Weekend race report – Aerofit 6

Just a quick post from me on what, I guess, must be considered a pretty successful weekend.

Friday was the last of the Aerofit sprint triathlon races and, as I’d only just returned to proper training and had very little biking and almost no high intensity session in the legs, I’d planned to give this one a miss. However, it was the last race of this series and the series is run by our team, so I felt like I should ‘represent’ and, when a slot opened up due to another team member being away, I jumped in a couple of days before.

The race went OK, if not spectacularly. The swim was a bit short (maybe 600m instead of the intended 750m) and a bit shallow, which mixed things up a bit and meant my lead coming out of the water was drastically cut. Still, I came out of T1 first and felt OK – a bit of a relief, to be honest, with how I felt last time still at the forefront of my mind.

Running along the beach before diving back in for the two lap swim.

Pulling a little Bob DeNiro face on my way back into the water.

Diving back in - the swim went around the buoy and not the bloody great tanker, unfortunately.

The winner, Olivier, came through early and very, very fast but I managed to hold off the rest of the field right the way to the end of the bike; even my team mate Ed, who's a hell of a bike rider, didn’t pass me on the bike, which was a little unexpected but I took as a good sign. I got off the 21.5k bike leg in 33 mins (averaging 39+ kph, which included the run in and out of transition) which was pretty decent. Probably as well as I’ve ridden before at this distance, even though I could tell that I was missing quite a bit of bike fitness and wasn't pushing as well as I'd have liked.

The run was a bit of a mess for a number of reasons (newish trainers, miscalculating my goal pace, pretty bad cramping in the last 2km etc) but I ran just over 20mins for the 5k which is in line with what I’ve done before. At the time, I was a bit disappointed with this as I thought my running had improved quite a bit, but now I realise there were a number of extenuating circumstances (lack of training, very little fast running and a lot of slow, long running over the past few weeks). I also realise I’d been expecting a bit too much from myself – I’m pretty sure I’ve never run done a sub 20min (i.e. 4min/km) run in this race before but had gone out gunning for 3.45s or something silly... I should have just been pacing myself to go sub 4s for the first time. Anyway, lesson learned.

Racing out of T2.

Heading out on to the run course.

Looking stronger than I felt.

 My finish time was around my PB (tho the swim was short) and was enough to earn me 3^rd place in the Open Men category – my second podium finish of the year and my first in this series. With the local race scene just about coming to a close, this was a nice way to end the season; especially as this particular race series was the first I ever took part in when I started triathlon a couple of years ago, when my goal was to simply make it into the top half of finishers... When I looked at the guys stood on the podium back then, I never even dreamed that I could be good enough to stand next to them. That I can is something of a victory in my eyes.

Olivier (1), Ed (2) and some other joker.

My first triathlon trophy!

Rest for the wicked

It’s been three or four days since I last posted and, given that last time I reported that I’d been hit by a dose of the often-deadly man flu, many of you doubtlessly feared the worst and thought that maybe I didn’t make it.

Fortunately, I’m a brave soldier with a steely nerve and a robust immune system. Even in the darkest moments, when I was sneezing my way through a pack of tissues, dropping Strepsil like Smarties and downing yet another glass of OJ, I refused to give up hope. ‘Not like this,’ I said. ‘Not now.’

Amazingly, I have survived but medical students of the future will not study up on my case just yet because I’m not quite out of the woods. I thought I’d kicked this man flu’s ass yesterday but today I feel a little run down again and the dreaded ‘tickly cough and sniffles’ have returned. But not enough to stop me racing in tomorrow’s Aerofit Sprint Triathlon down in Ghantoot.

In fact, aside from the obvious inconvenience of basically being on death’s door, it’s been an enjoyable week as I took almost three full days off training and have gone very, very easy for the rest, with just one swim, a one hour bike ride and 90 minutes of running to show for the week. And, again, other than being ravaged by a life-threatening man flu virus, my body feels good – rested and recovered for the first time in a while.

