Me and my nutrition - Stoats Porridge Bars

This year I’ve been fortunate enough to receive help and sponsorship from Stoats Porridge Bars. Stoats have a great range of products all based around high quality porridge oats. Getting enough high quality nutrition into the body on a daily basis is almost as much of a challenge as some of the races themselves, so I’m very fortunate to be supplied with products that give me exactly what I need.

During the week I’ll start my day with oats, either in porridge form or with some fantastic homemade granola that we’ve been perfecting (email me for the recipe – it changes a little every time….) - currently using oats with honey, apple juice, mixed fruit and some selected nuts. This gives me a fantastic start to the day and keeps me going through the morning.

 

On race days I have a couple of Stoats porridge pots. This takes the difficulty out of mixing up porridge when in a hotel or random hotel. Boiling water in, lid back on, close eyes for 5 minutes – consume.  

Stoats offer a great range of oat bars, which I’ve been using for all my rides throughout the year – and for middle distance triathlon races. The ingredients are all natural and offer a perfect/easily digestible fuel to keep going through long sessions.

They’ve also now brought out a new range of Sports Bars – pre and post exercise bars made with natural ingredients and containing a perfect combination of carbs and protein to fuel and aid muscle recovery.

These bars are great and very tasty – taking the hassle out of post-exercise snack preparation when all you really want to do is crumple up into a heap on the floor!

I can't say enough good things about these products. They're easy and tasty, and are perfect fuel to keep you doing whatever you do.

Fambridge Middle Distance Tri - 29/7/12

I did this event last year and really enjoyed it. A nice little race run by Dengie Events with plenty of local support and a fab pub about 50 metres away for some well earned post race fodder. I'd got a free entry from winning last year so hoped to knock a nice chunk off my time - previous time 4.08, so how about sub 4 hours??

The race is a 1.9km tidal sea (inlet) swim, 90km bike and 18km partly offroad run. I'd had a pretty good race last year but suffered with terrible back problems on the bike which slowed me down a lot over the last third of the ride.

The weather was pretty good - nice and calm and just enough sun to get the shoulders nice and crisp by the end of the race, and a slightly better start time (8.40) than last year's (pre 7am).

My swim was good. It's 2 laps around the moored boats out in the water - I went off hard and got away from everyone pretty early. I was very glad to have the canoe to follow as the sun was very low, making sighting very hard. I felt pretty good in the water and had a big lead coming out (3 minutes-ish). The time was a lot slower than last year but I can only assume that was tide related, or a mis-measured course.
Swim time - 25.50

Out onto the bike - it's a pretty flat course but also fairly exposed. I've been still suffering massively with my back and cannot seem to get it even vaguely resolved. It's purely a bike issue, and a lot worse on flatter courses, or when there's a lot of wind. Therefore the tactic was to go harder with the wind on my back, and ease off on the return leg to try and delay headwind induced back problems for as long as possible...

It's a 2 lap bike, which I started in the lead and rode on my own. Pretty uneventful really - nutritionally alternating 1/3 Stoats Oat Bar , 250ml sports drink every 15 minutes with another bottle of water with salts during the ride. It was uneventful until 10 minutes from the end, where I reached the last T junction and was told by the marshalls that the route had been changed and I couldn't go that way. "Had I not been told...??" Well evidently I hadn't. It turned out later on that the basic roadworks on the out leg had turned into full on dug up road during the course of the race. Unfortunately for myself and Roy Young in 2nd this led to a 10 minute extra loop to get to the new route (+ a couple of minutes for me of asking marshalls where on earth I should be going).
Bike - 2.33.19, in reality around 2.24, 3-4 minutes quicker than last year

I started the run in 2nd (with the marshalls fully aware of my extended siteseeing bike leg). Immediately I wasn't comfortable. It's a 4 lap run, and halfway through the first I started getting terrible stomach cramps. I have a lot of GI issues in training runs but miraculously have suffered very little during races. This was my first though, and halfway through the 2nd lap I told myself I really couldn't continue. The cramps were so bad that what started as a run/walk strategy turned into having to stop and stretch out every couple of minutes as it was just too uncomfortable. I was still in 2nd and told myself I'd just get to the end of the lap and stop. However, of course I then caught the leader so thought what the hell - let's push on through.

The cramps eased off (mostly) on the 3rd lap, but by then I hadn't got a gel down my neck and really couldn't speed up to any great level. So slog on through to the finish it was - not pretty, and not particularly enjoyable, but job done!
Run - 1.20.56, around 4 mins slower than last year

So, a win, and 4.21.59.
I'd say there was an improvement on last year, despite the 13 minutes slower clocking - taking into account the difference in swim times (I know I'm swimming faster than last year) and the bike detour I'd say around 3 mins up on last year, but with the issues on the run it could have been sub 4 hours...

