Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Post 94 - Calves...

My calves. Oh my calves. They were so sore in the week following my fast beach run last Tuesday back in Northern Ireland. It had been a very fast session, as fast as I’d ever run on the beach. Normally I can run the beach four times, as fast as possible, and not have any muscular pain whatsoever. Not this time. I must be really deconditioned for speedwork. The fitness is there, but the muscular conditioning to deal with the speedwork is not there. Earlier in the year I was in great shape for fast running, and I’d go so far as to say I was in 32-minute 10K shape. Not now!

Thinking about it, the last running speed session I did was probably in late May or June, something like 10 week ago. So I should have known better when I went down to the beach last Tuesday, and completed a different session. But hindsight is a great thing. I thought that running on the sand would have sufficiently cushioned the impact, and I’m glad that I had the sense to call it quits after two repetitions of 9 minutes, rather than doing four repeats. If I’d done four repeats, I would have been in serious trouble.

The day after (Wednesday), I literally could hardly walk. So sore. I could only crab-walk up and down the stairs, one step at a time. I could barely hobble around the office. There was no way I could do any training. So I ate lots of protein and went to bed wearing my calf compression gear, hoping for the best. The next day was no better. It’s not a good feeling, knowing there is not much you can do other than to wait and let the body do what it does to repair, in its own time. I had to have a re-think in terms of what training I was going to do. I’d planned to do bike repeats and a short run on Thursday evening, a swim and single-leg bike drills on Friday evening, a long bike and short run on Saturday, and a swim and long run on Sunday, followed by a rest day on Monday and then one final full week of training the following week, before the two-week taper prior to Ironman Wales.

It was obvious that my calves would not allow that plan. So on Thursday I went swimming after work in the pool near work. My calves might stop me from cycling and running but I could at least swim. I hate this pool near work, it’s freezing. The one near home is warmer and better, but on Thursday evening they have swimming lessons and only one public lane. I can’t do a normal swim if there is only one public lane containing a load of slow swimmers. It’s not fair on them and it just ends up frustrating everyone, myself included.

So I went to the pool near work. I should just jump straight in, get it over with and get going straight away, but it seems I prefer to drag it out, sitting dabbling my toes in the water, then getting half-in, then finally taking the plunge. I like to think everyone else is watching me with sympathy, thinking the same as me, that the water is freezing, but in reality they are probably thinking “what a wimp!” I got in and got going, and did repeats of normal swimming and hand paddle/leg float drills. It was freezing. I was turning blue after 3000m. I’m not looking forward to the Ironman Wales sea swim, it won’t be any warmer.

I got home, and went to bed early. But the dreaded itchy legs struck that night, probably as a result of spending too long in the cold pool near work and not properly scrubbing the chlorine/chemical mess off my legs afterwards. Usually after I swim, I shower once at the pool and then again at the house with an exfoliating sponge, and then I rub moisturiser into my legs. All of that usually means I have no problems. But this time I woke up in the middle of the night scratching my legs like a dog with mites, lice and fleas all at once. I got up and slathered on loads of moisturising cream. I looked at my watch, hoping it was nearly morning and that I’d at least had 6-7 hours of unbroken sleep. 1:30am. Dammit! I didn’t sleep much for the rest of the night, and woke up with legs that were now very itchy as well as very sore. Not happy.

Struggling for photographic inspiration this week...
There was an awesome sky one evening. Very relevant to Ironman...

It took another two shower cycles to rid myself of the itches, and I also sprayed my legs with freezing water in an effort to help them recover quicker. On Friday evening I managed to do an hour on the turbo, doing single leg-drills. But my legs still weren’t right. So on Saturday I decided to go to the pool rather than do a long bike and run, and hope that by Sunday, they would be in good enough shape to do a long-ish bike/run combination.

I did a 4.1km swim, using all my toys, in sets of 250m: hand paddles, ankle band, leg float, hand float. It was a decent workout and I felt good throughout. I had brought my exfoliating sponge to the pool and had a good scrub afterwards. For the rest of Saturday, I tidied my room while doing weights, stretching and core work. With having been in France and then having spent time in Northern Ireland, and not having had enough time to get everything tidied up, my room was in a bit of a state. There was no free floor space anywhere, and you couldn’t even see my bike with all the gear that was hanging off it.

It was half a day’s work to get everything cleared up and to catch up on the backlog of washing. But by the end of the day, I was feeling a bit better about everything with three loads of washing complete, a tidy room, everything put away, rubbish thrown out, legs feeling like they were on the mend, and pint of Guinness in hand.

On Sunday I planned to do a 3-hour turbo, at reasonable effort, followed by a 2-hour run at a slow pace. If my legs would allow it… So I got onto the turbo trainer and put on the Formula 1, which turned out to be pretty boring. I got through my three hours without too much trouble, but it was very hot and humid which meant I was sweating a lot. I was averaging 200-210 watts, with short frequent kicks up to 300 watts. It didn’t feel too bad and my heart rate averaged 136bpm. I also watched the men’s 100m world championship final while on the turbo. Far more exciting than the F1. It was good to see Bolt beat Gatlin in a very close race.

I planned a 2-hour run after the 3 hours on the turbo. I didn’t care how fast I ran, I just wanted to get 2 hours of continuous running into my legs. Straight away after getting off the bike, my legs felt sore. But I had to run for at least 30 minutes, to complete some sort of a brick session. I plodded through 30 minutes. Then I thought “I can do another 30”. Then I thought “I’ll turn a medium run into a long run by doing another 30…” Then I thought that my legs felt just about OK enough to do the full two hours. I was so glad to finish, and I went straight into recovery mode – eat protein, drink milk, elevate my legs, hot and cold and hot and cold repeats in the shower.

I was lucky enough to be invited out for a steak and Guinness dinner that evening. Guinness is good for you. So is steak. Both full of iron. No harm at all. It will also be no harm to go into Ironman Wales carrying a couple of extra kilograms to help ward off the cold. 70-71kg instead of 67-68kg. Strong, not super-skinny. But my weight when I’m training seems to stick around 68kg, that just seems to be my natural equilibrium when I’m training. And it’s not like I starve myself, I eat loads. I don’t count my calories, I don’t weigh my food. I just eat lots of healthy food, whenever I’m hungry (which is pretty much all the time).

Struggling for photographic inspiration this week...
Last delivery of energy food for 2015...