This actually reminded me that my best two performances this year came on the back of small bouts of illness – and, therefore, enforced rest. So, rather than the usual attitude whereby extended rest days just remind me of what I’m not doing, I’m trying to think of this week (and next... as I do a small taper for the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon) as ‘improvement recovery’ – a necessary time required in order to continue my progress not ‘missing out’.

The lull in training has also given me time to reflect and there are a few conclusions.

 This may well just be a bug that’s going around that I’d have picked up anyway (half of Dubai appears to be under the weather), but I’ve been going too hard for too long. That’s not necessarily about training – just training combined with 60 hour/ 7 day working weeks and trying to keep up something resembling a social life. I can and (as IM Austria approaches) will train more but I need to find a balance. If work does take over for a few days or a week here and there, then sessions have to give way rather than be rammed in at 10pm or 3am... that simple.

Like anyone who rushes from one thing to the next discovers, you may do more things but the quality suffers. I suspect that, although I’ve been racking up some good kilometres over the past month or so, the quality hasn’t been great. I read a really good piece of advice about that recently which said you should identify your three (probably one each sport) key sessions each week and hit them hard. The rest you cruise. I like this sort of simplification and will be trying it out in March.

So, ready, sniffling, and sort of raring to race. And aside from the race, this weekend I’ve around six hours of training to fit in. Sounds a lot but not that much.

Old me: Easy. Smash the race, get yourself to a brunch, grab a few hours’ drunken kip, sea swim, five hour bike ride, coach dirt run and then make it to the pub for a football/rugby beerathon!

New me: It’s a big weekend of both training and racing. Smash the race. Focus on recovery, and have an easy day of chores, a movie and maybe even a well-earned nap. On Saturday, keep the sea swim steady (it’s not my key swim for the week), cut the bike ride to an easy 2.5-3hrs and see how the legs feel for the run. If there’s time, a couple of drinks watching Wales smash France in the Six Nations would be lovely – but, if not, just watch it at home.

I guess sometimes, when you come this close to man flu-related death, it just makes you look back on your life and make some changes. And nobody, as we’re always told, ever lies on their death bed and utters the immortal words “I wish I’d spent more time in work”. Although I’m pretty sure plenty of people have looked up and friends and family, as their grip on this mortal coil slowly started to loosen, and whispered: “Bugger, if only I’d stayed between 60-65% maximum heart rate on my Monday night bike rides...”

Race report: Aerofit sprint tri in Ghantoot (race 2)

This Friday saw the second of our local sprint tri series held at the Golden Tulip Bungalows in Ghantoot. In spite of tired legs and a lack of training before the last race, I put in a really good performance, coming 7^th overall and 4^th in the open male category (three from the 40-50 category also beat me...those boys are quick!), so I was really keen to back that up with another decent performance this time.

Training had been going pretty well – lots of shorter high intensity work – but unfortunately I picked up a bit of a cold a couple of weeks ago which turned into a chest infection, laying me out for over a week. I wasn't too sure whether to race or not – especially after a really rubbish swim session on Wednesday night – but I felt OK on Thursday so decided to give it a shot. After all, I'd already paid the entry fee!

I got up at 3.55 and did my tried and tested ice coffee and porridge with sports drink and a Dairy Milk en route. The bike, once again, had been packed the night before and the bag was ready to go. I arrived nice and early, registered and found my place in transition. I stretched and warmed up a little more than I have in the past – a conscious decision as I often feel sluggish in the swim initially – and chatted with friends. I'm really loving the sport and the joy of racing right now...catching up with people in transition pre-race is a big part of that. I think my improvement over the summer (IM built a good base and the high intensity stuff is adding a bit more power) has brought me to a few other people's attention, as there were definitely a few more folk around who knew my name this time. That's a nice feeeling.

Setting up transition used to be quite stressful and time-consuming for me as I'd be so conscious of getting everything right and not forgetting anything. The good news, if you're new to triathlon and find the same, is that it gets way easier. It's now a pretty quick and automatic process.

The swim course changed a little from the slightly flawed last swim – in the briefing, they explained that it'd be a beach start, and then a two lap course with a small run along the beach between loops. I had a quick warm up (could do with more in future) and took my position near what I thought would be the most direct route to the first buoy.

