Last weekend of racing?

Well there's a chance that there will be no more racing until 1st November, there's nothing on the wall planner and it could well be train, train, train for the next 3 months. Then again, I'm always prone to a bit of last minute racing so who knows what's on the horizon.

This weekend has been a little slack after last weekends excesses but I've still managed to get in a club mile run TT, a Triathlon Relay and a 50mile TT.

I followed up Sundays monster session with a nice steady 50min ride on Monday, then on Tuesday it was down to my Running Club for the 'Tarka Mile'. First we run a steady 2.5miles out to the start of the race which wasn't the greatest feeling as I struggled to hold 8:15 pace, then it's an 'eyeballs out' 1mile effort before jogging the 1.5mile back to base (unless you fancy more). The mile was HARD being only 48hrs after the 6.5hr session and half way through my legs just felt like jelly but I managed to sneak a 5:17 which was good enough for 3rd place on the night. Wednesday was another steady bike ride (1h05m), Thursday was a rest day and Friday was my normal squad swim session which had me nicely chilled for Saturdays racing.

Saturdays race was a club relay. We'd got 5 teams of 3 from our club completing all 3 disciplines so that the race went swim, swim, swim, bike, bike, bike, run, run, run, you get the picture. There was chip timing, so although there were no traditional transitions there were interesting situations where people were trying to remove and put on timing chip bands in the heat of battle. We didn't have an ultimate FAST team and we weren't gunning for a big win (although we wouldn't have minded it), we did have 2 teams who were quick and very closely matched though and of course club pride is far more important than outright success. We'd even had race day tee-shirts made up for our team to wear for that extra little bit of needle.
My team (James, Phill, Me) were the slight favourites and we'd raced last year finishing 3rd overall, our other 'quick team' (Alan, Mark, Tim) were going to push us hard though. Our other 3 teams were there to enjoy themselves (as were we) and to no doubt enjoy the banter and abuse as our race developed.

The Swim - Our first swimmers were expected to hammer it out at the front of the race for the whole of the 400m swim, neither of them got it all their own way though as a couple of proper fish showed them a clean pair of heels. Importantly for ego preservation James came out of the water 3rd with a healthy 15second lead over Alan and it was time for our team to lay some smack down. We're all pretty good swimmers (400m @ 5-5:30mins) where as the swim would be the other teams weakness so we needed to open up as big a lead as possible. Phill headed out meaning business and was back in no time at all having taken the lead overall by a good distance. My job was to have a solid swim without my useless eyesight getting me lost (again). With Phill having already caught up with some back markers I found myself constantly passing people and used their hats in the distance as small bouys in the hope that their navigation was better than mine, luckily it was and when I hit dry land we were a full minute ahead of the 2nd placed team and more importantly 2:33 ahead of our club competition who were in 4th place.

The Bike - This was going to be a lot closer than the swim. Alan (boo-hiss) has been flying on the bike of late, had borrowed a pair of ZIPP's (404 & Disc) for the race and was no doubt going to give it everything to make some time up, there was no knowing how I'd perfom after last weekends activities and the other 4 lads are to close to call and can all beat each other on any given day. Things went pretty much as expected with Alan posting the 2nd fastest bike split of the day (22:25) for the 3 lap (9mile) course and taking 90secs out of James. This was also the turning point of the main race with the eventual winners coming into their own on the bike and run sections eventually finishing with a 5min lead.
With the lead down to a minute Phill and Mark had the pressure on them and they went on to post identical bike splits leaving me to duke it out with Tim around the course. There was never a point where I felt as if I was in the groove and each of the 3 laps got progressively slower, but importantly I managed to claw an extra 50secs advantage going into the final discipline. We were now in 2nd and 4th places overall.

