So, the time has finally come. As I write this, I am sat on flight BA0804 from London Heathrow to Billund, ready to take on the best of Europe at the ETU Middle Distance Championships at Challenge Herning. I thought I’d take the opportunity to reflect back over the journey that’s got me here, and lay out what I’m expecting from the day itself…hopefully that extra accountability of it being out in the public domain will spur me on that extra couple of percent during the race!
Ever since posting my best ever time over the 70.3 distance at Ironman 70.3 Vichy in August 2016, this has been in my sights, with my training becoming increasingly focussed towards it from the moment that I found out that I had made the team in November. Without doubt, this is my A race for the year. At work, our CEO often recites the phrase (which I’m pretty sure he’s borrowed from a leader of a tech firm) that ‘what got us here won’t get us there’, and that’s very much the approach I took with my training over winter. Through the whole of my triathlon ‘career’ so far, I have been self-coached; making sure that I managed to fit in a few sessions of each discipline each week, and trying to make sure I mixed it up between low and high intensity, but with no real plan or structure to it. Having qualified for the European Championships, I didn’t want to just be there to make up the numbers. I wanted to be in a position to be toeing the line knowing that I was in with a chance of competing at the sharp end. I knew that carrying on in the same routine wasn’t going to cut the mustard, so I decided that this was the time to take on a coach. I did a bit of research around different coaches, their styles, and the formats in which they deliver their coaching, and had a few Skype calls to try and suss out the personal interaction side of things. I ultimately opted for Streamline Coaching, and Steve Mott. Whilst Steve’s is a fledgling coaching career, this was one of the attractions for me; I wasn’t just going to be another number, and as he is based local to me, the face to face interaction I felt would be valuable to me. Very quickly, I enjoyed the specificity of the sessions, particularly on the bike. It was a lot of time spent on the turbo over winter (which I grew to tolerate), but rather than just doing intervals of ‘hard’ or ‘moderate’ effort, I was working to specific numbers, and was getting used to interpreting both my heart rate and power numbers. As a result, I found my bike strength coming on a lot more than in previous years, where I’ve always been an average cyclist. I also tried to make sure that I was focussing a lot more on my swimming, trying to make sure that I was getting at least two sessions a week in, but three or four where at all possible. Steve is from a swimming background, and it was particularly helpful to get a few sessions with him poolside in early on. That and my regular coached sessions with Tri2O have really helped with my technique, and I’m now swimming in much faster lanes at the sessions that 12 months ago. I managed to take myself away for a training week to Mallorca towards the end of March, which I was able to focus on nothing but eating, sleeping, and training. Cycling over there is obviously fantastic, and the hotel that I stayed at had a lovely 25m outdoor pool, and is right on the bay in between Alcudia and Port de Pollensa, so there’s a nice, flat (if windy) loop to run. That week continued to build my bike strength in the ‘real world’ especially. A slight set back came my way immediately after Mallorca, though. I’m still not entirely sure how, but I managed to tweak something in my ankle whilst travelling back, and over the first couple of days back in the UK, it was really sore walking, let alone running. I backed off a bit, but was worried that I’d lose all of the progress that I’d made. To start with, even cycling was sore, but soon that came back, and it was just running that was off the cards. Another couple of weeks of no running seemed to sort the worst of it. It’s still not 100%, but it is pretty much there, and definitely manageable. The final 5 or 6 weeks leading to now have been about testing where I am, and making sure that I’m as set as I can be, and that has gone really well. It started off with the Beale Beastie on 7th May, where I came 2nd (and possibly/probably should have won - see my last post!) and continued with some key brick sessions and race simulations. The brick sessions especially have given me a huge amount of confidence; I have been able to hold good power on the bike (typically 250-270W for 90 minutes) followed by running at solid pace - able to hold my standalone half marathon pace (5:40/mile) for up to 6 miles pretty comfortably, despite not fuelling/hydrating quite to the same level I will on race day. So, I’m heading to Herning feeling pretty confident. I’m aiming to shave a considerable chunk off my time from Vichy (which was 4:35), and would love to be hitting 4:15, which I think is achievable if I can hold 250-260W on the bike, and run a 1:20 HM. Vichy was incredibly hot, which is something that I won’t have to contend with here, and I’m also in much better shape, especially on the swim and bike. I’m really gunning for a top 5 in my AG, and possibly a podium position. I’ll be laying everything on the line to get it.
