A Bit of a Tough Day

The 2 weeks in between the Bastion and the Castle Triathlon Castle Howard Gauntlet race had been a bit of a mix mentally and physically. I was still annoyed at myself for pulling out of the Bastion with constant thoughts of " I could have got around " swimming around my head. I had a week free of any training the week following, though in all honesty I didn't feel I deserved this, my legs felt OK, and although my back was sore I could have still gone out on my bike. Still I followed Darren's orders and had a week off. After a physio visit and the diagnosis of tight hip flexors I spent the week doing rehab, slowly the back seemed to get better.

The 2nd week was a family holiday up in Yorkshire, plenty of time spent with the family help with the mental side, and a little light training got me back into the training regime, though to be honest when running my left hip flexor and back still weren't right and running felt very hard work.

The weekend of the Castle Howard Triathlon was great, we arrived Friday and after a practise swim I felt pretty relaxed. Saturday was spent helping the Castle Triathlon crew out, and a quick recce of part of the bike course, it certainly wasn't an easy bike course but didn't seem too bad. Saturday evening at the campsite was spent having a few beers and BBQ with the Castle Triathlon crew, and I was in a really relaxed mood going to bed on Saturday night.

The beautiful Castle Howard

Sunday came and after a short ride to transition we were greeted by the news that the lake was 24 degrees, and that wetsuits would be optional though it was highly recommended that we didn't use them. Now not being a fantastic swimmer I was in two minds of what to do, the lake had been 22 degrees on Friday evening and hadn't felt overly warm, but I wasn't swimming at race effort. Others were still donning their wetsuits and after a quick chat with Eleanor Haresign, who just said "if it's optional you have to go with wearing it", I decided that there was no point in putting myself at a disadvantage. and it was on with the wetsuit.

Into the lake and whilst waiting for the start it didn't feel that warm, those that had decided not to wear a suit were shivering, I am sure they soon warmed up though. The swim was a 2 lap affair and went great I got onto some toes and settled in, I managed to start passing people and by the far turn there seemed to be a little line of us. I did try and swim past the swimmer in front, but realised that I just wasn't able to pick up the pace enough to get by, so again I settled in behind and hoped that the pace was good. After the first lap I could see I wasn't too far down the order and decided that I would swim to the far turn again following toes and then try and hit the last 500m fairly hard to try and make up a few places. This went well and I exited the water with a sub 32 min swim, now it was a fairly long run uphill into T1 where the swim time was recorded.

After a pretty quick transition it was out on the bike and feeling pretty good. After a few km's though I could feel my left hip flexor aching, this wasn't a good sign to be honest, but I hoped it would just settle down once I got into the swing of things. I soon started passing the faster swimmers and power seemed OK, just it felt hardish work for the power. After about 10km the flying Matt Bottrill passed me, I was hoping I might hold out for longer LOL. Unfortunately Matt punctured shortly after and I repassed him before the 14km mark, I wouldn't see him again until another 20km later. It wasn't long before I felt it a bit of a struggle to put out normal 70.3 power, and some of the guys I had passed early on were started to gain back time on me. Now normally I would have felt a strong urge just to have a talk with myself and knuckle down, but the various aches were starting to wear me down. The end of the 1st lap ended up being a bit of slog and the seemingly innocuous rollers were certainly challenging to say the least. Power was getting more difficult to maintain and as we were now encountering the standard distance racers I was more mindful than ever to keep the legal draft distance.

One of the Gauntlet competitors that I passed earlier in the race repassed me, now this was a bit of a new experience but I was struggling to ride at the effort I should be able to. I just decided to take a break and get more food and drink inside me. After another short hill one of the standard distance guys came passed, we rode together until the standard distance racer slowly pulled away. I was feeling a bit better by this stage and as I watched the average speed drop I decided to try and make up some lost ground. I eventually got back to the standard distance guy but again the effort needed to go past just wasn't really there. Now I had a decision to make, did I just follow the legal distance back and save my legs for the run ( and yes you still get a hell of a draft being >12m back) or end up playing cat and mouse with the other guy. I didn't really think that was fair for either of our races so I just held back and decided to try and save my legs for the run.

