<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Craig Doyle - Tri247</title><link>http://www.tri247.com/index.html</link><description>Latest articles submitted by Craig Doyle on Tri247</description><item><title><![CDATA[The Crazy Gang do triathlon]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3172.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[There is a look in professional sportsperson&amp;rsquo;s eyes when they discuss their latest challenge, be it an ironman, an FA Cup final or baking a lemon souffl&amp;eacute;. It&amp;rsquo;s a look that says &amp;ldquo;I might be playing this down, but I am going to nail it and leave nothing on the pitch&amp;rdquo; or kitchen floor, which ever suits!

I have just experienced that laid back confident glare on the 15th floor of the ITV Studios on London&amp;rsquo;s South Bank. It came from the smiling face of Robbie Earle, a man with serious sporting pedigree.

He scored 150 goals in over 600 appearances in senior club football; he scored Jamaica&amp;rsquo;s first ever World Cup goal in their debut in 1998; and most memorably, was a part of the infamous Wimbledon Crazy Gang. Think Denis Wise squaring up to players twice his height and Vinnie Jones grabbing Gaza&amp;rsquo;s testicles&amp;hellip; ringing a bell?

Well Robbie Earle, MBE, was the gentleman of the gang, and is now one the many gentlemen at ITV Sport; my new home from home. These days Robbie is hoping to add a new title to his collection - Robbie Earle Triathlete.

Triathlon was never a childhood dream of Robbie&amp;rsquo;s; he blames his involvement on beer. &amp;ldquo;One of my mates brought up the idea, with a few on board, and we decided it was a good idea. A couple of days later, when I discovered the distances involved, I did question the decision&amp;rdquo;. But there is no going back for Robbie and his mates and they will be making their debut in this year&amp;rsquo;s Windsor race.

Robbie is a fit-looking 43 year-old and his laid back demeanour barely hides the competitiveness of his playing days. Although a mere mention of the water and the grin turns to a grimace. &amp;ldquo;I&amp;rsquo;m not really a swimmer; it&amp;rsquo;s the one bit that really worries me&amp;rdquo;.

He shares most people&amp;rsquo;s fears when it comes to the swim, &amp;ldquo; It&amp;rsquo;s all those people scrambling around in the water, kicks and arms flying around.&amp;rdquo; Like all good sportsmen he has spotted his weakness and is doing something about it. &amp;ldquo;I have my first swimming lesson tomorrow as I really want to get my technique right&amp;rdquo;.

I had to talk Robbie out of going for a pre-swim run, as he will soon realise the swim coach can be cruellest of all. &amp;ldquo;If I can crack the swim and just get out of the water safe, I might start enjoying myself&amp;rdquo;. Having dealt with some of the toughest players in top-flight football, I think he&amp;rsquo;ll be able to handle himself.

As a professional footballer most of your training is taken care of within the club, but in this adventure he is on his own. &amp;ldquo;My brother sent me a training programme and gave me a book, but the detail terrified me, there is just too much information. I put it one my bedside table, it&amp;rsquo;s still there with a nice collection of coffee stains on it&amp;rdquo;.

The big man seems to managing just fine on his own as he helps his wife train for the London Marathon, but he is looking forward to really focusing on his tri training. &amp;ldquo;I plan on copying football&amp;rsquo;s pre-season programme&amp;rdquo; That&amp;rsquo;s six weeks of hard, lung busting pain, only this time the ball has been swapped for a bike and wetsuit.

A very nice new Specialised bike as it happens &amp;ldquo;I went into the bike shop and told them what I was doing, the guy said this was the bike he gave Alan Shearer for his biking challenge and I thought if it&amp;rsquo;s good enough for Shearer it&amp;rsquo;s good enough for me&amp;rdquo;.

He looked shocked when I told him about the benefits of chammy cream, but excited when we discussed wetsuits. My Apex 2 has been a huge benefit to me, so here&amp;rsquo;s a message to Orca; send Robbie one now! Once the bug hits he&amp;rsquo;ll be wearing it a lot and his fans will be watching.

So how is he fixed as the clock to Windsor ticks down?

