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