Post 96 - This sucks

I was feeling quite optimistic for Ironman Wales. The numbers were seeming to add up. Sub-10:30 has been good enough to qualify in my age group for the past couple of years. I’ve swum 61 minutes at Ironman Wales. The first transition takes 10 minutes. So, I could be leaving T1 after 1:12 or so. I’ve biked 5:43 at Ironman Wales. This means I could be finishing the bike after 6:55. I could be leaving T2 a couple of minutes later, and a 3:30 marathon would get me to the finish line in under 10:30. All do-able (I think!) All I could do was to hope for a nice day weather-wise, and the initial long-range forecasts looked good, the weather seemed to be reasonably settled for the couple of weeks leading up to Ironman Wales. If I was indeed able to deliver a sub-10:30, I would then have to hope that, as in previous years, it would be good enough to qualify.

I knew I had got through a long, tough season, with very focused and intense training since the start of January. I knew I had good miles in my legs from the time spent in France and Northern Ireland in the summer. I knew there would be no work trips before Ironman Wales. I knew there would be nothing after Wales to “save myself” for, and that I really could empty the tank and leave it all out there. And then I could have a break from it all. I was looking forward to Wales, it’s a great event and the support is amazing. Everything seemed to be going well.

Then, I started my 2-week taper. And the wheels have gradually seemed to be coming off. And once one thing derails, even slightly, other things seem to follow. The long-range weather forecast deteriorated. I don’t want it to be cold and rainy. Ironman UK was cold and rainy. I hate those conditions. I’m not built for them. But it looks like there is a good chance that Ironman Wales will now be cold and rainy, with an unsettled weather front arriving during race weekend. But OK, I can prepare better for such conditions and make sure I am dry and layered up with a waterproof before I start the bike. I can deal with this.

I felt absolutely knackered at the start of my taper. I’ve had an 8-month build-up to this Ironman. With hindsight, that’s far too long. 4 or 5 months would be plenty, and I’d go into the race fresh. I’m probably a bit overtrained, knackered, stale, and to be honest all I want right now is a break from the training and even more so from the mental torture. And it is mental torture, trying to fit it all in, hating London, dealing with a lot of stress at work. But the taper should fix all of the tiredness, it should give me a new lease of life, it should reduce all the fatigue, and it should leave me full of energy. Tapering should leave me ready to smash an Ironman triathlon. I’m now one week into my taper and it has just been a blur of tiredness, fatigue, laziness, really low energy levels, and right now it doesn’t feel at all like I am ready to even start an Ironman, never mind smash it and qualify for Kona.

Another little thing that happened this week: on a short run, I felt my toe was sore, for no real reason. I got back, took off my shoes, and my white sock had turned dark red. My toe was bleeding and sore. I don’t know why this would have happened. I have been so incredibly hungry in the last week as well. Eating constantly. Porridge, porridge and more porridge. Masses of broccoli. Fruit. Cake. Cake with peanut butter added. Cake with peanut butter and raisins added. Energy bars. Toast. Mountains of pasta. Pizza. I don’t know where it all goes, but the body keeps demanding more. And so I feed it. And then, I’m hungry again. And I eat again. It’s crazy. I have energy bars by my bed in case I wake up hungry.

And now, for whatever reason, I have a cold, a sore head and a sore throat, and I am freezing all the time. I don’t know whether this is just my body reacting to a sudden and marked drop in training levels during my taper, I don’t know if it’s in response to the sudden change in weather: it’s now much colder than it has been, summer is very definitely over, it’s too cold for shorts, I’m wearing a fleece and even putting the heat on at night. Such changes in climate can cause havoc in highly-tuned and stressed bodies – ask any Tour de France rider – as soon as they hit the mountains and the altitude and the cooler temperatures at altitude, a lot of them get sick straight away. I don’t know whether I’ve picked up a bug from someone, or what the heck is going on. But I don’t feel like starting an Ironman right now. I should be enthused, ready to rock and roll, really up for it. And right now, I’m not. I wish I was, but I just feel weak and a long way off 100%.

I did everything I could at the weekend to try to kill whatever it was in my system that was making me feel like this. I forced myself to eat lots of raw chillies. Raw garlic too. I’m sure I smelled awful. If I’d forced someone else to eat as many chillies and as much garlic as I forced myself to eat, the police would be after me and I’d be considered a criminal. With taking these chillies, my head nearly exploded. I nearly burned holes in my mouth and tongue. It was painful. I ate loads of oranges and kiwi fruits for a Vitamin C boost. I drank warm lemon water and honey. I spent ages lying in bed. I spent ages lying on the sofa. I ate bagfuls of raw broccoli and carrots. I drank so much water. And nothing worked, so now all I can do is let this stupid bug take its course and hope that I feel better by the weekend.

I think that physically my body is telling me that it needs a break. Mentally too. A 9-month build up is way too long at the levels of intensity I train at, and with everything else I have to deal with. The mojo has been lost, hopefully it’ll be found again in the next few days, hopefully this stupid cold will shift and I’ll get back to feeling 100%, and most of all I hope I’ll give a good account of myself in Wales, but right now, everything is messed up.

Training done this week was:

Mon 31 August: Rest
Tue 1 September: Rest
Wed 2 September: 30 minute turbo, 20 minute run
Thu 3 September: 1 hour turbo (6 x 1min hard)
Fri 4 September: Swim 1.5k (5 x 100m hard)
Sat 5 September: 1 hour turbo, 20 minute run
Sun 6 September: Swim 1.6km, 30 minute run

Totals: Swim 3.1km, Bike 50 miles, Run 10 miles

Photograph taken from a magazine of the finish line of the men's 100m 

world championship final in Beijing a couple of weeks ago. 

Bolt (top) beat Gatlin by one hundredth of a second, or 0.1%.

In an Ironman, at the sharp end, 0.1% equates to 30-40 seconds. 

With a sprint finish, this could be 200m. 

On such margins are Kona slots decided... 

If I'm 1% down, that's 5 minutes. Too much...

These are cylinders containing t-shirts, the colour and logo matches 

what is on the lid. Decisions, decisions...