This week has been strange, very strange. After the weeks training holiday where I did 30hrs in 10 days I seemed to lose the plot. It started on Saturday night when on a whim I spent a bundle of money buying bike kit off the internet and then even more randomly put my car up for sale. Then I just lost the plot and really just couldn't be bothered to do anything. I was working some long hours but no longer than normal and training totally went out of the window. I've never had the typical personality of a (reasonably) quick Triathlete. The people I duke it out with when I race are focused and dedicated to their training where I'm the total opposite. I'm hugely lucky to be blessed with a certain amount of natural speed because it certainly hasn't come through any dedicated training regime. That probably explains my previous IM performances because I can blag a Sprint/Olympic race without putting massive amounts of time and energy into it. The long stuff takes a bit more though and I get found out. I'm far more likely to train if somebody is there to drag my ass out of the door, if they're faster than me then great, if they're slower than me so what.
Anyway, enough of that old tosh. Back to the training, or lack of it. Basically I did nothing, zip, stuff all from Monday to Thursday which no doubt wiped out all the good work I'd done the previous week. By Friday I was in desperate need of something. Don't get me wrong, I don't go stir crazy like some folks if I don't train but I want/need to finally nail this IM so something HAD to be done. My new purchases had appeared so I put some cleats on my new bike shoes, stuck on my cone-head helmet and headed out of the door for the local 20mile Muddiford loop. I worked fairly hard, got stuck at a few lights and behind a few cars but it was all good. The new shoes felt great, the helmet was ok and other than a few cramp twinges I was happy.
Saturday was another disaster for the new bike. I took the ZIPP's off on Friday and put the standard wheels on to see if I could get rid of the damn noise, it seemed to work so I kept them on for Saturdays ride - big mistake!
The plan was between 5-6hrs or around 100miles. I cycled out to meet a friend and when I got there I noticed my back crake was catching -odd! A bit of tweaking and all was well so we were on our way. My ride partner was with me for 20miles and then I was on my own, things seemed fine and away I went. About 10miles later I looked at my Garmin and it said 17mph. That seemed odd as I was on a flat section of road, down on my Tri Bars I should have been comfortably sitting at 20+mph, maybe my brakes were catching again. I stopped to check and they were, but this time no amount of adjustment seemed to help. I span my wheel and it looked as though I'd been bouncing it over kerbstones, then I noticed that I had several loose spokes - brilliant! For want of a better word the wheel was shafted. I called my bike shop "Pop it in" they said "it's a new wheel, sometimes the spokes will need tightening", "But I'm 20miles away", "That's ok, it'll be fine".
I turned around and headed back on what was now beginning to feel like a clowns bike, my back wheel wobbling all over the place. It literally hung on until the very last minute and then 20meters from the shop it popped a spoke. The wheel is now fixed which is testament to the strength of the rim as it didn't collapse totally, but the ride was over and I hadn't the mental strength to get out there again.
Sunday was another bike ride, this time 75miles without any major trauma except for a puncture at 25miles which took me 30mins to change. I'm not great at the tyre changing stuff and will be praying for a flat free day on 1st November.
Monday was a nice steady 16mile run at sub 140bpm. There's probably just time for one or two more long runs before race day which is a blessing as 2hrs is a long time to be pounding away on your legs, especially after 3 bike rides in 3 days.
So basically the deal is that in the last 2 weeks I've trained like an arse. 30hours in 10 days followed by 4 days of total inactivity which has now been followed by another burst where I've done 12h30m in 4 days. Whatever will happen next?
Sunday, 28 September 2008
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Back to work and losing my mind :(
Ah Hell it's a strange old time in this little tiny backwater of the world. Nothing seems to be going as planned or expected, including some of the random decisions that I've been making.
