Not sure how to start this blog, but suffice to say the Gauntlet at Cholmondeley Castle exceeded expectations.
As I said in my previous blog, this was a race I was going into with some fatigue and to be honest I was expecting a pretty slow painful day. The weekend started off really chilled and although feeling generally tired I felt OK and was looking forward to the race. Darren had told me to swim hard/bike hard and just take the run as it comes so in one way there wasn't really any pressure on my performance. Given that however, I still am a competitive animal and wanted to do the best I could.
I did a quick recce of the bike course on Saturday, legs felt rubbish and I just hoped that was because of the drive up to Cheshire rather than fatigue. It certainly was going to be an interesting race.
Woke on Sunday to a very pleasant morning and being right on the site it meant a very relaxed start to the day and unlike a few weeks back in Lough Cutra the lake was clear of any fog, it meant at least we were going to get a swim this week. The wind that had blown quite strongly over night had really eased as well it looked fair for quite a day.
I felt nice and chilled as I made my way to the lake and listened to the pre race briefing, again I think the lack of expectation really calmed my nerves. Briefing over and into the water, it was lovely and warm and I lined up with as straight a line up the lake as I could and just waited for the hooter.
Once off there was surprisingly a bit of biff for the first 50m or so, but after that it was pretty much clean sailing. The sighting of the buoys was easy and I just tried to follow the toes of faster swimmers. As this was going to be a 2 lap affair with an Australian exit I just tried to keep as near the front as possible. I had noticed that I seemed to be nearer the front of the pack that what I was used to and just tried to keep a nice smooth stroke going. It wasn't long before the end of the 1st lap, and after a twisty run back to the start pontoon I heard Brian Adcock shout 15th place to the guy in front of me and 2nd lady to the girl behind. Surely I can't be this high up I thought. Anyhow onto the 2nd lap and still following feet and still feeling really good. The lead swimmers had now got a gap however and I couldn't really gauge how I was doing. I decided to try and push up the effort for the final 300m to the swim exit and managed to get passed a couple of other swimmers. Out the water and run up a small hill to T1, noticed sub 34 mins on the watch and given the Aussie exit I was too displeased with that.
After a bit of a struggle getting the wetsuit off (1st race of the season with the wetsuit) I was off out onto the bike course. I didn't know what position I was in, but guessed top 15. As soon as I started pedaling however my legs just felt shot to pieces, this wasn't the plan. Darren had said go hard on the bike, yet I was struggling to produce normal power for a half ironman, this was going to be a real long day. After I felt I struggled with fueling at Lough Cutra I had decided to make sure I had plenty of sugary things on the bike, nothing like a big bag of Haribo to keep you going. For the first 20km of the bike I just tried to get as much Secret Training Energy drink down me and a fair few Haribo. I will admit though the speed still seemed there and I was passing a few of the faster swimmers. I got to the end of the first lap and to the cheers of the crowd in the castle grounds I saw that I had done around a 51 min lap. A quick calculation later realised that if I could maintain that it would still be a 2:30-2:40 bike time, which on this course isn't too shabby. My legs were feeling better now and although I still struggled to bike really hard at least I could maintain normal power better. 2nd lap done in 52 mins and I was feeling a bit more confident now. I eventually caught Neil Tandy and after a bit of cat and mouse up the hills I managed to get in front a few km's from the end of the bike. A decent bike of 2:37 in the end, considering how bad I felt at the start I'll take that.
Now it was the run, the bit I hadn't really been looking forward to, a quick change in T2 and nearly off out on the run with helmet (chopper). My legs actually felt OK, the normal 1st km wobblies but the pace was good. First km done in 4:30 which is what I have done for a standalone HM, the question now was how long can I keep this up for, Neil came back passed me around 2kms in and I did try and up my pace to stay with him but he slowly crept away. I just kept running at a pace I thought was sustainable, I just didn't know how long it would sustainable for. Towards the end of each lap there is a steep incline through the woods and even at the pace I was running it didn't feel too bad. The first lap done in sub 30 mins and I was feeling happy and my legs still felt fine. With more athletes from all distances on the course it was difficult to really tell if runners passing me were starting their first laps or had caught me. No point worrying I thought you can only go as fast as your legs will take you. I was expecting a bit of an implosion at some point but I still felt happy with the pace and even the 2nd time up the steep hill didn't worry me too much.
