With the end of 2011 nearly here perhaps it is time I should reflect on all that I have achieved, and what I've failed at.
Going into 2011 there was only one thing on my mind. Ironman. Granted that is a big thing to have on your mind. The thing is even though it was at the forefront of most of my decisions I wasn't paying it the respect it deserved. I mean it is only twice the distance of a half right? And that is only a little over double an Olympic? How hard can it be right? Well I got my wake up call in February (http://trijames.blogspot.com/2011/02/time-to-resurrect-this-blog.html) In a rather training light week when I got a cold I went out for a 50+km. A ride from hell where I realised I couldn't blag IM training like I'd done my half. So I set about creating a plan of epic proportions that would see me do one hell of a lot of training over the following weeks and months.
In February came one of my first races, the MK half marathon (http://trijames.blogspot.com/2011/03/better-week-with-tough-finish.html). Now in my 'oh MK is flat and I'm fitter now' mindset I'd decided this would be PB territory and a good chance to break the 1:40 barrier. Oh that run went horribly wrong. I learnt a lot about pacing though. You learn from your mistakes as the saying goes. I got carried away in the moment at the start, and held that stupid notion for 10K, and like a true idiot, almost broke my 10K PB, with over half the race left. It was a painful lesson I can still remember vividly, walking up the ramps from the underpasses, the tears in my eyes as I walked up the bridge. If you have a pacing plan stick to it, don't let macho bull**** throw you from it at the start of a race.
The start of April brought the start of the tri season, and I was entered into my first event of the year at Ringwood, the first time the event was being run. All my training was paying off as I managed a 2:25 finish, for an odd distance event, but one that is probably comparable (just short) of an Olympic. I swam well, I biked OK and I ran reasonably well. Training ploughed on and as Easter arrived I took a trip up to Bridgtown Cycles for a bike fit, of course as anyone that has been knows, you often find the bike doesn't fit.
Having spent nearly 5 hours having every last detail checked, including the placement of washers under the cleat of my right foot to account for a minor leg length discrepancy I left with what Dad later termed 'a clown bike'. Yes the bike was too small, so with the largest stem available and the saddle really high, using loaned handlebars Mike had bought me a little time. A couple of weeks in fact, as the next week a new bike was on order. Ready for me to pick up when I returned a couple of weeks later. In the meantime I had a bike I could ride faster.
On the clown bike I did the Randonee, effectively an Audax around the Isle of Wight. Wow that was a tough day at the office. There was one hell of a wind blowing (25 mph) and it made the hill (on my hilliest and longest ride ever) really tough. I did it though, and was pleased as anything to have got around in one piece. The next weekend I was heading back up to fetch the new bike.
What a beauty she is, Maddy madone, my Trek 3.1. Mike had done an excellent job putting her together for me, and after a few tweaks she was ready to rock. What a dream it was riding carbon after aluminium, and the wheels they built are still running perfectly true even after the 2000 odd miles I've done since getting her in May.
Late may brought the BCTTT tri camp out at Les Stables in France. What a great time that was. Some great coaching from Daz, Sibs, and Mark. Plus morale boosting hill sets on the bike with Mark. Can't wait to get back there in 2012 now.
Then it was back into the peak build weeks of June. Wow, the miles really racked up there. 17-18 hours of training, on top of a full time job. Not easy, and clocking up 7/186/40 & 7.5/300/37km of swim/bike/run in the 2 biggest weeks. Tough times, but it was to prove worth it. Early July and I had Bedford Olympic, my last little tester race before Ironman (http://trijames.blogspot.com/2011/07/bedford-classic-tri.html) It went pretty well, improved over the year before with gains on the bike and the run, suffered more on the swim, but that might have been because I wasn't able to draft as I was a leader in the wave.
The rest of July was my taper, and I had intended to do speedwork, until I gassed myself in the lab and had some respiratory difficulties I needed to sort out if I was going to make the start line. I do not recommend inhaling chlorine. It most certainly isn't performance enhancing. Then of course that brings me to Ironman. I'm not going to say much about it here, I wrote a rather long story on it already (http://issuu.com/jibby26/docs/imde_story). It was tough, I went into it with a goal that was respectful, but not respectful enough. I have to say It is the hardest thing I have ever done. It breaks you physically, then you stop feeling the physical pain as the mental pain kicks in. Still I loved it, and want to get back out there again, guess that makes me a little crazy.
August was a month of rest, every time I tried to train I just felt so lethargic. So I just went with it and did stuff for fun. Competing in the club relays at the end of the month. That was a wild and fun weekend. The BCTTT know how to have fun at a race. I put in a respectable performance too, so more than happy about that.
