Post 156 - Frustrations

Things have been a bit frustrating recently, since the Edinburgh half-ironman disaster. I was always going to give myself a few days off after the race, which I duly did. Eating rubbish, switching off mentally, doing no training, putting on weight. The lowest weight I’d been prior to the race was 60.6kg (admittedly after a long training session), my “normal” weight seemed to be around 62-63kg, but in the space of a few days I went up to over 65kg. My legs were still sore from where they had been cramping, and I was happy to be a slob for a few days. My next race wasn’t until 3 weeks later so I had enough time to be a slob and then get back into a bit of training before the Gullane Olympic distance beach triathlon, near Edinburgh.

A week after Edinburgh, I went to London (well, Kent/Surrey) for a “stag do”. Not a boozy, 4am thing, but mostly cycling out in Surrey and Kent. London was stifling, over 30 degrees, and I was glad I didn’t live there any more. We did some good cycling out in the countryside, punctuated by pub/food stops, and I ate a load more junk throughout. Steve has done next to no cycling for the best part of a year so towards the end, he was knackered and hanging off the back of the group. I started to drop back to him, another guy (Mac) dropped right back to him, and whatever Mac said or did to Steve, it worked a miracle because the next thing, Mac and Steve came charging through like an express train and we all time-trialled our way towards the end of our route. Honestly the most unlikely and incredible thing I’ve seen in cycling, I don’t know how Steve managed it. I did a short 40-minute run the following morning and it was baking hot. It was a good weekend. 

On Sunday, when not in the pub, wedding suits were tried on... hungover...

The following week I did some bike hill repeats at Arthur’s Seat and felt reasonable. I hit the first one as hard as I could, to see how quickly I could do it (3:20), and by the time the final sixth one came around I had dropped 20 seconds. It felt so tough. Then it was off home to N.Ireland for a long weekend. Again, as at the stag do, it would be tricky to control what I ate, but again I just shrugged it off. Some downtime wouldn't hurt. The Gullane race wasn’t a priority race, neither was the St Mary’s Loch race a week after that, but the European Sprint triathlon championships 2 weeks after that again was a big priority, but I still had a lot of time between now and then.

I did a tough beach run at home, in 19:28. My best time down the beach (and I’ve done it literally hundreds of times) was 17:47. The 19:28 seems slow in comparison, but the tide was high and the sand was soft and uneven, so conditions weren’t fast. The following day I went out on the bike with my dad, and we cycled the coast road, from Portstewart to Larne, via Ballycastle, finishing with another 20+ miles uphill to Ballymena to catch the train home. Almost 100 miles in total. It’s billed as one of the most scenic roads in the world, and that’s not far wrong. I said to dad he would need to take it easy for the first couple of hours, to make sure he had energy left for the second half of the ride. My plan was to thrash the hills as hard as possible, and use it as a proper training ride. Roughly speaking, the first third would be hilly and tough, the middle third would be flat and fast, with a tailwind, and and final third would be a long drag up away from the coast.

There’s a viewpoint overlooking White Park Bay which dad said he can get to in an hour if he pushes it and has a favourable wind. So I thought we might reach it in 1:15 or something. We got there in 1:01. Fast riding. We dropped down into Ballycastle, climbed up past the vanishing lough, dropped down to Cushendun, and then halfway between Cushendun and Cushendall we detoured up a very steep hill to an old ruined church. “A wee gem” as my dad said, and it was. Dating from the 12th century, with gravestones all around, overlooking the sea, set in a wooded glade, with a little stream bubbling behind. An unreal place. We met a girl who had lost her husband of 30 years to cancer, she was doing a sponsored 354-hour walk to raise money for charity. Fair play.

White Park Bay view point

Vanishing lough - unsurprisingly vanished with the recent warm weather

We stopped in Cushendall for a bite to eat, then it was flat flat flat all the way to Larne on a spectacular coastal road – the sea and Scotland off to the left and huge cliffs, glens, villages and landscapes to the right. Great cycling. Another short stop on the outskirts of Larne fuelled us up the long hill towards Ballymena and the train station. I powered up the final hill (so did dad to be fair, he is a machine) and so ended a great cycle. We got the train to Coleraine and then it was another few miles on the bike back home – these were the worst miles as it was later in the evening and I was freezing.

Halfway round the coast road I was given an order:
"Text your mum and tell her to put beers in the fridge..."

Got home. Straight to fridge. Beer destroyed. And not by me!

I went down to the beach the next day and did mile repeats on some nice hard sand, with a slight tailwind going out and so a slight headwind coming back. You’re never as fast on sand as you’d be on the road. My times were 5:08, 5:25, 5:08, 5:32. I went visiting relatives that evening, and went for a swim the next morning, doing various sets of 250m drills, including 3 x 200m at pace (all in 3:45, so 1:30/100m pace, which was pretty good). So far, all was well. I’d had a bit of a break, I’d got back into training, and I was feeling strong.

The catalyst for things going wrong happened that afternoon. I was in the amusements, playing the basketball machines with my brothers. It got quite competitive (the previous high score was 150 or something, by the time we were done it was 243). I should have known better than to be stretching over a basketball machine on my tiptoes for half an hour. It made my calves very tight. We all said the same thing.

I planned on a bike ride the next morning before travelling back to Scotland, but it was raining, so I had a rest day instead. I wasn’t too disappointed with this as my calves probably needed a break. Looking back, I should have gone for a massage to loosen them. I got back to Scotland and the next day, did a very hard turbo session, with intervals of up to 400-500 watts. My calves were so tight. Then the next day (stupidly following a hard session with a hard session the next day) I ran some hill sprints. I hoped to do 10. I got to 4 or 5 and my right Achilles felt sore, and I was definitely not running naturally. Was it so bad that I couldn’t continue? Should I have stopped immediately? The old conundrum of when to run through pain and when to stop… the perfectionist in me hates compromising my training. In the end I did 8 hills, and the jog home wasn’t very comfortable.

