Bike

It's been a long time, and the reason isn't my uselesslessness in updating the blog, it's actually that I haven't done any meaningful exercise.

I've been cycling on my Brompton every day to work, except for the two weeks in August when I was on holiday. I did a bit of swimming in Spain, but not really an awful lot. I still haven't done any running since the painful experience in Richmond park. ( a week or so after my Ironman, I went for a run, but it was so painful I limped most of it)

So I pumped my very flat tyres, and strapped on my HR monitor, and set off today at about 11am on a nice sunny day. This was my first cycle from my new house, so I've got to think about different routes now. I wanted to turn right at the end of the road, but the traffic was terrible so I took the easier option and turned left down the hill.

This road has one of those terrible combined footpaths/cycle paths. It's the kind that has a side road every 50 meters and a steep slope in the pavement down and back up again as the path crosses the road. You practically have to stop unless you want to risk a car careering into you. These are actually much more dangerous for cyclists, and pedestrians for that matter, than just cycling down the road.

I was cycling on the road, when straight away someone in a left-hand drive car, someone with little knowledge of cycling or the rules in the highway code, pulled alongside me, leaned over, and tried to tell me through their window I should be on the cycle path.
I was only able to get out a "This is a public road and I can cycle on it if I like" before they pulled away. I think that was really rather restrained of me.

I meandered around Windsor, up to Ascot, and and back through Windsor Great Park. Not wanting to overdo it, I only stayed out for around 1hr 20mins.

It felt good, with hardly any wind and bright sunshine (was wering my newish Maui Jims).

Full stats to follow.

Ironman France 2007 - The Result

Well, I did it, I'm an Ironman!


Long and rambling race report coming up. Believe it or not, this is the edited version, the full account will be expanded in due course, with photos.

My plan was always to take it easy, and just to finish. My estimates were really very accurate, which I'm pleased about. They assumed no cramping in the swim, and no mechanical problems on the bike, and no pulled muscles in the run. I was lucky, I avoided all these.

Swim: Estimate 1:45 (actually calculated 1:42 but rounded up): Real 1:31

Got into the water and after 30 seconds thought "What the hell am I doing here, I'll never make it round those buoys, they are miles away. Best to just stop now." I always feel bad for the first few minutes of a swim, so recognised this, and tried to just get into a rhythm. I started at the very far right, and had plenty of space, and soon was happily doing my bilateral stroke, breathing smoothly every third stroke. I actually love sea swimming, and the buoyancy meant I didn't have to kick my legs at all. When I hit the first buoy I knew I could make one lap. when I finished the first lap in only 44 minutes, I knew I could do another and beat my estimate. I eventually came out in under 1:30, but messed around in the showers and struggled to get my wetsuit off before going through the timer. Place was now 1283 overall.

T1:

Pulled my trisuit top down and liberally covered myself with sun cream. Ate a gel and some PSP22. Ran to my bike and took a comfort break in the handy cubicle. T1 was almost empty by now. Didn't think it was so long, but took almost 12 minutes

Bike: Estimate 7:00 : real 6:35

This is what I was looking forward to. I wanted to average 25km/h, so reigned myself in on the way to the hills. Met Ironchamp who had been having tyre trouble. Hit the first hill, the only steep one, and was surprised to see many people walking up it. Rode past them all. My recent bike training has been great, and I knew I could take the hills as I came out in April for a practice. Sure enough, it all went to plan and I passed many people on the way up to the top. Still sticking to my plan, I never went flat out on the descent, giving my legs some time to rest. The final 30km against the wind on the flat was not pleasant, I though this might happen. I have never trained with tribars, and didn't have any now, so just stayed as low as I could until T2. It was pretty lonely out there by now, I only saw 2 other bikes.

I drank my two 750ml bottles of PSP22, and two 500ml of water. I tried the coke (thinking I'd taken energy drink) but poured it on the road to save weight in the last 20k. I ate loads of bananas, a few gels, and a some Powerbar segments. Had a tropical Go bar but just couldn't face finishing it.

In the end I gained 292 places and was now up to 991

T2

Another fairly empty transition area, another comfort break, some more sun cream, and again, nearly 12 minutes.

