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.  

Ironman Frankfurt Race Report

As always time seems to pass quickly, it has been a while since I have posted with my last post being my Ironman Lanzarote race report. Since then I have been busy with life, work and training and another race. Before I get into the race report I am thrilled to share that Laura my wife and I are expecting our first baby in December!

I can also confirm that I have now got 2 Ironman races for the 2014 year lined up. Ironman Austria on the 29th June and the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in October! So 2014 is going to be a big year for me in a couple of areas of my life!

So in the short turn around time of 7/8 weeks I recovered from Ironman Lanzarote and prepared for Ironman Frankfurt.

Ironman Frankfurt

Ironman Frankfurt was on the 7th July, I'll come straight out with it and say it was a disappointing race for me. Leading into the race I felt good and was pleased with my training since Ironman Lanzarote. In Lanzarote I had a poor bike split and reviewed all things relating to this. A subtle 2mm height adjustment to the saddle and a switch in aerobar extensions helped me increase my comfort and power on the bike. A few more high intensity sessions brought back my confidence and confirmed to me that my bike in Lanzarote was simply an 'off day' with the weakness I experienced most likely being a function of the over consumption of electrolytes leading into the race. Running was also going well, I posted a couple of solid long runs between 34-36km at Ironman race pace with low heart rates and a feeling of comfort throughout. Confidence was high leading into Frankfurt.

I arrived with my wife in Frankfurt on Thursday 4th July, it was a very easy journey, a quick flight with BA into Frankfurt airport and a short 15-20 minute taxi ride to the hotel, easy. On arriving I had a nap as it was an early start, later in the afternoon I walked into Frankfurt centre and got registered, this is when it became apparent just how hot it was. It was in the high 20's and the heat felt like it had come from no where.  It was not that hot in the U.K in the days leading up although at the time of writing this high 20's now feels typical.

Sebastien, Marino, Pete & Mike Reilly (the voice of Ironman)

After registering and getting sorted I relaxed with the wife by the river and generally chilled out.  In the evening I built my bike and installed a fresh pair of tubulars onto my bike wheels. On Friday morning I had a short test ride to check everything was working well with the bike, which it was, and a 5km jog on the race course, I felt good although it certainly was hot on the run. The rest of the day was lazy and my wife and I took the opportunity to look around some of the many local shops. In the evening we had the pre event dinner which was awesome, lots of triathlon stars around including Chris McCormack, Marino Vanhoenacker, Pete Jacobs, Sebastien Kienle and Eneko Lanos.

Meeting Andreas

Saturday was check-in day. On route to the coach to take us to the swim start where transition one was located I went via the Raelert lounge at the expo where Andreas Raelert was signing autographs following his win at Ironman Austria.  It was great to meet him and he was a really nice guy who took the time to chat.

I got my bike racked efficiently, I did the usual walk of transition picking markers to identify my bike location etc. I took the opportunity of being at the swim start to have a practice swim. The water was a lovely temperature, clean and calm so I was looking forward to the swim having great conditions.

On race morning I got up at the usual 04.45, had my race breakfast taking care not to over eat like I did in Lanzarote, after breakfast I set about getting organised. Laura and I took a bus to the race start, it was a quiet atmosphere on the bus, there was not much speaking going on, lots of ipods and focused faces!

On arrival at the race start I finished off prepping my bike. I then proceeded to put the wetsuit on and get down to the swim start for a practice swim. I had a good warm up swim, loosening the shoulders off and opening out the lungs. As the race start neared I positioned myself at the front ready for the cannon.

T1

I got off to a good start with very little contact but at about 500m I got boxed in by a few swimmers which made it slow going as I was getting contact from each side and the rear, I could not quite get round the swimmer in front either and I was conscious an extreme effort to get round would pull to much energy out of me so I kept steady and sucked it up. At the first turn buoy I managed to break free from this and get some open water. I swam okay and exit'd the water on the hour feeling good, a solid transition with no mistakes saw me on my bike quickly. I got into a good rhythm on the bike and started to hold the pace I was aiming for even though their was headwind early on which was different to a previous year where there was a tailwind.

