Trains, Travels

Even if you pay as little attention to the media as me the obsession with weight loss is pretty obvious. In the past week I don’t think a day has gone by where my brief exposure to some TV or newspaper hasn’t had a mention of diet. Not entirely surprising with the ever increasing weight of the population and associated health concerns.

However in my case I’m coming at weight loss from a different point of view. When I landed back from Lanza by any reasonable interpretation I was a perfectly healthy and acceptable weight. The problem is race weight. Race weight isn’t a reasonable interpretation, it’s about being lighter and leaner and going faster for it. In simple terms if there’s less of you to move it takes less absolute power to move it. By the standards I aspire to I was racing very heavy.

So I embarked on a project to shed the pounds and to get to a truly trim race weight in time for Ironman UK. Over the years of training I’ve read and learnt a lot about nutrition, but for this goal I opted for the Paleo Diet I’d been introduced to out in Lanza. So far it’s worked pretty well as the chart below shows

Ignore the cheesecake blip! That shows the impact of a sudden massive food intake and indulgence, it also shows how quickly it passes. Whilst I weigh myself every day it’s the trend lines that are important. You’ll see I set myself a red line which was goal weight loss. It’s a straight line from my starting weight (76.5kg) through to my goal weight (70.5kg). What you’ll also see is blip aside I have progressed far faster than expected. To the point where I’ll be racing Roth at close to my goal weight. Great news for me as it means I’ll have a better idea of how well it works for me. I’ll admit I’m also hoping there’s room to go a little lighter still, maybe the 69.5-70kg range.

I’ve put summary links relating to the Paleo diet in my blog before. Now I’m not 100% strict, but I think I do a reasonably good job. For an athlete perhaps the oddest aspect of paleo is the relative lack of carbs. There’s no more stuffing down bread, pasta, rice or oats! The first couple of weeks I think it was a bit of a shock to the system. Apparently this is normal and now I don’t miss any of it at all.

My diet isn’t completely lacking in carbs. The reality of the amount of training I do is I’m regularly burning off 2000 or 3000 calories a day on top of my metabolism. That’s a hell of a lot! For those looking for dietary tips that is another significant factor in my success. If you burn through calories at that rate gaining weight takes work!

What carbs I eat come mostly from a mix of fruits, salad items and vegetables. A lot of them are quite low in carb and you often end up munching through giant bowls salad. Great for your health as there’s plenty of nutrients in there. I do throw in some potato at times to give myself an extra carb top-up. If you look into the Paleo Diet for Athletes there is a lot written about how to take in some extra carbs. Train a lot and you can’t get away without them entirely.

The primary time for taking on carbs though is during training itself. Once I’m in training I will use the same sugary energy products I always have. Now I get to eat the oats from the flapjacks in my back pocket. I don’t worry too much about the energy source during training, just so long as I have sufficient calories to keep going. Even to the point of allowing myself the treat of a cake on my Tuesday ride coffee stop.

So like a good Paleolithic man my carb intake is quite low and primarily from natural sources. I am not so good when it comes to dairy, I admit I still use it and strictly I shouldn’t. What can I say, I love cheese. I have a small amount of cheese in my diet most days and maybe a tiny amount of milk. It boosts my calorie intake and it doesn’t seem to cause any harm so I’m happy to stick with it even if it’s not going by the book.

A final confession. I have a large low calorie hot chocolate drink most evenings. That’s definitely not on the diet, but again so long as I’m losing weight I don’t worry about it. There’s the odd other thing that gets in there too. It’s tough to stick with 100% and I don’t entirely need to. The removal of the heavily processed carbs outside of training seems to be the most significant factor.

I also suspect that my calorie intake is solidly in deficit and has been for the duration. This will pose an interesting problem once I’m at my target weight. For me at least the process of losing weight has been relatively straight forward. Maintaining a good weight will be a tougher challenge.

The important question is how has performance been. I’ve not noticed a significant impact, at least not one I can attribute to the diet alone. Factors like general fatigue, lack of sleep, heavy training loads all blur into one. My running and surprisingly my swimming seem to have improved with the loss of weight. My cycling at the moment is a little flat though I suspect fatigue issues as opposed to diet. July 12th in Roth could be a very revealing day for me.

Should anyone be interested I’m sure I could post up some typical daily diets. I thoroughly recommend researching the Paleo Diet if you’re looking for weight loss. It’s worked very well for me and I feel great for it. I’m sure there are other routes to the same goal, but this one made a lot of sense. I can’t wait to see if it pays off on the race course!

After weeks of dedicated focus on diet and weight loss my birthday marked a day of excess. For once I’d say to hell with portion control and hello to cake and sugars! I have to admit I was looking forward to it quite a bit, particularly as I planned to make the above New York Baked Cheesecake. An entirely new venture for me. My favourite dessert, the last thing I wanted was for it to be a let down. I’m pleased to say it was a big success and despite its size vanished that day (in no small part thanks to me!)

