I have finally updated my blog page and moved to Wordpress - it looks so much nicer....you can find it at:
www.husbandfatherironman.wordpress.com
Thanks
iain
It has been a while...and lots of swimming...
14 June 2016
I keep starting these updates with "it has been a while"...well it has, nearly 18 months since my last post...a lot has happened, I have finally started running again, now up to 6k (wow....) and I have put triathlons on hold for the meantime....well I cannot run enough for an old let alone a half or full....and
I have entered and completed my second Thames Marathon (formerly the Bridge to Bridge) and the Dart 10k. Also I am currently training for my Windermere One way in Sept, as well as a few other races....
Jun - Great East Swim 2016 - 5k (http://www.greatrun.org/great-swim/great-east-swim#about)
Aug - Inn to Inn Swim 2016 - 2.8k (http://www.nearwaterevents.co.uk/inn-inn-swim)
Aug - Thames Marathon 2016 - 14.8k (http://henleyswim.com/events/bridge-to-bridge/)
Sept - Windermere One Way 2016 - 16k (http://www.windermereoneway.co.uk)
From the bottom to the top....10miles.....that is a long way - over 5-6 hours continuous swimming...just try to think about that....640 lap of a 25m pool....and in variable conditions depending on the weather...
All in all a fair number of swims - plus I have raised £748 for FRANK Water (You can donate here :-) https://www.justgiving.com/iaindoeswindermerein2016/4w350m3/Donate?clientCache=True#MessageAndAmount) ...so far :-)
As to training...a lot of swimming....yes that is a lot in May...
Over 60km....just wish I could find the time every month....
I will try and update this again a bit later :-)
I have entered and completed my second Thames Marathon (formerly the Bridge to Bridge) and the Dart 10k. Also I am currently training for my Windermere One way in Sept, as well as a few other races....
Jun - Great East Swim 2016 - 5k (http://www.greatrun.org/great-swim/great-east-swim#about)
Aug - Inn to Inn Swim 2016 - 2.8k (http://www.nearwaterevents.co.uk/inn-inn-swim)
Aug - Thames Marathon 2016 - 14.8k (http://henleyswim.com/events/bridge-to-bridge/)
Sept - Windermere One Way 2016 - 16k (http://www.windermereoneway.co.uk)
Over 60km....just wish I could find the time every month....
I will try and update this again a bit later :-)
What my ankle did next....recovery
26 January 2015
So 2014 came and went, a year that was spent mostly swimming and in physio trying to sort out my ankle (peroneal tendonopathy). Sadly by November it was clear that physio was not going to work so I booked to have the surgery in early January, with the hope that only part of the year would be written off., at the same time I sadly had to part ways with thetrilife.com and my coach Mike Redshaw - he has been a fantastic coach and I hope that when this injury is sorted I can think about going back and working with him again, but for the meantime I could not justify having a coach whilst not triaining properly for several months.
The initial diagnosis of peroneal tendon tendonopathy was only partly correct, when the surgeon opened the tendon sheath, apart from the synovial overgrowth (that causes a lot of the issue with tendonopathy) there was a nodule near one of retinacula (which hold the tendon in place) and it was rubbing, in addition there was a split in the tendon itself. She removed the nodule, sutured the tendon and removed a lot of the synovium, before closing. Once the procedure was finished my leg was put into a back plate splint cast which held my foot at a slightly extended angle.
I was in this for two weeks before the wound was reviewed. So I went and got a CastCover (thecastcover.com) this made a big difference as it covered the bandages, kept them clean, dry and most importantly meant I had warm toes!
During this time I was on copious amounts of ibuprofen, paracetamol and codeine phosphate, partly due to the sickening pain but also as the sutures were rubbing the inside of the cast - not nice.
Last week the cast came off and was replace by a sexy neoprene and plastic ankle brace/boot.
I am in this for another month, with the hope that I can rehab quickly once the would heals. This is slow going as the wound reopened over the weekend, but we are getting there so what does it look like now?
After the sutures came out.
After it started to reopen
Today
Fingers crossed this can improve and I can can get back to training as I feel very unfit!
Races planned this year so far are: The Henley Classic and The Henley Bridge to Bridge, and the Dart 10K - yes all swims and yes all long distance 2.1km, 14.1km and 10km respectively...it is another swimming year...
Later
Iain.
The day of the surgery came and after feeling very hungry I was eventually walked down to the theatres (or OR in US speak), I was maked up for surgery:
The initial diagnosis of peroneal tendon tendonopathy was only partly correct, when the surgeon opened the tendon sheath, apart from the synovial overgrowth (that causes a lot of the issue with tendonopathy) there was a nodule near one of retinacula (which hold the tendon in place) and it was rubbing, in addition there was a split in the tendon itself. She removed the nodule, sutured the tendon and removed a lot of the synovium, before closing. Once the procedure was finished my leg was put into a back plate splint cast which held my foot at a slightly extended angle.
I was in this for two weeks before the wound was reviewed. So I went and got a CastCover (thecastcover.com) this made a big difference as it covered the bandages, kept them clean, dry and most importantly meant I had warm toes!
During this time I was on copious amounts of ibuprofen, paracetamol and codeine phosphate, partly due to the sickening pain but also as the sutures were rubbing the inside of the cast - not nice.
Last week the cast came off and was replace by a sexy neoprene and plastic ankle brace/boot.
I am in this for another month, with the hope that I can rehab quickly once the would heals. This is slow going as the wound reopened over the weekend, but we are getting there so what does it look like now?
After the sutures came out.
Today
Fingers crossed this can improve and I can can get back to training as I feel very unfit!
Races planned this year so far are: The Henley Classic and The Henley Bridge to Bridge, and the Dart 10K - yes all swims and yes all long distance 2.1km, 14.1km and 10km respectively...it is another swimming year...
Later
Iain.
When the Le Tour came to Cambridgshire and training for a long swim
15 July 2014
With July came a step up in distance for training for the Henley B2B. They average time I spent in to pool increased dramatically and the 16-1800m lake swims seem a distant memory. This week I have my first 6km swim planned, currently my longest has been just over 4km..but as you can see from the images below there is a big difference in my focus in this year compared to last -
Whilst the percentage may have gone up a fair amount, my distance has doubled, in 2013 I swam approx 19km in the period June to July and in the past 28 days I have hit 42km, this is over 10km a week which is almost as much as I used to do when I was a little sprog training in Carrick Sharks in Truro....
It feels great, my stroke is improving, I am more comfortable zoning out when swimming, I am gradually getting used to the idea of what I consider uber long swims (10km+) and I am enjoying it...
As for my ankle - it is improving gradually. I had a brief hiatus of improvement when I cycled Jules to the TdF on the tag along (she really is a bit big for it) but it was fun :-)
We had a great spot on the route out from Cambridge to Saffron Walden, below were the two riders who led for all but the last 5km on this stage:
and the eventual winner, Kittel, mid shot:
and the KOM:
It feels great, my stroke is improving, I am more comfortable zoning out when swimming, I am gradually getting used to the idea of what I consider uber long swims (10km+) and I am enjoying it...
As for my ankle - it is improving gradually. I had a brief hiatus of improvement when I cycled Jules to the TdF on the tag along (she really is a bit big for it) but it was fun :-)
We had a great spot on the route out from Cambridge to Saffron Walden, below were the two riders who led for all but the last 5km on this stage:
They looked like they were not going fast - but they were doing 40+kph at the time...seriously good riders- an amazing day :-)
So June is almost over
29 June 2014
As June draws to a close my main race of the season is looming like a big scary thing, just over the brow of the hill...the 14km Bridge to Bridge swim....Aug 10 2014....
So what is it? Another year, just another challenge?
Well, yes
and no, the Bridge to Bridge swim is an endurance 14km swim from Henley to
Marlow Bridge on the Thames. To give you some perspective, the swimming
equivalent to a running a marathon is the 10km race – this is longer, almost
half as far again, although it is with the current so on a good day it feels like a 10km (apparently)...
The reason I
have this opportunity is I am not training for a triathlon.
My racing season
finished before it started, not due to work or time pressures but just due to
my body failing. During training, I developed tendonopathy in my ankle so I am
out of running for 4-6 months and never being one to sit about and do nothing I
started looking for a new challenge. I had looked at the Bridge to Bridge race
several times but training up to swim that distance takes more time than I
could afford, but not training for running means this year I have that time.
So far the
swimming has progressed fairly well, I finished 5th in my age group at the FT
Eton Swim (1500m) on 26 May and 9th in AG at the Great East Swim (1 mile).
For the
first time since I raced IRONMAN Switzerland I am trying something I don’t know
if I can finish.
Please help by sponsoring me, so when I feel like quitting I
will know that there is a good reason to keep going! I have this great opportunity due to FRANK Water Projects, they had a late spot when the regular entries had sold out. FRANK Water Projects (www.frankwater.com)
is a small charity (Registered charity no. 1121273) that funds sustainable
clean water projects in developing countries across the world. Since it started
in 2005 it has funded 116 village projects. In a world where more than 4,000
children die EVERY DAY from a lack of clean drinking water, it’s clear that
help is needed – please help me support this worthwhile small charity go to www.justgiving.com/iaindoesb2b
And finally....in the words of Dory.....just keep swimming, just keep swimming......
