Ironman Copenhagen

I finally got around to writing up my Ironman Copenhagen race – only two months late. It’s posted on the GreenlightPT squad website which you can access from the link below:

IM Copenhagen – 2017

As for what’s next – I’ve no idea! I’ve now ticked the IM box so to speak so in theory I don’t need to do another do I? (Although it would be nice to get some decent finish line pictures!)

Swim course at Amager Beach

Mixed day predicted!

Early morning enroute to the start

Nearly time….

Swim start

Leaving T1

Approaching T2

 

 

 

 

The reward!

Swings and roundabouts

It was all going so well, got rid of the lurgy, knee was starting to feel good, was only 1 second off my 400m PB in our squad TT and had a solid race at the Southern XC Champs at Parliament Hill. Buoyed by this I booked my London marathon travel, a warm up half marathon and a post London 5km. It all looked like it was finally starting to come together. Midweek miles were stacking up and the weekend mileage about to start. I had a great 70 minute run on Wednesday followed by squad swim, then boom, penultimate rep, last length and cramp in my calf. Tried to kick it off but ended up hanging off a lane rope trying to avoid getting mown down by the boys behind me.

It’s not the first time I’ve had cramp swimming and normally by the time I’ve got out the pool it’s subsided except this time it didn’t. Next morning I struggled to walk and my swim on Friday was mostly completed with a pull buoy. So off to the physio I hobbled and it turns out I have managed to tear my calf swimming. That’s me with no running for two weeks, will miss the final Chiltern XC League match for my club and may well put my London place in jeopardy.

But foregoing London would not be the end of the world. In all honesty it’s not my A race.  It is a ‘nice to have’ and I would really  like to go sub 3:30. It would be a great confidence boost going into Copenhagen but at what cost? The time I need to spend running costs me time on the bike and to be honest this year I think I’ve only ridden outside once and when you’re supposed to concentrate on your weakest element of the race it just doesn’t add up. So as annoying as it would be missing London, it would mean I get more time to get some miles in on the bike and might even pass a few people come Copenhagen!

So, the next few weeks will dictate what happens over the next few months – I’m still gunning for London but it wont be the end of the world if it doesn’t happen as there are benefits to be gained by not doing it – as they say, ‘swings and roundabouts’…

Countdown to Copenhagen – 30 weeks to go…

Thirty sounds like quite a big number so there’s no nervousness yet. It’s a long way ahead and plenty going on between now and then. Although with plenty going on, I know thirty will become twenty, then ten and then we’ll be into single figures and then I’ll really start to worry!

The lurgy has now passed and the knee is starting to feel a bit better so training last has been back in full swing. After a relatively easy week last week, this week it ramped up a little bit, not much but the most training I’ve done since well before Christmas. Last weekend was the penultimate Chiltern Cross Country League match. I’ve not really done much running at all since the Winter Half marathon so was a bit nervous about it. Especially as it was a flat and fast course and I had raced really well there last year. As it happened, it wasn’t too bad considering! Got some good points for the team, had two rather cold runs through a water jump (it was held at an equestrian centre) and although not at my best felt like a solid run so good news from that point of view.

The main focus now is London. With just over 12 weeks to go there is plenty of time yet. I’m in better shape at this point that I was last year which is good. Still a couple of niggles but nothing to worry about at this point. Just need to stay healthy and keep the miles ticking over…

 

 

Getting ready – plans for 2015

Edmonton, Canada

Watching Top Gear tonight and their trip to Canada made me reminisce about my trip to Edmonton last year and also reminded me that I hadn’t written anything here for a couple of months. As my race number for the MK half dropped through the door this week it seems quite timely to update what is going on in my world.

The MK Half will be my first race of the year. It should have been the Bucks County XC Champs but as has been the case since May last year, my calf had other ideas. A common theme throughout my posts last year was my struggles with issues with both my calf’s. Although my running has gone from strength to strength (I’ve PB’d at every distance raced in the last 12 months) my calf’s neglected to join the party. Any time I run over 10 miles or a hard track session they give up, cramp up and generally cause me grief to the point I finished most of my running races nearly in tears and then need loads of physio to get me running for my next triathlon. Funny thing is, I never get the problem in a tri…

Anyway, after the MK Winter Half in December, I took some time off from running, ramped up the physio and have spent most of the winter doing strengthening exercises. Touch wood, the problem has eased massively but I’m nervous about next Sunday. It’s so early in the season and I’ve lots planned so first sign of trouble and I’ll be backing off!

