To Recap

In September I completed the Helvellyn triathlon, more of a survival test than a triathlon, but a great event none the less. I was pretty busy with work at the time so could only pop up to the race and back in 24 hours, instead of the original planned long weekend, so it was a pretty crazy 24 hours. I arrived at the campsite on Saturday evening to a incredible storm and a boggy marsh on which to pitch my tent. After a very long drive I started to question if the race would actually take place as it was so miserable. However I awoke to bright blue skies and a gorgeous day with huge relief.

The race starts in Ullswater and people told me the water temperate was a balmy 13 degrees on the day, certainly cold enough to wake me up. It was quite a spread out swim so wasn’t too chaotic, certainly after my last race in France. I got out the water in 23:45 , not my fastest swim, but my preparation going into this race was pretty much zero. After France I really sat on the sofa quite a lot, something I will get onto later. Anyway, we headed out onto the bike for what was an epic course, such beautiful scenery around the lakes and a really stunning day. The bike concludes with a climb known as “the struggle” and having ridden up this I can now see why. I am proud to say that I managed to keep cycling the entre time, but it did somewhat blow my legs apart. After the climb you descend back into Glenridding and get ready for the run. The first kilometer is reasonably flat as you approach the foot of Helvellyn and then a run quickly becomes a walk and then a crawl as the path gets steeper and steeper. I went into the race without having too much expectation of times, so I was able to take in the views as I ascended (at least this is what I told people that were overtaking me!). On reflection I’m not sure what was harder, going up or coming down? I was seriously impressed with the way some of the participants came hurdling down the slopes with seemingly no care for their safety at all. I eventually arrived at the finish line after just under 2 hours of running and a total time of 4hrs 29mins. Would I do this race again, yes probably. I think I was really lucky with the weather and I had a great day. But I don’t think it is a place that I would ever be competitive as it is a very very tough course.

Moving Forward

So after that race I really didn’t do very much at all. It was great to spend a little bit more time with the family and not have the feeling of over or under training. But eventually that feeling subsided and I started to a bit of exercise again. Wow, I lost my fitness really quickly, or maybe I had just taken my fitness for granted as I was really struggling to get out the door. I found that all my muscles were constantly fatigued, as if my body was just telling me that it wasn’t ready. That feeling went on throughout October and it wasn’t until the start of November that I feel I really got back into it all.

The Outlaw has always been on my to-do list so wanting to keep things on a budget next year it seemed like the perfect choice. I have also entered a few “warm-up” races along the way and seem to have got over the sluggish feeling of post-ironman blues. I’m now looking forward to a new race season and trying to push my boundaries of fitness further, if I can get back to where I was first !

But, as of now I have decided that I am going to try and get back into a bit of a routine and aim to squeeze in another triathlon, somewhere, before the end of the year. My plan is to keep 2 swims, 2 bikes and 2 runs in a week with a couple of sessions of weights if I can find the time. Duration is going to be a long way off what I was doing at the end of my Ironman training , but I do want to keep some distances on the run as I am seriously thinking about doing another Ironman next year.

What ?! you might be saying, but yes, I feel that I should have another crack and try and break the 11 hour mark. Ironman Nice was an amazing experience and the goal in the end was simple, cross the finish line. However I know that I am capable of a quicker time and perhaps on a slightly flatter course I will be able to achieve that. With so many races in the UK now too it looks like I will do something here, making it much easier to train for the specific disciplines. I have learn’t so much over the past year and my approach will be very different but if you have enjoyed following my progress to Ironman France I hope you will continue reading as I try and take my goals to the next level.

I started training at the beginning of November 2010, but was already averaging around 8-10 hours a week before this on the back of training for a half IM in September (the Vitruvian , another great race). The Don Fink plan is a great program and I followed it religiously until mid March. Eventually with work and life realities hitting home I couldn’t justify spending so much time training and so although I stuck with as much of the program as possible I probably was closer to the intermediate plan than the competitive by the end. In the build up I completed the Reading Half marathon in Feb in 1:27 and the Marshman Half IM in May in 4:43. I felt confident that I was getting in shape but having never run a marathon I knew the step up to this distance was going to be a big leap.

