Getting Back Into It

Posted on June 4, 2007 by lord_lordy

  Slowly but surely I’m getting back into the swing of training. Though today I feel really quite tired and am largely resting. I managed to get up for a swim this morning and was swimming well. It was a tough session – 4.8km with a 3.6km main set. Ran there and back as usual. Following breakfast I had a snooze and slept till 1pm so am now planning taking it easy for the rest of the day. I’m meeting Jane and Jude this evening for some dinner and to get my Birthday present.

Couple of photos included with this entry. Two shots from Lanzarote – hoping will motivate me. Less than three weeks to Ironman Switzerland and it feels like I’ve not yet recovered from the previous one. Hoping to get some more hard training in but it’s looking less likely by the day.

I’ve booked in to see a sports psychologist on Thursday and he’s given me some rather tricky questions to answer:

  1.     What do you want from the session?
  2.     What will that do for you?    
  3.     How will you know when you’ve got it?
  4.     What stops you?

Makes you think!

Last Thursday following a early morning bike session I still didn’t feel great so spent the day resting. Friday felt a little better and managed the new Friday morning coached swim session. Another tough one. At lunchtime I went out for a run with Stephen. First proper run since the race. Didn’t feel too bad.

Saturday was my birthday and it was a great day. Jo and I went for a couple of beers on Friday night. Then up early Saturday morning and on the bikes by 4.10am – we cycled a huge loop up towards Cambridge and then back south stopping after 5 hours at Buntingford for delicious croissants and coffee. Then did another few hours to Epping where we grabbed some lunch. Jo headed back whilst I headed no for another 5 hours of fun. A big loop round back to potters Bar. These very long rides slowly wear you down and by the time I got home at just before 7pm I felt completely exhausted. I’d managed 207 miles in just under 13 hours of cycling. I got a great Rapha cycling top from Jo that matches my new bike!! And she’d baked a  lovely raspberry and white chocolate egg custard. We went out for a massive curry. My legs ached like you wouldn’t believe, I couldn’t get comfortable and wondered whether I’d be able to get to sleep. Luckily I’d plucked up the courage to soak them in a cold bath immediately after the ride. It’s a great feeling being so completely exhausted. You sleep so well it makes it completely worth it just for that !

An even better feeling is getting up the next day and feeling strong on the bike again. Jo and I set off just before 7am for Brighton. As planned we looped round at Ditchling. We bumped into John there which was really nice.  From Ditchling we went west and then north to Horsham and Dorking before heading home. Managed 136 miles in just under 9 hours. Both of us were certainly completely nuked !

Guess that could explain my tiredness today!

Posted in Motivation, Training | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Post Lanza Recovery

Posted on May 30, 2007 by lord_lordy

I’m stuck at home as I have a very dodgy tummy. It’s feeling significantly better and I’m now trying to tentatively eat something and see how it goes. I weighed myself Saturday morning and then next time was Tuesday morning after being hit by this dodgy stomach and I’d lost 12 lbs ! No wonder I feel so drained.

It’s been a huge period of rest since the race. Did nothing till the Wednesday when I tried a lunchtime run. Felt good but hitting the down ramp to the canal my leg felt cramp like so I stopped and walked back. A massive 1.5 miles completed ! I swam that evening and was swimming well. Then on Thursday morning got out for laps of Regents Park – short and steady. Total rest on Friday.

The decision to enter the Tour of Wessex proved very wise as it got me back out doing some decent training. Post such a big race I tend to get a massive lull in motivation (which I’m still feeling). The Tour of Wessex was just the tonic. On Saturday we headed out on the 100 mile route in beautiful weather. I felt strong and got caught up in all the excitement getting into groups of riders and doing my share of the work at the front. Completed in 5h36 which I was quite pleased about.

Sunday I did the 100 miler – most other Tri Londoners canned it due to the weather. It was miserable. Rained the whole time and was windy. I felt completely lacking in strength and ended up doing most of the route on my own. It was the best I could do to keep going completing in 6h43.

