National Club Relays

My triathlon season for 2011 officially ended with a trip over to Holme Pierrepont for the National Club Relay Championships where I was part of a four man Lincoln Tri team competing in the mens Sunday morning event.



I did this event last year and it was complete chaos, it also rained heavily for the entire event ! I hoped for better waether this year and the triathlon gods duly obliged by providing a sunny day, with some cloud cover albeit with strong wind.


I arrived at the National Water Sports Centre very early and met my team-mates ( Mark, AJ & John) under the Lincoln tri gazebo - AJ was the team captain and he had already registered the team and paid my £5 non BTF registration fee. We had plenty of time for some chatter, before taking the bikes down to transition and walking the course, checking out and agreeing our changeover points and generally getting our bearings as there is a lot to remember !


Once we had changed into our wetsuits, we were ready to start and at a little over 10.15am, our first swimmer enetered the water - this is how things unfolded....

Swim - 500 metres

Last year the swim course was 400m, but by moving the swim start to the end of the lake, the organisers had to lengthen the course so that those people in the grandstand could see some swim action. Whilst AJ was in the water, I managed to get in for a little swim, before getting out and standing at our tag point for the baton handover. One I had been given the baton I then preceeded to run past the water entry point and then had to turn back and do it again - I think I lost 2o seconds or so here....I managed to flop into the water gracefully and then set out to find the first bouy. Now, my swim felt fine (apart from swimming through the weeds and it grabbing hold of my face like something out of 'Alien'!), and considering I have had very little swim time since Ironman I though I had done very well, however I later found out that my swim leg was 12.45, which was over a minute slower than the rest of the team. I think the time has come to invest again in some swim coaching because it really is my achilles heal !

Bike - 15km

The bike course is three laps of the lake and is as flat as you can get. There was a strong wind that blew right along the lake which made this a bit of a heaven/hell bike ride. The heaven part was the first part of the lap where you could get into a big gear and stay aero for a very quick opening two kilometres. The problem came when you turned around and headed back up the other side of the lake, it was murder ! By the end of the first lap my legs ached and the second lap was very hard. The third lap I started taking some places back and then put in a big effort along the back section to tey and beat last years 25 minutes bike lag - but this wasn't to be and by the time I tagged John in to do his laps the clock had ticked over to 26.21 which I initially though was a step back. The results showed that we were all in the 26 minutes band and as there were some decent cyclists in the team, in the end that was a very very good effort !

Run - 5km

Last year I ran a time of 27.14, but knew this year my times had been tumbling, so set myself a target of beating 25 minutes. I set off on my leg like a hare (for me) but soon settled down into the same pace that I ran Birchwood last weekend. This pace although tough was manageable as I first navigated the off road undulating section. and then as I got to the lake and had the wind behind me , down towards the bottom to complete the first three kilometres. However, as soon as I made the turn home into the wind it became doubly tough and I could feel the pace noticeably dropping. At this point I was racing a chap from Wakefield Tri and as a result got a little bit of shelter. 24.43 was my time for my leg and I was chuffed with it to say the least.

That was my race over, my times adding up to 1.03.49 exactly 1 second quicker than last year, but with an extra 100m of swimming thrown in which at my current swim pace means an extra 2.5 minutes - not a bad days work.

I had time for a shower and to yam a bowl of Bolognese Pasta before making my way down to the finish to see Mark - our anchor man - complete our event with a strong run. 4.09 for the team overall, and I think we all came away with something to smile about.

Next up is a crack at an official 5km sub 25 time on Wednesday evening at the Lincoln Wellington race at Yarborough Leisure Centre.

Spectrum Striders Birchwood 10k

No, not the Birchwood in my home city of Lincoln, but the Birchwood shopping centre over the other side of the country in Warrington !

Suffice to say then, it was a very early alarm call on Sunday morning and I think I did well to manage to only hit the snooze button three times. Once I had caught up on Match Of The Day, had a coffee and eaten some raceday porridge, it was time to get in the car and make my way over to Lancashire in a journey that would surprisingly only take two hours and ten minutes.

I arrived, again, very early and spent at least half an hour just sitting in the car playing with my phone, before it was time to get out, find a toilet (it was stand ups - bliss !) and have a bit of a stretch and go through my warm up routine. There was an organised warm up, but as soon as the guy started doing lunges that was enough for me and I just did my own thing.

