Race report: Centurion Running Wendover Woods 50

The day before race day

So, the day is upon us (or at least it will be tomorrow). I've been quite nervous about this race, it's going to be tough. I fully expect it to be the hardest race I've ever tried. Not helped by training not being as good as it should have been (is it ever?), a compulsion to eat and drink inappropriate foods meaning I'm heavier than I want to be, and my head not playing nicely (more on that somewhere else at some other time).

BUT - I've never gone into a race not planning to finish, and this one is no different - so let's zip up the positivity vest and get on with it.

Tomorrow, it will get dark at around 4:30pm - I know my pace will drop off then. I'm not confident in the dark, and I haven't trained in the dark with my head torch. Race start is 8am, so that's eight and a half hours of light - I need to use them well. The laps are 10 miles, and in training they've taken an average of around two and a quarter hours. Race day will be a little slower, but I should still be able to get three laps done in the light - an average of two hours and fifty minutes per lap.

That leaves two full laps in the dark. On the plus side I've run four or five laps in training, on the actual course, so I know it well. Its twisty and complicated, but I can run it from memory now with no problem. Getting lost shouldn't be an issue (plus Centurion course marking is outstanding).

Race cut off isn't until midnight so that leaves a further seven and a half hours to complete the final two laps - which is plenty of time. Providing I can still get up the hills! There's around 600m of ascent on each lap, so 3km of height gained over the whole course - more than I've done in a day before, even hiking in the Lake District. But - providing my knees don't explode - it's achievable.

Cool, not windy, and clear once the fog lifts - good running weather

The weather looks good. Mrs is on her way up on a train right now to support me tomorrow and help out at the mid-point aid station. And I've packed something for breakfast in the morning (to avoid having to chew on an old piece of steak like at the Chiltern Wonderland 50).

Now, it's time for dinner, and to relax a bit. I reckon it's going to be a good day.


Race day

Up at 5:55 for customary pre-race coffee to kick start the morning biology, and out into chilly but manageable darkness for the short drive to the start. Race start is at the trig point which marks the highest point in the Chilterns. The fog heavy in the field - and it was much colder. I ran to the race tent to register, kit check, and pick up my number, then ran back to the car to hide in the warm and eat breakfast.

It took a while for the masses to get over a single narrow style from race HQ through to the start on the road so James had to give a high speed briefing which ended with "...and we're starting in 10 seconds" - no time to worry, off we go!

The field strung out very quickly and I was able to find some space to run in. I'm not a chatty runner, so I settled into back to back omnibus episodes of The Archers and it's fan-made companion Dum Tee Dum (my guilty podcast pleasures).

I'm not going to describe the course here - I covered it in depth in my course recce.

Up down up down up down, etc. - barely an inch on the level

Laps one and two went past well and without incident. Knowing the course well was such a psychological advantage, when to enjoy a down, how long the ups are, and splitting the course into a few segments to tick off as I went round. I was astonished to get lapped as I left the mid-point aid station on lap 2, I'd just past 15 miles and the front runners were 10 miles ahead! On a point to point race you don't get that experience - the fast people just disappear off into the distance and that's it. I was pleased to support them with some "good running!" calls of support as they shot past.

Hot cups of tea at the start/finish and mid-point aid stations were welcome, as were the couple of slices of cheese I took each time. Mrs was helping out abradypus and crew at the mid-point, so that gave me something to look forward to on each lap too - and gave a bit more impetus to set out on the next lap from the enticing camping chairs at the start/finish (never sit on the chairs at aid stations!).

I was starting to feel fatigued during lap 3, but was still jogging along well. I could tell I was slowing, but not too much. I viewed lap 3 as "lap 3 of 5" which sounds like great progress (rather than "just coming up to" or "just after" half way). This running stuff is all mind games.

It wasn't until almost half way through lap 4, coming up to 35 miles, that it got dark enough to need the head torch. I was very pleased to have got this far round - half a lap up on my plan. I slowed quite a lot in the dark, particularly on the rooty sections.

5x 10 mile loops crammed into a 1.5 mile a side triangle - dizzy déjà vu 

As I set out on the 5th and final lap in the now pitch darkness I was starting to feel the fatigue. My knees were feeling the pressure of so much climbing and descending, and running was getting increasingly hard. I wasn't surprised, exactly there same thing happened at Chiltern Wonderland, and I marched/hiked as fast as I could for the last 10km or so and was prepared to do the same here. The change of stride and feeling of being on the home stretch gave me a mental lift, and I marched my way forward, only losing a couple of places and actually overtaking a couple of people too. Learning point: If you're going to walk, walk as fast as you can - it's part of the race, it's not giving up.

99th place finish in just under 13 and a half hours

Quite promisingly, I was gaining places throughout - from 138th after the first lap, to 124th after the second, then 110th, 97th, and finally holding for 99th. My laps had inevitably slowed down, but it could have been a lot worse - particularly when tired and in the dark.

Lap	Lap time	Elapsed time
1	02:13:40	02:13:40
2	02:23:37	04:37:17
3	02:36:19	07:13:36
4	03:00:15	10:13:51
5	03:13:03	13:26:54

Eventually, it was over, and I picked up my second Centurion 50 mile medal. Quite a few personal records fell today - the longest single run I've ever done in distance and in duration, and the most ascent I've gained on any single day. I've said it elsewhere, but I love that "at my age" I can still set lifetime best performances. I'm, once again, in awe of Mrs who covered twice this distance at the North Downs Way 100 earlier in the year.

What a wonderful sport this is!
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12 hours until my first stand-alone marathon - eeeep!

So, tomorrow I’m running my first stand-alone marathon (no, the marathons at the end of Ironman races don't count) - the Thames Turbo Triathlon Club Richmond Park Marathon for Turbos and friends. It’s a significant event for me, it was the first race I pulled out of after picking up some ITBS at the 2012 Royal Parks Half Marathon (where I smashed my PB to pieces as well as my iliotibial band).

The general advice is that you should always to write down your race plan, so here we go.

