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....

Gear for the year - Red Venom and Stoats

A couple of nice packages arrived on the doormat last week from 2 of my sponsors for the year.

Red Venom are the team I'm racing for in 2012. They've got a great range of Compression Gear here which I was using anyway. It's 1/3 of the price of anyone else and the quality is top notch. Anything I didn't already have I've certainly got now - consider me to be fully compressed.



The second package was from a fantastic new sponsor who I'm VERY happy with! Stoats make oat based products which you can buy at their website here. They'll be supplying me with bars and oats throughout the year - really well made from all natural ingredients. While I use gels for racing, I like to eat 'real food' during training and racing whenever possible - so to have these guys supporting me is very good news.

Rebelling body

I'm still two months away from the proper start of my race season, but it seems to be getting closer at a rather scary rate. I've got myself through a decent block of training, but my body has really been going through the mill to get me there. I've had issues and niggles before, but it's really nothing on the scale of this year.

The biggest issue I've been suffering with is my Psoas Muscle. I've always suffered with back problems on the bike - generally causing me to spend the last 20-25% of any 70.3 race sitting up, and suffering on any training ride of an hour +. It was only after one of my races last year that someone pointed out that it was my psoas muscle. It sits buried deep in the pelvis and as such is a very hard muscle to stretch and strengthen. Unfortunately it's crucial when crouched over on the bike - especially in TT position. So far it has caused me a lot of discomfort on my longer training rides - the only possible solution (as far as I can see anyway) I've got is to do core workouts every single day for 5-6 weeks and see if I can possibly turn the corner for the season. I'm left on my rides wondering how much stronger I'd be if my legs and not my back were the limiting factor, as it's my back that causes me problems, never the legs.

On top of this there's the constant worry of my weak ankles (8 sprains over the course of 2011, a couple of them stopping me running for a month a piece), needing 2-3 rehab/strength band sessions per week. I'm suffering a lot with ITB issues this year (popping over the knee on every leg bend), leading to or as a consequence of some really dodgy hips. Great fun :/

From where I'm sitting at the moment I'm feeling that the pieces are loosely in place, but I could do with another solid 4 week block to really give me some positivity. After a week long overseas work and family trip (timed to coincide with a rest week) I've picked up a cold and throat infection. This currently means that I've gone almost a week and a half on minimal training - never good for the psychie.

Swimming - Was posting PB's and some solid sessions a month ago, 3 swims in 2 weeks isn't doing me any favours though.
Run - Currently up on last year, a couple more consistent weeks and I'll be ready to start on the speed work. Will hopefully sneak a half marathon or two before race season trying to get down to 1.18-19.
Bike - We shall see. This is always the last discipline to come online and I'm planning to stick a couple of big weeks in over the next 6-8.....

Racer's psychology?

Earlier this week I found myself on the treadmill - it's a punishment I put myself through seemingly once every six months as a reminder that running outside is actually quite fun. That and the fact that it was blowing a gale outside and my current run form makes it feel like a constant headwind anyway....

What struck me about this run was the way that for 45 of my intended 60 minutes it was a slog. Going out of the comfort zone takes some adaption and after many months of road running it seemed a little bit alien and a little bit tough on the treadmill. However, when it got to the last 15 minutes and everything was already getting a blurry and increasingly difficult it suddenly became fun to ramp up the speed every 60 seconds, first by 0.1, then by 0.2 and 0.3kph. So what had been tough at minute 45 turned out to just be a jumping off point to a whole lot more speed and discomfort.

This tends to be the way my head works, and I think it's a vital piece of the puzzle to try and get to the top of a tough sport. The ability to actually be able to ignore those sensations telling you you're hurting and you can't go on, and enjoy giving it absolutely everything even when you feel there's nothing more to give. It's easier to push yourself into this place when you're with a group - running on the track etc, but killing it for a solo treadmill session gives a certain sort of satisfaction....

Checking In

31st December, and my first blog post in 6 months - ouch. At least if I post an update today I'll feel like things are on their way before we hit 2012....

My last race of 2011 was way back in September in the New Forest - Bucklers Revenge Triathlon. In effect it was a Half Ironman but was a bit short at a 1.9k swim, 68k bike and an 18.4k offroad run. Again though, I had a solid race despite some really awful weather and came away with a solid win to finish the season on.

