Hilly 12

I needed last week's rest week. I was pooped. During the week I commuted on the bike every day but took it very easy. The long route home from work that I had enjoyed so much when training for the Forestman seemed particularly difficult and I weaved and wheezed my way up Boxhill before descending back home. My long run was cut back to 67 minutes and most of it was laborious, my muscles and joints not enjoying being forced to run so early on a Saturday morning.

On Sunday I did my last time trial of the season. It was an unusual one in that it involved hills rather than the usual blast up and down a dual carriageway. The roads were quite greasy so the first couple of miles that involved a descent down to the bottom of Boxhill were a bit tentative and throw in game birds in the middle of the road and D of E walkers with their heads buried in maps and not where they were going it made for a couple of heart stopping moments. As I climbed Boxhill I got into a pretty good rhythm and started to reel in the 4 competitors ahead of me and by the time I had gone over the top there was only one other rider in front of me on the road. I followed her down the next descent, not wanting to overtake on such a tricky bit of road before pushing on up the last climb. At the top at the finish the usual dry heaves came up (muesli taste; nice) before a slow few hundred metres back to the car park. Being a new course to me it was always going to be a pb, but it was a bit gutting being beaten into second place by 1 second. Next year.

In other news....
Ad and I are trying to get a boat sorted and we have not had much luck, having an offer on a decent looking boat accepted and then turned down. Grrrr.... Ad's Bonkers busy at work at the moment so we have not been out in the last couple of weeks but I had a really nice paddle with Dad on Sunday night, his first paddle in a K2. I always said I would never get back into a Discovery; I was lying. ;-) It was a bit windy but we took it steady and had no major wobbles. All good.

Trying to pace it right.

My summer running campaign came to an end last week and I am delighted how it has invigorated my running. I have started doing some long runs in preparation for the Luton Marathon in November. The last 2 weekends I have gone out and run for 16 miles, but the main difference to my long runs in the past is that I have run to heart rate. The first 9-10 miles I have capped my HR at 140, which is well at the bottom end of zone 2. I find it hard to do this as I find that my run form seems stilted but there's no doubt that it will help me improve my endurance. Over the last 4-5 miles I then allow my HR to drift out to 150-55 which gives me a comfortable negative split. I am intending to try to negative split in the race as I think this will force me to control myself at the start when I am likely to get carried away. The upshot of this was that both runs were at approximately 3.10 pace which is significantly faster than I thought I would achieve. Early days though. let's see how those 20 milers go, eh?

Swimming has hit the rocks, as has cycling, mainly due to the summer holidays. Seven weeks off is great but actually I find it a lot harder to train then, as our family routine is completely thrown up in the air, which of course is fantastic. Now that I am back at work I can start commuting to work on the bike again which was so effective for me in the run up to the Forestman.

Race wise, I have my last TT of the season on Sunday and then the Cabbage Patch 10 in October where ideally I would like to comfortably get under 65 minutes. Let's see...

In other news...

Adam and I are in the process of buying a boat, but I'm not sure whether it's going to happen or not. Fingers crossed we'll have our own K2 to train in the winter.

Accident Prone

I have really been enjoying my running over the last month. I started at the beginning of July with the intention of running everyday until the end of August and not surprisingly, I have not managed that, but, I have averaged over 5 runs per week for the last 6 weeks and more importantly, I have remained injury free and incorporated sessions that I have not been able to do, regularly, for the last 3 to 4 years. I enjoy running fast, interval sessions, fartlek, hill reps and to do these regularly and be able to run again the next day has been a massive boost to my confidence. My recent Bushy park run and my long run a few days ago both indicate that things are progressing in the right direction.

I am treating paddling at the moment as a weekly core session. I have been out in the Blenheim three times now. The first two times were very uncomfortable, with me working really hard to stay the right way up and often, only just doing so. last night Ad and I were out again. It was still very hard work but there was a small but perceptible improvement, which meant that there were fewer support strokes and slightly longer periods of smooth running and gliding of the boat. Once the sun had gone down and my horizon was more difficult to pick out, it became tense, but I am pleased that after a couple of hours that I can see some progress.