Aside from my running woes everything else is going pretty well. I decided at the end of last year that I wanted to have a bit more structure to my training so have teamed up with Adam from GreenlightPT and it’s already working wonders. My time off the road has been well spent on the bike (mostly the turbo thanks to the wonderful British weather) and in just 8 weeks I managed to increased by FTP by 10%. I also decided to treat my swimming with a bit more respect, rather than the necessary evil that triathletes have to endure and have made some big gains in the pool over the last few weeks.

‘Percy’

I also treated myself to a TT bike. After my son started school in September I decided to up my hours at work back to full time and along with an unexpected pay rise, the extra cash was burning a hole so I now am the proud owner of a Planet X TT. It’s still sat on the turbo but as soon as the weather clears up we’ll be whipping up and down the lanes of North Bucks and South Northants. I know it’s all about the engine that drives it but to quote a well known supermarket ‘every little helps’!

So the next few months will be a lot of hard work to get ready for the ITU qualifiers, Outlaw Half and the ETU Champs in Geneva. I’m really looking forward to Outlaw. With an improved bike leg I know there’s gains to be made as long as I can run comfortably. I’ve no idea how the qualifiers will go. I’m now the baby in a new age group with the over 40s – I only turned 39 10 weeks ago so have no idea where I sit in the scheme of things, and am very conscious of the fact I got lucky with my qualification for Edmonton last year – hopefully luck with be with me again this year!

Thank you 2014…you were great

It has to be said, from my point of view, it’s been a pretty awesome year and beyond my wildest expectations.

As the clocked turned midnight at the start of the year, I was injured (again) but with one main goal and a ‘would like to have’ goal. The main goal was to complete the Outlaw Half in a decent time plus at some point get 1:40 in a half marathon (current PB was 1:45). As it turned out – I achieved both and a whole lot more. I wont bore you with the details – the rest of the blog is full of it, but in summary:

• Duston pool triathlon – age group win (April)
• MK Half Marathon – PB 1:42 (May)
• Outlaw Half 5:42 – earning me a European Middle Distance Triathlon Champs place (June)
• Dambuster – Qualified for World AG Triathlon Champs (and subsequently European AG Champs)
• MK 10km – PB 45:02 (July)
• MK Triathlon – age group win (July)
• Parkrun – PB 21:03
• ITU World Triathlon Champs in Edmonton Canada – 41st place (August)
• Northampton Half Marathon – 3rd in County AG Champs (September)
• ETU Middle Distance Champs in Paguera, Mallorca – 19th place (October)
• MK Winter Half – pb 1:39 (December)

I knew deep down with the right training and some luck with injuries there was some good stuff in there but I just needed to get to it! But with support from my family and friends and some fantastic help from GreenlightPT, I achieved things beyond anything I could have predicted at the start of the year. My swimming has gone from strength to strength, my cycling is getting there and my running has hit numbers I never thought possible. Running with Redway Runners is always good fun and there’s always someone to run with and the GreenlightPT squad are a great crew – swimming on a Wednesday has been such good fun, even when we’re a mess by the end of it.

My proudest moment was the parade from the athletes tent in Edmonton to the lake for the start of the ITU World AG Champs – we were led by pipers and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a lump in my throat.

So, what about 2015? Well I hope for more of the same – I’m giving GB AG qualifying a bash with the hope of a slot for Chicago and also getting that sub 5:30 for a half ironman. I’m actually (for the first time in about 5 years) hitting New year uninjured and raring to go. I’m working with Adam at GreenlightPT again and hope to outdo this year – it’ll be a tough call but I’m ready…are you?

Medal haul for 2014

What a month….!

Sorry, no posts since early June, but it’s been a bit of a whirlwind few weeks. Following the Outlaw Half I didn’t really do much, then I remembered that I’d got a late entry to Dambuster on 21st June (booked in just before I injured myself at the MK Half!) so then spent a week trying to get my legs to remember how to move a bit faster than they had done for the past few months.

