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...