L'Etape and other things

Group Riding

2009-11-06T16:43:00.003Z

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

2009-11-06T16:38:00.001Z

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

2009-10-30T09:42:00.001Z

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

2009-10-29T11:55:00.001Z

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

2009-10-28T14:16:00.001Z

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

2009-09-09T10:24:00.002+01:00

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

2009-09-08T08:16:00.000+01:00

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!

2009-09-02T07:22:00.002+01:00

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.

2009-08-13T10:32:00.004+01:00

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...

2009-08-04T05:38:00.001+01:00

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

2009-07-24T15:27:00.010+01:00

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

2009-07-24T15:16:00.006+01:00

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!

2009-07-13T16:44:00.005+01:00

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

2009-07-13T14:56:00.004+01:00

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

2009-07-06T13:18:00.002+01:00

“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

2009-07-05T18:01:00.000+01:00

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

2009-07-03T12:42:00.003+01:00

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

2009-07-01T12:07:00.002+01:00

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

2009-07-01T12:06:00.004+01:00

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

2009-06-25T19:55:00.001+01:00

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!

2009-06-25T19:52:00.005+01:00

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

2009-06-16T17:04:00.007+01:00

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

2009-06-10T18:18:00.002+01:00

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

2009-06-10T18:09:00.004+01:00

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

2009-06-08T20:11:00.002+01:00

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

2009-06-05T20:28:00.005+01:00

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....

2009-06-05T18:45:00.001+01:00

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

2009-06-01T18:12:00.002+01:00

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

2009-06-01T18:11:00.001+01:00

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

2009-05-27T03:10:00.002+01:00

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.

2009-05-27T03:09:00.001+01:00

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...

2009-05-27T03:08:00.003+01:00

...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

2009-05-27T03:07:00.002+01:00

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

First Triathlon of the Season

2009-05-19T17:19:00.006+01:00

Mid May is Eton Super Sprint weekend, this comprises a series of short open water Triathlons (400m swim/ 20.4Km bike/ 5Km run), the event is set at Eton Rowing Lake, the venue for the London 2012 Olympic rowing regatta. The event is popular particularly with novice racers and those who are weaker swimmers. There are usually 2000 competitors over the two days and they set off in age group based waves of 100 or so. Two years ago this was my first ever triathlon; an eye opening experience which for some reason did not deter me from continuing. I entered this year just to get back into competing and to be able to see where I am compared to last year.
Well the rain held off which was contrary to the forecasts but the wind was forceful to say the least; 20mph and gusting pretty hard. The water was choppy and the bike leg was going to be tough. Back in January I had convinced Andrew, my brother in law to enter this race as he was looking for something athletic to do. He turned up with a borrowed wetsuit he had never worn and no open water swim experience. I was a little concerned for him. We got to the venue pretty early as I wanted to make sure Andrew was all sorted out in Transition and knew what he needed to do. As we registered, I was serenaded with a verse of “Happy Birthday” by the crew and I had a birthday card in my race pack – so nice it made my day! The chap behind me in the queue was entering the over 60’s age group and it was his first Triathlon: “the kids are entering so I thought I would have a go” he said. Huge respect for the man, I hope he had a great day.

Swim
The biggest difference between this event and any previous event is that I was not nervous about the swim. For the first time I was not hesitant getting into the water and I even felt confident enough to have a warm up swim prior to the starting gun. I opted to start right in the middle of the pack for the swim with a goal to grab onto someone’s feet and get the benefit of the draft. Having practiced this behind Tony in the pool a few times I know how much benefit there is to getting a good draft in the water.
As soon as the gun went off I managed to find someone’s feet and followed him for the first 150m, I found myself battling with someone else who was trying to tail the same man which required a little aggression and made me smile inside. I lost my “pilot” at the first turn and found myself alone for a while but soon picked up someone else and tailed him into the shore. This is the first time I have succeeded in drafting towards the end of the race because normally by then I am behind the people who keep stopping for a breather, these people are impossible to follow so for the first time I had the benefit of the draft all the way through. The guy I followed in was a little too slow for me but I opted to stay behind him and save a bit of energy for the bike/run. The result was I got out of the water and felt fresh, far too fresh really but better to be fresh than wasted as I normally am. I saw Tony was still in transition which pleased me as that meant I had swum a good time. That stroke technique work has really paid off.

Bike
The bike leg was hard because of a mighty cross wind for most of the lap. The ride felt great, I pushed hard but should maybe have pushed harder. I overtook dozens of people on the first lap and I thought I must have been quite high up after the bike. As it turned out I was 5th but the later finishers from the previous wave prevented me from seeing the leaders. I noted that I was overtaken by only one person and he was on bling Cervelo P2 Time Trial bike worth a few grand, a small pang of jealousy there. Trying to keep the bike on an even keel was interesting and watching riders on the route bent over to the side as if they were going round a corner would have made a good photo. My eventual bike time was better than last year but much slower than I had hoped, I imagine the wind was the primary cause of that.

Run
The run is two laps out and back which means that on the 1st lap you can generally see where you are in the wave but the wind meant that the race numbers were flapping about, rendered unreadable and with people from the last group still out on the course it was hard to tell who was in my age group and hence what position I was in. No-one overtook me on the run and I actually ran the 3rd fastest time of the wave. I passed Andrew and Tony on my second lap as they set off on their first, I was happy to see that Andrew had clearly made it out of the water OK and looked like he was on for a good time as well.

I bettered all my times in each discipline which considering the conditions was great, I came 6th in my age group and 92nd out of 950 competitors which is a major improvement on my 249th place last year. We wrapped up afterwards and then popped into the local pub and had a couple of pints of Guinness (all in the name of carbo recovery of course) and a lunch with Andrew and his family which was a grand way to finish off the event.

Nice Weather for Ducks

2009-05-15T16:25:00.005+01:00

Well my first Triathlon of the season will be tomorrow, on the day of my 45th birthday. Most of my friends think I am mad, especially as the local 6 mile road race is on Sunday and I have the "Over 40s" title to defend. This means no heavy celebrations for my birthday. Actually I seem to remember the same situation last year and I managed the run after numerous pints of Guinness and a Curry the night before so maybe I shall adopt the same pre race nutrition strategy.

The bad news is it looks like this will be my third consecutive Triathlon in the rain.
There will be 15mph winds as well which will be channeled nicely down the Eton Rowing lake where we shall be riding. As with last year it looks like being a bike ride at 20kmh against the wind and 45kmh with it.

Not Unhappy ;-|

2009-05-12T13:20:00.002+01:00

The Hampshire Hilly Hundred is now completed with a silver award in my back pocket, a cyclist sun tan on arms and legs and a very sore “saddle” to show for it. This Sportive is a beautiful ride in the Hampshire countryside with only around 1 mile on what you would call a major road. The rest is on country lanes and minor roads showing off wonderfully what England can be like on a sunny day. I was pretty happy with the ride even if I was saving a little for the coming birthday weekend which will be celebrated with a Triathlon and a 10Km road race. We departed in a group of eight with me promising my wife I would look after her boss as he had not ridden more than 60 miles before. It became clear that he would have struggled to maintain our starting pace for the whole hundred so I dropped back to ride with him. We subsequently rode together up hill and down dale for just over 6 hours at an average speed of 26Kmh which is good considering I held the front for just under 6 hours. My original plan was to smack the hills as training for l’etape but clearly my definition of “smack” needs reviewing as I was often passed by faster climbers whilst struggling to turn the pedals in 1st gear, a gear I now know well.
I know it sounds naive but they really don’t call it the Hilly Hundred for nothing. I have the impression that every bend disguised another climb and the number of hills with false brows was getting tiresome towards the end. A total of 2400m climbing in 160Km is actually comparable to the first 160Km of l’etape which I think is 1900m followed by the 1600m climb up “the Giant of Provence”. There was one 15% climb which started at mile 68, that was the only real “grin and bear it” climb and it wasn’t too long but the thought of doing something close to that for 22km fills me with dread.