A new bike position
17 April 2014
A couple of days ago I headed up to Bridgtown bikes (our tri club sponsor) to get a bike fit. I saw James, he and Mike (the owner) are the two senior fitters there. He spent a few hours watching me spin and tinkering with the fit, no computers were involved and the brief of improving head position and back position seem to have been sorted.
The results are above, so far they look pretty good :-) feel good on the turbo and I hope the end result will be very good when I get out on the road this weekend :-)
I cannot recoment them highly enough, a lot has been written about Retul fitting, but that depends significantly on a computer package and tends to be one dimensional, and often without the experience of someone like James or Mike.
If you need a bike fitted I would go here: /http://www.bike-fit.co.uk/
Later
I.
So that was 2013....
14 March 2014
I had intended to write this blog in early 2014, i.e. January at some point butI failed miserably probably due to the fact that despite having two weeks off I spent most of it trying to do home stuff and looking after the girls...
How was 2013:
Pros
Lost weight 98kgs by Aug for Ely (after I had identified my cushionoid syndrome)
Riding was improved - more consistent >200W output
Running was better when it worked
PB'd at Ely (although the bike was short I would have still PBd)
Cons
Gained weight at the end of 2012 (108kgs in Jan 2012)
Didn't run enough so when I did I was plagued with injuries
Good swim/bike at Ely killed by a poor run...
Races entered and cancelled
Swiming suffered
However I have managed to get some training in too, just not as much as I would like
Training has been pretty good. I have, in the most part, got in one swim and a couple of runs/rides per week. Most of the riding has been on the trusty turbo - as the nights are too dark and the roads too slippery... Currently I am critically reviewing what I need to sort on the TT bike before the Sierakow Middle Distance race (my first of the year...). It needs a strip and clean, but most things seem okay, however I need to revisit wheel choice, I am finding that I can flex the H3 rear on the turbo, I am seriously considering a disc, which means a limited choice as I run clinchers and would prefer an alu brake track, currently the Circo[check spelling] disc is looking good - will just have to see.
As for the running this has been equally split between on and off road running. The run at Sierakow is a trail run. I purchased a pair of Brooks PureGrit2s early on this year and decided to get off the asphalt - what a revalation! Off road running is hard! It is so much harder than road running, and I thought I was going to break something on my first outing, the mud was ankle deep and the paths slippery even with trail shoes.
As for the Brooks PG2s I have read a lot of mixed reviews on them. They are good - really comfy running, the grip is adequate on mud but I expect it to be superb on dry dirt track. The majority of criticism for it is around wet/mud grip...wet grip on asphalt is good but on deep mud it all goes a bit squirly, however I doubt Innov8 or Salomon shoes would have been better in the stuff on the trails over the past few weeks - spikes would be good!
Overall at the moment I would rate them a 7/10 for performance, and a 10/10 for fit, not surprising as the last is the same as my Brooks PureFlow2s which I love :-) Finally, on running, this week I managed an experience I had not tried before - snow running! I was in Espoo, just outside of Helsinki and I did a (sadly) short run in cold snowy conditions. The snow trail was lightly packed by skidoos and I had taken some Yaxtrax Pro snow grips for my trainers - they were amazing. All in all great fun, hard work, but fun. Plus the birds and animals are different there so it made for a really enjoyable run.
How was 2013:
Pros
Lost weight 98kgs by Aug for Ely (after I had identified my cushionoid syndrome)
Riding was improved - more consistent >200W output
Running was better when it worked
PB'd at Ely (although the bike was short I would have still PBd)
Cons
Gained weight at the end of 2012 (108kgs in Jan 2012)
Didn't run enough so when I did I was plagued with injuries
Good swim/bike at Ely killed by a poor run...
Races entered and cancelled
Swiming suffered
However I have managed to get some training in too, just not as much as I would like
Training has been pretty good. I have, in the most part, got in one swim and a couple of runs/rides per week. Most of the riding has been on the trusty turbo - as the nights are too dark and the roads too slippery... Currently I am critically reviewing what I need to sort on the TT bike before the Sierakow Middle Distance race (my first of the year...). It needs a strip and clean, but most things seem okay, however I need to revisit wheel choice, I am finding that I can flex the H3 rear on the turbo, I am seriously considering a disc, which means a limited choice as I run clinchers and would prefer an alu brake track, currently the Circo[check spelling] disc is looking good - will just have to see.
As for the running this has been equally split between on and off road running. The run at Sierakow is a trail run. I purchased a pair of Brooks PureGrit2s early on this year and decided to get off the asphalt - what a revalation! Off road running is hard! It is so much harder than road running, and I thought I was going to break something on my first outing, the mud was ankle deep and the paths slippery even with trail shoes.
As for the Brooks PG2s I have read a lot of mixed reviews on them. They are good - really comfy running, the grip is adequate on mud but I expect it to be superb on dry dirt track. The majority of criticism for it is around wet/mud grip...wet grip on asphalt is good but on deep mud it all goes a bit squirly, however I doubt Innov8 or Salomon shoes would have been better in the stuff on the trails over the past few weeks - spikes would be good!
Overall at the moment I would rate them a 7/10 for performance, and a 10/10 for fit, not surprising as the last is the same as my Brooks PureFlow2s which I love :-) Finally, on running, this week I managed an experience I had not tried before - snow running! I was in Espoo, just outside of Helsinki and I did a (sadly) short run in cold snowy conditions. The snow trail was lightly packed by skidoos and I had taken some Yaxtrax Pro snow grips for my trainers - they were amazing. All in all great fun, hard work, but fun. Plus the birds and animals are different there so it made for a really enjoyable run.
The Monster Middle Distance 18 Aug 2013 - please support me!
13 August 2013
So this year has not gone exactly as planned...I had great ideas about doing a full IM distance race didn’t happen due to a whole host of reasons, then I thought let’s do several 70.3s (like a couple of years ago) – this also did not happen due to work commitments, so finally I thought I would enter a couple of swims and do a half ironman distance race. The swims were cancelled which left a half ironman....The Monster Middle Distance (http://www.monsterracing.net/triathlon2013.html).... that is this weekend...18 Aug 2013!
Unlike previous years where I have emailed everybody LOTs before a race I thought I would leave it to the last minute this year – I am not sure if that was a good choice this year but we will see! Unfortunately my training has run in a similar vein and this year I have managed a whole four weeks building for this – so anything could happen...
The race is a standard half ironman distance race - 1.9km swim in the River Ouse followed by a 90(ish)km bike around the Fens topped off with a half marathon (21.1km) around the beautiful town of Ely (with its amazing cathedral). It is not a big event – 350 participants – but it is close to home and looks fast...my aim is to try and beat my PB for this distance – in 2009 it took me 8hrs 53mins last year 6hrs 7mins – let’s see what 2013 brings.
Now for a little bit about the charity I am supporting with this race. Last year I met Andrew Howden (another member of the BCTTT triathlon club) and he inspired me to try and raise a little cash for the charity that supports his daughter, Beatrice.
Beatrice has a life limiting disease, Type II SMA – Spinal Muscular Atrophy. This amongst other things means she will never walk, run or play in the same way other children do. She is bright and into everything, eager to explore the world around her and she is always happy and ready to greet everyone she meets with a big smile and a wave.
Unfortunately, the Government does not offer funding for the powered chair that was designed specifically for what Beatrice needs to be mobile at this early age. The early years for Beatrice, as with all children, are very important in learning and development, therefore early access to mobility is imperative. One of the key attributes of children with SMA is that they are exceptionally intelligent. Limited mobility at an early age, however, can limit opportunities for learning and exploring the child’s environment.
So why am I telling you this? Well, every year since I got serious about triathlon I have tried to raised a little cash for good causes please help me to do the same this year.
I am not keen of sending money to an anonymous organisation who loose significant amounts in admin costs and don’t pass as much as they can onto those who need it most, but instead I prefer to find a charity which is small and needs support for the hard work they do. I am raising funds to support Beatrice and her family through the charity A Smile for a Child (Charity Registration No. 1123357).
Any amount large or small will help this small charity immensely so (if you can) please be generous! Please go to my just giving site (http://www.justgiving.com/husbandfatherironman/) and donate. You can also follow me on my blog http://husbandfatherironman.com or on twitter @isainsbury.
Thank you in advance,
Unlike previous years where I have emailed everybody LOTs before a race I thought I would leave it to the last minute this year – I am not sure if that was a good choice this year but we will see! Unfortunately my training has run in a similar vein and this year I have managed a whole four weeks building for this – so anything could happen...
The race is a standard half ironman distance race - 1.9km swim in the River Ouse followed by a 90(ish)km bike around the Fens topped off with a half marathon (21.1km) around the beautiful town of Ely (with its amazing cathedral). It is not a big event – 350 participants – but it is close to home and looks fast...my aim is to try and beat my PB for this distance – in 2009 it took me 8hrs 53mins last year 6hrs 7mins – let’s see what 2013 brings.
