Off To Race the World Champs!

Well, it is time to race! Tomorrow I leave for the World Long Course Triathlon Champs to be held in Holland on 31 August. Not sure if I will have access to the net whilst I stop at Centre Parks in De Ernhof. So, for all you regular readers, thanks for the interest and I will post a full race report when I can.

As for the pre race thoughts. I have had some great training sessions on the bike and run this week and I could probably race a storming half ironman at the moment. The World Champs is longer though, and I am unsure how I will handle the extra distance. Hold back is the plan!

Take care bloggers and train well!

Olympic Triathlon or Another Olympic 10k Race?

I watched the mens' Olympic Triathlon yesterday. Although it was a great race to watch and I admired Alistair Brownlee's efforts on the run, I couldn't help wondering what the result would have been if the race was a non-draft affair? The guys are all quite evenly matched on the swim (sickeningly fast too). However, if a hillier course was chosen and non-draft applied I reckon the race would be far more interesting. Imagine every competitor going full out on the bike? The format now is making the event a 10k run race. Another option could be a time trial format where competitors start at 1 or 2 minute intervals. With today's high tech timing we could receive splits for individuals, just like they do in the Tour De France TTs. How much slower would the run splits be after going full pelt on the bike, I wonder? I am sure that the same guys would make the Pro level but not so sure that the same guys would be winning?

Yesteryear and Motivation!

Inspiration to individuals can come in many forms. As I started my run today, I began to think what inspires me. What positive thoughts can I use to inspire me when I race? Mental strength seems more important when racing long. Firstly, I give glory to my maker for allowing me to enjoy racing. Secondly, I seem to draw strength in the knowledge that training sessions indicate that I am in shape. Thirdly, I dream of the days 25 years ago when I was a pure runner and able to churn out 32 min 10k races………oh to be able to do that now!

Here I am all those years ago!

Today’s run was 10 miles easy, concentrating on my Almere race pace and feeling that I am holding back. After a 120k bike, I think it will be essential that I hold back on the first 15k lap of the run. I ran this way when I raced over 30k at the Stamford St Valentine Day 30k. In that race I managed a nice negative split and finished the last 3 miles at 5:45 pace for a 1:58 finishing time. Obtaining a negative split seems to be such a more enjoyable way of running – certainly less painful ……..flash backs of London Marathon making me shiver!!

The good thing about today’s run was that my musings of yesteryear reminded me of how I used to concentrate when running a race. I would focus on an object straight ahead and just think relaxed speed. By doing that, I would get in a zone and run fast without realising! Today was the same. By holding back, focusing and getting in the zone, my Garmin indicated that I was cruising at 7 min per mile. As I thought about the past, it occurred to me how much the general standard of running has reduced over the years. I remember being so pleased with my 5 mile road race pb of 25:25, yet I finished in the 20s! Sub 26 mins these days pretty much wins you a 5 mile race.

In summary, when racing long, particularly on the run, I will:

a. Thank the Lord for making me and allowing me to do what I enjoy!
b. Be confident that the training is in the bank and I am in shape.
c. Remember the good old fast days and run like I used to!!

What makes you bloggers 'tick'? What inspires you? The superhuman efforts in the Olympics, as awesome as they are, just don't inspire me personally. I admire their genetics and their dedication but can't help that they are too wrapped up in what they do. I suppose they will think more about life when they realise that they are slowing down and cannot do what they used to quite so fast!

Olympic Speed!

How fast did the Brit Team Pursuit guys go!!!! 3:53!!

A Good Week

Training last week improved as the week progressed. I had a decent 2 x 20 mins at 290W followed by a 5 mile run and a decent open water swim session on Friday. I wanted a long hard ride at the weekend; with Turbo Man racing, I decided to ride with my local bike club, St Ives CC. They ride around 60 miles each Sunday but I normally have to train a lot earlier to ensure that I do not abandon my family for half the day. However, this weekend was a key session (at least I decided it was!). So, at 0900 I met the bunch of real cyclists and went out with the 'A' group (they have a 'B' and 'C' group, with the 'A' group being the fast boys). We zipped along at 19mph from the off and I knew that I would get the ride I wanted. To make it extra hard, I attacked on every hill and when the bunch caught me up I would surge again. This tactic stimulated some healthy competition, which was great fun! After a very pleasant coffee stop the 'real' cyclists kindly allowed me to tow them the entire 26 miles home! Averaging over 22mph and continually attacking on every hill, the group that finished was significantly smaller than the one that started. Quote of the ride from a rider occurred as I had to stop to replace my unshipped chain 2 miles from home: "I wish your chain had come off 20 miles back!"

