Reflections on winter training.

Today, in her annual Christmas message, the Queen talked about using this time of year as an opportunity for reflection: "We all need to get the balance right between action and reflection. With so many distractions, it is easy to forget to pause and take stock."

So I thought I’d follow her example and take stock of my winter training; pause, reflect and think about how best to proceed into 2014.

My plans for next season are Wilmslow half marathon (March 23rd), Outlaw Half triathlon (1st June) and IronmanUK in Bolton (20th July 2014). 

As last year, I put together a 12 week “Winter Training Block” to get me through October, November and December before getting "serious" in January.

So how did it go? The graphs show the comparable 12 week periods, 2012 on the left, 2013 on the right. The bar graphs below show hours per week, with planned hours in grey, completed hours in colour. (Done with the help of Training Peaks, beta version)

% time dedicated to each activity

Last year I mapped out a very precise swim plan and stuck to it like glue. The reward? A 400m PB in early January.

This year I re-visited my stroke with a Swimsmooth video analysis. This was really helpful, pointing out a slight cross over and sub-optimal catch on the right side.

However, while reconstructing my stroke, it looks like I lost a bit of focus and my swim training has clearly been a bit less consistent. I’m currently 15secs off last year’s PB.

I feel that my stroke has improved so now it’s time to regain some focus, put in the hard graft and hopefully gains will come.

It’s on the bike where I need to improve if I want to get more competitive in my age group. So I was happy to see that my aim to ride on Saturdays and Sundays panned out to some extent, resulting in more winter mileage.

VO2max intervals and Sufferfests kept me going on the turbo. Re-testing will determine whether it’s had any impact on my 5 min and 20 min power.

Last winter was all about running rehab, hence all the walking and slow build up: maximum 5km runs at 6 min per k pace. This resulted in a great base and an injury-free 2013.

This winter I continued the slow running but superimposed XC races and a few track sessions. So far so good, and I’m looking forward to a good training block before the Wilmslow half where I hope to attack 1:20.

Trips to the gym have been rather sporadic this year.  Not sure why. Interestingly, if you ignore the walking last year, my total training hours are similar, so maybe I’m at my natural limit.

So with the extra hours on the bike, something had to give: if ever I felt tired I’d sack off the gym, reasoning that they are the least important sessions.

I’m still a bit tubby, ~2 kgs heavier than this time last year. But that was part of the plan – honest guv. Last year I did quite a bit of trimming down over winter. This winter my diet has been healthy but I’ve not restricted myself.

The plan now is to lose those 2kgs before Wilmslow; the first week or so will be tough as I cut down on “white” carbs.

Anyway, overall I’m pretty happy with how this year’s winter training went. A few work-related trips disrupted my rhythm but overall I’ve been pretty consistent, averaging 13hrs per week.

This process of reflection has helped me re-focus and I have a pretty good idea what I need to do as I move into the “Base Phase” of my Annual Training Plan. 2014 is just around the corner and I’m looking forward to it. 

For more regular updates, I plan to post more regularly on Stava.

Anyway, that's enough, time for Doctor Who. Good luck to everyone for 2014.

Challenge Roth 2013 – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

(Update August 2013 - Pics added, click any one for a slide show)

Pre-race nutrition

Pronounced “rote” by the locals, “wroff” by the Brits, Roth, a small town in Bavaria is host to one of the most iconic ironman-distance races in the world.

It’s big, with 3000+ competitors; it’s popular, selling out a year ago in 45 mins; it’s a spectacle, with awesome organization and razzmatazz; plus it’s fast - world records are held here.

Dawn in T1

My A-race for 2013, my third ironman-distance race, and the plan was to break the 10-hour mark.
 

First the ugly. We recced on Friday, driving one lap of the bike course. This got me excited – rolling terrain through farmland and forest, tarmac smooth as marble. A few sharp turns in some of the villages, a few climbs, but nothing to worry about.

Calm before the storm

Except one thing: at 45k & 130k, three hairpin bends on a fast descent. Straw bales strapped to the metal barriers scream CAUTION. Lap 1, I’m approaching the first, sharp and down to the left, I move right to turn as wide as possible, I’ve scrubbed my speed.

Just before I initiate, a big guy hurtles past me, brakes hard, tries to turn but back wheel locks, releases brakes, straightens ups and slams into the straw bales. Over the handlebars, over the barrier and into oblivion.

Crowds gathering on the far side

Meanwhile, my only safe option is to complete the turn correctly. Looking back over my left shoulder, the next two riders are pulling over. 

This all happens in a few adrenaline-fuelled heartbeats and gravity is pulling me forward; I carry on. Moments later I feel guilty for not stopping & going back. I hope he’s ok, I suspect not.

Now for the bad. My A-plan was swim steady, 1:05, then on the bike, target an average power of 180W to yield a 5:15 split with enough in the tank for a 3:30 marathon. Add 5 mins for transitions, target time ~9:55. If things go well/really well then maybe 5-10 min faster run to give a fantasy time of 9:50 and a now-you’re-taking-the-piss time of 9:45.

Good views from up there!

