Big Race # 2

I've managed at short notice to get a starting place on Sunday's ITU race in Brasschaat near Antwerp. Its a bit of a different format from the Ironman 70.3 in that its a longer swim(2.7km) and a shorter bike leg at 80km. I think its also has 2 different transition zones but I'll get that cleared up on Saturday at the pre race briefing. The different format is probably down to local routes but the bottom line is the swim will be a real stretch for me and a big test with the cutoff time being very tight as well. Time wise it should be similat as 10K is about 20 minutes on the bike and 800m swim is about 18mins. The flat circuit should mean a slightly quicker average speed though. The best thing is its only an hour from my house so why not have a go. Worst case its an Open Water training day.

The bike leg looks to be flat so no big climbs so that should be OK. The run leg will be similar topography and its a straight half marathon distance(21km). I'm just hoping the weather isn't too hot(needs to be under 25C) and its not raining. I may not start if its really really chucking it down. I don't fancy another bike crash this year.

I'll limit my training this week and hope to carry it off on my base fitness and I have had a couple of bike rides and runs in the last 2 weeks so i haven't been totally lazy. I'm still carrying the foot injury on my right foot but having had a break from running for nearly a week now its not feeling anywhere as bad as it was.

keeping my eye in

Quick run after work. 17k run in the sun in 1:27:13, evening temp around 18-20C. I finished 10K in 52:27 but heart rate was very low so it was an easy and long session. I was hardly out of breath at the end. I could have talked all the way round. Some foot pain on my right foot again but nothing terminal.

Back in the Saddle

First bike training since the big race, nice sunny day and only a moderate wind. I was going to just do a 20KM time trial but there is a village fete in Lasne today and so I thought passage through the main street might be slow. I'm only just ducking under the 40 minute mark on that route by 20-30 seconds so I can't afford setbacks due to big queues of people buying Barba Papa(Candy Floss).

I did a mixed loop round the area of 47km in 1:38 so 28kmph average. Climb total was 1108ft so not flat but not quite Switzerland either. The first 10K were fine but the next 10K were hard hard work and my legs felt tired. I did manage a second wind about the 26km mark and this held out till I was finished. Amazingly I've actually forgotten how hard it was last week and can't really remember anything about the cycle leg apart from snippets and certainly nothing about how my legs felt.

I'm still looking at what to do next challenge wise but will definately take in a marathon before the season is out and also maybe another 70.3 triathlon race(same distance I did last week(1.9km swim,90km bike and 21.1km run).

I'll look to up my swim length outdoors to 4km before the end of the year and so I'll hopefully have marathon distance run and a 4km swim in my armoury before the winter starts to kill off my big training opportunities. I'll of course keep up the bike rides but I need to look at how I do this without boring myself to death on endless loops of the area I live in. I might take my bike on holiday.

Pre Match Nerves

I spent the night dreaming I was bike racing, it was so real I could feel that I had sore legs when I woke up this morning. Its a mix of nerves and the fact I'm currently devouring bike racing books to fill in the gaps due to training less.

I'm starting to get terrors about not training enough now as I'm tapering down my activity to conserve and build up energy for race day. I have expected this as I'd read about it in a few books but since I was aware of it then I thought I would not suffer from it. I was wrong. Its quite a surreal experience, I know its all mental but I still can't shift the worry that I'm wasting away. Surely you can't lose 6 months of training effort in 12 days...

I've been training 6 days out of 7 for the last 8-12 weeks and doing double sessions on some of those days. The last 4-5 weeks I've been training up to 12 hours solid per week. The last week excepted where I've dropped down to a single short session every second day. In most normal people's lives keeping fit with 3 x 1hour long sessions of mixed sport a week would be more than enough. I spent most of my teenage years thinking a 90 minute game on a Sunday and an hours football training on a Tuesday night made me superman.

I did a 20K time trial today round the usual route. I needed to bed in/test the new tyres and chase away my training demons. The tyres were pretty deflated when I checked them this morning, I suspect this is due to using pure CO2 rather than just pumping with air. I know that racing cars use pure nitrogen in their tyres as the molecules are bigger and so don't escape so quickly though the natural gaps in the rubber. As any party animal knows , when you wake up on the couch in the morning the balloons have always deflated overnight as the air escapes through the wall of the balloon. Its the same principal for tyres and tubes , especially at such high pressure of 8bars. I'm assuming C02 escapes easier than Nitrogen as the molecules are smaller than pure Nitrogen and therefore its not as good at keeping the pressure up as a normal air mix which is 80% nitrogen naturally and only 1-2% of CO2(dependent on your proximity to Al Gore).

It was quite blustery so I didn't think I'd be breakng any world records. The new tyres felt very smooth on the good road sections. The gear changes were better but still not 100% perfect and it even slipped off the big chainset to the small at one point. I think maybe more lubricant as I just cleaned it up yesterday.

I finished in 39:29 which is I think is just 15 seconds slower than my previous personal best, its certainly under the magical 40 minute mark which shows me I'm still as fit as I was and am not quite wasting away yet. My heart rate was pretty high throughout and averaged 159 but I did have two double expresso's before heading out. A short sharp session was all I needed to keep my mind at rest and I recovered very quickly apart from feeling a bit sick at the end but that was due to me having drank coffee and eating two croissants shortly before I set off.

Technical changes - Bike

I've put on my two new tyres , Continental Grand Pix 4000S. This is a change from the original Michelin Race Pro 3's I had on the bike from new. The tyres felt nice and went on without too much difficulty(still not as easy as it looks on the internet though). I pumped them up using CO2 cartridges to give me a little practice in using them before the race.

