I'VE MOVED

With this blog being called 3rd time lucky it's already close to 12 months out of date so to fit in with all the other guff that's going on it's being moved to http://devoniain.blogspot.com/ .

Nothing will really change except that hopefully I'll post a bit more regularly and it'll take a bit of time getting set up properly.

The first post is up there now and the aim is to pop one up there every week at least until the 7th November when I 'yet again' try to nail an Ironman.

See you over there :-)

Hayle Standard Distance Triathlon

It’s Sunday morning, 5:30am at the Hayle Travelodge and you can hear the familiar Summer sounds of wind and rain battering against the windows. “Oh crap, I’m going back to sleep. Goodnight” I said to Shelly who’d already been trying to wake me up for 30mins. Saturday had been such a nice day, but as 2009 is constantly proving, one day is never the same as the next. In fact quite often one hour is never like the previous one.

(Vo2 Max Lab Testing at Exeter Uni)

Finally we headed out to Copperhouse Pool for what will be the last time the event is held at this location. The mood wasn’t good, it’s supposed to be Summer sport after all, we want to race in the sunshine occasionally. Only 7 days ago I’d ridden the Two Moors 100m Sportive in torrential rain, I’d been hoping for better weather but it wasn’t to be.

I racked my bike and my bike/run gear in transition which was one of the most organised and spacious transitions I’ve seen, plenty of room for all of your gear and bike with none of the cramped up spaces that you find at most races. Brilliant job folks!

Soon I was putting my wetsuit on which was a longer job than normal as already everything was soaked. I left the bag with my clothes in a puddle by my bike, there was little point covering anything up in a feeble attempt to keep it dry and headed to the pool. Copperhouse Pool is an open water venue filled by the sea at high tide. Safe sea water swimming without any of the waves and currents you’d normally get. The water was nice and warm compared to my recent dips in the sea and we were soon all gathered on the far side of the lake for the start.

Soon we were under way and I immediately tucked in behind a clubmate who I expected would fly for the first 400m. I’d picked my spot carefully because of my notoriously bad navigation skills. After a while I looked up and we seemed to be way over to the left of the main pack and it didn’t look right to me so I jumped ship and headed back into the throng. The huge buoys marking the course were brilliant and visible even to a blind old bat like me and although I had to keep stopping to empty water from my goggles (I really must get a new pair) I don’t think I swam off course much at all which is a bonus. That said, I never really managed to break free from the hoards either and although I’m not the quickest swimmer in the world I’m normally quick enough to find myself in clear water fairly quickly.
The first lap finished and I still seemed to be struggling along and then suddenly my form just appeared from nowhere, I slowed down my stroke, focused on technique and I was flying past people. For the first half of lap 2 I just swam down the outside of a huge pack until I swam off the front and hit clear water. I couple of smaller groups were dispatched before the final turn where I saw a group of 2 just ahead and set about catching them. Just as I was sailing past I realised that one of them was my swim partner Phill, finally I’d got myself into a half decent position and knowing that his navigation is spot on I tucked in behind him for the last 100m or so before the exit ramp. (1500m swim time - 20:56)

(scenic setting for the start)

I exited the water in 6th place which I was quite happy with considering how badly my 1st lap had gone. Phill was up the ramp with his wetsuit down to his waist while I was still trying to unzip mine but I was soon at my bike putting on my sodden bike shoes and tipping the water out of my aero helmet before putting it on my head and grabbing my bike to exit transition. (T1 - 0:57)

Onto the bike and the rain continued to pour down on top of us. Phill was just ahead along with 2 other riders and I passed them heading out through the town before dropping into my Tri bars in preparation to smack the bike course, except that I couldn’t.......... My legs were just empty, there was nothing there, no power, no energy, no enthusiasm. It’s nothing that will worry me too much, I’ve put in a lot of miles over the last few weeks and I’m guessing that they’ve just caught up with me. The weather of course didn’t help and no doubt took the edge off what little bit of determination I have too. I still felt fine though so I just kept myself aero and turned the pedals round at whatever pace and with whatever power my legs would allow. I guess I’d had a bit of a preview the day before when I’d done a Vo2 Max test at Exeter University and my legs really hadn’t wanted to play there either. All I could do was hope I didn’t get passed by too many people, look forward to the ribbing of those clubmates who did catch me and hope that when I got off the bike I was able to run some respectability back into it all. (40k'ish Bike - 1:09:22)

(Did I mention the rain)

Back off the bike and into T2 it was still raining! I racked my bike, took off my helmet and bike shoes, then tipped the water out of my trainers before putting them on and heading out onto the run. (T2 - 0:45)

The good news for the run was that there was no sign of the cramp that quite often plagues me when I’ve been getting some bike miles in, the bad news was that my legs still had no energy and they seemed to tell me how fast I was allowed to push them rather than the other way round, luckily that was still a half decent speed and I almost immediately passed the last two people to take me on the bike, then about 1.5miles in I caught Phill who’d re-passed me at around 20miles and gone on to hit T2 a minute up. I continued to chase people down but not at anywhere near the pace that I’m used to, rather than making huge gains on them I was creeping up on them, but at least I was gaining. I saw my clubmate Alan near the turnaround, he’d flown past me like a man possessed half way through the bike course, he’d still got 2mins on me and if I was to stand a chance of catching him I was going to have to scorch through the 2nd 5k, so at the turnaround I put my legs in their place and made them work a bit harder. I caught and passed a couple more folks and then with about a mile to go we turned off the main road just as I ripped past someone. I heard shouting behind us and presumed it was spectators cheering encouragement to someone......... it wasn’t! While overtaking the pair of us had overshot a turning, the chap I’d passed turned around on hearing the shout to see a marshal waving him back, I didn’t realise until I got to the end of the path and saw my clubmate Alan who I was chasing run past from the other direction..... balls!!!
I turned around and ran back to where I should have turned off but I’d lost all of my momentum now and couldn’t really be bothered to push on, the chap I’d passed was now a good way ahead so I just focused on making sure I lost no more places and cruised into the finish in what turned out to be 9th place. (10k run - 39:12)

(cruising into the finish)

It also turned out to be 2nd place in my Age Group........... guess who got first place......... yep, it was the chap I’d passed and then lost time to when we took the wrong turn. Ah well, I could feel like I’d been robbed, but if I’d raced anything like the way I should have raced then it wouldn’t have even been close so it’s my own fault really.

All in all it's a fantastic event and would have been even better but for the weather. Copperhouse Pool will be missed because next year the swim will be in the sea, so there will be waves and tides for the newbies to contend with.

So now it seems that I’m race free for a few weeks although I have got a couple of testing lab session at Exeter Uni where I’ll be locked in a heat chamber and pedalling away on the bike for an hour. Hopefully with IM Florida getting closer then I’ll be trying to update this a bit more often than I have. Fingers crossed we’ll finally get some decent summer weather and I’ll be able to get some good training done.

Oooops, it's been nearly a month.

I've been really slack on the blog this year, but hopefully I'll get to pick it up a bit with IM Florida now less than 4 months away. I'm on top of the 'supposed' vital last 16 weeks and still I haven't really got my backside into gear. Still, I've been ticking along and even though my idea of ticking along involves far too many days off it's still doesn't exactly mean I've turned into Mr Couch Potato although the internet does take up far too much time - damn you Twitter!!

So what have I been up to since the last post? Well I'm not shy and secretive about my training, I'm happy to admit that it's as random as it can be. It's also published in full on the internet, so if you'd like to peruse, laugh at (or even advise) about what I'm up to in the run up and what I have been up to previously then just take a look by clicking here.

The bad/lazy news is that in the 25 days since my last post I've done absolutely nothing on 10 of them and I'm sittng typing this on a miserable Saturday morning when I should really be out on the bike, but the weather is sooooo YUK!!

The good news is that I've finally got my backside onto my bike. It's been no great shakes and it was almost 2 weeks after Burnham Tri before I sat in the saddle again, but I've managed to sneak another 80miler, 4 x 50 milers and a couple of 20's in which is a massive improvement on the cycling I'd been doing before. I've also got the Two Moors 100mile Sportive coming up next weekend which will be my first ever Sportive. The event HQ is only 4miles from home and the course doesn't look too challenging so it should be a fun day out and a good time to crack my first century of the year. There will be no taper for it though, it's purely for training and if I end up bimbling around with some friends then so be it. Time in the saddle is what I'm after.

