The title explains how I'm feeling right now and how I've been feeling all week. I know the obvious thing to say is "Take a rest you bloody idiot!" and I'd be saying the same to someone else, but it's JUST tired and aching. There's no injury tweaks or niggles, no pulls or strains etc. Everything just feels beaten up! Of course there is a reason for all of this and most of the reason is the Exmoor Stagger and to a lesser extent the Cornish Marathon.
The Exmoor Stagger was last Sunday, just two weeks after Ironman Hawaii. It's a 15.1mile (my Garmin says 16.1miles) off road run from the coastal town of Minehead to Exmoors highest point (Dunkery Beacon) and back. The run takes in over 3,100ft of climbing and as I was reminded during the race, I haven't done any hill training for around 4 years.
I'd run 10miles on the Thursday before the race and I was under no illusions that my legs had recovered from Kona in any way, I wasn't quite prepared for just how quickly they'd throw the towel in at the sight of a good climb though. I moved comfortably enough early in the race but once we hit the bigger climbs I was soon walking. I saw a lot on my clubmate Tony in the early stages, we'd pass each other regularly as our strengths and weakness's are almost total opposites. Then he disappeared just before the long drag to the summit. I could see him way, way ahead and as he crested the hill I looked at my watch, it took me another 3minutes to get there.
Once I'm over the top it's a different story though. Because I knew I was hardly going to be at the front of the field I had chosen to run in an old pair of road shoes and save my feet from the potential fell shoe blisters. It was wet, muddy and slippery in the early stages of the descent so I had to take my time which was a bit annoying. Once that was out of the way though it was full steam ahead as I chased down as many people as I could ahead of me. One by one they came into sight and disappeared out the back until I found myself in no-mans land and then suddenly at 12miles a hill appeared that climbed 500ft in less than a mile. I walked every single inch of that hill and nobody caught me, infact by the time I started running again I could see 3 people ahead, so in the last 3 miles I caught and passed them too.
For all the pain, on a very 'off' day I managed to snag 16th overall and 3rd V40 for my troubles. An unexpected little trophy, nice!
I also took some bloody awful video. You can play it if you want, but you might need to dig out the sea sickness tablets first!!
The days after The Stagger my legs were simply trashed. It's the downhills that do the damage though. I might enjoy them at the time but your legs take a hell of a beating when you run like that. Fitness and training aren't always the key to going fast downhill, it sometimes just depends on how brave/stupid you are. Training would however prepare the muscles you use for the beating that they're going to get and mine were far from prepared.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I did absolutely nothing. You can get away with that when your Tri season has finished - it's nice!! Thursday though I was back to it and with tired legs I drove out to Instow so that I could do a long run. This is the reason that Cornish Marathon is partly responsible for my tired legs, it's because part of me would like to have a half decent race here and maybe even RUN round rather than run/walk as I did at White Peak and Wolverhampton Marathons. For that stand the slightest chance of happening I need to get some long runs in during the next fortnight as I really haven't done any this year. The reason I drove out to Instow to start my run is two fold. Firstly I wanted to run with Rosie, but I don't really want to drag her around 20miles. The plan is that I run 10miles home, collect the pup and then run 10miles back with her so she can play in the sea. That way not only does Rosie get a run, but if I'm feeling wasted after 10 miles I've still GOT to run back because my car is 10 miles away from home. Double Whammy!!
That's about it really, there's nothing exciting been going on unless you've been following the Access Program fun and games where the WTC basically decided that those who wanted to hand over $1,000 would be allowed to enter races a week ahead of anybody else, guaranteeing their places in the race - you'd still have to pay full entry price though. It all kicked off on Twitter, Facebook etc etc and the plan was subsequently dropped like a hot potato. Fair play to them for realising they were on a hiding to nothing and ditching the plan so quickly, I'm sure it won't be the last time something like this happens though.
This time last year I was heading up the Motorway on the first stage of my journey to PCB for Ironman Florida. This year I'll be watching online and wishing I was racing! It'll be soooo tempting to hit the sign up button next Sunday morning, but I don't expect it'll happen. Even if I do get tempted it'll fill up so quickly (if it even gets online) that only the very quickest will get through. There is a lot of ill feeling towards the WTC after the Access Program, but don't let us kid ourselves, the Ironman brand is pretty damn recession proof right now and it'll take a lot more than this to stop races like Ironman Florida filling up in seconds.
Until next time. Happy Training.
I'm off out to take my battered legs for a run. "Come on Rosie"
Friday, 29 October 2010
Saturday, 23 October 2010
Frayed Edges
Ok, I promise this is going to be my last Ironman Hawaii post until I find out I've got a starring role in the TV broadcast version (or maybe not). I'm sat here at home, the weather is awful and I've no need to go out and train, it's great. There are so many jobs that I could be doing around the house that I'm still trying to avoid but haven't got an excuse to any more, that's not so great.
This will be a bit of a random post, a couple of things I forgot off the last post, a couple of interesting and/or inspiring things from the race, just a jumble or stuff really.
First up, a thank you that I forgot....... In 2009 NICK ROSE raced Ironman Hawaii, this year he watched online and posted a great BLOG POST about it. Pretty much as soon as I qualified he sent me an email detailing his Kona experience and giving me bundles of hints and tips which helped me (ok, it helped Shelly) organise our trip. Without his input the whole thing would have been a whole lot more hassle and probably more expensive for it. Next year Nick is getting married AND racing Ironman Wales, not sure which is the biggest challenge. At Ironman Wales he WILL qualify for Kona 2012 and I look forward to watching being his online supporter. Thanks Nick, I owe you a beer.
Another quick mention I should do is to BRYAN If you follow him on TWITTER then good luck, if you're the timid, sensitive type you might want to leave alone as he regularly has an X-rating. His BLOG is an amazing read though, so much better than this bilge. He does things the right way and combines his love of Ironman with his love of beer very well. He's got some amazing videos from Kona which are well worth a watch and if you scroll back then the story of how he's progressed from fatty to fitty will be an inspiration to anybody. BRYAN, it was an honour to meet you in Kona, you're a top bloke ................ and yes, I drink like a wuss!!!!
As I wheeled my bike into transition before the race I managed to take a pic of an old tired looking single speed BMX bike that was perched on the racking. Of course I had to look up the results to see how he got one and then a bit of Googling discovered the whole WEBSITE about the man and his 'OLD SCHOOL' fund raising efforts. Have a click on the links, it's worth a look. Top job ;-) 
Finally (I think) check out RAJESH DURBAL, a triple amputee who completed Ironman Hawaii. Scarier still (for me) was the fact that he swam 1h18m!!! Need a bit of inspiration? Legs feeling a bit tired today? You're feeling nothing!!!!
This will be a bit of a random post, a couple of things I forgot off the last post, a couple of interesting and/or inspiring things from the race, just a jumble or stuff really.
