Tri Ramadan

So, Ramadan has arrived. For those who’ve never lived in an Islamic country, you may well wonder how it affects the lives of us non-Muslims living here.

Initially, I have to admit, my first Ramadan was a bit of a culture shock but once you’ve been through it once, it makes very little difference. In fact, it’s like many things in Dubai – people back in the UK often ask me what it’s like: ‘Hey, is it true you’d be arrested for walking down the street with a can of lager?’ Well, yes, but how many times do you walk down the street with a can of lager in the UK? Unless you’re a student or a tramp.

What I mean is that all the things you need to consider for Ramadan seem consequential, but they rarely make that much of a difference. Essentially, non-Muslims can’t eat, drink or smoke in public during daylight hours. So, most cafes and restaurants are either closed or have a giant blind they pull down. Our workplace is pretty western (as are most here) and, therefore, we allow water and coffee to be drunk at desks but ask that people eat in the kitchen area…as they do all year! At home, do what you want – fill your boots.

Bars and restaurants can’t serve alcohol until sunset. Although, to be fair, that happens at around 7pm…if you can’t wait till 7 for a drink, again, you’re probably a student or on your way to a life on the street. Bars can’t play music or entertainment during Ramadan which makes the atmosphere a little odd, but then it’s the height of summer and hardly anyone goes out at this time of year anyway.

But Ramadan does, of course, affect the active. Gyms are fine – it’s understood that it’d be dangerous for people to workout without fluids and, so, these are simply sort of ‘no go’ areas for Muslims during daylight hours.

But what about me? I like to do as much of my training as possible in the great outdoors. Well, evening sessions are fine – it’s dark by the time I get home from work and head out, so it’s (sweaty) business as normal. Mornings are more problematic, as sun-up tends to happen around 5.

Swimming is the easiest discipline to deal with. Even though the water is cooled you definitely still need to drink during the session. Even in water, swimmers lose about half a litre of fluid in sweat during a one hour session. But my masters club is pretty western and, like the gym, it’s a case of don’t come if you don’t like what you’ll see. Cycling and running are less easy though, as they happen out there in the real world, so you can’t control who’s looking.

For the weekly long ride, it’s a case of hydrating beforehand and then grinning and bearing it until we get out of town, then it’s pretty safe to drink away as normal until we head back into civilisation…unpleasant, but doable.

Running needs to be cannier – and I’ll probably head to Safa Park to do laps. It’s around 3.5km around the outside of the park and there’s public toilets on either side – I’ll carry my drinks bottle and just have to dive into the toilet quickly each time I pass to take a swig! Which won’t look dodgy at all.

I also think the gym will be seeing more action when it comes to the shorter bike/run stuff. On the positive side, once this week is over (I’m really busy in work) it’s down to Ramadan hours (9-4) which means more relaxation, visualisation, stretching and prep time…or maybe more time lying on the couch watching Spaced DVDs.

Duh...winning.

Since 'making my comeback (!)' as I like to think of it (i.e. since taking up endurance/multi sports a couple of years ago), I've not actually won anything more than a participant medal. The closest I've come was in an aquathlon (10k run into 1500m swim) - when, after a disastrous run (I did the vertical marathon the day before which killed my shins and calves and left me almost crippled!), I swam my way back into 4th position. I'm pretty certain I'd have podiumed in the sprint tri I did in Henley too had it not been for a major problem with my handlebars coming loose, meaning I had to take a 1k detour back to transition to fix my bike during the bike segment.

However, that all changed yesterday as I won the inaugural DMSC Wild Wadi swim. The idea was simple - the lazy river on which people sit in their inflatable tubes and get pushed around the park by the current, we'd swim around that two times and against the current. And man was it tough. You couldn't allow any glide portion in your stroke, which meant staying strong with a fast turnaround the whole time. It was 800m long but swam like about double that.

Anyway, I started fast and took it out on the first lap being drafted by a girl who apparently works at the waterpark. There was one straight where the current was so strong we barely moved at all. Weaker swimmers were, apparently, having to try to walk it but even that proved tough.

Just after the halfway point, the girl on my feet decided to make a move for it. I looked back and couldn't see the third placed competitor so I just let her go and drafted on her feet. It was bit slower but much easier and I saved energy for the last turn or two when I kicked hard and sprinted past. Go ME! When I got out, tho, I almost threw up...my lats and abs burnt like fire so it as great open water training.

Best three thing about winning? 1. It's nice to win stuff - it might only be a small swim club race but it strokes the ego and goes some way to justifying the time spent training.