Heart break hill

I cycled strong but held back a touch as I was keen to have a good run. On the bike there was lots of drafting going on, a staggering amount of cheating, however the draft busters were working hard to control this and many riders which tried to sit on my back wheel got penalties. There are 3 key hills in Frankfurt with the last being Heart break hill, this is a cool hill as the crowds come in close and give it a tour de france style atmosphere. I passed 90km at pretty much bang on 2hrs 30mins. The next 90km took me 2hrs 38min so my total bike time was 5hrs 8mins. Interestingly as part of an analysis of my splits I compared my bike time to a top female pro athlete, Kristen Moeller. At Lanzarote Kristen rode a 5hr 31min bike split, I rode a 5hr 59min, meaning she kicked my arse by 28mins! If you have read my Lanzarote race report you will know I had a shocker on the bike, this data confirms I had a shocker in Lanzarote as in Frankfurt Kristen rode 5hrs 3mins and I rode 5hrs 8mins leaving only a 5min gap between us! Coming into transition two I felt good, I had taken all of my nutrition and was pleased with my accumulative time at this point. I was now starting to focus for the run. I had a slow transition two as my transition bag was not in the place it was supposed to be. I did not rack my own bag as you have to hand them in at transition one for the organisers to hang for you, not something they had done well in my case! After a few yells a kind volunteer found my bag and I headed to the tent for a quick change.

Coming out of T2

When I hit the run course I felt really good and my legs had some spring in them. My main concern at this point was the heat, it was beating down. I decided to run at my target pace anyhow. For the first 12km I run pretty much at the pace I wanted, at around 12km my stomach started to cramp and I nipped into a portaloo as the discomfort was affecting my pace. After the brief stop I struggled to get back into a rhythm and was starting to suffer, I tried to rally myself mentally but the body would not respond so I kept pushing on hoping that things may come good but they did not. The heat started to get to me, my stomach kept cramping and my legs all of sudden really started to feel it, my paced slowed and with each passing km I was losing time. There were a lot more portaloo stops on the way to a very scrappy 4hrs 10mins marathon. To be honest I was in so much discomfort I was just pleased to finish!  On the way up the finish chute I was pretty dizzy and was swaying somewhat. Once over the line I became very disappointed with my run. I worked hard this year to improve my run, in training I feel I have made progress, data certainly show this, however I did not manage to carry this run form into a race for 2013 a similar theme to 2012..........

Evaluation - so what did I learn?

To be honest I am still considering reasons for why I am not achieving my run potential. But an honest look in the mirror tells me it could be one or a combination of these reasons.

• Inappropriate training - need to consider volume, intensity and session adjustments
• High core temperature - I am a stocky guy, not your typical triathlete build so there is a good chance I may not be dissipating heat well thus my core temperature rises quickly influencing large performance drops.
• I am riding to hard on the bike and trashing myself. 
• My nutrition strategy is not working as well as it could, perhaps I need to get more energy in on both the bike and the run.

So I have some time now prior to my next Ironman in 2014 to find some answers that will help me plan and execute better races next year. Some things I am considering doing to help me find answers are....

• Begin to use power output for cycling so I can better understand how much the cycling is taking out of me and adjust my effort accordingly. Potentially a large cost here as power meters are not cheap!
• Book in for some tests in a climate chamber to better understand how my core temperature rises and ways I can try to influence better control of this.
• Review my run training and consult a coach for guidance
• Keep reviewing and testing nutrition strategies in training and consult with a coach for guidance. 

The rest of 2013 - whats next? 

