30 days 30 runs challenge review

Post ironman Kona I wanted something to keep me motivated and training in a light hearted way so I started the 30 runs in 30 days challenge on the 5th November. My goal was to run a minimum of 5km each day and aim to keep most runs with the exception of a few tempo/interval runs below a HR of 150bpm. Below are some stats from the challenge. 

Challenge Statisitics

Distance covered: 234.1km

Total running time: 21hrs 39mins

Average run distance: 7.8km

Average heart rate: 147

Calories used: 16,153

As proof of completion I have also included my Garmin calendar data :-) 

Garmin connect calendar screen shot of November

Garmin connect calendar screen shot of December

Reflections on the challenge

When I thought about the challenge I had some small self doubts that I would be able to complete it, surely I would be too busy one day? Perhaps lack motivation? Perhaps the legs would need a day off?  Of course the flip side to these questions is surely I can find 20-30mins each day to run 5k? It was these questions I was keen to try and answer. Well I am pleased to say I did find time to run everyday, the challenge kept me very focused and motivated, more so than I thought it would. Also a nice surprise was that I gained more fitness from it than I thought I would! 

For me a key part to being successful is organisation. I planned in my runs for each day always having a back up opportunity to run if I did get busy. One thing that was an unforeseen obstacle was kit! I found I was short on kit towards the end of the week so had to dig out some old shorts and run tops that had not been used in a while! Most my runs were outdoors with around 40% on trail, 40% on road and 20% on a treadmill when it was convenient or when I was to wimpy to run outdoors. 

I tracked all my runs on my Garmin. With my outdoor runs I decided early on in the challenge to repeat certain routes and check my heart rates on them later on in the challenge. I enjoyed tracking the 1km lap markers on the maps and what my corresponding heart rates were on various days. Below is an example of some of the improvement I saw on one particular 7.8km loop. A solid improvement of 18secs per km with an average heart rate 2 bpm lower. 

Run 4 - 7.8km loop, road, undulating. 

- Time: 45mins 25secs

- Av HR: 147

- Av pace: 5mins 43secs per km

Run 27 - 7.8km loop, road, undulating. 

- Time: 42mins 32secs

- Av HR: 145

- Av pace: 5mins 25secs per km

I feel a big factor in the motivation I felt and with physiological improvements was due to the intensity being kept low to moderate with the 150bpm heart rate goal/limit. I suspect if I had run hard on the majority of the days I would have not only suffered from the accumulative leg fatigue risking injury but would also have experienced less enjoyment/motivation. What was very nice for me with this challenge was that I enjoyed each run AND felt significantly better for doing them. I experienced very noticeable energy increases and lifts in mood. This can be in contrast to heavy Ironman training which can often leave you tired both physically and mentally. I think my body really enjoyed this challenge particular after a long season. 

Over the duration of the challenge I did have some days when leg fatigue was a factor but I did still do some swimming and biking. One Sunday I effectively did a 5hr session as I went out on my bike for 2hrs, then did an 8km run followed by 2hrs digging in the garden! Felt like a half ironman! 

Since the challenge I have taken two days rest, I really feel my legs have super compensated and got a lot stronger. I have just returned from a 12km run and felt brilliant! I may well repeat another 30 days aiming to lift the average run distance or I might have a go at 30 days 30 cycles.......

30 days, 30 runs challenge

To keep me active post Kona and whilst I decide what I will focus on next I thought I would have a go at the 30 day 30 runs challenge that I have seen on social media. The challenge appeals to me for a few reasons. 1. With running being my weakest triathlon discipline I thought it may be a good way to get some mileage under my belt. 2. Now that I have extra responsibilities with being a Dad my time for training is more stretch, however this challenge is 'frequency' based. It simply takes a small time commitment each day, not a big time commitment every other day. When I thought about the challenge though it revealed to me a hidden belief, I doubted my ability to achieve the challenge, not physically but from an organisation/discipline point of view, could I be organised and disciplined enough to take 30-60mins each day to devote to this challenge?! It was this doubt that has prompted action - I need to answer that question!

As I understand it there is only one rule for the challenge which I have put down below in red, I have also added a few rules and goals of my own!

Rule #1 - Must achieve 30 runs in 30 days, ideally with a run everyday. If a day does get missed you may run twice the next day but runs must have a clear distinction i.e. be a morning and evening run. 

Rule #2 - Only one day in a row can be missed and made up for. If two days are missed the challenge is unsuccessful!

Rule #3 - To qualify it as a run the minimum distance per run I have challenged myself to is 5km.

Goal #1 - I will aim to run 27 of the runs as 'base runs' with my heart rate within 5 bpm of my Maffetone HR which is 150bpm. The 3 other runs will be interval based.

Goal #2 - 50% or more of my runs are to be off road/trail.

Goal #3 - I will run 'mindfully' with a focus on an element of form such as: Leaning from the ankle, subtle knee lift to promote higher cadence, light foot contacts under hips, keeping hips lifted, tall posture with shoulders back, relaxed arm swing, relaxed breathing

At the time of posting this I have completed 5 runs all in the region of 8km. Stats below.

On a few runs I have exceeded my heart rate goal so I need to keep a closer check on that. But other than that I have so far found the challenge very motivating and it has certainly given me a focus that I am enjoying. Further updates to follow.........

	Distance (Km)	Av HR
Run 1	8.43	146
Run 2	7.89	154
Run 3	9.18	156
Run 4	7.95	147
Run 5	7.92	155
Run 6
Run 7
Run 8
Run 9
Run 10
Run 11
Run 12
Run 13
Run 14
Run 15
Run 16
Run 17
Run 18
Run 19
Run 20
Run 21
Run 22
Run 23
Run 24
Run 25
Run 26
Run 27
Run 28
Run 29
Run 30
	41.37

Ironman World Championships Race review

Okay - warning first, this is a long post and it could have been a lot longer! 

As always time seems to be flying by, I suppose that is a good sign I am really enjoying life - which I certainly am! I have been busy though, since my last post prior to Ironman Austria in June I have moved house, changed jobs and I have tried hard to balance being a Dad and Husband who is involved and present alongside Ironman training. This has meant I have had very few spare minutes and as you can probably imagine some compromises have had to be made.