I stayed at the ETAP hotel Lenval, its located about halfway along the run loop and out of the main hustle of the Expo. The room was basic but all I needed during my stay, the aircon wasn’t great which was the only problem as it was pretty hot and uncomfortable and in hindsight it was probably a little too far from the action as I spent the Friday and Saturday wondering up and down the Promenade which was probably not such a good idea.

On Saturday I racked my bike at 5pm, the transition area was huge and there was a lot of bike bling on show. This display of seriously expensive bikes and lean athletes really made me question what on earth I was doing here, but most people were friendly enough and it was incredible to witness the enormity of this event for the first time.

I set my alarm for 3.30am, and another one for 3.35 just in case, however I was actually awake from about 2am with anticipation of the day. I don’t think I ever felt nervous, sure I was a little anxious but not in a bad way, just fearful of the unknown. I cooked up some porridge in my room and sipped on some energy drink until it was time to start walking down to the start. As we left the hotel we were greeted by a group of prostitutes and I don’t know who was more surprised. Further down the road people were cuing to get in to a night club and I wondered if I had the wrong day, but as we got closer to the start more and more people with orange wristbands were appearing.

I got to T1 at around 5.15, pumped up my tyres, set up my drinks and wondered over to the finish line to try and relax before popping on my wetsuit. Whilst I was running through my race plan in my head, Fredrick Van Lierde appeared with his entourage. He was warming up with a run and looked like an absolute machine, its no wonder he went on to win the race as he is really on form this year.

Soon it was time to don the wetsuit and head down to the swim start, where to start though? The beach was divided into pens with various times estimated on what your predicted swim time would be. I had read somewhere that by starting in a pen that was a little slower than your predicted time would mean you could sprint past a few people and find clear water pretty quick – how wrong was that! I placed myself in the 1:18 pen with an aim of swimming 1:05 and hoping secretly to break an hour. At 6.30 everyone started pushing forwards into the water and the fight began. I have spent months reading, practicing and thinking about my technique in a bid to make me a better swimmer, however had I know what I was in for I would have realised that this was a complete waste of time as there was no way that any technique apart from defense was going to keep me alive. The “biff” as it is referred to was far worse than I ever expected. I used to play water-polo when I was at school so I know what its like to fight in the water, but the start of this race was way way more aggressive than any of that. I guess it is to do with the sheer level of adrenaline and nerves that has built up in the 2,700 people. Months of training and then we all go at the same time. I don’t think there is anything they can do to make it better, I guess it is just a question of HTFU but it was pretty intense and it wasn’t until the final loop that it seemed to even out. Perhaps I should have started in a different pen and been more confident in my ability, but once it was all over I checked my watch and was surprised to see a 1:03 swim time as I felt like it had taken me a lot longer.

On to T1 and time to stick on my bike jersey, plenty of suncream and find my bike. Usually I clip my shoes to the bike and just jump on, doing them up as I peddle. But for some reason I had decided I would put them on in transition and run down to my bike. This was another mistake as the transition area was just so long and running in bike shoes is just ridiculous. T1 in 5:31, I had estimated 7mins in my head so was happy with that.