Anyway, I won't pretend that it's worth going back too much to the 2011 season, being a few months down the line now. I really can't complain with my results. I came into the year unsure of whether my body could handle the Half Ironman distance, but came out of it with wins across all distances (Sprint, Olympic, Half Ironman) - a British Age Group Standard Distance Championship, a Regional Sprint Champs win and plenty of pleasing performances.

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

So, 2012. Much of the same really. Year on year I aim improve myself and my performances based purely on refining of my training techniques. I'm self employed and the business tends to take up the bulk of my time. I've lost count of the number of times I've intended to get out for a session, then something goes wrong/a last minute shipment needs packing/a customer calls with a problem etc etc and *poof*, it's gone. I take the running of my business very personally - unfortunately, it's retail based and the last couple of years have been beyond tough. It's not always easy just to switch off and get out the door, especially when money's tight and stepping out the door could mean further loss of income. It's stress really, and very hard to combat.

I had a chance to look back over previous year's training logs.... Through 2011's pre and race season (Feb to September) I averaged 10.5 hours per week training (+ a little bit of gym work etc), roughly as a 5.5h bike, 3h run, 2h swim split. Year on year I've generally managed to add around an hour to this average - but this counts as seriously low mileage. 2012 will be much the same - this is as much time as I can commit, so I need to make sure I use that time to the best of my ability. In this blog I will try to report on this as best I can.

I will be competing in a couple of races this year as a Pro. I'll be racing them anyway, so why not be in with a shout of winning some money if I'm there! I'm doubtful of whether there'll be many Pro's training on much less than 18 hours, let alone a little over 10 - so I don't hold too many fantasies of podium topping Pro results. However, I know how the hours I can commit, and I'll take any scalps I can.

I haven't dared put the Garmin on yet, as I can then kid myself that I'm running a little bit faster and further than I actually am! However, I'm always late in getting pre season training under way due to solid work commitments through November and December so don't need to start fretting yet. I'm currently making sure my week's contain all the elements - solid sessions across all disciplines with the priority being consistency. I will continue to wring out the minimal hour training flannel for all it's worth and see what it can bring me in the coming year.

1/2 Ironman number 2

Since Dambuster my race schedule has been relatively quiet - lucky really as there's been so many other things going on that the training has been a bit stretched to say the least. Work based stresses mean that tri has had to take a bit of a back seat and I've had to race partly on "training fumes" as it were.

Early on in July I did the Steelman Tri at Dorney Lake - I was training right the way through with decent sessions in the days leading up to it, and managed to pull out a halfway decent performance. Having a bit of a battle with Charlie Pennington throughout the race he blitzed me on the run, but that was to be expected as he's a top drawer runner. 1.57.56 overall was a good time - accurate bike and run distances but strongly suspect that the swim was long as I came in with a pack on a mid-21 and we'd all been expecting sub-20.

Fambridge Yacht Haven Middle Distance Tri - 24th July
1.9km / 91km / 18km
This race summed up what I was aiming for this season - nice low key races where I could just do my thing and enjoy it. This was the first running of the race so as I'd been in the area a couple of weeks beforehand I drove the bike course to make sure there were no unpleasant surprises.

Race morning started crazy early with a 4am alarm call for a 7am start. It was only my second middle distance so preparations and nutrition etc were still a little bit experimental. 2 bowls of porridge for brekky (not huge though....), a pre race banana, on the bike 100g of malt loaf, 1 bottle of energy drink (with added salt), 1 bottle of water (with added salt), then gels as required on the run. My issue/worry is always dehydration after previous bad experiences, so there's also some serious fluid intake pre and post race....

The swim was tidal in the harbour, and as I swam out across the waves I could not recall my last sea swim - 2 years maybe?? Good start. The swim was 2 laps - out into the waves against the tide through the moorings, then getting pushed all the way back. On the way out I found the feet of the leader and we pulled a decent distance on the rest of the field immediately - there was a lot of swell making breathing quite difficult, but it's the same for everyone. As soon as we turned for home on the 1st lap I took the lead and cruised through the rest on my own, coming out in 22.16 (swim later measured at 1.8km....)

The path in and out of transition were very stoney, so shoes went on in T1 and out I hobbled. The bike course was a 2 lapper, good road surfaces but fairly lumpy and quite exposed to the wind. I had my first attempts at peeing on the bike - great fun, next time must learn how to avoid getting it over drinks bottle etc.... My first lap was good and comfortable, but as usual I started getting chronic back issues on the second lap - this ended up with me having to sit up for a large percentage of my second lap, adding minutes onto my split. I caught a couple of backmarkers but saw no sign of anyone else. My biking hasn't been mindblowing this year so I was pleased to come into T2 in the lead.