Cycling in the past three weeks has been predominantly based in the turbo dungeon doing  one long interval session and one short set a week. I have a couple of short time trials in the pipeline but I am still struggling to get something sorted over the winter to give me something to train for. I am hoping that their might be some winter cyclesportives to enter.

 Some three weeks ago I did a 2 hour ride complete with a one hour TT effort at threshold and just after I finished the effort at the foot of Boxhill, something went into my right eye. I rubbed it, it was sore, but other than a bit of irritation it was fine. On inspection at home, I had a mark on my eye that I took to be a cut, but it was not hurting so I forgot about it. Fast forward 2 weeks and my eye started to weep pretty badly, so I took myself off to my GP, who promptly took one look at it and stated that I still had something in my eye and I needed to go to casualty to have it removed.  :-(  On arrival at A and E the nurse started using terms like "..scraping my eyeball to clean it." Que grown man going weak at the knees and wanting to cry.
"Would you like your wife in here to hold your hand?"
"No, I'll be fine." While my bottom lip quivered.

After applying some anaesthetic eye drops and having a poke around with a cotton swab, with the offending particle still steadfastly refusing to budge, the nurse called over the doctor who then started unwrapping a needle. Oh, bloody hell! As ever, the thought of it was worse than the actuality and the insect body,  which is what it turned out to be, came off quite easily. I thought I might have got a sticker for my bravery. Wheezy junior always does.

Today I did a 3 hour hilly ride with Simon and felt strong throughout. As we entered Leatherhead at  the end of the ride my front wheel slipped from underneath me when it caught the grass verge on a cycle path. I landed heavily on my right hip and elbow and banged up my Ultegra shifter. I was hacked off, annoyed and feeling thoroughly sorry for myself as I pedalled gently into Leatherhead town centre. Literally two minutes after throwing myself on the floor I saw a patient from Headley Court being helped out of a car into a wheelchair, which rather put my very minor scrapes into perspective.

London-Surrey Cycle Classic

A few blurry pics, taken at the roundabout where Reigate Road meets the A24.

The lead group.

The peleton catching fast.

A couple of back markers trying to get back in contact. It was staggering to see how conjested it all got with all the support vehicles. I've seen it on the tv when watching the TdF and Giro in the past, but up close and personal to it, it's quite a shock. Looking forward to next year even more now.

Wheezy 1 - Blenhiem 0

So last night was my first foray with a proper, tippy boat; a very beaten up old Blenhiem that was barely held together with duck tape. I didn't go in, but it was a damn close run thing. My splash support strokes got a lot of practice and I had to concentrate REALLY hard, doing no more than a few minutes before having to stop because I had caught my paddle or over-rotated. After 40 minutes of paddling very slowly up to Sunbury and back I was in a muck sweat, through fear rather than exhaustion. Adam was perfectly happy in the hobby and wanted to go on, but I knew that my luck and skill were about to run out, so we decided to do another 20 minutes in our old Mystere; the first time that we had been in a boat together since getting out the Discovery at Marlow during the DW. No wobbles, no dramas; nice to be back. :-)

In other news...

Kingston Phoenix Club 10 this afternoon and a new pb by 22 seconds, despite it not feeling like it at the time and saw ( I think) the Sky team bimbling along the A24, doing a recce for the Olympic warm up race tomorrow. I'm going to be cycling ver to Leatherhead, do a run and catch the race as it heads towards Boxhill and see if I can catch a picture of Cav etc. Good times.

A bit of paddling in a Stiletto

Adam and I have started the process of getting back into a boat, concentrating on K1 stuff. We have both been paddling a hobby, which after a few wobbles initially, has proved pretty stable. Yesterday, I was invited out in a Stiletto with a dad from the kids' school, Oli, who is a very experienced paddler. He has done the DW himself and when he found out that I had done it in the past, he kindly offered to take me out in a tippier boat. I wasn't looking forward to it; the name 'Stiletto' highlighting the relative instability of this boat (wobble factor 2/3) and I was very confident that I was going to take a swim or two.