Since my last post I have raced Ironman Austria and the Ironman World Championships in Kona. This review will predominantly focus on Kona but I will mention my Ironman Austria race and build up to Kona.

Ironman Austria was at the back end of June and it was my second time doing the race, I previously raced it in 2010. My lead up to Austria was okay. I experienced my usual dip in swim times as bike and run training load increased over April and May but a few open water swim races confirmed my swim was pretty much where it had been in previous years – around the 60min mark for 3.8km. I also believe I have somewhat improved my ‘kicktastic tendency’ having improved my arm turnover and body rotation so whilst I may not be moving faster I believe I am more efficient. My cycling was pretty minimal; for the most part it consisted of three cycles per week, a recovery spin on Monday, one interval session in the week and a long ride on Saturday. My cycling volume really has taken a hit. Prior to having Betsy (my child) I was able to get two to three quality 2 hour turbo sessions in each week after work. Since having Betsy though I have had two main challenges: Less sleep – this has meant when I get home from work I have been tired and have somewhat ‘wimped out’ of doing turbo sessions. Additionally I mostly leave for work before Betsy is up so my only chance to get to see her is in the evenings and frankly seeing Betsy has been my priority. It is certainly not an easy choice to go and bust yourself through a tough turbo session when you are tired and wanting to see your baby! Some weeks where I was at home in the morning or home early in the evening I did get the odd session in but it was far from the consistent quality I have achieved in the past. My running consistency was very good though and I got in a very consistent pattern with my long runs on Sunday and some shorter runs in the week. I did feel more fatigue than previous years on my runs though but I put this down to the reduced sleep and cycling volume resulting in less recovered legs!

Ironman Austria rolled round quickly and I found myself on the start line in reasonable shape.

The swim: Out of the 16 Ironman's I have done this was without doubt the worst swim start I have ever had! I got absolutely battered. My feet were consistently pushed under and I was knocked from both sides, at one point I was ‘head locked’ and ducked. I am not sure it was intentional, I think it was more a case of the swimmers arm who was next to me wrapping around my neck by accident. Either way it was rough and I was forced underwater for some time resulting in me swallowing a lot of water, I struggled to breathe and lost my composure. It was the first time I would say I experienced panic emotions in a swim! It took a good 20-30mins of self talk and a wide line to find some open water before I fully regained composure and got back to racing. I exited the swim in 1 hour and was satisfied with that considering.

The Bike: It was a long T1 but it went smooth and I got out on the bike all organised. This was my first race with a power meter and my target wattage was 180-190watts around 2.7-2.8 watts per kg. I held this pace comfortably initially. Quite a few riders flew off and my instinct told me I could have gone after them but I stuck to my target power with the goal of saving myself for a better run. After about 40km packs were forming on the bike and it was a draft fest. Lines of riders would go past and I literally had to free wheel to keep legal distance. On a couple of occasions I expended a lot of energy to get round big packs exerting a lot of power to do so only to have them pass back 2-3km further up the road where my power would drop as I had to free wheel again to keep legal distance from the draft zone. It was very difficult to keep an even power output. Some steep hills and fast descents in the later stages of the loop also challenged my ability to keep my power up and even. I did not do a very good job of holding target power. My average watts slowly crept down and ended up being an average of 176 with a variability of 9% - tut tut! My ride time was 5.11 and I was not happy with this as my previous time in 2010 was 5.02. Including Austria I have only ever done 3 Ironmans twice but this was the only time where on the 2^nd attempt my bike time was slower! 

Run: As I got off the bike and started to run I did feel good and thought maybe a more conservative bike may have left me in a better position for a decent run. I planned to do a 4km run, 45s walk strategy. (walk every other aid station). Target pace was 4.55 – 5.05 (around a 3.30 marathon). My first 16km was pretty much at this pace but at the dreaded half way point in the marathon I could feel the quad fatigue creeping up and I tried to combat this with some stretching and caffeine gels but to no avail. In fact I suffered from some cramping and challenged breathing which I believe was caffeine related. I am very sensitive to caffeine and think I overdid it. Anyhow by 25km I was crushed mentally and physically to shuffling between each aid station bringing me home in a 4 hour marathon and a finish time around 10.20. I was disappointed with this race. Despite my training volume being reduced and generally more fatigue day to day I had had some good sessions leading into the race that showed promise so I was hoping for more.

Reflection over a couple of weeks of recovery pre Kona build lead me to conclude I needed to remove caffeine out of my race nutrition and significantly reduce it on a day to day basis as I believe it was acting as a ‘band aid’ to combat my tiredness. I also decided to increase my focus on the bike as no doubt my lack of fitness in this area was not just causing my bike times to suffer but was also hurting my 'weak link' - the run!

Kona build went well and weather was very accommodating at the weekends for long rides. I banked four 200km rides each time achieving slightly better wattage with one ride averaging 192watts after a 5km swim. For a non-competition solo ride I was pleased with that and it was the best ride I had logged with a power meter so I felt good progress was being made. As would be expected, increased bike volume and intensity meant increased fatigue in the legs for running and some of my longer runs took more out of me than I wanted and fatigued stayed with me through the best part of the week. I can't remember a time I have recovered so slow from workouts but I tried to reassure myself I was getting key sessions done and the other sessions were less important. At the end of August/Early September the house move took place and there were two weeks where sleep and recovery were very poor. Mid September I paid the price and went down sick for a day which is extremely rare for me. I felt ‘flue like’ being shaky and weak with temperature fluctuations, I also developed a sore throat and was coughing up phlem. Basically I had to cancel the weekend and a few extra days of training. The time off my legs probably did them good and my last long run (36km) prior to the race went very well and I held 3.30 marathon pace the day after a 150km ride. This gave me some confidence I had improved my fitness since Austria. 

