Reliving Wadi Bih

Falling a little behind on my blog posting over the past week or so due to recovering from illness, getting back to work to find a small mountain of chores awaiting me and having a friend from the UK visiting. Hopefully have a handle on things again now, however, and you can expect to see some more digi-morsels of my brain dirge spewed up on to this blog soon enough.

In the meantime, there's something I wanted to share with you. As you know from this post, I recently took part in the legendary Wadi Bih Run as part of the Nike Middle East team. 

Anyway, here's a rather good video of my team's exploits, anchored wonderfully by Dubai One's Layne Redman. It gives a great taste of the day, the team spirit and the challenge itself.

Tomorrow... racing, RAK and the big MP3 question

Ever heard the song Tomorrow by 90s Manchester Indie poppers James (aye, them of Sit Down fame)? It’s a proper tune (or ‘choooon’ as I believe all the cool cats are saying nowadays). If not, check it out; if so, wrap your sound conches around it again – you’ll not regret it, promise.

So, what’s the reason for this random musical interlude (is it an interlude if it comes right at the beginning? Maybe an Introlude...)? Well, I’ll tell you... I’m racing tomorrow, and I’m pretty excited about it.

It’s the RAK Half Marathon and, aside from being one of the UAE’s biggest events (popular, well attended, fantastically organised), it also means I’ll be lining up with (OK, quite a bit behind) some of the biggest stars of distance running, like Olympic favourites Mary Keitany and Geoffrey Mutai.

Mary and Geoffrey: world-class runners in spite of sounding like a middle aged couple who run the village pub.

It’s quite a ‘loopy’ course is RAK, which is great as it means you get to see plenty of the greats in full flow. And what a sight that is – although not because they look incredibly fast, but quite the opposite; like anyone who’s world-class in any field, they make it look so easy. Relaxed, fluid, controlled – they tick off their sub 3 minute kilometres.

Looking at the sweating, panting mess of cramps and agony that I – and everyone around me – have become, it’s insane to think we’re even doing the same sport as these elites. Then again, looking at their ‘5ft-nowt 30 kilos when wet right through’ frames, it’s insane to think we’re even the same species.

Me and Geoffrey Mutai. He's a lovely kid.

So, ambitions for tomorrow. Last year I did 1:36. A few months ago, based on not much long running at all, I did a 1:33 at the CreekStriders Half. RAK is, undoubtedly, a fast course, so my target is sub-1:30 for the first time. I’m certainly not taking that for granted but am also quietly confident – my triathlon programme has included a weekly 20-26km run for the past 7 weeks or so and I feel like I’m running pretty well. I’m trying to also back myself a bit this time – I think my lack of confidence in my running actually means I run within myself a little from time to time. This time, I’m going to leave it all out there, like a forgetful flasher. The pain cave has been located – I plan to set up camp within for most the race.

Insofar as strategy goes, it’s 4:15s all the way. I suspect that, by the last 2km, I’ll be holding on for dear life if I even make it that far holding the 4:15s, but if not then I’ll use whatever I have left. Us triathletes rarely need a excuse to bust out the technology or spend a few quid on some high-end geekery, but it’s for races like this that my Garmin 310xt really comes into its own, telling me my exact pace at the time and average pace overall. If you’re a runner (or triathlete) who doesn’t have a GPS watch, then I’d really recommend it as both a training and racing aid.  

So, looks like I have it all under control, right? Wrong. I have one big dilemma. While I love a bit of MP3 action for training (I think there’s a whole post on favourite training podcasts to come soon), I’m usually resolutely against using them for racing. For a start, you’re not allowed them in the vast majority of triathlons. But it’s also something about being in the moment, feeding off the atmosphere and hearing the breathing and steps of all the runners around you... I think of that mental challenge as every bit as important as the physical one. On the other hand, while RAK is a nice course for seeing the top dogs do their thing, RAK city makes Warsaw look like Florence. If it were a young lass at a school disco, it’d be the one who never got a snog at the end. If it were a dog, it’d be this guy...

“U. G. L. Y. It ain’t got no alibi, RAK’s ugly, hu-huh...” as Daphne and Celeste almost once wisely philosophised. (OK, how many of you actually sung that in your heads while reading it... come on, admit it!)

