Group Riding

I went out for a ride with the local cycle club (CCB) on Sunday. They were very friendly and I was encouraged to join the “A” group as opposed to the “B” group. This group has a higher average speed and towards the end they race home so it is possible (read probable) to get dropped. My major concerns with going out with this group were: will my poor group riding skills cause problems for everyone and will I get dropped early. Well, pretty much both happened but I don’t think either were cause for major concern. Group riding requires a
number of skills which just cannot be learned when riding alone: Pacing, riding in a close group and drafting are all skills that take a while to be acquired. Pacing was the biggest issue for me as I foolishly ended up leading the group three times. The first time up front I was paired with a relative novice and we went out way too fast and rapidly tired ourselves out. The second and third occasions I was with an experienced rider and they managed the pacing for me which was very helpful. The third time was towards the end of the ride and it completely wasted me, as we finished our turn, I got dropped on a hill and was helped back to the group. I accepted the inevitable and told the group to leave me behind on the next hill which they duly did. I managed to convince a riding buddy to stay with me as we had 10Km to get back to the finish and then a further 10Km to get home and I was shattered and needed help. A total of 115Km at around 30Kmh which was not too fast by my standards so I think the last few weeks off the bike have taken their toll on my fitness. This gives me a great goal now – to stay with the group and maybe get involved in the sprint to the finish. As I rode home, I realised that there were a good number of riders in the group who never took the front; a lesson learned there!

Biting the Bullet

Right I have decided to bite the bullet and address my swimming: I am slow, I have poor technique and a low level of endurance. Apart from that I am a great swimmer! I will swim 1500m in sub 30 mins next year. That is my #1 training goal. To that end I am following the Swimsmooth 11 week program. A simple training plan tailored for people of my ability who want to target 1500m/1900m Triathlon swims. Knowing how bad I am at going to the pool, I had originally thought the 11 week program will take me 22 weeks but so far I am still on schedule after 2 weeks. Admittedly I am not doing much other training so it is easier to get pool time in. Once I finally get back on the bike and treadmill properly then I am sure it will get harder. So far so good: I actually like the swim sessions and I am motivated to go to the pool, the sessions are varied and appear to be making a difference to my stroke already. I am now intimately familiar with Popov and 6/3/6 drills! I did a 200m time trial last week so I will be keen to see how that time improves throughout the period of the course.

The swimsmooth website has a downloadable console called “Mr Smooth” which demonstrates their ideal stroke and a valuable visualisation tool for all swimsmooth students! It event works on your iPod so I can take it with me everywhere.

Here is a screenshot (with acknowledgements to SwimSmooth!):

Getting the balance right

There appears to be a general rule about the amount of training time required to be “successful” at triathlon; I am not quite sure what “successful” means though. Naturally the amount of training time required depends upon the length of the event with Ironman events needing the most training. Last year I trained for l’etape du tour which was a 180Km (or Ironman distance) ride, this entailed a good deal of endurance riding to be in a position to get round the route in a respectable time. The Triathletes Training Bible by Joe Friel suggests the following training hours:



I reviewed may last 12 month’s training diary and I calculated that put in around 350-400 hours training which is below bottom end of the range for half iron-distance events. I believe that I was racing at a relatively “High Performance” in my events if I look at my Age Group finishing positions: 6th at Eton, 8th in the New Forest and 27th in the National Sprint Championships. I was better than a “finisher” although “High Performance” is difficult to evaluate. Certainly I could have gone better with more training and an investment in “gear” would have made a difference. Just looking around during the events, I was top (or close to top) finisher in those events on a normal racing bike as opposed to an expensive Tri-Bike.

When it comes to 2010 I shall not be “going long” so I can reduce my training time and spend more time at home. With that in mind I have been planning my goals for the year! I have an event plan in mind which shall be refined over the next few weeks. The main event for me shall be partially social and partially competitive. The Alpe D’Huez Triathlon is rapidly becoming the triathlon to do in Europe and I have entered for next year. I suspect that it will soon become an event that is so over-subscribed that it will require qualification so it is good to get it done sooner rather than later. The Alpe D’Huez Tri takes place at the end of July and I have discussed with the family and “the men” plan to make a small holiday of it and go for a few days mountain biking in the Alps afterwards so it will be a combined Triathlon/Holiday, Jane may join depending upon how we organise it.

Other events for the summer are looking like the Vitruvian in September and The Cowman in June. I would love to do a Big Cow sprint again next year and also a New Forest event so I need to get my calendar out.

2009 Review

I have just had a look at the season targets I had set back in December last year to see how well I did:



Although I missed two out of three I think I did OK. I was very close on one and I suspect I would have beaten it if the weather had been kinder. The real reason for setting targets is to have something to act as motivation during training. That is the main reason I started Triathlon in the first place to give me a reason to keep relatively fit. Clearly triathlon is addictive because “being fit” soon becomes “being quick” or more accurately: “being quicker” :-) It is a vicious circle whereby there is always someone ahead of you at the finish line.

I am pretty happy with my results this year especially as I dropped off the training quite a bit after l’etape so the result for the NFMD which is known as a “slow” race was pretty good. I shall try and train a little less this year and train a little smarter (note to self: look that up on the interweb to see what it actually means). The reality is that enjoying triathlon is very much about getting the balance right and in my case that means being competitive whilst still enjoying family time and going out with friends. Hopefully the two are not mutually exclusive.

Hiatus

Wow – no blog posts for weeks and no real training either, my mind and body have been elsewhere with family and work which has been fab. The New Forest Middle Distance triathlon was a blast. It was a tough one to pick as a first half iron-distance race but the atmosphere was grand and the scenery stunning. My times were acceptable (with the usual exception of the swim) and I am keen to do a few more events of that distance. Here is a brief summary:

Swim: 50mins. I had deluded myself into thinking that 4 swims between June and September would be adequate preparation for a 1900m OW swim and hence I quite rightly had a poor start to the event. There were many positive things about the swim that I can look back on; I was still in a pack after 1K and was flitting left and right to grab a tow off someone. In my Sprint Triathlons I am usually dropped after 300m so I was feeling good. At the end of the first lap my left calf cramped up rapidly followed by my right calf. Having suffered this before and the subsequent muscular pain I struggled with for 2 weeks afterwards I was more concerned with finishing the Tri than getting a good time and hence I concentrated on clearing the cramp and not on swimming. So for the second 1000m I focussed on holding my feet in a position that eased the pain which meant I was quite slow and I emerged 36th out of 43 in my age group. T1 was very slow with a lot of time spent trying to get compression socks on over sand covered feet. I managed that in just under 5 minutes and got out on the bike.

Bike: 3:01. I had targeted a 3:15 bike in order to hit my 3:45 goal but as I had such a poor swim I decided to hit it slightly harder. The first 75Km were great as I overtook people. I calculated that I overtook around 150 people on the bike or around half the field. I passed a few people I knew on the bike leg and we had a brief chat which was great. The last 3-4Km involved a slight downhill into T2 and knowing I had pushed harder than planned I took it easy for this section. I caught Leo on that drag and we came into T2 pretty much together. Whilst changing from bike to run gear I overheard Leo telling the race marshall that he had hit a cow at 60Kmh and was in pretty bad shape. He looked OK to me so I didn’t feel too bad when I had a little giggle.

Run: 1:52. I had originally planned a 1:40 run but re-evaluated that when I heard about the run profile: “add ten minutes to your normal time” was the general advice. The first and last 1Km was on road then it was “on safari”. Through woods and plains the run was tough but very pretty. Some of the climbs were steep and up sand and I adopted a run walk strategy where I walked the hills and ran the rest. I caught around 30 people on the run and ran the 5th fastest in my age group to come in 8th out of 43 and 92nd of 330 total entries in a total time of 5:52.