Kona: I arrived in Kona on Monday October 6^th and was immediately shocked by the heat and humidity and realized that in an ideal world I would have come out a week earlier to acclimatise. A serious age group podium contender certainly would have been out earlier but I wanted some time in Hawaii after the race with the family and two weeks was the maximum I could have. I stayed at Waikoloa beach resort about 30 miles or so from Kona along the Queen K. The resort was beautiful and great for training. My first training ride on the Queen K was up to Kawaihae and part way up Hawi. I had two further shocks. 1. How the heat reflects of the road magnifying what is already an intense heat and 2. How gusts of wind could come out of no where and ‘unnerve’ you on the way down from Hawi. I did a couple of reps down a small section of Hawi to try and get used to the wind. It is pretty scary when you are travelling at 60km/h plus on a bike and get smacked by a strong crosswind! No doubt on race day there would be some very good bike handlers that would embrace this and make it look easy! I hoped to be one of them!

The week leading up to the race consisted of some swims in the beautiful waters, a couple more shorter bikes to orientate and acclimatize and some short runs in the heat. The key was to try and shake of any travel fatigue and get rested and aware of the course.

I loved training on the island, it really is all about the ironman the week leading up to the race. Athletes are everywhere including the pro’s. It was very inspiring and somewhat intimidating to be in such an environment.

Swim: I got into the water about 10mins prior to the age group male start and got a spot in the center about 3 back from front. I had a ‘crazy’ American next to me shouting out things like 'this is what dreams are made of’ ‘time to get it on’ which I found quite funny and settling, judging by the grey focused faces of many around me I guessed they didn’t. When the cannon went off I braced for contact but I didn’t get any! I must have been very lucky as I was surrounded by swimmers yet I had about a meters space in each direction. I swam hard but conservative and got a few drafts, I believe I held a good line with the buoys after drifting in from the centre. I spent most of the first 1500m chuffed to bits with the little contact I had and simply tried to enjoy what is an epic swim. I got a small amount of contact at the turnaround but nothing major. It was further out that I really noticed the swell and chop but I thought I was swimming well, I had no
clue on time though, it seemed to be passing quick and I was hopeful of a good swim time. I had heard that Kona is about 5min slower than most typical lake Ironman swims so in my mind I was thinking I may get out about 1hour and 5mins but as it turns out I was 5 mins slower at 1hour 10mins. I thought I swam well so felt a bit impartial about my time. I thoroughly enjoyed the warm choppy waters and the incredible underwater view. Swimming up to the pier towards the swim exit steps felt surreal to me, I had seen it on so many DVD’s /ironman clips it was cool to actually be there.

Bike: I got my gear and was out of T1 in around 5mins. Immediately on the bike I felt weak, I was hitting target wattage initially, but it felt significantly harder than on training rides, I thought it was to early to judge for sure and hoped I my legs would come good so I kept on the gas. Once up Palani hill and on the Queen K there was a tail wind on the way out and the first 40-50km up to Waikoloa was pretty quick but then the winds changed to a head wind and picked up and I was having to push 200 watts just to move around 20km/h! After a short fast descent at Kwaihae, it was time to ride the climb up Hawi. It was here I saw the pro’s coming down, they were hammering it and it was an inspiring lift seeing Kienle, Crowie, Marino, Raelert etc doing there thing. I rode up to Hawi very conservatively trying to keep the nutrition going in and the temperature down. The descent from Hawi was awesome, hair raising with the crosswinds but awesome. I was certainly glad I practiced in the crosswinds. There were long sections were I was moving over 55km/h and upto 70km/h and I didn’t need to put down big wattage to achieve this, I was able to stay under target. One 10km split was 13mins and some change! Once down from Hawi I started to suffer, the climb up to Kwaihae felt tough and I was grateful for a short section of tail wind back to Waikoloa however the remaining 50km was all into a strong headwind and things started to go wrong. All of a sudden I started to feel really hot and I was conscious I was getting sunburnt on my shoulders and arms. I think my sweat and ‘water pouring over the head’ must have removed my sunscreen. I struggled to keep my power up and the speed I was clocking was slow, I was leaking time and becoming a touch demoralized when I worked out my bike time would be around 5.40ish. I was aiming for more like 5.15-5.20 and at the time was very confused with my lack of bike power.

Run: T2 - I made sure T2 was steady. I gave myself a good talking to and had some good banter with the volunteer who help my transition. Feeling a bit of a lift I ran on out with a cap full of ice which gave me some welcome relief from the heat which I clearly was not handling well at all! My run strategy was adjusted from Austria to a 3km run 45s-1min walk. Being a stocky mesomorphic athlete overheating was a serious worry for me and my last 4 Ironmans have all resulted in me falling apart on the run so my confidence was low particularly as this was going to be the toughest course and conditions. I ran well with good composure holding 5minute k's for about 12km, confidence was building as I felt in control but then out of nowhere the wheels started to fall off. I all of a sudden felt even hotter than I was, my leg fatigue ramped up and if I am honest I mentally cracked, I hurt and I couldn’t find it within me to push any harder and I guess I emotionally settled on an aid station run/walk survival fest again! Bizzarely though I was enjoying myself, seeing all the landmarks, images and athletes from the DVD’s etc was great for me, it felt good just to be a part of it. I hit 21km just under 2hours and was on for a sub 4 hour marathon but then had to contend with the energy lab. About this time my adductors were getting very tight, not cramps, just tight and they were impeding my already limited capacity to move forward and they needed regular stretching. Coming out of the energy lab I was greeted by my wife and friend James Resor, who lives on the island and was actually the male lead runners pace bike. They were on a moped and able to give me words of encouragement. Their company was greatly appreciated and they motivated me to run the best part of the Queen K back to town. I got back to town as it was turning dark. I enjoyed my run down Palani hill and Ali drive and as always I got some adrenaline that gave me a bit of a kick. Running up the finishing chute was a fantastic experience and I got a good shout out from Mike Reily and a hand shake and chat with Andrew Messick, Ironman’s CEO. My run time was 4hours 29mins and my finish time 11hours 33mins, ironically within 2mins of the finish time of my very first Ironman in Western Australia!