There is plenty of food for thought prior to l’etape, not least a need to do more hills and build up the leg strength. I shall also be reviewing my gear ratios this week, I spent far too long in 1st gear for my liking and am too proud to get a Triple which leaves me with the option of changing the rear cassette to give me some room. I will struggle to ride at this pace for 150Km and then climb Ventoux so I will need to review that as well. I noticed that I was comfortable riding at a heart rate of 145bpm for the first half of the ride but then the legs got tired and I struggled to raise my HR above 135bpm for the remainder, I actually averaged 137bpm (10bpm lower than when I did the Gorrick Enduro). I guess that is down to either a lack of fitness or poor nutrition on the ride. I shall do some desk based research and find out.

# 2138

2009-05-08T15:54:00.004+01:00

2138 is my recently allocated l'etape rider number, I am now officially entered. I will have to get out and ride around the hills again to build up the legs. I have the Hampshire Hilly Hundred this weekend; 160Km with 2400m of climbing which will be a great test of where I am. Updates early next week with a smiley face or a sad face depending on my performance.

I went Open Water Swimming again yesterday evening, twilight lake swimming is so much nicer than waking up at 5:30am, crawling out of bed and into a chlorinated swimming pool. I even improved my best 800m time by a good 90seconds so am pretty hopeful of not disgracing myself in the water this season. Still a way to go to hit my sub 30 minute 1500m goal but I am getting there. Needless to say Tony is a good bit ahead and improving even more then me, I am really pleased for him - the git.
I had a lunch at Shoreditch House this week, a very trendy private members club filled to the brim of vaguely (to me vaguely) recognisable faces lunching and doing media deals. They have a rooftop bar/restaurant with a 17m long swimming pool, annoyingly I keep forgetting to take my swim gear when I go. I sat and wathed a few swimmers doing lengths and it made me realise that I am actually a pretty good swimmer now and am just comparing myself to Triathletes and not normal people. It gave me another reason to dip into that 2nd glass of wine as a reward.

More XC - this is becoming a habit

2009-05-05T20:32:00.002+01:00

Training has been average (or “ordinary” as they say in Australia) over the last two weeks. I picked up a sinus problem the last time I went Open Water Swimming which put me off training. I have also been a little “chesty” which has brought on other problems which arise when I up the intensity. So I spread my last week of training over ten days and will have a week off this week. I was talking to a buddy today who had the chance to spend 20 minutes with Jo Friel (a very well respected Triathlon coach) over the weekend and he suggested that triathletes of a “certain age” would benefit from a complete week off every 4 weeks. That theory actually matches my training plan although I would normally plan some easy sessions during my rest and recovery week. So I feel much better about my break now.

To add some further variation to my training, I entered the Gorrick Enduro on Sunday. This is a endurance based cross country mountain bike race which takes place over a number of ten mile laps. I had very good intentions last month to enter the 4 lap race which I expected to take between 4 and 5 hours but as I was not on top form I opted for my usual 20 miles. It was a pretty fast course with some wide fireroads and good climbs with the last 4 miles dominated by sweeping single-track with deep berms enabling the rider to maintain speed through the turns. It was less technical than the previous races and suited fitness over handling skills. I came in 14th place out of 69 in a time of 1hour 53mins which I was pretty happy with, it was in line with my annual progression from 32nd in 2007 to 25th last year. I could have kept up the same intensity for another lap I think which was good to know. I was pretty pleased with myself until I noticed I was 28 minutes behind the winner – probably a young whippersnapper but all the same 28 minutes is a huge gap. I re-checked the results and noticed I was 5th out of non-sponsored riders which is a pretty good result. The 7 lap supermen and women were generally completing their laps quicker than me which was a little humbling.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

2009-04-28T21:27:00.006+01:00

A bad travel day today, trying to get to Podgorica in Montenegro. Bad fog ultimately meant an 8 hour wait at Heathrow. I did get on one plane bound for Vienna but we were 45 minutes late boarding and I had a tight connection with no later flight if I missed it. After a bit of discussion with a helpful lady from the ground staff I did get on the plane on the assurance that it would take off sharpish. It didn’t and they subsequently announced a further 20min delay so I asked to get off or “de-plane”. It took a while but they eventually let me off and the same helpful lady escorted me back landside through passport control. I had been advised by the passenger next to me on the plane that if I could get to Belgrade then there were plenty of ways to get to Podgorica by plane, train or car. I found a Belgrade based plane option with JAT (Yugoslav Airlines apparently) and Montenegro Air. I booked my ticket, checked in and they immediately announced a 2 hour delay. There was still time to get my connection as this route entailed a 3 hour wait in Belgrade anyway. Once boarded, the captain announced a further 1 hour delay and I decided to give up and go home. It turns out JAT are not as accommodating as Air Austria and as we were negotiating my "release" the captain decided to leave the gate and taxi somewhere to wait for our departure slot in the hope of leaving earlier. No chance of getting off now. I am not sure if I will make my connection to Podgorica but an interesting car or train journey is anticipated. The upshot is I have had some time to update my blog – after another inexcusable gap.

STOP PRESS: We left Heathrow earlier than anticipated and I am now in Belgrade. The last flight to Podgorica leaves in 30 minutes and I am all set.

I was given a stern talking to by a policeman for taking this snap but it did tickle me.

The cycling is going pretty well, I have been on a few long rides recently on the “Mean Machine” and my average speed is pretty high. I managed 32km/h on my ride into work on Tuesday which is good for a 70Km ride. I have also managed to get in some Mountain Biking recently which has been a nice change and added some much needed variety to my biking. I entered the final race of the Saddle Skeddadle MTB Spring Series with Ben. It was a lovely day, sunny and fresh and there was a great turn out (84 racer in our “Fun” category and maybe 500 across all the categories). The start was delayed by 40 minutes due to a bad crash in the previous race and that may have contributed to a pile up at the start of our race. Consequently I was baulked and got off to a slow start. The course was quite technical and being amongst the back markers meant there was a lot of waiting behind slower riders. I managed to gain several places every time the course opened out and also on the hills but the going was always slow. I made 30th which was disappointing but I guess OK considering I did a 90Km ride the day before. I think if I enter a faster category next time I won’t suffer behind slower riders. Ben did really well and finished strong, he seemed to enjoy it and looked tired at the end, he suits the technical routes more than the fast routes as he is small with good handling skills.

I have also completed my 2nd Open Water swim of the season, and more impressively I made it without my swim buddy Tony, I cannot motivate myself to go swimming and for me to get out there without Tony badgering me is quite an achievement. I managed an easy 800m in 19 minutes which is actually the first time I have swam more than 100m without stopping. I felt pretty good at the end and not too tired. The time was too slow but am sure I can up the intensity and keep it going for the full race distance. The guys who run the place are very friendly, they remembered my name and were chatty which was great, I shall definitely be going back once or twice a week through the season, even if I did get a sinus infection and have been unable to breathe through my nose since!

