European Championships. A hot day out.

I managed to pick up a last minute spot for this race, having posted a good enough time last July, and stirring up a little trouble I managed to get a roll down spot minutes before the entry cut off. I was getting to wear my GB trisuit again and racing in the Olympic distance race.

Arriving in the resort almost a week early gave me what I hoped would be plenty of time to get used to the heat. By race day I had stopped sweating profusely in the heat, so this was achieved. Plenty of morning sea swims and I was used to the non wetsuit open water. Walking around the town I saw just how evil the hill on the run would be. It was horrible walking it. A trip to the castle showed just how far 1500m is on a 1 lap course. The day before the race was a stress filled day, with registration, briefings, riding to hotel, and racking. My racking spot was horrific. The bikes were 60cm apart, on one side, so really 30cm apart, with a box to fit in the gap. Needless to say my bike didn’t fit, so my anxiety levels rose, how would I get my bike out without knocking my shoes off?

Checked into a nice noisy hotel I got some sleep. We headed over for final checks, the GB managers negotiated moving some bikes, now I had some space. Then it was time to get ready. Faith and I headed into the water for a warm up as the first wave went off. They all dived in. We looked at each other in horror, having been told explicitly we wouldn’t be diving by the team manager in our briefing. Having settled my mind in the warm up we hear on exiting that the rest of the waves wouldn’t be diving. Phew. The women’s wave was next off and I watched them all run out on to the pontoon. The call for us to wait in the holding area was given and we formed up in a line on the ramp. The women got in the water and were off. We were waved onto the pontoon and walked/jogged to the line. I gave my goggles a last dip and we were put into start boxes. We were reminded that we had to pass each buoy to the left and then instructed to get in the water with a minute to go. I cling onto the rope. As the women approached the first mark we hear “on your marks”


Swim Course - Anticlockwise from pontoon around yellow buoys and back to the beach

Swim
The horn sounds and the water boils. In a split second choice I decide to pace this rather than fight the first 100m. A pack forms to my right side, the pack to the left forms separately. I try to stay near the front, but the guys are pushing and there is no way I can hold this pace. The first mark comes and I’m 20m back. People are tapping my feet so I figure I’m heading a pack. I spot a couple of stragglers between the packs and try to bridge for some feet to follow. The second mark comes and I roll turn. The bashing I get taking such a tight line confirms the pack behind me. As I look down the diver on the seabed looking back startles me. A glance at my Garmin puts me halfway in about 12:45. The third mark comes and I don’t roll turn, a few sights and I’m on track. The guy on my feet makes a break on the inside. I follow for a bit then he veers left and I opt to go it alone. I’m passing the slower women now. Mr breakaway corrects and slots in 10m ahead as we near mark 4. How did I lose so much ground? The last 500m now and I start working my stroke. I feel a few stings and I block the thoughts of jellyfish. When I swim properly I pull to the right, so I keep sighting a lot. The shore isn’t getting any closer though. The deep blue starts to fade and the water becomes a murky brown. The jetty finally appears and it is just the final leg into the beach exit. A guy to my left gets up and starts running. I take a few more strokes and my fingers scrape the bottom. I get up and make a break for it. My knees are barely breaking the surface though. Finally I’m onto dry ground and the ramp up to the shower and into T1

Transition 1
Into T1 and I find myself wondering where my bike is for a second. Having made the right split second decision as to my row I run for ages before I reach my bike. I chuck my hat and goggles in the box. Then pause for what feels like an eternity, a rabbit in the headlights. Remembering what needs to be done I get my helmet and sunglasses on and unrack my bike and I’m off, jumping on without incident

Bike
I delay getting my feet in whilst I negotiate the first few corners and get on the log straight. I try to get some speed up, but the block paviers are sapping my efforts and making things a little dicey. I struggle on and finally I can give the ride 100%. Now for the game of leap frog that follows T1. Jostling for a good spot without drafting is tricky. I’m holding 32kmh, but it is a bone shattering ride. A mile or so in and I’m on 31 minutes of race time. Finally I reach the tarmac. My speed jumps to 38kmh. If I can avoid the poorly fixed potholes there is 5km of this. I can’t of course, but I’m doing OK. My legs are feeling heavy so I play with my gears to find the right speed/cadence/comfort combo. 5km in and the dead turn for the run back, I scrub (far too much) speed to make it round in one piece. 7.5km, the tarmac ends and we are back on the paviers so my speed tumbles. 5 bone shaking kilometres until the tarmac. I spot the red flash of Faith’s wheels and wave. Did she see me? Coming to the end of lap 1 I hear a cheer that is more “ Go Jib-bee” than “Go Gee-bee” from Faith’s entourage. Through the timing point and I’m nearly too fast and overcook the corner. As I transition to the tarmac for the second time I spot Faith and manage a cheer. The focussed poker face remains. A slow dead turn and the second run home. I have my first peanut butter Gu. Mmm, why did they have to discontinue these? The pelotons are forming now, isn’t this meant to be non-drafting? A third of the way through lap 3 and someone is dropping some serious f-bombs behind me; “get on the effing right you effing…” As he zooms by on the left his trisuit reveals him to be Fiore of Italy. He is clearly unimpressed by my following the instruction to ride on the left and overtake on the right. Ten seconds later a Brit passes me and confirms what I thought. I was in the right place and that guy was prick. As I come through the lap/finish point for the third time I’m too fast and come with 2” of clipping the foot of a barrier. Too much speed Jibby. Focus you idiot. Onto the straight and the start of lap 4 and I have my second gel. I’m looking at my speedo feeling disappointment and frustration. My speed appears to me to be dropping. Has the wind picked up? Mentally the cracks are forming. The super peloton zooms past now and I find myself scrapping with people that are melting in the heat, trying to stay out of the draft zone. Digging deep each time to make the pass and stay out of the 10m box, or at least be visibly on the offensive to the referees. The turn point comes and the relief of only having 5km left. I make a mental check of my fluid intake. Speed is feeling OK as I make the push. I spot a blue shimano flag and begin getting my feet out. It’s the wrong flag though and I have done it waaay too soon. Finally the dismount line comes into sight.

Transition 2
I’m off and running. Again I have a think about my row. I reach my spot and stop and stare at the racking for what feels like 10 minutes pondering how to put my bike on it. Eventually I put my handlebars over it. Unclip my helmet, but because of my T1 choices sunglasses are over the straps, so they come off, helmet off, then glasses back on. Run shoes on. Hat…! Grab that and I’m off.

Run
Out of transition and straight into aid station 1. They have bottled water not cups. I grab one and have 2 gulps before emptying the rest over me. I soon realise the downside is my feet are now squelching in my shoes. I reach the hill. A nasty 5-10% switchback that levels out but lasts 400m. Thankfully there is a second water station at the top. I grab a bottle and repeat the 2 gulps and pour over myself, filling my hat with water before putting that back on. My right heel is killing me now though. It seems my shoe is trying to amputate my foot. 2km in and the catalogue of ailments is growing; left Achilles, right heel, left toe. Now my quads join the party with shooting pains through my legs. There is no way I can even try to put on a brave smiling face as I pass Faith’s entourage. This is grimace and bare it territory. Through the aid station with my now standard procedure of 2 sips and shower. The GB support is great through this part of the course and the cheers are helping lift me up. Second attempt at the hill is just as painful as my quads cramp up on it. I get a multi-lingual cheer from a (Swiss?) woman. I almost run into the bollard at the timing point, why not put it inside the barrier? Down into the town and I’m begging my legs to behave. Halfway. Second to last go at the hill and it hurts lots. Only once more though! A little jostling for space as we go through the aid station. As I run through Team Faith my legs are screaming, if it wasn’t for all the water I’d poured over myself they might have seen the tears. Last lap. Make it a strong one Jibby. I look at my watch, 8 minutes for a sub 2:15. No way. A sub 2:20 is on the cards though. I try my hardest to up my pace, but my legs don’t want to go anywhere. As I reach the hill I contemplate walking. The GB cheers are too motivating though so I suck up the pain. As I go through the aid station another Brit is running beside me, she chucks her bottle to the left off course (as we were instructed to do), except it narrowly misses a passing couple and the dregs of water appear to shower them. It lifts my mood as I head into the timing point. I try to up the pace giving every last drop of energy I can find.