The next morning I could barely walk. My Achilles was not good. I also had pain down the inside of my right knee. Not what I wanted. I did a swim and that evening, did a load of self-treatment – foam rolling to loosen my calves (painful), anti-inflammatories, ice, hot-cold-hot-cold-etc shower treatment, self massage, compression, you name it. I repeated this for the rest of the week. To be fair, it eased a lot in 24 hours, up to a point, but it hasn't yet eased beyond that point. I didn’t know whether I’d race Gullane or not. I did a 10-minute trial jog the night before (after 3 days off running), and I could run, but it was uncomfortable. Hammering out a 10K run might have been possible, but it could well ruin the Achilles. I’ve got 2 big races coming up – the European sprint and the world half-ironman. I really don’t want to miss these.

So I called Gullane off. Probably sensible. Instead I went for a 70 mile cycle out in the Borders, on a few new roads – really nice cycling through the hills and along the river valleys. I was trialling some new sports nutrition called Tailwind. I needed to trial something after the Edinburgh disaster, and after all the stomach and gut issues I’ve had in previous ironmans. Tailwind is an all-in-one drink mix, containing calories, carbs, electrolytes, salts, everything you need. It promises “no more gut bombs” and is “all you need, all day”. And they say you won't feel hungry when you take it. Lofty promises, if it does all that it'll be worth its weight in gold. It seemed decent. I paced the 70 miles pretty well, starting easy (relatively) and maintaining power. I averaged 230 watts and it felt pretty hard by the end. It's funny how it feels like such a breeze at the start. So the power figures are a good barometer for the half ironman in South Africa (I started at 270-280 watts in the Edinburgh half… hmmmm).

Scenic toilet stops...

I came off the 70 miles with a sore left knee, and still with pain down my right knee and groin, and still with a sore Achilles. This is not good , training is going to be compromised big time now as I will not be able to run. And I have no idea when I will be able to run. I want to be hammering the training now, with only 3 weeks left before the euros. I have (had) high hopes to challenge for a podium at the euros but as it is right now, I am kind of losing interest - again the perfectionist in me says that if it's not going to be perfect, what's the point... We will see how things go. But it's strange how you work so hard in training and after months, you finally feel the flow, things are happening, going well, feeling strong, and it doesn't take much to derail things, and when one thing starts to derail, others start derailing too and you end up starting almost from scratch again months later. That seems to be my experience anyway.

Ironically, I did a Sunday swim, and I felt good and strong in the water - as good as ever? Possibly... It was a really tough set - 250m warm up, 10 x 100m, 500m easy, 10 x 100m, and 250m cool-down. My average for the first set of 10 x 100m was around 1:24 - 1:25, which (for me) was a really strong set, as good as ever. Recovery was up to 2 minutes. The second set dropped but I still averaged under 1:30, which again was pretty decent swimming. I tried a jog in the evening, on the grass, and it wasn't great. After a few minutes my Achilles was getting too sore so I packed it in. Not good at all. This is the business end of the season, with two big international races coming up, and I currently can't run/compete. 

Another thing I am messing around with is a new aero helmet. My one is very tight, it presses hard on my ears and after a while gives me a thumping headache. It's old technology too, about 8 years. It doesn't have an integrated visor and I am losing time in transition trying to force sunglasses on with the tight ear flaps. So I ordered 4 aero helmets online and wasn't keen on any of them: The Met Drone (easy to put on but far too big and like wearing a huge goldfish bowl), the Lazer Wasp (tricky to put on, not well ventilated and the straps slid about too much), the Rudy Project Wing57 (the visor integration wasn't great and ear flaps seemed flimsy), and the Giro Aerohead (just did not like the look of it and not convinced the aerodynamics will suit me - it has a short tail and I'd prefer something longer to cover my neck and upper back, as I can hold an aggressive aero position). So they will all be sent back, and the hunt goes on. Assuming I do Glasgow, I want to have a new helmet sorted before then...

Like eggs from above

Training done was as follows:

M 2/7/18 Rest
T 3/7 Rest
W 4/7 Rest
T 5/7 Swim 2.4k (paddle drills)
F 6/7 Rest
S 7/7 Bike 70 miles (Surrey/Kent)
S 8/7 40 min run

Totals: Swim 2.4k, Bike 70 miles, Run 5 miles

M 9/7/18 Rest
T 10/7 Bike 6 x Arthurs seat reps (short/full): 3:01/20, 3:10/30, 3:12/32, 3:15/32, 3:12/31, 3:20/39)
W 11/7 Run 19:28 (beach)
T 12/7 Bike 95 miles (coast road)
F 13/7 4 x 1 mile beach (5:08, 5:25, 5:08, 5:32, with 5min recovery)
S 14/7 Swim 2.6k (sets of 250m drills, 3 x 250 in 3:45)
S 15/7 Rest

Totals: Swim 2.6k, Bike 125 miles, Run 13 miles

M 16/7 1:20 turbo (20 x 30sec hard 400-500W, 2:30 rec)
T 17/7 8 x hill repeats (74, 71, 71, 72, 73, 75, 75, 73)
W 18/7 Swim 1.8k (2 x 10 x 50m, 40-43 sec, rec to 1min)
T 19/7 1 hour turbo
F 20/7 20 min turbo (single leg drills), 10 min run
S 21/7 70 mile bike (65.4 miles 144bpm, 232/230W, 3080ft)
S 22/7 Swim 3.1k (2 x 10 x 100m, 1:25/1:29, rec to 2mins), 5 minute run

Totals: Swim 4.9km, Bike 120 miles, Run 8 miles

Post 155 - Edinburgh half-Ironman 2018

I had very high hopes for the Edinburgh half ironman 2018. In the 2017 event I missed out on qualifying for the world championships by less than one second, despite having done very little training, and no running training at all, coming as I was off a torn calf, and having done the race on a road bike (this year I had a proper triathlon bike with a disc wheel). My training this year had been great, I’ve been doing a lot of triathlon racing and had decent results, with a proven very strong run off the bike.

I hoped to finish on the podium in my age group, and claim a world championship qualifying slot. I even had a new set of wheels, to account for possible blustery conditions – in my previous race 2 weeks before, my deep-rimmed front wheel was getting blown around a lot, making for a couple of hairy moments at 30mph... So I’d got myself a slightly less deep front wheel (and a non-disc rear, in case it really was very windy and discs would be banned/downright crazy to ride, at the half-ironman, or at any future races). The bike was serviced, the training was done. I knew the course well. I would even have quite a few supporters out watching, particularly on the run course. I just needed to execute on the day.