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Well, my 2016 season is now well and truly done and dusted. I have had my feet up for close to a week now - but more on that in a moment. I've been a bit crap in updating the blog and site in general this year, but I was so wrapped up in giving everything to my training, that I always struggled to find / make the time. That is definitely something that I aim to address over the winter, especially, and heading in to 2017. My main race for the year was Vichy 70.3 at the end of August, and I was pretty pleased with my result there, albeit here was still some pretty large room for improvement; I'll aim to get a full race report up at some point soon, so keep your eyes on my Events page for that! I'm hoping that my result will be good enough for an AG slot for the ETU championships in Denmark, but I've got an agonising wait of another few weeks before I find out if I've made the cut. I thought that my final race of the year at Challenge Peguera would have been a good opportunity to enhance my chances, as - having done it last year - I know that the field isn't quite as large nor strong as Vichy. Unfortunately it wasn't to be, though, and this was the first part of 'ending on a downer'. Peguera was to be my first ever DNF. In any event. Ever. I was absolutely gutted. I picked up a puncture about 37 miles in to the bike, and (stupidly, with hindsight) wasn't carrying any spares, leaving me with a frustrating 3-4 mile walk to get to a point where a marshal could arrange for me to be picked up. My frustration was made all the worse when I looked at the results, and saw that I could well have been in the mix in my AG, if I'd held my power on the bike, and run as well as I have been recently. Frustration with a poor result was quickly put in to context / perspective just two days later, though. I had hired a road bike, and planned on a fairly epic ride around Mallorca; starting off in Port de Sollér, climbing Puig Major, down to Sa Calobra and back up, then looping back via Col de sa Batalla and Orient. I set off really early, to make sure that I beat the worst of the traffic on Sa Calobra in particular, and everything was going really well - roads were quiet, my legs were feeling pretty good up Puig Major (albeit I wasn't going full gas, knowing that I had a long day in the saddle planned, and wanted to keep it relatively leisurely), and the weather was perfect. My girlfriend got me a GoPro for my birthday this year, and I'd been wanting to film some epic descents on it ever since. Sa Calobra was my first real opportunity to do this, so I stopped at the very top of Col de Reis, set the camera going, and then testosterone and ego kicked in, and I started absolutely gunning it down the descent - which is probably my favourite piece of road that I've ever cycled on. I told myself I was going to get down as quickly as I could; wanting to been my PR on Strava, and make a video that did the speed of the descent justice. I was out of the saddle going round every bend, getting back up to speed as quickly as possible, and taking the racing lines as best I could. Then disaster struck. As I turned in to the second of the switchbacks, my front wheel just went from underneath me. I hit the ground hard, and the first thing that went through my mind was "shit; I hope I haven't broken anything", knowing that I was a long way from my car and any substantial civilisation, quickly followed by "I can hear the engine of a large vehicle coming up - I need to get out of the road" - so I very quickly jumped up, and got myself and my bike to the outside of the road, out of harms way. I inspected the bike, and the front tyre was absolutely flat as a pancake, so I'm assuming that it was caused me to lose all grip and crash. Having watched the video back a million times, there's a part a couple of corners before the one that I crashed where there's a bit of a jolt of the camera, and I think I may have clipped a rock that had fallen from the cliff face, which I'm assuming is what caused the puncture. I tried fixing it straight away (I was carrying spares this time!), but was shaking too much from the adrenaline, so I sat down on the floor for a couple of minutes to get my breath back, and check that I didn't have anything seriously wrong with me. I had ripped a huge hole in my shorts, which exposed a very nasty bit of road rash on my hip, and had other smaller parts on my forearm and elbow, but thankfully nothing broken etc. After those few minutes had passed, I got up and fixed the puncture, then turned around and made my way back up to the top. I had contemplated continuing down, but I wasn't sure how my leg would cope with climbing all that way, and I knew that in any event I still had the best part of 20 miles to get back to Port de Sollér - I'd already resigned myself to not being able to complete the full route that I had planned. That would definitely have been foolhardy. Thankfully, most of the 20 miles or so back were downhill - back down Puig Major - but suffice to say, I took that descent considerably steadier than I had down Sa Calobra! I made it back without further incident, and consumed copious amounts of coffee, cake and ice cream to make myself feel better. That was 5 days ago now, and my wounds are starting to heal, though my hip especially is still pretty swollen and sore; hence why I've had my feet up ever since. Given my season has finished - and it's been a long, hard one - I figured it's probably the best thing to do, to let it heal properly, and also to let my muscles fully recover. So, not really the way that I wanted to sign off on my 2016 season, but overall it's been a good one, and I'm definitely heading in to winter knowing that a decent training block will set me up really well for an even better 2017 - particularly as I'm just starting to consider taking on a coach to really push me on. If you want to see the video and consequences of my crash, see below - it's not for the faint hearted though! I am a relative newcomer to triathlon, having taken part in my first event in 2014, but I have taken to the world of multi/endurance sport like a duck to water. Well, duck to water is probably a poor choice of simile given the state of my swimming, but you get the point: I'm pleased with what I have managed to accomplish in a relatively short space of time, and with a distinct lack of formal, structured training. I am almost entirely self-coached to this point (mid-2016), though hiring a coach is pretty high on my list of priorities, given my two main aspirations: to represent GB at age group level at 70.3 distance; and to earn a place on the starting line at Kona. If you'd told me a few years ago that I'd be in this position now, I'd have laughed at you. Thanks to the wonders of Timehop, I was reminded of this episode from 2012 a couple of weeks ago: "Hate running" - who'd have thought! The run is now the strongest part of my repertoire, but it was only through triathlon that I discovered my aptitude for, and love of, running. But what was it that led me to triathlon??