It was a very strange experience. Firstly, at no time did I feel unstable; Oli, unfortunately did. I was in the back and Oli being a taller, bigger bloke folded himself up in the front as it was a club boat and I didn't want to break it. The boat was also A LOT lighter than anything that I have paddled in before, being easily lifted in and out the water by us with one hand. As we pushed off Oli started putting support strokes down straight away and sculling the top of the water and a couldn't understand why. I had the benefit of feeling very stable but with Oli in a new position, for him, in the boat and I presume not being able to see me and in the lowest volume part of the boat he was finding it hard to relax. We bimbled round the island for 5 minutes and the situation wasn't improving so I offered to go in the front. A quick boat change to the stiletto Oli had set up for him in the back, a quick seat adjustment for me in the front and we were off again. This time it was better. I was able to just keep stroking away while Oli gradually put down less and less support strokes, although the wind was getting up and did give us a few wobbles to contend with now and again. By the end, we were having a few runs of 5 to 6 minutes where we were really giving it some beans. *big grin*

All good fun, but I need to work on my own stability. The club has a beaten up old Blenheim which I will attempt to master before the water starts getting cold.

Life in the old dog yet.

The last 3 weeks have seen my training numbers fall away somewhat. A fantastic family holiday in Spain, that saw me get out for 4 runs, between 30 and 40 minutes and in the pool every day. No real structured stuff at all, just trying to avoid being de-bagged by wheezy junior. The problem is that my relaxed attitude carried on into the following week as well. However, I kept the #summerrunning campaign going, although I only managed 2 bike sessions. A great 2 hour ride with a 1 hour tt effort in the middle and a bimbling and terribly unstructured turbo set. Grrr.....

Anyway, the culmination of last week was a 5km tt run at the Bushy park run. Since the Forestman I have put together my most consistent run training in a very long time and I wanted to see where I stood despite only a few speed and interval sessions. It was a particularly busy morning with over 700 starters, so I placed myself in the middle and waited for the off. These can be really tricky to pace right, especially if you're not quite sure what your fitness state is, with it being a very fine line between pacing it perfectly or blowing up horribly in the last kilometer, so I decided to start a bit more conservatively and work my way through the field. 

I had a great run. I haven't enjoyed myself like that in a long time, picking people off as I got my heart rate up and those in front started to tail off. I even managed to out-sprint another chap in the last 200 metres; I don't think I've done that since 1988! I was realistically expecting something in the region of 20.30-21.00, so to see 19.06 on my watch brought a very big smile to my face. Still a long way to go but very happy. Even more happy when I found out I had come 24th and second in my age group, something that I really was not expecting.  

While my running plan up to Christmas is nicely in place, I need to look at an event that will get me out on my bike, now that the TT season seems to be drying up. Autumn Cyclesportive? Audax? Not sure what, but I need something. Answers on a postcard please.

A bit of a rambling post.

I have learnt something new over the past week. I need to race more often. It's a simple fact that I spend a lot of time training without having a goal in mind and therefore the training that I do is often unfocussed and lacks direction and this week has been a case in point. While I have a vague idea that I will be probably be doing a late season half and an olympic event, because I haven't actually committed to it my training has suffered and while I have got out the door every day to do something (at least I am being consistent), the sessions have been made up at the last minute with no overall plan. This is something that I need to work on if I am to see the gains that I want to see.

The aim then, is to get me to a point in 12 months time where I can attempt a fast IM race and therefore I have been looking at which event I would like to do. The race I would love to do is Ironman Switzerland and when registration opened I went to have a look. The timing of it is perfect, falling in mid-July; the cost is not. Unfortunately, feeding and clothing my children has to take precedense over my hobby and even I balked at the cost of this event. IM Lanzarote and France are both events that have also caught my eye and they are considered much tougher events than IMCH but they just do not fall at the right time for me. The other race that I'd love to do is the Norseman. Even in the IM world it is completely unique but it is not sub 11 territory (at least, not for me) So, while a large European Ironman race is a dream, at the moment, it seems that it will have to remain just that. One day....