The Run - Here was the point where the race was going to turn interesting, it was our weakest discipline and their strongest. James has of late been in pretty good running form and recently turned Alan over on the run at a local Tri, this was to be different though. Alan had been resting up, getting massaged etc (serious athlete that he is) and on a very hot day his slender frame whipped around the run course 66secs quicker than James. It was now game on as Phill (known to be a weak runner) took on Mark (who's taken my scalp several times on straight run races) with only 47secs between them, the question now was how much of a lead would Mark have when he came back. How wrong could we be!!!!
Phill ran his socks off and although Mark took time out of him he couldn't catch him. As I stood by the side of Tim in the Transition pen we both knew it could go either way, I'm a good runner but so is Tim, if I ran well I'd have the advantage but any weak moments or fatigue from last weekend then Tim would strike. It was going to be close, very close. We were chatting and both shouting each others team-mates on but once we hit the course there would be no conversation and no prisoners.
For the last 100m Phill hardly seemed to be moving, he'd given everything. I grabbed the timing chip off him and charged out onto the run course, Tim was just 2 seconds behind me and within 50meters he was right on my shoulder. It was Game on. I glanced at my Garmin and it told me I was running 5:20min/mile pace, that was plenty fast enough and there was no way I was pushing to run faster, if I could hold that pace and Tim could stay with me then it would be great for him and tough luck for me, I'm useless when it comes to a sprint finish so there's only one way I could run it. HARD!!! I pushed on and kept my pace and form then gradually I noticed Tim start dropping off a little, there's no way he'd quit on me he'd chase every step of the way but at least I now knew that he was struggling and if I could keep the pace on we'd be safe. Finally the finish line appeared and I crossed it for a team 2nd place finish with Tim just 18seconds behind in 3rd, I'd averaged 5:32min/miles.

After the race we chilled and ate before heading off to the local pub for refreshments, then all that was left was the 3hr drive home.

This morning I woke and crawled out of bed feeling very tired but I'd got a local 'sporting' 50mile TT to do so I mixed some drinks, grabbed some gels and headed out of the door. There's not a great deal to say about the race really, some of the road surfaces are awful, there's 1900ft of climbing on it and the weather was glorious. After just 5miles I was wishing I'd stayed in bed and after 10miles I was blowing out of my backside, after 50miles I was still blowing out of my backside but had just ridden a solid 50miles in 2:12:48 (22.7mph), now I just have to work out how to ride that speed in Florida and still be able to run after it.

That's about it for now. WAKE UP!!!!!!!!! it's over.

O-M-G!!!!!!!!!

100 DAYS TO GO

Self supported IM(ish) training

Loaded up and ready to roll

Ok so it wasn't exactly an Ironman but in the big scheme of things it may be just the shining light that I'm after.

After a lacklustre week where I actually had Wednesday and Thursday off training I really smacked it in (for me) at the end of the week.

65miles and feeling fine

On Friday I took Rosie out for a solid 7mile run at Braunton Burrows/Saunton Beach. It's tough going over there at times and it's rare that I crack 7min/mile pace but I just managed to sneak in below the target at the end. The run was followed by a Squad swim session. No blistering times here, the pool just felt slow for some reason and everybody was off their normal pace.

On Saturday I headed out with training pal Phill for a steady 20mile ride (with today in mind) and then as part of the IM training weekend I hit the pool for a 4000m TT which took just shy of 1hr which equates to a steady 57min IM swim, that'll do.

approaching the turnaround on lap 3

Today was the big session though. At 7am a couple of my clubmates (Scott and Tim) appeared at my door and we rode into town to meet Phill, then the three of us set out on the first of my four IM training loops. As Florida is like a pancake I've picked the flatest route we have around here but it's still got well over 2000ft of climbing in it. For me the good news was that these lads are no slackers and my HR was hardly troubled, many times it was below 100bpm. One by one my companions peeled off and headed home to fulfil their family duties. Tim went after 35miles, Scott went 10miles later. The joy of multi loop training is that you don't scare off potential training partners who just don't want or need massive mileage. Phill was hanging about for a full 2 laps (58miles) and just before he left we were joined by Richard who was on limited time and he rode with me until 65miles. From then I was due to be on my own but then suddenly from nowhere and with perfect timing Shell appeared in the car and proceeded to do a lap driving between laybys and stopping to take pics as I rode past.
'only' 20miles to go

The strict planning of my nutrition was actually a bit hit and miss because when you're riding along chatting with friends you forget about the clock, I think that most of the planned intake happened though.

