10 weeks and Sherborne Sprint Tri

So, we're only 10 weeks from Florida and if I'm honest training hasn't been going great this month. It's been ok, but miserable weather, work and a dodgy back last weekend have left me well off the target I was hoping for. Especially on the bike where I need it most! In July I spent 39hrs in the saddle, in August last year I had 46hrs of cycling in my legs, this month just 19hrs (so far). I'm even 11hrs behind my total from August 2009, my qualification year, so it's not looking great. I could do with an Indian Summer to get a few good hours in during September and October if the weather gods are listening.

SHERBORNE SPRINT(ish) TRIATHLON

It's been two months since I did a 'proper' race and now I've got three on consecutive weekends. Today was the started with a long Sprint Tri in Dorset. The race was a 400m swim in the gorgeous pool at the Oxley Leisure Centre, followed by a tough undulating/lumpy/hilly 30km bike ride around the Dorset countryside. After the bike came an equally undulating 6km run to finish things off.

THE SWIM - was normal. Nothing to say really, it was only 400m. There were two of us in the lane which was nice and the pool was lovely. It felt effortless.

THE BIKE - was tough. 18 undulating miles with 1,000ft of ascent. It hurt after Saturday's training, especially when I got involved in a real battle with Ben Butler who really had my card marked on the hills on his road bike, but I had the aero edge on the flatter sections to chase him down again. We were total opposites and never ever a similar pace, one of us was always plenty faster than the other. Ben got the upper hand though as he hit T2 ahead of me and I got stuck in the dismount area like a complete doofus.

THE RUN - was a complete nightmare. I started ok and cruised along taking in a healthy amount of downhill and easing my way past a good amount of other runners. As soon as the course went uphill though (and it did often) my quads started to cramp and I pretty much ended up jogging round the last two miles. Thankfully it never got bad enough to force me to stop and walk as it has in the past and the pace was enough to keep me ahead of those I'd passed in the first mile. The last section seemed to have us running around the biggest field in the world while the damn Finish Line was in sight all along, I was glad when it was over and I'd got round in one piece without having to stop. A solid training session done!

THE RESULT - In the end I was 2nd overall but I was well beaten by the winner, he was 3mins clear. On a fresh day I'd have been plenty quicker but doubt it would have affected anything, the difference between my tired and fresh performances (even with my awful run) won't be 3mins.

OVERALL - The race was great, the course was well marshalled and although I heard of several people getting lost I'm not sure how they did because I thought the course marking was spot on. The only downside and I appreciate that for the majority this won't matter a jot, was the prize giving.

The accepted standard (in my eyes) for prizes is 1st, 2nd & 3rd overall, then Age Groups. The Age groups could be in 5 or 10 years and could be one prize or top 3. You also normally find that IF you're in the top 3 you won't get an Age Group prize because normally your prize is of a higher value and the norm is to have one prize per person. Here it was different!

First place got a prize, second and third got nothing. The winner overall then also p

icked up an Age Group prize (which really wasn't worth much). So the poor lad in 3rd place overall who would normally get a podium prize ended up with bugger all as he was also in the same Age Group as the winner. I know for most it's a petty complaint, but I think it's poor and I know that anybody who raced this and is also racing Ilfracombe Tri on Sunday will be spoilt rotten by what they get at the Devon race in comparison. If they could sort out this last little thing (and sweep the transition area) then Sherborne Tri would be a cracking race.

12 weeks Aaaargh

Part 1 - Written in a red wine haze on Saturday

Holy crap, it's 12 weeks until Ironman Florida. Erm, erm, erm I guess I should write something ........... but I've had a slack week this week and there's nothing really to write about. Apparently I'm supposed to take recovery weeks during my training so I guess this has kinda become one although I did have a cracking 15mile run with Rosie pup on Thursday.

Today we had friends round for most of the day............. heck, I should re-phrase that.......... Today we had my God Daughter and her family round for the day. Can you believe anybody would be crazy enough to ask? Me neither, but they did.

So old friends of ours Wayne and Tracy came down to Bude for the week with their daughter Emma (god-daughter) and son Brad (they knew better by then) and came to visit us for the day. After a morning sat around catching up on various things, including Wayne's awesome Finish at OUTLAW TRIATHLON we headed over to Braunton Burrows and messed around jumping off some of the sand dunes. It was like being 12 all over again. Great fun :-D

So I mentioned on Twitter that I needed to blog but had nothing to write about so GORDON and BARB both said they wanted to know "what you've learned between your first IM and now. Things you thought in the beginning that you don't now"........