What I hadn't accounted for was just how off-road the run was - a 4 lapper make up of about 60% fields/paths/seawall etc. I don't do a lot of off road work so this was a real shock for a whole variety of rarely used stability type muscles. The support through the village was great, and this was a real help as psychologically multi-lappers are pretty tough. After 2 laps I was told that I had 5 minutes in the bank on 2nd place - this was very welcome news and the foot came firmly off the gas for the last 2 laps!


Overall - 4.08.44 (1st)
Swim - 22.16 (1st)
Bike - 2.28.08 (4th)
Run - 1.16.37 (2nd)
No complaints really (well, lots actually - my body felt like death the day after, but apart from that...) - happy with the result. With less back problems I could have knocked chunks out of the bike time, and the compensations I had to make in position on the bike likely added a couple of minutes to the run as well.

Dambuster British Triathlon Champs, 18th June

Pre-amble

Same old story - ages since an update, but let's not dwell on it...

Up to Lisbon 1/2 Ironman at the end of April my focus had been on longer distances and getting the miles in the bank. The intention was then to switch this from the middle of May so I could race well across all distances and get a little bit of speed back in the legs.

Much against my original intention of increasing my training volumes this year they've actually gone down due to time constraints - being self employed isn't everything it's cracked up to be. I don't think averaging 80 minutes a week in the pool is ideal for anyone! So 2011 once more is an experiment in how to try and maximise every minute spent training...


Build up races

Speedy Beaver National Sprint Championships, 29th May. What a waste of time this race was... I was looking for a good result here, but after a solid but thoroughly unpleasant swim (the murkiest water I've ever swum in) I got 10 metres out of T1 before realising that my front tyre was flat as the proverbial. A faulty valve and race over.

Fritton Lake Sprint Tri, Eastern Region Sprint Championships, 11th June. This was intended as a sharpener before Dambuster the following week, but I knew that the competition was pretty good and I would need to be on good form to take the win. As it was I ended up with 2nd fastest swim split, plus fastest transitions, bike and run to win it. The times were slightly slower than 2010, but I know that the run was 300 metres longer and am sure that the swim was longer than the previous year... We work so hard for every second, so every second lost needs to be justified!

The dampener on the result was 2 sprained ankles. Unfortunately my ankles seem to be getting weaker and weaker, so I need to spend more time on rehabilitation - 6 sprains in 6 months is not good. However, these weren't too bad so just 5-6 days off running this time.


The Race

Dambuster British Standard Distance Championships, 18th June. Although this race was intended to be my main focus of the year and I diligently tapered and cut my training down accordingly (always happy to do that...) I didn't go into the race with a huge amount of confidence. I know I'm strong across all disciplines but there's no real standout. There have been no leaps or bounds since 2010 so I would have to hopefully rely on a solid performance across the board.
The weather didn't look kind with plenty of rain around and a stiff breeze blowing. As it was though it couldn't have been better (well, it could...) with the rain stopping 90 minutes before the race and not starting again until the journey home.

Swim - 19.37. Well it didn't feel fast, but evidently it was! I knew there would be plenty of fast guys so opted to stay right out of trouble. As it was I found some feet to get towed behind and had a pretty trouble free swim. 10th out of the water I was reliably informed by my wife.

Bike - 1.05.39. This is the leg I'm least happy with, although I was only beaten by about 5 guys I'm not happy to have lost 3 1/2 minutes to Ben Howard the eventual winner. I was very uncomfortable on the descents - the crosswinds were playing havoc with my deep front section wheel and I spent the downhills sitting up, feathering the brakes and clenching my arse. I made it up to 4th but then got nervey on the descents and came into T2 in 6th.

Run - 34.00. The run is a little bit short at around 9.5k, but I'm happy with this split. I made it into 5th pretty quickly and just felt comfortable all the way round. I'd opted for a new (and minimal) nutrition strategy and it was absolutely fine - a gel at the start of the run left me confortable and strong through to the finish.

Overall - 2.00.58. Was aiming for 2.02 so very happy to go under.