So, a little distraction goes a long way. But is it right, or even helpful, to drown out the sounds of the race? Hmm... I’m not so sure. If I do, it’ll have to be music rather than podcasts and, unlike every gym on earth that seems to be convinced everybody likes working out to dreadful Eurotrance, I love a bit of high tempo indie rock and roll when I’m running.

[Note to all aspiring writers out there, Master class # 1 coming up: always bookend with an allusion to what you mentioned at the beginning... now, pay attention.]

So, Bullet withButterfly Wings (Smashing Pumkins) is always on the MP3, as is my all time fave song ever in the history of the world ever full stop amen, The Rat (The Walkmen):

Love a bit of Born ToRun (Frankie or Bruce, doesn’t matter which...), The Bucket (KoL back when they were good... remember?), Moving to New York (The Wombats), and pretty much anything by The Vaccines or The Libertines. Oh, and you know what other tune I like (there you go...you got there before me, didn’t you)?

Ever heard the song Tomorrow by 90s Manchester Indie poppers James (aye, them of Sit Down fame)? It’s a proper tune...

[Tadaaaaaa!]

Did you hear the one about the uninjured triathlete..?

There's a common saying that states something like there are two types of runners: those who have an injury, and those who are coming back from an injury. It's a simplification, of course, but it's pretty damn accurate all the same.

As triathletes, we like to think of ourselves as being above that – after all, we 'cross-train', we have the muscular non weight-bearing benefits of also swimming and cycling, right? Yet, visit any triathlon club in the world and you'll likely find that 90% of members are currently injured, trying to balance an injury with training or have just come back from time off with an injury. Except me...or so I thought. I'm bulletproof. Not in a cool Batfink way, but in a 'haha sport, you can't injure me' kinda way!

I broke loads of bones playing football growing up, but that's bones, right, not muscular. I even broke my neck in a swimming accident as a nipper but that was contact (namely, head making fairly rapid contact with the bottom of a pool), not a tendon strain. Sure, I get sore after big bouts of training, marathons and Ironman, but I recover. I decided that all that swimming (remember: non weight-bearing, not that my head and neck could tell the difference when they had that run-in with the tiles), football (not American football, or Aussie rules all you Yanks and Home & Away-makers out there, but actual football where you kick a ball with, y'know, your foot), rugby and tennis had given me an all-round athleticism that'd carry me through any event and see me walk from a World War 1 battlefield with a couple of scratches and throbbing headache.

Till Monday night.

My programme had me riding for 2:20 which I managed fine (thanks for the company Mr Le Pelley – excellent, as ever) in pretty blustery conditions. After quickly throwing my bike into the car (read: stopping, taking a giant leak, having a little chat with a few folks, putting the bike in the car, changing clothes, putting my trainers on, having another pee) I ran out of the car park ready for the scheduled 9k brick run holding 4:30s, which I'd managed the previous two weeks. The first 4k were fine but over the next kilometre, the lower part of my right leg got tighter and tighter till I could hardly run. After 5k, I stopped and stretched it out but it was no good, so I did the sensible thing and jogged slowly back to the car – not easy when it's the first session I've had to cut short since I joined T2A.

Having not had a tri-related injury before, and weirdly priding myself on that (hey, it's my thing), I worried about it all night. I stretched before bed and when I got up. I decided that the cold (yep, even in Dubai...) could have been responsible. I knew I'd been putting in some serious kilometres this month too, maybe it was a pure overuse strain... I'd have to see.

Luckily, I felt no ill effects yesterday. I took the morning off and ran 7k in the evening, 6k at a steady 4:30 pace. I could tell where the stiffness and soreness had been but it was fine. I was bulletproof again! (I realise that having put all these thoughts into words, I'm tempting an almighty karmic bitch slap of epic proportions to come and snap my achiles clean in two or push me off my bike at 50kph, but...)

POWEEE! Who's the monkey now?

But the experience did make me think about some things. I heard someone say that triathlon is not something you do, a triathlete is something you are; while cheesy enough to make vomit-inducing bumper sticker, there's something in this. I realised that I've been doing the kilometres and training hard, sure, but don't always look after myself in the way I should. And, if I want to stay (relatively) uninjured, I have to start. That means more stretching; an occasional ice bath (i.e. when a long weekend finishes with a 26k run); sports massages; wearing the compression stuff (both for training and recovery) that I once swore by; looking after my nutrition both during and immediately after long sessions; taking a rest day and not using it to catch up on other sessions I had to miss due to work.