The start was a little bit scrappy and some racers headed off before the klaxon. I didn't wait around to see if they'd be called back and everyone else seemed to have the same idea. It might have been messy, but the race was on. I ran as fast as I could, took a good dive and sprinted hard to the first buoy, making it first. There was quite a bit of wind blowing and the water was quite choppy, which I loved. It made it a fun swim and a more challenging one, which is always going to work out well for me. It also served to split up the field much more than usual.

The first loop flew by and I came out first just ahead of Ian Le Pelley, a great triathlete and strong swimmer, with Nick Tipper just behind him. By the time we'd run along the beach and got back in for the second loop, Ian had caught up a bit and was back on my feet but, feeling really good, I decided to put an extra strong burst in and really drop the hammer for the second loop, which worked out. I came out of the water clear in first and ran into transition feeling good. Time: 9 minutes.

Had a good quick transition (1:53 including the run in and out) and wasn't overtaken in the transition as has always happened in the past, meaning I was out on the bike in completely unfamiliar territory...leading the race! The bike leg is two loops of a 10k out and back route and, weirdly, I arrived at the roundabout that marks the 5k point and turnaround on the first lap, and I was still leading the race! I knew the wind would be with me on the way back so I cranked the bike up to a bigger gear and tried to keep the pace on hard. I knew I was going to be caught, but I made it my mission to get as far as I could before that happened.

In fact, it was about 8k in that Nick went past. Careful not to draft, I tried to stay with him for a bit but only managed a couple of hundred metres as he was really shifting. I hit the halfway point in second before Ed Hawkins – a brilliant triathlete who is fresh from the Ironman World Champs in Kona – came screaming past. I knew Ed was only doing the relay (still some post Hawaii fatigue in the legs, I expect) so it was understandable that he'd be moving quickly. Finally, after about 13km, Olivier Godart (the winner of the previous race) went past me extremely quickly and looking just so strong. It was easy to tell from where I was – the best seat in the house – that Nick and Olivier would be where the winner came from. But Olivier still had a lot of work to do.

At the final turnaround, I had the chance to check out where everyone else was behind me and was really chuffed to see that Ian hadn't eaten into my lead at all – if anything, I may have stretched it a little – and a few other guys who usually catch my swim lead back up on the bike were still a minute or more behind. It's so gratifying when you work at something (I've really concentrated on increasing my power on the bike since Ironman) and see tangible results.

All in all, it was a pretty lonely ride – no toing and froing like in the last race – and noone just in front or overtaking for me to pace off, so I was really happy that I managed to keep the pressure on and cycle hard. I came into T2 in third place overall (with a relay also ahead) having averaged almost exactly 40kmph (31 mins) for the 20k bike leg. Again, I transitioned well (1:10 including the long run in and out) and headed out for the run.

Right at the start of the run, there's a small incline and both my calves cramped quickly and painfully there, but as the terrain flattened out, the cramps passed and I could tell that they would work themselves out and not be more of a problem. I concentrated on running smooth and easy with a fast, light cadence and felt as good as I ever have on a sprint tri run. At the 1k mark, I was running just under 4:15 per km pace and felt good – smooth, even though I was certainly giving my all. Ben (who was marshalling) rode past me and told me I had about 1 minute on the next athlete. I saw Olivier and Nick head past me (Olivier was burning it up and had not only caught Nick but put about 15 seconds lead over him) and then I arrived at the halfway point and grabbed a water. It was really starting to hurt but I thought I could hold the same pace on the way back.

I passed a relay runner (who was next behind me) and then Ian, followed by a few other athletes. I was pretty sure that Ian had caught a decent chunk on me on the run so I tried to up the pace a bit, but really didn't have too much to give. The out and back course is great as I passed friends and other racers I know from swimming club etc and could see how they were looking and what their time was. I always try to give a few encouraging words when I do see them – even if I'm struggling with my own breath.