Finish

With Frankfurt being my last scheduled Ironman for 2013 it has been a disappointing season, probably my worst since starting Ironman in 2006. My next scheduled Ironman is Austria on June 29th 2014, giving me a little under a year without a race. This will be the longest break I have had in the last 6 years. To be honest I think my body and mind may need it. Ironman's hurt, they cut deep into your physical and mental reserves and I think it will do me some good to build the reserves back up, particularly my mental reserves. Your mind remembers the pain of an Ironman long after the body has recovered from it. Andreas Raelert reminded me of this when I asked him how long he would take to recover from Ironman Austria, he sighed and said something to the effect of "two weeks physically, a lot longer mentality!"Your body will only let you punish it that deeply so many times in a given time period, each person will have their own tolerance level, I may have got close to mine in the last 3 years by asking my body to do 9 Ironman's along with numerous other races and the training it takes to do all this, for now, time to freshen up! With my first child on the way I have a few DIY duties to attend to! That said I will still be active and train, my training will simply have less structure, less intensity and more rest. I am off to France in August for a holiday and will get a fair bit of cycling in then. I am also doing the Alpine challenge cycle event in France in September, so this will keep me in good cycle shape. I have also entered a marathon in October and have around 10 weeks to get into shape for that. I have not run a fresh marathon since 2006 so it will be interesting to see how I go......

Ironman Lanzarote race reoprt

Every race I do I like to take time to reflect and evaluate on my performance so I can learn and develop from the experience – and wow what an experience! So here is my Ironman Lanzarote 2013 race report....

Lead up to race

Laura my Wife, Ollie my training partner and I arrived in Lanzarote on Tuesday 14^th May, nearly 4 full days before the race. Tuesday was spent building the bikes, getting settled in and going out for a 40km cycle to ensure there were no issues with the bikes. Following the cycle Ollie and I had a 30min run on the race course. I felt great both cycling and running and was able to run race pace with ease, no issues what so ever. I was in high spirits for the race.

On Wednesday Ollie and I did not exercise we just registered for the race at Club La Santa on the other side of the island.  We took the opportunity to drive some of the bike course to refresh our memories of it. The course was now sign posted in preparation for the race. Much to our amazement we found there were a few small sections in the first 40km that we had not interpreted correctly and as such had practiced a slightly different opening route, no disaster but just shows how easily mistakes can be made! Registration is always a process I find interesting, you get to see all the other athletes. Ages and experience are varied but the majority of the athletes look in great condition and it is easy for self doubt to creep in. This is where I try to remind myself of my experience and my previous good results.

On Thursday Ollie and I swam a loop of the race course and practiced some beach starts and exits that we would need to do in the race. This was a lot of fun and again made me feel more at ease and confident I was well prepared. After this we had a few hours relaxing on the beach taking care not to over expose ourselves to the sun. In the afternoon Ollie and I headed out on our bikes again, just for an hour this time at an easy pace, following this we ran for 25mins, the race course was being set up as we ran so this was quite exciting and gave us a feel for what we would experience on race day. 

Friday was check in day so the morning was spent organising kit into transition bags and doing the last checks which included a 15min spin on the bike to ensure things like brakes and gears were all working smoothly. All was good. Check in went smooth, Ollie and I racked bags and walked the transition zone picking markers to help identify our positions, following this I felt ready. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing, foam rolling and having the pre race dinner which was Lasagna for me, I know not a Paleo meal but it is low fibre, high energy and easily digestible for me. I went to bed around 20.30 and read for 30mins before dropping off. As expected sleep was less than average!

Race morning

My alarm was set for 04.45, although as usual I woke before the alarm! I stayed in bed until it went off anyhow, then I set about the routine of putting on the race kit, sunscreen and having breakfast. I had the usual nerves and chomped away at my breakfast, it went down easier than normal so I squeezed in an extra protein bar, something I now believe could have been a potential issue.

After breakfast I headed to the race start and did the last preparations to the bike, such as inflate tyres, clip on shoes and leave out helmet and sun glasses which I wasn’t sure I would need as it was raining quite hard!! I was concerned about the rain making the bike course slippery, in particular some of the steep descents. I brushed the concern aside quickly though as weather is an uncontrollable and is the same for everyone, so there was nothing I could do.

Race

At 06.45 I had my wetsuit on and had a quick warm up swim in the sea to get acclimatised to the temperature and open out the lungs. I was ushered out onto the beach with other swimmers just before the start. I position myself at the front but got into some jostling that left me about 3 swimmers back. I was not concerned about this as I had a line picked and was ready to go.