Comparison of what you think you are capable with vs reality: My immediate post race reaction was very mixed, part of me was in awe of the event and feeling privileged to have been a part of the race. Part of me was proud of myself for setting a goal so long ago, chasing it and achieving it, yet part of me was frustrated and disappointed with my performance. Where did my power go on the bike? Why can’t I run to my potential? How could I have been so careless to have got so sunburnt? – which I haven't mentioned but man was I sunburnt! My last few Ironman's have seen me move backwards not forwards and that has been tough to take. I have an idea of what I believe I am capable of in my head yet in reality I have not achieved that in recent races. Am I kidding myself? Do I think I am better than I really am? Am I somewhat delusional? Quite possibly……

After the race: Once the race was done it was great to be able to go and meet my wife, daughter and parents. It was magical to be able to share the event with them. During the remaining time on the island a few drinks were enjoyed, some sight seeing was done and some general relaxing took place. The island of Hawaii is simply stunning. Dolphins, turtles and beautiful swimming spots are abundant as are lots of day trip adventures. I particularly enjoyed a trip to Waipioa valley waterfull and Mauna kea Volcano – thanks to my friends James and Sarah for this day, it was very special indeed.

What next? Well I am not quite sure. The really delusional side of me has had the thought of trying to get back to Hawaii and give it another go but given my wife and I would like a second child I cannot quite see how I could get myself in good enough shape in the next couple of years to even stand an outside chance of qualifying. The standard for qualification to Hawaii these days is ridiculously high. Consider that over 300+ of the Ironman marathons run in Hawaii were fast enough to qualify for the Boston marathon! That is obscene when you consider the swim and bike before, the course and conditions! Another option I have considered is to race some shorter races for a year or two and try to rebuild my body stronger, faster and leaner removing the mental drain that ironman racing can have. And the last option I am considering is picking one Ironman to do a year, a fast one and having a few cracks at getting a significant PB and running to my potential, this might just give me some serious satisfaction of achieving what I believe I can. I'll take some time to decide though and in the meantime enjoy some social time and getting stick into some overdue DIY duties in the new house.......

Thanks for reading

Pre ironman Austria 2014

Betsy Williams - Ironbaby!

I am currently around 2 weeks out from Ironman Austria and I believe I have come into good form at just the right time. My last post was back in January and since then I have been busy executing a 24 week training plan, which I am still finishing, in preparation for Austria. It has been an interesting challenge preparing for Austria, I have done 14 Ironman's to date, Austria will be my 15th but my first as a Dad! My little girl, Besty is now close to 6 months of age.

I thought in this post I would share some of my key 'life management' strategies, some of my key training sessions and tweaks/kit changes I have made, along with my race plan for Austria - making myself accountable!



So how does Ironman now fit into my life now I am a Dad?

Roles and goals model

I thought I would address this because it is common for people to ask, how do you fit training for Ironman in? In jest quite a few friends teased that I could kiss good bye to doing Ironman when Betsy came along but I am pleased to say I have not had to give up my passion but I have certainly had to make some adjustments though. But first let me briefly talk you through how I manage my time.

Well I must confess I like reading, in particular self development literature. One book I have taken a lot from is Stephen Covey's 7 habits of highly effective people, in this book Covey discusses identifying your key roles in life and setting some goals around them. Covey then suggests analysing how you spend your time, the 168 hours available to each of us each week in relation to these roles and goals. To do this he simply suggests keeping an accurate log of what you do over a typical week. The next step is to analyse the things you spend your time doing by putting them into 4 quadrants as below.

1) Urgent and important - crisis/unplanned things that demand your attention.
2) Important but not urgent - proactivity, planned activities that align with your roles and goals
3) Not important but urgent - other agenda's not aligned to your roles and goals, this can be because they have been forced on you or you lack the ability to say no. It also includes all things such as an obsessive need to pick up ringing phones and responding to emails which tangent you from your roles and goals!
4) Not urgent and not important - waste of time activities. Doing these activities does not help you achieve yours or even anyone else's roles and goals, I put T.V and computer games amongst other things in this bracket.

In short I manage my time very carefully operating as much as possible in quadrant 2, this is the key quadrant for effectiveness and is where training should sit along with family and work time. I get my time for quadrant 2 by ensuring I set myself only a few goals in each role so my attention is focused. I also ensure I spend as little time as possible in quadrants 3 & 4, this simply means I am quite disciplined around when I check emails, answer phone calls and letting meaningless activities enter my life. Pretty much all my time is devoted to work, Laura and Betsy a small circle of close family and friends and training which includes relaxation and rest time! This is exactly how I like it! In any given day it would be incredibly rare for you to find me doing anything that does not align to improving my life in these areas. I do tend to have more quadrant 1 stuff than I used to have because my little girl may need attention at an unexpected time for one reason or another or I feel it is important to support my Wife. To ensure I can be there for Betsy and Laura I have had to factor in more flexibility in my training week than before. To allow for this I now commit to 2 key sessions from each discipline per week rather than 3, which is what I used to shoot for, so rather than 9 key sessions I have 6. Don't get me wrong, in good weeks I may get all my sessions in but in others I have to be okay with dropping some sessions or converting some into short recovery or skill based sessions. Generally I have had to let go of quite a bit of volume, largely because I have slightly less training time than before but mostly because I get less sleep time, therefore my recovery seems to be somewhat slower. Where as I used to shoot for around 16-20hrs per week of training I am now more in the region of 12-16hrs. Interestingly I think I maybe doing better with less volume and as some coaches/friends have pointed out, namely Ollie Williams (@quiche123) and Rich Baker (@richteabaker), I have quite a few years of endurance volume under my belt now so I can probably get away with less. As such this year I have focused a lot more on intensity and focused on ensuring long sessions are 'easy intensity' (unless a test ride) and intense sessions are exactly that 'intense'. I have really tried to avoid 'middle ground training' aka junk miles. Heart rate and power have helped with this and getting some lab testing done at Surrey Human Performance Institute along with some self FTP tests have kept me honest. The numbers don't lie!