I was having some difficulty in gear changes yesterday between 5-6 and 7 but when I checked today after cleaning the sprocket and chain etc the gears changed fine. I'll do a quick test run tomorrow morning. This will let me bed in the tyres and also check the gears are OK.

I'm leaving the tri bars on for the moment but will make the final choice dependent on how the course looks next week. If I see a lot of straights where gear changes and braking are not required and the road surface is good then I may keep them. However at the moment I'm seriously thinking of dumping them on weight grounds and the fact I'm not using them much and feel the bike is unstable during the short periods I am using them. I really don't need an off on the bike whilst trying to imagine shaving a few minutes off with wind resistance.

Right now I'm off to shave my legs :O)

The Heat is On

Right , two weeks to go till the big race. After yesterdays outdoor swim I'm ready but we agreed one more big brick training session(although I wasn't keen due to it being 28 Degrees C outside..)

That tune was playing through my head all the way round.

Today we'd do 90K bike followed by a run. Philippe wanted the full half marathon after the 90K bike. I wasn't commiting to that distance as I knew it was going to be a scorcher and I know how punishing a bike ride with him is for me. Therefore I said I'd run but won't do the full length. I'm mentally and physically fine on the run leg and anything now is just junk miles for me. My 2hr target time should be achieveable even after the two previous legs as I know my run pace is fine for a fair bit less than 2hrs for a half marathon.

We set off on the bike leg and Philippe sets a blistering pace right from the start. I'm dropped in the first 10K. I catch up as a women pulls out on him and nearly causes an accident then his speed sensor drops off his bike. Its only a temporary situation. At 20K he has about 700-800M on me and at 25K I can no longer see him even on a straight road. I keep going but I know my pace is dropping and the distance will be growing, its unavoidable. At 35K mark I've made up my mind to turn back at the roundabout and leave it at a straight 70K. However Philippe suddenly appears back on the other side of the road. I say I'm jacking, he says get on my wheel and lets do the next 10K. Then we'll turn back. I don't want to but say I'll try. His first 30K was under 56minites. I was 60 minutes and I'm absolutely dying in the saddle. We go another 2KM and I try to jack it in again. I'm again convinced to keep going and Philippe drops the pace a bit to give me time to get an 8th or 9th wind.

We drop into Namur and traffic lights are all against us. At one I'm crawling up to and I unclip my right foot but the bike falls to the left. I'm about to hit the deck and I just jump right out of the cleat binding. Obviously my legs are a little bit stronger than a few weeks back when I fell off in similar circumstances. I just land on my feet and set off. I'm laughing at how it must have looked to the drivers.

We setoff back and its uphill all the way out of Namur for about 4km. Again I'm struggling but not stopping. I get a little bit of stickyness to his wheel around 50K mark and I manage a good few km's without getting left behind. Its very hard work though and just a few inches too much between us and I'm gone. Although its cool on the bike as you effectively always have a breeze I know it is very hot. I'm forcing the liquid down even though its making me feel sick. I carry two 750ml bottles so its a fair amount. Does this sound like fun ?

We get back to 8km to go and my legs feel like they have been wrung out. Philippe is well ahead again. I click off 90K on my computer in 3:04:48. Thats as fast as I've done it but I needed carried most of the way and I nearly got on the broom wagon three or four times. Its OK for training but I can't race that fast or I'll blow up. I can't get that speed on my own as its faster than my normal pace and so I need to be dragged to it. I'm looking for a 3:30 cycle leg so I'm well under it today but with an effort beyond what would be OK for me to do on my own. I'm also not sure of the impact of the climbs in Switzerland on my time. I'll need see the course close up.

We get back home and we agree a run, I set out knowing I'm not going the whole distance as its way too hot and I really don't need a run session that much as I can't improve my run fitness that much now. However loyalty gets me out as Philippe dragged me back on the bike by the scruff of my neck. So I need to return the favor and help him on the run leg. Its only fair.

We agree we'll run at his pace and I'm OK with that as its nice and easy and I'm not personally looking for any personal best time at this late stage in my training. Its always been that running has been my relatively strong leg and biking my weaker one(although swimming occasionally dips it toe into weakness too). Therefore mentally I feel my hard work is done on the running already. I'm also 100% sure my 90k on Thursday, my PB 10K on Friday and back to back 2K swim sessions(fri/Sat) have left their mark on my body.

We click off 10K in 1:09 but we're just coasting and its really hot. Philippe says he is definately going for the full 21K as he isn't tired, I'm not going to go that far so I up my pace and take a shorter route home.

I do 14.5KM and my legs are tired at the end. I'm suffering a bit with bladder pain and the intense sensation of needing to pee at the end. I go to the toilet and it would appear I'm trying to pass what feels like a boiling water and ground glass mixture. The pain is intense and it doesn't go away for about an hour. I managed to drink down 1.5 litres of fluid(not beer) and after a shower and some cold/hot treatment on my legs I'm feeling better.

All in all a very tough session for me , especially on the bike. However thanks due to Philippe for keeping me in the game. The bike run was a killer and I no doubt added something to my armoury as a result of the hard work. The run was just punishment in the heat. Hat tip to Phlippe for doing the full 21K run though. Therefore he's now confident of finishing as a result of todays session.

Average heart rate on cycle leg was 145bpm with a max of 169bpm. Max speed was 61.3kmph and average was 29.1kmph. Average cadence(pedaling revolutions) was 87 rpm.

Average heart rate on run was 144bpm and a max of 169bpm.

