Running the Gauntlet

Sometimes I feel really blessed, I am lucky to have a superb supportive family who have nothing but encouragement for the silly activities I partake in. I am part of a wonderful triathlon team that is like a big family, the support for each of us when racing and training is just something else. Even though I have only been doing triathlon a short amount of time, I have built up a real fantastic group of friends, both competitors and organisers.

I think I have said before, one of my most favourite events is the Castle Triathlon Bastion, and with it the Castle Triathlon Series. I was slightly shocked recently when I was asked to become an ambassador for the Castle Triathlon Series next year, but I jumped at the chance. That really blessed feeling just continues. I am immensely proud to represent a great organisation that aims to break down the barriers to those thinking about entering a triathlon for the first time, and providing a great event experience for all those taking part, whether the first timer or an experienced triathlete. Each event is unique in it's setting and atmosphere, though they all are very rewarding events.

All of the Castle Triathlon Series races take part in stunning settings, these being Lough Cutra Castle in Ireland, Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire, Castle Howard in Yorkshire, Chateau de Chantilly in France, and Hever Castle in Kent.

What it means is I have 2016 pretty well planned out, as I will be racing all of the Gauntlet races in the series, and also for the 3rd time, the jewel in the crown of the series, The Bastion at Hever Castle. The aim of 2016 was to step down a distance for a year, and to have some fun. I think next year will certainly be major fun, and I really am itching for 2016 to roll around fast.

29th May at Lough Cutra
26th June at Cholmondeley Castle
10th July The Bastion at Hever Castle
24th July at Castle Howard
28th August at Chateau de Chantilly
25th September at Hever Castle

I guess the real focus will be on the Bastion, though the thought of doing 2 x half iron distance, sandwiched either side of the Bastion in a 5 week period does slightly concern me, though no doubt I can speak with Darren Jenkins on how to manage it as he did the same this year. If you want to see how I get on, why not take part yourself. I can assure you it is great fun.

For those who have done a Gauntlet at any of the locations, consider stepping up to the Bastion, it is a great event and one that provides a welcoming and family feel that you will be used to, yet provides you with the big event feel of other mainstream long distance events. It is certainly an event to remember and I promise you won't come away from it disappointed. For anyone that hasn't done a Castle Triathlon Series event I urge you to give one a go, they offer a huge selection of distances to try, and they even offer a children's triathlon at all the locations so fun to be had for the whole family.

For more information on the Castle Triathlon Series, please visit the website and there is a wealth of information on there. If you do have any questions, then I will be pleased to try and assist, or you can contact the Castle Triathlon Series via their website.

It's All a Bit of a Steathy Secret - A Review

The other month I was lucky enough to win a load of Secret Training goodies, I promised I would do some testing and write a quick review for them.

Having been an endurance athlete for a few years now I have tried nearly all of the nutrition products on the market, and although some have proved decent, a lot are either sickly tasting or don't really provide the required energy boosts.

I will start by saying I am not a huge fan of gels, their consistency in general is not pleasant and although I have used gels in races, I avoid them like the plague when it comes to training.

My winning pack from Secret Training consisted of various flavours of Super Hydration Drink Mix, which is basically their energy drink with electrolytes to keep you fuelled and optimally hydrated. There was also some gels, and like I have said above although I don't normally use them in training I did try a few for the review. The last things in the package was the Whey Protein Drink Mix, which is used as a recovery product.

The Super Hydration Drink Mix came in pre measured sachets, that are designed for 500ml bottles. This was good for the bottle between my tribars, but I generally use a 750ml bottle on the frame so I would be interested to taste the difference between the two solution strengths. When mixed with the 500ml of water the taste is very pleasant, it isn't sweet or sickly at all and it did provide a nice source of energy. Even when mixed with 750ml of water the taste was still pleasant, though as you would expect with a weaker solution each mouthful was as energy laden. You can actually buy in bulk as well so make the correct solution strength for any bottle size. Each 500ml provides 10gms of carbohydrate.

I also tested the drink in a race scenario, I like to carry as much as my own fuel as possible in drink form. This is to avoid taking on drinks from aid stations that may vary in their strength and as such energy intake. To do this I make up a strong solution in a 500ml bottle and take on water at aid stations to wash this down with. For Challenge Weymouth I used 4 Super Hydration Drink sachets in the one bottle, making it 4 times stronger than it should be used. Now you might expect the taste to be overpowering and real sweet and sickly, but it wasn't. It was a stronger taste but it still felt very palatable, I was actually sorry when it ran out as even this strong it tasted nicer than the official race supplied energy drink.

I would say if you like your drink with a mild refreshing taste you can't go much wrong with this, my favourite flavour is the Mango and Passionfruit, but they all were very tasty and refreshing. As for the fuelling I never felt underfuelled in any of my training or racing using the Super Hydration Mix, and even though I sweated a fair amount at Challenge Weymouth I suffered no signs of cramping or electrolyte balance issues. I also suffered no GI issues throughout the day which is always pleasing when doing a long distance triathlon.

The gels were 3 different types, I had some advanced isotonic gels, some real fruit gels and a caffeine and betaine gel. The consistency of the gels was OK, it seemed to be a good consistency to eat on go, not too runny (that gets everywhere), or too solid (difficult to actually get down your throat). The banana flavour was really nice, and although not being a fan of gels it was one of the better tasting ones I have come across. The other one I tried was an isotonic one, these are ideal as you don't need to take on water as well as the gel. Again the consistency was nice and it went down very easily and the citrus flavour again was a very pleasant taste. Packaging isn't too big and fits easily in jersey pockets, and even the small pockets that some trisuits come with. Each 60ml gel provides 22gms of carbohydrate.

The last thing to try was the Whey Protein Mix, I was a bit sceptical about the Cherry flavour I had received, I am more of a chocolate person, but I thought I would see what it was like. I mixed it up as per the instructions and the first thing I noticed is that it was very runny. I am more used to a thicker solution, but that is personal preference I guess. The taste was actually very nice, still not as nice as chocolate but very palatable. Being a more runny solution it drank very easily and it did seem to help after a 6 hour ride with recovery.