Swim: A beach start with 2 loops of 1900m with a land exit in between loops

On the gun I sprinted to the sea and jostled for some clear water for a dive, I got some okay space but had lots of contact which was simply unavoidable, I got a few elbows, feet slaps, and clips around the head but nothing major. I hammered the first 160m to the first turn buoy where the pack funneled causing lots of contact, I got a good few mouthfuls of water and a few push downs on my feet and hips which I reacted to by kicking violently to help me pull away and intimidate the swimmer behind. As planned I got into a rhythm along the lengthy straights and felt good, certainly not bad but not exceptional either. I focused on swimming a tight line around the course and pretty much achieved this except for a few occasions where I got boxed in by other swimmers which slowed me down a touch and deviated me slightly of course.  I felt I was holding a good pace and was pleased to see 29mins on the race clock at the halfway beach exit, which I felt I did exceptionally well along with my second run in and dive. I did feel quite anaerobic at the start of the second loop but again settled into a rhythm

having minimal contact with other swimmers. About a quarter of the 
way into the second loop I saw an opportunity to draft a swimmer close by and pushed to get on their feet, upon getting up to their feet I went to sight to ensure we were on a good line and got a huge mouthful of water that timed with my inhale going straight into my lungs, this was not nice at all and a few years back would have caused me to panic, stop, cough and splutter, but experience has enabled me to deal with this on the move. I exited the swim and saw that the time was 59mins so made haste to cross the timing mat before the 1 hour mark. My primary goal was to swim 58mins however it is always a secondary goal to achieve a sub 1 hour swim and I have done so on many occasions however on bad swim days or poor conditions I sometimes go just over the hour. 

Overall it was a solid swim that put pretty much on schedule with my race goal, it was not a personal best but it was no shocker for me either.

Bike: 1 loop of 180km with approximately 2500m climbing

My Transition went to plan, I was methodical, finding my swim to bike bag with no problems, particularly with some guidance from a very helpful volunteer. In the change tent I stripped my wetsuit quick, had a brief towel down and put on my arm coolers whilst another volunteer applied sunscreen to my shoulders, lastly I grabbed my nutrition and run to find my bike where I slid on my helmet and sun glasses. I had a smooth mount getting my feet swiftly into the pre clipped shoes and begun the bike leg. I planned to ease into the bike and conserve energy over the first 60km ready to push after this, as such I started easy, however after 5km/10mins into the ride there was a left turn sending me up a short incline into the wind. I went to push up this short climb and found my legs pushed back! They did not respond at all, they felt like I had done a big ride the day before and had some fatigue in them, particularly my right quad which was tight and felt like it was being poked. This was really confusing and I must admit I started to worry. I had to deal with it so I decided to gear down, spin it out and hope that the legs would come good. Around 15mins I started my nutrition intake, here I had another shock when after 30 seconds or so of taking the first gel I did a small mouth vomit, not a full vomit by any means, however it was a signal that the nutrition was not welcomed by my stomach, which also begun to twinge slightly. I was now a touch worried and had little choice but to continue to bike conservatively in the hope things would come good. To be honest the first 40km were a real slog, I couldn’t seem to generate any power and felt mentally sluggish.  My training partner Ollie also passed me in this time which was a touch surprising for both of us for two reasons, one, Ollie is a much better swimmer than I am and was expected to hit the bike course before me and two, the expectation was I would bike quicker than Ollie. As it turned out Ollie had a shocker with his goggles in the swim requiring him to stop loads, this meant I just nipped him coming out of transition so he was behind me, but then was cycling well to pass me. Ollie and I had pretty much agreed prior to the race we would not speak to each other if we passed each other or if we did we would not expect a response. When Ollie did pass me no words were spoken. I was certainly confused and after speaking to him post race he was as well, he was not expecting to pass me and was concerned he was biking too hard when he passed me.

After a long fast descent into El Golfo I felt I might be getting my energy back, I passed lots of people on the descent including Ollie and my spirits lifted a bit. 10 or so minutes later we were on another climb and again I found my legs were not generating power well and Ollie passed me back. We then climbed for the next 40mins which included fire mountain which is a long gradual climb into the wind where you can see the road disappear into the mountains, As I climbed this I watched a bunch of triathletes which included Ollie pull away from me, I tried to respond and chase after them but simply had nothing! I was by no means cycling slow relative to the rest of the field however I was by my standards, my bike is my best weapon which was simply not working, The rest of the ride was a struggle, I did have moments where I felt slightly better and after 80km I was able to trickle in nutrition without any sickness but generally I was sighing a lot and at one point thought I might fall asleep on my bike! If I was video’d round the course I would have been caught shaking my head in confusion on a number of occasions.