2. My prize was a snazzy medal, some super dooper cool Blue Seventy carbon race goggles and a pack of Gu energy gels which I use a lot anyway.

3. I beat some guys who'd usually be near me or ahead of me in this kind of race - proof that the training is working and I'm swimming stronger now than I have since the comeback trail started!

4. Oh, there's a fourth! I looked like an awesome swim ninja in my cool Blue Seventy PZ3 swimskin which I'll be wearing over my tri suit for all non wetsuit triathlons this winter.

Back to training this morning and I got in a 143km ride - 60 of which was done with the fast coffee ride group. Normally around two-thirds of my long rides are done with a group (which is safer and more interesting as you can chat your way through a 5 hour ride) but managed 83k today riding solo - great practice for Ironman.

45 mins on the treadmill tonight (decided to swallow my treadmill hatred a little and get a few more runs done in the aircon after last week's heat stroke blow-out) then it's a 2hr easy ride tomorrow AM, 10 x 800m fast runs tomorrow PM, and finally a nice easy recovery week starts...I'm certainly ready for that!

Racing and resting

I've got a race tomorrow! And what a fun race it should be - organised by my swim club, it's taking place at Wild Wadi - one of the giant, state-of-the-art waterparks we have in Dubai. 

The race itself is two laps (800m) of the Lazy River going the 'wrong way' around, i.e. against the water flow!

Friday mornings are obviously usually reserved for my long ride and in normal circumstances an 800m swim wouldn't be worth bumping my ride for. However, there are three reasons I'm keen to do this swim.


Firstly, due to the flow of the water, organises say this will be like a 1500m swim; and as the sea is about the same temperature as your average lava flow here at the moment, this is about the closest thing I'll get to practising in open water.


Secondly, it looks fun. Since I've been in Dubai I've taken part in the Swim Around The Burj (the Burj al Arab is Dubai's famous sail-shaped hotel which stands on its own island) and a Vertical Marathon (56 storeys up the stairwell of a tower block). They're the kind of events I won't get to do when I leave Dubai, so lap them up, I say!


Finally, yes it may only be our swim club and a few other keen swimmers taking part, but it's a race and I love racing. Even if bragging rights are all that's at stake, racing gets my competitive juices flowing and helps me to refocus on training. After Ironman, the triathlon season will just be kicking off here in the UAE, and there's already a packed calendar with sprint and Olympic triathlons, running races, marathons, aquathlons (swim/run) etc every weekend...and I'll be doing all of them if I can. What's the point of all this training if you don't race?


Actually, there's another reason for swimming rather than cycling tomorrow - I'm knackered. My run this morning was a bit sluggish and the past few mornings, for the first time, I've had to really drag my ass out of bed when the alarm has gone off at 5am...a sure sign of fatigue. Luckily, next week is my easy recovery week and I intend to follow it to the letter - I think a massage and a couple of ice baths will also be on the cards. So, after the swim, I'll take the rest of the day off and make it up with a hard 150k ride (mainly on my own) on Saturday instead.

Ramadan starts here this weekend. While that provides one set of problems training-wise (can't eat or drink in public between sun up and sun down), it also means a manic period of work should be over and, for the last couple of weeks before I head back to the UK, we'll be working reduced Ramadan hours (8-3 or 9-4) which obviously allows an extra hour or two per day for relaxing and recovery too.


I'm still 6 weeks out from IM - well too soon to start a taper - but equally I'm going to pay extra attention for the next three weeks that my sessions are about quality and I'm getting enough recovery (sleep, fluid, quality food, rest, massage) so I turn up in Tenby knowing I've the miles in the legs but also that I'm rested and raring to go. 

Hitting the Ironman training wall

I guess that, during anything as difficult, or indeed long, as an Ironman training programme, it's inevitable that there'll be peaks and troughs; although I've had some tough sessions so far, I'd not had what I'd count as 'an absolute mare'...until today. Tonight I hit the wall.


Now, in the marathon, I've found the mythical wall that everybody hits to be less of a sudden, insurmountable object and more a 5k long swamp filled with treacle - enough to slow you down and make it hurt, but not to stop you completely. In IM training, however, it seems that the wall lands like a hammer blow right in the pit of your stomach and then tries to tear your entire body in two. Today marked the exact midpoint of the middle week of my training, so I guess if there's going to be a wall, then that's as good a place for it as anywhere.


Today was my long run day. Due to the extreme heat, this means a medium run in the morning followed by another slightly longer run in the evening. As I've said before, my body doesn't usually respond very well to running first thing, but the last couple of weeks that situation has improved and that proved to be the case again today. I flew around 14k at my heat-adjusted easy goal pace of 6:00/km.


