Ironman Mark

I had a great time today. It was very hard, but I loved it. Ok, I may not have loved it all while I was doing it but now, achy, laying on the sofa, I feel great.

Swim: I was disappointed with my swim. The start was where it went wrong. I started at the front and decided not to go as hard as normal to start with and got caught in the thick of things. The person to my left decided that they actually wanted to swim to my right so they sometimes swam into me. The guy on the right of me kept banging me in the head. He probably got me around ten times. Ten times. Some of those times I was trying to breath and I couldn’t. After a while, I got bored with this. I couldn’t breathe properly and I couldn’t swim away so I decided to stop swimming. After he got ahead, I watched his stroke and saw that his left arm swung all the way horizontally round. It wasn’t deliberate. I then got banged around a bit by the people who were either side of me and who were, before I stopped, behind me. As I hadn’t got my breath back, it effected me and I decided to stop again for a couple of seconds.

After that, I took it steady and got my breath back, gradually feeling better and better. Finding a draft proved difficult as most people were swimming my kind of speed. One guy with a red cap went by me on the second lap but he started going to the left. I followed him a bit before deciding to let him go.

I caught the last people in the second wave at corner three and after that it was an uneventful swim. Some drafting, swim around them, draft some more, swim around again.

Time: no idea, but I guess around 30 mins

T1: this went ok but was not too fast as I had to pack my stuff away in the bag. A huge amount of steam came off the wetsuit when I took it off. I have never seen that before. I had a problem in that I felt a bit giddy and at one stage nearly fell over backwards when I tried to stand up. It didn’t last long though.

Guessing about 3 mins.

Official time was 32:50 (8th percentile).  The swim was short compared with last year: 36:16 (5th percentile)

Bike: I changed my plan from yesterday and decided to go harder than I would normally do and see what happened.  So I did.  I found it quite hard on the long bits where there was a strong headwind and my legs were really feeling it.

I felt fine on the main part of the course but quite cold going through the bits under the trees.

I stopped after 100m to check the brakes as I heard what sounded like rubbing, but it wasn’t

I was pleased that my power numbers were: AP= 201W and NP=209W.  This is more than I have ever done in a half-ironman distance race (last year it was 195W/204W).

Total time: 2:58:29.  I think this includes the run out of T1 (about 100m) and none of T2.  29th percentile (last year 29th percentile as well).  My actual riding time is 4 mins 32s faster than last year.

T2: a bit slow as I was a bit all-over-the-place (and put on socks).

Run: The plan originally was not to walk but then I saw people walking up the 25% hill about a mile in.  But I still decided to run.  I ran about 2/3rds of it and then my two quad muscles closest to my knee (vastus medialis) started claiming.  So I walked about for about 20 seconds and then carried on running.

At the half way point, I worked out I was on for a 1:51:30 time if the run was the full 21.1k.  That was not to be.  The second-half had some big, steep hills in.  In ran up Sandy Gallops ok.  I ran most of Heartbreak Ridge (again, I walked for about 20 seconds 2/3rds of the way up to ease the heart rate up a bit).  The hill at the end before you got to the road was also walked (2x 20 seconds worth).

My pins and needles first got noticed 28:40 into the run.  I had decided beforehand just to run through them.  Most of the time it wasn’t a problem, I just couldn’t feel my feet too much.  A couple of times I tripped or landed badly but it didn’t give me a huge amount of trouble.    I did take the steeper downhills a bit easier as I was worried about tripping.

The first mile or so of the run, a few people were overtaking me.  After that, I started over-taking people.  From mile 10 or so, people again started overtaking me.  I think my legs had run out of stamina!  The last mile on the road, I held my own again.  I worked incredibly hard, face contorted, concentrating, working, hard.  Very hard.  But my pace was no where near the effort I was putting in.

At the end, I got pipped of one place in a sprint finish.  Oh well.