I was shattered at the end and the event convinced me that I have no desire to enter a full Ironman race. It would take too much training and would hurt too much! After a bit of a rest a bunch of old friends came down and we stayed over in Poole for the night and went out on the town. The following day we went for a walk along the Dorset coast which was spectacular and ended up being around ten miles! Not an ideal warm down but great fun all the same.

Full stats for the New Forest Middle:

I am Mark Spitz

Well maybe not but at least I can swim a little. I paid my first trip to the lake last night with a plan to swim 1600m at race pace prior to some longer swims in the run up to next weekend. The weather was glorious with the low sun shimmering off the water as the ripples gently lapped at the quay. I have planned to try and up the intensity on these (rare) long swims to see how much more I could push without using up to much energy. During the swim I was noticeably straighter than previously and was able to put in some fast bursts with no ill effects. I probably managed 5-6 intervals where I increased stroke rate, hopefully without sacrificing stroke length; very difficult to do in my opinion but all good swimmers seem to do this with ease. The result was a 35minute 1600m which is personal best by 3 minutes. Not bad considering the last time I swam in the lake was on the 2nd July. I seem to put in my best times after not swimming for a while. Interestingly I was chatting to one of the great guys who manage the lake and he said that he swims 1:15 for an Ironman no matter how much swimming he puts in. So I reckon my 42 minute 1900m goal is in sight and I can probably beat that if I can get a good draft off someone. I am now at a point with my swimming where I can enjoy the peace and quiet of Open Water swimming, just methodically stroking, breathing easy and relaxing; thinking things over in the same way as people normally do when they run or cycle. I never thought I would have got to that point ever when I first started swimming. I will definitely get some lessons over the winter and try and gain 5 minutes off my time for next year.

One Last Effort

One week of heavy training to go then I can hang my kit up for a few weeks. I am really looking forward to not training which may sound odd but it means I can spend more time with the family and chill out a bit. By not training I do of course mean dropping down to three or four times a week as opposed to six to eight. I think the key to all this triathlon and cycling lark is getting the balance right. I know I could hit some pretty good times if I put the training in, certainly I think I could get close to 60 minutes for a sprint and 2:10 for an Olympic but I would have to train far too much for mine and my family’s liking. This is also the reason I cannot see myself doing an Iron Distance event. If I entered then I would not be content just “getting round” I would need to target a sub 12 hour and that would take too much training. Unless I come into a million or two of course and can afford to take a year out of work! If I that happened, here is the plan: I would get a coach. Swim every day and get my 1500m down to 25mins. I would join the athletics club and do a lot of track work which would drop my 10Km time down towards 39 minutes. More time on the bike and a structured Time Trial plan would get my 40Km time down to 60minutes quite easily: That makes 2:04 plus transitions would make it sub 2:10 which would be pretty high up in my age group. There you go, I have done it already and it was easy  As it is, I have three hours commuting every day and other priorities. So a rest will be welcome on September 21st.

I resolved to put one last effort in for the summer so as to not let myself down on my debut HIM distance race and had a massive training week last week. The only down side was a lack of real swim practice due to work commitments. I hope to resolve that tomorrow with a long Open Water session. I had two bike rides in the Surrey Hills as well which was great although the last one was done whilst suffering the ill-effects of a dodgy seafood meal on the Friday at a client lunch. Heart palpitations and an inability to hold down any food was slowing me down a little. In hindsight I shouldn’t have gone out but when I left home I felt OK. As it turned out, my HR was 40 bpm higher than normal and I was at the back of the climbing group a few times but I really loved the ride – 7 big hills over 80Km with a final timed ride up Box Hill to finish (5% for 2.4Km on poor tarmac). I made it in 9mins 57secs but I know I can do much better. I shall use that time as a benchmark going forward and measure my improvement with it. Rumour has it there may be a TriTalk Time Trial event up Box Hill which would be great fun although I am unsure whether I would prefer to marshal it than ride it, I do need to put something back.

It look like I need to definitely revise my goals for the New Forest Middle. Apparently it is a hilly ride and a hilly off-road run which will slow everyone down. I will try to hit 5:45 and see where I go from there. A few of the guys I ride with have done it and they were very complementary about the race but said the bike and run were hard. Maybe I should have chosen the Vitruvian instead as the bike is 5Km less and the run is easier. Too late now – I shall enjoy the NF middle as it is. I am still suffering from food poisoning so I shall have a day of and start my final big training week tomorrow.

Back on the gas!

I have been very tardy in updating my blog, I have been busy and travelling too much although that is not a good enough reason as I could write on the plane. We had a great holiday in Egypt; way too hot for me but very relaxing with the family. Eight whole days together and not one argument shows that it must have been relaxing. The snorkelling was good fun and the pool and local beer was refreshing. It was averaging around 39 degrees each day and much too hot for exercise. I set off on a 40 minutes easy run on the first day


and almost expired after 20 minutes and had to stop. All the locals were looking at me as if I was stark raving mad. The hotel gym was poorly equipped with CV gear, the gym bike did not work properly but there was a treadmill. I made sure I went for a swim in the “Olympic” size swimming pool each morning prior to a wet lunch and chill out. My lap times were terrible, as expected after a few weeks off swimming. Even after a couple of sessions I wasn’t even close to the times I have hit before even though I felt I was swimming well. So I paced out the pool: 75 good paces which makes it at least 65m long by my reckoning. No wonder my lap times were so poor! So in the end I had yet another week off cycling and running which makes it around 2-3 weeks of poorly planned training.

Only 3 weeks to go to The New Forest Middle Distance and I am in pretty poor shape. My interval sessions are not as long as they were and I push less power than I did 1 month ago; so I plan to make a concerted effort over the next 3 weeks (2 weeks if I rest on my last week). My plan to enter the New Forest Middle as a way of encouraging me to continue training through the summer has failed completely, I shall learn from next year and plan to have my last “A” event in July. That “A” event looks like being the Alpe D’Huez Long Distance Triathlon: 2.2Km swim, 115Km ride over 2 peaks then a finish up the 21 hairpins of the Alpe’Dhuez followed by a half marathon at altitude!



The longest Tri I will have attempted and probably the hardest one around. I think now is the time to do this event as it looks like it will soon be the “Kona” of Europe with everyone trying to get to enter. I fancy mixing this event up with a family holiday to the Alps back where we used to live which would be great. Just need to convince my family :-) Then I may have a year off Tri completely, after retiring from rugby this year and cricket last year, it looks like being a chilled year after Summer 2010.

We have my niece and nephew staying for a few days at the moment, I have forgotten how tiring a 5 and 10 year old can be, they demand so much attention all the time. I am every so appreciative of Jane and the kids who are doing a great job of looking after them. I have no idea how anyone can train for an endurance event and have small children at the same time. Saying that, I have been grateful for the solitude of the open road after a few hours with the kids. I am really too old and too impatient for young kids nowadays.

I have been travelling far too much recently: Japan, Germany, Egypt, Portugal all in the last 4 weeks with a trip to Amsterdam planned the week before the New Forest Middle: Not ideal timing – would be great to chill in Amsterdam after the New Forest Middle... The travelling in itself is not too bad but if it is a day trip then there is no training possible due to early starts and late finishes and if it is an overnighter it is in the lap of the gods if there is a decent gym available which usually means I plan an endurance run on the street and hope they are clear enough to get decent session.

Training done since coming home from Egypt: Bike: 90Km Z2, Run: 40 Minute Z2, Run: 60 Minute Z2, Bike 3x8 Interval; Run: 3x8 interval; Weights; Bike: 60Km in the Surrey Hills.