Would I recommend Secret Training nutrition products, then that is a big YES, they really did surprise me and it certainly will be used by me again, especially the Super Hydration Mix, it simply is one of the better tasting energy drinks I have tried.

One thing I would like Secret Training to develop though is some little energy shots, similar to what Powerbar and Clif do. For me these are easier to stomach and eat when training and racing, they are far easier on the stomach compared with a gel. Something to think about guys ;)

Challenge Weymouth 2015

So so close to a ETU Long Distance Championship medal, but ultimately just not quick enough on the day.

The week leading up had gone well, I felt I was well recovered and the little sessions I had done had gone well. I still had a few niggles that were present, but there was nothing I could do about them, what will be, will be.

The weekend was pretty relaxing apart from seemingly losing the car keys sometime between the morning bike ride and racking my bike. After checking all my bags in the hotel, there was only one place I could think of them being, 2km's down the road in transition, bugger it meant another 4km of walking when I could have been resting, and the worry that they might not actually be there after all. Luckily they were in one of my shoes so panic over and I had a nice enjoyable walk back with Tom Vickery.

Sunday dawned pretty nice, there seemed to be just a very small breeze, though the wind was due to pick up during the day. I felt pretty relaxed, though it was nice to have some excitement over the race. I will admit there was a certainly a bit of pride pulling on a GBR trisuit for the first time and representing my country for the very first time, even if was only as an Age Group athlete. The sea thankfully was alot calmer than last year and it looked like it was going to be an ace swim.

Swim:

Once the pros were off it was the ETU AGers 5 mins later, I got near the front and started swimming quite strong, it was noticeably that the outward leg felt slow however, but I settled down in a pack of swimmers and felt pretty much in control of my breathing and effort. As we turned at the first buoy and across the bay the pace seemed to pick up and this leg and the final swim back to shore seemed pretty fast, out after the first lap and a run along the shore it didn't seem as though I was doing too bad. The second lap seemed harder than the first and it was noticeably more choppy and more difficult to see the buoys. Even swimming across the waves seemed harder but at least the final swim back to shore was still fast. Out of the water in 1:13, not quite the 1:10 I was hoping for but a similar swim time to South Africa so all in all pretty solid and I didn't feel as though I had taken much out of myself.

Bike:

Out on the bike I took the first part pretty easy and tried to get some nutrition down me. I had decided to take the hill out of Weymouth at a nice steady effort and wait until we got to the top to start pushing the effort. The wind on top of the ridge was starting to make itself known and I soon realised it probably wasn't going to be a fast day, but things felt good and I pushed on at a pretty solid effort and started passing faster swimmers. Nearing the far end of the course the wind was really picking up and although the return leg was with a tailwind, with a lot of it being sheltered it never seemed that much help. At the end of the first lap I had caught the leader in my AG, and looking at the intensity I had done the first lap at (0.78 for anyone interested) and the time (about 2:25) I decided that it probably wasn't worth trying to hold that for the second lap. I knew that going that hard would massively impact my run so the second lap I decided to ease off slightly and and just try and make sure I still put in a decent effort, but try and ease off whenever the wind/terrain allowed.

The second lap was slower and felt a lot tougher even with the reduced effort, the wind really had picked up and some of the sections were a real slow slog. I was now catching some of the younger age groups and it was becoming increasingly difficult to make clean passes within the time limit so I just concentrated on keeping a legal distance and overtaking when I felt I could pass cleanly enough. I felt pretty strong throughout out the ride and it was nice to have a great ride, though slower than I really wanted but that was due to the weather and even the pro's were slower than last year. I was pleased with a solid and sensible effort. I came in 1st in my AG, but I knew there were faster runners not that far behind so it meant a bit of a do or die type effort for the run. A decent 5:03 bike split.

Up the hill out of Weymouth

Run:

After speaking with Darren Jenkins at the Bastion and how he approaches the run I decided to try it, I had nothing to lose in reality and I knew I probably needed a 3:30 marathon to get a medal. I started off feeling great and running at 4:50/km seemed easy, but I wasn't brave enough to actually run any faster than that, I knew I would slow but I was thinking that with slowing down to around 5:15 towards the end, it would equal out. The wind on the promenade was brutal and it just seemed to get stronger and stronger whilst you get weaker and weaker. The first lap went well and I was maintaining the pace I started off at, though various niggles that have plagued me all year were starting to annoy me, not really slow me down but causing me to be more circumspect to the pace I was trying to achieve. I did start slowing down but I was still maintaining 5 min km's so pretty happy and the niggles didn't get any worse so I felt pretty much in control still.

The wind did start slowing down progress but gauging my pace of the faster runners I know seemed to show I was still comparing well, so I just kept going as fast as I could. I was passed before the half way mark by the winner of my AG, and at the time there was no way I was going to be able to keep pace, I just kept telling myself to keep going at the effort you can achieve. I started to walk the aid stations just over half way, just to make sure I got enough fluid in, and to get some aches and pains a brief respite.

The lack of decent long distance runs started showing around the 30km mark where I went through a little bit of a bad patch, I was passed by another in my AG so although I wasn't 100% sure I thought I was in 3rd place, and I knew 4th place was only about 500m behind me, but we seemed to be running at a similar pace. The bad patch melted that gap however and at about the 36km mark he passed me. I tried to keep up but the I was suffering and he slowly pulled a gap. I got to the far turn for the last time and with a bit of a tailwind I just tried to bury myself. I did manage to speed up but it was tough work, and I never managed to close the gap, even a shout out from Darren Jenkins on course couldn't help much. I finished just 1:12 away from the bronze medal after a pretty solid effort and I got a 3:40 marathon so certainly the fastest full marathon I have run.

Post Race Thoughts:

A total time of 10:05 wasn't quite the sub 9:30 I thought might be possible, but a lot of that was the weather, on a calmer day I would have been close, but I also realised that I didn't quite have the same bike and run fitness I had last year and it made itself known towards the end of the race. Still you have got to have targets to aim for and there is no point making a target a soft target, and that's what I thought would be needed to get a medal. Happy with the race though, it was a race where I went for it and I truely felt I was competing rather than just completing and it was a race I have learned a lot from. 26th Overall and 4th in the 45-49 AG is a result I am very happy with.

