Ironman 70.3 UK, Day one, Travelling

Well, it's finally here, the first adventure of the four - the first race in the Ironman Ultimate Challenge journey! A quick 30-minute swim this morning just to keep things ticking over, and then (thwarted only by a minor panic when one of my daft cats refused to come in and get packed off and sent to stay at the cattery over the weekend) we packed the car and were off to sunny (rainy) Exmoor.

Coupés are not the best for high-volume transportation

Fits! Could have got another couple of bikes in there...

The car was full to the brim, but everything fitted without too much packing-tetris required. At the Ironman UK Familiarisation day in Bolton Richard Jones was amazed we could get two bikes into my car - I think he'd have suspected cheeky use of higher spatial dimensions if he could see how much I got in this time.

Uneventful journey, fairly eventful weather

Success is going to be all about planning and lists, so I thought I'd share the list of things I made to bring. There's a lot on it, but this is to cater for every eventuality, as well as 5 nights away from home. The weather could be doing anything, and it's better to be safe than sorry.

I'm expecting this list to evolve as I get more experienced at what's really needed, and I've probably forgotten the odd thing (kitchen sink?) - but it was useful for me and who knows, it might be a useful checklist for some of you too.

Swimming	Swim shorts/trunks
	Tri-suit x2 - 1 racing, 1 training
	Goggles x3 - clear, smoked, mirrored
	Wetsuit
	Body glide
	Thin swim cap
	Neoprene swim cap
	Swim socks
	Anti-fog spray
	Bin liner
Cycling	Bike
	Race wheels and brake blocks
	Poor weather wheels and brake blocks
	Road helmet
	Aero helmet
	Gloves x3 – mitts, thin liners, bad weather
	Bib tights
	Bib shorts
	Long sleeved top
	Short sleeved top
	Waterproof top
	Race belt
	Sunglasses – transition lenses and iridium lenses
	Cycling shoes
	Socks
	Arm sleeves
	Drinks bottles x3 – 2x 750ml on-bike, 1x 500ml pre-race
	Overshoes
	Race number mount
	Elastic bands (for mounting shoes on bike)
	Cassette suitable for bike course terrain
Running	Shorts
	Vest
	Shoes x2
	Socks
	Cap
	parkrun barcode
General sport clothes	Long sleeved base layer
	Sports underwear x2
	Sports socks x2
	Compression tights
	Compression socks
Non-sports clothes	Shorts
	T-shirts (n)
	Socks (n+1)
	Underwear (n+1)
	Long sleeved jumper x2
First aid/prevention	Alginate dressing
	Ibuprofen
	Plasters
	Savlon
	Blister plasters
	Piriteze
	Inhalers x4 – 1 brown and 3x blue
	Sun cream
	After sun
	Talcum powder
	Chamois cream
	Surgical tape
Nutrition	Post race Powerade Energy
	Post race recovery XS and milk
	Omega 3 capsules
	CLA capsules
	Protein powder
	Colostrum powder
	High5 gels – mixed flavours, caffeinated and non-caffeinated
	High5 energy drink mix
	High5 zero electrolyte tablets
	Energy bars
	Any additional in-race nutrition (e.g. bagels)
	Cool bag
Tools/accessories	D-lock and extension cable
	Chain lube
	Degreasing spray
	Roll of kitchen paper
	Disposable gloves
	Track pump
	Bike tool box
	Electrical tape
	Cable ties
	Packing tape (for securing rain cover if needed)
	On-bike tool kit (Spare tub/tube, tyre levers, CO2 canisters x2, CO2 canister adapter, multi-tool)
	Bike tool-box, fully populated
	Padlock
	Plastic bags
Toiletries	E45 lotion moisturiser
	Toilet roll
	Anti-perspirant
	Shower gel
	Razor
	Shaving gel
	Nail clippers
	Ear buds
	Tweezers
	Nail clippers
	Toothbrush
	Toothpaste
	Ear plugs
	Anti-bacterial hand wash
Tech	Garmin 910XT and charging cable
	Garmin ANT dongle
	Garmin HR strap and unit
	Laptop and power supply
	Ethernet adapter
	Ethernet cable
	iPhone
	iPhone charging cable
	Jambox and cables
	Camera and charger
	Headphone extension cable
Paperwork	Passport and driving licence (if abroad)
	Travel tickets
	Confirmation of accommodation
	BTF card
	Race pack and FAQs
	Race documentation sent by post
	Gym membership card
	Wallet
	Cash
	Chequebook
Entertainment	Books/magazines
	Podcasts/TV/Films (on phone/laptop)
	Condoms

One Hundred And Three Dot Com

The race numbers have been announced for the Ironman 70.3 UK event which (as Facebook kindly reminded me this morning) is this coming Sunday.