Run: Estimate 4:30 : Real 4:26

My longest run ever before today was about 1 hour 10 - maybe 8-9 miles. My estimate was just an extrapolation of this, with a bit on top as it's after the swim/bike. I hadn't run for nearly 3 weeks due to pains in my calves, so I was very apprehensive about how this would go.

My plan was to jog along at a rate that wouldn't make me puff for breath. I noticed that a heart rate of 150bpm seemed to be working, so tried sticking with that. I only bought the HRM last week, and haven't been using it in training at all. The first lap was OK, under 1:04. I caught up with Jim66 here and someone else (whose name I didn't catch, sorry) and we ran the next 5k together. I lost them an an aid station and went back to my constant plodding. I walked every aid station, drinking 1/3 cup of water and maybe some energy drink, and taking some kind of food. I tried banana on salty biscuits washed down with coke, which tasted pretty good. I tried dried apricots, but they didn't agree with me. I tried washing off the copious amounts of salt that were building up on my trisuit with sponges, but it didn't work. At least it cooled me down. At the third turnaround I put in a bit more effort - I really wanted to hit that 13 hours and it was in sight. My feet were very hot, my knees were starting to hurt, and starting running again after only a short break for water was soooo hard. 5 minutes from the end my right leg started to wobble like a loose wheel on a car. I had planned to miss that last aid stop, but stopped to gather myself for the final push. Headed off again and the music was getting louder. Suddenly I heard the announcer say my name, and my daughter grabbed my hand and started dragging me towards the finish line down the blue carpet. "Slow down" I whispered to her breathlessly, "I can't go that fast" as the crowd cheered on either side. And then it was over, I'd done it, I was an Ironman in 12:55:51.

I'd passed another 124 people in the run to take my place to 867, which I'm really pleased with. (187/292 in my age group).

Lessons learned:
Swim faster. Get some coaching and do some drills. 1:10 next time
Change Faster: 24 minutes in transition isn't good enough
Cycle faster: get some tri bars to reduce wind resistance, pump tyres harder, and pedal down the hills
Run faster: try and skip every other aid stop.

Results still online in 2019 here

Just downloaded my Polar heart rate stats:

Packing For Ironman

First of all, let's analyse the race:

(PS if I miss anything obvious, can you add it in the comments for me please :) I'm constantly updating during today)

Preswim:

Banana
SIS Energy gel
Water: will drink plenty of salty water whilst swimming, but maybe a bit now too

Swim:

Wetsuit
Goggles * 2
Swim cap - supplied by IMF
Bodyglide - only need on neck really
Tri-suit


T1:

Weak 500ml energy drink
Energy gel
Suncream
Spare contact lenses - in case I lose one and decide to put a new one in

Bike:

Bike!
Helmet
Bike Shoes
Black Nike Socks
Cycle computer
Pump
Behind saddle bag containing:
2 spare tubes
Packet of self adhesive patches - last resort
tyre levers
Fingerless cycling gloves - cheap ones, if they annoy me, chuck them.
Sun Glasses * 2 - prescription ones in case I lose a contact lens in the water
Bar bag containing:
4 Energy bars - 2 powerbar, 2 Go
4 Gels - 2 SIS, 2 powerbar
Small suncream to top up
2 750l bottles of mid strength energy drink


Special Needs
2 more energy drink bottles. - chuck the first 2 away :(


T2:
Another SIS gel


Run:

Training Shoes
White running socks - dry socks for run
White hat
T-shirt - in case my shoulders are burning and I want to cover up.
Shorts - in case I want a complete change out of tri-suit
2 gels - that's all my pockets can take

now, what else do I need to pack.


BTA License
Passport
Flight + Hotel ticket vouchers
phone
phone charger
PSP
PSP Charger
Soap bag with usual stuff
T-shirts/Shorts/sandles/
wear long sleeve shirt with pocket + chino type trousers
Oil for bike
Wallet/keys/money

Preparation - Ironman France

I've been very remiss in my postings here. I just never seem to get time. Here's some information on how my training preparation for Nice has gone and how I see the day going.

