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!