I am athlete number 103, and if the organisation sticks to its plan then that will be my number for all the races this year - there was talk of our numbers being a different colour, but I don't know if that will be the case or not. Mrs is number 104, and the other Ultimate Challengers are in the same range with the exception of Bethan Fowler who, as an elite (professional) athlete is numbered accordingly.

There are 10 age-groupers...

...and one female elite

I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone for the first of at least 4 times this year!

A few weeks ago and well before the numbers had been announced I was wondering what the lowest number not to be registered as a .com domain was (this is the kind of conversation that happens a lot in my office). A one-line bash script later and I learned it was onehundredandthree.com - the same as my race number, though I didn't know it then. Seems as good a domain as any, so there we go, my blog now lives at www.onehundredandthree.com (though normdriskell.blogspot.com will still work).

The race pack is also available as a PDF download, and there's a 2-page spread on the Ultimate Challenegers.

Page 20 (I'm 10kg lighter than that now!)

Page 21

I know a few of them already as we've been chatting away on a Facebook group that Mrs and I created. It looks like most have some serious experience, with just one other person being a first-timer.

Thanks Facebook, I'd forgotten

I don't know how much updating of the blog I'll be able to do, mobile reception is absolutely terrible, and I don't think where we're staying has any Internet...

Spectating at the GE Blenheim Triathlon

As a result of going a bit off the rails training-plan wise over last week I made the decision not to race the picturesque GE Blenheim Triathlon. Mrs, however, didn't get off the hook so easily, so she was still up early with her race face on and ready to go for some sprint-distance action.

My rearranged diary called for a low-effort Heart Rate Zone 1 session instead, so I got up early and had a 50km ride in the sun (and persistent wind) up to Richmond Park, round it a few times in each direction, and on to the inaugural parkrun event at Crane Park, a few miles west of Richmond in South West London. I was scheduled to run at my anticipated Ironman marathon pace, so I jogged round at the wide end (if the front of the pack is the sharp/pointy end, then the back has to be the wide end, right?) in a relatively pedestrian 27:19.

I was due to complete a section of the ride at 25-mile Time Trial pace so I saved that for the journey back home - a solid 43 minute effort. I got in at 10:25 - a little later than intended, I'd said we should leave at 10:30, but Mrs was all packed and ready and we were back out within 15 minutes.

She was having a tough work day and spent the drive up to Blenheim Palace on the phone - a very stressy period and, together with getting stuck on the Oxford ring road, not the best pre-race experience.

In my role as domestique for the day I parked up, unpacked the car, and assembled the bike. I carried bags and wheeled the bike to registration while Mrs carried on dealing with work. Thankfully for all our sanity the phone reception in the area is atrocious and she soon had to drop off the phone and could focus on her race.

Despite the delays, we had plenty of time to rack up in transition and get ready. I had planned to race and therefore received my race pack, so I brought my athlete's wristband and enjoyed "access all areas" - I could get into transition, help Mrs while she got changed into her wetsuit, and carry all her bags. I tried to do as I was told and be quiet and helpful. Today, I'm just a spectator.

Access all areas

Mrs went down to swim start, I went to grab a coffee and head down to watch. The green-hats assembled, and had the usual good natured briefing. The same guy did the briefing at last year's Blenheim Triathlon (which I didn't enjoy very much - over-cooked the bike and suffered badly on the run), and also the Virgin London Triathlon.

Race briefing

Without further ado, they dropped in the water and were off!