The swimming is the same as ever, it pretty much just bimbles along in it's own little world, although I did actually possibly swim a pb of 13:20 for 1000m last night (I'm not sure if it's a pb ot not) which meant I held 1:20/100m pace, I can't complain about that. There was also a nice change in the swim program when 5 of us from my Tri Club went down to Burgh Island to help film a new 'Wild Swimming' TV program with Robson_Green. Hardly the biggest training session and coming with it's own selection of problems (mainly getting home less than 4hrs before I had to get up for a 15hr shift at work) it was still a good fun day and 3 of us managed to get in a solid TT paced lap of the Island in (21:30) with the local head lifeguard leading us on a paddle board (thanks Liam).

Running like swimming has pretty much been ticking over. Most runs have been comfortably holding themselves below 7min/mile pace although there has been the odd disaster like attempting to do 14miles while fresh using the Galloway Run/Walk method. The plan worked like a dream at Marazion when my legs were trashed but running fresh meant that the first 5 miles were still all under 7mins and I walked the first minute of every one. It was more Interval session than steady paced effort and I suffered as a consequence.

The only race has been the North Devon Tri Beach Aquathlon which for me is more about having a bit of fun and doing my bit to help out than actually racing. The race was made interesting when some numbnuts turned half of the signs around. As I'd put the run course out I simply stopped to fix the problem signs as I ran the first lap, luckily there weren't many people ahead of me and those that were only ended up taking a slight diversion, so all was well.

So that's about it really. Update complete. There's nothing more to say really. Hope I haven't wasted too much of your life.

Oooooh, nearly forgot. It's IRONMAN season. I spent last weekend shouting at my computer as a bunch of folks I know raced IM Austria, at the same time I was also watching the drama unfold at IM Germany. Most of them did fantastically well (Rich you're a pussy). This weekend I'll be mostly shouting at my computer as Chrissie Wellington smacks Roth and the egotistical tosspot that is Kit Stokes (he's ok really) FINALLY BREAKS 9HRS at IM Switzerland. Come on man!!!! I'm sure I should be training instead but we'll call it inspiration ;-)

Laters all

(Racing in) The sun and the rain.

Well you can't write a script for the weather lately. Just one week after getting burnt to a crisp at Marazion I'm lining up on a Saturday evening to race the Saunton Sands Aquathlon and it's been pouring with rain ALL DAY. It's not very often you expect to finish the run wetter than you finish the swim, but this was one of them. Still it's all good fun and with the race being a tiny casual affair it was all done in good spirits. No doubt the conditions scared a few people off but the sea was as calm as you could hope for so it was game on.

Saunton Aquathlon

We stood in the clubhouse looking out to sea as they put the swim bouys out. "Are you sure that's the right distance?" we asked. "It looks like a long way".

Race time came and we charged into the sea, well some charged while I strolled out. At least the water was warmer than at Marazion. I picked through the back and mid packers and set my sights on a group of 3 who were leading the field, just before the first bouy I caught them up. We headed back to the beach to complete the first half of the 'M' shaped swim and as we exited the sea to run around a flag someone shouted "14mins!". 14mins!!!!! I can swim 1k in 14mins, this is supposed to be 1k and we're only half way through. Ah well, no matter. One of the local SLSC boys dolphin dived into the lead which helped me because it meant I didn't have to sight near invisible bouys. At the final turn the 4 of us were still together but with the huge white clubhouse to aim for I pushed on and headed out to transition with a small lead.

The run was a real ramble at times and great fun except for the fact that my legs were trashed from my morning bike ride. There was a relay runner ahead who I just couldn't get anywhere near, he was only 13 but a national cross country racer. As he hadn't swum I'll hold my head up against the embarrassment of getting a kicking by one so young (I'll get him next time).

A tiny field, but a win is a win (so they say) and a rare race where the swim takes longer than the run. Happy Days in the rain.

Burnham-on-Sea Sprint Triathlon

Another week gone and the weather has turned again as Burnham took place on a blisteringly hot day, but the relatively early start saved us from the worst of it. In a bid to kick start my Ironman training I'd ridden the 80miles from Barnstaple to the parents holiday crash pad in Brean on Saturday and the 5mile spin from there to the Pool on Sunday morning told me that my legs were not the only sore bits that had forgotten what 4hrs+ in the saddle felt like.

After catching up with some old friends and cheering on some of my earlier starting clubmates it was time to head poolside.

The swim was straightforward enough. 500m in Burnham Pool so once that was dispatched in 6:50 I did the necessary and headed out on the bike. Early on there were a few annoying traffic hold ups. Maybe I'm too casual about this sport because rather than risk my neck overtaking cars I sat behind them while a couple of other lads charged down the outside. A couple of minutes later though the cars had gone and I set about catching and despatching those who'd taken advantage of my timid nature. In my swim wave was a lad I've never ever beaten, we're similarly paced on the swim and run but he always kills me on the bike. He'd been just ahead out of the water but the traffic had given him a lead of around 30secs, I focused on him ahead thinking that if I could minimise the damage on the bike I'd stand a slim chance of catching him on the run and better still I'd have a chance to break the hour marker here for the first time ever. Then around half way into the bike I realised that not only was I keeping him in sight but I was actually slowly gaining on him, that was all the incentive I needed to keep pushing when the going got tough and I wanted to ease off. With a mile to go I was within 5 secs and we returned to the main road and the main road traffic. For the next half mile there was some tentative overtaking going on before we returned to a closed section of road near the pool.

Entering T2 my legs were in bits but I knew that there was a chance of a very rare victory over someone who's been out of my reach for years. I entered T2 ahead but my transition was slow as I messed around racking my bike, I left with a small chase on my hands.

We ran out to the beach side by side and my legs were screaming, any minute now I could feel that my cramp problems would re-appear. My breathing was controlled though, pace wise I was well within my limits and I was holding my own, if I could just focus on keeping my form then I should be ok. Along the beach we were inseperable but then we hit the sand dunes for the first time and I got a small gap. Through the off road section of the run course the gap opened a bit more and then I started getting cocky and relaxed. Hitting the dunes to return to the beach I felt the inevitable twinge in my quads. Do I walk, do I hope to run through it? Looking over my shoulder I gambled on the gap and stopped to walk, I'd count for 1 minute and then get mobile again. When I started running again all of the gap had been wiped out and it was game on again, it was all down to the last mile of the run. We ran side by side for 2/3 of the beach before I felt confident enough to try increasing the pace and thankfully the increase was enough for me to cross the line ahead and sneak home in 2nd place overall, with a new pb and for the first time in 10 or so attempts a finishing time below the hour in 58:55.

Happy Days.

Marazion Middle Distance Tri

It's been a tough few weeks since I last posted/raced. Work has involved some very long hours, I've been lazy (nothing new there) and I seemingly managed to pull a muscle in my back although I'm still not really sure how. Up until the very last minute my racing at Marazion was in doubt, but luckily for me Cris and Karen from http://www.hayletri.co.uk/ who organise the race are a top pairing and would let me enter at the very last minute if needs must. Even booking accomodation was a nightmare. Because Rosie is a nightmare and can't keep still in open spaces we decided it was easier to book a B&B. Wrong!! Finding somewhere that takes dogs is a challenge in itself but Google is a wonderful thing when that sort of problem strikes.
B&B attempt 1 soon email us saying that they've changed owners and the new folks are allergic to dogs. B&B attempt 2 seem great so Shelly calls them, the dog is fine and won't even cost any extra but what's that?...................... We're not married, so we're not welcome! Welcome to the 18th Century. Then by chance we find that the local Travelodge take dogs so the problem is solved, an expensive solution but it's solved all the same and it won't cost us if I end up staying at home resting my back and we have to cancel.
So on the Friday pre-race I take my Tri bike out for a quick 10mile spin, then take my road bike for the same 10 miles to see how my improving back reacts to them both. All seems well so I email off my last minute entry and it's game on. Saturday morning Rosie woke me up at stupid o'clock so I took her for a small run and then took the Tri bike out for another 10mile spin just to be sure it was ok to use. After that we casually packed the car up and headed down to Penzance, stopping off for Shelly to see our Tri Club's latest member who had been born just 5 days earlier.

After registering, meeting up with clubmates and plenty of friends (old and new) we headed off for some food and a half decent night's sleep.

Race morning dawned looking every bit as nice as the weather forecast had promised. I sorted my transition area out and joked with the lads around me that they wouldn't know I was there as my bike would probably be gone from it's place for both of their transitions (due to my nice and steady bike plan).