At the minute, I feel OK, my legs seem to have recovered, and it’s not long now until Wales. Hopefully the weather will be kind and there will be no jellyfish. I had a dream about the Ironman Wales swim the other night. I dreamed that on race morning there were so many jellyfish that it was unsafe to swim, so they had to postpone the swim until the tide went out (the Wales swim is in a big bay that is completely tidal – it’s all sand when the tide is out, and it’s all water when the tide is in). Then, when the tide went out and there was only sand, and no jellyfish to be seen, they made us do the “swim” by crawling in the sand, in our wetsuits, around the swim course. And I finished this “swim crawl” in second place. Ironman? Dominating my life? Hmmmm…

The Ironman Wales start: The stuff of.... dreams? Nightmares?

Monday, August 24, 2015

Post 93 - NI and stretching etc routines

In previous years, I’d always booked flights back home to Northern Ireland in August in the aftermath of Ironman UK. But Ironman UK has always gone wrong for me (food poisoning, leg infections/hospital, and horrendous weather), and I’ve always gone down to Ironman Wales in September as a Plan B, to have something to show for the months of work that go into preparing for an Ironman. In previous years, I’d always scrapped the trip back home and lost out on the flights, thinking that the Wales goal would be more benefitted by just staying put and continuing to train.

This year is no different in one regard – I’m still going to Wales in mid-September. But I decided to head back to Northern Ireland on a last-minute trip this year. Work has been and is currently extremely stressful, and being away from work and out of London would only be a good thing. Plus, it’s not like I can’t train at home. I have a bike, there are brilliant, scenic, quiet roads to cycle on, there are swimming pools to swim in, beaches to run on.

So last Thursday afternoon, I left work and headed for Farringdon station in London for the train to Gatwick airport. As usual in London, there were problems. Nothing ever works as it should. There was nothing running to Gatwick from Farringdon due to “a problem on the line”. I was going to miss my flight. Maddening. I thought if I was able to get to Gatwick, I’d be able to get a later flight. Maybe EasyJet would take pity on me, but more likely they’d relieve me of a couple of hundred pounds to get the next flight. I was forced onto the tube (I absolutely and completely detest the tube, I never, ever, ever use it, as it is rotten and filthy and poisonous and overcrowded and noisy and disgusting and turns your snot and lungs black – just like London as a whole in fact). I went to Victoria station and got the expensive express train, which was also running late. I turned up to Gatwick in a vile mood, only to find at the EasyJet customer services desk that the flight I was booked onto was also running late, and I’d make it after all.

Finally I got home. I had a magnificent dinner and went straight to bed. I was knackered. The next day I went to the swimming pool and did 104 lengths. 2.6km. Not actually that far, but it may as well have been 1004 lengths for the reaction I get when my mum asks me how far I swim: “Jeepers, how do you do that?” Well, you jump in, and swim, and 40-60 minutes later you’re done… Then I played golf. My brother was home from the Middle East. We get quite competitive. We only played pitch and putt because he has a sore back and I am scared of doing a full golf swing, because it would probably snap my spine and cause my knees to crumble, or near enough. I can’t risk it with an Ironman coming up. So it was the little tiny course needing only little tiny swings. After 9 holes there was nothing between us. He had a 10-foot putt to win the day. Missed it by an inch. I won it on the second play-off hole. I surprised myself by how well I’d played, as I haven’t swung a golf club in literally about 2 years.



Golf views

The next day, despite wanting a massive lie-in, I got up early and went out on the bike with my dad. Out along the north coast of Northern Ireland towards Ballycastle. We met one of his friends on the way out and he rode with us. The Knocklayde mountain (hill, really) got closer and closer as we rode eastwards along the undulating coast road. Rathlin Island was just out to sea. Behind Rathlin, to the north, the Scottish islands of Islay and Jura. Behind Rathlin to the east was Kintyre. Away off in the distance was the lumpy islet of Ailsa Craig. Awesome views. If I could choose one place in the world to visit and explore, I’d go to Islay and Jura. On a sunny day…

Is it fair to call these boys MAMILs (middle-aged men in lycra)?
Probably better than calling them OAMILs...
Dad's reaction on seeing this photo was "Look at the size of the big bums!"


View of Rathlin Island, from the road

We hit Ballycastle, dropped down into the town, and out the far side of Knocklayde. We headed up Glenshesk, one of the eights Glens of Antrim. Cycling is really increasing in popularity in Northern Ireland, as well as in the UK as a whole, and this was evident by the numbers of cyclists heading down the glen towards Ballycastle, for what looked like a sportive event. As we rode up the glen in a tunnel of trees, a shower of rain came on. We tried to remember the names of all the glens of Antrim: Glendun, Glenaan, Glenshesk, Glenballyeamon, Glenariff… how many more? Glencorp, Glentaisie, Glencloy, Glenarm. 9 glens. Glenravel is sometimes considered as a tenth. I wondered what the Anglicised names meant.

A bit of research later in the day and I found out: Glentaisie – Gleann Taise – the damp valley. Glenshesk – Gleann Seisc – the barren valley. Glendun – Gleann Doinne – valley of the river Dun, at the bottom, the town of Cushendun – Cois Abhainn Doinne – literally “beside the river Dun”. Glen Corp – Gleann Corp – valley of the corpses. Glenaan – Gleann Athain – valley of the burial chamber. Glenballyeamon – Gleann Bhaile Uí Dhíomáin – valley of Ó’Dhíomáin’s town. Glenariff – Gleann Aireamh – the arable valley – where there is the New Year’s Day “Race Over The Glens”, a great event. Glencloy – Gleann Claidheamh – valley of the hedges. Glenarm – Gleann Arma – valley of the army. I find the old Gaelic placenames really interesting – they tell the entire history and “reason to be” of a place, in a word or two. Belfast – Béal Feirste – mouth of the sandbanks, on which Belfast Harbour was founded. Portrush – Port Rois – peninsula port, describes it perfectly. Kintyre – Ceann Tir – “head of land”, describes it pretty well.



Glenshesk road and Knocklayde mountain

As we cycled to the top of Glenshesk, the weather cleared, the sun came out, and we were round the back of the mountain. We carried on, made a quick coffee/cake stop in the village of Armoy, and headed back home on the inland route. It had been 55 miles by the time we were finished. I’d done some hard riding, usually pushing hard up the hills and then turning, dropping back down the hill before riding back to the top with dad. So I felt as if I’d had a decent workout. My bike at home isn’t anywhere near a top end bike. It takes a lot, but doesn’t give much back, so you have to work pretty hard to go at a pace that wouldn’t be too difficult to maintain on a better bike. A hard workout was no harm though and I’d really enjoyed it, far better than battering away on an indoor turbo trainer. Quiet roads, scenic surroundings, clean air. Things I used to take for granted.


