Early Morning

Posted on January 11, 2007 by lord_lordy

It’s not even 5am, blowing a gale outside and I’m about to head out into the elements for pre work laps of Regents Park. With luck there’ll be friends there by 6.15am and the rain will hold off. Given little over 4.5 hours sleep following swimming last night I’m feeling surprisingly fresh.

Great day yesterday – managed 22.5 miles running across three runs – fast pre work, steady at lunchtime and then a jog too and from swimming.

Well, the rain held off but the wind continued. Made for a tough ride round Regents park. Of the possible 4 friends I was meeting only one braved it and we had a rewarding ride. I clocked 41 miles in 2h44 of riding. As ever we rewarded ourselves with a greasy spoon breakie – for me this morning it was ham & cheese omelette, salad, black pudding and onion rings all washed down with coffee. Set me up for the day.

By lunchtime the weather was worse – now absolutely tossing it down. Thinking this was not the sort of weather for tourists we ventured along the river. It proved a tourist free zone and the weather improved. Toptastic run – into the wind to Vauxhall bridge and then all the way back along the south bank to Tower Bridge. A nice little 9 miler.

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Lack Of Motivation

Posted on January 9, 2007 by lord_lordy

Early night last night and a good 9.5 hours of excellent sleep. Woke this morning with a resting HR of 36 which is great not far off where I was for the early part of last year.

Boy what a wind this morning on my run. RUnning along embankment past The Tate it virtually brought me to a standstill. It was exhilarating especially on the return run with it on my back – was motoring for a couple of miles. Ended up a steady 8.5 miles in 68 minutes.

Motivation has been lacking today. I’ve felt lethargic and tired. I’m trying to careful not to do it early on as there’s a risk in just getting straight back to the volumes I was doing in the summer. This is how I’ve convinced myself that knocking all my planned sessions other than turbo on the head to day is in my best interests. I guess it’s just frustrating to think I’m not fully utilizing this part time days though getting some decent rest (I slept for an hour this afternoon) is good use of the time.

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First Part Time Day Of The Year

Posted on January 8, 2007 by lord_lordy

My first part time day of the year and it started so well. Wide awake at 5.11am and my heart rate at 38. Getting back to the days of summer – recovering quickly from a hard weekend of riding.

6am – fast asleep and missed swimming. Not too concerned about this since last year my swimming went very well with just two months high yardage (20k per week) in the run up to Florida. Aim is to get something like this throughout the year but if sessions are missed it’s best if they’re swimming ones.

Mid morning I got out for a 12 mile run. Completed in just over 90 minutes. My legs felt heavy after the weekend but loosened off. The first of many runs on tired legs and am very pleased.

Rest of the day has been taking it easy – met my sister for lunch and then played with my nephew for an hour before ambling home. Gonna watch a DVD and get an early (8pm) night.

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Trouble At Mill

Posted on January 7, 2007 by lord_lordy

It was all going hunky dory with this Blog and then BAM … trouble at mill. God knows what happened but when publishing / saving it complained about a missing file. The only solution was to delete yesterdays entry. Anyway … I took copies of yesterdays and todays:

Saturday

Pleased to say I stuck to my own advice: “Make sure you get out and ride on the first wet weekend of the winter as it sets the right precedent.”

This was not just some little ride in the rain. This was 116 miles in about 7.5hours with not a moment of dry weather. Met Gary and we road the first 100 miles non stop before getting a coffee at Costa in Epping. The thought of the coffee kept me going for the 3 hours prior to the stop.

Very pleased, I felt strong especially in the second half and did the whole ride without any food. It may have been wise to have something at Costa but I didn’t, as a result I started feeling a little light headed as I approached home. All is well now as I’m munching away at one of  my favourites – a banana mashed together with some nut butter (this time hazelnut) and then that mixed up with celery, tomato, almonds and hazelnuts.

I feel like I’m now back into proper Ironman training as I managed to do an hours run before the ride

Really gonna enjoy vegging in front of the TV tonight.

Sunday

Slept really well last night and woke way before my alarm. Was even tempted to run before the bike but thought better of it. Well recovered as my resting HR was at 43.

Given this I was expecting the ride to be great … it was but not till the second half. The first half was more rain and very heavy legs. Battled through knowing that I’ll start getting back to where I was if I can manage the back to back 100 milers. Today was 101 miles in just under 7 hours – pleased given wind and it being a Surrey Ride.