While I don't prescribe to the idea that being a triathlete has to inform and shape every fibre of my being, I know that consistency is the key to improvement and meeting my objectives in the sport, and the key to consistency is remaining uninjured. 

Plus, given the way I sulk when inflicted with even the lightest dose of the deadly man flu, I'm not sure how I'd cope with a real in jury!

Man Flu: tragically misunderstood

One man's taper is another man's sprint

Yesterday was a semi-rest day, with just a 45 minute jog on the programme, and one of my top mates Andy came along to join me on the run. It's fair to say that, in the past, both Andy and I have yo-yo'd about a bit in terms of weight and fitness but have both managed to put it all together over the past few years and make it stick. For me, that means triathlon; for him, like most guys with a family, it's a few sessions a week to keep the weight off and the ticker healthy.

We ran a route that we'd run many years ago – maybe four or five years, just at the beginning of this prolonged 'health kick' that has brought me as far as the start line of an Ironman. Back then, Andy powered through and I followed, a sweaty, asthmatic mess. Now, Andy regularly runs a couple of 10kms each week, so he's not exactly flat out of shape but this time it was him who was struggling. And, as he said later, 'you weren't even breaking sweat on that were you?' – although I tried to sugarcoat it a little, the answer was no. It was exactly what I needed – an easy trot to get the legs moving. But certainly no more.

The reason I bring this up – other than to blow loud and proud on my own trumpet! – is to comment how important it is to look back every now and then and see where you've come from. I really want to knock 5 minutes off my 10k run time in an Olympic distance triathlon – that's one of my main goals for after Ironman – but it feels like an enormous task and one that I'm not sure I'm getting any closer to. Until I look back. Maybe to the first time I ran around Arabian Ranches and was happy to complete the 10k in one hour; or to my first ever triathlon when I ran just over 30 minutes for 5k. Then it's clear that I am on the right road and will reach my target if I keep working for it. I think progress is quite hard to spot until it's already been made.

On another note, the taper is going quite well. I've busied myself with seeing family, not to mention a bite to eat and a few beers out in Chester with Andy last night (another significant landmark: my last alcoholic drinks before the big day!). I've ordered a box of my gels of choice (Gu Chocolate Outrage, for anyone interested!) and C02 cartridges which should be delivered in the next day or two – I know both of these will probably be available at the Ironman Expo but, at this point, I'm taking no risks.

Today, it's an 80 minute easy run with a 45 minute masters swim session this evening. Most of the intensity has been dropped from my workouts now, with just a few short sharp efforts in each session to trigger the fast twitch fibres and kickstart glycogen reserves. I'm also running through a few easy stretches a couple of times a day. By and large, I'm feeling good, fit, focused and raring to go...the only downer being the weather forecast for Ironman weekend – cold, very wet and very windy. Well, they don't call it the world's hardest race for nothing...tho Ironman Australia suddenly sounds way more attractive!

10 days and counting...

The Times They Are A Changing

So, what exactly happened to me on Tuesday? Well, I really enjoy being self-coached and, thanks to asking for lots of advice, reading everything I can get my hands on and a little trial and error in the past, I think I’ve done alright until now. Not just in designing a programme to stick to unthinkingly, but also thinking on my feet on days when I have to roll with the punches.

That wasn’t the case on Tuesday. A busy week finishing up in work and the knowledge that I’d be travelling to the UK and spending the weekend at a wedding in Cornwall meant that I was perhaps blinded by the ambition to squeeze a full week of training into the first three days of the week. Big error!

I managed two quite high intensity sessions on Monday (sprint runs and hill reps on the bike). It’s the kind of day that should be followed by a rest day. But no, I decided to follow it up with a long run of 18k on Tuesday morning – this after a couple of weeks that proved nothing if not that I couldn’t cope with the heat and long runs anymore. I don’t know why I tried it – my legs were tired and the heat had been so bad that I was actually enjoying runs on the treadmill (previously my sworn enemy!). Predictably, it ended in disaster as I limped my way to 10k.