Swim start - affectionally known as "the washing machine"

I cheered and waved along with all the other proud Mums and Dads and Significant Others, and wandered back up the hill to wait at the top of the swim exit. There's a punishing 400m hill straight out of the water and on to T1 - I wanted to see where she was in the order and cheer her on where I knew I could be heard. Out of her wave of what I guess was 150-200, she was in the top 15, and 5th woman - I beamed proudly and shouted "5th woman!" as she went by.

Mrs at the bike mount (with the red tyres, before you say something funny about the guy in blue)

No time to get to transition, so I went to watch the bike mount. I saw her leave on the first of three laps, and then pass twice more. I yelled encouragement each time and think I got through (either that or they guy next to her was wondering why I was yelling "Go-on honey, looking good!" at him).

Looking up to transition - it really is a beautiful setting

Military precision at the course crossing points

I crossed the bike and run route (eventually, there was quite a queue) to get closer to the runners. Mrs went in for T2 and out not he run.

Mrs heading down the ramp on the bridge to the run route, 200m outside transition

I yelled some more encouragement and made my way up to the finish. She was looking really strong in the run (as I yelled a couple of times) and even raised her arms and laughed as the announcer called her name as she went down the finishing chute. I was so happy I forgot to get a picture of her, but she looked strong, fast, and fit - looking good for next week's Ironman 70.3 UK at Wimbleball!

A quick look at the results show her to be in 9th place overall in her age category - an amazing performance out of over 180 in her category over the two days of racing.

It was a good experience being on the other side for a change, as a spectator rather than competitor - cheering along with everyone else and enjoying the spectacle. If you get a chance to go along and support someone at a triathlon, please do - it means the world to have support and you may feel tempted to try it yourself.

Race report from Mrs is here.

The elites raced on Saturday morning and were all done by the time we got there - Alistair Brownlee made a triumphant return to racing finishing in a tie with his brother Jonathon, and Jodie Stimpson took it out for the ladies, right in the face of the announcement of the GBR team by the Olympic selection committee. The selection was a messy process, and resulted in some rather public disappointment by the unselected.

Ironman Bolton Familiarisation Camp - Pictures and reminders

A bit more on last weekend's familiarisation camp with The Tri Life. First a few photos:

The view form our hotel room window that greeted us on Sunday morning

Mrs getting our stuff together for a drive rather than our expected ride

Massive respect to the guys at The Tri Life for making what must have been a really tough decision to tell us we weren't riding the course - they could have had to deal with a lot of annoyed people, but as it was we all saw the sense in the decision.

Point if you can see a lake...

...there it is!

The swim is different this year - we're going to have to swim 1,900m, then exit for a short run of 20m or so, then back in for another 1,900m.

Sam Baxter, top age group Ironman athlete, showing his pointing skills

Sam (@SBaxter220) was with us for the Wimbleball familiarisation day too. His insight as someone who is actively racing at the highest level was invaluable. I had the pleasure of riding two of my hill reps with him.

This field will be transformed into T1 and crammed full of sexy tri-bikes

A feed station will be here - conveniently half way down a fast downhill section

It rained non-stop, all day long. When the wind whipped up it was very cold too. After the trip out the team estimated it was just 8 or 9 degrees Centigrade all day. Definitely not a good day for cycling.

This will be T2 - hopefully with the gate open!

Secondly, some reminders from the notes I took - hopefully useful for others competing in Ironman UK. Here goes:

• Ensure rear bottles are well mounted - speed bumps out of T1 and another into T2
• If you pee on bike, rinse down at aid stations thoroughly with water
• Bike course is fast, good surfaces - one hill - 10 min climb if that
• Descents are safe and fast with good visibility
• First couple of run miles are downhill but don't get excited and run too fast
• First feed station a mile into the bike loop - on a fast descent (helpful!)
• Make sure you research what is on offer at the feed stations and the order that things will be handed out in - water is normally first and last
• Climb from Rivington at 15.5 miles - 1 mile up, short flat break, final steeper short section - very exposed at the top, very steep final 1/10 mile - it's not hard though, pick a gear and dig in
• Potholes on left during descent after climb - stay aware
• Change down when road gets mega narrow well in advance of 90 degree left and short hill in Belmont, there's no room to change on the descent and there's a hill right around the corner
• Checklist essential as T1 and T2 are miles apart you won't be able to get to or do any last minute checks on T2 bag - repeat: checklist is absolutely essential
• What's our transport plan? How are we recovering our stuff? It looks like you can pick up on the Monday morning, but need to check the race pack to be sure
• Dry bag is available as soon as you cross the line (snack, money, bit of food, etc) and T1 bag is transported to T2 for pickup along with T2 bag and bike
• The whole first half of the bike course seems like descent - no need to work too hard, just tap through
• Top tip #1: Always have your arm warmers with you - can have them on your tri bars or arm rests - can make a huge difference if there's a chance of rain or chill - think about slipping them on ahead of long descents
• Don't forget - train on race bike, and in race kit, leave nothing to chance - TEST IT (Try Everything Several Times In Training)
• Make training specific and relative to profile of course
• Keep a gear in check - always be thinking you can go faster if you wanted
• Some say the race starts at 80 miles, Sam said it isn't a race until the last 10 miles of the run!
• Ensure you maintain one full rest day/week
• Do not panic train!
• Learn your pacing on swim bike and run - hold off ending up in a horrible mess for as long as possible
• Be honest with your capabilities
• Stick to your plan, your little race bubble
• The swim is the warm up - don't end it full of lactate and anaerobic
• Taper - get as fresh as possible - 1 day taper per hour average week of training 
• During the taper, roll off run, then bike, then swim - include some race pace intensity even during taper
• Don't try anything different ahead of race day
• Relax ahead of race, read a book, do something normal to calm down
• Practice nutrition strategy in training
• Two days ahead of the race, make sure you're eating as normal, nothing new
• Practice a pre- race (night before) meal ahead of a massive training day
• Avoid too much protein/fibre/dairy in advance
• Remain well hydrated the day or two before
• Remember salts if it's hot - have one/two the day before
• Get up 3 hours before race
• Eat light well-practiced meals - there's no real need to eat masses the night before
• Energy bar or banana 1 hour before race
• Let stomach settle on bike before eating
• 30g carb per 30 mins (check the nutrition levels on wrappers)
• Only shiny gold powerbars available on bike leg
• 500ml Gatorade is 30g approx - remember calories from drinks count too 
• Can front load nutrition on the bike but ease off towards the end onto gels or liquids, not solids and bars (bars take 40 mins to clear remember)
• Work out what works for you - keep it interesting - think about the carb content in other foods, e.g. Sandwiches
• On a normal day, 20C 500ml/hr, 25C 750/hr, 30C 1000ml/hr - adjust according to your sweat rate
• Run cups are 230ml, about 200ml filled. 10g carb in Gatorade, 20g per 200ml in coke
• Need to practice with flat coke - remember coke has caffeine in it
• Save some caffeine gels for the last hour in the run too
• Need to try caffeine use in training too, especially if you're planning to cut it down in advance 1-2 weeks
• Carb loading - don't bother, eat normally - see how it works around a big week of training
• Cut crusts off bread it helps it digest better
• Have some treats - e.g. half a sandwich if I get to 80 miles, segments of bagel
• Can dilute some gels with water into a water bottle - need to try this again
• Check out Clif jelly shots
• Think about sticking a cycling top on already filled pockets with choice of nutrition - also keeps shoulders covered - long zip for managing temperature
• What if... scenarios - list of things that could go wrong and what the backup plan is - bike computer fail, weather, goggles snap, drop nutrition or drinks, etc - note there isn't always a Plan B - if googles snap, swim without them! Just make the call ahead of time and practice it
• If I drop something on the bike, do I go back for it? What if you miss an aid station (keep an emergency gel in your pocket?) - these things need to be considered in advance
• List personally the worst things that could happen for me (this is a tough thing to work through, but if you have a plan for these things, you can survive anything!)
• There will be some rough patches - expect them - get 2-3 strategies for getting through it - particularly on the run. e.g. count 100 paces, see how you feel - visualise yourself strong, practice this in training
• Visualise the entire day, step by step from getting up on race day
• Take 30 minutes solo quiet time for reflection the day before
• Where do I want supporters to be, what do I want them to shout? What will motivate me?
• Hold back on the run - there are some short sharp climbs and a steady hill on the run - stick to race pace and race plan
• Take a pair of latex gloves for emergencies - v handy (mechanical greasy emergencies, not grim biological things!)
• Chain tool and quick links - what else to put int the bag?
• Prevention better than cure on mechanicals - bike must be in tip-top condition
• Check out where all the shuttle buses and bags go
• Might want to carry some gels on the run, there's a long gap between aid stations

Let's hope all this thinking helps race day go smoothly!