The plan is set:

Last year I was hoping to burn round at the peak of post-Ironman fitness and smash out a sub-3:30. No chance of hauling my arse round in that time at the moment – I have a bucket less fitness, and around a bucket more weight. I would dearly love to hit 4 hours, but love is not enough – need to run a bit too.

So, I’m going to go for a solid consistent 6 minutes per km, from start to finish. If I have any beans left then I’ll see if I can just nudge a negative split, that would be the icing for my inaugural marathon cake. 6min/km works out to 4:13.12, so with a few seconds for stopping at the drinks table the big target is 4:15.

Mrs will be on hand to yell encouragement, check her twitter feed (@totkat) for updates (maybe). She ran an incredible 50 mile (80km) off-road ultra-marathon in Rotherham recently. The bar has been set, and I'm not going to get anywhere near it!

The route is set:

Well, it's just around the park right? How can you go wrong...

One lap of about 9km followed by 3 of about 11km.

Start at the green marker, run anti-clockwise to the red marker (that's the 9km lap), turn around and run clockwise round one full 11km lap back to the red marker, turn again and run 11km anti-clockwise, then one more turn and an 11km clockwise circuit, all the way round to the red marker to finish.

Though it is a bit lumpy

Clothing is set:

• My trusty Brooks T7 Racers (though with some of the 2kg of mud I picked up at Orpington parkrun this morning knocked off)
• Long 2XU compression socks to keep my calves under control in the later stages
• Super-comfy Nike long sleeved base layer
• Valencia triathlon t-shirt on the top (bringing the spirit of the sun, even if there isn’t any actual sun)
• Sailfish peaked cap, thin gloves, and two small squares of surgical tape to protect my pec-nuts

Food plan is set:

Despite a little more cake lately than an LCHF food plan might advise, I still seem to be well adapted to fat burning – a few weeks ago I ran a come-back PB parkrun and followed it with a 90km bike ride and all on a cup of coffee. That was a fun experiment - I was hungry by the time I’d finished but that’s because I didn’t have any food in my stomach – I certainly wasn’t bonking or feeling drained of energy. So, with that in mind I shouldn’t need to fill myself with sugar every 5 minutes to get round. 

• Breakfast: Salmon, avocado, cream cheese, and scrambled egg for breakfast (no carbs before exercise, you’ll immediately break fat burning) and a nice large mug of coffee
• During the run: Mainly nothing but water – if I do get hungry I’ll nibble on a Clif bar. Like a good boy scout though I’ll be prepared Just In Case, so I’ll keep a couple of ultra-power Double Espresso Clif shots in my pocket…
• After the run: Pies, beer, and whatever the hell else I fancy :)

Weather is set:

Temperature fine, might be a bit breezy

Alarm is set:

Ouchy... It wouldn't be race day without a crazy early alarm

Plan B is set:

Ah yes, you’re supposed to have a plan B. Plan B is “adjust pace if required, but try and keep consistent, take as long as you need to finish – but do try to finish”.

I’ve entered the Rotterdam Marathon which is on 13th April 2014, and I’m going to train for that properly – until then, this will be my PB.

See you on the other side!

Thinking about 2014

While I'm enjoying a bit of racing right now, I think it's time to have a muse about next year.

Looking back through my training record for early 2012 I can see that although I did a fair amount of work, much of it was the same thing week-in week-out. There was little in the way of periodisation and specific training.

“Periodisation” means a gradual build of effort over the course of a few weeks followed by an adaptation period of reduced intensity. Often there will be meta-cycles mapped over this such as a group of 4x 4-week periods with a specific objective. 16 weeks is often regarded as the time before a race where extra focus really pays off and you can perform to your best. Many Ironman and marathon training plans are 16-weeks in duration.

Training is considered “specific” if is designed to improve your performance over the course you will be racing on. If you’re taking on a fast flat bike and run course then you might work on pushing a steady wattage for a long period on the bike, keeping your aero position for the full time, and sustaining a fast run speed. However if your race is full of hills then you will really want to work on strength and climbing technique both on the bike and in the run. Maintaining a specific approach during your pre-race period will work to ensure you’re as prepared as possible – mentally and physically. If possible you should train on the actual course you will be racing on, learning the best lines on the climbs and descents, where you need to brake (or just as importantly where you don’t need to brake), and developing an appropriate fuelling strategy.

In order to train and race in this way you need to decide on your “A” race(s) – the one or two races where you really want to do well and perform at your best. Other races in the lead-up could be good tests for technique, equipment, and race strategy. Some races might just be for fun, or integrated into a training plan as longer or harder effort sessions. As far as is within your control there should be no unknowns when going into your A-race. You should have as much of your mental bandwidth available for focusing on your performance, following your plan, and dealing with anything unexpected. Practice might not guarantee perfect in triathlon, but it can certainly help you stay calm and perform efficiently.

It’s important to work on the psychological side too – Mrs and I were very strict with ourselves in the first half of 2012, unsustainably so, which is why I think as soon as the races started my weight started drifting upwards. A healthier approach is to reserve the strictest periods for the final approach to the race making it easier to stay on track.

At the moment, I’m signed up for a lot of races for next year including three Ironman events (IM 70.3 Mallorca in May, IM 70.3 UK in June, and IM UK in July). This is very exciting, and I feel motivated to have a good winter working on my strength and fitness - but if I'm to take it to the next level I'll need to work out my A-race events. It'll certainly be a triathlon. I’ll be competing in some single discipline events but those will just be for training and race exposure. I am also sure it will be a long-distance event. From my racing last year I am utterly convinced that I have the capability of going significantly faster over 70.3 and full Ironman distance triathlon - providing I can remain focussed and avoid injury. As for which event, I think it makes sense to pick an early season race and a later season race and peak for both. Races I’ve completed before will be good – it’s motivating to have prior course experience and a PB you can aim for. I’d like to race on courses it’s relatively easy to get to for training experience, and so that means the UK.

Meeting all those requirements means the decision basically makes itself. My A-races for next year will be:

• Ironman 70.3 UK, Wimbleball Lake, Exmoor, 15^th June 2014 (already entered)
• Ironman Wales, Tenby, mid-September 2014 (entries not open yet)

A 16-week run into Wimbleball is clearly achievable, but there are only around 13 weeks between Wimbleball and Wales, and that period has IM UK in the middle, which I've already entered.