First up, a thank you that I forgot....... In 2009 NICK ROSE raced Ironman Hawaii, this year he watched online and posted a great BLOG POST about it. Pretty much as soon as I qualified he sent me an email detailing his Kona experience and giving me bundles of hints and tips which helped me (ok, it helped Shelly) organise our trip. Without his input the whole thing would have been a whole lot more hassle and probably more expensive for it. Next year Nick is getting married AND racing Ironman Wales, not sure which is the biggest challenge. At Ironman Wales he WILL qualify for Kona 2012 and I look forward to watching being his online supporter. Thanks Nick, I owe you a beer.Another quick mention I should do is to BRYAN If you follow him on TWITTER then good luck, if you're the timid, sensitive type you might want to leave alone as he regularly has an X-rating. His BLOG is an amazing read though, so much better than this bilge. He does things the right way and combines his love of Ironman with his love of beer very well. He's got some amazing videos from Kona which are well worth a watch and if you scroll back then the story of how he's progressed from fatty to fitty will be an inspiration to anybody. BRYAN, it was an honour to meet you in Kona, you're a top bloke ................ and yes, I drink like a wuss!!!!
As I wheeled my bike into transition before the race I managed to take a pic of an old tired looking single speed BMX bike that was perched on the racking. Of course I had to look up the results to see how he got one and then a bit of Googling discovered the whole WEBSITE about the man and his 'OLD SCHOOL' fund raising efforts. Have a click on the links, it's worth a look. Top job ;-) Finally (I think) check out RAJESH DURBAL, a triple amputee who completed Ironman Hawaii. Scarier still (for me) was the fact that he swam 1h18m!!! Need a bit of inspiration? Legs feeling a bit tired today? You're feeling nothing!!!!
Monday, 18 October 2010
Craziness, thanks and what's next?
Well, it's over a week since the big dance and time I guess to think of other things and the first of those things is this blog.
Lets face it, it's not a big blog. There are people out there whos musings get read by thousands and thousands of people. Thankfully mine doesn't because I wouldn't know what the hell to write that would keep them amused. It's on it's 3rd incarnation and was mostly set up so that my family could see what I'm up to from their homes 200miles away and so that I could look back at what I've done.
I'm not a big blog reader, I just don't have time, in fact I'm not a big reader at all. My job means that I can listen to masses of podcasts instead, but you really wouldn't want to hear my voice any more than is necessary so be grateful for the blog ;-). This will be my 63rd posting and as of now I've had just over 5,200 viewings (there's a counter at the bottom) which works out at 82 per post. I can probably write off 30 views per post as my gf, mother and sister click regularly to check for updates and I check for comments, so really there are less than 50 people who are daft enough to read this muck and that's before you take off the people who click my Twitter or Daily Mile posts and then close the page before the end of the first paragraph. I don't mind that, it's not a business tool, there are no ad's at the side for you to click, it's just a bit of fun.
Knowing all this you can imagine my shock when I find that somebody has written about ME(!!!) on THEIR BLOG!!! So to Heather I must say thank you, but you really need to get out more ;-). I'd love to say I'd send hundreds of followers that way, but it's not going to happen. If you stumble across this rubbish though give her a click and you'll see how a blog should really be written. It's bright, fun and put together much better than this old dross.
I quite fancy doing a few Ultra-Marathons. It means I can possibly sneak in a holiday/race trip abroad without having all the hassle and expense of taking the bike. I'll probably leave it until the New Year before I start thinking about the possibility of things like that though. We'll see.
My official pics have come through from Kona. They cost me a bloody fortune so I'm going to post them everywhere I can. Including on here ;-)
Lets face it, it's not a big blog. There are people out there whos musings get read by thousands and thousands of people. Thankfully mine doesn't because I wouldn't know what the hell to write that would keep them amused. It's on it's 3rd incarnation and was mostly set up so that my family could see what I'm up to from their homes 200miles away and so that I could look back at what I've done.
I'm not a big blog reader, I just don't have time, in fact I'm not a big reader at all. My job means that I can listen to masses of podcasts instead, but you really wouldn't want to hear my voice any more than is necessary so be grateful for the blog ;-). This will be my 63rd posting and as of now I've had just over 5,200 viewings (there's a counter at the bottom) which works out at 82 per post. I can probably write off 30 views per post as my gf, mother and sister click regularly to check for updates and I check for comments, so really there are less than 50 people who are daft enough to read this muck and that's before you take off the people who click my Twitter or Daily Mile posts and then close the page before the end of the first paragraph. I don't mind that, it's not a business tool, there are no ad's at the side for you to click, it's just a bit of fun.Knowing all this you can imagine my shock when I find that somebody has written about ME(!!!) on THEIR BLOG!!! So to Heather I must say thank you, but you really need to get out more ;-). I'd love to say I'd send hundreds of followers that way, but it's not going to happen. If you stumble across this rubbish though give her a click and you'll see how a blog should really be written. It's bright, fun and put together much better than this old dross.
On the right hand side of this page there is a little list of links. These are all people who in one way or another have helped me out on my way to Kona. Please click on them and check them out. Obviously some of them are local to me so if you happen to live thousands of miles away then you won't be able to have a massage off the lovely Maria, still give it a click though. The very least I can do is try to give their websites a bit of traffic :-)
Of course the list of thanks should go out much further than those lists. There are so many people who've helped me on the way, from family and friends who encourage and put up with my training in equal measure as well as helping me out considerably with the financial side of things (Ironman is a sport for rich bankers, not lorry drivers). Also, strange as it may seem, all the folks who've wished me well and encouraged me on Twitter and Daily Mile need thanks. When the going gets tough and my notoriously weak mental attitude goes into quit mode it's quite often the thought of how I'm going to explain myself to everyone that keeps me moving forwards. Knowing the people they are I'd actually never hear a bad word, but the thought puts extra pressure on and sometimes that's exactly what my lazy ass needs.
Of course the list of thanks should go out much further than those lists. There are so many people who've helped me on the way, from family and friends who encourage and put up with my training in equal measure as well as helping me out considerably with the financial side of things (Ironman is a sport for rich bankers, not lorry drivers). Also, strange as it may seem, all the folks who've wished me well and encouraged me on Twitter and Daily Mile need thanks. When the going gets tough and my notoriously weak mental attitude goes into quit mode it's quite often the thought of how I'm going to explain myself to everyone that keeps me moving forwards. Knowing the people they are I'd actually never hear a bad word, but the thought puts extra pressure on and sometimes that's exactly what my lazy ass needs.
So what's next? If I'm honest, I haven't got a clue. I'm pretty determined that this will be my last Ironman (for a few years at least)........ but, it almost seems like a waste of the new bike and there is still the annual temptation of Ironman Florida registration. I'll no doubt watch the race online and get very drawn to it, if I can get through November 7th without doing anything stupid (registering for 2011) then I'll know more.
I quite fancy doing a few Ultra-Marathons. It means I can possibly sneak in a holiday/race trip abroad without having all the hassle and expense of taking the bike. I'll probably leave it until the New Year before I start thinking about the possibility of things like that though. We'll see.My official pics have come through from Kona. They cost me a bloody fortune so I'm going to post them everywhere I can. Including on here ;-)Thursday, 14 October 2010
Finally a Kona Race Report!!