Well he has already been doing brick sessions of 5k on the bike and 2k runs, and can bang out a 10k in under 50 minutes, but his first big challenge is just around the corner. &amp;ldquo;Myself and my mates are going down to the lake for a swim, and then it&amp;rsquo;s on the bikes for 30k to one of lads&amp;rsquo; houses and then a run. It&amp;rsquo;ll be my first time doing the disciplines in sequence so if I hate it I can do the relay&amp;rdquo;.

There is no way Robbie will do the relay, he is committed to the race and I think he might surprise himself.

Of course, the humble Mr Earle plays it down when I suggest he will put in a good time. &amp;ldquo;I would like us all to finish the race together, it&amp;rsquo;s a team thing and it&amp;rsquo;s for a very good cause&amp;rdquo;. Robbie and his pals from the pub that night are racing for the Emily Ash Trust, please visit their Just Giving page (www.justgiving.com/eatrust/donate)as it&amp;rsquo;s a very good cause; a charity that has motivated the kind of team bonding that he had during his days with the Crazy Gang. So, look out for him on race day, he&amp;rsquo;ll be the one smiling from ear to ear, guaranteed.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Boys and their toys]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3100.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[&ldquo;Triathletes are swimming coaches&rsquo; pensions&rdquo;, or so says a chlorine-clad coach I know. He says we are prepared to buy any old gadget to go faster, even if they are clearly ridiculous. To be fair, it was hard to argue with him. Us triathletes love toys, and why shouldn&rsquo;t we? We train hard enough!

I am quite into swimming gadgets at the moment, I love jumping into the slow lane of the pool and terrifying the pensioners with my range of toys. I line them up poolside so it looks like I am about to perform some kind of rectal examination, they leap out of the water and I get the lane to myself. I rarely actually use any of the stuff, it just looks cool.

Well I have recently found the most exciting way of acquiring new toys. Wiggle! No that&rsquo;s not a command but a brilliant internet bike store. I spent hours reading and researching, looking for a bike that would suit somebody as useless on two wheels as myself. The answer was a full-on carbon fibre Focus; well it works for Stuart Hayes!

The day it arrived was so exciting, I was like a child. A huge box was brought to my doorstep and inside was he coolest looking machine I have seen in ages, White saddle, white handle bar tape and it is CF heaven. All I had to do was take it out of the box, twist the bars into position and lie to my wife about how much it actually cost. In fairness to the gang at Wiggle, it was good value, hassle free and quick, so think again before entering your bike shop.

If only I had time to cycle the damn thing. I have just left BBC Sport to start with ITV Sport. It has been a fairly stress-free move, and my new job is brilliant but time consuming. Add to that my parents being ill recently, and the kids getting more demanding of Daddy&rsquo;s time, and the result is training has not really featured strongly of late. I have heard lots of stories about amateur triathletes losing a sense of priorities with training and their families suffering; as much as I love the sport, family come first. This just means Annie Emerson has her work cut out if I am to put in any decent times this year.

So I may be adding a few minutes on to my planned PBs for the season. Now, if it would stop raining and the wind would stop blowing, I might just put this bottle of Chablis down and do something.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Better late than never!]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_2812.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Greetings, happy New Year and all that! So, &quot;Where the hell have you been?&quot;, I hear you ask. No, I have not JUST finished the age group World Championship race in Hamburg, and I have not been scared off triathlon thanks to my rookie year experience!

To be honest, it has been a crazy time since my last race in September with the new baby, a new house and a new job. I am no longer the &#039;voice of triathlon&#039;, as I have decided to leave the BBC and join ITV sport. The decision didn&rsquo;t much please the old Beeb so I have been put on gardening leave until my new job starts in May. I was looking forward to sitting back and doing feck all for a months, but Annie Emmerson, who is helping me out with training has different ideas. I have a feeling working would be easier than what Annie has in store for me. 

I have celebrated my new job by getting two new Focus bikes from Wiggle; a training bike and a TT bike, and Annie reckons she can get me flying around on them. And I need the help, with my chicken legs I really suffered on the bike last season, and in the world championships it really killed me. So, that&rsquo;s where we&rsquo;ll start.