A quiet week after IM 70.3 UK followed by a 12-week run into IM Wales could work, but effort would need to be very carefully managed at the UK event. This period will be essential if a good performance is to be attained at IM Wales. It might be wise to defer my IM UK entry to IM Wales to take it out of the middle all together. I’ll decide on this once the date for next year’s IM Wales event is announced – the 2013 edition is on this weekend so it’ll be announced and open for entry shortly afterwards.

Obviously a great deal can change in a year, who knows what will happen between now and then – but right now, these two races are what I'm going to target.

• 2012 gave structured training, something I’ve never done before in my life, but with no target other than “complete the Ultimate Challenge”.
• 2013 brought injury and frustration for the first half, underlining the importance of maintaining a strong flexible base to remain resilient to injury, and some fun training and racing in the second half (so far at least!).
• 2014 will bring an A-race or two and a periodised targeted training plan, as discussed above.

For the first time I want to get to a long-course triathlon and actually race it hard and to the best of my abilities rather than just aim for completion with a time or age-group position as a secondary concern. Let's give it a shot and see what happens. Next I'll be looking at periodisation and working out where training blocks fit between now and the races, then I'll start to work out what the objectives of each block are. Plenty of work to do! Stay tuned!

Ready to race!

I started training again on June 1st, a little under 3 months ago. I started from zero, with an accelerated version of C25k (the famous "couch to 5km" plan). I had a few events planned (London Triathlon, Ride London) and they came and went and I was happy - but I wasn't racing them. My plan was to not care about the time, enjoy the experience, take away the pressure and get fitter and faster without injuring myself again.

I'm trying hard to take that relaxed attitude into the Thames Turbo Sprint Series Race 4 tomorrow, but it's really tough - I really really (really!) want to smash it and race hard. It's one of my favourite races, I've entered all the ones I can over the last 3 or 4 years. It's excellent to have a benchmark race to judge your current performance against.

Race history highlighting best and worst performances

So what's happened in the 90 days since I started again? I've made an effort to record every session in the excellent Training Peaks portal, and they provide powerful analysis tools.

It's particularly important to make sure that you don't ramp up on overall duration and run distance too quickly. I seem to have built up evenly with a good continual improvement over the first couple of months (before the races started getting in the way).

Ramp up of overall duration and run distance over the last 3 months

All good so far - but what about the cumulative training effect, including cycling, swimming, and strength training? By analysing all the data from my Garmin 910XT, Training Peaks can work out how fit I am, and how ready I am to race.

This is what 3 months of improving fitness looks like

The blue line is Chronic Training Load which has ramped up nicely over the period. As training gets harder and more intense I would expect to see that climb, then level off/drop a bit, then climb further, and repeat that pattern in line with periodisation of training (e.g. three harder building weeks, followed by an adaptation week, repeat). At this stage, a gradual measured climb is fine - it means I'm getting steadily fitter.

The pink line is Acute Training Load and represents how hard specific sessions or events have been. You can see the two big spikes signifying the London Triathlon and Ride London. It'll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow - it'll only be a short session (I hope!) but should be as high an output as I can sustain for the whole time, and therefore be a significant acute load.

The Orange line is Training Stress Balance and can be considered as a my freshness level. See the dip after the spikes in acute load - when you work hard, afterwards you're less fresh. The aim is to go into a race with a strong overall fitness balanced by a good level of freshness. Note that despite increasing chronic training load freshness does not drop - able to handle more work without losing freshness means fitness improving.

I am still much less fit (and much more heavy) than last year - but I'm certainly not going to let that hold me back. I think I'm ready to smash out a sprint without fear of injury now. My prediction is that I should be able to get a really good swim and bike done (maybe a PB swim, and possibly close on the bike), but I'll drift back on the run as I'm really not at all run-fit right now - estimated finish time 01:11:00.

Now it's rest for the rest of today and we'll see what tomorrow brings!

Ironman 70.3 Ireland, Galway: Part 2 - Race Day!

We have race day morning well drilled now. Having been left high and dry previously, and needing to find random pastries and things to eat, we now make sure we are capable of being self sufficient. This means the morning routine is as follows: Up three hours before race start, kettle on, get dressed, make tea, re-boil kettle for ready break with banana in it and add peanut butter (or Nutella for Mrs). Whilst kettle is re-boiling, make protein shake with milk and drink that. By the time Ready Brek has cooled from lava-hot to edible-warm, we're virtually ready to walk out the door.

We were staying at The Sea Breeze Lodge, only a 15 minute walk from race start, much better than the half hour drive we had at Bolton. We gave ourselves a cheeky lie-in, so up at 04:30 for a 7am start. We wanted to be there at 6am to put our bottles on the bikes and get down to the start area, so that meant leaving at oh-five-thirty (including contingency time for anything unexpected).

There were no unexpecteds so we set off on plan. We bumped into a few of the other Ultimate Athletes in transition performing last-minute bike checks. Eimear Mullan was racked opposite us so there was a TV camera there following her every move. Eimear won the Female Pro race at Ironman 70.3 UK Wimbleball and Ironman UK Bolton, and was a hot favourite with plenty of local support here in her home race.

Eimear (with her back to us) getting TV attention whilst making some last minute bike adjustments

It was a 10 minute stroll back down the promenade to swim start, so we sauntered down in good time. The great thing about having a plan and following it is that race day morning is a very relaxed affair. You can take the time to focus on the race plan and get in the right place mentally without panicking about if you've remembered your goggles or your bike tyres are adequately inflated.

The swim start was in waves, with the male and female professionals setting off on the dot of 7am, the M18-24 age group at 7:05, all the males 25-39 at 7:20, and Mrs setting off with all the females and the oldest male age groups at 7:35.

I was a bit more colourful than usual - it was my first outing in my shiny IM Talk tri-suit, I had my customary yellow Compressport calf guards on, and the previous day I'd got a bit concerned about the temperature and - determined to have a quick transition and not have to mess about putting a cycling top on - I picked up some Compressport arm sleeves from the "expo". For now, all this was safely tucked away under my wetsuit, so I looked like one of the dozens of unidentifiable men in black wetsuits with goggles and blue swimming caps on. I'm unique! Just like everyone else!