Massive congratulations to Joe Duckworth, Paulo Margarido, and Ken Holder on their medals, and thanks for making it a great race. Thanks again to my Mum and Dad for great support on course and to my most wonderful wife and little lad for your unending support. Thank you Ruth Eyles for your coaching skills and guidance over the last 6 years.

One great thing about the weekend was finally meeting some Twitter and Facebook friends for the first time, and catching up with others, thanks for a great weekend Matt Molloy, Karl Alexander, Alan Murchison, Tom Vickery, Lee Cook, Alice Hector, Matt Dowle and all the other great athletes I met over the weekend. Also thanks must go to Tim Whitmarsh from British Triathlon for your support throughout the build up and the weekend. Also thanks to Sundried for their support this year.

Now it is time for a bit of downtime and get to know my family a little bit better and do jobs around the house that I have been putting off for months now. Next year will be all about the shorter distance of middle distance, and just the one long distance, but that exciting news I will leave for another blog.

Last Hurrah for 2015

With just over a week to go to Challenge Weymouth and the ETU Long Distance Championship and I am into my final taper of the year. After the euphoria of 2014, this year has seemed a bit of a struggle at times. Training has gone very well some weeks and then just hit and miss the following week either through fatigue or life just getting in the way.

The build between the Bastion and now has been OK though and I feel faster in my swimming and the running finally seems to have come together, though I haven't done any durations similar to what I did last year, well apart from 2 IM marathons. Biking as always is strong, though you don't really lose this overnight and I have done plenty of bike work to keep this in good nick.

I keep asking myself, what goals do I want to attach to Challenge Weymouth, I could take the "just enjoy it" route but to be honest I don't think I can whilst racing in GBR kit. The only other option is to attack it and try and do my best and this is what I intend to do, I have had too many races this year where I have thought I was just taking part rather than competing.

I have also decided to stop being coached for next year, I have been coached by Ruth Eyles for 6 years now and together we have achieved a lot, it would be great to bow out with a great result. Now what result would be great, well given how I performed at Challenge Weymouth last year the logical answer is to finish on the podium and get a European medal. Is it possible, then the answer is yes, but as I well and truly know, a long distance tri is a bit of a beast and anything can happen to scupper any ideals you might have thought about.

The course for Challenge Weymouth is again an ace course, especially for me. The swim course hopefully will be better than last year, but even if it isn't I am a lot more confident in open water this year and don't expect any issues like I did last year. The bike course is potentially faster now we don't have the slow out and back to Affpuddle, though if we have a stiff wind from the West the return to Weymouth each lap will be a slow slog. The run course is as flat as a pancake so the ideal run course for me, I should be able to plod myself to a half decent time even if it does all fall apart.

It's going to be an enjoyable weekend no matter what, there are quite a few friends taking part so at least I hope the atmosphere should be a nice relaxing and jovial one. Let's finish 2015 with a bang :).

The Bastion - Take Two

Doing the Castle Triathlon Bastion once is certainly a challenge worth being happy about, but why settle at doing it just once. I had aimed to target this as an "A" race, but after the struggles of Ironman South Africa and how long it took to recover both physically and mentally it turned into bit of a fun event for me. I just knew my bike and run fitness weren't where they should be, and although with years of cycling behind me the bike leg wasn't ever really going to be an issue, the run was going to be a get through it in one piece type run.

As before the Castle Triathlon put on a great event, and as last year the briefing was very comprehensive and the walk round of the site was very informative especially for the novices of the event. Considering it is such a challenging event I always find it heartening to see how many people are doing the Bastion as their first iron distance race, I know exactly how they feel.

As we did last year, the family and I camped on site and had a really relaxed Saturday, bike racking was swift and painless. I met up with a friend of Joe Skipper, Lee Cook, who was doing the Bastion as his first iron distance race, like me he was a winner of a competition (always nice to win a prize that means you are going to hurt yourself).

After a glorious Saturday, Sunday dawned cloudy and wet though it wasn't too cold to be honest. After sorting the bike out and trying with no joy to get my Garmin to talk to my powermeter, I got all wetsuited up and made my way to the lake for the pre race brief. Luckily with 4 previous swims of the course I was pretty confident of a good swim.

Having a pre race chat with Karl and Lee
Courtesy of Colin Baldwin Photography

And we are off

Courtesy of Richard Campbell - BeyondGoingLong

The swim went pretty good, sighting was great and for once I seemed to swim pretty straight down the lake. I had aimed to try and keep on the toes of Karl Alexander and Darren Jenkins for as long as possible, but that wasn't for very long in the end. For a lot of the first leg down the lake I was swimming on my own and whilst the clear water was nice, having toes to follow would have probably helped with the swim speed. As we entered the river section the first time I suddenly found feet and this section went very smoothly and before long I was on the second lap. The second lap again went well with swimming alongside  faster swimmers. I did try and work out where I was but as ever there always seems to be more ahead of you than you realise. I got out of the water in 1:09, and although faster than last year I was still a bit disappointed, open water swims had suggested nearer the hour, but hey ho it is what it is.

After a bit of a long run to transition it was out on the bike, I did hear a shout of "Go Catch Darren" and I did set off with the intention of doing a hard bike. Now things would have been easier to judge if my Garmin had displayed power but again I am pretty of good of going by feel so I just settled down and rode to HR instead. I tried to keep the effort down at first and just get into a good rhythm, or as best you can when you are either going up or down. My legs didn't feel that great, well not as good as I was hoping, but I was still getting a decent average speed so I didn't worry too much. I started feeling better after a few miles and with little wind the first time up to the top of the Ashdown Forest went very smoothly. As I descended towards Maresfield I saw Karl was leading and on the return I worked out I was about 12-13 mins down. I hadn't seen Darren, so I presumed he was on the Maresfield loop. Now before the event I did have a little joke with Karl and Darren about smashing the bike leg, I was hoping I could keep up with them.

