Alan Murchison's blog by Alan_Murchison

November is officially the month of the mobro!! This effectively means all male lunatics attempt to grow a tache to take part in 'Movember' in supporting general awareness of men's health. Never one to shirk a challenge, I have been growing a 'handlebar' for the occasion! It's been great fun and all for a good cause, and although my kids are horrified, I however think it's pretty cool in a 60's kind of way. I had all the chefs at L'Ortolan growing taches as well, so we all now look like a bunch of pirates!

My training is now going well and I'm up to 90 miles a week with my running and managing to do 150 miles a week on the bike, so it's all good stuff. I have planned my race diary now for the first 6 months of 2012 as well as the cross country. And I will be running Bath & Reading Half Marathons and I have commited to running the Virgin London Marathon again!!! After last year's disaster I have unfinished business there and I will be aiming to smash 2.30! Hopefully I will also be able to join Super Lou Damen in her preparations for the race, as last year we really enjoyed having the company (if you can call marathon training enjoyable).

Making no excuses for doing 'easy' Olympic events, but with upping the mileage in my own training and work commitments, I am struggling to find the time. So I am ticking off the easy outdoor events for me to do. So this week I have been mostly doing Cross Country Mountain Biking as this is a great love of mine and I can do it with minimal grief. The 2012 race will be held in Essex at Hadleigh Farm, but unfortunately I couldn't get access to the course!! So instead I did a 3 hour loop in a mix of deep mud, rock hard brick & flint tracks and head height stinging nettles through the Hampshire/Sussex countryside, including a fair bit of the South Downs Trail which runs literally past my front door.

I was riding my trusty Specialized Epic S Works, a bike that a few years ago would have been good enough to be raced by world class level riders and costing...well lots of money. It's now a bike that's extinct at elite level racing as since the last Olympics in Beijing, there's been the introduction of '29ers' as they are affectionately called. They have bigger wheels effectively and are much faster over the rough stuff. Certain riders have adapted to the higher speeds and different ride qualities of these bikes much easier than others, so it is really difficult to say who is in with a shout of a medal in London. But the favourite must be test event winner Julien Absalon from France. Incidentally the UK doesn't have the dominance at cross country mountain biking that they display on the road and track. So it's all to play for and the home crowd will plays its part for sure. Next week more racing in mud !