Arriving to transition on race morning, there was no wind, the sea was flat, sparkling, blue, almost inviting. I’m well used to race morning preparations and had no issues. I had a new thermal wetsuit which I’d never had on before. I got suited up, it felt good, I went for a short jog up the hill behind transition to get the blood pumping, and got in the queue to start. I pushed my way as close to the front as possible, had a quick chat with Dermot before we started, and had a good clean start to my swim. The thermal wetsuit was great and only my bare feet were cold.

Quick jog up the hill before the start - 

looks peaceful, but the carnage of pre-race transition is behind the camera

The calm water was tremendous. I really like swimming in calm water – what a difference it makes. Compared with last year’s high winds and rough sea, I almost managed to enjoy the swim and felt good throughout. I kept hoping a jellyfish (or other sea monster) wouldn’t spoil it. There was very little argy-bargy and not much to upset the rhythm. On the homeward leg, sighting was made difficult by the low sun directly ahead but I got through it and exited the water in just over 31 minutes – a bit slower than I’d have hoped, but I think the swim was slightly long.

In a previous 1500m Olympic triathlon pool swim I lost well over 4 minutes to last year’s sprint triathlon world/European champion, but in the 1900m Edinburgh half ironman swim, with no tumble turning, I “only” lost around 2 minutes. Extrapolate this back to a 750m open water swim (as will be the case at this year’s sprint triathlon European championships in Glasgow in August), and hopefully I’ll be losing less than a minute.

That was about as good as the Edinburgh half ironman got for me. I had a quick transition, jumped on the bike and got on the road. For all my short triathlons earlier this year I have been able to go flat out, full-gas, hard, for the whole race, without having to worry too much about hydration or nutrition – maybe a couple of gulps of water or one energy gel. The half-ironman is a different beast.

Looking back, I went too hard in the first half of the bike, and didn’t hydrate enough. It was extremely warm, and no doubt I was sweating loads and losing a lot of salts/electrolytes. But, I felt good, and was racing by feel rather than by experience. I don’t have the experience of half-iron distance racing to know how to pace this distance. For the whole bike (over two and a half hours), I doubt I even had a litre of fluid. I didn’t pee once on the bike. I reckon I peed three times last year. For the final 20 miles of the 56, my power output and average speed dropped away pretty pitifully – I went from 270 watts to 280 watts in the first 10-15 miles, and then dropped to under 200 watts by the end. And pushing those 200 watts felt like pushing hell by the end. Plus I was in a lot of discomfort - my helmet is too tight - it's OK for 30 minutes, but for 5 times longer than 30 minutes it gives you a pretty sore head. Also, my shoulders and arms were sore, especially the one I dislocated. 30 minutes in the aero position is OK, over 150 minutes becomes sore... But I told myself I was a strong runner and I’d soon be flying on the run course.

I finished the bike in 2:38 (almost 10 minutes up on last year) and assumed my run would be as strong as it has been in all the other (shorter) races I’ve done this year. It was anything but. I got up the first hill OK, at good pace, but after 1.5 miles I had the most agonising cramps in my legs. Like being stabbed with knives. Horrendous. I’ve never been in pain like it. My legs would not, indeed could not, function with this pain, they were completely debilitated and I was left, almost literally, as a screaming wreck on the side of the course.

I tried everything. I tried massaging them, pummelling them, shaking them, stretching them. Nothing worked. I managed to start some sort of a limp and gradually got back into some sort of a jog, but my pace was a long, long way from what was needed to be competitive. It was really gutting. I had quite a few supporters on course who were surprised to see me in such a state. I managed to swear at my parents. I took on board quite a lot of fluids and gels at the aid stations, but this gave me stomach issues and meant I got very familiar with the port-a-loos. Not where you want to be during a triathlon. I had three more cases of debilitating, painful cramps, and I tried as best I could to just keep moving. It was very demoralising.

Suffering badly

During one cramp episode, another athlete stopped and gave me some salt. I’ve taken electrolytes, gels, bars etc, but I’ve never taken on salt before. It came in a little vial. I unscrewed the lid and tipped it onto the palm of my hand. It looked like flavoured sherbet so I assumed I could just swallow it down, and that it would be refined/made for athletes to easily ingest. How wrong I was – it was just pure salt and I had swallowed down a month’s worth of salt in one fell swoop before I realised. It was horrible – burning my mouth and insides, and I seriously worried about salt poisoning. I had no liquid to dilute it or wash out my mouth. The next aid station wasn’t far away but it took ages to get there and I was foaming uncontrollably at the mouth by the time I got there. I chucked as much water down and around my mouth as I could, but didn’t get much relief.

I did think often about packing it all in and quitting. I really was going nowhere fast. But I thought it was worth finishing – my swim time was strong, my bike time was strong, and even though the run had fallen apart I knew there were world championship qualification slots up for grabs – 50 slots for Nice 2019, and 50 slots for South Africa 2018. I’d been keen to go to Nice, but so was everyone else, as it’s a shorter trip. Probably not as many people would opt to go to South Africa, so I thought there was a chance. But to see if there was a chance, I had to finish.

So I finished. A dreadful day. An awful run. I thought my 1:37 run last year was bad (I had done no running training last year, zero, zilch, and ran 1:37). This year I had been meticulous and had done exactly what I wanted in training. And managed to be over one minute per mile slower than last year. Rubbish. I've lost count of the number of Ironman (or half-Ironman) races I've done now, it's well into double figures, and they have all been a complete disaster in one way or another.

Anyway I finished, and sat in the athletes’ tent afterwards eating pies, not wanting to see or speak to anyone. Finally I bit the bullet and went out and saw my parents, brother and other friends. I’m sure they had been expecting to see a strong run. They saw a shambles. I apologised, went home, showered, and went back for prizegiving.

Hacked off in the athletes' tent afterwards

And the end result of prizegiving was that I left with a qualifying slot for the half-Ironman world championships in South Africa at the start of September 2018. I didn’t take much satisfaction from it though. You want to feel you’ve earned your slot with a strong performance. I certainly didn’t feel like I’d earned it; rather it was more by default. People have said, “Well, finally you got a bit of luck on your side after all the previous Ironman disasters”, and maybe there’s an element of truth in that, but still, it’s not the way I wanted to earn a world championship qualification slot. I can only hope for a better race in South Africa, and I can certainly learn a lot of lessons.