Now for a little bit about the charity I am supporting with this race. Last year I met Andrew Howden (another member of the BCTTT triathlon club) and he inspired me to try and raise a little cash for the charity that supports his daughter, Beatrice.
Beatrice has a life limiting disease, Type II SMA – Spinal Muscular Atrophy. This amongst other things means she will never walk, run or play in the same way other children do. She is bright and into everything, eager to explore the world around her and she is always happy and ready to greet everyone she meets with a big smile and a wave.
Unfortunately, the Government does not offer funding for the powered chair that was designed specifically for what Beatrice needs to be mobile at this early age. The early years for Beatrice, as with all children, are very important in learning and development, therefore early access to mobility is imperative. One of the key attributes of children with SMA is that they are exceptionally intelligent. Limited mobility at an early age, however, can limit opportunities for learning and exploring the child’s environment.
So why am I telling you this? Well, every year since I got serious about triathlon I have tried to raised a little cash for good causes please help me to do the same this year.
I am not keen of sending money to an anonymous organisation who loose significant amounts in admin costs and don’t pass as much as they can onto those who need it most, but instead I prefer to find a charity which is small and needs support for the hard work they do. I am raising funds to support Beatrice and her family through the charity A Smile for a Child (Charity Registration No. 1123357).
Any amount large or small will help this small charity immensely so (if you can) please be generous! Please go to my just giving site (http://www.justgiving.com/husbandfatherironman/) and donate. You can also follow me on my blog http://husbandfatherironman.com or on twitter @isainsbury.
Thank you in advance,
Best wishes,
Iain.
Hmmmm....so there goes my plans for the year....
3 May 2013
Well as I guessed would happen, my year of racing is well and truly in bits.....for once not due to injury but instead because of...guess what...work....yep I was asked to step up and support one of the global directors and now my diary is in freefall...between now and mid June I have three trips to Chicago, one to Madrid (for over a week) and one to Mexico City (for two days)...unfortunately these clash with at least two of the races I was planning and another clashes with my eldest daughter's play....
So....where does that leave me...well...I think I need a new challenge in my diary, I am seriously considering the Bridge to Bridge swim (http://www.henleyswim.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Bridge-to-Bridge-Information-Pack-2013.pdf), their description of it is:
BRIDGE TO BRIDGE is a 14 km endurance downstream River Thames swimming event, from Henley Bridge to Marlow Bridge. This event is more relaxed than a race, and is aimed only at serious open water swimmers who would like to include a long distance challenge in their summer open water swimming season
14km...hmmm....can I do it? Well the longest I have swum 'open water' is between 4-5km when training for IMCH...and the furthest I have ever swum is 10km but I was in my teens and it was in a pool...so 14.1km.....could be interesting - I reckon I could keep up with the silver pod or at a stretch the gold pod....hmmm....
Two weeks after this is the Monster Middle....a 70.3ish race near Ely...it appeals as it is close...my biggest concern though is training....I just seem to be in a complete training vacuum...whenever I think things are getting better I seem to take two steps back....either through injury/work or illness...
Regardless I am still keen to race this year and I would like to do at least one 70.3, a long swim and maybe a couple of Oly distance races....let see what happens....
On the plus side the new Huub Archimedes is simply stunning...a 1.8km swim in it was executed with little effort in 28mins...it is supple, buoyant well fitting (in size SS) and the bicep/calf release panels really do seem to work...it is light years ahead of my old Orca Alpha...and I really mean that...
Once I have had a bit more experience I will write a more complete review
Later
I.
So....where does that leave me...well...I think I need a new challenge in my diary, I am seriously considering the Bridge to Bridge swim (http://www.henleyswim.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Bridge-to-Bridge-Information-Pack-2013.pdf), their description of it is:
BRIDGE TO BRIDGE is a 14 km endurance downstream River Thames swimming event, from Henley Bridge to Marlow Bridge. This event is more relaxed than a race, and is aimed only at serious open water swimmers who would like to include a long distance challenge in their summer open water swimming season
14km...hmmm....can I do it? Well the longest I have swum 'open water' is between 4-5km when training for IMCH...and the furthest I have ever swum is 10km but I was in my teens and it was in a pool...so 14.1km.....could be interesting - I reckon I could keep up with the silver pod or at a stretch the gold pod....hmmm....
Two weeks after this is the Monster Middle....a 70.3ish race near Ely...it appeals as it is close...my biggest concern though is training....I just seem to be in a complete training vacuum...whenever I think things are getting better I seem to take two steps back....either through injury/work or illness...
Regardless I am still keen to race this year and I would like to do at least one 70.3, a long swim and maybe a couple of Oly distance races....let see what happens....
On the plus side the new Huub Archimedes is simply stunning...a 1.8km swim in it was executed with little effort in 28mins...it is supple, buoyant well fitting (in size SS) and the bicep/calf release panels really do seem to work...it is light years ahead of my old Orca Alpha...and I really mean that...
Once I have had a bit more experience I will write a more complete review
Later
I.
Over 10k visitors and a long ride
8 April 2013
Wow - today the blog went over the 10,000 visitors milestone - I must say I am a little amazed!! Okay some of them will be from accidental clicks/webots but a lot of them are repeat offenders - if you are one of them - THANKS!
So "a long ride"....as I had a few mins waiting fro a Kwik-Fit man to turn up to sort the tyres on Liz's Volvo I thought I would put a few notes down on my longest (outdoor) ride this year. On Sunday I went out and did what seems to me a slow 50km/2hr ride. It did however include a number of local hills (some of which might almost be called climbs...) hence the low speed - also I was doing a set program of:
30min W/U Easy
5min easy effort (RPE 11)
5min tempo effort (RPE 13)
5 min overgearing (RPE 17+)
The full route can be seen here:
But I thought I would focus on a few of the best bits (hills). The first 30mins is a gentle climb to the A505 and then the ride properly starts with a steady climb to Barley (the first hill of the day). This begins easily and winds up in the last 200m or so:
Once into Barley the route takes a left and heads for the only windmill for miles - obviously at the top of a hill!
This is a simple steady hill which is just long enough to make you puff if you are in the wrong gear - as I was!!
However it is at this point the toughest hill of the day appears - just down hill a little and then up to the infamous Passo d'GranChisell
The last 100m of this is deceptive - all in all a good climb. After this it is a relatively simple bike route which zips down some good descents (ruined yesterday for me as someone had smashed a glass on the road so a few bunny hops saved me...) and skirts along beside a river (where I saw a family of hares - very cool and fast!), before going up again to Wendons Ambo, a really short climb hidden round a corner:
After this it is a simple run back to home via some fast main roads - including my favourite stretch between Littlebury and Great Chesterford - great tarmac quality and lots of false flats. The data showed some good efforts on the hills - I use a CycleOps PowerCal HR strap (Powercal at Wiggle) - I was seriously sceptical about it (There is a great review here) but I have to say I am constantly amazed how it computes an extimate of power - I have checked against my calibrated turbo and RPE and it all seems pretty much bang on - seriously impressed!
Anyhow - back to reality, today was a hard run (see below) - nothing in the legs - probably as I worked hard yesterday but at least tomorrow is a core set (and I have a couple of days off to spend time with the girls - they are on school holiday) :-)
Thanks for reading.
So "a long ride"....as I had a few mins waiting fro a Kwik-Fit man to turn up to sort the tyres on Liz's Volvo I thought I would put a few notes down on my longest (outdoor) ride this year. On Sunday I went out and did what seems to me a slow 50km/2hr ride. It did however include a number of local hills (some of which might almost be called climbs...) hence the low speed - also I was doing a set program of:
30min W/U Easy
5min easy effort (RPE 11)
5min tempo effort (RPE 13)
5 min overgearing (RPE 17+)
The full route can be seen here:
But I thought I would focus on a few of the best bits (hills). The first 30mins is a gentle climb to the A505 and then the ride properly starts with a steady climb to Barley (the first hill of the day). This begins easily and winds up in the last 200m or so:
Once into Barley the route takes a left and heads for the only windmill for miles - obviously at the top of a hill!
This is a simple steady hill which is just long enough to make you puff if you are in the wrong gear - as I was!!
However it is at this point the toughest hill of the day appears - just down hill a little and then up to the infamous Passo d'GranChisell
The last 100m of this is deceptive - all in all a good climb. After this it is a relatively simple bike route which zips down some good descents (ruined yesterday for me as someone had smashed a glass on the road so a few bunny hops saved me...) and skirts along beside a river (where I saw a family of hares - very cool and fast!), before going up again to Wendons Ambo, a really short climb hidden round a corner:
Anyhow - back to reality, today was a hard run (see below) - nothing in the legs - probably as I worked hard yesterday but at least tomorrow is a core set (and I have a couple of days off to spend time with the girls - they are on school holiday) :-)
Thanks for reading.
Frustration.....