The bike course starts with a flat 20km’ish section out past the airport before turning inland to the mountains. I felt good, it wasn’t too hot and this was it, I was cycling in an Ironman ! Then we hit the first climb. It wasn’t particularly long, but it was steep, really steep. It was over before I knew it, but I knew there was more to come, so I didn’t push myself too hard as we headed on to the col d’ecre. The climb starts at around 52km and just goes on and on and on. Although I have read a lot about this and been riding hills and been putting in some big gear sessions on the turbo over the past few months, nothing I had done even came close to what it actually felt like. I only wish I had come and checked it out before hand. I lost a lot of places during this section. I probably could have pushed myself harder, but by not knowing the course and finding it tougher than I expected I thought it best to try and reserve some energy. My stomach started cramping at this point in rebellion to the gels I was feeding it and I decided to give them a break for a while. When I finally made it to the top it was a relief and the rest of the ride was actually really enjoyable. The roads are really smooth and it is such a different experience to cycling in the UK. I made up a few places on the flatter sections but lost them again on some of the smaller climbs. Then came the downhill, and what an experience that was. Reaching speeds of 58km/hour was exhilarating. I was flying, but could not believe that there were still people that whizzed past me, crazy. I finally reached the bottom and started heading back to the airport, my stomach was starting to feel better now, but I had failed to eat 4 of the gels and 2 of the chewy bars I was planning on. I just didn’t feel like it but maybe I should have stuffed them down to improve my energy and performance.

The first thing you notice as you get down from the mountains is the temperature. Suddenly the day had got hot and the wind was blowing right in my face like a hairdryer. I had chosen a TT bike and this was the only time I think it was an advantage. I made up lots of places on the last 20km and was not pushing hard at all. If I was racing again I would definitely take a road bike as seemed to be the preference of many of the field. Based on my training of the past few months I had estimated that a sub 6 hour ride would be possible, but after checking my watch on the top of that long climb I knew that this was out the window. I made the decision that starting the run feeling reasonable would be better than smacking myself on the bike to break 6 hours and so I arrived at T2 with 6:07 on the clock, relieved that it was over and I had survived with no crashes or punctures, but questioning if I could handle the heat and the run.

As you come into T2 a volunteer grabs your bike and racks it and off you go through the really long transition again. Now usually I would take my feet out of my bike shoes and just hop off, but again I decided to keep them on and ran along in my cleats, I guess I wasn’t really thinking properly as this was not the best way to get through, but I got down to the end grabbed my bag, sun cream on, vest, vaseline, check and off we go onto the promenade. T2 done in 6:01

I had never run a marathon before this and my longest run in training had been 32km. I knew it was going to be hot and my plan was to try and keep running the whole time aiming to dip under 4 hours. I ran the first leg out to the airport, just grabbing drinks as I went and trying to swallow as much as I could. As I turned around and headed back to the finish I decided that this technique was just not going to work and I had to try a different approach if I was going to last the day. My new strategy was to walk the aid stations, allowing me time to actually drink the water / coke and grab something to eat. This approach was much better and I soon got into a rhythm of 1 cup of water over the head, a cup of coke and another water over the head on the way out, eating a banana or something every now and again. My stomach didn’t seem to care what I through at it by this stage and I felt pretty lucky as I saw people in an awful state as the day wore on.

I tried to avoid the showers as people tended to just stand underneath them, and I was trying to keep moving as much as I could, I don’t think there is any point in worrying about blisters and getting your feet wet as even if you do go around you still walk through water and get wet feet.

The first lap for me was probably mentally the worst. That dead leg feeling from transition meant I couldn’t get my legs turning over as much as my head wanted them too and the prospect of 42.2km just seemed enormous. As soon as I collected the first band and turned to head back to the airport I instantly felt better knowing 10km was in the bank. I carried on running to each aid station, walking through as fast as possible and taking on fluid. The turnaround at the airport was a pretty miserable place. There are not many supporters down there, and with the shade and trees some of the competitors were using it as a toilet or just walking to stay out of the sun. I tried to keep my head down and keep moving and as soon as I could see the sea again it felt better each lap. The third lap finally came and went, at around 28km I started to get twinges on my calves every time I pushed a bit harder, sort of warning me they they would cramp if I tried to hard. So I slowed a little to make sure I could keep moving.