THE BIKE - Is still creaking, groaning and driving me mad. I rode Thursday (55miles) and Friday (43miles) on my TREK in glorious silence, sort of. The TREK has got its own little noises but I discovered that because I know exactly what they are and where they're coming from they don't annoy me half as much. On Friday afternoon I collected the QR from the LBS who's made several tweaks and adjustments to the bike in a bit to quieten it down, but when I rode it on Sunday it was just as noisy as ever and then suddenly the noises stopped........... for 10mins. So now I've got this noise, rattle, creak or whatever it is. Not only does it have the secret ability to totally annoy me (many people would pay good money to have that secret) but it seems totally unrelated to anything else. It sounds for all the world as though it's coming from the drivetrain but if so, why would it suddenly go quiet? I think I may take it for a ride later and strap a voice recorder to the frame so that my LBS can hear it at its worst.
SATURDAY - was a real random day. I'd planned to get up early and train, but I couldn't be bothered so I took David (my nephew) swimming on his last day down here. Between us we both put in a good solid session mine being 200m w-up, 30x100m on 1:45, 100m w-dn. After that we had cheesy chips and headed home. The rest of the day just disappeared into a bundle of blurr until the evening when everything got a bit random. Maybe I drank too much wine?
I've been looking at new bike stuff for Florida. Loads of my gear is 4-5+ years old and getting a bit ragged around the edges. My cycle shoes are 5 yeears old and give me foot pain when I get around 80miles (they have in both previous IMFl's) which I've decided is because they're actually too small for me and when my feet get hot they swell and cause pressure points. My cycle helmets are also well past their prime and around 5 years old. I've been having the aero/non-aero debate for ages but the common concensus is that aero helmets make you look like a dick, they're less cooling and my massive head means that there are very few I can actually get to fit, so a standard race style helmet is the way to go.
Soooooo all that being said I went and ordered an aero helmet on Saturday night!!! This purchase was combined with a pair of cycle shoes which I've no experience of or even tried on, a bottle belt and a new pair of much needed tyres for my ZIPPs (they're 4years old too). So I've ordered a helmet which will make me look like a cone-head and ordered a pair of shoes that 'I hope' will fit and be comfortable. Crazy, Mad, Stupid, Foolish or all of them?
The purchases were followed by an even more stupid sale.
In a moment of complete madness I put my old TVR up for sale online after 12 years of ownership. My email has gone mad, it was obviously too cheap and it looks as though it'll be gone by the weekend. Damn I'm going to miss the old girl.
THE BIKE - Is still creaking, groaning and driving me mad. I rode Thursday (55miles) and Friday (43miles) on my TREK in glorious silence, sort of. The TREK has got its own little noises but I discovered that because I know exactly what they are and where they're coming from they don't annoy me half as much. On Friday afternoon I collected the QR from the LBS who's made several tweaks and adjustments to the bike in a bit to quieten it down, but when I rode it on Sunday it was just as noisy as ever and then suddenly the noises stopped........... for 10mins. So now I've got this noise, rattle, creak or whatever it is. Not only does it have the secret ability to totally annoy me (many people would pay good money to have that secret) but it seems totally unrelated to anything else. It sounds for all the world as though it's coming from the drivetrain but if so, why would it suddenly go quiet? I think I may take it for a ride later and strap a voice recorder to the frame so that my LBS can hear it at its worst.
SATURDAY - was a real random day. I'd planned to get up early and train, but I couldn't be bothered so I took David (my nephew) swimming on his last day down here. Between us we both put in a good solid session mine being 200m w-up, 30x100m on 1:45, 100m w-dn. After that we had cheesy chips and headed home. The rest of the day just disappeared into a bundle of blurr until the evening when everything got a bit random. Maybe I drank too much wine?
I've been looking at new bike stuff for Florida. Loads of my gear is 4-5+ years old and getting a bit ragged around the edges. My cycle shoes are 5 yeears old and give me foot pain when I get around 80miles (they have in both previous IMFl's) which I've decided is because they're actually too small for me and when my feet get hot they swell and cause pressure points. My cycle helmets are also well past their prime and around 5 years old. I've been having the aero/non-aero debate for ages but the common concensus is that aero helmets make you look like a dick, they're less cooling and my massive head means that there are very few I can actually get to fit, so a standard race style helmet is the way to go.