The conditions on the bike were good and the morning rain cleared after 40km. There was the usual Lanzarote wind as expected but to me it did not feel any worse than I had experienced when training on the island.

One thing of note on the bike leg was when I witnessed the worst bike crash I have ever seen. Descending down from Mirador del Rio which is one of the highest points on the course I was overtaken when travelling between 65-70km/h (I last looked at my Polar cycle computer at 66km/h) by a triathlete who was clearly very confident and taking some risks, he was about 50-60m in front of me as we hit a sharp corner and he got it wrong, I saw his front wheel go into a wobble then he smashed into a metal barrier, his bike splintered apart, wheels and carbon went everywhere and he flew over the barrier down a 15-20ft drop onto rocks! I couldn’t believe my eyes, I immediately sat up and slowed right down, a spectator on the corner run over to the crash site and as I cycled past I debated stopping, I glanced back at the spectator who made eye contact with me and put his thumb up which I took to mean he was okay dealing with the situation or that the triathlete was okay. A triathlete that was between me and the triathlete that crashed saw the whole thing even closer and was clearly in quite a bit of shock he was just free wheeling in a daze, I cycled up close and put my hand on his shoulder and let him know I thought the triathlete was okay, just down the road I passed a support car and informed them of the crash, I then cracked on with my ride.

Run: 3 loops (1x 21km, 2x 10.6km) making up 42.2km

On arrival at T2 I was relieved to get off my bike yet was pleased with myself for battling with myself mentally and mustering up a ride that was sub 6hrs on such a tough course. At this point I was also very unsure how my legs would be on the run but know from experience that your bike legs do not necessarily carry over to your run legs so I had some hope that they may come good on the run.

As I run out of transition I checked my pace which was a touch quick at 13.5km/h so I immediately reigned myself back to target race pace of 12km/h. My legs felt a touch heavy but this was nothing more than usual for a T2, I was now more confident the legs might come good. At about 6km, I was in a nice rhythm and my legs did feel okay, my stomach was behaving and I was able to consume my shot blocs and water as planned. Ollie passed me at about this point and looked strong and on pace for his target run time of 3hrs 15mins, again we only gave each other the slightest of acknowledgements as neither of us dare come out of our ‘focus states’ which go some way to minimising the discomfort. At 15km my legs were starting to feel it and my pace was starting to drop, I focused on my technique and mantra’s but did not manage to find enough mental strength to pull myself back to race pace.  After 20km I needed to wee so I decided to nip into a portiloo. I walked for 1min after this and consumed some water, I resumed running and felt better for about another 1-2km then the fatigue crept back and it was a run/walk slog until the finish. From 20km I could see myself losing considerable time against my target pace of 12km/h (5mins per km), with each km it also became an increasing physical and mental battle to keep running, there was lots of leg fatigue but it also felt more central, I was simply exhausted but yet I did not feel under fuelled like I did in Florida. One big plus point was my feet did not blister so the new trainers worked on this occasion.

I crossed the line with a run time of 3hrs 55mins and a total time of 11hrs 5mins.

Overall

Unfortunately this was far from the race performance I was after, I wanted somewhere between 10hrs 15mins and 10hrs 30mins (something like a 5hr 45min bike and a 3hr 35min run). This said I was pleased with my effort and my will to continue given I did not feel great on race day. In 13 races I can only recall one other time I have felt that bad on the bike and that was Ironman Wales when I bonked from under fuelling.

Post race recovery 

Some might assume after an Ironman that you would sleep well - for me this is not the case and I do not believe it is for Ollie either. Personally I have broken sleep, tend to twitch an awful lot, have weird dreams and wake up the next morning with very sore legs and something like a hangover! Recovery is a slow process and for me starts with mental recovery! I usually begin this with some excessive eating and drinking which was easily achieved in Lanzarote! For physical recovery I use various techniques such as active recovery, compression, cold baths, massage, trigger point therapy and a gradual increase in activity over a two week period to get back into training - I will be doing a post on recovery techniques shortly.

