pic design by Nikola

I met Gavin Noble early this year in Stellenbosch, South Africa. We were both on training camps. I just started training and Gavin – one of Ireland’s Olympic triathlon hopefuls – was already lean and mean.

It is comical how wildly our training styles varied:

Gav swam 6km group swims at 5.15 am. I floated 30-40 mins on my own when the sun sat high.

Gavin sometimes ran 3 times a day,  I sometimes ran 3 days in a row.

Gav wears pink tights in public, (in summer) I wore pink speedos in the 80s.

But despite our wildly different training approaches, we got on like a house on fire. Seems like a special South African / Irish thing. I have grown to love the Irish through our mutual friend Bobby Behan from whom I learnt a vast array of Irish sayings in a more or less Irish accent. “Fierce nice guy like you know.”

Well, Gav is quite a character too. He is also a team mate. Not in the usual sense. Blogging team mates.  Check it out here: TriathlonTeam.org

Gavin’s blogging is quite something. He is also really passionate about suffering and quotes. Which he manages to blend together nicely. Here are a few from his site: GavinNoble.com

“When I’m training, I need four things, a room, a bed, and maybe two blankets, for when it gets cold”

I always loved to watch distance running. I am one of those people who think the sight of an athlete in full flow is a beautiful thing. I love ‘the chat’ about the old days – when 5 of your neighbours could run sub 30minutes for a 10k – back when ‘men were made of iron and ships were made of wood  !’

This is my favourite Gavin blog:

Motivation for the Week: Chase the Mammoth

If you run without sacrifice, congratulations you just jogged.

Running hurts. It always has. Wolley Mammoths didnt just roll over on a plate and serve themselves up to Prehistoric Man with a portion of gravy chips (loveabitofgravychipsme) and a cola. They had to be caught – and supposidly catching a Wolley Mammoth was a bitch !

Guess what ?

Read the rest of this post on Gavin’s site

Photo and camera by Rich Cruse. www.richcruse.com

I met sports photographer Rich Cruse at my 1st XTERRA– Richmond VA 2001.

Since then we have become close friends, but also we managed to do a lot of business together. He would shoot pics at races and make me look good- not an easy task- and I would offer it to the press and sponsors who would buy them off Rich. That way Rich made a living, I looked somewhat good, and the sponsors and magazines got great pics.

I attended Vineman 70.3 this past weekend to work at the Avia stand– my shoe sponsor. We worked the expo and race day, sold shoes and had great meals and wine afterward. Shoe designer Ike and I also brainstormed on the 2010 Avia AVI STOLTZ.

From the AVIA booth I saw Rich sprint across a big field with about 60lbs of camera gear flapping in the wind. I ran over and offered to help him carry. We got to the finish just before Aussie Joe Gambles, the winner. I wanted to give Rich’s camera back but he said:“Shoot!”

So I “shot”:

Thanks for the credit Rich!

Caveman style, of course!

Problem: The sticky Vermont mud clogged up my Specialized Epic’s  rear triangle. The sticky tires then picked up dead leaves and really stuffed it tightly between wheel and frame. This was taken in training 2 days before the race.

Caveman solution:

Take a 1 liter water bottle, cut it to bits and zip tie it to the frame. It fills the space and helps the mud slide off the bike. I sprayed WD 40 (or cooking oil) on the plastic and frame to stop the mud from sticking. I dont know of anyone whos made this cool mud guard before. See, I didnt need University math to become an engineer!

XTERRA Vermont was the muddiest race I have ever done. Even the run was really slippery and muddy and it went straight up and down the Sugar Bush ski slopes.

Special conditions calls for special measures. I modified my Avia AVI STOLTZ Caveman style…

Step 1: Buy a handful of 1/2 inch screws with big heads.

Step 2: Screw them into the sole in the right places. (2 screws on the heel optional)

Step 3: Run in the mud!

Here is a picture of the downhill in Sugar bush in Vermont. The run gained (and lost) 750m (2300ft) in 10km.