(Laughable) Predictions?

So I'm sitting here at stupid o'clock in the morning and I thought I'd write a blog post, but I had no idea what to write. I wrote my thoughts on Twitter and Steve Spiers the creator or 100 Pushups suggested that I make some predictions. So here goes....

The Swim!!

Heck, what is there to predict? Presuming I don't get too beaten up and the sea isn't too rough I should be out of the water somewhere around the hour no matter what I'm wearing. As a reasonably strong swimmer I've been looking forward to the swim, especially as all the old speedsuits (cheatsuits) have been outlawed and they were such an advantage to those not so strong. It appears that most of the swim companies have managed to find a way around the ban though and there appears to be plenty of new legal go-faster on the way to Kona which all the serious folks will snap up at $300 a pop. I certainly won't be 'splashing out' on something I'll only have the chance to use once so I guess it'll just mean some of those uber-bikers will be a bit further up the field.

The Bike!!

Ah Heck! Who knows! I think I'm stronger on the bike and my new bike 'should' be faster than the old QR. I've still had limited time riding it though and although it feels very comfortable I haven't had anything even slightly resembling a bike fit on it so there's no way of knowing I will, or could be. Almost every bike ride I've done on it has been has been well in excess of 20mph so I'd hope that with the race day buzz, other competitors around me and less stop-starting than I have in day to day traffic I should at least match that speed. If I can ride at the same intensity as at Ironman Florida when I rode 5:00 with an average HR of 119bpm then I'll be very happy. The aim will be to ride 5:30 and any improvement on that will be a bonus......... Of course, if the wind is on form and batters us on the outward leg I'll probably be wasted by the turnaround and will just be happy to reach T2, whatever the time.
The only real aim for the bike is to get off and be able to run. If that's 5hrs then fantastic, if it's 6hrs then that's fine too.

The Run!!

Now of course the run depends sooo much on how I get through the bike. Although running is classed as one of my strengths I haven't yet 'nailed' an Ironman run course. I've every confidence that my run/walk routine can get me close to 3hrs 'if' I come off the bike feeling as good as I felt at Florida. The hard bit is not running too strong in the early miles when it all feels so easy. At Florida my HRM told me I was running like an idiot but I ignored it. In Kona my HRM will be the boss and I've dropped my run sections from last years 20mins to 10mins as used in Wolves Marathon. If my quads start cramping up then the run sections will be shorter in the hope that everything eases. The idea is to get round causing my body as little stress as possible. When I get into the last 10k, if everything is feeling good then I may opt to pick the pace up a little or miss the occasional walk break. I'll make that decision if and when the situation arises though.

So, overall I'm thinking an hour for the swim, possibly 5h30m for the bike with maybe 30mins either side depending on the conditions and then 'hopefully' between 3-4hrs for the run. So there goes, somewhere between the miracle 9hrs (yeah right) and hopefully the right side of 11hrs. I've set myself up to be shot down, let's see what happens.

The inspiring factor ----- It it's all going well the fact that my Age Group was won in 9:22 last year will be firmly lodged in my head.

The worrying factor ----- I know quite a few folks who've raced Kona, all of them will no doubt have approached the race in much better condition than me, totally amped for the race and not one of them will have left anything to chance. Every one of them have A-type personalities and will have been totally dedicated to this one race. NOT ONE of them has had a good race. NOT ONE of them has broken the 10hour barrier!!! That fact alone scares the hell out of me.

Let's just hope that my 'take it as it comes' attitude works a little better than the folks who try to 'race' the event.

Now that I've finished spouting all that bilge I've just thought that maybe he meant predictions for the winners, so here goes :-

MEN

1) Andreas Raelert
2) Rasmus Henning
3) Chris Lieto

WOMEN

1) Chrissie Wellington
2) Julie Dibens
3) Mirinda Carfrae

Tomorrow (Friday) is my last day at work, Sunday we fly 13hrs from Heathrow to San Fransisco and then 5hrs from San Fransisco to Kona. Then the fun starts ;-)

Quick Bike update

Ok, so the deal with the bike is that the rear ZIPP 808 has an issue!! There has at some point been a dink and the carbon is coming away from the Aluminium rim. It's hardly noticable unless you're looking for it and of course I'd done 500+miles by the time it was noticed. I contacted Wiggle who contacted ZIPP and they said "Don't ride it!", but Wiggle couldn't/wouldn't supply me with another wheel. I took the wheel to my local ZIPP dealer who said that ZIPP would (understandably) throw it out as a warranty claim because it had had a dink. Question is, was it before or after I recieved the bike? I'm confident that it hasn't happened, but Wiggle aren't going to admit anything and will just say I must have twatted it. So, I'm guessing that I'm stuck with it.
I've ridden it constantly and it seems fine but I'm just not brave enough to risk it in Hawaii, so I'll be using my old ZIPP 404's which I was having back so that I could use the front wheel if it's real windy. That's the story :-(

Pulling my hair out!!