I enter the finish straight and it feels like I’m sprinting for the line. I don’t think anyone is behind so I grab a GB flag holding it up as I cross the line. I’m totally spent and just want to collapse in a heap but I’m not allowed. A medal is put around my neck, my chip is removed and I’m ushered out to somewhere I can. I sit on the floor for a bit. I have just finished what feels like the hardest race in my life. I get up take my shoes of, grab an iced water sponge and cool down. As I walk away the looks of other confirm what I feel. I’m a total mess.

Swim: 26:46
T1: 00:40
Bike: 1:07:11
T2: 00:36
Run: 43:49
Overall: 2:18:52
24/28 in Age Group, 149/256 Males

I’m uncertain what I feel. I wasn’t last in my age group. It is an Olympic distance PB by over 4.5 minutes, so that is good. I have represented GB in triathlon now, but I’m hungry for more. So Austria next year, hopefully.

Thorpe Sprint Series Race 3

What: Thorpe Lake Sprint Race 3
Where: Thorpe Lake, Surrey
Organiser: The Tri Project
Course details: http://www.thetriproject.co.uk/casestudies/view/thorpe-sprint-southeast-series-2012
Distance: Swim 750m (Open Water), Cycle 20km (Road), Run 5km (Mostly Trail)
Closed Roads: No
Marshalling: A couple of numpties in kayaks. A few people on the course.
Facilities: Toilets/changing/showers , café. Quagmire to get car stuck in.
Technical: Chip timing.
Freebies: Nothing.


A last minute race for me. Was meeting up with Ben and the others post France for a spot of training this weekend. Not sure what state I was going to be in after Run24 last weekend so not convinced about this one. Somehow Faith planted enough of a seed in my mind that I ended up wanting to do it and soon enough I was on the entry list. After a nightmare of a week with work (half of it away from home) I made it back at 8pm on Friday to pack and reassemble my bike after France for a 5am start to get to Thorpe to meet the others, praying I had packed everything.

After a swim and a bike route recce the day went the BCTTT way. The recce had me questioning how well I’d do as it was a little lumpy. Maybe I sandbag a little too much these days, but when the road goes uphill I tend to struggle. The goal was to swim about 12 minutes, bike around 38-40 and then aim for the 21-22 minute mark on the run (depending on course length). The goal was to make it onto the run before Faith overtook me. With a 10 minute headstart I figured it should be just about possible.

Driving to the lake it was obvious plans would need to change. After a lot of rain overnight there was a lot of standing water on the roads. Maybe I’ll need to be more conservative on the bike. Arriving at the venue cars were starting to get stuck in the car park. Why did I have to go and forget my trail shoes? Maybe I’ll need to be more conservative on the run too…

After racking The Fear visited and I started questioning why I was doing this. How do I get talked into these things? After a mini cluster losing Tarka who had my wetsuit I was ready for the plunge. Jumped in, warmed up, then took a position near the front on the inside line. 5-4-3-2-1-Whistle
I mashed the water to start with to try and get clear. Think I held my own then eased into a steady stroke. After about 200m a guy just appeared from my blind (left) side and next I know my left cheek hurts as his heel smacks me hard in the face. Goggle squished in but not knocked off or leaking, but my face hurt. The red mist came, unfortunately instead of channelling it into speeding up and getting clear my mind wandered onto revenge. Could I get up and pull his zip? I soon snapped out of it and returned to swimming, albeit a little slower. Round the turn buoys and onto the final straight. Drifted off a little and found myself snaking. Regained composure and then picked up the effort to the exit. Annoyed at being a little slow. 13m05s on my watch at the exit. 13m21s official with the little run to the mat.

Into T1 and I obviously haven’t done enough OW events recently. Struggled to find my zip. WTF, I’m normally good at that. Argh. Then I ran looking for my bike as I got my arms out. Then thought I’d run too far so turned around and looked back for my bike. Couldn’t see it. I was stood next to it. More wasted time. Got the rest of the wetsuit off. Helmet on, shoes on, bike out. Reached the mount line, moved left went to put my leg over and noticed the chain was off. Grrr. Reach under, chain on, mount. More wasted time. Official T1, 1m20s.

Up the ramp, out onto the road and off on the bike. Just tried to settle in on the first bit, was starting to catch guys in front, and then there was the roundabout. I corner like crap though and lost about 20m by the time I’d exited. Need to fix that. Started reeling them back and I had made ground up before the left turn. Started playing leap frog with a guy on this run. This pretty much continued through to the traffic lights. About 4 guys in front were slowing up for the red light and starting to dismount. I saw a car coming from the other side and decided to play it cool, slow down but stay clipped in, sure enough green light! Onto the downhill, big ring, grind away, 4 places made up. Then came the uphill bit, I was actually holding my own, not getting overtaken and even opening up/closing down gaps! 7.5k in and the first guys were heading back. I didn’t think to count them at this point. Or look to see how far back I was. Turns out I was only about 5 mins down on the leaders. I just stuck my head down, in the drops and rode until my lungs hurt. Remembered to have a swig of drink, then around the roundabout for the run back. Now I could see everyone else behind coming up. I was holding a reasonable place by the looks of it. A little unusual. The amount of cheating feckers drafting was slightly annoying, groups of 5-6 riders isn’t an accident. Saw the first female and starting keeping an eye out for Faith. Uphill into the lights and just as I spot her hear ‘Go Jibby’ returned the encouragement before negotiating the red light. Mr Frog was ahead on the outside and stopping, then just as I go into the neutral zone the light changes. Having not unclipped I let out a huge scream as I tried to get the bike moving again and through the lights. Lost a place in the process but never saw Mr Frog until the finish. Riding nicely I was knocking out 38+km/h. It was comfortably uncomfortable and I was loving the fact. Final turn into the drive down to the lake and the marshal shouts I’m in 12th. S***, I never ride that good. At that point I decided not to waste my lead playing with a shoes off dismount. Official bike 36m26s.

Into T2 and let the cluster begin. Almost missed my racking point. Helmet & glasses off. Shoes off. Right sock on. Right sock isn’t going on. Doing too well to lose lots of time in T2. F*** this, abandon the socks idea and I’ll suck up the pain from any blisters. Shoes on. Shoes don’t like wet feet either. Crap, eventually on and run out of T2. 1m12s apparently. Felt a whole lot longer.

Out onto the run and within 20m I wished I had my trail shoes. Lots of puddles and wet mud. There was a guy not far behind and didn’t want to get caught so pushed on hard. 4m16 for the first k. Maybe too hard. I got over my bike>run spurt and settled in at 4m40/km pace for the next couple of k. Got passed once, then on the dogleg I saw the fast guys heading my way, counted them through, then spotted a woman. WTF? By the turn I had counted 13 guys and a woman. Just had to hold this… Lifted my pace and did a 4m20 Then back onto the tarmac. If I’d known how far it was I would have kicked earlier. I left it a little late to give everything I had. Crossed the line after a 21m39 5k then did my current trick of collapsing. Everything left on the course again.

Swim 00:13:21
T1 00:01:20
Cycle 00:36:26
T2 00:01:12
Run 00:21:39
Total time 1h14:01, but have 4s taken off for the traffic lights, so really 1h13m57s. 18th Overall, 15th male, and 8th in Under 30s. Glad I was talked into doing it, it has restored my passion for racing tri, and reaffirmed the fact I want to go short and fast for a bit once Barcelona is out the way. I think it might be in me now. It has also given me the boost I need to convince myself I can get in the time needed in the ETU qualifier, if not a placing.

Learning Points:
1. I need to channel the Red Mist constructively in future during swim fights.
2. My OW transitions are shocking. Need to improve that.
3. Check my bike is in the proper gear before heading to the swim. Complacency.
4. I can hold my own on the bike and I need to have more faith in myself.
5. I can’t corner and need to find a way to get my confidence back.
6. I can run 5K without socks and not blister too badly. Maybe tape my feet for Bedford.
7. My transitions need practice. Too slow in both of them
8. Should have memorised/scouted the run course to know when to kick for the finish.