What’s next? 

Next up I have Ironman Frankfurt in approximately 7 weeks time on the 7th July. This is a race I have done before a couple of years ago. I went 10hrs 8mins previously so am looking to improve on that race performance. More to come on this......

Short Evaluation

With Ironman Frankfurt in mind and 7 weeks to progress I will now consider and act on the following:

• 1 week active recovery - unstructured training, do by feel, focus on retrieving 'freshness' from low intensity and lots of recovery work.
• 1 week gradual build in volume and intensity, include some running on trails/grass.
• 4 week block followed by a weeks taper.
• 4 week block focuses:
• Swim - Maintain endurance and keep working on speed. I have a few 3.8km open water races and will put in some lake sessions doing sessions like 10x 400m repeats.
• Biking - I will have a focus on this to put my mind at rest that I am in great bike shape. The better shape I am in for this anyhow the fresher I will be for the run. Example focus session: Long rides of 5-6hrs with 10km TT efforts at race pace. 
• Run - Continue to work on endurance at race pace via high volume interval sessions such as 15x 2km repeats 
• Leg strength - Put a 4 week progressive block of dead lifting and front squats into routine 
• Electrolyte consumption pre race. I did not mention this in the above but in the days leading up to the race I consumed more electrolytes than normal via electrolyte tablets. Both my Wife and Ollie noticed I was urinating an awful lot which means something was going on with my body. Since my return from the race I have looked into overconsumption of electrolytes and have found some common symptoms which are: fatigue, nausea and weakness and that urination is a way the body tries to excrete excess and restore balance! This is something I will research in more detail and do a future post on. Either way I will not electrolyte load prior to next race.
• Pre race breakfast - Stick exactly to planned consumption! I believe the extra protein bar was a touch too many calories which have contributed to the early sickness on the bike due to my breakfast not being fully digested. 

Right I have plenty to crack on with! - Safe training all.

Taper and Race Plan for Ironman Lanzarote

Hi All, I thought I would try something new today by doing a video post......the video quality is not great as I had to adjust the format to upload, will work on a better solution for next time.

Bike set up for Lanzarote - Cervelo P2

Wow time has flown by! I now have 12 days until Ironman Lanzarote and am just starting to taper after a couple of days hard training over the bank holiday weekend. During the taper I will rest more than I train with the aim of 'freshening up' my body so it repairs itself fully for race day. In a post I will do next week I will discuss my taper in detail. In this post I am going to review my bike set up for Ironman Lanzarote and my training to date.

Bike set up

After spending 5 days training on the island of Lanzarote and riding the course a number of times I decided that I would need to make a few adjustments to my anticipated bike set up.

Anticipated set up trialled on Lanza course

The original set up I thought I would ride was a 404 rear wheel and a 404 front wheel. I planned to use a single rear mounted bottle and frame mounted bottle. However after spending some time riding the course I found the cross winds quite challenging with the 404's - whilst I could ride the course with a set of 404's I feel that if I use something with a shallower depth I will be able to get more stable and be more aggressive on descents. Plus shallower wheels potentially means less weight which on a course with lots of climbing can be advantageous. Weight has also made me decide to ditch the rear mounted bottle. After riding the course with an empty back bottle I felt I climbed better and as such want to go light in the race.

The modified set up for Lanza

I have now invested in some zipp 202 wheels which are an expensive buy however they will serve as event wheels for my Cervelo S2 following Lanzarote so they will get some good use. I have had a test ride on the 202's and they are very light, responsive and handle well. They definitely are better in crosswinds so should make a noticeable difference on climbs and descents. By dropping the rear mounted bottle and by changing the wheels I have dropped nearly 2kg of the total weight of the bike which is very noticeable. To drop the rear mounted water bottle I have also had to modify my nutrition strategy changing my usual race drink from Cytomax to Powerbar as I will now need to rely on the race aid stations which hand out Power bar drink, this is because I will not be able to carry enough Cytomax with just a frame mounted bottle. Having just one bottle of Cytomax would mean I need to mix energy drinks which I prefer not to do.