Monday was the long ride (131 per my computer) – the weather was good and early on we got into a massive peloton of riders. It was great fun, I was up front doing a lot of the work. After the feed station we got onto this section of road and I started to push it – keeping the speed at 22-23mph. I spent 20-25 minutes on the front and when I decided to sit up and make sure Jo was still with us I found I had about 15 riders strung out behind me. One guy said he’d buy me a coffee. I eased off to find Jo but she’d been dropped. Without me on the front the pace of the group dropped by a good couple of mph which made me feel good. Had a similar spell after the next feed station. Had Gabriel on my wheel and two other guys and we belted along this valley often at 25+mph! Great fun. On the final climb I felt it a little and was dropped by the group but managed to catch them at the final feed station. I promised myself to stick with them but it turned out I was feeling relatively good and did more than my fair share on the front. When someone said there was only 5 miles to go I went to the front and said “lets get home” and kicked the pace up several MPH. It was brutal and when someone took over on the front it felt no easier !! Bugger. The 5 miles turned out to be more like 10 and the sudden change in pace had dropped some of the group but we all enjoyed it – quite a laugh going at that sort of pace.

Coming home on Monday night my tummy rebelled and we ended up having to stop at consecutive service stations. I then had a broken nights sleep. Yesterday I went to bed at 4pm, woke at 11.30pm, had something to eat and back to bed waking again at 7.30am this morning. So the Tour of Wessex got me back into training and now this has knocked me for six again. With only 3.5 weeks till Ironman Switzerland I hope this clears up soon.

Posted in Training | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Lanzarote Ironman Analysis

Posted on May 22, 2007 by lord_lordy

It’s been awhile since the last entry largely because of travelling to Lanzarote for the Ironman. A race report has been posted.

I did a proper taper for 10 days prior to this race and was incredibly excited to find out the effects of all the training I’ve managed to do. Once in Lanzarote and doing my final preparations I got even more excited. First of all my swimming felt good and then when I did bursts on the bike I felt awesome. Finally we ran a lap of the course – I felt totally comfortable and we managed a lap in 52 minutes – on race day that would equate to a 3.28 marathon … I knew I would be quicker.

My wetsuit was stolen on Wednesday night – far from ideal but once I’d managed to borrow one for the race I could put it in perspective and think how it had taken my mind off the race for a while and was probably for the best.

The race itself was awesome. On the bike I felt invincible … I kept pushing and didn’t feel I was tiring. I was cutting through the field. I went from 38th to 15th during the bike leg. Unheard of. It’s done my confidence the world of good. I feel like a good cyclist something I would not have said prior to this race. The bike leg was my best leg ! Swimming my worst ! Then to run a 3.20 marathon with more or less even splits. The first lap was quicker then the last three were within 18 seconds of each other and I felt strongest on the final lap. With hindsight I should have been less conservative at the start. Again this is opposite to all previous Ironman races where I’ve gone off quick and at 10 miles had a step change in pace that has remained to the end of the race.

At the end of it all I was 16th overall and third in my age group. Totally gobsmacked. There were only 7 pro’s ahead of me and if I’d been racing as a Pro I would have got a Pro Hawaii slot. This really got me thinking how awesome it would be to race Hawaii as a pro. Looking at the guys that beat me in my age group I can see that I can be winning these – I’m quicker on the swim, competitive on the bike now and know I can do the sort of marathon required to win. My marathon time in Longest Day would have won it. I know I can improve in all disciplines but also know that if I put together times I currently can do in each I can win these events.

My stated goal for this was sub 10 hours and top 3 in my age group. I was 3rd and did 9:46:32. I thought sub 10 was an optimistic target so this is awesome. For Switzerland in just over 4 weeks the target is sub 9.30 and top 3 a gain. This time I think the sub 9.30 is very achievable but the top 3 perhaps more difficult. I’m imagining Laurent Jalabert will be in the mix … it would be awesome to be on the podium with him.

Since the race I’ve had 3 days of complete rest both from  training and from careful eating … ie I’ve eaten crap and enjoyed it. Now feeling that I should get back into it so tomorrow morning the training starts again.

