Neovite Test Team
So a couple of months ago I received an email from the guys at Tri247 telling me I had been selected to take part in the Neovite Test Team study, effectively looking at how Neovite, a colostrum supplement affects athletic performance. A few days later and a parcel containing a couple of bags arrived in the post. We had the instructions to take 20g a day for 15 days for the first back, and then 15g for 20 days for the 2nd bag, so it would be a 5 week study.
For those of you that don’t know, Neovite is a dairy protein from milk taken in the first 48 hours after calving, and includes colostrum as well as a whole host of other things that are supposed to be good for you, helping you to build muscle (i.e. recover quicker) and help support your immune system (i.e. get ill less). A lot more information can be found on their website.
I started the trial on Week 1 of my Roth training, and effectively jumped from under 10 hours a week training, to over 15 hours a week, a 50% increase in training. Over the first couple of days I only had small changes in digestive habits, with a bit of bloating and needing to go to the toilet more regularly, all of which settled back down quickly. I certainly had nothing like the horror stories that I had heard about as your stomach and digestive system adjusts to taking the stuff. I do know, however, that I have a fairly solid stomach that can cope with most things, including dodgy food, both questionable cooking and best-before dates, as well training on full stomachs, so having no effect on me wasn’t too much of a surprise.
During the period of the trial, I only had a couple of colds, certainly nothing that affected my training, and only one point where I thought I was getting ill. However this passed very shortly, and overall I stayed in good health, depsite sustaining a lack of sleep at certain points, due to Univeristy work and commitments whilst training full-time.
In terms of recovery, I did seem to be recovering well. I know that I can cope with big increases in training load (my age certainly helps!) but I was surprised at just how well I was coping. Sure, after big days in the saddle, my legs would be tired and sore, for instance, but a good meal and sleep later, and I would be fine the next day, ready to cope with the next day’s training, so I do feel that I was recovering quicker whilst on the Neovite. Since I stopped taking it, I do appear to be recovering slightly slower, though how much of this was down to not taking Neovite, and how much was affected by my Final Year Project deadline, which was adding a lot of external stress and significantly reducing my sleep, is difficult to tell.
I attempted many methods of taking it. I tried just with water, tasted horrible. With squash or juice – made it quite thick and odd-tasting. With a smoothie – didn’t mix at all, and I might as well have just eaten the powder on its own! With milk – mixed well, but still had an odd taste. With milk and nesquick – perfect! Mixes well and tastes nice. Just had to ignore the amount of milk I was drinking!
Overall I felt that the Neovite helped me go from a relatively small maintenance training load, back up to training full time pretty well, and helped me recover from it well, and kept me healthy. I certainly didn’t feel any negative side-effects. How much was down to a placebo effect, diet and general fitness, and how much could be accounted for by the Neovite is difficult to tell, though on balance I think it certainly helped, and will certainly consider it when going on training camps, or attempting big increases in training.
Inspiring Kids
Demoing The Wetsuit
So last weekend I headed down south for a job interview, and whilst I was down there I managed to visit my old school, Lambrook, and give a couple of talks to the kids there about triathlons. They actually run a triathlon in the summer there, with the kids swimming a couple of lengths of the school pool, doing a lap of the grounds on their bikes and then running a lap of one of the fields, so when I asked at the start if anyone had done a triathlon before, I got a nice show of hands.
The first talk I gave was to the Pre-Prep, which is 4-6 year olds, in their morning assembly. After a quick five minute presentation, I was inundated with 10 minutes of questions (and quite a few from the teachers!) until they had to go to their lessons, which was a relief after dreading an awkward silence with no one being that interested!
Setting Up For The Talk
The main talk I gave was on Saturday afternoon, to the main school, with ages ranging from 6-13, and with a turn out of most the school. I took along my bike and wetsuit to talk about and show the kids and started with a quick introduction to the sport, talking through the different distances and then stages, and then talked about my experiences of the sport, racing 2 Ironmans and how I train and prepare for them.
Since the previous talk had overrun, I cut this one short, knowing that the kids would have more experience of the sport so hopefully more questions. I finished my talk after 20 minutes and then opened up for questions, leaving a generous amount of time to fill in my hour slot. Sure enough,, as soon as I finished I had questions galore, and was challenged with some very good and interesting questions. They ranged from the usual ‘what happens when you need to go to the toilet’ and ‘what happens when you fall off and are clipped into your bike’, to the more pressing about ‘what drives you to do this’ and to ‘when do you think you will stop doing triathlons’.
Answering Questions
All the kids were extremely attentive and the time flew by with the questions. Even the teachers enjoyed it and had their fair share of questions! Before I knew it, and with still a sea of hands, I was told we had to stop after the next question and my time was up as the kids had to get off to their lessons. A few of the older ones who had lessons with the teachers who were there, stayed behind and got to have a play with my kit and ask more detailed questions as well as the teachers, a few of whom taught me when I was 13 all those years ago!
It was an extrememly enjoyable experience, and so rewarding to see all the kids (and teachers!) so interested in what I had to say, and the feedback I got was that they were talking about it with great enthusiasm afterwards in their lessons. If I have inspired just a few of them to try out the sport or get involved with exercise, then I leave a happy man.
As a final plug, if anyone wants me to come talk at their school, their kid’s school, or their work, just ping me and email (at the top right) and I’ll be happy to sort something out.
Getting Ready For Roth
So a long time has passed since my last post and a lot has happened! I have spent the last few weeks deep in exams which has reduced my training significantly (and any blog updates!) but it hasn’t all been quiet.
November saw the completion of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Challenge and the accompanying knee injury that took a while to heal. Whilst I felt I was recovered in few weeks, it took a lot longer for all knee pain to disappear and for the exhaustion to finally go. It was great fun but not something I would do in the middle of the season.
December and January saw the start of the returning to a decent training schedule and fitting in what I could around work and holiday opening hours. This time last year I had just returned from Lanzarote having put in a good solid week of training but being completely knackered. This year sees me returning from good few solid weeks of revision and being completely knackered! I do however feel I am in much better shape than last year: my weight is a lot lower and I am certainly carrying around a lot less winter insulation, and my speed and fitness are better.
Goals For 2011
So the main goal for this year is going sub 10 hours at Roth. Not exactly an easy challenge but I want to push myself and certainly think it is possible, especially on that course. Having nearly broken 11 hours at Switzerland, and ‘Roth’adjusting’ the time, it means I need to improve by 30-45 mins, which after another year in the sport should certainly be achievable. Having a time goal gives me some nice times for each discipline to aim for:
- Swim – 1 hour
- Bike – 5 hour 15
- Run – 3 hour 30
- Contingency/Transitions – 15 mins
The other main race for the year (providing it isn’t sold out when I can pay for it!) is Ironman UK 3 weeks later to see how close I can get to a qualifying spot. A gap of 3 weeks is going to be tough, but I proved from the PCC that I can cope with the distance, it will just be a question of recovering as best I can to keep a decent pace up. With 3 slots available in my age group this year, it should hopefully mean I get pretty close. Sub 11 hours here shouldn’t be out of the question providing Roth goes well and I recover well.
Whilst I am seeing good signs in some areas of training currently, and having doubts in other areas, I do need to remind myself that I have a significant amount of time between now and my races, and this things should all come, especially as I am not planning on any 2 week, volcano-stranded holidays giving me an extended forced rest and losing my shape!
Approaching The Training Plan
I want to get myself into a routine again and start churning out consistent weeks. Whilst I had a fairly good place last year, I was missing some of that solid consistency that I am aiming for last year. Taking 2 weeks off training in the middle of the season wasn’t exactly ideal.
I did however manage to absorb fairly high training loads and be able to train day in, day out, things that I want to take through into this year. My basic plan will be nice and simple, 5 sessions per sport per week, 15 sessions in total. Due to weekend club sessions and commuting on the bike, I will attempt to work back into getting some training again last year, and then have a recovery week every 4 weeks where I drop the hours back massively, take a complete day off at the weekend, have a lie in etc and drop a few sessions in the week. This should allow me a decent recovery for the next block. To begin with I will keep the hours low and the frequency high to get the sessions in, get a routine back and work towards a consistent training week.
The Swim
With a target time of 1 hour, I know I need to be able to hold 1:34/100m pace. Though with a draft and a wetsuit this will be a few seconds lower.
I have put a lot of work into my swimming over the last couple of months, ramping up the number of sessions I do a week and mileage and making the most of having a swim squad to train with. I have moved up lanes and now train in either the top or second lane, swimming with some very good swimmers, which is great for pushing me. Taking 12 minutes off my swim is a big ask, but I know I didn’t swim hard enough last year and had a rough swim and with a year of squad training I am hoping to make breaking the hour a reality. Currently I am swimming at a threshold pace in the high 1:30s so with 5/6 months of work, I should easily be able to take this down to the low 1:30s.