Then it was on to the final lap. This was great, each step of the way I kept telling myself that this is the last time I need to go through here or past this. My pace picked up and I found a rhythm to my running again. I turned at the airport and looked back down to the finish, looked at my watch, 20mins to break 4 hours. I knew this wasn’t going to happen. Although my aim was simply to finish the Ironman, I had secretly hoped to break 11hours, but after the bike going slower than expected and the run slipping from me, I had resigned myself to a sub 12 goal. This seemed possible as long as I could keep the cramp away and just plod down to the end. My pace picked up, I carried on ticking things off as I went and before I knew it I was approaching the finishing chute. This was the moment I had been thinking about for months, all those times in training, all that preparation, I had tried to imagine what it would feel like to run down the chute after covering 3.9km swimming, 180km cycling and a 42km running. I thought I may be overcome with emotion as so many people had told me I would. But when I crossed the line I was numb, I was exhausted and my thoughts were on where can I lie down. Someone gave me a medal and shook my hand, I thanked them. I heard the words, “you are an Ironman” as I was running down the finish line, but I sort of felt like it was a dream. I had separated myself from my body somewhere on the run and was just lost inside my thoughts. I stumbled across the road into the finish area and found a bit of shade where I sat with my head in my hands. It was over, I was an Ironman. Marathon completed in 4hrs 9mins. Ironman finished in 11hr 31mins and 52secs. I placed 556th overall and 118th out of 363 that finished in my age group.

The enormity of what I had achieved didn’t really kick in until we headed back to the finish line after a quick shower and a beer. The end of the Ironman was just electric and everyone was going crazy as the final people came down before the 16 hour cutoff. What is truly inspirational is just how diverse the mix of people are in this sport, during the build up I only really noticed the really lean, athletic and competitive types, but people from all walks of life, all ages were at the finish, all with one goal, to become an Ironman.

I understand around 2000 people finished that day out of around 2700 starters. I am really pleased with my result and it was always about getting to the finish line. The most satisfying result for me was raising £1090 for the British Red Cross. I never expected such generosity from my friends and family and it just goes to show that with effort and persistence it is possible to exceed your expectations. Whats next ? … a long rest and some time with the family. I would love to try and break the 11 hour mark but I think I’ll try something a little flatter next time…. next time @!?!

With just 2 weeks to go until I’ll be standing on the start line at the France Ironman I know that through a combination of all this training and my own self belief in my abilities that I can complete this race. Swimming 3.8km, cycling 180km and running 42km is something I have never done before and am not able to recreate in training. Over the past few months I have gradually build up my stamina and endurance to be able to cope with some really long training sessions but putting it all together requires a mental attitude that must also be trained. It is going to be a really really long day and I have decided not to put any time goals on myself other than to complete the course inside the 17hour cut off time. My training indicates that this is possible but my mind is what is going to push me to succeed. In my opinion self belief in your own abilities is a key aspect of a race like this and in the past has always pushed me past what I thought was possible.

So this week was my first taper week and meant that I eased off the longer stuff a little. If I compare this week to a normal training week then it was still pretty huge, but it is good not to be quite so exhausted. Moving forward next week reduces my training volume again and apart from keeping up with the large swim distances the running and cycling really cut back, the girls are definitely happy about this as it means I am around much more at the weekends.

I think I have everything I need for the race but the list for Ironman equipment is not small ! I plan on being almost self sufficient on the course, just using water from the aid stations and cola if they have it on the run, but more about that next week.

It seems that the rain has settled in here at home so I’m not going to be able to aclimatise my body with any midday running. I just have to hope I can keep it together in the heat, which is one of my biggest concerns with no shade on the run course. Anyway, for anyone else training for this event, hope its all gone well and you believe in your own abilities to get you round.

“True achievement cannot be found in finishing times, bank balances, honours or awards for those measures are unrelated to your potential. True achievement exists purely in your mind and can only be secured when you, and only you, know for sure that you could not possibly have prepared for or executed whatever it is that you did any better.”

