Challenge Almere 2017 - perfect execution, almost!

A common question is “What sort of time are you going for?” However, a specific number wasn’t at the forefront of my mind going into Challenge Almere, my A-race for 2017. After cracking out an amazing time in Roth 2013, part of me has been chasing that number ever since, leading to getting sick, a DNF and two sub-par performances.

Crossing the line - BOOM! Nailed it.

So my goal for this race was not a time or a ranking but to try to execute a perfect race. This might sound strange to iron-virgins but once all the training is under your belt it’s all about execution; nutrition, pacing and the decisions you make on the day have a major impact over 226km of swim, bike and run.

The Almere Dream Team: John, Paul & Rich

Talking of training, I was well prepared. I was already in good shape for Gladiator back in July, and since them I’d had a good 8 week block including plenty of big sessions. A short taper to shed the fatigue, then a few short high-intensity sessions to sharpen up and I felt great. Now it was time to execute.

It was lashing it down when we arrived in Almere Friday lunchtime, with rain also forecast for race day - not great for the mojo. But then the Dream Team arrived and the mood lightened. Club mates Rich, John, Paul and Gary were also racing. We hung out at the race briefing, registered and carbo-loaded at Woodstone Pizza & Wine.

Fully loaded, Jacky and I checked into our hotel, the Apollo, right next to all the action. We were only there thanks to some terse negotiating by Jacky. The week before, Apollo staff tried to transfer us to a different hotel some 10 minutes drive away. I’d booked and paid for it in October 2016 so Jacky wasn’t having any of it! Of course I was annoyed too but I was trying hard not to let anything derail me psychologically. Once again, Jacky saves the day!

View from our hotel window!

It was a big relief to finally get to our room; now I could relax, get all my gear organised, sort out my bike, check it into transition and drop my transition bags off. Time for one final leg stretch, an easy 4k run with six sets of strides. Then early to bed for a second great night’s sleep.

Race morning rain!

Come race morning and it was still raining, quite hard. But once in the water it was all good. After the pros, the age groupers were due to start in two waves; the ETU Championship racers at 7:30 then me and the rest of the choppers at 7:35. However, at the last minute the organisers told us we would all be going off in one wave of about 600 people. No complaints from me, hopefully with a good swim most of the field would be behind me once I got out on the bike.

Game on!

There was the usual biff at the first couple of turn buoys but then plenty of clear water. Out in 1:04:xx, an enjoyable swim and a good start to the day. In about 100th position, over 80% of the field was behind me. It was still raining so in T1 I donned a gilet but not the arm warmers and gloves. Slug of EFS Liquid Shot and off to the mount line.

Smoothly on board, a few corners and narrow bike lanes to navigate before getting on the loop proper. Some congestion so a bit of overtaking, plus a series of roundabouts, but tried to control my power and minimise spiking.

Good start to the day

And here was a key part of the plan. At Gladiator, I aimed for 170W but averaged 180W for the first 50km then suffered big time later. Learning from that, today’s #1 objective was to target 165W and stick to it like glue, regardless of what happened around me! Plus, focus on minimising spikes when overtaking and coming out of corners etc. The wet roads necessitated caution which helped with the latter.

Bottom line: I nailed it. Once on the dyke road, I settled into a nice rhythm; keeping a close eye on my Garmin, I easily held 3s power and 10km auto-lap NP close to 165W. Heart rate and cadence were also in nice places, Zone 1 and below 70 rpm respectively.

Nutrition was also going down nicely, every 20 minutes like clockwork; 500ml 10% SiS GO Electrolyte for the first hour then EFS Liquid Shot pre-diluted 1:1 thereafter, i.e. all liquid and calculated to deliver approx. 1g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight per hour. I picked up two water bottles at the aid stations but with an air temperature of 15 degrees I only drank a few hundred mls. Most of it was used to wash myself down after *ahem* teaching myself how to pee on the fly early on in lap 2.

Enjoying the tail wind

Post race analysis showed a normalised/average power of 167/164W with an Intensity Factor of 0.72 and 269 TSS points; that put me right in the sweet spot for a good iron-distance bike leg. Compared to 0.75/305 at Gladiator where I clearly over-biked, this was a much more realistic effort.

Being conservative on the bike pays off!