Posted in Race Review | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Lanzarote 2007

Posted on May 19, 2007 by lord_lordy

Time: 9:46:32
swim: 56:18
T1: 4:51
Bike: 5:22:46
T2: 2:04
Run: 3:20:35
16th Overall, 3rd in Age Group (35-39), first Brit !

Pre Race

    Headed out to Lanzarote the Monday before the race with John and Jo who were racing also together with a  mass of supporters – my mum, sister and nephew as well as Jo’s mum, sister and brother. My usual preparations started on the Tuesday with swimming the course and doing 2-3 hours of biking each day. As I tried out each discipline I was getting quietly optimistic about the race as I was feeling strong in each. My training this year has been going awesomely well and I felt I’d absorbed a tonne more training than through any other winter. This was the first time I was tapering and it was really exciting to see what I could do.

    I’d decided on my race plan and I think the only person I’d told was my mum. I was going to follow the approach for Longest Day for much the same reasons. I wanted to test out my cycling and whether the volume was paying off. Thus I would take the swim steady and then race the bike like there was no run and just see what would happen on the bike.

    Thursday morning a spanner was put in the works when I found my wetsuit had been stolen from our balcony. A made to measure Snugg – very gutting and not ideal a couple of days before the event. After breakfast Jo and I headed to the swim course so i could see if it was feasible to swim without one (I doubted it). On the way there we bumped into Barry and Julie from Tri Sport Epping – we’d kept bumping into them (at the airport, then in our hotel) so perhaps is was fate. I told them what had happened and Barry pointed at Julie and said I could use her wetsuit. Now, she must be a foot shorter than me so I was slightly skeptical but he went on to say it was his old wetsuit. It fit  more or less perfectly !! Just had to remember it zipped the opposite way and the legs weren’t cut short like mine so it was trickier to get off.

Race Day

    Up at 4am for banana mashed with peanut butter and mixed with cheese. It does help settle the nerves as I so enjoy it. Transition the usual buzz as everyone quietly checks their bike in the dark and puts on wetsuits.

    This race is a beach start and the pen is quite narrow. I placed myself right at the front of the agegroupers to the right hand side to try and get clear water as soon as possible ahead of the the first turn (to the left).

    The gun went followed by the rush down the beach, through the surf, dive in – going well. Water filling my goggles, thats a first, now can’t sight, need to clear them. Stop, quickly clear them, swim again. They start to fill again, need to stop do it properly, roll onto my back, clear them, look back to see this mass of swim caps coming towards and think I better get going as I don’t want to get caught in that. My goggles are now OK and I’m soon at the first turn. I feel I’m swimming smoothly and can see other swimmers to  my left and none to my right. I’m passing people left right and centre, not needing to lift my head to sight, concentrating on long clean strokes. Coming back at the end of the first lap I’ve now got lovely clear water, can focus on my pace and  line. You have to run out up the beach between laps. As ever my quad feels almost cramp like as I sprint up the beach. I note this but am not too concerned as it always seems to be the case. Just think take it easy coming out of the second lap. First lap in 27:55… it’s going well. By about halfway through the second lap I”m amongst one or two swimmers the same pace and swim together into the finish. My mind walks through T1 and the first few miles on the bike. I’m getting focussed on pushing hard on the bike early on, really hard. The reason for this is I’ve found on my long rides I’ve come stronger later on. I don’t want to be strong at mile 120 on the bike since I won’t be cycling (if u see what I mean) so I felt the best way to get that feeling quickly is to push like a made man.

    My quad feels ok so I spring up the beach. I’m well up the field (28:22 2nd lap and 38th out of the swim) and am the only one on the carpet – the crowd support is support. “Looking good”, “fantastic swimming”.  T1 goes relatively well other than really struggling to get the wetsuit over my heels. The lady putting on suncream says “keep calm, it won’t come off quicker if u get angry at it” – just the right thing to say.