The 2nd lap was only 30 secs slower than the first, and now I felt confident that I could finish without too much of a problem, though I still expected to blow at some point. As I started the 3rd lap I could see I had caught Neil a bit, I decided to try and catch him and if it went wrong then at least I tried. I was closing in every so slightly with each km, but I think he had just enough in reserve to keep me at bay. Going up the hill for the 3rd time and the effort for the last few kms really told and my calf and hip flexors just started to cramp when pushing hard up the hill, I had to resort to a short walk, the race to beat Neil was over. Once at the top of the hill I managed to put in a good effort to the finish and happy to have run the last last only 12 secs slower than the 2nd lap. Neil finished 40 secs in front so well done to him on a great race.
Swim - around 34 mins, official timing got a bit messed up I think
Bike - 2:36:57
Run - 1:29:55
Total 4:43:17
5th Overall, 1st V40
This really was a performance that surprised me, I was a bit gobsmacked when told I had finished 5th overall, and even more so with how I ran. I have only done 3 proper half ironman events and this was by far the best performance I have put in at this distance. It really does show me how much Darren has done to turn me into a more complete triathlete.
Things to take away
1: Don't panic if the legs feel rubbish, just eat food instead
2: Don't try and do a HIM on energy drink alone
3: Never under estimate what you are capable of
4: Above all, trust in the training
Onwards to the Bastion in less than 2 weeks :-O, lets hope recovery goes well.
As usual big thanks to those that help me
Darren Jenkins - www.nevagivin.com/Darren_Jenkins.html
Secret Training - www.secret-training.com/
Go Resourcing - www.go-rg.com/
Hart & Co Resourcing - www.h-cr.co.uk/
Sundried - www.sundried.com
Castle Triathlon Series - www.castletriathlonseries.co.uk/
Bastion
Tuesday 28 June 2016
Thursday 23 June 2016
Cholmondeley Castle Gauntlet Preview
This weekend I head into my 2nd of the 5 Castle Triathlon Gauntlet races I will be doing this year, it is also the start of a bit of a hectic 5 weeks where I compete at 2 half ironman events with full ironman event in between. This is the part of the season I have always feared if I am honest as I am no spring chicken and the recovery process only gets slower with age.
Obviously I can't go into each as fresh as a daisy, fitness would just drop right off and impact later in the season. After a discussion with Darren about what to do, as the Bastion is the more important race, it was decided to race Cholmondeley Castle slightly tired. Now doing a sprint tri tired is one thing, but a half ironman !!!, I can't say it filled me with much joy but it is what it is. The plan of attack for the race did make me happy though, let's just see how that works out LOL.
With the ironman training fatigue I am not expecting a great race, I will still race hard but ultimately the eye is on the Bastion in just over 2 weeks time. Training has been going great, and after a little bit of a break in Ireland after Lough Cutra it was good to get back into the hard work.
I have never raced at Cholmondeley Castle, so I am looking forward to racing there, luckily I do know what Cheshire roads are like after spending many a week with work based near Crewe. The course doesn't look too hilly and it will be great to attack the bike leg on Sunday. Let's just hope the sun shines on us in Cheshire this weekend.
Obviously I can't go into each as fresh as a daisy, fitness would just drop right off and impact later in the season. After a discussion with Darren about what to do, as the Bastion is the more important race, it was decided to race Cholmondeley Castle slightly tired. Now doing a sprint tri tired is one thing, but a half ironman !!!, I can't say it filled me with much joy but it is what it is. The plan of attack for the race did make me happy though, let's just see how that works out LOL.
With the ironman training fatigue I am not expecting a great race, I will still race hard but ultimately the eye is on the Bastion in just over 2 weeks time. Training has been going great, and after a little bit of a break in Ireland after Lough Cutra it was good to get back into the hard work.
I have never raced at Cholmondeley Castle, so I am looking forward to racing there, luckily I do know what Cheshire roads are like after spending many a week with work based near Crewe. The course doesn't look too hilly and it will be great to attack the bike leg on Sunday. Let's just hope the sun shines on us in Cheshire this weekend.
Monday 13 June 2016
Lough Cutra Duathlon
After a week or more really looking forward to how my swimming in a race had improved (or not), those of us doing the Gauntlet would be thwarted by fog on race morning. Yes the swim had to be cancelled because the sighting buoys couldn't be sighted, even from land without googles obscuring the view.
The Castle Triathlon crew and Triathlon Ireland did try and get us a swim by delaying the start by over 2 hours in the end but that pesky fog just didn't want to clear and to be honest we had to start at some point as the delay to the Gauntlet was just delaying all the other races.