The plan is to swim 4 times a week with the swim squad, with will provide me with enough mixed sessions and lots of speed work as I desperately try to hang on the back of better swimmers. I will also have 1 session a week concentrating specifically on endurance work, which will be a 4k session of 4x1k, 2x2k or 4k straight to ensure that I can hold the pace and mixing it up with paddles, bands and pool buoys to help technique, power and balance.
The Bike
The bike is the leg where I have the most work to do. Aiming for a 5 hour 15 bike split means I need to be able to average over 34kph, which is a significant jump on last year. Whilst the course at Roth will certainly help bump my speed up, I will need to do a lot of work on my endurance and FTP for this to be achievable. Club rides, especially the University Cycling Club session will help with this, as they usually end up with us attacking each other over and over and really helped my speed pick up towards the end of last year after only a couple of months. Returning to these should help pick the bike up and as the days get longer, so will the rides and so hopefully will my endurance. Lots of TT races, another club sessions will all help add to this, as well as specific interval sets. The plan is to have 3 big bikes a week, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, and interval set and then an easy recovery ride a week.
On top of the training I also have a new bike! Damaging my decent road bike forced my hand and I brought a TT bike, complete with a power meter! It will take a while to get used to, and I still need to do some work on my position but it is already feeling fast! Hopefully the benefits of having a power meter will enable specific training and racing. The main problems with the bike are that I am unable to yet find a saddle I am comfortable on for the aero position, and the crank length is longer than I am used to. Currently this means pedalling feels a lot harder, and I am unable to spin the legs. This should get easier as I get used to it, I just need an adaptation stage. Worst case, I have a spare crank that I can switch in, which is my usual length, but it has a GXP bottom bracket instead of the ISIS the Ergomo uses, so I would be without a power meter. Hopefully I can get used to the crank!
The new bike finished and race ready... although the Zipps have been put away til Summmer!
First impressions of the bike are great though! I finally took it out on the road at the weekend and got 4 hilly hours in. It is nice to be back on a decent bike after so long on my heavy commuter and even with the aero levers, it is nice to be able to stop when going down hill! Once I get used to the crank and holding the aero position, I should be flying!
The Run
A sub 3:30 marathon would put me in the top 12% at the London marathon… putting it together at the end of an IM is another story! Effectively I need to hold 12kph, or 5 min/km pace. So this is what I am focusing my training on. Now having a Garmin, I know with greater detail what pace I am running at, how my heart rate is coping with that, where I lag on long runs, the effect of taking food on etc. I need to work towards making 5:00/km pace my easy pace, so that I know I can hold this at the end of the race. Certainly all my current runs are looking good, and my threshold pace is in the 4:20s. So all my non-easy runs need to be under 5:00 min pace and I need to work towards my long run hitting below this in the long term.
The plan is in the week to have a long run, a threshold run, and interval run, a brick run and then either another brick, a hill run or a recovery run, depending on the week and how I am feeling.
Fitting it all together
I am still working out how to balance all the sessions, so will put another post up when I have worked out how everything will fit together. Once a routine comes together, consistent training will follow, and consistency is the key to success.
It should be a good year
WordPress 2010 in review
Some interesting stats from last year are below! A long break has passed since my last post, and will be putting another post up soon about the season ahead, goals and plans. Other upcoming posts include my training plan, and my switch to Vibrams.
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,300 times in 2010. That’s about 6 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 36 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 75 posts. There were 5 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 585kb.
The busiest day of the year was July 28th with 70 views. The most popular post that day was Ironman Switzerland.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, twitter.com, man-tri-club.org.uk, uk.linkedin.com, and en.wordpress.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for kona krazy, ribby hall triathlon, kona qualification, ribby hall triathlon 2011, and pembrokeshire coastal challenge.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
Ironman Switzerland July 2010
4 comments
About August 2009
Results October 2009
Schedule February 2010
3 comments
Preparing For Lanzarote Training Camp January 2010
2 comments
Llandudno Triathlon
Given my current mood, anyone would think I had a bad race. Far from it, I went under my target time, PBed it every discipline and placed well. However I still feel like something went wrong, and a series of kit mishaps, including my watch dying on me (again), bike computer stop working and breaking my sunglasses haven’t helped, but hopefully I’m just tired!
The Swim
I remember thinking this last year too, but halfway through the swim I thought there is no way in hell am I doing this again. I had a horrible swim, and just got completely battered by the waves. The conditions were horrible and I suffered big time. But so did everyone, and nothing could be done so I just plodded on (although they got better as the day improved, especially the wind, giving the 2nd wave a slight advantage). Overall, I actually felt good, and whenever there was a break in the waves, I was swimming well. That was until I got clobbered by another wave and it broke any rhythm I might have had. The waves made it impossible to sight, and my course was questionable. So coming out of the swim and seeing 26 mins, I was rather surprised, and once I had spat out the gallons of sea water I had swallowed I ran into transition.
T1
As ever, I had fun getting my wetsuit off (I really need to trim the limbs) but I didn’t tear it this year. Helmet on, grabbed my bike and I was gone.
The Bike
Coming onto the bike, you get off the prom, and then straight into the wind and up a big climb. The wind certainly made it a tough course, and the roads were questionable. I’m sure some of the potholes that were marked out were there last year! But I was quickly overtaking lots of people and climbing well. Once my legs warmed up and they woke up, I felt great. Having the last few days as easy meant for once I had some energy in my legs. Having the compact on also allowed me to spin past some of the people on their bling tt bikes who were forced to grind up in big gears. With each lap I felt better and better, helped by the wind dying down, and on all of the climbs I didn’t get overtaken by anyone. I lost time to people on the small amount of flats, which is fair enough as I wasn’t in full aero gear, and on the descents where the dodgy roads made for some interesting descending! However, as my IM tune up, there was no way I was going to take risks flying over potholes and round corners so I’m not going to loose any sleep over it. Coming onto the fourth lap it started to get really busy as all 3 waves were out on the course, but I powered past the big group on the climb, giving me a free descent and run into transition in a time of 1 hour 15.
T2
Once I had found my space, which was difficult given the number of clear plastic boxes there, I racked my bike and then messed about putting my socks on. But as before, the main aim of the race was to make sure everything for my IM is ok. Once the shoes were on, I ran out and was told that I had 11 people in front of me.
The Run
Unfortunately, I didn’t see a single one of these 11 people until I got close to the turn around! I was left to run my own race, which was fine by me. I quickly fell into a good rhythm and felt good. Running down the prom I felt comfortable, and then all of a sudden you are faced with a huge hill! This was just a case of slog it up to the top, and over again. Once over the hill we had a fairly flat run to the turn around and I felt good again. I had a small section going up the climb where I had a bit of tightness but it soon loosened up. Getting up to the turnaround, I saw the main pack of people in front of me, but they were just too far in front to catch, apart from one so I pushed on regardless, and then we hit the hill again, and it was TOUGH! Going up however, I caught the girl in front of me (Didn’t get chicked ;D) and then had a good run on the descent and push to the finish, with a run time of 42 mins. Pretty good considering the course. I’m glad my foot held up over the run, though it is hurting now!
Overall
Finish time of 2:26:22, which given it is about 15 mins slower than a normal olympic I’m told, I can be pretty happy with. I was 4th in my age group, and 1st and 2nd overall were in my age group too! Overall I was 21st, so not bad, though I would have liked top 20. Will have to wait for the results to come out before I can do some analysis on my times and placings. Yet again, it was a fantastic event, and the town really embrace it, with mainly closed roads and lots of people supporting, especially through the town centre. I may be back next year, that’s if I’ve forgotten the taste of the sea and the sea sickness by then!
Man Tri Training Weekend
So…. only a week late! But never mind
So last Friday, I traped off to the middle of the Peak District with around 30 others from Man Tri to get a good weekend of training in. When we arrived, it was a 30 min run to loosen the legs up from the long journey and I felt pretty good! In the evening we all went to the only pub in the village and enjoyed some decent home cooked food – which for me and a couple of others also involved eating our body weight in the most amazing chocolate cake known to man! Despite the grossly huge number of calories I’m sure were in there, we would need it for the day to come.
Saturday morning was an early start before the big ride of the weekend. We all set off in one big group, and then as soon as we hit the first main climb, I worked my way up to the front group just as the hammer was dropped and we blasted up to the top. The legs were feeling ok, considering I had only been on a bike for 20 mins a couple of days before since the Fred Whitton. After the next big climb when we split the group for the 2nd time, maps were passed around and then it was hammer time again! Going up an A road, a group of about 8 of us took an early turning and ended up getting lost – a sign of things to come! We picked up Anne who had dropped her chain on a climb and towed her to the first town, when we dropped her off after some amazing descents and then headed off.