Ringwood Triathlon Spring '12

Where: Ringwood Leisure Centre, Ringwood
When: Sunday 15th April
Organiser: www.resultstriathlon.co.uk
Distance(s): 600m/45km/9.2km
Course details: Pool swim, 1 lap bike course, figure 8 run course (tarmac)
Marshalling: Plenty where required, and some woman in a pink hoodie
Facilities: Leisure centre, car parking, food van
Freebies: Technical tee


The run up to this race was not my OCD prepared self. I was overtrained and fatigued by Wednesday, not even managing 8 minute miles on my evening run, and it took some serious self-control to not do Parkrun on Saturday morning. Allied with the fact I can’t eat fish for 2 weeks before my annual heavy metal test, so my pre-race meal had to be changed from fish and chips. Thought I’d try Jerk chicken and sweet potato French fries. Except I didn’t have any Jerk seasoning, so I made my own. Turns out I put a tad too much chilli powder in out. A little more spicy than planned! I’d also left getting my gear ready until after dinner. All was going well, except I couldn’t find my race bike computer. I was sure it was on one of the bookcases I’d moved during the day. So I spent an hour turning the flat upside trying to find it. After I gave up I went to get my transition bag. Turns out it was in the bottom of it from the last race of 2011. D’oh! Eventually I went to bed, having changed my alarm 3 times.

Morning came and was all going pretty well, fed, watered, car packed and set off on schedule. Then I stopped paying attention and stayed on the Millbrook road passed the turning for the M271. No worries I thought, I’ll just carry on and get on at a different junction. Possibly the longest detour ever, it would have been quicker to go back. I arrived to find some woman in a pink hoodie directing traffic, eventually she recognised me ;-) Managed to make it in time though. It was fecking freezing though, registered and made it back to the car to sort my kit out. Sat in the car sorting my numbers out then got the bike ready. Mark (M005) popped over and said hi, then asked about extra layers. Yep I was going to put them on, it might be a good idea to go home and get them. Then I headed off to rack my kit. By the time I’d made it to transition I’d lost the feeling in my fingers. Not good. The thermometer on the bike computer was steadily dropping towards 2°C. I was going to get soaking wet then go for a bike ride in this. Sanity check? I laid my kit, happy I had everything ready, and then headed back to the car to warm up again. Bumped into Ade and said hi, then found my way into the leisure centre. Watched Mark exit and out onto the bike, then did the same for Ade before standing around warming up. Had a little chat with a woman who I had run behind for most of the September version.

Made it poolside to find I was sharing a lane with a guy that had been in my lane the April before, so we had a chat about Ironman’s again, this time what they were like. The moment came and we were off. I was number 2 in the lane, so set off and tried to catch the feet of the guy in front to make life a little easier. Went through 100m in 1:24, 200m in 2:58 (why can’t I swim like that at Masters?) then lost track of times. Took the lead for 100m then had to drop back. Then the float and it was 24 lengths done. Out the water and lap the Garmin, 9m32. That puts me bang on with my optimistic 9:30 prediction, and 2s better than last year.

T1 was a bit of a farce. Mostly because of my planned attempt to dress for an artic expedition. Mark was just coming in off the bike so shouted some pleasantries, well I think they were. Cycle jersey went on eventually, long sleeves and wet arms don’t like each other. Socks just weren’t happening; too many stones and towel wasn’t drying feet, so abandoned that idea. Bike shoes on, then get the Belgian booties on (comedy 1 legged standing). Number, helmet, glasses, long fingered gloves. After what felt like 5 minutes I was ready to head out for the bike, through a now empty transition. Turns out it was on 2m31, still 23s slower than last year.

Out on the bike and I was absolutely flying. The roads were empty, and I knew there was a tail wind, but I was averaging over 34 kph during the first 5k. Uneventful first 10k down to Burton, then the turn east. It was sheltered to start, but the effect of the wind was noticeable. I saw someone ahead and the chase was on. Turns out it was the nice lady I’d spoken to earlier, who’d paced me last time. Up a little hill into Bransgore then what should have been a lovely downhill through the open plains of the New Forest and up into Burley. Thing was, the open plains allowed the full effect of the nasty cross/headwind. I was going down that nice slope at the speeds I’d been doing on the flat earlier. Grrr. Into Burley and I had to slow for some 4x4 owner out getting a paper or something. A bit of rolling countryside and in a nasty gust leaves got blown onto the road. Somehow my wheel picked one up and jammed it between my brakes and the rim. At first I thought I’d blown a tyre, but then realised for the amount of noise the tyres hadn’t deflated. I tried to carry on but it was far too annoying. No way I was going to put my fingers near a moving wheel so I had to stop at the crest of a hill to clear it. That done an I was on to a nice downhill to the A35 before the turn up through Bolderwood, and the hilly. Realised my legs were wrecked on the hills as I got chicked. Then out onto the plains into the wind again for a bit, then a turn west and the wind was more of a cross tail and I could hold a little more speed. Except now the Wiggle riders were causing havoc. Riding 2/3 abreast on single track roads with no respect for oncoming riders. Then one idiot taking a drink and weaving from one shoulder of the road to another. Back into the trees and the uber fats guys from the last wave were coming through now. One Navy guy wanted the whole road to overtake, forcing me to use to crappy road surface at the side. Still managed to average 37 kph for the penultimate 5k. Last 5k and overtook someone getting his feet out, nearly missed the right turn in the process. Some encouragement from Cheryl as I came in and bike done in 1h29m52, 1m11 slower than last year, but that hides the fact there was an average headwind this time, and my estimated power was actually up by 10% this year at 263W

T2 was the opposite farce. Taking my Artic kit off and getting socks then run shoes on. Apparently it took me 1m45, only a second slower than last year. Out onto the run.
Other than avoiding all the Wiggle riders pretty uneventful. No jelly legs at first, but about a mile in my calves felt all wobbly. Never had that before. I got chicked once, but got the woman that had chicked me on the bike back. A couple of guys passed me towards the end, but I had pulled about 10 places back by the time I entered the finally couple of Km. I knew it was a short course so I could see I was on for a 40 minute run, well almost. I picked the pace up and crossed the line in 2:23:58 (official), with a 40m17 run split so 3m03 quicker than last year on the run, for a PB by 1m27s.

Overall very happy with my performance. Training has been a little poor since the turbo lunacy, so to PB is pretty good. The nice thing was that the bike and run paces were “comfortably uncomfortable” it would be a little rash to actually believe I could hold them for twice that distance. I’m not far of managing it though. If the weather is right. That’s going to stand me in good stead for Swashbuckler in 4 weeks time I hope, a sub 5 isn’t beyond the realms of possibility I think. I need to work on the bike though. I need to correct my lack of hill strength, and I could do with some more run speed. Time to get back on the Sufferfest’s now my hand is good enough to ride. Oh, and start working the hills (or what we have for hills around here) on the bike.

A year in review

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!!!!!

Bedford Autumns Sprint, End of Season 2011

What: Bedford Autumn Sprint
Where: Bedford, Bedfordshire, UK
Organiser: Galeforce Events
Course details: http://www.galeforce-events.com/
Distance: Swim 400m (Pool), Cycle 25km (Road), Run 5km (Tarmac path around park)
Closed Roads: No
Marshaling: Marshals at every major turn and junction. Sign-posts at every turn.
Facilities: Toilets/changing/showers in leisure centre, lockers, café, warm up swim area,  tri shop, massage (not free)
Technical: Chip timing. Mats at swim out, bike out, bike in, finish
Freebies: Clip on light for cycling, Crunchie bar, Haribo, juice box, and water at finish

So my third attempt at this event, and my 5th time on the course (did the summer one in '09  and '10). Spraining my ankle 3 weeks ago kind of dashed my hopes from a month ago of  completely smashing this event. Having 'raced' Ringwood 2 weeks ago I knew if I survived the  swim without undoing my rehab then I should be able to finish the event. There is also the  small matter of the weather. It was absolutley gorgeous, more summer like than autumnal.

So morning of the event, Dr Jibbenstein Sr had packed his transition box the night before,  so I had fewer questions this time around as I ate my breakfast. Got to the event and  registered, no t-shirt this time around, but a cycle helmet light instead. Far more useful  in my opinion, I have enough DIY t-shirts now. Then it was time to rack, I chose the second  row as usual (this will be important later...) and proceeded to set up a little over halfway  down. Dr J Sr set up beside me then asked why I had chosen this spot. I explained and got  asked the same 'because it is next to you'. Right. Race briefing time then a few trips to  the facilities as AD had come to visit. Sat and watched people starting, the start the  slowest first and set people off at 10s intervals. There were obviously a few newbies, one  guy needed a 90s rest after 2 lengths, and there was even a DHOL :O Eventually SR started  and I went off to get ready, 10 minutes later I headed out to see him off onto the bike  before going poolside for my start. Thinking I had ages as I was 150 places after dad was a  mistake, as I walked down the line looking for the numbers either side of me I realised I  would be starting in a couple of minutes. Damn mum wasn't there and I wanted a photo of the  BCTTT swim hat being used in anger, would she realise I had started?