This week me and the girls headed to London to watch Camilla run in the London BUPA 10km race. Camilla has been training hard for this event since she decided to take up running at the end of last year. And having never run 10km in her life the thought of completing this race was, for her, somewhat daunting. However it was great to see her not only achieve her goals but smash her target time into pieces! On the way up in the car her goal went from, “I’ll just be happy to finish” to “I would like to go under an hour”, to finally, “If I break 55mins I will be thrilled”. Crossing the line in 54min and 3 seconds with a beaming grin it was clear that the past few months of training had been worth it.

I would encourage everyone to set yourself the target of achieving something amazing. It doesn’t have to be an Ironman but if you do one thing in life, do something amazing. Hitting your targets or even exceeding them will give you a bigger sense of satisfaction than you can possibly imagine.

Not all of us will experience the top end of competitive sport, in fact probably none of us will, but by setting your own goals everyone can experience their own personal achievement. It isn’t always possible to set a PB and sometimes you might not even finish a race, but this will only make you want to push harder next time and try to do better. The goal is simple… aim to be the best you can be.

As I write this blog I am only 20 days away from the start line of Ironman France and I know that over the past few months all this training has put me in a position where I have the opportunity to be the best I can be. I won’t be first across the line, but if I can make it around the course in one piece then I will have achieved something that a few years ago I never thought was possible.

It’s been a pretty tough week, I covered 7.5km swimming, 234km cycling and 34km running. My body is starting to suffer from fatigue and the volume of the last few weeks is making running a real struggle.

Only 1 more week of the big stuff to go now before tapering, can’t wait ! Will write more next week.

So, with just 5 weeks to go I am starting to get a little paranoid about being under prepared. I am undeniably in the best shape of my life, those that know me well will know how much my lifestyle has changed, but I think no matter how much training you put in, or how well prepared you try to be, one will always question your own abilities, especially over a distance such as Ironman.

My guide to Ironman training has been the trusty “Be Ironfit” book by Don fink. I had been following the competitive plan religiously until the last few weeks when the volume crept into masochistic realms and I had to reconsider my goals. Bringing up a family, running a business and trying to remain married are certainly not conducive to the competitive plan so I decided to tone it down a little to the more reasonable intermediate plan. This still calls for some unruly long sessions but I am still married (just) so it seems to have been a good call.

Over the last week I have managed to get a 4km open water swim in with a couple of pool sessions. Cycling went really well and I found that I could actually walk after my long ride (170km) so there is hope yet for running the marathon. But annoyingly my run sessions were a little off this week and I didn’t manage much at all. I was even defeated on my long run and had to walk home after 17km, that is the first time that has happened for a long time.

So 5 more weeks till the start, 2 more weeks of hard training and only 5 days until another 100 mile bike ride! Bring it on.

By Friday I did start to get back into the swing of things and I think missing a swim session allowed me to recompose myself. I decided to go for a full distance bike ride down to Brighton and back, just under 180km. I had ridden this route last year and managed a time of around 6 and half hours. I was pleased that this time round I rode the same route in 6 hours flat so a a definite improvement, but I didn’t exactly feel fresh at the end! I am aiming to try and cover this distance each weekend now until I start my taper as I need to have that confidence before I start at France.

I also fitted in a 30km run at the weekend which is the longest this year, didn’t feel too bad, but I have definatley lost what little pace I had acquired in the previous years as the entire time felt like a shuffle more than a run.

So a bit of a routine week really, I ate way too much chocolate and crap food in celebration of finishing Marshman and then again for completing the big bike ride and run. I’m going to try and be a bit more dedicated this week as I would like to try and drop a kilo or more before the big day. Only 40 days to go now !!

The picture this week was at the top of ditchling beacon, spectacular view

One of the best things about this race is that they offer free camping in the HQ field which means you can wake up on race day and just roll on to the start line. It was the first time this year that my tent has been out and it was good to spend a night in the fresh air. The facilities are basic but they did have some very posh toliet blocks bought in for the race weekend.