I wasn’t looking forward to it – although I had retained my fitness from Outlaw I really wasn’t feeling it – I’d only entered on a whim with an eye on an outside chance at a qualifying spot for the ETU Champs in Geneva next year, but as it also doubled up at the qualifier for the ITU Champs this year at about 4:30pm the day before I found myself registering for selection for that too…

Following a 3:30am alarm call I made the journey to Rutland Water, a truly beautiful location for a triathlon. I hadn’t quite appreciated what a big event it was – there were a lot of people there, two transition areas, the women and older men in a field behind the main transition and numerous waves – and immediately worried I may be out of my depth!

As it turns out, it wasn’t too bad – I had a good swim, albeit slighlty longer due to following some feet down the final stretch of someone who was aiming for the wrong buoy! My bike was ok – spend most of it with people passing me, as usual, but it was a tough route and I rode strongly for me – whipped past a load of people on the hill at Ketton and then actually had a great run – I was only passed by a couple of people and I passed loads! My overall time wasn’t far off my Olympic pb so considering the long transition and long bike route I was pretty pleased with myself!

Anyway to cut to the point of the post – I did qualify – for the ITU World Champs in Edmonton, Canada in September! A combination of people ahead of me either having already qualified or not put themselves forward for selection meant I rolled in at the fourth qualifying spot! Following the official notification we spend a frantic couple of days to see if the logistics were possible – further complicated by a second notification a few days later to notify me I had also qualified for the ETU Middle Distance Champs in Mallorca in October as a result of my time at Outlaw.

So, as you can imagine it was a complete whirlwind of a month – I am so chuffed, but under no illusion, the Canada spot is good fortune due to the location of the event meaning it’s probably not as difficult to get in as if it were to be held in London – but regardless, I will be going (family holiday!) and will be proud to be part of the team and do my best. We’re all booked up and looking forward to it.

Mallorca is also on – just some finer details to sort out with the flights – and this is my main ‘A’ race. Canada is a welcome distraction en-route to this and I will be working towards that as an ‘A’ race too but I know the main goal is the half. I came away from Outlaw really pleased with what I’d achieved, but knowing there’s more in there so I now have an opportunity to give it a go.

Ironically – I didn’t qualify for the ETU race in Geneva (the main reason I did Dambuster!) – but I am top roll down at the moment so might still happen! There are two other qualifiers but I’m unable to do either of them so I’ll let fate determine what happens with that…

Knowing how well my 70.3 plan worked for Outlaw (and by default Dambuster) I have enlisted GreenlightPT‘s help again to train for this and have a plan to follow – it starts tomorrow…with a rest day!

 

Outlaw Half – Race Day – this is it!!!

19 weeks ago I decided to blog about my training for the Outlaw Half – thank you if you’ve stuck with it and apologies for my endless droning on about injury and tiredness and whatever else I felt like moaning about. Despite the groans, I have actually really enjoyed it – I’ve been pushed to my limits at times both mentally and physically and this has felt way harder than marathon training.

Four weeks ago I felt super fit and ready to smash it – three weeks and 6 days ago I hurt my calf enroute to a half marathon PB and to be honest my confidence has taken a bit of a blow. I feel ready, but not as ready as I did feel. I’m quietly hopeful my leg will hold out on the run and let me run how I want to.

But, it is what it is and the race weekend has arrived. I’m all packed, washed the bike, cleaned out the car, had a kit run through as per our GreenlightPT training weekend, packed up my son’s bag for a weekend at the Grandparents and apart from finishing off this post am all set…

Kit check

There’s a large group of us from MK travelling up to Nottingham tomorrow, plus a sizable section of support. We’ve done the training, can’t do anymore now – come on boys and girls – let’s do this!!

To follow the action there’s a live tracker http://www.onestepbeyond.org.uk/the-outlaw-half-live-results.php – I’m #1065

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Outlaw Half Training – Week 16-17 done – PB, injury and taper

Week 16 was the final recovery week before the taper starts and what better way to start a recovery week than a race! Bank Holiday Monday was the Milton Keynes Marathon and Half Marathon and I ran the half and ran myself into a new half marathon PB. The downside was the pain in my achilles and calf I felt towards the end of the race didn’t disappear with the other achey muscles and by Thursday I was at the physio. The muscles were so tight to continue running would be asking for trouble – with the St Neots Olympic Triathlon booked for the Sunday it didn’t look good. After been told I shouldn’t run for a few weeks I mentioned that fact I was due to race and was told I could race but shouldn’t really run – although if it felt ok after a short test run on Saturday I could take it slowly.