I came in off the bike in around the time I expected, I had told Heather between 2:35 and 2:40, 2:37 seemed pretty decent enough. Out onto the run and my legs didn't feel too bad, though not surprising really giving the lower power ride. The 1st 3km went OK with it being relatively flat and steady under foot. There was a steep hill just before the 3km mark which I walked, my back was still achy from the bike and I didn't want to make it worse this early into the run. After a much needed fuel and toilet stop the harder part of the run course started, and it was tough with niggling hip flexor and achy back. With the rough edge of an uphill field to negotiate I started to struggle even more and the uneven ground really caused me a few issues. Once over this I ran a bit better but the aches and pains were starting to get a bit more than niggling. I did contemplate ending the run after 1 lap, but then thoughts of the Bastion began to haunt me, I would do 2 laps even if it meant a slower pace. The end of the lap meant a stiff climb to a water tower over looking Castle Howard followed by a steep downhill. The cheers from the crowds drove me onto a 2nd lap and again the first 3km of it went pretty well and the pace was decent enough. As I started counting down the kms I actually felt I could run more and although the pace was slower I actually ran more. As soon as I got into the gardens of the castle I tried to run as strong as possible and actually sprinted across the line as there was someone just behind me.

The run was tough and although a 1:45 isn't fast by any stretch, it was great to get across the line without suffering the pain I did at the Bastion. I am certainly not fixed yet, but at least things appear to be going in the right direction. Not my best of races, but a pretty decent one and one that filled me with happiness. To be honest I never expected to be on fire for this race, I guess if I had completed the Bastion it might have been even worse LOL.

My thoughts on Castle Howard, it is a simply stunning race location. I found the lake nice to swim in apart from one or two weeds right on the edge of the course. The bike course is deceptively hard, especially the "rollers" on the estate roads, but it is a lovely course as the roads in the main are in great condition and the traffic was minimal to what I am used to. The run course is tough but a nice mixture of hard and easy bits. A massive thanks to the Castle Triathlon crew for putting on another great weekend of fun and enjoyment, their races are some of the very best out there and I highly recommend any of the races.

Swim : 34:29
Bike : 2:37:04
Run : 1:44:45

Total : 4:58:43

17th Overall and 5th V40

As usual big thanks to those that help me

Darren Jenkins - www.nevagivin.com/Darren_Jenkins.html
Secret Training - www.secret-training.com/
Go Resourcing - www.go-rg.com/
Hart & Co Resourcing - www.h-cr.co.uk/
Sundried - www.sundried.com
Castle Triathlon Series - www.castletriathlonseries.co.uk/

Almost in Tears

There was no anger just pure sadness when I pulled out of the Bastion on Sunday, it truly was a devastating thing to do, but ultimately the wisest thing to do.

I had gone into the race the fittest I had ever been, I was totally chilled out and really looking forward to race with good fitness and knowledge gained in my 2 years of triathlon, for it go wrong when going so well, will take some time to get over I suspect.

One may ask why pull out, why not just get round anyhow? That, to be honest, is a fair question and it is one I talked over with myself for some 30 mins or so before coming the conclusion that I didn't want to get into the state I did after Ironman South Africa last year, as that ultimately scuppered my season.

Yesterday my back was sore as soon as I ran uphill, and on the Bastion run course there is a lot of uphill. I hoped it would ease and ran at a pretty good pace for the first lap, but I was struggling on any uphill section. It got to the point that any slight incline hurt, but the steeper parts I just couldn't run up and had to resort to a walk, it was just getting worse. I tried to make hay on the downhill and rare flattish parts, but soon the downhills were just jarring and it was only the flat parts where I felt remotely comfortable. Even these were slowing down though. I think that settled it for me, to do another 21km in that state was foolish given my race programme and the longer term damage it might have done. It really was a very difficult decision, I have DNF'ed when time trialling and each of those decision I had to wrestle with inner demons, but none more so than this race of any. It is a race that means so much to me and to fail to complete it almost brought me to tears. The fact I was in a very clear 2nd place at the time didn't have any bearing on how I felt.