The "expo" - Ironman UK really need to get better at this, it looks like a half-hearted afterthought

I swam out to the start pen (no running into the sea start, disappointingly - I think Wales has a run-in though, I'm looking forward to that) and bobbed about. I didn't suffer any anxiety or 'freaking out' (sudden racing pulse, some hyperventilation) that I've had before. Now I've had a few good starts like this I'm hoping my open-water freak-outs are a thing of the past.

The professionals (red hats) about to go, M18-24 (green hats) waiting behind

The quietest hooter in the world was sounded, and we were go! First target was the nearest big orange buoy. When the pros went off some of them got the wrong target and headed off to a yellow buoy that was further afield - later one of them was to blog about it being due to a lack of clarity in the pro briefing. For the last few waves they had gone out in a boat and deflated it to avoid any further confusion.

No such problems for us though, and I set off hard and, for once, in a straight line. The sea was very calm, granted there were some waves that were bigger than I've had in lake swims, but they were completely manageable and hardly impacted my ability to swim or sight. I think we were lucky, the weather had been bad overnight, and the sea was certainly rougher during swim practice the day before.

As a result of trying to set off hard I ended up in the washing machine for longer than usual. Right up to the first buoy, and for the first half of the long straight parallel to the shore I had people all around me - fingers tapping at my toes and ankles, arms around my head, my hands banging the guy in front, and shoulder to shoulder with someone next to me who was matching my speed and cadence perfectly (except he was breathing to the other side to me, so every stroke we turned our heads to look directly at each other - I'm thankful we both had tinted goggles on looking into his eyes every stroke would have been very freaky, normally only my wife gets this close to me!).

I worked hard to swim in a straight line and my GPS plot shows I got it about right. No drifting to the right and heading out to sea for me! I was making an effort to take the time to sight clearly, and only put the power down when I was sure I was oriented correctly.

Swim course: Looks like I managed to hold my line fairly well

I eventually got bored being in the cluster of swimmers I was in - I couldn't see a route through the middle so I dropped back and overtook them down one side. In retrospect I should have done this earlier - but while I was in there I was enjoying the drafting effect and saving some energy.

The nose clip I'd got to stop the sea water flooding up my nose and making me sick was working like a charm. My confidence and comfort in the swim was in no small part due to this. It's now going to be a standard part of my sea-swim kit (mental note: I must add it to the enormous list of things to take to Ironman races).

I took the end turn buoy a little wide and needed to correct - it was almost a 180 degree turn and I hadn't quite gone round enough. The return leg was against the current. The waves felt larger in this direction, and I was tossed around a little bit, but still nothing at all concerning. I hope Wales is going to be as calm, but I suspect it won't be.

Swim exit was on a rock-free beach - I swam in as close as I could before getting to my feet and setting off for T1. I'd kicked my legs hard for the last 150-200m and they were sturdy and supported me without wobbling. I think back to the first epic (to me) swim I ever did - the Nokia Swim (now the Speedo Open Water series) event in The Thames a few years ago. It was a touch over 2 miles and took me almost an hour and 20 minutes. When I got out I had to be helped to my feet, and then couldn't stand or balance for the next 10 minutes - how times have changed. I remember on that day thinking "How the hell can anyone cycle after swimming this far?".

Swim cadence: Hard start, steady in the middle - need to learn to hold higher cadence

It was a fair trek down the sea front to T1. There was soft green matting down over the road - a lifesaver for me as I have girly feet that don't go bare very often and therefore aren't very good for running on pointy concrete. My jogs from swim to T1 always see me getting overtaken by a lot of people, and today was no exception. This might be an area to work on in the future - particularly for races where there's a long route to transition.

• Swim, 1.9km, 37:33
• 26th out of 189 in my age group (13.8%)
• 150th out of 924 finishers (16.2%)

This was an amazing swim for me. As I mentioned recently, I'm normally at the back of the first third both in my age group and overall. I don't quite know how I jumped up so far, but I'm really very very pleased with this performance. Looking at the data it's clear my stroke rate fell off quite dramatically - if I can work to keep that up there's another few minutes of improvement for sure.

T1: Long route up into transition, and a trot down with the bike to the mount line afterwards

I had aimed in this race to get transitions quick and efficient. I think I did pretty well in T1. I expect my time is slowed by the length of the run - I only took a few moments to deal with my blue bag and get kitted up. I'm not sure I could go much quicker without doing less - shoes on bike and not bothering with socks, for example. This might be worth it in a future 70.3, but for full distance races comfort is going to be far more important than 30s saved in transition. An equally windy route out with the bike to the mount line, and it was time to ride.

• Transition 1, Swim to Bike, 08:00

The bike route was reputedly fast and mainly flat, and it didn't disappoint. My objective here was clear - to keep my effort under control, and save a lot of energy for the run. This meant keeping my HR down, well within my Zone 1 range (up to 152 BPM) - I was aiming for for 130-135 BPM. As is normal when I first get on the bike, I was up in the 160s. I know from experience that if I relax, focus on breathing smoothly, and don't push a big gear then my HR will drift downwards. It did this over the first 20 minutes or so, and I settled in to my rhythm.

Bike route: 45km out into the countryside, and 45km back again!

I had to exercise quite a lot of control here - on the gentle rises I wanted to just power up in the same gear, keeping my cadence up and pushing over the top - instead I forced myself to change down and try and keep cadence and power output even. I really did need to say out loud a few times "Don't push, change down!" - I was overtaking someone who was out of the saddle sawing away in a crazy high gear at one point, I wonder if he thought I was talking to him...

The bike was fast - really fast. I kept a close eye on my HR and worked hard to not work too hard. On some of the long straights I was a gear lower than I felt I wanted to be, but I needed to preserve strength and energy. I generally only changed up when I needed to get my cadence down and avoid "spinning out" (pedalling so fast you lose form or can't get any power down). It was mentally challenging, particularly when I was getting overtaken (admittedly, that only happened a couple of times), and is certainly something I'm going to need to look at in training.

