Volcano - saving the best for last

I have no idea who Steven Farnell is, but I bet this morning he is wondering how he could have shaved 18 seconds off his time at yesterday’s Volcano Triathlon in Lanzarote, because if he had, he would have won the men’s 50-54 age group. But he didn’t, so I got to stand on the podium! #finemargins

1st in M50-54

The Volcano was supposed to be my opening race of 2020. Due to the pandemic, it was initially pushed back 12 months to April 2021, then further delayed until November 2021, so it ended up being my final race of this season. But it looks like I saved the best for last.

While this season’s B races had gone well, with good performances at the Oulton Park Duathlon, the EpicMan Windermere standard and Castle Howard aquabike, my A races were not quite as hoped for – injury at Outlaw Half and major bonk at Almere. So I was hoping to finish on a high, maybe even a top 3 in my age group.

Great shot of the road down to Famara 

After an easy 2 weeks following Almere, I had switched to winter training mode so hadn’t been on my time trial bike or in open water for 8 weeks, but I was still in good enough shape for the standard distances of 1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run.

The Volcano is Lanzarote’s oldest triathlon, with the first edition taking place in 1984. Race HQ is Club La Santa with transition on the field inside the running track. The swim is in the Lagoon, so salt water but protected from the ocean waves. The bike used to go up to the Teguise roundabout but now it’s two laps to Famara and back. The two-loop run takes you to the edge of La Santa Village, with the finish back on the running track.

Two lap bike course - either uphill or into the wind

Although a relatively small race, with only about 350 finishers this year, it’s quite competitive. It’s the Canary Island championships, there are some very fast people at the pointy end, and it attracts an international field; Lucy Charles won the female race in 2019. In my age group, a guy called Richard Hobson usually smashes it in about 2:05 but his name wasn’t on the start list this year. #gottobeinittowinit

We arrived at Club La Santa on Thursday, registered on Friday, then with a race start time of 10 am on Saturday we had a fairly civilised start to the day. Weather was warm but very windy – very windy indeed! After racking our bikes and hooking up our transition bags we had plenty of time to walk through and visualise how the transitions would work.

As we made our way down to the Lagoon, the race excitement became palpable. Indeed, you could smell the testosterone in the air at the swim start so Jacky and I both loitered further back, keen to avoid the opening melee.

Swimmers starting to congregate

The rolling start however kept it civilised, 6 swimmers going off every 10 seconds, and I entered the water about 8 minutes after the gun. Clear water, initially with the wind at our backs and another good swim for me, moving through the field. Once we hit the turnaround, the famous Lanzarote wind came into play and it’s pretty choppy. This is going to be a tough day! But I kept making good progress, out with 25 mins on my watch.

Quickly up the hill into T1, overtaking a few along the way. The transition area was very well organised, plenty of space and lots of marshals guiding you – kudos to the organisers. Smooth mount then out of CLS, left at the roundabout and towards Caballo before climbing up to Soo. 

Once settled, I reached up to put my visor in place, but the 40kph wind ripped it out of my hand. Bugger! Stop, dismount, run back down the road, retrieve it, re-attach it to helmet, run back up the road, remount and 30-odd seconds later I’m back on my way. (Take note Steven Farnell! )

Pushing downhill into the headwind

Worked hard up to Soo, continuing with the theme of overtaking as many as possible, before taking on the intense and gusty headwind coming up of the surfer’s beach at Famara. It’s downhill but you have to work hard and concentrate. After the turnaround, the wind was behind us, but now it’s uphill. This is indeed a tough day! As I re-approach Soo I see Jacky coming the other way – she’s out of the swim safely, good! Down to Caballo, very fast, very strong side winds, hang on for dear life, 180 degree turn then do it all over again. Only a couple of uber-bikers and one wheel-sucker overtook me, so I knew I was making good progress.