My Diamond Jubilee week - way off the plan

While the World, or at least the Commonwealth, was celebrating Queenie's 60 years atop the throne - I decided it would be a good weekend to get some training done. Last effort before Wimbleball and 4-day weekends don't come around that often. It was actually a 5-day weekend, as I took Friday as a day off work for my Birthday.

The weekend didn't go quite according to plan, and neither did the following week. There was plenty of the adaptability and last minute replanting I was talking writing about recently. Let's review:

Friday
The plan: Nothing, a scheduled rest day for my birthday.
The reality: Mrs had a swim session so I went along and joined her. Drills and easy pace for warmup, then 10x 100m off 2:20. This means start the clock, swim 100m, and then any time you have left up to 2:20 you can take as rest. At 2:20 you go again, 100m, rest until 4:40. Repeat 10 times. This is a fun set, highly recommended. You'll need to adjust the time to suit your speed. I think 2:20 is a bit overly generous for me as I had 30-40s rest each time. Might try 2:10 next time. I then took 400m to cool down. It was nice to go and swim without the time pressure of needing to go back to work - a nice way to spend an hour of my birthday.

Saturday
The plan: 90 minute bike ride out to Beckton District Park, and 90 minute ride back. Easy pace ride with the inaugural Beckton parkrun in the middle.
The reality: I got quite literally 50m down the road and had a massive rear-wheel blow-out - tyre deflated so quickly I felt the breeze on the back of my leg. No time to fix it (I always practice perfectly timed slightly panicked arrivals at parkrun!). I ran home, got changed quickly, and ran to the underground station to get the train out. Got there with 10 minutes to spare, a quick warm-up jog, and then somehow smashed out yet another new 5km PB - 21:14 this time.

In the afternoon we were driving up to Bolton for the Ironman UK Familiarisation Day run by The Tri Life. The Wimbleball day was immensely valuable, so Mrs and I were hoping to get just as much out of this event. We drove up in the torrential rain, hoping for dry for Sunday.

Sunday
The plan: Meet up with The Tri Life guys at 8am, briefing, head out for a ride on the course, a 15-mile lead-in and then one lap of the 30 mile loop that will be repeated three times on race day, then the 15 miles back. Following that a good run, straight off the bike.
The reality: It was not dry. In fact to get any wetter I think you'd have to be underwater. In the briefing they said it was just far too wet and cold for us to go safely on a 60 mile ride - the group that did it the day before took a few minutes shy of 6 hours. In that weather we wouldn't remember a thing we'd seen, just getting to the end would be a mission. They still wanted us to get value form the day though, so we drove up to T1, took a look at the lake, drove up to the loop and round it once. We then did 3 reps of the one big hill on the course and a 5km marathon pace jog (around 6min/km). We had a good look at T2 before driving back to the hotel for lunch and Q&A.

Heart rate on the 3 hill reps. Stayed low(ish) on the first and pushed harder on the second and third.

Monday
The plan: Thames Turbo Sprint Triathlon Series - Race 3. Plan was to go hard in the swim, put in a solid bike, and then a medium effort run trying not to break my legs too much.
The reality: I hadn't got anything like the training I wanted over the weekend, so I decided I would get better effect from using Monday and Tuesday as back-to-back long days. I decided to skip the race and go for a long Zone 1 run instead. I got the tram out to Gravel Park, ran to Riddlesdown Park (7km) for a special bank holiday Riddlesdown parkrun (5km), and then ran home (18km or thereabouts). 30km in 3 hours - if I can hold that pace during the Ironman races I'm going to be ecstatic - that scales up to a sub 4:15 marathon.

Tuesday
The plan: Open water recovery swim after a heavy weekend and hard race.
The reality: Second hard day - drove out to Andover for a Jubilee bank holiday Tuesday parkrun double. 5km at Andover at 9am (22:05, great time), then onto my bike for a time-trial effort ride up to Newbury (around 30km) for a second parkrun at 10:30. I made it with about 3 minutes to spare. Quite a few people had come up from Andover and a parkrun at Basingstoke, so it was a packed event - plenty of lovely cakes and snacks at the end too - Jubilicious! I had planned a 3.5 hour windy ride back to Andover, but the weather was closing in hard - driving rain and strong winds. I had wet weather gear, but had to call it a day at about 2.5 hours. I was frozen, it took a long time to warm up in the car. A very long time.

Wednesday
The plan: Up at 4am to cycle to the City for a coached swim session at 6am. Following that, bike to work and an 8km brick (I call this "triathlon day" - it's a hell of a lot more fun than it sounds I assure you).
The reality: Alarm went off, I got out of bed, and almost fell over. My legs were absolutely shot to bits. I could barely get down the stairs or get dressed. A lot of aching, a lot of fatigue, and very little strength. It wasn't until I checked my phone before leaving that I noticed a text from my swim coach that he'd sent late the night before saying the morning was cancelled. Infuriating, I'd got up at 4am for no reason! I took my knackered legs back to bed and declared it an unscheduled rest day.

Thursday
The plan: My normal Thursday morning fasted session (black coffee when I get up, nothing else during the workout apart from water, no food for 45 minutes after completing). 15km medium effort ride to work, quick change, 10km run round Regents Park with sprint effort on the short sharp rises around Primrose Hill.
The reality: My legs were still totally ruined. I went for a swim at Tooting Bec LIDO, but couldn't face anything else. Starting to get quite depressed at how off-plan the week had got.

Friday
The plan: Open water swim and easy cycle commute.
The reality: I had rescheduled my coached swim for today so it was a crazy early start again. I swam hard and angrily, and felt a lot better afterwards. During the day I mailed my coach for advice on the week. I was very affected by what I saw as a 'ruined' week only one week out from Wimbleball. I was worried I'd damaged my performance with the amount of running I added last weekend, and the sessions I'd missed this week. I also needed to reschedule and get back on track. He was great. He reminded me that I would still get a good training effect from those sessions - I needed to hear a positive spin, and he was right on the money. We also agreed not to race Blenheim - my view was that I was recovering from fried legs, the last thing I wanted to do was thrash myself again. Instead we updated the training plan with a mid-length ride (2.5 hours) and Ironman Marathon paced parkrun for Saturday morning, big swim set (3,800m) for Sunday, and then a well structured week to lead into Wimbleball.

The week was mental. I made some mistakes, but learned too. It's not all bad when you go off the rails, but it's when you need that reassurance and adjustment you realise the immense value of having invested in a good professional coach who will have seen it a thousand times before.

It's my birthday!

37 years ago today I burst into the world (thanks, Mum!). I got some wonderful gifts this morning, there seems to be a pattern though, anyone would think I had some kind of cycling/endurance thing going on. I'm not sure how people got that idea.

Presents! For me! (I've wanted a set of those ball-end hex wrenches for years)

Thanks Mum, Dad, In-laws, and Mrs for great presses!

In some unusual non-Ironman news, I also got a crazy shapes game from my Mum that came from the Science Museum. I enjoyed it so much (and was proud of smashing the time estimations - maybe it's for kids?) that I thought I'd share it - so this is "Tantrix Discovery" (odd name...) it seems like there are all sorts of games along similar lines.

This is how it works:

The game 

The challenge

The reverse of the pieces (so you know which ones to use)

And here are the solutions:

Just noticed the web page says "From age 6", am now no longer quite so smug about smashing the challenge times :)

In Ironman news, Mrs and I are off to Bolton tomorrow for the tri-life IM UK familiarisation day - 60 miles on the bike, and a few miles run, plus Q&A, etc. Looking forward to it, weather says 10C though - I'll take a jumper...

Now I own a torque wrench I'm a real man (I already had an angle grinder).

This rest day is a training day

I have been almost relentlessly positive about my training progress. This is in part because progress has been rapid - I had (and still have) weight to lose and strength to gain, therefore any structured plan would show an improvement. It's also in part because I try to take a positive approach to everything I do - I find that if I can remain positive and focused about training that transfers directly to other areas of my life. I've found it's important to have a mental strategy to deal with alterations to the training plan as it can become a problem if that level of positivity hinges on each session being completed succesfully.

This week the weather has been very warm in the UK. I'm a big fan of summer, I love the sun and being outside on my bike or (now I'm a bit lighter) even running. It does take a few days to adapt to the overnight temperature though - as a result this last week I've had three consecutive nights from Wednesday to Friday night of very broken and unrewarding sleep. This peaked on Friday when I'll wager that I got no more than 30 minutes uninterrupted sleep at a time. Not only nowhere near enough sleep, but definitely not enough to sustain a heavy training load.

Saturday was due to ba a long and hard day, challenging at the best of times. Up at 4am, pick up Danny Norman (go and download The parkrun Show now) and drive to Marple in Cheshire for their inaugural parkrun, drive home. Sleep for 3 or 4 hours. Get up again, cycle up to Clapham and meet some work colleagues at 11pm for the London to Brighton Night Ride - and, in order to make it a real Ironman-worthy training session - cycle back home afterwards.

Marple parkrun was gorgeous. A challenging undulating course on a beautiful hot early-summer morning. I met some great people including Tom Williams and his wife Helen and daughter Rosie, Tom is a presenter on Marathon Talk (grab it from iTunes) and UK Manager for parkrun. David and Sharon Rowe who have been involved in the parkrun community for many years; and James, Marple parkrun event director, and his crew. I even got to say hi to Tony Audenshaw, who I know as the voice of Tony's Trials in Marathon Talk, but is apparently better known as Bob from Emmerdale. We had a lovely coffee afterwards at sleepy coffee shop and bakery Libby's in Marple Bridge - I'm not sure they knew what had hit them!

Marple people and parkrun people in the sun (check out how sharp the shadows were at 8:30am)

As I was driving back yesterday early afternoon I knew something had to give. I was absolutely shattered, only a Grande Filter from Starbucks and Danny's chirpy chatter kept me focussed enough to get home. I collapsed onto the sofa and was micro-sleeping almost immediately. Regrettably, I had to call the night's 180km mega-ride off.

I have a real problem with people who promise to do things, and then don't show up - it's a behavioural trait that winds me up, particularly when others have gone out of their way or might be looking forward to your presence. I try very hard not to be that person so missing the ride was not a decision taken lightly.

Would I enjoy cycling 180km (if indeed I made the distance) in a catatonic haze? Would it make me a better Ironman? No on both counts, and it would have a negative impact on my adaptation of the week's productive load.

I ate well yesterday afternoon, made an effort not to nap, and turned in at about 11pm in the end. I slept solidly until 9.30am today - a sleep that gave me far more training benefit than the ride would have done.

So I'm sorry I missed the ride, I hope the guys that did it had an awesome time, but for me - my night's training was spent dreaming and recovering. It was a positive decision, it was the right thing to do.

Rest is training too.

What's wrong with this picture?

I rode 120km on this cassette the other week, back to home from Northampton parkrun. I tell you what, it's damned infuriating!

Some of these things are not in the order that they should be...

The lesson to learn: No matter how many times you've done something, check it! Can you imagine racing on this? I'd be ready to throw my bike off a bridge just like David Millar did by the time I'd finished.

Still, at least I'm not leaping through thorny doom like my Mrs.

Gold session

Sometimes a training session is just not fun. Crap weather, niggling injury, head not in the right place - but you go out anyway, and you get the job done. It might not be the best day ever but the session was done and the time is "in the bank" - you'll benefit from the training and it'll contribute in some small way to your improvement.

Today was not one of those days, in fact I felt damn-near invincible. The day called for a long ride, and a short run at 90% max effort (how convenient for that most parkrun blessed of days, Saturday). I decided to head up to St Albans parkrun. It's near enough that I can ride there without a crazy early start (I've been sleep deprived enough this week as it is), and it's not a course I've done before. I also needed to do some hard effort periods, 3x 10 minutes well into HR Zone 2. I decided on taking a long route back, and riding the last 10 minutes of every hour at high intensity.

The ride to St Albans was uneventful, apart from some GPS woes. My watch lost about 10km of the route - oddly retaining HR data for the period, but no position. Following that my Garmin Edge 705 which I've recently rediscovered and now plot all my routes into in advance, took 2 reboots to find any satellites. Maybe it was a bit foggy up there in low-orbit land today.

The short (largely flat) route from Wimbledon to St Albans, 46km, 1h 47m

I found the park and got changed. For once I'd arrived in good time, and had a chance for a snack and drink and warm-up jog (I was already fairly warm after an hour and 45 minutes of cycling, but you still need to remind the legs what running is).

We set off on the 9th toll of the bells from the local church (and proved once again that, just like at any New Year's Eve gathering, although large groups of people can count, they certainly can't hold good time). The course runs down a slight incline for 750m or so, round a large pond 3 times, then back up the hill.

Lots of ducks and assorted pond-dwellers to avoid

My first km ticked over in 04:18, well, I thought, it is downhill after all. I had to keep the effort high, so I just thought I'd try holding this pace. 2nd km ticked over in 04:21, nice. I didn't feel too bad either - cadence high, steps light. I'd already reeled in quite a few people who had gone off harder than they could sustain. 3rd km in 04:25 - OK this was starting to look good. I was still holding the pace and cadence well, and felt strong with it. I'd overtaken a few more fast starters too. The 4th km went in 04:22 - great pacing, I was excited now, if I could pull something out of the bag for the final km I might be on for a really good (for me) time. I rounded the corner, gave a push up the short steep part at the start of the finishing incline, and made a big effort. There was a tall man I'd been gradually gaining on the last laps round the pond, I made it a mission to beat him. Digging in I reeled him back, and overtook him with 20m to go - a sprint for the line and it was over.

My official time was 21:30 - a massive PB, taking 45s off my previous best! It was also a new PB on (deep breath) age graded performance (61.71%), gender position (15th of 69 males giving 21.74%, absolute position (17th of 122 finishers giving 13.93%), and age category placing (SM35-39, 2nd of 11 giving 18.18%). And now the world knows how needy I am about my parkrun stats. I've got graphs and spreadsheets too - would you like to see?

Check out that even pacing!

Changed, back on the bike, and off for the ride home - the long way. Legs were understandably fried for the first half hour, but some easy spinning settled them down. I'd decided that the last 10 minutes of every hour were going to be at a hard pace. I was scheduled to be in HR Zone 2, but I can't see my watch when I'm putting a big effort in to see where my heart rate is, so I just decided to "go for it" and see what happened. 0:50:00 came up just as I was turning a 90 degree left hander, I summoned myself to start with the effort and looked up to find a bloody great wall of a hill in front of me! Oh well, better see what I can get done. I put the pedal to the metal for 10 minutes, powering up hills and pushing hard out of the saddle on the flat. I was battered by the end and thankful to sit back down and just spin the wheels.

The long (hilly) route from St Albans to Wimbledon, 96km, 3h 53m

1:50:00 came round quickly, and I went hard again. No idea if I was putting hard enough (or too hard) an effort in. The route was quite varied. I went through narrow country lanes, up and down steep little hills, and past so many enormous and beautiful houses that I lost count. I thought I would find the last 10 minute effort very hard, but as 02:50:00 came round I gave it everything I had left. I flew past a couple of surprised London Dynamo riders who had overtaken me earlier, and really kept the pressure on. I was really surprised at how hard I could go even with everything that had come before today. At the end of the third hard push I found myself at the far end of the Thames Turbo Triathlon bike course, so the way home form here was on autopilot.

The 3x 10 minutes of hard effort are clear, and were at exactly the effort I was aiming for

Today was coloured Gold in my training diary - that means it was a breakthrough session. I feel like today I pushed my boundaries and achieved more than I have before. Over 150km of cycling with 30 minutes of real hard effort - and a massive 5km PB in the middle. Training days don't get much more motivating than this. I try to ask myself regularly before/during/after training, and in other relevant decisions in my life, "Will this make me a better Ironman?". Today the answer is yes, today's training will make me a better Ironman.

Tomorrow is a double-run day, 45 minutes in the morning, and an hour in the afternoon. Let's see if my legs have forgiven me by then! (I've fed them righteous pizza, so they can't be too stroppy about it).