Back on the theme of Mountain Biking. I took Ben down to CwmCarn on Sunday so he can do his downhill riding with friends. There is a broad range of people participating in downhill from teenagers (Ben is at the younger end at 14) to middle aged guys. I am continually impressed with the height the riders get when coming over the jumps and the speeds they attain on the descent. I and another “driver” did a couple of loops of the Cross-Country trail during the day whist the kids “Rocked Their World”. I was happy with my comparative strength on a very technical course especially on the climbs which were tough over damp roots and stone. The downhill sections were a bit hairy and I was pleased that my self-built hard-tail steed stayed in one piece. I am sure I shall be going back again this summer once I give in to badgering from the kids.

The view from the top:

First Open Water Swim of the year

2009-04-16T20:07:00.005+01:00

My first Open Water Swim of the year was pretty successful. The water was quite warm and clean, much warmer than anticipated, the guys there are very friendly and the environment is pretty nice. There is even a resident swan who chases you if you stop swimming, now that is motivation! Once into my rhythm I found I was swimming well. My newly re-modelled stroke felt quite powerful and I could hold it for a good length of time. That was the good news. The not so good news is that I must be blind as a bat as I couldn't see the bouys marking out the route and had stop regularly to find my way. I also have an action that pushes me right with every stroke so I end up off course after 10 or 15 seconds. Practice will help here so all in all I am pretty confident that I will be close to my 15 minute 750m swim goal by the time the Big Cow comes along in June.

Here is a pic taken today just before I went in. The weather was overcast but otherwise it was nice and warm.

Lost my Mojo!

2009-04-16T15:58:00.001+01:00

Phew, I lost my training Mojo for a while there. I am not sure where it went but it wasn’t where I wanted it! I was feeling lethargic, missed training sessions and often gave up before the end. The net result is that I have effectively lost a week or two of training, I should have recognised the problem early and had an unplanned week off but by not doing so I have had stretched it out and had two poor training weeks instead of one. An amateur error really, I should have known better and reacted more positively. How did I find it again? I am not sure really, a good swim here, a good bike there and hey presto it is back. My first Open Water Swim of the year shall be tonight up at the blueseventy Open Water Swim Centre. I really like the idea of twilight swimming, far more sensible than getting up at 5:30am to swim in a lake in the mist by the side of a motorway. I will post a pic when I return.

A Sign of the Times

2009-04-02T10:04:00.003+01:00

I went for a run around Regents Park and Primrose Hill yesterday lunchtime, being only three minutes from the office it is a great place to run when the weather permits and it is much nicer than the gym in a poorly air-conditioned basement. The park is bustling with activities from "picnickers" to school trips and office workers grabbing a sandwich - and often a sly bit more with co-workers! There are always runners and general fitness activities going on including football, touch rugby and "Military Fitness" type camps. I was joined by a couple of French kids half way round who thought it would be amusing to run with me, they inevitably got tired but we had a nice chat for a few minutes and I got to practice my increasingly rusty French. I ran with a colleague from work, we ran a familiar route over to Primrose Hill and past London Zoo with that recognizable smell. The view from Primrose Hill on a sunny day is really quite spectacular, you can see as far as Crystal Palace in South London; today we could see the gathering of police helicopters over the City of London for the G20 summit and it’s welcoming committee of protestors. Our return took us past Winfied House, the home of the US Ambassador (bought for $1 after the war – what a bargain!) unfortunately they had Michelle and Barack staying over and a good proportion of the park was fenced off with anti-ram barriers and a heavy police presence. It must be a sign of the times when you can get closer to Buckingham Palace than you can to the US Ambassadors residence.

Training Done: Training has been poor this week due to work commitments so I have opted to re-classify this a rest week and modify my training plan accordingly.

More Haste Less Speed

2009-03-30T18:31:00.006+01:00

There are a number of mountain bike races organised throughout the year by a bike club called Gorrick. The club is based in Swinley Forest in the Crown Estate and they do a great job in maintaining the trails there, the routes are in great condition and are generally unaffected by bad weather. The club also runs the Gorrick Hundred Enduro Challenge which I try to enter in May every year. This weekend was round 4 of the Saddle Skedaddle Spring Series cross country races and Ben, my 14 year old son fancied having a go, so we both planned a day of racing. Unfortunately with the clocks going forward we ended up rushing out of the house and in my haste I left my bike shoes at home, I also neglected to check the race worthiness of my bike having not been on it for a few weeks. Without my shoes and only in trainers I decided to enter the same race category as my son: the Fun category comprising just 2 laps instead one of the 3 lap more serious categories. The course was in great condition, a slightly damp surface on a firm base and the route was surprisingly hilly with a combination of longer gradual climbs and short steep hills. The downhill was quite technical with winding single-track to follow; not the ideal terrain for riding without being clipped in to the pedals. I bounced around the bike on the descents and having discovered soon after race start that my bike wouldn’t drop into the smaller gear set I couldn’t get any control on the damp root laden climbs; so I opted out of trying to get a fast time and waited for Ben then we cycled the route together. All in all a nice race in which to participate and Ben is now keen to enter round 5 in three weeks time. I am always impressed with the size and quality of the racing field at these events, having come from Mountain Biking in the Alps I have always had the impression that I am a proficient Mountain Biker but I generally fair pretty poorly at these events coming in the bottom 30%. I shall see how I get on during the Enduro in May as I have a few years of results to compare should be able to see if my l’etape training has helped my MTB bike fitness and endurance.

Hills and the “Build” phase

2009-03-26T11:29:00.000Z

Now is when the sense of progression really starts. Training so far has been focussed on endurance and general fitness as opposed to speed or strength. It is now time to start the “Build” phase of the season’s training plan. The Build phase is all about building strength and speed off a good aerobic base, with a goal to be able to ride/run faster for longer. This is done by reducing the number of Long Slow Distance (LSD) sessions and replacing them with short high intensity drills. There is also a need to maintain the aerobic base otherwise general fitness declines. My aerobic base is better than this time last year after a good few months of training and considering my key events are later in the season compared to last year then this is good news.

The Build phase for me will be focussed on building strength and “muscular endurance” on the bike; the strength will hopefully enable me to get up a 10% hill whereas muscular endurance will enable me to keep going up that hill for 22Km. The end result being a “finishers certificate” on July 20th!

One way of gaining strength is to repeatedly climb short big hills, muscular endurance is attained by climbing longer less steep hills. This can also be replicated on a gym bike, turbo trainer or treadmill. Even though the sessions are shorter than before, they do hurt a lot more and require a good recovery period. The mental aspect of training is very different at this phase, whereas it is no longer about boredom but more about continuing the exercise when the legs and lungs are burning. My first two weeks have been good and according to my training logs I am around 10% stronger on the bike than this time last year – I wonder what that translates to in real terms?