Hamburg, September 2007
Now, I only got into racing as a bet. The bet was that I couldn&rsquo;t get a place in the Irish age group team for the Worlds in my first year. So, by the time I got to Hamburg and donned the green of Ireland the bet was won. So why the hell was I so scared? Time for a list:

Hanging around with triathletes is a dangerous past time, they are a competitive bunch and it soon rubs off on you.
Over-competitive arseholes hiding behind the anonymity of the internet getting chippy about my times; &ldquo;I did a 2:15 and I didn&rsquo;t qualify for England, why should Doyle qualify for Ireland on a 2:30 (and a bit)&rdquo; our brave friend wrote. Oh shut up, you are missing the point! Firstly, I was one of the top in Ireland in my age group; secondly, we are just a bit slower over here and finally, why the hell do you care? You are not a pro athlete, it&rsquo;s meant to be fun, get a life pal!


OK, I am over point 2 now! In my Ireland kit my bum looked very big and my manhood very small (in reality it&rsquo;s the other way around, of course...) Most importantly, since the arrival of baby Milo two months before Hamburg, I had stopped training and I knew I would struggle.

Race day
I got no sleep due to fear. I was plagued by visions of being last out of the water, something the BBC cameras would love to document. I had to force feed myself like a goose in a fois gras farm. At transition I lost the plot when I realised I had forgotten elastics for my pedals; it&rsquo;s amazing how one worries about saving seconds when I need to save minutes!

At the start everybody looked fitter, stronger and faster than me. In most races I put this down to nerves, but at the Worlds it&rsquo;s because they actually are all fitter, faster and stronger than me. I got on someone&rsquo;s toes from the off and swam a very good 750 to the bridge, I was middle of the pack. out of trouble and feeling good. So good, it seems that I decided to swim to Berlin instead of the swim exit. Thankfully somebody was on my toes (Wow, was that a bad call on his behalf!) and he noticed we were well off course and let me know pretty quickly. Thankfully I finished my now 2000 metre swim with a good number still behind me.

The crowd were amazing in Hamburg, and I felt really good during the long trek to my bike. I didn&rsquo;t feel as good as I made my way out of transition. Something didn&rsquo;t feel right as I ran along holding my bike. What the hell was it? And then it clicked, my wedding ring had fallen off during the swim and was sitting at the bottom of the Alder. I was in one of the most sexually corrupt cities in Europe with no wedding ring, Mrs Doyle was going to love that. I made a mental note to tell her before I went out on the beer that night!

I loved the bike course, and felt very good as I picked off my fellow age groupers. But my enthusiasm had a price... ...my worst run time ever. I was dying on the road, my legs were like jelly and I felt like I was barely moving. I realised later that was because I was barely moving!

The crowds were amazing a mile out from the finish and I felt really proud as I crossed the finish line. That pride was soon replaced by nausea as the film crew grabbed me to do a post-race interview and then introduce a Tim Don preview piece. As I was speaking I could feel the vomit trying to make its TV debut. Don&rsquo;t get me wrong, I have spoken a lot of shit on TV over the years, but never vomit!

So, job done, I went out on the rip with my clubmates, a brilliant bunch of people who have guided and motivated me over the year, for this I am forever grateful.

That was September and it&rsquo;s only now, in January, that I am really back training again. My goal this year is to get as fast as possible as I now know I can finish these damn races. 2:15 beckons; Annie, it&#039;s over to you!]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Duckman beats an Olympian!]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_2334.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Let me start by putting something straight, it may have looked like Graham Bell beat me in the Michelob ULTRA London Triathlon last weekend, but don&rsquo;t be fooled! According to race stats, I was 27th out of the 350 in our wave, whereas Bell did not finish. He may be able to cheat the TV cameras but he cannot fool the timing chip!

Why I agreed to race this mad man in the first place I don&rsquo;t know. Bear in mind, he finished the Etape this year in a little over eight hours, an excellent performance, but it&rsquo;s his competitiveness that is really terrifying. OK, he was an Olympic skier so you expect some aggression, but this man wore a heart rate monitor on Celebrity Superstars&hellip; Good God, he is a lunatic!