This evening, it was going OKish until the 8k point (halfway for the night and 22k for the day). Then, it was certainly not going OK - in fact, Monos god of pain made a beeline for Dubai and landed slap-bang on top of me. I put this quasi-death I suffered down to one, or more likely a combination, of two factors...


Firstly, I started suffering hideous gastro problems. This isn't unusual for long distance racers (triathletes, runners. cyclists...whatever) as when you do endurance events, the body intelligently sends blood to the areas that need it most (i.e. the heart and muscles)...not the stomach, which closes down, which isn't good. I'm a bit concerned as tonight was the first time that I ran using the exact energy gel (Gu - chocolate and mint chocolate mixed with water - 100cals and 20g carbs per shot) that I was planning on using for IM and the exact sports drink (Gatorade orange thirst quencher - 100cal, 28g carbs per bottle) that'll be available on the course. However, I think my problems had more to do with a fairly hefty chilli con carne and sweet potato late lunch I had.


Secondly, just when we thought Dubai had reached maximum oven-ness, old Madre Natura decided to dial it up another couple of notches. It was 42C when I started running and 'just 40C' when I finished at almost 10pm. In these conditions, the body is working so hard just to, well, not keel over and die, that the rest is kind of secondary.


All of this said, a really bad session is only one that you don't learn from. I won't be having chilli before a big run again. I'll also try the gel/drink combo out on my 135k ride this Saturday - if it causes GI problems, then better I know now and try some alternative brands till I stumble upon one that suits. I was pleased with how I dealt with the setback - after a timely pitstop at a small shopping centre with a toilet, I dialed down the pace to little more than a jog and walked for 2 mins every 1k or so to take in fluids while walking rather than while my belly was jigggling about. Most importantly, after throwing up a couple of times, I finished the run - proving to myself that I've the mental strength but also that I'll be able to react to difficulties that pop up during the race. After the run, I also showed myself that I can down a 1.5l bottle of water in one gulp...impressive stuff, right?


The final lesson? Next week is my final easy rest week. From then on for the final month, there'll also be a focus on quality rather than pure volume. But simply put, I don't think much more than 20k a day is possible in these conditions. Anyone who's seen me train, race or, indeed, climb Kilimanjaro, knows that I'm not found wanting when (and forgive the colloquialism here) it comes to showing some balls. I love to train hard, I'll keep pushing my limits and, if I stop, you know it's because I've spent every last ounce I had plus a few more. I don't want IM training to be easy - it should be a right of passage, a test - I want to reach that finish line and for it to really mean something. But I'm aware that this attitude isn't always the healthiest. Tonight, simply put, did my body no favours at all and probably risked injury or illness. Idiot!


So, decisions to be made. I think I could eek a little more out of a morning run and maybe just get through an easy 10k in the evening on long run days from now on? Maybe (very reluctantly) the treadmill will have to play some role in long run days in future? Or, just as I've based my long run training on recent marathon trends for splitting the run into a morning and evening run, a lot of coaches are now prescribing two back-to-back days of quality, slightly quicker mid distance (i.e. 15k at 5.30 pace in this heat) runs...I think I'll give this a try in a couple of weeks' time.


For now, I'm just glad the day is over. Seven hours sleep then it's time to hit the gym for an hour on the bike...and tomorrow is a whole new day. 

Unexpected results of training for an Ironman

You expect the sore legs, extreme hunger, lack of social life, looks of ‘are you actually insane?’ from people you talk to, and even the saddle soreness. But training for Ironman has revealed a whole load of other things that not one IM programme or Beginner’s Guide To Going Long book has ever one told me.

1. Learn to be less precious about your body. Heat rash, nails falling out, bloody nipples, whole strips of skin being worn away…all par for the course.
2. You’ll end up doing more washing than the average small hotel.
   Two workouts a day + 40 degree temperatures = a constant flow of washing through the machine.
3. Some people will get defensive and tell you about their prior athletic achievements. Now, it’s nice that you’re sharing, and I always encourage anyone to get involved and be passionate about sports (particularly endurance sports) but no, just coz you were ‘pretty useful on a BMX’ or ‘got all your swim badges’ three decades ago, you still couldn’t do a triathlon without training and, while I may not be Andraes Raelert, if you came swimming/riding/running with me, it’d make you cry like a little girl.
4. If someone told you that sticking feathers in your hair and flapping your arms like a chicken would cool your core temperature by even 0.01°C, you’d do it in a heartbeat.
5. Baths are awesome – hot, cold, steaming, filled with ice…they all soothe my aching body.
6. Vaseline, Body Glide, chamois cream…anything that reduces chaffing is worth its weight in gold.
7. My car requires less upkeep and servicing than my bike does. By this point, it’s also probably worth less than my bike.
8. You can ridicule me as much as you like, wearing compression tights after a hard session is a luxury I’ll never give up. Baggy trackie bottoms the rest of the time!
9. Those who don’t do this will never quite comprehend the sheer guilt-free bliss that is an eat-and-drink-as-much-as-you-want brunch after a 6 hour brick workout!
10. 6 hour brick session + drink-as-much-as-you-want brunch = lightweight disaster.