I lined up for the race about halfway down the pack of about 650 runners, and met Peter & Tristan, two other Netrunners. We didn't get too much time to chat before we were set off.

My plan pre race was to have a crack at going under 50 minutes for a 10k race for the first time. I knew that on my not very accurate Garmin this would mean keeping my pace at an even 13 or above which would lead to 5 minute kilometres ( it was only two years ago that I was in Manchester aiming for 6 minute kilometres to go under the hour !).

For the first kilometre, I averaged about 13.2 or so and this took me through the first kilometre marker at just under five minutes and from there the challenge was set - get to each kilometre marker within 5 minutes and it would be mine !

By the time we left the retail/office park, and had passed the second kilometre, I was still on time, but felt like I was working incredibly hard - still, it wasn't an uncomfortable pace, and I felt during that third kilometre that I was settling down. At this point I was still overtaking people, and making a conscious effort not to fall into the pace of any runners in front of me and just concentrated on my own pace.

I managed to get to 5km in around 24.45 (looking forward to my 5k race next week!), stopped briefly at the water station to pour some water over my head, and then continued on my way.

I tried to run an intelligent race and looked ahead for the most efficient line as the country roads were winding at this point, which I think I managed. The second half of the race was mostly quiet lanes, there were some fly overs, and we even had to negotiate a horsebox road block !

All the time, the kilometre markers were coming and going until the point that I reached the last kilometre marker at around 44.50 - which meant that some effort over the last 1000 metres would see me reach my sub 50 goal - in all honestly, that was the point where I knew I'd done it, but took the last kilometre seriously and entered a sprint finish to cross the line in 49.36, a new personal best by nearly three minutes, and second place in the club handicap.

I collected my very smart race towel, and went and met up with other netrunners, and together we applauded our club mates as they crossed the line. A top, top day !

This was part one of Sundays mission, and after a quick hop over to Bolton in the car, I unpacked the bike and rode the Sheep House Lane climb of Ironman UK which was an aim of mine to complete in 2011.

Mmmm makes a special trip to test the Ironman UK course....what's he up to ???

Jagermeister 10K

Goody, goody, goody ! A return to the 10k distance for the first race at this distance since Lincoln in what seems a lifetime ago back at the start of April.
The Jagermeister 10k takes place entirely within the grounds of Nottingham Trent University , and is a two lap affair with a fair amount of climbing thrown in. It is mainly run on service roads, but there are some tarmac paths and gravel paths thrown in for good measure. I had been entered for this race last year, but suffered my only ever DNS when my knee flared up following Antwerp, so as a result I had been fired up all week and really looked forward to this Friday evening event.

Realistically, given my Ironman five weeks ago, and my running only just getting back into the 5-6 mile distances since, I wasn’t looking to get near to the 52.28 that I set at Lincoln. Instead, all that was wanted was a good solid run, and a foundation to build on at the Club Handicap in two weeks time.

I arrived early so had plenty of time to warm up, meet other NetRunners, and make my way down the road to the start. At around 7pm, whilst I was still chatting, the klaxon went off and the race started. Well, the first kilometre went by far too quickly and I think I may have been just a little exciteable ! Kilometre 2 was a much soberer experience and also had a real big climb to negotiate which calmed things down considerably. At this point of the race, I just decided to keep going at this quicker pace and see how long I could keep going for, electing to slow if I felt I needed to.

The kilometre markers came and went, and I rounded the lake for the first time and went through five kilometres in around 25.30 or so, so if I could keep going at the same pace then I could be on for a PB by about a good minute !
OK, get to six kilometres and see how you feel, got there, then tried for seven. At about the 8km mark though, I just could not keep it up and felt myself slowing – although I knew that I could aim for my PB all the same.

I was grateful to see the orange colouring of the Jagermeister advertising which decorated the last 50m or so of the run, and I could see the electronic clock counting away for most of the finishing straight. I managed to finish in 52.08 which was a PB by 20 seconds and a result that was completely unexpected at the start of the day.
Next up is a trip to Warrington for a club handicap event.

Ironman Austria - the race report !

I’ll start with a little bit of history......


