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Thursday, June 24, 2010

Weekly Weigh-in = Loss

This week I have lost 1lb (0.5 Kg) and down 0.5% body fat.

This is good news as this will be my last weigh in before the ironman. I would have preferred to be lighter but I am happy with the % body fat level.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Combined Weekly Updates

I have not been reporting my recent weeks training breakdown but have been recording them.

There have been a good mixture of each area including a few long cycle rides, fast parkrun and a couple of triathlons (Fritton Lake Olympic and Bala Middle Distance).
Not as much volume as planned but at a higher intensity plus trying out some new kit.

We will soon see if I timed my training right.

Weekly Weigh-in = Loss

This week I lost 1/2 lb (0.3 Kg) and my % body fat went down 1.5%. However this follows the previous week away which there was a gain of a couple of pounds. My waist also went down this week as well.

Bala Chip Report

As the World Cup had started and England were playing the day before the Bala Triathlon, I had to have the traditional football food of chips!!

So to mix it up a bit I went to the normal post Bala chips shop as it was on the way to the hotel. It was not up to the usual standards the staff on the till could not use the till, the chips were a bit crispy and even had some black bits of potato in them. However they turned it around with a big spam fritter that was freshly cooked to order, which made it ok in the end. The match was not that great either.

The next day after the triathlon to go the sodium back in to my body I had a box of chips (with salt and vinegar), this was the option from the chip shop in Bala high street. The box of chips was the middle size option and they were squazzed in to a burger box so you had to be a bit careful when you opened it so they did not drop out, I dropped one ;-(
They were nice tasting, a bit crispy but ok and just about enough size wise after the various sports recovery drinks I had.

Box of Chips

Bala Triathlon

A couple of weeks ago I took part in the Bala Middle Distance Triathlon (Half Ironman Distance) in Bala, North Wales which was a 2000m lake swim, 80 km (52 miles) cycle and a 20km (12 miles) run.

On the way to transition with various kit options due to the varied weather conditions. I did not know my brother (photos courtesy of him) was there even though I must have been looking directly at him. Too my defence there was a crowd all with hoods up as it was cold and he was not wearing a top with his club name on.

On the way to transition


I was getting my various kit ready in transition with number of options for warm (I wish) and colder conditions. I had enough kit so I could even mix and match the available options depending on the conditions. However I was trying out so new kit for the first time in race conditions and only the second or third time they had been worn plus also some different nutrition options.
Luckily they were numbered areas to rack the bike and mine was one row back from the lake directly opposite the big inflatable exit arch. This was one of the easiest transition spots I have in a race.

Getting ready before the race


The stones on the way in to the swim start really hurt my feet ;-(
Others were also commenting about them and even the race announcer joked saying look at for all the ballet dancing going on!! Not quite the right image before starting a long triathlon going oh oh on tip toes.
The stones really hurt when walking on them

Just before the start with the cold lake water and walking on the stones, you could faintly smell the burgers from the catering van the other side of the finish. Due to the cold lake water conditions I had put on another tri top over my trisuit before putting on my wetsuit. I also had a thicker swim cap on  underneath my race swim cap. I decided on this due to the water temperature and the length of time in the water based on past swims.
What have I signed up for?

A view of part of the Bala lake were the swim had been and the weather conditions half way through the race.
The Lake

On the swim I started on the left side of the pack which was the nearest point to the buoys but a near the back of the pack. These would give me some more practice of being in the middle of a pack while open water swimming. The course was a big U shape course with the longer sections being about 950m and 100m section in the middle.
From the start I was sighting pretty good and staying fairly straight and was getting some more practice swimming behind and in a pack of swimmers. However my goggles were leaking a bit and I had to stop about every 200+ meters to correct. This was the first time this year they had leaked not exactly sure why, the only possible reason was the lot less hair so they were slightly lose fitting.
On the way back my sighting got a bit worse and I was heading to the right to middle of the lake, just to make sure I did a bit more swimming :-) Once I spotted the exit point I was fairly straight to that trying to avoid the faster people in the later starting waves which were on the left side.

On the exit of the swim trying to walk the plank after a 2000m swim is a bit interesting.

I completed the swim in 43:42 which I was pleased with pace wise but I had a number of stops due kit issues.

