Trains, Travels

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!

I’ve been looking forward to this all week – another beach day! An opportunity to relax and put in some solid effort on the tan. Having spent months in Oz most of my rest days involved the beach. It doesn’t make much sense back home, but rest days are stuck as beach days in my head.

I think I’m tapering. To be honest it’s harder to tell than you might expect. I have done less this week, that much is certain. At the same time WKO+ tells me I’ve not notably lowered my training load! This next week will definitely bring things down as I’m seriously cutting back.

Am I over doing it? I don’t think so. I feel tired at times, but not the most tired I’ve felt out here. Most rides I go out on now I have the capacity to ride strongly. I hope that come race day I can ride at my best for the whole of the course. In training I find there’s an ebb and flow over a longer ride, periods are strong, then you ease off. Something happens on race day that stops any slacking off.

I’ve been wondering on some of the rides why there’s such a difference between training and racing. How I manage to sustain just a little bit more power for a whole lot longer in a race. My concern is enough to have a night’s sleep interrupted by questions about up coming race performance. I was forced into a midnight examination of past training and racing data to see if I could see some signs. I couldn’t.

During the day I’ve got on with training as planned and felt pretty happy. Sure I have times where I don’t feel that good, but mostly everything is running well. I’m making an effort to keep my confidence up and not to worry about what’s going on around me. No wondering if the athletes out running the beach front are fitter than me. Or worrying when some uber-cyclist comes blasting past (least of all if it’s Ain-Alar Juhanson!) I think of how confident sprinters have to be in their ability to win and try to hold a similar positive mindset.

In between debating if I’m over doing it or whether I’m fit enough in general I like to worry about whether I’m under doing it! I fear that flat feeling I had in Ironman Australia. It would almost be worse than turning up on race day exhausted. A no-man’s land between peak condition and exhaustion where it seems you should be able to go faster and yet never happens. Whilst I didn’t manage the 28 hours of training that was initially on the cards for the past week, I hit about 22! I think it’s enough.

Before I hit the beach and enjoy the sun I’ll just dump the last few concerns on you! The winds. After 3 weeks here riding into strong winds has become normal. Then you get a day like Friday where things go a step further than normal and the choice of a Zipp 404 up front seems a lot poorer. I’m watching the weather closely and the signs so far are that it won’t be that bad. Otherwise I may well be riding on training wheels come race day.

I am leaner. I did the jeans test and was easily a whole belt notch tighter! Good news for the race, but on the other hand my eating has probably been a bit disordered to get there. I have the odd doubt about my nutrition at the moment and the slight worry that I might end up low on energy come race day! It’s nonsense really, but it’s there in my mind. To balance it out I also worry I might over eat and put on weight in my last week!

Ending on a positive I have had some good running out here. I would say it’s the best I’ve felt running in a while. I’ve been working on picking my cadence up a little and the effects seem very good. Perceived effort largely remains the same, whilst speed picks up. It’s not sprinting, but ideal for long distance racing. At it’s best I feel relaxed, fast and effortless. I’m trying to focus on those moments and then recreate them next Saturday.

A beach and the sun calls. More later this week when I’ll lay out my race plans.

It’s been a busy week so posting has drifted till now. Lanzarote is proving to be a perfect training location. The weather, lack of distractions and having meals provided at your hotel makes it easy to go out there and train. End result is that somehow I’ve done about 35 hours the past week without even trying! Still I’m feeling good, a little tired (enough to oversleep this mornings swim), but ready to carefully taper down to my race.

Those almost daily swims have certainly helped me feel more comfortable in my wetsuit and the sea here. I think I might even be swimming a little faster in open water. I’ve also learnt that the sun rises above the horizon around 7:30 and you can’t see a thing. It contributed to one of my two collisions with other swimmers yesterday! I don’t see it being a problem race day, the course is straight forward. I shall be practising some running starts into the water though, can’t remember the last time I did a beach start.

Somehow I’ve ended up riding the course three times in the past week. That was more than I’d intended, but I don’t regret it. Twice in the race direction and once in reverse. I can’t say which way is toughest, though Mirador del Rio is my least favourite bit either way. Ride number one felt pretty good and was a solid pace. By ride two fatigue was showing and for ride number three I’d already declared it would be a social outing! Social enough that I put aside my current limited fuel consumption to enjoy two coffee and cake stops. Amazing what a difference a little bit of carbs can make!

I literally know the course back to front now and in a mix of weather conditions. It’s a nice little boost to confidence for race day as nothing should be a surprise. Knowing the sort of pace I held in training can also be a push to get a little bit more come race day. An interesting aside is seeing how fast I can do the course on minimal fuelling, then seeing that a little bit of carbs seemed to pick things up. When I’m racing I’ll be consuming gels at a fairly consistent rate throughout the day so there should be a little boost.

