More stuff about nothing

Ahh here we go again. Another blog post, another month and still very little to report. April is around the corner though (although the weather is still firmly stuck in February) so things are about to get more active whether I'm ready for them or not - Starting with next week!

I've finally started losing a few lbs and am now only a 3lb or so heavier than I was this time last year, it's dropping slowly so I'm not too concerned about that. Not quite the Fat Bastard that I was last month. Training is a totally different thing though with swimming being missed most Friday's due to other commitments and biking (whatever that is) almost totally missing from the training log. Running has plodded along ok, although I seemed to have changed from the man who never gets injured to the man who's always carrying some form of injury.

Last post I made mention of a knee injury which thankfully has cleared up without any problems. Only thing is, it's been replaced by a calf problem which seems to have appeared from nowhere. As it's the same leg as my knee problem I can only presume it's some sort of over compensation issue which has shown it's ugly face. Annoyingly though it doesn't seem to be getting any better (or worse) no matter what I do. I've rested it with no effect and run on it with no after effects although I must look quite funny running uphill with one foot running on my toes and the other forced into the most blatant heel strike going. Even with all that going on I'm pretty confident it'll get around next weekend's Taunton Marathon ok, even though it might not be my best performance - As it's a two lap course I will have the (unlikely) option of bailing out half way if there's a problem.

As the pic below shows I'm really not joking when I say my biking has come to a bit of a standstill, I'm soon to find out just how much of a standstill as the annual In-Club tri is just two weeks away. Last year I was fairly fit and I think it's fair to say I won with a 'substantial' margin, this year I fear I may be on the receiving end of a bit of a trouncing myself!! It's no surprise that a few of my clubmates are pushing for a bike ride that's a little longer than the norm........

I'm half tempted to rock up at the race with my old hybrid bike (the shopper) and take a little of the pressure off. On the other hand though it may do me good to have a bit of a hammering, it might just be the knock I need to get me into gear for the upcoming season. Not forgetting of course that I've got a Half Ironman distance race in just two months from now.

So that's about it, there's not a lot to report. Training is slack, I'm carrying a bit of a niggle and I've got races(???) on the horizon. What more can there be? I'll try to post after Taunton next week, unless I have a disaster in which case I'll probably just get drunk instead. I need to start getting some bike miles in soon, maybe even tomorrow............... although it is April Fools day so I'll let you make your own minds up about that :-D

Fresh Start (sort of)

Ahhhhh, I knew I'd got a blog hiding around here somewhere. Now where did I put that duster?

It's been a while, more than a while in fact and to be honest there's still not a lot to report. Training starts NOW!........... I hope.

So....... my Birthday came and went, Christmas came and went too. I've got a pretty new Garmin and other goodies to play with, so now I just need to get back in training.

I think I can finally say that after 6 months my bike crash injuries are pretty well sorted. I can still feel it pull occasionally when I'm walking the pup and she charges off trying to yank the lead out of my hands, but that's about all. I'm 6lbs heavier than I was at this time last year and that (along with my general fitness) is showing in my run times. My training is well down too, by the end of February last year I'd done 100hrs, I'm currently sat on 33.5hrs for 2013. Most of this deficit is down to my massive lack of cycling, just 4h10m this year compared to 57hrs in the first two months of 2012. In fact I've only sat in the saddle NINE times since Ironman Hawaii which was NINETEEN WEEKS AGO! I suspect that I might need to improve on that a little. Combine that with the lack of training since my crash and it's been a very barren 6 months

Sooo, on to racing!! We've now got a ParkRun here, it's great fun although my times have just been enforcing the 'fat and unfit' diagnosis. I ran Braunton 10 and was 3mins slower than last year, it seemed everybody was well off the pace though due to the mental headwinds on the return section. Then just last week I raced and won (other than a relay team) Taunton Aquathlon. Yes, that's right I won............. BUT........... the win really just disguised the fact that after running REALLY hard I was still a minute slower than last year when I ran really tired after training 5hrs the day before. Had any of the people who beat me last year turned up (and maybe some that I beat) then I'd have been well down the field. You can only beat the people that turn up though and I'm more than happy to claim a win in February :-D

Since Taunton I've taken a full week off training because of a three week old knee injury that happened when I was running off road and twisted it slipping in the mud. It's not a major issue but it is annoying and I've decided work annoys it more than running does so I'm back on it from tomorrow. In fact I'm considering tomorrow to be the start of my athletic year. I need to get myself moving again, I need to lose some weight and I really need to remember what my bike is. Thankfully my swimming hasn't suffered too much in my slack half year, my running has and I'm dreading finding out how much bike fitness I've lost. It'll be 'fun' finding out I guess.