Before all that I’ll pick up from the events on Saturday. As I mentioned on Twitter the big picture won out and I didn’t run. This gave me a total of 28 days of running at least 30 minutes per day. A pretty good effort and frustratingly close to my target. However I am pleased that I didn’t allow a personal challenge to get in the way of the smart thing to do.

In fact I was smart enough not to bike or run on Sunday and to completely rest on my birthday. Sure it didn’t make my training graphs look as impressive, but it was the right thing to do.

Sunday wasn’t easy by any means. I started the day with a trip to the lake. I had a big plan in mind. Ten laps of the lake for an 8km open water swim. Pretty epic and excessive, certainly further than I’d ever gone in a single session. A little bit of messing about before hand delayed my start in the lake and as things went I had to get out at 7km. That’s still excessive! So I allowed myself the treat of some chocolate brownies shared with my mates at the lake (thanks to mum for making them!)

With 2 hours of swimming in my arms I headed home for the next bout of excessive behaviour. Something I think far more people will appreciate. Excessive eating. The weather was beautiful and it was perfect for the planned barbecue. During the course of lunch I would estimate I consumed roughly 1.5kg of meat. Yep, that is a hell of a lot of meat. Technically I was still being pretty Paleo at this point. The consumption of cake that followed throughout the rest of the day was definitely off the charts. I would guess I consumed a whole fifth of that cheesecake, a good portion of fruit cake, some more brownies and a bit of a ridiculously sweet birthday cake!

You should have seen the scales the next day! Let’s just say I put one heavily anomalous data point into my weight chart! Still two days later and we’re back to normal and back to losing weight. I’ll be blogging about my success with Paleo and lower carb eating in the future though.

Excess consumption has its place, but once done it’s best to get things back on track quickly. So come Monday and my actual birthday it’s back to being a modern day Paleo man. I ate pretty lightly that day, especially with zero training taking place. I relaxed in the sun and tended to the sore knee which was showing good signs of being much recovered. All in all a very pleasant and relaxing time. The first total rest day in a month and much needed as I realised the last four weeks had seen almost 120 hours of training! My body was and to an extent still is excessively tired. It’s a good job my aim is to be at a peak for Ironman UK and not Roth.

There is one final bout of excess before things return to more normal parameters. My failure to hit 8km in the water frustrated me so Tuesday I went to the lake earlier. I got in and set off feeling a little warmer than I’d like with the fantastic weather we’re having. I stuck at it for the 10 laps to hit 8km! Probably more when you allow for course deviations that creep in. I was pretty satisfied with that!

Once I got home it was straight out on the bike to meet Steven for an easy ride. It was relatively easy thanks to a couple of coffee stops, but he’s riding pretty solidly right now so it wasn’t a cruise. It was good to catch up as always and chew over a few issues. Discuss the benefits of massive over-distance training like my swim. Pleasingly my knee was holding up well. I was aware that something had been wrong with it as I rode, but it wasn’t getting any worse.

The final test of the day was the SAAB Salomon Forest Trail 10K I’d entered as race number 4 in my mini-series. Any thoughts of racing were gone instead I planned a 10km training run with a goody bag at the end! So lining up at the start I placed myself well back mostly concerned with my knee. The horn sounded and off we went at a leisurely pace.

The first 4km I was barely working. I kept to 5 minute kilometres so a real jog! The knee was feeling fine though. Somewhere around that 4K mark I picked things up. I was loving every minute of the trail run just like the week before. This was far too much fun for a race! My run form felt great, really stable above the waist my legs moving effortlessly below me (it wasn’t that hard a pace). I just kept on building towards the end crossing the line in 45 minutes. No kind of record and a little disappointed that if 100% confident of my knee I could have raced well.

Even so it was a fantastic evening. Thoroughly enjoyable and once again I found running trails an addictive experience. I want more of it! Enough that I’ve entered the Rivington Trail Half Marathon race in September! I just wish I had easy access to trails right here on my doorstep. Running the roads gets repetitive and boring, but the forests never seem to.

Here we are. The knee seems to be fine and I’m back into training. I’ve a rough idea of the next few days plans and what my focus will be. I want to try and get some good sessions in on the bike if I can, I certainly feel I need them. Swim and run feel great. I’m enjoying open water swimming so much lately and have plans to go longer still! Running is comfortable and I’m starting to gain confidence for my races. Cycling seems to come and go though, I want some consistent work in there for the next few days.

And then it will be Roth.