I dared not look behind and kept running hard – but I knew if I did get caught I didn't have anything more to give. I was willing the line closer. About 800m from the finish, I heard footsteps behind me and I mentally prayed that it was the relay runner who'd caught me but, unfortunately, with about 500m to go, it was Ian who ran past and into third place. I tried to respond and stay with him but he was just too fast – I looked behind and saw there was a huge gap back and so just kept a steady pace into the finish. Fourth place.

Sure, I was a little gutted to have been pipped to what would have been my first ever tri podium finish, but my time (1:04:11) was over a minute quicker than in the last race – and this on a slightly longer course (due to a short swim last time out). I ran the best I've ever run in a triathlon (20:40 for 5k) and beat a lot of guys for the first time – some of whom (like Roy Nasr who won the 40+ category with a storming 1:05) I've really looked up to and admired since I did my first race in Ghantoot a couple of years ago. I remember how fast those guys used to seem to me – it's mind-boggling (and a source of enormous pride) to me that I'm now able to mix it with them. The guys who beat me are superb triathletes – Ian has represented the UK in Commonwealth Games and age group champs, but has been plagued by injuries. To be honest, even though it was at my expense, I was pretty chuffed for him getting third.

Most importantly, I'm definitely improving, getting stronger and loving triathlon. And that's all I could ever ask for. These races may only be small, inconsequential, local affairs, but they can tell you how you're performing and if you're heading in the right direction. Happily, I am. The fact that I've done pretty well after a bout of rest and illness in the past two races has also made me wonder if I may have been overtraining a little here and there, as I've actually felt good and hungry going into these races. Perhaps another lesson to learn?

Next week is the first sprint tri at Wadi Adventure inland in the town of Al Ain. Looking forward to racing in a new venue on a different course.

Race report – Aerofit sprint race 1

As I explained in my previous blog, this weekend saw the beginning of our local season here in Dubai with the first of the Aerofit sprint races in Ghantoot (part of the emirate of Abu Dhabi...about 40 minutes drive from Dubai).

Going into this race, as I also said previously, I didn't expect much from myself as I was definitely still carrying some Ironman fatigue in my legs and, just as significantly, had done almost no training for this kind of race – training for a short, fast sprint (just over an hour) is very different from training for a long, endurance race like an Ironman (12 hours). Turns out I needn't have worried too much.

Although this series has been a regular monthly feature on the tri calendar for the past few winters, this year the location has changed slightly, so it was in effect a new course for most of us. The Golden Tulip Hotel Bungalows are a great location for it though and transition is superb – with around 250 participants (capped at that number – these races are very popular) it used to get a bit crowded in the old transition area.

So, on the day, I was up at 4am and I had a quick shower (tip from Chrissie Wellington – helps to turn up feeling awake), some porridge, a chocolate bar (probably not the best thing in the world but I find it hard to take in calories in the morning – one of the things that always goes down OK is a spot of Cadbury's so...whatever works!) and a can of iced coffee. I'd already pumped my tyres and packed my bike in the car the previous night and packed my bag, so all I had to do was put on my trisuit and the shorts and t-shirt I'd also laid out and go. I really recommend a bit of prep like this the day before – when you have to be up at 4am, it helps to have as little as possible to do or think about.

I got to the venue just after 5 (6am briefing, so 5 was ideal) and had time to register, set my transition area out, make sure the bike was in ship shape, fill my aerobottle, stretch etc. I love the atmosphere at races as more and more people arrive – there are nerves, of course, for any race, but for me it's a super cool experience.

Briefing over and it was time to get in the water and warm up. And then, before we knew it, it was 6.15 and the klaxon sounded...we were off! The swim was an oddly shaped one. The hotel is pretty much at the central point of the beach. We started all the way down to the left, swam out to a pontoon just 30m or so away from shore, then swam parallel with the shore for most the distance. The sand as we entered the water was mushy and oily – like quicksand – so even though it was shallow I just dived in and started swimming as soon as I could and then swam hard to get away from the crowds.