Swim:
I've been having a few problems with my legs cramping after about 40 minutes in the water. It's not exact, and I have only noticed it on longer swims. I'm a little worried about cramping in Nice, but once it subsides, I am able to get back swimming again, and it doesn't affect the muscles I use for cycling. It does affect my running muscles however, so that's a problem. To date, my longest swim is only about 2/3 the Ironman distance (100 lengths). I felt OK afterwards, but my arms were a bit tired. So I'm confident I can do the first lap as long as I stay calm and stick to my (slow) pace. The second lap may be a bit daunting, but again, I have to not panic even if I'm way near the back of the pack. As long as I've done the first lap in under one hour, I can still finish it in time not to miss the cutoff time of 2:15. I'm hoping for a 53min 1st lap, and my swim stroke is consistent, so the same for the second.

Estimate - 1 hour 45.

Bike:
This is the only area where I feel fairly confident that I can do the distance. Of course, I've never cycled 110 miles (top ride is 100 so far), and I've never done a long ride after a long swim. But I have been to Nice and done the difficult 80 miles climbing portion of the race, and that gives me some confidence that I can do it again. I averaged ~25km/h that time, and on the flat I should be able to keep to that or more.

Estimate - 7 hours

Run:
Really apprehensive about the run. If the swim and bike go OK then I'll have 7 hours to finish it. If my calves hold out, and I hydrate properly, then a slow shuffle in the afternoon sun should be OK. Of course, my training has been broken twice with calf injuries, and I've only ever run a maximum of about 8-9 miles in my life, which is only about a third of a marathon, so this really is unchartered territory.

Estimate 4-7 hours.

Total of the estimates gives 13-16 hours, depending on my legs. I'd really like to beat 4 hours for the marathon, and I'm putting some painkillers in my bag at T2 and shall chomp on those if need be. I have no idea how the exhaustion of being active all day will affect me, again, a completely unknown factor. I know that I can cycle fairly hard for 7 hours, I know that I'll get a bit of a rest on the back leg of the Nice course, and I'm hoping I can just keep going.

All that sounds a bit negative I know, but there are positive aspects. It's not long ago that I thought 2 lengths of the pool without stopping was an achievment, and I remember collapsing onto the sofa after my first 3 hour ride and not getting up again all day. I only took up triathlon in November 2004, and I'm actually happy at how far I've come. I'm really looking forward to getting out there - I wish it was tomorrow - I think the bike course is amazing, and even if I'm tired, I'm going to be thinking that it's great just to be able to attempt something like this. I really will be gutted if I don't finish. I don't care if I cross the line with seconds to spare, the time isn't important, but I do want to finish inside the 16 hours.

Time will tell.

Bike to Work

Friday 18th May 2007

Part of my Ironman training, a ride from Ascot to the City of London.

I enjoy the ride in the morning, but the evening is tough going.

Bike to work - 57.59km, 2:00:22 hours, 28.71 average.
Home - 57.16km, 2:15:04 hours, 25.39 average.

Home headwind and a little rain made going a bit tough

Training Record - 10.05.2007

A list of some of my training in the run up to Ironman France. not sure of the exact dates, though could probably work it out.

Week before last - recovery from France trip
Monday - Brompton
Tuesday - Brompton
Wednesday - Brompton
Thursday - Brompton - Swim 50 lengths
Friday - Brompton
Saturday -


last week

Monday - brompton - off
Tuesday - Brompton - Swimming 70 lengths
Wednesday - Brompton - run 1 hour
Thursday - Bike to work - 58 + 57 km
Friday - Brompton - Swim 50 lengths
Saturday - Run - 1 hour
Sunday - Off


This week

Monday - off
Tuesday Brompton swimming 50 lengths
Wednesday Brompton run 1 hour

Nice training

I went to Nice, the location for my Ironman France event coming up soon, to try a bit of proper hill climbing. While the memories are farly fresh - here's a little bit about the trip.

Packing
After much deliberation, bought a bike bag from Cycle Surgery in Spitalfields. Boxes look a bit big for train journeys and lugging around when I also have another suitcase. I took my wheels off, deflated the tyres, and put them in the padded wheel bags supplied. I took off the derailleur and encased it in bubblewrap and taped it up between the back forks. Took off my handlebars and did my best to put them flat against the bike, then taped and bubble wrapped them too. Pedals are very hard to take off with a common-or-garden bike tool - I gave up and stuck some bubblewrap round them too. For good measure, I bubblewrapped everything else that I thought was sticking out or liable damage from pressure. I kept the saddle on and put the bike inside a large sheet of cardboard upside down inside the bike bag. This left the spokes from the front chainring sticking up, and so more bubblewrap and the cardboard from a cornflakes packet was used to protect this. Padded wheel bags then went inside too and the whole lot zipped up nicely.