The roads were pretty good and my legs started to come through, doing some big turns on the front and just enjoying group riding again. I have to say I am being spoilt for choice with my riding lately, with the Lakes the week before and the Peaks this weekend! It was an interesting ride as well, with a few ‘Closed Road’ signs which we decided to go through anyway. In the end, we got to practise a bit of cyclocross, carrying our bikes through building sites, dug up roads and tutting builders, but it was good fun especially as we ended up attacking each other pretty much every hill, especially me and Harsh.
After a few hours, a couple of guys decided they had had enough of our hill antics and took a shortcut home. We pressed on, and ended up in a farm, wondering where the hell we were! The roads were pretty small and we had to have a few map checks with some walkers to get us on the right track, but we decided to go off the route and find some decent roads as it was too slow going. On the final climb home, Harsh did his usual thing of starting an attack and waiting for me to jump and hammer it up to the top while he sat up and either enjoyed a tow or watched me suffer! We blew the group apart again, and it took a while to regroup, but I managed to keep my nutrition under control, which I was pleased with. We ended up doing about 6 hours (4hr 20 ride time) and 110k, and although I was tired, I didn’t blow at all thankfully. My saddle sore, which I picked up at the Fred Whitton (hence why no time on the bike on the week) however was not amused with 6 hours on the bike and was extremely sore!
When we got back, I went for a short run again. However, where we were, you either went left and down a massive hill, or right and up a massive hill… I opted for right and had a look for some trails. Finding one trail, I followed it for about 50m, until it went seemingly directly upwards! Deciding to stick to the roads I bashed out half an hour, though I don’t recommend an entire malt loaf in between a brick session! My stomach was not happy.
As soon as I got back, I had to quickly grab my swim kit, as it was off for a group swim. Having been told that it was a very warm pool, despite it being outside, I left my wetsuit back at the accommodation. We got to the pool to see a notice of “Apologies but the pool heater is broken so it may be a little cold!” – annoying as I was hoping to get some wetsuit practise in before my half IM! Anyway, it was freezing! We soon warmed up and set off with some IM style main sets, would have been interesting to see my butterfly! It was also quite amusing seeing people sporadically jumping out of the pool with cramp, knowing that it would hit us all soon. Amazingly however, it never came for me! I got one little twinge in my quad in a butterfly set but that was it. I was also pleased with seeing that my swimming was not as bad as I thought, both having it looked at by our resident professional triathlete Jacqui, and where I was swimming in the squad.
After a much better sleep (despite ending up sticking to the plastic mattress) it was another early start for Sunday to fit everything in before everyone left at lunch. After spending a good 10 mins trying to find someway I could sit on my bike and with copious amounts of chamois cream applied, we set off for a few hours on the bike, though this was a much more leisurely pace until we hit Winnats Pass. Thankfully my legs weren’t too bad from the day before and I was first up to the top, which was reassuring. After a cafe stop and having an incredible bacon and sausage sandwich, things heated up on the way back and the pace shot up. However, after about 10 mins, my front derailleur decided to twist round and jam itself into my crank. Thankfully there was no major damage, and I managed to fix it roadside. One guy stopped and we headed off back home, but I got us lost (again) so it was back to the map to try and plot a route home. Having decided that my phone would give us the best route home, we followed it, only to discover the road was closed for a half marathon! We picked up a group of girls and headed home with them, another ‘scenic routes’ which gave us a good 3 hours on the bike again. A few of us set out for a run after, and I stayed out to do my first hour long brick run outside of training ever I think! Legs were pretty dead to begin with, but I got a bit stronger towards the end, though the hills really didn’t help!
In total, I clocked up a good 12 hours of training, which was great! An awesome weekend, with some great people, and it was so nice to be back to squad training again, just helps you push that little bit harder. One thing I did notice, was yet again my diet went to pot. I was consuming too much junk food and it has shown this week in an extended recovery time. I need to work on getting enough calories in when I do big bouts of training, but keep some of the goodness in there.
This week has seen me struggling to recover from 2 hard weeks (and a weekend of junk food!). My running has taken a hit, and through various reasons (including an exploding oven!) I didn’t get any long runs in during the week. On Wednesday, Mike and I went out for a long bike to scout Le Terrier, and my legs just didn’t want to play ball, especially on the climbs. To be fair we did clock up 87k of riding and 2000m of climbing (which is half the Fred Whitton! Not bad given I had done an interval swim in the morning and a full days work!) but I didn’t have the top end power. An easy day on Thursday and Friday has given my legs time to recover, and today I had my first 2 hour run in an absolute age! With the incredible weather, it was a hot one, and I lasted about 90 mins of feeling good until I started to die from lack of fuel and dehydration, but I still clocked up 23.5k, so can’t complain! I will get a long bike in tomorrow, with a brick run, then another long bike on Tuesday before my taper begins for the Beaver in 7 days!!
Finally, I appear to have been sucked deeper and deeper into the ultra-endurance world, and am currently planning some other crazy events. Will keep you posted
Tim
Moulding The Plan
So with this year having the focus on actually doing an Ironman properly, I have made a few changes to the training plan as I have gone along. The first of these was to drop Lymm Triathlon from the schedule, which was mainly due to the fact that I had missed 2 weeks of training and needed to log miles in my legs to prepare for the Fred, and smashing myself on a sprint the week before probably wouldn’t have had the best effect!
With the Fred out of the way, I have moved into concentrating on my running this week, running every day (except yesterday) and gradually increasing the length of each session. With the switch to the Newtons, I was told to expect lots of calf and foot pain as I adapted to running ‘properly’ but I haven’t had a single twinge at all! Personally I put this down to doing all my athletics at school barefoot on a grass track and wearing flimsy flip flops throughout the year, when it really probably isn’t sensible to! Looking at the tread pattern on the bottom of them, I’m pleased to see that there is hardly any wear on the heels, and most of it is on the midfoot lugs, which means that my technique is getting to where it should be, though I need a lot more miles before it really begins to flow.
With the Beaver Half distance coming up in two weeks, the focus is getting myself back into decent long distance shape. The Fred Whitton, and all the training for it has really helped pick up my bike shape, though I need more endurance work of this to last the full IM and still have good legs after. So I have entered Le Terrier and planning lots of big rides to get used to riding long.
My running is going well, and I just need to get myself into decent half marathon shape for the Beaver, so it will be a big week next week, which a couple of 2 hour runs. Finally swimming is going well, and I am feeling good in the water. I need a bit of speed work to pick it back up after the break, and then to just get used to the distance, by increasing the distances to 4k, and a couple of 4k swims!
So it is 10 weeks to go until the big day this weekend!!! I am geting ready, by heading off to the Peaks for a training weekend later today, which will consist of 3 runs, 2 long bikes, a swim and a core session. Then I have a two week period to get myself ready for my (first ever!) middle distance race, then the usual 5 week build, 3 week taper. Just need to put a training plan together to work out how to fit 25+ hours in a week!
Hope training is going well,
Tim
The Fred Whitton
So despite being exhausted and much rather couped up in bed with a bowl of coco pops and some csi on, I thought I best get this out before I forget everything!
So I have completed the Fred Whitton! And boy was it one hard ride! I don’t think it was the hardest ride I’ve ever done. The IM bike reccee I did in Lanza came pretty close, though in terms of complete blowing up and fatigue, that has to be awarded to the Tour Of The Peaks race last year, with terrible conditions and a standard chainset. Having the compact made a huge difference, I paced better, I spun more easily and most importantly, I didn’t walk!
So I finished in 7 hours 47, though total ride time was about 7 hours 10. This gives me a ‘first class’ ride, for breaking 8 hours, which given that a couple of weeks ago it took me about 9 and a half, with a night’s sleep and lots of food and rest at half way! I set off with 2 aims (later three when I realised I was going to be slightly quicker than 9 hours!) of not walking, and not blowing up.
Mike and me set off at about half 7 and almost immediately caught a small pack so sat with them and did a bit of pacing up to Hawkshead Hill. As soon as we hit it, the compact came into its own, and instead of brute forcing my way up, like I used to do, I was actually able to spin up it, and felt pretty good! Turning around, we had dropped all but one of the pack already. On the descent, a small peleton formed, and I got a nice tow all the way upto Kirkstone Pass, keeping my HR nice and low, and saving myself for later. When we hit the climb, I settled into a rythym and pushed up to the top. As Kirkstone has the best (and possibly only decent) descent on the course, I put in a burst 50m from the top to drop all the riders around me, and have a clear run down to the bottom, which I flew down.