2005


I run the ASICS London 10k in a fashion – my only ever sporting event up to that point – I immediately retire back to the pub to bask in my glory and spend the next three years telling anybody that will listen that ‘ yeah, I done a 10K and could do another, but don’t want to !’


Early 2009
My attitude has changed, all of a sudden I’m getting towards my late thirties and thinking I can’t go on like this – I’ve also met proper runners and all of a sudden my half assed 10k seems very cheap ! I enter the Lincoln 10k and train for it properly, I enjoy the experience and enter Derby for the following month , whilst searching for Derby race reports I stumble across a triathletes blog – Hugh Barnett from Mansfield Tri – and decide to go to Woodhall Spa to go and watch an event.


May 2009
I’m inspired and decide to have a go – I enter a sprint in Leeds in August and join Lincoln Tri – they don’t care that I used to live in the pub, or lack athletic talent...or rock up to swim sessions in baggy beach shorts !

August 2009
The Xpress Leeds triathlon – I finish in the bottom five of a 300 strong field – my performance is not helped by getting off the bike and pushing it up two very slights hills – I do, on the positive side, post PBs in all three disciplines and vow never to take over two hours to finish a sprint again.

For the rest of the year I do three more sprints progressively getting better. I measure my performance by how far off the bottom I am. Firstly 11, then 30, then at the last tri of the year a nosebleed like 65 – which is a whole results page from the bottom !
I read about Ironman events on the TriTalk web forum and enter Antwerp 70.3 for 2010 – I have family there and it is as flat as you can get – so a nice starter race into the world of Ironman.



2010

I enjoy the training so much that I enter IM Austria before completing Antwerp. I eventually complete Antwerp in a few seconds over 6 hours and love every second of it. Whilst recovering I marshall at the Outlaw and watch my fellow Lincoln Tri-ers and TT-ers finish the Iron distance. I’m in awe of their performances and regret not doing the event instead of Antwerp. It’s nearly a whole year of keeping busy before my turn comes around.


2011
I’ve lost 12kg, and my running times have started to tumble over a busy winter period. I buy Don Fink’s ‘Be Ironfit’ book and follow the just get round programme with a bit of intermediate biking thrown in some weeks. I don’t do swim drills – I just swim up and down the pool at the gym for how ever long the book says my session is supposed to last – it is very boring ! However, OW swimming soon starts to breaks up the monotiny. After 30 weeks I am as ready as I am ever going to be. I have rented a bike box from the club, and on 28th June I nervously wave goodbye to it at Stansted Airport and hope that the baggage handlers are all in a good mood.

Once we have landed in Austria, I am one of the lucky ones to see my bike arrive at the same time and all appears well. There is a panic moment when I don’t attach the rear mech properly and have to take my seized bike to the Iron Village for repais just 2 days prior to the event, but a very very nice man sorts me out and the bike is repaired – hoorah !
The night before I struggle to sleep and I am thankful to get an hour before my alarm call at stupid o clock gets me up. We make our way down to Klagenfurt for my very first Ironman : a 2.4m swim, 112 mile bike ride and then topped off with a Marathon.

This is how the day went :



Swim

6.55am, and I am stood on the small beach at Klagenfurt. The Austrian national anthem is playing and I am having a last minute pee in my wetsuit. I look around and can tell that I am not the only one doing this. There are 2500 of us on the beach, each of us trying to work out where exactly we are swimming to as it is not entirely clear which one of the brightly coloured buoys we are to aim for. Eventually, the song ‘ final countdown’ starts blaring out and that is our prompt to make our way into the water ready for the start, I have positioned myself towards the rear of the field, but trying to seed myself in front of the breaststrokers because my fear is that I’ll receive a kick to the face and die or something ! I only get ankle deep before we are told to go and the fireworks pop, I amble forward and ungracefully flop into the water – I am off on my Ironman adventure!