All I knew at the time was that I was on target and feeling good. On the first lap I had the impression I was being overtaken by quite a few riders. I thought that some might be half-distance racers; they started later but with only a single 90k lap to complete before a relatively easy half marathon they were pushing hard, so I didn't react. However, analysing the results, 32 slower swimmers past me while I overtook 38 faster swimmers, i.e. a net gain.

Whereas many Ironman-branded races are over packed, participant numbers at Challenge races tend to be lower meaning less congestion on the bike courses - a big attraction IMO. And indeed, it was perfectly possible to ride legally at Almere, keeping outside of the 12m drafting zone and overtaking within 25 seconds. I only saw one pack that was suspect and 1 case of blatant wheel sucking.

Feeling good!

By lap 2, it had really thinned out, and boy was I enjoying myself. It had even stopped raining! Because of the flat exposed nature of the course, wind is to be expected. The forecast predicted only 15-20kph winds, so I elected to go with my disc and deep section front wheel. But what was sweet was that it came from the south west, so we had a perfect tail wind along the entire 25km stretch of dyke road. Clipping along at over 40 kph was awesome - this is what it’s all about baby! I was so in the zone I didn’t notice I was overtaking Rich until he shouted out hello!

After Gladiator I raised my front end by 20mm and this worked a treat; I was very comfortable in the aero position, staying low for pretty much the entire ride, only coming out on tight corners and when fuelling.

Bike course; with the wind from the south west, the dyke road was fast!

Back to transition, an elegant dismount with 5:14:xx on the clock, really pleased with that. No dramas in T2; another slug of EFS and I was off on to the first of six 7km laps, with Jacky there cheering me on at the start of every lap.

And here came major objective #2 for the day; for the first lap, keep the pace below 5:00 minutes per km then pick it up a bit if I felt good. And again, the difficulty here is holding back. Before too long, the bike was out of my system and I was running freely. The first two kms passed by in 4:59 - easy tiger, slowed it down a bit, completing the first lap in about 35 mins. At the top end of where I wanted to be but nicely restrained nonetheless. Last year, I went too hard too soon and paid the price.

Aero-tastic!

Picking up a gel and some water from the aid stations every 20mins, my stomach was doing fine. Indeed, I felt goooooood and the pace increased a bit. I kept smiling and staying positive was very easy. This was helped by all the crazy spectators at the various hot spots where there was loud music and lots if cheering, great atmosphere!

By half way I was still averaging just under 5:00 per km but with all the gels I was starting to feel a bit bloated. So I eased back on the gels and started picking up cups of energy drink, then finally on the last lap, cups of coke. With aid stations every 1.5k regular fuelling was easy.

Run course, 6 laps around the lake we swam in.

I knew that with kms being ticked off every 5 mins I was on for a 3:30-ish marathon, and with a sub-1:05 swim and a sub-5:15 bike under my belt, this meant that a sub-10 finish was possible. However, I tried hard not to think about the end result and just stayed focused on the process of 5 min ks. The plan was to see where I was with a lap to go and take it from there. The last two laps required more and more mental focus but I still felt strong.

As I started the final lap, I looked up the finishing chute and saw a 9:35 on the race clock. If I managed 35 mins for the last lap, a sub-10 was long gone but a really solid 10:10 was in the bank.

For those with a keen eye, the story of the ride can be seen in the data.

In retrospect, that was the one mistake I made all day; I had no idea whose time it was and thinking about it now I suspect it was for one of the female pros who set off ahead of us. At the time, I decided to just carry on, looking to hold pace for the last lap. If I had only switched my watch over from (pace/lap pace/HR/run time) to (total race time) I would have realised that with a solid last lap I would be bloody close to 10 hours. With that knowledge, surely I could have found an extra 25 seconds?

In the end, I finished the run in just under 3:32 for a total time of 10:00:24, placing me 98th overall; 70th age grouper and 7th in the M45 age group, out of 570 and 103 respectively. Not bad considering about half the field were competing in the ETU Long Distance Championships.

At first we thought I had scored a 9:55:xx; that’s what it said on the race clock. But remember, at the last minute the organisers sent us all off in one wave, and I guess they didn’t adjust the timing system accordingly. So all the people due to go off in the second wave had swim times and total race times 5 minutes faster than actual. Indeed, my watch read 10:00:28 so it didn’t take me long to figure out there was a mistake somewhere.

