Julien Bontempi

Project Manager Freelance in Bristol
Gustavfriends and MoRunning co-founder.
swim-run-bike on my spare time.


say 'Hello' @julienbob on Twitter. :)

Posts

September 02, 10:47 AM

After one year of training, I am reaching the last step of my project, "Swim from 1 mile to 10km in 1 year", with my first 10km swim tomorrow.

I have been training since last September, quite consistently, building up my technique, strength and my speed. 

Logging all my training have been definitely a source of motivation, as I've been able to monitor my progress and where I needed to improve and keep in mind the big picture. I also got an amazing support from a "Like minded community" with Dailymile and I can only recommend for anyone who want to take it seriously with training.

In and out, I have been logging 365km of swimming in 1 year,  which is a quite funny accidental record. Most of the swim have been made in swimming pool during my lunch breaks and I have been swimming in open water from March to Sept twice a week, to build up the distance, and get some experience in sighting, and other technique.

I have been doing few Ironman swim to get used to the washing machine and various environment and also few long swims (6 to 8km) to get used to include the nutrition in my swim.

Overall I think I have been covering most of the aspect of the OW swimming.

So, tomorrow, I will be swimming "The Dart 10k" from Totnes to Dittisham. This event is organised by the Outdoor Swimming Society. I didn't choose to enter the race wave, and will swim it at an easy pace with other swimmers. There's not point in being timed in a tided assisted swim.

Now here's a little review of my swim preparation.

  • I will be aiming at an average speed of 3km/h, pace is practiced, 
  • Packed the wetsuit, swimsuit, googles, hat, extra mask, lube, flip-flops, and watch.
  • Map has been checked and markpoints are identified, so I know where I should every 1h.

Nutrition

  • Carbs loading is pretty much done now, being eating a lot of pasta in the last few days.
  • Nutrition plan is going to be simple : 3 gels. 1 every 3km or 1h.
  • 2 stops planned at the stations (4km and 8km) for electrolyte and water refuel, eventually a banana/flapjack on the 2nd stop.
  • 1 breakfast oats&banana at 6am and an extra breakfast at 10am

Post swim

  • I've got my warm jacket, my wool hat and my merino top waiting for me at the finish.

 

Tell me if I missed anything, but to me, my kit it is ready and wish me luck, 3h the face in the water can be loooong :)

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

August 31, 03:49 AM

I got my bikes stolen so my plan to train for long distance triathlon will be a bit delayed. I am now thinking getting back to more running, for more simplicity.

I have been doing some Coastal trail this summer, and I definitly enjoyed it, more than road races.

To give you an idea what you can get by going coastal, here's a video.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

June 01, 10:14 AM

Rapha Continental – The Movie from RAPHA on Vimeo.

Inspiration to jump back on the saddle. Forget all about lycra, high tech and other stuff and spin the legs. It's just out there!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

May 18, 05:07 AM

Here's an exciting video of Cycling. Really well done and good catch of the atmosphere.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

May 12, 06:17 AM

This is one of the most beautiful sport event scenery I have seen. Beside the difficulty, it's just pure beauty.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

May 11, 09:40 AM

Here's a great video of Ultramarathon.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

April 20, 03:30 AM

Here's a inspiring video.  Enjoy!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

February 21, 11:29 AM

I am really into the event quality these days and just discovered a famous triathlon in SF... Escape from Alcatraz

Because, it's not only sport, but also and mainly about the location and sightview....

Imagine jumping from a boat in the Bay and crawl to the beach with as point of view the bridge and the Alcatraz island in your back... #wicked

Will keep that in mind for 2012...

 

 

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

January 31, 05:00 AM

 

Take Away Shows is one of the best alternative ressource to discover talented bands.

Their productions are made with really high standards, and the directing, the choice of the shooting location makes it unique.

I think that for a band, it might be even better to go on clip production as it brings a good mix of live music and you get an authentic glimpse of who they really are. More Take Away Shows here

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

January 30, 06:56 AM

Amazing picture at the start of the race RedBull Hill Chaser. 

Original can be found here . Picture belongs to http://www.bishopspocket.co.uk/

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

January 26, 01:25 PM

This was in London. Can't wait for the Park Street Race in Bristol this saturday.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

January 26, 04:03 AM

Here's a trailer nicely put together by the Ironman Wales team for the
Long course weekend.
I will update my http://julienbob.posterous.com/2011-goals post as well with.