Cycling
My accommodation in Nice was actually approximatrely 20km along the bike course. My brother-in-law Jon and I decided to backtrack a bit and then head back as a warmup. We did about 15km and then hit the 500M steepest part of the whole course. It goes straight up, but is quite manageable if taken slowly.

I haven't studied the map much, and the town's names still don't mean anything to me, that's what happens when you are with someone who already knows where they are going. But we turned left at the top of thee hill, and did a bit of gently climbing for a while. Before long we were hurtling down hill on quite a wide road which was very pleasant iand into and through a town. Around then, the proper climbing started, and continued for the next 90 minutes or so. This was the bit I'd dreaded - I've never climbed for more than five or ten minutes before. Strangely enough, I managed to keep going - slow at times, but never stopping. The views were spectacular, and it was quite hot, but even though I occasionally had climb out of the saddle and step on the pedals, and my speed dipped to 12km/h, I never felt as if I couldn't make it.

At the top, after seeing the landscape get more brown and arid for some time, I was very suprised to find a valley of farmland up in the hills. A bit of undulating road led to a pleasant descent through trees and cooler temperatures. I'm a bit hazy on the next bit, I think we had a windy descent - no chance to get much speed up if you want to be careful on corners, I think I maxed at around 45km/h. We found a small shop and refilled our water bottles. Reached the bottom of this section and then started a long and pretty boringly straight 8-9k ascent through trees. I found this very dull, nothing to look at, just pumping the pedals.

I watch my average speed a lot, and by now it was way down at 22km/h or so. I do not want to spend 8 hours on the bike leg, and know that a nice fast stretch can pick up an average a lot. Some decents, and the fairly flat out-and-back followed, and then it was downhill to Carros where we finished the day. Total time was a fraction less then 6 hours for 150km and an average speed of just over 25km/h. The 30km we missed is flat, and I believe I can easily average 25km/h for that. So from being totally in the dark about what kind of time I might achieve, I'm now looking at 25km/h average to give me just over 7 hours. I never pushed really hard on this training ride, using my breathing as a guide, and think this time is a realistic target. Race days are different, but I believe the smart thing for me to do is stick to this kind of pace no matter how I feel in the heat of competition; there is a lot of running to do afterwards after all.

Running

Feeling guilty about missing 30km, a mini brick session was in order, and though quite tired at the end, we did a quick change and set off for a run. It was about 5pm, and hot, and after 12.5 minutes headed back - still, 5km in 25 minutes isn't bad (ipod nano measurements 4.95km, 24:07mins, 4.52mins/km)

All in all a very good day. The weather was fantastic, the roads superb, looking forward to trying it 'for real'.

Week 16 summary 2007

Monday 16th April - 15Km Brompton cycle, rest otherwise
Tuesday 17th April- Biked into work and back home again. 58.5km * 2.
Wednesday 18th April- 15Km Brompton cycle, Run with Carol and Jon in Richmond Park. Don't know the distance as I didn't have my Nike+ trainers on, but the time was 43:41.
Thursday 19th April- 15Km Brompton cycle, swim 50 lengths = 1250M
Friday 20th April- 15km Brompton cycle, swim 50 lengths = 1250M.
Saturday 21st April- Run up round Sunninghill again. Better time than last wednesday evening, 59:26 mins and ipod says 12.68km with 4:41m/km average. Nice hot day.
Sunday 22nd April - Bike at 8am over to Richmond Park and three times route it then home again. time 3:55:28 and average speed 26.58 equals 104.3 km.

A 5:45am rising time to go and cycle about 60km is pretty hard, but worth it and good practice for the real event in June. It wasn't sunny, and I was a little chilly in my shorts and short sleeves, but not too bad. Coming home was good, but in the last hour my lower back started to ache. I guess with Sunday's >100km only 2 days ago, I was getting a bit of over work there. Again, no real trouble with the legs, and a quick recovery time.