He even called in the help of Tim Don to guide him to victory&hellip; An Olympian versus a wimpy TV presenter, he could have called on Timmy Mallet for help and he still would have won. Anyway, I had to have a strategy, so I got Big Russell (our camera man) to get a few pints down Bell&rsquo;s neck the night before. My plan was to rip the swim and be out of the water first, limit the damage on the bike and cruise past him on the run.

Good in theory, putting it into practice was a different story. Graham got the announcer to point me out before we got into the water so I became target number one for the 300 plus people in our wave. I got into a nice position on the off and ripped it for 100 metres until someone kicked me in the head. Dazed and confused I spent the next five minutes looking for the bastard to kick his ass, but with 300 blokes in black wetsuits and white caps, it was a bad idea.

Transition in London is odd; it took me nearly a minute to get my wetsuit in the plastic bag before slipping my way up the stairs. Bell was gone, the chase was on.
It&rsquo;s the first time my legs felt good after a swim, and the bike, although very windy, went alright for me. I have a new Trek carbon fibre bike and it makes a huge difference, sadly I am stuck with the same chicken legs!

But it&rsquo;s the damn jelly legs in T2 that really cause me problems. God I hate them, and I can only hope I don&rsquo;t look as stupid as I feel when I take off on the run. It took me a while to get going, and my second lap was 90 seconds faster than my first (a training issue I think). Sadly, I couldn&rsquo;t catch Graham; little did I know he would get a DNF, a Bell-End indeed!

This soap opera is all a part of the BBC&rsquo;s tri coverage. It&rsquo;s great to be back meeting the stars of the sport and watching some supreme racing again. In Salford I caught up with some familiar faces, one in particular that I nearly threw into the dock!

I was standing on the pontoon looking down at the swim course, when he came up to me and said &ndash; &ldquo;Craig, you look awful!&rdquo;  Excuse me, I thought to myself, as he continued with the abuse &ldquo;Oh yes Craig, you look all skinny and bony. Your face is a bit sunken and pale and you look like you need a good meal&rdquo;.

What is this guy&rsquo;s problem I thought? He kept smiling and finished his attack with   &ldquo;Training must be going well!&rdquo;  Of course, in the weird and wonderful world of triathlon, this was a compliment.

You see, proper triathletes don&rsquo;t actually look really healthy in a traditional sense. Such are the physical demands of training and racing, they literally don&rsquo;t have a pick of fat on them. Their clothes hang off them and they actually look good in tri suits, no mean feat!

Of course, I didn&rsquo;t tell him that I look like that because baby Milo doesn&rsquo;t believe in lie-ins and commuting between Ireland and England means far too many 4 am starts&hellip; Basically, I look awful because I feel awful.

Training is still a bit of a non-runner at the moment, Milo doesn&rsquo;t believe his Dad should have 15 free hours in a week and neither do his brother and sister! Thankfully I have a guru, well a couple of gurus. My Wicklow mentor, Adam Kelly, a fine triathlete and coach, says four weeks is plenty of time for me to get in race shape for Hamburg. Tim Don sympathised with me the other today saying he had to cut back to 15 hours training a week due to an injury&hellip; Yes, he said CUT BACK to 15 hours training a week!
 
If I get in five hours a week I&rsquo;ll be doing well. To be honest this season is all about getting some experience, next season I will be awesome&hellip;if the kids let me!

Just a reminder, if you want to donate a few quid to Leukaemia Research, the charity I did London for, please use the link below to chip in. Any amount, no matter how small, would be much appreciated. Thanks again,
Craig]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Of babies, bottles and wee...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_2249.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Hello strangers, nice to be in touch again. Sorry it&rsquo;s been so long but I have been tackling an endurance event far tougher than any triathlon &ndash; forget Hawaii, Lanzarote, Salford or Hell of the West! Have you tried hell of the third baby?

Baby Milo Doyle arrived 3 and half weeks ago. He is a little beauty and to be honest, since his arrival, triathlon has taken a back seat (well it would, if there was any room left in the now packed car).

OK, so I didn&rsquo;t actually give birth, my nipples may not be cracked and I don&rsquo;t have any stretch marks - actually that&rsquo;s not quite true, I do have stretch marks on my ass cheeks, although I have never seen my own ass but I am told they are there &ndash; Sorry, lost my focus. Whilst I am just a man and useless in the birthing department, us fellas do get involved in the aftermath and trust me having three kids under 5 is far from the ideal scenario when training for triathlon.