Looking jolly, but not feeling jolly
Thanks Deanna Pennington for the photo.

I now have to try and find out what caused the issue, I have been fine on the Gauntlets, but over 5.5 hours in the saddle over very tough terrain as well as being cold and wet might have been the straw that broke the camels back. It is easy to blame the bike fit but to be honest I don't really think that is the issue, it was only ever so slightly changed in December to give a more triathlon based fit, and I think it has helped my run for it, at least at half iron distance. This was the first iron distance event at race effort that I have used the position, but I have done plenty of training on the bike and not really noticed much of a problem, but long training rides are not done at the same effort.

Late last year and early this year I did have some glute medius tendinopathy, which was eventually cleared up with rehab, or so I thought. Given the complex structure of the glute muscles however there might have been something else going on. I know there is a link between the piriformis and sciatica, could the issues I encountered be a symptom on a piriformis issue. The physio that massaged my back and glutes on Sunday did say the left felt quite tight, and this is the one I have had issues with. I also have noticed a couple of times in the last few weeks of having a achy lower back before early morning swims that didn't ease during swimming. There may well be a underlying issue that only made it's full impact on Sunday.

I suppose the other cause may have just been due to going too hard on the bike, an IF of 0.77 and 330 TSS is a tough bike ride with a marathon to follow, but with a tough trail marathon it was probably over stepping the mark a bit I suspect. In all honesty I had to get into T2 in the lead as with the 2nd place guy (coming into T2) being a faster runner I was never going to be able to run him down, my only hope was to hopefully make him bike hard as well and just hope to hold him off on the run. The thing is my legs didn't feel too bad it purely was my lower back, sure the legs had some grumbles as they usual do, but nothing to suggest I had gone very silly on the bike. I guess that if I had over done the glute muscles then that may well have been the start of the problem and although they didn't feel sore they might have been causing issues elsewhere to compensate. I suppose I know for IM Wales to be more conservative on the bike at the very least, that is a nice hilly marathon as well.

So now the main thing is to get the back sorted, even today sitting down it is sore, goodness knows what it would have been like if I had carried on. The knowledge I did the right thing doesn't make it any easier and all of the Castle Triathlon team were really wonderful. Speaking with Yvonne afterwards and I was almost in tears, never have I been so upset about pulling out of a race, so glad she got pulled away. Massive thanks to anyone that helped out with marshaling, feed stations, cheering and other support jobs, you all did a fantastic job. Many thanks to SixPhysio for helping ease the pain on Sunday.

So do I do it again next year, I know the Castle Triathlon team want me to do it and Heather is happy for me to do it again but I had said I wouldn't make any 2017 race plans until after September, I guess I really do have demons to crush now. I am pretty certain now where I will be in July 2017 ;). Plus the goody bags given out at this year's Bastion were the best I have ever seen, they really did make some of the bigger IM brands seem pathetic with what you get, thanks again to Castle Triathlon, Kitbrix, dryrobe, Speedo, Vita Coco for your generosity.

Also last but by no means least many thanks for your support and to Darren for the great training, and there was me worried about my biking, still as good as ever ;)

Secret Training
Sundried
Go Resourcing
Hart and Co

Bastion 2016 Thoughts

As I write this there is less than 5 days to go until one of the highlights of my year, the Castle Triathlon Series Bastion. This is the event that got me into long distance triathlon and it still makes me smile. Now smiling about arguably the hardest UK iron distance triathlon is a strange thing to do, but the event truly is one of those special events and I just really enjoy racing around my training roads in what is an iconic event.

There are 5 or 6 of us that are doing it for a 3rd straight year, all of us nutters but it does perhaps show what it has to offer, and 25 athletes returning for a 2nd time. I personally have some demons to crush, as last year was not a great race for me and it ended up being a real bit of a sufferfest on the run, OK actually it ended up being quite an easy run as I walked for a fair bit as I just wasn't run fit.