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Long Run

Posted on January 5, 2007 by lord_lordy

8.36am About to set off to work.

Planned my first long run this morning. 15 miles. Had the route sorted and the alarm went off. Took my resting HR and it was up 15 from yesterday and I felt drained. Took the executive decision that 2 hours extra sleep was the wise choice. HR came right down after the extra. Will increase lunchtime run so instead of short recovery I’ll go longer at a more steady pace. With luck a 10 miler.

Given my first tough weekends training for along time starts tomorrow today turning out easier than planned is no bad thing.

18.09 After work

Managed a lunchtime run. It flew by as we chatted the whole way round. 10 miles, 77 minutes and it means I’ve run everyday of 2007 so far but we don’t really want to get into that sort of thing do we ?

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First Attempt At A Blog

Posted on January 4, 2007 by lord_lordy

For whatever reason, sometime over the Christmas Break I decided that writing a Blog about my training over the coming year would help me keep focussed on the goals for the season. Motivation has been lacking since Ironman Florida back in November and it felt like this would help.

So 2006 ended in style – climbing Kirkstone Pass in the pissing rain into gale force headwinds. God knows what % it added to the gradient but I know I could hardly push my bike over the top let alone ride it. Awesome ride and superb for the mental toughness. Experiences like these can be fallen back on during tough training days and during events.

4 days into first week of training for the year and I’m marginally ahead of my plan for both cycling and running. Today saw the usual early morning laps of Regents park. 12 this time giving me a 40 mile pre work ride. These repetitive laps are good for teaching you to just push and focus on pushing without distraction. In my experience this seems an important skill when it comes to pushing the pace on the marathon.

ran at lunchtime on tired legs and felt good after a couple of miles. 8.5 miles in  65 minutes. Pretty happy all in all.

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Ironman Florida, Panama City Beach 2006

Posted on November 4, 2006 by lord_lordy

9:32:26 – 43rd overall, 7th in age group
Swim: 58:13
T1: 2:51
Bike: 5:11:16
T2: 1:46
Run: 3:18:22
Qualified for Kona 2007

Really enjoyed this race. Panama City Beach is a nice place to be out of season though it would be the last please I’d want to be in high season based on the number of high rise hotels / apartment blocks on the beach. The beach is beautiful white sand for as far as you can see. At the time of the race it is virtually deserted, most of the people in town are there for the Ironman.

This is a big event with 2,200 people amassed on the beach for the start. It was cold, not what I expected in Florida but luckily I got a prime spot next to a generator and kept warm. (Top tips if u do this race – friends / family can stand with you more or less right to the start so keep some warm clothes when u get kicked out of transition. Even better get booked into event hotel as it’s right next to the start – u could check your bike and go back to bed till 5 minutes before the gun!)

The Pros had it easy being set off 10 minutes before us. I did my usual trick of getting to one side of the start and had a clear swim – no hassles from other competitors but lots of hassles from the sea. This was the toughest swim I’ve ever done – there was a big swell and strong current. I managed to navigate well and concentrated on keeping smooth and trying to cut through the waves. It was fun coming out onto the beach between laps especially as my sister had got right in past her knees to ensure she was ideally placed to scream at me. (any of u that have had me cheer you on in a race well imagine that 10 fold and u get the picture). Continued strong in the swim and gained some spots – exited in 58 minutes – well chuffed given the conditions.

The wetsuit helpers were awesome, they screamed “on the floor !!” – no need to think it was so loud I just reacted – two of them pulled my wetsuit off in one big pull. I raced into transition and having decided to try this race without putting cycling shorts on (just race in my tri shorts) I was out on the bike in under 3 minutes.

The guy on the mike had been telling us how the wind was a headwind and then died completely at 7 miles and just like his comment about the calm seas it was total bullshit. 5 miles of tail wind saw my average speed rapidly up to where I wanted it – in the 22+mph range. I was already dreaming of that sub 5 hour bike split if his comment about the winds was right. Unfortunately turning inland the wind  didn’t die and I battled the next 40 miles into a strong head wind. Managed to keep the speed up at about 20mph but would need to get a good return run to be on the sort of pace I wanted. With the tail wind I had a long section of spinning along at 29 mph – it was great. I took advantage of the odd slight rise to get out of the saddle and change my position. Don’t be fooled – a flat bike course is not ‘easy’ – it’s brutal. There is no hiding – u are down on the tri bars pushing pushing pushing. By 90 miles the pain / ache in my legs was taking all my concentration to keep on pushing. The last 5 miles were tough, but I was on target for a respectable bike split (not my dream split unfortunately) of 5.11

My mum and sister are becoming expert Ironman supporters – they walked out to cheer me on the last mile of the bike. Unexpected and just the right sort of boost.

