Training in Lanzarote

Flying into Lanzarote

I have just returned from a 5 day training camp in Lanzarote with my training partner Ollie where the main goal was to recce and train on the ironman course, and what a course it is! I can see why it has the reputation for being the worlds toughest Ironman.

I thought I would share some details from our training and the insights Ollie and I gained.

Day 0: The day before travel was an eventful day for me that was not ideal. I had been suffering with some tooth ache in the week and on Friday, the day before travel, the tooth ache got worse and had been sapping my energy levels although at the time I was not aware it was related and thought perhaps my energy was low due to overreaching in training. Even though I was tired I still went for my morning swim and swam surprisingly well, however upon exiting the pool my whole lower jaw was really hurting and it was a face in the pillow type pain. Concerned this would effect the trip I immediately called my dentists who fortunately had an appointment in the afternoon that I could make. Diagnosis was a dying nerve in a tooth that had been previously filled. The nerves were removed and almost immediately after the anaesthetic wore off my energy levels climbed. My dentists explained to me that severe tooth ache can really sap your energy and what I experienced is quite common. I was obviously really pleased the tooth ache was solved, however dealing with it did put me on the back foot and I spent the evening rushing around getting organised packing the bike etc.

 

Day 1: After an early get up and an efficient journey to Lanzarote we arrived at our apartment around 12.00. We wasted no time and got straight to building our bikes. Once done we went for a walk to get a bite to eat and find the nearest supermarket so we could get stocked up on food and water, the first training session was carrying this back to the apartment! Once organised we got out on our bikes around 15.00, we planned a 2 hour ride to get familiar with the initial part of the bike course which leads you out of town. We weaved out of town and picked up the bike course on an ascent that had a strong headwind, less than 10 minutes out of the door I was glancing at Ollie to see if he was thinking what I was, which was something like Holy S**T! This is going to be tough and windy, more so than expected! Following this relatively short climb we experienced our first descent with serious cross winds an experience that meant I was going to need to wash my shorts! At this point my confidence levels were low and I must confess I have never been so intimidated by an ironman bike course and I had only really just got out the door. The following 30-40km were more of the same and then I had a shocker, my SRAM R2C shifter broke and would not allow me to change gears on the back cassette so I now essentially had 2 gears to get me back 20km to the apartment.

Busted R2C SRAM shitfer

I managed to get home with some struggles out the saddle on climbs and freewheeling down hills. I was in quite a bad mood as I was pretty sure the shifter would need replacing and would be an unexpected cost, more of an issue though were the burning questions; is there a bike shop on the island? Is it easy to get to and would they have this part? And would they have a mechanic to fix it promptly so I could ride again on this trip? With these questions unanswered Ollie and I decided to go out for our planned 5km jog on the ironman run course, as luck would have it at 2.5km we came across a bike shop, I went in and explained my situation and they said to bring the bike down but it would have to be in the next 30mins as they were closing soon and the mechanic would not be in the next day! This meant a fast 2.5km run home to get the bike! I made the bike shop on time but as expected the mechanic could not fix it, he was very helpful but the shop was clearly not used to dealing with high specs bikes and as such was not geared up to do so, the mechanic did however provide the name of a bike shop on the island that does do SRAM parts, he was unsure if they would be open on Sunday though. I went back to the apartment with my tail between my legs and sulked for an hour or two (sorry Ollie!) until I decided to text home to see if my wife Laura could jump on the internet and research bike shops on the island. Laura found the recommended shop and without my knowing emailed the shop my predicament (what a wife!).

After some food Ollie and I got to bed far later than intended with the situation unsolved and some lose ideas on what we would do for training the next day if we could not get the bike fixed. ….

The start of Fire mountain

Day 2: In the morning we got up early and had breakfast, upon checking my phone I saw I had a text from my wife saying that Maria from Probike had emailed her back and had said to call, I did immediately and Maria passed me onto her husband Steve who said he could fix the part or replace it as he had the shifters in stock! He was even prepared to come in on his day off to do it for me – what a guy!  One snag though, I had to get to his shop at 15.00 which was on the other side of the island. Not knowing how long it would take or what the terrain was like I decided I would cycle over in the one gear my bike had available. First though it was Swim time. Both Ollie and I went for our first open water swim session of the year, we swam 4 widths of Puerto del Carmen bay which was around 3.5km, we figured out it was current against on the way out and with on the way back, it was quite choppy but nothing of any real concern, it was easy to see the course and figure out where we would start and exit so we felt confident about the swim.