Bike HR: Once I'd got my HR down after transition, I held it fairly constant well all the way through

I can really appreciate now how advantageous it would have been to be able to see my power output during this period. To know for sure if I could push it a little bit more, or if I needed to back off. I'll be looking more seriously into this in the future.

We'd had a bit of a nutrition error the night before and realised there wasn't enough gatorade mix to go round so our bike bottles had one with gatorade mixed to the correct strength, and one with just water and High5 Zero electrolyte tablets. I really didn't want to have to stop at the aid stations, so I adjusted my nutrition plan from one half-bar and one gel per hour to two half-bars per hour for the outbound leg of the out-and-back course during which I'd drink the electrolyte drink. Once I'd consumed my four half-bars I'd move on to gels, and I'd swap to the gatorade mix for the return leg. This worked perfectly, I didn't feel under-fuelled or fatigued at all.

Bike speed: Looks a bit like it was all over the place, but this is actually a fairly steady speed

The bike was largely uneventful. I got annoyed at the usual things such as dropped gel wrappers, people riding side-by-side in pairs blocking the road, and the time I was overtaken by a group of 8-10 riders who were clearly all riding in a peloton with no regard for the drafting regulations.

I was getting a bit numb in the "undercarriage" by the end and was ready to get off. As it was such a fast and non-technical circuit there was very little movement on the bike - just sat in the aero position pedalling away, therefore any little rubs had plenty of time to get settled in. Mrs has recently got an Adamo saddle that she swears by, so I may try that out before my next long fast aero ride.

Flying through Galway back to the transition area I was struck again at the number of people who, with 5km to go, just seem to give up and forget they're in a race, I've seen it at every Ironman so far - just merrily cruising the last few km and chatting to each other. Guys, you're still racing! Get a move on! I swooshed by, wheels humming, arms tucked in. I've got T2 to get to. Their loss!

• Bike, 90km (56 miles), 2:42:15
• 48th out of 189 in my age group (25.4%)
• 196th out of 924 overall (21.2%)

This position in the field reflects my effort management well. I know I could go faster, but at the potential expense of the run. When I'm going flat-out I know I can get into the top 10%, so well-managed effort and heart rate together with a top-quarter finish seems like a good result.

T2: Can you see where I ran the wrong way? Twice? Must spec the route better next time!

My plan for T2 was the same as before, fast and efficient. I went the wrong way slightly after racking my bike, and probably could have shaved a few seconds off in the tent, but all things considered it was fast enough. I was soon with running shoes and hat on, and out onto the promenade for the half-marathon distance run.

• Transition 2, Bike to Run, 04:22

This was where I was hoping to realise the benefit of a well-manged bike phase. I'd avoided looking at my overall elapsed time since start until now. I sneaked a peek and saw three hours and thirty-three minutes. This means I need to break 1:57 for the run in order to come in under 5:30 for the whole event. That sounds like a sensible target at this stage, given I was aiming for sub 2-hours for the run.

I decided that 5:30/km was a good pace to set off at, and promptly ran the first km in 5:04 - OK, a little faster than intended, but it felt good. My cadence was high at over 90 steps per minute - this was very good news - at Wimbleball I struggled to get my cadence up (I didn't have a Garmin foot-pod back then so I don't have data, just going on my memory of the experience). The pace was higher than I'd planned but it felt good, like it was something I could sustain. I decided to try and hold at around 5:10/km and see what happened.

The run course consisted of three laps up and down the promenade with an aid station at each end. We entered the run course in the middle, next to the finishing area, so unlike Bolton's point-to-point plus 3-laps-but-really-4 (a realisation I found very challenging mentally) this was a genuine honest 3-lap circuit.

Run course: Three honest laps, pancake-flat with great surfaces

I held my pace well as the km ticked by. After about 12km the going got a little harder, and I had to make more of an effort to keep my cadence up over 90, but I held it well, and started thinking about when to see if I had anything left to see if I could speed up for the finish.

Run cadence: That'll be 5 aid-station stops then. I couldn't have done it any better!

At about this point I spotted Mrs coming the other way. She was running a bit awkwardly and holding her arm in the classic way that cyclists do when you see them getting up from a crash with a broken collar bone "I came off my bike", she shouted, "I think I've broken my collar bone!" - I was obviously concerned, but she seemed to be fairly chirpy (or had so much adrenaline in her body she couldn't feel anything), so I pressed on.

Run pace, also just about perfect and on-plan - so pleased with the run (for once)

I decided that when I got my third arm band (one per lap, so everyone knows which lap you're on) I was going to turn it up a bit. That would be with about 4km to go. I would then try turning it up more from the final aid station, about 750m to go. The wind strengthened as I collected my arm band so my efforts went on holding my pace. I checked my time and was just over 5 hours elapsed. I couldn't run 4km in 15 minutes, so 5:15 wasn't on the cards, but I should be able to easily clear 5:30. I did manage to speed up towards the end a little bit, but nothing particularly heroic.

• Run, 21.1km (13.1 miles), 1:50:23
• 59th out of 189 in my age group (31.2%)
• 258 out of 924 finishers overall (27.9%)

This was just the run I was hoping for - even paced, very little fade, enough energy for a little push at the end, and not collapsing over the line. Absolutely bloody spot-on the plan.

Run HR: Creeps up, with a lift at the end where I tried to push for victory!

The stats speak for themselves, I've never placed this highly in a run of any distance before (in a triathlon or as a single event). I'm absolutely overjoyed - and I know I have more to give here with more training.

I crossed the line with a watch time of 5 hours and 23 minutes, and found out later my official finish time was 5:22:35 - that's 52:33 faster than the IM 70.3 PB I had set at my first event earlier in the year at  IM 70.3 UK.

• Total race time, 5:22:35
• 39th out of 189 in my age group (20.6%)
• 189th out of 924 finishers overall (20.5%)

I didn't have much time to celebrate - I went off to the finishers' area to collect my t-shirt and food and drink (tea! They had tea! Wonderful), before heading back to the run course to catch up with Mrs. She looked to be running well and we agreed to meet at the medical tent.