Just a note for the calorie conscious readers. Todays energy consumption for me according to my watch/heart rate monitor was 3490 calories....nice.

My final jigsaw piece was yesterdays fantastic open water swim. Confidence is growing slowly but I don't want to peak mentally too soon. I'm off to the UK this week and will just take my swimming gear.

After work swim session

2Km straight freestyle swimming. As ever first 400m were a real push and I was really struggling, probably due to having too fast a starting pace at 8 minutes dead and the usual difficult start to a swim in relation to getting my breathing settled.

I settled into my stride and despite getting cramp twice in my right calf and once in my right foot(due to kicking off the wall) I finished the session in 48:21. My breathing was OK and I managed to swim more than 50% with bi-lateral breathing(every third stoke on alternate sides) Its hardly a fast time but its quick enough for me and in reality I'm just looking to survive the swim leg with a time like that. I'm going to swim outdoors tomorrow at a lake nearPhilippeville, 60km south of here. My race target for swim and cycle transition is still 60 minutes.

Lets hope I'm still blogging tomorrow night :O)

Inspiration at lunchtime

Lunchtime run, I've been inspired by Stuart's fantastic 44 minute Polaroid 10K in Helensburgh. I set out for a flat out 10K. My previous best for 10K is 47:38 . My plan is to blast out the 10K and I'll walk the rest(1.8K) to the house.

Its pretty warm and just a light-medium breeze so not bad conditions. First 3K and I'm feeling the pace as I finish the first long hill. I knock off 5K in 21:28 but I'm absolutely dying on my feet at the effort so I know thats as good as it gets and I'll be well over 43 minutes. I get to 7K and I almost stop twice on a long hill I'm so burned out. I've decided that I'm definately not built for speed. However I somehow keep going.

If I thought I was tired at 7K I was absolutely wiped out at 8K and then at 9K it was just the fact it was mostly downhill and I could smell the finish that kept me going..I know where the 10K line is but I must have checked my watch 6 or 7 times wishing the distance to magically get shorter.

I end the 10K in a new personal best of 45:00,08. Its as hard as run I have done and certainly the fastest training session. Sadly I didn't have my Heart Rate belt with me to see how much cardio effort I put in but I've attached the speed,time and altitude stats above.

Thanks to Stu for the inspiration. I'm just leaving you enough of a gap to get to the bar first and get the beers in, so nothing new in that. I look forward to the results from the Clydebank race, let me say now, a sub 40min 10K will be an absolutely huge achievement. Get in there.

Monday Lunchtime Run

I had Sunday as a rest day after my long brick session on Saturday. So I started the week with a 11.3K run from office to house lunchtime tickler. I had 10K ticked off in around 48:20, full 11.3k in 54:47.

I tried throughout to keep pace better than 5Mins per km and keep my heart rate above 160. I'm looking to do faster but shorter training now as with 20 days to go I've just about done as much as I can on the endurance side and I want to try and add some speed.

I did some sprints(100% of max speed) once I was warmed up and then let my heart rate recover to under 160 then went again. I also did longer faster(80% of max speed) legs near the end.

My average HR was 162(tick) and average speed was 12.3kmph and max speed was 18.7kmph. This equates to an average of around 4.53mins per km, so sub 5 minute km's for the whole 11k(tick).

I still think I can in general run faster but my issue is that I seem to lose speed naturally unless I'm constantly monitoring it and pushing myself. I'm not sure if my watch has max/min speed alarms. I know it has a HR zone that beeps annoyingly if you fall out of either side of it. I need something to keep my pace up. I'm not running out of energy and can tackle the hills with gusto. I just seem to occasionally lose focus and when I check , then I see my speed has dropped and I'm cruising around 5:20mins per km.

I've picked up 4 blisters on my big toes on both sides, nothing serious but I'll stop running till they dissapear. I've also strained my left thigh a little and have had the hot water bottle on it all afternoon in the office :O) Its nice as the smell reminds me of my living at my grandmothers house when I was young :o)

Sunday double

I was lying in bed around 7am this morning looking for excuses in my mind as to why I could not train today. The best I could come up with was calling Philippe to say I'd forgotten that it was mothers day and that I had booked lunch for Alison and so I could not train.

I went out for the papers and croissants just after 8:30. I came back and Team Kennedy manager asks me right away. Have you called Philippe ? I said not yet but I've sent him a text as he may have been out last night and he doesn't need me getting him up before 9am. I was secretly hoping he was also looking for an out....no such luck. He'd done 60k on his bike yesterday and was as keen as ever.

Texts were exchanged and I managed to negotiate us down to a 45K cycle and 17k run. Philippe was looking for the full 90k cycle plus a run of 15k minimum. I said I'd do the full 90 on the bike but not the run as well....Thats how it goes when your heart isn't quite in it yet. Even once we agreed 45K and we were out on the cycle leg I was still lying to myself that I didn't need to do the run leg when I got back anyway....

It was a fantastic day weather wise, sunny and blue skies. Only downside was that it was a little windy. We set off for Namur and traffic and other cyclists excepted I was managing to hold my own and not drop back too much. Only fly in the ointment was that after 20 minutes when I had a look at my computer I could see my pedaling cadence wasn't showing up . When I looked down I could see the crank attachment had fallen off at some point. Needle in a haystack to find it on the way back and I was pretty pissed off as I only bought it two weeks ago..