Everywhere I see Ironman Hawaii and everywhere I read anything about Ironman Hawaii, it's all about folks getting excited in the build up, starting their taper, itching to get over there and onto the course. Me?? Nothing like it. I'm beginning to hate it, I'm back to wondering why I'm bothering, back to wondering if it's all worth the hassle.

Now don't get too concerned, I'm not about to have a mental breakdown and explode. It's fair to say that I'm not in a good place right now. To be honest though, I never am with two weeks to go.

I don't mind flying half way around the world, I quite enjoy it. Taking a bike with you though fills me with dread. The box is oversize and overweight, I always stand in line dreading the airline hitting me with a (highly likely) rediculous charge or even worse telling me that for some reason it can't go. Then I'm left panicing that it'll end up in Germany rather than America, or it'll miss the connecting flight and I'll end up in Kona scrabbling around trying to hire a bike to race on...... I'm sure it won't happen, but I'm a 'glass half empty' sort of person and I'll feel a whole lot better once I'm there and settled.

At this moment in time though the anxieties are hightened as my brand new shiny bike has 'issues'. I don't really want to go into the detail at the moment for fear of slagging off anyone who may end up helping me, or praising someone that may ultimately let me down......... Let's just say that at this time my bike has only one wheel and with time so tight I can't see the issue being sorted before I fly. It may be that the only way to stop my head exploding will be to snap the credit card again on more new carbon. It's rediculous and frustrating but my 'glass half empty' persona tells me this is going to be an expensive arguement that I ultimately lose (or just give up on) and it's happened at the worst possible time.

Of course there's the up side to all of this........ In a weeks time I'll be heading off for a once in a lifetime holiday in the sun. I still won't get excited about the race, but then I never do. I'm sure that I'll go a and swim/bike/run as well as I can on the day and all being well it won't resort in a 15mile Death March to the Finish.

I'll get to meet up with fellow geeky nerdy bloggers like Pablo and Brian which I am really looking forward to. I'll see some old familar faces from the UK which will be good and of course I'll get to mingle with the World Greatest Triathletes at the World Greatest Triathlon. What can be better than that.

It's a dream come true, it's the one race I've always wanted to do that I thought would never happen. It's Ironman Hawaii!!! What is there to worry about, it'll all come good in the end :-D.

Right, I'm off to the bike shop to talk wheels before my head implodes. Credit Card? Check!

Maybe I need a stupid haircut after all, just to lighten myself up a little!!

Nothing to report!!

So we're 3 weeks out. This is the point where I tell the world how excited I am, how I can't wait for the day, I can't sleep with the anticipation, the day needs to get here NOW! Hmmmm, nope! It still feels like just another race. Still the whole hassle of getting my bike half way across the world (and back) fills me with more dread than any excitement the race can muster.

Still, things are progressing as well as my lazy ass attitude can expect. Last Saturday I finally got a 100mile bike ride in. For all my record breaking bike miles/hours over the last couple of months it will be the only one pre-race, I'm just hoping that all 60-80 mile bike rides I've been doing will convert themself to 100 mile fitness come race day. On the day itself the intensity will be lower and I'll hopefully be well rested. We'll see.

At least now I'm at the stage where nothing I do will make me significantly faster, although a stupid mistake session could still ruin everything. My lack of ability to push myself through any sort of pain threshold means that over-training is still as unlikely as ever though.

Strangely my swim is the biggest concern at the moment. I'm quite happy with my pace, my once a week maintenence sessions should still be plenty good enough to get me round in an hour. I do have a bit of a dodgy shoulder though which plays up in the pool from time to time. Hopefully it's more annoying than damaging. It'll be fine ;-)

The new bike has had it's issues but thankfully Michael at my LBS Bike It was been amazing. Where a lot of folks could have been really off with me for buying my bike online he's understood the reasons for it and has been more than happy to rectify the problems that I've had with it. I do owe Wiggle a slightly whinging email though because all of the problems have been things that'should' have been sorted when it was built, especially with how much the damn thing cost................. I'm still loving the bike though for all it's (hopefully sorted) issues.
So now we're on the final countdown, the race pack is out, the numbers have been issued (mine is 990) and things are all coming together. It looks like there will be no silly haircut again this year, it's just such a hassle to sort and get done. I should therefore blend nicely in with all the other Kona Qualifiers, except of course for my ever present 'muffin top' and of course my UNshaven body. The day I'm quick enough to warrant 'shaving down' is the day I'm very quick indeed!!!