Staying low on the climb up to Soo

Back to transition, smooth dismount, re-rack and back to the transition bags. Stash helmet, running shoes on, grab cap, sunnies and gels, and run out. At the run exit, a marshal shouts something at me in Spanish, probably “Turn your race number around” because that’s what they normally shout at you at run exit. I reach down for it but it’s not there! Bugger! When I came through T2 in auto pilot I did what I did in T1 but in reverse and stashed my race belt along with my helmet. Turn around and run backwards for the second time that day, back to my run bag and retrieve my race belt. Another 30-odd seconds later, I’m back on my way. (Take note again Steven Farnell! )

Meander out of CLS onto the road towards La Santa village then settle into a nice pace. This feels great, clipping along quite nicely. But it’s downhill with the wind on my back. After 2.5k reality bites! Once past the turnaround it’s not only back into the 40 kph headwind, but it’s uphill back towards CLS. This is a tough day! Pace is dropping and there is still a ways to go. But it passes, next thing lap one is done, and the wind is on my back again. The return section of the second lap is hard work again, but I maintain a reasonable pace and I’ve still got enough in the tank for a strong finish.

Over the finish line in 2hrs 25mins

I’m spent. Find a quiet place to sit down out of the wind, it takes me a good 10 minutes to get back to the land of the living. But I’m pleased with myself; no sense of time or position but I know I have done the best I can, finishing off my season with a good all-round performance. I see Jacky coming in to T2, she is safe off the bike, good. Time to chill.

Jacky finishes!

Scores on the doors: 25:50 swim (96th overall, 4th in M50-54); 1:10:53 bike (47/2); 41:59 run (80/4); overall 2:25:01 (61/1). The male and female winners came in on 1:57:36 and 2:09:10 respectively, with the top 8 all under 2:05. Six M45-49 and one M55-59 were faster than me but the most important number on the day was the 17 seconds between me and Mr Farnell .

Almere Redux - 12th September 2021

Challenge Almere is a fantastic event; I had a great race in 2017 so after a couple of years off full-distance, I signed up for the 2020 edition which, thanks to Corona, was postponed until September 2021. 

The original schedule was a multisport festival including a variety of races throughout the week. But again due to Corona it was scaled back to just a middle-distance race on the Friday followed by the Long Distance Triathlon and Aquabike World Championships on the Sunday. Alongside the championship was an Open Series event to make up the numbers, still full ironman distance: 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike, 42.2 km run.

Enjoying myself early on in lap 2

Training had gone well; at the end of July I came 2^nd in the Castle Howard aquabike, and after that I got in plenty of big workouts, including three open water swims of more than 5 km, and plenty of TT bike action, including three solo rides of over 150 km. I’d also bounced back from a mid-season running injury, building up my long run to over 30 kms.

So I was quite relaxed going into the race. Indeed, I had no big expectations or targets for either a time or position, I just wanted to finish in style, and by that, I mean completing the full distance with a decent run, even if that meant a slow plod.

Well, it didn’t work out quite that way; unfortunately the run degenerated into a painful death march!

Death March Dejection!

The elite men and women competing in the World Championship went off in deep-water mass starts at 7 am and 7:05. The rest of us then went off in waves of rolling starts, with four swimmers entering the water every 15 seconds, and each wave distinguishable due to different colour swim caps.

The 18-44 male age groupers in the World Championship went off at 7:35; the 44+ males at 7:45; and the women at 8 am. Me and the 160 other choppers in the Open event started at 8:10.

In keeping with my relaxed approach, I loitered at the back of the yellow cap corral, in no rush to get in the water, so by the time I set off most of my wave was ahead of me. I was determined to stay relaxed for the first of the two laps. At 21 degrees, the water temperature was nice, and with swimmers well spread out due to the rolling start, there was no aggro, so very quickly I settled down into a nice, relaxed rhythm.

Hanging out with the yellow caps

But next thing you know, I am scything my way through the Open wave, overtaking yellow cap after yellow cap! This was fun; conditions were good and sighting off the buoys was easy. There was some wind making it a bit choppy after the final turn, but no bother.

Before you know it, I’m back in the changing tent stripping off my wetsuit. I noticed that the floorboards around me are dry and there’s no one here. As I’m getting on with it, more yellow caps start coming in and the tent gets busier. I must have had a pretty good swim; despite starting close to the back of my wave, I was now much nearer the front. Indeed, when I get out to T1, there didn’t seem to be many bikes missing in my area. 