At the bottom I was soon overtaken my a couple of guys flying along. I jumped and tucked into their wheel, to see how it went. At the beginning it was fine, but as we got on, I soon realised my HR was starting to creep up, but I decided it was too good an opportunity to miss, and did my bit pacing them up the climb to the A66. As soon as we hit the A road, the big guy took to the front and flew off. A burst later, and I was sitting on his wheel, flying along at 50kph and loving it! As we hit the ascent on the road, we began to sweep up riders who stuck to our wheels, and annoyingly were perfectly happy to sit there and let us do the work. As soon as the other guy moved out to let me take over, I was hit by the wind, and lack of draft, but I felt I needed to repay my debt and powered along, forcing the HR up, which I was going to pay for later. The benefit of this was that I effectively got a free tow to Honister once we got off the main road, so I think it was a price worth paying. As we hit Honister, we immediately had a 25% gradient to fight with. I got up it, and for the first time since recceing it all those times, managed to get up it! Although with a big burn in the legs, which was made worse when I looked down at my cassette at the top and saw I still had another gear!
The descent is best described as ‘bumpy’! How they manage to resurface a road so badly that it seems they used an egg shape roller to smooth it out is beyond me! Anyway, I managed not to get thrown off my bike, and almost immediately and hit the feed station in 3 hours. A quick thought, and I realised, I only had to hold 20kph to come in under 8 hours! Granted there were some obstacles in the way, but it should be doable! I stuffed some food in me and set off again, to be immediately hit by Newlands, one of the toughest climbs, and although not quite as steep as some of the others, it just goes on for EVER! Over the top and another dodgy descent, and then you move onto Winlatter. At this point, the extended pushes previously, and lack of eating for smashing it out upto Honister, began to catch up with me, and I could feel my legs starting to go. Once at the top, I had no choice but to back off and force some food down me. 4 hours in, and my stomach was not happy, partly due to dehydration, and probably too many gels. In the whole ride, I only had a cliff bar, and half an SiS bar. Usually I would have 4 or 5!
Between 110k and 140k, I found myself in a bad place, small chainring, praying for descents, and begging for no hills! But gradually my legs began to come through, and when I got to the 2nd feed stop, I had some proper food, and bit of a rest and stretch and some water. Having made up a bottle of ZipVit at the first feed stop, I found that I REALLY do not like it, and as a result hadn’t really drunk much. After all the gels, and energy drink, some water was a welcome relief.
With 40k to go, I had plenty of time for an 8 hour ride, with only the small problem of Hard Knott and Wrynose in the way! The little teasers before Hard Knott, really sapped the legs and in the 5k up to it, I just sat up, had some water and hoped my legs would come through. With a couple of k today, I took my caffeine gel that I had had for years, and it was horrible! But I forced it down, and soon felt the effects. Given that I don’t drink tea or coffee, by the time I hit the bottom of Hard Knott, I was buzzing! Despite this I didn’t think I would make it up to the top, but just carried on to see how far I got. The initial bit was tough, but with 5 less teeth on the front than last time I did it, it felt remarkably good. After the initial section of the climb is a little respite, where I took on water, a gel and tried to recover before the 33% section. Going up it, I zoned up, weaved in and out of all the walkers, and only nearly flipped my bike once when I lifted the front wheel up! Once I got round the worse corner, it eased of too a balmy 20%. My legs were burning, and I’m sure my chest was about to explode, but with so little to the top, I pushed through and arrived at the top, a heaving, wheezing exhausted mess.
A rest at the top, with more food and water, and then it is down the most dangerous descent I know, on the brakes all the way down, hoping you don’t find yourself falling down a massive cliff as you overshoot a switchback. Once at the bottom, there is a tiny bit of recovery before Wrynose, which compared to Hard Knott felt quite easy! Once at the top, it was 10k to go, and I just went for it, and managed to hold a good speed up and then down to Coniston, coming in under 8 hours and with not walking! I even managed to run afterwards, and despite the complete lack of energy, didn’t feel too bad! Although I blew, it wasn’t on the mega scale of some previous rides so was happy with that.
This week I need to get some running in before the Beaver Middle Distance in 3 weeks, as I haven’t done over 45 mins in the Newtons yet! I also need to recover from the massive saddle sore I have annoyingly picked up today, for my training weekend next weekend with Man Tri. Looking forward to another mega weekend of cycling and a few big runs.
Now, time for CSI, Coco Pops and bed!
Damage Limitation
First blog post in a long time – and a lot has changed. As those of you who follow my twitter feed will know, whilst out in Russia I got stuck there thanks to the volcano, meaning I was out there and missed over 2 complete weeks of training. 10 days was borderline dangerous, 16 days was bad, meaning I lost a lot of fitness, strength and endurance, for what I found out now was essentially a wasted trip; but the less said about that chapter of my life the better.
So for now, that means I have to try and recover what I have thrown away. The main problem I have is that the Fred Whitton is on Sunday. Last weekend Mike, Andy and I went to the Lakes and did the course over 2 days, camping overnight at roughly half way. Two 4 and a half bike days after over 2 weeks completely off was not good! The first day I felt terrible, but thankfully I felt a lot better on the 2nd day, and managed to recover some sort of fitness. It’s nice to know that I still recover quickly.
The weekend gave me some fitness back, and a big bike week, and another planned big double day today and tomorrow should hopefully get something back. Having lost some of my top end power, I have fitted a compact, and hopefully once I am used to that I should be able to get round the course ok, and with no walking!
The other 2 sports pose a bit of a problem. After the Fred Whitton, I have a Man Tri training weekend, of 3 days in the Peaks which should be pretty good, then I will do a run specific week to pick that up and then it is the Beaver Half Ironman Triathlon.
With a swim specific week after this in June sometime, and some more solid hours, hopefully I should be OK and not lose too much fitness for Switzerland.
Anyway, for now it is time for some food, then get out on the bike for a few hours while the weather is good. Will hopefully have something up after the Fred.
Tim
Running, Russia and Relaxation!
Just a quick post before I fly out to Russia tomorrow morning for the most time I’ve had of since my Ironman! I am off to Russia tomorrow morning for 10 days to see the girlfriend and have a bit of a mid season break.
To be honest, I really need a break. My body is slowly getting worse, I am very tired and losing motivation. With bank holidays, travelling, catching up with people and a bug, I have let training slip the last few weeks. Easter was meant to be a big solid bike weekend, but my legs were absolutely dead. I have put in a good few solid days of training, but am lacking the recovery that I had a couple of months ago. However, all is not lost! There is plenty of time to pick it up, and my general fitness is very good. A Max Strength weights block has also taken any power out of my legs, so when I have finished that, my recovery will shoot up.
Despite this, I have taken the plunge and made a big effort to complete my running. Lately my running has been pretty good, and I am running nice and light, and nice and efficiently, but I have gone all the way and brought myself a pair of Newtons. 2 things I have noticed from these. First, I already run with a pretty good midfoot landing, and wandering around in barefoot/flip flops half my life, means that my feet and lower legs are pretty well conditioned. So I haven’t had any of the usual sore calfs people apparently get after making the switch, which is good, despite some relatively big mileage in them. Second, they make you run completely midfoot. If you don’t (like when you’re legs are knackered like mine have been), you feel like you are trying to run the day after an Ironman! There have been moments though, when everything has clicked and I run almost silently and feel great. A couple more weeks in them to get used to them, and I will hopefully run properly. And when I do, it feels fantastic! I just need to get used to having a new design of shoes for the first time in 5 years, and the blisters that come with it!
Anyway, bed time now. I fly out in 6 and a half hours…
Tim
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Just a quick post to say Merry Christmas to all of you! Enjoy a good break, indulge in food and here’s to a great 2010!
Tim
The Tour Of The Peaks
Well after a solid few weeks of training (i.e. not a lot, no serious training for a week, no running for 2 weeks, and only a couple of sessions in the saddle) and having been battling a chest infection in the week leading up as well, I found myself on the way to the Tour Of The Peaks cycle race. I think it’s safe to say I wasn’t exactly in the best shape! The forecast did not exactly look good, with some torrential rain due to pass over us bang in the middle of the ride, and winds forecast to be comparable to the Tour of the Pennines. So all looking good then! But it was a century ride, a chance for a bit of fun, and meet some of the guys from the 220 Forum and BCTTT.