Am I irked about the 25 seconds? Of course, but only slightly. While another sub-10 would have been wonderful, I am just totally stoked that after a few races where I underperformed due to execution errors, this time I totally nailed it and executed close to perfection. Not my fastest race but definitely the one I am most proud off, and really pleased how I implemented lessons learned from both Gladiator and Roth 2016.

I was planning on retiring from long course after Almere; now I’m not so sure. Yes, the last 10k hurts but when you get it right, boy does it feel fantastic!

A big thanks to the Almere Dream Team of Rich, John and Paul; we had some great training sessions in the final build up and doing them together was not only productive but also a lot of fun. Training on your own in the final build gets a bit gruelling but having some great training buddies made a big difference. And as always, big thanks to Jacky - no. 1 cheer leader and best ever support crew!

Gladiator - July 2017

Gladiator, my “warm up” iron-distance race for 2017. Based at Buckler’s Hard in the New Forest, this race had been on my radar ever since my first proper triathlon in 2009. Race New Forest have organised a long distance race for many years; originally the Forestman, it was re-branded as the Gladiator in 2016, named after a warship built at Buckler’s in 1782.

Figurehead from HMS Gladiator

The field was small, only about 60 of us but with a similar number taking part in the Boskman, a middle distance race running in parallel. At 5am, all the wannabe Gladiators in their wetsuits climbed aboard a coach to take the short journey up to the town of Beaulieu where the swim was to start.

The downhill swim course

We set off shortly after 5:30; it was high tide and with a good hour of slack water and no wind, it was like a mill pond. Air temperature about 14 degrees but warmer in the salty water that had flowed in from the Solent. Perfect conditions!

Sunrise over the Beaulieu River

Navigating the bends of the Beaulieu back to Bucklers was one of the most fun swims I have ever done. Little jellyfish and moored boats everywhere but only a few people ahead of me. Exited the water in well under an hour, so probably a slight current helping us along the 3.8km swim.

Quickly through T1 and I knew I was one of the first few out on the bike. The two guys who mounted along side me shot off up the road as I settled into the 180km two lap tour of the New Forest. The bike course was also great fun; not fast thanks to typical UK tarmac, plenty of turns and the odd stop to shoo large animals out of the way, but great scenery and not many cars despite the open roads.

Bike course; out via Lyndhurst to Burley, two laps then back via Norleywood

However, I didn’t pace it well at all. My target power was 170W, but I was going too hard. I knew it, but I felt good and was enjoying it. My normalised power for the first 100k was 179W and I would have to pay for it eventually. Indeed, I lost the plot later in the ride; I was struggling to stay in the aero position and my average power for the last 75k fell to 159W.

Good swim

Jumped off the bike in just under 5:40, i.e. 32kph average, not bad for that course although I knew I hadn’t executed it well. But never mind, it was a massive relief to get on the run; two out-and-backs that we had to do four times, a mix of trail and road, not flat but nothing too steep.

 I started out steady but never really found my running legs;  I wasn’t enjoying it much, never felt in control. Jacky kept supplying me with energy gels and encouragement each time I ran through Buckler’s, so I just tried to keep going.

The first half was completed in 1:55, i.e. ~5:25 per km pace, so respectable considering the terrain, but not where I hoped to be. Then came the war of attrition; the temperature climbed to over 25 degrees and my pace slowed to an average of 6:10 per km.

There was nothing wrong with my legs but my brain had had enough; it was constantly trying to convince me that it was okay to quit and that I  was “never going to do this again”.

Finally, after just over 4 hours and 6 minutes, the run came to an end, my slowest marathon to date, for a total of 10:51:17. Yes, good enough for 6^th overall but remember, it was only a small field - 42 male finishers

Lost the plot on the bike

 However, I was pretty despondent; I’d had enough of this game and I convinced myself that it was going to be okay to bail on Almere later in the summer. 

Over the next few days, a sense of perspective returned and I dusted myself off. Sub-11 on a honest course like that was a damn fine effort. And after a bit of reflection, I made three decisions to ensure I had a chance of racing better in September:

1. To adjust my bike position to allow me to hold aero for the full 180k.
 

2. To revisit my power target, maybe 170W was slightly too high?

3. But most importantly, discipline! Whatever the new power target is, bloody well stick to it.

Almere here we come!