So the swim. Normally the part I fear least, today the part I feared most. Was 7 minutes a  bit optimistic for 400m when I intended to do it as fc pull? Some guy with a low number  pushed in front. WTF? then I got my 10s call, off I went, it felt far to easy. Within 2  lengths (66m) I had caught the guy in front, tapping his feet. He gave me a dirty look and  carried on as we changed lanes. Damn. Saw a gap with 10m left of the 3rd length and pulled  hard to get the overtake. Manged it and obvioulsy made my point as he let a few people  through. Next length I get my feet tapped and let a guy through. Turned out to be a good  choice. I hung onto his feet for the next 8 lengths. Getting out of the water in 7 minutes  dead. How about that. Turns out mum had noticed I wasn't in the line, looked in the pool and  saw a 'yellow hat with stars on it' and realised it was me. Well they are hibiscus leaves  mum, but the BCTTT swim hats are obviously a good investment.

T1, umm slow is one word for it. Not wanting to run too hard barefoot with no ankle support  I took it easy. Then it too ages to get socks and support on. Little tip for anyone putting  an ankle support on after a swim. Put talc'd socks on first. It is so much easier. Out of  T1, 1.21 by my watch, slightly quicker in the official results (slower swim officially).  Fumbled around trying to clip in then off out onto the roads.

The bike was where it was all at for me in this race. The one leg that I could do at a vomit  inducing effort level and not destroy my ankle. Fairly flat to start with and was holding  about 30km/h reeling in a few people along the way. First hill and I got a few more people,  and apparently had a little rest looking at my HR, got chicked (does it count if you've  already overtaken them?), some out of saddle efforts and stayed in the big ring. Then the  nice little descent down onto the bypass. Unchicked myself in the process and then rode hard  on the flatish section into Radwell took 3 or 4 more scalps on the hill up into Radwell then  itno Felmersham. A couple of sharp left turns and onto the hardest hill, the one up to  Pavenham. Got dropped by a guy on a TT bike, but he was a bit of a t**t and couldn't hold  the pace, so tucked in front of me, I didn't have the extra reserves to make the overtake  again so had to drop back. Few more scalps going up that hill then a small peloton of pointy  hat wizards came through at the top on to the slightly technical descent into Pavenham.  Started breaking coming into the tee junction to have some guy wizz past me. He was lucky  there was no traffic, it's a blind junction and no way he could have stopped if needed. I  knew I was onto a good thing with this bike leg so carried on working hard. I was absolutley  loving it. I was reeling people in left right and centre, taking people back on the hills  too. 3 weeks of bike focus have paid off. Back into Bedford and into T2. 44:55 for the  24.5km on the bike, an average speed of over 20mph, I think an aero wheel upgrade is  justified for next season now. HR is also quite interesting. Managed to average 157 with a  max of 167, much higher than I can normally get. Something has happened to me since IM it  seems.

T2, where it all went wrong for me. So run into T2 and go down the third row. Where's my  towel and shoes? Where is dad's bike? Oh, they are over there. I'M IN THE THIRD ROW.  B*******. Dip the racking and get Maddy under. Re rack and change over. Then nothingness.  Complete memory blank as to what I need to change. Eventually snapped out of it and got on  with the run. 1:13 for T2. Not pretty, about 20-30s slower than normal.

The run. Started off quite easy, concious of not destroying my ankle given the Minehead  weekend coming, but at the same time knew I couldn't be that far behind J Sr, on a 2.5 lap  run there are opportunites to get the overtake in... SO ended up just slowly ramping the  speed. 2 weeks of not running was taking it's toll though. Legs were actually fine, but god  was it busting my lungs. 4:19 first km, then the running off the bike hit me in the second k  as I put in a 4:24. Regained composure and a 4:13. Senior can't be that far ahead now.  Finishing the 4th km and I spot him on the cut through for the half lap, he's only a k  ahead. Ankle is holding so turn the screw a little more. 4:16 for that km and into the final  K. Feeling good and a sub 21 run is on the cards. 4 min/km pace now, finishing straight  coming up, breathing is killing me, haven't got a sprint finish in me so cross the line in  20:33 after 4.8km by the Garmin. 1:15:01 by my timing.

After thoughts:
I had been hoping I'd broken 1:15 given my self timing, but seems the official results put  me at 1:15:01 as well so it is not to be this season. Really over the moon about the result  though 1:15:01 is a PB by 2:24 over my PB from June '10, with good gains on the bike (2:53  better), and actually a new run PB too by 27s. losess were in the swim, with my slowest yet  and in T1&2. Given I couldn't kick properly in the swim & took T1 easy the losses here  aren't too bad. My T2 performance was a bit shocking. No excuses for the racking mistake or  the mental block. The official results also make interesting reading, apparently I managed  52nd overall out of 300 starters, and 4/15 in my age group, only a minute and a half from a  podium place in AG. An improvement over last season, and a far cry from my days of always  being the last to finish. The most interesting thing for geeky me though is actually in the  HR data.

I've always seemingly had a low max HR, I rarely see it above 160 even when doing hard run  intervals, and it never seems to get about 167 in run races either. My min HR has improved a  lot, and is probably down around the 43/44 mark at the moment. But in this race I averaged  157 on the bike, and averaged 162 on the run. The maxes were higher at 167 and 172  respectively. The run data is pretty good too as it shows a steady ramp. Something has  changed in me after IM. Maybe I am seeing that physiological adaptation everyone always  writes about following IM. Whatever it is I don't want to waste it. 3 years of triathlon and  I'm still finding things I love about it. What a way to finish the season, I can't wait for  April and the start of the 2012 season now.

Ironman + 2 Weeks. You may have been right, I'm might be mad

So in case anyone managed to miss the fact I finished Ironman Germany 2 weeks ago you can read about it here: http://issuu.com/jibby26/docs/imde_story

So 2 weeks on. Well it has mostly been 2 weeks of rest. The first week I was itching to get back out there. I went swimming on the Thursday, and somehow managed to hold on (albeit at the back of the lane, at a slow pace) for the whole session, clocking up a slightly reduced 1750m. Went to the pub afterwards then came back as Friday was my first day back at work. Man I hurt. It didn't get any better throughout Friday at work either. So I did nothing over the weekend. Took the "I told you so"s on the chin and got on with my homage to Ironman to hang on the wall.

With that out of the way, Sunday was spent writing the story of the race and getting there (see link above) and of course tracking the guys doing IMUK. The weekend was a training free zone.

Was thinking of a run on Monday, but after a day at work I just didn't feel like it, so I sat on the sofa a little while longer. On Tuesday I woke up with knee pain, pain that didn't want to go away all day. My left hamstring was really hurting too, the two are possibly connected. The point that hurt is the tender point that caused me to almost kick the masseuse post race. So naturally I went swimming in the evening. Except I still wasn't ready. After 40 minutes I had to quit. After 1200m I'd decided I couldn't carry on, but pushed through the Masters session to 1500m, but being IM dominant it was never going to work. Woke up on Wednesday and leg still hurt. So I went for a run after work. A natural thing to do of course. What can I say, it was very hard, and pretty slow. 6.2km in 35'30" The first 3k were absolute agony. It felt slow, but I was running as hard as I could. Then all of a sudden, about 4 k in, at the bottom of the little hill something clicked and suddenly I was running at normal training pace again. It felt like a switch had been flicked. Once home 10 minutes of foam roller action and another 5 minutes of static stretches to make sure things didn't seize.

I'd decide on Tuesday that swimming wasn't sensible on Thursday, so went sailing. In my default position of jib trim (i.e. brawn on the winch) I was feeling a little lethargic in what is effectively an anaerobic upper body interval session. Still I survived and we even won the race! Friday was the after work run session. I thought I could hack the 4.5 mile route on offer. Thankfully Dave was away and Mike is coming back from injury so it was an 'easyish' run. 6.66km in 36'28". The pace got quicker throughout, with Mike pushing me (what felt) quite hard. The last bit of the run involved an uphill. I had to admit defeat and walk it, I just couldn't get one foot in front of the other. Yesterday was another lazy day. Maddy has been in bubble wrap ever since Frankfurt, I'd never gotten around to rebuilding her. So that was my task for the day (after watching the women's ITU race). As I set about rebuilding I realised that I needed some stuff so attempted to walk into town and get it from Halfraud's. With no joy, they sell tonnes of parts for bikes but don't have any anti seize of carbon fibre assembly compounds. Eventually having been to the LBS I rebuilt Maddy.