Boys on bikes

I went and visited aunts/uncles/Frankie&Benny’s in the afternoon. I learned a couple of things. Peanut butter ice-cream milkshakes are very nice. And my granny had been to Tenby (Ironman Wales town) and loved it. My aunt (who lives in England) had brought her, and they’d had a great time. Tenby and Pembrokeshire is not unlike Ireland. So a couple of aunts and uncles might appear at Ironman Wales… On Sunday my legs felt heavy, so I passed up my planned run on the beach and did some blogging and other work. I also went out into the garage and did my stretching, weights, core work and foam rolling:

Stretches: sit down and touch toes (hamstring), lie on back and pull knee to chest (hamstring/hip flexor/glute), stand up and pull one foot to back side (quad), squat down with feet together and push knees out (groin), push hands into wall with one foot behind the other and bend knees (calf), stand against wall on one foot with inner leg bent against wall and twist torso back (glutes), one knee on the floor and opposite foot on a chair then lunge forward (hip flexor). All of these repeated 3 times for 30-40 seconds per leg. One arm behind head, one arm up back and clasp hands behind back and stretch and hold.

Core work: plank for 2 minutes, plank bringing opposite feet to chest and back (30 repetitions), on hands and knees then simultaneously raise opposite arm/leg to horizontal and hold (30 repetitions per side), press-ups (30 repetitions), sit-ups (50), lie on front and lift torso to vertical and hold and repeat, squats with dumbbells to increase difficulty (35 repetitions), squats lifting dumbbell diagonally across body (20 repetitions per side), crab-walks with rubber band between ankles (3 minutes), side-kicks with rubber band (30 repetitions per leg), hopping up a stair with one leg only (50 repetitions per leg), lean diagonally into wall with one hand and upright row with dumbbell in other hand (30 repetitions per side).

Weights with 2 dumbbells: bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, shoulder shrugs, upright rows, raise from shoulders to above head, side lifts, front lifts (all 20 repetitions), shoulder press (70 repetitions), arm lowers (30 repetitions).

Foam rolling: individual calves, hamstrings, glutes, quads, iliotibial bands. 40 repetitions each. Foam rolling requires that your arms support a lot of your bodyweight with your arms and so your entire body aches after a full foam rolling session. Occasionally if I have very tight muscles I’ll do some self-massage with baby oil, but again this is tough on the arms. Physios must have very strong hands and arms…

This is all hugely time consuming and tedious, and a weights session/stretching session/core session/foam rolling session is a full workout in itself, leaving me tired, sweaty, and in need of a shower. This is the less exciting side to Ironman training. But it really helps. Every triathlete is doing their swimming, cycling and running in training, but I’d say not every triathlete is doing the background core and strength work. A good strong core and strong legs is very important. The work I do on my arms helps my swimming, as I only get to the pool twice a week, but I only do one “arm workout” on any given day, it’s too much to swim and to do arm weights on the same day. It’s important to do all of these exercises regularly, so that the cumulative effect adds up over time to make a difference.

I do the stretching before every workout, and I try to do the weights and core work 3-4 times a week. I try to foam roll at least once a week, on days when I don’t swim or do arm weights. I do whatever I can to make the time go quicker – put music on, watch videos on the mobile phone, send emails and texts if possible, and I also tidy my room. Between each repetition or each exercise I normally take a few seconds to recover and shake myself out, and these few seconds can sometimes turn into tens of seconds, which can be used to put something away, or to hang up clothes that have been washed and dried, or to sort through and pile up dirty washing, or to make to-do lists, or to clean and dust my room. It works quite well. Two birds, one stone.

I have a foam roller made of foam, and rolling on this is painful enough. In the garage at home in Northern Ireland, there isn’t a foam roller. Instead, my brother uses a piece of drainpipe, filled with concrete. I thought my foam roller was bad. The concrete pipe was horrendous for rolling on. Like steamrolling the muscles. When this garage session (a quadruple session of weights, stretching, core work and concrete pipe rolling) was over, I went out and played some more pitch and putt, but I knew I was going to be terrible as my arms and core were tired and in recovery mode after the session in the garage. Sure enough, my swing wasn’t very loose and I didn’t play well. The scenery was still nice though and the sun was out, so I managed to take some nice photos:

On Monday it would have been a pity to be in such a nice environment and not go out for another spin on the bike. On the previous bike ride we had seen a sign for the “Dark Hedges”. Basically, the Dark Hedges are just a few trees overhanging a country road, but they’ve been made famous by featuring in Game of Thrones (whatever that is, I’ve no interest in or time for TV or anything other than working and training). In years gone by, the Dark Hedges would have attracted no more than a passing glance from a local farmer. Nowadays, tourists apparently come from all over the world, and people have their wedding photographs taken there. But surely it wouldn’t be too busy on a Monday morning…?

After riding hard up every single incline on the way there, and getting another reasonable work-out, we came across a sign for the Dark Hedges. Then a right turn led onto a tree-lined road, with silver branches intertwining overhead, sunlight filtering through on one side, and loads of people on the road. A couple of cyclists, some tourists, some locals, and two of the biggest motorbikes I’ve ever seen. It did look great...




Everyone was standing in the middle of the road, trying to take a photograph without framing anyone else in the shot. It just wasn’t possible. Too many people, especially with the motorbikes hogging the whole road. The riders had microphones in their helmets and one was standing at the top of the road filming while the others rode their motorbikes side-by-side, very slowly, in formation, up along the road, trying to get the perfect shot or the perfect video. The one with the camera wasn’t happy with the footage and kept shaking his head, gesturing and ordering the motorbikers to turn and go back down and then come back up. Road hogs!





On the way back I kept going hard up the hills. Good training. During a short cake stop in Bushmills, I noticed posters on the lampposts, one was a picture of an old guy on an old bike. I went to read the text underneath. It was Mr John Dunlop from Belfast, who invented the pneumatic tyre well over a century ago. As I was pondering the implications of this, and how revolutionary an invention this must have been, I heard a passer-by’s voice behind me: “You’ve a lot to thank him for!” Too right.

Nice bike...