Onto the future!! Well my next 'race' (outside of Parkrun) is Taunton Marathon in just 6 weeks time. I'd love to say I'm going to avenge the 3:00:00 Finish of last year by knocking out a 2:xx:xx this year, but I'm a realist and it's not going to happen. On previous form and IF I manage to get a few solid distance runs in then a solid 3:15 will be very nice thank you very much. Then I've got another 8 weeks where I really need to find those bike legs because Shelly's brother is getting married............ the problem is he's getting married far to close to the venue of the Outlaw Half for me not to enter it and have a play. Of course I won't be expecting miracles, a half Iron distance Triathlon will be enough on it's own after being at a wedding all of the previous day, it'd be nice if I was confident enough that I'd got the mileage in my legs to get round in one piece though. It'll no doubt be fun (torture) though and I'm actually quite looking forward to it........

Now where did I put that bowl of celery soup, fatty???

Lazy Dayz

Hello. Good Evening. Welcome. To nothing much! (Carter USM - 1992) ........... always reminds me of Kevin and Perry!!

That about sums up my training in the 7 weeks since Ironman. Tomorrow is the 1st December though and my expanding waist line says I need to get back to some training. I've still no idea what I'm training for though, there is nothing on the horizon outside of a few very vague possibilities.

Of course with the lack of training has come a lack of blog posting, but that's nothing new this year really. I did think about stirring up some controversy and writing some posts that explained my views on a bundle of subjects, but the truth is I really can't be bothered to argue the toss with people who disagree with me and there would be plenty (if anybody actually read the guff I wrote).

So what's the plan for 2013? Who knows!! I managed to make it past November 4th without entering Ironman Florida and if I'm honest I had no wish to hit the button and enter, I feel quite happy about calling it a day with Ironman after Kona. I need to get run fit because I fancy returning to a couple of Marathons next year, I missed my traditional Cornish Marathon season closer which I was gutted about. I'm never fit when I go there, just force myself round on what remains of Ironman fitness, but this year I seriously doubt I'd have even been able to finish.

Shelly's brother is getting married next year, it just happens to be in Nottingham the day before the Outlaw Middle Distance Tri. I've put in for the Monday off work and Outlaw have just opened up for another 200 entries, it may be that entries are full by the time I know though so that'll be in the lap of the gods. Who knows if I'd be in any shape to complete a half the day after a wedding anyway, it's rude not to look into it though ;-).

Outside of that everything is up in the air. I keep threatening to do some Ultra Distance runs but I'm not sure I'll ever be dedicated to put in the training mileage for that, especially when I have to swim and bike too. Ultra's and Sprint Tri's, what a combination that would make! I'm sure the season will pan out somehow, even if I just do a load of the small local races I enjoy so much it'll make for a full calender.

One last little thought......... The Olympic/Sprint Triathlon World Championships are coming to London next year. No I won't be making any attempt to qualify for them #NoInterest! Just in case you were wondering :-D

Done and Dusted. No More!

We’re near the end of the stay here in Hawaii, race day was 3 days ago (it was when I started writing this anyway!) and I’ve had a lot of time to mull over the happenings out there. I’ve got mixed feelings about race day, the time of course disappoints me but not as much as it did on the day. This post will be a lot different to the one you’d have got on the evening of the race or even the day after, or probably even tomorrow.So on the morning of the race there was a plan in my head, a plan that I thought could possibly have me beating my 2010 time and maybe even dipping below that magical 10hr mark. Because of my post crash fitness issues I was fully prepared to ease off the gas on the swim & bike but I believed there was a small chance that might leave me with the legs to get around my run/walk at the pace needed to hit my early goals. I had upper limits too though, I didn’t want to finish in the dark, I didn’t want this to be my slowest Ironman time and I didn’t want to be over 11hrs (DNF’ing was not an option here).