Outlaw Half 2017

I wrote a long report on the 2016 edition so I’ll keep this short. Bottom line: executed well, knocking over 5 minutes off last year’s time. Three decisions, two good, one bad.

Swim training has been going well, more on this below. Bike training likewise; the Dukinfield 50 miler told me I was where I needed to be. Running, plenty of volume in the legs but not much hard work as it’s still early in the season: A-race isn’t until September.

Calm before the storm.

Rained heavily on Saturday but the forecast for Sunday was dry with light winds, starting out at 9oC degrees then warming up, and indeed it turned out to be a nice day. Water temperature was only 14 degrees but once we got going it was all good.

Decision #1, start out wide left where the fast swimmers were advised to go. Sounds like asking for trouble but when the hooter went off, I headed further left and found plenty of clear water.

Climbed out with 30:xx on the watch - big PB. While it may have been slightly short, last year I was 180^th out of the water, this year 119^th, so a good result. Really pleased with this; my swim times had been static for several years but hopefully this is a sign that the recent work with Hamish Shaw is paying off.

Start of the last swim wave.

T1 ok, settled in on the lap around the lake before getting out onto the road. Starting in the 3^rd of four waves meant that half the field was in front of me so once again I had great fun carving my way through it.

Pacing. Garmin showing only four fields: 3s power; NP - lapping every 10k; heart rate; and cadence. The plan was to aim for 210-215W, 150-155 bpm and 80-90 rpm. Overall averages, NP 212W, 152 bpm and 85 rpm - bingo!

Nutrition. 500ml BTA bottle with EFS Liquid Shot diluted 50:50 with water, slugged this whenever my Garmin beeped, i.e. every 20 mins.  600ml High5 Zero on the down tube, never touched it.

A guy called “Michael” overtook me early on the bike. An uber-biker, I let him go - and didn’t see him again until the run. A second guy overtook me late on, half way around the Eastern loop. However, he didn’t open up a gap and I found myself soft pedalling to keep out of the draft zone.

Decision #2, overtake! However, I didn’t want him jumping on my wheel and getting involved in a ding-dong so I put the hammer down, maxing out at 405W and HR rising to 160 bpm. Looked over my shoulder at the next turn, he was nowhere to be seen, job done but I kept pushing and used this as an opportunity to focus on the drive home to Holme Pierrepont.

The data tells the story part 1: heart rate and elevation on the bike.

T2 was virtually empty and my watch read a total time of 3:00:xx so I knew a nice bike split was on the cards. Didn’t know it at the time, but leaving transition for the second time I was 21^st overall and 3^rd in my age group.

Out on the run and I felt good, overtook Michael and continued working my way forward. The plan was to aim for 4:15 mins per km, pick up a High5 Isogel at the first aid station then every 4-5km thereafter.

Heard heavy breathing behind me so knew someone was on my tail. “Ian” came past and I realised he was in my age group. Decision #3, go with him. He was a big guy and breathing hard, and we were clipping along at 4:05 - “He’s gonna blow up soon!” He didn’t, I did - bad decision!

"I think I went out too hard!"

After 5k I let him go and got progressive slower, down as low as 4:40 per k into the headwind on the South side of the lake. But I stuck to my nutrition plan and worked on staying positive, and as always Jacky was there to cheer me on.

Just before the turn around on the second “out and back”, I recovered. I saw Rich Hyder coming the other way, he was in the wave ahead of me, and I dug in; maybe I could catch him - sorry Rich!

The data tells the story part 2: pace and heart rate on the run.

When I did, we had a quick chat. I pushed on and even managed to fend off a late challenge on the red carpet. Caught up with Ian in the finishers area, he’d bagged 3^rd so no age group podium for me this year.

Absolutely wasted afterwards, didn’t leave much out there. Staggered to the food tent and caught up with Rich. Back to the camp site for a shower, then to the finish line for a burger and ice-cream. Watched Anna Weaver pick up her trophies - 2^nd female overall and 1^st in age - and cheered the last few finishers over the line.

Scores on the doors: 30:30 for the swim, 2:26:28 for the bike and 1:31:35 for the run, plus 2:29 and 2:04 for transitions for a total of 4:33:06. 31^st overall, 4^th in the 45-49 age group and a nice PB.

A great place to be this early in the season and a timely reminder to race my own race; hopefully I’ll resist getting sucked in to making bad decisions when it comes to the 226s.