Walking the plank

On the way in to T1 getting the top half on my wetsuit on the run in to transition.

On the run from the lake exit

In T1 drying myself off a bit and trying to get a bit warmer. In the last bit of the swim I was looking at the cloud conditions to decide on what kit to use on the cycle. I decided I would not need the long sleeve cycle top but keep the extra tri top layer on but put a short sleeve cycling top on as well. I had to put a skull cap on due to the my short haircut and cold conditions. For the feet I put on my longer compression socks with a pair of normal cycle socks under those. I decided to use my tri shoes but with the shoe covers to keep some heat in and any rain out.

My T1 time from lake exit to bike mount line (far right of photo) was 6:19, this is really quick for me not sure what happened with that.

In T1


Then after a few 100m on the bike I saw and recognised my brother!! He would have to wait nearly 3 hours to see me again.
On the way out


In the meantime I am not sure if he went to the Ice Cream van. Not sure why there was not a queue for them, it looks almost tropical :-)
Not sure if they sold many ice creams!!

On the bike my target was to keep my cadence high and use my gears on the up and down hill bits. Nutritionally I was targeting to regularly take drinks and food including using Powerbar Cola Power Shots for the first time (sports sweets with caffeine).
The course is basically an out and back route, so you know what you have to do on the way back but you can also see the other riders going the other way.
The first 7 miles were mostly uphill sometimes doing only 7 mph up a hill on my aerobars!! On the fast long decent in to the valley I was doing 35mph+ in to a slight head wind with braking while trying to avoid the cars and caravans that were going down the 10% incline slowly and not leaving much space on the edge of the road. It was an interesting decent to say the least.
I got to about 16 miles before seeing the leader go flying past the other way (16 miles ahead of me). Then from about 10 minutes later there was lots of tri club mates going the other way.
The turnaround point was at the bottom of a hill with a bottle swap in the lay by. I had not finished my first bottle so I did not change bottles. Then the long up hill sections began on the steep hills including the 10% incline I kept my leg speed high (slowed down a bit) but I was overtaking people up the hills they caught me up on the down hill sections though. On this course I normally struggle up the hills on the back section so I was pleased with my bike fitness.


On the last 100m of the bike section of 51.4 miles (on my GPS), I did it in 3:05 which was an average of 16.7 mph with a max of 39 mph!! I was pleased with the pace on such undulating route which was helped by the cool conditions and also my race nutrition.


Near the end of the bike


In T2 I decided to keep any changes to a minimum due to the cool conditions. I just changed my socks to a different pair of compression socks and a pair of Ironman specific running shoes. I also had a hat and my GPS watch and a sports drink and a few gels. My T2 time was 3:10 which was a quick change over for me but there is still room for improvement.

Don't forget anything in T2!!

On the transition run exit, only a hilly 12 miles to go!!
It is looking so warm!!

Only 12 miles to go

The first and and last 1/2 km of the run was on a gravel path next to the lake.
A bit of off road running

The run has a number of undulations I went out hard but at a pace I felt comfortable with (not using watch for pacing) for the first 5 miles in just a bit over 10km pace!! As it only three weeks away from my first Ironman of the year I decided to ease back from this point. I walked up the inclines and ran the other sections, I felt ok doing this as it gave me time to recover and have any gels or drinks that I had with me. The only problem I had was when I got to the turn around point I realised I had left my race chip in T2 when changing socks!!

I kept the run/walk hill strategy until the end and I even had another energy left for a sprint finish which I kicked from about 1km out.
Sprinting to the finish

A bit of a sprint finish

From my GPS watch I completed the 12.37 mile run in 1:53 which makes it an average of 9:12 minutes/mile. I was pleasantly surprised about the pace and how I felt on the run leg of the triathlon.


A view of the finish arch and transition in the background. I finished the race with a time of 5:52 which was quicker than I had estimated event with trying a number of kit, nutrition and pacing strategies. I also think that is the quickest I have done on the this route at this event. The only issue I had was with my goggles so I may have to make some adjustments for my next lake swim, damn that will be at the Ironman!!

The finish line and transition


Like drowned routes on the way back to the car with all my gear after the race and in the rain :-(
On the way back to my car



                      

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Easy Parkrun

The day before a middle distance triathlon I decided to do a parkrun 5km. I thought I would do it at an easy pace before I travelled a few hours to the race.

