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.

Wrestling with Demons

Every year as athletes we seem to go through the same process, that time where we down tools and either ease back or cut out completely the training and have a bit of R&R. What this also does is cause us to worry about the missed training, the loss of fitness, the resultant weight gain etc. What we don't realise at the time is what the body actually needs is this change of pace to recover from that deep down fatigue we have built up over the last 10-12 months.

This year I have embarked upon my longest period of not training since I took up riding a bike back in 2008, now I did go swimming, running and biking during this time, but only as I wanted to and none of it was done particularly hard.

After Challenge Weymouth I took 2 weeks of doing nothing, absolutely nothing, and then the next 5 weeks I did a few rides, runs and swims. As I use training software I could see my fitness ebbing away and yes those demons did start rearing their ugly heads, I should get back to training, IM South Africa is only 5 months away, what about if I can't regain the required fitness, how difficult will getting back into training be. I kept my word (I had said to Ruth I would start back formal training in November) and didn't panic, 4 and half months of dedicated training is more than enough to get my fitness greater than I did at Weymouth.

A few sessions I did do help with that confidence, a 145 mile bike ride, 10 mile runs were done without too much bother so I felt relaxed enough to commit to the extended break. What was a bigger bonus was a renewed enthusiasm for training, last year I had gone through a tough time mentally (though in hindsight this worked out to be a blessing in disguise), and I didn't want to go through that again. It really was a pleasure telling my little lad that I didn't have to go training and we could spend the day chilling out and saying to my wife did we want to go out for the day as a family.

There was a bit of a downside, and that was an injury I got whilst running, with not running much perhaps going for long extended runs wasn't the wisest choice, I should have stuck to shorter runs I think. Now this has caused a few other demons to rise from the flames. I have now started back training, but running is on hold for a few weeks. This has me worried in 2 ways, just when I should be starting to build up for South Africa I can't and even when I do start running again, is the issue going to flare up again. I have no idea what really caused the issue so this will now play on my mind for a few months I expect. Even when back training there is the wrestling with demons going on all the time.

Some good news however, the swimming seems to be going in the right direction again, and whilst my bike fitness on a graph has plummeted this doesn't appear to show the same in real life, that's a couple of demons shot down pretty quickly, so perhaps I have little to worry about and it will all come together fine.

Would I take the same amount of time off again, I am not sure but one thing is for sure I will make sure I take some complete downtime every year, the fitness losses are minimal and the mental and physical refreshment is fantastic. I feel in a whole different mindset to this time last year where I raced for far too long and trained far too long with that. Roll on 2015, I think this is one winter I really will begin to enjoy ;)

1st Year Triathlete Overview

After a few weeks of letting the season sink in, I thought I would write an overview of my 2014 season. One thing is for sure I have come out of it in a far better state of mind than I did at the end of 2013, I think the change of sport has been a massive breath of fresh air.

I started the year with a goal of trying to enjoy the change of sport and just see how I got on, the idea was to build up with some short local events before moving on to middle distance events. Now things started off as planned with some early season success, but early season things also changed quite dramatically when I "won" entries into 2 long distance events. Instead of just dipping my toe in and see how things went, it was a wholesale change in focus, TT-ing would have to take a backseat and I would have to go into triathlon in a more full on way.

Now I already had an early season goal of trying to defend my Cycling Time Trials TT Series title, so this made things a little difficult, especially as I was mixing this up with the early season triathlons. Talk about making life difficult for myself and Ruth. In reality this meant that running was done very ad hoc, and although my run fitness did improve from Jan to May, I never really did enough to improve at the rate I needed to, I guess it did keep me injury free. Now trying to defend my title wasn't going to be easy even if I was just cycle training, but add in the running and I found it a little more challenging to keep the bike fitness where I needed it to be. Ultimately the bike fitness did dip slightly, I never really felt as though I was fully on it, and at times struggled to put in the performances I had done in earlier years. By the time I had finished with the TT Series in May, I had done enough to retain my title, but only just.

Now with the TT Series out of the way, it was time to knuckle down and train for my first real event of the year, and that was going to be the Castle Triathlon Bastion at Hever Castle. Now 8 weeks training for an ironman triathlon was never going to be enough really, but I had made my bed and now I had to lie in it. The weeks went by, and I even had a bash at a middle distance triathlon to bridge the step up from the early season sprint distance events. Running was still an issue as I found out in the middle distance race, and I did think I had probably taken on a bit too much.

