Category: swimming

New Year – here we go!

On By 00snookIn 2015, bike, biking, challenge weymouth, competiton, cycling, ironman, marathon, motivation, PB, running, swim, swimming, training, triathlonLeave a comment

So it’s the 1st January 2015, the first day of the year that I will become an Ironman.  In fact, it is a mere 254 days until the race, so it is time to get organised.

It is fairly self evident that to swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles and then run a marathon you need to do a fair bit of training.  Pretty much everything I have read recommends trying to do about 10 hours training per week as a minimum.  This may sound fairly easy; however when you think about it 10 hours is more than an entire working day for most people.  It is a fair chunk of time to find and with a new baby Snook due in February it may prove tricky to fit the training in.

To combat against this as soon as I find a new job (I was made redundant on the 31st December 2014) I am going to hire myself a proper coach to help me along the way.  The man for the job is already lined up, all I need now is somebody to employ me.  I am open to any reasonable offers 🙂

So that takes care of the training part.  Next onto nutrition.  


There is no doubt in my mind that all the training in the world cannot fight against a poor diet.  I have never been one for dieting, in fact you could say that I have always been rather against the idea.  Food is delicious.  I eat almost everything (not keen on rice pudding or things like spotted dick, though I imagine I could eat them if forced).  Other than that I love it all.  

My wife and I are also partial to a take-a-way or 12 and I have always prided my self on being a good cook.  Nice tasting food is often not the most healthy (even when you cook it yourself) and for those reasons I have always pretty much eaten whatever I liked.

This has seen my weight rise from a svelt 13 stone (182 lbs – 83kg) when I was a teenager, to a much more portly 16 stone (224 lbs – 102kg) at the start of 2014.  Currently I weigh somewhere just over 14 stone (196lbs – 90kg), although I haven’t weighed myself post Christmas.

There is a lot of debate about what “race weight” people should compete at; however I have decided that whilst putting on my wetsuit in 254 days time I would like to weigh around 75kg (165lbs or just under 12 stone).  If I am being brutally honest I haven’t weighed this much since I was about 12.  That being said weight plays such a huge role in long distance triathlon that it is well worth my while to get the weight down and keep it down.

To do this, I am intending to follow a fairly simple mantra. 

Eat clean and make the right decisions 90% of the time.

“Eating clean” is a phrase that has been around in training for some time and simply refers to making sure that your diet does not have processed foods or an abundance of unhealthy fats or sugars in it.

I am also cutting out some things from my diet entirely.  This is going to be very tough for me, as the things I am cutting out are many of the things I simply love to eat/drink.  The list of these is below.

  • Alcohol
  • Take-a-way food
  • Crisps
  • Desserts
Some people might say that life without the above wouldn’t be worth living and in all honesty they may well be right.  As such I am not going to entirely deny myself the good things in life.  I still intend to eat an occasional bit of chocolate (especially when I have trained hard that day) and cake is a staple diet of most triathletes so will still have an odd bit of that when offered.  As my mantra says, I need to eat clean and make the right decisions on food 90% of the time.  If I have an occasional sausage roll or roast potato this is not going to kill me as long as I eat clean for the majority.

Other than that I will be cooking my own meals a lot more, utilising my slow cooker to make some delicious healthy stews and currys and eating a lot of porridge for breakfast.

The porridge worked well for me todayas I recorded a PB at the Queen Elizabeth Parkrun this morning.  Proof I actually attended is below (in the form of some muddy trainers)

So I think that is about it for my first blog update of the year.  I will be better at keeping this blog up to date during 2015 and will try to post on a weekly basis.

Fingers crossed I will find something interesting to talk about. I am feeling very confident about 2015 and cannot wait to get stuck into plenty of training and a few events.

Happy New Year to you and your family.  James












Everything is in place………I might just pull this off

On By 00snookIn barefoot, challenge weymouth, competiton, cycling, grazing saddles, injury, ironman, marathon, minimalist, motivation, neuroblastoma, resiliance, running, shin pain, Southsea, swimming, training, triathlonLeave a comment

For the first time since I undertook the challenge to complete an Ironman I am starting to feel that it might just be possible.