Into T2 it was good to see how few bikes there were.

Quick change around and out onto the run. I felt good, really felt I was cruising and not pushing at all – mile 1 6.30 ! Jeez, ease up, mile  2 another 6.30 !! I allowed myself to ponder that sub 3 hour run split. I eased up and decided to stick at about 7 minute miles through the first lap and then pick it up on the second if I still felt this strong.

Through 10 miles I was still feeling comfortable and hit it more or less bang on 70 minutes. Then the juice just wasn’t there in the legs and I dropped to 8 min miles through to finish the half marathon in 1.35. Despite my efforts (I can show u the photos if u want to see the agony ;o)) I could only maintained 8 minute miles through the second half. In the final 5 miles I thought about the effort I’d put in training for this race and that I should enjoy these last 30 minutes or so (ever the optimist) – this really helped, though my pace didn’t pick up my comfort level did. I was heading for a decent time, I’d raced well and based on previous years I should have a Kona spot.

My sister surprised me by coming out along the run course and cheering me like you wouldn’t believe, as ever such support almost had me in tears. I felt like I picked up the pace in response to it but in reality I don’t think I did.

The finish is great they swing you round into the expo and there was a big crowd. They even had a finishing tape held across. I was well chuffed to see that I was quick enough that they hadn’t switched the clock over from the Pros’ time to the Age Groupers though that does mean my finishers photo has me 10 minutes slower than I was.

I finished with a 3.18 marathon (same as Kona split last year but not at the level of my Longest Day marathon) and a total time of 9.32.

Rounded off my season very well – pretty close to my years aim of a 9.30 Ironman but more importantly I got a Kona slot for 2007. This is even more exciting than last time as now I know just how awesome an event Kona is. Hopefully there will be several more Tri Londoners out there !!

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Wensleydale Triathlon 2006

Posted on August 13, 2006 by lord_lordy

Time: 4:35:49 1st Overall

Swim: ~ 30 mins (1.9km)

Bike: ~2:30 (42 miles)

Run: ~1:35 (12 miles)

This is the new Yorkshire Dales triathlon and is aiming to get a reputation as one of the toughest races in the UK. Waking in Stokesley, race morning, to torrential rain certainly meant it was going to be even tougher and with very strong northerly winds some of the early climbs on the bike and the climb on the run were going to be tough. I quietly prayered for some excuse not to race to materialise.

Mum set me up with the perfect pre race snap – sausage, egg and bacon then on the road to Hawes for registration. A very nice low key affair, only about 50 entrants. Bike run transition was numbers sprayed on grass and in the swim bike transition there weren’t even racks ! We had a little time to kill so went to a bikers cafe in Hawes for a cuppa coffee and a toasted teacake. Made note of the full cooked for future rides ;o)

Up at Semerwater for the start the weather didn’t look great, it wasn’t raining but there were some seriously threatening clouds. The water was cold, coldest I’ve raced in this year. The swim was a two lap out and back affair. On the first lap the buoy was blown away so a canoe had to act as the buoy. Swimming back was very tough indeed, straight into the wind and there was some quite serious chop. I settled in and had a good steady swim coming out in the top half dozen. An Aussie guy had come out a good few minutes ahead and was well on his way on the bike.

It was cold so in transition I took the time to put on socks, cycling jersey and cycling waterproof and headed off. Several relay teams had now got out ahead of me on the bike and hitting the first hill, 25% about 200m from the mount line I had a couple more enthusiastic relays teams come by me. I kept to my own pace and recaught them all on the second hill over into Swaledale.

At the turn up to Buttertubs (25% number 3) the marshal told me I was about 2.5 minute down on the two ahead. Luckily I know this area so coming off Buttertubs I knew how fast you could take it. Spinning out my top gear I was well over 40mph. At the bottom Susannah (from Tri-Talk, she helped stem by bleeding foot at Helvellyn a couple of years ago) was giving awesome support and told me I was now only a minute down on 2nd (a relay team) and about 2 on the leader.

