Ironman Mark

OK. So I have just entered that Andover Triathlon. I’ve got a slot at 9:50. They say to be there an hour before. And it’s about 36k away as the bike rides. So that’ll take less than 80 minutes to get there if I take it easy. So I need to leave by 7:30 or so. A lie in then!

So, what do I need to bring with me? Obviously my bike and I’ll ride over in a tri suit.

I also need to bring: goggles, trainers, socks, a number belt, a few gels/bars and my Triathlon England membership. Anything else? The forecast is for cloud in the morning so I will probably bring a jacket to keep me warm and then some money just in case. Easy.

Then I’ll do the race. Not Easy.  The plan is:

- go quite hard in the swim

- go hard on the bike

- go very hard on the run

I expect to be slower this year on the bike because I have been doing it a bit less this year.

And for once I might actually see how I do afterwards. Last year, I was 1 minute 32 seconds behind the winner in my age group. If I forget to bring my socks then I might get close to that…

Then it’s 36k back at a nice leisurely pace.

This week has been particularly busy at work and so I have only managed to fit in two sessions this week.  A swim and a 90 minute bike ride.  This weekend is the Andover Triathlon so I will do some exercise!  Hurray!  Also, next week should be a bit easier so hopefully I will be able to fit more in.

One thing that I’ve noticed (and knew before I noticed) is that my eating gets worse the more hours I work, the less hours I sleep and the less exercise I do.  So, my challenge over the next nine days (Saturday until a week Sunday) is to eat well and eat healthily.  To help do that, I intend to post my calories in v calories out for those nine days. 

But if I did that today, it wouldn’t be a pretty sight!

… and it feels good.

I’ve got a new coach. I’ve got a plan. And I’ve done the first three sessions in the first two days.

My target Lanzarote next year. My intermediate target is to race well in the New Forest in September.

The photo today is of my run. Descending intervals at 14.5kph, with 11kph in between.

Another great race.

By 5 am I had finished the Henley swim!

2,112m on the rowing course in the Thames.  I worked hard and finished in 33 minutes. The mist made sighting very tricky. I was pleased with my drafting and moving from one pair of feet to another.  There was a bit of a battle in the 100m before the finish where I was swimming next to someone.  Swimming is definitely a body contact sport.

I think Richard Stannard won.

All-in-all, I had a great time. Well worth doing next year but you need to get your entries in quick.

Not good.

I hadn’t built myself up for this.  I had targeted this.  I just did it.

I left the hotel later than I would normally do, I waited in the traffic jam that I would normally do but I still had plenty of time to get into the water.

Swim

It was a mass start and I got in the water towards the front.  I started about 2 metres to the right and behind the left start buoy.  It was crowded and we were kicking each other while treading water.  Then we sang the national anthem (why?) and went.  It was the normal crowded start.  The first leg, I didn’t do any proper drafting, I was just behind a load of bubbles so that was fine.  The second leg every one seemed a bit too far to the right of me and there was no one close enough inside.  We were swimming like a right bracket  -  )  - where I was at the bottom of the bracket going up the page.

After a while, I started drafting off someone to the second turn around buoy.  I carried on drafting properly, going around people, sprinting to get the person in front until I caught up with the next.  At one stage I was drafting off of a female pro (Jo Carritt) until she decided to swim a different direction to me about 100m from the end.

I got out of the swim in 29 mins, a bit quicker than in 2007.

T1

I ran up the steep long hill towards the bikes. Previously I took my wetsuit off at the bottom.  This time I just ran up the hill next to Jo Carritt.  Now she is a skinny pro and I am not.  So I ran miles too hard.  Near the top I was very out of breath and decided I might as well take the opportunity for a breather while I took my wetsuit off.  But my left calf cramped.  Agony.  I swore.  It stayed cramped for what seemed like a life time.  Rock solid.  I swore again and again as I pulled my wetsuit off.  It was probably only a couple of minutes but my calf stayed cramped.  I got a round of applause as I got up.  Not good.

Rest of T1 was fine and I was a second quicker than in 2007 (because of no socks).

Bike

First lap everyone overtook me.  Second lap I pushed the intensity a little and I started catching people.  All was fine until just before the first proper hill at the south of the course when my rear gears started playing up.  I couldn’t get into the biggest gear in the cassette and the chain jumped.  Just after the last aid station the gear cable snapped.  I got off, swore a little and then tied the cable around the bike so I could still ride it.  But I couldn’t change gear so I worked hard on the uphills and did my best on the downhills.  But I lost a lot of time.  Mentally, I did not enjoy that.

Despite this I was quicker than I was in 2007.

T2

During the bike my left calf didn’t hurt.  My leg did not hurt but it didn’t feel as free and easy as my right leg.  In T2 it hurt.  I took my time.

Run

As you leave T2, you run slightly downhill, then steeper downhill.  That hurt my calf.  By the time I got to the bottom of the hill, I decided I was pulling out.

So, overall, it was not a good day in the office.  I made the right decision.  For three or four days later my calf was still tender to touch.