When I first told my loved ones of my intention to compete in an Ironman Triathlon I received the following comments:

My Mum         – “Are you sure James.  It sounds like a lot to take on”
My Friends     – A mixture of utter astonishment and general sniggering
My Nan          – “Well my dentist does Triathlons dear and he is much fitter than you”
Cat (my wife) – “You’re going to die”

Now of course all of these comments were completely fair.  I was out of shape.  Very out of shape.  I weighed over 16 stone, couldn’t run to the end of the road without stopping, hadn’t ridden a bike since I was about 10 and the last time I swam anywhere was when I swam from the side of the pool to the pool bar on honeymoon.

Over a year later and things are rather different.  For the first time in forever (to quote from Frozen) I am starting to feel fit.  Weight is slowly dropping off, despite my tendencies to eat entire bags of Doritos and quite a bit of chocolate.  Also I have recently had a great success………..

I CAN RUN !!!!!!!!

All be it not very far (haven’t done more than 6k for a while) but I have no shin pain, the post run calf pain is starting to disappear and I am really starting to feel very positive about this whole endeavour.

Good thing too, as I have a charity place for the Brighton Marathon.  Bushy and I are running for Chestnut Tree House, which is the hospice that cared for Amber and her family, towards the end of her fight with Neuroblastoma.  The marathon is in April and is a great target to aim for.  I can’t wait to strap on my Luna Sandals on the start line, raising some money for this incredible charity and ticking off an important milestone on my way to the Ironman in September.

Some of my regular readers may wonder how I have suddenly managed to start running injury free and why I am starting to feel a lot more fit all of a sudden.  I can put this down to a few factors.  The first one is my discovery of barefoot/minimalist running.  To do this topic justice would require an entirely separate blog post and it is my intention to post this soon.  The second reason is down to one man, Mr Trevor “Tufty” Payne.

Trevor runs two Triathlon training sessions at a gym here in Portsmouth.  The first one is a mobility class, perfect for improving my flexibility and mobility (which is something I sorely need).  The second session is a Bike/Mobility/Swim or a Bike/Run/Swim session.  Lasting 2.5 hours, this is an intense workout and is absolutely superb.

Bushy and I have been attending these sessions for over a month, with Curry joining us recently.  Trevor is an ex professional Triathlete, specialising in Iron distance races during his career.  He is a superb coach (even if he does take the piss out of Bushy and I rather a lot) and I find his sessions hugely inspirational.  He has given me exercises to do at home which I do every day, agreed to write me a training plan specific to Challenge Weymouth and is generally a huge asset to my training.  

So to wrap up this post I would like to say a thank you to Trevor for his help so far and for his excellent training sessions that I love attending.  I was never really a believer in having a “coach”; however I am very glad I met Trevor and can’t wait to see just how fit he can get me ahead of Challenge Weymouth.  I must also mention a special thanks to Josh Smith, who is one of the readers of my blog and was the person who put me onto Trevor in the first place.  Look forward to doing some training with you when you are back in the UK Josh.

Finally to all of the readers of this blog and to those of you who have sent me nice comments about it, a huge thank you to you all.  I’m really starting to love all this training and am pleased that as the winter progresses I will be able to share with you my increasing fitness and join as many of you as I can for a run/swim/bike, or perhaps just a pint!

TTFN

James

PS – If any of you are looking for a Triathlon or Fitness coach please check out Trevor’s website.  You won’t regret getting in touch with him. http://www.zone6coaching.com/



Winter is coming

On By 00snookIn cycling, running, swimming, training, triathlon, winter is comingLeave a comment

As Ned Stark and those who live in the North like to remind us, Winter is coming.  The clocks have gone back an hour, and soon it will be dark at 4 pm.  Now any sensible person uses this time of year to put on a nice big jumper, get out the red wine and chill on the sofa, waiting out the winter.  Spring arrives and we all emerge from our winter lairs, usually a few pounds heavier.  We start to think about maybe doing some exercise for the upcoming summer.  Triathletes start to panic that they should have done more over the winter!

