes so not a conclusive performance, I’m sure you’d agree.....  Joking aside, she took command of the lead of the bike leg and was then able to win on the final run. Fay finished 9^th overall and Kate was 14^th so despite most of the men being ‘Chicked’ it also made the lead men sit up and take notice of two seriously good athletes. 

Back with the men, Richard Stannard used his strength on the bike (also riding a ‘29er’ by the way) to put the race beyond doubt before finishing with around a minute in hand over a hard chasing and effervescently evergreen Colin Dixon. Paul Davies completed another strong off-road winter series by taking 3^rd and I did everything I could to catch Oli Mahony as we approached the finish but couldn’t quite get there.  The racing has definitely been a lot tougher in the series this year. Last year, I started the series by winning the opening round by over 3 minutes and this year, coupled with the fact that I have been going like a bag of spanners on the bike the competition has been much tougher.  The series’ success not only demonstrated Humanrace’s commitment to Duathlon and their ability to unlock special venues but also the growing number of multi-sporters in the UK who only race off road.  With a number of winter series now and the Scott national X-Tri series spanning the traditional tri season,  the UK race scene seems to be harnessing the potential for traffic free adventure and a sense of having ‘got through it’ above just ‘completing it’. 

QX Wasing Cross Duathlon 2nd

The start of the QX Wasing Duathlon 2012

As the Cross Duathlon season draws to a close I was on the look out for a race to use to keep sharp as we approach the Asics series final, the Trailman, next Saturday.

Quest Xtreme's events ( www.qxmultisport.co.uk ) were something I had seen advertised for a couple of years now and so I decided to try their 6k/20k/6k Cross Du on the Wasing estate  near Reading.
It's a great place to visit and like a lot of these off road races you would never get the chance to ride or run over those hardly used trails  were it not for events like these.       I'm running quite well at the moment but (and as a coach I am quite happy to admit this) my bike form is simply awful.  I think it's just one of those rough patches that you go through and I'm not particularly worried about it but it is annoying when it stops you being able to enjoy just good trails because you feel like the brakes are on the whole time.  Anyway - Stop complaining Cox! - Jay Horton came bombing past me on his 29er after I'd headed out onto the bike with a good lead and there was no way I could catch him after that. It was a good win and he's starting to run really well now so I have to wonder - is he going to step up to the Humanrace Asics series next winter? I hope so.  Speaking of which, the final round, next week is still open for entries for the next two days I believe so if you're keep then get over to  http://humanrace.co.uk/events/duathlon/trailman  I hope to see lots of you there.

MTB leg at the wasing QX Duathlon

Asics Tuffman and the return to feeling.....better?

Winter really has finally kicked off with a flurry of snow and freezing weather in the UK hasn't it? 


After going over my last calf niggle and cold I was delighted, I have to say, just to be on the start line at the Asics Tuffman in Sussex last Saturday. It was the scene of my worst performance in the series last year and I'd be the first to admit that the technical, ever changing cambered nature of the bike course is not to my liking and so my goal was just to get through it and see what happens (note to all the athletes I coach: never do this for a race..!) 


The race was completely different to last year's muddy conditions in that everything was frozen solid and so, actually, the bike leg became much faster. Not that that helped me! I had a reasonable run and then just didn't get going on the bike. I clawed back a few places on the final run and 9th was, well.... I finished. I'm happy in that respect. Paul Davies had a great run and it was looking like his day until he had contact lens problems and the race in general was a real demonstration of the strength in depth of British cross du/tri racing at the moment.  

Richard Stannard continued his domination of the series this winter by winning and Kate Robson, who was in my Worlds team in Spain last September also continued hers by winning again. 
Over the next few weeks I'm going to try to build to the final round, the Trailman and see if I can end the series on a high. We'll see.

In and around that I've been making plans for the next few weeks and these include doing the Kingswood Cross Du in Kent, then the QX Cross Du in Reading, followed by the Trailman and then the road bound (Argh!!) Bison Challenge in my beloved Chilterns before heading to Club La Santa for two different training camps back to back.  Bring on the sun, sand and green team sandwiches. And Fries. And a large Coke. And an ice cream. Spot of crazy golf? Is that the time? Doppio Espresso please... Man I'm hungry.

Another cold, a district team title, another win, a course record and a calf injury (busy...!)