We were soon heading down the N98 and I was as usual sitting just behind the point where all the hard work was being done, straight into the wind. Once on the main road and off the cycle path and into our rythm I didn't get dropped. I had to work hard on the hills but I managed not to fall too far behind at any point. After what felt like no time at all Philippe said we were halfway and had to turn back. I did at this point offer the 90K option but no run but Philippe said we needed to do a double session. He was right of course and I was thinking well I could just do the 90K and be done. Avoiding the horrors of the bike-run transition on a sunny Sunday is well worth cycling another 45km for. We turned back and the run leg was still on.

On the way back I even had the cheek to lead for a couple of km's but it was with the wind in my back and it gave Philippe a chance to have another picnic on the bike. Normal service resumed on the N5 and I did drop back a bit with about 8KM to go as I was looking for the bit that fell off my bike. Amazingly I saw it and picked it up and so I now just need to put it back on. We finished 45K in 1hr:28min which is a good time and I felt OK.

Running gear on but my watch wasn't working right as I needed to change the battery and didn't have the time to mess about. I ran again in my cycling shorts and just changed my tee shirt. I managed to stretch my legs on the bike by standing up on the pedals for a few hundred metres and they were not as heavy as they felt last week when I did the bike-run session.

It was pretty hot now and I was happy I'd downed 500ml of sports drink on the last 2km on the bike, I knew that last time out I hadn't taken on enough fluid and I could feel the positive difference this run. I was however having to drink when I didn't feel like it, just ramming it down my throat for effect. Like drinking cans of warm lager before a school disco.

Our pace was pretty even around the 4:40 per km mark for the first 4km. Then we dropped to around 5:00 per km. We went round by the school to avoid M.Hedgehog but instead of one big climb you get faced with a much longer medium climb that really saps your legs.

I was pulling a little distance out on Philippe as he was suffering in the heat as he had a black top on and with long sleeves. His knee was also taking no prisoners. I was though expecting him to pass me like a steam train at any moment.

I finished the run and although the last 2km were a little sore on my legs I was still in pretty good shape at the end and adding another 4km would have been possible for me to do the full 21k.

I ordered tri bars and a tri suit this week to hopefully claim me a couple of minutes on cycle and on the transitions. The suit you wear for the whole race and despite it making you look like the wettest gay in the village it does speed up transition as once out of your wetsuit you are only ever changing shoes. I saw the positive side of the suit for others in the race two weeks ago.

The tri-bars allow you to have a much lower position on the bike and improve your aerodynamics. Therefore making it easier to keep a slightly higher pace, especially on flat sections.

Legs currently feeling OK but I know I've been out. I'm in the UK this week so training opportunities will be limited. I will be taking my running gear and my swimming gear though.

Cycle-Run Brick Session

I had back to back conf calls at 17:00 and 17:30. Therefore time was tight before it got dark and I was secretly hoping the second call would run long and I could avoid any training today. Unfortunately it went to plan and I had to remind myself of how hard Sunday was to encourage myself, I therefore went out to do a double training session.

Training plan was 20k Bike Time Trial round the normal Time trial route including Hedgehog hill then a repeat of yesterdays 14.26k run.

The bike leg produced a new personal best and beat the seemingly impossible 40 minute barrier with a rather pleasing 39:14 for the 20K. My new Blackburn Neuro computer says total climb over the 20K was 799ft(243m) which isn't a flat route but it only about 80% of the main climb in Switzerland. I have to do it twice though :O).

I had a 4 minute 27 second transition and then set out on the run. I made this reasonably realistic with a run through the garden/house and getting changed in the garage. I took on 250ml of fluid(not enough), I kept my cycling shorts on and just swapped my top,shoes and then I set out.

The first 5K was really tight on my thighs and it took that long before my legs felt as if they could actually run. Once that was over it got a little easier. The hills were tough especially running the cobbled section up towards Butte Du Lion. My pace was roughly around the 5min per km mark for the first 10K then dropped off to around 5:20/5:30 per km.

I ran the same 14.28km as yesterday in a somewhat slower time of 1:15:37 with an interim 10K time of 53:31. So slower but thats due to the fact I did the cycling time trial before plus I'm running on my own which is less competitive so I can't drive myself as hard. Running time still not bad as I think it would extrapolate out to around 1:40 for a half marathon, my target for Switzerland is 2hrs and my previous PB on a real half marathon race is 1:47. It was an 8 out of 10 difficulty with respect to how I felt at the end. I could have ran onto do a full half marathon in a competitive situation.

On the bike leg my average heart rate was 154 with a peak of 174. Average heart rate on the run was 150 and peak of 162.

I'm not sure if this is a problem but it is something i have noticed in my training over the last 5 months. Essentially as I go longer it gets progressively more difficult for me to keep my heart rate in the higher zone. I think my lactate level is about 166-168 and so I normally run around the 159-165 level anything above this kills my breathing in about 5 minutes. Anything below 155 feels like I'm not exercising at all.

I'm not sure if its normal but I usually find in the first hour I can easily cope with 165/166 BPM without real discomfort but after that my sustainable limit drops to 160 for the next hour/45 minutes and then down to 156 the following hour.

As this happens I obviously slow down and I see the effect on my overall speed and reduced effort. I've seen it in action in my two half marathons when I'm a fast starter but then get caught by people in the last third of the race.

Overall a nice 2 hours reasonably high intensity training session, not at the same pace as yesterday but it was obviously longer.

Beep Beep

14.26km run at lunchtime with Philippe. A bit more energetic than my usual training run as we know he is ultra competitive and likes to lead from the front. However its a lot closer in the running than it is on the bike so I'm not as easy to drop on the run, especially on the up hills :O). It was a nice pace and we had 10K clocked off in 47:32 and the full 14.26K in 1hr 09min. We had a couple of brief stops for Philippe's dodgy knee but I suspect its not going to stop him on the big day. Its time to let go of the liferaft :O). I'd say at the current pace he will be looking for around a 6hr finish. Which will be more than enough time for him to finish,recover, pick up his medal, get a table and order me lunch and a beer.