It was quite a wait to find out the results, and I didn't know who may have finished ahead from the 30-34's, or who may have pipped me from later waves. As it was - no-one, and no-one. 5th overall and 30-34 British Champion. I'll take it.

Lisbon Half Ironman - 30/4/11

My first attempt at a Half. I can't say I wasn't dubious going into it as I was imagining quite a few potential problems (nutrition/fluid intake/a distinct lack of 2011 mileage and many other things...) but although I knew what I'd like to achieve I was aiming to keep the race relatively low key and just get through. Based on my times in training I suspected the best I could possibly achieve would be a 4.10, but that would be a perfect race at max effort - which would not necessarily be the way I'd race on this day.

The race was almost over before it started - jumping into the water for the start I landed on a submerged rock and split my heel. A nice cut and a bit of bruising but I guess it was an extra incentive not to heel strike on the run?!

Swim - 26.31
Had no intention to push hard in the swim as I didn't want a overly eager swim to haunt my race later on - I've not been able to put too many hours in in the pool and am roughly where I was last year. This was my first o/w swim of the year and first in a wetsuit for nearly 8 months so it made it interesting... Had a strange swim, every time I got onto the feet of someone I seemed to lose concentration and got dropped straight away. Guess that's just a lack of open water practice for the year - felt good in my nice new Sailfish G Range wetsuit though and was out of the water in a good 10th place.


Bike - 2.23.58
I had rather a leisurely transition as I was convinced I was going to be sick! 20 seconds holding onto the railing sorted me out though. The bike was a closed circuit relatively flat one with a tough 1.5-2k climb at the far point of each (x4) lap, and 5 dead turns. Although the weather was turning, with rain and a pretty strong wind I'd figured the bike was the part of the race that I could do fairly well on. I pushed hard for the first lap and got up to 6th, then it dawned on me that I was only 1 hour into a 4hr+ race so had better ease off a bit (looking back at my splits, if I'd have carried on at my first lap pace it would have been a 2h15-2h16 bike leg).
A couple of people went past on the 2nd lap and I just let them go, easing off and making sure I was right on the money with my nutrition (125ml of GO and 30g of malt loaf per lap). By the middle of the 3rd lap I was getting real back problems - this is something I suffer with on the bike, and with my longest ever previous ride on the TT bike being 42 miles I was pretty well expecting it. I had to keep sitting up for the last lap and a half and lost a few more positions.

Run - 1.21.46
Despite a solid half marathon a couple of weeks before this was where I had my real worries. I often suffer from stomach problems on my normal runs, so was worried at what could go wrong on this leg - nutrition/dehydration (a big problem of mine)/cramping etc. Again it was a 4 lap run which I started in 13th place. As I'd gone into the race with no real expectations I decided to run within myself and make sure (as much as I could) that I got through relaxed and problem free - rather than push early to knock another minutes off and find that I didn't have as much as I thought in the legs.
Immediately from the first lap I felt pretty good - the back problems were not causing me any issues on the run. I had socks on and my comfortable (not racing flats) Mizuno's with lashings of vaseline to try and ensure a lack of blistering - and all was pretty well in half mara world. My splits ended up very pleasing for the run - 20.12/20.31/20.26/20.29. Very little deviation and very little drop off.

On getting over the line my body just seized up - so much discomfort from so many areas! Strangely I've never actually had a massage before, so the shock of having a massage by 4 people at once in the recovery area left me pulling some fantastic faces! But left me able to (just) walk which I don't think I'd have been able to otherwise.

Overall
I'm happy with the result. I didn't suffer in the ways I thought I would, and if this was my 2nd/3rd/4th race at this distance I would have felt more comfortable to push a lot more - I think 4.10-4.12 would have been very achievable. I may not feel this good every time but it was a nice start. It's renewed a bit of my enthusiasm for racing too which I was really looking for - it felt like much more of a test against myself than a sprint or standard distance. If something goes wrong in a middle distance race, like a slow transition, or a missed turn on the bike there's plenty of chance to put that right. Whereas in the shorter events your race can be ruined by things that are completely out of your control.

A couple of days complete rest now followed by a couple of easy ones then I need to get myself tuned up for some shorter distance racing...

Race season under way

As usual - crazy time between updates. Last time out my training was just getting under way, now in a mere blink of an eye my races are under way and I'm within 2 weeks of my first Half Ironman in Lisbon.