15 March 2013
Frustration is the moment you seem to be making progress only for it to be whipped away....finally I had a longish period at home and I was looking forward to get some miles on the bike and in the legs, doing some actual running and maybe even do some swimming (gosh!!) only for my youngest to pass on her bugs. It is not her fault, she has moved rooms in nursery so she is now exposed to a new set of bugs and as a result she has gone down with just about everything....so far she has had back to back gaestroenteritis/chest infection/worse gastroenteritis. I seem to to have contracted most of these...so yet again I find myself with a throat/chest infection..grrr....
On the plus side I have purchased a new wetsuit :-) when it arrives I will be the proud posessor of one of these :-) http://www.huubdesign.com/product_archimedes.html
A Huub 3:5 Archimedes - soooo excited I cannot wait for OW season :-) as a result I think I might be putting a couple of standalone OW swims in the calender....
As for other races I am still pondering what to enter, currently on my consideration list is:
Looking at the Box End event - one of the UK AG athletes racing at the 2012 event in Auckland did a 22 min swim and a 24min run - with a total time of 47:33....I reckon I could do around a 14-15 min swim and a sub 27min run....you never know.... :-) As to sponsorship this year - I am going to race for Team Bea again! This is a group of like minded BCTTT triathletes and other individuals raising money for two charities - A Smile for a Child and Martin House....but more on this in my next post when I have set up the donations page! But first things first I need to get better and then get back to training..... LaterI.
On the plus side I have purchased a new wetsuit :-) when it arrives I will be the proud posessor of one of these :-) http://www.huubdesign.com/product_archimedes.html
A Huub 3:5 Archimedes - soooo excited I cannot wait for OW season :-) as a result I think I might be putting a couple of standalone OW swims in the calender....As for other races I am still pondering what to enter, currently on my consideration list is:
- the Marshman (http://www.velocity-events.co.uk/marshman-and-mini-marshman/the-marshman/) - which I have done before - 5 May
- the Box End Aquathlon (http://www.galeforce-events.com/triathlon-events/box-end-aquathlon-2013-itu-world-aquathlon-championship-qualification-event/ ITU AG world qualifier - yeah right...) - 5 May
- the Bedford Middle (http://www.galeforce-events.com/triathlon-events/bedford-middle/) - 19 May
- the Great Swim series (probably the East one - http://www.greatswim.org/events/great-east-swim/default.aspx) - 22 Jun
- VOtwo Dorney triathlon - 12 Jul
- the Cambridge Triathlon (http://www.howesplace.com/ctc/triathlon/tri_info.php) - 11 Aug
- the Ely Monster Middle (http://www.monsterracing.net/) - 18 Aug
Looking at the Box End event - one of the UK AG athletes racing at the 2012 event in Auckland did a 22 min swim and a 24min run - with a total time of 47:33....I reckon I could do around a 14-15 min swim and a sub 27min run....you never know.... :-) As to sponsorship this year - I am going to race for Team Bea again! This is a group of like minded BCTTT triathletes and other individuals raising money for two charities - A Smile for a Child and Martin House....but more on this in my next post when I have set up the donations page! But first things first I need to get better and then get back to training..... LaterI.
What a week....
3 March 2013
So as the title says - what a week....
It started out well with training feeling good after getting over the GI bug that I got from Evie only to be pulled back down by a cold she had picked up from nursery.....
Not to be dissuaded from training I tried to keep things going, reducing the efforts and distance but keeping doing something...and this seems to have worked...I felt awful yesterday after 2hrs on the bike (to follow....RHR of 62 (normally 50-52) and my peak flow dropped to 400, which is not good) but this morning my HR had rallied to 58bpm and my peak flow after an hour of cycling followed by running (a brick session) was up to 510 (after 2hrs it was back to 550 - which is good!!).
So this week is all about consistent training, recovering and keeping the sessions up. I am hoping to getting around. To actually entering some events too! - currently nothing is entered and I would liketo do an early 70.3 (maybe the Marshman or the Bedford middle) followed by the Ely Monster Middle at the end of the season. In addition I am thinking of heading back to Dorney for a race (nice and fast) and doing the Great East swim...however this will need a new wetsuit....time to start talking to a new supplier...probably Huub...Dean has been a big supporter of our club in the past - fingers crossed this will continue....
It started out well with training feeling good after getting over the GI bug that I got from Evie only to be pulled back down by a cold she had picked up from nursery.....
Not to be dissuaded from training I tried to keep things going, reducing the efforts and distance but keeping doing something...and this seems to have worked...I felt awful yesterday after 2hrs on the bike (to follow....RHR of 62 (normally 50-52) and my peak flow dropped to 400, which is not good) but this morning my HR had rallied to 58bpm and my peak flow after an hour of cycling followed by running (a brick session) was up to 510 (after 2hrs it was back to 550 - which is good!!).
So this week is all about consistent training, recovering and keeping the sessions up. I am hoping to getting around. To actually entering some events too! - currently nothing is entered and I would liketo do an early 70.3 (maybe the Marshman or the Bedford middle) followed by the Ely Monster Middle at the end of the season. In addition I am thinking of heading back to Dorney for a race (nice and fast) and doing the Great East swim...however this will need a new wetsuit....time to start talking to a new supplier...probably Huub...Dean has been a big supporter of our club in the past - fingers crossed this will continue....
A long slow recovery ride
2 March 2013
So this week has been spent mostly feeling rubbish with a cold Evie shared with me - I finally managed to drag myself out for a ride this morning- 50km done (slowly) my longest ride since last year...
Husbandfatherironman.com
6 February 2013
Finally I have managed to get the forwarding working on my web domain so in future please point your browser or link to husbandfatherironman.com :-)
Also illness (D&V) is now gone so training has started again....the virus made me feel like a 5st weakling going up stairs....so far I have managed a30min turbo set, yesterday, and a short run...this morning's run was laughable as I got to 3km of the 5km and felt like walking...oh well small steps.....
Also illness (D&V) is now gone so training has started again....the virus made me feel like a 5st weakling going up stairs....so far I have managed a30min turbo set, yesterday, and a short run...this morning's run was laughable as I got to 3km of the 5km and felt like walking...oh well small steps.....
Wow - February already....
4 February 2013
It is amazing to think it is Feb already and this is the first post since Oct...
It has been a busy few months - I spent some time falling out of love with training and working on triathlon fitness after IM 70.3 Ireland and after nearly a week off work with a horrible GI bug I feel I need to draw a line in the sand and get fitter again.
So what has ahappened since October? Well I finished off a marathon travel year flying just over 250,000 miles in one calender year (I hope I don't repeat that it was a killer), and put on 10kgs over my race weight in Ireland...not good. I did start the year intending to do something about that (more training, less bad food, less wine) but that seemed to fall flat on its face out of the starting blocks, so I am starting February as I intend to continue - with an aim - I want to compete in more than one 70.3 this year :-)
Last year was a terrible year for racing - I manage one OW swim and one 70.3 - failing to compete in my other OW swims and triathlons through a mix of bad weather (most River Thames races were affected last year due to the speed of the current), illness and injury. This year I hope to compete in a couple of 70.3s - one I hope will be the Monster 70.3 which is based around Ely (relatively flast and fast (if it isn't windy)) and the other may be Marshman in late May - again quite fast and flat but it was seriously windy there when I raced it a couple of years ago...
Lets see what the months bring....
On the kit side of things I am now looking for a new wetsuit as my Alpha needs to retire after seving me well from 2009-2012 (too many holes reparied with Black Witch adhesive), so a Huub looks like a good option. Also I have been playing with a CycleOps Powercal - an interesting development of the HR monitor - it looks like a standard Garmin HR dongle but it has a rather cool algorithm which derives a "calculated power output" from the speed and rate of change of HR and outputs both HR and Power. I was highly sceptical but I got it on a deal for about £20 more than a replacement HR monitor and after playing with it for a month I am fairly amazed by it. It is rubbish for short sprints (below 30s) but to be honest over 30s it reflects my power output on my turbo (which is calibrated off my VO2max data) pretty accurately. I have taken it on several rides and it gives some fairly interesting data - it doesn't just reflect HR but goes up and down a bit (it is a 30s smoothed version...) - have a look at the data in the Strava link below:
Anyway first blog for ages so lets leave it there...
Later
I.
It has been a busy few months - I spent some time falling out of love with training and working on triathlon fitness after IM 70.3 Ireland and after nearly a week off work with a horrible GI bug I feel I need to draw a line in the sand and get fitter again.
So what has ahappened since October? Well I finished off a marathon travel year flying just over 250,000 miles in one calender year (I hope I don't repeat that it was a killer), and put on 10kgs over my race weight in Ireland...not good. I did start the year intending to do something about that (more training, less bad food, less wine) but that seemed to fall flat on its face out of the starting blocks, so I am starting February as I intend to continue - with an aim - I want to compete in more than one 70.3 this year :-)
Last year was a terrible year for racing - I manage one OW swim and one 70.3 - failing to compete in my other OW swims and triathlons through a mix of bad weather (most River Thames races were affected last year due to the speed of the current), illness and injury. This year I hope to compete in a couple of 70.3s - one I hope will be the Monster 70.3 which is based around Ely (relatively flast and fast (if it isn't windy)) and the other may be Marshman in late May - again quite fast and flat but it was seriously windy there when I raced it a couple of years ago...