Soooooo all that being said I went and ordered an aero helmet on Saturday night!!! This purchase was combined with a pair of cycle shoes which I've no experience of or even tried on, a bottle belt and a new pair of much needed tyres for my ZIPPs (they're 4years old too). So I've ordered a helmet which will make me look like a cone-head and ordered a pair of shoes that 'I hope' will fit and be comfortable. Crazy, Mad, Stupid, Foolish or all of them?
The purchases were followed by an even more stupid sale.
In a moment of complete madness I put my old TVR up for sale online after 12 years of ownership. My email has gone mad, it was obviously too cheap and it looks as though it'll be gone by the weekend. Damn I'm going to miss the old girl.
I'm obviously losing my marbles. Aero helmets, untried shoes, car sales!!! Maybe a week of that rattling QR has really scrambled my brain!
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
Big week update.
Well this is how things have gone and the hours have notched up since I finished work on Friday afternoon.
Friday - 1h15m Burrows/Beach run (10miles), 1hr squad swim
Saturday - 3h30m bike (65miles), 20min run (5k)
Sunday - NDTC In-Club Triathlon (I kicked ass), 1hr bike (20miles). Party time.
Monday - 3hr bike (56miles)
Tuesday - 4hr bike (73miles), 1hr run (9miles)
Wednesday - 2h10m bike (38miles), 1hr massage.
Today has been the only real disappointment as there was a 6hr bike planned but my bike has developed some rediculous creaky groany type noises and riding it this morning was driving me mad so it went back into the bike shop in the hope that they can find the problem area and sort it. As you'd expect after over 12hrs cycling in the last 5 days my legs are feeling a little the worse for wear and there were no thoughts about just swopping bikes and hitting the road again, just the thought of an afternoons rest. It's back to it tomorrow though with a 3hr bike and a 45min run lined up.
The big dilemma now regarding the run up to IM Florida is my hair!
In 2004 I decided to have a silly haircut for the race, it looked like this....
In 2005 I returned with it looking like this....
So the dilemma is what to have this year.
I'd like to have a resemblance of the Devon Flag which is mostly Green and White, but as I'll have to get it done almost 10 days before the race it has to be done with permanent dye and Green is a colour we're struggling to find. I've only really got a month to sort something out and it's a source of real head scatching.
It's got to be done now, it's tradition. What will it be though? Any ideas?
Friday - 1h15m Burrows/Beach run (10miles), 1hr squad swim
Saturday - 3h30m bike (65miles), 20min run (5k)
Sunday - NDTC In-Club Triathlon (I kicked ass), 1hr bike (20miles). Party time.
Monday - 3hr bike (56miles)
Tuesday - 4hr bike (73miles), 1hr run (9miles)
Wednesday - 2h10m bike (38miles), 1hr massage.
Today has been the only real disappointment as there was a 6hr bike planned but my bike has developed some rediculous creaky groany type noises and riding it this morning was driving me mad so it went back into the bike shop in the hope that they can find the problem area and sort it. As you'd expect after over 12hrs cycling in the last 5 days my legs are feeling a little the worse for wear and there were no thoughts about just swopping bikes and hitting the road again, just the thought of an afternoons rest. It's back to it tomorrow though with a 3hr bike and a 45min run lined up.
The big dilemma now regarding the run up to IM Florida is my hair!
In 2004 I decided to have a silly haircut for the race, it looked like this....
In 2005 I returned with it looking like this....
So the dilemma is what to have this year.
I'd like to have a resemblance of the Devon Flag which is mostly Green and White, but as I'll have to get it done almost 10 days before the race it has to be done with permanent dye and Green is a colour we're struggling to find. I've only really got a month to sort something out and it's a source of real head scatching.
It's got to be done now, it's tradition. What will it be though? Any ideas?
Saturday, 13 September 2008
Big week.
It doesn't seem long ago that I was writing down "100 days to go!", it's less than half that now, we're down to 48 (gulp).
This week is going to be a bit manic. Mom, Dad and David are down for the week and I'm off work looking to smack some big training hours in a desperate attempt to get fit enough to do Florida justice.
