Jaffa Cake Famine!!

Time flies when you are having fun! Today the worst of all worst things happened...........I forgot my Jaffa Cakes! This is a disaster of epic proportions! I am on duty tonight as well so that will be a full 36 hours of no JCs......sniff..........

Training is going ok and I am beginning to master the balance drills in the pool. Today I did an hour of 25m drill/25m swim. As I completed my 25m full stroke length I sort of fell into breathing every 4th stroke on my unnatural side (left). This is really weird for me; however, I was feeling smooth and relaxed, with minimal effort. I know that you cannot gauge much by alternate 25m swims after 25m drill, but I decided to time some of the 25m full stroke swimming. Keeping the effort the same, I clocked the 25m at 22 sec (22:05 to be exact). Not fast, but fast for me at that effort level. The next few timed 25m after a drill length were all between 21:5 and 22 sec. I was tempted to do a 200m time trial to see if I could maintain that pace; however, I decided that would not be wise and I carried on. It bodes well, though, that I am feeling ok in the water. Of course, it could all go wrong come April/May but let’s think positively and reach for the stars!

I dusted off the hurt box again for the weekly turbo/run session. It was short intervals this week: 3 x 6 mins at 300W. During the race season I was doing 6 x 6 mins at 330W, so 3 x 6 mins would be easy? Nope! I was tickling the hurt box again and thinking that the session should feel easier! After the turbo hurt it was out onto the road for 6 x 400m with 1 min recovery. After the initial wobbly leg feeling and a 1:30 effort, I settled into repeats of 1:19 – 1:23. This pace, I decided, was too fast and I would reduce the pace and increase the number of reps next time, as I need to leave myself room for gradual improvement. I will save the real gut-busting efforts for the spring.

Talking of gut-busting efforts, I read an article on the Tabata Protocol today – sounds like a drill to be adopted during a nuclear explosion or something! It’s all about very short and sharp efforts at max intensity, with short recovery periods. Here is an extract:

TAKE THE TABATA TEST
If you think you've got what it takes, here's the drill. First, do a five-minute warm-up by cycling at about 40% of your full effort. For the intervals, work on a stationary bike and alternate 20 seconds of activity at full effort with 10-second rest periods. Each sprint-rest combo counts as one interval. After the intense section, do a five-minute cool-down in the same way you warmed up. Try to do four intervals at first, then gradually work your way up to six. Repeat the workout three to four days a week.

I have done sessions like this before on my turbo and boy does it hurt! I don’t really fancy doing it 5 times a week! However, for peaking in the spring, it could be beneficial. Apparently, fatigue in the legs is minimal after you have recovered yet you feel like someone has set fire to your lungs. If my hurt box sessions remain hurtful, I may just do some of these to wake myself up

8-)

Swimming Update

Yesterday was my second swim session in the endless pool at Swim Shack. I have now completed 3 and a half hours of one to one swim coaching and we have not yet covered any technique associated with propulsion! All the work has been on position, breathing and balance. This is good! It means that I am learning something new. Yesterday I struggled to master the balance and rotation techniques being shown to me. I am shown how the technique should be completed on a big screen. Then I attempt it whilst being filmed......oh dear! the contrast is severe! The mistakes that I am making are pointed out to me, and then I attempt the technique again. And so it goes on, in an iterative manner.

My session this morning was much better and I was progressing. the picture below (the top slide of the cover shot) shows the position that you should be in with correct balance (arms by your side head down):

I believe that without the leading arm obtaining balance is harder! The idea is that you find your balance on your back. then rotate slightly to a semi side-on position with your head remaining locked looking towards the ceiling. then rotate to the position in the picture but maintain balance. That means hips not dropping and maintaining a fluid balanced kick - it is not as easy as you may think! Once you are balanced in the face down position, you rotate back to the semi-side position with your head looking at the ceiling - again, completed in perfect balance. Mastering this technique will be my focus for the next 3 weeks. I then have my third session at Swim Shack. You never know, I may do some swimming soon!

I just want to say that I have completed a self taught Total Immersion course from a video and book. This was way back in 2003 when I was learning to swim more than 2 lengths of freestyle. Since that time I have learnt to swim better! However, I had some negative thoughts about Total Immersion. I now see that the drills that I had learnt by myself were incorrectly learnt by myself! Hence the progress I made was limited. I still believe that I can make gains in my swim speed if I master these basic balance techniques. Having someone teach me the techniques is soooooooooooo different!

Where is Your Hurt Box?