Next up was the climb to Garsdale Head and then up the Coal Road (yes another 25%) – coming up this I caught the second place guy and could now see first about 90 seconds up the road. THis is another great descent but you need to be careful as it’s long straight then steepens down several very steep hairpins. I knew u didn’t have to touch your brakes till a certain point. THis certainly helped because at the bottom I couldn’t believe it when I turned a corned and saw the leader within 30 seconds off me.

I worked up the next climb (yes another with a 25% section) and caught him. As I passed he said I was going well then jumped on my wheel ! I couldn’t believe it, after a minute or so of this I turned to him and said ‘Mate you shouldn’t be on my wheel. Either work to get past or drop back’ – he pushed and got past.

We were within 20 minutes of T2 so I decided to just leave him out at about 50m and follow him in no point going by if he had no qualms about jumping on my wheel. At this point with such a long run ahead it was going to come to the run and looking at him I thought I had him !! (I’ve made that mistake before)

It was actually quite fun being in a position knowing he couldn’t pull away and he kept looking back to see where I was. I came into T2 literally seconds behind him. (aside for Damian – I had my powertap on – 2.5 hours at 275 watt average – well chuffed!) He was out of transition in a flash whereas I had to sit to put my fell shoes on. I could see him ahead on the road and as we crossed the first field I caught him. He didn’t have a rucksack or bumbag with him which was completely against the rules – they’d said at the breifing you had to carry a waterproof.

The run is about a mile flatish along the valley followed by 5 miles uphill along the Pennine way to the top of this Fell and then back. It was my perfect fell race – the gradient was steady, continous and relatively gentle with a few steepenings and false summits. I pushed on knowing I needed a lead at the top in case of some good fell runners behind. The Aussie guy dropped back dramatically as soon as the hill started. It was still blowing a gale and cold – great fell running weather. I happily thought how most people would not be enjoying this anything like I was ;o) well thats what I believed and thats all that mattered at the time.

Coming back from the turn around I timed second place at about 90s but he didn’t look like a fell runner. In 3rd at about 7 minutes was a definitey fell runner and gaining 7 mins in 5 miles of downhill is totally possibly. I pushed like mad. Luckily it was my sort of downhill and I thought if anyone manages to catch this deficit when I’m going at this speed they deserve it. Minutes later BANG – I go flying. Luckily only injury is a scraped knee which looked pretty terrible by the finish.

At the bottom of the climb I looked back and couldn’t see anyone but kept pushing to the finish.

Coming across the line was awesome, my mum was there to give me a great big hug. About 5 minutes later the fell runner came in (winning the relay race) – he’d made a minute or so on me and had made up about a 6 minute gap to take second.

Great low key, friendly race. Even had post race snap, pasta you could warm in a microwave and make up your own brews !

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The Longest Day 2006

Posted on July 23, 2006 by lord_lordy

9:15:29
approx splits:
Swim: 58min
T1: 2 mins
Bike: 5:04
T2: 2 mins
Run: 3:09
Position: 1st !!

Click for report in Middlesbrough Evening Gazette

It’s an early start for The Longest Day with the start at 6am. My alarm went off at 3.25am to tuck into a small breakie in my tent. I had decided that I would make a point of following a particular nutrition approach for this race. As such, I passed on the pasta party the night before and instead had 3 turkey breast fillets stuffed with cheddar and peanut butter. Then my morning breakie was a couple of bananas mashed up with a little peanut butter.

The bus to the start left at 4.15am – I dozed on the bus and went over in my head the race ahead. There were a couple of goals for this race. One was definitely a top 3 finish, going for the win seemed less likely as the current national long course champ, Paul Mountford had entered in the last two weeks. However, the main reason for this race was as a marker on my training so far for Florida. To this end the plan was a steady swim followed by a balls out bike (to see if the winter mileage had paid off) and then see on the run. I’d sacrificed swim and run training to work on cycling. Long runs had been limited but I’d done alot more running off the bike. Sub 9.30 was the target time.

It was a nice relaxed T1. For once a race had more portoloos than required ! Not a single queue. I had been the first to rack and had a great spot. I could see Paul Mountford racked at the next best spot.  He had quite a support crew stood with him, covered in sponsored kit and as  he’s local loads of good luck from all the marshalls etc.. This was great for me – really got me motivated, I loved the idea of being this unknown, here on his own who kipped in a tent the night before the race and then went and beat the local star !