I did the first lap faster than I did last year and I still felt OK, not as great as I wanted to in all honesty but still going at a decent effort. The next time up to the forest top the wind was picking up and there were a few showers, not too bad but enough to blunt the speed a little. I also noticed Karl had pulled out a bit of time on me and also I saw Darren for the first time, he had obviously pulled out some time as well. I really wasn't sure where I was position wise and just carried on riding as hard as I dared. Coming to the end of lap 2 I heard the commentator say I was in 4th place, so that was Karl and Darren ahead, but who else. I had completely forgotten about Matthew Dowle, and although he seemed to be falling back from Darren he was having a very good bike leg.

Typical Kent Scenery
Courtesy of Colin Baldwin Photography

On the 3rd lap the wind at the top of the forest was quite strong now with a fair bit of rain, now rain and a visor is not the best option and once covered in rain it did make the descents that little bit more difficult and I had no option but to ease off and take them at a steady speed, there is no point coming off to save a few seconds. I did catch Matthew with about 5 miles to go, and knowing he is a far better runner than me I just tried to put as much time between us before T2.

Coming into T2 I saw that I was slower than last year, but considering the harder conditions I was pretty happy. Once the bike was handed over to a helper I made my way into the tent to get ready for the run. As I had decided to take the run as it comes I enjoyed a bit of a drink and some food before going out onto the run. Matthew had pretty much clawed back the time I had made on the bike and he was past me before 1km into the run.

First km of the run, struggling a little

Courtesy of Colin Baldwin Photography

The first few kms felt horrible as per normal, but I soon settled into a good pace, I was very mindful not to attack the run as I had in South Africa, and just took things steady. The first lap went to plan and I was thinking if I can maintain this pace it will be cool. As fatigue set in however and the legs started getting sore I eased off a little more and walked some of the hills, even so I came though half way just over 2 hours so not too bad. On the third lap things were really starting to get tough, I walked more of the hills and it wasn't long before I started slipping down the leadboard. I got passed twice in quick succession by Andy Cox (finished 5th) and Lee Cook (6th). Onto the 4th lap and although I felt like walking the whole lot I still just walked the hills and made sure I kept up a fairly decent pace at other times. I would rather have run the complete distance, but with the ETU Long Distance Champs in 8 weeks and without the best run fitness I did what I thought was the wisest option.

I crossed the line in 11:24, so 20 mins slower than last year, and in 7th overall, I was also 2nd in the 40-49AG so not a bad day at all and one where I got another iron distance event under my belt without causing too much damage to my body. Pleased to see Lee Cook got 6th place in his first long distance race and seem to be relishing his next one.

Photo Courtesy of Colin Baldwin Photography

Massive congratulations to Darren Jenkins on winning the event, and to Beth Fowler for winning the ladies. Also congratulations to Karl, and Matthew for making up the podium. Thanks to Darren, Karl, Matthew, Lee and everyone else for being a good laugh throughout the weekend. Again a massive thanks to my wonderful family for the support both in training and the race, I had additional support this year from my Mum, Dad and Auntie, it all helps on such a tough day.

Another fabulous event from the Castle Triathlon team, they really have worked hard with the course and it was in fantastic condition. A big thanks you to Brian and the team as well as all the helpers, marshalls, supporters and anyone else connected with the event.  I really do recommend these events for anyone, be they novices or experienced triathletes. If you don't want to do a full iron distance race then they put on a series of events at all distances across the UK, check out their website www.castletriathlonseries.co.uk for all the information.

Quality Momentos

Trying to Have Fun

Bit of an update over the last couple of months. The first few weeks after IM South Africa were quite a struggle if I am honest, I had very painful legs for well over a week, and even when I started running again 3 weeks later they hurt a fair amount. This proved very mentally challenging, the disappointment of a sub standard performance had just about subsided, only to be replaced with the struggle of not being able to get back to proper run training. The swimming was OK, and the bike although seemingly harder than usual was thereabouts, but the running even after 3 weeks of very little was starting to weigh on my mind a touch too much.

I had run over things many times since South Africa, was the run training up to spec, did I need to do something different in how I carried out the run training, as well as a myriad of other issues. One thing that stood out was that I was finding myself on the verge of lacking any enjoyment, I do triathlon as a hobby and I should always remember that. I decided to step away from pure cycling due to the lack of enjoyment in it all, I didn't want this to happen with triathlon as well, I think the disappointment in my performance at South Africa went deeper than I fully appreciated and I needed to remind myself almost daily that I should be doing this for enjoyment first and foremost and any results are a bonus.

I did a couple of TT's post South Africa, not that successful in the end, my slowest club 10 for about 5 years and a DNF at an Open 25, I did these far too soon after South Africa in hindsight and didn't really enjoy them (that old enjoyment factor again). One event I was looking forward to was the East Grinstead Triathlon, only a sprint event which I didn't even really train for, but it is a team get together so it always is a great atmosphere with the rest of the team there.

I was going in the Elite wave, which for us was a mass start. I was a bit worried about being left miles back after the swim, but surprisingly although Charlie Pennington took 90 secs out of me, I wasn't the last one out of the pool. The swim training has certainly helped over the last year. Onto the bike and I just settled into a pace that felt difficult but sustainable, given the woeful power I put out in the last 2 TT's, the power today was surprisingly half decent, not great but a lot better than I expected. Being one of the later starters the traffic had built up a bit and I did get a few holdups, not major ones, but enough to break the rhythm up. I still had a decent ride, but slower than the previous year. Out onto the run, and the lack of recent run training and speed work, really showed it's face. There was no real motivation for me to really hurt myself, and I was happy running at a fairly decent pace, but well below what I should be able to run for 5km. I came home in 1:11:41, 8th Overall and 4th in the V40 AG. Charlie won his 4th on trot with another great time of 1:04, 4 mins quicker than 2nd place. Slower than last year, but with a quicker swim, but most of all a very enjoyable race where I was there to have a laugh with the team, mission acclomplished.

The next triathlon was to be the Castle Triathlon Lough Cutra Gauntlet middle distance race over in Ireland. After a few disappointing weeks, Ruth and I decided to try and get some confidence back into how I was racing. I was planning on training pretty hard through the Lough Cutra event, but Ruth thought cutting back and not going into it too tired was probably more important for my peace of mind. Run training was starting to feel good again though and although still not doing that much, each session felt better and I was recovering better, so hopefully with less fatigue and a bit of freshness, the race would go pretty well.