(I'm hoping this makes sense, it's been written over the space of 3 days)
So I’m blogging again from up in the air (there’s nothing much else to do) and hopefully this laptop won’t crap out on me before I’m done. It’s Tuesday (or Wednesday in the UK) and we’re heading from Hawaii to San Francisco in a knackered old Boeing 767 that’s massively late because the mechanics have been ‘fixing’ it. Everything has been knackered this week!! This laptop is on its last legs, one of Shelly’s cameras died on race day when they got soaked by a wave, the list goes on.........
So my blog postings have been a bit pathetic over the course of the holiday. I’d really intended to post every day, maybe even a video blog. It just didn’t happen though, so here I am about to write a race report 3 days after the event! Disgraceful!!
The day before the race we had to get all our gear together and get the bikes racked. This is normally one of my favourite times as I get to stroll around Transition taking pics of all the mega expensive bikes and watching as people run around sorting things in their own way. Hawaii of course is different though. First of all you have to wheel your bike down the ‘catwalk’. It really makes you feel like you’re something special as you walk through what I can only presume is the annual stat collectors. Rows of people sat with notepads presumably noting down what bike/wheels/bars/groupsets etc etc etc you have on your bike. It’s a special feeling! You then get your own chaperone who walks with you to your bike racking, then takes you to drop off your transition bags, before walking you right through the Transition routine so you know what is where on the day.... Then they walk you right out of the transition area so there is no browsing around looking at bike porn. It’s very effective, works very well, but it’s also very disappointing to be ushered in and out so quickly........................... After that was all done we popped to the local shop and bought a microwave pizza for tea (I know how to live!).
I had a pretty good night’s sleep on Friday night and woke up on Saturday all ready to roll. We drove into town and rocked up with plenty of time to spare so I got my tyres checked, sorted out my special needs bags and dropped some gels into my T1 bag. Then I went to chill for a while before remembering my number belt and GPS chip needed to go in my T1 bag too – back I went. I settled down to chill again and remembered my glasses needed to be in there too – back I went again!!! It killed some time I guess.
We all made our way into the water and swam out to the start area, it was packed out.... Mike Rielly said at the Awards Banquet that the pre-start looked very calm, HA!! He wasn’t in there! Then the cannon went off and the carnage began. It was just a fist fight and seemed to stay that way for most of the swim. Normally I’m quick enough to get out of the main bunch, here though I was smack in the middle of the main bunch and it hurt! I was pushed under the water, had my legs and feet pulled, got kicked, swam over, dragged under, it all happened and it happened for 90% of my time in the water. It’s very rare that I don’t enjoy a swim but this one was evil and I was massively relieved when I reached the exit ramp, so much so that T1 was a very casual affair while I gathered myself back together again. I’d posted before that I hadn’t felt fast in the swim so when I left T1 and saw just 1:05 on the clock I was extremely happy.
Out on the bike and it was the regular story. I started off nice and steady as I was still a little fazed by the whole swim experience and the first miles of the bike are sneakily hilly. As always the bike monsters started ripping past, standing up and mashing the big gears on the hills, I just span my legs steadily and saved myself. Once on the Queen K I hit the aero bars and the passing cyclists slowed greatly, this was good, I was cruising and the speed was high. I checked the Garmin and my HR was a little high, I was feeling so comfortable though I was sure it would drop. I checked again and again, but still it stayed higher than I wanted, it was probably just the heat although that was something else that I seemed to be coping with far too well. I was happy!
The climb up to Hawi appeared and I stuck to the plan which was to take it nice and steady. If I needed to sit up and spin it was fine. It was going to be a long day and I didn’t want to waste myself just half way round. The climb was tougher than it had been on my Wednesday recce ride, the wind was a lot stronger too. We were getting blown all over the road heading uphill, the descent was going to be very interesting. By now the faster men were coming past on the descent and some of them were looking decidedly cautious, that WASN’T part of the plan. We made the turn at Hawi and just before the descent I grabbed my special needs bag and stopped at the side of the road while I sorted stuff (I was in no rush).
Now I’m not the best when it comes to a technical bike descent, but Hawi isn’t technical it’s just crazy so I was right at home. 40mph+ on the Tri-bars was the plan. The windy section is only 5-7miles long and the faster you go the quicker it’ll be over (unless you get blown off the road and crash), besides, if I’m overtaking everybody then I’ve got the whole road to play with. It was as scary as hell but great fun as I tore past people and by the time the crazy side winds had turned into evil head winds I’d even caught and passed people who’d passed me going up the climb. My HR was still too high though!!!!
Back on the Queen K was where things started to get tough. At 70miles I started thinking that maybe my HRM had been right all along and I had been going to hard, by 80miles I was sure of it. Damn!!! Should I push on and risk wrecking myself for the run or should I ease off and hope to save or recover some run form. I’ve suffered on too many Ironman Marathons and really didn’t want to walk through the lava fields so I sat up and took a step back. The last 30miles were probably at the pace the first 30miles should have been. It was hard to sit back and watch people come riding by while I knew I could have pushed on, I just hoped that I’d save enough to be seeing them on the run again. The biggest worry though was actually my feet which seemed to have swollen up to fill every section of my bike shoes. They were in a world of hurt so I poured water and ice over them in an attempt to ease the pain, nothing seemed to work though.
As I rocked into T2 I hopped off my bike and it felt awful, my feet were in agony and I pretty much hobbled my way towards the change tent. It felt as though every tendon between my feet and my toes was about to snap. The transition itself was even more leisurely than T1 as I went through my stuff, put on socks, shoes, vaseline, sunblock etc etc before grabbing my gels and heading out into the sun again.
I knew it was going to be a tough run as I left transition and knowing that the first few miles were again pretty tough I headed out at an easy pace. At least it felt like an easy pace!! I’d told everybody that the I was going to do a 10:1 run:walk but the run section was always going to be between aid stations unless they were less than 5mins apart. So every drink station got walked through for a full minute as I grabbed mostly water and coke, then every 2nd feed station I’d take a gel onboard. There were times when progress was slow and the Ironman shuffle was in full effect but I seemed to be working around the same group of people. During good sections I’d move forwards through the field as I started feeling like I could pick the pace up again, then I’d drift backwards again as I paid the price for my efforts. I always managed to keep it together enough to keep moving though and there were no 3-4mile walks as there have been in previous Ironman races so I shouldn’t complain too much.
I’d had a Finish Line pose lined up in my head all week, but as I ran the last stretch along Alii Drive I decided that it was a bad idea and scrapped it. Instead I just made a total arse of myself in front of the camera so that anyone back home (who’d managed to stay awake) didn’t miss me.
So that was it............ All over!!............ I had a small stint in the med tent because I had tingling feelings in my hands and face but it was nothing concerning. Then it was off for the official medal picture and a massage followed by a few slices of Pizza.
Once all was done and dusted we headed back to our apartment for a (much needed) shower and then returned to the Finish area to watch the last competitors come in before midnight. It was great that this year nobody missed the cut off although I did feel for the person who missed the swim cut off by 24secs and they didn’t let them carry on. That’s just cruel.