    Out onto the bike and it feels awesome – down the sea front I am already passing loads of cyclists. As the first 40k unfolds I cannot believe it, never had this on the bike – I felt I was just cutting straight through the field. I passed pros on the bike !! That just doesn’t happen and no one was catching me. I was passing what looked like strong cyclists on the flat, powering a bigger gear than they were able – this just doesn’t happen. I got to fire mountain and my chain comes off – that shouldn’t happen. I stayed calm, stopped put it back on and then got back into my rhythm. Coming down Fire mountain I was in my top gear, on the tri bars absolutely flying  – passed a couple of age groupers and a pro – I was doing about 44mph ! Stayed down on the tri bars through all the sweeping curves and when I looked back had completely dropped them all – this was just going so well.

    Now I could sense I was well up the field – the gaps between riders were big. Often I couldn’t see riders ahead or behind. Everyone once in a while I’d catch a set of riders and go past and the odd rider would pass me. There were sections where there’d be pacing with a group – it felt like description of Kona races where u pace each other –  ie – keep about 15m behind a rider, as they tire u go through and they drop 15m behind to get paced. It’s unspoken but this happened several times. Heading up Mirador del Haria and Mirador del Rio I dropped the guys that had been pacing with me. My average speed was just below 21mph – this was going great, my target was 20mph and that was based on being below it at this point. At the del Rio feedstation I managed to grab energy drink and powerbars. All set for the return I shot down the hill, hit a massive pothole as I rejoined the main road. It was so hard I slowed down to give my bike a once over and it also stopped my bike computer from working.

    The ride back in was into a head wind so was tougher than we’d expected but I still felt strong and continued pushing. The last few kms are downhill or with the wind. I was able to switch my focus to T2 and the run now. What would I feel like on the run ? Excited thoughts were creeping in that I could be strong based on how training has gone.

    By the time I was entering T2 I’d moved up into the top 20. I saw no other athletes in T2, the crowd was great, I felt like I was right at the cutting edge of this race. My 5:22:45 bike split meant the support crew almost missed me as it was minutes ahead of what I’d said was my fastest target split! I was buzzing.

    T2 was super fast – 2:04 and this included stopping as I ran out to sort out the tongues.

    Running the first lap was awesome as the crowd knew I was one of the leaders and gave great support. I decided to set my pace based on feel so didn’t plan to check my watch till the end of each of the 4 laps. The first lap felt so comfortable but I seriously held myself back – I think all my previous Ironman races (other than Longest Day) my pace has had a sudden drop at 10 miles and I didn’t want this happening again.

    I was looking forward to seeing Jo and John and gauging how they were doing. As I ran out I expected to see John coming in on the bike. I reckoned i’d be about 5 minutes ahead after the swim and we’d be similar on the bike. I didn’t see him till about 3/4 through the first lap which I hoped was a reflection of how well my bike had gone rather than his. Jo cheered me on as she came in and I finished my first lap.

    My tummy wasn’t feeling great so I decided I should stop to pee and then skip several feed stations to let it settle. The stop allowed Jo to get ahead of me on the course. I saw here at the turnaround and now had a focus – try and catch her. My tummy had  settled and I felt I was cruising and in control. Could I make inroads on Jo – could I hell. I had quickly got within about 50m of her but couldn’t close that gap. She was clearly flying.

    Into my third lap and mine and Jo’s family were screaming me on – u can catch her. Julie was giving shouts further down, then there were Peter’s family, an american lady that had noted Jo and I were from the same club. A load of londoners in the a bar at the far end. All these various people we’d met in the week running up – it was great.

    By the turnaround I’d caught Jo and gone by. Now I was focusing on the dream sub 10 hour race at Lanzarote. If I managed a 3rd lap the same speed as the 2nd I would have about 65 minutes for the last. This kept me pushing to the end of that lap. Then I thought – keep that pace for half a lap more and you’ll have 40 minutes for just  over 5km. As I Jo and I passed on my way out on the 4th she shouted at me — can’t remember the precise words but it was more or less push this last lap. Just the right thing to say – I conciously pushed and I felt great, felt stronger than at any other point on the run.  Coming back towards the finish I just thought “enjoy this” – I soaked up the atmosphere already knowing I’d nailed a awesome time – exceeding my hopes.

