27 days to go

When I pressed the enter button for Frankfurt Ironman just over 300 days ago, I was recovering from a double foot injury and needed something to focus on.  It's hard to believe that the race is only 27 days away.  99% of athletes usually say they are behind in their training for one reason or another. There's always a nagging doubt but this is normal. However the last two weeks training have been the opposite of what they should have been due to illness and now a torn hamstring.  So plan B is being put into place.

My fellow athletes have been putting in the hard miles just as the weather has turned good which is perfect timing.  They will start to taper their training in the last few weeks to allow their body to recover before the race.  Plan B is, I've had my taper, I feel great, apart from my hamstring, so now I need to build the miles back up! Running is out but my physio is confident the work I am doing on a cross trainer will be a good substitute and allow the hamstring to recover.

In an earlier post I said you had to enjoy the 9 month training journey because sometimes you don't make the start line never mind the finishline.  I've enjoyed my journey this far and my PB at the 70.3 a few weeks back demonstrated how the hard work had paid off.  Now I just need to be careful with my hammy to make sure I get to the start line in good shape.

Life doesn't always go to plan but you have to dust yourself down and get back on track.  I can hear cries of ""rule 5" from the cyclists out there but don't worry, there will be a lot of rule 5 being applied! Completing an Ironman successfully is more about your mental strength than anything else. My chimp is being reprogrammed so we deliver Plan B successfully. Can't wait to be standing at the start line ready to dive into the water and start another adventure.

Race season begins

Triathletes train hard all winter so they can be ready for the summer race season.  My season is only going to involve two races; last week's 70.3 Swashbuckler Ironman and in 41 days time, my "A race", the Frankfurt Ironman.  All my training is built around these dates and it gets adjusted as and when required depending on my physical condition or life / work commitments.  This week has been an easier week as I recovered fully from my efforts last week.  Best to let my body recover as last week I gave it everything to achieve my PB.
The focus then went on my club mates who were taking part in different events around Europe this weekend.  It was exciting to be watching the updates on Facebook as they battled against the conditions and each other.  Not everyone achieved their desired result but this will just make them all the more determined. Congratulations to those that did.  This is the culmination of their winter training and in 41 days time it will be my turn.  All I have got to do is double the distance and try and maintain the same pace!  Between now and then my body will be put through hell!  I'm approaching the final stretch of a 9 month programme and all sessions at this stage are crucial.  Planning the diary, work, social life and training will take over so if you're wanting to catch up over a beer best leave it till after 3 July!

Swashbuckler 70.3

My first triathlon in almost 4 years was the Swashbuckler 70.3 (middle distance) and an important part in my training for Ironman Frankfurt in 3 July.  I was lucky to be supported by an experienced ironman and coach Colin Freeman and having someone there was unbelievably helpful.
We got up at 3.30am and forced down some breakfast as transition opened at 4.30 and I was in the elite swimmers (can you believe it!) wave at 6am.  One of the important items to be ticked off the list is to do a poo before going to the race - the portacabins on site are usually destroyed by nervous athletes and they always run out of bog roll so sort it before you arrive.  My system has been trained for this so the first mission accomplished successfully.
We started to build my bike on the grass at 4.30 am in the dark using the car headlights as best we could.  Twice we dropped a critical screw in the long grass but managed to find it - 1st lesson, put a towel under the bike in case something drops!  We ran through the transition discipline making sure we had considered the quickest way to exit with the bike or the run.  This included remembering to press my Garmin on exiting the water, taking my contact lense out that I needed for the swim, and pressing the Garmin on exiting the transition area - I hadn't used the triathlon function before (it worked).
6am and into the water.  It was a tidal river therefore salty and in the two laps I'd be heading "upstream" twice.  It was also my 1st wetsuit swim in 8 months.  I positioned myself towards the back and the side of the group.  The gun went off and I found myself some space and quickly go into a rhythm.  Sighting was impossible swimming into the sun but the second lap was easier as we all had a better idea where we were going.  It turns out they had shortened the swim to 1,600 m due to the tide and the buoys although I wish they hadn't.  I loved the swim and came out in 31 mins.  Then there was a 300m run uphill to transition and the total T1 time was 5min 34 sec - I eventually left my gloves as I couldn't get them on my wet hands.
Out on the bike to a flat course through some of the most beautiful countryside I have been in.  Cattle and horses roam freely and they are far more intelligent than sheep!  They just want to chew grass.  I was in a trisuit (to save time) with a windcheater as it was wasn't 7am yet.  It took me 1hr 40 minutes to feel my hands which resulted in my dropping my 1st prower bar, rip my jel and have half of it going over the bike, struggling to get bottles out of the cage without dropping them and one one occasion not being able to change gears.  I spent the majority of the ride on the bars and this contributed to my average speed of 30kph.  I realised I could get under 3 hours on the bike and pressed on finishing it in 2hrs 59 mins.  T2 was 2min 15 sec which also included ripping another gel and spilling half on my bike!
The run was 2 x 7 mile laps.  Stunning countryside awaited me and I set off at a fast pace.  The first lap took 56 mins and the second lap 57 mins.  The course was reasonably flat and had a beautiful 1.5 mile finish through woodland.  This brought you out at the swim exit and therefore you had to face the 300m climb passing the finishline on the first lap - that's always difficult mentally but you just get on with it.  On the second lap I was picking off runners who were running out of gas.  As I approached the final 300m climb to huge applause from the spectators I put on a sprint to take two runners ahead of me.  Crossed the line and knew I had got a PB by a long way.  My Garmin timings are slightly different from the official time which was 5hrs 32mins but I'm not complaining.  This shows that the 9 months of training to date is paying off.  I've now got 47 days to build on this and deliver a good performance over double the distance!  I can't wait.  Quite a few lessons learned on Sunday which will help me in Frankfurt.
A final word for the organiser.  What an amazing race.  It was friendly and exceptionally well organised.  The marshals couldn't have been more helpful and encouraging.  The setting in the New Forrest is beautiful and of all the 70.3's I have done, this is definitely the most enjoyable and I'll be back.  So I'm now officially a Swashbucker, and proud of it!