So that’s it! Race over! I finished in 722nd place overall and 136th in my Age Group. My time was a slightly disappointing 10:26:02 with splits of 1:02:15 (3:48) 5:26:43 (7:14) 3:46:02.
Would I change anything? Of course I would, I’d change lots but it’s too late for that. The job is done, the once in a lifetime trip is over. But ............... if I were to give ME just one piece of advice about doing it all again, I’d probably say “Do your research and get a good coach, then TRY to stick with them”. Being a lazy-ass Triathlete is great, but when you get to race something as big as this then you really do want to give it your all and do the best race you possibly can. I didn’t! I still loved it though!!!
So I’m blogging again from up in the air (there’s nothing much else to do) and hopefully this laptop won’t crap out on me before I’m done. It’s Tuesday (or Wednesday in the UK) and we’re heading from Hawaii to San Francisco in a knackered old Boeing 767 that’s massively late because the mechanics have been ‘fixing’ it. Everything has been knackered this week!! This laptop is on its last legs, one of Shelly’s cameras died on race day when they got soaked by a wave, the list goes on.........
So my blog postings have been a bit pathetic over the course of the holiday. I’d really intended to post every day, maybe even a video blog. It just didn’t happen though, so here I am about to write a race report 3 days after the event! Disgraceful!!
The day before the race we had to get all our gear together and get the bikes racked. This is normally one of my favourite times as I get to stroll around Transition taking pics of all the mega expensive bikes and watching as people run around sorting things in their own way. Hawaii of course is different though. First of all you have to wheel your bike down the ‘catwalk’. It really makes you feel like you’re something special as you walk through what I can only presume is the annual stat collectors. Rows of people sat with notepads presumably noting down what bike/wheels/bars/groupsets etc etc etc you have on your bike. It’s a special feeling! You then get your own chaperone who walks with you to your bike racking, then takes you to drop off your transition bags, before walking you right through the Transition routine so you know what is where on the day.... Then they walk you right out of the transition area so there is no browsing around looking at bike porn. It’s very effective, works very well, but it’s also very disappointing to be ushered in and out so quickly........................... After that was all done we popped to the local shop and bought a microwave pizza for tea (I know how to live!).
I had a pretty good night’s sleep on Friday night and woke up on Saturday all ready to roll. We drove into town and rocked up with plenty of time to spare so I got my tyres checked, sorted out my special needs bags and dropped some gels into my T1 bag. Then I went to chill for a while before remembering my number belt and GPS chip needed to go in my T1 bag too – back I went. I settled down to chill again and remembered my glasses needed to be in there too – back I went again!!! It killed some time I guess.
We all made our way into the water and swam out to the start area, it was packed out.... Mike Rielly said at the Awards Banquet that the pre-start looked very calm, HA!! He wasn’t in there! Then the cannon went off and the carnage began. It was just a fist fight and seemed to stay that way for most of the swim. Normally I’m quick enough to get out of the main bunch, here though I was smack in the middle of the main bunch and it hurt! I was pushed under the water, had my legs and feet pulled, got kicked, swam over, dragged under, it all happened and it happened for 90% of my time in the water. It’s very rare that I don’t enjoy a swim but this one was evil and I was massively relieved when I reached the exit ramp, so much so that T1 was a very casual affair while I gathered myself back together again. I’d posted before that I hadn’t felt fast in the swim so when I left T1 and saw just 1:05 on the clock I was extremely happy.
Out on the bike and it was the regular story. I started off nice and steady as I was still a little fazed by the whole swim experience and the first miles of the bike are sneakily hilly. As always the bike monsters started ripping past, standing up and mashing the big gears on the hills, I just span my legs steadily and saved myself. Once on the Queen K I hit the aero bars and the passing cyclists slowed greatly, this was good, I was cruising and the speed was high. I checked the Garmin and my HR was a little high, I was feeling so comfortable though I was sure it would drop. I checked again and again, but still it stayed higher than I wanted, it was probably just the heat although that was something else that I seemed to be coping with far too well. I was happy!
The climb up to Hawi appeared and I stuck to the plan which was to take it nice and steady. If I needed to sit up and spin it was fine. It was going to be a long day and I didn’t want to waste myself just half way round. The climb was tougher than it had been on my Wednesday recce ride, the wind was a lot stronger too. We were getting blown all over the road heading uphill, the descent was going to be very interesting. By now the faster men were coming past on the descent and some of them were looking decidedly cautious, that WASN’T part of the plan. We made the turn at Hawi and just before the descent I grabbed my special needs bag and stopped at the side of the road while I sorted stuff (I was in no rush).
Now I’m not the best when it comes to a technical bike descent, but Hawi isn’t technical it’s just crazy so I was right at home. 40mph+ on the Tri-bars was the plan. The windy section is only 5-7miles long and the faster you go the quicker it’ll be over (unless you get blown off the road and crash), besides, if I’m overtaking everybody then I’ve got the whole road to play with. It was as scary as hell but great fun as I tore past people and by the time the crazy side winds had turned into evil head winds I’d even caught and passed people who’d passed me going up the climb. My HR was still too high though!!!!
Back on the Queen K was where things started to get tough. At 70miles I started thinking that maybe my HRM had been right all along and I had been going to hard, by 80miles I was sure of it. Damn!!! Should I push on and risk wrecking myself for the run or should I ease off and hope to save or recover some run form. I’ve suffered on too many Ironman Marathons and really didn’t want to walk through the lava fields so I sat up and took a step back. The last 30miles were probably at the pace the first 30miles should have been. It was hard to sit back and watch people come riding by while I knew I could have pushed on, I just hoped that I’d save enough to be seeing them on the run again. The biggest worry though was actually my feet which seemed to have swollen up to fill every section of my bike shoes. They were in a world of hurt so I poured water and ice over them in an attempt to ease the pain, nothing seemed to work though.
As I rocked into T2 I hopped off my bike and it felt awful, my feet were in agony and I pretty much hobbled my way towards the change tent. It felt as though every tendon between my feet and my toes was about to snap. The transition itself was even more leisurely than T1 as I went through my stuff, put on socks, shoes, vaseline, sunblock etc etc before grabbing my gels and heading out into the sun again.
I knew it was going to be a tough run as I left transition and knowing that the first few miles were again pretty tough I headed out at an easy pace. At least it felt like an easy pace!! I’d told everybody that the I was going to do a 10:1 run:walk but the run section was always going to be between aid stations unless they were less than 5mins apart. So every drink station got walked through for a full minute as I grabbed mostly water and coke, then every 2nd feed station I’d take a gel onboard. There were times when progress was slow and the Ironman shuffle was in full effect but I seemed to be working around the same group of people. During good sections I’d move forwards through the field as I started feeling like I could pick the pace up again, then I’d drift backwards again as I paid the price for my efforts. I always managed to keep it together enough to keep moving though and there were no 3-4mile walks as there have been in previous Ironman races so I shouldn’t complain too much.
I’d had a Finish Line pose lined up in my head all week, but as I ran the last stretch along Alii Drive I decided that it was a bad idea and scrapped it. Instead I just made a total arse of myself in front of the camera so that anyone back home (who’d managed to stay awake) didn’t miss me.
