Running- and no AT

So finally running is coming on but boy is it a hard grind. The physical effects of a long run seem to me now to be my key limiter. Following the 10 % rule of run progression ( don't increase run volume by greater than 10 % in any week) I can now get 17 miles without stopping or any Achilles tendinitis.

Oh joy to not have the deep pain of AT, that ache in the morning, the discomfort at the start of the run that often eases after a few miles only to come back as your run progresses and then that bite again the following morning. What do I attribute to this success so far.... because I fear it can come back at a drop of a hat! Well I think it was lots of free weights especially deep squats and springing up at the end as well as swinging some kettle bells done during the autumn. This dynamic loading of my Achilles has presumably built up the strength there and made them stronger!

With under 4 weeks to Lanzarote  I need to balance the recovery from the long runs with the need for more endurance and a desire to get the run more progressed for IMUK. I plan to try and get two more in with my last long run being 12 days out from IM Lanza. Will it work will the taper be long enough? Who knows but it will be interesting to see.

 Before Lanzarote there is the small matter of Liege Bastogne Liege 270-280 km of Belgium hills with 4500 m of climbing. It seemed such a good idea back in October.  I am hoping it will push my biking to breaking point but not beyond allowing a bounce back in time for the IM. At least the bike leg will seem like a breeze after this.

Finally planning to do the london triathlon two weeks after Lanzarote which is going to be interesting. Speed work 2 weeks after an Ironman usually hurts!  Another interesting idea. I must stop having them.

Progress

At 46 years I don't feel old.... But I no longer feel young either. Ironman training is good simulation for the ageing progress. You tend to feel tired a lot of the time, it sometimes hurts to get up in the morning but you know your not going to stop you doing what you need to do. You also get a bit wiser with experience knowing perhaps when to back off and when there is still a bit more to be gained. More attention to recovery is required and I find more and more that the short intensity stuff leaves me fatigued and eats into the next session of training.

This year has seen some highly motivated LFTCers doing regular long weekend rides; This, along with a focus on a small little sportive, Liege Bastogne Liege, has seen my out riding regularly each weekend and boy has it helped. The team ethic of getting out early and getting it done has enabled us to put in some big miles and climbs. Watching others getting stronger and more confident has been great and I am looking forward to some really strong bike rides from a few club members at Ironman France.

With Ironman Lanzarote I am pretty confident I am in a good place for my swimming and cycling. The running has progressed with 5 weeks of injury free running but I am short on volume. As result I am planning to try a minimal taper for Lanzarote and hopefully a smooth transition into a block of run training for IMUK. You never know, with the right balance, I should be there or thereabouts come Bolton.

Riding longer

For those with an interest I authored a blog on LFTC club blog on my insights into the bike leg of an ironman race. Its-all-about-bike

Continuing the theme I though I would report back on my first ever audax or randonneur event that I participated in with John from LFTC.

What is an Audax and why bother? Audax is long distance cycling. A bit like a low rent sportive you are given a list of directions to follow a route, and more recently a gpx file for your garmin. Along the route will be various checkpoints some manned and others asking you to identify some unique information (like who's name is on the bench at the crossroads in the middle of wherever it is you are meant to be going). Some of the checkpoints have got a cafe or e.g. At the town hall on our first stop they were doing tea and bacon butties.

Another term for these events are reliability rides. It is more amiable than a sportive and yet still suitably challenging. Kind of like a large club ride but with people you don't know. Inevitably you form groups and after about 60 km I spent the remaining 150 km with pretty much the same group.

The advantage of the route is you use someone else's knowledge to guide you on a long ride via some interesting scenery. It was fun. Occasionally we would miss the route but a combination of garmins and paper quickly out us back on track.

The ride itself was fun if a bit on the flat side and with a last 20 km into Southall and out again! Not sure why this was felt to be a good idea and coined a new term the urban audax. Apparently this is not the goal.

Finished with 208 km 7 hrs 30 mins or so of riding and a bit of sunburn. I felt particularly good in the run iand did some strong pulls on the front.