Training Done: Bike: 6x2’ Intervals; 8x2’ Intervals; 2hrs40 Z3; Run: 6x80” hills; 35’ Z3/4; 30’ Z3; Swim: 2xsDrills

Dr Jekyll to Mr Hyde in one easy step

2009-03-19T19:39:00.003Z

How do you go from Dr Jekyll to Mr Hyde in a thrice? The answer I think is to cycle in London. I cycled into work for the first time on Wednesday; around 70Km door to door from rural Hampshire to Central London. I paired up with Michael who works in outer London and was planning on riding with me up to his office. We left at around 6:15am, travelled at a good pace up the A30 and averaged over 35Kmh until we passed the M25 and got into Hounslow. Here it clogged up significantly and we had to dodge a lot of traffic; the main concerns were cars turning left without looking. Michael would have been knocked off if he had not been alert, a swift bang on the side of the car elicited no response from the driver so we are still unsure if he is aware how close he was to causing an accident. We separated in outer London and I was left to the perils of the London Rush Hour; busses and taxis were the main concerns, the former for their size and inability of the driver to see nearby cyclists and Taxis because they are so unpredictable: stopping, pulling out suddenly and doing all the things they need to do to on a normal day. Actually it was fine and the ride quickly became a series of short sprints from traffic light to traffic light, it is surprisingly easy to out accelerate a car in London and beat them to the lights. I turned into Mr Hyde as I watched the clock get nearer to 9am and started to “anticipate” the lights, the number of cyclists on the road started to increase as I got to Chiswick and they generally kept me honest, I was surprised at how well behaved they all were with very little rule bending. Anyway, I got to work in good time and even had the luxury of a shower before 9:00. I really didn’t fancy the cycle home in the dark as I want to be clearly seen by the cars in Central London so I shall wait till the clocks go back next weekend before cycling home, at least if I can get out of Central London in the light I will be pretty happy.

First Event of the year

2009-03-16T17:16:00.003Z

Spring is in the air and thus a raft of Half Marathons are taking place, my interest this weekend lay in the Fleet Half Marathon. This is a really well run event with 2,500 runners, mostly training for the London Marathon. I used this to measure my running strength bearing in mind that I have neglected my running in favour of swimming over the last three months. The good news is I beat my target by 7 seconds and I beat last year by two minutes so I was pretty happy with my fitness if not my absolute speed. I messed up my pacing completely which meant I made hard work of the race; I got carried away at the start went out too fast at a pace that was 8 minutes inside my goal time and a heart rate that was too high, after a couple of miles I managed to slow it down but then slowed too much and ended up a minute behind schedule with 3 miles to go. I had to run a 20’30” 5Km to hit my goal time which really took it out of me; I was exhausted at the finish and couldn’t have run another mile. For me the result means that I can still focus on my swim for the next few months and still put in a respectable run leg.

Training Done: Run: Interval Session; Weights; Bike 20Km Z1; Run: 13.1 Miles 89’52”

A Heavy Weekend

2009-03-09T22:20:00.008Z

I had my longest ride to date this weekend. Actually it was a heavy weekend all round: Some friends announced their engagement which entailed a party at “The Old House” which was great, the food was scrumptious and the night was long. That was followed by a 16Km easy run in the morning and a game of rugby in the afternoon. We had a group of 8 friends for dinner Saturday night which ended up being late as well and then I did my 90Km ride on Sunday. The weather was great for the first weekend this year so I set out in with high hopes. It turned out to be very windy and it appeared to be head on the whole way round; I know this isn’t the case but it always feels that way doesn’t it! It was so blustery I almost lost the front of the bike a few times. After 75Km it started raining and hailing and I was soaked through to the skin, even my nice new waterproof socks couldn’t cope with the heavy weather. I tucked my head down and kept going even though I was close to calling it a day, I was adamant I was going to break 80Km or 50miles.

I took out my new Planet X for the first time and I now know what it is like to ride a compact up some of the hills I will face on L’Etape; I ascended the 5% gradient of “Farleigh Hill” but I still need to see whether I can get up a 10% hill on the compact.

“Farleigh Hill” was a "breeze" but I struggled to get a good speed up it and also failed to raise my heart rate above 140 bpm which is not normal for me; I regularly climb at about 160 bpm so I decided to turn around and do it again straight away, alas with the same result. At the end of the ride my average heart rate was 129 bpm which is also low, it usually stays between 135 and 140bpm on a Zone 2 ride, my average speed was also a good 3Km/h slower than my normal Zone 2 ride pace. I had a quick dig around the inter-web and I may be fatigued or over-trained. On Saturday I had noticed that my heart rate took hours to drop to its normal resting level after rugby so I think I am just tired after 2 heavy training weeks after my ski break. I shall plan a very quiet taper week prior to the Half Marathon on Sunday.

Training Done: Run:3x4' intervals; Run: 90' Z2; Rugby (got spanked); Bike: 3.5 hours Z1/Z2; Bikram Yoga!

L'Etape Hill Profile

2009-03-09T22:18:00.005Z

Here are the average gradients for L’Etape. A little daunting but I now know I can climb a 5% hill quite easily (if not fast) so I am relatively happy with where I am at the moment in terms of climbing ability.

Here is a profile taken from MapMyRide, the whole route is also available here.

I still need to improve overall speed significantly if I am to hit my sub 6 hour goal. I am aiming for 28Km/h on L’Etape and managed 25Km/h over half the distance with only 500m of climbing: Not good enough!

Found my Mojo!

2009-03-04T09:03:00.001Z

It was hiding for a few weeks there but I managed to get it back. Back into training, the rest has clearly done me some good.

Two weeks at altitude however have done nothing for my fitness. I have done a few sessions since coming back but neither of them was magnificent. I started off well at good pace but didn’t last; maybe it was jet lag that stopped me from keeping going.

Training done last week: Run: 25' Z4; Run Z2 35'; Bike 70' Z2; Run 65' Z2; Bike Intervals 4x10' Z4; Run Intervals 4x6' Z4/5; Bike 30' Z4; Swim: Bilateral Breathing drills; 2 x Strength Training (that is a big week!)

Revised Event Plan

2009-03-04T08:54:00.003Z

I have revised my event plan and reposted it below. I have removed the Vitruvian as I have decided to go for the New Forest Middle distance; the timing is better and it is nearer.

I have also entered the Hampshire Hilly Hundred which is a 100mile sportive ride which will be great training for l’etape. I know a couple of others who are riding it as well so it should be fun, I will use it to see how my hill legs are and also to practice taking nutrition on the ride with me.

March 15th is looming large, I have foregone a significant amount of my running to focus on swimming over the last few months and I have now left it too late to get in any real run training prior to the Fleet Half Marathon. I imagine that my aerobic and endurance fitness levels are good but I have no idea what running shape I am in compared to this time last year. I shall start out on a 90 minute pace and see how I feel after a few miles, I can always up or down it mid race.

Back to Work.

2009-02-24T08:34:00.002Z

I am off to Denver tomorrow for a few days of meetings. Denver is around 1600m above sea level which means I will have been at altitude for around 2 weeks by the time I get home on Sunday, I wonder if this will benefit my fitness at all? My training programme has been very poor recently, I reduced my training week before going away as I was feeling tired and with a week skiing that makes it 2 weeks since I had a good bike or run session. I have elected to stay on my Base Training for 3 more weeks before moving on to Specific Conditioning, I hope I have not lost much fitness whilst being idle. I should have some spare time in Denver so will be able to get some proper training in although I understand that the intensity will necessarily be lower due to the altitude. Three weeks to go before the Fleet Half Marathon. Some hill sessions are needed or there will be no PB for me.

All Present and Correct!

2009-02-23T22:13:00.001Z

The week away was great, loads of snow, sunny days and plenty of Off Piste to keep me happy. All 18 of us got on well and the mix of beginners to advanced skiers was about right. Back to the grindstone today and I am in Lisbon again for the 3rd time this year, the weather is wonderful, 20 degrees and bright sunshine, we had lunch outside which I guess I have done every day this week but this time just in shirtsleeves as opposed to full ski wear! No chance to train today as I have 5 hours on a plane, an early start and a late return.