So that was it............ All over!!............ I had a small stint in the med tent because I had tingling feelings in my hands and face but it was nothing concerning. Then it was off for the official medal picture and a massage followed by a few slices of Pizza.
Once all was done and dusted we headed back to our apartment for a (much needed) shower and then returned to the Finish area to watch the last competitors come in before midnight. It was great that this year nobody missed the cut off although I did feel for the person who missed the swim cut off by 24secs and they didn’t let them carry on. That’s just cruel.
So that’s it! Race over! I finished in 722nd place overall and 136th in my Age Group. My time was a slightly disappointing 10:26:02 with splits of 1:02:15 (3:48) 5:26:43 (7:14) 3:46:02.
Would I change anything? Of course I would, I’d change lots but it’s too late for that. The job is done, the once in a lifetime trip is over. But ............... if I were to give ME just one piece of advice about doing it all again, I’d probably say “Do your research and get a good coach, then TRY to stick with them”. Being a lazy-ass Triathlete is great, but when you get to race something as big as this then you really do want to give it your all and do the best race you possibly can. I didn’t! I still loved it though!!!
Saturday, 9 October 2010
Time to Rumble!!!!
Hey all, how’s things?
Heck I’ve been hopeless at doing this blog while we’ve been here. I was planning to post every day but just don’t seem to have had the time, partly down to a hectic pre-Ironman lifestyle, partly down to my own laziness and party down to it seeming a bit rude when we’ve got people over here holidaying with us. My frequent strolling around the complex so my phone can update Twitter on the wireless signal seems cheeky enough.
Enough of the excuses though.........
Thursday I hit the water again for a swim. Once again it just didn’t seem to be happening for me, I never really seemed to get into any rhythm. Of course the fish take your mind off it a little but it’s still annoying when one of your supposed strengths doesn’t seem to be up to scratch. I was told later that the swim times are always relatively slow here, so maybe it’s just me making a fuss about nothing.
After the swim I drove out to the Energy Lab for a run to see what all the fuss is about and to try out my new Zoot arm coolers. I didn’t really find out too much about either as it was fairly early in the morning and the temperatures hadn’t got up too high. Once again though my running (like my swimming) was a bit out of sorts, nowhere near as bad as Tuesdays run had been, but still it was far great. It seems really odd that my supposed weakness (the bike) currently seems to be the only discipline that is coming together.
Once the training was done for the week I headed out to replace all of the bike spares and tools that I lost on Wednesdays Hawi bike ride, they’re now all crammed into the bento box on my top tube as I didn’t really want to spend huge $$$ on carbon contraptions that attach to the back of my bike. Then I headed out to the beach with Shelly for a bit more swimming, this time of the leisure kind.
Thursday night was Pasta Party night and they treated us to a full on concert type show on a big stage at the back of the hotel. It was hugely impressing compared to the normal IM affair. Of course you were aching to get out of there by the end as it finished with the obligatory (but necessary) race briefing. Still, it was a decent feed and an overall good show so we were happy.
Friday was supposed to be chill out day. It never really happens like that though. First thing we popped into town so Shelly could go swimming on the quiet beach right next to the race beach, the difference between the two is amazing. She really enjoyed herself and finally got to see what we were talking about when we rambled on about the fish. Then it was more touring the shops which I promised myself I wouldn’t do. I finally succumbed to the compression sock trend, mostly because they had “Kona2010” written on them. I’ve no idea if they actually do work but I’ve been wearing them for 12hrs straight, just in case.
Friday afternoon I had to go rack my bike. Normally my favourite time as I get to stroll the Transition area with my camera taking pictures of all the flash bikes...... Not today though!! The organisers are very officious. You walk down what seems to be a fashion parade with people lined up scribbling in notepads (I’m guessing this is the bike count) and then after the checks you’re met by someone who walks through the whole transition process with you as you drop your bike and bags. Then as quickly as you’re ushered in you are ushered out without any strolling around time. Very good for keeping things under control, very bad for a geek with a camera............ I did feel awfully for the lad I passed riding to transition who’d obviously had some form of accident and was at the side of the road with Police and Medics AND a bike that was snapped in two. Hopefully he’s ok (he looked to be) and hopefully they’ve managed to find him a replacement steed to race on.
So that’s it!!!!! As I sit here typing it’s 4:30 am on race morning. I’ll soon be down at the race site getting ready to roll. Hopefully I can get around Shelly enough to post before I head off. No piccies today though I’m afraid, I’m a bit short of time..
Time to go and get battered in the swim for the first time in my life (gulp!!)
See you on the other side.
Heck I’ve been hopeless at doing this blog while we’ve been here. I was planning to post every day but just don’t seem to have had the time, partly down to a hectic pre-Ironman lifestyle, partly down to my own laziness and party down to it seeming a bit rude when we’ve got people over here holidaying with us. My frequent strolling around the complex so my phone can update Twitter on the wireless signal seems cheeky enough.
Enough of the excuses though.........
Thursday I hit the water again for a swim. Once again it just didn’t seem to be happening for me, I never really seemed to get into any rhythm. Of course the fish take your mind off it a little but it’s still annoying when one of your supposed strengths doesn’t seem to be up to scratch. I was told later that the swim times are always relatively slow here, so maybe it’s just me making a fuss about nothing.
After the swim I drove out to the Energy Lab for a run to see what all the fuss is about and to try out my new Zoot arm coolers. I didn’t really find out too much about either as it was fairly early in the morning and the temperatures hadn’t got up too high. Once again though my running (like my swimming) was a bit out of sorts, nowhere near as bad as Tuesdays run had been, but still it was far great. It seems really odd that my supposed weakness (the bike) currently seems to be the only discipline that is coming together.
Once the training was done for the week I headed out to replace all of the bike spares and tools that I lost on Wednesdays Hawi bike ride, they’re now all crammed into the bento box on my top tube as I didn’t really want to spend huge $$$ on carbon contraptions that attach to the back of my bike. Then I headed out to the beach with Shelly for a bit more swimming, this time of the leisure kind.
Thursday night was Pasta Party night and they treated us to a full on concert type show on a big stage at the back of the hotel. It was hugely impressing compared to the normal IM affair. Of course you were aching to get out of there by the end as it finished with the obligatory (but necessary) race briefing. Still, it was a decent feed and an overall good show so we were happy.
Friday was supposed to be chill out day. It never really happens like that though. First thing we popped into town so Shelly could go swimming on the quiet beach right next to the race beach, the difference between the two is amazing. She really enjoyed herself and finally got to see what we were talking about when we rambled on about the fish. Then it was more touring the shops which I promised myself I wouldn’t do. I finally succumbed to the compression sock trend, mostly because they had “Kona2010” written on them. I’ve no idea if they actually do work but I’ve been wearing them for 12hrs straight, just in case.