The 4th and final lap was shorter than the others and was a welcome respite as I was soon turning for home. Unfortunatly the last 4 miles were the worst when it came to the rather blustery day and there were times when the full on headwind made it real hard work.

support crew/photographer/WAG - Shelly

Finally home with my bike computer saying 112.3miles in 6hrs 04mins I was happy. I'd planned for a 6hr bike and I'd managed it without any stress's, I'd done it wihtout tapering, I'd done it on a tougher course than Florida, I'd done it without even looking at my Tri-bars (except for one photo shot) and my HR had only averaged 107bpm. There are plenty of positives to take and plenty of improvements to implement in the next 3 months.

4 miles into the run with Rosie for company

After a longer than normal transition where I raided the toilet, got changed, ate one of Shells wraps and checked on IM Lake Placid I headed out onto the 3 lap run course. The early pace seemed far to fast but I remembered that I'd got a real tailwind and it would all change on the return trip. The plan was to run for 20mins then have a walk break while I ate a gel and drank some water, it all worked perfectly and lap 1 (8.7miles) was completed in 1h08m. Lap 2 went just as well and when I finished it in 1h09m I decided that I'd had enough for one day. I didn't need to prove myself by running 26miles and I didn't want to ruin such a good day by hitting the wall and having to walk the last 2-3 miles. Good times.

all over and time for a chat

So that's the tale of my (almost) IM training day.

so hungry I could eat a dogs toy

On Saturday there is the biggest race of the year (The Dorney Lake Relays) where I'm teaming up with a coule of clubmates to take on the world (and some others from our club).

Until next time.

A Target is always good.

After my pal Kit's awesome race at Roth on Sunday (9:01:22) in which he finished 48th overall in some dreadful weather conditions I thought it would be good to set myself a tough target, so here it is.

KAVERMANN PETER 1:05:04 (6:35) 5:00:10 (2:08) 3:20:27 = 9:34:22

I know it doesn't mean anything as no two years are the same but this is the time of the last qualifying slot in my age group at IM Florida last year. Congratulations Peter Kavermann.

It doesn't hurt to have a high target though.

That's a solid race he's done there. I'd have the advantage on the swim but be a few mins behind by the time we hit T2. Running a 3:20 marathon is very good, but if I'm to get to target number one I'm going to have to be quicker.
Possible? Yes
Probable? You'd get good odds at a Bookies.

On the 1st November we'll find out.

Just found this.

I found this pic out for someone the other day and thought I'd share my worst ever Triathlon moment with you all.

Perranporth Triathlon 2004, otherwise known as "The last time I thought I was going to die". The picture looks scary, the reality was even worse. Getting out of the water and seeing a group of your clubmates standing on the beach cheering because they'd quit the swim/had more sense was a sobering sight, especially when some of them are far better sea swimmers than you.

Nasty nasty day!! Funny to look back though. It'll never be forgotten.

This is SUPPOSED to be summer!!

What the hell's going on with the weather? When the hell did the UK turn into the Amazon Rain Forest. It's just rain, rain, rain and more rain. Damn it's annoying. I want to go out and train - honest, but it's just so easy to give it up when all you can see when you open the door is a flaming monsoon coming down. I'm supposed to cycle tonight, I won't (!!!) and I won't replace it with a turbo because I'm just to lazy (and tired). I really do need to sort that attitude out but it's hard when you're never manage a regular sleep pattern and feel constantly drained.

There's talk ongoing that I may well be getting a coach to kick my backside over the next 4 months in the lead up to Florida. More will follow when I know exactly what's happening but it will be a less structured approach than most folks have with their coaches. My situation is more in need of someone who can help me put together what I've got without me blowing my bolt rather than someone who'll guide me every step of the way. I can swim, bike and run well enough but my pb is a good 90mins slower than it should be, that's where and why I need sorting out.

The last week of training has been very patchy. I gave my miracle leg a good testing run over Braunton Burrows with Rosie on Friday and followed it up with a good multi-stroke Squad swim session. The plan for the weekend was to get in (at some point) a 4hr bike and a 2hr run but Saturday was just a total washout and I hardly moved from the house all day. I managed to find a 4h30m gap in the weekends downpours to get my bike ride in which was a bonus, especially as it threw it down about 10mins after I returned home.