It&rsquo;s been a case of sneaking out for the odd session here and there. I don&rsquo;t know if you have ever tried to wear a wetsuit under your clothes and pretend you are popping out to the shops, but the sweating is a damn giveaway!

Basically, I have neither trained nor have I slept for a month. So last weekend&rsquo;s race in Athlone, the destination for the 2010 European Championships, was always going to be a struggle, but I didn&rsquo;t expect it to be quite so tough. Being a bloke I refused to let lack of training and sleep get in the way of over my over inflated and basically unrealistic goals... I was looking to set records.

In fairness I set a new PB before I even reached transition. The traffic was pretty bad and I was running late so stopping for a pee was not going to happen. So I managed to fill a 1 litre Evian bottle in a 1 hour traffic jam... beat that Tim Don! (Just to let you know my Willy didn&rsquo;t actually fit into the neck of the bottle, so get rid of that grin!)

Just as well I took the bottle option as I barely made registration and transition. OK so I clearly have preparation issues, and some serious swimming issues. The current was outrageously strong, in fact people were being pulled from the water just 100 metres into the swim. I struggled through, enjoying the odd scrap here and there, but it was tough and when I hit T1 those infamous night feeds really began to kick in. 

I finished up with a very average time, but somehow the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder and Curly fries on the way home made it all seem OK&hellip; Especially when it&rsquo;s mistakenly washed down with a litre of wee wee&hellip; In fairness, it&rsquo;s easy to mix it up with the vanilla shakes! Ah yes, I believe diet is everything in this sport.

Joking aside, my confidence is down a bit after the weekend as I really didn&rsquo;t think the lack of training and sleep over the past month would effect me so much. As well as that, the pressure is on as I am now a proud member of the Irish age group team for the upcoming World Championships in Hamburg.  Although I was well inside the required qualifying time, most of the triathletes my age must be unavailable that weekend for me to have made it. In saying that, it is a goal I set in Lausanne last year and it feels fantastic to have achieved it. The Irish team are a great bunch of people and I am genuinely honoured to be one of them.

So what lessons have I learnt? Well, preparation really is everything, get there early, keep the training consistent, set your time goals on the course and conditions not just the distance and most importantly, have a bottle in the car with a bigger opening! 

I am off to the British Open now but Salford is fast approaching. I&rsquo;ll be there with my mic and hopefully my bike if the Beeb let me. We are broadcasting tri live this year which is a real boon for the sport, but does make it a hectic few days on the work front.

I am definitely racing in London, and doing so for a very good cause. Leukaemia Research is a fantastic charity which is badly in need of funds, if you fancy flinging me a few quid, no matter how little, please go to my donation page at:               www.justgiving.com/craig_doyle

Thank you so much, it&rsquo;s a great cause and I promise I&rsquo;ll wave at you from the telly.

Cheers and speak soon,

Craig]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[I did it, I really did it!!]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_2086.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[This time last year I was standing in the visitor&rsquo;s dressing room in Old Trafford, the home of the mighty Manchester United. I was in a tight huddle with some of the biggest names in world football; to my right, Man U legend Peter Shmeichal, with his arm tightly grasping my puny shoulder. To my left, pretty boy of Spurs, David Ginola. Making up the circle were Gianfranco Zola, Marcel Desailly and Ruud Hullit, amongst others. In front of us Diego Maradonna, the greatest football player of all time, was dancing to a reel being played by Alistair Campbell, bagpipe player, Labour spin doctor and triathlete of note. 

No, I have neither overdosed on protein shakes nor drunk a bottle of absinth, this actually happened. 

Moments later, my &lsquo;Rest of the World&rsquo; team mates and I took to the hallowed turf to take on an England team led by Robbie Williams; in his charge household names such as Gascoigne, Adams, Redknapp, Seaman and Robson. We played out a hard fought match in front of 74,500 screaming fans &ndash; it was extraordinary, terrifying and unforgettable. 

A quick tip: if you ever end up sharing a dressing room with Ruud Hullit, don&rsquo;t take an ice bath before you shower beside him, it doesn&rsquo;t do a huge amount for a man&rsquo;s confidence!