Wetsuit on and I half heartedly listened to the swim course description. Swim 650m out to a pencil thin bouy that I could hardly see, 600m across to an equally invisible bouy and then swim back in. Easy peasy. I'll just swim slightly off to the right of everybody and keep my eyes on those around me. Even with my pretty prescription goggles my sighting is useless and I've honed my skill after many 'blind as a bat' years.

The race started and everybody charged into the water which was f-f-f-freezing (ignore anyone who tells you otherwise). I'm always useless for the first 2-300m but once I'd get my ice-cream face under control I start chugging my way through the field. Just before the first bouy I caught one of my clubmates (Alan), this was a good think as he's been swimming well lately. I thought I'd swim with him for a while, but then he just seemed to go backwards so I carried on. Just before the 2nd bouy I caught my squad swim partner Phill and he disappeared behind me just as quickly, heck I must be flying. Then we turned back towards the beach and all I could see was the blazing sun, I couldn't see a thing and had no idea where the hell I was going, I couldn't see anybody ahead of me either surely I wasn't leading. To cut a long story short (and a few hundred meters of zigzagging) I finally stumbled onto the beach after lots of wasted time swimming breaststroke, backstroke and treading water just trying to get somewhere near the exit. Two local fish type swimmers had blasted to an early lead and I was in 3rd place with the rest of the field a lot closer to me then they should have been. Ah well. Onto the bike and I felt like a real fatty, I'd swallowed a load of water during the swim and just the thought of eating or drinking made me feel ill. The plan on the bike was to go steady, so that's what I did, except for that it didn't feel steady and I'm not sure I'd have been much quicker if that hadn't been the plan. Alan came flying past me on the way out to Lands End but he was only doing the swim/bike before handing the run reins over to his other half Lotty for the run, no problem I'll stick to the plan. Phill came past me with his Tribars hanging off before the hill at St Just, ahhh he's not supposed to catch me on the first lap, especially with his bike falling apart. Then I seemed to get to the point where people stopped blasting past me and disappearing and started working their way past me and pulling away real slow. I was happy now because it meant I'd found my rightful place and it wasn't as far back as I'd feared. I spent the rest of lap one and most of lap two getting overtaken on the hills and then easily running people down again on the descents, there are more uphills than down though so I appeared to still be losing ground but worryingly there was still no sign of 3rd clubmate Tim who I'd expected to come flying past by now. The rest of the bike was much the same as I struggled on the hills, cruised the descents, kept the pace steady, occasionally saw Phill not too far in the distance and still didn't get caught by Tim.

Into T2 for surely the longest transition as I lay down and fully stretched my back out before fannying about putting socks and stuff on, then I stopped just outside of T2 for Shelly to sunblock me. Did it work? Nah! Hurt like hell when it hit the wetsuit burn though.

There was a cunning plan for the run. I would run until I felt the first twinges of my ever annoying cramp and the moment I felt anything I'd walk for a minute, see how long I'd run for and aim to repeat for the length of the run. Easy eh . So off I went and almost spot on 5mins I felt a little twinge, I stopped and walked a minute and then ran for 5 more. Job done! Amazingly I caught and passed my clubmates plus several other folks and that little run/walk plan got me the 13th fastest run split of the day at an average 7:17 per mile without a single 'proper' bout of cramp. Bonus!
Could I have been quicker? Of course, but that wasn't the plan for the day, I could have swam, biked and ran quicker but then I might have blown up and learnt nothing, instead I may just have (hopefully) stumbled on a way to fix my damned Ironman run splits. Fingers crossed. Phill had an awesome race and were it not for his wonky Tri bars I might be telling you he beat me.......... or I might be telling you I ran faster just to make sure I beat him who knows. Alan ripped up the bike course. Could he have run off that bike though? Who knows. Guess we'll find out at Wimbleball (IMUK 70.3). Hopefully he'll nail it. Tim...... Hmmmm Tim....... Lets face it, Tim had a disaster. Heck I've had enough of them and I really felt for him. He rode past me as I was heading out on the run and told me there was no way he was running, I couldn't believe it when I saw him coming the other way and with it being 3 laps he had 3 chances to call it a day but he didn't and for all the cr@p we give him he gets full marks for getting there on such a ronking hot day. Well Done lads. Top Job. Right, sleep time now. I've had enough of this sucking up. I beat all my clubmates and that's what matters. Laters.

Exe Valley Tri

A week after Neolithic Marathon, after training 18hrs in 10 days (my biggest consistant block this year) I found myself in Tiverton for the Exe Valley Sprint Triathlon. So do you rest up in advance of such a race??? Don't be stupid. You bike and run (2.5hrs) the day before and then you cycle 38.5miles just to get to the race. Well actually, you wouldn't do that if you had any sense, but nobody has ever accused me of that.

The bike ride down to the race with my clubmate Phill was easy enough. It's probably fair to say that he did more work than I did and we took the longer less hilly route rather than go direct and spend too much time climbing. We made it to the race hours before my 1:45pm start time which was all good as I'd got team mates to cheer on who were in action from 8am. With us making up over 15% of the field plus all the other folks I knew there was never a time where I'd got nothing going on. I even had time to dispute the benefits of Newton running shoes with a chap at their Trade Stand while abusing a clubmate who wears them, all in my normal tactful style of course.

So onto the race then..... The 400m pool swim was steady enough, I felt a bit tired but chugged along nicely, not on for an especially quick time but it wasn't too bad, maybe 10secs slower than I would normally expect. 8th fastest on the day @ 5:31. Out of the pool and Transition didn't go brilliantly which wasn't helped by my aero helmet not fitting on my fat head, I'd obviously closed up the lock at the back during the close season and it hadn't been touched since. Doh. Never mind, it was soon sorted as I ran out of T1 with my bike in 83secs.

Heading out on the bike I was soon aero and reeling in the competitor ahead of me. As soon as I caught and went past him we hit a small climb, I'd got nothing in my legs at all though and he came tearing back past me. Over the top I caught and went past him again, we hit another small climb and away he went - grrrrrrr!!! After that the course levelled out and I pulled away comfortably. The rest of the bike ride was quiet until right at the end when I caught our waves speedy swimmer who was obviously less comfortable on dry land than in the water. I had a small traffic hold up at a roundabout, but was soon running into T2 to ditch my bike. 9th fastest bike ride @ 38:15. T2 was a comfortable 32secs and I was soon out on the run.

Out on the run and I was hurting, I ran past hoards of yelling clubmates pulling all sorts of faces, but soon I was in my stride and hunting athletes. As we hit the long steady climb which was the courses only ascent and I was in full flow. I had a target ahead who I knew was a good runner and he was coming back to me, happy days. Then it all went a bit pear shaped!!!

We turned onto a small out and back section where we had to run through a gateway. After the big week that gateway was just too much for my quads and they started to cramp up. I eased off the pace a little in hope that it would subside, but I've been here too many times before and I knew there was no escape and soon I was forced to stop as my left quad locked up. A quick self massage and I was back on the move, but not for long though as I was forced to stop another 3 times the last of which had my quad and hamstring cramping up at the same time (trust me, that hurts!!). Finally I jogged into the finish with the 75th fastest run time of 22:44, around 5mins and 70+ places from where I should have been..

Ah well it was still good fun and served as a reminder of everything that goes wrong when I race Ironman. At least this time the run was only 5k because it's a real pain when that happens and there's still 25miles to go. Marazion Middle Distance next on 31st May which will (not) be followed by the Dartmoor Discovery 32miler the following Sunday.

6 months and counting.