When Brian announced it was going to be a duathlon you could hear many groans and felt the disappointment of the athletes, that disappointed was shared by the organisors as well as I know they really wanted us to have a triathlon.
The new format meant a 7km run, the 93km bike and then a 14km run to end, all in all not too bad, though the thought of a bike ride of that length after a hard run didn't feel me with much confidence. Instead of 2 swim waves, we were set off in 4 sub waves of each swim wave. This meant around 50-70 starters at each wave, a really good number to avoid overcrowding of the run and transition. I was due to start in the 2nd swim wave so had plenty of time to chat to friends and just chill. Eventually the time came and in all honesty not knowing who was in my AG or when they started it was just going to be a straight TT for the distance.
Run 1: This started well, we had had a huge downpour the previous evening and I thought the course might be a bit dodgy in places, and with using normal road shoes I thought it might be an interesting run to say the least. The conditions were actually quite good and it wasn't long before I got into a good decent run effort with me building the pace throughout the run, a decent (for me) 7km in 28 mins and I flew through transition and out onto the bike.
Bike: Knowing the course is a bit of a tough one, with grippy rough roads and a couple of challenging climbs I decided to do the first part at a hard effort and then ease off on the more rolling return to Lough Cutra. I was expecting my legs to feel the run effort but surprisingly I was happy rolling along at way over target power so it took a big effort to reign in my enthusiasm so that I didn't overdo the bike.
There felt like very little wind going out towards the midway point and I was happy overtaking athletes from the earlier waves and the speed felt good. I eventually passed another athlete from my AG, his number being one less than mine, but it had taken nearly 45km to do so. I just thought about how much faster he must have ran, or did he start in the wave before me, it was a bit of an unknown really. I felt great on the hills this year and with the lack of a headwind like last year I got to Corkscrew Hill feeling good and I felt great going up it. After reaching the top it is a fair few miles downhill and I used this time to recover and just try and keep the speed up. As we were now heading in a different direction I could feel the wind had got up, and it was now a bit of a cross headwind, that's why it felt good before.
Once to roads flattened off the wind was more noticeable and the earlier effort did start telling, though with the wind trying to slow things down it did mean keeping up the power to maintain the speed, and with the rolling roads some of the hills did slow you down a fair whack. Things were still going well and I felt much better than I have previously in a half ironman, a bit of a surprise given the run beforehand, but I was happy. After about 70km I did start experiencing some left leg weakness, and I think it is linked with the glute issue I have had previously. Although it wasn't pleasant it didn't hinder me too much and it did make me ease off a touch which in hindsight was probably a good thing.
2nd Run: After another swift transition it was out onto the run, legs felt rubbish and boy was it hot. It was now I realised that I should have taken on more fluid during the bike and I just felt so hot and dehydrated. After about 1 km my legs had settled down and I felt like I was running OK but it wasn't until about 2km in when I got to the 1st water station that some water and coke made me feel half decent. The running seemed to go well for the remainder of the lap but I walked the water stations to make sure I got fluid and coke in. 1st lap done and feeling even more ropey now, legs just don't want to push on, it wasn't long before the guy in my AG passed me on the run, at least I know he was obviously a faster runner now. With the last couple of kms to run I just tried to put in a good strong effort and get to the end.
I felt the 2nd run was rubbish, I just didn't seem to flow and I struggled a little in the heat. I don't know the reasons why the 2nd run felt terrible, my drop off in pace was only slightly worse than those finishing quicker than me. Perhaps that is just the nature of a duathlon, bike power was similar to last year and I felt so much better at the end of the bike compared to last year so although I might have overbiked at some points in the main I feel the bike wasn't overly hard. I do think I should have taken on more nutrition however, 2 bottles of energy drink for that sort of distance is pushing it a tad, but then again I am a bit of a novice at half ironman. That combined with the heat probably done it in for me.
Overall really happy though, really surprised to end up in 10th place overall and 2nd in the 45-49 AG, certainly wasn't expecting that when it was changed to a duathlon.
1st Run 28:09
Bike 2:30:59
2nd Run 1:06:59
Total Time 4:07:52
Big thanks to Castle Triathlon for another great event, and also to Secret Training for providing the fuel to get me round.
Onwards to the Cholmondeley Castle in 2 weeks time, hopefully with the swim this time.
The Castle Triathlon crew and Triathlon Ireland did try and get us a swim by delaying the start by over 2 hours in the end but that pesky fog just didn't want to clear and to be honest we had to start at some point as the delay to the Gauntlet was just delaying all the other races.