A group of 4 of us set off at just after half 8 and had a bit of a chat until the first hill where I took off and dropped them (mistake no 1). In all fairness with the standard gearing on my bike, and not having a compact crank (mistake no 2) I couldn’t really go much slower for my cadence but I should have kept the power down. Originally the plan had been to do it in around 6 hours, which I thought was reasonable, though maybe give or take half an hour or so due to the illness. I did the Manchester 100 in around 5.20 last a year ago off 2 weeks training, so figured with improved fitness and a few hills, 6 hours should be a good target. How wrong I was! And lets just say ‘a few hills’ was probably the same understatement as saying my Ironman was ‘quite a long day’! Anyway, within the first couple of k, we hit an uphill bit and it never seemed to end, a sign of things to come. At the first descent I stopped at the top to take off my arm warmers underneath my jersey as then proceeded on the descent only for a few seconds later to meet a group of cyclists waving and saying slow down. Ramming on the brakes, I could see why, there were just bodies and bikes everywhere. I saw a couple of broken wrists, a couple of broken collar bones, a guy just flat out unconscious who looked like he had gone head first into a wall and I later heard he had been airlifted to hospital with serious neck injuries, and the guy on his wheel had gone over the wall, bike and all, and had had a nasty landing in the field, which needed an ambulance. It was not pleasant, but there were lots of cyclists attending, on the phone, warning other cyclists, clearing parts of bikes, and I would have just been in the way, so I continued on, though heavily on the brakes. We then hit a town, and after a short detour through a car park after missing a turning, started on the Cat and Fiddle. I’ve done this climb many times, and it is a fantastic climb so just settled into a good pace and rode up it, overtaking a fair few. I had been hoping to find a group and sit in a pack, taking my turns at the front and have a good group ride for most of the course, but with the dangerous descents and no one my pace on the climbs, it looked like it was going to be a solo ride.
I was feeling pretty good, and getting lots of nutrition on, and then 30k in, changing gear on a descent my front derailleur twisted around somehow and jammed in my crank. This was an immediate stop and out with the tool kit trying to fix it. I managed to loosen it and straighten in up, but without a stand and pliers, there was no way I could get enough tension in the cable. But it seemed to shift ok, even if a little hesitant. It would do. Back on the bike and immediately I heard grinding like my chain was rubbing against the front mech. So off the bike again and I couldn’t see anything wrong. I tried everything, but I couldn’t replicate it pedalling with my hands holding the bike up. It seemed fine so I had to carry on, doing god knows what damage to my chain, crank and front mech. I still haven’t worked out what it is, and I wonder how much the grinding was slowing me down. It certainly felt like I had my brakes on at points! Anyway, I was still feeling ok, even though this was nearly 2 hours in now, right up until Winnats Pass. This climb is an absolute killer. Even at the start, it didn’t look particularly steep that bit, but I was already in the smallest gear, thinking I had blown or my brake was on. But there was a couple of guys who I was sat behind who said “wow 8mph already” so I knew it wasn’t just me. Then the climb proceeds up and up getting steeper and steeper. As soon we got to the main section I was out of the saddle, all my zips open, heart rate skyrocketing, grinding away trying to wrench myself up it. I was overtaking loads of people who had given up and were walking it, but I persisted (mistake no 3), I eventually made it, with my heart rate hitting 213 bpm!!! 
Will be interesting to see my HR data for this. Having absolutely beasted myself up the climb, my legs were GONE! I coasted down the hill and then the wind picked up. I reached the first aid station, feeling quite tired, but not too bad. I refilled my bottles, had a bar and then set off again. Mistake no 4 was not taking any solids on offer at this point, and had dire consequences towards the end. I continued on and gradually got more tired, but at about 80k I found a small pack and tagged along with them, pulling me up the hills for a while, seeing if I could hang on to the 2nd aid station. I ended up 2nd man in the line, then the lead guy slowed down, and I thought that was my cue to take over and pull the pack at about 95k, so I went to the front, carried on for a bit, then turned around and they had all dropped back to eat and chat! Having had this gone, my legs just gave way and that was pretty much the end of the ride for me. We then hit a massive climb, which isn’t one of the main climbs, but was a killer. When I saw my speed drop below 6kph, and with nothing in my legs, and my lower back killing me, I decided to walk. It was a humbling experience, with me not being a quitter. But I needed it to finish the ride. I dragged myself to the 2nd aid station and just piled the food in. At this point my legs were gone and I needed food. After getting back on the bike, it was into the wind, and uphill and my legs had nothing left. I tried eating more, but never got my 2nd wave of energy. Eventually we reached Holme Moss, and I managed to get to about a k from the summit until the wind got to me. I was climbing quicker than everyone, but this was only because of my gear selection. I didn’t have an easier gear, and turning the pedals any slower would mean me falling off, so I stopped and walked to the top:
At least it looks like I was having a good time!
After getting over this, it was just a case of getting to the finish. Every incline felt massive, and I ate all my emergency food but never got my energy back. However I made it to the end, and was rather happy to finish! Total time was 8 hours of cycling, and I was clocked at 8.42 including all my food stops, mechanical and loo breaks. I even managed a run afterwards and didn’t feel too bad! For some reasons, 8 hours in the saddle seems to have fixed my foot almost completely…
My Mistakes
- I went off too hard, my pacing was non existent and I had a big drop. On a course like this it is difficult and I’m sure my current form, illness, mechanical, lack of time on the bike all played their part, but I would not have bonked so soon without my pacing.
- For a course like that, I need a compact crank. I am a small athlete, and don’t have a particularly big power output. There is no way I can ride a 53/39 crank over a course like that. A compact crank is definitely on the shopping list! My next big purchase will also be a power meter, which will also help with my pacing, so this may be 2 birds with 1 stone. However, I need some money first…
- Going up the climbs too hard – yes I can’t have really gone any slower, but I should have swallowed my pride and walked earlier. Going up the cat and fiddle at a high pace was the start of the downfall
- My nutrition was way off, ok at the start, but I didn’t take on enough calories. Add this too going too hard and you get the state I was in.
Effect of the Paleo Diet
An interesting question would be to look at how much my lack of carbs in my diet affected my ride, after all I don’t usually run out of energy that quickly. However, I think this was more to do with my current fitness, and lack of time on the bike. It is also the first long, serious bike ride since my Ironman, and I haven’t gotten used to spending long hours in the saddle and feeding properly. This will come during my bike block over Christmas.
Positives
Well the main positive from this ride was the fact that I can still spend this amount of time in the saddle, even if it didn’t go that well (though with the wind and the course, I may have been putting out an ok power throughout). I was only an hour behind the leader, so it can’t have been that bad! The other positive was my foot. It had not really healed over the 2 weeks since I did it, and I still couldn’t walk properly in the morning. 8 and a half hours in the saddle and in bike shoes seems to have fixed this!
Coming Up
Training over the last couple of weeks hasn’t been great, especially with my injury. I have lost motivation and fitness as my previous post stated. As my foot is now healed, I am going to build up my training again. But only in the running, trying to get 6 runs a week. Being the off season, and obviously not being mentally recharged I am going to let the other 2 sports tick over and just train when I feel like it for each block until I am itching to train again. I am sticking with being fully Paleo now in all my meals, though now I am back in fairly decent shape, treats are back in if I want them! Just a bit of a break until full training starts again. I am off to Russia next week for a few days, so will probably put up a non-training post with lots of pictures, and then its the Preston 10 mile race. All I want from this is a solid run. Losing 2-3 weeks of run training isn’t going to put me in a good position, but it should be good fun.
Train safe,
Tim
Kona Krazy Goes Live! (sort of)
Hello all!
Its been a while but I’ll keep this short, will have a longer one over the next couple of days. Having finally decided on a name (which could quite possibly change, and which is a bit of a bold statement) I am slowly getting round to migrating round to my site. As part of his I have moved by blog to wordpress at http://konakrazy.wordpress.com/ as it offers more tools and pages etc etc. More will be updated over the coming weeks and I’ll add pages and training plans among others as I get round to them. It’s not quite my own site yet, but is a work in progress!
Tim
Reflection
Well now that I have had time to recover and reflect on my finish at IMUK, I thought I’d put some thoughts done about the race, my body and the future.