This year it neatly fits in 2 weeks after Cholmondeley Castle Gauntlet, and 2 weeks before Castle Howard Gauntlet, what could go wrong hey. After my surprising performance at Cholmondeley Castle I have had a real good week training, and even now I sometimes think Darren might have forgotten that there is an ironman on Sunday. The taper is slightly different to what I have done in the past so lets see how it plays out, Darren hasn't been wrong yet with pre race build ups.

I do have a few expectations come Sunday, first of all I really want a great race to the best of my abilities, I owe that to myself after last year. I have been on the podium in all my races so far, albeit my AG rather than overall, it would be great to remedy that on Sunday. It will also give me a chance to see how hard I can push myself on a course that is probably slightly harder than IM Wales, to see if my hopes for sub 10:30 at Wales is even a remote possibility. Going for a sub 10:30 here might be a stretch too far, but it is certainly worth aiming for.

As I have mentioned in other blogs, I am fitter than I have been for any other long distance event I have done so there are no excuses there. The only little bit of doubt I have is the bike as I don't feel I am as fit here, but it isn't a bike race and perhaps being a more rounded triathlete will pay great dividends on the overall result. I still expect to bike well, just not perhaps as good as 2014.

So in short

Aim for the podium
Try and go sub 10:30
Run as well as 2 weeks ago

Surprising Myself

Not sure how to start this blog, but suffice to say the Gauntlet at Cholmondeley Castle exceeded expectations.

As I said in my previous blog, this was a race I was going into with some fatigue and to be honest I was expecting a pretty slow painful day. The weekend started off really chilled and although feeling generally tired I felt OK and was looking forward to the race. Darren had told me to swim hard/bike hard and just take the run as it comes so in one way there wasn't really any pressure on my performance. Given that however, I still am a competitive animal and wanted to do the best I could.

I did a quick recce of the bike course on Saturday, legs felt rubbish and I just hoped that was because of the drive up to Cheshire rather than fatigue. It certainly was going to be an interesting race.

Woke on Sunday to a very pleasant morning and being right on the site it meant a very relaxed start to the day and unlike a few weeks back in Lough Cutra the lake was clear of any fog, it meant at least we were going to get a swim this week. The wind that had blown quite strongly over night had really eased as well it looked fair for quite a day.

I felt nice and chilled as I made my way to the lake and listened to the pre race briefing, again I think the lack of expectation really calmed my nerves. Briefing over and into the water, it was lovely and warm and I lined up with as straight a line up the lake as I could and just waited for the hooter.

Once off there was surprisingly a bit of biff for the first 50m or so, but after that it was pretty much clean sailing. The sighting of the buoys was easy and I just tried to follow the toes of faster swimmers. As this was going to be a 2 lap affair with an Australian exit I just tried to keep as near the front as possible. I had noticed that I seemed to be nearer the front of the pack that what I was used to and just tried to keep a nice smooth stroke going. It wasn't long before the end of the 1st lap, and after a twisty run back to the start pontoon I heard Brian Adcock shout 15th place to the guy in front of me and 2nd lady to the girl behind. Surely I can't be this high up I thought. Anyhow onto the 2nd lap and still following feet and still feeling really good. The lead swimmers had now got a gap however and I couldn't really gauge how I was doing. I decided to try and push up the effort for the final 300m to the swim exit and managed to get passed a couple of other swimmers. Out the water and run up a small hill to T1, noticed sub 34 mins on the watch and given the Aussie exit I was too displeased with that.