We got set and then made our way over to Probike shop, it was ridiculous as I had one gear, I had managed to manipulate the lever to give me the easiest gear for the hills so I was able to get up all hills easy enough although down hills were a freewheel. After 50km and some directions from some other cyclists we found our way over Fire mountain, a long ascent into a head wind, and got to the shop where Steve did fix my bike promptly by replacing the shifter. I was super grateful and as such encourage anyone whoever cycles in Lanzarote to visit this Family run bike shop – great service, great mechanic. Back in the game! Due to time constraints Ollie and I then rode 30km home covering some more of the ironman bike course, we found some sections were pretty fast with smooth tarmac and tailwinds and a wicked descent leading back into town where we both scared ourselves by clocking speeds of around 75km/h without even trying, in fact I think I was feathering the back break as I was bricking it due to the turbulent wind!

When we got back we headed straight out for a 20km run at Ironman pace on the run course which is comprised of a long 20km loop and 2x shorter loops of 11km. We found the course had a few gentle inclines on it that would probably sting the legs a bit after an ironman swim and bike, on a fresh run day you probably wouldn’t notice them much, Ollie and I were warned about this by friends that have done the race and we are in agreement that the course is not as flat as claimed, however we felt the rollers provide an opportunity to spread the load over different muscle fibres in the legs which can provide some relief and recharge for when you get back into a rhythm on the flats. The course is pretty exposed on the sea front and if it is a hot day it will be scorchio for sure so plenty of sun screen, ice and sponges for cooling will be required. A headwind on the run out will help keep you cool but will make you work harder and it will push you home which is a motivating thought. If each out and back loop is run well at a consistent heart rate they should be a negative split which they were on our training runs. 

After our run much to Ollie’s amusement he noticed I had a rather blatant sunburn line on my arm, which I could not figure out how I got as I was meticulous with sunscreen!

Day 3: With a working bike todays focus was about riding the whole bike course. So after an early swim, 4 widths again, we headed out on the bike. We worked at a solid pace and started to get to grips a little bit with the wind although it didn’t make it any less challenging or daunting. The bike course truly has everything, long ascents into brutal wind, fast flat sections, technical descents with switch backs and crosswinds, beautiful views, parts where it is hot and parts where it is cool. Ollie and I made it round the 170km available of the course (10km is in town on roads that are only open on race day to cyclists) in a little over 6hrs. We then trotted 5km off the bike, legs felt surprisingly okay after the challenging ride that had over 2300m of climbing in it, most of which is into headwinds!

View from the top of Mirador del Haria

At this point in the trip I was not feeling confident about the bike, getting round, no problem, getting round in my target time, well I may have to re-evaluate that along with a few tweaks to my bike set up. 

Day 4: This day was a recovery day, my energy levels and legs were a touch flat after the previous 3 days exercise so a sleep in was taken and it was decided that we would just do an easy run around the short 11km loop of the run course and 'charge up' for day 5.

View from Maria del Rio 

Day 5: For day 5 we cycled another full loop of the bike course and followed it with a race pace 11km run. I was tired in the morning and was concerned I would not do well on the cycle, however after a very conservative start and some early consumption of calories I started to feel more spritely. On this loop I trialled riding light in the hills by ensuring my water bottles only had just what I need to get up the climbs, I found this made a big difference to how I climbed. I will certainly factor this into the race plan. We completed the bike course around 10 mins quicker than on day 3, I rode conservatively and was tired so was pleased with this. On the run I started with the usual discomforts associated with adjusting to running from biking, after 2km I found a rhythm and was able to hold race pace with a small amount of focus, I wouldn't say it was very comfortable but it did feel sustainable. I trialled my Cliff shot bloks, trickling them in on minutes 20 & 40. They seemed to work well and my energy levels were good. I finished the run feeling strong, a great end to a challenging 5 days that comprised of: 7km swimming, 470km cycling and 50km running. All that was left to do now was pack for home!

Spent after a 7hr session

As well as some quality training I gained some valuable insights from seeing the course so the trips objectives were achieved. On the plane home I took the time to jot down some thoughts on possible tweaks I may make to my race plan. These are as follows:

• Consider a change to my front wheel to shallower wheel. I found the crosswinds pulled the 404 around. It was manageable and plenty of triathletes will ride them i'm sure but I feel to be more confident and aggressive a shallow wheel such as a 202 on the front would benefit. If it is a high wind day this will also be a good choice!
• Consider switching my energy drink from Cytomax to Powerbar so I can use the course supplied nutrition meaning I do not have to carry as much. I will then be able to ride the hills light. I get on very well with Cytomax so I am in two minds on this, a couple of long test rides on the Powerbar will make my mind up on this one.
• In line with the above I may remove my rear bottle mount, If I do use Powerbar I will not need two energy bottle on the bike. I will only need my Torhans Aero bottle for water and one bottle for energy that I can keep replacing. 
• Wear my arm coolers (white sleeves) on the bike. I wore these after getting the sunburn and found them to do a great job keeping me cool. I have only used once before in a hot race and was  not convinced by them but after using them a couple of time in Lanzarote am convinced they will benefit me. 

In my last post I mentioned I would review my bike set up - which I will do in the coming weeks once I have finalised my decisions. Only 4 weeks left now until race time!!

Celebratory drink after 5 days training