Well this year this is not going to be me.  My training has taken a real back seat the last couple of weeks because I have had a cold that simply would not shift.  Finally this morning I am feeling OK again and am looking forward to throwing myself back into some exercise.

Over the last 4 weeks I have managed to complete the following.

  • 2 hrs 51 mins of swimming, covering just over 5km
  • 9 hrs 40 mins of cycling, covering 242km
  • 31 minutes of running, covering 5.77km
  • 3 hrs 40 mins of strength training work
Now considering that all of that was essentially done in 2 weeks as I have been unwell for the other two, it is not a total disaster.

There were a few low-lights from the last few weeks which are worth noting.

  • I missed the Wiggle South Downs Sportive (sorry to have let you down Waitey) due to a combination of illness and mega cramping that I am still getting from time to time,
  • I pulled out of the Great South Run, due to concern that pushing myself to do 10 miles would set my shin splints off again.
There were also a few highlights.

  • I have started attending Triathlon specific training sessions which I love.  I will post about these separately, but they are great and am really enjoying it.
  • So far I have managed to lose about half a stone (without really doing anything too major) so am hopeful I will be able to lose some more over the next few months.
One thing I have learned from all of this training I have been trying to do lately, is that patience is a virtue that you simply must have.  Sometimes it is impossible to train due to work or personal commitments.  Sometimes you get ill/injured and cannot train.  These things cannot be legislated for.  There is no point getting frustrated or annoyed at these little setbacks.  All you need to do is make sure that when you are well, not injured and you do get a chance to train you use that session wisely and give it 100%.  

So with that in mind, it’s off to the gym tonight for some strength and mobility work.  Turbo Trainer and then a brick run on Tuesday, Wednesday will be Bike/Mobility/Swim at the gym, Thursday on the Turbo and a swim at the gym on Friday.  Saturday is a trip to Twickenham to watch the Barbarians vs Australia, which will undo all of the good I have done myself.  

Oh well.   🙂

TTFN     James




It’s a real mixed bag of emotions in the Ironsnook camp

On By 00snookIn challenge weymouth, cycling, running, shin pain, swimming, training, triathlonLeave a comment
It has now been about 10 days since I signed up for Challenge Weymouth, my first ever Iron Distance race.  By way of a reminder and for those people new to my blog, an Iron Distance race is consists of a  2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run raced one after an other.  There is a cut off time of 16hrs and 30 minutes for Challenge Weymouth.  I am predicting a time around 16hours 29 minutes!!!

In the last 10 days I have veered from one emotion to another regarding this incredibly daunting race.  Initially I was terrified.  Can I even get fit enough to complete this?  Is a year long enough to train?  Will I be one of the unfortunate souls whose kidneys shut down during the race and require hospitalisation (yes Mum, this does happen to a few people!)  Will I even make it to the start line?  Will injury prevent me from competing?

Added to this fear is the pressure I feel. The reason I am doing this is far greater than one man wanting to become an Ironman.  There is nothing wrong with taking on this challenge just because it is there. 1000’s of people do just that ever year.  My calling to become an Ironman was nothing to do with a burning desire to train and exercise.  If anything I was quite happy being a couch potato.  The fact that I am racing to raise money for The Chestnut Tree House hospice, who have provided such outstanding support and care to my friends during a horrid time in their lives heaps the pressure onto me.  Nobody is putting this pressure onto me other than me.  It is an internal drive and desire that I have rarely felt before.  With this comes the realisation that if I fail and cannot complete the race I am letting so many people down.  I am not a religious man, but I am tempted to start praying that I am able to make the start line in reasonable condition and haul my arse round the course in less than 16hrs 30 minutes.

I think that pretty much covers the fear element 🙂  

The other emotion I keep feeling is a sense of excitement and joy that I am taking on this challenge with two very good friends, the day itself will most likely be amazing and if all goes to plan I will raise some money for a very good cause and get to call myself an Ironman.  It is bizarre to feel so excited about something that also scares me to death.  The only similar experience I have had is when I became a Dad.  Exciting and terrifying in equal measure.  So far that seems to have gone OK, but to be fair it didn’t require me to train for hours and hours, week after week.  My wife did all the hard work on that one.