To be honest, I got a bit lucky on the swim. One of the really top local triathletes, Ian, came down just to do the swim as a kind of race practice (think he's maybe injured at the mo so no bike/run) and he went hard, so I was able to just get on his feet and draft the whole way. Another of the top guys, Nick, did the same, drafting off me; I think the three of us opened up quite a sizeable lead. The swim was a bit short in the end (around 650m instead of 750m) although that probably wouldn't make much difference to the overall times as, finishing the swim at the far right end of the beach, we then had to run around 250m across the sand to get off the beach, before running through transition. By the time we'd done this, Ian had stopped and Nick had passed me so I was in second place. This is familiar territory for me at this point in the race but in the past my transitions have been fine rather than good, and I've often lost position. I've been practising transitions a bit of late and that paid off (it's great when you see a result from some hard work) as I headed out on to the road still in second.

The bike was two laps of a 5k out 5k back course and 20km exactly – not the 22km mooted. It's also traditionally where I start making my impressively determined move towards the back of the field, although I usually run out or real estate on my pursuit of last place and end up around 20^th in this race. I didn't expect any better today for the reasons I stated at the beginning and the first 5km was certainly a struggle. I found it hard to control my breathing and had to spin quite hard into a bit of a breeze and very slight uphill – but, while Nick was increasing his lead, he wasn't tearing away from me like he would have in the past. In fact, during the whole first 5k, only two more guys (the eventual winner and a relay cyclist) passed me towards the turnaround point.

Halfway through the second 5km stretch, two more guys I know came past – Tony was part of a relay team and a strong cyclist, Roy is a great triathlete who tends to win the veterans (plus-40s) category every race. But I stuck with them and started feeling really great, finally controlling my breathing and cadence. Being careful not to draft, from then on the three of us worked with each other in something of a pace line to keep going hard to the end. It was without doubt the strongest I've ever felt on the bike during a race. I've simply never been quick enough to work in this sort of pace line with the good riders. I rode around 31mins for the 20km (just under 40km/h average).

Tony and Roy got a few seconds on me heading into T2 but, again, I had a really good transition (opting for a white running cap which I'd left ice melting in – a genius move, really helping to cool me down on what was a very humid [mid-30s even at 7am] morning). I left T2 a few metres behind Roy and, as I headed out, I could see that I had a pretty solid lead on a lot of guys I'd have expected to be beating me.

The run, I knew, was where I'd suffer and I immediately cramped and hurt – inevitable with my last real run being a hilly Ironman marathon less than three weeks ago. I was determined to see it out tho, and just shortened my stride and set small goals. I was passed by one of the brilliant young racers – Tom – whose run makes me look like I'm taking a gentle stroll, but he was the only guy to go past up to the halfway point. There, I downed a sports drink, threw a water over my head and carried on. Amazingly, only one more veteran came through right until the end when a relay runner caught me. The run was an almighty effort, I have to confess, but I came in with a time of 21:30 for the 5km run which isn't too shoddy at all.

My final time was 1.05.24 and my position was 7^th overall and 4^th in my category (open men). Admittedly, two or three of the guys I'd usually expect to be jostling for the podium weren't racing but, all told, a very good day's work and far better than I'd expected. In a lot of ways, it was the perfect start as it set a genuinely competitive marker for the season ahead, while I also know exactly where I can make improvements in all three disciplines, which is the ideal position to be in.

Last year, as my second full season doing triathlon, I think I lost sight of the wood for the trees a bit and focused so much on time and position that I stopped enjoying it. While parts of the race were certainly painful, one of the things I was most pleased about was my attitude. I soaked up the atmosphere and enjoyed the race...how it's meant to be.

In summary then: a great start and amazing (but surprising) to see how all that longer Ironman training has translated into the shorter stuff – especially on the bike. Onwards and upwards then!