Scores on the doors; out of the 148 yellow cap finishers, I had the 12^th and 7^th fastest swim and T1 respectively. Not bad for a relaxed start to the day. My time wasn’t particularly fast, 1:07, my slowest iron-distance swim in fact, but looking at the overall times and people’s Strava files I think the swim was slow, maybe a bit long and/or maybe the wind and chop was a factor. But nevertheless, very happy with my swim, a fair reflection of the training I’ve put in in both the pool and open water.

Bike route

But the trouble with getting out of the water ahead of the pack is that all the uber-bikers are now chasing you down and indeed, while it was fun overtaking stragglers from the earlier waves, quite a few from my wave were overtaking me. But no bother, I was determined to ride conservatively so that I could finish the day in style.

If the swim was a bit slow, the bike was fast! In contrast to 2017 it was bone dry, light winds and the temperature was rising. The wind was coming from the West, so the 25 km stretch along the exposed dyke running East was once again a joy, especially as you get to do it twice! My aim was to keep everything down: heart rate, power, cadence, and head.

Head down, grinding a big gear

The roads were closed to traffic, all the junctions well marshalled, the surface was immaculate, and the riders well spread out; absolutely perfect, this is why I came back to this race! 

With no distractions, it was easy to get into a nice time trialling groove and grind it out in a big gear. The small chainring was dead weight and I spent much of the day in 53-11, resulting in an average cadence of 62 rpm! Power was about 20W lower than 2017 but after the first lap I knew I was making good progress and I finally got off the bike in 5:16, just a minute or two slower than 2017 despite that big power gap – as I said, it was a fast day for cycling!

A well paced bike split

Looking at the data, my pacing was conservative with average power at 70%, maybe 5W lower than anticipated. I kept it steady, with a variability index of 1.01 and an even split across the two laps, and heart rate in Zone 1 throughout. This gave me a TSS score of 257, so in the safe zone. Job done and really happy with my bike split.

Dismount and T2 all went smoothly although I didn’t much care for another long bare foot run through the gravel infested car park where bike racking was situated. More blue carpeting next time please!

As soon as I got out on the run I didn’t feel right, strong stitch-like cramp on the right side of my stomach. Never mind, I just cracked on and made my way around the first two laps at a reasonable pace, averaging 5:15 mins per km. But now I had cramps both sides. I walked some of the aid stations to try to alleviate the cramps, take on board gels/water, pop to the port aloo. But it was heavy going, I just had nothing left in the tank.

Run pace - the data tells the story

On lap 3 I just got slower and slower. Lap 4 I started taking long walks at the aid stations, and on lap 5, the running was very slow, 7 mins per km, and the walks got longer. When I did try run, my calves felt shredded, I was totally depleted. Supporters all around the course tried to encourage me but to no avail. Jacky was unwavering, greeting me with enthusiasm at the end of every lap. 

Rather than risk injury, I decided that the only way I was going to finish this in one piece was by walking, and so began the Death March. This was actually quite liberating; I now knew I was going to finish and I kind of enjoyed the final lap as the sun approached the horizon.

I mustered a very short run to finally cross the finish line, for the benefit of the crowd of course! Run time of 4 hrs 55 giving a total time of 11:28. Not my finest hour, and I certainly didn’t finish in style, but proud of myself for a good swim-bike combo and seeing it through to the end.

Finally finished!

So where did it all go wrong? The usual suspects are (1) lack of training, (2) poor pacing, especially on the bike, and/or (3) nutrition. I and 2 are related, you have to pace it based on your fitness levels, but I think I was in decent shape and paced the bike quite well. This leaves nutrition and indeed, in retrospect, my relaxed approach was a double-edged sword; I think I was too complacent, in particular when it came to my nutrition. I didn’t follow my usual rituals in the final 24 hours leading up to the race. I didn’t eat much in the morning; after breakfast at 5 am, I didn’t feed again until T1 at about 9:20 am. After the race, I realised that I had two slugs of nutrition left in my drinks bottle, meaning 40 mins worth of nutrition missed. Because of the stomach cramps I didn’t have my first gel until 8k into the run.