Lastly and probably most importantly I finally feel a real and deep desire to train.  I have never, ever felt this before.  I played football as a kid, but treated the training sessions as a bit of a muck around if I am honest.  I have dabbled with weight training at the gym, but never really put any concerted effort into it.  I have occasionally done a bit of running, then given up because I couldn’t be arsed.  Training for this Ironman seems to be entirely different.  If I am being entirely frank with myself, although I have competed in 4 triathlons this year I really didn’t put in enough training.  I was taking part just to complete the races and knew deep inside that I was fit enough to plod round an Olympic distance triathlon.  Because of this, I probably trained a couple of hours a week, with an occasional long bike ride thrown in just because I like riding the bike.  

All of this lackadaisical attitude seems to have melted away as soon as I booked up Weymouth.  I have bought a Turbo Trainer and love it.  For those of you who are not familiar with a Turbo Trainer, they are one of the best torture devices ever invented.  Essentially it allows you to use your normal bike as a static bike at home.  You get as much out of them as you put in.  Cycle hard on the Turbo and when you get back out on the road it all seems a lot easier.  That’s the plan anyway.  I haven’t yet been on the road since getting the Turbo.  Fingers crossed my master plan works.  

Anyway back to the plot.  I have written a training plan and have managed to stick with it quite well so far.  I have joined a gym where they run twice weekly Triathlon specific training sessions which I will be attending from Monday.  I even got up early on a Sunday to go for a swim!  All in all it is fair to say I am enjoying my training.  I do feel fitter and Cat already says she can see that the Turbo sessions are tiring me out less.  Time to put more effort into those I feel!

The only missing link is the running.  I am still in a very slow build up to any sort of reasonable mileage following being diagnosed with shin splints.  The plan is to get to 5k distance by the New Year.  Very slow progression, but this is the way it has to be.  I have also discovered barefoot running.  This is exactly what is says on the tin.  You run with no shoes and socks on.  Since starting running barefoot I have had no shin pain.  Am convinced it is the way forward.  I won’t be competing barefoot (at least I don’t think I will at the moment) but will continue to train this way.  Ken Bob Saxton is the main man for barefooting.  Anybody who has ever suffered a running injury should read his website.  It might just change your life.   Plus who wouldn’t be interested in finding out more about a man with such a superb beard!

So that is about it for the time being.  It is my intention to post twice monthly updates on how my training is progressing.  The first one of these will be in a couple of weeks.  In the meantime wishing you all much love and happiness.  Any of you Portsmouth based people, if you fancy meeting up for a swim, bike ride or a very short run let me know 🙂

TTFN.

James


1 year to go till I become an Ironman

On By 00snookIn biking, challenge weymouth, ironman, running, swimming, training, triathlonLeave a comment

As I sit and type this there are 100’s of athletes riding round the Dorset countryside on the bike leg of Challenge Weymouth 2014 Iron Distance Race.  They will have all already completed the 2.4 mile swim and the pros will soon be finished on the 112 mile bike leg.  Then it is just a marathon to go and the race is finished.  

The decent amateurs will finish in under 10 hours.  Others will be very close to the 16.5 hour cut off time; however every single one of them will be an Ironman and next year so will I.



In all honesty it is exciting and terrifying in equal measure to think that at this time in 365 days time I will be in the middle of my first Ironman race.  Exciting because I am hoping to raise a decent chunk of money for a very good cause and terrifying because an Ironman is not to be taken lightly.



If I can get my nutrition and hydration spot on, suffer no major mechanical failures on the bike, manage to run uninjured and everything goes perfectly I still have to be fit enough to cover the full distance.  This means training, a lot.

It is my intention to target around 10 hours training per week for the next 52 weeks.  Of course there will be some weeks when I manage more than this and others where I fall below the target.  This is especially likely around February time when my second baby will be born.  I also have to continue to work full-time, commute for 3-4 hours per day, spend time with my family and have a bit of leisure time every once in a while.  To be honest, fitting it all in could be a challenge.  Then again it’s nothing compared with the challenge of actually completing the race and pales into insignificance when I think of the challenges that my friends Steve and Louise (and 1000’s of other parents) face having a daughter with Neuroblastoma.