That's it really, there's not a lot to report. My life has mostly been work and training. Tomorrow is the Doone Run, but as I type this we still don't know if I'm racing(???) it or marshalling. I'll bike over anyway which will give me 90mins or so and then I'll play it by ear from there. I might get two laps in yet, I could do with a long run!!

This post is really slack. I'm sorry :-(

Wolverhampton Marathon (and other things)

Phew, there's been lots going on since my last post. It's hard to know where to start.

First up :- The Confession

After my last proper post Everything Changes when I said there will be NO nutrition change, NO clothing change and NO bike change............. I went and bought a new bike in a moment of madness! It's much more than I deserve, much more than I can justify, much more than I need and MUCH MUCH more than I can really afford. But this is Ironman Hawaii, people keep telling me how priviliged I am to have qualified, heck I know it's a once in a lifetime race and the bike is a once in a lifetime purchase. Never ever will I be able to justify such an extravagent purchase again.......... So Welcome to the Focus Izalgo along with all it's SRAM and ZIPP goodness. Now I just need to justify the purchase in 5 weeks time!!!
Next up :- Training

Last month (August) was my biggest month of training EVER!! By a long long way.

I swam for just 5hrs which is pretty par for the course where my swimming is concerned and I finished the month off with a 4000m time trial as is traditional Pre-Ironman just to prove to myself it's still there.

I ran for 15h40m which is actually my biggest total for 2 years, but only just. Running has really just ticked along as normal and this weekends Marathon (I'll come to that later) pretty much showed me that my running form is ok.

The biking is where the time has been put in. Whether it has been put in the right way or not I've no idea, I've still not done a 100mile bike ride this year. I did however total 46hrs in the saddle during the month and that's over 10hrs more than I've ever done in a single month before.

It may be that the increased bike training swayed my decision where the new bike is concerned, maybe I got carried away with a month of training that totalled 67hrs which is over 15hrs more than I've ever done before. Who knows?

Last week I was off work, a week I'd booked off to train. It was very tempting to get myself booked on a warm weather training camp but as it turned out we probably had the best week of weather that we've had all Summer. I managed to put in 21h40m of training which was actually a good bit less than I'd planned but the ordering and arrival of the new bike interupted a bit of training time. The week did however finish with.....................

Wolverhampton Marathon

So at the end of a 10 day spell during which I'd done over 27hrs of training I found myself on the Start Line of the Marathon feeling tired and having absolutely no idea what was going to happen. I hadn't mentioned it to anyone but I was fully prepared to pull the plug at half way if it wasn't going well as I didn't want to risk anything with Kona around the corner.
I'm not afraid to admit that I've not got the mileage in to RUN a decent Marathon, even if I hadn't been training hard then 15hrs a month of running isn't much. Therefore the plan (as normal) was to run/walk the race. I was told that there were drink stations every 2.5miles(ish) so the plan was to run 10mins, walk 1min then run to a drink station and walk through it for another minute so that I could take in a drink (and a gel every 2nd station).

I started half way through the field alongside my Sis who was doing the Half Marathon. It took us around 30secs to hit the Start Line and then because of the congestion my pace felt very sedate. Because of this I decided to forgoe the initial walk break and run straight through to 20mins, from then on it all went to plan until around 10miles when I started suffering some (bowel) issues. Another advantage of the run/walk is that the walk section allows these things to subside a little, but on spotting a porta loo inside the park as we finished the first lap I made a small diversion for a couple of minutes. Unfortunately the stomach/bowel issues didn't go away (I won't go into too much detail) and a few more stops were required on the 2nd lap, I've since decided that drinking fizzy drinks the day before may be a bad move!!!

After my final 'call of nature stop' around 23miles I decided that there was to be no more. I was fed up of working my way past people just for them to go past again while I was 'occupied'. My legs were still feeling good so I laid it all on the line for the last 5k and my 26th mile was actually my fastest of my race (6:13) and I made up 5 places in the last 2 miles.
So my Finishing time was 3:05:52 but my Garmin tells me that my actual moving time was around 2:57 which I can't complain about with my race strategy. Sure I'm a bit disappointed not to officially go sub 3:00 but pre-race, after the previous week (and month) of training I'd have been happy with a comfortable finish. I'd have been perfectly happy with a 3:30 so in the big scheme of things a 3:05 was much better than I could have anticipated.

Now I just need to train solid for another 3 weeks and it's all systems go for Hawaii!!

The only downer to the weekend was Rosie Pup needing a (very expensive) trip to the Emergency Vets on Saturday night. Not really sure what was the cause although she'd been running with me on Friday and Saturday so may have drank some nasty algae filled water over Baggaridge Country Park. She's ok now though which is what matters though although as the pic below shows, she was feeling VERY sorry for herself. Poor ikkle thing!!!