So much to do so little time.

Things have been busy over the last 2 weeks and as a result I have done little training, and little blog writing! I have been busy at work and I am also aware that I need to spend more time with my lovely family as I tend to get wrapped up in other things. So I now plan to have a few days off completely and then hopefully come back refreshed and re-motivated. My recent goal of sub 5:30 for the new Forest Middle Distance Tri is now out of the window and I shall target either a sub 5:45 or a sub 6hour time depending upon how training goes for the next 4 weeks. My endurance should be OK from all the etape training but I have lost running speed and have not entered the water for 4 weeks. As they say in the office: “It will be fine”!

Japan

I had a quick visit to Japan last week, out on Monday and back Friday. It turns out that the “Fitness Corner” at the hotel was exactly that. A couple of pieces of CV kit and a view over Tokyo. Not ideal for spending much time training.




I managed a 90 minute “ride” on the gym bike the day I arrived but it was so boring (even with the view) I couldn’t face any more than that. As it turned out the trip was packed busy with full days and late nights and I didn’t manage to wake up early on any of the days I was there so I didn’t get any other sessions in. Sessions of the fitness kind that is, I did end up having several food and drink sessions with clients and business partners which were great fun! Sake, Sushi, Sashimi, Shabu Shabu and Sapporo are so much nicer in situ. Do all Japanese food and drinks begin with “S”? Ah no – the Kobe Beef Carpaccio was great.

Back on the MTB

On Sunday we participated in a TrailTrax (orienteering on a bike)event with my youngest son, Ben. He has been keen to do one of these for a while so we entered in the “Family Pair” category. The event involves mapping a route to try and collect as many points as possible by riding to marked locations. We overestimated how far we could travel in the 2 hour time limit and as a result made a poor route choice and gathered a much lower points total that we had hoped. We also had a mad dash over the last 2 miles to get back to base within the time limit which was fun, Ben was slipstreaming me on the road back for the last mile as we upped the pace. We got back with 2 minutes spare and finished a credible 2nd in the category and 5th overall (albeit amongst a small field). If we had picked our route better we would probably have amassed enough points to have won. Next time we will know better. There is another event planned soon so I think Ben will be keen to do that one as well. He seems to be as competitive as me – the poor soul.

Bike Position

I found a few photos from the London Triathlon and noticed that I look very upright on my bike. I have always felt quite comfortable
when on the Tri bars and that in itself has worried me. Seeing the photos has just emphasised my opinion. I hope to get out on a ride with some of the TriTalk folksin Surrey soon so I shall garner their (generally) wise opinions. If I am too upright then I guess I shall need to lower the handlebars, I have considered doing this already but I suspect that I need to saw off some of the stem which I am reluctant to do as it means no going back. I shall review this once I get feedback on my position. I may post a picture of my position on the TriTalk website for broad constructive feedback laced with acerbic ridicule which is very humorous for all concerned...

Holiday

We are off to Egypt next week and a chance to do some snorkelling. The hotel has a 50m pool so I shall finally get back in the water and do some proper sets. Looking forward to the whole holiday if not the flight on Monarch!

Post Etape...

Recovery from l’etape was pretty quick, which just goes to show I did not go hard enough! Work and home have been very busy since France with the school hols and lots of business trips. This belated update is being written on the Narita Express train from Narita Airport to Tokyo where I shall be for the next few days. Another week and another hotel will surprise with grand descriptions of their gym facilities. This one is described as a “fitness corner” I have absolutely no idea what that means but I expect to be running through the streets of Tokyo as opposed to working out in a salubrious fitness centre.

The London Triathlon was last weekend, apparently the largest in the world with waves spread over two days. Having won an entry to the event last year and postponing it I eventually decided to participate with two mates as a relay. Unfortunately we were entered in the sprint event which meant that there was a lot of effort to get to London and sort out the logistics for a short race but we all treated it more as a bit of fun. We finished 8th overall (out of 324) so that was not too bad but reflects more on the lack of decent competition more than our team performance. The wave had around 200 people in it and I really didn’t envy Tony who had manfully agreed to do the swim section. He never managed to escape the washing machine during the 750m and spent more time fighting off people and trying to navigate a clear route through the melee before finishing in a credible 16mins. T1 was mayhem with a lot of swimmers coming in together and the three people per team all getting in the way of each other crammed into three small bike rack rows. Tony did really well getting out of the wetsuit and running upstairs and into the transition area which was an exhibition hall, we had the 4th fastest T1 overall which was cool but even that was over 3 minutes. I was nursing a “right and proper” hangover from a unexpectedly late night out the night before but managed to overtake over 100 people on the bike to get back into T2 in 6th place leaving Rob to run his first ever 5Km race. He had been “sandbagging” about being a slow runner but I knew differently, I have seen him running around the village and knew he had a handy 10mile time in a recent village fun run. He was hoping to not let the side down with a targeted 24 minute run but eventually he smacked a sub 20 minute 5.1Km which was great. With all the hassle of getting there it was a shame that we had to leave pretty quickly and I tried to see a few friends finish their Olympic relay but unfortunately I couldn’t find them and with the venue being huge it was nigh on impossible to bump into anyone unless pre-planned.

So I have update my Event list below and only have one event left.




I am now suffering my familiar high summer lethargy spell and lack of motivation for any training. This was the exact reason I picked a September Triathlon to ensure I have something to keep me going till later in the season. So duly motivated I am back in the swing of things for September 20th and the New Forest Middle. I went out for a long run for the first time in months on Sunday and after daydreaming for a while realised I had accidently ran 20Km in 1:34 which was supposed to be an easy pace. Cracking! Actually that would be close to the pace I am hoping to achieve in the New Forest. I am not sure how realistic this is as I have a half marathon PB of 1:30 I need to do some research and find out what I can expect for my half marathon time at the end of a Tri. Updates as soon as I can get the answer.

L'etape: The Ride

The race started at 7am (the organisers insist on calling it a race even though most people just want to get round) and I was in my starting pen ready to go by 6am along with a growing bunch of other riders who were all better prepared, with high carb snacks and disposable energy drink bottles to consume whilst they waited for the start. I managed to have a final pee despite the single portaloo for around 7000 riders.



Having reviewed the Mt Ventoux climb during the drive the day before, I decided to reign in my natural tendency to go too fast early on and save as much energy as I could for the final climb in the hope of making up any lost time by being in better condition. So I resolved not go over my Lactate Threshold during the early climbs and spin easily down the hills prior to Bedoin. If it meant I would not get to Bedoin until 6:30 of riding then that would not worry me too much. Despite having a race number of 2130 we were off and across the line around 5 minutes after the starting gun.

The sheer volume of riders meant that it was peleton riding until the first hill at around 12Km which enabled me to maintain an average speed of 30Kmh at an easy effort. That first hill was the Cote de Citelle which measured 4% for 5.2Km. I got into 1st gear and kept a high cadence all the way up and managed to keep my HR below 150bpm. I kept up with the average speed of most people and found it quite straightforward. Ha, I thought – these category 3 hills are easy! All those Surrey Hills rides with the gang have made a huge difference. On this very first descent I watched a guy tumble and slide around 20 metres on his side to the “Ooohs and Ahhhs” of the surrounding riders who all took it a little easier for the next few minutes. It was at this point when “Le Geant de Provence” came into view in the distance yet still appearing close enough to touch.