Had to swim twice later in the week as my Tuesday cycle messed up my routine. Fridays swim was harder, my arms were tired. I've never noticed this before as I've never swum two days in a row.

Week 15 Summary 2007

Monday 9th April - 15Km Brompton cycle, rest otherwise
Tuesday 10th April- 15Km Brompton cycle, 50 lengths = 1250M swim.
Wednesday 11th April- 15Km Brompton cycle, Long run, ipod says 13.14km in 1:03:35 giving a 4:50 min/km pace. Went over to Sunninghill on a warm evening.
Thursday 12th April- 15Km Brompton cycle, Bad me, drinking instead of training
Friday 13th April- 60 lengths = 1500M swim.
Saturday 14th April- Run Ascot Loop2 on Saturday morning, ipod says 8.01km, in 37:23 mins, giving 4:39 min/km.
Sunday 15th April - Long bike with Jonathan over to Virginia Water, and then back up to Henley. total time 3:45 and 104km approx

This was a good weeks training, with a longer run than I've done in ages, and similarly for my bike. I actually didn't feel that tired and can do more, which is encouraging. I just need to get a couple of hours in the pool to really push my distances in there.

Week 14 Summary 2007

Monday 2nd April - 15Km Brompton cycle, rest otherwise
Tuesday 3rd April- 15Km Brompton cycle, 50 lengths = 1250M swim.
Wednesday 4th April- 15Km Brompton cycle, Run Ascot Loop 2, ipod says 8.19km in 36:08
Thursday 5th April- 15Km Brompton cycle, Spin bike for 40 minutes at the gym
Friday 6th April- Good Friday - had a break
Saturday 7th April- Bike - 3 hours 10, average approx 27.6 for nearly 90km.
Sunday 8th April - Run in Swindon, ipod says 7.57km in 36:57 giving 4:52 min/km

Ramping my swims up to 50 lengths minimum now.
Bank holiday Easter weekend, so went for a long ride on Saturday morning. Felt OK, had an excellent drafting stretch behind a big tractor (only for a couple of minutes)

Week 13 Summary 2007

Monday 26th March - 15Km Brompton cycle, rest otherwise
Tuesday 27th March - 15Km Brompton cycle, 40 lengths = 1000M swim.
Wednesday 28th March - 15Km Brompton cycle, Run Ascot Loop 2, ipod says 8.16km in 36:45
Thursday 29th March - 15Km Brompton cycle, Spin bike for 40 minutes at the gym
Friday 30th March - 15Km Brompton cycle, 50 lengths = 1250M swim
Saturday 31st March - Run - Ascot Loop 3, ipod says 10.18km in 48:14
Sunday 1st April - Bike, 2:10 hours at approx 27 km/h average makes 60km

Back out on the bike this Sunday morning. Also, my longest run since my calf injury. Calves are still very tight, but surviving.

Week 12 Summary 2007

Monday 19th March - 15Km Brompton cycle, rest otherwise
Tuesday 20th March - 15Km Brompton cycle, 40 lengths = 1000M swim.
Wednesday 21th March - 15Km Brompton cycle, Run Ascot Loop 2, ipod says 8.27km in 37:25
Thursday 22th March - 15Km Brompton cycle
Friday 23th March - 15Km Brompton cycle, 40 lengths = 1000M swim
Saturday 24th March - Run - Ascot Loop 2 , ipod says 8.18km in 38:15
Sunday 25th March - Bike, Turbo trainer for 45 minutes.

Back to almost normal - no proper long bike on the Sunday.

Week 11 Summary 2007

Monday 12th March - 15Km Brompton cycle
Tuesday 13th March - 15Km Brompton cycle, 40 lengths = 1000M swim.
Wednesday 14th March - 15Km Brompton cycle, Run Ascot Loop 1, ipod says 6.67km in 30:12
Thursday 15th March - 15Km Brompton cycle
Friday 16th March - 15Km Brompton cycle
Saturday 17th March
Sunday 18th March

A very poor week, as I was preparing myself for moving out of my house, and then doing the actual moving, so had no time or energy to train.