I did sneak a 50m TT in the week beforehand however, as I wanted to see what sort of effort I could realistically race a middle distance race at, I had only done one before. I promised to do it at projected HIM pace and just see what I felt like and the sort of pace I could expect. Not too shabby, I kept the power around the HIM effort and recorded a time just a smidge over 2 hours, 2:00:12 to be exact. The last few miles trying to get under 2 hours was fun.

San Fairy Ann CC 50m TT

Onto Lough Cutra, this is one of the Castle Triathlon Series events, and I had always wanted to do another event after the experience of the Bastion last year. After a tiring couple of days travelling I lined up on race morning, really looking forward to the race and above all, I was out to have fun, pure and simple. For the second time in 2 races the result really didn't matter, though as always you want to do well. I was so relaxed on the day I even forgot my Garmin watch and it didn't even really bother me that much, the run would have to be done on RPE when I got to it.

The swim was a very chilly 13 degrees, and although the body felt fine, the hands and feet told me it was cold, and when the face went in it was well and truly confirmed. Foolishly I was one of the first in, so it meant getting a little colder waiting for all the others. Once we were off though I soon felt warm enough and although only 200 competitors I must have lined up a bit too far back as I was swimming into others straight away. This meant a slower start than normal, but not too worry I was soon into a decent rhythm. The swim was straight forward enough, swim around Apple Island and then head straight back to land, probably my straightest ever swim. I came out in 33 mins, not as fast as I would have liked, but considering the cold and the slow start I was happy enough.

Out onto the bike and what on paper seemed a pretty benign course, a couple of little hills and one fairly decent one, ended up being a pretty tough one with the headwind first 45km and the road surfaces, which in the main were just speed sapping and generally hard going. I just settled into the power I planned to ride at, and soon enough I was starting to pass the faster swimmers. The first 45km were a little tough to say the least, the wind had picked up and although the roads seemed flat, there was a lot of false flat or gentle inclines which just seemed slow. It wasn't long before I was on my own and I just kept plugging away. The biggest climb was preceded by a slow drag as well, and once into the climb proper it was OK, a bit like an alpine climb with switchbacks, but nothing too steep and fairly short. The views over the bay were amazing and the thought of a fast tailwind assisted blast back to Lough Cutra saw me with a huge smile on my face.

 

Some views on the bike course

 

Over the top of the climb and I wasn't to be disappointed, it was a great blast down from the hill, but although it was fast the road surface was still shocking in places, so caution was certainly on the mind. After what seemed like ages of not passing anyone, I was starting to catch other riders in front of me, power was still good, and I was still feeling great. The last 10kms were a bit of a drag, mainly being draggy and a bit twisty and turny, but it wasn't long before I was back into the castle grounds and into T2. A time of 2:30:36 shows what a tough course it was in the end.

The run was the area where I knew I might struggle, coming into T2 I had seen that there was about 4 or 5 bikes there and I knew I was fairly well up but also knew I would be passed by a fair few. Not really wanting to hammer myself too much on the run and then have that impact training again, I ran at a fastish training pace, legs felt good pretty much from the off, just the usual 1-2km of unresponsive post bike legs. As I was just going by RPE I was monitoring my breathing which seemed a bit rapid, I eased off until I felt I was at a good pace but not too slow. The run course was a 3 x 7km lap, with virtually all being off road, mixture of grass, hardcore trail paths and a few tarmac sections. As per usual the run route is scenic and far from flat, though it wasn't as hilly as the Hever Castle route. For the first lap one or 2 faster guys passed me, but even on the second lap I was a bit surprised I hadn't been passed by that many. It was more difficult to tell on the 3rd lap however as more and more runners were joining the course, I just stuck at the pace I thought was decent enough. I was starting to flag a little towards the end of the 3rd lap, again lack of decent run training starting to show here, but I was happy I had run a decent run. A 1:40:50 isn't the greatest time in the world, but it is my fastest half marathon and after how I felt after South Africa it is a step in the right direction.

I did run the 21km at a faster pace than I did for the first half of IM South Africa and not suffered any issues like I did there, progress was made there at least. In fact I wasn't too sore afterwards, well not until I had a post race massage - OUCH. I came in 13th Overall, and surprising to me, 2nd in the V40 AG. I really hadn't expected that and it showed that it is possible to have fun, ride a hard bike leg and still do pretty well. It was also nice to get the fastest bike leg as well overall, still life in the old dog yet. Overall time of 4:47:35 and just 5 mins slower than the AG winner.

I can highly recommend the Castle Triathlon events as great festivals of triathlon, it was great to see so many people enjoying the selection of races available and the organisation is fantastic. If you are ever on the West of Ireland during the late may Bank Holiday then try one of the races, no doubt like me you will have some great fun and a wonderful memory. Oh and the Guinness in Ireland is just so much nicer.

As for me, I feel refreshed after a good race, not too fatigued and looking forward to a few weeks of hardish training before taking on the Bastion yet again on the 12th July. Again for me it will be more about having fun rather than worrying about performance, I think I can see that performance comes easier when I am enjoying myself.

Adventures in Africa

Where to start really, I think I must say I loved my trip out to South Africa and the atmosphere of Port Elizabeth. It wasn't as a successful trip as I hoped, but enjoyable all the same, well save for the last half of the marathon LOL.

I arrived in good spirits and the flights down there had been trouble free. Once in Port Elizabeth on the Wednesday I took the opportunity to ride the course, it seemed a good course a few little hills but mainly rolling. The worst aspect was the road surface, and the vibrations that just shook you and the bike to bits. I had a feeling it was going to be a toughish bike leg, especially if it was an easterly wind as there was just no shelter coming back towards Port Elizabeth.

Thursday I decided to do the official swim practise, now I was warned about sharks, and the pier is called Shark Rock Pier, probably for an obvious reason ;), what I wasn't expecting though was to actually see a shark just 50m from the beach. Now it was probably only a very small one, but the sight of a fin slowly moving along the shore doesn't really fill you with pleasure. We did eventually get to swim on a very shortened course, but I felt OK, the water was warm and it ended up being a nice swim.