........................

I've pretty much had a week off after the race as I'm suffering my usual late season fatigue (and that was as good a reason as any to soak up as much of our fabulous Olympics as humanly possible).  Now it's time to knuckle down and get some decent pre Vitruvian training....

Mid Season Update - Norwich and Gosfield Triathlon Wins

Belatedly, a little race update as I've had a couple of low key testers during July.


Norwich Sprint Triathlon - 1/7/12

My local race - I've raced the Olympic Distance a number of times but never the Sprint. The record time for the course was 65, and I had in my head on a perfect day the aim of getting under an hour.

As it was, I missed my target by 19 seconds - but raced with everything I had on the day. Once again I had a great swim, my Sailfish G Range wetsuit bringing me out in the lead with more than 30 seconds in the bank - 9.04 on the exit of the swim was a big PB for me over the 750 metres. I may have gone a little too hard on the swim as it took half the bike course to get my cycling legs chugging - but the second half of the bike, and the overdistance (5.5k) run were strong and I finished with more than 5 minutes advantage on 2nd place.

Gosfield Standard Distance Triathlon - 8/7/12

This again was another low key mid season race - just an opportunity to get out and have another race under the belt. I'd done this Born2Tri race in it's previous form as the Eastern Region Relays so knew the course fairly well. A lumpy bike and a relatively offroad run making a tough but fair course.

The weather was pretty dreadful, waterlogged ground from days of rain - with cool temperatures and drizzly rain. I had a solid swim - intending to get out on my own but choosing to sit on the feet of another fast swimmer to save a little bit of energy. The swim was more likely around 1400m rather than 1500m as we exited in around 18.25.

Out onto the bike and the weather really was grubby. Lots of standing water on the roads and steady rain falling made it all pretty bleak. The only thing I like less than riding in the wet is descending, so on a hilly wet course my descents really were pretty special! I was in the lead straight out of transition but took it pretty steady, figuring that I should be able to outrun anyone who came past me on the bike.

As it was, nobody did. Out onto the run in the lead and I can safely say it was the trickiest and most slippery run I've ever done. It was 50/50 betweek farm tracks and muddy paths, the mud and puddles really were unavoidable and beyond ankle deep. It was a slog but I felt strong with energy to burn. Over the line in 1.57.


Next up it's Fambridge Middle Distance at the end of July.....

Bala Middle Distance Tri - 10/6/12

This race was one of my main goals for the season - a 2k/80k/20k hillfest based around Bala lake in Wales. However, as it got closer to the race and I took more of an interest in the route I realised that to replicate the type of climbing prowess required for the race (both on the bike and run) was pretty bloody difficult in my local Norfolk flatlands.

The days before the race had been a worry weather-wise, with heavy rains, high winds and flooding hitting large parts of Wales. This was proven when we arrived at the venue the day before and found the transition area and nearby picnic tables underwater.

Race day dawned to perfect calm - not a breath of wind and temperatures in the mid teens, perfick. Race start was 9.30 which made a nice change. I breakfasted on the usual porridge and a little bit of toast - not so easy though having to sit in the b&b while my wife had a full welsh breakfast and I had mine put in the fridge for later (even harder running past b&b during the race later on crazing sustinence of any and every kind!)

Race start came around before I knew it, and I made sure to get into the water early to 'acclimatise' to the 12 degree temperature. The wind generally comes along the lake, which has the potential to make it extremely wavey and rough going. With such a calm day though this wasn't a problem at all.

The actual start line for the swim wasn't particularly clear, and as the starter didn't have a microphone I ended up completely unprepared and out of position when the horn went. I hit the first 150m pretty hard, but with a straight 1000m out and back course the fast swimmers were pretty spread out. I ended up swimming with another 2 guys, with 3 up ahead. My swim felt smooth but slow, but there was no need to push - expend extra energy and end up in no man's land for the sake of 30 seconds. Swim time - 28.39, 5th place.

Out onto the very hilly bike course, which kicks straight up out of town - 40k out, 40k back, with the harder section to my mind being the return. I went for a pretty controlled effort, moving up into 2nd within the first 20k, then dropping down to 3rd for the bulk of the ride behind Richard Anderson and Paul Hawkins. The hills were tough, but I'm sure if I enjoyed descending the downhills would have been fantastic! Unfortunately though I hate descending and, while the descents were lovely and open I started getting twitchy at 38mph+ each time, roughly coinciding with the usual "what if I was to get a puncture now..."  etc thoughts. My brake tapping ended up costing my pretty severely though, I would say somewhere around 15-20 seconds per descent, which over the course of the 80k would equate to 3-4 minutes.