On Monday I finished work feeling trashed and just wanting to sleep, I'd recieved an email off my possible/future coach/glutton for punishment and it gave me a bit of a boost. I headed out of the house with Rosie for a small 3 mile run and came back 7 miles later. Last night was very similar to Monday but I finally dragged myself out of the house and down to my running club where I proceeded to run a real solid 8 miles with plenty of working on the hills. Probably the most complete run I've done for a long time.

Tonight nothing will drag me out though which isn't good because I'm working away tomorrow (starting at 3am) and although I'll have some training gear with me I know that on those 15hr working days I really struggle to get anything done.

This weekend though, business picks up - I promise!!!

Challenge Roth is on this weekend and my old buddy Kit (Firestarter) is gunning for a sub 9hr finish. He's flying this year, he's even beaten me (amazing :-) ) and recently set a new Age Group course record for the IMUK 70.3 race at Wimbleball which is a real tough course. Go get em Fat Boy. Make sure you set a time that I'm going to have to work hard to beat in Florida.

One of my clubmates has made a youtube video of the recent race we did at Bude, Cornwall. Don't ask who the fool is who loses his place in T2. After 15 years in Tri you'd think I'd have learnt by now.

I love my body!!!!!!!!!

Well the title's a bit brave and needs an explanation but it's very true.

I'm afraid that I'll never have the sort of body that sends the girlies a quiver, you'll never see the likes of me gracing any macho health magazine and when the sun comes out I turn into a radish. So why is my body so great? Well here's a bit of history.

I've been doing this sport for longer than I care to remember, somewhere around 15years I think. I can't remember what year I started, I can't remember my first race, I can't remember my first prize. I'm a bit slack like that. Before I found Tri I'd had a few years of casual running, nothing special, I wasn't quick.

So what's this got to do with my body being so great? Well, in my 15 or so years of Triathlon I've consistantly done everything wrong. I don't warm up, I don't warm down, I NEVER stretch and yet I've never had an injury!!!!!

Sure I've had niggles and I had to have 3months out once when I wrecked my back digging a pond in my back garden but I've never had a 'proper' sporting injury........ ever!!!

Then came Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!

A 40mile bike ride to a race followed by a 500m sea swim/10mile bike/5k run triathlon. I cramped terribly in my quads on the run yet they've given me no problems since. I had a tiny twinge in my hamstring at T1 and it causes trauma! Ok for the rest of Sunday I woke up on Monday unable to straighten my leg and in agony. Tuesday was the same and I was hobbling all over the place at work. Wednesday was hardly any better either. Long spells sitting on my backside driving means a torture session when I try to prise myself out of my seat.

Then............

I wake up Thursday morning and it's gone!!!! Simple as that! No pain, no stiffness, nothing. Amazing.

Sure there's something there. I can feel something that seems to be just hanging around watching to make sure that I don't try any stupid track sprint sesions for a while, but basically the problem has simply disappeared. It felt serious too, I was very close to calling a physio, it felt as though it was set in for the long term and I'd finally picked up the big injury that was going to scupper my Ironman plans.

Tonight though I ran 7miles off road at 7min/mile pace quite comfortably. I followed that up with a squad swim which included efforts in all 4 stroke. If anything is likely to play up my hamstring it'll be breaststroke kick, but no. So far so good.

Well, that's about it realy for now.

Enjoy the training .

I LOVE MY BODY - IT'S AMAZING!!!!!!!

PS - I've found my dream bike (P3C) at a rediculous price............ To good to be true?? Am I brave enough to go take a look.

Ahhhh Balls!!

Just as things finally seem to be happening there's a problem - grrrrr!!!!!

Training actually went pretty well last week. It wasn't the longest week in the world but I managed 2 x 20mile bike rides (Monday & Wednesday) and 2 x 40mile bike rides (Saturday and Sunday) with Sundays hilly and windy ride to Bude followed by a Sprint Triathon. The Triathlon is where the problems started though.
It's a long time since I've done a bike heavy week and although the distances weren't great it was a good solid start to biking fitness and I was happy with it. The Monday ride was a Time Trial with tired legs in which I wasn't too far off last years pace and Sundays ride was a Point to Point with a constant headwind and close to 2,300ft of climbing.
So onto the race .......