Tapering blues?

This time next week hopefully I will have put in a good performance and will have completed the Swashbuckler half ironman in the New Forrest.  My training plan has built this event in and it will give me the opportunity to try out my gear and practise transition.  What I wasn't expecting was the chance to go through the tapering blues.  Tapering is when you reduce the volume of training in the run up to an event but increase the intensity.  What lots of athletes experience with the change is niggles creeping in, aches and pains or in my case a tickly chest cough.  I've been fighting it off since Majorca and it's drained my energy.
As a result I've had to skip a few sessions this week and on Saturday instead of 4 hours on the bike and a 1 hour run off the bike it was only 2.5 hours on the bike feeling hellish, no run. This morning however I completed my bike and run sessions and was pleased with the results.  I'm hoping this means my additional eating to get some more fat on to help with the endurance, and the extra rest I've been taking is starting to pay off and come next weekend I'll be fit and ready.
Feeling like this acts as a reminder that the hardest part of Ironman is not the event itself, not that it's easy, but the 9 months of training to prepare your body and mind.  Getting to the start line injury free is the first objective.  The second is getting there fit.  Everything thereafter is a bonus.  My focus is now on a week today and I am really looking forward to it - my first triathlon in almost 4 years.

Saddle sores and hailstones

The fact I didn't blog last weekend probably tells you I was either training, sleeping, eating or working which is all I seem to have been doing recently.  My training continued after Majorca and on the Saturday I was out for a 5 hour bike ride when my bum, which had been sore, became exceptionally sore.  Turns out I had saddle sores which was literally a pain in the arse.  It didn't make my 5 hour ride any easier and neither did the headwind all the way home.  Stripped and into my running gear for a 1 hour run off the bike.  At least that didn't hurt my bum!
This week has been a real challenge as the sessions get longer and more double sessions so fitting them in with work has been difficult.  On Tuesday I had to run for 2.5 hours so I went out at 5:40am and managed a day at the office.
The weather this week has been very wintery and on Thursday I went out very early to get 1.5 hours on the bike.  Full winter gear except my gloves weren't designed for the artic.  I lost all feeling in my hands and could hardly operate the gears.  I learned my lesson on Saturday and had a tough 4.5 hours in very cold conditions with three hail showers.  I felt terrible during this ride and could easily turned back on numerous occasions but my clubmates got me through it. Again another hours run off the bike and I was well and truly bust.
It's amazing what a good nights sleep can do for you.  I had my longest swim to date with a 4km continuous swim followed by a 45min run.  Considering the amount of training I have put in in the last 2 weeks I feel surprisingly good although obviously tired.  My weight is down at it's lowest and I need to eat more, if that is possible.  There's plenty of time after the race to get back to my "full fat self"!  According to my coach I a exactly where I should be and with a half ironman in 2 weeks that's good to hear.  Let's just hope for some better weather.

Majorca training camp

Following my holiday in Dubai I headed off for a five day training camp in Majorca with my coach and 5 other triathletes.  We ran 4 days out of five, mostly after the bike ride.  I was running strong off the bike so this pleased me especially as we did some long bike rides.  We only did two swims and worked on technique.
I took my "new steed" out with me and it performed well - felt like I had ridden it all my life.  I covered 420km and climbed 22,000 ft - it was absolutely exhausting but I know I have come back a stronger rider and fitter.
I climbed all the major climbs including Sa Colabra after a few long hard days before it.  I really didn't feel up to that climb but persuaded "the chimp" that this was a leg building exercise.  52 minutes of steep climbing certainly proved that to be the case and there is still plenty of climbing on the way home!  Then I went out for a run off the bike and did my fasted average speed probably this year!
That has probably been the hardest training I have ever done and on top of all that we had fun.  Majorca has a lot of hard technical riding which is confirmed by the 146 hospitalisations of cyclists since Feb this year and the 5 deaths!  So while working hard you have to keep your concentration at all times.  74 days to Ironman and a lot of work still to be done.  Bring it on but first of all, I need some sleep followed by more food!

The desert

I'm currently on a short family holiday in Dubai and yesterday we headed off into the high red dunes in the desert.  It was slightly different from the last time I was in a desert.  We were in a luxurious 4x4 dune bashing i.e. an expert driver took the car to its limits with gravity.  Great fun and the fact you had air conditioning and chilled water made it much more comfortable.  But it did bring back memories especially in the evening when we ate in a camp - simple tasty local food, oh and a chilled beer!  It's a holiday after all.

But it hasn't been all sunshine and fun.  Three days in a row I have got up early and gone for a 10km run.  I'm strating to get used to the heat and my pace is increasing but these are tough conditions to run in.  I managed a short swim yesterday but the pool isn't ideal and I got boared.

It would have been nice to take a complete break but that is not adviseable at this stage of my programme.  In a weeks time I head off for some proper triathlon training in Majorca.  It's "just what the doctor ordered" and it will be good to take out my "secret weapon" - watch this space!  In the meantime breakfast calls as I'm starving after that run.