It’s always an exciting ride from Bushmills back to Portrush and Portstewart. It’s a gradual drag for a few miles out of Bushmills, up a gentle incline. I call this the “Magic Road” because despite it being uphill, and regardless of how tired I am, I can always fly up it at well over 20mph. It rises all the way up to Dunluce Castle, where some wisecrack has written “Look Up!” on the road, for the benefit of any cyclists struggling up the hill with their heads down. Looking up gives a good view of the ruined castle, the White Rocks beach, Royal Portrush golf course, the Skerries just offshore, a wide expanse a of sea, and the Inishowen peninsula in the background. The road then drops down a gradual incline on a roller-coaster of a road towards Portrush. You can take every corner flat-out. Just about. It’s good fun.

Worth looking up for...

Passing through Portrush offers a few moments of respite before the final few undulating miles into Portstewart, on a road with an excellent surface, due to the annual NW200 motorbike race. Another 44 miles in the legs, followed by more golf with all 3 brothers and dad, on the bigger par-3 course this time. I refused to do anything other than half-swings and wouldn’t carry a bag either, as I really didn’t want to pick up some stupid injury. They all thought I was mad.



Nice evening. Is Portrush Northern Ireland's equivalent of Tenby?

I was dying for a lie-in the next morning, but if I wanted to get a run in before heading to the airport, I had to get up early. I went down to the beach. I love running the beach, and it looked great, with a flat, calm, blue sea, sun, no wind, and not many people around due to the early hour. When I run the beach, I either blitz the whole thing out and back, or I run up, recover for 5 minutes, run back, recover for 5 minutes, run up again, recover for 5 minutes, and run back. If it’s not windy, one “length” takes around 9 minutes or just under. I wanted to do 4 lengths.

It’s about a mile to jog down to the beach and warm up, and then after a bit of stretching, I hit the first length. I tried to keep it under control. With 4 lengths to complete, I didn’t want to burn too much too soon. I got to the far end in 8:56. Not bad. I recovered for 5 minutes, looking at the footsteps I’d made on the way up fade into the distance. Then I ran back down. I was tracking my footprints from the way up, and I could see that my stride on the way back was slightly longer, a good indication that I was running faster. I was working hard, and got back down in 8:42. Add my times together and they total 17:38. My PB for an up-and-down blitz is 17:47, from years ago when I was an out-and-out runner. I wondered if I’d have broken 17:47 today.

As I was recovering from length two, my legs felt really sore. Thinking about it, I hadn’t ran fast for weeks if not months. Mid-June would have been the last time I had done a tough, fast run, or any sort of fast running intervals. So although my legs are conditioned for slow distance running, they have lost a bit of the conditioning they need for fast running. I dread to think how they’d have felt if I’d been running intervals on the pavement or the road instead of the sand. So I was jogging round in circles at the head of the beach, feeling like I had plenty of fast running left in me from a fitness point of view. I’m sure I could have done all 4 lengths in under 9 minutes. But I was also feeling that any more fast running would really ruin my legs. So I fought a mental battle with myself and decided that enough was enough. No point in trashing my legs and losing 7 days while I recovered. There are less than 4 weeks before Ironman Wales, and less than 2 weeks to train, as the final two weeks will be tapering. Be sensible!

It turned out that this was a good decision as my legs, in particular my calves, were agony for the rest of the day. I could barely walk. I was really concerned, and I wished I hadn’t bothered with such fast running. All I could do was hope that in a day or two my legs would feel better. But I had a flight to catch, so I went to the airport via the shops, as I need a couple of tops. I cannot abide going shopping at the best of times. Hate it. By the time I got to the shops, I was tired, I had sore legs, I was hungry and thirsty, it was sunny outside, and I should have just given up on the whole sorry miserable exercise. I dragged my miserable ass round the shops for the best part of a couple of hours. I didn’t buy a single thing.

Then I limped off to the airport and back to London, while my parents made the best of the nice evening by climbing the Cave Hill, overlooking Belfast. I’ve never been up the Cave Hill, and I’ve always wanted to go up. When my dad emailed me a couple of photographs he took from the top, how I wished I hadn’t bothered with the hellish shops, I’m way out of my depth in a shop. How I wished I had just climbed the Cave Hill, assuming my legs would have allowed it (I think you can drive most of the way up, so I’m sure I could have hobbled up the final section). How I wished I hadn’t ran fast on the beach.




What I missed out on, pics taken by my dad

Hopefully by the weekend my legs will be back to normal, and I then plan to train hard over the weekend, and for all of the following week, and then a two-week taper. Hopefully there’ll be no curveballs or work trips, but with the way work is looking, the project I’m working on is going to be shut down in London and run from Korea, and because there is no more work coming into the office, I might very soon be looking for a new job, and probably a new location away from London. Just let me get through Ironman Wales and have a good race, and then I can start to think about all the other life stuff…

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Post 92 - Les Alpes encore

The French Alps. With housemates and friends. 9 nights, with bikes, and mountains, and lakes, and food. Probably beer. Hopefully sun. Sounds good to me. Ironman Wales is hilly. The Alps are hilly. Ergo good for training. The trip got off to an inauspicious start when I got back from work, opened the front door and knocked over the roof-rack that I couldn’t see had been sitting inside the front door. It fell into the mirror, which shattered. Glass went everywhere. Including into my running shoes which live under the mirror when they are not out running. The thought of bad luck didn’t even cross my mind until Natalie got home from work and saw it: “But that’s bad luck…”

After a manic bit of evening packing, not enough sleep, and an even more manic bit of morning packing, everything and everyone was ensconced inside a car that had just passed its MOT. This car is such a beast that it has been dubbed the “PanzerWagon”, after a German tank, and after German cyclist Tony Martin, he of the same nickname. A “Panzerwagon” has become something big and strong that can go like stink for hours on end.

“Panzer” has become a verb in the house I live in – watching the Tour de France, marvelling at Chris Froome blowing the field away in the first Pyreneean stage – he was absolutely panzering up those hills. When I did my sub-4-hour 100 mile time trial, I panzered that bike as hard as I’d ever done. Also in the car heading to France, among many other things, was a panzer tent (a big massive brute of a thing, with room for about 30 people), and a panzer fridge (a wheely contraption that was good at keeping milk, yoghurt and vegetables cold. Did I mention beer?)

After about a mile of driving, a warning light came on in the car. Brake fluid was leaking. We could drive no further. Hours later, the car was towed to a garage. We missed the ferry. I went back to the house and did a turbo bike training session and a run, and weights, and also the single-leg-hopping-up-the-stairs drill that I’ve started doing, in an effort to increase my explosive leg strength for Ironman Wales. Try it – stand at the bottom of the stairs, on one leg, and hop up to the next stair. Then step down, and repeat 50 times per leg. Tough?