Training has been pretty consistent over the last 8 weeks. I've had a few work commitments which have knocked training on the head pretty well, but I've managed to plan around them to minimise the impact.

As with last year I scheduled a training week in the Pyrenees which I came back from a week ago. It seems to fast track my cycle training a bit, and the week this time around was fantastic. It wasn't an organised camp, but a focussed cycling week with a couple of triathlete buds. Although it was a little early in the year to get up the big climbs we had fantastic weather, and I find that benefit of doing 40 minute climbs is pretty great anyway... 400 biking miles in the legs for the week was very pleasing.

Bungay Half Marathon - 10/4/11

We arrived home late on the Saturday night and I'd scheduled my first half marathon for the Sunday - obviously I need to be able to run on tired legs.... The other two guys were struck down with some sort of stomach bug which I miraculously managed to avoid.

I went into the race dubious not because of the preceeding week but just because of the distance and unchartered territory of it. I'd run the distance a few times in training, but generally at 1.30 pace - in an ideal world I'd be looking to get under 1.20, but I knew that wouldn't be at this race.

I finished in 7th place, 1.23.30ish. Pleased as this certainly isn't the fastest course. Distance-wise it felt comfortable, the big preceeding week just meant that there was no kick in my legs - maybe missing the top 5% of what my legs should give me. Faded a little in the last couple of miles, but my pace over the course of it was between 6.09 and 6.28 per mile - not a lot of variance there.

VC Norwich 25 mile TT - 17/4/11

I do this race every year and have pretty consistently knocked a minute off my time every year. Felt really nervous going in this time though. To be honest the results of this Time Trial kind of define which way my season is heading. I've not done any real speed work up to this point so the thought of holding 26mph+ for an hour seemed like a tall order.

Woke up to a perfectly still 'float' day which should bring some pretty good times. Can't say I felt good in any way - really nailed the first 8 miles and suffered through the rest with some real discomfort in the hip flexors and core.

Finishing time 55.20ish. Very pleased to have knocked another 90 seconds off my PB from the same race last year. Again the splits were pretty consistent throughout (the 4th one has a big long uphill drag back form the turnaround point) - broken down into 5 mile splits my times were:
11.11
10.46
10.56
11.34
10.59

Next 2 weeks

It's a little bit scary to think that Lisbon is only 2 weeks away. My training plan has had to be adjusted a bit as I didn't start any sort of consistent training until late-January. Consequently I've not been able to touch any speed work yet. Have just had an easy week after the Pyrenees - the intention this coming week is to dial up the intensity, a crash week. The aim for this is to shock the body into a mini peak which will hopefully arrive on the morning of 30th April...!

Steadily picking up

My 2011 season's training is now into a fairly full swing, and looking at the days flying by on the calendar it needs to be.

It was a rest week a couple of weeks ago, planned in on the basis that I was away for 6 days and training was going to be tricky. Unfortunately on the following Tuesday my wife got ill with cold and throat infection - I held out for a couple of days but by Thursday afternoon I'd caught it, and it really knocked me out. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were completely written off but the sofa was very very comfortable....

Unfortunately the illness meant I wasn't able to get to HPU for my pre-season lab testing. It was a bit disappointing to not make it - the intention being to get a pre-race season baseline for my fitness and give me some good V02 max figures etc to work off for the next few weeks. I'll hope to get along there soon as it's nice to have figures to work from - not just to be working off heart rate and 'how it feels'.

I'm now only two months away from my first race of the season. I'm a little bit behind where I was last year in all disciplines, but I hadn't actually been doing any more than 4 hours per week for 8 weeks up until 21st January, so have only now got 4 solid weeks behind me. I've been putting the long runs in and managing to hit some 6 minute miles on the way back, and on my interval sessions have been hitting sub 3.30 per km. That's where I was at this time last year in terms of speed, but with the added bonus of 12 miles average for the long runs instead of 8.

Swim and bike are a little bit off, but that's to be expected. Those were the two that really suffered with my 8 week sabbatical so I know I need to put the work in. Will be looking to push the swim and bike for the next couple of weeks and see where that puts me by the middle of March.

It's been a while...

Well I guess the reason for the first post in 4 months is that I'm getting back into training again (for the first time in 4 months!) Due to work and holiday commitments I've had roughly an 8 week gap in my schedule, so am starting from roughly zero. It's been a long layoff so 2011 is going to be an experiment in how vital a solid winter base really is...!