I had a couple of days off on Wednesday and Thursday to recover from the Marathon and subsequent runs, I was back to it on Friday though.
Straight from work I popped home to collect Rosie then disappeared over the Burrows with her for a 10mile run. That was followed by a squad swim session where I tried to get back some form by concentrating on stretching myself out on the glide section of my stroke. In the session was a 800m TT which I did in 11mins flat, not my fastest time but I cruised the first 400m concentrating on technique and negative split the swim by around 5secs.
Today was the start proper of BIG training as I hit a good solid brick session. First up was a 65mile bike ride which was followed by a 5k run with the pup. It was my first time in the saddle for 2 weeks but it felt like I'd been away for 2 months and the average speed of only 18.6mph was no suprise but still disappointing.
Straight off the bike and still in my cycle gear I grabbed the pup and headed out for a short sharp 5k run which I kicked out in 19:30. Happy with the pace, but I couldn't have run a lot further like it.
That'll do for a start, I've a Triathlon tomorrow followed by a bike ride. Should be quite interesting :-)
This week is going to be a bit manic. Mom, Dad and David are down for the week and I'm off work looking to smack some big training hours in a desperate attempt to get fit enough to do Florida justice.
I had a couple of days off on Wednesday and Thursday to recover from the Marathon and subsequent runs, I was back to it on Friday though.
Straight from work I popped home to collect Rosie then disappeared over the Burrows with her for a 10mile run. That was followed by a squad swim session where I tried to get back some form by concentrating on stretching myself out on the glide section of my stroke. In the session was a 800m TT which I did in 11mins flat, not my fastest time but I cruised the first 400m concentrating on technique and negative split the swim by around 5secs.
Today was the start proper of BIG training as I hit a good solid brick session. First up was a 65mile bike ride which was followed by a 5k run with the pup. It was my first time in the saddle for 2 weeks but it felt like I'd been away for 2 months and the average speed of only 18.6mph was no suprise but still disappointing.
Straight off the bike and still in my cycle gear I grabbed the pup and headed out for a short sharp 5k run which I kicked out in 19:30. Happy with the pace, but I couldn't have run a lot further like it.
That'll do for a start, I've a Triathlon tomorrow followed by a bike ride. Should be quite interesting :-)
Monday, 8 September 2008
Wolverhampton Marathon
Well that's that done and dusted. After and odd awkward start it all seemed to work out quite well.
We were all up nice and early, we did all the normal stuff and then out 'posse' headed off to West Park for 8:30am (before the roads closed). The Park was already filling up with runners and under foot it was already suffering from consistant downpours during this wonderful British Summer.
I found the registration marquee, popped in, paid my money and collected my number. Then is was just a case of mulling around until the start while trying to avoid any showers that came our way.
The race start in truth seemed to be a bit of a farce (or that could have just been me). I joined the hoards a fair way back from the front because I'd no wish to get dragged along by any quick boys. We all started moving forwards, then we started walking and then we started jogging. I didn’t hear any signal for the start but maybe I was simply to far back to hear anything. Once I realised we were officially on the move I started my Garmin without actually knowing whether we’d crossed the start line or not.
The first mile was really slow as we wound our way around West Park and I wound my way around some of the folks I’d started with. Finally we worked our way out onto the road where there was a little more space to pass people. The next few miles were a touch quicker and after 4miles I was back on my planned 7:30min/mile pace while keeping my HR below 140bpm. I carried on and soon found myself at a point where the majority of people were running around the same pace. We’d still pass a few and get passed by a few but I was able to take pace off a couple of people running the half.
6miles came around in 44:39 and I decided I felt brave enough to up my pace a little. One of the aims of the day was to see how I felt at various efforts in a bit to judge my Ironman pace come November. 140bpm felt almost pedestrian so it was time to up it a notch. The jump to 145bpm felt negligible and if it hadn’t been showing on the Garmin I wouldn’t have noticed. What I did notice however was that I was now overtaking people again and my now familiar faces had disappeared. I even started catching a few people that had gone past me earlier. I decided that 6miles was a nice place to change pace and vowed to stay around 145bpm until 12miles.