After a bit of a struggle getting the wetsuit off (1st race of the season with the wetsuit) I was off out onto the bike course. I didn't know what position I was in, but guessed top 15. As soon as I started pedaling however my legs just felt shot to pieces, this wasn't the plan. Darren had said go hard on the bike, yet I was struggling to produce normal power for a half ironman, this was going to be a real long day. After I felt I struggled with fueling at Lough Cutra I had decided to make sure I had plenty of sugary things on the bike, nothing like a big bag of Haribo to keep you going. For the first 20km of the bike I just tried to get as much Secret Training Energy drink down me and a fair few Haribo. I will admit though the speed still seemed there and I was passing a few of the faster swimmers. I got to the end of the first lap and to the cheers of the crowd in the castle grounds I saw that I had done around a 51 min lap. A quick calculation later realised that if I could maintain that it would still be a 2:30-2:40 bike time, which on this course isn't too shabby. My legs were feeling better now and although I still struggled to bike really hard at least I could maintain normal power better. 2nd lap done in 52 mins and I was feeling a bit more confident now. I eventually caught Neil Tandy and after a bit of cat and mouse up the hills I managed to get in front a few km's from the end of the bike. A decent bike of 2:37 in the end, considering how bad I felt at the start I'll take that.

Now it was the run, the bit I hadn't really been looking forward to, a quick change in T2 and nearly off out on the run with helmet (chopper). My legs actually felt OK, the normal 1st km wobblies but the pace was good. First km done in 4:30 which is what I have done for a standalone HM, the question now was how long can I keep this up for, Neil came back passed me around 2kms in and I did try and up my pace to stay with him but he slowly crept away. I just kept running at a pace I thought was sustainable, I just didn't know how long it would sustainable for. Towards the end of each lap there is a steep incline through the woods and even at the pace I was running it didn't feel too bad. The first lap done in sub 30 mins and I was feeling happy and my legs still felt fine. With more athletes from all distances on the course it was difficult to really tell if runners passing me were starting their first laps or had caught me. No point worrying I thought you can only go as fast as your legs will take you. I was expecting a bit of an implosion at some point but I still felt happy with the pace and even the 2nd time up the steep hill didn't worry me too much.

The 2nd lap was only 30 secs slower than the first, and now I felt confident that I could finish without too much of a problem, though I still expected to blow at some point. As I started the 3rd lap I could see I had caught Neil a bit, I decided to try and catch him and if it went wrong then at least I tried. I was closing in every so slightly with each km, but I think he had just enough in reserve to keep me at bay. Going up the hill for the 3rd time and the effort for the last few kms really told and my calf and hip flexors just started to cramp when pushing hard up the hill, I had to resort to a short walk, the race to beat Neil was over. Once at the top of the hill I managed to put in a good effort to the finish and happy to have run the last last only 12 secs slower than the 2nd lap. Neil finished 40 secs in front so well done to him on a great race.

Swim - around 34 mins, official timing got a bit messed up I think
Bike - 2:36:57
Run - 1:29:55

Total 4:43:17

5th Overall, 1st V40

This really was a performance that surprised me, I was a bit gobsmacked when told I had finished 5th overall, and even more so with how I ran. I have only done 3 proper half ironman events and this was by far the best performance I have put in at this distance. It really does show me how much Darren has done to turn me into a more complete triathlete.

Things to take away

1: Don't panic if the legs feel rubbish, just eat food instead
2: Don't try and do a HIM on energy drink alone
3: Never under estimate what you are capable of
4: Above all, trust in the training

Onwards to the Bastion in less than 2 weeks :-O, lets hope recovery goes well.

As usual big thanks to those that help me

Darren Jenkins - www.nevagivin.com/Darren_Jenkins.html
Secret Training - www.secret-training.com/
Go Resourcing - www.go-rg.com/
Hart & Co Resourcing - www.h-cr.co.uk/
Sundried - www.sundried.com
Castle Triathlon Series - www.castletriathlonseries.co.uk/

Cholmondeley Castle Gauntlet Preview

This weekend I head into my 2nd of the 5 Castle Triathlon Gauntlet races I will be doing this year, it is also the start of a bit of a hectic 5 weeks where I compete at 2 half ironman events with full ironman event in between. This is the part of the season I have always feared if I am honest as I am no spring chicken and the recovery process only gets slower with age.

Obviously I can't go into each as fresh as a daisy, fitness would just drop right off and impact later in the season. After a discussion with Darren about what to do, as the Bastion is the more important race, it was decided to race Cholmondeley Castle slightly tired. Now doing a sprint tri tired is one thing, but a half ironman !!!, I can't say it filled me with much joy but it is what it is. The plan of attack for the race did make me happy though, let's just see how that works out LOL.