Another 6.5Km, 5% Category 3 climb, the Col D’Ey was treated with the same respect and I was flying and well up on my planned average speed whilst not going over my target Heart Rate – the benefits of riding in a group were becoming clear and I focussed on always sitting behind someone for as long as I could. This led us to the 1st of two feed stations after 75Km. It was mayhem – strewn bottles of Vittel everywhere and people fighting to get in and out as fast as they could. I grabbed a few bottles and what I thought was an oat cake of some kind but that turned out to be salty Olive Bread which was both unexpected and unwelcome. I decided to make do with my ample supplies of Mule Bars and Torq Gels and got back on the road in preparation for the Cat 4 climb to the Col de Fontaube. I was still happy with my hills but I noticed that as the sun climbed in the sky it started to become noticeably hotter than any of the previous days or the early weather forecasts. I had kept up a great average speed up to the top of this climb and was on schedule for my 6 hour target at Bedoin. It was at this point, 95Km in that I had my now familiar dip and I started to tire such that even slight downhill sections seemed to be hard work, or rather my speed on these sections was noticeably less than the other riders around me as I was being engulfed by riders flying past with race numbers in the 5000-7000. I was pretty disappointed as I had strictly kept to my nutrition plan and consumed a good 120g of carbs for each hour of riding. I decided to take 2-3 minutes off the bike, stretched and ate a Mule bar and made a couple of quick phone calls to report on my progress, that made me feel better and I re-started in the hope of getting to another hill soon as I felt I was fairing much better on the hills than on the flat. The penultimate climb came at 100Km, the Category 3 Col de Notre-Dame des Abeilles which was a whacking 8Km long. I had been pre-warned by a guy at the start that this was a lot more difficult than it looked on the map so I was pretty happy when I climbed it well, even over the false top and back up the other side. Here again you could see the Mt Ventoux looming heavily so I dismounted and took a quick snap with my phone. Again as the riders around me were struggling I could hear the odd “Il est la” comment – it was great and helped to build the suspense!




I had planned to reach the Col de Notre-Dame des Abeilles after 5hrs15 in order to get to Bedoin at 6 hours. There was a 15Km descent and then a 10Km flat section prior to hitting Bedoin and I thought I could easily do that in 45 minutes. As it happened, my energy dip had cost quite a bit of time and I was 15 minutes behind schedule. The descent from there was exhilarating with a gradient of up to 12% on wide, car free roads I averaged around 65kmh and hit a top speed of 74Kmh before my nerves gave way. The result was I caught up the 15 minutes delay and managed to get to Bedoin before the 6 hour mark. More chaos at the fuel stop and I opted to take on water only and left Bedoin with 2 full bottles and a bag of Jelly Babies ready for the Mt Ventoux.

The Mt Ventoux

Over the timing carpet and into my stride I was feeling in great shape if a little hot in my poorly chosen black cycling gear. The first 6Km of the 22Km are quite straightforward averaging around 5%, this was worrying in itself as this only meant that the rest of the climb would be very steep to maintain the average of 7.8%. Already we were very hot (it was 1pm by now) and searching for shaded areas on the road to ride on. Spectators were happy to throw water on us as we went past which was refreshing and welcome. I was looking forward to the forest section which whilst steep should be shaded and hence cooler. Wow – how wrong I was! The forest section was steep yet manageable on my 34/27 gearing without really needed to get out of the saddle, the problem was the heat and almost complete lack of shade on the road. The trees had the effect of holding in the heat and stopping any cool breeze which on this day resulted in a whopping 36 degrees C (96F) heavy atmosphere, 18C higher than the day before. The almost surreal view of hundreds of cyclists wordlessly and relentlessly climbing up the hill was a sight to behold. I said to myself that I would not stop for a break until at least 10Km and eventually made it to around 8Km before the heat won over, strangely my legs were fine but the heat was just too much. From that moment on through to the top there was a clear split in the peloton: 30% were riding the hill, 30% were pushing their bikes up – something I had vowed not to do and the remainder were either passed out, vomiting, sitting or lying in the shade of the forest. It looked like the aftermath of some kind of chemical attack. My head felt like exploding for almost the whole of the forest section, the heat was unbearable and it was clearly taking its toll on most of the cyclist. Ambulances were continually flying all the way up the hill and my 2 bidons of water were rationed carefully and hence I was unable to use it on my head to cools down. I must have stopped around 5 times in the forest section alone before making it to Chalet Reynard and the last water station as the road opened out onto the famous moonscape.

I filled both Bidons and set off for the last 6Km climb, the slight breeze was a godsend and it is the first time I have been grateful for a head wind whilst being on the bike. There were numerous cars and RVs parked on the side of the road up the hill, all in good time for Saturday’s Tour stage and the support from the people at the side was very gratefully received. Coming out of the forest cooled the air significantly and even though the gradient was still up at 10% it was significantly easier. Just Tom Simpsons memorial
to go and then the final turn to the top. Here I had cooled enough to get into 3rd gear and pick up my speed heading for the finish. I made it in 8hrs38 with a final Mt Ventoux climb of 2:30 at an average speed of 8.8Kmh, much slower than anticipated and hence somewhat disappointing, but I had made it and made it in a respectable time. The broom wagon was well over 2 hours behind me.

Done it:

The feeling crossing the line was more one of matter of fact more than anything else. I had achieved what I set out to do although in a slower time which somewhat blunted the edge and I look back thinking I should have gone out harder in the early stages as I was not “tired enough” at the end. If only...Maybe next time.

L'etape: Pre Race

One thing that becomes clear with experience of participating in Sportives and Triathlons is that there is a real the benefit in routine; it reduces unnecessary stress and enables you to focus on the right things in the build up. Having never participated in an event abroad before I was prepared for the lack of normality. The starting point for the etape was Montelimar in the South of France. I originally had to choose between driving or flying and had opted to drive so I could be a little more in control of the situation and could also explore a bit of the country side whilst there.

It became apparent in the run up to the event that even though I was driving myself, it was a requirement for me to use a Bike Box for transportation to and from the start/finish. This meant that I had to pack the bike in a box for the trip down and I would then re-build the bike on the Saturday in Montelimar. I am now aware that successfully using a Bike Box is a skill in itself, a skill that comes with patience and practice. Four attempts and several internet consultations later I managed to get the bike in but was still a little concerned that it was too tight and some of the parts may be under pressure. Once we got to Montelimar on the Saturday it became apparent that I was right.

Upon re-building the bike and subsequently testing it, I couldn’t get it into 1st Gear and it was jumping in several of the others; not ideal for climbing 5 Cols on the Monday. A cursory glance revealed a split gear cable hosing which required a visit to a bike shop for a spare cable or the correct tools for a DIY repair. I took advantage of the Mavic support team and they took a look.

No spares were available so a repair was the only option. After repairing the cable, the Mavic technician started what appeared to be randomly adjusting all 4 screws on the rear derailleur. I suspected from that moment on that I was doomed to spend the rest of the weekend trying to fix my bike. He topped it off by adjusting the perfectly working brakes and “Horror of Horrors” putting oil on the chain – something that my bikes never get as it just attracts dirt and wears down the chain and cogs. I always use a Teflon lubricant and the cassette and chain remain spotless. This was not really a problem, merely a deviation from routine which made me nervous. I couldn’t complain as he meant well and I was grateful for him having fixed the bike.

I had to go for a quick ride as part of my Carbo Loading strategy and the gears were running great. Well I thought they were until I realised I couldn’t get the bike into top gear – the technician had either not noticed or not mentioned it to me but I now only had 9 gears working on the back. I had run out of time that day to look at it so resolved to return on Sunday to fix it and reset the brakes where I wanted them. Alas, Sunday was not fruitful and I ended up with 9 gears for the ride and black hands from all that oil!

After looking at the bike, we decided to take a drive up to the top of Mt Ventoux from the Mt Serein side.