I guess I can count emptying my loft of a multitude of heavy boxes as strength training

Week 10 Summary 2007

After several weeks of not posting, I'm again in catch-up mode.

Monday 5th March : 15Km Brompton cycle. Off otherwise

Tuesday 6th March : 1500M swim at Broadgate, 5th set of ten laps breaststroke.

Wednesday 7th March : 15Km Brompton cycle. 30 minutes at 6.1mph on the treadmill at Broadgate.

Thursday 8th March : Biked the whole way to work from Ascot. Then back as far as Staines on the way home. 60Km in 2:25:00, then 40km in 1:30:00 approx.

Friday 9th March 15Km Brompton cycle. 1000M swimming

Saturday 10th March: Nothing - packing and moving in Datchet

Sunday 11th March : Nothing - packing and moving in Datchet

Week 3 Summary 2007

Monday 15th - Brompton 9 miles bike commute : Rest

Tuesday 16th - Brompton 9 miles bike commute : 1000M swimming at Broadgate, 40 lengths

Wednesday 17th - Brompton 9 miles bike commute : Ascot loop 2 anticockwise again in the dark. Was running quite relaxed, when after about 25 minutes, my right calf suddenly stretched very badly. Had to limp/jog painfully home the rest of the way.

Nikeplus - 8.12km, 39:11 mins, 4:49 /km. 572 Cals

Thursday 18th - Brompton 9 miles bike commute : Rest as my leg is sore, though I can still cycle.

Friday 19th - Brompton 9 miles bike commute : 1000M swimming at Broadgate

Saturday 20th - Can't run as my leg hurts :-(

Sunday 21st - Normal cycle. Went to Kingston and back. Got rained on a bit in the beginning, but it cleared up and I got dry again. Met Jon a couple of times, the first I thought he was with a group so I didn't stop, and the second we rode together for about 10 minutes.

This has not therefore been a good week, I will probably not be running properly for ages now.

Week 2 Summary 2007

Another week, another summary.

Monday 8th - Brompton 9 miles bike commute : Rest

Tuesday 9th - Brompton 9 miles bike commute : 1000M swimming at Broadgate

Wednesday 10th - Brompton 9 miles bike commute : Ascot loop 2 anticockwise. Dark, but not too cold and not raining for a change. Need to find a longer evening route, but it's really hard as there aren't many footpaths around the side roads. 36:41 minutes. 8Km and 4:34 min/km according to NikePlus

Thursday 11th - Brompton 9 miles bike commute : Rest when I should really have been on the Turbo.

Friday 12th - Brompton 9 miles bike commute : 1000M swimming at Broadgate

Saturday 13th - Running at Ascot racetrack three laps in drizzle. 1:06:54 hours. 14.51K and 4:36 min/km according to NikePlus

Sunday 14th - Various roads cycling up to Henley and back. clear sunny winter weather - not cold. Some big hills - need more of these. 2hours 15 mins, 27.25 km/h avg, 61.31km.

Not a bad week. Saturday was my longest run ever. No joke, I didn't even do runs like this at school as far as I can remember. Aiming for a 90 minute run every weekend.

No injuries though sharp left knee pain occasionally and tightness in my left achilles today following the Sunday ride. Also my usual sore back twinges. Swimming needs to be longer, though getting the time from work is tricky. I know I can do more and am not particularly tired after my sessions now.

Bought new swimming trunks and goggles on Sunday at SBR. Met a guy I have cycled with there, and he was recently returned from doing an Ironman in Australia in December.

Week 1 Summary 2007

New year, new blog format, new will to post more regularly.

Mon 1st Jan Rest

Tue 2nd Jan 9km Brompton Commute

Wed 3rd Jan 9km Brompton Commute. Evening run of 29.19 minutes in nasty blustery wind and rain. NikePlus says it's 6.45km, 4.32 min/km pace.

Thu 4th Jan 9km Brompton Commute

Fri 5th Jan 9km Brompton Commute. 40 lengths (1000M) swimming at Broadgate

Sat 6th Jan Rest

Sun 7th Jan Bike for 1 hour 45, average speed 28.25 km/h

This week I've been recovering from the Christmas break when I had a mild cold and took a few days off.