So the training starts in earnest tomorrow, with a 6am swim session.  Can’t wait 🙂

TTFN

James


How to get Triathlon totally wrong – The Chichester Olympic Distance

On By 00snookIn chichester, cycling, dnf, running, swimming, triathlonLeave a comment

It’s 5.30am on Sunday 7th September and my alarm has just gone off.  Must be time for the Chichester Triathlon.

To say I was looking forward to this event was an understatement.  This was my last triathlon of the year.  A great opportunity to put into practice all the experience I had gained throughout my previous events.  Also, it is only logical that having trained fairly regularly for about 6 months I should be fitter and stronger.  

Having spent a few hours in the pub with Cat’s family on Saturday I wasn’t feeling amazingly fresh; however I knew this would pass as soon as I had a drink and some food, so I was straight downstairs for some Weetabix and a pint of water.  I was already packed up, so it was a simple process of loading my gear in the car and heading off.  I was meeting Curry and Andy at Andy’s house, as he lives conveniently close to the Chichester Watersports Centre where the race was based.

Meeting the guys at Andy’s we changed into our gear, had a quick cup of tea then headed down to the race.  I was still feeling confident and as always spending time with the boys was a great laugh.  We all made it into transition, racked our bikes and Curry and I headed down for our race brief by the waters edge.

The week before the triathlon I had swum the 1500m distance in the same lake in around 28 minutes, so I was confident on a good swim time.  My biking has been getting progressively stronger, so I was targeting a ride time of less than 1hr 30mins for the 40k.  The run was a bit of an unknown factor, as having recently been diagnosed with shin splints I had not run at all in the build up to the event.  Never the less I would cross that bridge when I got to it.  

Looking around the other competitors on the lakes edge there was the usual mix of people nervously joking with each other and people just looking nervous.  I also had the standard reminder that there is nowhere to hide in a wetsuit.  Lets say that skin tight lycra on a man of my proportions is not the most flattering!  Whilst listening to the race brief I was acutely aware that I was feeling quite thirsty.  I had had almost a litre of water and a cup of tea that morning, but clearly I needed more.  Dehydration has a major negative effect on athletic performance.  I was very aware of this fact and knew it was not a good sign I was so thirsty.  Never the less there was not a lot I could do about it now, as the brief was finished and we made our way into the water towards the start.

Curry and I exchanged a bit of banter with a couple of other competitors as we waited for the start.  We swam a bit to warm up; however fairly soon the klaxon sounded to start the race.  Starting my stroke and sighting regularly to make sure I was aiming in the right direction I did not feel comfortable.  Looking back I have no idea why, but I just couldn’t get into a rhythm.  I was “grabbing” at the water, rather than swimming smoothly.  My breathing wasn’t right, my stroke was short and stabby and I knew I was not swimming quickly.  I was constantly analysing what I was doing, tinkering with my stroke, altering swim speed, glide length and all sorts but I just didn’t settle down.  To add to this lack of smoothness, I was also all over the place in terms of direction.  Having no idea why I was swimming so badly I just knuckled down and got on with it.  Sadly, I was also aware of my thirst during the swim.  I was so aware that I even considered drinking some lake water (gladly I decided against it).  There is an adage that says as soon as you feel thirsty it is too late and you are already dehydrated.  Luckily I had water on my bike and the swim finish was not far off.

Climbing out of the lake (with the help of two marshalls) I checked my watch and it read 32 minutes.  This is not a quick 1500m swim for me and in all honesty I was disappointed.  It was a long jog into transition, so I whipped my wetsuit down to my waist, finished taking it off next to my bike, donned my race belt and helmet and I was off.  Out of transition, onto the bike, feet in the shoes and I was away.  A smooth and fairly quick transition.  Not bad.