Open up Google and search the term hurt box. You are bound to get a cycling reference. If you are serious about your cycling you have to find this mythical item – your hurt box! My winter training routine sees each Wednesday as a tough day. There is a swim drill session in the morning and then, in the afternoon, a turbo session consisting of long or short intervals followed by run intervals. Today was the second time I have completed Wednesday training but the first long interval day. It had reminded me that achieving my goals would not be easy! I dusted off my hurt box and tickled it today. As the winter progresses I am going to have to dig to the very bottom of the box!

I did 3 x 10 mins at 260W today. I peaked at 2 x 20 mins and 3 x 15 mins at 290W during the race season. So, so 3 x 10 mins at 260W should be ok? Tickle tickle…it still hurt but I concentrated on not actually opening the box! Then it was out with the Garmin and 3 x 1 mile with 2 min recoveries. These run repeats are tempo at this time of year; full on speed is not the aim just yet. I set my Garmin for 6:20 per mile pace. First rep 6:08, second 6:04………best ease back…….third rep 6:15. Considering I had just staggered off the turbo the running felt reasonably easy. I am sure, as the turbo sessions suck me into the hurt box, the running will not feel so easy!

My legs were slightly heavy from the vertical kick drills I had been doing in the pool yesterday! What a momentous day! The first time ever that I have had sore legs from swimming – not sure if that is good or bad! As I have recently turned ……. I mean had a birthday….. my kind mother in law bought me some compression calf lingerie. What she thinks I want them for, I am not so sure! Anyway, I ran in them today for the first time. It is not a good look! Not sure if they will keep my calves healthy but we’ll give it a go! I am just amazed that they make them small enough for my matchstick legs!

I have my second Swim Shack swim session tomorrow – really looking forward to that. I have spent the last week doing hardly any full stroke swimming. I have done loads of drills and have mastered the homework given to me last week; I just hope that I can reproduce the drills perfectly in the endless pool so the teacher gives me full marks and gives me more secret stuff to work on!
Good luck with finding your hurt box…….learn to love it……purrrrrrrrr!

More Bike and Training Stuff

Further to the last post and the comments from Daz 'fast man' Sharpe and Turbo Man, check out the pictures below taken at the recent National Time Trial Champs. The guys in these pics are all really fast - especially Doc Hutch! All these guys are forward (probably more so than Daz) on their saddle and lower than myself, in varying degrees. I know that everyone is different and we all function in different positions but it is worth playing around with our positions. I have completed a couple of sessions on the turbo with a lower position and a narrower elbow plant. I fells ok on the turbo for up to 6 mins! Interestingly, only with the narrower elbow plant are my knees, elbow and hips all in line.

The experiment continues!!

Training has been going well. My conditioning sessions are progressing and the weight training feels good. Swimming continues to take on new meaning now that I am under tuition! I have my next 90 min session on Thursday - I am excited by the prospect of maybe........just maybe.....after 4 years of fumbling around being able to bring my swimming up to the standard of my bike and run - time will tell...................

Bike Position

Now that the season has finished for me, I have been thinking of ways to gain speed for 2009. I have a plan for my swimming and biking. My running is taking a back seat this winter in the hope that I don't get slower! One aspect that I have not really given much attention over the years is my bike position. I just sort of go with what feels good.

Take a look at these 2 pics taken during the World Long Course Champs; one of Daz 'fast man' Sharpe (in the GB kit - not the black kit!) and the other of me:

Who looks more aero? I would say Daz. Now I know that there is a balance to be struck between getting aero and maintaining power, and getting too aero so that power actually reduces due to the position but I need to experiment! Hence I have adjusted my position to reduce my frontal area. This has meant getting lower and narrower! I have managed to hack my Profile Carbon X bars so the elbow pads are over an inch lower. This has been don without lowering the bars, in the hope that the feel of the bike handling remains the same.

Take a look at the pic below of the normal Carbon X bars that shows quite a drop under the elbow pads and a wide distance between elbow pads:

Here is a pic of my modified bars:

I have all winter to get used to it......

Swimming Master Plan

The swimming master plan started yesterday at Swim Shack. This is an Endless pool set up that has camera analysis, above and below the water. Ian, the coach, provides expert advise and has already started to transform me from struggling swimmer to streamlined torpedo!

I have a 10 hour course to complete and the first 2 hour session was all about starting from scratch. After seeing myself under water, I am amazed that I have managed to swim as fast as I have! Now this is not the first time that I have undergone this type of endless pool analysis. However, it will be the first time that I will have completed a consistent course of instruction over a number of months. I am convinced that continuity is key to making improvements. Previously, I had some analysis and returned some 6 months later for another session. By that time, any changes to technique had disappeared having not had the attention needed over a prolonged period.