Training progress

Garmin & Quarq power meter

Okay so at the start of the year one of the things I wanted to introduce was cycling with power because I have read it can be very useful to manage the ride intensity in an Ironman so you are set up for a better run. If you have read my previous posts you will be well aware even after 14 Ironman's I have never really dialled in my run, I personally believe in every Ironman I have run well below my potential for one reason or another. In the past I have had challenges with nutrition/stomach cramps, blister issues, over heating and excuses around poor run preparation but I have always been in denial that I may be riding to hard or riding inefficiently by 'power spiking/surging' too much. Failing many times to get my run where I want it to be has forced me to consider this maybe a possibility. Although I had some ideas power could benefit me I had a limited understanding of it and was concerned about the cost of it! Power cranks, pedals or hubs don't come cheap. So back in January I started reading around power and playing around with it on Wattbikes which I found really insightful. I became confident enough with power that I invested in a Garmin 500 and Quarq power meter. Once I got these fitted on my bike I went out and rode a regular 150km route of mine, I rode the route as I normally would, I set the Garmin up so I could not see the power data when riding. Upon reviewing the data I immediately gained some valuable insights. There is a metric called Variability index (VI). VI compares normalised power with average power, this gives an insight into exactly how much you are changing the power being put into the pedals. Ironman top performers tend have a VI of less than 5%, my initial VI was 12%!! A closer look showed I attack hills and head winds very aggressively and that I am to passive on downhills so my power output was all over the place. There are lots of other metrics that have provided equally insightful information as to how I ride but the one other I will mention is average watts. This is the number I am essentially trying to get a good grip of for Ironman racing. What is the average wattage I can hold down with a VI index of less than 5% and run well from?? Truth is it may take a few Ironman's to figure this out and Austria will give me a great insight for Hawaii but at present I believe that number is around 190-200watts. Given I am weighing around 68kg that works out to be 2.8-2.9 watts per kilo. With an FTP of approx 270 watts this works out to be around a 75% intensity factor for me. Below is some data from a 180km ride I posted around 6 weeks back where I held 185 watts with a VI of 4% and an average heart rate of 147bpm (below my cycling threshold of 155bpm). I have since posted some slightly shorter rides at the 160km mark with heart rate averages around 142bpm to 144bpm. In a recent half iron distance race I held 212 watts with a heart rate average of 158bpm, I felt comfortable on the bike and initially felt great in the first 15km of the run but did fatigue a bit around 16km, this was in part due to zero taper.

Garmin connect data: Heart rate and Power for 180km ride

It will be interesting to see how I manage my power in Ironman Austria and in particular if having a 3.8km swim prior changes things!

Running is my big opportunity to improve. This year I have been much more consistent with my long runs. Sunday is my long run day. I get these done in the morning then the rest of the day is family day! I have been trying out a run walk strategy on my long runs which seem to be very powerful for me physically and mentally. The strategy is 5-6km running with 1min of walking. The walking has allowed me to stretch our my hips and chest, lower my heart rate, get a quick gel in and then get back to running a touch fresher with slightly improved form. The 1min walks every 6km have naturally focused my attention on just the next 6km which seems to stop me doing a mental comparison such as, I am at 10km, my legs hurt, I have 32 km to go, thats forever……This way I don't think further than the next 6km, much easier on the mind. I will certainly be using this strategy. 

The walk run strategy for a 32km run

Of course in 22 weeks I have done a lot of sessions. One of the key focus's has been interval run sessions to improve my run efficiency, an area that was identified as weak in the testing at Surrey Human Performance Institute. The below was a tough session after a 150km bike.  I did 8x 2km intervals at a pace of about 4.30mins per km which is 30s per km faster than my target Ironman pace of 5.00mins per km. This was a hot day so it was a tough session after the cycle! The idea with this session is to experience discomfort at a pace above what you tend to race at so on race day the 'easier' pace seems more achievable! I focused on form and felt strong.

Brick run: 8x 2km intervals

The session here was ascending intervals of 3km. I started each set at Ironman pace and increased the pace every 0.5km by 0.5km per hour so I was finishing at 15km per hour. The idea with this session is to encourage leg turn over and to improve lactate tolerance, as always form was a major focus. I have done some serious 'core' during this training block to support my form and I am confident it is helping.

Ascending 3 km intervals

This season I have changed my run trainers again. I was running in a muzino wave which was a good shoe but I don't think it suited me over the marathon distance, particularly the Ironman marathon where form does tend to be of a lesser quality than a fresh marathon. I was experiencing some quite extreme leg fatigue in them last season after my long runs but I thought it might be due to my fitness levels. After reading some reviews and trying out some other trainers I decided to go with Pearl Izumi N1's which I have really enjoyed running in. They seem to suit me very well, plus the colour matches my bike and tri kit!



Race plan. 

So for Ironman Austria I have the following plan. This is a brief version of what I have written out on a A3 piece of paper, being very visual it helps me to review it this way. Essentially I draw out a time line  from get up until the finish line marking on it what time I will do certain things along with my goal times. Here are some of the highlights

• 04.30 get up and breakfast
• 2 green tea, 3x poached eggs, 60g granola with 150g yoghurt.
• 07.00 swim start  
• Target pace 1.32/100m should get me out the water in 58-59mins. 
• Will aim to find someone at a similar pace and tuck in for the draft. 
• At the start of the season I self diagnosed myself a 'kicktastic' from swim smooths swim type system as such I have worked on my body position, arm cadence, endurance and body roll so I rely less on my legs. The goal will be to swim this way in the race. 
• 08.00ish bike start
  
• Target power 190-200watts allow up to 270 watts for hills, cadence target 90rpm. Last time I did Austria I did a 5.02 bike split but I will not be focusing on speed or time that much, I certainly won't chase hard for it. If my target power gets me off my bike in 5.10 so be it, the hope will be I run better! 
• Nutrition plan is to consume a hydro gel every 20km. To compliment this I will have 2x 800ml bottles of energy drink on the bike. One behind the saddle and one on the frame. Each bottle will have 100g powder in delivering about 90g carb. One bottle is non caffeinated and I will consume this first, the second is caffeinated energy drink*, I will get stuck into this around 100km to counter mental and physical fatigue which I have experienced in training. I will also have a Torhans aero bottle in the front with water to sip on. I find the straw reminds me to drink and makes it easier for me to do so at any time as I do not have to move out of the aero position to drink. 
• 13.00ish run start - assuming bike time is in the 5hour mark I should be running around 13.00
• Target pace is 5.00min per km. 
• Run 6km, walk for 40-60seconds.
• Nutrition plan is to consume water at aid stations and have a caffeinated hydro gel every 30mins. Coke will be a goer in the last 20km if I am struggling.
• Target run time is between 3hrs 30-40mins. Combined time is hoped for the 9hrs 40mins region. 