Anyway, I left the dressing room that evening thinking no sports event could ever match that day in Manchester, Oh how wrong I was...

It was matched on Saturday in a small town in the middle of Ireland. Athy was the setting for my first Olympic triathlon and it was wonderful and utterly unforgettable.

I had spent a week nervously waiting for the big day. For seven days the bathroom saw more action than the turbo trainer. Just to add to the nerves, it lashed with rain all morning, the roads were slippy, the Lycra was damp and the wind was howling &ndash; and I loved every bit of it.

It gave me an insight into the sport that I could never get with a microphone in my hand. The advice, support and general good feeling, not only from my own fantastic club mates at Wicklow Triathlon Club, but from all the competitors was amazing. The fact is, triathlon people are very special people. I&rsquo;m not pointing the finger at other sports, but in tri, nonsense such as what you drive and what you earn does not seem to feature in our conversations, nobody cares. &ldquo;How is the Apex 2 working out for you?&rdquo;  Or &ldquo;do you have deep rims&rdquo; (which I am assured has nothing to do with one&rsquo;s bottom) is more likely to be the subject of conversation. Good grounded people with a common goal - to finish a crazy event in as fast a time as possible. Pure, honest, brilliant sport. 

I&rsquo;ll admit I have exploited this friendship and advice completely, as I am so clueless I rely on my club mates for every bit of knowledge required. If it wasn&rsquo;t for Cian, the Masai man in lycra, I wouldn&rsquo;t have known you need to apply five different creams to one&rsquo;s body before you race! (Although the chamois cream on the bum was a little extreme!)

Brian, who has gone from the shape of a bus to that of a Bugatti in just a few months, has shown me that training actually works. 

And young Darren has thought me that I am too old to be as fast as he is (he went sub 2:10 in his first Olympic tri last weekend, I can only hope he is a crap dancer!)

I know this is the same story in tri clubs right across the world; it&rsquo;s a very special sport indeed. 

Now, you all want to know how I did in my first race don&rsquo;t you. Well, as I was an Olympic virgin I hoped to go sub three hours, but for some weird reason Duckboy went sub 2:40.  But the elation only lasted until the split times arrived, within minutes I had worked out where I could speed up and save valuable time, and that&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s so addictive. So, whenever I get the feeling back in my bum from that chamois cream, I&rsquo;m back out there! ]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[The lure of the sea... NOT!]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_2014.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[I am lying in bed with the curtains open, it&rsquo;s a beautiful sunny morning on the east coast of Ireland, the sort of morning that puts a bounce in your step and has you leaping out of bed excited about the day ahead. For a few moments anyway. Because from my bed I can see the waves of the Irish Sea crashing in on the coastline, and I remember &ndash; it&rsquo;s open sea swim training tonight!

Oh God, I hate it, not even the glorious sunshine can make the murky deep waters look appealing. That is my day ruined, as I will spent the next 11 hours thinking about it, dreading it, thinking of reasons not to go; if only my wife would go into labour this afternoon, OK, so she would be five weeks early and there would be obvious stress involved, but I wouldn&rsquo;t have to swim tonight &hellip; crack open the raspberry tea and let&amp;rsquo;s get the labour going!

Ordinarily I wouldn&rsquo;t be so opposed to it, but I had my first sea swim last week and it was hell. I entered the water screaming like a woman who has just had her handbag nicked. As the icy liquid hit my groin my shouts could be heard in the Welsh valleys across the Irish Sea. Thankfully, my training partner was feeling the same, so off we went. I couldn&rsquo;t feel my hands or feet and I had the type of brain freeze only experienced if you demolish two litres of slurpee in one go.

Alongside me Darren felt it was getting warmer, and he was getting faster. Soon I was on my own and moving very slowly, I had taken on so much water that people relaxing on the Wicklow beach were able to walk to North Wales. After battling through 750 metres I chased Darren out of the water and jumped on my bike.

Transition is tough when you can&rsquo;t feel any part of your body, isn&rsquo;t it?

10k into our bike session the age difference between young Darren and I was beginning to show. While he worried about cadence or something else that I don&rsquo;t understand, I worried about the fact that my testicles appeared to be residing in my stomach and I had to get home and cook tea for the kids and write a script and research my radio guests for the show that weekend.