Yesterday the focus was on body balance, leg kick and breathing. Now, I had convinced myself that I would never be able to kick. I had spent 4 years fruitlessly bobbing up and down in the water frantically trying to move forward whilst kicking but getting nowhere! This guy spent ages in the water physically placing my legs where they should be. Hey presto, I can kick! Today I was doing vertical kicking drills with my arms accross my chest. Previous attempts at this drill saw my making great friends with the tiles on the floor of the deep end of the pool. Breathing was all about CO2 trickle and emptying the lungs - something I was not doing.

I have my second session next week and I feel as though sorting the basics out will build a good foundation to gain speed come 2009. I will have a DVD catalogue of progress too, which should make interesting viewing at a training weekend........possibly great for a laugh!

Whilst the race season is over for me, Turbo man, Reg and Kelda will be competing in the Half Ireman.... that's in Ireland over half ironman distance. Now Reg will be hot to dip under 5 hours but not sure if the course is fast. He will, however, be out to beat Turbo Man, who will be slightly jaded after his 4:56 at The Vitruvian last week. Kelda may well fly round and beat them both if she has recovered from her 6th place performance at the World Long Course Champs - race well guys and, above all, enjoy the effort!

Lance to come back!?!

Velo News reports of a possible comeback from Lance Armstrong!! He obviously realised that he can't run marathons and misses his bike racing; I can understand that!! The extract below gives a few details:

Lance Armstrong will come out of retirement next year to compete in five road races with the Astana team, according to sources familiar with the developing situation.

Armstrong, who turns 37 this month, will compete in the Amgen Tour of California, Paris-Nice, the Tour de Georgia, the Dauphiné Libéré and the Tour de France — and will race for neither salary nor bonuses, the sources, who asked to remain anonymous, told VeloNews.

Armstrong's manager, Mark Higgins, did not respond to questions. And an Astana spokesman denied the report to The Associated Press.
"He is no part of our team," Astana team press officer Philippe Maertens told the AP in an e-mail. "Team Astana has no plans with him."
However, sources close to the story have told VeloNews that an exclusive article on the matter will be published in an upcoming issue of Vanity Fair, expected later this month. Vanity Fair editors did not respond to requests for comment.

Training Commences.....

After a very easy week I am feeling a bit like greyhound ready to burst out of the starting pen. Hence last week will now count as my end of season break (as if I have ever had an end of season break!). The winter of 2008/09 will be an experimental year. In order to make gains at my……ah hemm….more senior time of life, I need to shock the body with new training and increased intensity. I need to ensure I keep the muscle mass (what little I have) as I move into the 45 – 49 age group in 2009. After reading some stuff by Chris Boardman, I am going to train shorter and more intensively over the winter; however, I am also going to take more rest. The details will become apparent as the weeks and months tick by. There will be lots of turbo training, which will be handy as my remaining bike training buddy, Turbo Man, is abandoning me…….a sad day…..sniff…… The following will form the basis of the plan up until the end of Jan 09:

Mon: Swim Technique. Conditioning.
Tues: Swim Technique
Wed: Bike/Run Brick Power (alt short and long efforts each week)
Thurs: Swim technique
Fri: Swim Technique. Conditioning.
Sat: Tempo Bike/Run

The conditioning involves supersets of high rep squats/low cadence turbo hill simulations/fast feet treadmill. Then it’s onto core and some upper body exercises. Hence, during the conditioning sessions I actually bike and run.

The key bike sessions are on Wednesdays and the aim is to raise my power threshold gradually throughout the winter at short and long intervals of 6 mins and 20 mins, respectively. Turbo Man, for your info, my targets are:

Basic:

Short Intervals: 360W
Long Intervals: 320W

Stretch:

Short Intervals: 380W
Long Intervals: 340W

If I reach any of those targets, it’s game on!! I have a 4 month coached swim period coming up. During this time I hope to make the changes to my technique that I need to improve my swim times. From Jan 09 I will join the local swim club again and get myself beasted with the 12 year olds that swim under 20 mins for 1500m!

My running will take a back seat and the majority of run sessions will be off the bike. That said, I intend to do a full cross country season during the winter but there will be no easing down for races and, invariably, I will have completed the turbo efforts earlier in the day prior to any cross country running……….that’s why I have lots of rest in the schedule!
The routine is totally made up by me and whether it seems good or not, I have no idea! I am sure that coach Roy will scoff at the bad planning! I do, however, know that I will enjoy the training and that will be good enough for me! I suppose at worst I would get no slower??