*Adjusting my caffeine intake is a key change for me, I used to have a very strong coffee pre race, I believe the crash from this may have been contributing to mental fatigue in the marathon. My new strategy is a small amount of caffeine in the morning via green tea then a large dose of caffeine between 100-120km on the bike to give me a boost until the finish. This has worked very well so far in training. 

Bike set up for Austria

My trusty P2, this baby has now done 11 Ironman's with its debut being 2009 in Florida! I have thought about upgrading to a P5 but that won't be this year as we are moving home so it will have to wait until 2015. Besides which I feel the P2 has earnt the right to go to Hawaii, it did Chrissie Wellington okay!

The only changes I have made to the bike for this year are the addition of the power meter and a saddle change. The addition of the sram red quarq has meant I have switched from a polar to garmin head unit due to compatibility issues. The saddle switch is from a specialised romin to a sitero. Both have perineal cut outs which I find preferable on the undercarriage, the sitero seems to support my pelvis better which has made some subtle differences to the comfort of my back along with my hips feeling 'looser' when I transition to running.

Bike set up for Austria

So I fly out to Austria on the 25th June, race on the 29th. I will be trackable on Ironman live. Hopefully the weather will be nice and the I will perform well. I will write up a race report on the flight home. 

Thanks for reading, hopefully it has been insightful, as always live healthy, keep fit and perform to your best. 

You can  connect with me on twitter: @ironman_jw

Off season update

Crikey time has flown by! My last post was at the back end of September when I finished the Alpine challenge, as I mentioned then this was a few weeks into a planned long off season for me, a long off season that I felt I really needed after doing 10 Ironman's in approximately 3 years.

I love training and racing for Ironman but my last few race performances were poor, I did not progress but worse I felt a fatigue that seemed to permeate every cell in my body when I raced. Interestingly though, this fatigue was not something I sensed that much in training, it just seemed to show up on race day! My conclusion was my mind and perhaps my body needed some extended time off. Well not complete time off but unstructured no pressure training with more rest injected to help me regain some 'freshness'.

I have now had around 5 months without any racing, so what have I been up to? Well lots of DIY and preparations for my Wife and I's first baby. My Wife half joked about how much I got done in such a short space of time, I think she started to see what an Ironman's energy could achieve if put to good use! I'd best be careful there!

I am now pleased to announce that I am now a Dad to Betsy Rose Williams who was born on December 21st. Ironman training will now enter a new chapter and I will share how I progress with my training alongside my new commitments as a Dad.







With regards to my off season I have spent some time planning my 2014 race schedule which at present is as follows…..

2014 Planned race schedule

- Watford half marathon - 2nd February (C race - approached as a tough training session)
- Brighton half marathon - 16th February (C race - approached as a tough training session)
- 1-2 3.8km swim races - dates to be confirmed (C race - approached as a tough training session)
- Bedford middle distance triathlon - 25th May (B race)
- Ironman Austria - 29th June (A race)
- Budapest 70.3 Ironman - 23rd August (B race)
- Ironman World Championships in Hawaii - 11th October (A race)

I plan to start my structured training plan for Ironman Austria on the 13th January which will give me 24 weeks to get in to peak race shape.

In addition to planning my season I have spent some time reflecting, researching and testing a few new things out that I believe will help me make some gains in my training and racing for 2014. Here is what I have been looking into and testing or more like playing around with…...

Swimming

In my time off I decided to focus some attention on my swim stroke as opposed to swim fitness. I reviewed some material from swim smooth and realised I was not that sure what my swim type was, I gave it some real consideration after reading through all characteristics of each type and after some reflection I came to the conclusion I was a kicktastic (I say 'was' purposefully). Without sharing my conclusion I asked my training partner Ollie (@quichie123) who happens to be a swim coach what swim type he thought I was, he also thought I was a kicktastic. In short a kicktastic over uses their legs, as such they can get more out of breath as the legs demand a lot of oxygen. To rectify this I have started to work on slowing my legs down. Since focusing on this it has exposed the fact my arms are not as endurant as they need to be and that my core/hips sink a touch. Coupled with this I identified I have a pacing problem and that when I swim repetitions of sets like 400m I set off too quick and complete the first few hundreds too fast and then slow down towards the end. So in summary I have found a number of issues to address for improvement. Below are the issues I have identified with some corrective strategies I have begun working on.

Poor arm stroke

Issue: Arms not endurant enough
Solutions: Paddle work and pull buoy work. Been increasing the volume of paddle and pull buoy work each week.

Issue: Catch not efficient enough, elbow drops significantly when fatigue sets in
Solutions: Visulisations - view effective strokes such as Jono Van Hazel on youtube, slow stroke practice in front of mirror, resistance band warm ups, swimming with fists/palm paddles to encourage high elbow.

Issue: Sinking hips
Solutions: Focus on core work - Quadruped opposite arm leg raises, lower abdominal marching, side plank variations and glute bridge variations are staples 4x per week. I also do swim drills in warm up that focus on hip position. Shamefully core work is something I have neglected in the last few years. I used to be very diligent with it, I guess I got complacent, since reintroducing it I have found it has also influenced my running which I mention below.

Issue: Poor pacing
Solutions: Use Finis wetronome to pace timed efforts in pool. This has been brilliant and coupled with the other factors has supported me achieve some significant results with regards to me holding solid paces with greatly reduced heart rate and RPE for 1000m efforts. I am now much more aerobic for a given pace and have tested this with my trusty polar RXC5 which can take heart rate in water. What I found was that when I got my pacing right I could average 143bpm with a +/- 5bpm variation for a 1000m effort at 1.32m/100m pace vs poor pacing where my heart rate averaged 151bpm with a +/- 12bpm variation!