With only 200 in the race and a spacious swim start there was no argie bargie whatsoever. Several relay teams went off like bullets (they had different colour hats) but I just concentrated on long strokes and staying streamlined. After about half a lap (of two) I found myself with the lead lady and another guy. It seemed the fast starters had been caught. I came into T1 with these two but passed them both (a first for me) – got out onto the bike thinking I’m first in the race. Ask the first marshal I see and he says no you’re 4th ! The 3 fast starters must have got way ahead.

I started pushing it along on the bike and felt pretty strong but also knew I tended to feel stronger later on on long rides. At about 5 miles Paul Mountford came by me  like a train. Then at about 15 miles another guy went by. That put me in 3rd and aiming to push to try and keep them close enough to try and run them down on the marathon.

At halfway I was feeling really strong and decided to pick it up another notch. By 80 miles I’d recaught the 2nd place guy and had passed all the relay team riders. I was now 2nd on the road and still feeling strong and able to really push to the end of the bike.

Coming into the change tent I heard the announcer say I was in second and that I was 12 minutes behind the leader. He then said that he didn’t know how good a runner I was. So I said to the lady helping me in transition “I’m a bloody brilliant” – she said ‘Go get him then !”

I headed off pushing the first lap to see if I could make inroads and perhaps put a few doubts in the leaders mind and perhaps make him push abit beyond his limits. I wasn’t too hopeful since I knew he’d done a 2.32 at London this year (a post on The Longest Day Forum had commented that Paul had entered the race following winning the National Long Course and that he’s done 2.32 at London). The course is 4 laps out and back along a disused railway so I knew it would take to halfway through the second lap to see how I was gaining on the leader and how 3rd place was doing behind me.

At the end of the first lap the announcer said I’d gained about 3 minutes. I must admit I thought “Bugger – this means I have to push this as I could catch him”. I tell u it hurt but I kept pushing along and at the halfway of the 2nd lap was surprised at how much I’d made up. Each time I saw him he looked focused, he had a cyclist leading him and a guy on a bike behind him who I guessed was his coach. This just motivated me more. The coach looked at me each time and I thought he realises his boy is being caught. Push push push, hurt hurt hurt. Halfway through 3rd lap and  I was stunned must be within 4 minutes of him. Push even more as this would be close possibly down to the wire. Trying to shove thoughts out of my mind of slow down, 2nd is good enough and you don’t want a sprint finish and replace with this with YOU CAN WIN. End of 3rd lap and the leader has blown up, he’s walking. As I turn into the finish area for my last lap I look over my shoulder and see he’s running again.

Into the 4th lap I push like hell. I have to break him. Decide there’s no looking over my shoulder since if he’s close he’ll take that as encouragement. Push push push. This is now seriously painful. I now have the lead cyclist ahead of me, who on approaching a feed station asks what I want and cycles ahead to get it ready for me. Turnaround on final lap – he’s not in sight. When I finally see him I’m 2.5 mins from the turnaround. Now the thought is keep this controlled it’s in the bag as long as you don’t cramp. This final half lap is great, with the cyclist ahead of me all the spectators (and there were alot on the run route) knew I was now race leader. Other runners congratulated me, high fived me, many knew I’d chased the leader down.

Coming into the finish was awesome, the crowd support great and there was even a tape across the line ! I needed no encouragement to raise both arms and punch the air as I crossed the line. I must have had the broadest grin by far the best win I have ever had.

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London Marathon 2006

Posted on April 23, 2006 by lord_lordy

I managed 2.58. Though it’s my slowest marathon I was very pleased with it as the whole thing was rather experimental.

For those that are interested:

My training was not focussed on the marathon but with lots of bike mileage I wondered how my stamina would be for a marathon. On the start line I was with Andy, Jez and Rob and entertained sticking with them at 6 min mile pace to see just how long it took to die. Having had niggles with my knee the week before I knew I would decide quickly the pace I should follow … quickly it was… within 50 yards I dropped off their pace and immediately switched to the steady sub 3 hour plan to get a place for next year. Pleasingly my knee loosened and I got through mile 3 without getting cramp (a first !!) Hit the halfway mark in 1.29 and cruised through the second half in 1.29. Felt strong throughout and was able to push along the last few miles. It was great fun. I also tried out a new pre race feeding strategy – both for the day before, the morning of the race and during the race. Since I was running at more like Ironman level efforts this was an excellent test and the way I felt I think I will be following the same approach for Longest Day in July.

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