Finally the car was fixed and we got a later ferry to France, stopped over in Reims, and arrived at the camp site near Annecy a day late. It was fireworks night when we arrived. Europe’s most extravagant fireworks show, or near enough. Panzer fireworks. I was so tired I dozed during it, and got to bed very late. I hoped for a long lie-in, but the moment the sun came up above the mountains, the temperature in the tent went from very-warm-but-not-too-horribly-hot-to-sleep-in to absolutely boiling hot in the space of about 5 minutes. And that was how it was for the week, impossible to sleep beyond 7:30am. But, even though it wasn’t helping my plan to be lazy and sleep for 11 hours a night, at least it meant the weather was sunny and hot.

On the way to Annecy, I noticed that my right calf was a bit sore. It gradually got worse and worse. It was bad. I could poke and prod my left calf without any problem, but I could barely touch my right calf. And the pain was moving around, hour by hour, from behind my right knee to the top of my calf, to the bottom of my calf, and back up to the middle of my calf. I couldn’t straighten my leg. I wanted to cycle 500 miles in the next week, with plenty of running and swimming too. And I could barely walk. Curveball after curveball after curveball. Ironman training and racing magnifies any curveball, so everything needs to be as near perfect as possible.

I didn’t know why my calf should be sore. Maybe it was the single-leg stair-hopping drills, although I had taken care to build these up gradually. Maybe it was being cramped in the back seat of a tightly-packed car for hours on end. Maybe it was a lack of salt and electrolytes. Maybe it was the shock of getting back into training after Ironman UK. Whatever it was, it was sore, and I wasn’t happy. As always, it’s a fine line and a tough judgement as to whether to train through it or back off for a week. So the first part of the first bike ride out in France was very tentative, and I seemed to get away with it. I left the running for a few days, and was happy to be able to cycle without too much trouble. And thankfully, as the week went on, the pain subsided and normal service was resumed. 

The first day was up the Semnoz climb, where the most awesome frites were to be found. Like a combination of Quaver crisps, potato wedges, Pringles and chips. Amazing. Just reward for 1200m of climbing. But I made Steve work for it, as the restaurant is about half a kilometre from the top of the climb. He intended to stop straight away, I wasn’t having that, we were going to crest the summit first. I accelerated away to the sound of heavy breathing and “son of a gun..." The views were almost as good as the frites, with the Mont Blanc plateau rising over the hills behind Lake Annecy. After a descent down into Annecy, I decided to do a bit more and climbed back up to the halfway point – the Col du Leschaux – then did a loop around the back of the Semnoz. Over 70 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing made for a good day. 



Views and rewards on the Semnoz. I've perfected the art of taking photos while cycling:
Keep the phone in the frame bag at the front of the bike, see nice view, unzip bag, 
take phone out, swipe and click, put phone away, zip bag up. All in about 3 seconds...

The next day saw a climb up the steep Col de l’Épine (Col being the French word for “mountain pass”) and down the other side, then I branched off and took in the Col du Marais, which wasn’t much of a mountain road, more of a short false flat, then down the other side and up over the Col de la Croix Fry. Parts of this were steep, and it was hot, hot, hot. I zoomed down over the far side thinking I might head for the Col de la Colombiere (please excuse the missing French accent marks throughout this text, as it is difficult to insert them), but I decided that it was a bit too far away for one day, so I turned back and did the Col des Aravis instead, at the top of which there was a little chapel underneath the looming peaks. The inscription was written “Pray for the travellers”. Particularly those on bikes I’d say, riding in the Alps, at the mercy of the heat, the cold, the rain, the snow, the traffic, the roads, the hairpins, the cows, the cliffs… 







It was very quiet inside the chapel, with a contrasting humdrum of people at the tacky souvenir shop at the top of the climb. They were charging rip-off prices for water – I bought two bottles, handed over 20 euros, and only got small change back. But I had no choice, I had to drink. After the Aravis, I dropped back to the valley, passed through the town of Ugine, and onto the cycle path running between Annecy and Albertville.

This cycle path was awesome, built on an old railway line. It was set way back from any roads, flat, smooth, and well-used by all manner of cyclists, runners and skaters. It was great to see so many people, young and old, being active, testament to what good facilities can enable. I rolled back to the campsite having completed 90 miles and almost 9000 feet of climbing. I gave the running a miss again, still mindful of my right calf.

The next day was a bit cloudier, and Natalie and I went for a run in the cooler temperatures. A long run. For me anyway. Natalie runs 24 hour races. I can hardly bear 2 hours. I was happy to run at a slower pace and pay close attention to how my calf was feeling. We ran into Annecy along the cycle path beside the lake. Pretty spectacular. Again people were out in force, being active. I managed two-and-a-half hours and was pleased with that. But even with running at a slower-than-normal pace for me, it still hurt my legs. I have peculiar biomechanics which mean that my body doesn’t cope well with long distances, and fatigues and pains rapidly after anything longer than around 70-80 minutes. Anyway, it was good to put in a good stint of time on my feet and get a good long run banked. The rest of the day was spent in a giant Decathlon outdoor pursuits store, fantasising about what I’d buy if I won the lottery. The shop had everything. Kayaks? Mountain bikes? Snorkelling gear? A full-sized mannequin of a horse, complete with “no climbing on the horse” sign, to enhance any living room or back garden…?

We needed a few brake lever shims, as descending down Alpine mountain roads requires good braking power and confidence on the brakes. The brake lever shims would offset the brake lever, meaning that the rider didn’t have to reach as far to grab the brake levers, putting less strain on the whole physical act of heavy braking. This is of benefit to people with smaller hands. I can speak reasonable French (although I sometimes have problems with comprehending what people are saying), but I had no idea how to ask about these shims. “Je cherche un truc pour les freins, mais je n’ai pas les mots…” was how I opened the conversation with the guy in the bike department – “I’m looking for a thingy for the brakes, but I don’t have the words…” After much gesturing and improvisation and blustering in what must have been fairly incoherent French, he finally twigged – “Ahhhhhh, un réducteur du garde….” That sounded about right, a “réducteur” to “reduce” the distance of brake lever travel. Things were looking up.

“Mais j’en ai pas.” Things stopped looking up. “But I don’t have any.” He suggested a different bike shop, and so off we went. I went to the front desk and made my statement: “Je cherche un réduteur du garde, s’il vous plait…” This guy didn’t have a clue what I was talking about, and sent me to the mechanic at the back of the shop. These “réducteurs du garde” were proving a bit more difficult to get hold of than I thought. They are very specialised components, maybe they had to be specially ordered? I talked to the mechanic – “Je cherche un réducteur du garde…?” “Ah oui monsieur,” he smiled. He opened his drawer and took out a few of the réducteurs du garde. Perfect. Now, how much was he going to charge? It could easily have been ten euros per item. But no, 50 cents was his going rate. Brilliant.