I am two days short of 33 years old. As I mentioned last Tuesday I seem to have strained a knee ligament. In classic overly focussed fashion I’ve been ‘training’ through this. Mostly concerned that I’m losing fitness or not building enough for the impending key races. I’m posting so soon after the last one simply from the frustrations of today’s ride.

Thursday and Friday I took relatively easily. Kept the swimming up, minimised the biking to my trips to the lake and admittedly stuck to the running. Sometime on my Friday run to masters swimming the knee hurt a little more than I liked. I was close though and figured a swim would do it good. Bad form in some fly kick sets didn’t help though and the run back home was quite sore too.

Still Friday night I iced, compressed etc. Woke the next day and felt it wasn’t too bad though worse than it had been the day before. Rode over to the lake for yet another swim! To be honest it didn’t feel too bad and the extra levels of rest meant my cycling was starting to come back to form.

The swim was uneventful and I decided to go ahead with the plan to ride that day and try and get back onto plan. My mistake was arranging to ride with others rather than at my own very easy pace. My mistake entirely. For the first 30 minutes or so things were OK, but after the easy ride had turned more towards tempo my knee really started to ache. By the end I was relying on my left leg for most of the work!

I got back to my mate’s house and opted to take his very kind offer of a lift home rather than face a slow and painful bike home! Since then I’ve iced and rested and just hope it improves. My plans for tomorrow have changed, no more bike for sure. I still however will do an extra long swim.

Whilst my birthday is Monday my family is having a small party on Sunday. Lots of food and a little bit of relaxing on the diet front. To kick celebrations off though my plan is a two hour swim! Actually to be honest I’m aiming for ten laps at the lake which will be at least 8000m. I figure that should help with the food intake that day!

So I’m getting older and feeling a bit decrepit right now. And I have a dilemma in front of me. I started my 30 runs challenge a little before the first of June. Which means I have two runs to go… What to do? On the one hand the bigger picture calls for resting the knee. If I do that and keep it up tomorrow there’s a good chance come the good weather next week things might be working better. On the other hand two more runs!

We’ll see, either in my Twitter feed or the next post. Look out for my cheesecake too!

I am in familiar territory. Unfortunately not the comforting kind, but a place of uncertainty. Sometime last year in Oz I must have blogged reporting on problems raising my heart rate in training, feeling tired and under-performing. Guess what’s back?

But before you skip ahead I’m not that worried. The last time this happened was 4 weeks before Ironman Western Australia and the result was my best race ever. Whilst it’s a mere 2 weeks to Roth the all important Ironman UK sits 5 weeks away. So the plan for this situation is simple. I push on ensuring I stress myself with volume where intensity isn’t possible. Also I rest seriously – when I have the time to put my feet up they go up. With luck I will overload the system enough without ending up in a pit I can’t get out of before Ironman UK. A discussion of overreaching and overtraining might be one for another post.

Ouch! If I’m going to worry about anything it’s the twinge in my right knee. Coming on at the end of my long ride on Tuesday, I’m not entirely sure how it came to happen. Without wanting to throw random accusations about I think I managed to tweak something a little hitting one of Berkshire’s numerous potholes!. The result is a sore/painful point at the top left of the kneecap where the quad inserts. A mix of icing and stretching and a bit of fun with my Trigger Point roller seems to be helping. Yesterday it forced a very easy jog for my 30 minutes of running and looks like today will be the same. Similarly I’ve cut the bike load in the circumstances. Trying to make up by a double swim session today – 3.5km at the lake this morning and then a 90 minute squad session tonight! On the bright side I hope that effectively this will mean I can train harder the next two days.

Whilst the pain started on Tuesday it didn’t really have much affect on Wedensday. That is until I’d finished the Woodland 5 Mile and a Bit race. I swam in the morning and went on a fairly easy, but reasonably long and undulating bike ride. All was well. Careful planning of the day meant I spent the entire afternoon sitting in a warm conservatory catching up on a stack of reading (with some good strong coffee of course!) Despite this I was really finding it hard to motivate myself for the impending race.

‘Race’ Number 3. Still I headed over there in suitable time and managed to stumble onto the venue more from luck than map reading or adequate sign-posting. I felt tired though. Very simply low on energy and enthusiasm. So I strolled to the start line at a sedate pace and with 10 minutes to go did a slow 3 minute warm-up. I didn’t think much more about it and tried to relax.

Once we were off it was clear a fairly large group were moving away from me. At this point I made a half-hearted effort to respond and go with the lead bunch, but really it wasn’t happening. I settled in to a solid, but too comfortable pace not really pushing myself the way I’d like. After a couple of kilometres things clearly picked up and I did move up the field a little over time. Far more importantly I started to really enjoy the race. The trails were lovely, not too technical, but not too simple. Even the climbs which worked the calves were good fun! I was happy to be running a high tempo pace, not at my best, but harder than general training.