Having previously been told that we were not to hang around at the top after the etape but were to descend to Mt Serein before stopping I wanted a proper chance to see what the top was like and take some snaps. The drive up took 30 minutes, primarily in 2nd gear, I was more and more surprised at the sheer relentlessness of it as we got higher and higher. I adore the mountains, having lived in the French Alps for 5 years I really feel at home in this type of geography, it is awe inspiring. This is the first mountain I have been up where you can see for miles for a full 360 degrees around the top, it’s “balding head” (the result of Roman tree cutting) is visible from miles around and sticks out as if it doesn’t belong. The weather was quite poor at the top, very windy from the Mistral and according to the car it was a good 10 degrees C colder than the bottom. I made a mental note to carry my arm warmers for the ascent in the cold.

Once we got to the top and appreciated the scenes I decided that my 8 hour ride time target would be tough as I would need to save energy for the final climb. All the same I wanted to try and hit Bedoin at 6 hours and plan a 2 hour ascent knowing I could average 11Kmh up that sort of incline.

Oh the wind, the wind!

I have just consulted MetCheck for the weather forecast for Monday. It looks good, around 19 degrees C and cloudy. The good news is that it will not be too hot. The BAD news is that they are forecasting 25mph (40Kmh) Southerly winds a.k.a The Mistral. As the route goes from North to South that means the wind will be against for almost the whole ride. Ouch!

Final preparation

So much to do, so little time. Why do these things creep up silently from behind and then BANG! – a few days to go and there is too much to organise. The checklist is getting longer by the hour and few of the items have been completed: repair the bike after crashing; final touches to training; service the car; get the spare flat tyre fixed; panic about the Mt Ventoux and do more hill training; find a hotel for the trip down; watch the Tour on TV and start panicking again; book the train; trial run of getting the bike in the bike box; get one more long ride in; trial run #2 for getting the bike in the box after unsuccessful first attempt; make a decision on nutrition....

Last minute equipment failure

I spent several hours repairing the bike after crashing: straightened two buckled wheels, mended the brakes and checked out the superficial damage to the pedals and rear derailleur. Thankfully the frame looks to be OK so that was re-assuring. With one week of training to go I panicked and started going mad, the upside is I have had a great week training and aside from a lack of long rides I am pretty happy with my prep. I did attempt a final long ride over the weekend but only managed 65Km after getting a flat and incompetently messing up the change by overinflating the spare with a CO2 cartridge. The noise as it exploded when I righted the bike was impressive, however that left me with no spare tubes and an inability to find the puncture. Thus a second long ride in a row ended up in a car being driven home. At least I now know what not to do with the CO2 cartridge – better to learn that now than on Monday. The other positive is that I was never really confident in the tyre being puncture resistant so I have made the decision to buy a new one and fit it before leaving, this gives me more confidence.

Training

Training has gone well this week with the plan being to do a lot of strength work and hill work to build up confidence for attacking the Mt Ventoux. I am pretty happy that I can sit on the saddle and get into a rhythm for the climb now after trying several reps on hills of a similar gradient. I am not sure how well prepared one can actually be for a 22Km 8% climb but I am close enough. I watched the professionals going up a similar gradient last week and they all looked to be struggling – I guess they would be travelling at double the speed I plan to so their pain is to be expected. I am confident of averaging over 11km on the Ventoux now (subject to being not too fatigued after the previous 150Km) and that will give me a 2 hour climb time which is a good target to have. I now have a chilled week planned which is just as well as my legs were very tired after last week. I took a quick snap from the top of one of the hills I climbed on Sunday: the view from Hannington in Hampshire.



Nutrition

Following several trials I have made a decision on nutrition. I have a goal of taking on board over 100g of carbs per hour which I hope will be achieved through one Mule bar and one gel per hour with High5 4:1 energy drink mix and my emergency pack of Jelly Babies. The only issue left is working out how to carry 8 clif bars, 8 gels, a pack of jelly babies and 4 packets of High5. That equates to around 140g per hour so I can afford to miss a few if I have to. I am not sure they will fit in my pockets; I do have a “bento box” on the cross bar which will carry 4 bars so that should do the trick. The final nutritional questions is about “carbo loading”. The most recent published study on carbo loading comes from the University of Western Australia (those damned Aussie are so good at sport you cannot ignore anything they say!) which prescribes a plan which involves a very short intense ride the day before l’etape followed by a big intake of carbohydrate. I shall try that and see how it works.

Pain and Suffering

“Le Tour” has started and the anticipation of riding l’etape has risen once again. One of the attractions of this years’ etape was the stage itself being Mt Ventoux but also the fact that this stage (stage 20) is expected to be pivotal, being held on the penultimate day: It may well decide the winner. All the media coverage I have seen has mentioned this stage and how critical it will become; having ridden it 5 days before the professionals I will hopefully take the afternoon off work and watch the whole stage with a beer in hand. Numerous articles have been published by journalists who have just ridden the stage or climbed the Ventoux and each one talks about pain and suffering!

I had my own pain and suffering at the weekend during a planned 100Km ride. Having settled in after 35Km at a pretty good pace I took on a right hand bend on a country
lane that I have ridden many time before and both wheels slipped away from me. The resultant body slide across the tarmac left several layers of skin behind. I managed to keep my hands on the handlebars and avoid the dreaded broken collar bone but the downside was that instead of my hands it was my side and chin that broke the fall. I managed to slide around 10 metres forwards and onto the verge before regaining my feet gingerly. The bike was unusable and my chin was bleeding profusely, so a couple of calls later and I was being collected by a friend and taken home. Ninety minutes later I has 6 stitches in my chin and was discharged from hospital. We have had great hot and dry weather in the UK for several weeks now and it has been glorious riding conditions, but I the lack of rain means that the surface dirt and oil is not washed away. There was a brief rain shower during the early morning and the corner was damp and extremely greasy, hence the fall. So no long ride this weekend, the need to ride to work and back this week is growing but this may be difficult with various commitments during the week.

Final Tweaks

Well after thinking that my leg strength was down and needed a lot of work I have completed a great strength session and turned a higher wattage than previously, so it looks like I will be OK. I estimate around 7 bike sessions left before a one week taper for the event. I plan a 100Km ride on Saturday to finalise nutrition and a few shorter intense sessions mixed in with a full ride to work and back in a day (which equates to 140Km). A couple of further strength sessions in the gym and it will be about right. Every time I see an article on the Tour de France I get nervous, bearing in mind the Tour starts tomorrow there are loads of articles coming out so I am perpetually nervous at the moment.

Delicate timing

With 2 weeks to go to l’etape there are now 3 cases of Swine Flu at the kid’s college. I am now panicking and indecisive: Do I get over there straight away and hope to catch it and subsequently recover prior to going to France or do I try and avoid it for two weeks in the hope of being OK until I get back? I am not particularly worried about the illness itself just the inconvenient timing of its arrival in the locality. Mmm – decisions, decisions.

Goals

I had originally set 8 hours as a goal for the etape but I am not sure that is achievable now. If I break down the event into 2: The first 150km with 1900m of climbing and the last 22Km with 1600m of climbing then I can work out my goals. After my previous rides, I think it should be relatively easy to average 24Kmh for the 1st 150Km (I can add 2kmh if I can get with a group and benefit from the occasional draft). 24Kmh = 6:15 ride time (add 30 mins for food stops = 6:45); That only leaves 1:15 for the Ventoux which is not possible (the TdF record is 55mins). I think 2 hours is reasonable at an average of 11Kmh. I can average 14Kmh in 1st gear spinning at 95/100 rpm so if I drop this to 11Kmh then it may be achievable. This gives me a new target time of 8:45 or sub 9hrs. If I get a draft then I can get the first 150Km done in 5:30/6:00 which is closer to my target.