I have to point out here that the medical staff and the marshals were wonderfully helpful and considerate, they all showed genuine concern for her well-being.

A trip to A&E revealed she had broken her collar bone in two places, having had a pretty major bike crash about 10km out. In T2 she insisted on going out for the run anyway and finishing the race - amazing resolve and strength, mentally and physically. I'm in awe of her determination.

This is not what your shoulder looks like (hopefully)

In summary, this was the best managed race I've ever completed. I stuck to the plan closely, but with enough flexibility to adapt to the day. My pacing and effort was almost ruler-flat for the bike and run - suggesting I could have pushed harder. Most importantly, I didn't die in the run - I didn't see my HR sky rocket (or drop to a point where I couldn't load it properly), my cadence didn't fall off appreciably, and I didn't get too fatigued or hungry. This was just the right time for this race to come off well, and gives me good confidence for Wales - at least that I'll get to the end, even if I don't set any PBs along the way.

I even got a shout-out form my main man, Coach Joe Beer

One race left, 2 weeks to go - bring it on!

Ironman 70.3 Ireland, Galway: Part 1

Here we go again! This time it's off the mainland and over to the emerald isle for Ironman 70.3 Ireland in Galway.

It feels very different this time. Having done a 70.3 earlier in the year at Wimbleball, and then the full Ironman distance a few weeks ago at Bolton, I have no fear about the distance. I've learned a lot in the last two events, and this is the first opportunity I have to put it all together.

It's also the third of the four events in the Ironman Ultimate Challenge. At Wimbleball, the first event and my first 70.3 (half Ironman), the distance and the hilly course was the challenge. At Bolton it was my first full distance Ironman, and just getting to the end was the objective. Now I know (barring unforeseen calamity) I will get to the end tomorrow so my thoughts are turning to completion of the Ultimate Challenge. With this race, and then Ironman Wales in two weeks' time, the pressure is quite different - I'm starting to feel like I'm half way through a 13-week race, and tomorrow is the third quarter. It's a means to an end rather than an end in itself. My concern in the event of a DNF (Did Not Finish) here isn't that I'd fail to finish 70.3 Ireland, but that I'd fail the Ultimate Challenge. It feels like the stakes are somehow higher now!

Thursday 30th August

As I was off jetting around the world last weekend I missed the Sunday and Monday of my bank holiday weekend. Therefore I took Thursday off instead, and me and Mrs decided to take a leisurely meander to Galway and split the journey over Thursday and Friday. After my last training session (an hour and a half on the bike, and thirty minutes in the pool) we packed the car and set off for North Wales.

We stayed over Thursday night at Northop Hall Hotel, a nice little place that Mrs found

Friday 31st August

We had an uneventful drive to Hollyhead to catch the ferry to Dublin - this was certainly the right way to do it. Getting up at what would have had to have been 4am to drive here in one day would have sucked in the extreme. I needed a few sound nights of sleep - getting a good 8 hours the last few nights before a race can really pay dividends. It's not so much about the night before, indeed it's been shown that one night makes little difference to athletic performance, but the preceding 2-3 nights are definitely worth making the effort for particularly if there's a risk of a poor night ahead of race day.

Boat required

The ferry was good fun, I can't remember the last time I was on a ferry. There were lots of cars with bikes mounted on (in and behind) them, and an appropriate number of weathered triathletes making a direct line for the complimentary snacks.

Mrs and her happy snacks (we demolished an order of magnitude more snacks than this...)

A relaxed drive across Ireland followed as Dublin and Galway are at opposite sides. We went straight to Leisureland for registration, and picked up our bags, numbers, and assorted paraphernalia.

The Ultimate Athletes get another double-page spread - 8 competitors remaining

Another race, another wristband

We arrived at Sea Breeze Lodge (I can't be held responsible for the web site) late afternoon. The room is absolutely beautiful, a real surprise for what I was expecting to be a regular lived-in looking B&B. Everything has been recently redecorated, we have a big room with good quality fittings, very well presented common areas, and a warm welcome from the boss.

Sea Breeze Lodge, Galway - three locals and me the interloper!

We relaxed and got our kit ready for dropping off at transition on Saturday, and strolled up the road to Capone's for some dinner (a local Italian where parents take their kids to scream).

Kate and Charlie Stannet popped round at about 8pm and invited us out for a beer, so we went up to Tom Sheridans for a pint of the black stuff. A nice relaxing day, just what the doctor ordered.

Saturday 1st September

Today was already well planned out. Get up, 15 minute run to 'get the legs turning over' (I'm not sure my legs turned all the way over, but I went for the run anyway). Then some light(isn) breakfast, and down to Leisureland for swim practice and dropping off of bikes and transition bags.

The sea was not as cold as I'd feared. We swam out and back a couple of times, about 20 minutes in total. Wind was up a bit, but the waves were manageable. Tomorrow is due to be calmer, so I don't think the swim will be too bad for my first race sea-swim.

One of tomorrow's challenges is fast and efficient transitions, so I'm going with the bare minimum of stuff.

Blue bike bag for T1 (I need all of this stuff, but there's nothing extraneous here)

Red run bag for T2 (socks, hat, and inhaler all optional - only shoes are essential)

We went for a quick blast up and down on the bikes to make sure they were working OK. Mine was fine, but Mrs had sheared her rear gear cable somehow. A nice mechanic in the expo fixed it for €10, good as new.

Our bikes, racked and ready to go (Ultimate Athlete Bethan Fowler's bike in the background)

All done, and it was back to Sea Breeze Lodge for a relaxing afternoon of doing very little, and updating my blog (there you go, we've caught up with real-time now!).

Plan for Race Day

Swim: Put some effort in for once. I want to be out in under 35 minutes (tall order for first sea swim). Kick hard in last 100-150m, looks like it might be quite a trek up to T1 and jelly-legs would be annoying! Visualise transition.

T1: Fast, efficient, no faffing. No decisions to be made about what to wear or take, so no reason to slow down. Don't forget to put my bars in my back pocket. Not wearing a secondary bike top this time.