Next stop is Liege Bastard Liege  in april 25th which is 270 km with a lot of hills. Should be fun.



... the less said about running the better.

Pushing Iron?

Its official the IM Lanzarote entry is done. So base training is officially started.

The goals this side of Xmas is to get some miles back in the saddle with some regular 4 hr rides and to build some muscle. The adviec from many aged triathlon (Friel, Allen, Gordo) gurus is that the older you get the more important the weights become. So I have embarked on a 12 week conditioning programme to put on a bit of bulk which should see me a bit stronger as I start to push things come Spring time.

The aim is to prevent training injuries and increase overall muscular endurance. Meanwhile swimming is improving but running seems like a forgotten art. Hopefully it is something I can relearn as running has always been my key limiter in races. To really succeed in placing well in an ironman the marathon needs to be at least a 3:30 in my AG to get up towards the sharp end and ideally a bit faster still. With one run at 3:24 I know this achievable but also know it needs a consistent steady approach.

So back to th weights.... And the isolation of underused muscle groups. They can sure ache a few days later but I hope soon this will become less as I get used to the training stress. Kettle bells seem to feature as a particular source of agony and it is official I bench press like a girl!

Back in Training

It's been a while since I posted. A whole year in fact. Last year life overtook any aspirations in training which culminated in standing on the banks of lake Zurich disillusioned with the whole ironman thing. A year away a few running injuries and some unmet goals see me looking forward to returning to Ironman in 2014. While training has not been zero it has not been great. Demoted a lane at the Tri club and dropped regularly when circling Regents Park I know there is a lot to be done.

Luckily as ever I have a plan....

Some of the plan is to fully address my key limiters to performance e.g. The run. Some of the plan is getting the life work balance back. Some of the plan is to use the knowledge from 9 previous ironmans to set a new performance best.

Reality Bites IM Switzerland Race Report

This was my third time of entering IMCH and my second time of racing after pulling out in 2010. My first race here was pretty good. I thought this was a course suited to my strengths with a fast bike course with some steady hills and then an "interesting" run which was protected from the sun and to my mind provided enough variation to keep from getting overwhelmed by the distance.

Preparation had been patchy this year as the shere volume of work has left me unable or unwilling to meet the previous years training volumes. The endless rain had not helped, seeing me fail to get out for several weekends when I could not face getting drenched, but with a confidence built from experience and my previous race here I was quietly confident of a good performance around 10 hours and talking my self up even thought a 9:45 was possible.

Build up was OK and travel arrangements all went smoothly.

Race day arrived with mixed weather assumed and soon we were at the swim start. In 2009 we started in the water this year we started on the bank. As I stood waiting I chatted with a German who was calm and mentioned how he was a bit underwhelmed being at the start of another ironman (I guess he had done a few). The swim started and the next 10 minutes were some of the toughest swimming I have ever had. People could not swim straight and kept going over my legs pushing me down. I was maxxed out until we reached the first buoy. Having trained to recover in the swim I was able to get it under control but it was a tough start. The rest of the swim went smoothly, with no repeat of getting lost as I managed in 2009. In fact having bothered to work out the sighting from the second buoy I swam a much straighter line than most from the second buoy since I swam to the bridge and not to the island. Out onto the island you then run across and jump back in for a second lap. All felt well and I was swimming what felt a good time.

Out of the water and got some cheers from LFTRI club supporters, a first for me coming out of the swim! In T1 I decided on a gilet and arm warmers and was soon out zipping with the lake to my side. I felt I was not pushing too hard but was at a level I thought I could sustain. My heart rate was around 150 which was probably too high!! the first 40 km were nailed in 1:04 (a lot of flat and a small hill). The draft fest of previous years was not so obvious and the busters were out there doing their work with plenty of whistling, words and a few yellow cards. The first inkling of trouble to come came at the beast, a climb a bit like boxhill only longer. I was one paced up the hill and had no zip, OK I thought my legs are misbehaving they will come back. I pushed on and went through the first lap in 2:31 a repeat of 2009. Back alongside the Lake and I was still going well and until we turned inland and up the hill. First one went fine, then there was some descent and then another small hill,