THE SWIM – 1:06:33
My swims during race week had felt more comfortable every day, although they’d been short I’d almost got to the point where there was no pain at all (maybe swimming helps). Because of this temptation had started to get the better of me and initially I got in straight into the melee when I swam out to the start line. Remembering it was a long race and how easy it might be to re-injure myself quickly I saw sense and as promised I swam out to the left until 99.9% of the field were on my right hand side. We were so far away I didn’t even hear the start cannon go off, I just noticed everybody start swimming and joined in. Physically everything went as well as I could possibly have hoped. I started steady and eased myself along looking at the main field to my right to sight rather that the buoys. Occasionally I’d either catch up with a group or find myself leading a group where someone had to climb all over my legs rather than just follow - which I’d have been fine with. Because my pace was so easy though I’d just push on a little if things got messy and scoot off the front of the pack. The turnaround (at 33mins) and return trip were also as trouble free as I could have hoped for and although and as a result I was out of the water in 66mins, comfortably inside the 70mins I was expecting.

Unfortunately this wasn’t the full tale of the swim though and was the first (sort of) of many small novice mistakes that I made during the day. With my previous Ironman stomach issues I’d opted to race wearing a two piece suit, but swimming long it it was something I hadn’t been able to try out since my training took a hit. Within 20mins I could feel the seams cutting into my neck and underarms and for the next 45mins I swam in increasing pain wondering how I was going to get through the bike and more importantly the run if I was getting chaffing issues this early. The chaffing issue had crossed my mind pre race and I’d intended to drop my bike jersey in my T1 bag ‘just in case’, of course I forgot all about it. How I was wishing it was sitting there waiting for me now!

T1 – 5:53
I was in no rush to get transition out of the way and walked the full length of the transition area ignoring the carnage around me as people rushed around like lunatics. I grabbed my bag put my shoes on then smothered my swimming friction burns with a couple of handfuls of Vaseline and a marshal smothered me with sunblock. Then I had a steady stroll out and around the transition area to my bike before sauntering out to the mount line.

THE BIKE – 6:06:54
This was where the make or break section. Of course it started with a normal novice error (if you look at the bike pics you might spot it) which thankfully wasn’t ‘too’ huge a problem. Riding 100+ miles was a big unknown after my big training disruption so easy, easy, easy was the rule of the day. A 30mile ride midweek where I’d almost keeled over in the heat was enough to destroy any false confidence I had, this was the way it ‘had’ to be. I cruised around the first section letting all the big bike monsters smash their way up the hill ahead of me. On the way down I noticed another small issue as Vaseline makes for very slippery hands on carbon bars, this was to cause issues descending and changing gears all ride (but none that make any difference). By the time I hit the Queen K I was already aware of a problem, for all my cruising and taking things easy I was struggling with the heat and didn’t feel like there was much more to give – I’d only just started!! All the way out to Hawi I kept spinning the pedals. I ate, I drank, I did anything I could in the hope that my body was just messing with me. I cruised up the climb to Hawi letting more and more people pass me and then something happened, we went downhill! The winds had picked up in impressive fashion as I started the descent from Hawi and lots of people seem to struggle with that. I didn’t really struggle in 2010 (when it was worse) and I didn’t struggle here. For the first time in the race I was the one doing the passing. Infact on the whole Hawi descent only two people passed me and they were both just re-taking a position I’d taken earlier on the windier sections.

I started thinking I was back in the game, maybe now was my time to push on and make up time, on the return trip along the Queen K was where I’d come into my own and my race would start……….. eeerrrrm nope!!! We hit the Queen K and the winds had turned, the last section of it on the way out had been tough into a headwind but now we had a headwind home. ALL the way home. It was dire, draining and depressing, I’d hardly worked all bike ride yet I felt like I’d got nothing left, as if I’d worked really hard and ridden myself to a standstill.

About 30miles from home I saw a stranded cyclist with a flat, I stopped (it gave me an excuse and helped him out with my can of ‘Pit Stop’ and a gas canister. He was from South African and had had 3 months off work to go and train in the USA with the intention of winning his Age Group here. At least my day wasn’t going as bad as his!! The rest of the ride was just a slog as I caught and passed a few folks who’d blown up but got passed by several who were flying. Most people here weren’t here to mess around, they were here to race hard!

T2 – 10:42Finally off the bike and the first sign of my post crash injuries hit home. Not the back muscles I was expecting though, this was the hip I bounced along the road on that swelled to twice it’s normal size. It never caused me any issues when I was moving but hell did it want to straighten up once I was done. Another long steady walk/hobble through Transition was on the cards, along with a few photo stops ;-). I sat down in T2 put socks and shoes on then had an Austin Powers pee (my only toilet stop of the day) before loading myself up with Vaseline and sunblock and heading out again.