No idea of my placing when I crossed the line, I didn’t really care. The second I stopped though pain hit in the knee and I was a little concerned! For all the pleasure of the race I dreaded the idea that I’d inflicted an injury on myself. A slow walk back to the car seemed to relieve a lot of the discomfort and I went home a little happier. My time and pace for the race were poor, but in terms of training it was a good session if not quite the top end I wanted to hit. I’ve one more race to go next week in my little mini-series. That said I’ve been enjoying doing this and may well seek out more. Is 4 days before Ironman UK too close to do one last tempo run session for fun?!

Since then Thursday was easy as planned. Actually it was easier than I’d planned, but when I rode to the lake and found the knee was very unhappy things changed. Today looks to be easier too, the knee is getting better, but I don’t want to chance it. So lots of swimming and a lot less biking and running. I’m still on the 30 runs in 30 days mind you! I think a couple of easier days will do me some good, as I say I’m clearly well fatigued right now! For the next week I want to put in some solid intensity prior to Roth and make a last hard training block ready for Ironman UK.

Before I go I seem to be becoming addicted to Twitter! Not really badly, but having resisted so many forms of Social media I’ve ended up on another one. You can follow my Twitter account or just see the updates in the right column. Yeah OK, they’re not ground breaking!

At the start of the week I scribbled out a rough training plan, totted up the hours then put a couple of exclamation marks after them when it came to 45!! One week later (and yes late with a post again) and my Sunday has become a Beach Day sans beach of course. I missed that 45 hour week by about twelve hours. Not to worry it was an absurd target really! Not least when a few things seem to be conspiring against me or at least the smoothness of my training…

Run race number 2 (in a series of four) – my second bit of run intensity was quite an event for entirely the wrong reasons. I prepared by swimming first thing, then riding 200km during the day with Steven and friends. Obviously the perfect warm-up for a fast 10Km at Queen Mother Reservoir. Actually I did come in third overall, but with a horrible time of 39:08 which shows how soft it was!

Just plain unpleasant – shortly before the race starts I’m feeling a little tired from the day’s exertions. Still it’s a training race the aim is to go as hard as I can. The course is two perfectly flat laps with only a little wind exposure to worry about. That’s until you get to the start line and find your stomach churning. No toilets nearby and no time there’s nothing I can do, but hope to hold on.

We’re off and it soon becomes clear there’s not masses of competition. It also becomes clear my stomach is far from happy. Still I stick in fourth place for all of the first lap and the lead guy pulls out. If I was smart so would I. This was a training race after all. I keep going onto the second lap and then it hits me at 6K in. Diarrhoea! There is nowhere to go, we’ve even had explicit warnings not to pee on the site. I keep pushing on and hope for the best.

For those that follow my blog you’ll know I’ve peed myself on every stage of a triathlon without problem. Tuesday was a new experience I thoroughly recommend avoiding. My guts were in full on rebellion and nothing was going to stop them. Given there was nothing I could do I pushed to the finish letting nature take its course as I ran. Like I said plain disgusting and thank God for showers and changing rooms afterwards.

I should also mention the other symptom that evening of Runner’s Haematuria. I was too dehydrated and the result was a little blood in my urine. It cleared up almost immediately, but it’s always a shock to see.

One final note – always take a towel, shower gel and a change of clothing to any race, you may well need it!

Mostly in sickness – I put the unpleasantness down as a one off. Just one of those things. Wednesday became heavily curtailed cutting into those long training hours, but I just felt so lethargic. Since Tuesday evening my stomach has not been right. Somehow I’ve got some training out, but if 45 hours was ever in reach it wasn’t this week. Stomach cramps have disturbed my sleep twice now, though I think things are improving at last.

Enough quality? Probably the most frustrating aspect of this week is the feeling it hasn’t been good enough. Compared to my build up in Lanza this just seems a little weak. Sure the run races are some intensity and I have had moments on the bike. Is it enough? I would love to be hear typing about how strong I feel and how ready for my races. Instead I find myself uncertain and with a sense that my fitness is all over the place.

This morning I struggled over to the lake on the bike. Struggled round 4 laps of the course and then struggled home. By the time I was in the door there was no doubt today was a Beach Day. Later I’ll do my 30 minute run and that’s it. So there we go. A real sense of lethargy has dominated this week. Brief moments of quality have cropped up, but not as much as I want to be seeing now.

The next run race is this coming Wednesday. I hope to complete it in full health this time. I’ll be aiming to duplicate this weeks volume of training, but with a little more intensity. I’ll be scribbling out an overly ambitious weekly plan in a while! For Roth I’m not truely tapering so I still have one more build week to get in after that.

