Pulling up lame

I had a lovely run before work yesterday. I suppose that officially it was a run commute, but as it took in 4 miles along the River Thames, it didn’t feel like it. I felt great and I was ticking over comfortably  at sub IM marathon pace, around 4:50kms. After an hour and 5 minutes I ran towards the front door of work, in fact, I could see it in front of me, only for my right calf to pull again in exactly the same spot as last week.

So that’s it for running for me now.  No more before the big day. While I was hoping to get another half marathon distance in before July 21st, it’s just going to be too risky. I’ve done considerably more running than I ever did before Forestman and Outlaw and it’s going to have to be enough. Three weeks’ rest should be enough to allow it to heal for me to complete the marathon at my goal pace, so now as I head towards the taper I can finish off with more swim and bike. Sub optimal, but in the main I’m in ok shape.

Four weeks out

So, four weeks out. and I've hit that almost panicky period where I'm trying to get every session done knowing that last week and the next ten days or so are my last chance to really effect what could happen at IMCH.  I'm like a coiled spring. I'm ready to go and I'm ready to go now. I'm really looking forward to it but I want it done, so I can move on and ride my bike and run for fun. It's been weeks since I rode my bike with any of my mates, choosing instead to hit the roads on my tt bike to get that really squared away. But there's no doubt I've found that harder than I thought.

It's coincided with another really busy time at work which meant my early morning sessions took a hit as I had to get into work early and ended up doing sessions late into the evening, hitting that downward spiral of fatigue and stress. That said, I got my key sessions done and went back to the old school method of just getting a long bike and long run in, while everything else was a bonus.

The most important session has been my long weekend ride. Last week I got 93 miles done in a tad over 5 hours, while yesterday I went over 100 miles (for the first and last time before Zurich) with 103 miles in 5hrs 40. It was quite a bit slower than I had hoped. A 14 hour day at work followed by a family party until midnight, then on the road by 9:30am. There was a lot of traffic heading to the coast that I got caught up in and I didn't fully fuel so I was running on fumes towards the end. I noticed that my IF dropped off in the last 90 minutes because of this, going from 0.70 to 0.68. It doesn't sound much but this power decoupling was noticeable. Still, a really solid ride in the bank when it would have been easier to have gone to the pub.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2471181558

I've had another minor injury scare. Thursday became a double run day and it was an easy 8 miles in to work and then another easy 3 miles home, but literally within sight of my house I felt my right calf pull/tear again. I stopped straight away and as I type, it seems fine after a few days icing and stretching. I've bought a decent pair of calf gurds and while I hate wearing them, I will until the Ironman just to provide that extra level of security (fingers crossed). Realistically, I 've only got a few more runs left to do, so I will cut my runs short if I have to and hope my bike fitness carries through.

After my underwhelming Cotswold swim, I hit the pool today and had a much more pleasing 3km swim in 55 minutes, which although about the same speed as my half swim, it was obviously without a wetsuit, so, in theory, I should be a bit faster in July. I had another guy in my lane who was just a little faster than me and I used him to keep pace with, although we were swimming in opposite directions. It was amazing how a little competition got me to get out of my ironman plod and raise my rpe. Maybe I need to hit the swim a bit harder? We'll see.

There is something that could completely scupper my swim anyway. I've been tentatively keeping an eye on the weather in Zurich, and next week the temperature is due to get up to 37 degrees. This is quite frankly, shit. As a general rule, I don't do heat but it's looking like there could be a good chance of a non-wetsuit swim and it being baking on the run. I can't do anything about the former, but for the latter, I have a plan, which I will divulge in my next post. I've been thinking about it, a lot!

That said, I think I'd prefer 37 degrees compared to what Ali Brownlee had to contend with today at the inugural Ironman Ireland. Who'd have thought that it could possibly be a tad wet in Ireland?

Cotswold 113 Triathlon

Checking out the OW safety kayaks

This was my first tri since the Outlaw two years ago and was to see how things currently stand as far as my training and preparation for Switzerland is going. So, it was a great day and a frustrating one, all rolled into one.

This is now a well established event and would be the seventh HIM I've done. It's set in the Cotswold Water park and surrounding area and it was a very pretty course, and absolutely pan flat, so the bike leg would prove to be drag-strip fast, or so I hoped. What with my disrupted run training following a mild calf pull the weekend before, I was genuinely considering this as an aqua-bike training session and if my calf was sore then I'd drop out, saving myself for the big day in six weeks' time. So, how'd it go?

Stupidly early start rewarded with a stunning sunrise

Swim 34:59
I was hoping for a 33 minute swim, so was pretty disappointed when I got out the lake. I was in the 5th wave and so there was not very much biff at all, which was good. I'd made sure that my wetsuit was on properly and my shoulders were loose and after 10 minutes or so, I found myself in a group of three, sometimes leading, but often sitting on the feet of the lady in our group. I felt really good, except for the few times when the lake was quite whiffy and actually felt a little sick. I think it's because I felt good that I was pretty hacked off with a 35 minute swim. That said, it was about finding out where I am, and now I know!

T1 4:31
OMFG! The first rule of transition is, don't be in transition. The second rule of transition is; DON'T BE IN TRANSITION!

This was just terrible. I got 95% of my wettie off, only for the left leg to become stuck fast over my ankle transponder. I was stamping, rolling on the grass; I was almost considering getting my car keys and splitting the leg to get it off. Eventually the wetsuit was off, helmet on and I was jogging to the bike mount line.