Not sure what my actual running time was but, including T2 it was 2:0:9.  Slow.  But the course was just over 22k, so a little long.   If T2 was 3 mins and I allowed 5 mins for the extra length then 1:52 is not too bad bearing in mind the terrain.

That’s 27th percentile (last year 38th percentile – but I was getting over my torn calf muscle).

Overall, I did 5:31:29.  That’s 21st percentile (same as last year).  I was aiming for 5:30 so a little disappointed but I would have got there is the run was the right length

Tips for next time…

1. Going harder on the bike worked.  Staying with people (legally) as they went by me worked.  Perhaps I went a fraction too hard in the first hour but it worked.

2. Chill on the swim.  Because I got hit a lot and couldn’t breath when I wanted to I got worried and stopped for a few seconds.  Next time, I should have pushed the guy to the left of me out of the way or gone faster.

3. For a race like this one, I need a lot more leg strength on the run!  I practice hills.  But I don’t think I practice enough hills at the end of long runs at a hard enough pace.  Most triathlons don’t have run legs like this though!

I am actually quite nervous at the moment about this.  Not sure why.

Yesterday, I felt fine.  I was doing it for a laugh.  Today, it feels a bit more serious.

I did this last year, just after coming back from a torn calf muscle.  This is what I said at the end of my report:

So my thoughts:

1. I like the New Forest and will do this race again next year.  I will practice swimming a bit more first though!

2. I was fine on the bike course.  I will probably do it the same again as this year (and hopefully be fitter) but maybe push just the last 30 minutes and put more effort into the uphills.

3. I have never run on a course like this.  I need to practice a lot more on incredibly steep hills and uneven gravel paths.

4. Most importantly, I really need to sort these pins and needles out.  Or if I can’t, have a strategy for dealing with them.  One thing seems clear – massage makes running worse.

Assuming that the weather and course is the same next year, I think I could get my time to sub-5:30.

This year I have not done much swimming (it’s weaker than last year).  I am not fitter on my bike, but will try to stay with people (legally) who over take me a bit.   Running steep hills on rough paths is something I have done a lot of this year and so I am more confident on that.

The feet though.  I have learnt nothing new this year.  So my plan is to tough it out.  I will get pins and needles.  I know they won’t go away once they start.  But they won’t slow me down if I just keep running.

In terms of strategy:

1. Swim hard for the first 100m or so, find some feet and then concentrate on keeping them.

2. Bike harder than normal.  Keep up with people who overtake me.  Stay well back from them but keep with them if they are going roughly my speed.  Last 30 minutes should be hard.

3. Run tough.  Run every bit.  Even the steepest hill.  Just run.  And keep running.

I enjoyed all but the last bit of the New Forest Middle Distance Triathlon today.  The last bit that was the last half of the run.  For me, it wasn’t pleasant.

The day started at 3am.  I was waiting for my alarm to go off so I could get ready and drive down.  I had registered and racked the day before but I didn’t have my timing chip.  I thought that I hadn’t picked it up at registration so I went groveling when I got there this morning.  Turns out it was in the envelope that they gave me and I later found it under the seat of the car.  My fault entirely but the race organisers were great and gave me another without any fuss or hassle. 

The race has a split transition and the coach was waiting for me at the finish and took me quickly to T1.  I spent quite a relaxed time in T1 waiting for a quick swim briefing and then got in for a warm up, I was in the first wave.

Swim

Today proved that I have lost a lot of my swim fitness from May.  In May I swam “hard” for the first 300m or so.  Today it was more like 75m before easing off.  I didn’t get a good draft until the first corner of the two lap course.  Then I was fine until I lost it by the start of the second lap.  I wasn’t concentrating enough.  Around 200m later I got another draft but lost that just before the last buoy.  Again lack of concentration as we were in the midst of the slower wave 2 swimmers who were going in a different direction.  I definitely swam slower at the end than normal. A few of my attempted draftees just swam away from me before I could get properly behind them

Swim time was around 34 minutes.  Not sure exactly.