THE RUN – 4:22:08
By the time I hit the run my hip pain had disappeared so I set out nice and steady, determined to stick to my predetermined 4:1 run:walk plan. Earlier training in the week had suggested that this was an easily achievable goal whereas I knew I hadn’t got the fitness to ‘run’ very far. My Marathon pb is actually a run/walk so I have no issues getting things done this way and I’m perfectly comfortable with it. The main aim is ‘still’ not to go blazing off to hard though, patience is everything.

After my awful bike split I was wondering if the lack of effort/pace/power might actually have been setting me up for a good final leg and on the way out along Ali’i drive things were looking good. Our apartment was a mile into the run course and when I got there Shelly was outside cheering, she was yards past an Aid Station which I walked though so I stopped for a minute or so to moan about how things were going and bitch about the stupid race day errors I’d made (she’s used to it!!). Then I was off again wondering if I’d regret that stop later if I went on to crush my Marathon section (some hope). By the time I got to the top of Ali’i Drive there were already some desperate sights as people totally imploded, there would be none of that for me today!! And then ‘IT’ happened – BOOM!!! – after cruising through 6miles in 50mins (including 2-3mins with Shelly) I suddenly exploded. I could hardly move my legs, I felt light headed, I suddenly couldn’t even jog my 4mins let alone run it. All of a sudden, from nowhere, I was in big trouble and I’d still got 20miles to go – Ah Hell! I’m pretty sure that I literally stumbled into the next aid station where I grabbed almost everything they were offering, extra gels, pretzels, Powerbar drink, Coke, banana, orange I grabbed some of everything and forced it down my throat – then I went back for more water because the pretzel & gel combo tasted bloody awful. I walked and shuffled then walked and shuffled, a 13min mile at mile 7 = Bad Times!! Here I was again suffering on the run and just wanting to stop, I’d still got to get past Shelly again where it’d be so easy to just walk into the apartment, I’d got to get within 400m of the race HQ where I could just hand my chip in and give it up as a VERY bad job. Obviously Shelly wouldn’t be letting me walk into the apartment easily though!!

Stupid things is that if it wasn’t for damn social media I’d probably have stopped, maybe just maybe the fact it was Kona might have dragged me round but knowing how many folks were probably staying up until silly o’clock or had their alarms set for a stupid early time on a Sunday morning to see how I was getting on meant I couldn’t. Damn you lot and you’re bloody virtual peer pressure :-D. So I plodded on! I saw Shelly again – enthusiastic as ever – told her I felt shite and she was in for a long wait if I didn’t pick up soon. Forget 10hrs, forget 11hrs if I was lucky I might get back inside 12! Shit, I was going to finish in the dark!!!! Then I repeated my previous mobile buffet antics at the aid station next to her before I was stumbling on my way again. I was moving though and moving a little easier then I walked every step of Palani Climb, it seemed to take forever but it was actually in my plan for the run, just 1/3 of a mile but there seemed no point trashing my legs trying to run it when they’d got so much left to do. I took advantage of the walk and again crammed my face full of food at the aid station there. Now I was on the Queen K and I was moving again I was moving slowly but the run/walk plan was back in action and things seemed to be improving a little. I carried on my eat eat eat plan until the Half Marathon mark where I pulled over to the sign retching, I wasn’t sick though so took that as I good sign that I’d eaten enough and a few stations of just water to help things go down were probably advisable. From here it was good patch after bad patch, I kept checking my watch to see how things were going I’d resigned myself to this being my slowest ever Ironman but I badly ‘needed’ to get that time under 12hrs.

I did have a massive low at the turnaround of the Energy Lab (18miles) when I glanced at my watch and it showed my Finish Time from 2010, but that was in the past there was nothing I could do about it, today was very different. Then as I returned to the Queen K I started feeling a little fresher, I kept run/walking & kept drinking, I even started to recognise some people coming back to me that had passed me earlier. I was beginning to get encouraged and as darkness fell the heat lost its edge too I hit 23 miles and thought it’s time to run, it’s only 5k anybody can run 5k, 5k is like a warm up or the little blast at the end of a Sprint Tri, 5k is nothing! Then at 24.5miles I exploded again – idiot!!! I went so bad that I even had to walk down Palani Hill, I thought I was going to end up walking all the way to the Finish Line but I had a serious word with myself and forced myself to at least run that last half a mile just stopping long enough to grab the Devon Flag and Kona Bear off Shelly before doing a little jig over the line.

So that’s it. Game Over. No more Ironman. I’m happy with my lot. It’s a pity the last race was such a poor performance all round but after the crash it’s really what I expected to happen. Sure I hoped that my body would have held on to more fitness than it had and I even held out secret hopes that a more cautious approach to the race might actually pay big dividends and make it my best day ever, it wasn’t to be though. Bring on the Sprint & Olympic season next year.