    Hit the line shaking my fists in 9::46:28.

    Not only had I had a blistering bike but I’d backed it up with a very very consistent run: 3:20:34 (the 4 laps were: 47:48, 50:45, 51:00, 51:03). I was 16th overall – I was stunned, couldn’t quite believe it. 3rd in my age group. The other great thing was that finally my swim was my worst discipline (38th) and my bike best (26th)… now there’s a turnaround !

Posted in Race Report | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Fred Whitton Attempt

Posted on May 8, 2007 by lord_lordy

Back from an awesome weekend in the Lakes with a load of friends from the Tri Club. The aim of the weekend was to do the Fred Whitton route which we attempted on Sunday. Unfortunately that proved to be the worst day of weather. We made good progress initially and it was looking excellent as it was a pretty evenly paced group so we arrived at the top of the passes pretty close together, not much hanging around and a good pace between the climbs. With  perfect bad timing just after the rain started we had a minor crash (due to slick road immediately after the rain started) and then a puncture that took a couple of efforts to fix. The latter meant the group was sat in the pissing rain, halfway down the climb and virtually everyone was shivering and very cold by the end. Virtually everyone had misjudged what to wear – most without leggings or waterproof. The weather had looked good to start but now looked set bad. We ducked into a tea shop to warm up.

It was rather a bizarre tea shop – more just someones dining room. We could see through to the kitchen and where the kids were sat on the computer, no menu and it felt like the bill was made up on the spot. 10 quid for 8 drinks wasn’t bad though. We decided we should knock the attempt on the head and whiz back to Ambleside from there. We’d not quite got halfway – we’d been over Kirkstone, Matterdale, Honistor and Newlands. After getting back to Amblesides I continued on in the rain. It cleared up after about another half hour and I enjoyed a lovely ride down through Grisedale and back up the east of Coniston. Ended up with 114 miles in 8.5 hours.

We all headed out for a curry which was great fun.

On Monday we decided to cycle out and continue the route where we left off. Many decided against it due to the poor forecast, wet clothing or just being slightly freaked, I think, from how harsh and scary the previous day was. This was a real shame because for all but the last 10 minutes we had good weather. There were views, some sunny spells but also quite a wind. We made excellent progress back to where we left off and were soon on Whinlatter Pass. The 5 of us were pretty evenly matched again and made for a fantastic group ride. Headed over Cold Fell into a stiff breeze stopped for snap in Gosforth before heading up Eskdale all fairly quiet slowly filling with dread as Hard Knott came into view.

It was as brutal as I remembered. That is one hell of a climb and we were all buzzing when we made it to the top. You could hardly get a word in edgeways as we all enthusiastically gave our take on the climb. On the descent I had a front wheel blow out ! Thank god I was taking it real easy – it was scary enough without being at speed. We were buzzing and chatting so much we were halfway up Wrynose before  we realised we were climbing.

Following Hawkshead Hill we met all the others in Chesters for a really fun end to the holiday. Coffee and cake was awesome as ever – rum soaked prune egg custard is quite a dish ! John had two coffees and three cakes –  don’t think I’ve ever seen it !

I continued on for another couple of hours clocking up 108 miles in 8 hours before meeting Jo and Alex to head to Pippins for tea. I was looking forward to it but I must admit, though the food was great, my salad was no where near the size they have been in there in the past. I told the guy I thought they were taking the piss. He apologised but neither gave money off or gave me more salad.

The weekend had started well with a very fast journey up. Jo, Jayne and I were in Daryl’s having breakie at 8.35 and Jayne and I were on the bikes by 10am. We went over Kirkstone and Matterdale before meeting Jo, Alex, Luis and Mark briefly. We then headed back to Chesters where we met Marie, John and Chris – coffee and a scone – yummy. We then all headed over Hawkshead hill and back to the Hostel. John, Chris and I headed straight out for a  run. John and promised Chris that I always ran steady. Unfortunately for Chris the first time he’s run with me and I felt great and slightly wicked. We set off at a good pace and all the way back I just kept pushing the pace. John told me later it’s very difficult to tell that I’m going faster or pushing harder as my running style doesn’t change. We ended up doing this 4mile loop in just over 26 minutes !