So, an IM next summer? I would think at the moment it will boil down to either The Outlaw or Challenge Henley. But they are both over a year away, so what am I going to do in the meantime? One word; race. In particular, half marathons and marathons in order to build up my run legs and do the Park runs a lot more regularly to gauge speed and fitness. I am going to try to get a VLM place through work again as my main goal over the winter and spring. My other main goal is to figure out a way to get my IM bike split down but I will initially do this by just continuing to be consistent and doing lots of Z1 /2 work over the winter. Core and conditioning work will consist of sitting in a K1, preparing to tackle the DW with Adam again. We had our first paddle last night with Jo; just a gentle pootle about to get the feel for a boat again but my main focus is going to be tri. I intend to be Ad's wingman and not the other way round. ;-)

My summer running campaign is going well. I have missed one day but other than that all is good and I am really excited about getting a road race or two under my belt in the near future.

Summer Running

Back in the saddle last week with a solid 13 hours of training and thankfully, I seem to be pretty much fully recovered from my Forestman exertions. It was finished off with a really enjoyable ride around the Surrey Hills with some of the peeps from Tritalk (thanks, again, for organising it Phil). 75 miles completed with some hard efforts up Coombe and Crocknorth but I was able to get towed most of the way round. ;-)

I had been chatting to Phil during the ride about getting my run legs sorted in preparation for a future IM race. I have almost become scared of running too often, feeling like my legs are made of glass and that I must constantly be vigilant in case I bring on an injury that curtails my training significantly. Once again, I think it's a state of mind that I have allowed myself to develop and I need to have a lot more confidence. The fact is, my 'run' legs have not been injured for well over 6 months, so what's holding me back? Simple answer; me!

Phil had 2 suggestions based on his experience. Firstly, go out and run every day and build up my run volume gradually. The second idea was to enter an ultra marathon!

Well, the first point is one that I am going to attempt and should be well within my grasp. I intend to run every day between now and August 31st which is a total of  53 days from when I started at the weekend. I will run primarily by feel; if I need to run short and slow then I Will do so; if I can do 3 hours, then I will. I also intend to ensure that it's not all one paced and get some speed work going on. Some of my runs will also be brick efforts off the bike, both long and short.

Being a keen listener of the Marathon Talk podcasts I was really interested in the Comrades Ultra marathon and the idea of having a go at one really appeals; I'm not entirely sure that I can get to a state where my legs are bomb proof enough to run for 56 miles from London to Brighton, but my self imposed summer running challenge will at least kick start the process and get me running properly again.

Three days in and all good do far.....

A week in Recovery and beyond

It was a strange week, last week. The preceeding two months had seen me completing more hours of training than ever before and I had seen real gains as a result, particularly in the swim and bike, so to spend a week doing very little in terms of training was hard to do. The Forestman went exactly as I had expected it to but that didn't stop me being a little bit dissapointed with the last 5 hours of it, though. However, what brought me back down to earth was the reaction from friends and family that knew about the race. Gradually, over the week people found out, the word spread and I got more and more attention. I have to say, it was nice. :-)  There would be the usual glazed look as I explained the distances in each event; yes, completed one after the other; no, I didn't stop for a rest; yes, it hurt.

It didn't stop me struggling though. I went into work on monday and I was soooo tired, although not particularly sore. I ate and I ate and I ate some more. And I drank, constantly. I enjoyed that too! I had read a lot about people having post-event blues but other than the 'could do better' feeling, I have not had them at all and I have been itching to get back into some structured training, which has now, thankfully, begun.

But, I do want to do a lot better. I have learnt an awful lot from doing the Forestman and I have been genuinely surprised at the gains I made in a modest amount of time and it's shown me that I believe I can get a pretty fast Ironman knocked out; but talk is cheap. I need to put in the consistent hard work over the next year to achieve that and the last 8 weeks has taught me that it is possible for me to fit that in around work and family life. Not easy, but possible. Simon seems keen to do the Big Woody at the end of the season. I have decided that this is not for me. I am going to keep training, do a couple of Olympics and target an end of season HIM with a view to nailing that sub 5 hour time and then work towards an IM next year. I'd love to go abroad (IM Switzerland would be ideal if finances allow) but if not I would think that next year's Outlaw would be the race of choice.