Looking back, it went wrong for a lot of reasons. In the days before the race, it had been roasting hot, difficult to sleep, and I had been sweating a lot. My heart rate had been elevated. Usually it’s in the low 40s, but it was well over 50 and wouldn’t go any lower. So maybe there was some sickness or fatigue or tiredness, not helped by the hot temperatures. 

Also, I don't think my guts had fully recovered from the long run "incident" a couple of weeks ago. In the race, I clearly didn’t take enough calories, liquid, salts/electrolytes on the bike. Partly this was stupidity, thinking the half-ironman wouldn’t be too different from a shorter triathlon. Maybe if race day had been cooler I would have got away with it, or at least suffered less. I had done no sea swimming, so maybe the salt water upset my stomach. I paced the bike terribly, going too hard in the first 20 miles, leaving my legs cooked. Maybe I’d get away with overbiking in a short triathlon because the run only lasts 15-16 minutes, but 13.1 miles is a long way to run on legs that are cooked. Then on the run I didn’t have a lot of discipline at the aid stations and took on a disgusting mix of water, electrolytes, gels, caffeine, as well as the pure salt.

Lessons learned, the hard way. It was only my second half-iron distance race, and the first one I’ve taken really seriously. Up next will be a good few days off, a complete mental switch-off, a cycling trip to Kent, a short “holiday” back at home in Northern Ireland (involving swimming, cycling, and running) and then hopefully I will have recovered. The next big target will be the European sprint triathlon championships in Glasgow at the start of August. I have entered two shorter triathlons (Olympic distance) at the end of July, but I’m not 100% sure I will do both of them, or even any of them – Glasgow is the big target. I will just have to wait and see how I feel and how training is going.

A few random photos from top: Fuel, dad on bike, day out the day after the race at Thriepmuir reservoir. This is literally just outside Edinburgh and a well-known open water swimming location. Need to do this!

Training was as follows:

Mon 18 June 2018: Rest
Tue 19 June: 90 min turbo (10 x 2mins hard/3mins easy)
Wed 20 June: Swim 1.4km (10 x 100yards, ~1:16 (1:23-1:24/100m), recovery to 2mins)
Thu 21 June: 40 min fartlek run
Fri 22 June: 35min turbo (single leg drills, 2 x 5mins R/L/B), swim 1.9km
Sat 23 June: 2:55 bike (41.8 miles, 107bpm, 2600ft)
Sun 24 June: 70 min run

Totals: Swim 3.3km, Bike 87 miles, Run 15 miles

Mon 25 June: Rest
Tue 26 June: 60 min turbo (14 x 1min hard/2mins easy)
Wed 27 June: 30 min fartlek run
Thu 28 June: Swim 1.1km
Fri 29 June: 30 min turbo, 15 min run
Sat 30 June: 30 min bike
Sun 1 July: Edinburgh half Ironman: 31:03 swim, 3:19 T1, 2:39:06 bike, 2:03 T2, 1:54:49 run (5:10:20)

Totals: Swim 3km, Bike 95 miles, Run 20 miles

Post 154 - Eyemouth sprint triathlon

Very little meaningful training was done in the week before the Eyemouth triathlon. I was tired from a big week of training after the Stirling triathlon, and starting to wonder if I had peaked too soon this season. I hoped not, but I am in need of a bit of a break, which will come after the Edinburgh half ironman, before I tackle the second half of the season.

Anyway, during the week I did my best to keep myself ticking over and maintain fitness, while trying to ensure I didn’t do too much which would compromise my recovery. A couple of days off, an easy swim, a little biking and running and core work and before I knew it, I was getting ready for a trip down the coast to Eyemouth. I was travelling with a clubmate, Kevin, who was ready for his first triathlon.

Saturday’s dreadful weather gave way to a nice day on Sunday. Eyemouth swimming pool was located right on the shore by a beach, with a flat calm sparkling sea. It almost looked inviting, and I wondered if the organisers had ever considered making this an open-water event. It looked like a “different” bike course – starting at sea level and basically climbing up to a height of 900 feet, around a turning point and back down the same road to transition.

We got registered and racked, and watched the first heats. Kev was in heat 3 and looked to have a strong swim. He managed not to embarrass himself when mounting his bike – easily done, especially for a first-timer and even more so especially here where the mount line was on an uphill incline – many an athlete had problems getting onto their bike and getting their shoes clipped in when they were working against gravity. After I’d photographed him starting his bike I went for a short jog to warm up and headed for poolside and my race start.

I had been allocated number 1, in lane 1. Surely I wouldn’t be the fastest swimmer? With only one other in my lane, it should be a clean swim. I still hadn’t the required confidence in my tumble turns, so it was the usual touch turns, but the side of the pool was good for doing these, with a lip at water level. There was even a ladder out of the pool at the end of lane 1, which meant getting out would be easy.

The other swimmer in my lane started 10 second behind me, caught me after 10 lengths, I let him through and then I spent the next 10 lengths trying to work out if I should re-pass him. I was faster at swimming than him, but he was faster at turning than me. Eventually I inadvertently tapped his feet, which to him was a signal that I wanted to pass. He let me through, then soon tapped my feet, and I let him back through and that was how we finished the swim, me just behind him. I found out later we were the top two out of the water. Not usual for me to be so high up in the swim! I hadn’t had a particularly outstanding swim, around 11:40 which seems to be pretty standard for me for a 750m swim.

Through transition and out to the mount line, I had a bit of a struggle myself to get clipped in. I managed not to disgrace myself by falling, then it was away off uphill. It took me a minute or two to remember to start my Garmin bike computer, and when I did, I saw I was pushing nearly 500 watts… then I heard a yell as Kev passed me flying back down the hill at the end of his bike. I had to calm the power down a bit and tried to settle, but it was quite tough – difficult to work out whether to stay down in the aero position or sit up a bit more going uphill.

Even though it wasn’t a bad day, I felt like I was getting blown around a lot by the wind, hitting my rear disc wheel and deep-section front. Usually I’d pass a few of the faster swimmers on the bike, but I didn’t pass anyone, and wondered was there anyone up ahead of me. It was difficult to take a drink with the wind and the bike moving around so much. I just kept powering away but felt that the legs were just a little tired and lacking a little bit of top-end zip compared to previous races.