Coming into September and I was starting to get back into the groove, training was coming back and I was getting strong in the pool. It all went wrong though when I slipped on some mud and rolled my ankle. A proper sprain of my left ankle and the metatarsal ligaments. D'Oh. The day after I entered, and 10 days before, I entered Ringwood triathlon (The Return). A week of rest and taking care of it and the plan was to do pull for the swim (600m of pull hurts), ride the bike to death (weather was grim) then abandon the run (I carried on in the end and ran pretty well). Having spent a week in Italy unable to train, but rehabilitating my ankle I then returned for a week of biking and swimming before my last tri of 2011, Bedford Sprint. The ankle was alright riding, I could walk fine, just swimming that hurt. So I was employing the same strategy as Ringwood.
Swim wasn't good, bike was great, and my run was actually excellent. Almost breaking 1:15 for it, with a 2m53 saved on the bike and 27s in the run (http://trijames.blogspot.com/2011/10/bedford-autumns-sprint-end-of-season.html). A great finish to a season that could so easily have gone the other way.
October can be characterised by cycling and swimming (pull) I threw a few runs into the mix, but mostly I rode on the turbo. At some I went a little more crazy and decided 2012 was the time to do something for charity. Why I don't know, maybe it was dehydration from the turbo sessions. I went slightly loopy though and decided riding a bike for 24 hours would be a good thing to do. I have a feeling I will never be able to forget what an idiot I have been. This is going to hurt, and hurt good. Please check out http://www.twentyfourhourturbotorment.co.uk/ to see more about it and the good causes I'm trying to support.
The end of October brought the Minstead stinger, I was back running and this was a challenging 9 mile run through the hillier bit of the New Forest. I seemed to do alright, posting a respectable sub 1:10 and finishing in a pretty decent place. My new love of trail running was founded. Come November and I was back doing all 3 sports; swimming, cycling (mostly turbo) and running trails and road. I think as a result of all the turbo sessions something changed and I put in a supper speedy 10K in training. It was also suggested to me I give parkrun a go, I'm not sure who gave me the final nudge, but I have a feeling it is down to a woman, these things normally are. Of course having given me the final nudge it was suggested I didn't beat 19:49. My first run was good, almost beating it and so nearly going sub 20 for my first ever 5K. I tried again a week later and managed to slash 25 seconds off it with a 19:38. So in good form I ended November looking forward to my annual half marathon in December.
Just to make things awkward I got in in the week leading up to the half. Not the best prep, but a good taper. The race was tough, and far from fun, I suffered a few issues at 4 miles, and ran to the point the world was spinning in the last couple of miles. All to finish a way off the 1:30 I'd been trying to pace to. (http://trijames.blogspot.com/2011/12/half-marathon-time-again.html) Still, I managed to run a 1:33, taking another 7 minutes off my PB. At this rate I should be on for a 1:26 next year :-D The rest of December has been a bit of a bust really. Got some decent off road running in though. A long run with Gary that nearly destroyed me, and a couple of below performance parkruns. Well, it means 2012 has a better chance of a good start.
I seem to have rambled on for long enough now. So the all important stats for the year:
Total Duration: 437 hours, 43 minutes
Swimming: 104h 11m, 246.45km
Cycling: 175h 27m, 4421km
Turbo: 33h 59m
Running: 123h 15m, 1347km
Total Calories burnt: 388,167 (that's about the same as the energy in 50 litres of petrol, or 1492 mars bars!)
With that I'll close 2011 and stake my claims on 2012. In 2012 I will:
Run a sub 19 5K
Run a sub 40 10K
Ride a bike for 24 hours
Finish a middle distance in under 5 hours
Finish an Iron distance in under 12 hours
Most importantly, I'll have fun doing it!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Friday 30 December 2011
Sunday 11 December 2011
Half Marathon Time Again
So December brings my annual half marathon. Since I smashed my 10K PB a couple of months ago on a training run the thoughts of another great HM personal best have been floating around in my mind so I was really looking forward to this. Couple that with two great 5K times in the last 4 weeks and my hopes were high. All was going great until Monday. I had a headache on Sunday night, thought it was just from not having had my cup of proper coffee. Things weren't better on Monday and didn't feel like the turbo I had planned. Woke up on Tuesday and felt like ****, couldn't take the day off sick though as we were on shifts and as the lead I'd be letting everyone down if I didn't get the early run on. By 2pm I was ready to curl up on the sofa. I thought the worst had passed and was feeling better as it morphed into a head cold on Thursday. Moved back to my chest yesterday though just as I'd decided on a pacing strategy.