For now it’s a month of chilling and trying to get this damn back muscle right. There may be a little bit of bike/running if the weather is nice but I’m in no rush to get anything done until the New Year, then I need to remember how to be fast rather than steady. Fingers crossed I’ll do a better job of that.

Swim - 1:06:33
T1 - 5:53
Bike - 6:06:54
T2 - 10:42
Run - 4:22:08
Total - 11:52:10

Hello from Hawaiiiiiiiiiiii

Hello! Remember me? It’s been a while.

Hello from Kona, the home of Ironman Hawaii. I’m sat here, it’s 2am and wide awake – thank you jetlag – so I thought I’d do a quick blog update. Now I just need to figure how I get 3 months of happenings into a post short enough to send any reader over the edge. I’ll try to keep to the basics……..

I’ve been injured!

Is that enough? Ok! Back at the beginning of August I had a bike crash. Rolling down a hill sat behind a couple of cars at around 30mph I hit a pothole. Next thing I remember was waking up on the floor with people looking down at me. An ambulance ride and a couple of hours in the hospital followed where they proceeded to do nothing but give me a course of pain killers and tell me to have a couple of days off work due to concussion.  It hurt like hell but stupidly I went back to work on the Wednesday (no play, no pay) after which I was so bad I ended up back in A&E thinking I must have broken my ribs. Apparently I hadn’t - although they still couldn’t be bothered to x-ray and be sure – they said I’d pulled/strained/ripped the Intercostal Muscle in my back – whatever that is! I had the rest of the week off work, but still foolishly tried to run through the pain, then when I got in the pool and only lasted 12 lengths I knew I was in trouble.

Thank you to Google for telling me everything about the Intercostal muscle that the Dr’s didn’t. They didn’t tell me that it wasn’t a pain you could work through, nor did they tell me that every twist, turn, stretch, lift was just ripping it more. It turns out that pretty much any movement you do goes through your Intercostals and I was in a whole heap of trouble. There were other issues, like 6 weeks of headaches and a left leg that doubled in size due to swelling, but they're mostly sorted now.

In total I ended up off work for 6 weeks and still probably went back quicker than I really should have. Of course I also tried to keep at least some of my Ironman fitness by doing some very steady rides & run/walks, I’m not sure how much they helped although keeping them steady was easy because once I started breathing heavy it was agony. Most annoying was my having to miss races I’d entered. Ilfracombe Tri came and went with me looking like a spare part as I tried to help out while not actually being able to do a lot, then Burnham-O-Sea Standard Distance Tri where I stayed at home unable to go defend my title from last year. I’d planned Burnham to be a real hard pre Ironman blast to see where my fitness was – it was nowhere!

So now I’m here, in Kona and ready to …………… get round the course, but nothing much more!

The Swim – This is now actually one of my biggest worries. I’ve only been in the water 4 times since the crash and the stretching forward (over your head) that’s required in front crawl REALLY pulls on my back. More than this it always feels super weak and as if one good clash of arms could cause some proper damage. With Kona 2010 being my 2^nd worst swim ever (after the legendary 2004 Perranporth Tri swim) when I seemed to be in a 3.8km fight I’ve a plan of action for the first time ever. At the Start of the swim I’ll be as far to the left as it’s possible to be! This should be a good move because when I can maintain a nice steady stroke I’m still able to swim at a decent speed, my thinking being that nobody that can swim at my pace will be daft enough to position themselves so far off the racing line. Hopefully this will mean that I’ll find clear water pretty quickly and shouldn’t run into much ‘traffic’ until half way when I have to round the turn buoy to come back. Of course this plan has down sides like that it’ll immediately be a longer swim, mostly in my notoriously bad navigation which will probably see me heading for shore and being corrected by kayakers on more than one occasion. When I do sight it’ll probably mean breathing to my right wich as well as being my ‘wrong side’ does tend to pull on my back a little more. There will be no swim heroics! The original plan was to beat my 2010 time of 1:02 and aim to get under the hour, now I’m hoping a sub 1:10 is possible with the minimum of discomfort and fighting.

T1 will be what it is. There will be no rush, this is an Ironman not a Sprint and it’s the World Champs, I’m hardly likely to be pushing for an Age Group placing!