In the evening I’d cooked up a load of quiches and made a massive salad. Various cakes had been made including Johns Banoffee pie, and Alex’s ‘anti bonk’ fruit cake and nameless moist upside down cake. Awesome all round !

The only other training I managed for a sprightly 8 mile run first thing on Sunday morning.

Toptastic weekend.

Posted in Big Rides | Leave a comment

Training Rollercoaster

Posted on May 4, 2007 by lord_lordy

It is quite a roller coaster – sometimes feel great others not. Always wondering why, is it overtraining?

Wednesday I sleep in but sods law I’m wide awake at 6am when I could have slept till 8. Pottered a little before heading to work. At lunchtime felt good on a steady lunchtime run and good in swimming. Then Thursday morning I head out early on the fixed and feel terrible. Legs just completely shot. I’m concerned about what will happen when the others arrive. Sods law… Gabriel arrives early and is doing his long ride as he’s on call at the weekend. So he’s on his posh bike and I’m struggling to stay with him. Then the others arrive and, it was my own fault… when this dude whizzes by I jokingly try and jump on his wheel and shout to the others “where’s your competitive instinct ?” Next thing I know this guy is in our group and we are hurtling around. A few laps of suffering and finally I feel good. At one point I’m hanging on the back as we have a brief period at 27.5mph – the absolute limit of what I can do on my fixed. Ended with 60 miles in a little over 3.5 hours.

Then at lunchtime I’m out on my own running and flying – 11 mile route in 76 minutes – first and last mile easy. Absolutely superb.

Then this morning back on the bike I feel like death. Seriously consider knocking it on the head but am meeting  Luis so keep going. It’s such a battle with the 78″ gear I now have. At the speeds I’m going your are forever working to keep it moving. I manage to get 50 miles done in 3h20. Then lunchtime today out for a steady 9 mile run and I feel great again. I’m taking massive positives from this since it shows I can still run fast and hard even if my legs feel shot from the bike. Too knackered now though to head for a swim at the pool. Also need to cook and pack for the weekend in The Lakes.

Could be interesting…

Posted in Training | Leave a comment

More Little Milestones

Posted on May 2, 2007 by lord_lordy

I love my little milestones and hit a couple in the past few days. Yesterday I managed 200 miles on my bike in 12 hours. Only the second time ever I’ve managed 200 miles. This was on my time trial bike so I’m doubly chuffed. It’s clearly darn comfy. I drove out to Box Hill early as I had to visit the bike shop. On the way out I hatched the plan to not run first but get straight out on the bike. I started at just after 6am and did a couple of hours trying to spend time on the tri bars before coming back to meet John. I had a little breakie before getting the text from john that he wasn’t coming. I headed back out to try and push along on the Tri Bars. I was feeling sluggish and battled through just over 4 hours before arriving at Cranleigh for lunch (scotch egg and pork scratchings!). Another 2.5 hours got me back to Box Hill café for coffee and cake before heading to the bike shop to collect my bike box. I spent abit of time in there so knew I’d be pushed to get 200 miles done. I cycled down from Box Hill, headed to a spar for some quick snap and then out for a solid 3.5 hours where I covered 62 miles. Finally I was feeling great – motoring along on the tri bars and just felt like I could keep going and going. Unfortunately dusk arrived and at just after 8pm I had to stop.

The other milestone was a swimming one. On Monday I did a mammoth 16.4km of swimming which took my WTD swim yardage over 30k for the first time this year. HURRAH !!