Here is the profile again - to remind me!

Work to do, questions to be answered

With l’etape now less than three weeks away I am panicking about numerous things. I am worried about leg strength, think I have the endurance after the Hampshire Hilly Hundred and the Dave Lloyd but I just don’t have the strength on the hills. So have resolved to do a lot of strength work before then. The down side with this is that each time I try a power session I turn less and less watts as I am still tired from a previous effort. I must do some more research and see if this is a problem. Nutrition is still a problem.
I have given up on flapjacks and oatcakes as I just cannot digest them on the ride which means I don’t eat them. Mars bars seem to go down well but I am not sure of the nutritional value so will check. I have tried Mule bars but two of the types don’t appeal, I have two left to try. I am also considering caffeine as part of fuel. This is common as it aids synthesis of fat to energy but having avoided caffeine for 3 years now I wonder if it is wise to take a slab before riding. I shall try it out over the weekend and see if I have any problems. I need to take in around 120grammes of carbohydrate per hour and am working out the best way of consuming that: 1 gel (60g); 1 bar (40g) and 500ml of energy drink per hour should do it along with the emergency Jelly Babies for the Ventoux!

Logistics

I received my final l’etape pack with hotel instructions and details about being picked up etc. It is all a bit too close for comfort now and I have to finalise the logistics. It turns out that I need a bike box so that is yet another investment I have had to make. I have also finally been forced into making a decision on driving down after dithering with flight plans. With John pulling out I was not sure about driving down on my own for 12 hours before the ride but I have no choice now as there is no space in the airport transfer bus. I will try and recruit a driving buddy between now and then and book my Eurotunnel crossing.

There are a number reviews of the l’etape stage online that make good reading. (CycleFit's L'etape Recce; Kingston Wheelers Recce) It turns out that you can see the Mt Ventoux from almost every point of the ride as the route takes the riders around the base before the climb. So for 6 hours it will be casually sitting there over the riders shoulder waiting for its time to say hello. Marvellous! 3 weeks of training to go and I have completely wasted this week, I was driving home on Monday and needed the day off, Tue and Wed were spent in Germany on business wth no free time – even though I took my running gear. So this week has become a recovery week and I have two heavy weeks then one final recovery week before driving down to Montelimar. I will try and get in at least two “century” rides in before then so I can practice nutrition and try and eke out a bit more endurance.

Saved by Jelly Babies!

The Dave Lloyd Challenge was certainly that, although with a few days rest the pain is fading. This was easily the hardest bike ride I have done due to both the length and steepness of the hills and the total ride distance. I remarked to a friend before the ride that I was hoping to get a bit of practice climbing “out of the saddle”, i.e. standing up on the pedals to get more force. I am quite poor at this and I fatigue quickly so have been adding it to my riding over the past weeks. Boy – did I get some “out of the saddle” practice; I must have spent over 60 minutes out of the saddle with tiring thighs. At one point my motivation was to not get off and walk like some of the people I was passing, that seemed to do the trick and I made it up every hill. I am not sure how long the ride was supposed to be but we added a good 15-20 minutes due to getting lost after a few signs went “missing”, I finally clocked up 177Km in 7:49Hrs of riding. This averages at 22.4Kmh (20.5km if I include the stops) which actually puts me in good shape for l’etape, or at least for getting to the final elimination point of l’etape before the broom wagon. The l’etape cut off speed is as high as 21Kmh but as the first 150Km only comprises 1900m of climbing then I should be OK as averaged 26Kmh in the Hampshire Hilly Hundred which is comparable. If I plan to save energy for that first 150Km and average 23-24Kmh then I should be in good physical shape for Ventoux.

The scenery on the Dave Lloyd was just magnificent: The steep slate hills and quarries with sheep wandering around aimlessly (and dangerously on some of the descents!) made for some great pictures.
Unfortunately on the drive home over some of the same hills we were in the cloud with almost zero visibility and I was unable to take any worthwhile snaps. The whole area reminded me of summer holidays in my youth when we spent every summer in this part of the world, the views and familiar smells were charming.

During the ride I was focussing on not going out too fast and not hitting the hills too hard early on, the goal being to have enough energy to keep going at the same pace throughout. I think this worked although I did go through a bad patch between 110Km and 140Km where I was very tired and unable to do my fair share of the work on the front. A few handfuls of jelly babies seemed to revive me sufficiently to push harder on the last two climbs before the finish. My heart rate monitor estimates that I used up 6000 calories in the ride which equates to 1.5Kg (or 3lb) of carbohydrate, or 40ish energy gels!
I am not sure where that weight comes from but I had two meals that night and have been eating like a horse since. One of the goals of the ride was to get nutrition right; It was definitely better than last time but still not there yet. I couldn’t get down the flapjacks and in the end the hastily bought jelly babies saved me. For my next ride I shall try Mule Fuel Hanza Nut bars which I tried on a ride to work and it seemed quite easy to digest. My HR Monitor also says my average heart rate was 134bpm which is quite low and my max was 158bpm which is very low (for a high). This does confirm that I took it a bit too easy on the ride and have some more to give on the Mt Ventoux!

The Dave LLoyd Mega Challenge

The Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge takes place on Sunday and I planned a 130Km hilly ride on Saturday as a final warm up for that. We gathered at 8am in Dorking and planned to hit all the major Surrey Hills with climbs going up to 21%. Riding with a bunch of mates who are better cyclists than me would help motivate me to get up the tougher ones, most of which are detailed on the rather good Jibbering web site (I can also recommend the home made sports drink and gel recipes). All went well until around 20Km in and I was chatting to Bob on a descent when we came across what appeared to be a scene from “Casualty” with a car stopped right in the middle of the road and a body slumped across the bonnet with his legs up the windscreen towards the sunroof. My first instinct was that this was some sort of photo-shoot but as is the way with these things I immediately realised it was for real and that the rider was one of our bunch, Phil who organises the rides. I quickly dismounted and rushed over to him where he was also being attended by Scott. He was still unconscious and it looked bad, my big concern at the time was him waking up and then falling off the bonnet. Sure enough he woke with a start and we supported him and eventually got him to stop moving whist we assessed the physical damage. He was remarkably sober and apparently, superficially at least only suffering minor injuries. His bike was a mess and he was more worried about how he was going to race in Ironman Switzerland in 4 weeks with nothing to ride on. We called an ambulance and the “comportement” (a French word without exact translation but roughly meaning behaviour) of the driver and the locals gave us a strong indication that the police needed to be called to ensure accurate statements and scene records. The paramedics took Phil off to Guilford hospital and he was subsequently released after a series of detailed scans. It looks like he will be OK and will still be fit enough to ride and swim this week in prep for his IM. A blessing really considering what had happened. The upshot of this is that we decided to cut short the ride and did a few of the hills on the way back to Dorking, a ride totalling 50Km. Strangely I was riding the hills well at the beginning of the ride but after the hour or so break my legs stopped working properly and riding was a real struggle.
We finished off up Box Hill which in the end was quite an easy climb; I put the machine in first gear and spinned my way up to the top expecting it to get steeper which it didn’t. I averaged 14Kmh up the hill and could have dropped a gear or two so that means I think I am OK for the early hills on l’etape which are of a similar gradient, if not a little less. I managed a 2 hour MTB ride on Sunday morning which compensated for not getting the full 130Km in on Saturday and I subsequently found out that Phil managed to get 100Km in on his old winter bike as well, so he really is strong.

Here is a profile of the Dave Lloyd Mega – those hills look quite steep but it is hard to say. I know the one at the end finishes at 25% so if I can do this ride in sub 8 hours then I think l’etape will be achievable as well.

