Iromman Regensburg 2011

Beginners luck or perfect execution? 

 "Execution, Line, Box, Paste". This was my mantra in the build-up to my first Ironman, and I repeated it to myself as I stood at the edge of the water waiting for the “beach” start. This mantra was derived from an article written by two US coaches describing their Four Key principles to Ironman success.  

“Execution”, pretty obvious but needs careful consideration. I couldn't have done much more training, racking up ~500 hours since September 2010 when I started preparing for this race. My training had also been very consistent and well structured thanks to a great program from Matt Shillabeer at the Endurance Coach. I had also planned ad nauseum. But all the training and planning would count for nowt if I didn't execute the plan on the day. Was I up to the task of executing the plan, or would my lack of experience dominate? In the end, I managed to follow the bike-part of my plan to the letter: heart rate never went above my limit & I never missed a scheduled feed. By the end of lap 1 my average speed was bang on target and I felt great so I just had to repeat another loop and 5:40 was in the bag. I arrived in T2 with a 5:35:50 split. The run also went largely to plan, although I had to adapt my hydration slightly, but more on this below. The swim was the biggest unknown due to the sheer numbers of people and my first experience of a “beach” start, but the plan was simple, just keep a steady pace throughout, and again more on this below.  

K-Swiss 10k

My running has come on a long way this year but today was the big test. I ran this race last year in 37:30 and was aiming for just under 37 mins: my last 5k time trial (17:50) predicts 10k in 36:59. The race started at 9:30 and it was already getting hot. Set off far too fast, first k in 3:20, and progressively slowed but then picked up again in the last 4k, crossing the finish line in 36:04 so a big PB. Maybe with better pacing and cooler conditions I might have come in under 36 mins, but no need to be greedy - there's always next year!

Since Wimbleball, I've had two easy-ish training weeks. Now this race is out the way it's time to focus on IM Regensburg; a few weeks of big training, then a bit of a taper and hopefully by August 7th I'll be raring to go.

UK 70.3 – Wimbleball 2011

Antwerp 70.3 last year was my first WTC event so after the race I wandered along to the “roll down” ceremony to see what it was all about. Although well pleased with my time of 4:50:38, that was only good enough for 58^th in my age group so I was under no illusions. However, the experience did plant a seed in my mind: it would be pretty damn cool to qualify for the World Champs. But with typically only 6-7 slots up for grabs in the 40-44 category, was it remotely possible?

Three things suggested yes. One, I was only two seasons into triathlon so my trajectory was still upward; with focused training more gains were for the taking. This was a major motivation behind signing up to the Endurance Coach. Two, strategic course selection: Antwerp is pan-flat so I got hammered by all the uber-power bikers. As I’m only likkle, outright power isn’t a strength but when it comes to hills it’s all about power to weight, and that’s fine by me! The Wimbleball bike course is renowned for being killer hilly, so UK 70.3 would play to my strengths. And third, the vagaries of the roll down process means that even if you don’t qualify for an automatic slot, you might just get lucky.

New Forest Standard

This Sunday, I opened my 2011 race account by competing in Race New Forest’s “standard” distance race. This race is slightly shorter than a regulation Olympic triathlon, consisting of a 1.1k swim, 36k bike and a 10k run. I was aiming for between 2 hrs to 2:05, but ended up with 2:23. So if my training has been going so well, where did it go so wrong?

The swim went ok. The lake temperature was ~15oC, so quite warm for the time of year. I positioned myself near the front for the mass start and, when the hooter finally went off we got going. With ~380 people competing for space, the beginning of an open water swim always involves a bit of “biff”. Within ~50m I got a real crack in the face from someone’s elbow. This made the next 100 or so metres very uncomfortable. Luckily I didn’t lose my goggles but I felt sick and really didn’t want to be there. This passed and I then settled into a rhythm and just got on with it. I do now have a bit of a black and bloodshot eye to prove that triathlon is in fact a contact sport.

Before too long I was clambering out of the water and running up to transition, feeling nice and relaxed. The new wetsuit came off really easily and I made my way to the bike leg without any problems. Time for swim and T1: 22:12. To hit the 2hr goal I needed a 20min split so a bit behind but in the top 20% so doing well compared to last years races.

Lakeland Loop - again!

Last year I entered the Lakeland Loop for the first time, a 110km cyclosportif route around the lake district organised by EpicEvents. It takes in two massive climbs towards the end, namely the infamous Hardknott and Wrynose passes with their ball-bustin' 33% gradients. Last year I fell off both so this year I had some unfinished business to attend to - I was absolutely determined to get up both. I could have made life a bit easier and changed the gear ratios on my bike, but that would have been "cheating", I wanted to be able to get up using my improved bike strength.

Seven of us from ManTri set off together on what was a glorious day, but shortly after the first climb up Red Bank we split into two groups. The three of us at the front, me, Stefan and Rob, joined two "men in black" and the five of us powered around Thirlmere and through Keswick, each taking turns on the front. When we hit Whinlatter hill, we slowed down and at the first food stop split up, with two of us opting for some tea and cake.

Stefan and me then worked together around the western part of the route finally arriving at the second food stop where we refueled before taking on Hardknot and Wrynose. As we approached I got slower and slower as my legs filled with dread - I knew what was coming and it scared me! Looking up the valley you can see Hardknot switchbacking all the way to the top, it's a sight to behold. Finally, I got to the red phone box that marks the start of the climb and the work began.

It's very steep at the start, 30%, and it was out of the saddle, grinding hard, heart rate going through the roof. Then you hit the easy bit, "only" 20% but at least now my heart rate recovered and I could sit back down to rest the quads. Then it's the final ramps up to the top and I was surrounded by carnage - the vast majority of people are having to walk up, cars are wheel spinning to get past, then getting stuck behind other riders etc etc.

But I pushed on, out of the saddle, HR maxing out at 183 bpm while my cadence bottomed out at 36 rpm, giving it absolutely everything, straining every sinew, pulling on the handlebars almost as much as I was pushing on the peddles, shouting at myself to "c'mon!" Finally I crested the top - what a victory but still Wrynose to go. After recovering on the descent and the intervening flat bit I felt good and, long story short, got up Wrynose too. Just the small matter of one last final hill and it was back to the start.

Total time, 4:48 including the two feed stops so time in the saddle, 4:32. Recovered at the end, waiting for the rest of the guys then off to the pub for food. Awesome day out, more interesting stories here, including one about a car that drove off the edge!