Lets see what the months bring....
On the kit side of things I am now looking for a new wetsuit as my Alpha needs to retire after seving me well from 2009-2012 (too many holes reparied with Black Witch adhesive), so a Huub looks like a good option. Also I have been playing with a CycleOps Powercal - an interesting development of the HR monitor - it looks like a standard Garmin HR dongle but it has a rather cool algorithm which derives a "calculated power output" from the speed and rate of change of HR and outputs both HR and Power. I was highly sceptical but I got it on a deal for about £20 more than a replacement HR monitor and after playing with it for a month I am fairly amazed by it. It is rubbish for short sprints (below 30s) but to be honest over 30s it reflects my power output on my turbo (which is calibrated off my VO2max data) pretty accurately. I have taken it on several rides and it gives some fairly interesting data - it doesn't just reflect HR but goes up and down a bit (it is a 30s smoothed version...) - have a look at the data in the Strava link below:
Anyway first blog for ages so lets leave it there...
Later
I.
My longest run in ages
22 October 2012
So this was a fun jaunt from the hotel to the Arc, round the tower and up the French equivalent to Oxford Street - all rather nice :-)
Galway 70.3 Race Report
5 September 2012
So where do I start? I have written the beginning of this several times, I have started it in the bar of the Salthill Hotel in Galway, the departures lounge at Dublin Airport, the departures lounge at Heathrow T5 and now I am starting (again, as the computer crashed and lost my previous drafts) on the TGV platform at Geneva Station.
Let's start at the beginning - how did the preparation for the race go? Well it has been a busy year. If you have read my previous blog entries you will know that I have had a hectic time running around the world with my work - I have visited over twenty countries in the past eight months (some of them multiple times) and this plays havoc both with the body clock (when changing time zone) and life in general. This has not led to building a good platform for middle distance triathlon performance. In addition, at home, Evie has led me to change priorities as well, I try and help out when I can, although this is not always possible. Through it all Lizzie has been unbelievably understanding and supportive and the children have not complained too much when I have not been there for breakfast (again) and then when I turn up from a run or ride, run away, as apparently, I am "all sweaty". Also I have a fantastic coach in Mike, he is excellent at adapting the training program to my work travels and has helped keep me injury free all year.
So enough of the reasons why the year has been hard, what about the build up itself. In the last few weeks before Galway the session intensity increased, Mike put in a few of the (30EZ, 30 Tempo, 30EZ, 30 Tempo+) sets and one of the 'put it in the highest gear and just go for it' sessions on the bike, the runs got longer and the swims (when I could fit them in) were more pace focused. Finally a week out from the race and after a week in Chicago hammering the treadmill in the middle of the night I started tapering, and worrying about how to transport my bike on a plane. I eventually opted for the soft bike bag option, building a foam former to hold the crankset and BB housing in place and then using high density pipe lagging to protect the farm - I am glad to report it worked (see the pictures below).
After a great week of very little training (and finding somewhere to live for the next six months!) I flew out to Dublin on the Friday, checking my bike into the hold and taking all the important bits (bike shoes, pedals, running shoes and helmet with me in hand luggage. The flight was good and I was delighted to meet my bike off the plane very quickly at the other end. However, at that point, the day went downhill, I had booked my flight myself but everything else, transfers, hotel, etc through Nirvana Europe. My BA flight got in 10mins ahead of schedule however they had booked several of us on the same transport back from the airport to Galway (it is a 2+hr drive) and the others were coming with Ryanair - it was scheduled to arrive 5mins after my flight, but when I landed it had not even taken off! Steve, from Nirvana, bought me some water and a coffee and apologised a lot - eventually nearly 2hrs after we should have, we left Dublin for Galway. When we arrived on the west coast we checked into the Salthill Hotel, which I can recommend for this race - very well placed, just make sure you get a room at the front (as I did for the night before and after the race) as the room I had on arrival (at the back) was directly above the events room and as they have a lot of weddings there the noise level was awful. I built my bike (everything was fine), ordered a sandwich from room service and went to bed at midnight, the end of a long day.
The following morning I headed over to registration, or rather I was blown to registration as overnight a gale had hit the city, the wind was a steady 25mph and gusting up to 40mph....this was not in the plan. I registered, watch the race briefing PowerPoint presentation - without the worst bit of the build up as the race briefing always gives the race itself a bit of a "gee up" and a start point with all the athletes in the room - and headed back to the hotel to get my kit for the practice swim. This is the first time I have made a practice swim as I normally have family with me and the pre race day tends to be a register, rack and get away from it experience. So this was different. I was really glad to have made the practice as I have not swum in the sea properly since Galway last year, the conditions were absolutely awful, the waves were about 2m high (almost the height of last year's ones) and as a result we were only allowed to swim about 200m out to a buoy and back - but it was enough to calm my nerves of sea swimming and get my head in the right place. I exited the water and went back to the hotel to fix all the new hole in my wetsuit (it is old!), organise my bags for transition and my bike.
Once I had sorted the blue (bike/T1) bag with all my kit for the swim to bike transition and my red one (T2) with all my bike to run kit I took the bike out for a quick spin to check my rebuild before racking it. As soon as I started riding I thought OMFG what have I done, I have brought HED3 trispoke wheels to one of the windiest places around! For the uneducated trispokes are wheel made almost entirely of carbon with a deep (50mm) rim and three big spokes, each about 40mm wide. They are phenomenally fast in most conditions but are hard to control in really high winds, think about being pushed across the road with each gust of wind....terrifying practice spin over I racked my bike, hung my bags in transition and collected my chip - I was ready to race.
I headed back to the hotel, and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon (after a quick 15min run and a short swim in the hotel's amazing 25m pool), gave Lizzie a call and watched a film. In the evening I did the BCTTT required thing and had the compulsory pre race meal fish and chips (with an optional pint of Guiness). I went to bed early hoping for a break in the weather.....
The Race
I woke up aground 5am and headed down to transition, as I left the hotel, I breathed a sight of relief - no wind - as forecast the storm had passed completely. I did my final check on my bike, dropped some of my kit back at the hotel and headed to the swim start.
The sea was calm and I watched the pros and the first wave leave from Black Rock just as the sun rose over the headland - magical. The course looked fairly different from the plan at registration, there seemed to be orange and yellow buoys (not just yellow ones...) oh well I guessed I would not be at front so I could 'follow the herd'. The 35-39 and the 50-59 AG waves were mixed together, we were an eclectic bunch of about 200 heading into the water at 7:05am.
Once we had hung about for 15mins bobbing about near Black Rock the horn went and we were off! I had intentionally placed myself on the far left of the pack and to at the front - this paid off, I swam over a few people to get clear on the left side and headed for the first buoy. the water was pretty calm and the wave fronts were pushing us back towards the beach at a frequency of about ten strokes (ie one went over you every ten strokes) but they were not that strong. At the first buoy I avoided trouble swam in close and exited for the 1km swim, straight down the beach, keeping the yellow buoys on my left. This was easier said than done as the waves kept pushing you in towards shore, however the current/tide kept pulling you back as you tried to move forward - this maybe the reason for the relatively slow swim times (either that or the course was long). I got into my rhythm and just swam my own race, keeping pace with one chap to my left. We caught the back markers of the 7am wave about 300m from the turn buoy and chaos ensued as they were engulfed by the faster wave. I kept mostly out of the ruckus and just carried on swimming my own race towards the turn buoy (which I had worked out what the orange buoys were). I turned and immediately thought "where do I go now?" eventually after swimming toward the only buoy I could see (a yellow one) a helpful kayaker pointed me and the small group I was with in the right direction (the big red buoy) about 200m off to our left - a schoolboy error - it probably cost me around 2 mins in total. Eventually we turned the buoy and headed for the beach. Once out of the sea we headed on the long run (about 800m) to T1 - the transitions in Galway are long.
Into T1, I got my bearings grabbed my bag and headed for a chair to change -
Wetsuit off, quick dry of the feet with a towel (sand everywhere!), socks on, shoes on, race number on, helmet on, pack wet kit in bag, eat a haribo sweet (to take the salt taste away), Oakleys on and away!
The T1 was in a tent, to exit T1 you left the tent, went up some stairs, all the way round the outside of racking and then in to collect my bike, the Joule Aerotic - I found it first time, grabbed it and did the long 300m or so run to the out line. I jumped on and started cycling, but I could not engage my left cleat. I stopped a few hundred metres up the road to take all of the grass and mud out of my cleats, this sorted I thought, 'right let's get going!' as I crested the first hill I hit a pothole and the velcro holding my toolkit let go, my X-lab toolkit bag sailed into the air and landed about 100m back - did i want to carry on and hope that i did not get a puncture? Nope i guessed that would be a bad idea! I I stopped and ran back to get it, fun in cleats! Toolkit reattached I headed off (subsequently I found these two events cost me nearly five minutes).