I came into the Bastion feeling good however, bike fitness was good, and the run fitness was getting better all of the time. Swimming was still an issue, but I guess being middle of the pack in swimming in your first season isn't too bad. The  race went incredibly well and to finish on the podium as 3rd overall was a great feeling, though I realised it was mainly due to the bike leg where I knew I would be strong. I was a case of ride as well as I can and just hold on for the run, it worked but I knew there was room for improvement in the running.

One great thing to happen between the Bastion and Challenge Weymouth was to be voted as a SUNDRiED ambassador, very proud to represent a company that makes great apparel that is ethical and sustainable. The clothing looks cool as well, double bonus.

It would have been tempting to go on and do some smaller events, but I had decided that I wanted to try for a second peak at Challenge Weymouth, so with only 9 weeks between the 2 events it was a case of trying to get recovered from the Bastion before training again for 6 weeks. The recovery took longer than I would have liked, but being a novice runner I guess this was only to be expected. Once I felt better again the training went well, and I found running fitness making big gains, my bike fitness did seem to dip though, but I was still getting in some decent long rides at around IM effort, so I knew it hadn't gone completely.

In my taper for Challenge Weymouth things didn't go as well as before the Bastion, I think a very big week 3 weeks out probably made me more tired that I was before the Bastion, and in the week leading up to Weymouth I was bitten by a bug and I had a pretty badly swollen leg a few days before the event. Luckily it had gone before the day, but I did feel a little flat in comparison to the Bastion.

Challenge Weymouth ended up being a very pleasing performance from myself, I had set myself a decent target of sub 10 hours based on my training times, and even if the swim hadn't been shortened and the run was full distance I am very confident I would have beaten this. It was my run that really made me happy though, I actually felt like a proper triathlete for once with doing a half decent run and not feeling like I was just holding on after a strong bike. I had ridden and strong disciplined bike and then had a very good run off it, just shows what training can actually achieve :).

So overall the season was a great one, the change of focus has done wonders for my mental state, the variety of training is so refreshing and even though I seem to be mediocre at it, swimming open water is so nice. Not so sure about pool swimming though, suppose that is like riding on the turbo or running on the treadmill, not that enjoyable but a necessity.

I must say the best event of the year for me was the Bastion, a great first event for the Castle Triathlon team in a stunning location and in a wonderful part of the South East of England, highly recommended event. It certainly is a challenging event, or according to others a "brutal" event. I will be back in 2015 that is for sure.

I look forward to 2015, I have set myself some very tough targets, but I feel if I can train as well over the winter then they are very achievable, though when racing ironman races they are never straight forward and a lot can happen in the build up and the race itself.

So is triathlon my new sport of choice, well that is a definite YES, I will still do TTs, but for the near future the focus is fully on long distance triathlon, it really is a bloody good laugh.

I must say a big thanks to all those that have helped me this year, especially to Ruth ( @REylesCoaching ) my coach for turning me into a triathlete and having faith in me.

To Liz and Ali (and all the team ;) ) at the Tri Spirit Team, I made the right choice in joining you, you have been so supportive and encouraging it never ceases to amaze me, roll on 2015. The girls also organise and run some of the best events in Kent, check out the website for the full events programme, highly recommended.

To Matt Molloy ( @AhoySavaloy ) thanks very much for all you advice and that winning entry, it has changed me for the better ;).

To Erdinger Alkoholfrei ( @ErdingerAF_UK ) thanks for your newsletter competition, Challenge Weymouth was a ball, and your beer is ace. See you around in 2015.

Thanks to the Castle Triathlon Series team ( @CastleTriathlon ) for all your support on the Bastion, it was like being part of a family, I really would recommend any of the events the team put on, they are all superb and in stunning locations.

Thanks for all the support Fisher Outdoor have given me this year with quality kit. Big thanks again go to SUNDRiED for your support it has been fantastic.

Also must not forget the 2 people that really make all this possible, Heather and Killian, thank you ever so much for your support, not just this year, but for the last 5+ years. I owe you a nice holiday Hev ;)