Friday afternoon I had to go rack my bike. Normally my favourite time as I get to stroll the Transition area with my camera taking pictures of all the flash bikes...... Not today though!! The organisers are very officious. You walk down what seems to be a fashion parade with people lined up scribbling in notepads (I’m guessing this is the bike count) and then after the checks you’re met by someone who walks through the whole transition process with you as you drop your bike and bags. Then as quickly as you’re ushered in you are ushered out without any strolling around time. Very good for keeping things under control, very bad for a geek with a camera............ I did feel awfully for the lad I passed riding to transition who’d obviously had some form of accident and was at the side of the road with Police and Medics AND a bike that was snapped in two. Hopefully he’s ok (he looked to be) and hopefully they’ve managed to find him a replacement steed to race on.
So that’s it!!!!! As I sit here typing it’s 4:30 am on race morning. I’ll soon be down at the race site getting ready to roll. Hopefully I can get around Shelly enough to post before I head off. No piccies today though I’m afraid, I’m a bit short of time..
Time to go and get battered in the swim for the first time in my life (gulp!!)
See you on the other side.
Thursday, 7 October 2010
The Island gives. The Island takes away!!!
Wow, what a few of days it’s been. After trouble free flights from the UK we finally arrived in Hawaii, to rain!! Just like home. The feeling when we left the plane however was much less like home. “Who stole the air?” was one of the questions we wanted to know. It was heavy and humid and intense and this was well after dark.
We queued, seemingly forever to get the hire car sorted and then finally we were away. Finding the building where we had to collect our apartment keys in the dark wet night was a nightmare. Even with four pairs of tired eyes in the car the directions still seemed to mean nothing. Still, finally things were sorted and other than Shelly tripping up a huge kerb and buggering her knee up we finally made it to the apartment in one piece, eventually getting to bed around midnight local time (1pm UK time), some 32hrs or so after we’d got up that day.
Monday appeared all to quickly after just 5-6hrs sleep, but I felt fine. We got plenty of the normal bits and pieces done, food shopping etc and then in the afternoon I took off for a jolly on my bike. After embarrassingly riding several miles with a Ken Glah (google him) and not realising who he was until later I headed onto the Queen K for a bit of aero bike riding practice. The road is just amazing!! Once you’re on it the shoulder you ride on is as big as the main lanes, the tarmac is wonderfully smooth too, the junctions are quiet but still well sorted for cyclists and of course the traffic is very considerate and cycle friendly............ although most of the cars are probably being driven by Ironman racers anyway. The heat however was just as impressive as I expected, it really does feel like you’re riding in a huge sauna, there’s no escape from it. The air temp in Kona was 28C, but with the sun bouncing off those rocks it was a whole lot hotter out there.
After 17miles in the aero bars I turned at a scenic viewing point and having averaged 23mph I feared the worst of the wind and hills were about to hit me, it wasn’t to be though and another 17miles later I’d still averaged 23mph and other than a putting a little more effort in at one point when I played with someone on a shiny new mega expensive TREK being motor-paced (not sure he liked that (hehehe!!) I would say I wasn’t much above Ironman intensity. The one big decision to come from this was that I do feel I can ride with my aero helmet, I’ll find out on Saturday if the extra speed is worth it.
I came back from this ride totally buzzing. Everything had gone as well if not better than I’d hoped. The speed was fast, the intensity relatively low, the ease at which I’d played with Mr Motor-Pacer had given me a buzz. Race day bike times were rolling through my head....... but surely the other 2/3 of the bike course couldn’t be that good, could it?
Tuesday!!
So yesterday was a day that gave! Today was the day that took away! The day started with a little drive out to the Wal-Mart where Shelly was going to browse the shops in the area for a couple of hours while I trained. First up was a short run down to the sea for a swim on the course, 1.6miles mostly downhill, nice and easy. Then I changed and headed out to swim about half of the course, stopping off at the Coffee’s of Hawaii boat for a quick cuppa (nice).
The swim really is as amazing as you hear, it really is like swimming in a fish tank. All the brightly coloured fish are just flitting around without a care in the world and they seem totally unfazed by the hundreds of lycra clad idiots invading their living space. If I’m honest it was actually quite a tough swim, I never seemed to be able to get into any rhythm and there seemed to be currents pulling me every way that I didn’t want to go. Normally I’d have been a little concerned by that, but the whole thing was such an experience that I didn’t really care.
So....... onto run number 2. Oh dear!!! After swimming and a bit of socialising I finally headed out on my run back to Shelly and it was TOUGH!!! I took the long way round planning to do 4miles but took a wrong turn and ended up doing 5. It was probably one of the hardest 5miles that I’ve ever done too. The sun was beating down and before long I was really suffering with the heat. From mile 2 I could feel it and at 3 miles I decided this was a good time (excuse) to practice my run/walk strategy. When I realised that I’d taken a wrong turn and had to double back on myself it was like mental torture and that climb back up to the Wal-Mart nearly finished me off. When I got back to Shelly I can only imagine how bad I looked. It was a big wake up call after the massive boost of the previous bike ride.
For the rest of the day I felt totally cooked. That afternoon we went down for the packet pick up. There was a bit of a laugh with the good folks dealing with registration and with Chrissie Wellington when she came past and I did the whole “We’re not worthy” thing, but other than that I really just had no wish to be there. The Parade of Nations followed and we all had to meet at the back of the hotel to get sorted. I quite liked seeing a few old and new faces that were racing, but other than that (I’ll be honest) I’d much rather have been sat in the crowds watching the show than have to walk along being part of it where you miss all the best bits. Of course (as is the way with us Brits) when I got there I found out that we’d all got pretty tee-shirts to wear for the parade of nations. Except for the fact that they’re currently being Fed-Ex’d to Kona and should be there on Friday (Hmmmm!!).
We queued, seemingly forever to get the hire car sorted and then finally we were away. Finding the building where we had to collect our apartment keys in the dark wet night was a nightmare. Even with four pairs of tired eyes in the car the directions still seemed to mean nothing. Still, finally things were sorted and other than Shelly tripping up a huge kerb and buggering her knee up we finally made it to the apartment in one piece, eventually getting to bed around midnight local time (1pm UK time), some 32hrs or so after we’d got up that day.
Monday appeared all to quickly after just 5-6hrs sleep, but I felt fine. We got plenty of the normal bits and pieces done, food shopping etc and then in the afternoon I took off for a jolly on my bike. After embarrassingly riding several miles with a Ken Glah (google him) and not realising who he was until later I headed onto the Queen K for a bit of aero bike riding practice. The road is just amazing!! Once you’re on it the shoulder you ride on is as big as the main lanes, the tarmac is wonderfully smooth too, the junctions are quiet but still well sorted for cyclists and of course the traffic is very considerate and cycle friendly............ although most of the cars are probably being driven by Ironman racers anyway. The heat however was just as impressive as I expected, it really does feel like you’re riding in a huge sauna, there’s no escape from it. The air temp in Kona was 28C, but with the sun bouncing off those rocks it was a whole lot hotter out there.After 17miles in the aero bars I turned at a scenic viewing point and having averaged 23mph I feared the worst of the wind and hills were about to hit me, it wasn’t to be though and another 17miles later I’d still averaged 23mph and other than a putting a little more effort in at one point when I played with someone on a shiny new mega expensive TREK being motor-paced (not sure he liked that (hehehe!!) I would say I wasn’t much above Ironman intensity. The one big decision to come from this was that I do feel I can ride with my aero helmet, I’ll find out on Saturday if the extra speed is worth it.I came back from this ride totally buzzing. Everything had gone as well if not better than I’d hoped. The speed was fast, the intensity relatively low, the ease at which I’d played with Mr Motor-Pacer had given me a buzz. Race day bike times were rolling through my head....... but surely the other 2/3 of the bike course couldn’t be that good, could it?