The bike itself was fairly uneventful - it is a rolling (500m climbing) course with a few short, steep climbs. It is an out and back which means you get to see everyone on the course - including the pros and they were flying! The bike just sang, I wound it up to an easy(ish) average of 31kph, and just started overtaking people I was blasting along, attacking on the hills, cruising down the descents - awesome fun, and all into a light headwind. I tried to keep the RPE around 12-16 throughout and the cadence natural. I spent most of my time playing tag with a couple other guys in my AG, a grumpy French guy called Marcel whom I passed over ten times (and vice versa) but not once did he respond to my 'hello', and another Brit with with a wierd name that I cannot remember. Throughout the race I had no power, HR or cadence (the power was usual, the HR intentional but the cadence unplanned).
The crowds were not as big as last year at either Moycullen or Oughterard however they still blew their vuvuzelas with enthusiasm and shook their cowbells with fervour. The turn around was at Maam Cross this year which was much better, After the turn the wind was with us and my average pace jumped to 32-33kph, with little effort, I shot back to town - everything felt fantastic!
On coming back into T2 I felt good the legs worked. I ran my bike in, dropped it at the racking and for the first time was ecstatic to see that there were LOTS of people not back off the bike! No time for that though, I ran into the T2 tent, grabbed my bag and got ready for the run:
Helmet off, bike jersey off, shoes off, change socks, running shoes on, turn number around, running visor on, different Oakleys on, repack bag and run out!
I headed down to the three lap course of 21.1km, heading past the finish just as the male pros finished - they were that fast - sub 4hours for the top few. The first couple of kms of the run are usually hell as the legs get used to running not riding, but I felt good and was turning in 5:44/km (above my anticipated pace), however it was not to last. Just after the aid station at 3km I turned into the headwind and all the energy drained out of my legs - I felt awful, really....truly....awful. I had to slow to a walk until the gel I had taken on in the aid station kicked in, even after this hit the blood stream I found it hard to run again, I had 'blown up' properly. For the next 15km I ran as fast as i could, developed cramp in both legs (localised in my quads which came on and off for the rest of the run) and walked the aid stations, after 9km I could not take on gels so I switched to coke/water and that kept me going - just! As I came back into Salthill for the last 2km I just upped the pace as much as I could....it hurt...a lot....I was up to 5:40/km at one point, and as I turned through the last aid station with 1km to go I could feel myself slowing, I knew sub 6hrs had slipped away and I just pushed the last 1km doing high 5s for the many kids who put their hands out.
As I turned that last corner and came down the finish chute I was quite emotional, I am again as I write this, I kept giving the crowd high f5s and as the only person in the finish chute I got quite a build up from the announcer, I crossed the line in 6:07 - I had missed my target of sub 6 by seven minutes but I had a new PB (Personal Best) by 28mins, I had swum my own race, ridden one of my best 90km TTs and run one of the most painful 21.1km ever - I was an IRONMAN 70.3 finisher again! :-)
Will I go back and race Galway again? Probably not, like the UK 70.3, I have done it twice now and they both have their own challenges, but I want a new challenge next year. In summary, would I recommend it to someone? Yes and no...this is why:
Pros
It is a genuine M-dot race
Fast flat bike - one for the TT freaks (surprisingly challenging though)
(Apparently) Fast flat run
Good support on the bike and run
Hard sea swim
Cons
Sea swim can be VERY tough
Lots of drafting on the bike (as it is flat)
Run can be hard if it is windy
Support was less than last year - will next year be better?
Locals put all the prices up for the race (according to the hotel)
It is a long way to go without using Nirvana or another company like them
It felt as if the WTC has pulled money out of the event after last year - less M-dot buzz
So there you have it, my thoughts on the race and my experiences from it. I love racing, it is one of the reasons I do the training - the Type A personality in me coming out! I hope you have enjoyed it, if you have please click over to my justgiving page and support the charity I am raising money for. This year has not been a good year for fundraising which has been unfortunate as the charity I am supporting this year is a good one (A Smile for a Child). They support families with children who are very disabled and need help with adapting homes, buying mobility devices etc. One of my friends has a young daughter, Beatrice, who has Type II SMA, an incurable disease which causes wasting of the muscles that control the spine and as such she will probably never walk in addition, as her muscles controlling her lungs are affected too, she is prone to serious chest infections, one of which she only just survived earlier this year. Bea has been helped significantly by this charity and I wanted to help raise money to give something back.
I know it is one request amongst many but if you could spare the price of your next sandwich, glass of wine, cup of coffee I would be most grateful.
Please click over to http://www.justgiving.com/DoingGalwayforTeamBea and have a look.
Thanks for reading,
BW
I.
Let's start at the beginning - how did the preparation for the race go? Well it has been a busy year. If you have read my previous blog entries you will know that I have had a hectic time running around the world with my work - I have visited over twenty countries in the past eight months (some of them multiple times) and this plays havoc both with the body clock (when changing time zone) and life in general. This has not led to building a good platform for middle distance triathlon performance. In addition, at home, Evie has led me to change priorities as well, I try and help out when I can, although this is not always possible. Through it all Lizzie has been unbelievably understanding and supportive and the children have not complained too much when I have not been there for breakfast (again) and then when I turn up from a run or ride, run away, as apparently, I am "all sweaty". Also I have a fantastic coach in Mike, he is excellent at adapting the training program to my work travels and has helped keep me injury free all year.
So enough of the reasons why the year has been hard, what about the build up itself. In the last few weeks before Galway the session intensity increased, Mike put in a few of the (30EZ, 30 Tempo, 30EZ, 30 Tempo+) sets and one of the 'put it in the highest gear and just go for it' sessions on the bike, the runs got longer and the swims (when I could fit them in) were more pace focused. Finally a week out from the race and after a week in Chicago hammering the treadmill in the middle of the night I started tapering, and worrying about how to transport my bike on a plane. I eventually opted for the soft bike bag option, building a foam former to hold the crankset and BB housing in place and then using high density pipe lagging to protect the farm - I am glad to report it worked (see the pictures below).
After a great week of very little training (and finding somewhere to live for the next six months!) I flew out to Dublin on the Friday, checking my bike into the hold and taking all the important bits (bike shoes, pedals, running shoes and helmet with me in hand luggage. The flight was good and I was delighted to meet my bike off the plane very quickly at the other end. However, at that point, the day went downhill, I had booked my flight myself but everything else, transfers, hotel, etc through Nirvana Europe. My BA flight got in 10mins ahead of schedule however they had booked several of us on the same transport back from the airport to Galway (it is a 2+hr drive) and the others were coming with Ryanair - it was scheduled to arrive 5mins after my flight, but when I landed it had not even taken off! Steve, from Nirvana, bought me some water and a coffee and apologised a lot - eventually nearly 2hrs after we should have, we left Dublin for Galway. When we arrived on the west coast we checked into the Salthill Hotel, which I can recommend for this race - very well placed, just make sure you get a room at the front (as I did for the night before and after the race) as the room I had on arrival (at the back) was directly above the events room and as they have a lot of weddings there the noise level was awful. I built my bike (everything was fine), ordered a sandwich from room service and went to bed at midnight, the end of a long day.
The following morning I headed over to registration, or rather I was blown to registration as overnight a gale had hit the city, the wind was a steady 25mph and gusting up to 40mph....this was not in the plan. I registered, watch the race briefing PowerPoint presentation - without the worst bit of the build up as the race briefing always gives the race itself a bit of a "gee up" and a start point with all the athletes in the room - and headed back to the hotel to get my kit for the practice swim. This is the first time I have made a practice swim as I normally have family with me and the pre race day tends to be a register, rack and get away from it experience. So this was different. I was really glad to have made the practice as I have not swum in the sea properly since Galway last year, the conditions were absolutely awful, the waves were about 2m high (almost the height of last year's ones) and as a result we were only allowed to swim about 200m out to a buoy and back - but it was enough to calm my nerves of sea swimming and get my head in the right place. I exited the water and went back to the hotel to fix all the new hole in my wetsuit (it is old!), organise my bags for transition and my bike.
Once I had sorted the blue (bike/T1) bag with all my kit for the swim to bike transition and my red one (T2) with all my bike to run kit I took the bike out for a quick spin to check my rebuild before racking it. As soon as I started riding I thought OMFG what have I done, I have brought HED3 trispoke wheels to one of the windiest places around! For the uneducated trispokes are wheel made almost entirely of carbon with a deep (50mm) rim and three big spokes, each about 40mm wide. They are phenomenally fast in most conditions but are hard to control in really high winds, think about being pushed across the road with each gust of wind....terrifying practice spin over I racked my bike, hung my bags in transition and collected my chip - I was ready to race.
I headed back to the hotel, and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon (after a quick 15min run and a short swim in the hotel's amazing 25m pool), gave Lizzie a call and watched a film. In the evening I did the BCTTT required thing and had the compulsory pre race meal fish and chips (with an optional pint of Guiness). I went to bed early hoping for a break in the weather.....