Firstly the race. I am so glad I finished it! I know if I had dropped out, I would never have forgiven myself and it would have constantly worn me down. Stubborness pays out at some point! It’s nice to be able to say I do Ironman triathlons, rather than I am training for one, though it still hasn’t really sunk in that I have finished, and to be honest I don’t think it ever will. The 2 reasons for this are first, I didn’t physiogically push myself to the limit because of me knee. I know I could have pushed harder on the run if I had been able to, and so I don’t feel like I gave it everything. But I finished so I can’t complain! The second reason is I don’t think I’ll have my PIB Post-Ironman Blues/Depression) pick up where I finally realise what I’ve done. This usually happens after an Ironman when the athelte has been training constantly for however many months and then all of a sudden they have this void. Once the elation has dropped off, you can get quite depressed. This is also partly physical as your hormones return to a new normal which can cause havoc to your mood. Once your hormones have stabilised and you have got used to the lack of training, you feel normal again and come to terms with what you have done. However, for the last 9 weeks I haven’t had any structure to my training, and have had a lot of time off due to my crash. I had my massive mood crash after this, and never got back into proper training due to my IM being too close, so I’ve already had mine, which also makes it feel like I haven’t done my race. But I will realise soon enough, and when I have my tattoo done, I’m sure that will help as a constant reminder! The race itself I was quite happy all things considering. The swim was quite a bit slower than I expected, but I have heard that it was substaitally longer than 3.8k so I managed more than that and still no problems with my shoulder, which makes me very happy! The cycling was going well til my knee went, so I can take a lot from that. I do need to practise my pacing though, as I would have blown up if my knee hadn’t have gone I suspect, so that is something to learn from it. I also need to improve my descending (*eek!*) and general endurance for holding a good pace. Finally some extra power to give me that speed boost would be nice too! To run a 5 hour marathon on a busted knee I was actually very surprised by, and was expecting more like 6 during that race. However, I really need to work on my running off the bike, and running properly than just shuffling. My endurance is good, but I need to do speed work to get a good marathon time.
Right well my body is not too bad! My legs are still quite tired, though starting to recover fairly well, and I feel fine in my upper body. I haven’t really slept enough due to making the most of being able to go to bed late, and then realising I have to get up for work, but that should improve. I am certainly making the most of no restrictions on my diet, so am eating anything and everything! I have weight to loose anyway, so what is an extra kilo or so…
My knee on the other hand is ruined! As a result I can’t stretch my right leg, so my calf feels like it has been actually halved in length, so I think baths and a massage are in need. The knee itself is slowly starting to heal up. I have never had a knee injury that has lasted this long, so it is a new experience. The swelling has now gone down, from having it nearly double to size to looking remotely normal, though there is still a lot of liquid in the knee, so it doesn’t bend or straighten very well, and I have a ROM of about 30 degrees. However, I can now sort of walk on it, with the help of my crutches, and it is very, very weak, and I still get the pain in the back of my knee that I had during my IM. So hopefully, the specialist will be able to tell me what is wrong with it on Monday. Though I am not too bothered, as I have a long time to recover and it is not getting in the way of any major races, so I am perfectly happy to let the body do it’s thing, rather then when I did my collar bone.
So the future. Well first I am hooked! Next year I want to do 2 IMs if I can, finances and logistics permitting, and then actually do some local halfs, especially Weymouth, which I hace some unfinished business with! I would also like to do a stand alone marathon and see how I do. Long term, I want to break 5 hours for the bike, though may need a tt bike for that, get close to an hour or break it from the swim and break 3.30 for the IM marathon run, and 3 hours for the very long term as a standalone.
In terms of the next 6 months or so, it all depends on my knee. If it is better in a week, then I’ll do a couple of sprints in September and the Manchester 100 bike ride, to have a bit of fun. Over winter I will then take a bit of a break for triathlon itself, and split the 3 sports up. I am hoping to join a swimming club up here, to get some proper lessons and this will drastically improve my swimming, although will be a killer at first. You never know, I might actually be able to do tumble turns consistenly by the end of the winter! Cycling over the winter will all be about logging the miles, and I’ll go out with the local cycling clubs to get some company and push myself a bit more, and hopefully the same for running. So hopefully by next year I will come back fitter and stronger and faster than ever! Plus I also need to get back down to racing weight, which I never lost since my crash. I’m sure all the long weekend bikes will help, I really need to get used to doing 4+ hours on a bike.
I know people usually treat themselves after they do an IM, but I am going to hold off. I will certainly get some new cycling kit as I need it, new trainers as my are worn and some new sunglasses, because although mine are great, I look a complete twat in them! They are too big and too flat for my face, so stick out far too much. But I really like the Specialized glasses so will get another pair of those, just a different design. The adaptalite lenses are fantastic and mean they can be worn are day and all year. However, I am holding back as next year I am planning on building a tt bike. Come feb/march I will start to test ride some tt bikes to decide what to have. I am probably going all out, so looking at the P3s, transitions, Boardman elite if I can summon up the courage to turn up in that, or another high end one, and then will build it up with SRAM red, and probably get a disc wheel and aero helmet. My 404 front is great and I will probably stick to that, though if my speed improves an 808 front may need to be brought…
In terms of races for 2010, I am looking at lanzarote and switzerland as possible IMs, though I need to sit down at some point and decide. We shall see. However, my 5 year plan is to reach Kona, ambitious but I have 4 years left in my age group, so aim high! Remeber, anything is possible…
That’s enough from me now, my blog will become more sporadic, but plan to keep it updated as I recover from my knee and go for more Ironmans. Plus it gives me something to do when work is slow….
Tim
I am an Ironman!
Right well let’s get the first thing out of the way… I am an Ironman! After all the training, set backs, sacrifices, and everything else, I have done it. I can now stop correcting everyone who has nicknamed me Ironman! But it was not easy, and in hindsight, I should have expected it (more later).
Having gone down on Thursday to register, I had a nice swim on Friday morning, and then drove the course again with Ollie, went home and slept for most of the afternoon, which turned out to be a mistake as I couldn’t sleep that night! The saturday was a nice short 15 min swim, and then I had a short brick planned to check everything over for the last time. But due to a poorly placed massage, meeting up with people, mud and having to get to the Reebok at last minute notice, this all went out the window, and I racked my bags and bike. The athlete briefing actually made me more nervous than I was before it, though I didn’t hear anything useful. Then it was off home, check I had everything, go to the shops to get a couple of soreens for my emergency bags and then bed at 7. It took me a while to sleep but once I did, I slept solidly until midnight, then the usual up every half hour until it was time to get up (quarter past 3), including 2.30, 2.45, 3.00, 3.05, 3.08, 3.10, 3.11 at which point I just got up. I had a good few bowls of coco pops and a bottle of gatorade, and then it was time to get to the car park for the coach.
Having arrived late, queuing for the coach I quickly checked my bike over and pumped my tyres up and then was rushed down to the start. I put my wetsuit on and got in the water, which was actually really nice! Once everyone was in the water the commentator got everyone doing ‘oggy, oggy, oggy’ and then everyone started cheering/screaming which was the most surreal thing I’ve ever experienced. Having 1400 people in a reservoir at 6 in the morning cheering sent shivers down my spine. Next thing I know every one is thrashing about, and it was time to go.
The swim was actually really nice, and I really enjoyed it. Having done nothing more than 2500m in a pool since my crash and fracturing my collar bone, and nothing more than 1500m at once, I wasn’t expecting much and came out at 1:26, a good 15/20 mins down on what I was planning on before the crash, but just to finish with an intact shoulder was good enough for me. I walked up to transition, got my wetsuit off, put my arm warmers and helmet on, and then applied copious amounts of DZ Nuts to help the 180k in a tri suit. I had a quick loo stop, then grabbed my bike, and jogged cyclo cross style with it on my shoulder to the bike start. I had a bottle of water in my T1 bag, which I used to clean my feet once on the road, before I put my feet into my shoes and it saved me sharing my shoes with a ton of mud!
Once out on the bike, I started to settle down, and then the main climb came, which I raced up, feeling really, really good on the climb, but it was probably a mistake. The first lap was pretty much OK, I started to eat fairly soon, and made sure I was drinking enough, though I was still a bit cautious on the decents, which reminded me far too much like the roads I broke my collar bone on, and in all honesty I made the classic rookie error of going off too hard, and getting carried away with the crowds. My legs started to feel a bit sluggish, mainly from not having been on a bike in a few days, but I concentrated on keeping my HR down and finished the first lap in 2 hours 5, on track for around 6 hours 20/30. On the 2nd lap I was still feeling good on the climb. I was going well on my 2nd lap when all of a sudden, with no warning, my right knee just gave way. It felt like a mixture of cramp and complete weakness. I tried to ride it off, but it just wouldnt go away, and within 500m I had to stop. Looking back, I should have know this would happen, it hasn’t been an easy run up to the IM, with knee problems for the first 2 months, shin splints, and then my collar bone, I should have known something like this was bound to happen. I stretched it out and got back on my bike, but it just wouldn’t stop hurting. I had pain everytime I bent it, and everytime I straightened it. I tried to continue, but the pain was just unbelievable and I started to consider stopping. I carried on for about 10k, having to stop every couple of k to stretch and relieve the pain. I dropped my saddle a fair amount to avoid straightening my knee too much and it helped, but within 5k the agony was back. It was at this point, having considered everything, that I made the decision to pull out, as I physically couldn’t use my right knee. I would get to the next aid station and find a doctor and stop. I felt like s**t, with all my friends and family waiting out on the run course to watch me, and everyone who sponsored me expecting me to finish. But with still 70k to go and then a marathon to do, there was no way it was going to happen. So unable to find another aid station, I somehow finished the lap, and was all ready to pull out and stop when I got cheered by the crowd and thought there was no way I could pull out in front of everyone, so I carried on. Unfortunately, the crowd went all the up the main climb from there, so it looked like I had the climb to do. However on the climb I felt good, at the angle and just hammering on the quads I powered up the hill, and then went past a friend watching, asking what the cut off for the bike was, 10 hour 30. I did some quick calculations, I had about 5 hours to finish the lap and then the marathon would play itself out. Having bombed it down the descent, on the other side of the climb, and then having another climb straight after, I gave myself a good talking to and told myself to man up, deal with it, and at least finish the bike. So I had a lap of powering up the climbs, single leg on the flat, then getting as tucked as possible on the descents, and somehow came off the bike in 7 and a half hours.