Within the first 5k I drunk almost 3/4 of my water bottle.  I only had one water bottle with me, though usually I would take two.  I really really wished I had two.  Oh well, off up the hill I went and round the first lap of the bike course.  I was riding OK.  Not amazingly quick but was climbing well and knew what goes up must come down.  My downhill on the bike is normally fairly quick, so I knew I would make up time there.

Before the steep downhill that concluded the first lap of the bike course I finished my water.  Knowing full well that there would be no more water for me until the run (and that I had 20k to go on the bike still) I was worried that I would need more.  Little did I know that this would be the least of my worries.  Starting the second lap I seemed to go into a trance.  No idea what was up with me, but I lost concentration and was only snapped out of it when Curry overtook me.  I knew I was about 2 mins ahead of him as I saw him starting his bike leg after I had already been on mine for a couple of minutes.  Either he had ridden well to catch me, or I had severely dropped off the pace.  Looking down at my bike computer I could see I I was climbing at 8mph.  I had climbed this hill at 10mph on the first lap.  No doubt I was slowing down.

Whether it was dehydration, lack of concentration or just running out of energy I don’t know.  What I did know was that I needed to keep Curry in sight and to start remembering I was in a race not riding to the shops.  I kicked hard, kept him in my sights and made it to the top of the course.  We soon reached a short downhill and I pushed hard to get up to maximum speed.  Towards the bottom of the hill I felt a jolt on the rear wheel and heard the hiss of the tire deflating.  “Oh Sugar” I thought to myself (or perhaps something a bit stronger).

Having never practiced changing an inner tube I made a hash of getting the tyre off.  Once it was off I had the inner in quick, locked the tire back to the rim, pumped it up and I was off.  I probably lost about 10 mins, but this wasn’t a total disaster and I was still in the race.  Up a short rise and then into another downhill I had covered about 60 yards and my tire deflated again.  “Double Sugar” I muttered to myself!

Pulling over I tried to work out what was wrong but the inner tube would not stay inflated.  I only carry one spare inner.  It quickly occurred to me that without another spare my race was over.  Now normally I am a fairly laid back character, but like the Incredible Hulk I felt a rage building in me.  Perhaps it was a combination of swimming badly, riding badly and feeling tired from my exertion.  Whatever it was I went bonkers.  I am not proud of this looking back on it; however I threw everything I could get my hands on into the woods.  I took of my shoes and threw them.  I threw my race belt into a tree.  I threw my bike into the woods.  I threw my bike pump so far into the woods I never found it again.  I was a little disappointed to say the least.

Eventually calming down I collected all my stuff and started the 5 mile walk back to the finish.  After a mile or so a nice couple of ladies who were support crew for their mate (competing in the 1/2 Ironman distance) gave me a lift back to the start.  I was back in time to see Curry finish with a good performance and was pleased to see that Andy had done well in the Sprint distance too.

Suffice to say I was gutted.  This is my first DNF (Did Not Finish) of my triathlon career and it doesn’t feel good.  Needless to say it will be my last.  Better preparation and attention to bike maintenance should ensure that I never suffer technical failure (or such bad dehydration) again.

Sorry for such a negative post.  It does sum up the race fairly well though and I really don’t have much to say about it.  I am starting my Ironman training next week as it is only 52 weeks to go until Challenge Weymouth, so will write a much more positive blog post about that in the next few days.

TTFN.

James




A test of man against nature – The Swanage Triathlon

On By 00snookIn biking, competiton, open water, running, swimming, triathlon, wetsuitsLeave a comment

It’s 5am on Sunday 10th August and my alarm has just gone off.  Must be time for the Swanage Triathlon.

The Swanage Triathlon has been considered by my family and friends to be my “A” race for this year.  My mother and father both grew up and met in Swanage.  My grandmother, auntie and uncle and both cousins (along with their families) all live in Swanage.  In fact, my grandmother has lived in Swanage her entire life, and has been living in her house for 70 years, so you could say that it has very close links to my family.

Swanage is a beautiful place, has a lovely natural bay surrounded by hills on both sides with calm waters for swimming and paddling.  It is an idillic spot for a good old British seaside holiday, and I have spent many weeks as both man and boy enjoying the beach, the lovely weather and in my older years the lively pub scene.  Of course I was hugely looking forward to this Triathlon.  I know the local roads well, have swam in the sea countless times, and knew my family would all be there to cheer me on.  