The weather had been clear and hot the 2 days I had been there, Friday wasn't so nice, still warm compared to UK weather, but also very typical UK weather of rain and very heavy at times. Not that it worried me too much as I only had an early morning swim and a short run planned, the rest of the day was spent watching TV and lying down. I did go down to the expo late in the day for the athletes briefing, but didn't hang around for the pasta party, no point really when you don't eat pasta. Friday had been a tough day mentally as well, I was missing my family a lot and was probably putting too much pressure on myself. I guess when you are sitting around not doing anything you mind has plenty of chance to play havoc with all your previous preparations. It felt odd to be doing an important race without my family being around, Heather and Killian have played such a huge part in supporting me in my cycling and triathlon in the last 5 years, it just seemed as though them not being there was a huge hole.

Saturday came and all seemed ok, I felt much better and my pre race spin felt very good, I do like it when you have no fatigue when cycling, even powers that become a challenge when fatigued from training seem to be produced so easy when fresh. With bike racking not being until late afternoon for me, it gave me the chance to watch some of the IronKids racing, if I felt a bit unhappy the day before, seeing the children racing for pure fun changed my outlook totally. It is always so pleasing to see others racing for pure fun with no pressures of a performance outcome, I sometimes wish I could be like that and just enjoy the whole experience. I did have a slight issue before racking, my tub on my disc wheel seemed to have a slow puncture, not something I had back in the UK a week previous, but hey ho what can you do. I did have a spare tub which I considered getting glued on, but it would have left me with no spare for the race. I did have my 50mm rear wheel with me, after a few umms and errs I decided to not risk the disc and just use the 50mm wheel. My feelings were I would rather have piece of mind than the added stress of fitting a tub and the worry of what happens if it punctures mid race.



I was happy with the decision, and in all honesty the speed difference was going to be minimal from previous experience. I racked my bike and then met the wonderful Eleanor Haresign as she was racking at the same time. Seeing a friend really helped my peace of mind and we had a really nice chat before making our way back to our hotels to prepare for the following day.

Sunday dawned and I was feeling good, after breakfast I made my way down to the start at Hobie Beach, a quick check of the bike, and bags and I was all set to watch the pros start whilst I got suited up. It was a lovely sight watching the sun slowly rise across the bay and for one of the first times since starting triathlon I felt calm about the swim and the day ahead, very eager to go. Watching the 1st wave got off it was a great sight of 1000+ athletes stream into the water, 15 mins later and it would be my turn.

The sun slowly rising on race morning

Swim: Bang the cannon goes off and it is a quick run into the water, after speaking with Eleanor the previous day it was decided that running and straddling the breaking waves was probably the quicker way to get to where you could start swimming. This went very well and I was soon swimming on the feet of faster swimmers, I was also taking care not to go too deep as this just doesn't work with me and swimming. It wasn't long before we got to the first buoy, I had no idea of where I was placed, but I felt good and didn't seem to be struggling. I did get into a slight scuffle with another swimmer who thought I hit him on purpose, but I think he needs to realise that 800+ athletes aiming for one small buoy is going to result in contact, there isn't a lot you can do about it. We swam side by side for the majority of the 1st leg, I probably hit him a few more times but he didn't bother to have a fist fight again.

Sighting the buoys was proving difficult, although most of the time sighting off the cranes in the distance was good enough. The majority of the 1st 1600 metre leg went well, pretty straight and it was only when we got towards Kings Beach the swell and chop really made it presence felt and I found it a little more difficult to keep on the feet of other swimmers. At the next turn buoy I got a chance to see others around me, there was a pretty big pack by the looks of it, and by now we were passing some of the slower swimmers from the previous wave.

Returning back was as plain sailing, I was sighting off the hotels, but with the tide I was always going slightly left rather than straight. As seeing the buoys was difficult I just relied on the hotels for guidance. I passed the first sighting buoy not too far away, but then must have drifted even more left as it wasn't long before I heard the safety crew shouting to go right. I did a recheck and saw that the buoy I should have been aiming for was a fair bit to my right. Oh bollocks, I turned more right and just aimed to intersect the other swimmers by the time I got to the pier. After correcting my direction things went well and the last 400-500m went well and I came out of the swim not feeling too tired.

Bike: After a fairly quick T1, I was soon out on the bike. I had secretly hoped for an easterly wind, it would make the bike slower, but as a very aero rider it would also make it tougher for those that weren't strong cyclists. I did notice it was quite hot even though it was only about 8:30 in the morning, it was going to be a hot day for sure. One aspect I was worried about was the amount of athletes I would be overtaking on the bike, I expected it to be worse than it was, in fact in the main the riding standard was pretty good and I had no issues at all. I felt good on the bike and settled down to race power and with the wind being low early morning the speed felt good. I concentrated on getting fluid down me as I could see just from my arms I was sweating a fair amount. As per other races I had a strong energy drink mix which meant I only needed to take on water from the aid stations. You can never be sure of the strength of the energy drink supplied so I try to make sure I get in enough from my own source if I can.

Feeling chilled out on the bike

After the majority of the climbing there was a nice downhill with a 90 degree bend in the middle, now I knew where this was and the speed you could go around it, what I wasn't counting on was my tri bar bottle jumping out whilst braking on the bumps. This caused me to momentarily to ease off the braking, and then the speed was too high for the corner. I managed to get around on the mud on the outside and not fall off, but I did have to jump off and collect the lost bottle, certainly gets your heart racing LOL. On the return leg the wind was getting up, but the speed still seemed good for the power and I was feeling pretty good still. The most tiring aspect of the race was the road surface on some parts of the course, the vibrations just seem to sap extra energy out of you. The first lap was almost over and then hitting Marine Drive you got to see the crowds lining the road for the 1st time, this for me was an awesome experience, being my first branded IRONMAN event the crowds were just so much bigger than I have ever experienced in a race.

The second lap and you could really feel the heat, and each of the hills seemed to be slower than before, but there was no point pushing the power up, everyone would be feeling the same. The outward leg didn't have any dramas, but I did need to start taking on energy drink from the aid stations as I was getting through a lot of fluid, not surprising in the heat.