Standing in the hotel pool after a long day’s ride you do wonder how much more you’ll get out of your legs on race day. Doubts are to be ignored so instead I remind myself how with tired legs, strong headwinds and an easier pace I can still do the course in 6:30. Come race day I will be fresh, fit and ready to go.

Which neatly brings me to my taper. The element I think I got so wrong in the run-up to Ironman Oz. Here I am again, two weeks out from a race and feeling pretty strong. OK, I’m also feeling pretty tired, but not surprisingly so! I’m convinced the problems in Oz were largely the result of too little training in the final weeks. So convinced that I expect to train roughly 20+ hours this week and over 10 hours in race week. That sounds a lot, but at the same time in terms of my general training it’s a significant reduction.

Specificity is also the key. My training sessions now will focus a lot more on ensuring I’m prepared for this race. Beach starts for the swim plus a few longer sessions over race distance. Revisiting parts of the course on my rides – Mirador del Rio particularly given my dislike. My running has largely been restricted to the beach front here in Puerto del Carmen anyway. I will be thoroughly sick of it come race day!

Whilst I have no scales to prove it I’m pretty confident my diet the past couple of weeks is helping lean me out at least a little. Either way I’m going to come back with a lot of new nutrition ideas. I don’t think I’ll be going Paleo yet, but I may not be so reliant on carbs day to day. Eat a big enough breakfast and it’s surprising just how far you can get on it!

Time predictions and race plans can wait till nearer the day. I would like, conditions allowing, to preserve my run of sub-10 Ironman results. It’s not going to be easy here by any means, but recent training on the course is giving me some optimism.

Going to do a slightly different format today because it’s been a while, there’s plenty to cover, but I don’t want to spend ages writing a mammoth post. As for today’s title, we’ll see how much if any is true!

Lanzarote – I’ve been here since Monday and am enjoying it. It’s not as hot as I’d been led to believe, but it is as windy. Some of the road surfaces defy the definition of road. However it’s great for training, you can’t really ride easy here. I’m staying in…

Puerto del Carmen – with Steven and Jo. The hotel isn’t bad really, not the best buffet in the world, but food is food and it’s all included. I find PdC an odd place really, but then the Brits abroad beach and bar life never appealed much. Healthy options can be tougher to come by, especially on a budget.

Leaning up – shortly before I flew out I received some racing advice – “you’ve got to race lean”. Having seen the pictures from Ironman Oz, I took it all on board and lets just say despite the buffet I am very, very hungry! Right now because I rode 100km today, 40km of which were part of an olympic tri. Most days because I eat big at the buffets ad not much else in the day. Surprisingly it’s working – I’m leaning up and not dying on my arse out on the bike.

Speed Wobbles – so far I’ve had two very exciting moments on the bike. By exciting I mean hard to keep calm and on focus as your bike madly vibrates on very fast descents. Initially I thought maybe it was a combination of the rough road, high speed, wind and a 404 up front. Then this morning I tightened up the headset… Hopefully no more stomach churning descents.

Sea Swimming – Steven and I have a plan to swim every morning before brekkie. So far so good, we wander down to the beach and get soem time in the sea. Jo had a 90 minute session the other day which proved interesting. To get the time in we tried swimming round the headland which with strong currents proved more of a challenge than expected. We didn’t make it this time, but will possibly try again.

Long run/No water – I was very pleased to get a solid long run in this week. I can’t claim it was perfect, I took no water planning to do loops. Then I realised I could run all the way to Arricife on the coastline and it was too good to resist. End result was 2:20 in the sun with no fluids. Had I been better hydrated before hand it would have been fine. I was a little bit desperate by the end though. However it reassured me that it really isn’t that hot here for running.

Volcano Triathlon – entered shortly before I flew out a quick race in the build up to the Ironman. Really quite fun even with the added challenge of riding there and back. I’m fairly happy with how the race went. My swim was OK, my bike started badly then I picked up and took a lot of places back. The run was OK, felt like hard work even though the time was just over 40 minutes. That has to be a tough course, that’s way too slow!

The kindness of race directors – have to mention that as Jo and I were riding to La Santa with all our race kit the race director pulled up and very kindly took it over for us. Made quite a difference for the final part of the ride.

La Santa – a point of debate on the trip has been La Santa. Cost aside I’m not sure I’d want to stay there. It seems such an odd place with all those athletes about. It’s quite nice relaxing in PdC without the fit and healthy all around!

Lean? Mean? Racing Machine? – all up for debate! I think I’m getting leaner, even with the pain au chocolat on the ride home today (I haven’t eaten that much and I raced – it was a case of eat something or not get home!) Not really that mean, when a guy out sprinted me at the end of the tri, but then missed where the finish line was I pointed it out so he still beat me. In all fairness I couldn’t stick with the surge he was putting in. As for racing machine, well it fitted with the title, I am optimistic for the Ironman.

Time to chill out for an hour or so before dinner. Which means ignoring the hunger pangs!