Todays HRM image attached, you can see I was working a bit harder than usual and that my heart rate was a little higher(159 average) than the last image(155 average) but the course I was on today has more hills and my pace varied much more than I'd normally have on a training run. The sprints were good fun as its not normally something I do, especially not the last km.

Lunchtime Swim

Did 1 km or maybe a little more. Used my new paddles for half the session to try and build up some strength in my arms. I bought new Speedo competition goggles(€25) and they were really a big improvement on the old Arena ones I had. The Speedo ones were clear the whole session and not a drop leaked in.

I got some good tips from Philippe on my swim stroke and that seemed to be both easier and faster, which is a double bonus. It felt a little strange at first as I needed to shorten my arm stroke quite drastically and bring my arms up parallel with my body. I could describe my previous stroke as a windmill type technique.

I'll have another go later this week maybe at the 50m pool and see if i can get some timing improvement. As ever my eternal optimism is overcoming the mental pain of the swim on Sunday and the negativity is fading and my confidence is coming back.......There might be treatment I can get for this somewhere.

I did a 5k run with the dog and Wallis on her bike, she got the all clear from the hospital today to resume sports following her leg break in Feb whilst ski-ing. She was very pleased after the hospital, I'm not so sure now though as she is currently half asleep on the couch....

Lunchtime Run

A quick leg stretcher at lunchtime on Monday after the race. 10K in 49:06 and a gentle finsh to around 11.4k. OK on the run but after I finished the calf was stiff same place as I had cramp at the weekend. I attach my heart rate, speed, climb,VO2 stats etc, please remember I'm 42 soon and apart from the last 12 months I haven't seriously exercised since The Jam were at number 1.....make sure you watch that video....

Roybon - The photos...Click the photos to get the full glory

Getting the techy bits right. In the transition area pre race. "All the gear and no idea". As you can see its a functional setup to get changed in.

Ahhh the smiles of dumb ignorance. This is before the start.




Words cannot describe what this is like...I was in that and it was better to watch than to take part in. I'm the one with the red cap on shouting for his mum. Make sure you see this in full size by clicking on it....Its like watching the start of Holby City or Casualty wondering which character is going to be in the big accident.


I think my head is fish shaped and I'm breathing through gills, I'm running as I'm expecting to be caught by the 3 grandmothers I beat in the swim at any moment.

Cycle leg finishes and another leg awaits, I was never dropped the whole ride, not even once....



Someone is actually going slower than me and looks more tired but its on the run.




And now , the end is near and I face the final curtain.....that's relief on my face. If you can see that far.

Roybon Sprint Triathlon- The Story

Team Kennedy manager springs a surprise on me at start of the holiday weekend. She has registered me for the Roybon Triathlon Romans near Grenoble in France, its just in 2 days time. There are two events on the same day a Discovery Race and a Sprint Triathlon. I'm was registered for the longer Sprint event.....thanks for that.

Its a 750M swim in the Lac du Roybon, then a 21km Cycle and a 5km run. There were 300 entrants for the Sprint event and its an open water swim so it was my first taste of the a real triathlon and in real competition circumstances. I'm excited and terrified in equal measure.

We did a couple of drives in the car on Saturday of the Cycle course and saw it was reasonably hilly across two main sections. The road surface was mostly good. The running course was flat and just twice around the lake but with a few dangerous sloping grassy parts, just perfect to twist an ankle on.

The lake you swim the length of out and round a couple of buoys and then back again in a triangular path. Its a mass start from in the water and on Saturday the first thing that struck me was that even though the lake was only 400-450m long...It looked a very very long way. I was wishing my manager had booked me in for the shorter event. To say I was hugely nervous about even finishing would be a massive understatement.

We stayed the weekend with a fantastic family who run their home as a guest house for tourists. We ate with the family both evenings and it really was a fantastic experience. A real good help with my French and the food was very traditional and perfect for a pre Triathlon. Lots of encouragement for the Triathlon race was offered and we had many and varied discussions over dinner including helping Wallis with her school homework around the EU and its various constituent parts. It really was like staying with old friends and we were all very sad to be leaving. Wallis said she wants to have her holidays there in the summer but I think she has her eye on one of Catherine and Christian's new kittens. I'm already thinking about going back next year for the food and the triathlon.

The race was on the Sunday with the shorter race starting at 11am and my race started at 2pm on the Sunday so we arrived around 11:30 and got parked up. The weather was absolutely perfect with temp of 20C, only a light wind and blue sky. We took a walk up to register and by the time we had done this the first folks to finish the first race were coming across the line. The atmosphere was amazing, everyone was hugely supportive. Lots of families and loads of younger teenagers doing the shorter triathlon and even some running with their parents. It all added to a fabulous atmosphere. My nerves however were tempering my ability to enjoy it fully.

The time was clicking down so we went back to the car and I got my bike off the rack and cleared and oiled the gears etc. I had previously checked the tyres before I left the guesthouse and so all was well. Plenty of time to go so I started eating and taking on drinks. I spent some time on my own as nerves were starting to really jingle, music helped till the battery ran out of juice. I thought this was an omen. I took the bike up to get racked and ready in the transition area around 1pm. I also got my arm and leg marked with my number 288.