I made it to the turn at half way. Usually at half distance I’d take an energy gel but I had decided to see how it would go without one this time (OK, as it turned out). And the whole way back down to transition was a bit strange. A lot of it was freewheeling at 30-40mph, rather than powering and working hard at 20-25mph as you would be on a flatter course. It’s one thing getting blown around by the wind at 10mph going uphill, it’s another thing entirely getting blown around at 40mph…

Thankfully I made it back to transition, saw there were no other bikes back, so I reckoned I was in first place. I took a little extra time to put socks on (no point in chancing more friction burns two weeks before the half ironman) and headed off on the run. It was a good run course – along the promenade, round the harbour, up a long drag into the wind round the back of the town which went on forever – hard going – back down a hill, over a bridge, into the town, onto the promenade with the finish right by the beach outside the swimming pool. My feet got a bit sore on the run – I hope it was the socks – the ones I used are old and tending towards being more like sandpaper than polyester. The run was a bit long, so had it been an honest 5K I might have run high-16, as it was I ran high-17.

One-legged runner...

I took first place – my first win in the Borders triathlon series (Stirling two weeks previously wasn’t in the Borders series), and Kev and I went for a cool-down jog. He’d done well in his race, with really strong and consistent splits for 20th overall. He was keen for a 5km cool down jog. I said two would do me just fine! Again it was good hanging around afterwards chatting and doing justice to the free buffet – if you can’t eat crisps and pies and sausage rolls after a triathlon, when can you eat them…?

Results are here: https://www.stuweb.co.uk/race/1Rk

Cooling down and debriefing

I’ve got a few things to think about. Do I buy new wheels? The disc and deep-rimmed front are top-class, fast wheels, but really come into their own when weather conditions are calm and good (not often and definitely not guaranteed at the Edinburgh half ironman) and when courses are fairly flat (again not often, and definitely not at the Edinburgh half ironman). Ideally I’d like to have two sets of wheels – my current set, and a more versatile set (non-disc rear and shallower-rimmed front to handle better in the wind, and to climb hills better due to lower weight), but they are just so expensive. I could reluctantly sell the current set to (part-)fund a new set. Do I do this before Edinburgh? I will probably have to work something out before the European sprint triathlon championships in August because there’s a good chance that at the eleventh hour the race organisers could ban disc wheels on safety grounds if there is wind forecast. If this happens, and I don’t have a decent alternative, I may as well not turn up!

Also I need to think about my running shoes – I’ve always ran in Brooks Adrenaline shoes, but a couple of years ago they made a massive change to the structure and feel of the shoe, so since then I have never had a “go to” shoe. I’ve tried all kinds of running shoes since, and have never completely agreed with any of them in the way I did with the Brooks Adrenalines. I’ve got a few pairs on order at the running shop so I’ll see how they feel during next week. Also I could do with a new aero helmet as my one is very tight and the ear flaps press really hard against my ears, which get really sore - bearable for 30-40 minutes, but extremely sore and headache-inducing on a long ride. Time to start doing the lottery and crossing fingers...

I plan on one more reasonably hard week of training (middling-to-tough intensities and middling durations rather than out-and-out long savage stuff), then a decent week-long taper before the Edinburgh half ironman – I really hope to qualify for the half-ironman world championships at the Edinburgh half ironman. To be really sure of it, I’d like to finish on the podium in my age group. Fingers crossed.

Training done this week was as follows:

Mon and Tue included in previous week's training block
Wed 13 June: Rest
Thu 14 June: Swim 2.4k
Fri 15 June: 35 min turbo (single leg drills, 2 x 5mins R/L/B), 20 minute fartlek run
Sat 16 June: 30 min turbo, 20 min run
Sun 17 June: Eyemouth sprint triathlon: 11:51 swim, 35:34 bike, 17:52 5.2km run

Totals: Swim 3.2km, Bike 33 miles, Run 10 miles

Post 153 - The big, the good, the bad, the ugly

I had a whole day off after the Stirling triathlon. My legs and body usually feel reasonably fine after a sprint triathlon, I seem to be able to race hard and recover quite quickly after the sprints. The one standard distance triathlon I’ve done this year took a bit longer to recover from, and I’m sure the half Ironman will take longer again.

I planned a really tough, long, intense week of training. I’d then have an easier week to taper before the Eyemouth sprint triathlon, then one more moderately tough week, then a week to taper for the half ironman. A really “hard” week results from combining session length with session duration. Long, easy sessions wouldn’t necessarily make a hard week. Short intense sessions would be a bit tougher. Long, intense sessions together… well… got to do it and got to get through it.

So on Tuesday night it was off to Arthur’s Seat to do hill repeats on the bike. I wanted to alternate each repeat with normal pedalling, then high-gear low-cadence pedalling, then low-gear high-cadence pedalling. So, little mini sets of three. I thought I’d do 15 repeats, so 5 mini sets of normal pedalling, fast pedalling, and slow pedalling.

It was tough mentally at the start, with 14, then 13, then 12 still to go. And tough physically at the end to keep going and maintain pace. The “normal” pedalling felt natural, with my usual cadence of just over 90rpm. The fast pedalling was like a hamster in a wheel, spinning furiously while lactic flooded the legs. The slow pedalling was just churning away, loading up the muscles. I got to 14 and said to myself after 15 I’d do another 3, to make 18. Then I got to 18 and said I’d do two more for good measure. 20 is a nice round number. 20 was my limit though as my time for the twentieth hill dropped away a bit. Still, over 40 miles and well over 3000 feet climbed isn’t bad for a school night…

Screenshot of session profile (top) and heart rate (bottom red line)

Wednesday was a sprint swim session, doing 4-length intervals (100 yards) in around 1:15-1:20, with recovery up to 2 minutes. It was good to swim fast as most of the swimming I’ve done this year has been more endurance-focused. With the fast swimming I had no confidence in my tumble turning so it was the touch turns instead, with the odd tumble thrown in, inevitably cocked up.