Tuesday!! So yesterday was a day that gave! Today was the day that took away! The day started with a little drive out to the Wal-Mart where Shelly was going to browse the shops in the area for a couple of hours while I trained. First up was a short run down to the sea for a swim on the course, 1.6miles mostly downhill, nice and easy. Then I changed and headed out to swim about half of the course, stopping off at the Coffee’s of Hawaii boat for a quick cuppa (nice).
The swim really is as amazing as you hear, it really is like swimming in a fish tank. All the brightly coloured fish are just flitting around without a care in the world and they seem totally unfazed by the hundreds of lycra clad idiots invading their living space. If I’m honest it was actually quite a tough swim, I never seemed to be able to get into any rhythm and there seemed to be currents pulling me every way that I didn’t want to go. Normally I’d have been a little concerned by that, but the whole thing was such an experience that I didn’t really care.
So....... onto run number 2. Oh dear!!! After swimming and a bit of socialising I finally headed out on my run back to Shelly and it was TOUGH!!! I took the long way round planning to do 4miles but took a wrong turn and ended up doing 5. It was probably one of the hardest 5miles that I’ve ever done too. The sun was beating down and before long I was really suffering with the heat. From mile 2 I could feel it and at 3 miles I decided this was a good time (excuse) to practice my run/walk strategy. When I realised that I’d taken a wrong turn and had to double back on myself it was like mental torture and that climb back up to the Wal-Mart nearly finished me off. When I got back to Shelly I can only imagine how bad I looked. It was a big wake up call after the massive boost of the previous bike ride.
For the rest of the day I felt totally cooked. That afternoon we went down for the packet pick up. There was a bit of a laugh with the good folks dealing with registration and with Chrissie Wellington when she came past and I did the whole “We’re not worthy” thing, but other than that I really just had no wish to be there. The Parade of Nations followed and we all had to meet at the back of the hotel to get sorted. I quite liked seeing a few old and new faces that were racing, but other than that (I’ll be honest) I’d much rather have been sat in the crowds watching the show than have to walk along being part of it where you miss all the best bits. Of course (as is the way with us Brits) when I got there I found out that we’d all got pretty tee-shirts to wear for the parade of nations. Except for the fact that they’re currently being Fed-Ex’d to Kona and should be there on Friday (Hmmmm!!).
Wednesday
Today was going to be a big tester. We were having a full day of bumbling around, visiting shops and beaches etc. But first of all there was the little matter of Hawi to check out.
Hawi is the bike turnaround. The course profile suggests it’s a good climb and it’s also apparently where the Trade Winds come in, so it’s a git gusty up there...... I can confirm that it all TRUE!! We drove out to Hawi and all was very jolly until we were about 5miles away when all of a sudden I noticed that the car was getting battered by the side winds which had suddenly appeared as if from nowhere. We looked up at the tree tops and sure enough we’d arrived! When we got there and parked up I was wondering if bringing Shelly with me was a good idea, this looked like an old shanty town, it actually looked a bit ‘rough’ and I wondered if she would be ok on her own. This just shows that initial impressions are not always right, nor do they last. It’s a lovely little town and as with everywhere else the people are very friendly. I can thoroughly recommend the Fudge shop too!!
Off onto the bike and the first section was both amazingly fast and dangerous at the same time. After 7miles I’d averaged 30mph while struggling to keep my bike on the road as I got battered by big gusting side winds. It was an interesting experience keeping the bike in the hard shoulder with imminent lava rash so close at hand. After 7miles though the road became more rolling and it curved around the island to give a full on headwind instead. This slowed the pace considerably, especially on the uphill sections, but by the turnaround at the bottom I’d still averaged 24mph. Much less than I’d expected it to be when I drove up in the car, but then it looked like it would be all downhill from that view. Then came the turn, the uphill and the expected slow-down that didn’t really happen. In fact with the wind assistance and the occasional flat/downhill I was still averaging over 23mph at 30miles. The next 6 miles however were torture!! The big side winds were slightly buffered by me being closer to the lava and obviously nulled by my lack of speed, but this bit was a constant grade and when we turned into the wind I was struggling to keep my speed in double figures. For the last 6 miles I averaged just 15mph. 
So that’s about it for now I guess. Shortly I’ll be off for another early morning swim and (hopefully) a run through the Energy Lab and that’ll be my training done for the week. I must go buy some spares too as somehow my little bag of goodies detached itself from my bike on yesterdays ride. I’ve no idea how that was possible, but it’s gone and that’s that!! New tubes, levers, gas fillers all reqired. Maybe I’ll get excited and buy some expensive contraption? Who knows.
Hawi is the bike turnaround. The course profile suggests it’s a good climb and it’s also apparently where the Trade Winds come in, so it’s a git gusty up there...... I can confirm that it all TRUE!! We drove out to Hawi and all was very jolly until we were about 5miles away when all of a sudden I noticed that the car was getting battered by the side winds which had suddenly appeared as if from nowhere. We looked up at the tree tops and sure enough we’d arrived! When we got there and parked up I was wondering if bringing Shelly with me was a good idea, this looked like an old shanty town, it actually looked a bit ‘rough’ and I wondered if she would be ok on her own. This just shows that initial impressions are not always right, nor do they last. It’s a lovely little town and as with everywhere else the people are very friendly. I can thoroughly recommend the Fudge shop too!!
Off onto the bike and the first section was both amazingly fast and dangerous at the same time. After 7miles I’d averaged 30mph while struggling to keep my bike on the road as I got battered by big gusting side winds. It was an interesting experience keeping the bike in the hard shoulder with imminent lava rash so close at hand. After 7miles though the road became more rolling and it curved around the island to give a full on headwind instead. This slowed the pace considerably, especially on the uphill sections, but by the turnaround at the bottom I’d still averaged 24mph. Much less than I’d expected it to be when I drove up in the car, but then it looked like it would be all downhill from that view. Then came the turn, the uphill and the expected slow-down that didn’t really happen. In fact with the wind assistance and the occasional flat/downhill I was still averaging over 23mph at 30miles. The next 6 miles however were torture!! The big side winds were slightly buffered by me being closer to the lava and obviously nulled by my lack of speed, but this bit was a constant grade and when we turned into the wind I was struggling to keep my speed in double figures. For the last 6 miles I averaged just 15mph. So that’s about it for now I guess. Shortly I’ll be off for another early morning swim and (hopefully) a run through the Energy Lab and that’ll be my training done for the week. I must go buy some spares too as somehow my little bag of goodies detached itself from my bike on yesterdays ride. I’ve no idea how that was possible, but it’s gone and that’s that!! New tubes, levers, gas fillers all reqired. Maybe I’ll get excited and buy some expensive contraption? Who knows. Monday, 4 October 2010
Rough and ready
While I’m sitting on a plane for 11hrs+ I thought I might as well write a blog post. Who knows when I’ll actually get round to sneaking some internet access to post it though.