As for the weekend, that was none too shabby either. Headed out to Box Hill – did my usual 13 mile North Downs run before meeting Jo on the bike. We did a fast flat loop round to Cranleigh. Then a hard hilly route back to Box Hill. We managed Winterfold, Little Belgium, Leith Hill, White Downs and Box Hill. Exhausting. Jo headed for a run whilst I did more laps round Box Hill. Clocking 134 miles total. We went to our favourite diner for tea. I had a great T-bone steak.

Sunday, Jo and I managed to get up and do a short run – 6.5 miles. For me it was quite sharp, I was running well. We then headed south on the bikes to meet John, Gary and Julian to ride to Brighton. John has a rather nice route down. We stopped there for food – fish and chips for some for me I popped into Somerfield for something slightly more healthy. Gary and Jo ducked out for the train so far back. This left Julian and I crying for mercy on Johns wheels. Well actually we didn’t make a noice we just focussed on not dropping the wheel infront. It was good for about 20 miles before I headed my separate way. I cut across to get to Box Hill café in time for coffee, treacle tart and a rock cake (yes TWO cakes!) – I was pretty hungry. Then did my usual 50 mile loop home to clock up 167 miles. I felt so strong coming along embankment – I was cranking out 300 watts consistently !!

Posted in Big Rides, Motivation, Training | Tagged | Leave a comment

Alcohol Effects

Posted on April 27, 2007 by lord_lordy

They say that when you’re training the main problem with the booze is the effect it has on your next days training. I can confirm this effect.

    Tuesday night Jo, mum, Jane and I went to the Oxo Tower to celebrate mums 70th birthday. It was a great evening and I felt in the mood for a drink. So a couple of pre dinner drinks were followed by a glass of champagne, then red wine then port over a delicious meal. To be honest I didn’t really feel that drunk and certainly had no hangover Wednesday morning but it was a late night. Wednesday morning I made no effort to head for a run and at lunchtime felt quite lethargic and knocked the run on the head. I like to blame this on drinking last night but it could just be I’m tired.

    Then Wednesday night after the club swim we had quite a large group head to the pub for some drinks. I had a couple of glasses of red wine which meant I’d drank 3 nights out of the last 4 – unheard of this year and probably more than I’d drunk in the whole year to that point. This didn’t stop me getting up for a ride first thing Thursday morning. I was wide awake. Surprisingly it was raining but I still got out for a 60 miler round Regents Park. Our group still got together but this small amount of rain stopped any other cyclists from training … wimps.

    Plan of attack is now in place for the final preparations for IM Lanzarote – it’s 3.5 weeks away so I’m going to hit the next 10 days hard and then taper. This means by mid next week I want to get my run week to date miles over 100 and by the end of the 10 days my bike week to date miles over 500. Throughout swimming to be maintained at 20+km per week. It’s all planned out so just need to get it all done.

    This week has gone well post marathon.

MONDAY

Easy running to and from the pool proved my legs were AOK following the marathon. Cally pool was freezing – I never fully warmed up, was shivering during rests and felt cold the whole time I was swimming. I just had to keep persuading myself to stay in the pool. We did a main set based around 200s and my times fell away dramatically – down to 3.30s by the end. To put this in perspective I should be able to knock out 2.45s. I was concerned that this was fatigue from the marathon but swimming later in a warmer pool confirmed it was the cold. After the session the temperature outside had dropped and I ran home in a daze. Once at home I had to put on trousers and fleeces to warm up !

    Following breakfast I headed to the gym and did a 6.5km session. I then headed to Janes for my lunch before back to the pool for a further 4+km. In total I managed 14.6km of swimming.

TUESDAY

The mornings are now light enough that I can attempt to get out of London on the bike before the traffic. This was the plan this morning and I got on the road by 6.10am. I didn’t feel great initially but it eased after 30 minutes. I got to Box Hill for 9am within minutes of Johns arrival. The traffic had been pretty bad in places and I really think I need to be able to get on the road an hour earlier. I was out on the P3 (my race bike) really just looking for some steady miles. Luckily this was in line with what John wanted. He was in post marathon mode and viewed today as a ‘holiday’. All this translated into coffee and cake at Box Hill before heading off for about 90 minutes of steady riding before some snap at Cranleigh, then about 2 hours back to Box Hill for coffee and cake before i headed home by my usual 50 mile / 3 hour loop. It turned into a gorgeous day and the cycling was great. The P3 is so awesome to ride. I was also looking forward to dinner in the evening which all added up to a fantastic day. Managed 142 miles in 9 hours ride time and was pretty darn chuffed.