Thursday was a club running speed session. 3 x 2.2km (around 7 minutes of hard off-road running). I didn’t know what the recovery was until after the first repeat. “2:30” said the coach. “2:30?!” I repeated, a couple of octaves higher… There were two in the lead group, me and another guy, working hard together and not wanting to give much away to the other. I had a strong third interval and thought, “I feel OK, let’s go for one more…” I did this one solo and it was much tougher, coming in 10 seconds slower. But given the intensity of the first three, I’ll take it. A great speed endurance session for the half ironman. Shame that the friction burns I got on my left foot at Stirling when running with no socks had re-opened and were bleeding again... these need to heal, quickly!

Friday was single leg turbo drills for almost an hour, followed by a continuous 3k endurance swim, trying to work on my tumble turning. The turns seem passable early in the session, then get worse. I’m currently only doing them at the deep end as the shallow end seems way too shallow… hopefully in time I will be able to do them in shallow water, but I’ll need to be able to do them well in deep water first… practice, practice, practice…

I went home and got my bike ready for back-to-back long rides of over 100km. These would put strength in the legs for the half ironman. Saturday saw 72 miles down in the Scottish Borders on a pretty nice day. I felt reasonably good on the bike, but not so good in the 5k run I subjected myself to immediately afterwards. I spent the rest of the day eating, stretching, doing core work, eating, eating, eating, and went to bed early.

Almost Alpine

Same again on Sunday, on a hillier route. It was mistier outside, and much more of a slog, with a little bit of a niggle on the inside of my left knee, which I hoped wouldn't get worse. I was lacking a bit of zip in the legs. But I just had to get through it. I was sweating a lot. Forcing it hard. Hoping it wouldn’t rain. You don’t realise how hard you’re working until you have to stop at a junction, and then you feel your legs absolutely cooking, and then you have to get back up to speed again, and again, and again… 67 miles was followed by another 5k run and I felt a bit stronger on this run. A good sign. So far so good, on this big training week.

I weighed myself straight afterwards and the scales showed 60.6kg. Seriously lightweight. Admittedly seriously empty as well, a bit dehydrated, and in need of food, liquid and recovery. Which I duly sorted out for the rest of the day…

!

I was very tired though, but had one more day to get through. One more really tough session before the half ironman. Planned for the Monday evening after work, a 14 mile hilly run on the half ironman course. Just one more day. I went to bed ridiculously early on Sunday night to try and recover. Some people complain in the winter that they never see daylight. I hadn’t seen darkness for a few days! Not that I’m complaining… I’ve got 2 layers of blackout blinds and heavy curtains in my room, so it stays dark when the day breaks at 4am. Good sleep is important…

I had very little energy on Monday but got home from work, got changed into my running gear, and headed out. 14 miles to get through. 90 more minutes. Then I could switch off a bit mentally for a day or two. Despite best intentions, there wasn’t much in my legs. I knew straight away. I was knackered. 14 miles was too big of an ask this evening. 14 miles of hard, fast running up and down those hills. No way. Be sensible. I packed it in after less than a minute. The right call. I went home, had dinner and went to bed early. Another day with no darkness seen…

I tried again the following evening. My legs felt better, but still not fresh. They’d be good enough to get through it though. I seemed to run better as the miles passed, and seemed strong on the hills. I could feel the friction burns on my left foot. I should have taped them up and used vaseline. About halfway through the run, a little urge in my guts… Bah… I don’t want to stop and find a toilet, I want to get through this, it’s my last really tough session before the half. I want to run it well, no breaks, no sitting on a toilet. 40 more minutes and I’ll be home, for all I care I can then sit on the toilet all night if I can just get through the next 40 minutes…

The urge passed. Then it came back 10 minutes later. OK, I might actually have to stop. I can stop at the bottom of the hill, there’s a public building down there, I can go there, they’ll have toilets. But I felt OK at the bottom of the hill and the stubborn-ness in me saw me keep going. 30 more minutes. There’s a swimming pool at the top of the hill, I can go there if I need to. I got up the hill. I should have stopped at the swimming pool. I didn’t. A few minutes later I had to stop at the side of the road and do a bit of hard clenching. Then all the emergency situation alarm bells started ringing and I just about managed to dive into the bushes, stumbling through nettles to try to find somewhere where (hopefully) no one would see. Not pretty.

I felt totally wiped out, guts in pieces, stomach in pieces, energy levels shot to pieces, legs cooked and stung by nettles, and already cooling down alarmingly. Whatever it is in me that keeps me going got me back running to try to finish the run at the same hard pace. But it wasn’t happening, I felt truly awful, and I had to admit defeat. It was a long, miserable, slow 3 mile shuffle home, and straight into the shower.

Not how I had envisaged it going, not what I wanted, and not what an already-depleted body needed. I wanted to be coming off this session with it having gone great, having smashed those hills, feeling confident. Not this.

After the bad mood had subsided a bit, looking at it rationally, it was the first real negative since I started back seriously at the triathlons/duathlons in February/March this year. I suppose I was due a bit of negativity as things had been going so well. At least I wasn’t injured. I’d get over it. But I felt terrible. I felt awful the next day. No energy, absolutely knackered, and unbelievably hungry. Appetite out of control. I listened to my body’s demands and ate and ate and ate and ate. I went very early to bed again – sleep is a good medicine – and allowed myself a long lie-in the following morning (flexible working means I can work from home from time to time and I worked from home the next day, which meant I could stay in bed until 8:45am). So that meant over 12 hours in bed, coupled with massive amounts of nourishment and hydration. I started to feel a bit better.

It’s unlikely there’ll be any training that’s remotely tough/long/intense now before the Eyemouth sprint triathlon this weekend, I will just recover as hard as I can and do a little bit of easy training to keep things ticking over, and will hopefully feel progressively better and more recovered as the week progresses.