12miles came at 1:28:04, which was 43:25 for the 6mile stretch. I was glad to see it was quicker than my first 6miles. By now I’d worked out that I’d started the Garmin around 0.15miles before the Start line as it was regularly hitting the mile figures before the race signs. I picked my HR up to 150bpm and headed around the park to start the 2nd lap. Suddenly the crowds of runners disappeared and I was on my own. I now felt as though I was running for the first time, 145bpm had felt like a jog, 150bpm didn’t. A quick stop to tell Shell I was comfortable, a high 5 for the nephews and I was away.
The pace had risen again, there were targets ahead that needed chasing down and I was away after them. One by one people would appear in front, I’d catch them up and then run away from them. Then suddenly from nowhere at around 17.5miles I developed a tightening in my stomach and I felt the need to throw up. I stopped quickly, keeled over retching only to find that it was nothing but gas. The sound must have resembled the biggest belch in history.
Panic over and I was soon back running and running with a new found gusto. With my pace still increasing and 18miles covered in 2:10:15 (42:11 for 6miles) I felt confident enough to raise my HR by 10beats to 160bpm. I knew this was much higher than planned, but the idea had been to run tired after a big bike ride and that hadn’t happened so what the hell.
A couple of miles into my latest stint I hit Codsall Village and knew I was on my way home. I know the road from there very well and with one of my targets proving very difficult to catch I decided that I’d ignore the HR for the last 6miles, I’d just dig in and put the hammer down hoping that I didn’t blow up.
It’s an amazing feeling getting 24miles into a Marathon (2:50:38 & 6miles in 40:23) and running past people as if they’re standing still, lets hope that I have the same experience on 1st November.
I spent the last mile chasing down the 2nd placed woman but just as I caught her I came across the family support crew. My nephew David himself fresh from a top 10 finish in the childrens 2k race wanted to run with me to the finish line. Unsure of his likely pace I eased off and told him we’d follow the above mentioned 2nd place woman in. There seemed little point us racing past her if he was going to tire and get in her way as she came in for the glory.
We jogged into the finish and crossed the line together for a finishing time of 3:08:21. Far from my best time, but easily my best paced Marathon ‘performance’. Objective achieved.
I even managed to follow it up with a 7mile run on Monday and an 8mile run on Tuesday – bonus.
Week off work next week – TO TRAIN!!! – I’ve just seen my schedule – HOLY COW!!!
We were all up nice and early, we did all the normal stuff and then out 'posse' headed off to West Park for 8:30am (before the roads closed). The Park was already filling up with runners and under foot it was already suffering from consistant downpours during this wonderful British Summer.
I found the registration marquee, popped in, paid my money and collected my number. Then is was just a case of mulling around until the start while trying to avoid any showers that came our way.
The race start in truth seemed to be a bit of a farce (or that could have just been me). I joined the hoards a fair way back from the front because I'd no wish to get dragged along by any quick boys. We all started moving forwards, then we started walking and then we started jogging. I didn’t hear any signal for the start but maybe I was simply to far back to hear anything. Once I realised we were officially on the move I started my Garmin without actually knowing whether we’d crossed the start line or not.
The first mile was really slow as we wound our way around West Park and I wound my way around some of the folks I’d started with. Finally we worked our way out onto the road where there was a little more space to pass people. The next few miles were a touch quicker and after 4miles I was back on my planned 7:30min/mile pace while keeping my HR below 140bpm. I carried on and soon found myself at a point where the majority of people were running around the same pace. We’d still pass a few and get passed by a few but I was able to take pace off a couple of people running the half.
6miles came around in 44:39 and I decided I felt brave enough to up my pace a little. One of the aims of the day was to see how I felt at various efforts in a bit to judge my Ironman pace come November. 140bpm felt almost pedestrian so it was time to up it a notch. The jump to 145bpm felt negligible and if it hadn’t been showing on the Garmin I wouldn’t have noticed. What I did notice however was that I was now overtaking people again and my now familiar faces had disappeared. I even started catching a few people that had gone past me earlier. I decided that 6miles was a nice place to change pace and vowed to stay around 145bpm until 12miles.