Swimming is progressing nicely and it has been great to focus on the technique and efficiency without the feeling I should be putting in big volumes. I really feel I have moved through the 4 stages of learning: unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence and unconscious competence with some stroke modifications which has helped me change my swim stroke permanently laying a better foundation for doing the volume.

Cycling

Since the alpine challenge I have cycled regularly on my turbo and mountain bike but have only done a small handful of sessions over 90mins. Most sessions have been to test position tweaks none of which have worked for me except another saddle change to the new specialized sitero saddle pictured below. Two years ago I switched form a regular tri saddle to one with a perineal cut out to relieve pressure I was experiencing in that area. The change helped and was a positive move although this year I have been experiencing some tightness in my left adductors which tracks further down into my foot, I believe it to be part of the deep front line (myofascial train). What I think has been happening is my saddle is a touch to thin, as such my pelvic bones have not been fully supported consequently one hip has been ever so slightly sliding of the saddle creating some asymmetrical shifting. Switching to the sitero so far has felt brilliant it seems to give my pelvis solid support, there is even less pressure and my left knee is tracking better and the tightness in my left leg has almost completely gone. I look forward to putting some longer rides on this saddle to see if this change stands some further tests.

The only other piece of cycling testing I have been doing is some sets on the watt bike to test my aerobic endurance. To do this I ride at a given power (175 watts) that puts me in heart rate zone 2 for 90mins. At the end of the workout I calculate my decoupling ratio (can read more on decoupling on training peaks via the link) which essentially shows the % change in my first half average heart rate to second half. If aerobically fit enough for that power output the theory is the % change in heart rate should be no more than 5%. Given the little cycling I have been doing at present this is not something I am achieving but it has given me a great benchmark to improve on. With my local David Lloyd club (Hatfield) now having Watt bikes I plan to get some quality session on this and use power more in my cycling.

Run

Running is my ironman weakness and is something I am very keen to crack. It is the discipline I have been most focused on in the off season. I have worked on changing what has developed into a quad dominant running style. To do this I have worked on my conditioning. Like swimming I have been working on my core strength, something that has got weak through neglection over the last couple of years. The core routine I have for swimming also doubles up as my run core work. To compliment this I have been doing a significant amount of myo-fascial and mobility work on my hips in an attempt to open up the hips. I believe I am getting some real success with this and the data from my stride sensor tells me my stride length is improving. This is not because I am over striding but rather because my hip is opening out into extension better. Better hip extension coupled with better foot placement under the hip and more engaged hamstrings for an increased 'pull' in the stride are all taking load out the quads and making me more efficient. What has amazed me with this is the amount of work I have had to do to get my hips open - it has been significant, they really were very 'glued' up. When my cycling load increases this is something I am really going to have to be disciplined about to ensure I do not glue back up.

Lastly I have tried some new trainers Pearl Izumi N1's. Not much to say except they are the business. They are a very light weight neutral running shoe with 1mm of drop. Since my very first run in them I have got on with them incredibly well. A smooth ride with more cushioning than my Mizuno's. My Mizuno's were a great shoe too except I now believe they are better suited for me for half marathon distances, they did not offer me enough cushioning for an ironman marathon, I am confident the Pearl Izumi's will excel here. The only issue is the UK colours are to bright for me! My very nice cousin that lives in the States has managed to source me some red/black ones that match my race kit - yes I know I am a tart!

So only a few weeks to go and I will be starting the 24 week training plan that will prep me for Austria. I will be starting with an 8 week base phase where I will be building up the volume of my swim bike and running to further improve my aerobic endurance. With the technique work and tweaks I have made in prep for this I am excited to see what results I can achieve. I certainly feel the long break has 'freshened' me up, I am chomping at the bit! Between now and when I start my training plant the only thing left on my to do list is to get a lab test at the Sport science centre in Hertfordshire Uni to get more insight into my aerobic and lactate threshold for both cycling and running, this will help me make some final adjustments to my training session paces and test set efforts. I will get two further retests throughout the 24 weeks to see my progress. I'll keep you updated, until then I wish you all the best with your health and fitness for 2014……..

Alpine Challenge 2013

My Ironman Frankfurt race report was my last post back in July. In that post I mentioned my next Ironman is Austria in June 2014. Given I have had a heavy race schedule over the last few years and that I have my first baby on the way I thought it would be a good idea to give myself a physical and more importantly mental break from constant training. My plan has been and is until January 2014 to have less structure and more variety in my training. Since July I have been really enjoying lots of variety.

With variety in mind I was delighted to be presented with the fantastic opportunity to join the Watt Bike team on a cycle event - The Alpine Challenge 2013. The Alpine Challenge 2013 is a cycle event I have just completed which was a lot of fun and a different type of cycling to that which I normally do. Being an Ironman I focus on time trialling on a tri bike where drafting is not allowed. The Alpine Challenge is road cycling where drafting is allowed and cyclist group together tightly in packs. The event was held in Annecy, France and consisted of 3 full days of cycling which covered 331kms with a total ascent of 6676m. The event is described as a Professional Event for Amateurs as there is rolling road closures in place, a pace car and a full mechanical crew to hand. Stephen Roche, former Tour De France winner is also a guest rider. On each day there are timed climbing sections, with most being previous sections of the Tour De France, so not for the faint hearted!

Day one - Prologue and stage one: 

Prior to the first day of cycling there is registration and a briefing to ensure everyone understands the rules of the competition and key aspects of safety. Upon receiving my race number I was obviously chuffed to see 'shorty' as my name on my number - thats what you get when you get a mate to fill in your application!

The first day of cycling started with an easy 17km to the base of a climb - Col de Forclaz. This was the Prologue, the timed section where we were allocated our seeded groups. The length of the climb was 8.3km with an average gradient of 8% with some sections at 13%! The weather on this day was wet and cold which made it tough going but I loved it, it made the achievement of getting to the top in a good time all the more satisfying.