No. 1 cheer leader

So what next? On lap 5 I was adamant that my triathlon career was over; this just hurts too much, why would I ever put myself through this again? 24 hours later I was over this nonsense, determined to learn from my mistakes and put together a decent race in 2022. See you then!

Outlaw Half 2021

So with the highs come the lows. Part of me just wants to bury Sunday’s race but if you are going to claim the victories, so you have to also own the defeats.

Outlaw Half Nottingham is probably now the UK’s #1 middle distance race. Over 1600 people on the ‘start line’ and with Covid still limiting travel abroad, this was going to be a competitive year.

Three major changes to this edition. The compact square-ish transition at the end of Holme Pierrepoint rowing lake was moved to the side, creating an enormous, long thin racking area, about a kilometre long. Getting through T1 and T2 would easily take over 10 minutes.

Swim course

The run course: rather than two out-and-backs along the narrow river tow path, it would be three laps taking in the kayak course and the rowing lake. Let’s hope I would get that far.

No mass swim start: due to Covid, the normal 4-5 waves 10 minutes apart were replaced with a time-trial-style, swimmers launching themselves off one of three pontoons every 9 seconds. There were some great dives, some belly flops, but I didn’t see anyone go for the classic ‘bomb’.

New run route - would I get that far?

We camped again but this time hired a camper van rather than tenting it. A new experience, we had a lot of fun and I slept so much better. Arriving late Friday afternoon gave us a leisurely Saturday to get ready for the race.

Great to see some familiar faces over the weekend including Rich H and crew; the Manchester Triathlon Club relay team made up of Natasha, Chris and Annie (supported by Nanette), and nice to chat with Rob Arnold on the start line.

The weather wasn’t great; the worst of the night’s rain had passed, but it was still very overcast with a strong wind coming up the rowing lake. However, it wasn’t cold and if the rain stayed off, it would be just fine for racing, no need for extra layers on top of the trisuit.

Top 3 finishers in the M50-54 age group - blistering!

I was in good shape and confident, at least for the swim and bike. Since peaking for EpicMan I had maintained my fitness. But the big unknown was running; I’d picked up a niggle so no running for two weeks to give it as much rest as possible. The two testers had not gone well so in the back of my mind I knew I wasn’t going to make it around. But denial is a powerful thing.

The race started around 6-ish, and I was in the water early. Due to the time-trial-style start, swimming was very civilised, no bunfight, no biff. I found good feet so benefited from drafting over the first 500m or so. Then I settled into my own rhythm and next thing we are turning and heading back. Out of the water in under 34 minutes, job done.

The damage was done in transition number 1. Running close to 1 kilometre from swim exit to my racked bike then out to the mount line, all in bare feet, is probably what killed my left calf. Once on the bike, getting out of the saddle and standing on the pedals was sore. Hey-ho, focus on the now.

Out of T1

I really enjoyed the bike; it’s a relatively flat course and this was my 4th attempt so the route was familiar. A lot of the roads have been resurfaced, it was early Sunday morning, some of the roads were closed to traffic and all the junctions were well marshalled. Plus I was out on the course relatively early so not many other cyclists to contend with. Hammer time!

Aiming for an NP of about 190W, I was pushing a bit too hard early on, but my heart rate was low, and I felt good. Slugging UCAN every 20 minutes to keep fuelled, no need for extra water as it was a cool 8 degrees. In the second half, there was a bit of back-and-forth with a few riders of a similar ability, but the aggregating peloton thinned out quickly enough. I paid the price for the early over-effort and faded a bit during the last 10km. But no worries, almost home.

Bike route, pretty much the same as previous editions

Nailed transition number 2 and was out on the run in just over 5 mins. 20 minutes later I came screeching to a halt as finally my calf blew up. As expected, as soon as I got off the bike, I knew it wasn’t good, but I had hoped I might just be able to slug it out and get around. Denial is a powerful thing.

On the bright side, I had a good swim and bike, and raced well until the end of T2, so a lot of positives to build on. Hopefully the rehab will get me back on my feet sooner rather than later so that I can get back on track for September.