Offski!

2009-02-14T21:46:00.003Z

I am off snowboarding. Will post when I get back!

Week Off

2009-02-12T08:09:00.003Z

Rest is an oft neglected component of any training plan and I think my body is telling me that I need some. I struggled last week with my high intensity sessions and couldn’t finish any of them properly so I have opted for a complete rest this week. My last training day was Saturday with a spinning class immediately followed by 75 minutes on the turbo. I may try and get in a couple of easy swim sessions Thursday and Friday and possibly an easy ride on Saturday but otherwise that will be it. A full week of Skiing next week!

Stop Press: I couldn't resist and went for a quick 30m run and a weights session. Felt good and am now gagging to get back to it. I will be even more keen after a week off skiing.

Nutrition

2009-02-11T21:02:00.006Z

It is time to address the nutrition issue that has been nagging at me like a bad itch: I must work out how to consume enough food to see me through l’etape; I estimate that I will need around 4000 calories or the equivalent of 5 meals. I am trying “Maltodextrin” , a high carbohydrate powder which when combined with fruit juice and water is a good source of energy; a combination of slow release and fast release carbohydrate which is what you need. I bought it from a body building website which in itself is a bit worrying. My research leads me to believe that most common high energy sports drinks are Maltodextrin based so it cannot be too bad, in fact the only real benefit in buying it pure is that is it significantly cheaper than a readymade sports drink. I made up around 80g (320 calories) and tried it during my Saturday session, it wasn’t too bad and I was still full of beans after over 2 hours so I think it may work. I shall try it on my next long ride and see how I get on. If that works then I will need to plan how to take it during l’etape, I don’t want to be stopped at customs with a Kg of white powder in the car!

Compact vs. Triple?

2009-02-04T15:34:00.003Z

I am still desperate to get my new road bike out, I have had it since the beginning of December and we have had rain and snow ever since so I have only ridden it once. It is a full carbon bike from Planet-X who appear to be highly rated, I bought the bike direct from the manufacturer through a special sale they had; the sale price compared to competitive bikes was too good an opportunity to miss.

The gears are set up differently to my old bike; it is a “compact” as opposed to a “triple”. A compact has two chain-rings at the front as opposed to three on my triple which means that the range from top gear to bottom gear is not as great. The result is that the top speed is slower and the smaller gear for going uphill is not as small as my triple. This will take some getting used to and I need to know if I can actually get up Mt Ventoux on a compact, I will train on it for a while and see. I think there is an option to change the rear gears (or cassette) to make it easier to get uphill; I shall probably explore that route depending upon how my training goes.

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

2009-02-04T10:29:00.003Z

I went out with a friend on my Mountain Bike for a few hours on Sunday in the snow flurries, it was great. I have not been on it for ages and I missed it, we went over to an old quarry with some man-made tracks, no mud and a hard dry base to ride on. Some of the hills were pretty sharp and I was happy to get up them easily without using my “Granny” chain-ring; I guess all that training is paying off. There is another XC race this weekend which I may enter for a bit of fun.

We had loads of snow on Monday; over 7” in the garden, all the trains and schools were cancelled so I had to work from home. The kids played at snowball fights all day in the village and we walked over to the pub for a drink by the fireside for lunch. After a tentative start the dog loved running around in it and came home with “snowballs” built up around her legs and feet. I had a rest day as I was sore from playing rugby again, I need to start playing less as it is affecting my training.

Training Done: - Rugby; Bike: Mountain Bike 2hrs; Bike: Z2 75’; Run: 60’Z2; Run 4x5’ Intervals; Swim: Drills.

Not enough time

2009-01-28T21:56:00.001Z

I am currently in my “Base Training” period (AKA the General Preparation Phase of my Mesocycle!) This is the time to put base aerobic fitness sessions in the bank in preparation for strength and speed sessions later in the year; all planned to peak for my key events. One challenge with Base Training is that as it progresses it requires more and more hours per week before moving onto the shorter more intense sessions. This brings in planning problems as it becomes more difficult to train during the lunch break and hence eats into family time and requires training in the dark. I will start to get up early and plan my long sessions prior to work, this will get easier as it gets light in the morning, and my plan to cycle into work will also help that.
I have decided to take a break from Cricket this year as Saturdays will be dedicated to long rides in the summer. Midweek games may be OK as they are shorter and more of a social event.

I keep checking L’etape website for more up to date info but nothing! Nada! Rien! Very disappointing, I am not sure what they should be putting there but I check with anticipation every now and then anyway. I received my free entry to the London Triathlon this week which I may not bother taking up, I won it in a competition last year and successfully requested a deferment; I just don’t fancy swimming in a mucky dock in East London, getting into Central London for a 7am start would also be a pain.

Training Done: - Rugby; Bike: 60Km Z2; Swim Drills; Bike 70’ Z2; Weights Session.

Bah Humbug

2009-01-27T14:46:00.006Z

Injured again! I have a sore leg after playing rugby on Saturday. It just appeared near to the end of the game, I think it may be a fatigue problem caused by going for a 60Km ride immediately before the game and playing on a very heavy mud sodden pitch. I do not recall getting a knock on it and it just appeared whilst I was trying to run. The back of my knee has cramped up which makes it hard to walk. No running for a couple of days I think which means the focus will again be on Swimming and Riding.

We had a great group ride on Saturday morning but it was cold and it turned out that there was some black ice lingering on the road which took out 4 members of our group. One poor girl has fractured her elbow and will require surgery on it to ensure it heals well. I feel very sorry for her, she did look in pain and went a bit white to boot. We managed to get a good speed up and kept the group together on a few of the long drags which was great to see. We decided that we shall try and get closer to each other riding next time out and rotate the head which will be good practice and will help me for next time I am out with the cycle club!

How Much?

2009-01-22T20:48:00.003Z

I was planning on entering a X-Country Mountain Bike Race last Sunday organised by Gorrick MBC, they put on some great races and organise the Enduro event in May that I plan to use as a training ride. I ended up opting out of the ride for a couple of reasons: firstly I was pretty sore after rugby and secondly we had a heavy downpour on Saturday night and I didn’t fancy lugging my bike through the mud all morning. As it turns out, the race organisers cut short the route as the mud was causing problems so I feel vindicated in my laziness! Instead I dithered between swimming and a long run and ended up doing nothing, or shall I say “having a rest day”. We popped over to the pub for a drink at lunchtime and parked next to an old Ferrari, apparently it was worth over £3m and the owner is some kind of “Oilman”, glad to see some people are coping OK with the credit crunch.
Missing out on the race did make me want to plan a few more over the next few weeks; Gorrick have one planned for the 8th Feb so I shall enter that hopefully. With a bit of luck it will have dried out by then and we can have a bit of fun.

Training Done: - Run: 30' Z2; Bike 30' Z3

Woo Woo, I am getting faster

2009-01-21T14:03:00.001Z

All that training seems to be working! According to my geek records, I am a faster runner and rider today compared to June last year; I can both run and ride at higher speeds for longer. It is highly motivating to see progress as training takes effect. If I cannot see improvements then I find it difficult to motivate myself to train, if I see progress then it makes it all worthwhile. I would imagine that this is a universal human trait? I am still in the base training period and have not started strength or speed training yet and I have 4 months to go till the first Triathlon of the year therefore I am feeling pretty positive.