The water is very warm and a really nice shade of blue – this is heaven – also, I am not getting the duffing up that I was expecting from reading other peoples Ironman reports, it is busy granted, but people are being sensible and pacing themselves in my section of the water. My pace has steadied down and I am really enjoying the first 1400m – and in a bonus, I can see clearly the buoys that I am supposed to swim to. At 1400m, we all have to turn left, and then a little further along, turn left again and head back towards the beach and ultimately an 800m stretch of canal. As soon as we make that second turn towards the beach though, I cannot see a thing because the low sun has is in my face and it is blinding me. All I can do is try and follow the general direction of my fellow swimmers, and keep an eye on the canoeists that are herding us towards the canal section. It would be interesting to see a GPS of this part of the swim as I guess there was a lot of zigging and sagging going on. The swim up the canal for the last part of the swim is phenomenal as the crowds lining both sides are making loads of noise and it is all of a sudden really busy with so many swimmers crammed into such a narrow lane. I can see the hotel now and start to kick hard to get some life back in my legs ready for the run to transition. A helper grabs me I exit the water in 1 hour 28 mins – within my prediction window and not bad for a brick with no technique – so far then so good.



T1 – there is a 100m trot across a main road into the transition area. I find my bag easily (well there weren’t that many left !) and go into the change tent. My bag is emptied and then I make sure that I line up the contents to make sure I don’t forget anything – there are worried looks from others in the tent. I was just over 10 minutes in T1, but it was worth it to be comfortable going onto the bike and it was time well invested.



Bike

The Austrian countryside is absolutely beautiful and cycling through it for six odd hours was a real treat. The bike leg starts with 20km section which follows the lakes edge around to Velden – this section is mostly flat or downhill and is really fast, this was excellent to ride and I spent a lot of time down on my tri bars. I passed a few people myself, but was surprised by the amount of fitter looking Austrians that were coming past me on this stretch – whisper it quietly but I don’t think many Austrians can actually swim that well and this is coming from the human brick ! Once into Velden and the route becomes more undulating. Any rise was usually preceeded by lots of graffiti on the road so you sort of knew where you were going to have to put the work in. I tried to keep a steady pace of around 18mph when on the flat bits and hoped that I didn’t lose too much time on the hills. There are two climbs of note on the circuit, the first one is at Egg, which is a steady climb over a kilometre and although I tried to sit and just spin my way up the first time around I just couldn’t and had to get out of the saddle on a couple of occasions. I hadn’t driven the bike course so didn’t know what to expect from the main climb or where exactly it was – all I knew from various reports was that you could hear a DJ from miles away. Problem is that all the bars on the route seemed to have loud music playing and lots of crowds – this meant that there were a lot of false dawns. Eventually though, after negotiating another rise, I saw a bright yellow inflatable arch at the bottom of a hill and then I knew, here it was the famous Rupertilberg ! I got about ten metres past this arch before yep, I was out of the saddle again. The climb in fairness is only tough because of the length of it, because at its maximum I think it was only 11% or so. I could hear the DJ in the distance cheering on the Ironmen and Iron-laydeeeeeez, to the backdrop of some real cheesy europop numbers. From the top of the Rupertilberg, it is mostly downhill back to Klagenfurt and this was the fastest section on my race.



3.07 then for the first lap of the course and just the little matter of doing it all again. On the second time around, the legs started to stiffen up, and consequently the speed dropped, and the climbs seemed much, much longer and were far more painful ! I was grateful to get off the bike by the end of the second lap because I felt shattered. I still had the little matter of the Marathon to go though. 6.37 for the bike leg and in line with expectations.



Run

The second transition took about 4 minutes, and there were more bags on the pegs than when I was last in transition so I had clearly made some places on the bike. I didn’t feel like running at this point so decided to have a go at the first couple of kilometres before having a walk. However, as my legs started to free up, and my running settled down I started to feel really good and managed to keep up a pace that was slightly quicker than I had done in my long slow training runs. There were aid stations every 2km’s and I stuck to the plan of walking them to make sure that I took enough water on board and had a couple of mouthfuls of gels when I felt I needed them. The gels were the Powerbar Apple ones and I can tell you that there are rank ! The run is basically made up of two laps with two out and backs making up each circuit. The first 10km takes you out to Krumpendorf on the northern shore of the Worthersee and is basically a straight path alongside a trainline, and this section could be really dull, however because it was quite a narrow path it was also very busy which I think helped break up any monotiny. With the first out and back completed in around 55 minutes it was time to pass back through Iron City and then follow the canal into the centre of Klagenfurt. I still felt really good and made sure that I used the sponges to keep as cool as possible as the sun was out and it was very warm in it. I managed to complete the first half of the marathon in around 2.01 which for me is very quick ( last year in Antwerp I ran 2.13 which still is my PB over the distance).