Last year I had a good idea of what I could do, so my pacing was to target a slightly ambitious 1:40, I missed, but only just. This year the same formula I used last was telling me I could do a 1:30:45. That would be 10 minutes quicker. That seemed to good an improvement, I tried a few other calculators and they gave similar results. The end result: I had my heart set on a 1:30. Pacing strategy was to go out at with 4:20/km and return with 4:10/km. This should play to the course, flattish first 5K, short sharp up&down, then uphill to 10K, down&up over next 2K, flattish next 5K, then nice downhill before a little kick up before the finish. The forecast on Friday: heavy rain, Saturday: heavy rain if I'm slow, this morning: dry. Ignoring the forecast in the hope it would change turned out to be a good strategy. I was also trying something else daring; new kit. My shorts have got a bit loose, so I thought new kit can't do more damage than worn out kit.
Race morning came and I was feeling alright, still had a bit of a chesty cough and blocked nose, but I was coping, I'd just pretend I was in perfect health. What's the worst that could happen? Dad dropped me off at the start with a little under an hour to spare, about enough time to fight into the hall for chip collection, collect my free race memento jacket, take off my nice warm hoodie and drop my bag off, make sure there was no excess weight being carried around then warm up. Tweaked the ankle sprain during the warm up, got me a little worried. Then to the start pen, stood at the front of the 91-100 minute pen, and was a little surprised by how few people were in front of me. Hmm, was I being a little over optimistic?
Walk to the start line and then the gun went off, little walk and broke into a jog on the line, then into a run. Remembered to try and keep my pace in check and took it what felt easy, 4:05 for the first, actually slightly quicker for the second with a 4:03, out onto the open roads and another speedy km in 4:05. Then a turn back into the wind. That was a bit of a shock to the system. There was quite a wind and it was tough going. Pace dropped as I made it towards the water station on the corner, just before the first hill. Got a measly cup of water then assaulted the hill, nice and easy on the way back down. Now my GI system was starting to complain, I'd only had a little water, why? Then just after mile marker 4 it all went wrong. I started getting horrible abdominal cramp, move up into my diaphragm, so bad I couldn't breathe, so I had to admit defeat and start walking. I say walking, I was staggering about like a drunk after 10 pints. I was actually better running, so tried a slow run until I'd regained composure. Things settled down, but if I ran too hard then I started cramping again. I was obviously not over being ill. So pacing strategy was out the window until I'd made it to the 'top' of the course. Maybe I could still aim for a 1:31, there were plenty of entries in the sweepstake from there down. 1:30:xx was the barren ground in the sweepstakes, maybe I could get that 1:30:45?
Reached to second aid station around km9 and got a little more water, that set the stomach off again, but throttled back the effort using the downhill and kept the worst away. The wind was relentless through to km15 though, the realisation that a sub 1:30 set in and I started sinking into a dark place. I was trying to pick runners and stay with them, sometimes it worked, sometimes they were too slow. I was using the sweepstake to keep my mind out of it, who had bet on what time? Who could still win? I'd really been looking forward to this race and it was becoming a little anti-climatic, I was sinking into the hole that I experienced on lap 3/4 in the Ironman run. Eventually I made it to Cranfield and the start of the downhill, I knew I'd broken the back and there was only 30 minutes left I put my mind in the right gear. Enjoying the downhill I put in a 3:57 km, I could see the average pace start to drop and that helped things, and back on the flat I settled into a steady pace. I settled onto a guy that was a good pace and that helped, another little hill around km18 and I held in there, water station just after and I lost my guy as I walked through. Just a few km left, and I tried to up the pace, well the RPE went up even if the pace remained the same.
I was starting to hurt now, my calves were niggling, breathing was hard, and the dizzy staggering was coming back, I could feel the road swaying. Maybe I should have backed off, but the stupid sweepstake had me wanting to run a respectable time, especially after all those quick bets. Turned the corner onto the final stretch, the nasty uphill, man it was hurting, I managed to overtake a guy as my breathing got loud. Summoned the last drop of energy I had and crossed the line. Then staggered about, stood for a minute while my chip was cut off. Then laid in the car park trying to compose myself, didn't even have the energy to call dad over as he walked past.
Made it 1:33:38 on my Garmin, but obviously started early/stopped late as the chip time puts me at 1:33:34, with a Gun time of 1:33:45 putting me in position 234/1523 finishers.
Having crossed the line I was actually a little disappointed, I missed the time I 'should' have done. In reality though it was a PB by over 7 minutes. That is still one hell of an improvement over an already reasonable PB. I shouldn't be disappointed. I am capable of more though, if I hadn't been ill in the run up, and hadn't had the abdominal/dizziness issues then I could have run harder. The other bonus is it gives me a chance to improve on it next year without a huge amount more effort.