Jacky’s encouragement at the bike-mount line told me that the swim and T1 had gone to plan. Meanwhile however, my Garmin 510 bike computer has gone to sleep; no worries just switch it back on. Ok, but it’s not giving me any power data – bugger. Fiddle with it for a couple of mins, no joy.

No worries; because I’ve had the odd power-Garmin hiccup in training, I planned for this. Evoke plan B and pace by heart rate, which has worked well in the past; target upper zone 2 with a cap of 155 bpm on the hills. But I’m not getting any heart rate data either. BAD Garmin!!

Swim well underway

After a few minutes pressing buttons I decide that (a) this is dangerous and (b) I’m wasting time and mental energy. So,  I evoke a C-plan: “feel and feed, feel and feed”, i.e. pace my effort based on feel and just make sure I take nutrition bang on schedule, forget about everything else.

The trouble with "feel" is that when you’re tapered and in race mode, going fast feels easy, at least it did for the first lap: average speed ~36kph – that’s on course for a 5 hr split – far too fast. Indeed, at ~100k it got tough; after that a lot of mental focus was required to keep the pace up and the energy bars down. End of lap 2, average speed dropped to below 35kph.

Swim exit

Due to stop-starting my Garmin I didn’t have an accurate time but clearly inside 5:15. However, having overcooked the bike, I was suffering and staring down the barrel of a “melt-down-marathon”. I’d blown it, dejection as I ride into T2!

But, ironman-distance is nothing if not an emotional roller coaster; dealing with highs and lows is part and parcel. So, never mind, press on.

Smoothly through T2, I’m on the run. Jacky again shouts encouragement. Start off very easy but what to do? THINK! Can I salvage this? And here comes the good; I look at my watch and hatch a new plan. It’s about 1:20 pm. My wave started at 7:05-ish, so the original sub-10 plan meant I needed to be on the run by 1:30. I’ve got a nice buffer, use it wisely. THINK!

The bike!

The A-plan was to build to 4:45k/min pace and hold for as long as possible, then start walking aid stations in the final third as the inevitable suffering began. The backup was designed for oppressive heat; revise pace to 4:50-4:55, walk aid stations sooner. Both should deliver a sub-3:30. Overcooking the bike meant that either could end in disaster: the C-plan on the bike necessitated a C-plan for the run.

I elected to deliberately walk the aid stations from the start, something I’ve never done before. Walking 20-30m every couple of km allowed me to lower my heart rate, stuff cold sponges in my tri-shirt & shorts and drink plenty of cold fluid to cool the engine. Hopefully this would allow me to recover from the bike.

Pushing hard on the bike

This wasn’t capitulation, I wasn’t taking it easy; in between aid stations I focused hard and I ran strong, keeping form and regularly looking at my more trusty Garmin 310 to keep my moving pace close to 4:45 min per k. But the deliberate & frequent walk-breaks broke up both the physical and metal effort, much like an interval session.

Start of the finish chute

And the strategy seemed to be working; 10-15k in and I was feeling much better, I’d had a few energy gels, fluids were going down easily, not too much sloshing about, a quick pee stop told me I was hydrated. By the half way point I started to minimize the walking, grabbing sponges on the move and stopping only seconds for a mouthful of coke.

Home!

As I approached the 29 km marker I felt awesome so put the hammer down. This doesn’t necessarily mean I got faster, but by increasing perceived exertion I aimed to maintain pace or at least slow any decay.

With 5 k to go I was hurting real bad, calves could pop any moment. But I stayed relaxed: “You’re deep into an ironman, of course it hurts”. Plus, I took satisfaction from beating my local competition. Early on, my walk-the-aid-station approach, meant I was overtaken quite a bit – an unusual experience ;-)

Bag collection

Between stations, I’d catch up, then as I cooled and refueled, they’d get a lead on me. But not by then end; in the last 10k they were walking and/or slowing dramatically – I left them all behind. Apart from relay runners, I remember only 1 guy that I didn’t re-take.

The result

And finally, the finish chute appears, Jacky is there again, cheering me on. No idea of the time, well under 10, did I see a 9:46:xx on the screen, or maybe that was someone else? I’m destroyed, I don’t care, shuffle through the finisher’s area, an emotional moment by myself, find somewhere to sit, head bowed, mind blank, don’t move for ages.

Finally muster the energy to move into the finisher tent, massage tables full, see bank of computers with race results, type in 1168 – click Stephen Taylor – 9:41:25 – un-frickin'-believable!

Just goes to show; sometimes things work out for the better when they don’t go quite to plan.

Official splits: Swim (1:04:57), T1 (2:54), Bike (5:07:15), T2 (2:02), Run (3:24:20).

Swashbuckler pictures

Calm before the storm

Race briefing in Bucklers Hard

Return of lap 1; I'm in there somewhere

Turn and start of lap 2, back into the sun

Out of the forest and back onto heathland

Back in the forest, only a few km to go - suffering!

Pictures from Baxter Bradford.