Progress and motivation

Another week of training complete and, well, I hate saying it coz surely it’s sure to come hurtling back like a malevolent mosquito set on biting me on my ass, but…whisper it…I’m feeling pretty confident.

This was arguably my biggest week to date and as big a week as I have scheduled. In total, I managed 11k swimming, 277k cycling, 58k running. Most significantly, this week contained both the longest ride (163k) and the longest run day (32k) that I’ll do.

Now, I know there are a few doubts – as I do more than half that ride in part of a group, you benefit from group riding dynamics. We also get a couple of quick rest stops to refill our water bottles during the ride. The run I have to do as half in the morning and half in the evening due to temperatures. Again, I factor in fairly regular stops to rehydrate.

However, I’m choosing to ignore those doubts. Two runs in a day, most coaches now tell us, is just as good as one long run, if not better. After all, it’s not as if your legs have a chance to recover in the 8-10 hours in between, so the second run is still done on tired legs. The only difference being that you’ve had a chance to get some food and drink on board – but I think the fact that the IM marathon won’t be taking place in 40 degree heat outweighs that. Same goes for the cycling – not to mention that I won’t be doing it after a week of heavy training and I’ll be well rested and properly fuelled. Plus, just as there are times when the group pulls you along when riding, there are times when you have to keep feathering your brake to avoid hitting the wheel in front.

So, all good so far and I’m feeling great – OK, slightly tired legs but today is a recovery day (just stretching this AM and easy swim tonight) – not to mention motivated.

People often ask how you manage to keep your motivation while doing something like this. I don’t think there’s any single one thing – you have to take inspiration wherever you can find it. This week, that hasn’t been hard. Firstly, I been watching those awesome riders in Le Tour de France put in such monumental work each day. The way Schleck and Contador attacked some of those mountain stages was heroic – as was the way Evans refused to let them out of sight. And Evans’ TT performance deserved le maillot jaune. Then there was the news that Oscar Pistorius (the Paralympian athlete with carbon blades for legs) got a 400m PR in Italy which qualifies him to be picked by South Africa for the full Olympics. Again, heroic.

But there’s the small stuff. I really like inspirational phrases and quotes (I’ll share some with you soon) and, so, when I see a new one, I print it out and stick it on my wall near where I keep all my swim/bike/run gear. The greatest one, however, is that mental image of me coming into the final couple of hundred metres of the Ironman – of crossing that line and knowing what it has taken to get there. That’s the image that I keep readily available in my mind for 4am starts or when I have to dig deep.

So, why do I want to ‘become an Ironman’ so much? That’s hard to explain but I think this video (for IM Hawaii) comes closest:

In the long run

Been a good week so far as, on Tuesday, I managed to accidentally exceed my longest planned run day – and two weeks early. Basically, due to running loops (so I can refuel and rehydrate back at the car), I did a 14k morning run (supposed to be 13k) followed by an 18k evening run (supposed to be 16k). Obviously, 32k is a great day’s work (WIN!) but I have to admit to feeling pretty damn awful and slow towards the end of the evening run (LOSE!).

In many ways, that’s to be expected. My ideal goal pace for long training runs is around 5:30/km. I decide to allow a little leeway for the heat and aim for 5:40/km which I managed with ease in the morning and just about struggled to for the first 9k in the evening. And then I died.

After some in depth reading, it seems that actually around 10-20% should be allowed for in these extreme temperatures, so 6:00/km throughout would be ideal. Now I know… Next week’s long run will be down to around 30k, followed by an easy 18 in one sitting during my easy recovery week. Then back up to around 30-32 for the final time the week after that.

On the positive side, hell, I did a 32k run in hellishly hot and sweaty conditions. And the following evening (yesterday) I did a nice, easy 10k recovery run holding the 6:00/km pace and felt relatively fluid and easy considering (that’s a marathon in 36 hours, all told).  

Anyway, ready for the big weekend session now.