Another big positive is that my Just Giving campaign is gaining momentum - we have now made it to over £3,000!! Thanks ever so much for all your support, sorry I couldn’t match it with a good performance! Hopefully I will leave the best till last!

EpicMan Windermere 2021

EpicMan was one of the few races that ran in 2020. Jacky enjoyed it last September so signed up again for the May 2021 edition. Because Volcano was postponed, I was looking for a warmup for Outlaw Half, so I signed up as well, our first time taking part in the same triathlon.

Almost time to go. (Thanks Hugh for the photo)

The main event is the middle-distance race with about 225 starters, including some very strong athletes, but with 110 starting the side event, a shorter, standard distance race comprising a 1500m swim, 40k bike and a 10k run.

We drove up on Friday afternoon and all the talk was how the weather was changing from the wettest May on record to what promised to be a scorchio bank holiday weekend. The forecast didn’t disappoint. Indeed, Sunday morning was perfect for racing; clear skies, temperatures rising, dry roads and no wind.

The swim course.

Due to Covid restrictions no mass start, rather athletes forming an orderly queue to get into the lake with your clock starting when you cross the timing mat just before the water’s edge. By getting in the queue early, I was in the first group to get in the water.

The swim was incredible. Out to the first rubber duckie buoy, turn left and make your way up the lake. Before long I was on the front. Swimming isn’t my forte so with mass starts I’m in the pack, fighting for space and sometimes it seems, survival. So to be leading out was an amazing experience. The water temperature was ‘unnoticeable’, 15 degrees or so, and with zero wind the surface was like glass. Swimming into unbroken water, with great views to each side as you breath was wonderful. This was one of my all-time favourite swims!

Turn left at the rubber duckie then straight on

The kayak marshal guided me around the top of the course – thank you. I was working hard but felt ok so just carried on. On the return section, I was overtaken by a female competitor. Thoughts of drafting her faded quickly as she opened up a gap. Someone else got close to catching me near the exit but I made a dash for it and think I was second out of the water.

Part 1 done and dusted

Supa-motivated I charged through T1. Out on the bike, the back roads down to Newby Bridge are twist-turny and undulating, there was bank holiday traffic plus I was catching up the tail end of the middle-distance race, so hard to find any ‘flow’. Once on the dual carriage way to Ulverston it was TT mode before heading North towards Coniston Water. The middle-distance course peeled left at Lowick Green, so it became quieter from then on and a marshal confirmed that I had regained the lead out on the course.

Hammer time

More twist-turny and undulating roads back to Lakeside, largely uneventful except at about kilometre 32 there is a nasty steep section up The Causeway. It’s only short but at 20% gradient it’s tough. But worse, my bike is geared for flat time trials, not hills, so no way I could ‘spin it out’ – killer! 150% power for a minute really sapped my legs, so the descent back to Newby Bridge was welcome.

First in T2

Even though the middle-distance race started earlier in the day, they were all still out on their longer bike course when I arrived at T2. Being the first back in off the bike was once again supa-motivating and I charged out of transition onto the run course.

In the moment

Coach’s instructions were to take the run easy; this was after all still a warmup race. This posed a real dilemma; I wasn’t just going to roll over. Due to the time trial start I wasn’t necessarily in the actual lead, but I was certainly at the pointy end of the race, and c’mon, it’s a race! In the end, the nature of the course came to my rescue. It’s all off road, through woods and across fields, undulating and twist-turny, so you can work hard without trashing the legs - 10k on tarmac would have been a different situation altogether.

About 3 km, ‘Callum’, the eventual winner overtook me. He looked strong, and I was working hard already so no way I could go with him. I never sensed anybody else behind me and felt I was keeping up a decent pace so wasn’t worried about more overtakes, but with the time trial start you never quite know where you are in the field, you can lose position without ever noticing.

Even though it was getting quite hot, the shade through the woods meant that we didn’t fry. Kept up an even effort, maybe a minute slower on the second lap and next thing you know, and it’s all done and I’m second ‘in the club house’, a position that I hold onto as the rest of the field finishes.