I have always thought about what would be a perfect IM race for me and in light of the Forestman I have revised what I believe I can achieve. So, here goes;

Swim - Sub 1 Hour (Have done that at the Forestman but would like to get down to 57-58 mins)

Bike - Sub 6 (ideally 5.45). A tough one and if I am honest, I'm not entirely sure how to go about this. The long Forestman rides have really helped my speed endurance but I think I am going to need to keep the volume consistently high and introduce some really high quality sessions. Maybe I need to get out and ride in a faster group to push myself more?

Run. Sub 4 (ideally 3.50) I know I can do this but I have to keep my run volume consistent (3-4 runs per week), stay injury free and have quality sessions in there. I am plodding too much and not running regularly enough. I am considering getting a gait analysis done. It's obvious that I am very weak in certain muscle groups and this is causing me to get injured too often so I need to develop better strength and flexibility.

So basically, that leaves me wanting to complete an Ironman that starts with a 10. Yikes.

The Forestman Triathlon 2011

While I have been competing in triathlons for a number of years now, having a go at an iron distance race had always been a large goal. Lack of consistency in my approach and a smattering of injuries in the last couple of years had prevented me from making the comittment but at the end of last year I made the decision to enter the Forestman, as I knew that if I entered an event then I would usually find my way to the start line somehow. I got sidetracked, again, with Adam and I entering the DW but I looked at it as good core and conditioning and the running I was doing seemed to help, but bike work and swimming was sporadic. Once the DW was out the way, it left me with approximately 8 weeks or so to get into some sort of shape and over those weeks I was comfortably averaging 11-12 hours per week (peaking at 15 hours 3 weeks out). Swimming and cycling suddenly clicked, but at the expense of any proper run volume. As the race approached it was obvious that it was going to be about getting to T2 and then get to the end as best as I could. A target time was out the window; it was just going to be about finishing and learning.

Pre-race

Simon had entered the event with me so we decided to share a tent at Sandy Balls. It's a great venue, but our pitch was sandwiched between a particulary noisy family, a set of bins and the children's playground; not exactly perfect A race preparation. We got the tent up and headed off to lunch and the race briefing where we caught up with a few TT'ers. The briefing given by Richard was thorough and good humoured and after sorting out all the pre-race stuff we racked our bikes and drove the bike route again. At 7pm it was heads down but I didn't drop off until gone 11pm, listening to the family next door arguing as they put the kids to bed. I ended up waking at 2.15am and dozed until the alarm went off at 3.15 and had a breakfast that consisted of a banana, bowl of cereal and a power bar and began sipping on weak energy drink. We got our own back as we noisily packed the tent and got ready to board the shuttle bus for Ellingham Lake.

At Ellingham we had a final check of kit (tyres were still inflated; always a good sign!) and then got the wettie on ready for the off, which was to be slightly delayed due to some mist. A chaplain said a blessing on the lakeside which got the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end and brought a significant lump to my throat and then we waddled into the water, ready to go.

Swim 66.30 (including T1)

It's funny, I just felt so much more comfortable during this swim than any other OW swim that I've done before. In the past I have trained exclusively in the pool and only done the odd OW session to familiarise myself, whereas in the build up to the Forestman I actually trained properly in OW and it showed. I loved every minute of it. My sighting was great, so much so that I and a small group on the first lap seemed to be the only people at the time to do a full lap, with most of the rest of the field cutting off a corner. There was quite a bit of biff at the start but it really didn't bother me this time, the only real problem being leaky goggles due to getting a kick at the end of lap 1, which was easliy sorted. Simon and I started together and about 400 metres in I saw his distictive white goggles next to me; I was not to see him again until T2.

The mist made everything very atmospheric and monchrome and I was reminded me of Robert Capa's Omaha Beach photographs; it's weird how the mind works at times. I had made a conscious decision to find feet as often as possible, but I ensured that I kept my own sighting going and on the second lap I got into a group of 6 and I was right in the middle getting a great tow and we were all swimming straight, which meant I was not constantly worried about being swum over. At the end of the second lap I could see that we were not taking the same line as we had before but the safety guys in the kayaks were not making us change course so I followed on and had a strong last lap. As I was helped up the ramp I checked my watch and saw the numbers change from 59.59 to 1.00. To say I was happy would be an understatement as I was looking at a time of between 70 and 80 minutes. The day had started really well. 