I felt pretty good on the bike, and while the hills were tough, I could see that I wasn't losing any time on those ahead of me - pleasing for a heavy Norfolk lad. However, while you can push on the climbs and seemingly recover on the descents - all the while it's just sapping away at your energy reserves. Around 60-65k there were a couple of real kickers, reducing my speed to a race worst 7mph - to which my body seemed to go past it's point of no return. I got passed into 4th with about 5k to go and went into T2 about 30 seconds down. Bike time - 2.17.03, 5.01 down on fastest split.

We'd driven the course the day before - 5 1/2 miles on very undulating roads next to the lake, then a horrible 1 mile kick up to the turnaround point before returning the same way. From the start I felt pretty good - psychologically I still see a half marathon as a long run so was running well within myself. I got through the first 5-6 miles comfortably at 6.10-6.15mpm pace - 3rd place was moving away up the road but I felt pretty good.

The last mile up to the turnaround was a real beast though - and while I pushed on through, just focussing on the road a couple of metres ahead, I realised when running back down that I really didn't have a lot left in the tank. I dropped down to 5th soon afterwards by Peter Brook, joking with him on his way past that I'd watched him on the TV the week before - running away from everyone at the Slateman Triathlon. It was a good way to psyche me out though! On the return I knew I head time in the bank to 6th, and was really dying a death. I'm sure if I'd have laid down on the grass for even 2 seconds I'd have been asleep instantly - this really is a hard bloody sport! I eased down and just got through the second half, dropping 4-5 minutes vs the first half of the run. Run time - 1.22.42.

Overall time - 4.10.36, 5th place.

 I can't say I was pleased with the overall result - but I wasn't too disappointed either. Up to the last 5 miles of the run I gave it everything, and was beaten by some quality competition. Onwards and upwards, now a few shorter races before the build up to Vitruvian at the start of September....

Big Cow National Sprint Championships - 27/5/12

This race was another one down in my plan to train through - still, I never want to put in duff performances. As it was I trained as normal through Friday and just had a light spin on the bike on Saturday.

This was my first real race of the year after the up against the elements slog to the death that was Marshman. Was also my first open water dip of the year (I tend not to practice open water so as not to cut further into my tiny weekly swim allowance) and first swim in my lovely new Sailfish G Range Wetsuit.

I was off in the penultimate wave, and managed to actually get myself ready with a minimal amount of rush and fuss, rather than the usual pissing about thinking I've got loads of time, then realising I should already be in the water type affair. I had a little warm up and found myself right in the middle (not my usual position) waiting for the start. The start of the swim was as frantic as expected with a variety of hands and arms trying to pull me back over the first 75 metres. After that it was clear water though, and once I'd recover from the initial oxygen deficit I felt good and swam on my own as the group out front had a bit of a gap on me. I've swum in the G Range Sailfish for 4 years now and am constantly amazed at how good I feel in it. Off the back of an average of 2.5 hours a week in the pool I was out of the water in 5th place in 9.59, and that included a 75 metre run to transition.

T1 was really quite poor. The initial process of wetsuit off/helmet on was fine, but as I took my bike and picked my sunglasses off the bars I dropped them and caught them between my arm and stomach. I was trying to run with the bike and roll them along my arm to my hand, but after about 10 seconds of this I dropped them and had to turn round and get them. Hit the mount line and went for my first jumped mount onto the bike - success. However, I put my left foot onto my shoe before my right, which caused the elastic band on the right to snap before my foot was there and started 15 to 20 seconds of me riding along with shoes getting stuck under pedals/veering about onto the grass etc. Amateur hour.

The bike leg was where I lost all the time today. Once again I'm at a loss at where I'm going wrong on the wheels. My training has all the elements, but on the day I was left 60 seconds down on my peers once again, which equated to 8-10 positions - and could have given an interesting run for the Age Group win.... I pushed, but the splits tell me once again it's just not good enough.

Back into T2 and it was pretty swift. On with the race flats and cap and off for the 2 lap 5.2km run. There were a lot of fast runners out there, so always people to work off and chase. It didn't feel awful, but was reflective of my lack of speedwork - although my pace wasn't bad, it felt like all I had was 3rd gear. Sprints aren't my focus, so the times are always going to be a little way off. I did go over on my ankle on the first lap (again!) but it wasn't enough to slow me done significantly.

Over the line to finish in 1:00:48. 13th overall and 3rd in my Age Group.

I told myself before the race that whatever position I was in, I would be content to go under 1:01:00. It doesn't work like that in reality though. I really shouldn't be dropping a minute on the bike, and if I hadn't, and the little T1 mistakes weren't there it would have been a more pleasing result.

Swim - happy. I've been going through a pretty good phase in the pool and this should equate to a 30-40 second improvement over 1500m from last year with no extra hours, just more focussed training....

Bike - rats. This will be turned around before the racing year is done....

Run - more speed will come. While my short distance speed is very similar to last year I have come endurance-wise which is what I'm after for middle distance.