Bike: PACE YOURSELF! Start slower than I would normally want to and make sure HR is under control. Build after first 5-10 minutes up to around 130-135 BPM. See if I can hold it around there for the duration. Fuelling as has worked perfectly before - gel at +15, half a bar at +45, and gel/bar alternating every half hour from there. I'm carrying 2x 750ml drink so with a time of around 3 hours and 500ml/hour I should have no need to stop for anything. Take care flying through the aid stations, other people will be stopping! Don't forget to take feet out of shoes ahead of bike dismount!

T2: This should be very fast - nothing to do but put running shoes on. Take hat if it's strong sun (unlikely), change socks if it was raining on the bike (unlikely). Let's see how far up the ranking I can get for transition.

Run: Only part of the race with a time target. I really want to a) go under 2 hours, and b) negative split. Therefore, first 5km, take it gently, don't sprint off. A half marathon in under 2 hours means breaking 5:41/km on average. There's no need to go off any harder than this. If feeling strong, from 5 to 15km try to hold 5:15-5:30/km. Find a rhythm, and keep it going up until 15km, if you can't speed up, don't worry, just try and stay within 5:41/km. At 15km, if feeling strong, open it up and see what else you've got left - I know I can run a fast 5km, just think of it as a parkrun.

If I manage the bike well, and the first 10-15km of the run, I should be able to put in an effort to be proud of.

Let's see what happens tomorrow!

Ironman UK performance analysis

As I write this I'm on a plane on my way out to the US for another lightening fast visit. Arrive Sunday night, one night in New York, work Monday, and fly back overnight landing on Tuesday morning in time to go to the office in London. Don't let them tell you international travel is glamorous.

It's an important trip, and I can see the need for me to be there in person on Monday, but I'm a bit annoyed at missing what had become until recently a bit of a bank holiday ritual. The Monday morning 4am start to get up and head over to Hampton Pool for the wonderful Thames Turbo sprint series races. One is held on each of our bank holiday weekends, so there are three in close company at the start of the year, and then one in August.

I had decided to skip race 3, instead getting some extended training in the bank, but had been looking forward to race 4. In theory, I've never been this fit - how much of that transfers from the long course racing for which I've been training to the short course sprint format is uncertain, and I intended to find out tomorrow with a balls-out (metaphorically, I assure you) effort.

In any case, instead I'm an hour out from Heathrow over the Eastern Atlantic on my way to Noo Yoik. I shouldn't complain too much - without my job with the good folks at Razorfish I wouldn't be able to fund my Ironman habit.

Recently I've been reading the rather excellent blog of Russell Cox, entitled Trains & Travels. Lately he's posted a number of articles looking at the relative performance of athletes as benchmarked against their peers and other performance levels in their race. I've always done this with my Thames Turbo results - and they've always shown the same patterns:

The swim: I am roughly at the bottom of the top third. I've been improving, slowly, but not very rapidly. I haven't competed in a Thames Turbo race since I've re-learned to swim (more on that in the future). Recently I've been 25-30% down the field overall, but, as Male 30-39 is a high performing age group, this translates to only about 35-40% in my age group.

The bike: This is where I'm strong. In Thames Turbo races I can get as high as the top 10% in the overall field. I'm also strong in my age group, hitting top 15%.

The run: Do we have to talk about the run? In my first two Thames Turbo races I was beaten by almost 83% of the entire field - I am not a runner. My best run performance was Race 4 last year where I sneaked into the top 50% - but still got beaten by 65% of the others in my age group.

Overall: My strong bike pushes me up the rankings. In recent races I have come in the top 25% of the field, and the top 35% of my age category.

Disclaimer: My Thames Turbo PB was in Race 1 of this year - I haven't conducted my usual analysis on those results as they've stopped releasing the immensely useful .xls of all the results, and have moved to an equally immensely annoying web-based results tool. Colour me unimpressed.

Russell's blog got me thinking about how this performance benchmarking compares to my inaugural Ironman. Would the same pattern be revealed? If so, what action can I take to produce a better performance next time?

It just so happens that I checked the Ironman UK results page yesterday, and they have now released a .xls of the full results. I'll say right now - all race results data should be released like this. Today's Internet is all about the cool things you can do with data - and the first step is making the data available in an easily consumable manner. Coming third only to well documented API and a tidy .csv is the glory that is the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Fancy web front-ends and search tools are great, but please, race organisers, make them your way of interpreting the results for those that just want to click about, don't make them the only way to get to the data.

So what does the spreadsheet tell me? It tells me the following:

My finish was a bit behind where I would expect to come in shorter races. The first race at a new distance is unlikely to give your optimal performance, and I suspect my run will have brought me down the field.

• 501st out of 1,180 overall (42.5%) - meaning I was "chicked" by 39 women
• 462nd out of 1,047 men (44.1%)
• 103rd in my age category (M35-39) out of 227 (45.4%)

My swim was pretty average compared to previous performances. Interestingly I was higher up in my age group ranking than overall - this implies that M35-39 is behind the curve in Ironman swimming, as opposed to my local sprint races where it's one of the strongest groups.

• 408th overall (34.6%)
• 357th male (34.1%)
• 74th M35-59 (32.6%)

My swim to bike transition (T1) was well inside the top third. Again we see the M35-39 group are a little behind the curve - come on guys, get your fingers out!

• 343rd overall (29.1%)
• 303rd male (28.9%)
• 64th M35-39 (28.2%)

The bike was where, in my opinion, my race started to diverge from the plan. I went out far too hard and thought that would massively impact my ranking - I'm still in the top third, but no where near where I would hope to be.

• 350th overall (29.7%)
• 329th male (31.4%)
• 70th M35-39 (30.8%)

The bike is where the spreadsheet gets really interesting. It lists the split times at 7 points on the bike course (to this day I have no idea how they did that - I don't recall going over any timing mats).

My recollection of the bike phase is that I went off like a rocket. I thought I was under control, but I was flying past people like they were standing still. I decayed hard over the second and third laps, and picked up a tiny bit (probably relief!) towards the end of the third lap.