The next day, my legs were still quite sore from my two-and-a-half hour run, so it was only a short day on the bike, at 43 miles. We went back up the Semnoz, driven by the need to eat more of those lovely frites. I did some strength training, putting the bike in a high gear and churning the pedals at a very slow cadence for 4-5 minutes, then easing off and dropping back down the road to where the others were climbing up. I had enough left to absolutely blitz the penultimate kilometre in just over 3 minutes, but this left me hanging off the bike, gasping. This is the speed the pros do entire climbs, maybe 4 or 5 climbs of 10-15km per day. Day after day. I’m not a bad bike rider, but the output and speed of the pros is amazing.

I was looking forward to an easy final kilometre up to the summit after my penultimate kilometer blitz, then freewheeling back half a kilometre to the restaurant and frites. But some guy came past me with about 800m to go, looking like he wanted a race. The competitive juices kicked in, I took his bait and hammered like mad, thinking I’d drop him. But he had managed to tuck in behind into my slipstream, where he sat until the final 50m, doing no work and getting a free tow to the top. Wheelsucker! Then he came past me just before the summit, timed perfectly, and I’m sure in his head he took both hands off the handlebars and celebrated wildly, then climbed onto a podium as the King of the Mountains, with two pretty podium girls either side. He can keep his daydreams, I was happy with my frites again. I was content with a slow descent and ride back to the campsite. 





Then it was time to go and swim in the lake. Everyone had told me that the water was really warm. I hadn’t seen anyone in a wetsuit. But, being the wimp that I am, I put on my wetsuit. Or rather, struggled pathetically into it while the entire beach watched and laughed and wondered what on earth the stupid foreigner was doing, wearing a wetsuit.


Good lake, good swimming

But the wetsuit was the right choice for me as I was warm in the water, and I swam for an hour as the sun was setting. It was awesome. I wish the Ironman swim in Wales was going to be like this – no worries about killer jellyfish, rough seas, salt water puking and retching, poor visibility, and cold temperatures. Then it was dinner time – pizza and beer. What a day of eating – porridge for breakfast, chips and cola for lunch, pizza and beer for dinner. Perfect Ironman food…

My legs felt a bit fresher the next day, and I decided I wanted to go for a hundred mile ride. Ideally I'd have loved to do the Marmotte route - a mega ride over the 2000m Cols du Glandon and Croix de Fer, down the other side, over the Col du Telegraphe and Galibier at 2645m, down the Lautaret pass and finally up Alpe d'Huez at nearly 2000m. This route must have over 4000m of climbing. A big day. But a landslide had closed the Lautaret pass, so the Marmotte route wasn't possible. Next year...? I'd also love to ride in the Alps in spring time, when the mountain passes have to be cut through 6-10 feet of snow. You'd literally be riding between two ice walls. Would be awesome.

So I decided on an alternative long ride, towards the Cormet de Roselend and possibly Val d'Isere and the Col de l'Iseran. I got up early, ate as much porridge as possible, got the bike ready, and despite the heat I chose to wear leggings and arm warmers, to give my skin a break from direct sunlight. Probably the entire Savoie region saw me on the bike that day and wondered what on earth the stupid foreigner was doing, wearing long sleeves and leggings in 40 degree heat. I didn’t mind though, my skin certainly wouldn’t mind, and I’m good in the heat anyway.

I headed out solo along the cycle path, intending to climb the Cormet de Roselend from Albertville. Then I thought I might drop down the other side and up the valley to Val d’Isere, then on up to the Col de l’Iseran, at nearly 3000m above sea level. Then I would drop down the other side, end up in the town of Modane after something like 120-120 miles, and I’d catch a train back. Or maybe I’d get to the top of the first climb (the Cormet de Roselend) and see sense and head back to the campsite on my bike the same way I had come…

No more than 1 kilometre along the cycle path, a guy flew past me on a time trial bike, tight in an aerodynamic tuck. I had thought that I would cruise out the 25 or so miles to Albertville, use it as an extended warm-up, and then hit the hills. I had a split-second decision to make. Did I go with this guy, or forget it? Straight away I was panzering and I got onto his tail. We were pushing 30mph, it was thrilling riding, overtaking everyone else, slowing for the little barriered chicanes, getting back on full power, getting back up to speed and zooming towards Albertville. He stopped after about half an hour at one of the chicanes, reaching down to his front brake. “Ca va?” I asked. “Oui, oui,” he replied, getting back on his bike. I booted on, hard. He came up behind me and we continued beasting ourselves towards Albertville.

We eased off for the final few miles, going only 24mph rather than 30mph, and we had a chat. He was a young guy, training for Ironman Vichy in France at the end of August. He wanted to qualify for Kona as well. He seemed like a good cyclist, with a heck of a bike, much better than my triathlon bike (and my triathlon bike certainly isn’t bad!), plus he was in the 18-24 age group, and he knew that stepping up in age groups doesn’t make things easier. I got the feeling he was thinking “now or never”. We exchanged contact details and wished each other luck for qualification. His Ironman would probably feature a flat and smooth bike course, not a twisty, hilly, gritty course like Bolton or Wales. But surely Vichy won’t be as epic as Tenby…

It had been a fast 25-odd miles out to Albertville, but sharing the work with Monsieur-Super-Bike had meant the energy expenditure wasn’t too bad. It’s not often you cruise at 30mph on the flat with a heart rate of only 115bpm. I took the road to the left out of Albertville and immediately passed a sign saying “Cormet de Roselend 39km”. That’s a long way to climb! The first 19km were a series of false flats and gentle inclines up through the valley. All of the climbs feature kilometre markers, and I started the climb proper after passing a kilometre stone reading “Cormet de Roselend 20km”. I had no idea of the profile of the climb, only that there was a lake towards the top with good views. It was a fairly tedious and steep first 10km, and I passed a few cyclists. One was a girl my age, with a fully laden bike – front and rear panniers.

By this stage I had decided on my strategy for greeting fellow cyclists. If they were climbing and I was also climbing (i.e. if I overtook or was overtaken), I would say “Bonjour”, and batter on. If I was descending, and the fellow cyclist was ascending, or vice-versa, I’d nod my head. There’s no point in saying “Bonjour” when there’s a big speed differential as the roar of the wind makes it impossible to hear. I said “bonjour” to this girl, and battered on. She looked tired, and with all the stuff she was carrying, I guessed she was following the Route Des Grandes Alpes, from Geneva to Nice via lots of mountain roads. Fair play.