I've always been pretty active, and had an interest in fitness (apart from a bit of a blip from 2008-11, but more on that another time perhaps) having played hockey to a reasonable standard, and been a regular at the gym, hitting the weights. Cardio was never really high on my agenda though; I relied on hockey for that. Then, in 2012 that loose seed was planted - I wanted to "do some kind of physical challenge", and the Brownlee brothers, SIr Bradley Wiggins, Sir Chris Hoy et al were just starting to hit the peak of their fame with their performances at London, Tour de France, etc. But that seed didn't truly start to sprout for another couple of years. It was only in April 2014 that I finally bought my first road bike. Nothing special; the Hoy Sa Calobra (the name - other than Hoy - was lost on me at the time) from Evans. A matter of weeks later, and I had decided that cycling alone wasn't enough for me, and I entered my first tri - the Concorde Triathlon - a sprint event with a pool swim. I made a gross error in estimating my swim time, but again, more on that another time. That tri, however, wasn't until August, and I'm too impatient to wait that long, so I actually entered three other sprint distance events in the gap (which was only 3 months!) until that one...nothing like jumping in at the deep end! The first event that I actually participated in was the first edition of the Brownlee 'Tri' - which in this instance ended up being a duathlon, due to water quality issues. I remember rocking up and being amazed by the atmosphere. Everyone was so friendly, and I loved the family feel to it. I have to say, I was actually quite relieved that the swim was cancelled - it would have been the first time that I had ever swam in open water, and I'm not sure I had even been to a pool to train before this one! So, we lined up, and off we went. The run was completely off road, largely grass, and I remember passing (to my surprise) quite a few people on the first run (which was 2.5k), in to transition, and out on the bike straight away, on what was a nice, but lumpy, 30km course. I learned the hard way on this about not getting carried away on the bike. I absolutely hammered it to start with, and found myself (on my basic road bike, with no tri-bars) passing loads of people in the first mile or so, which was a slight incline. Needless to say it didn't last. Pretty soon after, a stream of guys with TT bikes and full aero helmets came past (probably from the few waves behind me too!). Back in to T2, via a particularly evil finish to the bike leg - up a very steep hill on plastic matting over grass, and it was out for the second run; a 5k loop this time. Again, out I went, feeling pretty good as I was able to claw some places back. I crossed the finish line, retrieved my complimentary pint of Erdinger Alkoholfrei, and felt absolutly amazing. I hadn't set the world alight by any stretch, but managed to finish as 35th male, 7th in my AG in a time of 1:23:07. What stood out especially, were my run times: 6:50 for the 2k, and 21:13 for the 5k, which I was really happy with, given I hadn't really done much running before, and certainly not off the bike. This was a pattern that continued in the other tris I entered - I was always top 10 in the run, and managed to get my 5k off the bike time down to 18 mins. And so began my dual love of running and triathlon. That's about enough waffle for now; I'll be back to cover off some of the other interesting stories and lessons that I've picked up over the last couple of years in future posts. As for now, I've got the English Middle Distance Championships at the Grafman tomorrow, so I'm off to put my feet up, carb load and get myself set for what promises to be a great race. Laters S |