Bude Sprint Triathlon 2008 - 500m sea swim/10.5mile bike/5k run.

The swim was a real bun fight. The biggest swim scrap I'd been in for a long time. There were tales after the race about how we were funnelled through a small gap inbetween some boats and how a wave caught a bouy and moved it about 10ft just as we all got to it, I never pay to much attention to my surroundings though and can't really comment on any of it. All I know is that I got puched a lot. It seemed to take a long while to escape the pounding but soon we were turning the bouy and heading in which (as always) meant I was catching and passing people with the added benefit of a bit of bodysurfing as the breakers came in. The swim out was hard work, the swim back was great fun

Out of the water and onto the beach I could see a couple of my clubmates around me (we made up 10% of the field so it wasn't hard) who are about my swim standard so I was relatively happy, as we ran up the beach towards T1 I ran past them while trying, trying and trying again to unzip my wetsuit. Both clubmates had put their bikes in prime slots and were soon out on the road, I'd been a bit more casual with my racking choice as I'd ridden down and wasn't expecting great things, then as I removed my wetsuit fully there was a near disaster. While trying to get my wetsuit over my sizeable feet I felt a small cramp like twinge in my right Hamstring. Immediately I stopped what I was doing and thankfully the cramping subsided just as quickly.

Finally out onto the bike and my clubmates were out of sight and well on their way, I didn't feel that I could go chasing them because a) I'd already done 40 hard miles and b) I was mindful that the cramp I'd just had could return at any time. I decided that the steady option was the way to go, having said that though I'd left T1 in a small group of 3 and the others were soon dropped as I 'steadily' headed off in search on my clubmate prey. Around halfway up the bike courses main climb I caught and passed the first of my clubmates. The rest of the ride was a lonely affair as the other one who exited the water with us was taking time out of me but one of the lads who'd swam faster than us slowly came into sight.

After a couple of traffic problems near the end of the bike section I made it to T2 only to spend what seemed like an age looking around for my transition spot (idiot). Finally I found my trainers and got myself sorted for the run, now it was time to make up some places. The closest person to me was my clubs speedy swimmer who was leaving T2 as I entered which meant that he was a good way ahead and I'd only got 5k to run him down.

I ran out of T2 like a man on a mission, it starts with a good small but sharp climb and I flew up it, that's followed by a small run through the town where we'd pass loads of supporters as we head out to the canal. I hit the canal hard and I couldn't have been happier, I was flying. Not only had I already almost run down my clubs swimmer but there were two other people in sight and moving a lot slower than I was - happy days. Next target was my Tri clubs lead man, he was quickly dispensed with and I could now relax safe in the knowledge that all I had to do was run people down and that nobody from my club was likely to catch me.


By the time we exited the canal I'd cut the next runners lead in half and we'd got a real biatch of a hill to climb, he was mine for the taking............. or so I thought!!! As soon as I hit the hill BANG!! My quads just exploded with cramps, both together. I stopped so suddenly that I nearly fell over, I gave them a quick rub and the cramping seemed to subside a bit so I started running again, not catching the lad in front wasn't a problem I just needed to cruise in and finish first in my club. BANG!! There they went again and my language turned blue, I looked down the hill just as the first of my clubmates came around the corner - balls!


That was it really. I ran a bit, cramped a bit, jogged some more, cramped some more and slowly drifted further and further back through the field (no idea how far, there's no results yet). Ah well, these things happen I suppose. I put it all down to experience and hobbled back to the finish line where I rejoined my clubmates and we all went out for a feed (which was great).

Now is where I have my problem though........ My quads which spent the last 2k of the run constantly cramping are fine. My hamstring though which had a tiny little spasm as I removed my wetsuit feels totally wrecked and is causing PAIN! I managed a steady 40min run with the dog last night without anything snapping but it's struggle to straighten my leg at the moment. I'm hoping that a few days of kneeding it and Nurofen will sort it out, but if it's still niggling me next week I'll be looking up one of those dreaded Physio type folks - grrrr!