Well today is the 7th of May and that means that 6 months from now I’ll be plugging my way around the Ironman Florida bike course and hoping that just this once I can finally manage to run a Marathon after cycling 112 miles. This Sunday was an inadvertent practice session and also a big kick in the pants as once again I got taught a harsh lesson. The question is though, will I ever take these lessons in and become a better athlete for it, or will I do my normal trick of shrugging it off and forgetting all about it the next time round. So on to the weekends activities we go.
April had finished poorly, very poorly. Training hadn’t gone well and work had thrown some big hours at me. Towards the end of the month my Tri-Club mate Jimmy had brought up the subject of the Neolithic Marathon. Not being able to resist a challenge and the chance to redress the balance after last year’s pathetic performance there my cheque was soon in the post. Jimmy was going for Marathon number 4 in 6 weeks following on from Rome, Taunton and London only 7 days earlier. Amazingly the 3 previous Marathons all had finish times within a couple of minutes of each other, this one wouldn’t though as it was off road and hillier than the road versions. I on the other hand was totally unprepared and untrained, nothing new there then. Although I say ‘undertrained’ I’ve still knocked out some decent runs this year and days like the Bampton-Tiverton race (then back to Bampton) mean that I have got a few miles in, add that to my years (and years, and years) of general training and it wasn’t exactly like I was taking a step into the unknown.
I met Jimmy at 6am and we drove the 2hrs to Stonehenge where we loitered a while before catching the bus to the start at Avebury. Once at Avebury we just had to kill an hour and collect our timing chips before we were ready to roll. Soon the small field of marathon nutcases were lined up and ready for the off.............. and we were away.
I soon settled at my planned Heart Rate of 140-150bpm and found myself cruising along in 10th place, the aim of the day being to settle in at this pace for at least 24miles and then if by some chance I found myself feeling good then I could put the hammer down over the last couple if it meant gaining significant places or maybe dipping under 3hrs. The first mile is nice and flat but the next 3 are a constant climb, I was well aware of this and paid special attention to my Garmin so as not to get too excited early on. I paid the price for that last year and didn’t want a repeat. As the race developed it soon became clear that there were no superstars here, there was a group of 3 who took the lead early on but they were going nowhere fast once the pace settled. I had my Garmin set to show just Heart Rate, the time run and my average pace for the run. Nutrition wise I just took an SIS gel before the start and carried a couple of SIS caffeine gels to have at 9 and 18miles.
The plan went brilliantly for the first 9miles as I consistently averaged 150bpm. Then several things conspired against me. Firstly I took my caffeinated SIS gel which seemed to act as rocket fuel. I’m normally really sceptical about people who claim that a gel has made all the difference to their performance, sure they will fuel you to help you go further/faster but I’ve never before taken a gel and felt a noticeable difference in the way I’m performing ‘at that time’. Was it was the gel that suddenly made me feel so much stronger or was it the placebo effect from my noticing that I was now in 5th place and the 4 people ahead of me were all getting closer with every step? Who knows, but I decided that as I was feeling so easy I could afford to let my HR rise by 5bpm. Not a big factor because I’d come into the race playing the safety card and in theory I ‘should’ be able to run it at close to 160bpm if required. 10miles done at a jog in 1:09:20, things were looking good.
Miles 11 & 12 took in the days steepest climb so the pace dropped a bit as I shortened my stride and cruised up it easily enough to catch the lad in 4th place. I know he’s a useful runner and was surprised to catch him so easily, a quick chat discovered that not only had he done London the previous week but is about to do the 10 Marathons in 10 days challenge so there was no rushing him along. I eased past and focused on the group of 3 ahead, I could afford a couple of slightly elevated miles because once I’d caught them I could ease off the pace, settle in and it would be ‘Game On’ at 24miles. By 15miles we were running along comfortably in a group with me sat at the back concentrating on dropping my HR back down from 160 to the 150’s and then all of a sudden I lost all my senses and turned into a complete idiot!!!
I hadn’t been able to make my mind up whether I’d caught the 3 lads with me because they’d gone out to fast or because nobody had wanted to do the work and pull the others along. My plan for as long as I'd looked like catching them had been to hang in until 24miles and hold my HR as low as possible AND THEN IT HAPPENED!!! We ran past a drink station and everybody pulled over to the right so that they could grab a drink, everybody except me. In a moment of complete madness I decided to see what everybody had got in the tank and I turned the screw. I didn't see what happened behind but I heard several swear words, lots of sprinting feet and even more heavy breathing as I cruised along and knocked out a 6min mile, the fastest of the day by a long way. We came to a hill, I eased off and looked over my shoulder to inspect the damage. One of the lads was still on my shoulder but breathing real heavy, the other two weren't too far away but far enough to make me think it was in the bag so I eased off and allowed the group to reform.

I decided that now was the time to take my other gel, I knew the effort was going to take it out of me so the caffeine boost would be welcome. I took the gel and ------- nothing!

From there it all went a bit pear shaped, even as I was doing it I knew that putting a hard mile in was a stupid move, I just hadn't realised how bad. It wasn't long before the lead group started moving away from me and I could do nothing about it. I tried to kid myself that either they were just running scared and would soon ease off again or that my gel would soon kick in and I'd be motoring along again before I knew it. Neither of those was likely to happen though, the Garmin doesn't lie and my pace was dropping while my HR was still miles too high. I've been there too many times before to not know what that meant.

Mile 18 was the last time I saw a sub 7 and the drop off was rapid, there was only actually one mile below 7:40 after that point. A cramp stop during mile 22 saw my first 8+ mile that hadn't involved a big climb and from there on in I was just trying to get it all over with. A couple of 7:50's took me to 24miles, at the time they seemed disasterous but looking back they were an achievement because if I could have only held that pace to the finish I'd have been 4mins quicker and still finished 4th instead of 6th. The last mile was a pure 'death march', whether it was because I'd just lost the plot mentally or whether my body had really given up I'm not sure, but at the point where everybody normally pushes through to the finish I just bimbled along before managing to jog the final field. That last mile took 11mins and then you cross the line and you've finished 6th, everybody is happy for you, everybody cheers you to the finish line and you do your best to look happy when in fact you're (once again) like a bear with a sore head. At least I've only my own stupidity to blame, it's so much easier to deal with when it's not down to anybody else.

So that's the tale, 30mins quicker than last year and a far better first 15miles. I still need to control myself and work off the plan rather than instinct, that would be easier to do if I knew the plan worked though I suppose. Ah well ;-)

Since the race I've trained pretty well and as of today I've averaged 1h40m a day so far this month. The first bit of this blog was deliberately written on Thursday 7th May but I didn't realise it would take me until early morning on Sunday 10th May to finish it. Now, just to prove that I've learnt my lesson after last week I'm off to race the Exe Valley Sprint Triathlon which is run in Tiverton around 35miles away. How am I getting there????? I'm cycling there of course :-)

Laters all.

Nothing worth seeing here.

Right, lets get back to training talk and what the hell I'm going to do about this damn Ironman I've entered. Work never gets any better and I can't believe that anybody gives a rats about anybodys job but their own. That was a one off whinge, never to be repeated - Sorted!

So, after the Easter Saturday Burrows Run of a thousand pictures I managed to drag myself out for a 25mile bike ride. On Easter Sunday I bettered that and rode 40miles, things were looking up. Then on Easter Monday I popped down the Road to race the.........

Bampton to Tiverton Road Race

I woke up on the morning feeling as though someone had battered my legs with a steak hammer. The previous 2 days bike rides had been my first of the year on my QR Tri bike and they'd killed me. Still I jumped in the car and drove the 35miles to Tiverton to register for the race. The organisers run buses to the race start as it's a point to point but I wanted a long run so I drove the 7miles to Bampton, that way I'd 'have' to run back again after.

The race started well, too well actually as I found myself up inside the top 10. Mile 1 went past in 5:31 (ooops), Mile 2 went past in 5:37 (heck). This was far too fast, especially since I'd got to run 7miles back after. At 2.5miles my tired legs started complaining and I had to let the 2 lads with me escape on an uphill section. Miles 3 & 4 went by and even though I was dying I was holding sub 6's so I pushed on. I had a couple of team mates behind me and decided that I'd keep pushing until they caught and past me. At 5miles I got overtaken but not by a clubmate so I tried not to lose too much ground. Mile 6 was the toughest as it had a bitchin little climb in it that really smacked your legs. I caught the lad who'd gone past me earlier, with a mile to go and him struggling I decided to put it all on the line (check the very rare pic of me working 'and blind' thanks to clubmate Damo). Finishing with another sub 6min/mile I managed to finish 10th overall in a time of 41:51 for the 7.1mile course.
After catching my breath, watching my clubmates finish and chatting to folks I could hold off the inevitable no longer and it was time to run back. I really didn't feel like it after racing much harder than I'd meant to, but it actually turned out to be ok. I held 7's all the way back although I have to admit I wouldn't have wanted to run any further, the last mile was real hard going.

After the race things went a bit slack. On the Tuesday I went to the running club with Shelly but I didn't run with them, instead I left Shelly there as she's trying to get back into running and I ran the 5miles home along the Tarka Trail with Rosie. Wedesday I was just a mess and didn't train, Thursday I was just as big a mess but I still took the pup out although I had to turn around and only managed 4.5miles. Friday I really couldn't face a run but wouldn't miss my squad swim session and then although I'd planned an 80mile bike ride on Saturday it all fell apart and I did nothing yet again, but then Sunday was the ............