My wave started at 7am and the swim was an “M” shaped loop of the lake at Action Watersports. There was only about 70 people or so in my start wave but it was one of the most aggressive starts I think I have ever experienced. At one point somebody grabbed both my legs and started pulling me backwards ? After about 500 meters it started to spread out a bit and not looking too far ahead I felt like had lost touch with the majority of swimmers. As I got out of the water I checked my time, 30mins – ish. I was happy with that but a bit frustrated I hadn’t dipped under 30, always striving to be better ! Looking back at the result this put me in 23rd so not as bad as I had first thought.

I spent a little longer in transition than normal as I decided to change into a bike jersey rather than wear a full tri suit. This is how I plan to race IM France so thought this was a good time to practice but it did put an extra 30-40 secs on my normal transition time. I tried to hold back a little on the start of the bike, but with the course being so flat and me being used to riding around the south downs I got a little carried away at the start and managed to catch up to a few people. The course was not exactly inspiring, however if your looking for a fast route then this is certainly the place to be. It was a case of head down and just go for it. Frustratingly there were a few times where signs were not clear or they just weren’t there. I kept on, but on more than one occasion I felt that I had gone wrong and was off course. Eventually I would hit a junction with a marshall and was relieved to know I was going the right way. Looping back into Lydd (I think that is where we were?) you end up going around a wind farm, and they don’t build those for no reason. I think this was about 60-70 km into the course and it did kind of knock me for six. My pace slowed and a few people caught back up to me but I managed to just about keep them in site until we got back into T2. My bike spilit was 2:30:38. Thios worked out at average speed of 36km/h, which is way above my IM pace but as I said this was a very flat course.

T2 was alright, however I made the mistake of taking my feet out my shoes before I got off the bike. They had carpeted transition but perhaps my feet have gone a bit soft as it was like walking across hot coals as I tip toed to my spot. I switched tops again and put on my socks and shoes, again a little slower than normal but this is how I intend to race France. Then it was out for the run. My legs just didn’t want to play and although I didn’t feel that tired mentally I just couldn’t get my legs to turn over for the first 5km. I got a few niggles in my hips and was worried about my calf injury coming back, but by 6km I started to feel alright, although plodding along rather sluggishly. 3 of the 4 people that came out of transition around the same time of me disappeared off into the distance and I spent the majority of the run on my own. 2 guys came rocketing past me and must have done a very impressive run split if they held that pace. The course was along country lanes and a little bit of track and overall was pretty good. There were a few water stations and I doused myself in bottles of cold water to freshen myself up. As I turned into the finish chute I saw Camilla and the girls who had managed to drive down that morning to see me finish. I was great to hear them cheering and see them smiling as I crossed the finishing line, thanks for coming girls! Run over in 1:38:51.

So overall my total time was 4:43:23 putting me in 22nd place out of 192 finishers and 9th in my age group. I was aiming for a 5:15 finish so was thrilled with that time, although looking at the results now if I had only gone 2 mins quicker I could have placed 20th! The thought of doing twice this distance in a little over 6 weeks time is very daunting. I don’t feel too bad about the swim and the bike, but a marathon at the end is going to be tough, really tough. Its back to training tomorrow and focus is long distance over the next few weeks. The Marshman is a great race and for anyone that is looking for an early season “middle distance” race highly recommended.

This long weekend has seen me complete a 94 mile bike ride over what I consider some of the hilliest parts that we have to offer in my area. The image below shows the elevation of my route.

However, I did find this elevation map of the IM France route and it just goes to show how much more difficult cycling there is going to be. Sadly there is nowhere I can train for these types of climbs so just gotta make sure I arrive feeling fresh !

I also managed a 28km run and a 3km open water swim (first of the year!) so felt like I have got some good sessions in this week. The fatigue from this longer stuff does carry over throughout the week though and trying to get the shorter higher intensity stuff in during the week is a struggle.

Its off to the Marshman next weekend for a half Ironman distance to test my race plan and fitness. Then its only another 5 weeks of hard training before I start tapering down to race day. Still full of excitement for the race but in some ways I am looking forward to the end as I would love a week off training !!