Focus is clearly an issue for me!

Meanwhile Darren was looking forward to his 26th birthday and talking about love or something that people my age used to chat about!

Farewell my training friend, there is pasta to be cooked and nappies to be changed. That Saturday Darren finished 10th in the hotly contested Valencia triathlon, so well done to him.

I of course got a fresh chest infection after that swim and bike session, my third of the year. I never used to get sick, but the fitter I get the sicker I get &hellip; Hmmm! perhaps fat is good after all.

Two days later I was back in action, a little 10k. I thought I had broken my personal record with a very comfortable 36 minutes. I celebrated with a turbo session that night. But the next day I measured the run in my car and realised I was a full kilometre short! I am desperately in need of some &lsquo;feel good&rsquo; at the moment.

It wasn&rsquo;t to come at the track session. I have missed a few and it really showed; 4 x 1000m at 8.5, with a quick 400 to round it off, I was beaten into second on the line and subtly threw up!

The following day I dumped my training schedule to play football with the fat lads, nothing like chasing around a load of chubby old boys to boost your ego. Back to the pool the next morning for a 1500, and then a load of drills.

Saturdays are a non runner for me, I usually have a hangover and I always have a radio show to do. This week&amp;rsquo;s live guests were the brilliant, Tiny Dancers, good music to train to I reckon. And that was the end of training week, as Sundays are a family day, the most difficult and tiring session of the week!]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[My new fragrance, eau de chlorine]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_1975.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[A chance meeting in a transition area or two, the lure of a cup of coffee and we had him! Probably the only radio DJ ever to wear a wetsuit live on air, Craig Doyle is always good for a laugh (although some audiences would, apparently, disagree...) and is taking his attempt on the world triathlon scene with admirable seriousness. Tri247 will be covering his progress over the coming months, it should be an amusing journey!



It&amp;rsquo;s 1:30 on Tuesday the first of May. I am sitting in my kitchen with hot pads on my back, my right big toe nail is not long for this world, and I smell of chlorine &ndash; I always smell of chlorine. Yet I am still plotting my escape from the house for yet another 10k run. My name is Craig Doyle and I am a triathlete &ndash; sort of!

You see, I have yet to complete a triathlon season: I have dipped in and out over the years, but this is to be my year. The problem is, I have no natural sporting ability, no discipline when it comes to training and no time to do it in. So will this really be my year? It&rsquo;s not looking too good!

So why am I bothering? Well I have been a member of the BBC Sport presenting team for a number of years now, and swore to myself I would only cover sports I have played. I was left with rugby and golf, no problem as I have played both since the age of six (rubbish at both of course). But when I was asked to front the BBC&rsquo;s tri coverage I was hit with a dilemma, could I really handle a triathlon? Would I manage all that training? Could I overcome my fear of men in Lycra body suits?

Well, fellow presenter Graeme Bell answered all those questions when, live on TV, he announced that the two of us were to compete in the London triathlon in August. Decision made for me, thanks Graeme!

I joined my local club in Ireland, Wicklow Tri, and got training. In our first swim session we did 3k. Now I wouldn&rsquo;t have managed that in our first run session never mind in the pool. Over the months I have got used to it, and dare I suggest I even enjoy it.

I am amazed how the training starts to take over your life, if I miss a session I am riddled with guilt. My wife says I am obsessed and thinks I should cut back. While other men lie to their wives so they can have affairs, I lie so I can train!

&ldquo;Just have to nip out for a meeting love, back in 2 hours&rdquo; - with my togs and goggles in my briefcase I slip in and out of the pool, fearful of being spotted by one of her friends. Other women check their husbands&rsquo; shirts for perfume when they are late home, mine checks for chlorine.

So here I am, aging television presenter and rookie triathlete with a sore back, longing to get out and train in the sunshine. I am amazed I have got to this stage, but I love it. My first race is in five weeks, my training schedule is all over the place and nerves have already set in. I will keep you up to date on how things are going, but for now I need a plan to get my trainers on and out the door without the family noticing... Baby steps!]]></description></item></channel></rss>