The last 40km into the headwind proved a bit more challenging on the second lap, I was still overtaking riders and power was still OK. I made sure I didn't push too hard into the wind, I just accepted the speed would be slower, and I wanted to make sure I still had something left in the legs for the last 15-16km section where the road surface was awful. I came into T2 feeling pretty good, well as good as you can 6hours+ into an IM.

Run: Again T2 went well and I was off out running, legs felt a little wobbly and I felt as though I was running pretty slow, 1st km down and although feeling slow I was running 4:50 min/km, bang on pre race target. It didn't feel too hard so I didn't feel the need to ease off. I had a bottle of electrolyte drink in my run bag which I drank down pretty quickly on the run as well as taking on coke and water at the aid stations. I was starting to feel the heat by now and I just made sure I got as much water over me as possible at each aid station. The support when running was even better than I realised on the bike and the first lap of 14km went pretty well.

My legs were starting to hurt a little, but nothing unexpected, a couple of km's later though my quads were really starting to hurt, and each foot strike was like someone shoving a knife deep into my quads. I expected this feeling perhaps 5-10kms from the finish, but not 26kms, it was going to be a very painful couple of hours ahead. I managed to get to 20kms and then walked an aid station and a small hill to the university just to try and ease off the quads a little. I started running again and although the pain might have eased slightly it wasn't long before it got pretty intense again.

There is only so much pain one can endure and I had to resort to a run/walk strategy just to give myself a few moments of lesser pain, even walking hurt. It ended up being a long second half of the run where I just tried to motivate myself to run a little further each time, though when cramp started hitting me in my feet, running for any length of time proved to be a real challenge. The finish was a long time coming though pride forced me to run the last 2kms through the finish line, never have I been more glad to reach the finish.

The finish of an Ironman is always nice

During the run when others in my age group were coming past me I realised the goal I had set myself to qualify for Kona was probably well out of the window, I had plenty of time to reflect. Even though the last lap and a half was a very painful experience I really tried to just absorb the atmosphere that the locals of Port Elizabeth create. The whole race was a great experience and hopefully I can learn from what went wrong so that in future races it doesn't happen again, though I am sure it will.

So what did happen, well I don't think I will ever know 100%, and it probably was a combination of factors, I have had 4 different opinions of why it likely happened, and I have my own thoughts based on previous events. I rode easier than any other long distance event I have done, the run I started off slightly more aggressively than I have done before, but not by a huge amount. I took on food and fluid similar to other events, but in all honesty probably not enough electrolyte for the conditions on the day. I should of aimed for a 3:40 marathon and not a 3:20 as in all honesty the conditions on the day would never have allowed me to do a 3:20 marathon no matter how easy I took the bike leg, and even then the bike leg wasn't anything special power wise. I should have had more electrolytes in my bottles or at least in my bike or run bags, I just didn't really appreciate how much I would be sweating, but a full 9+ hours in full sun with little to no shade is tough conditions, especially for a ginger haired Englishman LOL.

Even though I was disappointed, the trip itself was great, and in hindsight it has saved me a fortune as at least the temptation for Kona in 2015 is no longer there. I would like to thank Eleanor, Caroline Livesey, Lucy Gossage, Susie Cheetham, Paul Burton, Troy Spires, Tony Cullen, Craig Twigg, and many others for making the last night in Port Elizabeth fun and adding to the wonderful week out in South Africa. Massive congrats to Jodie Swallow, Lucy and Susie for their podium places, to Eleanor and Caroline in finishing just outside the top 10 in what was a stellar pro field, and to Paul and Troy for getting their Kona slots. Cheers to Craig for making the 5 hour stop over in Johannesburg enjoyable, it was great to meet you. Failure to qualify does open other doors however and I always had a back up plan if I didn't qualify for Kona. I will now race the ETU Long Distance Championship in Weymouth instead, providing I get a qualifying slot. The chance to race for GB is something I relish and something I am really looking forward to.

Will I attempt to qualify for Kona again, well yes I will, but it won't be until 2016 at the earliest. As to what event to do I am not sure, but the lure of Ironman South Africa in 2016 is there, and we certainly have some unfinished business ;) It is now onwards to get fit and ready for the Bastion again, and race with no real pressure in the glorious Kent/Sussex countryside.

And Relax

Finally I have got to the stage in training where I can rest my weary body and recover, it's taper time. Now I know a lot of athletes seem to hate this period, I know I for one love it, but I do ask myself why?

Is it because I am inherently lazy, well I don't think so and I think my coach would seriously disagree at that statement. I do enjoy my rest days as well, they are normally well needed for recovery.

Do I train stupidly hard, well I do train hard and I do put in a lot of hours, but it is only similar to what a lot of others do. You need to train hard at times to get the body to adapt but I certainly don't go overboard with intervals and the like. I must admit I don't do Z1 either which no doubt some do.

Is it my age, I am not getting any younger, and I have noticed that with an increase in running I do take longer to recover than when I was purely cycling. Now this isn't unusual, running obviously places a lot more stress on the body. Anyway other triathletes run as well, and I don't do stupid mileage.

There are probably a thousand other reasons, but the one thing I do know, is that with it being 2 weeks from my first target event of the year it is very welcome indeed. The last 6 weeks have been a very mixed bag training wise, feeling strong one week, feeling like I'm falling to bits the following week. Things weren't helped by family issues, but nothing you can do about them. So these next 2 weeks will be a pleasure for me in that I know that each day I am actually getting stronger and fresher.

Training on the whole has gone very well, 2 overseas training camps have helped massively with fitness, and of course the fatigue that goes with that. Has my power gone up, well that is an unknown, the sheer fatigue has meant some difficult sessions over the last week and a bit. I was hoping to have a gauge with a 25 mile TT last weekend, but with hollow legs it just ended up being a very tough race on tired legs at lower than expected power. Not unexpected really I suppose, but I was hoping for more. It just shows that even if you don't feel outwardly tired, the deep down fatigue it there and this is what the taper is getting rid of.