Then an old guy in a car coming down the hill stopped his car and hung out the window. “Le sommet est pas loin” he said, with a glint in his eye - "The top isn't far." “Mais non, mais non,” I said, knowing full well that he and I were both well aware it was still 15km away. Then I passed the young girl’s boyfriend who was also churning slowly up the hill with a fully laden bike. “Bonjour”, I said, according to my strategy. Normally I didn’t get much more than a “bonjour” back, but this guy shouted, in a bit of a panic, “Ou est ma petite blonde?” I was climbing far faster than him but I managed to shout back “Elle arrive, elle arrive, elle roule bien mais doucement!” “She’s coming, she’s going OK but slowly!”

I was running low on water so with 10k to go, when I rounded a corner and broke through the trees and saw a restaurant, it was a bit of an alleluia moment. Even more of an alleluia moment when I saw the lake, glistening blue, behind the restaurant, and saw that I was up on the plateau of the Cormet de Roselend. I could see there were a couple of kilometres of flat road beside the lake before it reared up again through a craggy mountain pass, with the summit somewhere beyond. The view was beautiful. I’ve never seen such a dazzling blue lake, maybe minerals are washed off the hills and into the water to give it a unique blue shade. Mountains towered above the lake, flanked with pine trees and pink-coloured plants on the lower slopes, giving way to rocky peaks. What a spot to ride a bike.


The pictures don't really do it justice

The short stop for water, photograph-taking and the subsequent couple of flat kilometres meant my legs had recovered a bit for the final 7 or 8km up to the top. There were cows everywhere, with massive cowbells round their necks. Really huge church-bell-sized cowbells. The poor cows. Imagine the noise of hundreds of these bells drifting down the mountain. I was able to take a few photos as I rode. I kicked on up to the top, where I met an older Dutch rider. We had a bit of a chat. My phone had run out of memory, so he took a picture of me on the summit of the climb and promised to email it to me. We chatted a bit, and he recommended that I didn’t try for the almost-3000m Col de l’Iseran. I agreed, it was too far away. I could drop back down the same side of the Cormet de Roselend and take in some smaller climbs on the way back. 




I started the descent and the kilometre markers whizzed by as I flew down the descent on the wide, open road. From the restaurant at the lake, I veered left, up over the Col du Pré, and then down a torturous, narrow descent to the valley floor. There wasn’t much fun on this descent, just concentration, anticipation and plenty of heavy braking. Following a food stop to eat four Toblerones and a banana, I got back to Albertville. I still felt I had plenty in my legs, so decided that rather than going back on the flat cycle path I would go over the Col du Tamié. I was surprised how good I felt on this climb, and I felt like I was rocketing up. I was pleased with the strength in my legs. I didn’t linger too long at the top as by now I was seeing huge pizzas and Yop yogurt milkshakes flying across my vision. I was getting hungry.

Fuelled by "pan y agua", and pizza, beer, energy gels,
energy bars, energy drinks, porridge, etc etc...

It was a quick descent back down to the cycle path, and a few more big efforts on the cycle path, getting up to 30pmh. Then, after 104 miles, I got back to the campsite, and decided to hallucinate a bit more with a 4-mile run, before the pizza and Yop finally became reality for a very short time before I demolished them…

The next day was road-trip day, down to the Maurienne valley, to St-Jean-de-Maurienne. At the Tour de France this year, there was a literally unbelievable climb featured: Les Lacets du Montvernier (the “laces” of Montvernier). This is a short, 3.4km, multi-hairpinned ribbon of road, winding its way up a cliff face, with a tiny chapel perched on one side of the top of the cliff, and a cross on the other side. Beyond these, the tiny town of Montvernier, and beyond this, the Col du Chaussy. The Lacets is surely one of the most incredible, ridiculous, mad, crazy, scenic roads in the world. It had looked amazing in the Tour de France. The road is so narrow that spectators were not allowed on it during the Tour. We were going to ride it. And then carry on up the Col du Chaussy, down the other side, and up the Col du Glandon and the Col de le Croix de Fer on the other side of the valley. A cycling magazine told us that this was 100km (in reality I think it was a lot more) with 3000m of climbing. The magazine also had some incredible photos of what the ride would be like.

A must-ride

   
A bit warm

In the supermarket car park in St-Jean-de-Maurienne, as we were getting ready, my bike computer showed 45 degrees C. Unreal. It was boiling. Like opening an oven and getting a blast of heat, but for hours on end. My legs felt tired too, I had done loads of miles and climbed tens of thousands of feet. We headed for the Lacets. I should have cruised up, knowing that it was going to be a long day. But I couldn’t help myself. It was a thrilling climb, blasting skywards and banking round the hairpins, daring to look down over my shoulder to see the precipitous drops and the tarmac squiggle I had just come up, and looking upwards to see the hairpin overhangs above, still to come. 11 minutes later I was at the top, then I cruised back down to the others, taking a few photos as I went. By the time everyone had got up to Montvernier, it was obvious that it was going to be a long, hot day as we set off, slogging rather than cycling, to the top of the Col de Chaussy.





We passed through several tiny villages, no more than a cluster of houses in each. The whole road and each of the small villages were like one continuous community. It was only recently that the road had been completed from the Lacets up to Montvernier and on through the other smaller villages up to the Col du Chaussy. So, a few weeks previously was the first time that the Tour de France had ever passed on this route. And how proud the locals were to have had the Tour passing through. How evident it was. Every single house was decked out. Not in yellow, in homage to the Tour de France leader’s yellow jersey, but in white with red polka dots, in homage to the maillot a pois – the polka-dot jersey – worn by the best climber in the race. We were very much in climbing country here in the Montvernier commune, and the locals had really embraced it.

Old bikes, spray-painted white with red polka dots were hanging from the street lights, sitting at gate posts, and placed on balconies. Red and white bunting fluttered everywhere. Polka-dotted images of bikes were on every building and lamp-post. We even went past a statue of Santa Claus on a red and white bike. I didn’t know he was a climber… It was brilliant, and I’m sure it won’t be long before the Tour passes along these roads again. 