Today I did the first session of conditioning. For squats, I only used the bar to get the movement back into my legs………ouch, it is a heavy bar for a lightweight like me! I enjoyed the session immensely and it feels like I am training bits that have been neglected!

Feel free to ridicule etc but don’t be too hasty to do so…….you never know what the training may yield come next summer……

Until the next instalment…..
Disclaimer: This schedule is not endorsed to be productive for any blog readers. Should any blog readers incur bodily damage whilst attempting to replicate strange made up training sessions, Mark Sags does not bare any responsibility for said injuries.

Back to British Weather

There is no doubt that I am suffering from post-holiday blues! The weather in blighty is pants! Add to that returning to work, the deluge of race pics available from the World Champs in Holland that depicts the fantastic weather that we had and no more races lined up, then the daily grind seems gloomy indeed! Still, I suppose that just goes to show what a great time I had in Holland. The whole GB representation was so cool that I would really like to do it again! Next year the World Long Course Champs will be held over O2 distance. That distance is possibly best suited to my abilities. Add to that the fact that I will be moving up an age group, then there is an outside chance.....an aspiration.....a possibility if I can improve my swim.....maybe.... of a shot at a World Championship medal! The problem is that the event will be held in Perth Australia 8-( Funding such a venture is all but impossible

I am super eager to commence my winter training experiment; however, I need to avoid burn-out! I swam yesterday, nice and easy, and I cycled an easy hour on my single speed today....in the pouring rain - a real contrast to the sunny 28 degrees when I last rode my bike!!

It is the Inter-Services Long Course Champs on Sat. The weather forecast is really bad. best wishes to all the brave chaps (c'mon Turbo man!!) and chapesses competing at Rutland Water. I am recovering well and could probably race.............but I won't!!

Some World Champ Pics

Yes this a nice wetsuit rash!!

World Long Course Tri Champs Report!

I am back! What a great trip it was to Holland! Here I am with my new Dutch super aero TT machine!! It has been ages since we had a family holiday and the break was well needed by all of us. However, mixing a high profile race with a family holiday is not the best way to have a holiday to please all! In the future I think the family hols will be separate from triathlon.

Anyway, the race was the World Long Course Triathlon Champs and here is my race report. It is a bit lengthy, so read in chunks to stay awake!

I arrived on the Monday prior to the race (Sunday) so there was plenty of time to chill and tick over. I managed to grab a couple of open water swims with Daz ‘fast man’ Sharpe, who was also stopping at Center Parks (as was Mike Masters and Mike Westwell. Jase Walkley and Kelda were camping nearby)). My swimming had been feeling very out of sorts for some time and the open water swims in Holland went the same way! I couldn’t stay with Daz, even though he was just ambling along. A bit worrying, but not much could be done at that stage. An easy few days, with only easy biking and running followed. Mind you, as a family, we hired out a 4 person cycle buggy and went exploring. It was hard work pedalling and we sort of got lost in the woods! I am sure that the buggy went places that it had never been before! We ended up pushing it through all sorts of mud and cow ........stuff!

Finding race registration and the team briefing was a real effort. There were no signs at all and it felt like the entire day was spent searching for places. On the plus side, the weather had really picked up and the temperature was around 27 degrees and sunny. Come race morning, I met Daz and we made sure that we arrived at transition nice and early. We had to rack the bikes the

previous day, so there was not that much to do. It seemed as though the racking was batched in age groups. My thoughts drifted to the normal scenario of my arriving out of the swim and seeing an empty transition! I stood with Daz and watched the Pros start and we commented on how long it was taking for the fast guys to complete the initial loop of the swim. Oh how right we were! As it turns out the swim has been reported to be between 4.8k and 5.1k, depending on the source. Add to that the current that was encountered on the leg into the harbour and it makes for one tough swim. I exited the water and glanced at my watch – 1:32 something! I couldn’t believe it! My hope of going under 7 hours for the entire race was definitely gone! However, there were plenty of guys and gals that suffered more than me. I have seen reports of people swimming for over 2 hours!