Last year I had a good idea of what I could do, so my pacing was to target a slightly ambitious 1:40, I missed, but only just. This year the same formula I used last was telling me I could do a 1:30:45. That would be 10 minutes quicker. That seemed to good an improvement, I tried a few other calculators and they gave similar results. The end result: I had my heart set on a 1:30. Pacing strategy was to go out at with 4:20/km and return with 4:10/km. This should play to the course, flattish first 5K, short sharp up&down, then uphill to 10K, down&up over next 2K, flattish next 5K, then nice downhill before a little kick up before the finish. The forecast on Friday: heavy rain, Saturday: heavy rain if I'm slow, this morning: dry. Ignoring the forecast in the hope it would change turned out to be a good strategy. I was also trying something else daring; new kit. My shorts have got a bit loose, so I thought new kit can't do more damage than worn out kit.
Race morning came and I was feeling alright, still had a bit of a chesty cough and blocked nose, but I was coping, I'd just pretend I was in perfect health. What's the worst that could happen? Dad dropped me off at the start with a little under an hour to spare, about enough time to fight into the hall for chip collection, collect my free race memento jacket, take off my nice warm hoodie and drop my bag off, make sure there was no excess weight being carried around then warm up. Tweaked the ankle sprain during the warm up, got me a little worried. Then to the start pen, stood at the front of the 91-100 minute pen, and was a little surprised by how few people were in front of me. Hmm, was I being a little over optimistic?
Walk to the start line and then the gun went off, little walk and broke into a jog on the line, then into a run. Remembered to try and keep my pace in check and took it what felt easy, 4:05 for the first, actually slightly quicker for the second with a 4:03, out onto the open roads and another speedy km in 4:05. Then a turn back into the wind. That was a bit of a shock to the system. There was quite a wind and it was tough going. Pace dropped as I made it towards the water station on the corner, just before the first hill. Got a measly cup of water then assaulted the hill, nice and easy on the way back down. Now my GI system was starting to complain, I'd only had a little water, why? Then just after mile marker 4 it all went wrong. I started getting horrible abdominal cramp, move up into my diaphragm, so bad I couldn't breathe, so I had to admit defeat and start walking. I say walking, I was staggering about like a drunk after 10 pints. I was actually better running, so tried a slow run until I'd regained composure. Things settled down, but if I ran too hard then I started cramping again. I was obviously not over being ill. So pacing strategy was out the window until I'd made it to the 'top' of the course. Maybe I could still aim for a 1:31, there were plenty of entries in the sweepstake from there down. 1:30:xx was the barren ground in the sweepstakes, maybe I could get that 1:30:45?
Reached to second aid station around km9 and got a little more water, that set the stomach off again, but throttled back the effort using the downhill and kept the worst away. The wind was relentless through to km15 though, the realisation that a sub 1:30 set in and I started sinking into a dark place. I was trying to pick runners and stay with them, sometimes it worked, sometimes they were too slow. I was using the sweepstake to keep my mind out of it, who had bet on what time? Who could still win? I'd really been looking forward to this race and it was becoming a little anti-climatic, I was sinking into the hole that I experienced on lap 3/4 in the Ironman run. Eventually I made it to Cranfield and the start of the downhill, I knew I'd broken the back and there was only 30 minutes left I put my mind in the right gear. Enjoying the downhill I put in a 3:57 km, I could see the average pace start to drop and that helped things, and back on the flat I settled into a steady pace. I settled onto a guy that was a good pace and that helped, another little hill around km18 and I held in there, water station just after and I lost my guy as I walked through. Just a few km left, and I tried to up the pace, well the RPE went up even if the pace remained the same.
I was starting to hurt now, my calves were niggling, breathing was hard, and the dizzy staggering was coming back, I could feel the road swaying. Maybe I should have backed off, but the stupid sweepstake had me wanting to run a respectable time, especially after all those quick bets. Turned the corner onto the final stretch, the nasty uphill, man it was hurting, I managed to overtake a guy as my breathing got loud. Summoned the last drop of energy I had and crossed the line. Then staggered about, stood for a minute while my chip was cut off. Then laid in the car park trying to compose myself, didn't even have the energy to call dad over as he walked past.
Made it 1:33:38 on my Garmin, but obviously started early/stopped late as the chip time puts me at 1:33:34, with a Gun time of 1:33:45 putting me in position 234/1523 finishers.
Having crossed the line I was actually a little disappointed, I missed the time I 'should' have done. In reality though it was a PB by over 7 minutes. That is still one hell of an improvement over an already reasonable PB. I shouldn't be disappointed. I am capable of more though, if I hadn't been ill in the run up, and hadn't had the abdominal/dizziness issues then I could have run harder. The other bonus is it gives me a chance to improve on it next year without a huge amount more effort.
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