So, today, my first ride after Ironman. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. In fact it was quite nice. After a minor cock up when I thought there was a road that cut back and missed out the bigger hills, but it was really a dead end road. So I had to endure some of the hills around Farley Mount. Now they are not major climbs, but probably average 4-5% for a km or so. I made them all though. I even managed the hill into Chilworth I hate with two sprockets spare and holding a good cadence. The only downer was it chose to rain heavily 2km from home. Thanks for that.

So that is the past fortnight. I have learnt that rest is key, just like everyone says. At the same time, I do think it is one of those things that everyone is going to learn for themselves. Training for Ironman was my life for the past 3-6 months. It was the basis of almost all the thoughts in those empty moments you have when doing mundane tasks. Having finished things seem kind of empty, I now have no focus, no goal. Now this is where the mad bit comes in. No, I'm not suicidal with the Ironman Blues. I can't help thinking about the next one. After all that pain, suffering and mental torture. I want to do it again. I really want to do it again. The only thorn in my side is the possibility of another race in mid June next year. A race that will be both longer and harder than Ironman. A race that could take a lot of training to get fit for. A race that will leave me in a far worse state post event than Ironman. Which pretty much rules out all the major European Ironmans as they are in July, or are far too hilly for me to consider. Still, it hasn't stopped me looking at the profiles of all the races and thinking. Maybe I'll go back to Barcelona and do the full distance, the half distance was quick, and the full one is late season. Oh, and it is properly flat. Or maybe I'll do a UK one. So their you have it, I'm mad. Not for doing Ironman like you thought when I said I'd entered. But for wanting to go through all that again. There was a great post by Bopo on the BCTTT forum this week:

Think about it, really think about it. 2.4 miles of swimming hurts. Oh, it's fine in the pool or the lake, but what about when 2000 other people are punching your head? You can't settle down, you can't relax, you fight for every stroke and breath.

Then you get on your bike for one of the longest rides of your life. Sure, you've done the distance, but it wasn't easy, was it? And you hadn't been beaten up for 2.4 miles in the water beforehand.

Anyway, you'll get it done - you have to... because you need to get to the start line of a marathon.

This sums things up surprisingly well (especially as it came from someone that hasn't done an Ironman). It is also the reason why I want to do another. Some people like the feeling of driving cars fast, or falling through the air. I masochistically liked the pure unadulterated fear that was running through me as I put my wetsuit on and made my way down to the swim start. That is why I'll be doing another.

First Tri of 2011: Ringwood

So as I explained yesterday today was the first event in the 2011 triathlon calendar for me. Ringwood Tri. Normally it is Winchester, but they are doing it at the end of the season this year. This was a new event, and in fact not much further than Winchester is either. Distances presented enough of a challenge too. 600m swim, 28 mile bike (45km) and 10km run. Longer than Winchester. Well, yesterday involved some of the usual panic, although for some reason I was a little more apprehensive this morning than I usually am before events. I guess I don't really know where I am fitness wise and if I could do it in a time I'd be happy with. Based on recent training I went today with a 10 minute swim, 1:35 bike and 50 minute run as the criteria for a good race, with a few extra minutes for transition.

Well this morning, up at 4am, shower, shave, food, packed the car, made sure that I had cleared and potential for AD and at 5:30 it was time to set off. Google said it was a 30 minute drive so that should get me there about right. I was slightly early but they had already set up registration so it was fine. Picked up my numbers and got marked, both arms both calves. Then it occurred to me no timing chip, so this wasn't going to be chip timed, oh well, best get the Garmin right!

Had a nosey around transition to get my bearings and recce the mount line/first bend then headed back to the car to get my stuff. Got the bike sorted and headed over to transition and got set up. Tried the far racking but realised because of the curb I couldn't get my bike in, OK try the next rack in. The usual dip bike to side to get it under (why can't organisers use racking that 6' people can get their bikes under?) and laid my gear out. Bex came over and said hi, (sorry I wasn't very chatty, communication switch off when I get nerves before an event). It was blooming freezing so I headed back to the car to pick up my clothes bag and bumped into Bex and Scotty on the way back, had a quick chat with Scotty before heading in to err, use the facilities (yes there was an OMPF). Warmed up a bit and watched the first wave go off. Then thought I'd go outside and catch a picture of Bex going out on the bike. Then it was a waiting game. Having chatted with Scotty I was having doubts over my strategy of just going with the lycra tri suit on the bike. It was fecking freezing. So went back and laid my bike jersey out, chatted with the guy racked next to me and explained reasoning (tree lined roads might not get the sun benefit!). Ade was racking a few bikes over and said hi. Then more waiting, then I got a picture of Scotty mounting the bike. Then it was time to go and bin the warm clothes. Thankfully it was pretty warm poolside and I managed to get warmed up nicely. It was running 20 minutes late, no surprises there - every tri seems to be 20 minutes late by the time I get in the water. Guy next to me asked about how to do auto multisport on the Garmin, we got chatting, he's doing IM wales then finally it was time to get in the water. The other person in my lane didn't turn up so I had it to myself.

I started on the second go (why I had to I have no idea), swimming up and down the black line for 24 lengths. I'd lost count by length 5 and was trying to catch a glimpse of the Garmin on the turns. Except my goggles had fogged up (don't know why, spit and rinse has always worked before). Swimming up and down the black line was quite handy now. Think I went through 400m on 6:16, so going well. Too well? Tap of the head cam and now for an nearly all out 50m to get the legs going. Out of the water and lap the Garmin. 9:33, so probably 9:25 in the water. Hmm, thank you very much, swimming quite well, I didn't even feel pushed. Maybe I should have gone harder?

A pitifully slow transition. Number on sunnies on, helmet on. F***, bike jersey! Helmet off, sunnies off (due to water) Jersey on, helmet on, sunnies on, socks on, damn stones. Bike shoes on and off we go. Down at the mount line and on the bike, through the usual bunch of people putting feet in shoes there and off onto the roads.

The first bit was OK, trying not to draft so putting a bit of speed in to overtake rather than drop back, then the roads straightened out. Had a (draft legal) chain gang session with another guy, he would pass on the flat, I would pass on the uphill as the route rolled away towards Sopley. Eventually I won but got passed by the guy I'd been chatting with poolside on his Boardman Hybrid (damn, beaten by a hybrid rider). Then the route worked its way out into the New Forest. Mostly uneventful. Some hikers, one who was riding a bike with his backpack on got a shock as I weaved through 3 of them using up the whole road. Then the Ornamental drive. Damn the road surface was pretty crappy, there was a photographer right before the crest of a nasty bit of hill. Then pelotons of riders started flying by. There must have been a sportive on. Then a very sketchy bit of road with some serious pot holes, all under the cover of the trees. made it damn hard to see them, thankfully I came through unscathed,  they had said there would be a marshal there, didn't see one. Then the highlight of my ride, being run off the road by a f***ing caravan. The driver had waited for two bikes 40m in front to pass then pulled back out right in front of me. W****R. Had to brake and pull onto the gravel at the side to avoid being hit by the thing. C**K. Road bikes don't like being ridden on gravel. Still made it thorugh alive without stopping. Rest of ride was OK, through some nice twisty sections and to the dismount line. Being a useless twonk after dismounting I pressed the wrong button on the Garmin, stop rather than lap, but realised straight away so restarted and moved to T2.

T2 was alright, hard to get the jersey off. Time for run shoes on, couldn't get the Greeper laces done up under pressure. Think Boy, Think! Gel down the front of my trisuit for later (wish it had pockets...) and out onto the road. Pressed the wrong flipping button again. Grrr.

The run hurt to start with, legs were screaming, after a mile my right hip was screaming too. 4:37 for the first K, not bad. Thinking about it now I don't remember any jelly legs, just aching. But after a procession of fast people passing me a guy of similar pace caught up and we ran side by side till the water station at 3.5K, where he went on while I attempted to drink a sachet of burning sugar. Just after 3K I passed Scotty running in the other direction where he shouted something about having retired. Can't say I understood. My powerbar gel was now about 3,000,000°, still didn't want to squeeze out of the packet either. Cup of water to wash it down then over the crossroads. I'd only lost 20m so picked up pace and ran behind for a few hundred metres then sensing an opportunity I took the lead, he was breathing pretty heavy so I could hear he was keeping pace, it is nice having a pacer to follow. I was trying to catch a new guy 100m in front, wasn't happening though. I was pretty glad by the time the water station came around again. Cup of water and what I thought was the final 3K. Seems it was shorter than advertised. As I turned the final corner just before 9K I realised I was now on the home straight. Final effort and through the finishing chute waited a couple of seconds (to account for earlier stop-starts) and stopped the timer. 2 hours 25 minutes and 25 seconds after starting. Hmm. Damn pleased with that.