However once the start I overtook a number of people who were obviously too far ahead of their time. I realised I was going a bit fast an eased back a bit and felt more comfortable. When I got to the inclines I decided to pick the pace up again but not at full pace. It turns out I was only 2 seconds away from my PB at this course.

This ended my run of about 8 parkrun PB's on consecutive runs that I did :-(

Hopefully doing the 5km at this pace would not affect me in the triathlon the next day,

Triple Session

During the week I did a triple session day.

It started of with an (very) early 7 mile run before even breakfast. I was struggling on the last few miles of the run due to the lack of breakfast.

Then after work I did a 30 minute pool swim before a few miles running. The running included a 1.5 mile timed loop which I improved my time but I was wearing a few new pieces of kit.

Power of 10 Cycle Rides

In one week I did a 100km, 100mile and 10 mile cycle rides!!

The 100km (62 miles) ride was in the north suffolk area. It had a few undulations and nice towns that I had not been through before. The day was warm and sunny, so a nice day for cycling apart fro when going past the country pubs where people were drinking ice cold drinks. A couple of days later I drove back to one of these pubs for a nice pub lunch, apart from the food was wondering about free range style. Only the last 15 miles were a struggle due to the 5c drop in temperature and the cool north sea winds. In the end it took me a bit under 4 hours and slightly above 15 mph. The average cadence was 65 rpm which was fairly high for me but needs to be higher.

Then a couple of days later I did an easy 10 mile bike ride to a cake stop and back. That was a tough ride.


Then the next day I did a 100 mile cycle ride, I was planning to do a 100 mile cycle event the following day but the forecasted weather conditions was poor. So I decided to do it a day early on a different route.
I went about 40 miles along the North Sea coast in Norfolk. What concerned me was the number of inclines and the amount of chip shops, cafes and ice cream shops when going through the few tourist towns. So on the way back I decided to go route further inland to avoid them but was on a minor A road. It was a warm day but I had ran out of drinks about 60 miles in but there was no obvious places that sold drinks about 15 miles later there was a petrol station. I got two sports drinks to put in my drinks bottles and another cola drink for me to have immediately with a salted packet of crisps. That kept me going to the end but it was a good test of my nutrition for the bike which I learnt a few things. In under 7 hours at an average of just under 15 mph with an average cadence of 67 rpm. I was pleased with the nutrition things I learnt on the bike while maintaining my cadence.

The next day the weather was poor but not as bad as predicted but I was still glad I did the ride the previous day as to simulate the likely weather conditions for the first ironman.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Fritton Lake Olympic Triathlon

The weekend off the race I was having a bit of a wobble that my younger may bet me in the race due to the amount of training he was doing compared to me.
However after refocusing on what is in my control and a sub 21 minute parkrun 5km I was back in control just the day before the triathlon.

On the race morning it had been raining but stopped before getting to the venue but more rain showers were forecast for later that day. I had brought a few warmer layers for the cycle just in case.


The transition there was no number places so you found your own space in either of the two parallel stands in the dip along a incline. Strangely there was a big gap opposite one tree with red leaves, all the other trees nearby had green leaves. So I thought that was a good spot to pick to help with spotting my gear in transition.

I was in the second of three waves which gave me a eight minute head start on my brother so I hopefully would not see him during the race. We had family there to support us but I am not sure if it was fair of my niece and nephew to be eating a cheese roll as I went in to the lake to swim!!

I went for the thick swim hat with my race colour hat on top of that. For the start of the race I positioned myself in the middle of the pack of about 50 just for practice for the start of the ironman swim. It was a busy start when the air horn started the wave which continued for the first 200m to the first buoy. I coped ok with this even getting hit a few times with the occasionally keep my head up to help with sighting and spotting a better placement in the swimmers. After this 130 degree turn to the right the swimmers started to space out but there was still the odd hit from the swimmers mostly when getting near another buoy. On the way out section of the swim my positioning was really good but on the shorter way back section I was going off to the right of the course and back in the middle of the lake. On the last section of the swim when I breathing to the side I was noting the cloud conditions to make a decision about what to put on for the cycle leg in T2. for the last few swim stokes I was getting ready to get my wetsuit off.
My swim time for the 1500m was 30:46 which I was pleased with as I felt my pace stayed about the same all the way round.