Going into this year I was looking to race a little bit more low key. With the Europeans and Worlds last year I put quite a bit of pressure on myself, so in 2011 am looking to mix up the distances a little and give the year some variety on all counts.

The year will be starting with Lisbon Half Ironman at the end of April. This will force me to train long for the 14 weeks beforehand and hopefully give me a good platform for the year. From there there'll be a variety of sprint, olympic and middle distance races - all UK based, alongside the usual smattering of run races and TT's.

Right now I've got a pretty solid 10 days under my belt and am not feeling too bad about things. The bike and run are off pace, but I know that with some consistency the speed will come.

A big positive is the swim, I had my first real session back last night and was faster than through all of 2010. With having an enforced period of no swim training I'd been trying to brainwash myself into making some stroke adjustments - hoping that time out of the water would help my body forget certain errors of it's ways and replace them with the new info I was telling it. It will need a couple of sessions to reinforce, but I'm feeling pretty positive that I've made a bit of a breakthrough (2 to 3 seconds per 100m is a decent breakthrough). I'm not going to be moving up to club swimming so know that I need to make my improvements through stroke efficiency and tweaks rather than volume and coaching.

World Championship Tri Bronze

Waveney Triathlon 2 - 5th September, 1st

I'd entered this race purely as last minute sharpener for Budapest, coming as it did 6 days before the big race. I'd only raced it once before and was looking to try and get a course record. However, with no running under the belt for more than a week before due to a dodgy foot I wasn't really sure how it would play out.

The weather was spot on, lovely and sunny with very little wind. My race certainly wasn't the most balanced, but it got the job done - didn't get the course record, but was only 30 seconds off, and with my aero helmet and disc wheel on their way to Budapest I'm pretty sure it was within my grasp.

I ended up really going hard on the bike leg, and then not getting the legs turning over fast enough on the run. But it was a confidence builder for Budapest. The outcome with the foot is that it's OK in a straight line but hurts turning corners. Absolutely fine - Budapest is a point to point run so no corners...!


Budapest Sprint Tri World Championships - 11th September, 3rd

This race had been my focus since the start of August. Overall, my season seems to have spluttered and not got going as I'd hoped, but having this race big on my calendar helped me out in the preceeding 6 weeks.

We arrived late on the Wednesday, with the race on the Saturday. Our hotel wasn't near the team hotel or race centre - which was great for touring the city, but meant we got to take full advantage of the pretty fantastic Budapest public transport system to get registered/go to team briefings etc.

From Thursday lunchtime it rained constantly without let up which meant our hotel room become a giant laundry room of clothes and footwear that wouldn't get dry. The day before the race was the team briefing and it was announced that disc wheels would very likely be disallowed due to potential thunderstorms coming in. As soon as this was announced my stomach just dropped. I should have learned from them being banned at the Euros. On that occasion I had a spare wheel - on this occasion I had nothing.

After some frantic begging I managed to get a potential loan of a rear wheel. But I wasn't going to being able to get it until the Saturday. And wouldn't know whether I could use it, or whether it would run right (different gearing) until about 60 minutes before my race. Cue a sleepless night, and me pretty much resigning myself to: wind=no race for me. :(

Saturday morning - pouring with rain but no wind. Something to moan about but I could race!! I set up in the rain, wading through a waterlogged transition and before I knew it was waiting on the pontoon for the start....

Swim
The water was cold - very cold. I picked a place in the middle, started strongly and never really let up. I was hoping to find some fast feet to latch onto but ended up being the fastest feet! I put a couple of hard bursts in and broke the tow of the toe tappers behind me. It felt good to exit the water and come running into transition in first.

Bike
I came running out of T1 looking for the bike mount line - one point that would have been handy in the briefing was that there wouldn't be a mount line, just a woman with a red flag shouting "hop, hop...". The bike course was simple - 2 x 9.94km, and the road surfaces not as bad as rumour had been dictating. I led the 1st lap but as my poor cycling this year has dictated dropped back to 4th on the 2nd lap - albeit with 2nd and 3rd right in front of me.