Suitably 'pooped' I arrived home feeling as though my bike legs were where they needed to be for Almere. Less than 2 weeks until the race and I am into taper time. Quite how I taper is another matter. I am not good at tapering! I will worry about it next week!

Well done to Turbo Man and Reg 'I start off fast on my run' Swallow for their heroics at Aberfeldy Half Ironman. They had a tough day racing on a tough course. Also, Jase Walkley clocked an Olympic distance pb 2:08 at the Wolverhampton Tri. Also racing were Vicky Webb and Bev Childs; both recording brilliant positions overall and in their age group.

I'm having an easy day today.....Jaffa Cakes shall be mine.

2009 Racing - I am a Guinea Pig!!

I think this post should appear in about a month's time, but what the heck.


The 2008 Triathlon season is not yet over; however, my thoughts are drifting towards 2009. I am not getting any younger. In fact, I move up an age group and join the 45 - 49 OAPs (no offence Turbo Man!). Now I was a late starter in triathlon and have always been placed in the Vets category! A dilemma associated with age is the question: how can one continue to make improvements as the body degenerates? I am no coaching guru and make up my own training routines (I did have a spell when JC - not 'the' JC...that would be so cool.....coached by JC!!!...sorry, rambling a bit there - yes, John Crewe helped me enormously by providing sensible training schedules that I tried to follow).


I have decided that all the trend for long distance triathlon is not for me: too much of drain on family time, not enough intensity to feed my lust for pain and the recovery period after long races does my head in! So, I need to shock the old bones by trying something totally different - I am going 'short' for the 2009 season. This tactic will give me more quality (bike base mileage is history!), in terms of training intensity and family time. I have a schedule mapped out, due to commence late Sep 2009. Basically, for the bike and run there will be more rest, yet increased intensity over shorter distances. The swim element will take precedence and technique will be the emphasis. However, overall, the building blocks will be laid in the form of total body conditioning to build strength - especially bike specific power. The planned training is very different to anything that I have done before; hence, I am my own guinea pig and I am looking forward to the change and this blog will take on a new focus. I hope to create links to each month's training schedule and the resulting sessions, when completed.


That's the future. For now, the focus is on the World Long Course Champs in Holland, which are scheduled for 2 weeks 21 hours and 7 minutes.....give or take a few seconds! Following my whinging and complaining about not being able to recover from the Trentham Half IM, I have had a good week this week. I am finally feeling strong again. Kelda has already berated me for taking advantage of my new found energy 8-( She is experienced over the longer distance stuff and I had better listed to her and back off with the intensity. Before I do that, however, I must confess.......yesterday I sneaked a cheeky 2 x 20 mins at 290W on the turbo and followed that with a 5 mile run at 6:45 per mile. I will go easy now though Kelda - today was just a swim....Kelda, it was a Thursday swim; how did you go? Sorry everyone else. Not good form to start directing a post at individuals! My swim was the best water session that I have had in a long time. Maybe I should just bank the feeling of today and not touch the H2O before Holland!?


This weekend sees Turbo Man attack the hills at the Aberfeldy Half IM Triathlon. Go for it T Man and run negative split please! Jase Walkley races at Wolverhampton Olympic Distance Triathlon. The course should suit him well and I expect a scorching bike split from him. His swim has improved so much that, if he can string a half decent run together, I can see him making the top 5 overall. Daz 'fast man' Sharpe came 5th at the correctly described hardest triathlon in the UK! An awesome result and he should go well in Holland - he deserves (and is good enough!) a top finish at the World Champs after a miserable time earlier in the year with health problems.



That's enough from this guinea pig. Stay well bloggers.

King Cancellara!

He is simply awesome! Winner of the Olympic TT .......and if you look closely, you will see that I lent 'Fab' my deep rim front wheel!

20mph Game Anyone?

My plan to rest the entire weekend faltered, as I was tempted out for a run on Sunday by Turbo Man. I ran 40 mins to meet him, completed a loop round Hinchinbrooke park and then ran home. I covered 15 miles, which is my longest run since the London Marathon. I felt ok and kept the pace easy. However, after the run I was wiped out and fell asleep at church. I had planned to ride to work on Monday morning but a disturbed night (kids etc) left me feeling even more tired. So, I took the car and swam at lunch time and rode home. I must have had a tail wind as the ride started off feeling very easy. I soon fell into the trap of the 20mph game………anyone ever played that game on the bike? Basically, you have to maintain a 20mph average (sounds easy? Try it and you will realise that it is not!). I monitor my time in multiples of 3 and try to hit the 20mph average on each multiple of 3 – 6 mins should be 2 miles, 9 mins at 3 miles, 12 mins at 4 miles etc. With hills and wind you can see where you are dropping off the average and you have to get back on track. By 20 miles I was averaging 21.5mph so I was abale to ease back and spin away to complete 30 miles at 21mph. Dare I say it? Could I be feeling back to normal? Time will tell.