Burnham Aquathlon

After making the 90min drive to see the folks at their caravan on Saturday we all got up ready and raring to go on Sunday morning. We drove down to the freshly renovated pool, registered and milled around waiting for the start and chatting to folks we hadn't seen since the last events of the 2008 Tri season. Soon it was time to get changed ready to race. I headed onto poolside for the race brief, set up my transition area (number belt, glasses and trainers) and headed to my lane. There were 4 of us all due to start the 1000m swim together so we had a chat amongst ourselves and worked out a start order. 3 of us were a very similar speed and the 4th was easily faster than any of us, so he went 1st (I went off 3rd). For 40lengths our little group of 3 stayed packed tightly together, I moved into 2nd place when I sensed that the lad ahead of me was tiring and the swim was over in 13:41. A slightly disappointing time, but still 2nd fastest overall a full minute behind the leader of our lane. With 3 of us out of the pool on each others feet even the transition was a race, I held my positon though and was soon heading for the beach run. On the very first turning as we left the pool I felt the insole of my left foot slide to the side, I knew this was going to be trouble as it meant running 10k with my feet rubbing on the trainers stitching, there wasn't time to stop though. I soon opened a gap on my fellow swimmers and headed off after the race leader. Along the beach, over the dunes and onto the golf course my target got ever closer, then I caught him on a long single track stretch of path. I hoped that as we'd all stopped politely when he'd lapped us in the pool he'd repay the favour on the run. A gap came and went, he didn't pull over. Another gap came and went, he still didn't pull over. I didn't wait for a 3rd, I just shoulder barged him out of the way and ran past.

I was now leading the race, but knew I was on borrowed time as chasing me down was World Age Group Duathlon Champion Gary Gerrard. Don't get me wrong, I'm no slouch on the run but there's a big difference between someone who runs 36mins+ and someone who runs 32mins for a straight 10k. I held my lead for the rest of the first lap and then I was caught just as we hit the sand dunes on the 2nd lap. After that Gary disappeared into the distance and I pretty much cruised around knowing that the win was gone but 2nd place was a safe bet. In the end I was 1:21 behind Gary but 1:19 ahead of 3rd place, so 2nd place (or 1st loser) it was.

After the race I ran 7.5miles back to the caravan with the pup. A full on headwind didn't make for a quick run and strangly Rosie really didn't seem to enjoy it. Once the weekend was over I returned to lazy Iain status and another ig week at work didn't help me. Monday was totally lacking. Tuesday I clambered onto the turbo trainer but couldn't get into it so after 35mins I clambered off , pulled on my trainers and took the pup out for a swift 3mile run. Wednesday was my Running Clubs Relay night, a competition we have against all the local running clubs at various venues. Wednesdays relays were just around the corner so I ran there (2miles) with Rosie, raced a lap (2.3miles), then cruised a warm down lap before running home with the pup, enough for 8.8miles in total. Wednesday I once again did nothing and Friday was no different except that as it was a Friday I had to swim. Today I managed to turbo for an hour before getting dragged out to Rock Park for a steady 2mile with Shelly and her group before running 5mile back home with Rosie.

Tomorrow is London Marathon so Good Luck to anybody who is racing that happens to stumble across this blog. I may or may not be running Neolithic Marathon next weekend, but as of yet I've no confirmation either way. My entry went off a little late, my cheque hasn't been cashed 'as yet' but that doesn't really mean anything. So long as I know for next weekend that's all that matters.

Until next post... Seeee ya.

Blimey. Two posts in a week.

Well the fact that I'm posting so soon (for me) wither means there's loads to tell or Rosie pup has got me up far too early and I've not much else to do. As there is never really loads to tell in my life then once again it's down to Rosie. She wakes up between 5:30 & 6am, decides that if she's up then somebody else must get up, then once you're up she lies down in her basket and goes to sleep. Nice!!!!! The little ####!!!!!

So while I'm here I may aswell go through the week. Hmmmm, that won't take long from a training point of view because there hasn't been a lot.

I haven't totally fallen off the 'new' training monster idea yet, it's just that Easter and work combined have totally screwed up my training week. One of the biggest factors in the new training was that I'd hoped to sneak a few lunch break runs in but mostly this week I've just tried to grab a quicknap instead.

Monday was my normal day at work but for some reason I hadn't had the best nights sleep. I got up at 3am, bundled my way through 13hrs, then came home. After the tough 13miler on Sunday I didn't really fancy running so Shelly forced me to ride my turbo instead. One hour of beasting myself to Coach Troy later I returned from the shed with my legs hanging off. It'll be good for me I'm sure.

All the time you're finishing that long day, gone home, forced yourself to train, fed, watered and showered yourself the clock is ticking and it becomes a very short night before the alarm is going off at 2:30am ready for the next days start. Another 13+ hr day in the bag and I was simply too stuffed to train so I vegged out in front of the TV with the pup while Shelly went off to the running club instead. I'd done 6 consecutive days and 11hrs training so I could justify a rest day.

Wednesday became a disaster! I woke up at 2:30am to the sounds of my ####ing alarm clock. I felt real strange and even posted on Twitter at 3am that I felt it was going to be 'one of those days'. The plan was to go to work, do my normal run out, then when I return I'd simply pick up another load and leave again (for those that don't know I'm a dirty greasy truck driver, no IT/Teaching genius here). With this plan I'd have a night away which means there's nothing to do but run, shower, sleep before the next days work. But........ I arrived at my first drop to see this..........

In that picture there is 12 pallets of hardware gubbins (which is what I deliver) plus the obvious oversize loose bits and pieces 'strategically placed' over the top. My normal early morning sight! Today though there was a bit of a difference because it had been loaded back to front and the 3 pallets I needed for my first delivery were RIGHT AT THE FRONT!!!!!!! So from 4:30am the local High Street was being woken to the sounds of me crashing about as I totally unloaded and reloaded my lorry before I could properly get on with the days work. I won't say how long I was there but if I ran a Marathon in the same time I'd be sorely disappointed.

So Wednesday ended up being 15hrs at work (with no training) and also left me miles behind on Thursdays jobs. BUT......... I promised the pup that no matter what time I finished work on Thursday I'd take her for a run as the next day was Good Friday and I was off and could have a lie in. With the weeks work out of the way I returned home feeling wrecked. I really didn't want to run, but I'd promised the pup so off we went, a steady 4mile would do her. Once we were running though I felt a lot better and 4miles soon turned into 7.5miles. Happy Days at last.

On Good Friday Shelly's brother and his family called in on their way home from a holiday in Cornwall. The morning was spent 'attempting' to make the house look almost tidy, then we went out for lunch so any training had to wait until the evening.
In a similar vein to Thursdays run I really had no wish to go, but I grabbed the pup and off we went. A planned 4mile run soon turned into an old off road 8mile loop out to Crow Point and was highly enjoyable. Late evening sunshine, high tide and a still night. The Burrows was a beautiful place.

This morning (actually while writing this blog post) I looked out of the window and it was such a glorious day I had a cunning plan. The pup had woken me up at 6am (it's now 10pm) and looking out of the window I decided that a change of plan was called for. Rather than slog myself stupid on a long bike ride I grabbed my running gear and Shelly's camera (mine's rubbish), then with Rosie curled up on the bed next to Shell I escaped and drove to the Burrows (1.5miles). If I ran for 3-4 miles and took some piccies I'd be able to go out on the bike once I got back. But as had happened on Thursday and Friday a planned 4mile run grew a little and ended up being 10miles with around 200 pictures. The time was also increased slightly. Due to the wonders of Garmins 'autostop' function I actually ran for 1h15m, but I was actually out over the Burrows for well over 2hrs. The only thing missing was the pup, but she'd have been a nightmare with all of the walking, so although I missed her I was also glad she wasn't there.

The pics are here on this linky (beware, there's a lot of them) and the days route is behind this little clicky linky.

Enjoy :-)

Blog Post ............ Take 2!

Lets try again.

I've just spent ages writing out my latest blog post which was bemoaning my lack of motivation, ambition, dedication etc but praising the somehow natural god given ability that still manages to keep me finishing far higher in race fields than I should. Then after reading through it I realised that to anybody without my very fortunate 'natural ability' then it just read like somebodies ego gone mad, which simply isn't the case. Where I was talking about how I struggle to get through the front door to train I could imagine others thinking "You're running/biking/swimming at that pace and moaining! Screw you.". So enough of that, it won't work, I'll save those chats for when I'm alone with the dog.

Now, back to normality.

March was slack - VERY SLACK!! The only saving grace is that I actually trained more than last year when I was having similar motivational problems, although I'm well down on any other year since 2004. 9 days off, almost 1 in 3 is far too many, even at this early stage it's a waste.