View Of Lake Annecy from the top of Col de Forclaz

After the prologue climb we were split in to our seeded groups - I qualified for group 2 (the second fastest). Once seeded we split into our respective ride groups with personal pace car and motor bikes for road closures then stage one got on the way with lots of descending in the wet and some more climbing. In the afternoon the weather was drier and we had the second timed climb of the event. This time a short steep 3.5km. How it works is that as you approach the climb you get a yellow flag which marks 1km to go until the base of the climb. Riders start to shuffle for position and the pace picks up, then a red flag marks the start of the climb and basically you go as hard as you can to get the best time you can up the climb. On this particular 3.5km climb there were some really steep sections and I was red lining my heart rate for some time getting up to 190bpm which is pretty much maximum for me.

Profile of stage one with HR: as you can see I was in the Red (HR zone 5) for over 10 mins at the top of the climbs!!

After a wet and tough day one my lungs were a touch sore - it has been a while since I had asked them to work that hard! When I got back to the hotel room I found a new found appreciation for a hot bath!

Day two - 113km 

Upon looking out the window in the morning it was great to see the weather looking good with blue skies. Temperatures of 18-20 degrees were also forecast, perfect for cycling. At breakfast the usual banter among our group started. I was riding with Rich and Alex who also qualified for group 2. Alex beat me by around 20-30 seconds on both the first days climbs so I was keen to see if I could get some time back on him. Alex is a superb athlete, he used to be a rower and has achieved a silver medal at the common wealth. Now working for Watt Bike he has turned his hand to cycling although being busy with work and as a father he does not get a huge amount of time to cycle, mostly he uses the Watt Bike to get the most out of his training time, I cycled with Alex the year before so have seen first hand his progression - very impressive even if tough to swallow given he was kicking my arse! 

Right from the start on day two's ride we set of at a fast pace, many in the group were working very hard to keep involved. I took some refuge from the wind behind others but really enjoyed the fast pace from the get go, it suits me as a triathlete. We worked hard right to the bottom of the days timed climb - Col de Aravis, a 6km stretch with quite a few switch backs. From the 1km marker I got into a good position by the red flag. I had my eye on Alex from the start of the climb and pushed hard to create a gap early on hoping that I could break him early. I got a good 50m on him and held it until around 5km where I noticed he was starting to close the gap, with 500m to go he pulled alongside me as the climb levelled out for a flat finish. When his wheel pulled alongside mine I was thinking, okay a sprint finish, this is going to hurt, then Alex glanced over and said "this is going to hurt" We both started to put the power down clicking through the gears and accelerating to the line, by the time we got to the line he out sprinted me and won by around 2 bike lengths. I totally loved the racing, so much fun to get a close finish. 

Me nearing the top of a timed climb section. Photo taken by Matt Alexander, Official Alpine Challenge Photographer

The rest of day two was cycled at a strong pace. There was lots of fast descending, something I have released I am average at. Rich Baker from Watt Bike is an exceptional descender, he would frequently blow by me on the downhills looking controlled and relaxed where as I probably looked somewhat tense and out of control! The scenery on day two was simply spectacular, it was such a privilege to be in the mountains with great weather - simply loved it!

Profile of stage two with HR: a touch more HR zone 5 near the top of the big climb!

Beautiful scenery shot: Photo taken by Matt Alexander, Official Alpine Challenge Photographer 

Day three - 103km

When I woke on day 3 my legs were sore and heavy, however as a triathlete who does a large volume of training I was confident that I would fatigue less than others or would cope better.

At the start of day three the group kept the pace quite easy which indicated to me some where suffering.  I felt good about this as I found the pace easy. I had eaten too much at breakfast though and it was sitting on my stomach so I was keen to get this digested before the climb, the easy pace definitely helped with this, if the morning pace was high I might have been in trouble!

Day three's timed climb was Col del la Croix Fry a long 11.2km section with lots of changes in gradients. Prior to this there was a 5km non timed climb which served as a good warm up! I made sure I did not go into the red on this.

The 11.2km Col de la Croix Fry was tough, being longer I set off at a more conservative pace. The climb still had chalk on the road from the Tour De France, "Go Froome". It was really inspiring to be working hard up the same slopes a few months early the best in the world were tackling. Again the race was on between me and Alex, around 2-3km into the climb I went round a switch back and I caught a glimpse of Alex who was 20 seconds back, he clocked the glimpse and gave me a cheeky wave which indicated he was coming after me! From that point on I worked a touch harder! I made it to the top of the climb with a 20 second lead over Alex. My first stage win! However it was not enough to move ahead of him in the overall standings where Alex placed a few spots ahead of me.

After the climb there was a lovely long descent back to Annecy as a group. Once back it was party time, lots of us jumped into the lake and I believe the event organiser got thrown in! After a shower and change there was the awards dinner where the overall winners were presented with prices from the ride captains and Stephen Roche. There was lots of banter and a few drinks were had, a great finish to a spectacular event.

Profile of stage three with HR

Beautiful scenery shot: Photo taken by Matt Alexander, Official Alpine Challenge Photographer 

Chilling by Lake Annecy post ride.

For those interested the Alpine Challenge 2013 will be shown on Euro Sport on Sunday 22nd at 18.00. I believe the 2014 event also opens for entry soon too, something I am seriously considering doing as a tune up event for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in October. The event is well worth checking out if you are into cycling http://www.thealpinechallenge.com 

Since returning to the UK it is apparent that winter is arriving with a bang as usual! So whats next for me? Well I am working on finalising my race schedule for 2014 and drafting my training plan. My A races for 2014 are Ironman Austria - June 29th & Ironman Hawaii - October 11th. I plan to do an Ironman 70.3 in April or May, possibly Florida or Mallorca as a tune up for Austria, then in August I will either race another Ironman 70.3 in prep for Hawaii or I will do an Olympic and attend the Alpine Challenge again, although this time I would need to fit in some swimming and running as well! For the rest of the winter I will continue with some unstructured training although I plan to drop in on some of my training partners sessions, Ollie Williams who is preparing for Ironman Cozumel. I do have a marathon in October but I am not going to this in peak shape with a PB in mind, a long way from it, rather I want to test a few things. I will do a post on this shortly......

As always live healthy, keep fit and perform to your best.