Do I feel ready for Ironman UK? Nope. I’ve looked at the results and I’ll need to podium in my age group for sure. I don’t feel I’m there yet, but let’s give it a week or two yet. I’ve certainly been in that shape for the UK Ironman 70.3 before (and incidentally had on and off sickness in the build up there). Rigth now, more than Hawaii I just want to post some strong Ironman times and prove things are on track.

Not really and that’s my problem. Being back home and getting on with training doesn’t leave much to write about. Not that its stopped me before. Whenever I’m told “I read your blog” my instinct is to apologise. I know it can be hard work!

Must be something like a couple of weeks since the last post, so in theory lots to say. I’m sat here with a good, strong coffee. I should be out on the bike, but I’m feeling a little tired and opted out! Based on yesterday’s ride and the weekend’s plans I think it’s probably wise.

To keep this quick and easy for everyone I’m opting for brief paragraphs again.

Recovery? Well it seems to have happened, though it doesn’t feel like it’s gone as well as last time. First few days after the race I felt great and put it down to the lower intensity. That said maybe the longer duration had it’s own toll. There are other factors with my current training that may be factors though. I am not worried yet. Will have to see how the next few weeks go.

Leaning Up (again) – this time it’s really working. The advantage of full control of my diet, a set of scales and no all you can eat buffets! It’s harsh at times. I eat a lot of salads, which is fine apart from getting bored of chewing. I like all the food I’m eating, but you have to eat a lot to get anywhere close to sufficient calories. Having weight loss as an aim means I’m not trying to be too close so hunger is another factor. The results are there though – I’m well on my way to race weight, ahead of schedule in fact.

Gym Bunny – I’ve signed up to the local council gym scheme. The gyms aren’t the greatest, but it’s cheap and there’s no contract. So far I’ve hit the weights about two or three times a week. It’s hard work, especially when you haven’t in a while. I’m enjoying it and at the least it’s a mental break from normal training. Is it having any benefit? I know weights can be contentious with coaches, but they work well for me.

In and Out at the Lake – I’m back to regular Open Water Swims over at the Blueseventy Open Water Swim Centre in Reading. Something seems to have clicked right now and I’m swimming very comfortably. Pace isn’t too bad either. It seems a bit sudden to be related to the weights, but whatever the cause I’m happy. When not in the water there I’ve been helping out to earn my swims. Last weekend I spent my time collecting money in the warm and dry rather than getting cold and wet.

14 runs in – the 30 runs of 30 minutes in 30 days challenge progresses well. Just about halfway and so far so good. Some of the runs have been longer and one was a hell of a lot harder! The hardest run yet was yesterday – 35 minutes on very sore, tired legs. Actually it’s a close call with the 30 minute 8km trail race the day before!

Racing to fitness – Wednesday night I chose to do my 30 minutes of running at The Lookout in Bracknell. It was the nineteenth running of the Bracknell Forest Five, though my first time there. The aim was to go as hard as I could and see what happens. All without the benefit of rest or taper! Doing a heavy weight session in the morning was questionable prep. Despite this when the horn sounded I went off pretty hard. What was clear was a long run and weights were in my legs and I was going to suffer. Somewhere around the 2 mile mark I ceased to be able to sustain sub-6 minute miles. Still I crossed the line in 30:44 on an undulating trail run so not too shabby! Next week a 10km trail race on Tuesday.

It’s not about the bike – certainly feels that way at the moment. I’ve yet to do any seriously long rides, though that will change shortly. Been riding OK, though nothing too special. Yesterday should be highlighted as the lamest ride ever! My legs were just trashed from the previous evenings run and about halfway in gave up the ghost. I’m feeling a bit better now, but don’t regret skipping today’s ride. My plans for the next few days are more than enough to make up.

Well some of it’s about the bike – decided to put together my TT bike this morning. An aluminium Cervelo P2SL. It was in better shape than I remembered, in fact ready to ride, but for needing new front brake blocks. I’m going to try a few sessions on it over the next few weeks and see how it goes. There’s a chance it may be used in Roth and if things work well there Ironman UK. My position on it is far more aerodynamic, so if it’s comfortable enough now no reason not to use it. Cheaper than a new bike too!

Breaking a few eggs – quickly back to the subject of diet. I’m still being pretty Paleo. Sure I do have dairy in small quantities and the evening hot chocolate, but carbs are low. Fruit and veg is very high along with a good dose of protein and fats. During long training sessions I do use carbs to help me through, but I think I still need to review the amount to get the balance right. Porridge is out for breakfast and omelettes are in. I bring this up simply to note that after a couple of weeks I’m getting pretty good at them too! Texture is spot on now.

That’s enough, next update will be sooner. Hopefully something interesting will happen during the big weekend of training!