Managed to have a chat with everyone after the finish too which was nice.
So crucial stats from the Garmin (awaiting the official results)

Swim - 600m - 9m33s
T1 - 2m7s
Bike - 45.06km - 1h28m40s, av cadence 85, av. HR 75% max
T2 - 1m43s
Run - 9.14km - 43m20s, av. HR 78% max

Tracks at:
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/iYdv9fzCLJc
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/jL2AlnrEU-s

HR seems quite low, not sure why, was running as hard as I could. I've been playing with an interesting plugin on SportTracks that calculates your gearing too, so here is the crucial data (red= 3 favourites, green=3 least favourite)

So my favourite gear was 50x17 and I barely used the granny gear 34x25, although this is all interpretation from cadence, speed and wheel size. Quite interesting if your a data geek like me and perhaps justification for sticking with a compact chainset should I change bikes any time soon.

It was obviously sunny out on the bike as I now have the makings of a nice tri suit tan. Awaiting the official results, but feeling good about this race now. The run was short but I have a prediction of 47:39 if I'd carried on another 860m, under my target, and both swim and bike were under target too.

Time to resurrect this blog

So it has been far to long since I last wrote about my training. Since then I have completed many races (which I have blogged about) and become somewhat deluded into the fact I can get around an Ironman course. I won't go into how deluded I have gotten about the time I can do it in. Today I had a major wake up call (more later) and have decided to attack this problem head on. I have formulated a plan, and part of that plan will included an, at least weekly, reflection on my training.

So I guess I'll start with reviewing the events leading up to this point. This week has not been a wonderful one in training terms. As ever we are working shifts, which means the oh so joyous task of getting out of bed at 4:15 to go to work Tues-Thurs. This of course meant the 15K run I wanted to do would eat into far too much of my evening. Still I went out and, when the heavens opened 10K in, I manged to stick it out and do a third loop, I was so ready to quit after 2 though. Needless to say by the time I got back showered and fed myself it was already bed time, but I had to paint a living room wall. D'oh. I'd much rather shift everyday of the week when we have to do it. 

Tuesday started far to early, still I finished earlier. In future I shall use this to my advantage a bit more and try to stick in a 5-10k run or a short turbo session before an early dinner and Masters. Not doing something before Masters was actually a good move this week though. My speed was there but I had naff all endurance. On the second 300m set I had to stop as I cramped in my foot, but I was also feeling a bit nauseous. Still, I persevered and made it through the 2350m session. Tuesday night was not good though, kept waking up as my throat hurt. Uh oh, I'm ill. The 4:15 wake up call bought confirmation, swollen throat glands, blocked nose. Yep I'd got a cold. Balls, Wednesday I had hopes of a cheeky little Turbo/run brick session. Cue rest days on Weds, Thurs, and Friday. Wasn't feeling too bad on Friday night, so if the weather cleared, I could try an easy ride on Saturday.

The rain gave way to a fine mist on Saturday morning and I opted to go for a gentle ride around my 54k loop. 3 drivers tried to kill me in the first 10k. Why overtake if you are going to turn left immediately after overtaking? Why do buses always pull out before indicating? And my favourite, what is the point in overtaking and practically doing an emergency stop before you've finished to let someone walk a horse across the road? How the hell am I meant to see the horse, and how the hell is the rider meant to see me? Well after all those shenanigans the rest of the ride went OK, I got around the 54K in 2:10, an acceptable speed, if not a little faster than planned. Whilst out on this ride I decided that I didn't want to push things too soon, so another, longer, ride would be more suitable on Sunday than a run.

Well, I learnt what a plonker I was on the ride today. My legs didn't feel good going up hills. At 34k when the turn onto the 20k loop appeared I told myself to man up and take the pain. I survived the loop, just about. Had to stop a few times to refuel, and my lower back hurt, but my legs just about held out. I was starting to worry I had remembered the distance wrong, I had, but a crafty shortcut would later fix that. There was a nasty little hill on that shortcut though, with a handily placed cyclist at the top to witness the pain on my face as I summitted the poultry 10m, 5% slope. 65 kilometres in and my world was about to fall apart. It was my nemesis hill, it is only a measly 3%, but it drags on for over a mile, and has a nasty sting in the tail just as you think you've done it. I knew things would be bad as I dropped down to the 30x20 early on. I was ready top cry as I reached the top, I had to stop and stretch.To make matters worse there was still over 8k left to get home. That was one of the more painful 8k rides I have ever made. My quads had blown big time. All I could manage as I walked through the front door was a stagger to the living room and lie on the floor. A few stretches and the pain would not budge. I looked at the foam roller, tried it but only got halfway down my leg. A touch of heat therapy and I was walking again. Great, enough movement to reheat the remains of the curry I made last night, and a couple of hours on the sofa in compression tights.

This ride was actually a good thing. It broke the cycle of delusion that I can do an Ironman of the junk training I have been doing. SO I sat down and applying a 3 weeks build, 1 week recovery, I have formulated a plan for my long rides and long runs over the next 4 months that will see me able to get around Frankfurt, at least I hope it will. Build weeks will go up 10k on the bike, and 2k on the run each week. The real scary thing is, that means 350km of running, and 1710 km of cycling over the next 4 months. This doesn't even account for training during the week, or the France training camp. It also doesn't pencil in any events between the MK half marathon and IMDE, and I really want to get a few sprints and some open water events in. Some hard decisions will have to be made, and that includes my social calendar too. Even though I've been tee total since new years eve, I can't see the opportunity for social drinking any time soon.

The road to IMDE starts here, hopefully I can hang on to the pain train for long enough. Let's hope the next week goes better than the last.

Last tri of 2010

What: Bedford Autumn Sprint 

Where: Bedford, Bedfordshire, UK
Organiser: Galeforce Events
Course details: http://www.galeforce-events.com/
Distance: Swim 400m (Pool), Cycle 25km (Road), Run 5km (Tarmac path around park)
Closed Roads: No
Marshaling: Marshals at every major turn and junction. Sign-posts at every turn.
Facilities: Toilets/changing/showers in leisure centre, lockers, café, warm up swim area, tri shop, massage (not free)
Technical: Chip timing. Mats at swim out, bike out, bike in, finish
Freebies: Technical T-Shirt (pretty reasonable), Mars bar, juice box, and water at finish

So after a pretty busy (and somewhat boozey) week I was off for the last triathlon of this year. Training this week consisted of 2 half hour long swims in pools that were too small to swim properly. This was going to be my 4th attempt at the course, having done it in June, posting a somewhat awesome time (for me) of 1:17:25. I'd already decided this wasn't going to happen again, so damage limitation was the object of the game.  I'd somewhat fudged the swimtime, I'd estimated it off a 100m time with 10% extra per 100m, so 6:40.  As it turned out one of my Dad's friends, and somewhat of a nemesis had put down the same time - we've been within a few seconds of each other at the past few races and I've lost, had put down the same time and was 2 numbers in front of me. So the game was on. The weather was the only wild card, heavy rain was forecast for about the time we'd be out on the bike course. Dad was racing too, so the first part of the day involved dealing with him, luckily he was off first so after he was out on the bike I had time to prepare mentally.

Swim time came and into the pool I went. Has to be said I felt quite slow, I didn't dare look at my watch  in case it was the bearer of bad news.  With a few lengths to go I overtook the guy in front, putting me dead behind my nemesis, a good T1 and I'd have the lead out onto the bike course. Swim done in 6:42. 1-0 to me

T1 wasn't pretty, the combination of rain and 320 people before me had turned parts of it into a quagmire. This was bad on 2 counts, firstly I got mud between my toes, which wasn't pleasant, but more importantly it was really slippery, especially with bike shoes on. I kinda fluffed it though, after 11 triathlons I forgot to put my helmet on before touching my bike, idiot, luckily I wasn't spotted before I corrected the foolish mishap. I made it to the bike mount first, although my slow attempt at getting my shoes in meant I was soon caught. T1 in 1:06, 2-0.