Aerobars with salt sticks & polar RS600x

On the handle bars I am using a Torhans aero bottle for water. This is one of the best hydration pieces of kit I have used. It mounts very sturdy, does not rattle and when full does not effect handling too much. For me having the straw allows me to drip in water at regular intervals whilst maintaining an aero position, this will be a big asset in Lanzarote.

Cable tied onto the aero pads are salts sticks dispensers (the red bits near the bike computer) which will enable me to efficiently carry salt tablets which I can drop in at regular intervals to replenish electrolytes.

SRAM red aero link brakes 

One other bike consideration I had in Lanzarote on the training weekend was braking, my last few races have been fast flat courses where the only time brakes have been needed are when coming into transition, as such I never really needed good braking performance. In Lanzarote some of the descents are pretty hairy with switch backs and as such good braking can save time. I realised out in Lanzarote that my brake pads were worn and not that effective! I have now replaced the brake pads to swiss top platinum pro which are awesome, this coupled with the new SRAM aerolink brake callipers have made the bike braking performance really good so I am much more confident coming into corners at higher speeds and leaving the braking until later.

11-28 cassette

For back cassette I am using an 11-28, a 12-25 is the recommended cassette however I prefer to cycle with a high cadence so will want to spin up hills more than I will push big gears. An 11-28 will help me do this and gives me a place to go if I get over excited early on!

To monitor speed and cadence I am using my trusty Polar RS600CX linked to sensors on the front fork and crank. Keeping distance, average speed and cadence in check will give me good performance indicators that allow me to guage my efforts and ride smart. I train using heart rate but prefer not to use heart rate when I race, I prefer to race by feel which I also practice in training.

Training to date

I have now completed 16 weeks of the 18 week training plan. The last few weeks that were planned as the peak have been really challenging, a tooth issue that has involved me having nerves taken out and root canal seemed to sap my energy levels, I couldn't seem to find that gear that allows me to push hard, it was like my body didn't want any more pain.  This really showed in my swimming, perhaps because it is the most skill based and requires the highest level of neuromuscular synergy. Either way it has been a touch frustrating to have got into really good shape only to have seen some of my times move backwards. I am pleased to say in the last week since having the root canal my energy levels have returned and I have posted some solid swim times.

Over the bank holiday weekend I had my last few days of 'big' training sessions. On the Saturday i entered a 3.8km open water swim race at Boxend lake in Bedfordshire, it was cold and windy making the water choppy. A few reports also suggest the course was long, this could have contributed to a slow time of 1hr 4mins (I normally go under the hour for this distance) along with the cold. I did come 4th though which I was pleased with.

On Sunday I rode a hard 180km in 5hrs 23mins, I tested the full set up including race kit and nutrition, I felt strong and controlled throughout and felt 5mins could have been shaved off for lots of slowing down I had to do due to bank holiday activity going on in villages I passed through. After the bike I had a lightning transition of less than 1min and run 5km slightly quicker than my target race pace of 12km/h. As expected legs were heavy for 3km then they started coming good and I felt I was in a rhythm, this was the goal for the run off the bike, run with good form, get through the heavy legs, find a rhythm then call it a day, leaving the legs in tack for the next days training!

Today (Sunday) After my usual mobilisers I turbo'd for 30mins warming up the legs, I then did 10mins in a heavy gear and ran 16x 1mile repeats each around 7mins with a 1min rest. I felt strong throughout (very good at mile 10). During this run I carried my race nutrition as I will on race day - 4x Cliff shot bloc packs in the back of the tri kit, I consumed these on the same timings that I will on race day. No problems in testing, fingers crossed for the race!

As I write this it is nice to know the hard work is done. I will cycle 100-120km next weekend with a small run off the bike but that should feel comfortable and mentally short compared to what I have been doing. For now it is rest and bed time! The extra rest should mean I have more time to write some blogs. I plan to write one on my taper and perhaps I will share my race plan ahead of the race! There will of course be a full race report!

As always train hard train smart @ironman_jw