The Race
I woke up aground 5am and headed down to transition, as I left the hotel, I breathed a sight of relief - no wind - as forecast the storm had passed completely. I did my final check on my bike, dropped some of my kit back at the hotel and headed to the swim start.
The sea was calm and I watched the pros and the first wave leave from Black Rock just as the sun rose over the headland - magical. The course looked fairly different from the plan at registration, there seemed to be orange and yellow buoys (not just yellow ones...) oh well I guessed I would not be at front so I could 'follow the herd'. The 35-39 and the 50-59 AG waves were mixed together, we were an eclectic bunch of about 200 heading into the water at 7:05am.
Once we had hung about for 15mins bobbing about near Black Rock the horn went and we were off! I had intentionally placed myself on the far left of the pack and to at the front - this paid off, I swam over a few people to get clear on the left side and headed for the first buoy. the water was pretty calm and the wave fronts were pushing us back towards the beach at a frequency of about ten strokes (ie one went over you every ten strokes) but they were not that strong. At the first buoy I avoided trouble swam in close and exited for the 1km swim, straight down the beach, keeping the yellow buoys on my left. This was easier said than done as the waves kept pushing you in towards shore, however the current/tide kept pulling you back as you tried to move forward - this maybe the reason for the relatively slow swim times (either that or the course was long). I got into my rhythm and just swam my own race, keeping pace with one chap to my left. We caught the back markers of the 7am wave about 300m from the turn buoy and chaos ensued as they were engulfed by the faster wave. I kept mostly out of the ruckus and just carried on swimming my own race towards the turn buoy (which I had worked out what the orange buoys were). I turned and immediately thought "where do I go now?" eventually after swimming toward the only buoy I could see (a yellow one) a helpful kayaker pointed me and the small group I was with in the right direction (the big red buoy) about 200m off to our left - a schoolboy error - it probably cost me around 2 mins in total. Eventually we turned the buoy and headed for the beach. Once out of the sea we headed on the long run (about 800m) to T1 - the transitions in Galway are long.
Into T1, I got my bearings grabbed my bag and headed for a chair to change -
Wetsuit off, quick dry of the feet with a towel (sand everywhere!), socks on, shoes on, race number on, helmet on, pack wet kit in bag, eat a haribo sweet (to take the salt taste away), Oakleys on and away!
The T1 was in a tent, to exit T1 you left the tent, went up some stairs, all the way round the outside of racking and then in to collect my bike, the Joule Aerotic - I found it first time, grabbed it and did the long 300m or so run to the out line. I jumped on and started cycling, but I could not engage my left cleat. I stopped a few hundred metres up the road to take all of the grass and mud out of my cleats, this sorted I thought, 'right let's get going!' as I crested the first hill I hit a pothole and the velcro holding my toolkit let go, my X-lab toolkit bag sailed into the air and landed about 100m back - did i want to carry on and hope that i did not get a puncture? Nope i guessed that would be a bad idea! I I stopped and ran back to get it, fun in cleats! Toolkit reattached I headed off (subsequently I found these two events cost me nearly five minutes).
The bike itself was fairly uneventful - it is a rolling (500m climbing) course with a few short, steep climbs. It is an out and back which means you get to see everyone on the course - including the pros and they were flying! The bike just sang, I wound it up to an easy(ish) average of 31kph, and just started overtaking people I was blasting along, attacking on the hills, cruising down the descents - awesome fun, and all into a light headwind. I tried to keep the RPE around 12-16 throughout and the cadence natural. I spent most of my time playing tag with a couple other guys in my AG, a grumpy French guy called Marcel whom I passed over ten times (and vice versa) but not once did he respond to my 'hello', and another Brit with with a wierd name that I cannot remember. Throughout the race I had no power, HR or cadence (the power was usual, the HR intentional but the cadence unplanned).
The crowds were not as big as last year at either Moycullen or Oughterard however they still blew their vuvuzelas with enthusiasm and shook their cowbells with fervour. The turn around was at Maam Cross this year which was much better, After the turn the wind was with us and my average pace jumped to 32-33kph, with little effort, I shot back to town - everything felt fantastic!
On coming back into T2 I felt good the legs worked. I ran my bike in, dropped it at the racking and for the first time was ecstatic to see that there were LOTS of people not back off the bike! No time for that though, I ran into the T2 tent, grabbed my bag and got ready for the run:
Helmet off, bike jersey off, shoes off, change socks, running shoes on, turn number around, running visor on, different Oakleys on, repack bag and run out!
I headed down to the three lap course of 21.1km, heading past the finish just as the male pros finished - they were that fast - sub 4hours for the top few. The first couple of kms of the run are usually hell as the legs get used to running not riding, but I felt good and was turning in 5:44/km (above my anticipated pace), however it was not to last. Just after the aid station at 3km I turned into the headwind and all the energy drained out of my legs - I felt awful, really....truly....awful. I had to slow to a walk until the gel I had taken on in the aid station kicked in, even after this hit the blood stream I found it hard to run again, I had 'blown up' properly. For the next 15km I ran as fast as i could, developed cramp in both legs (localised in my quads which came on and off for the rest of the run) and walked the aid stations, after 9km I could not take on gels so I switched to coke/water and that kept me going - just! As I came back into Salthill for the last 2km I just upped the pace as much as I could....it hurt...a lot....I was up to 5:40/km at one point, and as I turned through the last aid station with 1km to go I could feel myself slowing, I knew sub 6hrs had slipped away and I just pushed the last 1km doing high 5s for the many kids who put their hands out.
As I turned that last corner and came down the finish chute I was quite emotional, I am again as I write this, I kept giving the crowd high f5s and as the only person in the finish chute I got quite a build up from the announcer, I crossed the line in 6:07 - I had missed my target of sub 6 by seven minutes but I had a new PB (Personal Best) by 28mins, I had swum my own race, ridden one of my best 90km TTs and run one of the most painful 21.1km ever - I was an IRONMAN 70.3 finisher again! :-)
Will I go back and race Galway again? Probably not, like the UK 70.3, I have done it twice now and they both have their own challenges, but I want a new challenge next year. In summary, would I recommend it to someone? Yes and no...this is why:
Pros
It is a genuine M-dot race
Fast flat bike - one for the TT freaks (surprisingly challenging though)
(Apparently) Fast flat run
Good support on the bike and run
Hard sea swim
Cons
Sea swim can be VERY tough
Lots of drafting on the bike (as it is flat)
Run can be hard if it is windy
Support was less than last year - will next year be better?
Locals put all the prices up for the race (according to the hotel)
It is a long way to go without using Nirvana or another company like them
It felt as if the WTC has pulled money out of the event after last year - less M-dot buzz
So there you have it, my thoughts on the race and my experiences from it. I love racing, it is one of the reasons I do the training - the Type A personality in me coming out! I hope you have enjoyed it, if you have please click over to my justgiving page and support the charity I am raising money for. This year has not been a good year for fundraising which has been unfortunate as the charity I am supporting this year is a good one (A Smile for a Child). They support families with children who are very disabled and need help with adapting homes, buying mobility devices etc. One of my friends has a young daughter, Beatrice, who has Type II SMA, an incurable disease which causes wasting of the muscles that control the spine and as such she will probably never walk in addition, as her muscles controlling her lungs are affected too, she is prone to serious chest infections, one of which she only just survived earlier this year. Bea has been helped significantly by this charity and I wanted to help raise money to give something back.
I know it is one request amongst many but if you could spare the price of your next sandwich, glass of wine, cup of coffee I would be most grateful.
Please click over to http://www.justgiving.com/DoingGalwayforTeamBea and have a look.
Thanks for reading,
BW
I.
Recent days
24 August 2012
I lead a fairly good life....I write this sitting in the front of a 747-400 heading from O'Hare to London Heathrow- in First Class...not that I paid for F but because I am a loyal customer and currently it seems that pretty much regardless of ticket I get upgraded...in the last eight flights I have been upgraded on five...two of which have been transatlantic.....happy days...
The other fab bit about this is I need to adjust from US time (I have been in Chicago for four days) back to UK ASAP as I have one last push this weekend before that fun bit of LD racing - the taper!!
The past few weeks have been odd to say the least...I have been to Hong Kong, the West Coast of Scotland, Chicago and rural Surrey......all of which have not made the best build for a 70.3 but that is life....this year has just been odd, period. I have done more travel than I though possible (nearly 150k air miles) and a lot of EUROSTAR trips, no triathlons and only one competitive race (an OW 1.5km race which was not good...)...
All of this is not good practice for a race most people would consider insane (well at least all of my colleagues), thankfully I have (now) lots of experience and a good base in the tank, I.e. I did a lot of loooong bikes and runs this winter/spring and I have been working on the power, however I have had a very limited chance to swim (usually less than one swim per two weeks)...all a little concerning...For those who either follow me on Strava or look at this web page it should be fairly obvious I have put some good hours in but I am still more worried about this 70.3 than any other I have done, purely because whilst I know I could do a sub 6 on paper I am just not feeling it at the moment....add into it the issues with ICS which I have had (see the older post) and I am taking nothing for granted...