I set out my gear on a towel at the bike. I decided to just run in my cycling gear and so keeping it simple and just needing to change my shoes for the last leg. My thinking that as its only a 5K run and a nice day so its not going to be a problem.

I could see people getting their wetsuits on. I nipped into the bushes for a last toilet stop and then put my wetsuit on. It wasn’t easy as its new and very tight but I did manage to get zipped up and secure on my own. It wasn’t the most comfortable situation as it was then suddenly sweaty and warm and the transition area was just a car park with all sorts of crap lying around on the ground to get stuck in my bare feet. This of course was the least of my worries.

The security briefing was at 13:45 and to be honest I could not concentrate as it was in French and my mind was elsewhere. I’d just follow the crowd as it was certain there would always be people in front of me to follow, if not behind.

Down to the water at 13:55 and in for a swim. The water was cold on exposed parts and they said the temperature was around 12C so not unbearable. I had a few short swims and felt OK but could see right away that the visibility was only about 2ft and no more. Lots of brown sludge having been churned up by the people in the water. Standing up was out of the question as the bottom of the lake had a thick 30cm layer of sludge...I was thinking about leeches and grubs that burrowed under toenails.

We all got behind the line just before 2pm…and waited and waited and waited…..Eventually the last few folks appear from god knows where and ran down to join the fun. Nerves were high with lots of folk chattering jibberish to each other and laughing at rubbish jokes, I was quite calm before the start and was relaxing by just floating above the gunge.

I was one row back from the start line. 300 people waiting for the off, mostly behind me. The klaxon went and all hell broke loose. There were arms, bodies, legs and heads everywhere. Water was splashing all over the place. I really wanted to be somewhere else. I got my head down and tried to swim but it was just too difficult, I was climbing over people in front as people behind climbed over me. Breathing was difficult as the waves were big and water was flying everywhere. It was an experience I could never have imagined.

I’ve read the description of mass triathlon open water starts as being a Washing Machine start but this was more like a rugby scrum in water. I got a few kicks in the face then things settled down a little bit. I was pretty tired and breathless after the first 5 minutes and struggling to catch my breath. I could see I’d only went about 200m. I got a very hard elbow or head to the side of my head. I swallowed a fair bit of water. I was coughing and gulping water down. My head was spinning and my heart pounding in my chest and ears. Fear flooded through me. I rolled over to get re-oriented and could just see a mass of people still behind me. I could not stop or I’d get trampled again. I was genuinely starting to feel real panic and thinking what the hell am I doing here.

I’m not the worlds worst or best swimmer. I’m reasonably competent and I don’t have any real fear of water and will happily swim in the sea on holiday and am at home in a swimming pool. However I was really fighting the demons to keep a lid on my fears. I managed to get a bit of space and pushed out to the right. I knew I was taking the longer line but I knew I needed space to get myself composed. I got my bearings and could see I was now about 300M out and could at last see the first big buoy. I could also see the mass of identical red swimming caps funnelling towards it and the water spraying all around.

I took the wider route , all the time trying to calm myself and get my rhythm going. I was settling a bit when suddenly I got cramp in my left calf, right at the deepest part of the lake near the dam wall. The demons trying again to blow it for me. I just swam on as I had no option to stop and it passed after 30 seconds although my confidence took a bit of a dent. At this point I remember a discussion in my head saying 'Switzerland is F*&$ing Cancelled'. No way I'm swimming that far. I continued wide round both buoys and took the line closest to the shore on the way in. I was away from the main group and pretty far back in the field. I knew at the second buoy that every stroke from there was taking me back.

I slowed my stroke and just kept going. It wasn’t fast or pretty but I just kept going and although i was tired and very tense I got back in and thankfully stood up. I could hardly stand as my legs were jelly when I got to the finish. The guy is shouting at me something about ‘bonnet’. I'm thinking about lying down.

Ahhh I understand as my ears clear. He wants my swim cap. I run/walk/jog up the hill about 100m to the transition area. I can’t seem to get my wetsuit zip undone and I ask someone in the crowd to help me. He rips it down and helps me get the sleeves off. Its harder that I thought to get off and I’m very tired.

I am still dazed and can’t seem to spot my bike. I eventually get it and try to get the legs of my wetsuit off. Its hard as there is nowhere to sit. I need to balance on one foot and my head is still spinning from the swim, in tri speak I’ve still got my Fishhead on. I eventually get the suit off and get my cycling shorts and top on. I'm still breathless from that effort alone. I take a drink from my bottle and take some deep breaths. I get my bike shoes on after some trouble as my feet are wet and I can't get the crap off them to get my socks on.

I’m evenutally unracking the bike and walking out with helmet on but having forgotten my gloves, I'm not going back. I get to the line and it beeps as my timing transponder is read. I get on my bike to be told to get off as both wheels need to be over the line. I get off and fight back Mr Angry. I literally take a half step forward and then get on again, the clock has of course already started running. I’m away on the bike leg.

I take it easy for the first short part , it’s a tight path and I get a drink down me and get my bearings. My legs feel good and the bike is smooth on the road. I turn round and right up the hill and I drop the guy in front as he slows going up the hill. I pass another guy pumping furiously at a puncture….there but the grace of god and all that.

My head is starting to clear as the wind hits my face. The first 1Km is a slight incline then its all uphill for the next 4k. The road is smooth and I’m catching and dropping people every few minutes. Its encouraging me on and I’m feeling pretty good as the swim is slowly being forgotten. I started to get some doubts on my pace as I was passing folks and going uphill around 30kmph. The bike just felt like it was so light and easy to drive on. I’m about 5km in and not out of the big chain yet…I’ve passed 15-20 people as I top the first hill. I have a guy in my sights and I know I’ve 2.5K downhill before the next climb. We’re flying at 50-55kmph. I just keep him 10-15m in front as I don’t need any heroics taking him and me out of the race. We turn left to start the climb back. I cut it a bit tighter than him, drop a gear and get out the saddle. I go past like he’s stopped.