With the swim out of the way and the sun shining, it was time to get busy on the bike. As I ran into T1 I saw Westy at the start of the bike course wrestling with a puncture – poor guy! He had had a decent swim at 1:24 and to have a puncture was cruel (but typical of Westy as he rarely has a race without some sort of drama!). Well done to Westy for getting the job done, as he was long gone when I got to the same point out of T1. The first part of the bike course was through the town of Almere, with plenty of crowd support as we weaved through some narrow barriers. Then it was out onto a cycle path for a few miles prior to a ‘U’ turn. The wind was blowing, but not too strong. As I turned at the ‘U’ I saw Daz’s family cheering and I headed off with the wind behind me. I was passing people at an alarming rate and I kept telling myself to ease back. After all, this race distance was new to me and I did not want to blow up later on. We turned into the country side and commenced some huge square circuits round the Dutch country side. Sometimes the wind was smack in the face and it made for hard stretches. However, the times when the wind was at my tail, it was 52/12 time! I was still passing far too many people. I was convinced that they all knew better than me and that I should be going slower! So, I eased off slightly. Lap one of 60k went by in a blur really. I was feeding well – far more than when I raced at Trentham Half Ironman. – which was pleasing. Lap 2 started and I wondered where the other RAF guys were. I pretty much assumed that they were all out of the swim before me! After a few kilometres I saw Westy turn at the ‘U’ ahead of me. Westy has a new Specialised Transition TT bike, complete with Use bars. It looks a fine machine and is easy to spot! I pulled up alongside Westy at the feed zone and gave him a shout before going on my way. The wind seemed to have increased on lap 2 but still I was passing many people and had not been passed myself yet! As the second lap came to an end a couple of Spanish guys (was it Gomez and Rana?!) passed me doing a nice team time trial impression. I let them go, still mindful of going too hard prior to the 30k run. I glanced at my watch as I approached T2 – 3:13 .....tick.....tick. Wow! I was happy enough with that and I felt ok too.

Into T2 I hobbled over some stones – I hate bare foot running! After racking my bike and strapping on my gels I ambled into the urinals! Well this is long course! Everything is slow and relaxed?! Out onto the run course and the music was pumping and the crowds were cheering. It was a truly great atmosphere. With my 7 hour target gone after the swim I had decided to enjoy myself to the full and preceded to ‘aeroplane’ through the carpeted stretch high fiving the kids in the crowd! With hold back still etched in my brain I cruised into run mode feeling ok. More high fives and encouragement for other competitors who seemed to be suffering more than me made for an enjoyable first few kilometres. I passed Gomez and Rana early on; they were not looking good! Soon I passed Mike masters too. He was complaining of feeling bad but he looked ok to me. I could see Jase Walkley up ahead and pulled up alongside. It was good to see him and I decided that I would run with him. He seemed to up the pace as I arrived, though he says it was me! We saw Daz starting his second lap of 15k, as we neared completion of our first! He looked strong and was bounding along.

Me and Jase ran together for much of the remainder of the race; he was strong and maintained a decent enough speed. In fact, during the last 3k I started to feel a bit rough and eased off to maintain the enjoyment of the event – I had half killed myself at the London Marathon earlier in the year and didn’t fancy repeating the experience! Jase continued on, and produced a great performance. As I got to 2k to go I passed a particularly flamboyant group of Dutch supporters! I walked through them jigging around to their pumping music...........they loved it and joined in; it was a great moment! With about 800m to go Dawn, the GB Team Manager passed me a Union Jack flag. I speeded up and cruised the last part of the race, enjoying the cheers; the support for the GB participants was awesome! Crossing the line felt fantastic and I had had such an enjoyable race (I could forget the swim!). I have felt worse after Olympic Distance races; hence I could really savour the moment! I congratulated Jase on his race too. At his age, he is certainly going to reach a high standard in years to come.

So there we have it; my first race on the world stage! I am very happy! The official stats are as follows:

Overall – 14 in age group in a time of 7:07:39
Swim – 1:31:38 rank 71 in age group
Bike – 3:14:08 rank 17 in age group
Run – 2:14:27 rank 11 in age group

I loved the event and the atmosphere but boy do I need to do something about my swimming! The long distance stuff can wait for a few years, though I am sure that I will do the World Champs again someday, God willing! The RAF guys did very well, though I think that Westy suffered on the run.:

Daz – 6:56:54
Jase – 7:06:41
Mike Masters – 7:25:06
Westy – 7:34:35
Kelda – 7:51:55

I would recommend the event to anyone and it is true that when you pull on the GB kit, you feel strong and proud! Here is a caption contest pic of Mike and Daz in transition prior to starting:

Mike: "Yeah, I reckon about 55 mins for the swim, an easy 3:05 bike and cruise the run in 2 hours"


Daz thinking and holding back a giggle: La la la la la la la la la....