I went into the change tent and realised that there were not any screens to get changed behind and my towel was the size of a small beer mat, so I ended up getting stripped off in the corner while the marshalls tittered behind me. I had trouble getting my cycle jersey on over wet skin but after a bit of thrashing I had it over me, picked up my bike and made it to the mount line.

On the climb at the top of Ornamental Drive

Bike 6.10

For me, the last 8 weeks had been all about the bike and I really wanted to put in a solid bike leg in the race. During HIM races I usually do something around 2.55-3.00 hours, so at IM intensity I was expecting to target something in the region of 6.30-40. It really helped having recce'd the course a few weeks before and the course very much suited me, with fairly rolling terrain. I took the first 25 minutes or so really easily, spinning out of Ellingham and letting my heart rate settle down before I started to take fluids on board. I had my own bottle of PSP and a bottle of nuun which I planned to consume on the first lap before switching to mule bars and water for the second lap and a half and then for the last hour going onto the Infinite energy drink from the aid stations. It turned out that while I was getting the energy on board in solid form, I was not taking enough liquid on, which would come back to bite me eight hours later. For most of the first lap I was with another chap on a full TT set up and we were swapping places but on any climb I would end up going past as he mashed up the hills, which looked quite painful to me. On every climb I would take the opportunity to spin and at no point did I feel that I was pushing too hard.

In the main, the bike was quite a lonely affair; the fast guys were well off the front and I only had a few people go past me. Slacko caught me at the end of the second lap and I could see that he had taken a nasty looking tumble. I asked him about it as he went past but he was travelling so fast that his words were whipped away by the wind. After that, I was on my own.

The third lap got a little tougher due to the wind picking up so I consciously kept in the small chainring for longer periods. I didn't feel that I particularly needed to but I was mindful of the fact I had a long run ahead of me and that I needed to not over exert myself. At Ornamental drive I overtook a couple of guys who had gone past me some 70 miles before and it was obvious that at least one of them had blown up quite badly. The final run-in was really good and I felt that I had paced it well. I saw 6.08 ish on the cycle computer as I turned in Sandy balls. faster than planned but in terms of RPE I felt I had hit it bang on. Woop woop me!

Back into the change tent, with more gsnerking from the lady marshalls as I got naked  (I did warn them and apologise beforehand), before heading out past the finish chute, onto the run. As I headed out I got a shout from Simon who was just coming into T2, some 15 minutes behind.

Run 5.18 (ouch; including T2)
Ok, I am a runner, so I keep telling myself and anyone else that'll listen. despite lack of run training in the last 8 weeks, I geniunely felt that I should be able to muddle my way around a 4.30 marathon; maybe 5 to 5.5hours as the absolute worse case scenario. So after my really pleasing bike and swim, I was suddenly staring down the barrel of a potential 11.45 ish IM debut. Oh, how wrong could I be.

I had a terrible run, in fact, very little running was involved. Now the more experienced triathletes that may be reading this would say, 'You hit the bike too hard and paid for it on the run.' I genuinely don't think that was the case. The two things that made me come unstuck were the heat (but more specifically, not preparing myself for the heat) and not enough run volume in training. I really do not belive that had I been 15 or 30 minutes slower on the bike that it would have prepared me any better for the run. The point is, and it's a very important point that I forgot, is that 26 miles is a really long way and even a run walk strategy can be hard work; factor in the terrain and the run surface involved in this race and it was always going to end in tears.

I got onto the main loop ok, but then it all started to unravel pretty quickly. The slightest rise, let alone hill would see me grinding to a fairly rapid halt. The loop was basically in two parts; a hillier shady bit (which I could run more of) or a flatter, exposed section, which I could not. It was really disconcerting to find myself with my heart rate going through the roof while running along a flat section. Gradually, the walks got longer and the 'runs' got shorter and I was taking longer and longer to get going at each aid station. I would put 2 cups of water over my head, drink a cup and take about half a cup of infinite. Each time I would try to get running again but my stomach was having none of it and I would have to walk out the aid station for 5 minutes or so in order to let things settle down. I could feel myself overheating on the exposed section and longed to be back into the shade to get some respite.