T1: the run to the bike was fine.  I dawdled a little with socks and road bike shoes.  Then I dawdled a bit more putting my stuff in a bag before running to the mount line.

Official swim + T1 time: 36:16.  This puts me 17 out of 316 (5th percentile).

Bike: Being in the first wave meant that lots of people overtook me on the bike for the first hour or so without me doing much overtaking.  I deliberately didn’t go hard on the hills but some people seem to go up them very quickly!  I know I have put on a few pounds since May but that’s not the difference.  I think I overtook 2 people on the bike who were out of the water in front of me. 

For the last hour and a bit I went “hard”.  I noticed that I was overtaking people who had overtaken me on the first lap.  Also a couple of people overtook me but they didn’t stick.  I think only one guy overtook me, and made it stick, on the second lap and I guess that his swim is a lot poorer than his bike performance.

Throughout the bike I had a bit of a dodgy tummy and that got a little worse on the second lap.

The course was easy to follow and well sign-posted with plenty of enthusiastic marshals.  The only concern about the course is that they have designed it so that there is a headwind virtually all the way around (it seemed that only the last bit before the finish was with the wind – and it was also felt mainly downhill – so I am sure that I did well over 40kph for quite a while).

Official bike time: 3:02:32 (my actual riding time was a few seconds over 3 hours).  This put me 92nd (29th percentile).

T2: This was fine and quick.  A helper got me my bag.  A quick-ish T2 and then on to the run.  I say quick-ish because I still tied my laces (double knots!) and had to pack my bag again.

Run: This is where the fun started.  The first 2k-ish is mainly up a hill along a road.  No problem, I overtook a couple of people and someone overtook me.  I also saw 16 VX220′s, which seemed a bit out of place in the New Forest. 

Then we crossed the road, got a drink and I could see in the distance some trees towards which I had to run.  Trouble was that there was a big valley with steep sides between me and the trees.  So I ran down the hill on loose, large-ish gravel.  But because it was so steep down, and because of the pebble sized gravel, and because my ankles felt “tight” I had to keep braking myself down the hill rather than run freely.   Then I got to the steep uphill on the other side.  After a bit, I tried an experiment, how much slower would I be walking “hard” up it (this wasn’t in my race plan!).  There was someone who was running at my pace about 10m behind me.  He gained 20m very quickly so I carried on running and caught up him back up.

At the 3 mile mark I was doing fine.  The scenery on the run is fantastic and it changes all the time.  Sometimes you are running through a quiet forest with no one around, at other times you are on a ridge with open plains all around you.  I liked that.  But at 35 minutes in I got pins and needles in my feet.  This is normal for me.  It meant I was losing the “feel” of the ground when my feet touched it so I started wobbling more.  By 45 minutes, it was quite painful but stayed bearable.  I had tried walking a few times (for 30 seconds or so) to see if it would make a difference.  I also stopped once to massage my left foot through my shoe.  It made no difference.  Running was painful on my feet (and the hills were painful in a different way, especially as my longest run since I hurt my calf had been an hour-ten).  After about 1hr 20m I walked up a few steep hills.  Did I tell you that there are always hills?  I walked because of my feet rather than my fitness but in reality I may have been a bit weak-willed. 

Then I got to a marshal by a gate and I lent against it, took each shoe off and massaged my feet for a couple of minutes.  Massaging them made them feel better but when I started running again it felt like I had even less of a sensation of what my feet were doing – and more sensation of the pain that the ball of my left foot was in.  I was now in a double-whammy position – feet were hurting badly and I was worried that I might have diarrhoea.  Miles away from a toilet (but there were plenty of bushes to hide behind) and a long way to run. 

I continued to run the gentle uphills and downhills (there were no flat bits at this stage) but walked the steep uphills.  People were regularly overtaking me on the walking bits.  A few people overtook me when I was running. 