Step by step (and some random images related to Ironman training)

This weekend was my last weekend of truly epic training and I'm happy to report that I passed with flying colours. I wouldn't say I'm finding training easy - far from it - but I'm not doubled up in pain, and walking doesn't feel like walking directly on nerve endings, as I thought it might. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing but it's far too late to change anything now.

heading out for a very hot run with fuel belt loaded up with agua

The weekend began at 4am on Friday morning when I set out to rack up some kilometres before meeting the Dubai Roadsters for the 120km ride. My legs were a little tired throughout but it was a good ride and I stayed with the group the whole way (something I struggled with when this IM journey started...so, tangible progress!), then cycled the 20km home and a small extra loop afterwards to end up with a 165km ride - 5km more than my schedule asked from me. The first time I'll have ridden the full 180km will be in Ironman itself, although that's far from abnormal in endurance events. I've now done 5hour+ rides of 160-165km on three occasions and have ridden between 145 and 155 on another four occasions, so I'm hoping that consistency is what will see me through rather than doing a few 100km rides and then once managing 180km.

supplements and carbohydrate energy gel...the diet of a triathlete!

Again, I had to forego a brick run straight off the bike due to heat and a gym closed for Ramadan, so I got in a nap and had a productive day (packing for home mainly) before heading out as soon as dusk fell (and thus fasting was over and I could hit the streets armed with H2O!) for a nice steady 10k run - in spite of the heat, managed to maintain a good pace, which bodes well.

new 'missile' style hydration system which i'll be using for Ironman

This morning, a veritable lie-in with a 5am wake-up to do the coffee run - a group ride out 30km to Bal Al Shams, a lovely resort hotel in the desert, where we're treated to coffee, pastries, juice and fruit, before we make the 30km journey back. This is a nice social ride, and 60km is, nowadays, a very sociable distance. The ride is split into two groups and, although the faster one is more my kind of speed, I rode with the slower group which is great for keeping me slow and steady - the aim of today's ride is simply a bit extra mileage while spinning easy and flushing out the legs after yesterday's hard ride.

rear hydration system wwill carry one bottle and some spares/tools

This afternoon, it was to the gym to hit the treadmill for some shorter, faster stuff - I did sets of 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m to the tune of about 8k in total...didn't feel too bad at all given the miles in the legs and sprint work is normally tough for me. Throw in some tidying and excellent packing progress (packing for a month-long holiday that's to include a lot of training, an Ironman and two weddings is pretty stressful!) so, all told, blinding weekend.

the only fail-safe solution I've found for avoiding bloodied nips...plasters!

The other development is that entries are now open for the first Golden Tulip sprint triathlon here in Dubai - it's a regular series that, until this year at least, has formed the bread and butter of all local triathletes' race calendars. The first race is on 30th September so I wasn't sure whether I'd enter as that's only three weeks after Ironman. I may just about be training again by then but I'll only have endurance and no speed in my legs by then (a sprint is 750m swim, 20km ride, 5km run) so I'm not likely to put in a stellar performance. I entered in the end though because, as I've said before, I just really love racing. If I'm still finding my legs by that point then c'est la vie...it'll give me an easy target time for the next race, won't it.

probably makes me odd but I always find there's something incredibly peaceful and contemplative about a pool pre-swimmers 

The Golden Tulip series is responsible, as much as anything, for the tri-addict you read before you today. It wasn't my first triathlon but it was my first taste of regular racing. I was reflecting on that while doing my sprints today - part of me misses those times when I had no idea what I was doing and the learning curve was massive. Every race, I'd knock 5 or 10 minutes off my PB! That's now very different - eventually, you get to a point that requires an awful lot of training to go a tiny bit quicker. In some ways, that's frustrating...the first time I didn't beat my PB I was annoyed with myself, even though I'd just come back from a week-long press trip and hadn't slept in 48 hours. But I felt cheated somehow.

165km ride + 44C temperatures + tight lycra = award-worthy bout of prickly heat

Strangely, Ironman has changed all that from me. You'd expect, after all these hours of training, I'd be even more competitive and put more pressure on myself to do well, but I've remembered, through IM training, why I love this sport so much. Sure, some of the enjoyment does come with putting your balls on the block and leaving it all out there on the course to find you've knocked a few seconds off your PB. But just as much comes from the people, the atmosphere and knowing I've raced hard. That's all that counts.


29 days and counting...Ironman Wales four weeks tomorrow!