I started to entertain thoughts of a sub 4 hour marathon ( funny how Ironman starts to play with your mind like that) and at 22km the clock read 2.06 something...mmm...2 x 55 minute 10k’s – could I do it ????



Then, within a kilometre the wheels started to wobble quite badly, I began noticeably swaying and didn’t feel great anymore !



I stopped and walked to the next aid station where I made myself take a whole sickly gel ( there is a point in one of the most recent Harry Potter films where Dumbledore has to keep drinking against his will – this is what taking an entire Powerbar Apple gel is really like !) I also drank two whole cups of water and hoped that I had managed to sort any problem out. During this inactivity, every leg muscle seemed to have tightened up and when I began running again it was more of a painful hobble ! Any thoughts of a sub 4 Mara disappeared and my attention turned to an attempt to finish in under 13 hours which had been my super secret hope before the event.



Although still surrounded by fellow Iron peeps on that boring stretch to and from Krumpendorf, I don’t think I have ever felt as lonely as I did on that stretch and was so relieved to see Heidi and the in law support crew as I passed through Iron City again at 31km. I think that at this point with only 10km to go, that it really sank in that I was going to finish – I had 6 miles to go and about 1hr 15mins to go sub 13. I began to enjoy it again and made myself little targets of getting from each aid station without stopping in between. Any down slopes on the canal path were negotiated very slowly and comically the up slopes were very slowly walked up by queues of athletes. I took some flat coke for the first time ever at around 6km to go, which had the reverse effect on me as I walked for a good five minutes around the centre of Klagenfurt ! After ringing the bell, I drank some coke and finally got the legs turning over again for the home stretch back along the canal to the finish area. The hobble – aid station strategy got me safely through the final few miles ok and I took time out to hug Heidi before turning into the finish chute to finish my sub 4.5hr Marathon. I was over the moon to finish in 12.51.37 in the end, and loved all the flashing lights, music, cheering and cheerleaders on that last magical 20 metres.



I am an Ironman ! It feels weird, I wanted it for so long and all I could think about was doing it again, again, again !

So whats next ? Well, for the rest of the year I’ll mostly be chasing down my half marathon times and maybe taking in some sportives along the way as well. Next year, therewill be no full Ironman, but I will be signing up for the 70.3 at Wimbleball. The books open for 2013 though as I’d love to go long again – with Roth looking like the likely destination.

The Dambuster Triathlon

It was a return to Rutland Water today, to compete in only my second only Olympic distance Triathlon - the first being the same race this time last year - so, a good opportunity to test my fitness with Austria just around the corner.

Swim 33.47

This was very choppy this year and because of this I had trouble breathing in the first part of the swim out into the lake. Indeed, I was not enjoying myself and was a bit miserable in truth - it also felt like I took a lot longer than last year - however it was just 6 seconds slower , so not too bad I suppose.

T1 - 4.24

Last year I cocked up T2 by losing the bike and this year I cocked up T1 by losing my bike so at least I'm consistent ! After finding the bike, I struggled to get both the wetsuit off and the bike jacket on - by the time I left I was in a stinking mood !

Bike - 1.27.02

Onto the bike and out into the wind - very glad that I took the extra time to put the jacket on. The tri-bars that I'd recently installed were working a treat and I was going at a good pace. Before I knew it I was at the ripple, but this seemed a lot easier to tackle this year which shows the benefit of all those miles on the road. At this point I remember smiling for the first time and thinking that actually things were not going so badly after all. The remainder of the bike was sensibly paced and I ended up finishing this section 6 minutes faster than last year.

T2 - 1.12

Having got the whole bike losing episode out of the way earlier on, I was able to relax and pull off a really good transition.

Run - 46.45

Last years run time was 55.11 which I thought was fast, but today - possibly because I'd had two rest days - my run was super quick and I had no problems keeping a faster pace. The Dam section was fun, keeping an eye on my Lincoln Tri clubmates who were catching me up, and having the weather alternate between heavy shower and hot sun !

In total 2.53.10 and 14 minutes quicker than last year - now to tackle Austria - Game On !!