Swimming is the least of my worries. I've even snuck a few more sessions in than normal as for some reason I've suddenly gotten quicker. No explanation because I don't really know, but suddenly I'm very close to that 5min for 400m barrier. In real terms it's a worthless target but it's a target I've had for a long time so it's worth a little bit of effort just to be able to say I've swum 400m in 4:??.

Biking has been almost none existent (as normal). I anly managed to get in the saddle 3 times. Sure those 3 rides have totally 130miles but for the longest of those I spent the majority of time sat on someones wheel being dragged along. I'm sure that's the sort of workout I need to snap me out of it, but literally hanging on for 75miles doesn't give the encouragement to go out more often, especially when it's not what you're used to.

Running has been about normal and they actually seem to be a bit quicker than normal, I've no TT's/races to back that up though. Having the pup about to run with gives an extra reason (although she can be a pain in the ass) so that's ticking along reasonably well I guess.

So into April:-

I've made the decision to drag myself out more often and (so far) it's working. One of my other big decisions is to run shorter stuff. I think that part of my problem has been the fact that there seems little point getting changed to do less than an hour. I'm trying to drill that mentality out of my system. Although I'm Ironman training it must surely be better for me to knock out a quick 4 miles than sit on my backside bemoaning my lack of time to train. The idea is that all being well my diary will be full of 4-5mile runs and 20-25mile bike rides with longer stuff as and when I can, rather than 10-16mile runs and 60-70mile bike rides with 2-3 day gaps inbetween.

Will the little and often approach work come Ironman time? Who knows but lets face it, the all or nothing approach has never worked yet so what harm could a change do.

On the downside for April, my lazy approach also extends to my race entries. With my having been around Tri since before Moses I'm still used to the turn up and pay approach at races, hence I keep missing out because the races fill up. The latest of these is Burnham Tri. Watch this space to see if the "but I've been racing here for 10+ years......... I'm a previous winner............ etc etc etc" approach works when I (or Shelly) gets into 'creeping for an entry' mode.

On an off Tri note............... Ooooops, Rosie went chasing the mice that hide by the pond.


That'll do for now I think.

The next post will be more positive.

Does anybody actually read this crap?

Nutrition

I don't go for all this nutrition gubbins which is bad news with the aim being a good Ironman. I really can't get my head around all the different types of pre/during/post race gels, drinks and bars. There's recovery stuff, isotonic stuff, stuff with carbs, stuff with protein, stuff for dehydration and all of it goes sailing right over the top of my head. I had a much improved nutrition strategy at IM Florida last year thanks to some words of wisdom from Rich Brady but it didn't lead to a much improved performance, so was I really any different to the Iain who raced on whatever was available. I still had a nightmare on the run so in reality nothing changed.

Thanks to another buddy of mine (also called Rich) I got hold of a free trial promotional link for a vitamin company that are doing sports nutrition. At the weekend I shelled out my £3.99 p&p and on Tuesday morning a box of shwag turned up on my doorstep. Is it any good? I've no idea. Will it propel me to greatness? I doubt it. There seems to be a bit of everything there though, including some vitamin and other daily tablets which I'm going to attempt to remember to take through April.

If my knee looks like it might hold up for Taunton Marathon I'll try a bottle of the drink out there along with the gel and maybe a bar or both. We'll see if they can perform miracles and make my legs think that they've trained for something. Maybe if I have a cracking race and finish well up the field I can start shouting from the rooftops about Zipvit and they'll send me lots of free stuff.............. ok, maybe not.


Anyway, just wanted to say I'd had some nutritional guff delivered, now I've posted twice in a week I'll go get back in my hole. Goodnight ;-)

Lazy lazy lazy days.

Damn I've been so lazy lately. Lazy with the blog, lazy with the training, just downright lazy fullstop.

After the dire performance at Grizzly I came down with a bit of the lurgie which supplied me with a good enough excuse to lay off any training. I laid low until Wednesday when guilt got the better of me and I took the pup out for a swift 4.5mile blast out to Braunton and back. I had the early part of Thursday off work so hopped on the bike and knocked out my Puffin Billy (36mile) course. Hard to believe that only 6months ago I was doing 2 or 3 of these laps as Ironman training without any problem, now it wrecks me. A few hours after the bike ride I took the pup out for another run, it was planned at 6miles but I ended up doing the extended 8mile version which was something I regreted in the last 10mins when I was just hanging. Friday I was too lazy to train so I just went to my normal squad swim session which led me nicely into the weekend. Saturday!!!! The perfect time to get some big miles in and I did......... nothing! Ok, so I mauled a load of soil and gravel around the back garden but that's not a sport is it. Sunday has now become club day. So often in the past I haven't trained with the club on a Sunday because I've been in need of bigger mileage, now I'm still in need of the mileage but I'm so lazy that not going out with the club would probably mean no training. I did an hours swim session (inc a new 400m pb of 5:04) and then a 4.5mile track session knocking out loads of 400's.

Last week started badly when I woke up on Monday morning and my knee was a mess. No idea why, I hadn't pulled it, hit it, twisted it or done anything else that I could think of. All I knew was that I was struggling to even walk on it. Again though it was a good excuse to avoid training on Monday and Tuesday. By Wednesday it was getting annoying, I'd bought a knee support and thought I'd try a little run on it. A mile into the run and the support had to go but then strangly everything felt right and I knocked out one of the best runs I've done for a while without any pain. The knee pain/injury also nicely coincided with a killer week at work where training would have struggled anyway so Thursday got knocked on the head and it took until Fridays Squad swim session for me to post my 2nd training session, considering that this included a load of breaststroke it was odd that yet again my knee made it through with no problems. On Saturday I went out with my training pal Phill for 72miles on the bike, again there was no knee pain but my lack of bike training really showed and I got properly caned. Sunday I ran a steady 4mile with the pup, did the Tri Club swim session and then a 4mile track session running 400's with decreasing rest intervals.

That's about it really. There's nothing even vaguely interesting to report unless you consider my spotting a big bad ass Mercedes with an equally bad ass registration plate parked at The Commadore Hotel in Instow. A quick Google search turned the number plate up with the story of how the owner paid almost £250,000 for it. Maybe I should have chased him up and asked if he fancied sponsoring a low life triathlete :-D.

Upcoming!!! It's all a bit up in the air. I'm off to get my knee properly checked out tomorrow so that will tell me lots. I was half planning to do Taunton Marathon in 2 weeks time but I guess that will depend on what news the physio gives me. There are a couple of other little races I might be able to sneak into if the Marathon is a non-starter, we'll see.

Grizzly Report

Well the Met Office website was promising awful weather for the race. Freezing temperatures, huge winds and rain/sleet/hail downpours. Luckily none of that happened, at least not until I'd finished anyway.

I set off at 8am to pick up my clubmate Sally and drive the 90mins to Seaton. We arrived almost dead on 9:30 and followed the queue of cars around the town to find a carpark. Once we were parked up I rummaged through my huge bag of running gear deciding what to wear and take with me. The forecast was BAD but pre race was actually quite mild and after a week of slacking (only 1 run) I felt quite fresh so I opted for a thin long sleeved technical tee and my Tri Club Gillet. I also decided to leave my camera etc in the car to give me a better chance of a decent race.

I headed to the Start line and once there decided that the traditional toilet break was in order, so with less than 5mins to the start I went sprinting off to find the loos which were of course devoid of people because everybody else was waiting to start. A quick pit stop and sprint back had me back 'near' the start line in plenty of time albeit with around 1800 people in front of me. Ah well, nothing new there then.

So as normal I started near the back of the field and took a couple of mins just to reach the start line. The first mile along the prom and beach was a slow walk/jog/walk effort and the second mile wasn't a lot faster but I was gradually getting into things. After the poor start miles I developed a cunning plan. Using the HRM on my Garmin I'd run comfortable mid 140's on the flatter sections of the course and let my HR climb into the 150's on the hills. If I hit 160bpm though I'd back off. That should get me round easily enough while picking people off and then I could hammer the last 2 miles as normal and make up those extra few places. The plan went well enough and I was told I'd got up to 50th place at 16miles when we hit Branscombe beach for the 2nd time, then for some unknown reason I just imploded. I was running along quite happily working my way slowly through the field and then as soon as I hit those damn pebbles it was as if someone shut my motor off. The last 4 miles were tough going, far from making ground I went backwards and lost a bucket load of time, the 'Stairway to Heaven' which is never more than a power walk was more of a casual stroll, my only saving grace was that nobody I knew came past me - phew!
The final beach and road stretch were torturous. My left quad was cramping up and I needed to stop and stretch it, you can't though when you're in the finishing straight. Then 20m from the Finish Line somebody came storming past me, his legs flying everywhere in a full on sprint - I let him go! As he crossed the line he pretty much collapsed as his legs totally locked up with cramp, quads, hamstrings, calfs all together. I crossed the line, leaned against the wall to stretch my quad and walked off, he was lying on the floor in agony surrounded by medics. Worth the sprint finish???? I don't think so!
That's about it really, unless you want to know about how my fingers went white and lost all feeling for the next two hours or how I queued almost 20mins for sausage and chips which were awful. After thawing out and changing I headed back to the finish just in time to catch Sally romping in, looking far better than I had.