With the ironman training fatigue I am not expecting a great race, I will still race hard but ultimately the eye is on the Bastion in just over 2 weeks time. Training has been going great, and after a little bit of a break in Ireland after Lough Cutra it was good to get back into the hard work.

I have never raced at Cholmondeley Castle, so I am looking forward to racing there, luckily I do know what Cheshire roads are like after spending many a week with work based near Crewe. The course doesn't look too hilly and it will be great to attack the bike leg on Sunday. Let's just hope the sun shines on us in Cheshire this weekend.

Lough Cutra Duathlon

After a week or more really looking forward to how my swimming in a race had improved (or not), those of us doing the Gauntlet would be thwarted by fog on race morning. Yes the swim had to be cancelled because the sighting buoys couldn't be sighted, even from land without googles obscuring the view.

The Castle Triathlon crew and Triathlon Ireland did try and get us a swim by delaying the start by over 2 hours in the end but that pesky fog just didn't want to clear and to be honest we had to start at some point as the delay to the Gauntlet was just delaying all the other races.

When Brian announced it was going to be a duathlon you could hear many groans and felt the disappointment of the athletes, that disappointed was shared by the organisors as well as I know they really wanted us to have a triathlon.

There is a lake there somewhere

The new format meant a 7km run, the 93km bike and then a 14km run to end, all in all not too bad, though the thought of a bike ride of that length after a hard run didn't feel me with much confidence. Instead of 2 swim waves, we were set off in 4 sub waves of each swim wave. This meant around 50-70 starters at each wave, a really good number to avoid overcrowding of the run and transition. I was due to start in the 2nd swim wave so had plenty of time to chat to friends and just chill. Eventually the time came and in all honesty not knowing who was in my AG or when they started it was just going to be a straight TT for the distance.

Run 1: This started well, we had had a huge downpour the previous evening and I thought the course might be a bit dodgy in places, and with using normal road shoes I thought it might be an interesting run to say the least. The conditions were actually quite good and it wasn't long before I got into a good decent run effort with me building the pace throughout the run, a decent (for me) 7km in 28 mins and I flew through transition and out onto the bike.

Bike: Knowing the course is a bit of a tough one, with grippy rough roads and a couple of challenging climbs I decided to do the first part at a hard effort and then ease off on the more rolling return to Lough Cutra. I was expecting my legs to feel the run effort but surprisingly I was happy rolling along at way over target power so it took a big effort to reign in my enthusiasm so that I didn't overdo the bike.

Some of the stunning scenery 

There felt like very little wind going out towards the midway point and I was happy overtaking athletes from the earlier waves and the speed felt good. I eventually passed another athlete from my AG, his number being one less than mine, but it had taken nearly 45km to do so. I just thought about how much faster he must have ran, or did he start in the wave before me, it was a bit of an unknown really. I felt great on the hills this year and with the lack of a headwind like last year I got to Corkscrew Hill feeling good and I felt great going up it. After reaching the top it is a fair few miles downhill and I used this time to recover and just try and keep the speed up. As we were now heading in a different direction I could feel the wind had got up, and it was now a bit of a cross headwind, that's why it felt good before.

Lough Bunny on the Route

Once to roads flattened off the wind was more noticeable and the earlier effort did start telling, though with the wind trying to slow things down it did mean keeping up the power to maintain the speed, and with the rolling roads some of the hills did slow you down a fair whack. Things were still going well and I felt much better than I have previously in a half ironman, a bit of a surprise given the run beforehand, but I was happy. After about 70km I did start experiencing some left leg weakness, and I think it is linked with the glute issue I have had previously. Although it wasn't pleasant it didn't hinder me too much and it did make me ease off a touch which in hindsight was probably a good thing.