The days are gradually getting longer and I plan to cycle to work at least once a week throughout the spring and summer, which is a 140Km round trip which I will split over two days initially. I will need to map out a route fairly soon, I think I will look at a more scenic route as opposed to the most direct. There should be some options that follow the Thames which could be nice.

Training Done: - Bike: 45’ in Z2; Run 4x4’ Intervals in Z4; Swim Drills.

Swim Improvements?

2009-01-17T11:12:00.004Z

Swimming is not natural to me, I don’t really enjoy it and I am a poor swimmer. I have always said that and thought I always would. I do however sense light at the end of the tunnel the more I get in the pool. Last year I probably swam less than 15 times which explains why I am so slow, I think that 4 of those occasions were in races, it is not a surprise I finish the swim in the bottom 5%. Having high expectations on the swim with that level of training would be like getting on a bike ten times and then expecting to finish in the top 10% of L’etape.

The practice drills (swim stroke exercises) I have been doing have really helped how comfortable I feel in the water, I have been doing them consistently for several weeks now in the pool at work. The pool is small, maybe 12 metres long which makes it not terribly suitable for doing long swims, there is too much turning and not enough distance on each length to get into your stroke and breathing pattern. For this reason I have been focussing on my drills in this pool and saving straight swims for the local pool in the town. Doing most of my swimming in London, I have spent a good deal of time on my drills: Balance, Kick and Breathing. The drills I am doing are focussed on addressing the weaknesses in my stroke highlighted by the weekend video session down in Bath. I managed a swim in the 25m pool this week and it felt pretty good, the first 20 lengths did, before I started to tire. I could feel I was a lot smoother and glided much more than I previously have done. The down side is that I was not really much faster than I was before, 35seconds per length which equates to a 17.5 minute 750m swim; that would actually be my fastest Sprint Triathlon swim and bearing in mind that in a Tri I would be quicker due to the wet suit and potentially drafting for a small time then in hindsight that is pretty pleasing! 30s per length is my target so I have a good deal of work to do.

Some research online indicates that the first step to getting fast is to build reliable stroke at easy pace and then work to increase that speed. I am still building that stroke but I am much more comfortable with it now than I was 6 months ago and with a couple more months I should be able to maintain that stroke without having to concentrate on each element the whole time and hence it could be solid enough to withstand a gradual increase in stroke rate and hence speed.

Training Done:- Swim: Drills; Bike 30' Z2; Swim: 1K; Rugby (But scoring a try counts double so that makes 2!). A pretty poor week really.

My first "Double Salto" of the year

2009-01-12T20:26:00.007Z

I joined the local cycling club group ride this Sunday, a rugby team mate rides with them and he has been encouraging me to go along for a while. The club have an A group ride and a B group ride; I was confident I could hold my own on the B ride with a goal to moving on up to the A ride as I improve. I have done a number of group rides recently around the Surrey Hills and was pretty sure I could handle the ride rules and etiquette OK. The benefits I hope to gain from this ride are: A longer ride, they are at 60miles right now as opposed to my lowly 60Km (35miles) and improved group riding skills prior to L’Etape.

It did not exactly go to plan but I was happy to have go out all the same, I hope I will be welcomed back and was not too much of a hindrance. The club was very friendly and after checking out how often I rode etc. they were happy for me to join them. Unfortunately no-one from the B group turned up – I assume due to the overnight smattering of snow which meant I was with the A group, before we left we agreed that I would be OK to get dropped at any point if I was off the pace.

We started out well and after a few Km we hit the first hill, to say it was a hill would be a bit of an overstatement, a piddly 4% climb for around 1Km, I rapidly fell off the back as the peloton disappeared into the distance, it took me over 5Km to catch up again and they had slowed to wait for me. My heart rate was up at 160bpm as I worked hard and when I finally grabbed the tail it was a relief to have the relative rest within the slipstream. The group was riding a lot closer and a lot faster than I was used to and it took a while to get confident enough to stay the 20 odd cm behind the wheel in front at speeds over 20mph whilst chatting to the person next to me. A peloton is quite graceful in the way the front riders alternate fluidly in a natural flowing movement. I had agreed with the ride leader that I would not take the front at any point; this was the cause of my first undoing . As the guy behind me pushed through the middle of the column to take his place at the head I was forced to the left and onto the verge: slush, rocks and grass awaited and all of a sudden I was bouncing around on and off the saddle and struggling to keep the bike under control. I opted to hit the verge and only damage myself and not my newly found teammates and ended up flying over the handlebars, doing what David Coleman would probably call a Double Salto and landed on my feet legs spinning in a successful attempt to stay upright. The group waited for me to mend my resulting puncture and check out the bike which took a couple of minutes. Suitably humbled I set off again and picked up the pace. On the next hill I was adamant I was not going to get dropped and had at least two riders behind me when my chain slipped and became jammed, I was done for; I was not going to get this fixed quickly. Again, I watched the peloton disappear into the distance and that was the last time I saw them. Chastened but still confident enough to think I can hold my own in the B group next time out, I only hope they welcome me back!

Training done: Bike: 65Km LSD; Run: LSD 16Km.
Next week: Recovery Week

Mt Ventoux in August

2009-01-10T08:13:00.003Z

Here is a great article on riding the Mt Ventoux: http://www.everydaycycling.com/edc/news/news2009/20090105_ventoux.aspx

There is a nice piccie in there which I have pasted and shall be using as motivation for the next few months:

Niggles

2009-01-10T08:07:00.005Z

One thing that is a constant amongst Triathlon Forums (or is that Fora? I just checked on http://www.dictionary.com/ and it can be either) is the number of endurance athletes carrying injuries or niggles. I think you just accept them as part and parcel of the hobby. I have several niggles right now. I have taken advice on all of these on various occasions, some more professional than others, in each case, these niggles are effectively symptoms or by-products of other problems:

Tight hamstring on right leg

A lingering from a rugby injury to my knee. I left it so long that I have muscle wastage in my Quad and Glut (backside) and it puts stress on the hamstring. I had neglected the recovery exercises for a while and it shows, so I need to get back in the Gym and do some bum work!

Patella Tendonitis on the right leg

This is related to running with a tight hamstring. Who’d have thunk it. This originally appeared after a long run in Sydney 18 months ago straight of the flight, apparently this is inadvisable as your muscles are all tight.

Numb Toes when running

I am still not sure on this. I think this is due to my running shoes no longer suiting my evolved running gait. I have a feeling that it will require new shoes.

Shoulder Impingement

From an old cricket injury to my Rotator Cuff which is slowly getting better. My physio has prescribed a series of shoulder exercises that are helping a lot and have enabled me to get back swimming with no problems.

I wager that this a standard length of injury list for an endurance athlete. I think the key is to not let them get you down or you will be forever worried about one injury or another. My shoulder injury stopped me from swimming for around 6 months in the run up to last season which had a significant impact on not only my Triathlon swim times but also it meant I was tired coming out of the swim which impacted my Bike and Run times as well. Not so this year as I have already exceeded the total number of last season’s swim sessions – and I even quite like it. I still cannot get up at 6am to swim but I am getting there slowly.

Training Done: Bike: Spinning; Rugby Match (does that count? – need to check), Run: 60’ Easy run (Long Slow Distance); Swim drills; Bike: Tempo 20’; Run 40’ LSD; Bike: 60’ LSD; Swim drills.