This morning I had the return 30 miles to work. I always struggle in the mornings and I ail for a relaxed 16mph average. I was around 17mph average but the weather was awful! It rained continually and I was soaked through. It reminded me that I had better pack some bad weather kit for Holland!

Further to a previous post, coach Roy sent me this pic of a similar swim toy to help with that elusive high elbow:




Looks as though it may help…..even if it does look like it has the potential to break your forearm! Not sure if I have a kit bag big enough to carry all my swim toys!

Weekend Waffling

Well it is Saturday afternoon and I am resting today! Watched the Olympic road race this morning (bike). It was quite good and Fabian Cancellara was awesome! He didn't win but the way he bridged the gap to the leaders and still had the energy to contest the sprint was amazing - he got 3rd. My girls, JJ and CJ, have taken up horse riding; it was their second week today. It is a real joy to watch their faces as they trotted along on their horses.

The thought crossed my mind that I had found a sport that was more expensive than triathlon! Surely they would prefer a Cervelo bike? Nope, not a chance! Horse type clothing is their request....helmet, boots, trousers.......... Oh well, if they enjoy it, so be it!

Here is a pic of 'moi' finishing the Trentham Half ironman:

You may have gathered that the pic is a photo of a photo! Can't get my printer to scan, though it is meant to..........operator error, I suspect! I have had a good year racing in 2008 and the look on my face really tells the story of how much I enjoyed this race.............and to finish without blowing up!

3 Weeks to the World Long Course Triathlon Champs

Nearly 2 weeks after the Trentham Half Ironman and I am slowly starting to feel better – not firing on all cylinders but getting there. I shouldn’t be surprised as it was a similar recovery process last year after the Vitruvian. I have managed some reduced volume training this week and if I get it right over the next 3 weeks I may see some ‘super compensation’ from the big effort at Trentham?!! Let’s hope so!

My plan is to rest totally this weekend……that is going to be hard! Then, complete a mini build period prior to leaving for Holland for the World Long Course. This week……

Monday: EZ Swim set. Aborted long run!
Tuesday: EZ Pool swim session.
Wednesday: EZ Pool drills. Turbo 1hr with technique and 20 mins at 290W.
Thursday: Steady 7 mile run. Felt much better than Monday!
Friday: Swim set followed by 1 hr turbo including 3 x 6 mins at 330W

………has been easy with a couple of increased efforts on the bike; I could tell I was not quite recovered properly when I did the efforts.

I made a decision regarding the aero helmet – Bell Meteor or Giro Advantage. I went for the Bell, as it was slightly cheaper. However, when I received it, I was just not happy with the fit. It is not as close fitting as the Giro and I felt like I was wearing a pudding basin on my noggin! So, I sent it back and am now awaiting delivery of my new Giro Advantage – in ‘RAF Blue’, of course!!

Swim Toys!

In my unending quest to try and improve my weak point - swimming - I found this little toy produced by finis. I was heartened when i found this item because a couple of years ago I improvised a very similar swim aid (should have patented it!)! The extended paddle straps on to the forearm and fixes your hand and forearm in the correct position; hence forcing you to keep a high elbow in the catch. I used skate board wrist protectors, which, basically, lock the wrist but do not have a paddle element - Nige and Turbo Man may remember laughing at me as I wore these!! Whose laughing now eh! I may try this 'professional' version. The majority of frustrated swimmers have a dropped elbow and this tool may be the answer............or is it a case of training doesn't seem to be working so I will buy a gadget, which is bound to work!!

What do all you swimmers out there think of this?

Recovery Blues......Again!!

After reading about Phil McNeil’s exploits this weekend, I sort of feel a bit of a fake writing this! I have recovery blues! It is a week since the Gatorade Big Half Ironman Triathlon and my mind is saying ‘time to get back into training’. However, my body has just told me otherwise! I went for a long run and was completely drained of all energy……..not happy! I guess I have to accept that I do not recover quickly from a long distance race. I have been recovering well from the shorter races this year – far better than ever before. I foolishly thought that I would be back up to speed by now but this is not the case. I guess that I am trying to keep up with the younger element that did the Big Half and now seem to be racing and training quite happily (and full of energy!). Dare I say it? ………the ‘A’ word? ……….ok, I will. It’s an age thing! That extra 16 years just takes it toll on the body!