The Bike – I discovered on yesterdays test ride that my biking pulls my back more than I realised. The secret is to keep as still as humanly possible and it’ll all be good. I also know that I’m not in shape to go out hammering things. I also discovered that my HR goes through the roof in this heat so if I’m going to keep it to its planned level I’m going to have to back off. No repeat of Florida’s hammer-fest  here, just nice steady pacing and spinning the climbs as much as I can. I’m actually kind of regretting not getting a 11-28 cassette on so that I could make the climb to Hawi a little easier on the legs. Standing up on the pedals pulls my back – standing up is BAD!! In 2010 I rode 5:28 but I blew to pieces at 80miles. I’d like to think that if I pace things properly I might still get quite close to that 5:30 mark although if it takes 6:00 and I hit T2 feeling fresh (as fresh as I can in 30C+ temps) I’ll be happy enough. No back/quad/hip issues is the target, I’ve been having issues with all three since the crash.

T2, like T1 will be steady. I’ll be lubing up my toes and any potential blister hot spots with lube and putting some socks on. Then I’ll be taking advantage of any sun block applications because I’m going to need all I can get ahead of the last section. Might even pop in a toilet stop while I’m there. Don’t expect this to be quick!!

The Run – Heck, who knows?!!! It’s an ironman in stupid hot conditions, anything could happen. One thing’s for sure I won’t be running it. The injuries have had me doing a whole lot of run/walk sessions and I haven’t gone over 10miles in the last 3 months, yesterdays 4 miler also told me running in these temperatures is a killer. So there are 3 possible options :-

The Amazing Day will see me running between every aid station, where I’ll take a full minute to walk, while eating and drinking as much as possible. Run Time – Anywhere between 3:15 & 3:45 (I’d like to go quicker than last time)

The Good Day will have me doing a 4:1min run/walk where the 4mins will come early (or maybe late) if there’s an aid station in the immediate vicinity where I can fill my face. Run Time – Somewhere between 3:30 & 4hrs (Pleeeeeease!!!)

The Bad Day will involve the patented Ironman Shuffle and lots of walking as I use whatever I can to get round. Once I’m at this place the time won’t matter, I’ll stop to chat at the feed stations if it eases the suffering a little – although the sooner you get to the Finish the sooner the pain stops! Run Time – Who knows! I ‘WILL NOT’ drop out so it could be a long walk. My personal worst is 4:59:45, I’d like to keep that sub 5hrs record going if I can.

So that’s it! After my last 7-8 attempts to write a blog post have fallen flat I’ve actually ‘sort of’ done one. All that’s left to do now is get a few more panic training sessions done. Consume some local food and drink and get Saturday done and dusted. I’m quite enjoying this injury ravaged Kona, it’s taken a bit of the pressure off. Race expectations are such an unknown that there I’m quite happy to go eat and drink whatever I fancy. Not that I’ve ever been a super serious ‘my body is my temple’ athlete, but I’m even less so now. This is Kona, it’s the Big Dance! On my best day I’m not going to win anything, this year I’m going to be the pasty white/sunburnt, hairy athlete with the muffin top who’s looking to take down some bronzed, waxed Adonis like athletes. There’s around 1500 of them here to work through, it’s going to be a blast :-D

PS – If by some miracle anybody reading this has missed it. I had a two page feature in 220Triathlon this month – that puts a bit of the pressure back on!! – and they’re planning a post race follow up. You can find it HERE if you don’t mind it putting you off your lunch ;-)

Racing-fest (sort of)

It's been an tough few weeks of training and an odd couple of weeks of racing, the racing was never likely to be my best but I hoped to notch together a few decent performances to keep the moral high if nothing else.

It all started with Bideford Tri last weekend (8th July) which got off to an iffy start when I came off my bike on the Saturday. It was nothing too major, there was no real damage but I woke up Sunday morning with very tight hamstrings. No worries, I can work through that! Then the swim which was filthy due to recent floods was moved and shortened to around 400m meaning I'd hardly got into my stride before we were getting out of the water again. I'd lost time on people I really couldn't afford to lose time to and then I lost more time as I fought to get my wetsuit off - my casual nature had also lead to far from idea bike positioning too.

Off out on the bike ride and I came across a lad who'd come off his bike just before a big flood on the course. It was his first Tri and he was in a good deal of pain (nothing major thankfully) so I decided to hang around, keep an eye on him and wait with him until we managed to get the St Johns folks to come sort him out. After that I completed the course, but there was no race day urgency any more although it was a pleasant surprise to rack up the day's 3rd fastest run split without 'really' pushing that hard.
A lowly 53rd place finish but taking off the 9mins I was at the crash site and allowing for my relatively easy pace I'd have still done ok.