After the disappointment of missing out on both the first two Asics races my ill tempered and disobedient body decided to throw in a cold for good measure which was washed down with yet another sinus infection and a liberal sprinkling of antibiotics. 

Happy New year by the way! 

So,  seemingly clear of that I managed to drag my body around the county XC champs in Stevenage to help St Albans Striders to the team title as the 5th counter of six. I was on the last two days of antibiotics at the time and so as I have always found when on them, my powers of recovery were zero and I was subsequently  treated to a good 3 days of being only just able to walk.

Recovered in time by last weekend I took to the start line of a race I have never done before, the Waddenhoe Quadmire Duathlon in Buckinghamshire. It was a great race and on a really tidy short sharp circuit. Its a classic example of where I believe Duathlon should be headed in this country and in a way it is much more in keeping with the continental style of sprint race based on a short, sharp, feature packed course.  I actually felt great and went on to win and set a new course record but could really feel my left calf tightening over the final run in my spikes on the rough, frozen ground and now, a week on, I have not been able to run at all. It is healing but two days before the defence of my Wildman title in the Asics series it's all up in the air again..... 

Hey ho. We take the rough with the smooth in sport and as I always say, without the troughs there are no such things as peaks. It's all relative! I hope to see some of you on Saturday in the sands of Hankley Common. 

Looking forward to a bit more road in 2012

        I did two crits in 2011. One at Hillingdon and one at Paulhaguet in Central France. I loved the French one so much (despite the kicking..) as it took me back to racing there in my early 20s and so in 2012 I'm going to be riding in a few select races for VC Riom back in the Auvergne. 10 years on since I was last out there, I'll only be doing a few races but now that I am accustomed to life in the mud there's a part of me that just cant wait to feel the roll of tarmac again. 
        The smell of melting tar in the July sun, the ding of the last lap bell, the old boy who steps out into the bunch on his way to get his pastis, the fading light of a nocturne in the middle of nowhere, the prime that never was and the roll call of people you befriend in hope of being fed.
Class of 2001, I salute you!

Asics Mudman - Fail.....Doh!

        So, having yacked up my chances at the first round I put in a whole 10 days of really good sessions and was feeling great again right up until I came down with a cold 3 days before the Mudman. It's Saturday afternoon now and the race will have been and gone and I have to admit I feel pretty miffed that it's got away from me again having had to retire with a mechanical in the same race a year ago. 
        In these situations I have to ask myself what I would be saying to one of my own athletes and as always it would be about taking the rough with the smooth, enjoying the troughs because without them there are no peaks etc etc...  I suppose I've been doing it long enough to know better but that's what keeps us coming back isn't it?  There's always a "what if?" and an "If only" and that's what makes sport so addictive I suppose.  Still. I've filled my morning with periodically emptying my head of the cheese farm's fresh produce and in between incessant snout wipeage I have managed to plot of the rest of my winter Cross Du programme. And here it is:
 December:

18^th Merida Brass Monkeys 4hr  enduro -Ash Ranges C

NYEve: Hillingdon winter series D

January:

8^th Herts Cross Country champs  C

15^th Waddenhoe Quadrathlon (xc run, river kayak, MTB, xc run) C

21^st  Asics WILDMAN (10/18/5 Cross) A

February:

4^th Asics TOUGHMAN.  A

11^th  Chiltern League XC, Wing C

19^th Sunday Lge XC Royston.  C

26^th Friston Forest Cross Du. B

March:

10^th Asics TRAILMAN series finale A

18^th Mud and Mayhem Cross Du, Thetford  B                                             

                                                                             It's a nice mix of run, bike and cross Duathlon races and the Quad should be great fun but really it's all about the 3 Asics races. I don't know what my chances are with the series now after this bad start so if anything it means I'll have the freedom to go all out to try for an individual win and what better place to start than on the sands of Hankley Common where I won last year.  I hope to see some of you there. It's going to be an exciting year in the sport of cross Duathlon. Although I cant say anything yet I am involved in a number of new initiatives that are aiming to bring cross Duathlon on to yet another level. Humanrace have got it spot on with their Asics series and thankfully other organisers are sitting up and taking note.           

Asics Iceman - Fail

Race report : Returned with race number 1 as last years Rd 1 winner.  Felt awesome, started strong, got gap, went wrong way, rejoined, surged, puked, rejoined, puked, dizzy, stopped.  DNF 


On the plus side, I came 4th in the evening's World Pudding championships with a zingy Chocolate orange cheesecake.