I never see or hear from him again. I’m into the stiffer and steeper climbing now and quickly drop to the small chainset to keep my legs spinning. I pass a couple of folks clearly drafting and then another guy who is all over the road and forces me to the other side of the road. There is a group 200m in front now with 3 guys. I am chasing but as it steepens more we all get dragged down to the lowest level by gravity. I’m changing gears up and down and am out and back in the saddle but am only gaining slowly. I'm fiddling between gear 17 and 20 on a 20 gear bike....so its really the bottom of the barrel.

I know the top is about 200m and I get up out of the saddle and grunt and drop the 3 of them as we crest the last big hill. I’m breathing very very hard but I know I'm over the major obstacles. The last guy I could see is in front but as its downhill I just use him to pace my descent. I keep 50m between us and take a chance for a drink on a straight. I see 60kmph on the bike…flying. I’m feeling good now as I know I’ll finish as the 5K run should just about warm me up.

I’m back at the lake and round and up the small path again. Its uphill and the guy in front is slowing and spinning his legs. I go past and up and over. Drop the gears down and spin my legs into the transition area, probably too little too late. I need to get off the bike run down the whole length of the transition area as I’m at the top, so the race length is the same for everyone.

I change my shoes, take a drink and remember to take off my helmet and put on my hat and sun glasses. I go back to the top of the transition area and then head out on the run. I’m OK and not really struggling. I run downhill to the lake and after about 300m I get really bad cramp in my left calf muscle. This is worrying as its not something I really suffer from. I try holding the fence and stretching the leg but as soon as I loosen the tension on the leg its back and its more painful.

I give up and try to run it off. The first 100m are agony and when I lift my foot the cramp attacks my leg. I’m suddenly thinking I can’t go on. I catch my breath , relax and just run slow and be light on my feet. I’m thinking relax ,relax,relax and focussing my mind at my leg. Another 100M at a really slow pace and its easing. A further 100m and its gone. I’m on my way again. The first circuit was OK, I got passed by 10-12 people(probably on their second leg) and I passed about 6-7 myself.

I get round to the transition area for the last lap. I’m feeling OK now as I’ll definately finish. The crowd are helping me round. I get up the last small hill and down to the finish. I’m done. Total time including transitions is 1:41:36. I’d estimated 2 hours before the start but it was a pure guess.

Swim and transition was 20:42 which is in the bottom 5%...so hopefully that can easily be improved.

Cycle was 47:25 which had me out of the bottom quartile, hurrah :O) When I came in from the swim all the 6 bikes in my zone except mine and one other were gone. Then that guy appears for the last one and was gone in a flash as he had a tri suit on and didn't look as dead as me, so suddenly just me and my bike left. When I came back in after the cycle there were only two bikes waiting for me…..

Run and transition was 33:30 which was again out of bottom quartile. I’d expect around 23-25mins for a 5K run and so that’s easily improvable and I had plenty in the tank at the end. You don't need 8 minutes to put a pair of shoes on.

Biggest concern is the swim. The distance in Switzerland is 1900M…I had to fight to do 750M at the weekend. I’ll clearly now be starting at the back and off to the side to avoid the mayhem of a mass start. I need a few more big swims in a big pool to build my confidence up as it took a dent at the weekend. However bottom line is I still finished and I have 5 weeks left.

Bike run went OK and again the 21K felt short and quick but I've had a couple of 90K rides plus one over 100K. The climb was reasonably difficult at the weekend and similar in scale to Switzerland so I just need to keep the training up and keep my endurance. I got round and was happy with the way I felt. I enjoyed the bike ride the most. This is funny as it’s the area I’ve been most dreading as I only started cycling a couple of months ago.

The run was OK apart from the cramp. I could have run on and I was getting into my stride without having to dig too deep. I know it will be much much harder and longer in Switzerland.

The return to Belgium was 800km, so we got on the road quickly knowing it was a midnight arrival. Too quickly as it turns out as I got stopped by the French Police around Lyon and was clocked at 162kmph on the road(the limit is 130 in France and 110 in the rain). 90Euro on the spot fine and we're on our way again. If only I could have carried some of that speed on the swim...A more leisurely pace was taken for the final leg. Luckily as I did spot another speed trap near Metz.

Part Deux

So I was in Sunderland for 3 days last week, I took my running kit with me but it never left my bag from Monday till Wednesday. I was almost there on Tuesday evening but we never returned to the hotel till 8pm then dinner with Rob and Neil seemed a much more attractive opportunity. So yet again I managed to carry my kit halfway across Europe without it seeing the light of day. I even indulged in a glass of red wine....there will need to be repercussions.

Cheers
Cammy

The Triathlon Times part 1.....

Jan 12th 2009

As most of you probably know as I’ve already bored many of you to death with the fact, I have registered and paid a princely sum(always a good motivator) to take part in the Rapperswill, Switzerland Triathlon on 7th June 2009.

It’s a 2 km swim followed by a 90km bike ride and then a 22km run. Which is actually difficult to even say in a single breath.