Back on the Bike

After a brief focus on triathlon for the last two events, my bike is going to get hammered over the next few weeks prior to l’etape. I have a 130Km ride planned on Saturday with some buddies and then the Dave Lloyd Challenge next Sunday which entails 177Km with 3500metres of climbing (almost exactly the same as l’etape). The profile of the Dave Lloyd is different to l’etape but with the same amount of climbing it will be a good indicator of what to expect in France.

I have acquired and now swapped over a 12-27 Cassette onto my race bike. This will give me more room on the climbs and I shall try it out on the Surrey Hills on Saturday. If that doesn’t work out well then I am in trouble!


The Dauphine Libere bike race is taking place this year. I like this race as it was our local race when we lived in Grenoble and I will never forget seeing Miguel Indurain in Grenoble after the finish one year. He had huge thighs and tiny arms, I guess the ideal physiology for a cyclist. Not a shape I have aspirations to have, so I guess a life as a top level cyclist is not coming. The Dauphine Libere shall climb the Mt Ventoux tomorrow so I have Eurosport set to record and will watch the whole climb as done by the pros. I wonder if the gradient will show up on the TV, it rarely does when I watch Skiing.

Mid Term Report

It is time for a review of my achievements vs. goals, in other words “How am I doing?” Firstly, I feel like I am a better cyclist and certainly a better swimmer. I am not convinced I have improved my running, I think a maintenance of last years’ standard is more accurate. If I do an approximate year on year comparison between two sets of events: The Big Cow Sprint and the Eton Super Sprint then there are some telling results:

Eton 2009: 1:09:34 vs. Eton 2008: 1:11 (92nd on GC vs. 249th)
Big Cow 2009: 1:16:56 vs. Big Cow 2008 1:22:08

My overall times were better and if I take into account the weather conditions in both events this year (wind and freezing rain for the Big Cow and strong cross winds in Eton) then the results are better than they look. I improved from 249th to 92nd out of 1000 at Eton whereas I dropped down the order in the Big Cow which I will put down to a) it being the National Champs this year and b) the bad weather deterring the lower order athletes from turning up. Point a) can also be re-enforced just by looking at the quality of kit on display compared to previous events; the type of kit only used by top end athletes (or very rich athletes)!

If I break down my splits then it is apparent that the training strategy I adopted last year has done what should be expected. My Bike and Swim times are much improved over last year whereas my Run time has remained static. My swim is vastly improved, not only in terms of speed but also in the lower level of fatigue that I have when I get out of the water.

Here is an updated Event table. I have added a new event which is the Big Cow Sprint on June 28th. I will enter this event if I am recovered from the Dave Lloyd Challenge and if the weather is forecast to be suitable.

Race Report: British Sprint Champs

The British Sprint Championships was taking place this weekend with a decidedly dodgy weather forecast. I had a 4:30am start from home and when the alarm went off at 4am the wind and rain were making their ominous presence felt. If Tony had not been picking me up I would have turned the alarm off and gone back to sleep. Just putting the bikes on the roof rack entailed a battle with the elements which we lost and ended up wet through even with waterproofs on. On the way up to Milton Keynes we agreed that we would re-consider racing if the weather was still bad when we got there. We arrived at the venue at 6am and it had calmed a little, just a few spots of rain which was a relief. What I neglected to realise when we left home was that the temperature was 9degC (48degF) which was a whopping 18degC (40degF) colder than mid week.

The Swim
The swim went pretty well, I managed to go the whole 750m without stopping which was a race first for this distance. I did however lose someone’s feet after the first 100m and I didn’t find another draft for the rest of the swim. The reason was that I was swimming on my own again, not because I was too slow but because my stroke keeps pushing me to the right. I ended up swimming so far away from everyone else that I couldn’t see anyone. I went so far round the buoys that I must have added at least another 100m to the swim distance. I came out of the water and the first thing I saw were my cheerleaders hunched under three umbrellas looking very wet; during the swim I hadn’t noticed that the rain had returned with a vengeance.

As usual most of the bikes around me had already gone by the time I got to T1. Everything was wet but I had placed my shoes in a bag and they were still dry which made it easier to get them on. They stayed dry for around 30 seconds, my bike glasses were so wet and fogged up that I couldn’t see my way out of transition and dressed in a “summer” 2 piece Tri-Suit I felt a little exposed to the elements.

The Bike
The rain started coming down very heavily during the bike leg and my attire was so inappropriate that my shoulders started to get really cold. The bike went pretty well considering the conditions and I was surprised to see so many “draft busters” on motorbikes all around the 1 lap course. Twice I saw cyclists stopped at the side of the road with a “draft buster” so I assume they were disqualified. By the time I finished the bike I was starting to really feel the cold, the last 3Km of the bike leg is a long downhill drag where I was hitting top speed and the wind was going right through me. What was different this time compared to last is that I only made up around 5 places on the bike. The quality of the field was clearly superior to Eton, as was the quality of the gear! The transition area was aglow with Cervelo logos and an array of aero helmets and racing wheels more expensive than my whole bike.

The Run
The transition area looked like the end of a bad house party by the time I got back to it , there were shoes, hats, bikes and wetsuits strewn everywhere. I managed a quick change into my dry running shoes and immediately ran through a puddle 3 inches deep, so much for keeping them dry. Half the run course was under water by this point as the rain was getting heavier. The run started well but then the cold just kicked in, my thumbs went numb first then my hands. The run was made up of two laps around the lakes passing through the transition area half way round. The marshals were still very enthusiastic despite the conditions and it was great to have them call out encouragingly as you passed. There were noticeably almost few supporters hanging around which was understandable given the conditions, it made me feel quite proud to have three people there watching Tony and I. I managed to finish with a pretty slow run time due to being so cold and I was incapable of taking off my timing chip as my hands were numb and were starting to go from a pale blue to deep purple. People were finishing in all kinds of states, some just collapsed to the ground and others were helped to the first aid area and wrapped up in heat retaining blankets.

I quickly put on some dry clothes but that didn’t make much difference, I was soaked through again within minutes. I was given a cup of tea but was shaking so much I couldn’t hold it without spilling it everywhere, I had to be fed like a baby. Fortunately my mum lives nearby so we adjourned there and stood by the fire for an hour and slowly regained normality. A we left the event site there were still women from the last wave coming in off the bike; some of them just gave up and put on warm clothes, others soldiered on. I did want to stop and offer my support but I was badly in need of warmth as I think hypothermia was setting in.

I finished in 1:16:56 which was my fastest Sprint Distance race by 5 minutes but my slowest 5km since taking up triathlon. Not bad but pretty slow compared to the leading finishers. I guess a lot of the “back of the pack” racers opted to stay in bed whereas the elite racers hoping to qualify for the Worlds still came out to play.

Arrghh! It's real now

The official route for the Tour de France and hence l’etape du tour 2009 has just been published. More importantly, the elimination times have also been published. Here is the official route from their website:

First thing to do is check out the elimination times. There are two cut off points:

In Sault after 115Km @ 1pm (which is 5:20 - 6 hours after the start at an average speed of 19-21Kmh depending upon my start time)
In Bedoin (the bottom of the Mt Ventoux climb) at 150.1Km @ 2:55pm (after 7:15-7:55hrs which equates to 19-21Kmh) then you have 3 hours to get to the top. The Final Cut off is at 172.1Km @ 5:55pm (10:15 at 15.8-16.7Kmh). Here is a link to the official route and cut off times.