Firstly, above everything else I’m pleased to say I’m walking normally again! I rebuilt my bike and am optimistic that this weekend I’ll be able to sit on it again. The long rides might have to wait till the next week, but it’s a start.

Aside from this I’m frustrated. Frustrated because I can’t get back into training yet and I feel more than ready. Plus frustrated with my racing so far this year. Two major races and two under-par performances. I’m willing to accept that neither race has been representative of my fitness, but as the year goes on the lack of good results is a problem. Perhaps it’s amplified by the fact I’m sitting at home without much to do. I can’t help feeling like I’m just wasting time right now.

Surprisingly despite the negative tone, I don’t actually feel that negative. My mind has already turned to the next opportunities to get the results I want. When I signed up for Ironman UK a couple of months back it was purely for fun. I didn’t expect it to become my last chance for a Hawaii slot this year! That’s changed my intentions for the race and also for Roth three weeks before.

A quick check of the calendar says I’ve got six weeks till Roth and nine till UK. That three week gap between the two becomes much more critical now. The original plan was to race Roth hard and see what happens in Bolton. Now the imperative is to be in top shape on August 2nd. What does that mean for Roth? I will try to hold back, at least on the run. My plan now is to ride my training wheels and use Roth to collect some useful Ironman power data.

Run pace is probably the key to recovery from Roth. Much as it’ll go against my nature I really will try to hold back. Roth to Ironman UK is then an experiment in active recovery. Looking to get the body moving and fit to go fast in a matter of 3 weeks. The fitness I take into Roth is the best I can expect to have in the UK. After all of that I can have a proper rest!

In the mean time I’ve enough time to work on fitness a little bit more. My experience in Lanzarote showed me that I can quickly turn around from declining fitness in recovery and build to a new peak. I hadn’t expected my training over there to go a little beyond the point I’d reached in Oz. The fact it easily did, gives me some confidence I can do it again in the next few weeks. I also learnt I could taper quite quickly, no more than two weeks. Though to be fair with injury being the race limiter I don’t know how well my taper would have really let me perform.

I failed to fully deliver on my intentions to race lean in Lanzarote. I was some of the way there, but it stalled in the last week of taper. This will not happen for either Roth or the UK. I’m aiming for a return to my race weight from two or three years ago. First step in the process is no post race indulgences. The next step is a focus on plenty of protein, good fats and a very controlled amount of carbs. The approach was working out in Lanza and I am now sold on many of the principles in the Paleo diet. Not touched a slice of bread since I’ve been home!

A reduction in weight will help, but the main focus of the next month is going to be running. I have complained about my running on and off for months now. It’s time to really deal with it and address what I think the problems are. Part of the approach is a simple challenge of 30 runs of 30 minutes in 30 days. Setting me the task of performing a minimum of 30 minutes a day from the start of June. Frequency isn’t the only component though. More focussed speed and hillwork along with the regular long run and some tempo sessions. Cycling may have to go into maintenance mode to fully allow this, I’ll see how it feels.

I’m going to sign up with a gym next week, specifically the local council gym scheme. The aim will be two or three focussed weight sessions a week. They were part of my training in the past and I felt better for them. I know it’s an area of contention, but as an athlete without time limitations there’s room.

Better mention swimming for completeness. I do swim frequency, that’s for sure. What I don’t do well – intensity. Plain and simple I need to incorporate more hard swimming into my training. Less cruising round the lake and more hard laps and paddle work.

So there’s the next couple of months for me. An intense and focussed period of training to really get on top of thing. At the end I want to be in Kona shape for Ironman UK and finally snag that slot.

I’ve had a day to chill out, hobble about a bit and think over the race. That said I already had plenty of time in the race to think things over! Firstly I have to say being out there for 12 hours is hard going. That’s the longest I’ve ever been on the bike in an Ironman and the longest I have ever ‘run’. Not that I’d really call the last lap running. On the other hand having been going much slower than usual my body doesn’t feel that torn up. Well apart from the massive saddle sore and the John Wayne walk it’s caused.

As race reports go this should be quick – it’s straight forward when the entire race was dictated by one issue. The swim was the only part of the day where it wasn’t a problem. I placed myself on the right hand side as planned, the idea being to give me a chance to escape the crowds if needed. Still having a brief warm up meant I couldn’t get as far forward as I wanted and was a little bit more involved with others than I hoped. Not my best swim, but certainly not my worst and I think the general consensus was it was slow/long. I stuck to keeping myself relaxed and picking up pace as the swim went on and more clear water was available.

Transition is massive here. Once you’ve run up the beach you have another 500m to do before you’re out on the bike! Times were never going to be too fast there. At that point I felt pretty good, I thought it might work out all right. Once I was sat on my bike it became clear things wouldn’t be so easy. To be honest at first I thought I’d be able to cope.