While all this was going on and I was caught up in my own little world of misery there were a few things that were keeping me going. Simon was going great and it was obvious that he was going to pass me and it was great to see him, have a high five and encourage each other. He caught me at exactly half way and proceeded to put another 20 minutes over me; top bombing from the fella. The support at the aid stations and from the spectators was amazing and some really stick out; the Serpie guy with a hooter and the chaps from the Tri club who were marshalling the aid station where you collected your bands at the end of each lap. Top fellas, but there were so many people out there, encouraging, clapping, cheering. It was very humbling to be honest.

The really low point came as I came in to collect my second band. I had two of the three bands which of course seems like a long way into the run and as I came into the aid station I saw the mile marker that said I still had 12 miles to go. I definetley had a bit of a wobbly bottom lip moment, took the band and walked away onto my final lap trying to console myself with the fact that I was now heading towards my blue and final band.

I don't remember too much about the final lap but my one abiding memory from the day is the lady at the middle aid station. I don't know if I am reading more into this than I should be, but I went through that aid station 7 times and I am fairly certain that every single time it was her who handed me my water and infinite and asked if I was ok and I started to get a sense that she was looking out for me, which only now, a few days later, can I truly appreciate.  On the last visit where we turned for home I was bent double as I poured water over my head and she asked if I wanted to sit down in the shade, but I felt that if I did that then that would be me out of the event. I knew I was not feeling great but I also knew I wasn't far from the finish so I politely said no and walked on. The medical cover was excellent and all the marshalls were doing a fabulous job, but if she's reading this then there's a  massive thank youfrom me.

I had started the run with a guy called Tom, we had had a little chat right at the start and all the way through we had been passing each other but as we went into the last 5 km's he pulled out ahead and I saw him walking up the steep hill to the last aid station. I think he ended up finishing some 10 minutes ahead of me, which I guess shows how much further I was slowing down at the time. I finally got onto the road, past the pub, past the pom pom girls (thanks for the jelly baby and sympathy Mrs M) and then into the finish chute. I don't remember what I said to Richard as I crossed the line and shook his hand but again, there wasn't much emotion at the time except just being glad that I could stop putting one foot in front of the other and sit down.

Afterwards.

The next couple of hours were not pretty. Every other finisher around me was tucking heartily into the excellent food that was laid on. I put a single spoonful of rice on a plate which stayed there and ate half an apple, which I promptly brought straight back up. Simon went and got me more water from the med tent and an energy block chewy thing which took me a while to get through and I had a few crisps to try to get some salt back into me. I didn't appreciate how dehydrated I had become and it took me a good 36 hours to rebalance. I had a shower and slowy I bagean to feel better and realise what I had achieved. Simon's wife and kids had come down to watch him finish but they had to get straight back, so we drove back and swapped stories about our race, which was a great way to finish the day. I got home and I drank almost 2 pints of ice cold milk and demolished a quiche. It was, simply, heaven.

So the plan was to finish, which I did. But what now? Well, it's confirmed a couple of things. Firstly, I know that somewhere inside me there is a half decent IM race waiting to be run but it's a case of me stringing everything together and getting everything right at the same time and it comes back to consistency, again. Secondly, I have to get my running legs back and get some long runs in and prepare mentally to do 26 miles at the end of an IM. On reflection, I lost the mental battle to keep running when I could probably have done so. And lastly, the rules of the 7 p's. I need to prepare for the conditions better. I suffered in the heat on Sunday but it need not have been like that, so with some better consideration of clothing, equipment and nutrition then I reckon I can nail one.

A few days to go

Slap bang in the middle of taper time and as usual I'm getting itchy feet. My 'taper madness' has mainly manifested itself in raiding the fridge, although I've tried to keep it to relatively healthy choices (almost). I find I tend to eat too much when I get stressed and the last couple of weeks at work and with family, have added to that; throw an impending Ironman race into the mix and it can start to get ugly. Taper madness also usually entails me heading to the shops for last minute 'essential supplies'. To be fair, I did buy gels and 2 new tubes which are essential. The tri top I bought? Not so much. But you can never have too much lycra, right?