Suddenly it felt like it was all over! I started to bonk, lost all power and had to really concentrate to stay upright. Slowing I concentrated on eating and drinking. I realised I had not been fuelling properly and my lack of recent cycling became apparent. The next 50 km were tough. There is a long drag up past the tram line which seemed to last forever. Rain, hail, sun whatever the weather made little practical difference to me as I battled with my body to keep going. Back into Zurich and I rallied a bit only to blow again in the last 10km. It is a funny thing to look down at your legs and wonder why they just wont work. I was struggling to get 20 mph on a flat road with the wind behind me. Finally I entered T2 my race plan blown and the realisation that I still had a marathon to do from the worst position I could think of.

T2 was slow. I broke my watch and thought long and hard about whether I really wanted to struggle through a marathon. The thoughts of all my team mates and supporters was enough to get me out on the run but it felt tough and the idea of completing seemed unlikely. However 8 previous ironman races has some advantages. I knew I just had to keep going if I was to finish. I knew I needed to concentrate on feeding and beating the fatigue and not worry how fast I was going. I knew that their would be some better patches at some point when I might be able to pick up time. I knew to not think about the whole but to focus on short goals, the next feed station the next distance marker the next lap. I also knew to find energy from supporters helpers other athletes, each interaction however small breaks up the mental battle with yourself, a smile, a little shout of support a brief shared moment all help to break the mental challenge or persuading your body to do something it does not want to. It was not pretty but it was done. In fact the fastest split of the day was my last 3 km (running at a pace that last year I sustained for the whole of the marathon).

So it was done.

Some more reflections are needed but the reality is that my race represents my training fairly. The challenges of work this year have left me with less time and energy to commit to my training. 10 hrs 30 minutes is respectable but not where I want to race at this time so a review of my goals is needed. Perhaps it is time to take the pressure out of my hobby and race for fun rather than for performance.

Not getting slower (much)

Back to Wimbleball for another go. After last year I had a plan to come back ready to attack the hills and make a deal of the run. In the next 364 days things did not seem to go to plan and I came back to the same hills and had the same thoughts like "why do I do this?" and "Can I stop now?"

Race stats

Swim           28:49
T1                5:33   (armageddon*)
Bike             2:59:16
T2                01:44  (tent to myself)
Run              01:46:47

This roughly equates to what I did last year with bike and swim a bit faster and the run a bit slower.Swim was confident and steady. The T1 experience was hell. At most events I am not in the thick of it coming out of the swim. Because of being in the second wave it was packed and the tent was way to small. This was in keeping with the entire logistics for the event which were frankly appalling and do not bode well for the new WTC led Ironman UK franchise. Still I stayed calm put my kit on got my bike ran to the start line and then....

More Chaos. About 50 bikes with cyclists variably attached trying to mount on a sharp hill.Some pushing bikes some trying to get their feet into shoes some falling into the bushes and me shouting encouragement ;-). Too many bikes not enough thought! still I then put the hammer down for the first lap pulling along a varied contingent of others. My objective being to get out of the midfield pack deter any wannabees and find some riders on about the right pace. seemed to work. Probably went to hard the first lap and had to rein it in a bit for the second lap but still result was OK.

Back into to a lovely quiet T2 and out on the run. Soon new what it was going to be and decided to take it steady. Ticked off the laps and came home in a slow time.

Nice to meet with various trilondoners LFTri folk and other racers and in a better post race environment would have stayed longer. However the whole fiasco of queueing to get in and out meant that I was keen to be out as soon as possible. The recovery tent was mean too. You got a bottle of water some gatorade filth and a hog roast bap. Ur that's is folks. No buffet of nibbles sugary salty stuff tea or coffee. Very poor!

 So what did I learn. That my bike and swim are OK. My running is poor and that the more WTC takes out of a race the less the overall experience. will have to wait for another breakthrough some time else...