The first 2K's of the bike was a game of cat and mouse, I took the lead, I lost the lead, until the first incline, where I lost the lead and never regained it. Nemesis was only 20m in front though for the next 4K, when we got to a bigger hill and I couldn't keep up.  I passed Dad on his return leg after a few K, and gave him a shout, which got a smile. The bike has never been my strong point.  The conditions weren't pleasant.  The rain earlier hadn't dispersed and the roads were covered.  This made the draft box quite clear, get within 7m of the bike in front and you got a face full of water from the rooster tail off the rear wheel.  The bike was pretty uneventful, apart from getting overtaken by two TT bikes going up the hill, then passing them after hearing a pop as one of them had a blowout. Bike leg in 49:32, 2-1

Coming back into T2 I got a shout from Mum and Dad (who'd finished by that point) that I was about 3 minutes behind (looking at the results it was only 2). A quick transition was needed. The only problem was that transition looked worse than a field at Glastonbury. Got my bike racked then managed to cover my hands in mud tying to get my socks and shoes on. D'Oh. Still, managed to get out in 46 seconds.  3-1

The run wasn't pretty, within the first 500m my quads were burning, my HR was rocketing, and my breathing was getting uncontrollable. I often have problems breathing out, but now I couldn't breathe in either. Crap crap crap. Another 500m in and things were getting under control, first K in 4:31, on target. Another K and lap 1 was in the bag. A few hundred metres into lap 2 and I spotted nemesis 100m in front. I was clawing this one back, it wasn't until halfway round the second lap that I finally got the lead. All I had to do now was hold on for the rest of the lap and the half lap to finish. I was feeling pretty good. The final 500m hurt, the pain on my face must have been obvious as lots of people were offering me encouragement. I managed to cross the line after 22:19, not bad considering my lack of training, and I finally managed a win.

My first wet triathlon done (I've been really lucky so far) and a reasonable result.  Provisional results are showing a 1:20:27, my second fastest time for the course, placing me 81/297 finishers. More worryingly I seem to have managed a top 25 swim time.

Bedford Autoglass Classic Triathlon Race Report

Where: Bedford Embankment
Organiser: Galeforce Events 
Course details: Instructions
Distance: Swim 1500m (OW- River) Bike 41.5km, Run 10K (Pavement)
Marshalling: Excellent, Guys to pull you out the river, marshals at every turn, police at major junctions to stop traffic 
Facilities: Portaloos, Free parking 5 min walk from transition, Numbered Racking, Chip Timed, Large burger van, 2 water stations on each of 3 laps, Tri store
Technical: Swim upstream and back downstream in river, bike out into local countryside on 1 lap course with roads of good quality, 3 lap run around the river. Race was a qualifying event for ETU 2011 OD Championships
Freebies: Swim hat. T-shirt. Chocolate bar/crisps/seed & fruit mix, Juice box. Water.


So the day started early with a 5am alarm call, seemed far too early to be honest but that's life. Luckily having registered yesterday there was no need to arrive there that early, especially with numbered racking. So arrived about 6:30, got racked and laid all the gear out before eyeing up the river again to see where the buoys were.  My dad was off in the second wave, after the paratriathlete, and I was off in the 10th and last wave. At this point pre-race AD started to happen, luckily mum was on hand with some Imodium, couple of tabs then off to the portaloos to empty the system.  Luckily I managed to get finished just before the race brief and headed back into transition and spotted Dad struggling into his wetsuit, sorted him out then listened to the brief.  Spotted CCS and said high after the brief then went to be the good son and cheer dad on.  After he left on the bike (he was doing the mini) I got suited up and joined the queue for the aquaruck.


At the 5 min warning we were allowed into the water, I got in and promptly found out they might have spent a week clearing weed out, but hadn't got this far. It was horrible. Bit of doggy paddle got me to the line after acclimatising and then it was time for the countdown.  Given the number of people wearing GBR trisuits there was no way I was going to start at the front, so I started at the back On the outside of the pack but mid-river. I think this was one of the best decisions I made. I managed to get 'clear' water as I skirted the guys in front, but wasn't going anywhere fast as the weed was so thick. Soon the water cleared at bit and I went from feet to feet until I was leading a chase pack.  About 150m from the turn buoy I saw the lead pack on their way back, not bad going.  Then I started to catch some tail enders from the previous pack. 180 turn at the buoy and back down river.  With about 500m to go the weed made a re-emergence. This time it was horrible, I almost beached a one point.  Then perhaps one of my worst swim experiences ever. I managed to swim into a patch of loose weed that covered my face just as I turned to breathe.  I now have a good idea what waterboarding feels like, I just couldn't get any air in through it, I'd spill all my secrets after a few rounds of that! Weed off, air in, focus, there is the bridge, not far to go. Some guy started hitting my feet. $%^&. Few hard kicks soon sorted him out. By this point i'd caught more tail enders from different waves and was feeling good. Got pulled onto the platform then out the water by the marshals. Wetsuit off shoulders and into transition.


Swim 26:00, given the weed which must be worth 2+ minutes I'm very happy with that.


T1 was OK, apart from my right calf cramping, then at bike mount my left calf cramped.


Off on the bike and within the first km I'd seen a guy come off his bike pretty badly, just did the u-turn on a roundabout then heard grating carbon, looked right and saw a guy wheels against the curb, his bike started going over and he was hurtling towards a lamppost. There was nothing I could have done so shouted to the marshals 150m down the road as I past.  Apparently he was spotted heading back to transition looking rather dejected 10 minutes later. The bike was pretty uneventful really. Had periods of great speed, others I was the wrong side of my desired average.  I thought it was really well marshalled with police at every right turn stopping traffic, and one in a busy roundabout to do the same on the way back, closed roads aren't really needed with a service like that. I thought I was burning through my fluids at bit quickly in the first half, but that was probably to help digest the 10 portions of veg I'd gotten in the swim. I went through the 40km mark in 1:15, if they hadn't need to lengthen the course then it would have been and awesome race. About a km out from transition I caught sight of the paratriathlete on his handbike. A sight that was actually quite inspirational, and I got to the dismount line at the same time as him. 


Bike 41.8 km in 1:19:54, averaging 31.4 km/h with a good cadence. Really happy with that.


T2 was pretty damn good, managed just over a minute to rack bike, take shoes/helmet off, socks on shoes on and run 100m. 


The run was, well, hard. After and hour and 45 minutes of swimming and cycling at the rate I was going it was going to hurt. No jelly legs thankfully, but almost instantly I couldn't breathe out properly. I must have sounded terrible, everyone was cheering me on though. They could obviously see the pain in my face.  A glance at the Garmin and I could see I was going strong though, bashing out 4:50 km's pretty consistently, my heart rate was just bordering on my predicted lactate threshold for the whole of the run, which goes some way to explaining it. The 3 lap run was a killer though.  I was only buoyed up by the fact that I was overtaking as many people as were overtaking me. With about a km to go I hit a brick wall. My heart rate went through the roof and my speed fell away. Damn. I new the gel would have only repeated, but maybe I should have at least tried to take it. Time to dig deep.  JFDI! Turned the last but one corner and the finish chute was in sight, thank god, picked up the pace. I now sounded like a tractor, but what the hell. Crossed the line in a time of 2:35:40. 


An awesome run of 46:21. Only a minute slower than my standalone 10K PB. I really can't fault that. But I paid for it, I could hardly stand at the end, luckily mum and dad were nearby and I got some water from then rather than join the queue for a small cup. But F me my legs were hurting.


Still, an excellent race. Nearly 5 minutes better than my best case scenario before they extended the bike course.

I finished it!

Swim start

After the pro women went off I got in the water to warm up.  Acclimatised to the water as per rookie day then got 200m or so of swimming out and in to warm up.

15 minutes before the start was called into the pre start box with all the other pink swim capped, neoprene clad madmen.  I can feel my heart beating now, faster than normal rest rate.  At this point I realise I put my and goggles on but forgot to put my Garmin on.  Muppet.  Run out of pre start to find my Mum who had the bag with it in, slap it on wrist and regain composure.  Course was an L shape; out 200m from the beach, right turn, along 600m, left turn, out 100m, left turn, along 800m, left turn, 300m into shore.  The buoys were nice big 4ft inflatables with 12x4ft sausages tied to them.  They looked huge from the shore, but once in the water that was to change.  The slight swell made the last one was near invisible, especially with the first turn buoy close by to confuse you.  The yellow caps went off and we had 10 minutes and into the start box.  I tried to positioned myself on the left hand (outside) side of the start as the first turn was a right hander.  This was to prove one of my best decisions of the day.  A few people felt they had more of a God-given right to be at the front than me so I started 3 back.  1 minute to go and everybody is encouraged to clap.  Then the airhorn sounds and we’re off.