Taper training has been much of the same as the last 8 weeks, keeping the intensity up but cutting back on the volume. At the weekend, Simon and I did our last OW swim at Heron Lake. 3km steady, although I upped the rpe a little over the last 2 laps. It was a comfortable, if unspectacular swim with much better sighting that last time. We did a long ride the day after, although it was only 2.15 hrs. We headed off on the hilly route that took in Effingham, Ranmoor, Cranleigh and Dorking, skipping out Boxhill. I felt strong and was not working hard. I think I probably fell into the trap of letting the ride be a little aimless and therefore didn't enjoy it as much. Both Simon and I had punctures which was annoying, but hopefully that's my visit from the puncture fairy for the week. *fingers crossed* I had a really encouraging run yesterday. A shade under 70 minutes, clipping along, low rpe, no twinges; fantastically boring!

I've had some interesting comments from people as I have gradually let the cat out of the bag about the race. A friend from work came in today from being on maternity leave. 'You've lost weight, in fact you look gaunt.'  There was me thinking I looked rugged and athletic. :-/ Adam was giving me a grilling about what time I thought I would be doing it in. I genuinely don't know. I have purposely not timed myself when doing the OW swims, just ensuring that I get a sense of effort level and stroke rate. I have timed a couple of my long rides but again I have really tried to ignore the cycle computer and disengage myself from the outside, instead trying to focus on within, how I feel, what my effort level's like and how tired I am feeling. I have developed a pretty good sense for that now and I have confidence that I know enough to keep things under control.

The run is a completely different kettle of fish. As I have said before, that would normally be the bit that I would have most confidence in, but this is a long way from anything that I have ever done before. Under 'normal circumstances', I would like to think that I could knock out a 4 hour marathon relatively comfortably, but, having 112 bike miles and 2.4 miles of swimming already in my body is not normal. I think I could be run / walking for anything up to 6 hours or so, although I hope not. During my training runs I have tried to get into the habit of 'micro-chunking'. Looking no more than a few feet ahead and running to that point. Geez, it's boring, but it may be a strategy I can use when it gets tough to try to keep my legs turning over running, as opposed to walking. Talking of turn over, I have also tried to run with a shorter stride but keeping the cadence relatively high. When the wheels fall off, as they will surely do, it'll be a run / walk strategy, trying to ensure that I keep the walk breaks small and manageable. That's the plan; just gotta do the race.

The hard stuff's done.

I didn't get the volume of training in this week that I had planned as more important family and work stuff took priority but I was able to get the most important sessions done this week. A couple of swims and yesterday's at Heron Lake saw me complete 4km and emerge from the water pretty fresh which was a massive confidence boost. Also managed to get my sighting sorted, (except for the bit where I swam into a buoy)Open water swimming, enjoyable? Who'd of thunk it? 

Not as much cycling done as I wanted but Simon and I paired up for a 2up TT on Wednesday. The weather was atrocious with the heavens opening literally as we pushed off. I was really heavy legged at the start again but we managed a long 25, which in the circumstances was pretty good. The only other rides of mote was my 2 long Sunday rides last week and today.  4 of us went out last week and the plan was for me to have a recovery ride of around 50-60 miles. It became, unintentionally,  a 70 mile fartlek ride. Simon had had a long run the day before so he was suffering for most of it, but I felt really good. Another member of the group, John, was a very strong rider but it was really good for me to be pulled along by him and to also take some extended turns on the front and sprint hard up hills. Lots. Of. Fun. Today was my last long ride before the race and we headed off the Ditchling Beacon again. We left early to try to beat the weather and for the first hour it was lovely, but once again, the clouds gathered, the temperature dropped and the light drizzle started. I am feeling really good about the bike at the moment. It's always been my particularly weak discipline but I think that in these long rides I have managed to learn to pace them really well. Once again today, my 92nd mile was as strong as my first and as long as I can do that on race day then I'll be pleased with that.

The worrying thing is my running, my supposedly strongest discipline. Lack of volume has meant that when I have run long, like I did on Monday it was very uncomfortable. I did 1.45 before I had to stop and walk. Once again, my foot began to ache and became painful, forcing me to stop and walk / run the rest of the way home. Having said that, that's what I'm going to do on race day and I can't do much about it now anyway. Which ever way you dice it, it's going to hurt.

Two weeks to go. Time to taper and not eat too much.