This was originally the idea of one of the guys in the office as his brother did it last year in 6 and a half hours. At first I dismissed it, as any sensible person would. I started a fitness campaign in May 2008, this culminated with me completing the Glasgow Half marathon in September last year(1hr 49min). This was in reality the first real physical activity outside of the odd game of footballand annual ski holidays for me in 20 years. However once the race was over and due to a mix of weather, injury and general lazyness I was having real motivational issues with any fitness activity other than watching TV. So after some thought and reading a few books on the subjectI just thought I’d give Triathlon a go….

I therefore thought I’d start sending out a regular update on my progress, positive or negative. This will ensure that there is limited opportunity for me to quietly shelve the idea of completing the triathlon as failure in full public view of my nearest and dearest I’ve always found to be strangely motivational.

On the training side I’ve been running pretty regularly(weekly) since Sept and have done a few swimming sessions since December to get me up to the 2km mark(118 lengths of the pool) in one go.

The running was already OK and easy to get into and the swimming has if I’m being honest and if you exclude my continuous chlorine odour actually been easier than I thought it would be. The 2km I can now do in 45 minutes. I tried a spinning session at the gym 3 weeks back but found it extremely hard work and more worryingly there were pensioners in the class who were coping better than me. I sneaked out 1 hour into the 1.5 hour session on the excuse I had to pick up Wallis…..

In an effort to get used to transitioning between the elements I did 2 gym based mini triathlons on Wed and Friday evenings last week with 2km swim then 10km bike ride then 5km run. Both sessions were very hard and the first was especially uncomfortable. The transition from bike to running is a painful experience on the lower legs for the first 2-3km. I can now imagine based on that snippet that you all will be trying to sign up for this as well.

The swim section is in Lake Zurich and I’ve been warned its not like swimming in the local pool as there is a mass start/underwater fight with 300+ swimmers and obviously its in open water in a deep lake in the alps, so it will be ‘refreshing’. Luckily I managed to get some open water swimming simulation on the Wednesday last week as its school half day and the wee lads in the pool were bombing me while I did my laps , right up until I complained to their mother. I could not actually complain in French to the mother concerned as my French is rubbish but I just gave the lads a Paddington hard stare which seemed to have the right effect on their mother. It was either that or she was warning them to get away from the creepy man with the goggles on. Just wait till they see me once I have bought a wet suit and a swimming cap. I’ll have the pool to myself in no time.

As a little diversion and as it’s the second highest aerobic exercise after cycling I tried cross country ski-ing in the Ardennes on Sunday 11th Jan but only managed 6km as it was a lot harder technique wise than it looks and definitely a lot less fun than it looks on TV, if that is actually possible. That fitness avenue has now been closed and I won’t be doing that again.

I’m in Sunderland this week for work and will get some running in but will keep it to just 10km runs as my left ankle is still sore from last year although I do now have the contact details of a good foot doctor, I just need to get round to making an appointment. On the positive side my big toe nail has now nearly grown fully back from the Glasgow half marathon. I do however seem to be getting a lot of lower back and hip pain as a hangover from ski-ing at New Year. Who said keeping fit was good for you……..

Time wise I’ve now got just under 5 months of training now till the start ….in reality and in blissful ignorance I think I have the swimming and the running sorted as I know I can do the distances individually. I just need to get my head and legs round a 90km bike ride then once I have resolved that part I then have the pleasant task of trying to do it all consecutively(its probably much easier to type that than actually do it).

I’m targeting finishing around 6 hours and am basing my training on that time with targets of 1 hour swim(2km)/transition, 3 hour cycle(90km)/transition and 2 hour run(22km)/Oxygen Tent recovery. I completed the Half marathon in September in 1hr 49 and so I may be being a little ambitious on that leg. However I’m hoping overall I’ll be fitter so I will be able to keep it to just an additional 11 minutes.

The furthest I’ve ever been on a bike in my life in one go is 12km and that was in December last year on my way to work on my mountain bike as a trial run. I’ve been reading books on cycling to try and get my head round it but to be honest I might just go for the amphetamines and EPO route as is popular with the cycling pros. The other worrying aspect is that of the 3 books I’ve read all 3 had chapters on testicular injuries and infections/ulcers/boils where the sun doesn’t shine. Incidently but not unconnected the most successful Scottish(and British) road cyclist of all time is Robert Millar, who is now in retirement in Dorset living his life as a woman having had the big operation. So there is obviously some element of danger in the whole cycling scene. I have in a totally unconnected transaction purchased a fetching set of bib and braces cycling trousers with rather bulky undercarriage padding. Regardless of this brave talk on the cycling front I need to wait until the weather improves and we get lighter nights. So till then I’ll be stuck at the gym on the bike to nowhere, watching French TV. In the meantime I’m undertaking the serious task of searching the racing bikes for sale sections and especially worryingly am having to continuously up my original €250 budget every time I see something nice I like. It would appear that in cycling circles when you own something for a year or two and use it you just need to shave 10% off the price when you want to sell it….have these guys not heard of the credit crunch

For the technically minded(blokes only I suspect). The first choice bike currently is this http://www.carrarocicli.it/index.htm?id_prod=6 an absolute bargain at €685… L

And second is this one which I really love the look of (I mean it actually looks fast when its sitting still) http://www.carrarocicli.it/index.htm?id_prod=4 but is double the price at €1400 and at only 1.5kg lighter, its hardly a bargain. Did I already say it looks fast.

They also have a titanium one which I could talk about all day long and unbelievably looks even better but at nearly €5k it is the price of a new Toyota Prius………. http://www.carrarocicli.it/index.htm?id_prod=2…its also incidentally literally as much as I paid for my first flat when I was 18. This alone shows relative inflation in terms of house prices and my age.

Cheers

Cammy