2nd Run: After another swift transition it was out onto the run, legs felt rubbish and boy was it hot. It was now I realised that I should have taken on more fluid during the bike and I just felt so hot and dehydrated. After about 1 km my legs had settled down and I felt like I was running OK but it wasn't until about 2km in when I got to the 1st water station that some water and coke made me feel half decent. The running seemed to go well for the remainder of the lap but I walked the water stations to make sure I got fluid and coke in. 1st lap done and feeling even more ropey now, legs just don't want to push on, it wasn't long before the guy in my AG passed me on the run, at least I know he was obviously a faster runner now. With the last couple of kms to run I just tried to put in a good strong effort and get to the end.

Kilmacduagh Monastry just off the Route

I felt the 2nd run was rubbish, I just didn't seem to flow and I struggled a little in the heat. I don't know the reasons why the 2nd run felt terrible, my drop off in pace was only slightly worse than those finishing quicker than me. Perhaps that is just the nature of a duathlon, bike power was similar to last year and I felt so much better at the end of the bike compared to last year so although I might have overbiked at some points in the main I feel the bike wasn't overly hard. I do think I should have taken on more nutrition however, 2 bottles of energy drink for that sort of distance is pushing it a tad, but then again I am a bit of a novice at half ironman. That combined with the heat probably done it in for me.

Overall really happy though, really surprised to end up in 10th place overall and 2nd in the 45-49 AG, certainly wasn't expecting that when it was changed to a duathlon.

1st Run 28:09
Bike 2:30:59
2nd Run 1:06:59

Total Time 4:07:52

Big thanks to Castle Triathlon for another great event, and also to Secret Training for providing the fuel to get me round.

Onwards to the Cholmondeley Castle in 2 weeks time, hopefully with the swim this time.

Lough Cutra Gauntlet Preview

I thought I would just do a quick preview of the start of my challenge to compete all 5 Castle Triathlon Series Gauntlet events, oh and the Bastion in the middle of them.

The thought of it, especially the July period, does scare me a tad still. I really have no idea of how I will recover from a half ironman to compete at a full ironman 2 weeks later, and then do another half ironman 2 weeks after that, at least I will go into the 1st of the 5 at Lough Cutra in a fully fit and rested state and have a month to get fully recovered before the 2nd one.

I have had a great winter and spring build up, since starting being coached by Darren Jenkins, we have slowly built up my fitness to a level I have only ever reached when purely cycling. My winter fears of too slow a build up have been proven to be totally unwarranted, Darren has got me here in such an easy manner it is hard to believe how fit I appear to be on paper. Hardly any missed sessions, no illnesses, only one or two failed sessions, all in all the best ever winter/spring season I think I have ever had. Big thanks also need to go to Secret Training for supporting me with my nutritional needs, it has kept me fueled throughout my training and recovery.

Swimming has improved, running has improved, cycling has remained pretty solid so I would expect to have become a better triathlete, let's hope it translates to racing.

As to my thoughts about Lough Cutra, it is a wonderful event which this year is part of the Triathlon Ireland National Series so sees another increase in competitors in the Gauntlet, this is fantastic news as it can only draw in an even higher class of triathlete to compete against. The numbers have increased so much that there is now 2 starting waves, ideally I would have liked a single wave as as well as competing again my Age Group competitors, I do like to compete against the whole field from the start. Obviously the numbers mean there is no option of one start so my aim for the day is to race as hard as I can and just see where I end up, at least I get to watch the 1st wave go off and then relax for a little while for my wave to get going.

What am I expecting, well I am not sure to be honest, last year was a bit of a case of doing a decent swim and a great bike, but as my running had been crap leading up to the event the run was only ever going to be a decent training run. This year obviously things have been great, I am hoping the swim is faster, just need to get on some real good feet, the bike is unlikely to be faster but I hope to be at least around the same time as last year, I guess the wind direction will have the biggest impact. As for the run, now I aim to attack this with a bit of relish, I know what sort of pace I can do in a standalone HM now so the aim in reality is to try for this pace and see how long I can keep it up for.

I am really looking forward to Sunday, it's time to really get going this season and see how the winter has paid off. Let's get racing :)