I see Jacky on her first run lap so know that she is safely off the bike. Cheered on a few club mates; Cathy and Jamie in the middle-distance, Hugh in the standard. Once we are both done it’s off for Sunday lunch and swapping our stories of the morning. Jacky had a good race, with good gains on the swim and bike compared to September.

Jacky out on the bike

Nutrition. 35g overnight oats and coffee for breakfast. For the bike, I’ve been experimenting with Ucan slow-release super starch. Drank about 350ml containing about 60g. Picked up an energy gel at the start of the second run lap.

Lots of road bikes and not many disc wheels out there; maybe a lighter aero set would have been a good choice but if I was to do it again, I’d make sure I had a few extra gears for The Causeway.

A word about the organisers. As always, Epic Events put on a great race, the bike and run courses were very well signposted plus plenty of marshals. An advantage of Covid-time is the move to online briefings, maybe we can keep it that way? Great pictures also from Mick Hall Photos.

Scores on the doors: 27:37 for the swim, 1:10:17 for the bike, and 45:04 for the run for a total of 2:25:49. Looking forward to Outlaw Half in a few weeks!

And finally, it's great to feel some form returning, so thanks to coach Nick Thomas for getting me back into shape. 

Oulton Park Duathlon

Quick report on my first race of 2021 and my first race in quite a while. Both Jacky and I took part in the Oulton Park Duathlon on Sunday.

Several distances were available, but we opted for the Standard, so an 8.6k run to start followed by a 38.7k bike leg then a 4.3k run to finish. Why those specific distances? Well, it was laps of the famous motorcycle circuit which is 4.3k in length, so 2 laps, 9 laps and 1 lap.

The Oulton Park circuit

We didn’t set off until 9:45 so a reasonably leisurely start to the day, light breakfast, load up the car then a short trip down the M56 into Cheshire.

Due to Covid restrictions, no spectators allowed so it was pretty quiet at the start and all very relaxed as we checked in and got all our kit organised. Also, no mass start; after racking our bikes we formed an orderly socially distanced queue and were set off in ~30 second intervals.

I had planned to take it easy; this was a warmup race after all, but once you’re off, you’re off and it’s a race! Plus it was a bit chilly, and the first section was downhill, so I found myself clipping along at a nice pace pretty quickly.

A bit of to and fro as I overtook some of the slower earlier starters and some of the later and faster runners overtook me. But I felt good and carried on, getting a bit faster on the second lap.

Feeling good on the run!

I had been nursing a bit of a niggle all week so had backed off the training to let my legs rest up ahead of the race. However, once I started, I didn’t notice my niggle and it was all about being in the moment.

This was my first time doing this race, so the first lap was all about getting my bearings. It was more undulating than I realised. The weather was perfect, clear and sunny but quite windy. I was enjoying myself.

A fairly “relaxed” transition out on to the bike, beautiful smooth tarmac, no traffic or pedestrians to worry about and not many racers on the course so it was into as tight an aero position as possible and hammer time!

Hammer time!

Downhill section again into a sweeping left hander, that was fun, then pushing the wattage into the headwind and back up a more gradual ascent.

Kept an eye on my power meter to keep the watts up, energy drink on laps 1, 4 and 9, only getting out of the aero position occasionally to get out of the saddle. Saw Jacky a couple of time, she was clearly enjoying herself!

Another “relaxed” transition then one final lap running and it’s all over. Felt pretty good all the way through. Over the finish line. Devoured what was in the goodie bag. Great to bump in to a few clubmates and chat about the race. 

But then my niggle came back to haunt me. My right foot/ankle just seized up so collecting my bike and walking back to the car was pretty painful.

Jacky arrives at the finish, quick photo op then back into the car and home in time for lunch!

Jacky crosses the finish line!

Overall, very happy with performance, run pace and watts not great but a fair reflection of my fitness/capability at the moment, and I paced it pretty evenly, so a great way to start PROJEKT 2021! 

It’s  Wednesday evening as I write this and now my injury is already a lot better thanks to a really good physio session yesterday, so a couple more days taking it easy and I’m sure I’ll be back on it the weekend. Onwards!