The grind of the climb, and the heat, were taking their toll. The view of the road cutting along the mountain, many kilometres ahead, didn’t help matters. We were moving very slowly, stopping in the shade to take on water. We went past a MAMIL and MAWIL (Middle-Aged Man/Woman In Lycra) who had stopped to rest in the shade of a tree. “Allez allez” they said. “Ahhhhhhhh” I replied. With a long way to go to the top, it was inevitable that we’d meet again on the road. They were able to spin quite easily (but slowly) up the hill, as they had huge rear cassettes and thus very low gears. It turned out that they were from Northern Ireland. We chatted a bit, and got talking about Alpe d’Huez. They had done the ascent in 70-something minutes, and were astounded that two very fit and lean Canadian cyclists whom they had met had done it in 57 minutes. Steve and I were dying to say that we had done it in 50 minutes flat, but we let it go. We knew. That was all that mattered.

We continued labouring up to the Chaussy summit, and my legs somehow found a new lease of life towards the top, and I was able to blitz the last few kilometres. I turned back round to the others and could see Natalie labouring away, several hairpins below. I gave a massive shout down the mountain, “ALLEZ ALLEZ”, and it echoed all around the slopes, setting off dogs barking madly and cows mooing fearfully in the distance. We finally got to the top. It had been a tough climb. Well worth a few frites and Cokes and croque-monsieur sandwiches. 




Then we dropped down the far side and hit the slopes of the descent of the Col de la Madeleine. I got to the very bottom, turned around and beasted 4 or 5km back up, then back down, then back to St-Jean-de-Maurienne. We decided not to do the Cols du Glandon and Croix de Fer, as it was getting late in the day, but I couldn’t resist one last blast up the Lacets and was pleased that I was no slower than before. I passed a family riding up, with two kids that couldn’t have been older than about 5 and 7. I gave them a fist pump and a “bravo”. It had still been a 44-mile day in searing heat, with over 6000 feet of climbing. I did a 25-minute run back at the campsite, then it was dinner time. Probably pizza. And beer.

The final full day saw a climb over the Col du Forclaz on the far side of Lake Annecy, up to where the paragliders took off. The climb was “only” about 700 vertical metres and 8 or 9km, but it was a steep, steep road, with sections hitting 15-16%. I rode it pretty hard, and also pretty blind (literally), as the suncream on my face was running into my eyes with the sweat and exertion. It was really bad, and I spent more time with my eyes closed than open on the way up. More Coke was consumed at the top, then a rapid descent, followed by a good long flat open road to the town of Thones. 


Top of the Forclaz

Perhaps surprisingly, I still had good legs and was able to get some good speed going on this flat section. Steve was hanging on for dear life, finding the going a bit tougher. We got to Thones, passed a boulangerie, had a sniff, and it would have been rude to decline Steve’s suggestion that we stop and call in for a pain au chocolat. Then it was up over the Col du Marais (really just a steady false flat), still I felt good, panzering away at reasonable speed, with Steve hanging on behind. I was having trouble seeing as my eyes were really sore and bloodshot by now, with sweat and suncream still flowing freely into them. I was squinting and grimacing like a madman. This had made me very snotty as well, and my nose kept leaking and leaking. I kept having to blast the snot out, spraying my bike, my jersey, and the road. No stopping and using a tissue! It wasn’t pretty.

A really good, fast, open descent followed down to the valley floor on the other side, and we got onto the cycle path, taking turns to lead and slipstream on the ride back to the campsite. I still had legs left, so while Steve peeled off to jump in the pool, eat pizza and drink beer, I set off up the Semnoz again. I got halfway up, to the Col de Leschaux, and could see that the forecast thunderstorms weren’t too far off. The wind was getting up. But still I wanted more miles and more feet climbed, so I dropped down to the village of Bellecombe. At the start of this descent, a rider came past me slowly and looked back, I got the impression he was looking for someone to ride the 10km or so down to Bellecombe with, and most likely the other side of the loop back up to the Col de Leschaux.

I was quite tired and hungry at this stage and just as he passed me and looked hopefully towards me, I was busy blowing snot out of my nose and onto the road/my bike/my jersey, while trying to wipe a mess of sweat and suncream off my face, eat an energy gel and take a drink, all while grunting and squinting and probably looking like I needed some serious and urgent help. So, the other cyclist didn’t linger too long and he took off down the road.

Having tended to my food, drink, snot, sweat and eye issues, I set off down the road. I needed to be quick before the thunderstorms properly rolled in. It was such a quiet road, with no-one else about. No cars. Just a small road, leading to a small village and nowhere else. I soon flew past the guy who I had previously probably frightened to death, and got down through Bellecombe and on to the junction with the bigger road leading more directly back to the Col de Leschaux. I had ridden this road earlier in the week, it was basically a 10km blast up a false flat with gradient of between 3-5%. Something that you could just chew up with a bike, and panzer the whole way up.

Starting this road back up to the Leschaux, I started to feel like it was one road too far. My legs were struggling. But I stuck at it, and they came good again. And I saw a couple of cyclists up ahead. One was going faster than the other. Then I came up behind the first one. A girl. At just the moment I passed her, I could see the other one, a guy, look back to check how far back she was. He saw me alongside her, and realised I was moving fairly rapidly. The competitive instinct kicked in and I set off in pursuit. After a couple of kilometres I had reeled him in. I went straight by him, and he tucked in tight behind my back wheel, taking the slipstream, getting all the speed for much less effort, for a much lower heart rate, for much less power output, and for less energy used.

I kept battering away, keeping low down in an aero crouch, keeping the legs turning. Body, mind and bike were working well together, and I thought I might drop him before the top, but he kept on my wheel. Slipstreaming makes things very easy. It’s against the rules in Ironman, but people still do it. It’s really not policed well enough. With just a few hundred metres to go before the top, he tried to come past me to take the summit first. I wasn’t having this, and thankfully my legs complied and provided the extra that I needed to keep alongside. We summited together, shook hands, he did a U-turn back to his companion, and I carried on back down to the campsite. Another 75 miles done, another 7000 feet climbed. To really earn my pizza and beer, I tagged on a 25 minute run. Then with perfect timing, just as I had finished, it started to rain. 

Campsite pool

I worked out that in a week, I had cycled 427 miles and climbed nearly 50,000 feet. I felt good on the bike, and I was happy that my calf seemed to calm down and get better. I “only” managed to run 24 miles, and even worse, to swim only 3km. But the bike training was really good, and I got a long run under my belt, which was good, and one swim was enough to keep the arms ticking over.
It had been a really good holiday. The next morning was lashing rain. Taking the tent down, packing up everything and loading the car wasn’t fun, but it was a case of “needs must”, and these needs included the need to drive back to where I earn money to fund all this madness. Not long until Ironman Wales…