I started by letting my heart rate settle down before trying to pick up pace. Heading out of Puerto del Carmen is easy going so there’s no pressure to over work yourself. With my heart rate in the 130s I put a little more effort in. Then I discovered how uncomfortable the aero-position was. Not just the contact on the saddle, but a feeling of pressure on the inside of my thigh. The swelling pushed against muscles or tendons used during the pedal cycle.

The trip down to El Golfo gave plenty of time to find out what did and didn’t work on the bike. I reminded myself I didn’t want to be going too hard too soon anyway so it was fine that people were passing me. A little experimentation established the most comfortable position was hands on the hoods and carefully seated on just my left buttock! Anything else caused some discomfort. Even then every so often I’d need to pedal out the saddle to relieve pressure.

It was somewhere up Timanfaya when I felt too many people were passing now. The pace had been reasonably good till then, but mostly helped by the prevailing wind. The first notable climb of the day confirmed what would be the most significant issue. I couldn’t climb seated for any period of time. The extra forces going through the pedal pulled me into the saddle which was far from desirable.

So the pattern was set for the rest of the bike. I’d spend a lot of time sitting up, hands on the hoods. When the road went up I’d be mostly out of the saddle. At regular intervals on the flats I’d also be out the saddle just for a little relief. Every so often I’d try the aerobars or drops only to be reminded why that was a bad idea.

By Soo I pretty much realised I was well out of the race for Hawaii. By Teguise I was debating pulling out! The thought of DNFing a race went against my principles! So I kept pushing on to Haria, then Mirador del Rio and by then might as well ride home. From this point on the race had become a long training day. Hawaii was gone and it was clear that another sub-10 was too. Having averaged a low heart rate of 132 I did wonder if I could have a strong run off this.

I returned to transition in 6:18. I expected the ride here to be longer than other races, that was more like training pace over the past few weeks. I thought the low aerobic intensity might lead to a good run, it wasn’t going to mean the 2:40 I’d need for sub-10! I started running and the saddle sore really began to hurt! Unbelievable, running was more painful than riding. I got through the first kilometre in a good pace and dived into the toilets for a bit of clothing adjustment. This did the trick and the run became relatively pain free. Looked like I still might complete this race.

The first two laps went by at a tolerable pace. I choose to walk aid stations to be on the safe side. Despite this my stomach wasn’t entirely happy and I was a little dehydrated. The discomfort on the bike had distracted me from my nutrition and I’d not kept on top of it. You can’t really catch up on these things once you’re behind either.

Out on the third lap was when I ground to a halt. My legs were completely gone, nothing left in them at all. I guess despite the low aerobic intensity all the time riding out the saddle had fatigued them. I don’t tend to get out of the seat much normally so it was a real change in riding style. I walked for a good 15 minutes contemplating how long the last 15km would take!

It wasn’t an attractive prospect! I figured about an hour per 5km section. I knew I was going to be out there for a long time, but 3 more hours? Fortunately Ben caught up with me around this point and encouraged me to jog with him. The last lap and a half was done at a slow pace the aim simply to get to the finish. We ran aid station to aid station, walking each to take on fluids.

End result is I crossed the line somewhere around the 11:53 mark. Way off my goals, way off my usual performance! I was worn out, sore and felt terrible. I couldn’t face eating much and spent about 30 minutes in the change tent staring into space! I caught up with Tom and Helen in transition. Tom had a solid race, not quite as fast as he wanted, but a great effort. Helen had been going well till the last 5km and unfortunately lost a lot of time and places then.

I was lucky enough to score a lift back to my hotel which was much appreciated as it looked like a long journey home. Especially as I developed hiccups when I did try eating! After cleaning up I was back at the finish line to watch the last finishers with Steven and Jo. Having found how tough 12 hours is I have no idea how you keep yourself going for 17! More food brought on a whole new set of hiccups which accompanied me on the long walk home.

And now I feel a little tired, maybe a little stiff, but mostly fine. I said my race became a training day and just like one my recovery has been quick. I’ve watched people out riding their bikes with jealousy as mine looks like an instrument of torture right now. A new saddle is on it’s way to at least eliminate that as a cause. A trip to the doc is a certainty too given the size of this thing! I secretly hope he’ll confirm it’s the worst saddle sore ever so I’ll feel less like I wimped out. But so long as I can get myself back into training quickly enough to build up well for Roth and Ironman UK I’ll be happy.

Just a quick one by way of explaining my terrible, terrible race yesterday.

I mentioned a saddle sore in my last post. I possibly understated the problem as unfortunately it meant I could barely sit the entire bike ride. I think a trip to the doc will be in order on return to the UK as I have a large lump in my thigh from it! Yeah it isn’t at all pleasant.