The stats seem to validate my suspicions, only I was decaying way sooner than I realised. In fact every split was slower (relative to the field) than the one before. I managed a very minor improvement on the last split, but that was only 2.3 miles long so I don't think it counts for much! Needless to say, this is not a good example of Ironman pacing. 

However, I was significantly faster at the start than I realised, my 12.5% overall for the first split puts me in the top eighth of all competitors! My assumption that I'd drifted down to half way or even further by the end was based on my starting pace being average - I didn't realise I'd set off so relatively hard, and therefore although I slipped a long long way down, my finish was still quite good (relative to the field, if not relative to my normal short course triathlon performance).

A similar story can be seen from my average speed.

It looks alternately slow and fast because the 3-lap circuit had a very definite slow and fast half, but of note is that the slow halves get slower each time, and the fast halves do too. My pace was dropping continually throughout the bike phase - this is a real eye opener, I had expected a period of good stable performance followed by a rapid drop off, not a decline basically from the word go!

So how does this compare with everyone else? I figure the top 20 finishers should know a thing or two about pacing - after all, they're the only group who went under 10 hours, with 20th place just sneaking under at 9:58:53. This group is all male, the first female was Irish professional Eimear Mullen who came in at 10:08:44 - an incredible performance for her first full distance race.

So it seems the top guys also fade, just like I do - exactly like I did, in fact. Only they are going faster to start with, and they drop off at a lower rate (their reduction is therefore much less impacting). This isn't quite what I expected, I assumed that there was a magic pacing ability the top performers have and their splits would show that the three laps were taken at a similar pace each time. Actually, their pacing pattern was much like mine, only they're much fitter and can therefore go faster and resist the drop off in pace for longer.

If I conserved my energy better by starting more within my capabilities I should find that, although my initial velocity might be marginally reduced, I can limit the rate of decay of pace, and therefore my plot would look similar to the top 20, only shifted down by a few km/h. Overall this would give me a better finishing time. Something to think about for Galway where the bike course is virtually flat. If I can get the pace right from the start and hold it right through to the end, and still have good legs for the run, then I'll have got it right and be deservedly pleased.

I'm expecting my bike to run transition to be poor - basically I stopped for a picnic, application of sun cream, a chat, and generally took my time. Mentally, I needed the break, but race-wise I suspect it cost me some places.

• 1,011th overall (85.7%)
• 896th male (85.6%)
• 199th M35-59 (87.7%) 

As expected - terrible! The stats show that at the slow end the M35-59 group were marginally better than average, but when you get down to the back 15% it's all much for muchness. Any longer and I'd have squeezed in a nice cup of tea (now I've thought that I'm wondering about the practicalities of leaving a small Thermos in my T2 bag, hmm...).

One of my objectives for Galway is to speed up my transitions. I needed the break after the challenging bike ride, but a better managed bike should mean a faster T2 (suggesting a well paced bike makes more difference than just that revealed by the bike split time alone). For reference, the fastest T2 was a breath-taking 1:16 by Rob Cummins, an Irish athlete who was placed 48th overall.

Onto the run, and again I'm expecting a picture of starting too fast and fading fast. If the Thames Turbo pattern holds then I'll be significantly further down the field in the run that I was the swim or bike.

• 747th overall (63.3%)
• 669th male (63.9%)
• 158th M35-59 (69.6%)

So I just squeezed into the top two thirds overall, and the top two thirds of men, but my age category is clearly comprised of stronger than average runners, therefore I got beaten by very nearly 7 out of every 10 of them.

Again, the spreadsheet gives a lot of splits. Let's see if the run really went the way I remember it.

This one is a bit different - it looks like I was gaining places overall for the first 13 miles, unlike the bike where I was losing places form the start. The trend reversed fairly quickly, and I started drifting back relative to the field at a pretty high rate. 13 to 21 miles was really hard, and I got slower and slower, and then managed to halt the decline for the last couple of miles (possibly because I knew the end was close, and also it was downhill!).

Basically, my pacing sucked, and I went off at an utterly unsustainable pace.

Compared again with the top 20 finishers shows my pattern was fairly representative, but once again I started a lot more slowly. My pace from 17-20km didn't pick up again when compared with the top finishers - I expect this was one of the long gentle rises that I just couldn't get going on and ended up walking most of the way. The top 20 picked up the pace again and kept running.

Note here that although it looks like our paces were declining at the same rate because the trend line is roughly parallel, this isn't the case. My drop of about 2.5km/h represents a proportionally greater reduction given my starting pace of only 9.5km/h (26%), whereas the top 20 dropped a similar amount of about 2km/h but starting much faster at 14km/h (14% drop).

As with the bike, I expected the top 20 finishers to have a magic pacing ability that showed they hold an even pace throughout, but this isn't the case. They gradually slow down along with everyone else (along with me, at least). Where my curve differs at 17-20km I was clearly in trouble, this matches my experience - this was the darkest point in the run, although I felt mentally alert (I take that as evidence my nutrition was good) my legs just wouldn't do what they were told. Even the technique of setting small targets (the next aid station, landmark, or sometimes even lamp-post) was not working - legs just went "sorry, no way" and would play ball. Or run.

I'm taking a few things from this analysis:

• My pattern of pacing decay is fairly representative.
• My rate of decay is proportionately greater than those at the sharp end of the field.
• The top 20 are faster at the start, faster in the middle, and faster at the end!
• My swim is OK - although a third of the field beat me, the time difference is comparatively small. The 9th place finisher only beat me by 3 minutes, and despite being 22% faster the top 20 was only on average 16:30 ahead of me. 
• My run is by far the weakest discipline, and that should be a major component of my winter focus. This is where I faded badly, and lost the most time.
• To move up to the next level (12 hours would seem to be a reasonable target) I need to improve my run, and get better at managing my effort on the way there.

Importantly for this year:

• Even if I control my bike better in Wales I'm not going to pluck an amazing run out of thin air.
• The bike course is a lot harder than Bolton, and as a result I'm not sure I'll be able to set a better time, even with better pacing.
• I now recognise that at Wales the challenge for me really is in getting to the end.

In my next races I should (hopefully) have my watch working properly so I can map all this against my own data rather than just the published splits - that will give me a lot more insight.