Reflecting on the past to learn for the future

I mentioned in my last post that I am now in training for Ironman Lanzarote in May. I started my 'official' training plan on the 14th January on return from a ski trip which is the typical way I like to start the year! For me the ski trip is the last of the relaxed living which started in November and involves a touch too much chocolate, wine, late nights and too many non focused (or missed!) training sessions. Starting training on the 14th January has provided me with 18 weeks of training to get into race shape, 2 of which have whizzed by. Whilst my 'official' training started on the 14th January I started to prepare for Ironman Lanzarote long before this.

So when did I start preparing for Ironman Lanzarote?

Well truth be known pretty much within hours from crossing the finish line of my last race, which was Ironman Florida held in Panama city beach at the start of November 2012. I had an okay race and posted a solid swim in rough sea conditions and a bike time of 4hrs 50mins which was 13 minutes faster than 2009 (when I last completed this race). Although my swim and bike were solid I was very disappointed with my run which was around 4hrs. Based on my race before and my training form I expected faster, much faster! I had worked on my run and was expecting around 3hrs 30mins, this was what I believed I could run and still is what I believe I can run. The reflection and evaluation of this run is essentially where the preparation for Lanzarote begun.

Why did I run so badly?

Running is my weakest discipline as a triathlete by far, and is something I have been aware of and have been working on since starting the sport. I have made good improvements and surpassed many of my expectations in training yet I can honestly say I have not run anywhere near close to what I believe is my potential in an Ironman and am still working on nailing this. Obvious suggestions for not running well are:

• Cycled to hard
• Got pacing wrong
• Made nutritional mistakes
• Insufficient run preparation

I have certainly made all these mistakes before.  In Florida 2012 I made a nutritional mistake, but it was not one I have made before and I can guarantee I won't make again!! Before I have over consumed energy gels and felt sick and had stomach cramps, I have taken way too much caffeine and had stomach cramps, I have used products that agreed with me in training in the U.K but have not agreed with me when racing in the heat abroad! All of these mistakes I have battled through and learnt from, however at the time they sneaked up on me and induced enough pain to substantially slow me down! 

Due to previous mistakes over my last few races I have developed a nutritional strategy that I am extremely confident in, although yet again I have learned it needs some small refinement and contingency plans built in for certain eventualities!  The mistakes I made in Florida 2012 were not getting enough energy in at the end of the bike, and taking too much water in. My previous plan simply did not work on this race day which meant I was not carrying enough gels to cater for what was an elevated energy requirement. Over the years, as I have got faster, I have enjoyed racing more minimalist - only carrying what I need and nothing else - with this though comes risk. In this particular race I carried 2x 750ml cytomax bottles with 100g carb in each and 8x GU energy gels, a strategy I have used a number of times and had faith in. Well by 140km I had drained the bottles and consumed the gels because although I have a 'paper' plan I overrule this if I get strong signals from my body that it needs the energy. I was not concerned about taking the energy on board too early as the plan was to pick up a number of gels when going through the last aid station to get me through the last 40km of the bike - this is where it went wrong!! Going through the aid station I dropped one gel, had another triathlete cut in front of me so I missed the next gel, then had a 'cowboy' aid station volunteer (I love them dearly really and am deeply appreciative for what they do) who was not paying attention and didn't have the gel ready to collect. I did manage to grab some more water though. The aid station was on a fast stretch of road so I was moving at 40kph, when racing well and feeling good the thought of stopping or going back seemed insane so I cracked on! In the last 40km I had just the water, on reflection I over consumed this as a replacement for not having energy gels. Either way I came into transition, passed my bike to the bike catcher and started to run to the change venue (this is a telling moment as you start to gauge how the legs feel).  My legs felt great and I expected them to (as I cycled conservatively), I felt relaxed, had fresher legs than ever, it was hot but nowhere near as hot as in Texas earlier on in the year, so to me it felt comfortable. My bike to run transition was fast, helmet off, socks and shoes on, visor on, grab 2x Gels, off I go. As I come out of transition I checked the polar watch for my pace to keep me in check - perfect 12km/h, legs felt great although I could feel some water swishing in my stomach I have never felt better at this point. I ran passed the Wife, high five'd her and gave her a confident smile! Due to the water swishing in my stomach I thought I would give it 20mins or so to clear before I put a gel down as I feared stomach cramps if I took the gel on top of the water. This was the mistake, I should have got the gel down somehow but didn't because I felt great and didn't want to risk the stomach cramps. Even though I did start to get energy down as the water cleared, there was too long a duration of no energy going in and what ensued was a 'bonk' around 25km, I ran the tank to empty - ROOKIE MISTAKE!! The next 15km were a walk fest, I simply had no energy and could not get it back. I crossed the line around 10hrs and I think the posture in the photo says it all - I still smile though because it is the challenge of racing I love, a great result is just the icing on the cake, so the smile is acknowledgement of the challenge and that I still have work to do to master my body and mind when racing. 

Coupled with my nutritional mistake I did also suffer with incredibly sore feet and some bad blisters - none of which I get in training. I have had sore feet before in races but it hasn't been consistent and I can't seem to put a finger on anything consistent that could be contributing to this. Shoes, feet swelling due to heat, feet getting wet, sock type, using tape on the feet, run form have all been considered and tested and it is quite a confusing issue for me. My thoughts at present are that most likely in the races where I have suffered sore feet there have been a unique combination of the above mentioned factors. I suspect only more practise and testing will solve this. 

So what have I learnt that I will carry into Lanzarote?

• Monitor water intake - enough but not too much, I will retest in training to see what I can handle. 
• Don't cut the energy you carry on the bike so fine. This will be particularly important on a bike course like Lanzarote that is hot, windy and hilly!! I will look at carrying more gels on the bike and using the special needs station to have a 3rd cytomax bottle for back up.
• Keep working on run form, particularly when fatigued as no doubt this is changing and contributing to my sore feet.
• Test more trainers, socks and combinations in an attempt to find a more comfortable race set up.

Of course, my swim, cycle and run training will be tailored to Lanzarote, the above though will be things I factor in to ensure I improve in these areas.

So how did week 1 of training go? 

Well, it was an interesting week getting over the inertia of starting the training again. Getting out of bed early on these dark, cold snowy mornings has been a real challenge even though I am generally in bed by 21.30hrs! Doesn't seem to matter how much sleep I get this time of year my body just seems to want to hibernate, this is typical for me this time of year but I know it will come good and it won't be long before the body accepts the routine and I can jump out of bed with enthusiasm. 

This week I completed 3 swim sessions, 2x endurance sessions (Session one: 4x 1000m with 90s rest. Session two. 500m, 400m, 300m, 200m, 100m x3) and 1x technique and speed session (500m WU, 5x100m fists, 5x100m paddles, 5x100m torpedo with flippers, 10x 100m full stroke, 200m BS CD). Due to the snow I chose not to ride outdoors, rather logging some quality hours on the turbo doing strength sets using hard gears around 65-70rpm. I monitor heart rates on certain gears and rpm's. It is nice to see that even by the end of the week I am pedalling one gear bigger at the same cadence with a slightly lower heart rate. What is also nice is that the mind is adjusting. The first 2hr session on the turbo dragged, now it is flying by and I am quite happy to put down 3hrs which is about as long as I like to do on a turbo. Again running has been indoors utilising the treadmill and all runs have been run at low heart rates with a focus on form and distance. I'll discuss bike and run sessions in more detail in future posts......

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