At least I know I am fitter than I was at any time last year, this can only be a good thing performance wise, as long as I shed the deep down fatigue and get to race day feeling a bit like a coiled spring. Even if my FTP hasn't gone up I know that with me being fitter than last year with my cycling, I can ride the bike leg strongly and still feel fairly fresh when I start the run.

So now it is just a case of keeping everything moving, doing a few sharp short efforts (well and a 3 hour ride when I get to South Africa) and keep shedding the fatigue. I must admit even after 3 days my legs feel a hell of a lot better than they have done in a fair while, so good signs already. Also another good bit about tapering, now I am given the inflammation from training a chance to subside my body weight is getting back to what it should be :)

Teetering On The Edge

It's only been a couple of weeks since my last blog, but how things can turn around in that time. After getting back from Tenerife I had a few easier days, but then got back on with training, yes fatigue was there as you would expect, but nothing unusual for me.

It wasn't long before things started going pearshaped, sore legs that just didn't seem to ease and although I was completing sessions, they just felt harder, also I did notice my HR was low for the power but again this isn't unusual for me. Still I pushed on and looked forward to the next rest day.

Then I just popped, what should have been a fairly simple session to completed ended in failure. Even then I tried to complete it, but the body, or more importantly the legs said no way. It was the first failure of a session after 3 months of solid work, and although I reasoned it wasn't surprising, the lack of recovery from the session was a bit worrying. More worryingly for me was it was the bike sessions that were really suffering, the swimming and running seemed to be going OK.

Here is where having a very wise and understanding coach helps massively, it would have been so easy to say "hey ho, bit of a failure but let's just carry on with the plan". Yes I could have done this, the weekend's training would have got done, but the fatigue would have only had got worse. Ruth in her wisdom told me to can the Sunday long ride, and get as much recovery in as possible. I did more than that though after a difficult swim I decided to can the rest of Saturday's training as well, and do some much neglected family stuff instead.

Sunday was even lazier I suppose, I couldn't be bother to get up at 6am for the morning swim, thinking sleep was far more important, I ended up with a cracking 10 hours sleep. I felt a huge amount better, I still paid heed to Ruth's words though and did a short turbo session and a short run. These felt good and not stressful at all, very much needed I feel. The chilled out weekend was a real godsend in the end, it really was received well from all the family :)

I was very close to the edge and toppling over it, I think with some wise decisions from Ruth and myself, I have taken a step back and now can think about carrying on and still getting some decent work done in the next 5 weeks. I do ask myself why I felt so bad, was it lack of fuelling, was the deep down fatigue really that bad, why did it hit over a week after Tenerife. None of these are easy questions to answer, nutrition didn't seem any different from before, I have done big training weeks before without that sort of impact, and normally after a big week I feel it a few days after.

One thing is true however in that I have never had such a sustained training load, I have had 3 very solid months of 70+ hours a month training, in fact January hit 80 hours (a new high for me). I guess that in itself means a huge amount of long term fatigue, and perhaps 80 hours is the maximum I can sustain, I have to remember I am not a young 20-30 year old anymore :).

I remain positive though, it's not like my acquired fitness is going to disappear overnight, I also remember back to March 2012 when I went through a similar rough spot, that ended up being OK. The best thing is motivation is still high, so that gives me a lot of confidence. It is now trying to put together that final push to get as fit as I can in the next 5 weeks without going over the edge.

The Winter Grind and a Little Bit of Sun

So the end of January 2015 has come around already, time really is flying by now, and less than 10 weeks to Ironman South Africa : gulp:. Since my last update, training has been going well if not a tad tedious grinding away the hours on the turbo, but when the roads and/or weather are not that great you just have to get on with it. Yes, I did a 4 hour and a 5 hour turbo session in the same week (got to make the most of the time off work, even if the weather is pants), I always think it is good mental training as well though. Ruth thought I was a nutter, then again she could well be right ;)

I had a couple of weeks off work over Christmas, perfect time to get some quality training in. This was the first year since I started TTing that I didn't race the Southborough and District New Year's Day 10 mile TT, this meant no throttling back on training to be fresh for the TT. I got in a very decent 23 hours of training in the Christmas week, even with all family stuff going on. I did manage to get out to the race to watch though, it was quite a pleasant feeling not hammering myself on a coldish windy New Year’s Day.

Talking of family stuff, this Christmas was quite chilled even with the training, Heather does Morris Dancing so this meant a couple of great afternoons frequenting local pubs to watch her dance, what better way to chill out on a cold winters day. Fun was had by all and it really is a good antidote to the rigors of training. In fact a lot of New Year's Day was spent in various pubs lol, unfortunately as I was driving very little alcohol was consumed.

I wasn't back at work for long before I was off to Tenerife to join up with Joe Skipper and Eleanor Haresign for a warm training camp. The thought of doing plenty of riding not sat on a turbo trainer was a very pleasing thought indeed, and a great way to get a great training load in. Just wish I had lots of work holidays, I think I would spend even more time away.

Eleanor and Joe

 

 Eleanor and I at the top of the Masca Climb

 

 

Tenerife was ace, training alongside Joe and Ele was a great learning experience, we had a great week with some real solid training, Joe and I even got around to a bit of an 8 hour+ ride taking in the hills around Masca and then finishing off with a 2 hour blast up Mount Teide, long and very tiring day. I must say a big thank you to both Joe and Ele for allowing me to share the training camp, I wish all the best to both of them in 2015.The downside was it ended far too quickly and all too soon it was back to a very chilly Blighty.

Mount Teide in the Distance

Still the show must go on, training load has been massive over the the last 3 to 4 weeks, but there is still 6 to 7 weeks of hard graft yet to come. Luckily for me there is another warm week away training, this time in Almeria at the beginning of March. That can't come around soon enough.

Must admit I am getting a little excited, and nervous about Ironman South Africa. I know I can only go out there and do my best, and fitness then will be higher than any point in 2014, but I just keep thinking of the things that could go wrong. I guess I will just have to make sure I minimise and stupid ones that I could make and leave the rest in the lap of the gods. I know what I am capable of, I just have to focus on that and believe it will all come together.

I will admit, that's what keeps me motivated especially at this time of the year, all this effort will be worth it.