Finished eventually in 79th place in 2:57@56.

Back in 2010???? Of course!

Since the race I've had 3 days full of the lurgie which could explain my sudden failings, it's either that or my lack of training and preperation. Either excuse is quite possible ;-)



(I'm writing this in a McD's so I'll edit and add some extra gubbins when I get home).

Impending Grizzly

Well, tomorrow it's time for Grizzly. 20miles of coastal paths, cliffs, bogs and pebble beaches. This year, just to spice it up, it comes with a weather warning. Looks like fun!

Grizzly weather for the Grizzly!
Please be aware that the forecast for Sunday is not the nicest. Rain and perhaps snow, hail and/or sleet flurries, a strong WNW breeze and not that warm (6-8 degrees which with wind chill and rain is going to feel rather cold).
SO DRESS FOR THE CONDITIONS!

I've only missed this race once this century (2007) when the MSC Napoli was grounded and the race was postponed, the replacement date turned out to be just about the only weekend of the year I couldn't get down to Seaton.

Quite often this has been an 'A' race for me, although that doesn't mean I've trained specifically for it (people who know me would laugh at the thought), it just means that I've hoped to have a good race there and maybe justified having a Saturday rest day before it. I've done well here in the past and finished inside the top 10 and I've also had my fair share of shockers in the past.

Tomorrow though I'm going down for fun. If the weather looks as if it might hold I'll take a camera and other electronic goodies round with me , don't hold your breath for spectacular photos though, I took the camera last year and it all went a bit pear shaped.

To go fast at Grizzly you NEED good solid fell running shoes but I'm going round in a pair of off road trainers. They're going out in a blaze of glory because they'll be in a bin after the race. In 2006 I was having one of my best ever races but had to drop out when 'BOTH' of my Walsh PB's fell apart in a bog, since that time I just haven't run off road enough to justify 'proper' off road shoes. My footwear for the day will be perfectly competent on 80% of the course, but it's on those 50% descents/ascents on muddy fields and in the bogs where the real footwear comes into it's own. Just being able to let your legs go on a steep descent can make up masses of time compared to watching your footing and constantly slowing yourself.

The other slight concern for tomorrow is the toes that I ploughed into a wall racing at Taunton 2 weeks ago. They are still quite swollen and causing a bit of grief, but little more than mildly annoying when running normally. Tomorrow's not a 'normal' run though and it'll be interesting to see how they fare with the constant changes of terrain and gradient, any running uphill on my toes could prove to be a painful experience. Nurofen will be at the ready.

That's about it really for a preview. I'll take a bag full of clothes so hopefully I'll be set for any weather. Nutrition??? I'll decide in the morning. I think I've got a gel lying around and I might mix up a bit of Torq energy drink which I'll take with me if I use my camera and need the pockets on my bottle belt to carry it, other than that it'll be fine.

Other bits'n'bobs............... I've done stuff all training on foot or on the bike in the last 2 weeks. I've had a massive (for me) week of swimming though and managed 2 pb's during training. On Sunday I swam a bonus 400m TT after the Tri Club swim session and pb's with 5m13s then at last nights squad session we did an 800m TT and I pb'd with 10m36s which is only 5secs off Sundays 400m pb swum twice...... Nice!!!

Congrats to the Red Nose Day Climbers

who've just made it to the top of Mount Killimanjaro and raised over £1.3million. Yeeeaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!! Go find them and check them out.

Until next time.

Taunton Aquathlon

Taunton was always going to be an odd race, mostly because I’d no idea what sort of shape I was in. The aim of the day was to put in a good solid performance after I totally imploded on the run here last year. The swim was as always a formality, 40 lengths of the 25m Wellington pool where I can normally predict my time within seconds. The run was a new (shorter) course this year with plenty of long dragging hills to work the legs, this was where I was unsure.

(clubmates Steph, Steve and Damian can smile when I'm not around) We drove the 50miles to Wellington and my legs felt like lumps of jelly, the weeks increase in cycling must have been taking its toll. Once at the Leisure Centre I registered, collected my goodies and chatted with a few friends and clubmates. With plenty of time on my hands and my legs still feeling shot I decided to break with 15 years of tradition by putting my trainers on and actually going for a warm up. 10mins later I was back feeling exactly the same, ah well.
So onto the race.
We started the 40 length pool swim with 4 to a lane and setting off at 10min intervals. The expected race winner was in the lane next to me and starting 10secs ahead. My lane was as varied a lane as I’ve ever swum in, there was a one legged man wearing board shorts and there was a super serious swimmer wearing full length speedo swim leggings. Neither of those compared though to the lad who for whatever reason ended up in our lane swimming breaststroke. The start times are decided by the predicted swim times you put on the entry forms, whether this lad had put the wrong time down or taken the place of a faster swimmer I’ve no idea, but I was passing him every three lengths. He blatently shouldn’t have been there but rather than feeling angry about him getting in my way all the time I really felt for him because Mr Serious Swimmer didn’t strike me as the most considerate lane mate, he certainly wasn’t too pleased when I lapped him. Being the fastest swimmer in our lane I lost a bundle of time stuck behind people waiting for an opportunity to pass them. Swim time – 14:14, around 40secs slower than last year.
Mr Race Favourite in the lane next door had the totally opposite experience. He’s faster than me in the pool anyway but we both got smoked by the fastest girl in the water, all he had to do though was let her pass and then sit on her feet taking in the draft. They were almost 4 lengths up on me out of the water, he too was slower than last year though.
Into Transition I threw on my trainers, glass, hat and my number belt before running out of the door fastening up my Garmin. In a serious race the Garmin would have stayed at home and I’d have been a lot quicker, but there was no rush.
Almost as soon as I left the pool I clattered my left foot into a wall, it hurt a lot. My toes took a beating and I dragged my elbow along the brickwork to keep me upright, soon though the pain was forgotten and I was back concentrating on the running. The aim of the Garmin was to slow my early pace down to stop me exploding, so I kept checking it and holding the pace around 6min/mile pace. Throughout the whole run I felt solid, obviously my pace increased and decreased depending on the road gradient, there were plenty of hills. Half way through the run we hit a descent and I heard feet pounding along behind me. Somebody was obviously shifting because I was still on 6min pace, I looked over my shoulder and clocked his blue number, blue numbers meant relay teams, phew all was still good.
That was it really, the run was fine and strong although a little short (5.8miles) but I was solid all the way through and finished having averaged 6:02’s which I’m happy with considering the amount of climbing in it. I posted the fastest individual run of the day (35:05) only beaten by 2 smoking fast relay runners.
So it was a 2nd place finish overall which was nice because I didn’t really want to be lumped in that dreaded 40+ category.
The toe!!!! Ahh the toe!!! It was fine for the entire run and then as soon as I’d finished it was agony and I could hardly walk on it. There was a short visit to the medics just to check it was only bruising (and plenty of it) rather than any breakages, I was given the all clear though. Now after 3 days of rest it’s still bruised and pretty coloured but it’s getting there slowly, I don’t expect it’s going to cause any long term suffering.

Grizzly next, 10 days to get myself sorted.

Season Opener

Well the Tri season is on the horizon. How do I know? Because tomorrow I have my first multisport race of the year, the Taunton Aquathlon, a 1000m/10k swim/run event.
Tomorrows race is also a first for another reason.......... It's my first race in the 40+ category, my first race as a Vet. Only 2 months after my 39th birthday and I'm racing as a flaming 40 year old. Talk about feeling old before your time.
In 2007 I actually won the race, last year I dropped to 3rd, tomorrow.............. who knows?
Last year I blew a gasket on the run after charging out of the pool chasing the eventual winner who'd a one minute lead on me exiting the pool, my excuse being that the day before I'd run a maximal effort treadmill 10k at Exeter University. This year though my training hasn't really got going and although my swimming is always of a similar pace my running is well short of the norm. Hopefully though I'll still be aiming for a quicker time than last years 55:58 so long as I pace myself sensibly.
This week I finally seem to have found some reason to cycle with rides of 75miles, 50miles and todays 30miler doubling my total for the year so far. My swimming is the same as ever with my single weekly squad session, although I feel as though I'm swimming more powerfully of late, so long as I don't get carried away in the early stages I can come on really strong at the end of a long TT. Running is a bit hit and miss with Rosie accompanying me on most of my runs I'm far too prone to hitting 3-4 consecutive days and the having 3-4 consecutive days off. I'm sure that's not the way it works.
Work has been all over the place lately. One week I do almost 70hrs and the next week I struggle to hit 40. I'm sure the lack of a structured week is helping to mess with my training.

