Epic failures

Well, another week is over and last week was, in mileage terms alone, my biggest ever, as I topped 300kms for the first time. The rundown was 6.5km swim (down a little on previous week as there’s no morning training for two weeks); 260km on the bike; 35.8km running. Of course, overall mileage is a bit misleading as the increase is due to me really stepping up the cycling.

In fact, it’s been an odd week – in some ways it’s been killer and, in others, I don’t feel like it’s been that heavy at all. However, there have been a couple of valuable experiences and lessons that helped to shape not only this week but all future IM training. Firstly, I read this blog by fantastic age group triathlete Sarah Lovelock – it’s a great preview of the IM Wales course and there’s one very clear message – it’s going to be hilly. That is backed up by the organisers in this interview:

Midweek, I popped into Dubai’s uber bike shop, Wolfi’s, to pick up a small component I needed. The guy who served me, Gustavo, is an amazing triathlete who has qualified for both Maui (World Xterra Champs) and Kona (IM World Champs) in the past. The key to performing well at an IM, he said, was the bike.

Bright and early Friday morning, riding to meet up with the Roadsters group, I met an Aussie called Scott on the road. He was also riding to meet up with the Roadsters and was also a keen triathlete, with a string of great IM finishes under his belt. The key to finishing in decent shape, he said, was the bike. Lance Armstrong’s autobiography is called It’s Not About The Bike. Clearly Lance doesn’t race Ironman (yet…there are lots of rumours!)

Armstrong: wrong!

The swim holds few worries for me – I know I can come out near the front of the field with a sub 1 hour swim, even taking it easier. All I have to do is keep training two or three times a week and, when back in the UK, get some practice swimming in my wetsuit (water is way too hot here). I ran just over 3:30 for the Dubai Marathon in January which is way faster than I’ll run the IM marathon in. So, I know that, as long as I get through my training and arrive at the start of the run in good shape, running a 4-5 hour marathon is well within my capability. Therefore, once again, it’s all about the bike. I need to get through the 180k bike course in decent time but with as much as possible left in my legs for the marathon. And it’s a hell of a hilly bike course.

My response has been to tweak my training programme. Where there was once room to spend a little extra time here and there on my swim and run, that’s now bike time. I’ve factored in a couple of interval sessions on the exercise bike at the gym (using high resistance to mimic hill climbs). And then, on Saturday, I did something a little stupid.

Straight ahead: Jebel Hafeet

A very early rise saw me cycle from Al Ain (an oasis city, the third biggest in the UAE after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, located 90 mins inland from Dubai). I rode the 15kms out to Jebel Hafeet, the UAE’s second tallest mountain with a snaking, winding, steep road to the top that has been named ‘the world’s greatest driving road’ on several occasions. It’s where supercar brands come to test the handling of their latest vehicles and, importantly, the average incline for the 12k to the top is a bruising 8%.

Great for driving - horrible for cycling!

I started well, I felt strong, I was Armstrong, Contador, Indurain…at first I spun and then, as the climb continued up and up, I stood up out of my seat and mashed away, sweat pouring down me. I took a little rest and the carried on all the way, right the way, high up to…well, about the two-third point. 8k through the 12k to the top, my legs just stopped. I could have maybe pushed a little harder, but it may have done more damage than good and with a full week of training to follow, you have to know when to stop.

View from (near) the top

It was a failure but a useful one. Had I not done 140k on the bike the day earlier, it may have been different. If temperatures hadn’t been up in the mid 30s even at that time in the morning, I may have got further. But most of all I learnt that I needed to dedicate more time to hill training, and that my bike needed an extra large gear on the cassette to make sure I can spin through all those hills in Ironman Wales without destroying my legs for the run. The cassette is a cheap and easy change that'll make the world of difference, the hill climbing will be paid for in hours of sweat, tears and aching legs before Ironman Wales…but these are lessons I’m glad I’ve learned now rather than two weeks out!

And I’ll be back to tackle Jebel Hafeet before I leave for the UK and IM at the end of August!