Base Training

2009-01-02T19:37:00.007Z

After two weeks without a post, finally there is time to sit down and write a few notes. Christmas was over so quickly it is difficult to believe it was almost a full two week holiday this year. We had a great time, ate and drank too much, similar to most Christmas breaks. Training was sporadic in the run up to Xmas with work being very busy, plenty of entertaining and just lacking in time to get out. Finally when it came, the break enabled a full set of Bike and Run sessions, this means that swimming will be the focus over the next few weeks in an attempt to get back to where I was before the break.

There is often a trade off in Triathlon training when it comes to picking a discipline to focus on; I shall focus on the Bike and Swim this year whilst trying not to neglect running too much. The thinking behind this is three fold:

1) The swim is my weakest discipline with the greatest room for improvement in the short term.

2) With L’Etape, I need to work on my bike skills which will also help my triathlon.

3) In terms of age group ranking, the run is my best discipline with smaller gains possible as I improve, in fact even if I lose run time at the expense of bike time there will probably be a net improvement in finishing time as the bike leg of a triathlon takes up roughly half the event time.

So if there is a decision required then I shall go for the Bike or Swim as opposed to the Run. I have a ½ marathon scheduled in March which will indicate whether there has been a critical drop off in run performance which will hopefully allow time to recover the situation before my first “A” race three months later.

The weather over Christmas has been very cold and generally sunny, long rides and runs in the early morning have been refreshing with the sun rising over the fields on the horizon and the freshness in the air makes the sessions so much more enjoyable. This time of year is the time to focus on Base Training: this means focussing on aerobic fitness and endurance as opposed to speed; speed training comes later in the year in the build up to the racing season. Base training generally takes place at the lower intensity Zones 1 and 2. LSD or Long Slow Distance is the order of the day during base training with long runs and long rides taking up most of the training.

Once “A” races have been identified then the annual training plan can be structured with a goal to peak for each event. Typically most well organised “Age Groupers” aim to peak up to three times a year with a good four week gap between each peak. The triathlon season typically starts in May in the UK which means winter and early spring are set aside for Base Training, nine weeks of “Specific Conditioning” or more speed focussed or intensive sessions will start in Mid February before moving to peak sessions for the four weeks up my first “A” race.

Training Done: -
Last Week (New Year week):- Bike: Muscular Endurance (ME) Intervals; Bike: 60Km group ride (so cold my water bottle froze); Tempo Run (Z3): Bike: 70' Z2 on the Turbo.
Week Before (Xmas Week):- Bike: 20' Z3; Run: ME intervals; Bike: 30Km Z2; Run: 45' Z2.

Event Planning

2008-12-18T15:43:00.013Z

I have been reviewing my event plans for next year and it is clear that there are too many events and they are spread from March to September. I need to focus, or at least decide on my priorities. The method for event planning in Triathlon is to tag events in order of importance with the most important events being tagged as “A” races and the rest as “B” or “C” events. This need comes about due to the way athletes train. The theory is that an athlete cannot stay at a peak for an extended period of time and thus need to plan a single or small number of peaks throughout the season. Training sessions are structured around “A” races with a goal to be peaking at that time.
So I need to identify my “A” races and my “B” and “C” events used primarily for training and a bit of fun. The first stage to prioritising will be to define my goals. After a bit of thought, my primary goals are:

a) Break 75’ for a Sprint Triathlon
b) Complete L’Etape du Tour (ideally in sub 8 hours)
c) Complete a Middle Distance Triathlon (ideally in sub 6 hours)

I have ignored a Standard Distance Triathlon goal which may appear strange as I have never entered one. The reasoning around this is as follows: Swimming is my poorest discipline and I have never swam 1500m before (the Olympic distance swim), a middle distance Triathlon includes 1900m of swimming which is longer but I feel that if I could swim 1500m then I could do 1900m at a similar effort or pace. The middle distance bike leg is 90Km compared to 40Km in the Olympic and the run moves from 10Km to 21Km when stepping up. The middle distance event doubles my two strongest disciplines yet the swim only increases by around a quarter. This means that in theory I will be more competitive in a middle distance Tri than in an Olympic Tri.
So my “A” races become:

The timing on these are good in that they are separated by 6 weeks each and thus allow time for a short break and then build up to a peak for each event. So my season plan is looking like this:

All I need to do now is revise my training plan based around peaking for the “A” races. A task for the Xmas break I think.

Speeeeed

2008-12-16T11:38:00.008Z

How much gain is there in speed/effort when riding in a group as opposed to on your own? That is the question I have been asking myself this week, a quick trawl through the inter-web wasn’t very informative. Why is this important? My primary objective when completing L’Etape is avoiding the Broom Wagon; the minibus that rides behind the pack during the race and picks up riders going too slowly. The speed the Broom Wagon drives at is published just prior to the event and this year during a mountainous L’Etape it was set at 17.5Km/h. So if I assume that next year the Broom Wagon will be set at a similar speed then I need to work out my target minimum speed. There are several unknowns for me here: How does 17.5Km/h over the profile of the stage compare to a typical ride around Hampshire and how much speed will I gain by riding in a pack? A colleague of mine rides on the track regularly and is confident that track cyclists gain between 6-8Km/h when riding in a line vs. riding on their own. I quick check on the Beijing Olympic Track Cycling results shows that the team pursuit winners rode their 4Km at 61.7Km/h whereas the individual winner rode his 4Km at 56Km/h that equates to a gain of around 10% which is not bad at all. I would assume that Track Cyclist get a better draft gain than road cyclists as they are much closer to the wheel in front so maybe a road cyclist could gain 7.5%? It is not very scientific but good enough for me.

If I now look at Mountain stages vs. Flat stages that may give an indication of what speed I should be riding on my training rides. If I take a couple of stages on this year’s Tour de France to compare:

Flat Stage 13: Nimes, 182Km won by Cavendish in @ 40.5Kmh
Mountain Stage 17: Alpe D’huez, 210Km won by Sastre @ 34Kmh

That equates to a loss in speed of around 20% on a mountain stage vs. a flat stage; much lower than I would have expected to be honest.

We could combine these to estimate the net gain/loss which means you would expect to ride approximately 12.5% slower on L’Etape compared to riding on your own around the Home Counties, so to beat 17.5Km/h on L’etape then I need to be targeting around 20Kmh. A much slower speed than I am currently training at. I feel great today!

I wonder how accurate that is...

Lunch, Lunch, Lunch

2008-12-16T11:37:00.001Z

It is that time of year again. It is the office Christmas lunch today which is usually a long affair ending up on the last train home after too much food and drink, hopefully I shall wake up at my stop or it will be another long night sleeping on a bench at some remote railway station waiting for the first train in the morning again. After five client lunches in Sydney last week, a client lunch yesterday and 3 more lunches booked for this week, I am feeling a little unhealthy. I seriously under-exercised last week with only two runs and a light gym session so all those restaurant meals are beginning to take their toll. A brisk hour on the Turbo this morning made me feel much better, a little tired in the legs and much more comfortable around the waist. Only four more lunches to go till Christmas.