Oh well. There's not a great deal to say so I'll leave it there. I'll try to be back tomorrow with an old mans race report. Until then.....................

Snow? In Devon?

Well it's been 2 weeks since I posted and to be honest there's not a lot going on unless you consider all the crap at home that's trying to take me to financial ruin :-(

The week after the Braunton 10 (x2) was pathetic really with just 2 runs and a swim to mark the beginning of the month with. With so much time on my hands due to the lack of training it was hear my financial head went out of the window and Februarys wages got spent before they hit the bank.

First up is the garden, or at least part of it. The grassy sections don't drain well because it's all clay underneath, so after 2 years of Rosie the pup putting muddy footprints over everything as soon as it rains I had 4 tonnes of gravel lifted over the fence to cover it all up with. Now I just need to find the time (and the weather) to get the job done.

Next up was my exploding of the vacuum cleaner, some supposed dog hair special which never did get Rosie's hair up like it was supposed to. This led to the purchase of a f###ing expensive Dyson in a moment of madness. For a house the size of ours, especially one with no carpets I'm sure it's complete overkill but based on the current 3 vacuums every 2 years at least the 5yr warranty should mean it earns it's money (I hope).

Then to top everything off the PC blew a gasket. Stupid me had let the security run out and it picked up what (after plenty of Googling) appeared to be the virus from hell with no real cure other than backing everything up externally and running the start up disc again, presuming of course that the virus wasn't in something I backed up.

After weeks of head scratching I decided that it wouldn't cost much more to simply buy a new base unit than it would to buy external drives and probably get things checked out proffesionally to be on the safe side. So now I'm sitting typing this while going through the tedious process of uploading all my music onto iTunes again while discovering that somewhere along the way I've lost most of my favourite CD's.

Money gone and (supposedly down to a economic 4 day week) I've got a bit more training in this last week.

I didn't start the month well as I spent Sunday on garden (gravel) duties and Monday was a bit of a late one at work. Tuesday was close to being a disaster as a couple of inches of snow fell and the UK ground to a halt. Tuesday is my new (supposed) day off so I'd booking Shell's car into the garage in the afternoon and a doctors appointment in the morning. The plan with the Doctors is that they test me for 'Exercise Induced Asthma' in a bid to cure the annoying constant cough I've had for 10years or more. Unfortunatly this got scrapped when I arrived and the nurse didn't think it was safe for me to go and run for an hour like a lunatic in a bit to wreck my lungs. Re-booked 'yet again' for 2 weeks time. The garage trip was also called off because it's up in the sticks where they'd had a foot or more of snow and I'd little chance of making the 30mile drive in Shell's little car without getting stuck in a drift somewhere. I managed a little jog down the Tarka Trail in the afternoon with Rosie so that I could take some pretty pics of the snow as it's a very rare sight down in Devon.

For the rest of the week training got a bit better. On Wednesday, with all the snow gone, I managed to sneak away from work early enough for an 8mile run with the pup. On Thursday I headed out towards London where many areas were still suffering from a snow slowdown. I managed to lose enough time on my day to justify spending the night in Marlow which meant I could pop out to see my old pals at Marlow Striders and join them for a run. I cracked out 5miles before reaching the club and then joined one of the lads for another 10 before catching up with the recent goings on over a few pints.

On Friday the mad weather returned. When I woke up everywhere was snow free, but an hour later I was driving in a white out. Seeing all the cars abandoned and/or losing it was quite funny as I seemed to have no trouble in my 'slightly' bigger vehicle. It's just a case of keeping it smooth and steady, yet some people seem to think that a heavy right foot will fix everything. They'll get there eventually.

Strangly, after hearing on the radio all day about how Devon and Cornwall had suffered the worst of the weather and how people were trapped in their cars over night I got home on Friday afternoon to find out we'd had nothing at all and it was a beautiful sunny day.
I was later home than normal on Friday so Rosie had to go without her run and I just managed my Squad swim session, but I took her out for 4miles on Saturday morning before setting off on a 33mile wind, rain and hail plagued bike ride and an afternoon spent dossing infront of the TV and computer. The week was finished with a beasty little run session at the track with the Tri Club. 20x400m was the bulk of it, but the run home plus warming up took the whole lot to 7.5miles.

Maybe, just maybe I've turned the training corner and I can start getting my head around it again. Maybe, just maybe we can have a month where nothing else blows up and I can save the credit card getting too much of a bashing. Who knows, but until next time.................................

Braunton 10! Or is it 20?

Well it's been a while but that seems to be the case for most blogs, or at least the blogs of people on my list which seem to be either stagnant, missing or locked.

It's been an odd start to the year and my training seems to be reflecting that. Since New Year my work has been so hectic that weekday training has been almost impossible, this is despite the dreaded letter saying 'Times are hard, we need to tighten our belts and pay you less so overtime has to be cut.'. Since the letter I've been averaging 14hr days from Monday to Thursday so the weeks training hasn't started until a Friday when I get to do a paltry 10-12 hours. There has been another re-jig now though so while I'll still be hitting the clock hard on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday I'll be off work on Tuesdays which means training will be back on - if I can be bothered. Of course all this 'belt tightening' talk from work comes at the same time as our Vacuum and PC all but expire. Typical. It looks as though I might be thinking carefully about the purse strings when I decide where to race this year, a job that should already be done and dusted by now.

Today is the first race of the year and one that I can't really miss out on as the start line is less than 2 miles from my house. It's a 10 mile road race with 2 bad assed climbs in it, there will be no pb's run today that's for sure. I'll be aiming to get round without the excitement of last weekends run where I took a training pal round for a recce and got bit by a farm dog on the first climb. In truth it wasn't much of a bite and looked more like I'd caught the back of my leg on something, but it broke the skin and needed a trip to the quack for a jab just to be on the safe side. One bonus that came out of it was a chat about my everlasting cough and so I'm back in on Tuesday for a couple of tests. Basically I've got to have a spirometry ( if that's how you spell it) test to check how my lungs are working, then I'm off out for a 30-45min run and when I return I'm having another test to see if it's excercise induced asthma. I have my doubts about it, but it's got to be worth a look.

Back to todays race, the question as always is ' Do I run 10 or 20 miles?'

By the time anybody sees this then I'll have decided. It's a bit of a tradition that I run two laps here. As always I've the much bigger Grizzly coming up in March and this is traditionally a training run for it so I do a 10mile warm up lap aiming to get back as close to the race start time as possible, then I do a lap for the race. I'm not really in shape to do 20miles, but then I'm not really in shape to 'race' 10miles either, so do I risk suffering a torturous 2 laps or a disappointing 1 lap? Last year the warm up lap took 1:08:00 and the 'race' lap took 1:06:30, my pb on the course is 1:00:34 but that was from when I could run.

Right, time to get ready I suppose.

I'll edit the post and add my time(s) at the bottom once it's all over, unless of course something interesting happens and it deserves a write up all to itself.

PS - Oi Simeon!! Where's your blog gone?

After the race edit :-

Well it wasn't my finest day of running. I went for the 20, but it wasn't pretty. The first (warm up) lap was just awful. I ran exactly the same was as in 2008 and at exactly the same HR but I never seemed to get going. Finally I got back to the race HQ after 9.6miles (I cut a bit off) I was over 1:10:00 and the race was about to start. The race would have to start without me though (as normal) because I had a toilet appointment. Finally I was off on the race course 2-3mins after everybody else but my legs were actually feeling slightly better than the first lap. The hills killed me but I managed to drag myself round in an official 1:12:45 with a Garmin time of 1:09:40, just sneaking under the 7min/mile mark. It'll do I guess, a lot slower than last years double up and I finished in a lot worse shape. I wasn't expecting to go well but it's still a pig when you don't. Still there was pleasant relief at the finish with a bottle of Devons finest 10% Ale (which has now gone :) ).

I guess this means that race season has started.