Biting the Bullet

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

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

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

I am Mark Spitz

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

One Last Effort

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

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

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

Mid Term Report

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

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

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

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

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

Race Report: British Sprint Champs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rain Rain Go Away....

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

Back in Blighty

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

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

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

3.1 Training Sessions

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

Altitude Training Again...

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

First Triathlon of the Season

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.

# 2138

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

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

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

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!

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.

Found my Mojo!

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!)

Swim Improvements?

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.

Event Planning

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.

“Hill Training”

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

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.