I was angry with myself – both for trying at all and for failing. A steady 10k on the treadmill in the evening helped ease that a little.

Cut to today. I arrived back in good old Blighty and, after throwing down my cases, headed out for a run. Now, I had 20k in my legs from two days ago and had only four hours of plane-seat sleep under my belt, not to mention a total of 16 hours  of planes, trains and buses, so it was hardly ideal preparation. I hit a local trail first off, ran through the nearby country park – lots of unsteady ground. I then wound my way downhill to the local town and out from there along a long, steady incline that climbed for 8km as wind and a little drizzle flew into my face. Turning off the main road to cut through farm lanes and villages, after 21k I faced Trial Hill – a 700m climb at an incline of as much as 18%. It was tough, it was very hilly (wow am I not used to hills!) and it was awesome fun. I got home exhausted but had enjoyed the whole thing.

I held a steady 5:30/km pace so the cooler weather didn’t result in a superhuman change to my running (generally doing around 6/km in Dubai heat) but Iwas definitely more comfortable at that pace and felt like there’s more to come when I get acclimatised. My throat did take something of a beating – it’s used to breathing in air that’s at least twice as hot and infinitely more humid!

So, nice long, hilly ride tomorrow. Can’t wait. And just one more 2hr run to go too – that’s being reserved for the New Forest next week. 

The whole Ironman thing is starting to feel very real.

24 days and counting...

Beat The Heat - advice for training in a very hot climate

Ha! In your face heat!


So, after suffering something of a setback during my morning run thanks to Dubai's thermostat being nudged from 'volcanic lava' to 'actual hell', last night I headed for Dubai Masters for a swim session. The nicely chilled water reminded me just why I was enjoying swimming so much at the moment!


In fact, the pool was so chilled that I managed to wear my wetsuit for the whole session - swimming in a triathlon wetsuit is quite different as the suit makes you very buoyant and changes your position in the water; it's important to get used to this, as well as where the wetsuit is a bit tight and limits your movement and discover anywhere it may rub a bit. As the sea here in Dubai is of the sort of temperatures at which chefs send lobsters to their untimely deaths, the pool in my only option. It's a lot of fun swimming the session in the wetsuit - I was the strongest swimmer at last night's session anyway but add the suit and I looked like pre-spliff Michael Phelps in there!


Anyway, did 3,500m total and am getting more and more used to swimming in the wetsuit which is good. I'm generally swimming really strongly overall which bodes well for Ironman but also thee season ahead.


This morning, my programme informed me, I was scheduled to do some shorter, quicker runs. Obviously, after yesterday, I was not looking forward to running again. Sure, the distance was much less but the intensity was supposed to be much higher, which means a faster heart beat and higher core temperatures. Fortunately, yesterday before swimming I did something very wise indeed! I did a spot of shopping...


To paraphrase those Mastercard adverts:


2xu lightweight running cap: 60 dirhams (10 quid)
Bag of ice: 3 dirhams (50p)
Having a freezer box full of ice flakes to shove in your hat and down your top every loop of the track: PRICELESS!


So, it wasn't pretty, but I got through the run session - 1.5k slow warm up and then 10 x 400m fast runs with a 200m easy jog between each. The temperature when I finished a 6.15am? A mere 44C!


Obviously, I only have another week till I'm back in the UK - keeping up training in this kind of heat would be plain stupid - but I think this does serve as some sort of example of what it takes to do triathlons, namely a good dollop of dedication and a soupcon of resourcefulness.


It's not always about training for an Ironman in melting hot conditions; it may be fitting in a lunchtime sprint session because you've had to work late all week, or adding some cross-training because of a running injury, or getting a flat on a training ride and using your skewer to wrestle your tyre off because you've broken your tyre lever... triathlon is a pretty good metaphor for life in that it will throw enough things at you to beat you. If you let it. 


Or, you can see a problem as a challenge and then it's time to start looking for a solution. Even if that means a hat full of ice cubes.


Anyway, hit the gym for an hour of intervals on the stationary bike (cranking up resistance but holding cadence at 90 rpm) which was pretty tough but tomorrow is a nice, easy day with a touch of stretching in the morning (i.e. bit of a lie-in!!!) and just a steady one hour masters swim in the evening. Before the last off the truly GIANT training days on Friday (165k ride, 12k run).