Heart Rate Zones

2008-12-11T02:28:00.008Z

How intense should a session be? How do you measure intensity? There are several schools of thought on this, I personally combine Heart Rate and perceived exertion (PE) to assess my intensity, others go on power but that requires a power metre on the bike which I cannot afford. Even when using Heart Rate for measuring intensity there appears to be numerous systems. I use a simplified Jo Friel categorisation:

The trick is to accurately calculate what heart rate zones are relevant to you; they change with improved fitness so need to be revised every now and then. They are also different depending upon the type of exercise you are doing, so heart rate zones for running and cycling generally differ. My calculations are based on some recent runs and rides with a slight tweak based upon how I felt at the time of the tests.

I estimate my current zones to be:

So if I am going for a Tempo run (to improve Muscular Endurance), my target Heart Rate should be 145-152bpm. I read on Lance Armtrong’s Twitter that he competed in a 2 hour Mountain Bike race recently and kept his heart rate at 180bpm throughout; I have no idea how anyone can keep their HR up at that level for so long, it really does demonstrate the difference in class that some people have.

Knowing your heart rate when training enables you to ensure the session is specific. So if I was training for building my endurance then I need to be training in Zone 2 to. Working in Zone 4 will not have the same effect on endurance as working in Zone 2. Likewise, if I am looking to improve my lactate threshold (which will enable me to stay at a higher intensity for longer when racing) then a session may be an interval based workout whereby my HR is alternating between zones 3 and 5.

Back in Blighty

2008-12-11T02:04:00.008Z

Well it felt like it this morning, I went for a run around the gardens today in the drizzle. The harbour was quiet for a late December day with the tourists opting for indoor activities. The Bridge Climbers must have been cold in the wind and rain, they looked sodden from where I was by the Opera House but then my eyesight is not that good anymore. I got back to the hotel and found the concierge waiting for me with a towel and a bottle of cold water, that is what you pay $250 a night for!

I did a fast tempo run for 30 mins which felt good, I wanted to keep going but my hamstring feels a bit tight and my knees are sore, this is an ongoing problem I have had for a year or so which ironically my Physio attributes to running in Sydney straight off the plane, running with tight Hamstrings caused Patella Tendonitis apparently. I need to stretch the Hamstrings more and do some Glute work which I have neglected over the last few months.

I am not feeling physically on top of the world right now. Getting up for 2am conference calls has stopped me from getting any good sleep since being here and too many client lunches and Xmas drinks have made me feel unhealthy. I need to go out for a long bike ride when I get home, that will help re-dress the balance. I have a game of golf planned in Malaysia with some mates on Saturday, which will be fun. I am a terrible golfer and play so rarely so I set quite low expectations and generally meet them. It will be a long day, I get in to Singapore about 10pm on Friday night then off to some friends for a night cap. We leave Singapore by car at around 6am and tee off at 8am, I have a feeling there will be lots of beer consumed which makes my Sunday ride even more needed.

Sydney

2008-12-08T21:16:00.000Z

I set my alarm for 3am for a conference call during my first night in Sydney. Unfortunately I had miscalculated my time zones and missed the call by an hour which was a little disappointing. That also meant that I was bright eyed and bushy tailed and found it impossible to go back to sleep. I went for a run at first light; I normally run around the Royal Botanical Gardens, it is really a beautiful place to run and so calming. I have spent many a Saturday afternoon lying in the gardens listening to my iPod and just doing nothing, I can highly recommend it as a way of passing a few hours. This morning as I rounded the Opera House there was a huge liner coming into port, with the rising sun peeking out behind the advancing ship it was a sight to behold. The decks were full of holidaymakers getting their first view of the Harbour Bridge, taking pictures and waving at the many joggers pacing up and down the harbour side. Great stuff. A one hour gentle run did a lot to shake out the cobwebs but I could feel the legs were stiff after the flight so lots of stretching was in order.

“Hill Training”

2008-12-04T20:14:00.003Z

The tube station nearest to the office in London is a deep station with lifts and stairs; it takes 102 steps to climb them. I know this because more often than not I walk up them to get to street level; it is faster than the lift and sets me up for the day if I get to the top before the crowd files out. After several years of doing this I have noticed my legs are as tired today when I get to the top as they were the first time I climbed them. Surely all those previous climbs would train my legs to be less tired each time? Isn’t this a little like Hill Training? I need to do some research.

My second swim in two days today which is a record, I may even go tomorrow as well but I suspect I may have to take a client out for lunch instead. I actually enjoyed it and it felt (there is that term “feel” again) much easier than it has in the past. I am off to Sydney on Saturday and there is a 50 metre pool close to my hotel so I shall have a crack in there and see how I get on. The first time I swam in that pool I struggled to do 2 lengths without stopping so it will be interesting to see how I fare this time around. It is a great pool, right by the harbour overlooking Woolamaloo. The lanes are marked out as slow, medium and fast just like in Blighty but there they also include a time estimate for completing a length so there is no ambiguity. The first time I swam there I was chuffed to see that my usual length time put me in the fast lane. It was only after observing all around that I remembered I was counting my 25 metre time and not my 50 metre time. I had to move straight over to the slow lane to avoid potential embarrassment.

Training Done: - Swim: drills and easy lengths. Will try and get up early tomorrow.

Ugh – The Swim

2008-12-03T18:23:00.003Z

Quite a good swim session today in the pool: Balance drills and then some kick drills followed by a few lengths focussing on breathing. I am trying to “swim smooth” at the moment as I am conscious that my swimming probably looks like a teenager on speed; throw some washing up liquid in the pool with me and before long the whole room would fill with bubbles. One of the guys at the pool commented that I was “not very smooth” and he is right, I can feel it when I swim. I am hence making an effort to slow down my action and break the water steadily; I think I can feel a difference in that I do not tire as easily when I focus on this, I do wonder if I am getting slower though. My kicking feels much better, slower and more powerful; I still need to slow it down as I can sense that my stroke is much stronger with this slow strong kick coming from the core.

I have noticed how much I use the term “feel” when I think about swimming, it really is a complex action that requires feel for the water. The old saying goes: “If you want to run faster then run more, if you want to bike faster then bike more and if you want to swim faster then get lessons". It is all about technique; six months left to hit my target of a sub 15 minute 750m swim.

I had to get up for a 5am conference call yesterday, I bounded out of bed in fine fettle and speculated as to why I can’t bound out of bed in the morning to go swimming. I can do it to go for a run or a cycle but the thought of jumping into a pool makes me turn over and pull the duvet back over my head. I wonder if that will change as I improve.

L’Etape du Tour 2009

2008-12-02T15:10:00.009Z

l’Etape du Tour takes place on July 20th and is a 172Km cycle race starting in Montelimar and finishing with the utterly compelling Mt Ventoux. A climb I have been fascinated with ever since I read about Tom Simpson many years ago. This involves 22Km of climbing with an average gradient of 7.43% (that extra 0.43 makes a difference), all that after already riding for 150Km: The ride will be twice as far as I have ever ridden before in one go.

Here is a profile of the last climb taken from Wikipedia:

The profile of the whole race is here:

L’Etape takes place 5 days before the big boys tackle it on the penultimate stage of the Tour du France, perfectly poised to be the Tour’s denouement this year.

First Ever Blog

2008-12-01T14:52:00.001Z

Righto, hold on to your hats here we go.

This blog is intended as a personal diary recording my training and other aspects of my life in the run up to my Grand Summer of Sport 2009.

What is included in the Grand Summer of Sport 2009? I am still unsure but the main events are: L’Etape du Tour and I hope a Middle Distance Triathlon along with a few fun events thrown in for good measure.

The blog is intended to chart my training (hopefully demonstrating progress) and my thoughts on where I am and how I feel during the run up to summer.