Race Report: 2013 Virgin Active London Triathlon

I've got a lot closer to Virgin Active and the awesome Team Freespeed guys and girls since Mrs was announced as the winner of the "Be Team Freespeed's 12th Member" competition last month. It's all been a bit of a whirlwind actually! One of the main parts of the prize was to race as part of Team Freespeed at the Virgin Active London Triathlon.

We couldn't fit the race into our calendar last year, but had competed in the Olympic distance the year before. We enjoyed it, but had pretty tough days with a sudden hot weekend really taking it out of us, particularly on the run. Added to that it was our first Olympic distance triathlon, and it had seemed like a very long way indeed.

Last year in a fit of excitement I signed up for the Olympic Plus event - this is an Olympic distance with a double-length bike leg, so 1,500m swim, 80km bike, and 10km run. I stuck to my plan to race this, whilst Mrs would be taking a VIP spot in one of the Olympic waves, all decked out in Freespeed livery.

Due to her prize-winning obligations we needed to be around the expo all weekend, and with my race starting at 06:30 on Sunday we decided to get a hotel for Friday and Saturday night.

With the car packed with all our stuff I drove to work Friday morning. Mrs came up after she finished and we drove over to the ExCel exhibition centre in Docklands, scene of the weekend's activities.

ExCel exhibition centre is really very big indeed

Friday night we relaxed and took it easy. Saturday I went over to meet my good friend Mike who was volunteering at Wanstead Flats parkrun, so I ticked another parkrun off the list.

You won't miss Mike, resplendent in his parkrun volunteer hi-viz

Meanwhile Mrs was hanging out with Team Freespeed at the expo and when I returned I bumped into her as she was rushing out of the hotel with her bike - she was going to stand in for some VIP relay entrants who couldn't race. This is one of the responsibilities of the team, to get involved with the celebs on the Saturday's VIP waves.

Mrs in the dockside wetsuit removal zone

She swam and biked a sprint distance before handing over to someone from Cosmo magazine who did the run. One of the other Freespeed guys got in a relay team with Olympic gold medalists - women's boxer Nicola Adams and gymnast Louis Smith!

In the afternoon I went to get my machine ready for tomorrow's adventure

The last remaining "103" sticker from my Ironman adventures - good times, but time to move on

Mrs gave me a VIP hospitality pass, so I hung out there for a while and met a few of the Freespeed guys - they're all lovely and I felt very welcome even though I was a total hanger-on!

Magic cardboard gets you past the exceedingly large tattooed gentleman on the door

A good view from the VIP balcony!

In the evening we joined them for a meal at the local Italian where we met some of the sponsors. Under the guidance of team boss Richard Melik, Freespeed encourage deep long-term relationships with their sponsors, and this really shows. There are some really good personal relationships, and they're a well supported group. It was great to meet some new people, some I'd been friends with on twitter for a while, and also some new faces. Duncan and Liz, owners of The Tri-Life, were there too. They remembered me from the Wimbleball trianing day last year, and Mrs has been working with one of their coaches, Richard, for a little over a year now.

Carb-loading - if you can't enjoy a pizza in the middle of two race-days, when can you?

Sunday morning rolled inevitably round and the alarm went off at 04:30. Thankfully as we were so close it wouldn't take long to get over there otherwise it would have been an even earlier start. Breakfast was some salami and cheese slices. I really didn't fancy a carby breakfast, even though I was racing, so just went on feel. I did nibble my way through a Clif bar before the start as I set up in transition.

All ready in T1 - feels like it's been a very long time (probably because it has...)

Gameplan for the day was: Get through the swim; smash the bike; jog round the run. This is my first triathlon since coming back from injury, so remaining strong and not hurting myself is the prime objective. I'm not fit enough to be competitive right now, so relax, and enjoy the ride.

The swim: 1,500m, 0:33:09, 61st out of 129

Bike racked, wetsuit on, and into the start pen for the briefing. The 06:30 Sunday wave is the only Olympic Plus wave, so I was in some very capable company - including Team Freespeed's Richard Hobson (1st overall), Matt Molloy (2nd overall), Declan Doyle (4th overall), Catherine Faux (5th overall, 1st female) and Alison Rowatt (11th overall and 2nd female). Very very capable company indeed! We stepped carefully down the stairs and out into onto the dockside. Support was fairly thin at that time in the morning, and we made quick passage into the water.

Despite thinking "I really must go for an open water swim soon" all the way up to this event, I hadn't. This was the first time I'd even put my wetsuit on since IM Wales last year! I've gained a few kg since then, but thankfully the zip still went up. I positioned myself on the inside so I could swim straight down the line of yellow buoys, and towards the back as I was a bit nervous about my capabilities and confidence. I haven't swum that much at all lately.

We started, and almost immediately I was in trouble. The old feeling of rising panic came on, and my arms and legs went tingly and weak. The guy in front of me set off by doing breaststroke slowly, and with lots of other people around and no recent "argy-bargy experience" I couldn't get around him - or make any real forward progress at all.

Very frustrating, very annoying, and (sadly) very predictable. I eventually regained my composure (as I always do, in the end) and by the time we'd made the first turn I was moving up the field (again, as always). I found I kept getting boxed in though, and couldn't find a way round moving road-blocks of athletes. In retrospect I should definitely have got some in-wetsuit training done, and I should have had more confidence in my strength and started nearer the front with people more my speed. I'll chalk it up to experience. Not too bad in the end, plenty of people behind me, time for a little bike ride.

Transition 1 (swim to bike): 07:19, 101st of 129

My T1 was slow, but that's fine. My mental plan said "take as long as you need", and I was determined to follow the plan. My wetsuit came off quickly, and I walked the couple of hundred metres to my bike. I know that coming out of the swim my heart rate spikes high, so I Just wanted to relax and be calm as I set off on the bike. Mrs was in transition too, allowed in to rack her bike for her lunchtime race, so she came and chatted to me - a lovely surprise, and a nice addition to the race experience.

I even stopped for a sit down and to put some socks on - what's the rush?

The bike: 80km (50 miles), 02:29:13, 38th out of 129

I love the bike leg, and even though I wasn't aiming to place highly I had already decided to go for it on the bike. The course for Olympic Plus goes out west from ExCel, past the Tower of London, and right up embankment to the Houses of Parliament where there's a turn point. This route, taking in so many famous landmarks, and the opportunity to ride on these roads flat out with no traffic to worry about was part of the reason I picked the distance. It didn't disappoint either. Coming out of the swim far down the field meant that I had a lot of people in front to pick off - part of the fun of being a good cyclist and poor swimmer is the first part of the bike is great fun! I flew past people, keeping my cadence high and setting my sights on the next person.

Giving it some, as best I can at current fitness/fatness levels!

The Olympic Plus was three laps of this route, and on the second lap at the ExCel end there were starting to be cyclists form later waves. They weren't going as far so had a turn point that was closer. This led to congestion (all be it manageable) at one end of the course, and then the far end still owned by the Olympic Plus wave. I pushed hard, noticing I was a gear down in some places on lap two, but preferring to keep my cadence high rather than push a big gear. I didn't take any food at all on the bike, and just drank water. Let's see if I really can race on a much higher fat:carb ration than I have before. With 8 months on an LCHF diet (Low (usually!) Carb, High Fat) I should be well adapted.

I didn't get overtaken at all on the first lap, I lost a couple of spots on the second, and by the third there were more waves on the course and I couldn't tell who I was in my race. I stuck to my guns and pushed hard on the return leg of the third lap - I knew my run would be poor, I was under no illusions about that, so wanted to see what I could do on the bike.

I was very happy with my position, and was within 30 minutes of all the Team Freespeed guys and girls. Given 6 months without cycling at all, and then only a couple of long rides since picking it up again (a "3 hills route, short" of about 80km, a "3 hills, normal" of 90km, and a 110km ride while Mrs was racing the Shock Absorber last weekend). That's barely enough training to have made any difference at all. I think if I can get some good time on the bike then I might be fairly competitive next year.

Transition 2 (bike to run): 04:40, 100th of 129

Again a nice gentle transition with no stress. No Mrs with me this time unfortunately, but I took the time to make sure my shoes were well fitted, wiped my face with a small towel, and even gave my glasses a quick clean! Them it was off out onto the run course to show off the IM Talk tri-suit (bit disappointed it fits again now, it was too big by the end of last season!).

Run: 10km, 1:02:10, 116th of 129

I set off with the aim of keeping my cadence as high as I could. I knew I would be slow, and people were streaming past me, but i was mentally prepared for that so didn't let it get me down.

Lavatory provisions were pretty poor (or I didn't notice any of them) so I had to avail myself of some bushes on the first of the three laps! The course has changed since last I ran it, now three laps that wind around a bit more rather than four laps with a long desolate out and back section. I was very slow, but apart from walking through the water stations and drinking some water, I ran the whole way. I didn't feel hungry, but I felt like something was depleted - though no where near the feeling you get before "bonking".

The going was tough in the 06:30 at Docklands! Kia-Kaha!

I decided to top up on the second lap with a gel from the Maxifuel stand. The lemon and lime flavour tasted vile - I'm just not used to such concentrated sugar any more - but it hit the spot (mentally or physically, I'm unsure) and by the second half of lap three I was able to pick up the pace a bit.

I finished in possible the slowest 10km I've ever run - BUT (and it's a big BUT, that's why it's in capitals) - the furthest I've run this whole year before this race was 5km, and I'd only run 5km twice without stopping, so it really is early days. I had to keep the effort down (minimise risk of injury), and from that perspective it was a success.

All done!

FInal placing: Olympic Plus distance, 04:16:29, 72nd out of 129

Mrs was at the finish line waiting with a big hug. What a fantastic event - I'd done it, my first triathlon of the year. Can I say I'm "no longer injured"? Probably, yes, but have to make sure I don't get carried away. It's so common to bounce back too hard and get all excited and just injure yourself again. I have a few races coming up and with care I'm sure I can get through them all.

Pretty good bling too!

All in all it was an excellent weekend. Mrs raced well too, and it's fair to say we've both been massively re-infected with the racing bug. The Team Freespeed group were brilliant, I can't wait to meet them again - thank you for letting us hang out with your crew!

Richard and Jenny, with the adorable Leo and Noah

Mrs after her race, rockin' the Freespeed kit!

Who's a knotty boy, then?

I'm ramping up the exercise, and it's wonderful.

Total exercise duration per week, all logged in Training Peaks

Ran my first parkrun without stopping last weekend - it's only 5km but parkrun is a big psychological milestone for me. I went down to the inaugural Clair parkrun event Haywards Heath. It was an unexpected hill-fest - but I ran it all non-stop, and set a "comeback PB" (my personal best since coming back from injury) of 28 minutes and 29 seconds. A far cry from my 21 minute all time PB, but all in good time!

4 and a bit laps of the recreation ground - dizzy yet?

You can see the hills in my heart rate, until it all just goes through the roof on the last lap!

There were a few familiar faces there including some inaugural hunters, and parkrun team member and host of The parkrun Show podcast Danny Norman. Great to see you all again, it's been too long.

I've been on a few bike rides too, including a 110km mission on my Time Trial bike - first time I've ridden it since Galway last year!

I vowed that once my training ramped up I'd make sure I was doing the right things to stop myself just getting injured again. Part of my multi-prionged defence was to get strong, and Ben and Josh at Athletic Edge have been doing a great job getting me started down that road over the last month.

Another tactic was to get regular sports massage, so this morning at 7am I turned up at SW19 Physio to get beaten up by Christine the chirpy South African masseuse. Mrs has been seeing her for quite a long time, on and off, and it was about time I tried it.

In their own words:

SPORTS AND DEEP TISSUE MASSAGE

Our massage therapists specialise in sports and deep tissue massage and can help you in the treatment of:
✓ Minor injuries
✓ Injury prevention
✓ Back and neck discomfort
✓ Maintenance 
✓ Pregnancy massage
✓ Relaxation.

When you come for massage treatment, our therapists will ensure your muscles are assessed, stretched and stimulated by using techniques of deep stroking, cross fibre friction and vibrations.

About massage: 
Minor injury is by far the most common musculoskeletal problem. It can be extremely painful and may seriously affect a person’s occupation, sport or quality of life. If not treated properly at an early stage, a minor injury can sometimes lead to a more serious condition in the long term. Massage can treat the majority of such minor problems quickly and effectively.

Injury prevention is another area where the importance of massage should not be underestimated. Massage is the only actual treatment that can be applied specifically to help prevent injury. This is not only in a sports context but also in terms of posture and stress.

By stimulating the blood circulation through the body with massage, the waste that has accumulated is removed more quickly and completely and more fresh blood from the arteries is supplied for repair and nutritional needs to damaged muscles. And in a complementary role with other therapies, such as physiotherapy and chiropractics, massage can greatly speed recovery because of its wide ranging benefits:

✓ Breaking down of adhesions
✓ Breaking down of scar tissue
✓ Increase tissue permeability
✓ Improved tissue elasticity
✓ Pain reduction through increased circulation.

Firstly it didn't hurt anything like as much as I was expecting - sure there were moments that made me yelp a bit, but for the most part I could carry on a normal conversation. I explained my background and how I got injured in the first place. She started by working on the left IT Band ("Wow, that's tight!") and then the right ("Oh my God, this one is even tighter!"). She found a few knobbly bits and gave them some attention. Most of the bits that really needed work were on my calf muscles and glutes. There were lots of gristly bits ("Ahh yes, here's one right here!") that needed attention.

After that she spent the final few minutes on my back and shoulders, and packed me off with some advice about drinking lots of fluid today (apparently there's a lot of "stuff" that gets released from the muscles into your blood after a massage) and keep moving.

The first few times I got up from my desk today I hobbled around like an old man. It's the evening now and I'm home and showered. Legs are feeling better, but apparently tomorrow they'll feel floaty light.

I'm booked in again for the Tuesday after Ride London, and I'm already looking forward to it. I'll aim to go every second week or so, but not too close to a race or heavy training session.

Happy to be making positive pro-active choices about injury prevention. First race is this coming Sunday - Virgin Active London Triathlon, Olympic Plus distance - 1,500m swim, 80km bike, and a 10km run. Mrs will have lots of obligations over the weekend (more on that later!), and I'm really looking forward to it. Can't wait!

Spectating at Ironman 70.3 UK, 2013 - Through the Looking Glass

A couple of weekends ago I had the honour of taking Mrs to Exmoor so she could race the 2013 Ironman 70.3 UK event. A swim in Wimbleball Lake followed by two hilly bike loops and a hilly trail run. Often called "the toughest 70.3 in the world" this was where our journey began last year. No racing for me yet, so this was an opportunity to see an Ironman event from the other side, as a spectator.

We stayed at The Anchor Inn again, assured of a friendly welcome from proprietors Ann and John. Sat in the tiny village of Exebridge it's right on the boundary between Somerset and Devon and just a few miles from Wimbleball Lake, nexus of the weekend's Ironman 70.3 action. Ann and John had just taken tenancy last time we visited, prior to that the pub had been left to decay by the previous proprietors. They had big plans and it was lovely to see so much positive change in the building and grounds despite some of the work being catalysed by terrible flooding in the area last year. There were certainly more patrons than a year ago, and a good deal of local custom that was conspicuous by its absence last year - they're clearly going in the right direction.

The Anchor Inn, Exebridge (and Mrs, rocking the Thames Turbo windproof top)

The drive down was uneventful - the car knows the way on its own now. Last year we were taking Thursday to Tuesday off work as the amount of organisation and recovery we needed was largely unknown. We decided fairly quickly that this year we'd do a more tactical strike and travel down Friday and return to London Monday to conserve precious holiday time. We stopped off at the lake to register on our way in and bumped into some old friends including many of the Ironman team we had met last year - Laura Beecroft (pro athlete liaison) was working the merchandise tent so we stopped to talk to her, Paul the race referee, and photographer James Mitchell who stayed at the Anchor Inn when he was covering last year's event for Ironman and Compressport. Kevin Stewart, Managing Director of World Endurance UK (the boss!), pulled up alongside us to say "hi". He was in a chatty mood, possibly because it was one of the rare moments without his earpiece chattering at him,  and we discussed the commemorative bags they had secured for this year's 70.3 events. We concluded they were much better than the drawstring bags of last year. I was very pleased to see he drives an Audi, +1 for that.

Registration

Ironmaning will be done here, and soon...

Friday evening we hooked up with Ironman MC Paul Kaye, his wife Kelly, Ironman announcer Joanne Murphy, fellow Ultimate Challengers and very experienced Ironman competitors Kate and Charlie Stannett - Kate made it through to the end, Charlie missed the bike cut-off at IM UK (I passed him at the end of my third lap and he still had one to go, and I was already six and a half hours on the bike). We were also joined by head Medic at the Ironman events Rob Ashton.

I felt privileged to know these people (at dinner, and the ones we bumped into during the day) and spend some time with them. They are some of the key players in making Ironman work in the UK, and made us realise just how atypical our last year was. Going for the Ultimate Challenge got us well known, and some good friends in the process.

Friday night and the pub was very loud until 2am. I remembered from last year and brought some earplugs - but I couldn't be bothered to fetch them. I hoped Mrs was sleeping OK - turns out she went off in moments and didn't hear a thing.

Saturday was about a quick swim practice in the cold of Wimbleball Lake - I'm told it was warmer than it looks, but I wasn't convinced as I stood on the shoreline shivering. Mrs had packed her transition bags the night before, and we dropped those off and racked her bike. I sat in the café while Mrs went for the compulsory race briefing. Even though it was aimed at first-timers she went to the morning briefing - it saved us coming back later in the day.

Emergency cuppa required!

Weather was cold and increasingly rainy. Lots of nervous faces around. The forecast said rain for race-day, but not until mid-day. By that time Mrs should be on the run and weather would matter less. We had a wander round the expo, but it was fairly poor. It certainly feels like an afterthought with no real facilities for the exhibitors. Compared with the fully enclosed water and windproof tent that the Ironman merchandise shop was in, everyone else was quite literally out in the cold. It's a fair bet there will be bad weather at some point - can we get an additional big tent for smaller exhibitors to share? It was too windy and rainy even to talk to most of them, with everyone seeking shelter from the sudden showers. This is not a good experience for anyone.

Carol said rain was coming, but not until lunchtime

Saturday night was much quieter in the pub and we slept well. It was an odd feeling going to sleep the night before the race and not having any pre-race nerves. All I had to do was support my wife - pack her in the car, get to the start, and clap and shout encouragement. I tried hard to do as I was told and make the weekend as easy as possible for her. In retrospect it probably wasn't very fair of me to drink wine each evening - it puts her under pressure to join me. I'll try and be more understanding if I'm in that position again.

Race-day morning was early - they always are. Mrs bounced out of bed energetically and started her routine. We were entirely self-sufficient for food, so no need to try to find breakfast anywhere. This certainly helps take pressure away from the morning, I'd definitely advise it in the future.

We set of for the lake nice and early. There was very little traffic out, and only a short queue to park - just a minute or two. The parking directions were military in their precision - all weekend every trip in and out of the car park was expertly directed. Much better than the Rotary club team in 2013. At times the access road was made one-way, this greatly eased flow and was a good idea. There was a well connected team with STOP/GO signs around the T-junction on the access road all in radio contact who also did an excellent job.

Transition in the morning, bikes protected courtesy of Power Bar plastic bags

All ready to go! The warm clothes get left in a white bag to be collected later, post-race

Mrs was in high spirits. The weather said it was going to hold. There's a lot of hanging around to do in the morning, and with no nerves keeping me on my toes (or in the porta-loos) it dragged on. Eventually we said our goodbyes and Mrs paraded down to swim start with the rest of her wave. She was off in Wave 2, 15 minutes after Wave 1 and the Pro field. I milled about and failed to get into a good place - I'm not too good at spectating! Wave 1 set off, and then Wave 2. I cheered but it felt a bit empty, I'd much rather have been out there bobbing around in the water, nervous and waiting for the off.

I had a place right by swim exit so got to see a few of the Pros. It's hard to recognise people in wetsuits, but Tim Don was easy to spot - never cut your hair, Tim! Mrs didn't have the best swim, coming out in a shade over 40 minutes. She seemed in good spirits though, and ran up the not inconsiderable hill to transition. I wasn't going to be able to get up there quick enough to see her bike exit, so I stood by the swim exit gantry for a while clapping the age groupers, and there were a lot still coming. I strolled up the hill and waited at the top to clap the last few - I missed Kate Stannett coming out, I think she got a good swim, but I caught Charlie. He said a few things to me but unfortunately my noise-cancelling headphones did a good job in cancelling his, er, noise (no offence, Charlie).

Tim Don out of the water first

Everyone had gone from T2 before long, apart from the couple of lonely bikes belonging to people who either DNS (Did Not Start) or had a bad swim, missing the cut off or not completing it. Time started slowing down now. I was wearing two jackets and two long sleeved tops, together with some long winter socks. I was still cold. The rain hadn't held off and about an hour into the bike we suffered short sharp showers. There was almost literally nothing to do. I wandered around a few laps of the site. The expo was just as poor as it was yesterday with no where to hide from the weather, and rather annoyingly not even anywhere to sit. Being a spectator here might be lovely when the sky is clear and the sun is shining, but it's much less fun in the rain.

A couple of coffees and a cookie later, and I went to get a good spot to see the first Pros come in off the bike. It was getting colder and the showers were blending into continual rain as the first three came in - Tim Don, Ritchie Nicholls, and defending champion Fraser Cartmell. It was a good race, the three had been together for both laps and had cranked out a very good time in the conditions. Before long the first age groupers were in, and I was pleased to see Team Freespeed's Sam Baxter right up at the pointy end. I got to know Sam at the Ironman UK training day in Bolton last year, he's a really nice guy and incredibly talented. Turns out he works a few hundred metres from me in London so we went for coffee last week. I'm all about the name dropping.

First three back in off the bike

Up one side, down the other, rack the bikes and it's just a run to go

I knew it was going to be a while yet before Mrs returned so I walked over to the run course for a bit. This was a real treat - to get to watch the Pros racing is a side of Ironman I've never seen first hand. Last year I was coming into T2 as the men's race was being won! The athletes were getting progressively muddier and wetter as the rain fell. They were still putting in a hell of a performance though, it was a real battle up front with the race wide open in both the men's and women's field. Holly Lawrence, 4th last year, had stormed the bike going off the front to establish a lead, and defending champion Eimear Mullen from Ireland was chasing her down hard on the run.

Joe Skipper

Team Freespeed's Sam Baxter - it was a very good day for them today

I heard a rustling behind me and was surprised as Mrs arrived already in her warm clothes and wrapped in a silver blanket. She'd had a very difficult lap on the bike, plagued by some mechanical problems, and had made the tough decision to not continue onto the second lap. She was in high spirits by the time she found me, but it must have been a very challenging moment. I feel she made the right call. Conditions were poor, and you need to rely on your kit - I learned that last year, I'm certain I'd have pulled up too if it hadn't have been the first of our Ultimate Challenge.

We couldn't get her bike out of transition for another hour and a half, so we watched the runners for a little longer and then huddled in the café for what seemed like forever. We grabbed the bike as soon as we could, and went back down to the pub to lick our wounds (and drink some wine).

Eimear managed to chase down holly and take the win. Ritchie Nicholls set an amazing new course record in sub-optimal conditions to take down the men's race.

I enjoyed cheering on Mrs, I'm glad I could support her, but it's a sucky race to be a spectator at. The facilities are minimal, there's no mobile reception anywhere, nowhere to sit, and the expo is poor. The experience made me so very grateful for everyone who has cheered me on during my races. I didn't realise just how much standing around is involved, and how slowly the time passes! Thank you to my friends and family who supported me last year, and thank you on behalf of all athletes to all spectators - you're such a large part of the racing experience and you make all the difference, and I'm not sure how many athletes recognise your commitment.

Of course, we've both already signed up for next year's event - with the world's toughest 70.3 on your doorstep there's really no choice! Bring on June 15th 2014 and with it the 10th anniversary of Ironman 70.3 UK.

Best. Mood. Ever.

I've started training again. Best. Mood. Ever.

As I rolled into June I turned 38. I hadn't run a parkrun since December last year, hadn't ridden my bike properly since Lanzarote (where my ITBS came back again in full force and I was so pissed off I couldn't even bring myself to blog about it), and hadn't got in the pool for ages. I'd followed my re-hab exercises relatively well for a few months, and then dropped off most things for a month or two. This is pretty standard behaviour, I suspect there's a "5 stages of rehab" pattern that most people follow.

Well, enough is enough! I hadn't had a twinge for ages - gotta be fixed by now, right? You know what they say, shit or get off the pot. So the day after my birthday Mrs and I went for a run...

Running

I decided to follow C25k (couch to 5k) plan, but accelerate it a bit. I'm doing the first two runs of every week, skipping the third, and running every other day - it sounds a lot but there's really not much running in the beginning, just a few minutes followed by a few minutes walk - but I don't care, it's running, and I love it. It's strange that running was always my weakest discipline and took the most work to improve - yet it turns out it's the one I have missed the most.

Running in Moscow on a beautiful sunny day

Since then I'm now up to repeats of 5 minutes running and 3 minutes walking - still no knee/ITBS pain, and I reckoned good enough to get me round parkrun. I bimbled off to Wimbledon Common yesterday with Mrs, met up with Abradypus, and ticked off my 69th parkrun. I've never ever been so elated to have run 5km in a leisurely 34:08.

Me & Mrs - she ran/walked with me, so pleased to share my come-back parkrun with her

Wimbledon Common parkrun - two laps, trail, no hills (plus a walking cool-down at the end)

It's been a while since I've received a parkrun results text - 34:08, my "come-back PB"!

Absolutely loving it, but I must make sure I build up really slowly - running is really hard again, HR goes through the roof on a medium-paced jog. I've decided when I get to 5km non-stop (a couple more weeks) I'm going to sit there for a couple of weeks before trying to go longer/faster, just to let everything adapt (muscles adapt quickly, ligaments and tendons take longer - don't overdo it, kids). Best. Mood. Ever.

Swimming

I got off my arse and got in the pool while we were away for my birthday too. Shattered after just a few lengths, I think I managed a total of 20 in the 20m pool with frequent breaks. Worth sticking with as I remember just how fast endurance comes on in swimming - and so on Friday I went to Virgin Active Merton Abbey on the way home from work, warmed up a bit, and then smashed out 16x 100m off 2:30, starting at 1:52 or so, drifting down to 1:58, then putting in a massive effort at the end and finishing on 1:53 followed by a monster effort to make 1:46 (the only sub-1:50 in the whole set). OK so I couldn't move my arms (or anything else) afterwards - but what an achievement, my hardest effort swim since, well, probably November 2012! Best. Mood. Ever.

Check that last 100m split!

Cycling

I've had a few cycle-commutes, taking it easy so about 5-10 minutes slower than "normal" each way, but I haven't gone out on my proper bike yet. Today was the day. I popped out for a 55km easy spin to see how it goes. Only one hill (Box Hill) but that holds no fear.

Can you spot Box Hill?

The short version - no pain, big smile, chewed up the 55km no problem and felt relatively strong when I got back home. Cadence was nice and high throughout, and although I wasn't particularly fast I was consistent on speed and didn't drop off at the end. Next week I'm going to take on our "Three hills" route - covers a lot of the same roads but with a longer route to Box Hill - total of about 90km. Can't wait. Best. Mood. Ever.

Even had time for a selfie at the café - loving the Freespeed London top

Gyming

Not sure "gyming" is a word, but never mind. If I'm going to build up again it has to be supported with a real effort at also building strength and core. A lack of glute strength is what led to my injury in the first place, so I have to take it seriously. Ben and Tarsh recommended The Athletic Edge - so I popped in. Ben and Josh have a small outfit in Hampton Wick. They are focused on functional strength for athletes, and triathletes in particular. I'm going for a coached session every Wednesday, and a self-managed secondary session in the gym at the weekend. Follow @EdgeAthletic on Twitter and check them out on Facebook.

My new Mecca (I'm already mayor of it on foursquare :)

It's a long time since I've seen a PT and it felt great to be put through my paces again, even though it was only the first session. Focus is on pre-hab, strength, and triathlon-specific performance - perfect. They've already shared a structured training plan with me in Dropbox, and that's exactly what motivates me - working through a structured plan and seeing the incremental improvements, I'm so pleased to see this approach. They plan season-long cycles with a sub-structure based on when you need to peak for races. Looking forward to getting strong and not getting injured again! Best. Mood. Ever.

...and Racing

I have a few events coming up. Virgin Active London Triathlon is 4 weeks from today. I'm signed up for the Olympic Plus (1,500m swim, 90km bike, 10km run), basically an Olympic distance but with a double-length bike (it's not my fault, I entered last year when I was on an Ironman high and felt invincible). The task for this one - get through it without hurting too much and enjoy some race experience. No need to smash it hard before I'm ready. 

After that, Ironman 70.3 Zell am See in Austria in 10 weeks - a fast flat course but again I'm not going for a PB, I just want to end the year in one piece and strong for next year (plan TBC for next year, no rush to make plans).

I'd also really like to do the Thames Turbo Marathon this year - but I'm not prepared to do that if I'm not ready by then. It's the first race I missed last year after being injured so I would take great psychological satisfaction in being fit enough to complete it this year (plus, I *still* haven't ever run a stand-alone marathon).

Oh, and shhh don't tell anyone, but I entered Ironman 70.3 UK for 2014 - I also made a stupid challenge on twitter that I was going to break 5:30:00 for it - 45 minutes quicker than last year. Oh well, I like a challenge!

So all is good. Take it easy, don't go too far too soon, stick to the gym, and all will be well.

Best. Mood. Ever.

Taking a look at weight data

Warning: This might well be the most boring blog post I've written so far (and that's some claim). It's immensely interesting for me, and probably not for anyone else on the planet. You have been warned...

So, I finally gave in to this damn cold. I've struggled through this week at work with an annoying cold (sore throat, blocked nose, main-lining Lemsip) but enough is enough. I'm sitting at home on the sofa today, catching up on the wonderful Talk Ultra (twitter) podcast by Ian Corless. Thinking about weight in my last post, I wanted to take a closer look at the last few years.

Firstly, I'm not weight-obsessed, and I've never had a weight-related illness (in case you're concerned I'm dwelling on the topic in an unhealthy manner). I am however far more informed and observant than I have ever been previously in my life. Part of this is thanks to Mrs who successfully lost a lot of weight earlier in her life and has kept it off - it'll be 7 years in May, she's done an amazing job. She was far more tuned in to food, weight, and general health and general wellbeing than I was.

I thought a useful past time this morning was to sit for a while and see if I could see where the major directional changes were, and why.

On 78.4% of the last 1,650 days I've weighed myself first thing in the morning - 1,294 data points

The orange line is logged data (and it's always been from the same pair of scales), and the black lines are interpolated. If I was away for a weekend and measured 90.0kg on Friday, and then 90.3kg on Monday, I'd add in 90.1kg and 90.2kg for Saturday and Sunday. I never tried to weigh myself on anything other than my home bathroom scales. If they're poorly calibrated, I'll at least assume they are consistently offset each day.

When Mrs swapped from her old analogue scales to my digital ones, she had a discontinuity due to differences in calibration.

A fake 5kg discontinuity due to a change of scales

The overall trend over the 54 months is downward, but there are some serious ups in there too! The following graphs span 12 months on the X-axis and 15kg on the Y-axis. This means the angle of the trend line (the rate at which my weight was changing) can be compared from year to year.

2008: The first time I'd ever weighed myself twice in the same year

Only a couple of months of data for 2008. The thing I can't believe is that I started at virtually 100kg (15st 10.5lb) - and I'd been heavier in the past, during my fairly unhappy days in Scotland. At this point I was taking a lead from Mrs, all about low fa and calorie restrictions. It worked well - I was clearly ready to ditch the pizza and shed a few pounds. This period from October to December is one of the most rapid weight loss periods in the whole 5 years.

2009: Can you spot my honeymoon?

I got married in April we spent a few weeks in California on honeymoon - that added a few kg! The second half of the year shows a gradual and sustained decline (Right! We're married! Let's not get old and fat!) - with one or two exceptions. At the start of November I went to a work conference in the US and came back a week later and 4kg heavier! It falls off quickly, but it's worth noting that sudden increases never come decrease at the same rate.

2010: The only way is up!

Looking at the years in isolation, 2010 is the "worst" (making the bold assumption that a downward trend is "best" and is desired). There was a lot of being out and boozing during this period - my team at work was expanding rapidly, and "team building" was very high on the agenda.

2011: A year of triathlon

We raced quite a lot in 2011, but not with any serious or structured training. At the end of the year, start of November, we went on holiday. That was bound to cost a few kg! Trend was down over the period. What's interesting is that almost never is there a period without a gradual trend up or down - not just in this year but in any year. I'd think it would be fascinating to see a graph of my weight since I was born.

2012: Year of the Ironman Ultimate Challenge and going LCHF

This is one of the most interesting years. I came into 2012 with my first ever triathlon coach, and an objective to compete in Ironman 70.3 UK and Ironman Wales. My training was the most consistent it's ever been in my life (it's actually the only year I've ever done anything that would count as structured training).

Jan to June were perfect. I was getting leaner, faster, stronger. I hardly drank any alcohol during this period. I believed alcohol was a main inhibitor to previous weight management, and it would affect my training. The odd effect though, was that as soon as my big races started towards the end of June, I steadily gained weight all summer and throughout all the other races. In retrospect the focus and limitations I'd put myself under for the first part of the year were simply unsustainable. I hadn't got the right balance. I also had a blow-out after each big race, and never quite recovered afterwards. You can see this by the upward spike in black (interpolated data from while I was away racing), followed by an immediate not-quite-recover in orange when I got back home. I'm pretty sure I still don't know what my "racing weight" is, I don't think I've ever reached it!

The end of the year, starting about a third into November, was when I went Low Carb High Fat (LCHF). My weight fell off a cliff. December is the longest sustained period I've spent under 80kg - 25 days. The trend breaks at Christmas with a spike back to 80kg - yesterdays graph map that directly with my carb intake increasing above my target max of 50g/day.

2013: When LCHF becomes HCHF!

An example of how not to do it! Note the downturn in the last few days as a result of changes made since Saturday. Let's see where this curve goes...

I am what I eat

I mentioned in my slightly cathartic last post that I'd lost control a bit (a lot) on the weight front. Let's look at that a bit more closely.

Last year when I moved to LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) eating I lost a lot of weight (around 6kg) rather dramatically - this is expected and is very well recorded.

Absolute carb intake against weight for Nov & Dec 2012 - Christmas is where it started to break!

I was logging everything I ate and drank. I was keeping relatively close to my self-assigned target macro nutrient profile of 75% calories from fat, 20% from protein, and 5% from carbohydrate (note that there isn't an absolute calorie target - this isn't a "calorie counting" plan).

Macro nutrient split by % - no crazy carb binges at all, but a lift at Christmas has an impact

The decline continued until just after Christmas. I decided I needed a break from hyper-focus on logging every mouthful (I was taking a general break from being quite so analytical about food, training, exercise), and reckoned I was settled in enough to LCHF to "freewheel" (after all, they say you can eat as much as you like, right?).

There's also a well recorded phenomenon of weight gain on an LCHF diet plan if you over-ride (accidentally, or on purpose) you satiety signals. That is, you (continue to) over-eat. The reason you can "eat as much as you like" and not need to calorie count on LCHF is because the high caloric density foods give you a good clear "I've eaten enough" signal at the right time, and you listen to it.

It is possible to ignore that signal. I think I do, mainly unconsciously but occasionally as a result of a bad decision - particularly on the few days I've committed wilful "carbicide" courtesy of Dominos (and the fastest way to gain weight is the worst of all worlds, high fat, high carb, high protein, high calories - way too much of everything!).

My weight whilst "Freewheeling" from Jan to mid April 2013 - Argh! Stop climbing!

It's nothing to do with exercise - I was actually getting marginally more exercise into Q1 2013 than I was at the end of 2012, but was gaining weight. Why? 

I decided to start logging my food again on Saturday, and it was instantly apparent what the problem was. The caloric density of my meals was far far higher than I though. Here are some examples:

LCHF "cooked breakfast" - 571 calories

LCHF "lunch salad" - 712 calories

LCHF "yoghurt snack" - 592 calories

The macro split isn't too bad - there are just way more calories than I was accounting for. Compare that with what my previous low fat, high protein diet used to give me.

A typical lunch from last year - it's no wonder I was on 4-6 additional snacks per day!

The problem was that I was augmenting these meals with occasional other (high fat) snacks, and - importantly - a full cooked dinner (all be it still on the LCHF theme). Over the last few weeks I lost a lot of control and was enjoying a nice big slice of cake from the coffee shop with my coffee at work, and even caught myself making a couple of slices of toast with peanut butter at work (it was lovely, but I felt terrible afterwards). High everything.

During this fortnight I was feeling more and more ill in my stomach, like there was a toxic buildup. I didn't feel actively sick apart from once or twice, and there weren't any problems with, er, "waste", I just felt terrible. Bloated, laden, heavy (feeling heavy as well as being heavier). I felt like the handbag on the constipation commercial where the troubled lady just keeps on ramming food in (I had a brief look for it on the YouTubes but I don't want to end up being followed around by constipation ads so I stopped).

I also don't think it's any coincidence that I have had a sore throat and heavy cold over the last week, the first trace of illness I've had since going LCHF in November (and I always have a cold at Christmas/New Year). I certainly made the right call last Saturday to restore some greater awareness.

My first day of logging again.

On my first day of logging I hardly ate anything compared to recent weeks. Ignore the "-61" in red - that's a hangover from last year where I had WLR set on a daily calorie target deficit of 500 calories under that which I should need to maintain my weight. Looking at calories only is a flawed approach, but you can't ignore them all together. That's what I've learned this year.

A real eye opener as to how little I needed to eat to reach these numbers. And Saturday I felt much better, and the day after that, better still (apart from the cold, which I'm only really just shaking off now).

I'll stay on alert for a couple of weeks and see what happens to the weight graph. Since Saturday (5 days) it's already dropped by 1.3kg. I'm astounded I shot up to 86.7kg, almost around 9kg heavier than my minimum before Christmas - that was only three and a half months ago!

So, since I hit the reset button on Saturday I've felt much better. And you know what? I've been more productive at work, my brain is quicker and more useful, and I'm feeling positive - hmm, just the feelings I discussed the first time I went LCHF. No coincidence.

Look after yourself, eat well - you are what you eat.

Time to man-up and hit the reset button

This blog was about my quest to become an ironman. Well the votes are in and the results are out: I made it. Wimbleball, Bolton, Galway, Tenby - all finished, and I've got the incredibly rare Ironman Ultimate Finisher glassware to show for it.

My second full distance Ironman finishing chute, Ironman Wales 2012

At some point after Tenby I got a bit too wrapped up in entering more events, and wanting to go faster and further. I went balls-out on the Royal Parks Half Marathon and got myself a bout of ITBS to show for it. That wasn't fun, and it still isn't. I haven't run since November. I thought cycling was fine, so I got excited about cycling and put my efforts into completing a turbo-trainer mega-set over Christmas. Turns out cycling brought on ITBS too, so no more cycling either.

Rolling into 2013 the races I wanted to do and in some cases had already entered are ticking past without me in them. The first Hell of The Ashdown (last year's report) I've missed in 4 years, The London Ultra (Mrs ran it, she had an amazing day, and so did parkrun extraodinaire abradypus - I cheered them on), Thames Turbo Race 1 (Mrs raced it she had a good day - I marshalled and cheered, good fun). Next up is Thames Turbo Race 2, I won't be in that either.

I was signed up for Coach Joe Beer's tri-camp at Club La Santa in Lanzarote. I went there at the end of January with a month of pain-free knee. Lanzarote was great - incredible place, if a bit windy. I had already paid to take my bike out, so I took it. I cycled a bit too much, and on the morning of the last day the pain came back.

The leisure pool at CLub La Santa (the only Sports/Holiday camp with its own theme song)

I did absolutely nothing for 2 weeks afterwards, then got back onto my exercises (as scheduled by Mountain Man Rob Turner). I've been sticking vaguely to my rehab exercises since then - probably not as well as I should though.

I went Low Carb High Fat from mid-November, I saw great results up until Christmas with everything positive - the weight fell off and I got lower than I've ever been before. As I got more unhappy and rolled into 2013 I totally broke it. I made a string of very poor nutrition decisions, including stopping logging my intake entirely since the start of February. I thought I had everything in check and could freewheel. I couldn't. Recently I've put on weight at an astonishing weight due to continuing poor meal decisions. I've broken my adaptation to being a fat-burning athlete, I've eaten cake, pizza, toast - all of which now leave me with a horrible bloated stomach and a real toxic stomach ache as I'm just not used to processing carbs in such volumes lately. I've totally over-consumed alcohol, and I commented when I started this journey over a year ago that I have a problem with that.

I have stopped working with my coach (thanks Joe, you were great), and I'm not going to South Africa for Unogwaja or Comrades (I got accepted, I got excited, then ultimately declined - though not because of this injury).

Terrible clip-art, shamelessly stolen. I'm not proud.

The only person that can turn this around is me. So I am. It's time to man-up, take control, and hit the reset button. There it is, above. You can hit it too if you feel you could use a symbolic action.

The positives are that I am getting stronger. I can now cycle-commute twice per week as long as it's not on consecutive days, and I don't get any pain. If I carry on improving I could start running slowly and minimal duration as early as the end of April. I have an aim to run Wimbledon Common parkrun on my birthday - that would be a significant moment. I really miss parkrun.

I'm going to remove those races from the countdown on the front page (apart form the couple I'm still signed up for). I'm going to freshen up the colour scheme a bit. I did consider just not blogging any more (I achieved the point of the blog after all), but I think there are more races and adventures to come. I'm going to celebrate the success of last year - without feeling the need to go bigger and bolder this year.

I'm logging my nutrition in the wonderful Weight Loss Resources again to get a grip. I know the weight falls off when I'm well balanced - recently I haven't been, but I can be again. It'll all be good again, and I'll return stronger than I ever was before, ready for my next challenge, whatever that turns out to be...