Midweek there was one of my Tri Club's Duathlon 'Training' Sessions at the airfield over the road. By now my hamstring issue had moved to my back and there had been times during the day at work when I didn't think I'd be able to compete. I went over regardless though knowing that I could always stop if there was an issue. The (training) race was a 1.5k/15k/3.5k/10k/1.5k and after sitting in nicely for the first run I warmed up slightly on the bike and was able to push on a little. It was a tough windy night with us riding up to 36mph one way and 16mph the other - on a flat course!!

The day after the Duathlon my back was in all sorts of trouble. Thankfully it was my day off work and with the wind and rain not stopping ALL day I didn't feel too guilty when I ended up missing the planned 6hrs of training. I tried to get back on it quickly though with a good swim on Friday night and then close to 5hrs of training on Saturday, although 4hrs of that was VERY steady on the bike.

Then we came to Sunday and the disaster that was..................


Roadford Middle Distance Tri 

It was a  teeny tiny field but still with some quality up at the sharp end including old club foes Timbo and Toasty, so no loitering around. 

The swim was good, I swam alongside Toast and Del Pitcher (Exeter) for the first 500m before sodding off on my own to chase the lead kayaker. This moving target would have been perfect with my useless sighting abilities if he'd known the course and not taken me around a bonus buoy which (according to Toasty) allowed my chasers to gain 50m on me. I'd have known no different had the organisers not been discussing the mess while stood next to Shelly!! Still, I hit dry land first in less than 25mins so I won't complain. 

T1 was my normal struggle as I fought to get my wetsuit over my huge feet (really must trim the legs!!) but I was heading out by the time the 2nd place swimmer appeared. The exit was uphill, I had too big a gear and my bike shoes fixed to the pedals - ooooops!! A Frank Spencer moment as first I ended up on the floor and then got my shoes trapped under my bike as I finally got under way. 

The bike was a tough course, constantly up and down with some proper steep sections. Thankfully it was a very small field because a few of the sections (including the three single lane bridges) could have been very interesting with a car or two coming one way and a few bikers in race mode heading the other. 
I felt like a train wreck from the moment I got on the bike with no energy and no power but somehow managed to get round the first (of three) lap without getting caught. As the miles clicked by I started wondering if Toasty had suffered a mechanical, he couldn't have been that far behind me out of the water and is undoubtedly the stronger cyclist. Then finally at the end of the 2nd lap I looked over my shoulder and spotted him closing in. He passed me ripping down a hill and then held me up on one of the tricky sections (wimp) before gradually pulling away around the rest of the lap. 
The 3 laps totally 50miles and there was an out and back section added on to make up the mileage, here I saw Toast had a max 2min lead and also checked up on the chasers including Tim who was around 15mins back. Game on for the run then!!! 
T2 was nothing special. I took a little time to towel my feet off and put socks on before heading out onto the run though. 

Can I stop now? Please? PLEASE?

Ok, the run/walk/paddle/wade or whatever it was started and I quickly found out that the empty, tired feeling of the bike was only going to get worse and a lot happened here that put me in a proper mood. 
Firstly the course was like a swamp and this isn't a bad thing, I should have loved it. It was just the sort of thing I'd have loved running around on any normal day. Secondly the race pack said it was 3 x 3.5mile laps which was a little annoying pre race as it meant the course was 2.5miles short, on the day though it was a relief ............ right up until the 2nd lap when I saw the marshal marking laps on our hand and he said "I've just had a phone call saying it's 4 laps!". WTF? When did that happen? 14miles feeling like sh1te, brilliant!! 
I've no idea when that decision was made, it may well have been made before the race and announced at the race briefing, but if it was I didn't hear it. I dragged myself around the 3rd lap hoping the marshal had heard wrong, then I saw the leader heading out again and knew. 
I saw Shelly at the end of the lap and simply said I really couldn't be bothered to haul myself around another lap at a snails pace...... in the end we came to a compromise and I took Rosie pup out for a run around the final lap knowing she'd love it. The worst that could happen would be them DQ'ing me and as I was so close to DNF'ing anyway it really wouldn't make any difference. 
Eventually, after 4 miserable laps only made bearable by some very friendly marshals who I spent far to long chatting to (16mins according to my Garmin) I trotted across the line in 5h38m after a 2h13m run. 

Fingers crossed that's the bad race of the season out of the way. I sure as hell don't want any more like that........ 