Probably didn’t help matters that I took the day off on Wednesday and went out with the ‘Wednesday cycle group’ – a group that my father in law rides with – they do push the speed a bit but I felt I needed a bit of a test after a relatively slow ride to the Beacon the previous weekend. It was also the day the Womens Tour of Britain started and came right through Northants finishing in Northampton – just up the road from me – so the route for the group was a trip to the Dairy Farm at Upper Stowe then a saunter across the other side of the A5 to Kislingbury to catch the peloton as they raced past. I struggled to start off with as I still had the tough half marathon in my legs but once I got going it wasn’t too bad and it’s not every day a major cycling road race passes through your manor! by the end of the ride I’d another 47 miles under my belt.

With no running possible I did an 40km on the bike on Saturday followed by a 10 minute easy jog to test my leg. It didn’t feel right but wasn’t painful so I resolved to race at St Neots but decide on the run when it happened.

The St Neots Triathlon is one of the first open water triathlons of the season. Run by NiceTri Events it was the first time I’ve taken part. We had a 150om swim in the River Ouse, followed by a two lap bike that headed out towards Grafham Water before takinig in a bit of a hill at Little Staughton. The run was then a four lap run around the Riverside Park. The race was supposed to be a bit of a warm up for Outlaw, a chance to race half the distance a few weeks out but to be honest with my bad calf I realistically knew I couldn’t race it so my heart wasn’t really in it. I enjoyed the swim and felt I’d swum well coming out of the water quite well up. It was very cold so I struggled to get bike shoes on and then just couldn’t get warm on the bike. I struggled big time and spent most of the bike leg being passed.

I got back from the bike leg and started on the run but it was clear after a lap that I probably shouldn’t continue. The ground underfoot was a mixture of path and grass so wasn’t the best mix of surfaces if you have a dodgy calf. My leg didn’t hurt but wasn’t right – after one lap I pulled out. Not how I wanted to end the day but there was no point making it worse. On the upside I did get a chance to cheer on the others which was great.

Week 17 was the first week of taper – same training sessions but turbo brick changed to a ride and I exhanged interval session for a physio session as I couldn’t really run. I needed an easy week as I think as well as being injured I’d still managed to over do it – 160 miles of cycling plus a hard half marathon and most of an Olympic Triathlon.

I did have a long 80km ride/run to do which went really well – I used it to test out my nutrition and managed to get a reasonably steady 3km run done after. I rounded off on Sunday with a quick lake swim and an easy 4 mile run – leg was ok but still not right.

Just two weeks to go…

Outlaw Half Training – Week 12-15 done – the hard work is complete (I think)…

Week 12 was a recovery week – all the usual sessions but without the brick runs and a much shorter ride and run at the weekend.

Week 13-15 was the start of the second block of build weeks. Longer brick runs and the rides building up to 90km all followed by a run. At the end of week 13 I also took part in my first triathlon of the season at Duston, which as I’ve already blogged about was a great success!

I also took another swim clinic with GreenlightPT as it had been a few months since my last one. I had been working on the various points that Adam had picked up last time with my head position, cross over on my pull and my exit on the pull so was keen to see if I had managed to fix these issues, plus the session always has a few time trials to check on performance.

I am pleased to say I had improved on all counts and my 400m TT time was a season’s best by some way and not too far off my overall PB. As ever though I came away with more to work on and a super tough endurance session that has really made me work in the pool.

Week 15 was rounded off with a full length 90km ride followed by a short run. I wanted to try to build a hill into the ride similar to the main hill at Outlaw and received a variety of suggestions, one of which was Ivinghoe Beacon, which would be around 50 mile round trip from home. I’ve never ridden this hill before so thought it would be a good one to try. Just to make the day really tough it started early in the morning at Box End, near Bedford. A quick lap of the cable lake – my first open water dip of the year – before heading home for a quick bowl of porridge and out on the bike.