I soon discovered that if I tried to go in the aero position the lump pushed against some muscle or tendon in my leg and hurt. If I was on the drops it was much the same. On the hoods was OK so long as I carefully placed myself so only my left buttock was on the saddle! Climbing was literally a pain as the extra force involved pulled me into the saddle. The result – I did most of the climbing out the saddle! Add to that in general having to move position and pop out the saddle on a minute by minute basis and I wasn’t going fast on the bike! For some reason I kept pushing on and determined that this wouldn’t be a DNF.

I thought maybe my run would go OK given how low my heart rate had been the whole ride. I knew Hawaii was long gone now, but I wanted the medal and shirt at the end! Unfortunately I discovered my legs were completely shot on the third lap. Big thanks to Ben G for getting me going again, appreciate the company for the last two laps.

Frustrating to think I was so well prepared and then a sudden injury throws the whole thing. Who knows how things would have gone if I could have biked like I should have. On to the next race and then a final chance to qualify at Ironman UK. Hoping I can manage it then.

Sorry this has got bumped and bumped as I go through my final race prep the past few days. That’s despite yesterday being a full rest day, somehow I didn’t get round to blogging. So now the day before the race and just a quick one.

I think I’m in much better shape pre-race than I was in Oz. I’ve tried to recollect exactly how I felt prior to my last two races, but they’re already distant memories! Still my impression is this feels more like the day before Western Oz than Port Macquaire. If things follow from that on race day tomorrow should be good! I’ve got much more training in this week than prior to Oz, don’t feel so lethargic and am ready to go.

It’s not 100% perfect, but nothing ever is. Let’s just say I have a bit of a saddle sore issue that is genuinely uncomfortable. Even to the point of being noticeable walking and sitting normally! I’m beginning to wonder if it’s more than a saddle sore, but it’s too late to worry now. My test ride this morning confirmed it is painful, but careful placement on the saddle avoids the worst of it. I doubt you wanted to know much about that one though!

The weather reports are looking good. Light winds building a little over the day, perfect for fast times on that course. More importantly I don’t have to worry too much about handling issues with a deep rimmed wheel up front. Oddly I had a southerly for some of this mornings test ride. Though I think in this case with such a light north-westerly the offshore breeze becomes predominant here. Anyway, things look good. It could well be a hot one with lighter winds, but then I like the heat!

The race plan! Going to get through this one quickly. For the swim I’ll place myself on the front right to avoid getting trapped with the bulk of swimmers. I’ll have the option of free water if I feel I need it or can stick to the group for a draft. I’ll be swimming fractionally longer than those on the left, but it’s negligible. I aim to avoid going out too hard and blowing up in the swim for a start! The aim is a comfortable 1 hour for the two laps.

Transitions are long so I’ll allow 5 minutes for each. Nothing of note to happen in them, so onto the bike ride. The plan is to ride conservatively keeping a comfortable pace. It should feel a little too easy at first and for a few hours in. I won’t go overly hard on any of the hills as they occur to early and you’ll gain relatively little for a lot of effort. If I feel good between Haria and Mirador del Rio that’s the time to think about going for it. In fact after the descent off Mirador del Rio, there’s no more thinking, just go! Hopefully the wind will be on my back and I can fly along the highway.

Hopefully by not going too hard at first I’ll have plenty of energy to start moving up the field in the latter half of the ride. Nutrition strategy will be as with previous races – a bottle of gels (see above) and a couple of energy bars. I would like to see a ride in the 5:30-5:45 region, the quicker the better though! Then it’s 5 minutes again for transition 2.

The run is 4 laps which whilst not that exciting at least works towards easy pacing. I’m feeling happier with my running than I have in a long time. So hopefully I’ll see something good one the day. My focus of late has been a high cadence and good running form. The aim is lots of smaller leg movements that cost less individual, but sum up to move you faster. Generally this approach is less prone to collapse from fatigue later on. To the point the run goal is 3:05-3:15. Yeah, once again, faster than I’ve aimed before, but I believe in my reach. That’s around the 47 minutes a lap mark, something easy to track on the watch.

Run nutrition is yet more of those gels (see above again). I will be sick of sugars by the end of the day. I think I should have enough for the whole run this time and won’t run low later on. Regular sipping of the gel bottles before water at the aid stations, avoiding the coke this time. I like coke, but it just isn’t flat enough not to upset my stomach generally.

Final lap I go for it! High cadence and good leg lift, the aim is to put in a big push at the end to grab those last few places. Let’s hope I actually feel up to that come the time, it’s really easy to type! Ideally that leaves me finishing somewhere around the 10 hours mark. I’d love to be below 10 hours, simply because I can keep saying I’ve never done an Ironman slower than 10! We shall see. Far more important than that is I want to book that Kona slot.

Next time I post I’d like to have some good news!