On the way in to T1 I got my wetsuit half way off while running up the incline to the transition area. I thought that the weather conditions was not too bad so I decided just putting a short sleeve cycle top on but with my winter cycle shoes and shoe covers. My time for T1 was 4:52 which was quick for me especially taken in to account the 200m from leaving the lake until the bike mount line.

For the bike section my aim was to use the aero bars as much as possible, maintain a high cadence and get the nutrition right before the run. The course is a two lap (20km each) which I had done a number of times in this race and as a training ride when back in the area. Within the first mile there was the major climb of the loop which I maintained my cadence while changing gears accordingly. After this I got in to my aero position for the next few miles until the next down and up hill section which on the up hill section I noticed I only slowed down to 19 mph!! I was ensuring that I ate and drunk stuff regularly based on time leaving a bit of time after the swim and not eating much in the last 5 or so miles before the run.
The only issue on the first lap was about 2/3 the way round through a village where it got a bit of a pinch point with cars parked on either side and cars driving were not sure what they were doing which I was catching up and had to stop and wait for. I then had a another few miles on the aero bars along the top section of the loop before the start of the second lap. Just a few hundred meters into the second lap there was already cars getting in my way and to make me more frustrated it was on a faster section after a downhill but at least it gave me a bit of a breather and have some food and drink. The rest of the lap was ok until the turn at the far end of the lap which turned in to a slight head wind for the way back with a few light rain showers.

For the 40km cycle I did it in 1:18:51 which is an average of over 18 mph and an average cadence of 75 rpm.

In T2 I decided to keep the tops on to save time and just change hats and shoes plus putting on my Meningitis Trust Running Top and GPS watch and take a sports drink with me. My time for T2 was 2:19 which was really quick for me. From the information my other brother told me was my brother made some time up on me in the swim and T1 but that had just about gone by the end of the first lap of the cycle and my best part of the triathlon was still to come.

The run had been changed just at the weekend to a different two lap course from previous races their.

After leaving T2 and along one of its side you were only a few meters away from the finish line but you turned left to start the first lap. After a few hundred meters on grass and woodland paths you reached the swim exit point but carried on round the lake. I decided to go off fast and see how long I could maintain the pace. Looking at my first mile time on my GPS I was close to my 5km race pace after about 2 hours of exercise. The next mile was nearly 1 minute slower due to some off road inclines and a quick pit stop. I then maintained my high pace overtaking a number of runners at this point. I was faster than expected my family was not ready to cheer me on and only noticed as I went zooming past to start the second lap. These two miles were at identical mile pace and still fast. The next mile I slowed down a bit for the hill section but as this section you saw runners going the other way I saw my brother so I knew I had a good lead on him event with the early wave start time that gave me a bit of a boost. I even had energy left for the last mile which was my fastest pace, perhaps it was the go faster running top I had on.

My run time was 45:36 which was under 8 minute/mile pace for on off road route which I was very pleased with and I felt I could do more which is a good sign for future races this year.

My overall race time was 2:42:27 this is a few minutes quicker than I had previously done here but is based on a different run course.

Overall it was a great race for me and the things I had focused on in each area worked really well.

I think that deserves a really large meat feast pizza to myself and a diet soft drink to help with the recovery process, mmm :-)


Large Meat Feast Pizza

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

First Sub 21 Minute Parkrun

At the Parkrun 5km in Gorleston I recently went sub 21 minutes for the first time at a Parkrun in a time of 20:56. This improved my course PB by 49 seconds!!

I went off at a fast pace for the first mile and slowed down by just 30 seconds per mile for the second mile but this include the one major incline up the cliff side. For the third mile I picked up the pace and was just a few seconds away from the pace of the first mile.
With the finish in sight I picked up the pace even further for the last 1/2 mile or so. At this point I was breathing heavily so there was no possibility of a sneaky sprint finish to beat the next person as they could here me coming from a distance.

Each of the last 3 runs at this venue I have set a PB based on that and the quick time I decided not to do this event the following week.

Strangely this was the day before taking part in the Fritton Lake Olympic Distance Triathlon and a few hours before helping out in my nephews football birthday party.