Training done was as follows:

Mon 4 June: Rest

Tue 5 June: 40 mile bike (20 x ~2:35 hill reps, alternating normal/low/high cadence)
Wed 6 June: Swim 2.4km (2 x 10 x 100yds, 1:15-1:20, rec to 2mins – 1:22-1:27/100m)
Thu 7 June: Run 4 x 2.2km, 2:30 rec (7:07, 7:09, 7:06, 7:18)
Fri 8 June: 50 min turbo (single leg drills, 3 x 5mins R/L/B), Swim 3k
Sat 9 June: 72 mile bike (136bpm, 3380ft), 5k run (21mins)
Sun 10 June: 67 mile bike (128bpm, 4265ft), 5k run (20mins)
Mon 11 June: Rest
Tue 12 June: 90 min run (10 miles hilly, 3 miles easy)
Wed 13 June: Rest

Totals: Swim 5.4km, Bike 195 miles, Run 17 miles

Post 152 - Stirling sprint triathlon

After a reasonably strong showing at the Selkirk standard distance triathlon two weeks ago, my legs felt sorer than they have done after the shorter sprint distance triathlons I’ve done. But after a day off on Monday, it was back to business as usual. I had decided to reduce back on the number of intervals I was doing for the bike and run this week, to allow for better recovery and to allow for higher-intensity (albeit fewer) intervals.

I limited myself to 6 bike hill repeats at Arthur’s Seat on Tuesday evening. It’s great to be out training in the long, bright, dry, warm(ish) evenings. I cycled over with Kev, a clubmate – even better to have a bit of company even if I was dropping him on the climbs. I held pace pretty well for the 6 ascents and was keen to do more but told myself no, 6 is enough. Trust that’s it’s enough, don’t destroy yourself.

Similarly on Wednesday evening I did 6 half-mile repeats, averaging 2:28. It was a big fight to maintain pace in the last two and I was glad to get the session done without my pace dropping off. My calves were sore after this as my running intensity and volume has dropped somewhat since getting back on the bike and upping the bike training.

Thursday was a swim session with a coach watching – some pointers were to kick less with legs closer together, to glide more with the hand at the start of each stroke, and to keep practicing the tumble turns. I can do them, just not efficiently and quickly.

Friday saw a nice 20-mile round trip bike commute along the canal to a course at a hotel, with some single-leg turbo drills in the evening and then a swim, working on the catch-up drill to improve my glide at the start of each stroke.

A big weekend was planned, with 2 x 100km bike rides and a long run. On Saturday I blasted due south, feeling great for 60km. Then I turned for home and realised there had been a tailwind, which would now be a headwind the whole road home. It was a long slog back, but at least the scenery was nice.

Sunday was a ride out in East Lothian, much of it along the Edinburgh half Ironman bike course. Another clubmate, Dermot, and I had been talking for literally over a year about doing a bike ride and we finally managed to do it. My legs were heavy from the previous day but we churned out another 102km, the highlight of which was being overtaken by a young pup who had smashed himself up a hill to make the pass, then we started riding hard on the flat at the top of the hill and left him for dead – working together and riding hard with Dermot was good fun.

I couldn’t let up mentally as Monday was a big run on the hilly half Ironman course at Holyrood Park and I was pleased with how the tough 14 miles went. After these two big bike rides and big run, I was knackered and spent the rest of the week tapering down for the Stirling triathlon. My parents and brother arrived for a long weekend and we went out for dinner on Saturday evening (with the race on Sunday morning). I sat food-less, watching them eat pizza and desserts. Then went home and ate rice, falafel and vegetables. It was torturous.

An early start on Sunday morning was made no better by torrential rain on the way to Stirling. It was awful. I didn’t want to race in it, and I didn’t want my parents to have to stand in it, watching. But by the time we reached Stirling, it had cleared and things were looking good. It was quite still, warm and humid, which would suit me. I knew the course – same as the Scottish Duathlon I’d done a couple of months previously. I really liked the run course – hilly, twisty and tough – suited to strong, light runners. It was a power bike course, mostly flat, which probably wouldn’t suit a light whippet like me, it would suit bigger, pure-power riders. And a pool swim – I’m still not confident enough with tumble turning…

Stirling landmark - the Wallace monument

There were 5 in my lane in the swim, each starting at 5-second intervals. I was away second. It didn’t take long for the foot-tapping to start – you can’t overtake in the lane so you tap the feet of the person in front and the idea is that they then wait at the wall for the overtaker to pass. It’s a bit frustrating. I felt a half-hearted tap and paused for a split second at the wall, right under the noses of the marshals – there was a guy behind, but he seemed hesitant to come through, so I didn’t waste any more time, I pushed off and he was still behind. He was battering away at my feet for the whole next length – I hoped the marshals wouldn’t take any action – I’ve always tried to be fair in letting others through, and to me there seemed to be a bit of hesitation. He got through at the next turn.

I got out of the water in 11-something (officially 12:06 but the timing mat was halfway to transition) and legged it through transition, gave the parents a nod, got onto the bike and got away. I tried talcum powder in my shoes for the first time but I didn’t notice too much of a difference.

I battered away at the bike, over 300 watts. I passed a few people. Then at about one-third distance, 3 of us came together. It was a fairly flat course so there were no hills or technical turns to make things interesting or to play to different strengths. There’s a rule which says you can’t draft off someone else’s back wheel (you save so much energy doing this) and you have to stay 10m back. There are (supposed to be) motorbike referees policing this. I know people who feel they’ve been unfairly penalised, and I know that others do blatantly cheat and get away with it (search YouTube for “Ironman drafting”).

We seemed to be riding fairly and we kept going. As we approached a slower rider a van overtook us and then got stuck behind the slower rider, so for a very short time we were just cruising behind the van, unable to do anything. Finally the van got clear and we kept going. At about two-thirds distance, 3 became 4 as we came up behind another rider. I wondered would anyone try to make a break before transition. A small gap opened and I covered it with some big power, and in the end the four of us came into transition all pretty close. Another nod to the parents and I was off the bike.

I realised we were the top 4 as there were no other bikes back yet. Bike on the rack, sunglasses off, helmet off, bike shoes off, shoes on, no socks, didn’t notice any difference with the talcum powder, grabbed my Garmin watch and legged it. First out of transition. I’m a reasonably strong runner. Fingers crossed.

I had a new pair of running shoes, as at Selkirk two weeks previously, my feet got so sore on the run, right where I had worn out the cushioning on the soles of the old shoes. I had no such problems this time – maybe due to the new runners with new cushioning, and maybe due to the talcum powder absorbing the moisture from my wet feet. I didn’t put socks on (takes too much time for such a short run) and this time ended up with two red-raw bleeding sores on my left foot. Bah. Another issue to sort - 21km with that kind of rubbing and blistering would be horrendous.