WEDNESDAY

Had a lie in and rested through lunchtime. Headed to club swim. Had a good session and continue to swim well.

THURSDAY

Up early and got lots of laps done. Pushed it for 11 laps before the others turned up. Then continued with steady sociable laps before heading to breakfast having covered 60 miles in just short of 3h45mins. Lunchtime got out for my first run of reasonable distance. Headed out with Stephen and felt great on the run. Wish I’d felt this good Sunday !! Finished the day off with a 4.6km swim session focussing on my stroke and not crossing under my body. Had my new hand paddles which I used and seemed to help alot. Ran over to Janes to babysit Jude where I russled up a delicious supper.

FRIDAY

Was determined to get enough sleep last night so set my alarm for 8 hours after I went to bed. When I woke this still didn’t feel like enough so I slept longer. By the time I got up Jude was awake and he was on top form so spent some time with him. By the time I left I’d hatched my plan – just run home (2.5miles) and then go to the gym for a swim. I continued to focus on my stroke and use the hand paddles – managed 3.4km before a mad dash to get to work on time. Went running at lunchtime with Stephen. Was wearing my new racing flats which are the latest candidate for my race shoe this year. Was running really well – felt light on my feet and comfortable. We ran at a good pace and for the last mile or so along the canal I pushed all out. Felt bloody brilliant. Reckon these are the shoes to race the season in! Finished the training day off with a shortish swim – 2.1km focussing on my stroke again. Did mean I’ve completed my biggest weeks swimming: 28.8km

Posted in Training | Leave a comment

London Marathon 2007

Posted on April 22, 2007 by lord_lordy

3:10:54 – pretty pleased with that. Race went pretty well all things considered. I woke up and laid in bed thinking that yesterdays ride may not have been such a bright idea but once I got up and walked around my legs eased off and I felt a lot more positive about it. Had a tuna and tomato omelette for breakfast and headed to the start. It was a lovely day, so when I got into the championship start area I set my alarm and had a snooze in the sun. If anything the biggest problem about the ride yesterday was the lack of time once I got back to eat and the like. Reckon I was at least an hour, if not two, short on sleep.

I started the race conservatively but after the first mile got onto a pace for sub 3 hours. This only lasted about 5 miles where I adjusted to aim for 7-minute miles. This I managed to halfway. From about 12 miles to 22 I felt the best, my legs eased off and it felt comfortable. This may have been due to my pace slowing – it was consistently around 7.15 minute miles throughout this section. At mile 22 I had to concentrate to keep pushing and with a couple of miles to go my mental focus dropped and I decided that this had been an excellent training run and I shouldn’t push the last few miles purely to gain mere seconds. What was more important now was quickly getting back into training. At the finish I kept walking and knew that my legs were by no means shot and I would be back in training the next day. I’ve just come back from my morning swim session and I felt pretty good running to and from the pool.

To give the context to this run my WTD totals going into the marathon were:

Swim: 27.45km

Bike: 509 miles

Run:  56 miles

Hours: 47.85

It was definitely a good mimic of the Ironman marathon – not necessarily physically as I think the fatigue a day after a long bike is different from that running straight off the bike – but definitely mentally. I ran faster than this in Longest Day last year but then I’d tapered and was at race weight.

Very pleased I did this.

Posted in Race Report | Tagged | Leave a comment

Marathon Taper

Posted on April 21, 2007 by lord_lordy

Thats the taper complete – 173 miles on the bike in 11 hours down in Surrey ! Feeling pretty tired which I guess was the plan but am now slightly nervous about whats going to happen tomorrow. Important thing is now to get to bed early and try and get recovered !

Posted in Training | Tagged | Leave a comment