Run
The moment of truth. I've heard athletes quoted so many times saying "4th is the worst place to finish" - coming out of transition in 4th I knew they were right. I would kick myself for ever more if I didn't gain a position. I went hard for the first km and was up behind 3rd place, a Brazillian guy. Decided to kick straight past - go as hard as I could for another km and see if I could break him straight away.... success.
It was the longest last 3km I've raced. The route was right against the river all the way before crossing over to the other side at the end. I'd walked it a couple of times and was just counting off the bridges as I ran - pretty constantly looking behind, scared that suddenly some whippet would come flying past. But no, the finishing chute appeared and I crossed the line in 3rd!


Despite the bike leg not being great, whatever had happened I would have had to run way beyond my current level to get into the top 2. The winner runs 15 minute 5k's, and that's beyond where I'm at unfortunately. I raced the best race I could on the day, and was very very happy to come out of it with a medal!

PB & Injury - highs and lows

Well this could very easily be described as bad timing. I'd had a relatively solid 4 weeks of training after London tri, but unfortunately seem to have aggravated something in my ankle a little over a week ago which has put me completely out of running and in a bit of discomfort on the bike.

With Budapest coming up next week this really wasn't what I was after, but will just have to see how it takes me. I'm also due to be racing Waveney Tri tomorrow - this was intended to be a final sharpener for Buda, but I will now see how I feel when it gets to T2 as to whether I continue or not...

For the Sprint Worlds there's such a small gap between positions that everything has to be spot on. I think if I race like I did a couple of times at the start of the season I can be right up there - top 3. This has proved itself to be my distance, so I just want to do it justice and really nail the race.

Earlier in the month I did a 5k PB in 16.50. I'd run 16.58 during a 10k so knew I should be sub 17, but reassuringly I know there's more time to come. It just felt a bit rushed and my form felt a bit poor, but if it's another 3 years before I run a 5k like it was this time let's hope it's a bit more than a handful of seconds I knock off.

London Triathlon 8/8/10

First let's bring things a little up to date:

European Championships - Athlone
Came out of this race disappointed. I can't say it felt like a bad race, and in reality it wasn't, but again I had such a poor bike leg that it put me completely out of contention.
Swim - 20.46, 9th
Bike - 58.26, 8th
Run - 38.39, 4th
Overall - 2.02.14, 6th in age
Whilst my split was one place higher in the bike than it was on the swim, I simply can't live with losing 3 minutes on rivals on the bike.

July training
Unfortunately after coming out of Athlone knowing I had work to do, July was always the month in the race calendar where my training was going to die a death. 7 days on holiday, 6 days away on business and another 4 without bike or water meant that I would be swimming against the tide just a little.

London Triathlon 8/8/10
I put this race into the year as I knew I couldn't race the Nationals the following week, and wanted to see where I was at after the rough July mentioned above. Last year I'd finished 7th overall in 1.58 after having a pretty good race.
Swim - 21.26
I was determined to find some fast feet. Unfortunately I picked the wrong feet and thought I'd missed the boat - saw a couple of guys further ahead but despite a big surge for 150 metres or so I couldn't make up the gap. Disappointed. Ended up swimming pretty comfortably in a large pack with what I thought was 4 guys up ahead somewhere. It felt a bit tougher than it should have because of the surges at the start, but the splits afterwards showed I was in the lead pack.

Bike - 1.00.14
After a mammoth transition I was out onto the bike. Once more it didn't feel slow, but in reality it was slow. I cycled the whole thing with Mark Yeoman behind (in a non drafting manner though). We passed maybe 5 guys and got told there were only 2 more in front - pleasing.
Unfortunately coming into T2 the cones were out in a silly manner and I ended up taking the wrong way - had to skid to a halt, climb off the bike, down a wall and remount while going uphill. Many many seconds lost. See pic.



Run - 40.43
I didn't enjoy the run at all. It felt tough because I'd put a lot into the bike, but with it being reduced from a 2 lap to a 4 lap the congestion was a nightmare - the course was very tight and there were times when there was simply no way past groups of runners and you'd need to wait until they were through certain sections. There'd been 4 bikes in transition when I came in so I knew I was actually 5th. Ended up being overtaken by 1 guy but coming past 2 more, so ended up in 4th.
Overall - 2.07.22
Was supremely disappointed with the time, but subsequently found that everyone was around 7-8 mins down on previous due to the run being much longer, and much more congested. The only leg I really lost out on compared to last year was the bike.


I've got a couple of little races coming through August/start of September, but it's all about Budapest. At the start of the year I had big hopes for this race - I still don't feel I'm too far off but need to have a quality month in the bank...