If I'm honest most of the stuff I've learnt is stuff that most people would know from the start anyway. Mostly that you can't blag it like you can other races.

Part 2 - Written in a tired state on Sunday

Woohoo, I managed a 70mile bike ride this morning to rescue my week, although I still didn't crack 9hrs. Then we had more friends around that we haven't seen for years and headed over the Burrows again for more sand dune silliness. Amazing, we've seen nobody down here for years (other than family of course) then we get two lots of visitors in 2 days and if I'm honest it's been great.

So back to What have I learnt though Ironman? Or more likely what didn't I know at the beginning? Of course a lot of this only applies to me, I'm no coach and I've never had one ....... although if someone asked me the best way to do an Ironman well a GOOD coach be the first thing I suggested they get.

1) The swim - It doesn't really matter. It's just the warm up. I'm not going to miss the cut off so too much training is a waste, it just takes time from place I need it. I swim once a week, sometimes less. Sure I could swim 5mins quicker if I swam 5 times a week but that's just false economy

2) T1 - Don't rush!! Make sure you're comfy on the bike. If you race Florida you'll hit T1 with sandy feet. If you're putting socks on clean your feet off first or that sand will be causing friction for a LONG time. Dry, change, do whatever you need to. Unless you're chasing a Kona slot a couple of extra mins here won't hurt anything.

3) The Bike - For me this is what it's ALL about! For my first Ironman hardly trained on the bike. I quickly learnt that I couldn't blag it like I could a Sprint Tri. Now it's all about being strong enough to take it easy. Sounds strange, but if you bike too hard you'll gain minutes but it's no good if you loose hours then on the run because of it.

4) T2 - Same as T1. Nice and easy, get things right!

5) The Run - Hahaha! Going to run it are we? I've never run all of one yet. As with the bike it's all about pacing, IF you can actually run off the bike. In theory I 'should' be able to run close to 3hrs off the bike, I've run everything from 3:30 to 5hrs. 3:30 hurts, 5hrs hurt a lot more for a lot longer.

6) The whole thing - Unless you're a Pro then it's not a 'race', it's a test of your endurance pacing. Go too hard and you'll suffer, go too easy and you're probably still going too hard.

Of course this is only what's popped into my head while I've been sat here typing. If you know me you'll know that I'm not the type to sit down and plan these posts. If however you are seriously looking at the best way to pace an Ironman I thoroughly recommend you have a read through the Endurance Nation Four Keys to Ironman Racing, it's well worth a few minutes of anybody's time.

Just a boring training update.

It appears that business is picking up, or at least it is when the weather is nice.

With 13 weeks to go until Ironman Florida I’ve just posted my 2^nd biggest month of training EVER! Now don’t get too excited, most people know me well enough to know I’m not going to hit you with some massive 80-100hr week figures. We all know the 20hrs a week that some people claim you need if you’re going to aim for Kona are well out of my reach. For a lot of people my 56hrs is a paltry figure, for me it’s huge! I can slightly offset it by saying 39hrs of it was on the bike which is where I need to be if I’m going to improve on my 2009 performance.

There hasn’t been much in the way of racing (for well documented reasons) but I have done a couple of my neighbourhood Duathlons and managed to win them both. That doesn’t mean a lot in the big scheme of things, winning a small friendly ‘training’ race amongst mostly clubmates, but these things are keeping me sharp and trust me, some of my clubmates are very good scalps to take at any event. They’re bloody good athletes and for me to (at times) bike away from people of their standard is a huge boost for my biking confidence.

After a couple of decent weeks we’ve been back to the rainy conditions this week. Somehow I’ve still managed to sneak 12hrs of training in which is nice. I’ve got to keep it up though now, so if the weather gods are listening some sunshine would be nice for a change!!!

In other news, the gf Shelly got all grumpy after my last posting and started sending emails out. The result? I’m back in love with Taunton Tri after a cheque appeared along with a letter of apology and a free entry to next years race. Thank you Shelly and thank you so much Paul.