3 weeks to go..

3 weeks today , I shall be in Austria, taking part in my first Ironman. I have been training for this in earnest since New Years Day, however I suppose I really started training for it the moment I went out for my very first run of 2009, when I managed to get about halfway around the block !

Going back to this years training, I have been following a 30 week plan by Don Fink - and week 27 has just been completed. The peak distances in each of the disciplines have now been reached : 3km done in open water, 18.6 miles run and today by riding out to Melton Mowbray from Lincoln that was 82 miles done and dusted, which I rode on my own to recreate the conditions that I will face in Austria where I can be no less than 10 metres between the next rider.

Its the start of the taper period now and after this week the schedule starts to lighten considerably with the idea being that by the time I get to the start line in 3 weeks time I'll be fresh and ready to tackle the challenge before me.

Next weekend is my final race before Ironman - the Dambuster at Rutland Water - an event that I did last year and hopefully a useful last training race.

Blenheim Triathlon 2011

Lets get this out of the way early doors – this is the best Triathlon I have ever done – both in terms of the experience and the setting. Yes, it cost £68 to enter, but in my opinion, it was worth every penny !

Friday
Being from Lincoln, we decided to make our way down to Oxfordshire on the Friday evening and I found a very cheap Travelodge at Cherwell Valley services that only set me back £19. The room was a little ‘skeffy’ and the people above had a dog trotting about for most of the evening, but for the price what could I expect ? Besides if anyone asks, we stayed in Cherwell Valley which sounds like the Welsh countryside to anyone not local !!

The day
We only had a half hour drive from our idyllic country hideaway to get to Blenheim Palace so we arrived in plenty of time. There was ample parking and we had the added benefit of being parked right next to the ugliest old tree in the car park, which was useful when I forgot to take Heidi’s spectator pass to the entry point and had to run back to the car (this theme would continue later in the day !). We had a good walk around the expo, and even managed not to buy anything which is a first – however, I decided to save it for the Ironman expo so it will get spent either way ! I took the bike into the massive transition area and then made my way 400m or so down to the swim start for my 12.20 off time.

The race
The swim – A floating start and time to get used to the water – that’s a first ! I positioned myself in the middle and towards the back of the pack and before I knew it we were off. The swim didn’t seem to go on for very long and I felt I swam well the whole way round thinking I was on for a 15 min swim – in the end the clock read 17.03 which is still my quickest 750m open water swim to date, but felt it could have been quicker.

T1 – Transitigeddon !!!!! Where to start – firstly, there is a mostly uphill 400m swim exit before you even get to transition, then when I got there I thought I’d pulled off a textbook transition only to find at the mount line that I’d forgotten to put on my race number, so it was dump the bike and dodge my way back up my bike aisle to retrieve it – this must have cost me nearly a minute all told – D’OH !! 5.09 in total and my slowest ever !
Bike – This was more like it – closed internal roads stretching around the stunning Blenheim estate, some ups, some downs and lots of bends making it ideal bike racing. There were that many racing at the same time that it was impossible not to draft at some point ! the first lap took 13.15, the second 13.20, but by the third lap my legs were beginning to cook and I was happy to pull into to T2 having posted a 40.26 split which was 277th out of 1831 finishers on the day. Two things that I am pleased I did – chose my TT bike over the normal roadie, because although technical in places, it was manageable and a lot faster, and then having the water bottle on it – it was absolutely baking on the bike and I could have been a real state by the time of the run if I hadn’t !

T2 – No worries this time – pretty much smoothly done , again size of the Transition area meant 1.41, but this was fast in comparison to the majority of the field.

Run – Straight out of transition, and straight up a bloody steep ramp which bridged over the bike course ! The route took you out around the lake for a two circuit run which had both uphills and downhills. Once out on the course, it was apparent just how warm it was and I had to settle for a pace slightly slower than I ran at Woodhall last weekend. Because of the roasting temperature, I took on a little water at each aid station, and just enjoyed running in such great surroundings. At 29.04 not a bad time for a 5.4km run in such conditions and an overall time of 1.33.21 was good enough to be 436th out of 1831 on the day and good enough to be in the top quarter of the field.

Do I recommend Blenheim ? Am I going back there next year ? A resounding ‘Yes’ on both counts.