When Brian announced it was going to be a duathlon you could hear many groans and felt the disappointment of the athletes, that disappointed was shared by the organisors as well as I know they really wanted us to have a triathlon.
There is a lake there somewhere
The new format meant a 7km run, the 93km bike and then a 14km run to end, all in all not too bad, though the thought of a bike ride of that length after a hard run didn't feel me with much confidence. Instead of 2 swim waves, we were set off in 4 sub waves of each swim wave. This meant around 50-70 starters at each wave, a really good number to avoid overcrowding of the run and transition. I was due to start in the 2nd swim wave so had plenty of time to chat to friends and just chill. Eventually the time came and in all honesty not knowing who was in my AG or when they started it was just going to be a straight TT for the distance.
Run 1: This started well, we had had a huge downpour the previous evening and I thought the course might be a bit dodgy in places, and with using normal road shoes I thought it might be an interesting run to say the least. The conditions were actually quite good and it wasn't long before I got into a good decent run effort with me building the pace throughout the run, a decent (for me) 7km in 28 mins and I flew through transition and out onto the bike.
Bike: Knowing the course is a bit of a tough one, with grippy rough roads and a couple of challenging climbs I decided to do the first part at a hard effort and then ease off on the more rolling return to Lough Cutra. I was expecting my legs to feel the run effort but surprisingly I was happy rolling along at way over target power so it took a big effort to reign in my enthusiasm so that I didn't overdo the bike.
Some of the stunning scenery
There felt like very little wind going out towards the midway point and I was happy overtaking athletes from the earlier waves and the speed felt good. I eventually passed another athlete from my AG, his number being one less than mine, but it had taken nearly 45km to do so. I just thought about how much faster he must have ran, or did he start in the wave before me, it was a bit of an unknown really. I felt great on the hills this year and with the lack of a headwind like last year I got to Corkscrew Hill feeling good and I felt great going up it. After reaching the top it is a fair few miles downhill and I used this time to recover and just try and keep the speed up. As we were now heading in a different direction I could feel the wind had got up, and it was now a bit of a cross headwind, that's why it felt good before.
Lough Bunny on the Route
Once to roads flattened off the wind was more noticeable and the earlier effort did start telling, though with the wind trying to slow things down it did mean keeping up the power to maintain the speed, and with the rolling roads some of the hills did slow you down a fair whack. Things were still going well and I felt much better than I have previously in a half ironman, a bit of a surprise given the run beforehand, but I was happy. After about 70km I did start experiencing some left leg weakness, and I think it is linked with the glute issue I have had previously. Although it wasn't pleasant it didn't hinder me too much and it did make me ease off a touch which in hindsight was probably a good thing.
2nd Run: After another swift transition it was out onto the run, legs felt rubbish and boy was it hot. It was now I realised that I should have taken on more fluid during the bike and I just felt so hot and dehydrated. After about 1 km my legs had settled down and I felt like I was running OK but it wasn't until about 2km in when I got to the 1st water station that some water and coke made me feel half decent. The running seemed to go well for the remainder of the lap but I walked the water stations to make sure I got fluid and coke in. 1st lap done and feeling even more ropey now, legs just don't want to push on, it wasn't long before the guy in my AG passed me on the run, at least I know he was obviously a faster runner now. With the last couple of kms to run I just tried to put in a good strong effort and get to the end.
Kilmacduagh Monastry just off the Route
I felt the 2nd run was rubbish, I just didn't seem to flow and I struggled a little in the heat. I don't know the reasons why the 2nd run felt terrible, my drop off in pace was only slightly worse than those finishing quicker than me. Perhaps that is just the nature of a duathlon, bike power was similar to last year and I felt so much better at the end of the bike compared to last year so although I might have overbiked at some points in the main I feel the bike wasn't overly hard. I do think I should have taken on more nutrition however, 2 bottles of energy drink for that sort of distance is pushing it a tad, but then again I am a bit of a novice at half ironman. That combined with the heat probably done it in for me.
Overall really happy though, really surprised to end up in 10th place overall and 2nd in the 45-49 AG, certainly wasn't expecting that when it was changed to a duathlon.
1st Run 28:09
Bike 2:30:59
2nd Run 1:06:59
Total Time 4:07:52
Big thanks to Castle Triathlon for another great event, and also to Secret Training for providing the fuel to get me round.
Onwards to the Cholmondeley Castle in 2 weeks time, hopefully with the swim this time.
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