When David met Daley

So like many triathletes, last weekend I made my way down to Sandown Park in Esher to the 220 Triathlon show. There are several ways to describe what the Triathlon show is like. One would be like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory for triathletes. Another would be like one of those boring industry work conferences your boss makes you attend but this one was actually interesting and fun.

Like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory there is temptation everywhere but unlike Willy Wonka's chocolate factory the goods aren't free. Despite having been paid the day before I managed to exercise remarkable restraint and only spent £32 on some new swimming fins and goggles. Despite having been paid the day before there were a number of training aids that my budget still wouldn't have stretched to.

I did have the family credit card in my possession and while Pre-school Trihard is becoming a highly proficient swimmer, which we are obviously encouraging, I don't think Mrs Trihard would have been too pleased if I had come home with one of these:

Retails at approximately £15,000

And while Mrs Trihard is currently in training for the East Grinstead Ladies Try-a-tri I'm not sure she would have even supported any decision to buy one of these:

Retails at approximately £2,250

Anyway, as well as enticing you to buy lots of expensive triathlon gear the show also included talks by professional athletes and Triathlon experts in the 220 Theatre. I was lucky enough to grab a place in the Q & A session with none other than Dave Scott. Perhaps the best way to describe Dave Scott is the Muhammed Ali of triathlon. He's won the World Iron Man Championship in Kona six times and unlike Muhammed Ali's public persona is perhaps one of the most down to earth people you could ever meet.

When Dave first started racing the sport was very much in its infancy. So much so that when he competed in his and possibly one of the very first triathlons in 1976 the first prize was apparently a frozen turkey. For his first four World Championship wins at Kona (between 1980 and 1984) he told us that the amazing achievement was marked each time by being presented with a t-shirt.

It'd be impossible to recount all the amazing stories and advice Dave gave during the session but the one that stuck with me the most was his 20 minute rule. To paraphrase: Even if you don't feel like getting out for a run, swim or cycle just doing 20 minutes will make you feel so much better than doing nothing. And the majority of the time those 20 minutes will develop into to a decent training session.

Anyway Dave now coaches in Colarado. While this involves training some of the very elite triathletes in the world he said that in some ways he gets more enjoyment working with everyday folk like the majority of those in the theatre audience. But he didn't rush to offer me any training sessions when I accosted him for a photo.

One of these Daves is a six times Iron Man World Champion

Anyway, one of the main reasons I was at the Triathlon show was because I was offered the chance to interview Daley Thompson for my 220 Triathlon blog. Meeting a world class athlete who has inspired millions can be quite overwhelming, but I told Daley that I was a normal guy just like him and not to be too awestruck.

Anyway you'll have to wait for the next instalment of my 220 blog to find out what training advice he gave me, otherwise I might get in trouble. But here's a nice photo of the two of us for you to enjoy in the meantime.