As for Freak Events! Potentially they're very good. The idea's are there, the marshals are fantastic although they could do with more (who couldn't) but they do let themselves down with some stupid things. 

Basic bits 
1) Hiding the first turnaround buoy where you couldn't see it from the start line 
2) Sending the swim course so close to the back we were dragging the bottom (& Toasty was dolphin diving). 
3) If you have a lead kayaker make sure he actually knows where he's going. 

Annoying bits 
1) Don't say the race is chip timed on your website if it isn't! 
2) Don't say the race results will be out within 24hrs when they won't 
3) Don't say the run course is three laps and then 'change your mind' on the day 

I'm sure there is more but I'm even boring myself now. 

PS - yes the bike is ok thanks  . I'm not so sure about the back!

Sixteen Weeks

Sixteen weeks from today it'll all be over. I'll probably be hobbling around Kona, Hawaii with the previous 48hrs buzzing through me head, working out where I lost time, what I could/should have done better. Hopefully I'll be walking round with a satisfied glow that says I've finally got it right and put in a time I know I'm capable of. Until then it's time to knuckle down to some training and what better way to start my final 16 weeks of training than with the North Devon Marathon.

As is always the case I was hardly prepared to compete on this nice little off road trot out along North Devon's scenic (and damn hilly) coastline. With my only averaging 3hrs running a week this year (as normal) pacing would be a huge issue, just as it is in Ironman. I even went out for 50 hilly miles with local bike monster Mark Lees the day before, just to loosen the quads up of course ;-)

Knowing the course, especially how tough the 2nd half is I took it nice and steady running well within myself for the first (much easier) half in the hope that I'd see a few early pace setters come back to me when the proper climbs kicked in. Although the first half is easier than the second it's still tough and I wasn't afraid to walk when I felt a climb justified it, I didn't want my Heart Rate hitting any dizzy heights when there was so far to go.

The race started at 10am and from the gun people went charging off as if it was a 10k. I ran the first half mile chatting with running machine and eventual winner John Ward well outside of the top 20 before I eased off even more and let him do what he does best, rip the trails up.

Outside of the first mile I don't think anybody passed me all day and I was soon picking up a few places as the early excitable starters realised they were in for a long day. Around 10miles I started getting that annoying toilet urge, the scourge of many a long run. I managed to hold everything together until 12 miles when I popped into the conveniently located toilets and wasted a couple of minutes only to discover it was just BLOODY WIND! Still it wasn't an issue, this was about getting it done not chasing a time and when I saw Shelly at the half way point back in Woolacombe I was surprised to hear her shout that I was in 15th place.

The second half of the course is pure evil, especially if you have tired legs already. As the course snakes around the coastline there are several lots of zigzag steps (both up and down) where it's too steep to just go straight up or down. Then there is Lee Bay! The biggest climb on the course which hits you hard at the 18mile mark. I passed two people going up this climb, both of them finished over 30mins behind me. That's what happens when you go BOOM at the North Devon Marathon!

I passed another couple of folks once Lee Bay was out of the way and climbing the Tarka Trail for home there was one runner ahead who'd obviously worked through his rough patch and was getting no closer. I was picking the pace up at this point thinking that a surprise sub 3:30 was on the cards and then disaster struck! A sign went AWOL, or a marshal didn't show at a hugely important turn into a field and the two of us went sailing right past. Of course I should have known to turn off, I've run it before but after 24.5miles on your feet you just plow on unless someone says different. Thankfully in the end it wasn't a huge issue, it probably cost both of us a sub 3:30 finish but neither of us lost position although I don't know how it affected people later on because it seemed to have not been rectified 30mins later!!So I had a cruise through the final mile or so of fields and rocked up at the Finish Line in 3h33m, a massive 35min improvement on last year although there was no dodgy camera work this year, nor were there the absolutely scorching temperatures the 2011 event was raced in.

Once again the chip timing results were a total mess with me initially being down as a DNF(!!!!) thankfully this has been rectified very quickly although I still think there is someone ahead of me who only actually did 13.1miles. That's not a problem though, the main thing is that I got through it fine with my meagre amount of run training AND a tough bike ride the day before. I've even been out for an hour on the bike today, so the legs aren't too bad!

So, my 16 week countdown has started ok. Next up in Bideford Tri in two weeks time where I'll be defending my title from last year. On that weekend I rode 100miles the day before the race, who knows what fun I'll get up to this year :-D

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS OF THE NORTH DEVON MARATHON