Swashbuckler 2013

This weekend I opened my 2013 race account at the Swashbuckler, a middle distance race made up of a 1.9k swim, 80k bike and a 22k run. I previously did this in 2010; I have come a long way since then so was looking to smash my previous time of 5hrs 13mins. Organized by Race New Forest, this event is centered on Buckler’s Hard, a tiny village on the Beaulieu River. An interesting place in its own right, the site where Nelson’s fleet was built prior to the Battle of Trafalgar.

The swim course

My 2012 season ended with a bit of a damp squib; due to injury I bailed on Lanza 70.3 as well as Challenge Wanaka. So the goal for winter was to rebuild my running legs while working on my speed in the pool and power on the turbo.

Winter training went well and continued through spring. 400m PB in the pool, raised my 5 min and 20 min powers quite a bit and even got at PB at the Wilmslow Half Marathon despite very little threshold or speed work. I had also been tinkering with my bike fit, dropping the front end by ~15mm, and investing in some new kit; flashy aero helmet and more importantly, some badass wheels.

A F9R and disc combo from Fast Forward

So by the time the Swashbuckler came around I was uber pumped. A work commitment abroad meant I was forced to have a mini taper, no bad thing, so I was rested and raring to go. My main race this year is Roth in July and I wanted this race to tell me what kind of shape I was in.

This swim is quite hard! The two loop course follows a bend in the river, around a line of moored boats. The river is tidal so it can be slack if the tide’s high tide or it can be flowing. It starts at 6:15am with the sun only just above the horizon, so on the out you can be swimming into bright sunlight, so sighting is difficult. It’s silty so visibility underwater isn't great either making drafting difficult. But who said it was supposed to be easy :-)  The day before, Race Director Richard Iles (great guy), commented that this race tends to attract a stronger field due to the harder swim. Indeed, at the race briefing, only one person admitted this was their first triathlon. On the plus side, water temperature was up to ~16 degrees. Also, slack water was on the menu. 

Bright sunshine from the start

My tactic was to start right at the front, and on the out swim as the crow flies straight from the start line to the turn buoy. However, everybody else seemed intent on following the curve of the river, presumably using the line of boats as a guide. Crossing the herd meant that I got swam over a few times. It calmed down on the second lap and according to my official time keeper, and #1 support crew, Jacky, I exited in ~35mins, good for me, especially considering the conditions. Running up the hill through the village is cool, lots of support. Into transition, and out on the bike, all nice ‘n smooth. Official time: swim and T1 done in 37:18, 34th place.

 

Random picture of New Forest wild life

The bike course is awesome, through forest and over down. Quiet roads with little traffic, just the local wildlife to watch out for. The horses, ponies and cows etc. that live in the New Forest roam freely so caution needed. Otherwise, conditions perfect: clear skies and no wind. I overtake a few people at the start but then it’s pretty quiet; only ~250 people in the race and I’m now at the pointy end :-) The course was very well marshaled so no chance of getting lost.

This year, I have been doing a few time trials as training rides. These are great as they teach you just how hard you can push on the bike. Plus I have been experimenting with pushing a bigger gear at a lower cadence which seems to be more efficient. Two weeks ago I did a 50m TT in 2:10 with a normalized power of 219W. Today I ride the 80k bike leg in 2:12 with a NP of  213W. By the time I was back into T2 I had moved up to 14th place. Very happy with that, but have I trashed my legs for the run? I spun out the last five minutes, dropping the power and increasing cadence just to ease the muscles.

Nutrition: Big lunch the day before, very light dinner, then normal breakfast at 4:15 am. On the bike, ~6 High5 gels in a 500ml BTA bottle. I had a 750ml bottle of water on the down tube but only had a few swigs, 250ml max. 3 gels for the run, a few swigs of water from the aid stations.

Only a handful of bikes back in transition so I know I’m doing well. Quick turn around and out on the run; two laps through country lanes and over forest track. Feet like bricks to start but otherwise legs ok. Settle into a good pace, overtake three but then loose two places. After that it’s very quiet until the second lap when more runners are joining the course. Chasing rabbits keeps me pushing.

The bike route

With 3k to go I push harder; I’m on my own so unlikely to gain or lose any places but this is still a training race so I have to practice “suffering”. So I push on and suffer. With 2k to go I overtake a guy who’s looking strong and it’s taken me a while to chase him down – turns out that was the moment I moved from 3^rd to 2^nd in my age group.

Run split 1:35 for the 22.5k; normalized gives a ~1:29 half marathon time, not bad compared to the ~1:23 stand alone I got in March at Wilmslow. A bit fast at the start and picked it up end, but otherwise evenly paced so very happy with that. Nutrition seemed to work just fine.

Back up the hill through Buckler’s Hard and across the finish in 4hrs 26min. Collapse but very satisfied, crushed my 2010 time. Jacky tells me I came in 12^th – awesome! Defo my best performance to date, not just position wise but in the way I nailed everything on the day.

Next stop Roth! Bring it ON!

And finally, Richard and his team at Race New Forest put on some cracking races, from sprint to full iron-man distance, so if you're looking for a well organized race in a beautiful part of the country check them out. A bit of a drive from Manchester but well worth it. This was my fourth and I very much hope to go back in the future.