So it’s the 3rd of October and there’s just 6 days to go. September ended up being my 2nd biggest training month ever, a long way behind Augusts total but that meant two solid months with no illness and no injuries. I started a healthy eating purge but it just wasn’t me and I soon drifted back into my bad old ways. Still, that’s who I am and Ironman will just have to take me that way.
I had the normal panic packing the bike. Try as I might I couldn’t get 3 wheels into my bike box along with the frame, so it’s just the old 404’s for me. I also worry that the bike box has too much room in it with so little else in there but with it weighing exactly 23kg I didn’t really want to risk doubling that excess baggage charge by having it overweight too (turned out they had no interest in the weight so it’ll get packed more on the return trip). Even now though the bike has an unknown quantity to it though, the LBS couldn’t get my cassette from the new back wheel onto the old one. They have a new Shimano Ultegra cassette on which should be compatible, but it hasn’t been ridden on yet to make sure. I’m sure it’ll be fine though (I hope).
The last week has been pretty steady. I put a solid shift in at the track on Monday and rested Tuesday. Then I looked up me training for two weeks before Florida and repeated it but putting in a 7mile run on Wednesday (although this years was harder than last year) a 40mile bike/2k swim on Thursday, a rest day on Friday and a small 5 mile run on Saturday.
Most of my spare time on Thursday and Friday was spent packing and re-packing things, I even missed my Friday Squad Swim trying to get everything sorted. Then after much milling around on Saturday morning we headed off up to Bristol where we were meeting my parents who are babysitting Rosie while we’re away. They’d offered to meet us half way to save us driving all the way up to Wolverhampton and then having to drive back down South again to Heathrow. We met them at a pub in Almondsbury (just off the M4/M5 junction) called wwwthebowlinn.co.uk for lunch. It’s a bit of a devil to find but the food in there is great, I’m sure we’ll end up there again in the future!!
After handing Rosie over (and Shelly crying) we made our way to Heathrow where we were booked in at the Crowne Plaza though a park and fly company. The hotel was very pleasant and very comfortable. The standard tariff of £250/night is ridiculous though as are their mini bar prices (can of coke £2.50), good job we got a cheap deal. This was just the excuse I needed to pop out for a run and return with some more sensibly priced goodies.
As I got back from my run Chris and Sally arrived at the Hotel. Sally is in my Tri Club and they’ve come along for a holiday and to watch the race. Sweet!!
This morning we were all up and about in plenty of time and we caught the Heathrow Flyer to Terminal 5....... Only when we got there did we realise that we actually needed to be at Terminal 1. I won’t however let anyone where the false information had come from (Shelly). Luckily Shelly always likes to be everywhere ridiculously early so we had plenty of time to grab trains and find out way around the maze that is Heathrow.
Booking in went easily enough so we found somewhere for breakfast. Service was a little slow and when we left out plane was already boarding... then we spotted the sign that said “Allow 15mins to get to Terminals xxx” which was where we had to go. Needless to say it didn’t take us 15mins to get there, especially when I saw the sign that said “Boarding Closing” and had to knock out a 6-800m interval to make sure we were there on time.
All is well though, we made it onboard and settled in......... that takes you up to this point where we’re currently between the Davis Straight and the Hudson Straight and cruising at 36,000ft, it’s -51C outside and we’re bombing along at a Chris Lieto-esque 543mph. I’d better try to get some sleep then.
So it’s the 3rd of October and there’s just 6 days to go. September ended up being my 2nd biggest training month ever, a long way behind Augusts total but that meant two solid months with no illness and no injuries. I started a healthy eating purge but it just wasn’t me and I soon drifted back into my bad old ways. Still, that’s who I am and Ironman will just have to take me that way.
I had the normal panic packing the bike. Try as I might I couldn’t get 3 wheels into my bike box along with the frame, so it’s just the old 404’s for me. I also worry that the bike box has too much room in it with so little else in there but with it weighing exactly 23kg I didn’t really want to risk doubling that excess baggage charge by having it overweight too (turned out they had no interest in the weight so it’ll get packed more on the return trip). Even now though the bike has an unknown quantity to it though, the LBS couldn’t get my cassette from the new back wheel onto the old one. They have a new Shimano Ultegra cassette on which should be compatible, but it hasn’t been ridden on yet to make sure. I’m sure it’ll be fine though (I hope).
The last week has been pretty steady. I put a solid shift in at the track on Monday and rested Tuesday. Then I looked up me training for two weeks before Florida and repeated it but putting in a 7mile run on Wednesday (although this years was harder than last year) a 40mile bike/2k swim on Thursday, a rest day on Friday and a small 5 mile run on Saturday.
Most of my spare time on Thursday and Friday was spent packing and re-packing things, I even missed my Friday Squad Swim trying to get everything sorted. Then after much milling around on Saturday morning we headed off up to Bristol where we were meeting my parents who are babysitting Rosie while we’re away. They’d offered to meet us half way to save us driving all the way up to Wolverhampton and then having to drive back down South again to Heathrow. We met them at a pub in Almondsbury (just off the M4/M5 junction) called wwwthebowlinn.co.uk for lunch. It’s a bit of a devil to find but the food in there is great, I’m sure we’ll end up there again in the future!!
After handing Rosie over (and Shelly crying) we made our way to Heathrow where we were booked in at the Crowne Plaza though a park and fly company. The hotel was very pleasant and very comfortable. The standard tariff of £250/night is ridiculous though as are their mini bar prices (can of coke £2.50), good job we got a cheap deal. This was just the excuse I needed to pop out for a run and return with some more sensibly priced goodies.
As I got back from my run Chris and Sally arrived at the Hotel. Sally is in my Tri Club and they’ve come along for a holiday and to watch the race. Sweet!!
This morning we were all up and about in plenty of time and we caught the Heathrow Flyer to Terminal 5....... Only when we got there did we realise that we actually needed to be at Terminal 1. I won’t however let anyone where the false information had come from (Shelly). Luckily Shelly always likes to be everywhere ridiculously early so we had plenty of time to grab trains and find out way around the maze that is Heathrow.
Booking in went easily enough so we found somewhere for breakfast. Service was a little slow and when we left out plane was already boarding... then we spotted the sign that said “Allow 15mins to get to Terminals xxx” which was where we had to go. Needless to say it didn’t take us 15mins to get there, especially when I saw the sign that said “Boarding Closing” and had to knock out a 6-800m interval to make sure we were there on time.
All is well though, we made it onboard and settled in......... that takes you up to this point where we’re currently between the Davis Straight and the Hudson Straight and cruising at 36,000ft, it’s -51C outside and we’re bombing along at a Chris Lieto-esque 543mph. I’d better try to get some sleep then.
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