The run went really well, I ran strongly. From transition, along the grass to the running track, along the track, hairpin through the fence, up a steep, steep hill, right hander across the grass, along the road, through a little wavy downhill bit, along another road, over the speed bumps, a tight right-hander, up a drag, over the grass, another right hander, along a road, another tight right, then a tight left onto a walkway, then left onto the road, back down the hill, onto the track, along the back end of the grass, round the big loop where transition and the finish is, all repeated twice. At the end of the first lap I heard my dad say "it's all in the head!" Is it?! Hmmmm. My final mile was 5:11 and I won the race by over 2 minutes, all made up on the run. I’ll take it!

"It's all in the head..." or is it?

Results are here:

https://www.whatsmytime.co.uk/index.php/race-results/2017-12-31-17-34-55/june-2018/stirling-sprint-novice-triathlon

It was good to get the win and to race well. On a different day, the same performance might only have got me second, or sixth, or whatever. I can only train as well as I can train and race as well as I can race, and wherever I place, I place. But things do seem to be coming together quite well. It was good for my parents to have a good day out and to see a good race after putting up with so much misery at so many different Ironman races over the years. I quite enjoyed the prizegiving, outside in the warm weather, chatting to different people.

We went home via Stirling Castle and went out for dinner that evening. I didn’t hold back – a massive steak pie, vegetables, potatoes, chips and dessert. All I was missing was a Guinness but I was driving… I thought I might have the Guinness when I got home. But at 8:30pm, instead of tucking into a pint, my dad suggested going for a spin on the bikes out along the canal. What can you say to that... "How long for?" "Oh just 20 or 30 minutes..." 2 hours later we made it home! It was such a nice ride on a nice evening along a nice canal out to Ratho (a nice place), and nice to just ride a bike for the fun of it, cruising along, instead of going flat out.

Next up is the Eyemouth sprint triathlon in 2 weeks, followed by the Edinburgh half ironman 2 weeks after that. So maybe a day off after Stirling and then back to heavy training, followed by a short taper for Eyemouth and then the half Ironman won’t be too far away…

Training done was as follows:

Mon 21 May: Rest
Tue 22 May: Bike 30 miles (6 x Arthur’s Seat hill reps: 3:33, 3:25, 3:28, 3:27, 3:28, 3:27)
Wed 23 May: Run 6 x 0.5 miles (2:30, 2:28, 2:27, 2:28, 2:30, 2:30) 2:30 recovery)
Thu 24 May: Swim 1.7k
Fri 25 May: 2 x 45min bike, 35 min turbo (single-leg drills: 2 x 5 R/L/B), Swim 2k
Sat 26 May: 4:10 bike (74 miles, 139bpm, 3450ft), 20 min run
Sun 27 May: 3:45 bike (63 miles, 123bpm, 4130ft)
Mon 28 May: 90 min hilly run (14.25 miles)

Totals: Swim 3.7k, Bike 197 miles, Run 25 miles

Tue 29 May: 30 min turbo
Wed 30 May: Swim 2.2k
Thu 31 May: 1 hour turbo
Fri 1 June: 30 min fartlek run
Sat 2 June: 20 min turbo, 10 min run
Sun 3 June: Stirling sprint triathlon: ~11:30 750m swim, 0:46 T1, 33:15 bike 22k, 0:45 T2, 17:09 hilly 5k run (run course record) – 1:04:04 (1st overall)

Totals: Swim 3k, Bike 49 miles, Run 10 miles

I asked my dad to write a few words about Stirling - here it is, pretty much unedited. I quite like his quirky style...

Stirling Triathlon Sprint 2018

Heading north on the M9, the imposing and formidable structure of Stirling Castle oozed the power and influence of an era when its masters surveyed all before them; its dominance seeming to say, “no-one shall pass here”.

We first caught sight of this colossus of its day when we did “pass here” taking John to his Young Engineer placement in Aberdeen in August 2003, a teenage novice. How difficult, nay impossible, to see into the future, even in the short term. This was a time prior to the iphone, Barak Obama, populism, the “crash”, Brexit, mass migration, Amazon, a time when John had yet to emerge as a serious athlete.

Fast forward to the present and we never could have imagined being back in the shadow of Stirling Castle nearly fifteen years later supporting John as he competed in the Stirling Triathlon Sprint 2018. Now a serious runner, triathlete, duathlete and Ironman having represented various clubs, districts, regions and soon country at events the length and breadth of the land, this was yet another event on the journey.

We left a dull and overcast Edinburgh at 5.00am on Sunday morning, ample time for registration and set-up prior to the sprint.  Spirits were dampened on route when the forecast was compromised with heavy rain and misty conditions. Wet surfaces force a serious reconsideration of how to operate a time-trial cycle machine in such conditions. Thankfully, the weather proved kinder on arrival as the threat of wet surfaces evaporated. With little wind and a temperature of 14C, conditions were close to ideal. For competitors and visitors alike, the organization and venue, Stirling University, proved to be excellent.

A swim of 0.75k, a cycle of 22k and a run of 5k constituted the event, all done at sprint pace. Preparation, tactics, pacing and self-awareness are as crucial as level of fitness. John had done his homework. Knowing that in cramped swimming conditions with five to a lane in a 25m pool, he was well aware that his touch turns would cost him time. In open water none of these limiting factors would be an issue. With a swim time of 12:08.06 he would have been quietly confident that efficient transitions (T1 00:00:46.9;  T2 00:00:46.6) and his strength on the bike would keep him in contention.  

And so it proved. However at this point he would have been acutely aware that the bike stage poses the most challenging and potentially dangerous element where there is little or no control over a multitude of external factors. Not least of these are weather conditions, road conditions, an unfamiliar route and, although a technological wonder which we take for granted, a time trial thoroughbred bike that can let you down.

With a PB of 15:29 over a sole 5k, John would have been content as he began his run, but now sufficiently mature and schooled to concentrate on the here and now, taking nothing for granted. At the 2.5k mark, well clear of the field, he looked strong and relaxed. He completed the run in a course record of 17:09.4 and the overall event approximately two minutes ahead of the second place finisher.

When the whistle blew to begin the swim it was 7.35am on the clock. On crossing the finish line, it was 8.39am on the clock, a completion time of 01:04:04.8. A “sterling” performance. On taking centre spot on the podium, John’s mum jokingly quipped “that’s my boy”.