The oh so keen starters were not in fact top swimmers and I was soon swimming straight over the top of people.  I was surprised at how smooth neoprene sliding over neoprene is.  I managed to stay on the outside of the pack into the buoy and put in a wide turn.  I had made the perfect start decision, there must have been 15-20 people treading water at the buoy as the sausage had blocked there turn as the mid and left sides had pushed them back.  I was however set up for an inside line at the next buoy.  This leg was uneventful, but seemed to last forever, I was worried that my swim was going to be appaling.  As I approached the buoy I had a look and it was only 13 minutes in, 800m in 13 minutes, not bad all things considered.  I had the inside line at the buoy and executed a flawless 90 degree rollover turn and on to the next one 100m away, another perfect turn and on to the long homeward stretch.  Sighting was a bit useless here, the buoy was so far off that it was hard to tell which was which, so I just sighted on the mass of heads and frothing water till I got near the bouy.  A few near misses with feet on the leg, but still hadn’t been kicked.  My goggles had a bit of water in them though  I thought I only had 500m to go so left it, turns out I was looking at the wrong buoy and actually had 700m to go, but by the time I realised I had decided to just soldier on.  Another perfect turn and into the beach, this was a bit more of a melee as people tried to position themselves.  I came in great till I could touch the bottom, hit button on Garmin, fill suit with water and stand up.  Out onto the carpet and I’m already getting the suit off, 20m from the water and I have the top half off, running well.  I may have overkicked in the swim or the compression thingies in the new Helix may do exactly what they are designed to.

34 minutes 22 seconds

T1

Into the tent, find my bags, rest of the wetsuit off.  It knocks the timing chip off with it so repkace that.  Get red bag, glasses on, helmet on, number of, sit down, socks on, shoes on, wetsuit goggles & hat in bag, rehang bag, out to bike. Get to bike and push out to mount line, on bike and I’m off.  Push button on Garmin and I’m flying, lots of people out cheering.

4 minutes 7 seconds

Cycle

Look down at the garmin after 500m and see all it is saying is “recovery heart rate”. F***. I think it is doing its best impression of crashing again. Stop and start it, nothing, hmmm.  Will deal with it when I get out of town. Negotiate the narrow streets and a nasty speed bump and before I know it I’m at the first aid station (3km), decide I don’t need anything anyway and push on. Realise what I had done with the Garmin is push the stop button not the lap button and everything is fine again, but missing the first 3km (which I semi sulked about the rest of the bike and run legs) 5km in and I’m starting to overtake the carbon + deep rim trick bikes.  What am I doing wrong? Am I going to blow up? Then I see two police motorcyclists with blues flashing, they were leading the elite men around, 5 minutes later they had rounded the turn mark and were passing me on their second lap. Overtaking more and more blinged up road and TT bikes now, on my entry level alloy+Tiagra bike.  What if I had a pimped out bike?  Avergaing 38 km/h on the flat but the headwind was bugging me now.  So were the 2 guys that I was playing leap frog with.  Approaching the turn mark at the far end of the course in Matro at this point, get bottle from frame and refill aerobottle, then whilst trying to put it bake in the cage drop it, in the middle of the course, oh well.  Turn and into the aid station.  This is where I should have learnt some Spanish, at least the Spanish for “isotonic” and “energy” .  That way I wouldn’t have taken the bottle from the guy shouting aqua blah blah blah thinking he meant water with energy stuff.  I didn’t learn this till after the next aid station, as the 1.5l I took with me lasted till just after the third aid station pass.  Still screaming along I decide to take some solid food (energy bar) onboard as about an hour had passed.  Mistake number one was not opening the packets pre race.  Number two was not wetting mouth before taking a large bite. Number three was drinking energy drink to try and wash it down.  Needless to say I didn’t finish the bar. Before I knew it I was at the halfway point, 1 hour 14 minutes after I had got the Garmin working properly.  WTF!  That was a pretty dammed fast 45K.  After taking another bottle from the first guy at the aid station I set off up the ‘slope’ out of it, noticing that KM marker 666 lies at the peak of the ascent/apex of bend. Now I start overtaking female races who must have started 20/25 minutes before me.  Slightly lower speeds now, only making 36km/h on the flat and still wondering if I had overcooked it. Empty my aerobottle and refill from the first bottle I took from the aid station.  Take a sip and realise it is plain aqua, not aqua with anything, plain old aqua.  Balls.  Then as I rethink my nutrition strategy my stomach decides I doesn’t want to hold onto it’s contents and I just stop short of projectile vomiting whilst doing 40 km/h ‘downhill’ on the aerobars.  Hmm, I slowly finish the water off over the next 15km and take a bottle from the middle guy at the final aid station, refill aerobottle and it’s isotonic, phew.  I was still catching quite a few people, they obviously went off much harder than me and it had caught up with them.  I got ‘chicked’ at this point.  The only time on the bike leg in fact. There were now a fair number of Spaniards lining the streets cheering everybody on, which was very nice as I needed all the encouragement I could get on the few short ascents there were.  I used the little ring more on this lap.  As I passed KM marker 650 my saddle and my perineum decided that they were going to become mortal enemies over the final 18, letting me know of every dispute they had.  But still I soldiered on..  At this point the phantom disc rider kept appearing behind me, every now and then I could have sworn I heard someone dropping don a gear and the sound of carbon rims on tarmac but everytime I looked back there was clear road for 200m.  Coming to the end of the lap and it was up the hill to KM marker 666.  The grim reaper decided he wanted my quads as I passed it, ouch they burned. Just the final stretch through the town now and back into T2.

2 hours 35 minutes 54 seconds

T2

I don’t really remember T2, my bike was in it’s rack and I finished in running kit so I must have passed through it, but I just can’t remember it.

58 seconds

Run

If there is one word to describe the run it is ouch.  I started off quite strong, running at 12km/h so I eased off to 11.3 km/h to avoid blowing up.  There was an aid station at the start, but the next one couldn’t come soon enough as I pounded the tarmac in the midday sun.  Water and isotonic here, most of the water went over me, but some was swallowed.  It came in little bottle which was nice though, no stupid cups.  About 4km in and I had my next reflux moment.  I couldn’t stomach High5 energy gels last time I used them on a ½ marathon, so decided to avoid them like the plague at aid stations to try and stave off the stomach problems.  Next thing I now there is a little boy on a bike appearing in front of me.  The course was well marshalled by the local police at virtually every pedestrian crossing, but this one had slipped the net and I missed kicking the wheel of his bike (and probably face planting) by less than an inch.  By km 5 my bladder was bothering so I stopped by a mound of earth and had a pee, turns out it was outside a sewage works, a little thing that amused me for a while.  At the turn point ¼ way into the course and the next aid station.  I took on Gatorade, a handful of orange quarters and a bottle of water.  The oranges were wonderful and were to become my fuel at the aid stations.  Back pounding the pavement and I had obviously picked some sand or something up in T1 as the ball of my left foot was raw, every footstep hurt.  My quads were starting to tighten and I was sinking into the ironman shuffle.  I think I managed to run tall for the rest of the race with Conehead’s words ringing in my ears, but my quads were having none of the high knees so I was still shuffling.  Plodded on for the next 5km and back into the race area and the next aid station (which you go through twice in 500m) more sweet, oranges and a ramp up into the bike park, around the edge of that, and then a taunting run past the finish chute before doing the whole thing again. Still a 58 min first 10.55km.  All I remember about the second lap is that 2.5km is too far between aid stations, my feet hurt like hell and my quads and I were not on speaking terms anymore.  I think I got ‘chicked’ a lot as well.  A walk-run strategy was employed till the last 2K when something inside of me fired up and I pushed on at 12km/h to the finish.  Finishing nice and strong, up over the line, before two nice girls walked me to the recovery area past someone who handed me a medal and shook my hand and lots more people that wanted to shake my hand

2 hours 03 minutes 30 seconds

I passed the line on 5hr 53 minutes and 51 seconds, having started 35 minutes after the first wave.  I am now a middle distance triathlete (not Ironman branded, so not a half ironman) with a fairly respectable 5hr18min51s finish having run a 2hr03min half marathon finish.