Run Stat Boy Run

There are many reasons why I love triathlon – the whole body workout, the pre-race atmosphere, the sense of accomplishment, the fact there’s always new gear to lust after…but one of the main ones for me is my interest in exercise, physiology, nutrition and general fitness. For that reason, as well as a few others (i.e. it’s pretty expensive here in Dubai!), I’ve shied away from joining a triathlon club so far and have instead remained self-coached.

I design my own programmes through a mixture of knowledge, reading, experience and feel. I enjoy that aspect just as much as training/racing; each week, I spend at least five hours reading or listening to podcasts about new sports science breakthroughs or discoveries, gadgets that could change how we train etc…I also try to stay open-minded to new protocols.

After all, until relatively recently, training for endurance events meant non-stop mile after mile after mile in the pool, on the bike and on the road…all at a steady, easy pace. Now we know that shorter high intensity work is just as important. Although the weekly long ride and long run are still the principal tenets of any IM programme.

Conditions here over summer have forced me to look at other ways to train. Frankly, a long 25-32km run once a week is simply not feasible in these conditions. Therefore, I started splitting that long run up and doing half in the morning and half in the evening. This is a tactic recommended by lots of ultrarunners, marathoners and coaches – your legs don’t have time to recover, so the effect is the same as a long run, but you don’t fatigue as easily, maintain better form (therefore stand less chance of getting injured) and, most importantly, have a few hours to rehydrate and eat between runs.

This protocol worked for a while but then the evening runs just got too hot to continue, so I needed another solution. And while I can grin and bear a 6km brick run or even a 10km training run on the treadmill, the thought of staring at a wall in the gym for two or three hours was always a no-go.

A lot of marathoners nowadays may only do a straight long run once every two or three weeks. As well as doing a double day run, as I was, another tactic they use is to do two mid-distance runs on back-to-back days (you’d usually not run at all the day after your long run). This seemed like it might work and, so, yesterday morning I put it to the test.

Yesterday I headed to Safa Park and managed 17.5km. Doing this mid distance run and knowing that I wasn’t running again till the next day meant I was able to put a bit more effort in.  The first and last laps I did as steady 6min/km warm up/cool down, but the three laps in between I did at steadily increasing paces...it was a great workout.

Last night, I hit the gym for one hour on the stationary bike. The main set was a pyramid of 3, 4, 5, 4 and 3 minute simulated hill climbs pushing against a really big gear in an attempt to ready the legs for the hilly IM Wales course. My legs were a little fatigued from the run but fine on the whole.

Waking up at 5am this morning, I was starting to feel a bit sore but not awful and was looking forward to the second of my back-to-back run mornings. Again, I headed for Safa Park but I knew something was wrong on the first lap – sure, it’s hot here, it’s hot all the time and running is a sweaty, unpleasant mess…but today it was HOT! I just couldn’t cool down – it was as though someone had lit a fire in my head. I managed a warm/up lap and two faster laps on about 5.30/km pace but I had to cut it short and did a cool down lap with plenty of walking just to stop myself from throwing up – I felt light-headed, my heart beat was out of control and I could never imagine being cold again. It was horrible.

Getting back to the car, I downed a litre of water and poured another litre over me. The news on the radio driving home revealed that it’d been 40°C overnight and was currently 42°C but, due to the low clouds and humidity, felt like 46°C. Yep, 46!!! No wonder I’d struggled – running 14km in almost 50°C is lunacy! That’s a temperature for slowly cooking something, not running. Anyway, 31km over the two days isn’t too bad all told.

I’ve tried not to moan about the conditions here too much and find solutions – after all, no one’s making me do Ironman, right – but I have to confess now that I can’t wait to get back to the UK in just a week or so’s time. I’ve one long ride and another back-to-back run day between now and then, so will have to find a way to cope. I keep telling myself that doing all this in these conditions is going to pay off when I return back to the UK (which will be a massive 20 degrees cooler!) so I just hope that is the case and I’m not deluding myself. Planning on putting myself through a 2hr steady run the day I get back, so that should provide some answers.

Anyway, back in the pool for a master’s swim session tonight. Actually, back in the nice, chilled, temperature-controlled pool for a master’s swim tonight...!