Inspiring!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

January 23, 09:33 AM

2010 has been a great year for me, after few years of various injuries, I have been able to get back on tracks, and run the Bristol Half Marathon under 1h50 and swim the OneMileSwim around 26min.

For 2011 I am planning to entry few more events than last year and get a little bit more in the Triathlon. My favourite are still running and swimming, and I will see I can introduce more cycling in my training plan.

 

March 27th - Ocean Drive 10 miles - Philadelphia

I will be in Philadelphia for 10 days to do some work for Mo Running (one of my projects) and catchup with my cousin Paul, a talented Marathon runner. As he is planning to do the Ocean Drive Marathon, I was thinking it would be good to do a part of the run with him, if I can keep up with his pace (the guy is crazy fast).

Goal : I am targeting below 7min/mile to help him to stay in a negative split.

 

May 07th - The Tri Nation Triathlon - 400m-20k - 05k - Dorney Lake

This one will be a great test for me. Last year I have been filming this event, and I found it really inspiring for someone who want to give a try into Tri without pressure.

The location is amazing. Dorney Lake is the future Olympic site for the rowing competitions, and everything is spottless. Beside, my friend Dave, who organise it, knows how to create a friendly event (check the video I made for him).

I am planning to do it with 2 of my friends who are beginners as well and create a "Super Dupond" Team, to proudly represent our nation. :)

Goals :

1 / run the Triathlon with a single speed bike
2 / having fun with my mates
3 / check my transitions

 


June 03 - The Long Course Week End | Swim 3.8km + Half or Full marathon - Tenby, Pembrokeshire

Since I tried Open Water swimming, I was looking for a longer swim in the sea. This event is a preparation week end for the Ironman Wales that occurs in September, and for all the future Ironman, it's a chance to make a run-test on 3 days.

I am not entering the bike leg, that seems a little bit long to me, 112 miles with a single speed is a no go!, but still I am really looking forward to do the 3.8km swim, the location is fantastic.

Regarding the running, I would like to go for the Marathon, but it will depends a lot of how I manage my training during the next few months, and I am able to stay injuriy free. I think that if I go for the Marathon, I should target something around 4hr, otherwise the Half is still a great thing to do. I will decide later on.

I love the idea to be able to do 2/3 of an Ironman. 

 

Goals :

1/ make a first PB on the swim (will update some figures later)
2/ Half < 1h45mn  or Full in 4h


July 03th - Bristol Triathlon Festival 750m-20k-5k (1500m-40k-10k)

I love Bristol, and the Bristol Triathlon is a great opportunity to take a swim in the harbourside. For this one, I will target a good performance. I need a first PB.

Goal : set a PB on the Sprint OLY distance.

 

Sept 04th - OSS Burgh Island swim (south Devon)

Sept 03th - Dart 10K swim (south Devon)

OSS people seems sometimes a bit crazy, but I love the idea of discovering a beautiful location through a sport challenge. Here, there's is not timer. It's all about doing it.

Update : This is definitly my biggest challenge of the year. :)

 

Sept 11th - Bristol Half Marathon | To be confirmed

I guess that it would be good to run it again this year and try to target 1h40/1h45. I will make my decision later on this year.

 

Sept 24th - One Mile Swim Roadford Lake | To be confirmed

Last year was great. After, I think I would redo it only if I find some friends to come with me. 4h of car for a 25min swim is a bit an overkill. I will try to invite some friends from my swimming pool.

 

This is it for now. I need to stick with my training plan now and introduce more cycling if one day I want to go further.

 

For 2011, let see how it goes. I would like to build this strenght to be able to run a sub 4h Marathon in 2012 or be able to entry a Long distance triathlon.

If you want to follow my trainings, I log them on Dailymile here : http://www.dailymile.com/people/julienbob and on Runkeeper http://runkeeper.com/user/julienbob/  

Feel free to ping me, and if you are around Bristol and look for a training partner, let me know.

 

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

January 19, 05:45 AM

Watch it full screen, 6min of magic.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

December 09, 08:25 AM

One of the most passionate video I have seen in years.

For years with Gustavfriends, we have been making movies with tiny budget, but at no point we did that much sacrifice on our personnal life.

I have a huge amount respect for people doing things like that.

Check the video, listen the story. Get inspired

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

November 23, 08:32 AM

A small video to illustrate the result of the project I've been working on during this year including :

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz