Event report: RideLondon 100

Executive summary: I rode London!

You want a little more detail? OK let's start with "What is RideLondon?" In their own words:

"Prudential RideLondon: an annual two-day festival of cycling – a true legacy of the 2012 Games"

"Developed by the Mayor of London and his agencies, Prudential RideLondon will be a world-class festival of cycling taking place over the weekend of Saturday 3 August and Sunday 4 August 2013."

"There will be no other closed-road event like it that combines the fun and accessible element of a free family ride in central London with the excitement of watching the world’s best professional cyclists race in the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic and Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix."

"Taking a cue from the London Marathon, amateur cyclists will also participate in the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 – a 100-mile challenge on the same closed roads as the professionals, with the added incentive of raising money for good causes. To capture it all, the best action will be broadcast live on TV in the UK and internationally, to be seen by an audience of millions."

I can't help thinking this is a slightly threatening warning!

I took part in the RideLondon Surrey 100, though the path to getting there was fairly tortured. I initially entered the ballot and didn't get a place - the only person I know who entered unsuccessfully. I then got a formal email from their lawyers. This is because a few years ago I had an idea to cycle between all the London Underground stations in one go for charity (kind of an overland tube challenge) - to my knowledge it's still never been done, but gets talked about from time to time. I decided to call that project "Ride London" (can you see where this is going yet?). I registered @RideLondon on twitter, ridelondon.wordpress.com for a blog, youtube.com/ridelondon and ridelondon on flickr. If you're going to start a project, it's wise to snap up the social real-estate first.

Clearly RideLondon hadn't done that, and ended up with @Ride_London on twitter. They wanted the names and had looked at my Ride London social presence and decided I wasn't using it. In their words:

"This has caused much confusion for our audience and we believe the brand is not receiving the level of engagement it ought to be"

I'd received maybe a half dozen mentions form the "confused" audience, so I didn't think it was that bad - but they had a point, I wasn't progressing my project and I didn't want to be a pain in the arse for an initiative I fully supported. I said I'd give them the names if they gave me a place. They agreed.

I got a link to sign up - but although it was guaranteed entry, I still had to pay - again! (I donated my original entry fee to charity). I made a note to have a word, work got hella-busy, and the deadline passed. I forgot about it.

Then my wonderful amazing wife won her Freespeed competition and the delightful people at Virgin Active said "hey, do you guys fancy doing Ride London?" - she had won a place in the ballot (as I said, literally everyone I know who entered got in) but swapped that for this prize-spot, and got me a place too - so I was in! I went from no place, to a guaranteed place, to a free place - it really doesn't get much better than that. Thank you Virgin Active and Team Freespeed for being awesome on a weekly basis :)

We got a cheap and nasty Travelodge for the night before, neither of us wanted to cycle to the Olympic park from Wimbledon in the middle of the night. We chose somewhere near the finish so we didn't have far to stagger afterwards which meant a 30 min gentle ride in the morning. When we set off it was 4:30am and there was just the two of us, bike lights twinkling in the first suggestions of a clear summer dawn.

Arriving at the Olympic Park, along with every other cyclist in the South East

Quickly we were joined by a few more, and then more. Cyclists joining us on the A40 from every direction, through the city, and the same on the A11 until by the time we hit Stratford there was a continual stream of us. I had a Pied Piper experience for some of it as I found myself at the front (through timing, not because I was hoofing it) and leading the way. A few surreptitious checks of google maps on my phone were required to make sure I didn't fork us off the route to somewhere random.

Freespeeders!

Departure times were staggered from about 6am to 8am, with the fastest going off first to avoid congestion on the road. Some of the other Freespeed crew were riding too, they'd all got into "C" wave so were the third group to leave. We'd been assigned group "T" and were due to set off at 7:55! I had visions of being surrounded by people on Boris bikes and shoppers with baskets on the front - I know I'm not quite at race fitness right now but I'm not that bad! We decided to show up to the Olympic Park two hours early and sneak in with the other Freespeed guys (we all had Freespeed kit on, so I figure they won't check too closely). We got away with it (we weren't the only ones, we saw a few other interlopers, but they really were the exception).

Me & Mrs, ready to go

We were directed down to the starting area and eventually, after some waffle from Mayor Boris, we were off! Well, the "A" group were off, we shuffled forward a bit, then the "B" group went, and we shuffled more... And then we were off! The organisation was absolutely excellent - the starting system worked perfectly as far as I could see, and everyone set off at a fair pace. They acknowledged that people wouldn't want their overall time to be impacted by congestion at the start, so the start timing mat was a couple of miles down the road, plenty of time for us to get organised on the road - a really nice touch that I'm sure prevented a lot of silly riding in the first miles. Each letter had a "Black" and "Blue" variant too, with the two streams being kept separate for the first few miles and being released in turn. Flawless execution, massive respect to the organisers and volunteers.

Looking back you can see start wave "D" waiting behind us - the pens worked very well

Freespeed, locked and loaded

Off under the start banner, the timing start isn't for a couple more miles

So we were off! 100 miles ahead of us. We were both a little concerned that we hadn't cycled this far for a very long time. I still had a lot of fatigue in my legs from the fun of the Virgin Active London Triathlon the weekend before, and a battering from my new friends at Athletic Edge on Thursday (those guys are excellent, can't praise them enough - I'm really enjoying my strength and conditioning workouts now - and how many triathletes can say that with a straight face?). Mrs was worried about making the cut-off times.

A few nutbars did it on single-speed bikes - this Bianchi Pista is one of my favourite bikes

The first few miles were fantastic - we flew down the A12 - three lanes of perfect tarmac and not a car in sight. After chatting with the Freespeeders in the starting funnel we soon let them drift out of sight in the first mile or two - this was a conscious decision, to try and stay with them would have been foolish to say the least. We chatted and enjoyed the perfect roads and fast pace. Through to the Blackwall Tunnel, across the top of East India (past Anchorage House, where I used to work), turning round Telehouse - one of the earliest and most famous data centres, and then onto the Limehouse Link. How strange to have ridden these closed roads two weeks in a row. Down Embankment, out through the West End and on towards Richmond, a detour through Richmond Park, and to Kingston.

Action shot - you won't often see the A12 like this!

We stopped at Hampton Court Palace for a breather and a cup of tea. We'd made great progress! Such fun! The rest stops were just as well organised as the start. There were three hubs spread equally across the 100 miles with additional drink-only stops in between them. If you were finding it hard, you were never that far from a break. The hubs had food (bananas, some new McVitee's Medley bars, and - wonderfully - little packets of pretzels and Sunbites, salty savoury snacks, perfect). They also had hot drink facilities, toilets, bike parking (transition racks), and mechanics available to fix any niggling problems that had come to light.

Tea at Hampton Court Palace, how civilised

This is the last time I'm saying it: The organisation was excellent!

We set off again, out into deepest Surrey and towards Guildford. We continued to make good time. The faster waves were still drifting past us, but not so fast now. The route was good and road surfaces generally excellent. At one of the drink stops we bumped into Boris! He was in high spirits and seemed to be doing really very well indeed. Operation Chiselled Whippet was clearly paying off, though as he admitted in his starting words, he had a long way to go to get to the level of the "mahogany whippets" on the start line!

London Mayor, Boris "Chiselled Whippet" Johnson

We took a long stop at about mile 50. I'd found miles 40-50 quite hard for some reason and was grateful for a longer pause. We stayed for about 45 minutes in the end. I enjoyed some food, and then we saw the tea hut - two teas and two bacon rolls later and we were much revived.

Mrs, looking effortlessly cool

The general profile of the course was 50 miles "flat", 25 miles "bumpy", and then the final 25 miles "flat". We'd heard plenty of talk about Leith Hill - the longest and steepest climb in the bumpy bit. When it came it was indeed a tough one, but as these things often are it was much bigger in our heads than in reality. Mrs got a good start and pulled away, I dug in and after having to take some evasive action to get round a crash that happened right in front of me, we both got up there in one piece. It's a good hill, "honest", and I'll certainly be incorporating it into my training rides. The view from the top was outstanding!

The bumpy part of the course passed quickly. We continued to stay together occasionally one or other of us getting a lead, but usually in sight. Before we knew it we were back in the Leatherhead area and going up Box Hill.  We've both conquered this one many times - I always think it has a reputation it can't live up to (good for hill reps though) - there's no taking away from the vista at the top though, a great view across Surrey. We decided to stop at the famous Box Hill cafe which, ironically, was quieter than normal for a weekend with no queue at all for refreshments - the third and final hub was just a mile past the summit and it seemed most people were waiting for the free stuff. We had our final cup of tea of the ride, and shared a treacle sponge. Perfect.

A good view on the low slopes of Box Hill (and in fact most of the other hills of the day)

Box Hill cafe area - eerily quit, normally you can't find space to sit down here

The Box Hill Cafe cakes are legendary, and this treacle tart was no exception

The route back was on roads known to us. Down from Box Hill, through Esher and past Sandown Park race course where we stopped to get some brief medical attention for Mrs who had an achy elbow - a quick ice pack sorted that out.

A quick icing

I don't think they were going to run out of water at this drinks station...

Always time for a quick stretch, especially those tight hammies!

Then it was up through Kingston again, through Wimbledon and up Wimbledon Hill (within a mile of our house!), past the famous Wimbledon Common and the windmill, over the A3, down through Putney, and up towards Millbank and the Houses of Parliament.

Outside the Houses of Parliament - nearly there!

We turned up Whitehall from Parliament Square, left at Trafalgar Square, then onto the Mall where the crowds were thick and the noise tremendous. Amazing support, thank you people of London, you were great.

Finished! On The Mall with Buckingham Palace behind us

Our finish times were identical, 7:50:03 - but this included all our stops. According to my Garmin our moving time to cover the 100 miles was 5:55:26 - I'm totally happy with that.

The final 10 miles had been at a ferocious pace - I don't know where she got her energy from, but Mrs was absolutely slamming it, I was on my drops and virtually time-trialling just to keep her in sight. Her riding had been fantastic all day - strong, confident, fast, and I'd got genuinely dropped on a couple of occasions (OK so we weren't racing all-out, but it took considerable effort to regain her wheel). Her riding has gone from strength to strength, and she's a visibly more accomplished cyclist this year - watch out world, the little hint of cycling potential we got at 70.3 Galway last year (when we were both fitter than we've ever been, and I was having the bike leg of my life and yet was still only 7 minutes ahead after 80km on the bike when she crashed) might just be coming into play...

It's all about the bling

A weighty piece with a route map on the back

We chilled out for a while afterwards in the sun - we'd done it! A fantastic psychological boundary for us both, and we were really very very happy. What an excellent day. Back to our hotel (so glad we'd got somewhere close!) and then to Byron Burger for a bloody great nosh up and beer (yes, beer!).

Perfect day.

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.