I know now that I have probably strained the tendon in the back of my knee and strained or possibly ruptured my ACL, though the doctors can’t be too sure until the swelling goes down as it has ballooned up to the size of a mini-football from all the fluid and I am resided to hobbling around on crutches for a couple of weeks. I’ve had a few x-rays, and there is nothing seriously wrong, so I was lucky to get away with no long-term damage. I did consider it, halfway though the 3rd lap, whether I should stop anyway to avoid completely ruining my knee, but unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you see it!) I’m too stubborn, and after recovering from my collar bone enough to race having been told there was no way I would be able to do it, and it being my first one, there was no way I was not going to finish as soon as I knew I could do the bike. I was also lucky not to find a doctor, even if I just asked to be strapped up, they would have taken one look and told me to stop.
Anyway, I went into T2, put my running shoes on and limped out on to the run. After about 500m my knee started to bend a bit and I started a sort of shuffle with a limp. At this point I knew I had about 8 hours to walk/shuffle a marathon and I could do it. The marathon itself was OK, with thousands of people supporting. It was a good morale booster to see my mates in the park, and I ran and walked round the course. I had to walk a good few miles at the start of the 2nd lap, as my knee stopped cooperating, but as soon as I was told I had 5 miles to go I just went for it. The blisters from my shuffling were huge but I just enjoyed the finale. The finish line was just incredible, with thousands of people screaming/cheering and clapping as I effectively hopped past them until I heard the words, “You are an Ironman” after 14 hours 18 mins. It was an incredible feeling, and still hasn’t sunk in that I have finally done it. My first thought, “wow, I don’t believe it”. Second thought, “Which IM shall I do next”! Having had time to think about it and reflect, would I have continued if I had done it again. Well if it wasn’t my first, I think I would have probably pulled out for the sake of my knees. But for my first Ironman, I said nothing would stop me, and I would do it all over again, regardless of my knees. My doctor hates me for it, but that’s just me. My advice to anyone in the same position, (doctors look away!), carry on until you are forced to stop by someone else as you miss the cutoff. If I hadn’t finished because I had missed the cutoff, then I would have been upset and annoyed, but I know I couldn’t have done anything else. If I had found a doctor and pulled out, I know I would have regretted it for the rest of my life.
In terms of organisation, I know there have been lots of complaints about it, but excluding the lack of a contingency plan in case of rain for the Iron village and transistion, (which is far beyond an oversight, and pretty disgraceful), I think it was pretty well run. They did the best with what they had, and the finish was amazing.
Finally, a massive thanks to all the volunteers (including my boss!) who came down to help and to the thousands of supporters, including all my friends, family, colleagues and tri friends who came to watch and cheer us all on. I saw some of them consistently for the entire day, from before the start to at the finish line 15 hours later, which is just amazing. And without you, I would have pulled out, so thank you! Also thank you to all the athletes there, from everyone who asked if I was alright and had everything I needed when I was trying to get my knee to work, to all those I met on the run, who provided a good chat to take my mind off the boredom. And thank you to everyone who sent me a good luck/congratulations message. They all helped, especially when trying to finish the bike.
Now it is time to enjoy some time off, catch up on life, and then plan next season, hopefully with a few less setbacks! If anyone is even considering doing on, just find one and sign up, you will not regret it!
The final few days!
Hello all,
Well after 300 hours of training, 30 weeks, 270 training sessions, over 3000k on the bike, 130k of swimming, 720k of running, 160,000 extra calories and one broken collar bone, the day has finally come. In all honesty I am absolutely bricking it (a nice tri pun for you there!) and the fear is at stupid levels. But I am seriously looking forward to it. Despite what many doctors told me 8 weeks ago, I am waiting to start with a fully healed collar bone and in some sort of shape, though carrying a few extra kilos than I was hoping. It has been an incredible journey with so many ups and downs.
Firstly, thank you so much to everyone who has donated some money. (And joe, say bloody hell, thanks to your dad from me!) It is going to a fantastic cause as all the northeners among you will know, and is a really good motivator when the chips are down. And I am going to need all the motivation I can come the final lap of the bike and 2nd half of the marathon. At the time of writing, I have raised £776, with only £224 til I reach my total of £1000, so if you havent already sponsored me, get yourself down to http://www.justgiving.com/timdoesironman and click Donate Now!
I am heading down to the ‘Iron Village’ as it is called this evening to register, find my way around etc, then tomorrow it is an early morning swim, check I have everything, check out the last of the bike course, get myself even more nervous and meet up with the seemlingly hundreds of people I know who will be down there. Saturday is another early morning swim, quick check of the bike and short run to blow the cobwebs in the legs away, pre-race massage, a few naps, check my bike and transistion bags in then race briefing followed by pasta party!
Race day starts at 3 for me, as I get up and try and pile 1000 calories into me before 4 so I can digest it. I then check my post-race bag and emergency bag in, pump my tyres up, put my wetsuit and then just the small matter 140.6 miles to complete….
For those coming to watch, I don’t there are any starters among you, but if there are, the race kicks off in Rivington Reservoir at 6. You will need to be parked at the event site before then if you want a parking spot for the swim or the bike near the start, as the roads are shut from 6 til 1 (postcode is pr6 9hg). They then reopen the car park at 1 if you are coming to watch the latter parts, otherwise find a car park in the town centre or close to the bike route (details on http://www.iron.ironmanuk.com/). The swim is 2 laps of the reservoir, then 3 laps of the bike course and then the run includes a couple of laps followed by the finish going into Bolton town centre, finishing outside the town hall. Good places to watch are (so I’m told) for the bike is Sheep House Lane, a horrible climb for us at the start of the bike lap about 10-15 min walk from the swim start, so I’ll be going slow enough to be spotted, or for the run, the Crown Pub, which is as about 20 mins walk from the swim start. For those arriving later in the day, the town centre will be the place to be to watch the finish, which finishes outside the town hall, just follow the noise and the quizzical looks of all the locals. Apparently Queens Park gardens will be very popular for parking on race day.
In terms of time, race starts at 6 and I should be out of the water at around 7.15, maybe a bit before, bit after, depending on how beaten up I get in the aqua ruck at the start. The bike course will take me around 6 and a half/7 hours, so I will be going round a lap every 2/2 and a half hours. So 9.15-10.00, and 11.15-12.15 there or there abouts, finishing around 1 – half 2 depending on how my body holds out. The run is then anyones guess, I should have been around the 4 hour mark, but a fractured collar bone saw to that, so it could be 4 hours, or it could be 8. So I could finish as early as 6, but as late as 11. Whichever it is, keep an eye out!
For those not coming to watch, if you are bored at all on Sunday you can go to http://ironman.com/ and there will be a race tracker online, where you can see how I’m doing. This is updated live as I pass over various timing parts with my timing chip strapped onto me. I’m guessing there will be swim start, exit, bike start, start of every lap (possiby), end of bike, start of run and end of run. I am bib number #236.
That goes to all of those watching too, look out for # 236 and give us a shout! I’ll need it!
In terms of afterwards, I have no idea, as long as I finish I don’t really care what happens! Most likely I’ll need to be carried to the medical tent and have some fluids and my massage and then I will probably stay and watch the finish line for a while. For anyone who has never seen a finish before, go to youtube and search for team hoyt, a seriously moving story, or ‘ironman I can’ and have a look around if youre bored, some truly incredible stories on there. More than likely, I’ll pass out in my car til Monday, but if youre going to be around in the evening, reply to this and we shall sort something out.
So all that remains to be said is thank you to all the support, especially fellow tris and friends for the support after my crash. I went through some bad times after that, but still managed to prove the doctors wrong! Some off you, I’ll see you at the start line, others at the finish, the rest probably on facebook! And a final plug: http://www.justgiving.com/timdoesironman
Tim
PS I have bragging rights for at least a couple of weeks after, but after that, if I’m still going on about it constantly, tell me to shut it!