I rode alone as my brother-in-law, who I normally cycle with has injured his hip and was unable to ride but it was a good test for me as I have to ride alone at Outlaw. It made for a tough ride as it was quite windy in places and although the only notable hill was the Beacon, there were a few undulations out there to keep the legs burning, but took me through some beautiful countryside before the climb up to the Beacon. The inital climb starts down in the village of Ivinghoe – I started the gentle incline strongly when a 4×4 decided to come round me and slam its brakes on – no idea why but the end result was me in a heap in the road still attached to my bike and said 4×4 driving off. The road was quite a busy B road so I didn’t want to be lying in the road for long, but typically couldn’t get my shoes off my pedals as I was lying down and then realised my Garmin was still going! Not sure what concerned me more, lying in a main road or the thought of my Garmin still running. Either way, I resolved both situations swiftly. A couple of drivers had stopped to check I was alright. Luckily no damage to me or the bike that I could see, although I was concerned about my new trisuit which I was testing as I had landed heavily on my side.

I dusted myself off and continued on my way, a little bit angry at events – I have no idea what the driver thought they were doing but they clearly had no concept of other road users, particularly cyclists and it was clear why so many accidents happen. With the bit between my teeth I took the Beacon by its horns and had a nice steady ride to the top – even passing another cyclist on the way. It wasn’t as bad as I had been led to believe – quite long, but more of a gentle drag than a major slog. It kicks up a bit towards the end but the views you are rewarded with on the way more than make up for it.

I stopped at the top to have a check I was alright after my fall and I could feel my left leg had taken a bit of a bashing – nothing too serious but could feel there would be bruises in a few days. From the top of the Beacon I was a bit hazy about the route back down to Ivinghoe. I could return the way I came but wanted to take a more scenic route through Ashridge Park, down Tom’s Hill and through Aldbury (anyone who watches Midsomer Murders will recognise it) – only problem was my phone couldn’t get a signal so my route wouldn’t show. i decided to play it by ear and make it up as I went along. I knew roughly where I wanted to go so set off down through the Park, eventually arriving at the top of Tom’s Hill (glad I didn’t come up that!) and descended into Aldbury. From Aldbury I found a signpost that pointed to Tring (wrong direction) so took a punt on a random road that I thought headed in the right direction – luckily it did and I found myself back in Ivinghoe village and on the route home.

Although hit wasn’t particularly hilly going home it did feel like a long slog but gradually the miles ticked over and I reached home in 61 miles. A fair bit over the 90km I was supposed to do but with a few stops I figured it had evened itself out! A quick run after to round of the full triathlon day and that gave me the confidence to know I can complete the Outlaw Half.

 

Milton Keynes Half Marathon – Race Report

I was looking forward to this run, first time I’ve actually really looked forward to a running race in a long while. My training for the Outlaw Half on June 1st has been going well and my long runs have been much quicker than anything I’ve done in the past, and all done on tired legs following a long ride the day before.

So, with a day’s rest before the race I knew this could be a PB potential race! My current PB for a half is a touch under 1:46 and based on what I’ve done in training I knew that was a good realistic target.

As always the day started with a team photo. DLRR met outside McDonald’s at Stadium MK, home of the MK Dons although without our revered leader (he was managing the marshals today) it was a somewhat less formal affair – no idea who actually took the photo, but it appeared on Facebook during the event so the result was there!

The Milton Keynes Marathon is now in its third year. After marshalling the first year in torrential rain, running the marathon in a heat wave last year, I jumped at the chance to run the half when they introduced it this year. You get all the camaraderie of a major marathon, but only half the distance to run – what more could you ask for? The course for the half followed the same route as the marathon until just before the 10 mile mark when the marathon runners turned off to continue along the city redways  while we continued to the stadium to finish.

Stadium MK is a great venue to start and finish an event – plenty of parking, as many toilets as you could want (all very clean!) and loads of space for runners and supporters.

The start was a short walk away from the stadium on one of the main roads heading towards the city centre. There were no waves this year so runners were free to start wherever they wished. This was good news for me as I was keen to run with the 3:30 marathon pacer (8 min miles). I headed to the start and tried to look the pacer out – all the pacers had big blue balloons  so they could be spotted easily, except I could only find the 3:45 guy – there were two other pacers near the front that I could see but hadn’t got a hope in hell of getting near enough to find out whether that was the one I was looking for. I decided to just pace myself and see if I could stumble across the pacer early on in the race. With the course doubling back quite a bit in the early miles I knew I should be able to spot him.