Bike 2:40:44
The course was really flat, so the plan was to just sit on 0.75IF and that should bring me in around 2:30. So when I fired up my Garmin, I was surprised to see that all the data fields that I had on screen, including my power and IF were not there. I pressed all the buttons and went through the various screens but it was nowhere to be seen, before it dawned on me what had happened. On my long ride the week before, I had not been able to upload my Garmin to Training Peaks and Garmin Connect so I had eventually done a factory reset on it, and this of course had wiped out all my pre-set screens. That meant I had no power so would have to go on rpe alone. No bother, every single triathlon I have ever done before, this has been to case, so I just had to crack on with it. The other issue I had was that my xlab bar bottle covered the time and distance so I was not able to take time checks at quarter and half distance to compare with my rpe, and this was to cost me.

The bike was a pretty course and very flat. My main issue was that as I started in a late wave, there were a lot of competitors in front and I had to be careful going past and as the morning progressed, more cars were on the road, which at times got quite congested and I lost some time sitting behind cars who were (very considerately) waiting to go round other riders.  The weather ended up being perfect; a little wind towards the end but 16 degrees with some light cloud cover and not cold at all. It was really nice. I didn't see my Garmin time and it was probably just as well. Had I done so, I would have thrown a proper strop as it was my slowest bike in years. That said, it was around Ironman intensity, so pretty good on reflection

T2 1:48
That's more like it. Helmet off; shoes on. Go.

Run 1:39:51
This was great. The fact that I had underbiked meant that a good run was more likely on the cards, if my calf held together. I just felt really good from the off and was clicking along at 4:10-15kms. It was a three lap course with mixed trail under shade and some pavement. Again, it was pan flat with the only 'hill' being a little jump over a log before one of the feed stations. During the run, I lost count of the people I overtook and was only overtaken by three fast boys who were on their final lap or two.  At the end of lap 1 I was still feeling really strong but I really needed a wee, so managed to hold on until the portaloos before going, so I lost another minute there. Lap 2 was much the same, still going strong, but then about two thirds of the way round my bowels decided to rebel from the energy drink, which I think had caffeine in. I managed to just about get back to the portaloos before things erupted in a very dramatic way. It was an extremely quick poo, but still cost me another couple of minutes. The last lap was considerably tougher and I was gradually losing a little form, but the kms were ticking off until I got to 'a parkrun to go' which always helps me to see the last 25 minutes out. My actual moving time was 1:36, so I lost 3 minutes on the run for toilet stops, while it pretty much equalled my best HIM run from over a decade ago. Still a bit of life in the old dog yet, and even better, my calf was fine.

Final time 5:01:55

I queued up for my times, convinced that I was well under 5 hours, even possibly 4:50, as I still didn't know my bike split at that moment. When I saw my time I was like a child who had just dropped his ice cream on the floor; I was, as they say, gutted. But after a day or two to reflect, I have to be pleased. A really solid performance, in the middle of a training block, without a taper and I'm not injured.

So, things to work on.
1. I'm not as fast in the open water as I thought, so I need to get more practice in. To be fair, this was only my second OW  swim in three years, so not really surprising.
2. Re-sort my Garmin.
3. Need to ensure I have got some solids when fuelling on the bike. Just liquids seem to be a bit of an issue for my stomach.

Practicing my pacing

number geek

So after last weekend's failed long ride at the Hounslow 100, I was back out onto the A24 yesterday, riding solo and seeing if I could ride consistently at a set intensity factor. I  decided on 0.70 IF as this is more on the conservative side, and it would be interesting to see what sort of pace that would translate to.

The numbers that came back were pretty pleasing. Firstly, I was able to nail the correct IF. It started out a little high with a few early hills but I was able to keep it nice and consistent after that, and with a few Horton loops near home I actually got it under 0.7, which was very cool. 19.4mph average speed so something in the region of a 5:35-40 bike split, depending on wind and heat etc. It would be good if I can keep knocking my ftp up over the next few weeks and see if I can bring that projected time down a bit. I might feed these numbers into Best bike Split and see what that gives me. The golden question, can I run off the bike at this intensity? Yes, pretty comfortable with being able to, although my niggly right calf has come back so I'm laying off running for a few days.

I've had a couple of really good swims this week. Friday's swim was 30x100 broken into three sets with the middle 10 being off 2 minutes and all the reps around my CSS pace of 1:46. The last time I did this session I was bent over double at the end of the pool, seeing stars. This time, it was a lot more comfortable; a feeling of being nicely over-exerted rather than 'fu*k, I'm going to die.'

Hounslow 100m TT (well, 62 miles of it)

I never learn. I never bloody learn. Three hours into the Hounslow 100 time trial on Sunday and I've gone out way too hard, again, and I'm wondering why everything hurts so much. To be fair, when I saw on my Garmin within the first 20 minutes that I was cycling at an IF of 0.86, I did realise this and did make the decision to keep on, thinking that it would be an effort that I could maintain until the end.

But of course, I couldn't. The wind was getting up steadily during the morning and it went from being a bit annoying to damn hard work. The terrible road surface finally got to me too. I was having a massive internal battle, knowing that I really wanted a good 100 mile ride under my belt as part of my Ironman preparations, but at the same time actually hating every minute of the experience. The more the wind blew, the harder my deep section front wheel was to control, particularly when orbiting the Farnham roundabout.

 Eventually, the decision was made for me when the bumps in the road actually caused my rear mech gearshifter to come out of the end of my aerobars. I was frankly delighted to have a legitamate reason to pack. I was also absolutely covered in energy drink from the continual ponding the bike took

 With 22mm tires on my race wheels, the bumps were always going to be difficult but I had coped with them well in the 12 hour last year. I think a combination of them along with the feeling of barely able to control my front wheel at times sapped all my mental strength to cope.

It wasn't a complete disaster. It was still a hard 60 miles covered with a 40 minute brick run off the bike; to date, my first brick of this training cycle. It was a little uncomfortable, but with a final IF of 0.83, it was to be expected and was at IM pace.

Sh*t seems to be getting real.