So, what do I do? I ran 10 miles today. It was meant to be 13 but I cut it short because I feared that I would not make it back! Clearly, I am not recovered. Should I take a couple of days complete rest? Should I ease back and tick over with light training? I have 3 weeks until the World Champs and I want to be fresh for the race. I am under no illusions that I will get a top 3 place; I just want to enjoy it.
Any thoughts on this bloggers? Please remember that I am old 8-)

Phil Does the Double!!

A buddy of mine, Phil McNeil, has today completed the first double ironman triathlon race ever to be held in the UK. What an amazing performance. Phil would be the first to admit that he is not the most gifted triathlete! However, with his great sense of humour and sheer enjoyment of this sport, Phil is, in my book, the ultimate triathlete. He completed a 4.8 mile swim, 224 mile bike and finished with a 52 mile run!! rest well Phil, I know that you will be hurting! Look forward to shaking your hand when we meet again.

Turbo Man's Fav Stretch of Road ......

.......always fills me with dread because he tucks in the tri-bars and I have to hang on to his wheel as he cranks the speed up to 28mph. That's what happened this morning as we went on a long 'EZ' ride. I clocked 64 miles averaging 18.2mph. Quite windy in places. I thought of Daz doing his 100 mile sportif on his new bike and prayed that he had good weather! Look forward to your report Daz! It proceeded to rain on us and I got a nice face full of dirt and water as I drafted Turbo man through his fav road. I am still a bit fatigued from last week's half ironman - unlike young Jase Walkley who is racing the National Relays at Nottingham this weekend (that's the power of youth for you!). Look forward to the results from that event too.

A slightly new look to the blog. The pic is me looking happy after picking up my first age group win at Trentham - a good day out indeed. I haveto go and search the net for a new helmet now, as mine has a small crack in it. Don't want to get to Almere and they tell me that my lid is damaged............no lid.............no ride. Thinking of changing to a Bell Meteor as the 08 model has rear vents as well as front vents - something the Giro Advantage does not have the advantage of!!

Work Your Weaknesses

Need I say more? Some thoughts that I am contemplating prior to my 4k swim atthe World Champs:

Positioning
You need to have your body in the best possible position to both minimize drag and increase the potential muscle power available. Get your body straight and long, parallel to the water surface, as you swim.
Check what you see. You should be looking down at the bottom, sideways or almost up to the side as you breath, but never forward. If you look forward, your legs will tend to drop towards the bottom, and you will lose your parallel alignment with the water.
The top of your head always points towards your destination.
Imagine that you are swimming in a long tube. Keep yourself within that tube as you move forward. It may require a gentle kick, it may require looking a little more backwards than down, but practice your positioning.
Grabbing
You must grab or catch the water so you have a way to transfer your muscle power from your body to the water.
You need to put your hand and arm in a position that allows this to happen. Trying to grab the water with just your hand and you will be losing a lot of your grip.
Try to use your hand and forearm.
Imagine that you are reaching forward and down over a wall as you swim, with the edge of the wall at your elbow. Point your fingertips towards the bottom of the pool, point your elbow up towards the sky or out towards the side, and think of everything from the elbow joint down your forearm and through your fingertips as one large paddle.
Pressing
You must press on the water with the largest muscles available. For most swimmers that means the muscles in your chest and back, not in your arms or shoulders.
You should feel a pocket develop in your armpit as you apply force to the water.
As you press on the water, your back and chest muscles pull your arm from ahead of you to under and behind your chest (but do all you can to maintain the fingertip down, elbow up "grab" position).
Imagine yourself grabbing the water first, then pressing on the water. Feel your body surge forward over your arm as you press......... never felt this myself!!!
Rotating
To fully use your position, your grab, and your press, you must add body rotation.
Your body should rotate about an axis defined by a line from the top of your head through your neck, back, and legs.
When the arm is grabbing, the body body is rotated so that the grabbing arm side is under water and the opposite side is above the water - or at least closer to the water's surface than the grabbing side. The body rotates as one unit, from shoulders through hips, with the hips and shoulders in line with each other (this means you need to use your core muscles to hold it all together).
After you have grabbed the water you are going to press on the water. As you press, you also rotate your body, moving the body slightly ahead of the press. moving the body so that the side that was lower is moving up towards the surface and the side that was up is moving lower (and that moving lower side's arm is moving into the water ahead of you, sliding forward and extending, but not moving into the grab or catch yet). Imagine a string going from your hip to your palm. Move the hip to start the press by pulling on that string when the hip begins to rotate from a deeper to a shallower position.

I know all the theory.................putting it into practice is another thing altogether!