The first couple of miles follows one of the main city roads up towards the City Centre. It’s a gradual climb so it’s good for keeping the pace in check early on. The first of the loop back sections came just before we entered the City Centre and was a good chance to check where I was in the scheme of things – plus I spotted the 8 min pacer – he was quite some way ahead of me so I doubted at that point I’d be able to catch up so I decided to carry on as I was. Miles 3-7 consisted of loops of the City Centre grid square. It sounds bad on paper but in reality it was great – the terrain is undulating – we entered the City at almost its highest point and ran down almost to the station before running back up and looping around the various boulevards. For a club like DLRR it’s a bit like a normal Sunday run – we loopback to the slowest runner to keep the group together – it’s a very social format and I spent most of that 5 miles waving and shouting at fellow runners as we spotted each other across the carriageway!

All this joviality meant I wasn’t clock watching too much which is no bad thing as the undulations meant my mile times varied by over 30 seconds but I was making good time as we left the City Centre and headed back down the main road towards the stadium. The road out of the city was a nice long downhill and gave me a chance to stretch my legs a bit and see how I felt – still plenty of running there – I could also see the 8 min pacer getting nearer – I was averaging well under 8 min miles and even by mile 8 I hadn’t caught him so not sure how far under he was!

At the roundabout before the stadium the course turns left and heads along the V9 Groveway – a road I know well as I drive along it every day on my way to work at the Open University. It starts nice and flat then as you approach the river Ouzel it swings down before sweeping back up past the OU. We had to run the length of it as far as the roundabout before taking a U-turn and running all the way back again. It was a great opportunity to see other runners coming the other way – I could see the top end of  the half marathon race heading back towards the stadium. At about 8 1/2 miles I finally caught up with the 8 minute pacer. I was actually travelling faster than 8 minute pace now so swung straight past his group – best laid plans and all that!

About half a mile after the U-turn the marathon and half marathon split with the long haul guys heading off onto the redways and the half marathon continuing back towards the stadium. Once the split occurred the road suddenly thinned out and first time I ran on my own for a bit. We climbed back up the road and headed towards the stadium but as we’d only reached 11 miles we had to run back past the stadium and round a small lake before running back up to the stadium again.

This is a little disheartening as you can see the finish area and people already running towards it, but you have to run right on past it…it was at this point that I could feel my calf and achilles getting really tight – almost cramp like. I felt like I had loads left in the tank but couldn’t up my pace too much for fear of doing some damage. This isn’t my A race of the year and I couldn’t afford to take  the risk. It got to the stage where almost every step sent a pain up my leg, made even worse when we left the road to run round the lake. This was on footpaths that weren’t in the best condition, not good when your leg is on the verge of cramping up. Nevertheless I stuck with it, I knew I was on for a PB, but not sure how much.  Somehow I managed to  churn out a 7:30 mile just before the end and held on.

The run out into the stadium is magnificent – for a reasonably small club the stadium is large – Rugby World Cup matches will be held here in 2015 so it holds a fair few people. Nowhere near full today but enough to make a noise to get the heart pumping. We had to run around three sides of the pitch to finish – never has a football pitch seemed so big – but I managed to step up a gear and cross the line in 1:42:18 – a new PB by well over 3 minutes!

I was so pleased with my run, everything went to plan, apart from the calf/achilles issue and I know I had more to come. It means I go into Outlaw knowing I’ve got a good half under my belt but also know 1:40 is there for the taking later in the year…

I must add that the marshals and volunteers out on the course and at the stadium were amazing. There were loads of them and were all very vocal – although it helps that a lot of them were from DLRR! Having marshalled a few years ago, I know what a long day it can be and they did a sterling job. Some of the best in the business – and I’ve run a lot of races over the years to know that!

It does go to show that you can still run well off the back of triathlon training – I’m only really running twice a week properly under my GreenlightPT with an interval session and a long run but it seems to be working for me…

 

The medal – one of the best I’ve got in terms of design!

Milton Keynes Marathon Half Marathon Route