12miles came at 1:28:04, which was 43:25 for the 6mile stretch. I was glad to see it was quicker than my first 6miles. By now I’d worked out that I’d started the Garmin around 0.15miles before the Start line as it was regularly hitting the mile figures before the race signs. I picked my HR up to 150bpm and headed around the park to start the 2nd lap. Suddenly the crowds of runners disappeared and I was on my own. I now felt as though I was running for the first time, 145bpm had felt like a jog, 150bpm didn’t. A quick stop to tell Shell I was comfortable, a high 5 for the nephews and I was away.
The pace had risen again, there were targets ahead that needed chasing down and I was away after them. One by one people would appear in front, I’d catch them up and then run away from them. Then suddenly from nowhere at around 17.5miles I developed a tightening in my stomach and I felt the need to throw up. I stopped quickly, keeled over retching only to find that it was nothing but gas. The sound must have resembled the biggest belch in history.
Panic over and I was soon back running and running with a new found gusto. With my pace still increasing and 18miles covered in 2:10:15 (42:11 for 6miles) I felt confident enough to raise my HR by 10beats to 160bpm. I knew this was much higher than planned, but the idea had been to run tired after a big bike ride and that hadn’t happened so what the hell.
A couple of miles into my latest stint I hit Codsall Village and knew I was on my way home. I know the road from there very well and with one of my targets proving very difficult to catch I decided that I’d ignore the HR for the last 6miles, I’d just dig in and put the hammer down hoping that I didn’t blow up.
It’s an amazing feeling getting 24miles into a Marathon (2:50:38 & 6miles in 40:23) and running past people as if they’re standing still, lets hope that I have the same experience on 1st November.
I spent the last mile chasing down the 2nd placed woman but just as I caught her I came across the family support crew. My nephew David himself fresh from a top 10 finish in the childrens 2k race wanted to run with me to the finish line. Unsure of his likely pace I eased off and told him we’d follow the above mentioned 2nd place woman in. There seemed little point us racing past her if he was going to tire and get in her way as she came in for the glory.
We jogged into the finish and crossed the line together for a finishing time of 3:08:21. Far from my best time, but easily my best paced Marathon ‘performance’. Objective achieved.
I even managed to follow it up with a 7mile run on Monday and an 8mile run on Tuesday – bonus.
Week off work next week – TO TRAIN!!! – I’ve just seen my schedule – HOLY COW!!!
Saturday, 6 September 2008
Quick weekend update.
Well, just for a change the weather here resembles that of a rain forest more than a UK summer and in all honesty the chances of me getting my head together and riding 80miles from Bristol to Wolves are slim. I saw a couple of folks out cycling while I was working yesterday and I couldn't help but wonder what the hell they were doing out there. It can't be safe when most of the time there is so much water in the gutters that the roads are all a couple off feet narrower than they should be. I think at best I might get an hour in once we're in Wolves or at the outside I might steal the Sis's turbo for an hours spin late this afternoon.
Now I just need to decide whether this is going to affect my Marathon pace tomorrow. Do I go ahead with plan A and jog round below 140bpm, do I go with plan B and start between 130 -140bpm and then allow my HR a bit of flexibility as the race progress's and the pace slows, or do I think 'screw it' and try for a sub 3 (probably blowing up again in the process).
Arrrrgh decisions, decisions. The scary thing is that once again I've decided to take a recorder with me and I've already offered the files out. Looks like another warts and all Marathon attempt.
In 24hrs time I'll know.
Laters all
Now I just need to decide whether this is going to affect my Marathon pace tomorrow. Do I go ahead with plan A and jog round below 140bpm, do I go with plan B and start between 130 -140bpm and then allow my HR a bit of flexibility as the race progress's and the pace slows, or do I think 'screw it' and try for a sub 3 (probably blowing up again in the process).
Arrrrgh decisions, decisions. The scary thing is that once again I've decided to take a recorder with me and I've already offered the files out. Looks like another warts and all Marathon attempt.
In 24hrs time I'll know.
Laters all
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