So I possibly need to average 21Kmh to the bottom of the Mt Ventoux. To put it another way, I have to ride 150Km over 3 “Category 3” Climbs and 1 “Category 4” climb at an average speed of 21Kmh. Then I have to average 7.5Kmh up a “Hors Category” climb for 22Km. Easy Peasy. Maybe not. I have just reviewed my previous blog on this topic and realised I am not in good shape at all. Last years’ l’etape cut off was set to 17.5Kmh, this year (if I ignore the final climb) it is set to 21Kmh. A massive difference. I managed 24Kmh in the Hampshire Hilly Hundred. Ok I was not going full speed and could have gone faster but all the same that is pretty close to the cut off time. I hope I can get in with a group and up my speed. I must check out the etiquette of doing just that. I can see myself avidly watching the first few stages of The Tour to see how steep those Category 3 climbs are.

They have also published the “ravitaillement” or refuelling stops which are at 78Km and 150Km which sounds good. The good news is that there is a liquid refill available after 14Km of the final climb.

Rain Rain Go Away....

After a blissfully warm and sunny fortnight it has started to rain in time for my next Triathlon. The forecast is poor for the Big Cow Sprint 2 A.K.A the National Sprint Championships this weekend with both wind and rain. I had set a goal of 75 minutes for this but the weather may have an impact on success. I keep checking the BBC Weather site but it does not look good. Unfortunately both weather.com and MetCheck give me the same results! What a drag, I could be optimistic if at least one of them was showing a glimmer of hope! In general I am in good shape but my calves are still giving me pain since my swim last Saturday, to the extent that I have been unable to train. I have managed just two Open Water Swims since Eton so I may go again on Saturday morning just for an easy 800m. Just as well this was planned to be a rest week I guess! I am still trying to work out the best way of managing a Triathlon in the rain, the main problem is all your things getting wet whilst sitting in Transition; shoes being the major issue. I think I shall place my shoes in plastic bags to keep them dry and hope they don’t blow away. I shall check out everyone else’s strategy for future reference. The other damper for the event is that there is a car event at nearby Santa Pod on Sunday as well which means the usual abuse and dangerous driving from the kids in their supercharged street cars as they overtake you on the bike. Hopefully the Police can finally address the one minor niggle I have with this event once and for all.

Back in Blighty

Upon my return I managed to get up at a sensible hour and go to the lake for a swim. It is open till 10am and only 20 minutes away so it is great to get up at 8am on a Saturday and stroll over in time for a dip in the water. The venue was packed and there was a real buzz about the place, a far cry from early season when Tony and I were the only ones there. They have turbo trainers for anyone to use as well as spin bikes and there is a masseuse available to ease those weary legs. I managed two laps totalling 1600metres (a whole mile!), the furthest I have ever swam in one go. Woo Woo. It actually felt good even if I did take it easy. I was disappointed to see the time on my watch read 38 mins when I got out of the water but my sighting is so poor that watching me swim in Open Water must be akin to watching a bad golfer hacking down the fairway: left rough, right rough, left rough, right rough. So I must swim a lot further than the marked distance. I did suffer from cramps in my left calf after 1200m and when that abated my right calf cramped up. Even now, two days later they are very painful. I will have another go on Thursday and see if I get the same problem. I would like to try a long swim on Saturday but with the National Sprint Championships on Sunday I do not want to be doing that in pain if I cramp up again. It is bad enough that my favourite tri has been designated the National Champs and hence I shall be finishing somewhere towards the back of the pack, but to do it with calf problems would be pointless.

No cycling this weekend, I went for a long run on Saturday. Sunday was so hot that I planned to ride later in the afternoon but by then the BBQ and a cold beer were calling my name so I succumbed!

Training Done: Swim: drills, Bike: 45’ Z2; Run: Intervals 3x8’; Bike: Intervals 3x8’; Swim: 1600m; Run; 45mins Z2. And two long haul flights.
Plans for this week; Swim drills: High Elbow! Bike easy, Run: speed session.

3.1 Training Sessions

Denver was great, the weather was sunny and I had a set of good meetings. I managed 3.1 training sessions! Two bike, one run and 0.1 swims. I have to be cautious now when I train after a long haul flight; I damaged my knees in Sydney due to training with tight hamstrings from the flight apparently. So lots of stretching and then some hard sessions. Unfortunately I left my swim goggles at home again and had to buy a pair in the hotel. They didn’t fit and water poured in to an extent I thought I may have lost a contact lens! I only managed 4 lengths before giving up. It was too late to go and buy a proper pair from the local sports store by then so I saved the swimming for my return to blighty. I managed two 5:30am starts in the gym which was just as well as the place was so busy that all the equipment was taken up by 5:45am – lots of East Coast visitors with jet lag I assume.

The Climate is not Great

I was planning on riding l’etape with 2 friends. That would make the ride more enjoyable and a lot easier. Unfortunately one has lost his job and as he was riding for his company team he will no longer be allowed to enter. He has opted to spend some time in Asia doing charity work which is great. He will have a blast and help others at the same time. My other buddy has also lost his job and is naturally considering whether he can fly over from the US to take part. A difficult decision for him and his family. It looks like I may be “Billy no-mates” on the start line on July 20th. He is a great guy and I am adamant he will be back working again in a matter of weeks, he already has some contract work come in. So watch this space.

Learning from the Hampshire Hilly Hundred.

I finally did some desk research (and asked some questions on the very good TriTalk forum) and I have some answers to my questions from the HHH. Why did my heart Rate descend and why was I unable to get it high towards the end of the ride? There are three possible reasons for this: 1) I am not fit enough, 2) I went out too fast, 3) I did not warm up. Well, 2) and 3) are definitely true so that is easy to fix – Yeah! Unfortunately 1) also appears to be true which is not so easy to fix. Back on the road for more LSD miles or I will not get to finish the Mt Ventoux.

Altitude Training Again...

...or another trip to Denver for a series of meetings. Another small altitude week; well 2 days actually but I can probably get in three sessions whilst over here as the jet lag shall ensure early starts.
I missed out another swim session this morning prior to my flight, I keep getting a blocked nose when I Open Water Swim and I didn’t fancy sinus problems on a long haul flight so I gave it a miss (the best excuse so far for skipping a swim session). I must go on Saturday or I shall not have had a proper chance to practice before my first “A race” of the summer next weekend. The Big Cow Sprint has been designated the UK championships this year so I am preparing to come a little further down the finishing order than normal despite my improvements.

Grrr. My T5 Rant

London Heathrow Terminal 5 infuriates me every time I use it. For a brand new terminal there is so much wrong with it that I get in a bad mood before I even get near to a plane. It appears to have been designed to encourage the retail experience rather than to get passengers smoothly through. As usual there were no queues at check in yet security took 20 minutes to get through. I almost lost my laptop at security as the snazzy automatic tray took off before I had time to re-pack my strewn items. The last time I went through T5 one of the security girls swore at me as I was fighting my little battle with the pilotless trays. Charming. Once through, passengers have to walk half the width of the terminal to get to the escalators. The departure gate is not showing which means you have to assume the flight will leave from the main terminal.
This entails a 2 escalator schlep to get to the BA lounge, which eventually gets me in a bad mood and have to concentrate to be polite to the lounge staff. I cannot be the only person that feels this way surely? The gate is announced and will leave from an annex terminal which requires five more escalator rides and one tram. The tram incredibly takes almost 5 minutes to complete its carefully orchestrated operation to travel approximately 150 metres, a distance that can be walked in less than 60 seconds. If you visit the lounge in the annex that makes ten escalators in total prior to boarding. TEN! It makes me think of shopping at Ikea – once you get in it is almost impossible to find out where you are until you have passed every item for sale before being spat out by the tills. The flight is full, but I have my usual window seat where I cocoon myself for the next 10 hours. Rant Over