2 solid weeks then Bala.....

Marshman Tri - 6/5/12

Well that was a toughie. First race out for the year and a little bit later than usual. I'm always a late starter, getting my year's training up and running in January rather than November time - but usually sneak a tri of some description in during April.

 The lead up to the race weather-wise had been truly abysmal - lots of rain and cold weather for a month or so. I try not to complain 24/7 about the cold, but I have very poor circulation and do really suffer. Consequently when the swim was called off 20 minutes before the start I (as did most others) breathed a very big sigh of relief. Regardless of the water temperature, the air temperature was still only 6 degrees and raining so to get on the bike after a swim would have been extremely tough.

So a 1900m/92k/21k race turned into 5.3k run + 92k/21k - a lot of running. I had't set any particular hopes for the race - just to put a stake in at the start of the season and identify current weaknesses. The lack of a swim gave me the chance to add an extra pair of socks - big bonus. The first run went off at a pretty crazy pace - leaving me in the latter half of the top 10, but happy to hold back 30 seconds in a 4 hour race.

Coming into transition I decided to take off my jacket - leaving me with trisuit and long sleeved top, a decision I really shouldn't have made! Out onto the very flat bike course and it was just a case of getting settled in for the 56 miles. I got through into 3rd/4th within the first 30 minutes but after that it was a lonely ride. By 40 minutes in my hands had frozen so much that I could get my bottle out of the cage but couldn't squeeze it, and my jaw was so cold I couldn't suck the drink out! Still had half a litre on the bars though and could get to my Stoats nutrition so it was enough to get me through.

Rolled into T2 at a smidge under 2 1/2 hours - not fantastic but looking at splits for the other guys it wasn't as bad as it felt. As soon as I went to change my shoes my body just seized. I'd long since lost feeling in hands/feet/legs etc, but as I tried to get my run shoes on a muscle completely locked up in my neck - evidently an effect of being in one position on the flat bike course. I managed to pick up my gels with my locked in position arm and ran/walked out of transition.

It took close to a mile to unlock my neck and actually get the gels into my pockets (and a further 2 to get the feeling back in my feet). The run really was just a case of grinding it out. There were no sort of distance markers or reference points of any sort - so it was just a case of running for 90 minutes and hoping I'd been running 7 minute miles! The story of the run: started in 3rd, got overtaken to 4th, overtook someone into 3rd. The end. It was as bad as I'd felt on any run in any race, and once 3rd was safe I actually walked a couple of aid stations just to hoover up coke and jaffa cakes (surprisingly easy to choke on while running I found...)

Over the line in 3rd, but due to a DQ and the winner Joe Skipper being an on the day entry I got the winners prize. A very tough race due to the conditions, and a real kicking at the start of the season - onwards and upwards has to be the way from here....

Up and running

I've now got the first couple of races done and dusted for the year - just a half marathon and a 10k, but my first head to heads of any description since last September. Training has been relatively consistent, but I'm concious that I've only really been training for a little over 8 weeks so whatever results I managed should lead onto some easy improvements over the next 4-6 weeks.

Great Bentley Half Marathon - 18/3/12

This was only actually my second half marathon (despite running 3 in Half Ironman races) and on the basis that my first was done the day after returning from a heavy cycling week in the Pyrenees it was always going to be a PB...

I thought that 1.18 should be possible, but with a few niggling stomach problems on the morning of the race it had the potential to be 'interesting'. As it was I decided to latch onto a couple of guys going for 1.16. It's easy to think at the start that it's a case of getting a decently paced 8 or 9 miles done, then if there's a drop off you've already got 60-90 seconds in the bank. The reality though means that you'll be dying for the last 4-5 miles.

As it was I was uncomfortable from 3-4 miles, held the pace until 8 - then pretty much expired. I got my clothing options wrong and was overheating from the start, my guts were rebelling early on and when I dropped off the pace I really did it in style.

Splits were:
5.43
5.52
5.57
5.51
5.54
5.54
5.54
6.07
6.12
6.13
6.32
6.31
6.46
Finish time of 1:20:09

My heart rate was at absolute max from 3 miles through to 8 and it was just a case of holding it for as long as I could. On the day with the right clothing and settled insides it should have been 1.18, on the right run with more miles in the bank hopefully a 1.16 or so.

Bungay 10k - 6/4/12

This race is one I've done quite a few times over the last 5 years. The course is a little bit lumpy, but as a gauge it's nice to get out and do the same race to see where I'm at. I've still not touched any speedwork for the year and that told straight away, my splits were pretty consistent (17.40/18.07 5k's) - which tells me that the strength and stamina are there, and now it's time to add some speed. Finish time of 35.47. I've been 20 seconds faster around that course, but that was 3 months later in the year (in 2011) - this is the fastest I've been at the end of March/start of April so it'll do for now....