Keep praying for me I can pull the proverbial cat out of the bag :-)
Later
I.
The other fab bit about this is I need to adjust from US time (I have been in Chicago for four days) back to UK ASAP as I have one last push this weekend before that fun bit of LD racing - the taper!!
The past few weeks have been odd to say the least...I have been to Hong Kong, the West Coast of Scotland, Chicago and rural Surrey......all of which have not made the best build for a 70.3 but that is life....this year has just been odd, period. I have done more travel than I though possible (nearly 150k air miles) and a lot of EUROSTAR trips, no triathlons and only one competitive race (an OW 1.5km race which was not good...)...
All of this is not good practice for a race most people would consider insane (well at least all of my colleagues), thankfully I have (now) lots of experience and a good base in the tank, I.e. I did a lot of loooong bikes and runs this winter/spring and I have been working on the power, however I have had a very limited chance to swim (usually less than one swim per two weeks)...all a little concerning...For those who either follow me on Strava or look at this web page it should be fairly obvious I have put some good hours in but I am still more worried about this 70.3 than any other I have done, purely because whilst I know I could do a sub 6 on paper I am just not feeling it at the moment....add into it the issues with ICS which I have had (see the older post) and I am taking nothing for granted...
Keep praying for me I can pull the proverbial cat out of the bag :-)
Later
I.
HK, travels and and interesting discovery
3 August 2012
So Hong Kong....I am glad the coach did not put anything more ambitious in the program than
one run – running in HK was almost impossible, I have never been so
hot....ever....the temp ranged from 32-40 and the humidity was between 85-99%
(99% was the last night if you left the safety of aircon it just looked like you
had showered in your clothes!), when I went running it was somewhere in
the low 30s but the humidity was in the low 90s...I died after about 30mins (I
know it was planned for 45- no chance!)..also there was nowhere nice to run...I
was stuck with the harbour front as apart from that it was crowded
streets...Kowloon is not big!
Next week if gets more fun though! Tuesday is an early
start to get to Olympics for the mens tri in Hyde Park and then we are heading up to Scotland to see my new niece (she was born two weeks
ago!)... but I
plan to take kit for S, B &R as my brother lives on the edge of a Loch so I
might try and get in a swim (possibly to Bute it is the other side of the Loch!)
but certainly will get a bike in....however training might need to be a little more
flexi than set out on the program...frustrating but life gets in the way sometimes!!
On another note something rather
interesting....over the past six month I have struggled with weight gain/fat
deposition and I have been bemused as to why this is... I was at a Psoriatic Arthritis
conference in Stockholm a few weeks back and there was a talk around Iatrogenic
Cushinoid Syndrome in people who use steroids in the chronic setting, the
symptoms are characteristically central obesity, a “moon” face, damage to the
collagen structure leading to thining of skin and development of striae, high
blood pressure and dyslipidamia can also be symptomatic. This is more common
with the more potent inhaled steroids (e.g. fluticasone – in flixonase and
seretide)...On the flight back I had a ponder about it as previously I developed
cushinoid symptoms when on prednisolone I worked out that I was on 600mcg of
fluticasone per day (100mcg from seretide and 400mcg from flixonase) for my asthma
and alergies...this is a high dose (equivalent to 1200mcg of beclamethasone) and
doses of over 500mcg/day are known to impact adrenal function. So I have started
to withdraw the flixonase and there seems to be a change my weight has dropped
for around 93.5kgs to 91.7kgs in 14 days and I am starting to loose the moon
face appearance...I may not be back to my normal shape for Ireland but maybe
before next year!
I will pop the trace from the HK run up later - another in my series of runs around big cities!
Later
I.
The last few days and my longest ride this year!
24 July 2012
So this was my longest ride (and possibly THE longest ride before the 70.3 in Galway!) - the plan was:
60min RPE12-13 rpm around 95(EZish)
30min max effort/top gear (54-12 on my bike)
40min RPE12-13 rpm around 95 (EZish)
20min max effort/top gear
30min spin down
All was good, the bike felt amazing I was riding the HED3s front and rear on this ride with no problems (well apart from how hard they are compared to spoked!!) and I came in to home just as my daughters were going out for a walk with my parents and the dogs - so they got to see me on the bike too :-)
Nutrition went well too - 1200ml of ZV Zero drink (no cals/rehydration) and 4 ZipVit gels (60g of carbs/gel) diluted 50:50 with water - 1/30mins.
Immediately after the ride I went out on a ascending brick run:
10min @ 6:10/km pace
10min @ 6:00/km pace
10min @ 5:50/km pace
it felt great - I really struggled to hold the pace back on the first 2km :-)
So that was the weekend - good training and on Sunday I became Godfather - to one of our friends little boy, Jonathan - v proud!
If only yesterday's swim could have gone as well! the training was planed for and aerobic skill/effort set:
WU: 400m, 300 Ez, 50 moderate, 50 tempo
DR: (Ez!) (400)
1 x 50 (Record stroke count and time)
1 x 50 3/4 catch up
1 x 50 Single arm
1 x 50 6 beat kick and switch with fins
1 x 50 swimming with fins
1 x 50 Paddles and fins
1 x 50 Paddles (keep kicking)
1 x 50 (Record stroke count and time).
MS: (1800)
9 x 200 TEMPO +
20s rest in b/t
CD: 100 - put stroke back together, EASY
....nice and complex!! however I got through the warm up and the drils and then the wheels came off...I am still not sure what happened but I developed pain in my distal biceps area which radiated down my arm - not good! I had to pull up on 200 number 2 and I limped back to the shallow end - i swam down doing 200m of 6beat kick with fins - very unhappy. I saw my GP and I am now referred to the physio - I reckon it is a nerve impingement or cramping/spasming in the long head of triceps (more likely) - more stretching before swimming needed I think!
This morning I got out for an aerobic run - again at ascending pace. This time the plan was:
15min @ 6:10/km pace
15min @ 6:00/km pace
15min @ 5:50/km pace
Which for some reason I found harder than after 3hours on the bike!! Really strange but there you have it - sometimes I just cannot get my head into it and today was one of those days!
Oh well busy few days coming up, I have lots of swimming and running left for the week but then at the weekend I am off to Hong Kong for a short meeting (fly out Sunday, Arrive Monday, Meeting Tuesday/Wednesday and fly home - arriving back on Thursday!) so training WILL be limited...
Later I.
60min RPE12-13 rpm around 95(EZish)
30min max effort/top gear (54-12 on my bike)
40min RPE12-13 rpm around 95 (EZish)
20min max effort/top gear
30min spin down
All was good, the bike felt amazing I was riding the HED3s front and rear on this ride with no problems (well apart from how hard they are compared to spoked!!) and I came in to home just as my daughters were going out for a walk with my parents and the dogs - so they got to see me on the bike too :-)
Nutrition went well too - 1200ml of ZV Zero drink (no cals/rehydration) and 4 ZipVit gels (60g of carbs/gel) diluted 50:50 with water - 1/30mins.
Immediately after the ride I went out on a ascending brick run:
10min @ 6:10/km pace
10min @ 6:00/km pace
10min @ 5:50/km pace
it felt great - I really struggled to hold the pace back on the first 2km :-)
So that was the weekend - good training and on Sunday I became Godfather - to one of our friends little boy, Jonathan - v proud!
If only yesterday's swim could have gone as well! the training was planed for and aerobic skill/effort set:
WU: 400m, 300 Ez, 50 moderate, 50 tempo
DR: (Ez!) (400)
1 x 50 (Record stroke count and time)
1 x 50 3/4 catch up
1 x 50 Single arm
1 x 50 6 beat kick and switch with fins
1 x 50 swimming with fins
1 x 50 Paddles and fins
1 x 50 Paddles (keep kicking)
1 x 50 (Record stroke count and time).
MS: (1800)
9 x 200 TEMPO +
20s rest in b/t
CD: 100 - put stroke back together, EASY
....nice and complex!! however I got through the warm up and the drils and then the wheels came off...I am still not sure what happened but I developed pain in my distal biceps area which radiated down my arm - not good! I had to pull up on 200 number 2 and I limped back to the shallow end - i swam down doing 200m of 6beat kick with fins - very unhappy. I saw my GP and I am now referred to the physio - I reckon it is a nerve impingement or cramping/spasming in the long head of triceps (more likely) - more stretching before swimming needed I think!
This morning I got out for an aerobic run - again at ascending pace. This time the plan was:
15min @ 6:10/km pace
15min @ 6:00/km pace
15min @ 5:50/km pace
Which for some reason I found harder than after 3hours on the bike!! Really strange but there you have it - sometimes I just cannot get my head into it and today was one of those days!
Oh well busy few days coming up, I have lots of swimming and running left for the week but then at the weekend I am off to Hong Kong for a short meeting (fly out Sunday, Arrive Monday, Meeting Tuesday/Wednesday and fly home - arriving back on Thursday!) so training WILL be limited...
Later I.
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