Week 28 – The last of the big training
And that’s it. All my major training has now come to and end. 7 months of my life dedicated to this, and it is nearly over! Due to galas and work, my swimming hasn’t been all that good this week, but as my cycling and running come to a close, and I FINALLY have a house, I can now concentrate on that this week. I’m sure I can do the distance, especially with the wetsuit on, I just need to build up the distances I do to make it more comfortable, and as it requires less taper time, that shouldn’t be a problem.
My running was OK this week, a couple of midweek runs, followed by a half marathon on friday, in which I felt great! As soon as I settled back into my rthym, it was good. I ran it in around 1 hour 50, so am looking at 4/4 and a half hours on the day, not bad considering!
My cycling, well… I did a nice 60k at the start of the week, and finally started to get some sort of feel back for the bike on the ride. I then only had a short ride on saturday to loosen my legs up and then it was Sunday, and time to see if I could fo 180k. And boy was it hard! But I managed it!
Starting fairly tired, with my legs still recovering from my half marathon, and setting off in the pouring rain, it wasn’t the best start. But the first 80k were good, less the flat I got about 35k in. It would be this ride that I got my first very flat on this bike, and in nearly 4000k! I did have a bit of a panic when I saw the flat, seeing it had ripped through the entire kevlar strip on the tire, but thankfully Specialized had the forsight to put a tyre patch in the mini pump on my bike! Thank God. So anyhoo, I was climbing well and then my lack of fitness started to show. Thinking I had another 100k left and struggling to lug myself up some of the hills I had flung myself down at 70kph was tough to say the least! I did a 120k loop into the Welsh mountains, then went home to stock back up on food and bottles. Unfortunately I had run out of GO and SiS gels, which are the 2 things I find easiest to stomach. After 10k or so, things started to get tough, but my legs still felt OK, and I could still climb, albeit slowly. I then had problems with my front derailleur (again after the race last week!), and somehow it had managed to tighten the cable when it jumped whilst shifting so was now rubbing. Tool kit out, and a quick adjustment and it seemed fine, though it looks like I have cracked one of the plates that holds the two sides of the cage together, so that may need replacing. Hopefully, when I strip down the bike and replace all the cables etc, it should be OK.
At around the 140k mark, I started to have serious problems, I wasn’t eating properly, so my energy dropped and my mood plumeted. To add to my misery, the wind picked up to ridiculous levels, and I was going directly into it and removed any remaining strength and energy I had left. I was swearing and shouting at it, trying to move, but I just wouldnt go anywhere, and my stomach soon stopped accepting food, fed up of all the sugar it had been forced to consume over the last 5/6 hours. It was only pure stubborness that got me too my turnaround point at 150k, something that I am going to need a lot of on the big day!
Naturally the wind got bored when I turned around, so it was a 30k slog home, but it was going home, and so was easier.
I arrived home exhausted, but happy. The physcial, but most significantly, the mental benefits of doing that far outweigh the pain that I endured. And to top it all off, I even managed to run afterwards. Well, I say run, it was more of a shuffle, but I could move and felt much better towards the end, even though it was only a couple of k. But I am still waiting for my groin and stomach to forgive me!
At around the 140k mark, the thoughts of doing another 40k on the bike, and then running a marathon sent shivers down my spine, and I was having major doubts. Now I KNOW I can do it. It is going to hurt like hell, but whatever tiny slither of doubt I had about completely it is now gone.
I now have 2 weeks of tapering, reducing the duration of everything and upping the intensity to make sure I am as fresh as possible. At the weekend I will go to the course and do a lap of the bike course to familiarise myself with the course, and then the next time I ride the course will be on race day!!
Bring it on!
Tim
Week 27 – LLandudno Triathlon
Well after deciding last week that I could swim 1500m in the pool and entering llandudno triathlon a week ago, today was the big day. The week had been ok for training, I managed a few good rides on my bike, a couple of short runs and found a pool near me, which will do (providing I go during lane-only times). I wish I had done another swim to prepare myself, but thats life. I also went out with the office, discovering some of the roads round my new home, and there are some great roads! Not quite up to shropshire/wales standard, but hey ho!
Weeks 25 and 26 – Mental and Physical Recovery
Well after the last week (24) things really started to look up the week after. I regained all my movement back in my shoulder, it was almost pain free, I was getting back into training. I managed a 45 min run with no pain and then topped the week off with a 3 hour turbo in which I was feeling great. And then it all went downhill.
Week 24 – Frustrating Times
This week has been the most frustrating, challenging and tough week since I started this journey. I have really hit a new low in terms of motivation to train, I just don’t want to. While I am very grateful to still be alive having nearly killed myself, I am fed up and pissed off with my shoulder, and now shape. I am out of shape, unfit, overweight and lacking motivation. Not a good place with 6 weeks to go. I am fed up with training on the turbo and indoors; all I want to do is to be able to go for a run, plod up and down a pool or just go climbing in snowdonia on my bike. It is incredibly frustrating. With no training plan to follow, I have let my training slip, so I allow things to get in the way of training rather than making way for my training and fitting my life around it. I need to find a balance.
Week 23 – Good signs
Looking back to where I was a week ago, both me and my doctors are a bit shocked really. To put it into context, for someone my age, I should be looking at immobilisation for 3-4 weeks, then regaining movement for a couple of weeks at around 5-6 weeks, and then another 4 weeks for full strength to return, possibly a bit less. Now whether it has been, the way the fracture was with the two ends touching, diet, all the sleep I have had, fitness, genetics, or more likely a combination of all of them, I had the first bits of movement back in just over a week. By the time I went to see the doctor after a week and a half, I had a fair amount of movement back, and he thought from my injuries that the accident was 3 weeks ago! Now at the end of the week, I have full movement backwards, well above horizontal sideways, and approaching horizontal forwards, all unaided. With a bit of force/help from my good arm I can get close to full movement back in my shoulder. Things are looking very good. By the end of this next week I should have full movement back in my arm. I am already out of my sling, and noticing things getting easier each day, such as reaching for the tap in the sink, or washing my face. Things that were impossible at the start of the week I can now do pain free. This puts my recovery well ahead of schedule, and I might actually get some training in before my Ironman! With the rate I am going, I will be back on my bike in another 2 weeks, and possibly running just before. I could be on my bike by the end of the week, but for once in my sporting career, I am going to be cautious and make sure the bone has fully healed, because if I fall on it again and it is not healed I will miss my Ironman. This week I can begin some intensive physio on my shoulder, to build up my strength again and get the rest of my flexibility back. Due to the crash, my collar bone has basically been pushed out of my shoulder in a ‘V’ shape, so I have lost about an inch from my collarbone, making my shoulder shorter and meaning everything has moved around. This shouldn’t cause me any problems in the long run, however it means I have to get my muscles used to their new positions, and new ways of working, and effectively I have to relearn how to use my shoulder again. It is the weirdest feeling in the world trying to lift my arm. It doesn’t hurt, I know how to do it, I remember how to do it, I just physically can’t do it. I tell my muscles to lift my arm up, but they just don’t know how. It could make swimming interesting… However, all in all, I am very pleased with the way my recovery is going.
Week 22 – Beginning Recovery
It has been an odd week. Admittedly the first few days were quite nice not having to train for the first time in 5 months, but then the frustration begins. By now I should have completed my first half ironman, I should be beginning the build up to my ironman and be training harder than ever, but I can’t. I have given everything for this and centered my entire life around it, making sacrifices in all aspects of my life and putting everything into doing it, all to have it taken away by a small pothole and an accident. I could spend hours thinking about the what ifs, but it happened so I just need to deal with it.
Week 21 – A slight change…
I have to admit this isn’t how I imagined I would be writing this week’s update. As I’m sure most of you now know, I had quite a bad crash this morning out in the Peak District. Basically what happened was, out testing my new wheels, I was descending at about 73kph, 10kph more than normal, took a corner too wide, hit a pothole on the edge of the road and went down. Not entirely sure what happened, but I think the bike went out from under me, my forks took the hit snapping on both sides and my front wheel tub came off at one end and it ended up in a bush down the road, with me following it. More importantly, though I really don’t want to admit it, is I took quite a hit. I’ve ripped the skin off my right elbow, hip, shoulder and back, left knee, taken a chunk out of my left thumb, got some bad bruising and fractured my collarbone. First and foremost, I am very lucky. I was doing 45 mph and had 2mm of lycra protection from the road which didn’t stand a chance. My helmet is nearly in 2 pieces and certainly saved me from some serious head injuries. So always, ALWAYS wear a helmet, it is not worth taking the risk.
Week 20 – The End Of The Build Period
Week 20 Totals:
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