By the time I got back to the road I was not doing too well.  My tummy was worrying me nearly as much as my feet.  But on the road it was virtually all downhill for the whole of the 2k to the finish.  And I had to walk a couple of bits.  Yep, walk!  Walking downhill!!!!  The pain in my foot was bad.  My tummy even made me stop and lean against a wall for a few moments.  This was with about 400m to go!  The moment past and I started running again.  I easily overtook the person in front and finished.

The finish was good.  Lots of drinks, fruit, flap jacks and stuff.  I sat there for a bit just watching the sights before getting my kit (and finding a toilet) and then debating whether to pop the blood blister on the ball of my left foot. 

Run time: 2:04:18 (oh dear).  This put me 120th (38th percentile).  I am chuffed with the position (i.e. lots of people found it tough) but disappointed with my performance because of my foot.  Get my foot sorted and I will easily knock a lot of time off of that.  Knocking 6 minutes off would have gained me 45  run places.

Overall: 5:43:07 – 67th place and 21st percentile.

So my thoughts:

1. I like the New Forest and will do this race again next year.  I will practice swimming a bit more first though!

2. I was fine on the bike course.  I will probably do it the same again as this year (and hopefully be fitter) but maybe push just the last 30 minutes and put more effort into the uphills.

3. I have never run on a course like this.  I need to practice a lot more on incredibly steep hills and uneven gravel paths.

4. Most importantly, I really need to sort these pins and needles out.  Or if I can’t, have a strategy for dealing with them.  One thing seems clear – massage makes running worse.

Assuming that the weather and course is the same next year, I think I could get my time to sub-5:30.

I entered this race at nearly the last minute and I have not practiced for it properly.  I’ve only done one long bike ride since Lanzarote in May.  I’ve been injured and ill since then so I have not done much training and I have gained a little weight.  I’ve not tapered as I have not done enough training to taper from.  I’ve probably done only two runs that are only just over half the  distance that I have to run tomorrow.  I have done a couple of continuous swims that are more than I need to swim tomorrow but I am nowhere near as quick as I was in May.  Oh dear.

But this gives me a fantastic opportunity to see how I can do.  All other other middle distance races have been ironman prep.  I’ve had the objective of going well, going steady, finishing without blowing.  Tomorrow, I don’t need to do that.  I can bike harder that normal.  I can run faster than normal and I can see what happens if I blow up big time.  So, tomorrow is about exploring the limits.  And getting up early.

Swim

This will be the same as normal.  Swim hard to start with and then aim to get a good draft so that I can ease off.

Bike

Aim to go moderately hard for the first two hours and then hard for the last hour.  I haven’t ridden the course but it seems to be a rolling-type course rather than flat or hilly.  The idea is to end up with my legs feeling shattered at the end of it.

Run

From what I can see from last year’s results, the course looks to be quite tough and/or long.  The aim is not to negative split the run.  I want to run so fast for the first half that I will be struggling at the end.  I will expect to get pins and needles.  Probably after 25 mins or so.  I’ll try to run through them but will allow myself a minute to massage my foot if I need to.  I think that there are some hills on the run.  I want to run them all.  At no stage do I want to walk. 

So what is success?  Enjoying myself and feeling as if I couldn’t have gone harder (or that I went too hard).

Which is a bit strange really seeing that I am not running properly yet.  I managed to get a place from someone who can’t do it any more (race rules allow substitutes).  As my running is improving, I thought I might as well give it a go.  I was planning on entering when more slots went on 3 August but that idea went bad when my calf did.

Today’s run went well.  I did 20 laps of the gym’s outdoor track.  This is marked as being 322m long (one-fifth of a mile) but I think it is wrong as I averaged 4:37 per km (7:25 per mile).  I was running at a moderate pace and after a bit of a warm up I was consistently coming in at 1:26 to 1:27 per lap.  That 4:29 per km pace!  So I think that the track is a little, well a lot, shorter than 322m.

By way of comparison about 6 years ago I had a go at leaning to run and got to the stage where I could run 3 miles in 33 minutes.  So 4 miles in less than 30 minutes is quite good!