Swanage in August is usually lovely weather.  Like the rest of the UK it can be a bit rainy on occasion, but usually you will get better weather in Swanage than you will have in the surrounding areas.  It is like God himself smiles upon the town, and those who chose to spend their time in it.  Bearing all that in mind, the weather forecast for the Sunday of the triathlon was far from good.  Strong winds, with up to 50mph gusts, and rain.  A lot of rain.

Upon awakening at my uncle’s house it was clear that the weathermen had gotten this one right.  It was raining, and very windy.  My wife and I woke up our daughter Niamh, Cat got her ready to go and then we walked down to Sandpits field where I had pre-registered the day before.  I had a fairly good idea that the triathlon would be cancelled, and when I arrived at the transition area and caught a look at the sea I was even more sure it would be.  The waves were as big as I have seen them in Swanage, and the hills on both sides of the bay were shrouded in fog.  

Wetsuits are tight!


Never the less I proceeded to rack my bike, and put on my wetsuit.  I have been lent a wetsuit from my Grazing Saddles teammate Mike, and in all honesty it is a little bit on the small side.  As you can see from the picture, it requires my wife to help me hike it up, and Bushy to supervise from afar.  

There was a delay to the start as we were waiting for the lifeguards to arrive, so we proceeded to stand around in the cold getting wet.  Not ideal preparation for a triathlon, but at this point it was still unclear if the event would be going ahead or not.

Sprint athletes ready to go

After a 45 minute delay, the first group of competitors was off.  These were the sprint distance athletes, with Bushy and I starting in the second wave as we were competing at the standard distance.  Watching these guys swim off into the swell I must admit there was a lump in my throat.  I am a competent swimmer, but these waves were big and my open water swim experience had never put me up against waves like this before.

Bushy and I made our way down to the beach and got our briefing.  The swim would be shortened to 750m (should have been 1500m) due to safety concerns, and the bike leg was re-routed to avoid a steep climb and then downhill (although it remained at just under 40k).  The run was also shortened to 5k as we could not run on top of the hills (which was the original plan) as the hills were covered in fog.

Now before I describe the swim, my open water swimming has one major downfall.  I am not very good at “sighting”.  I have described this before, but as a reminder sighting is when you lift your head up during your swim stroke to make sure you are going the right way.  There is a knack to it, and it is definitely something I need to improve on.  Good sighting will make sure that you swim the shortest route possible around the buoys that mark the course.  Poor sighting can mean you swim an extra 100m, 200m or more as you zigzag around the course.  As you can see, getting this right is crucial to a good swim time.

Anyhow it was time for us to go.  I double checked my hat and goggles, got a position close to the back and the side of the pack (to avoid getting too many elbows in the face at the start) and then waited for the whistle.  Ready, steady, we were off.  Below is a picture taken by Curry soon after the start.  If you can make out a swimmer on the right of the bunch not going the right way, this is me.  I instantly swam pretty much, in totally the wrong direction, and found myself out of position.  Remember the sighting?  Prime example of how bad I am at it.


The swim was tough.  I was getting battered by large waves when I tried to breath, and twice got a very big lungful of sea water.  I was coughing and spluttering, kept having to swim breaststroke just to check I was going the right way, and I was struggling.  Still I pushed through, rounded the first buoy and headed towards the second.  I was dismayed to see many of my competitors missing the final buoy and heading straight towards the finish point. Thinking this was probably a mistake on their behalf I carried on round the final orange buoy, and pointed towards shore. 50 metres from shore my left calf cramped.  It has cramped during pretty much every sea swim I have ever done, and was far from ideal.  Knowing I could get to shore easily without kicking my legs, I dragged my feet behind me and eventually felt sand under my hands.  Standing up, I quickly realised that my calf was not good at all.  I limped up the beach, then up the set of steps that took us to transition.  It was hurting, a lot.  I saw my wife and parents on the way into transition and said a brief hello, followed by “my leg has cramped”.  I saw the look of worry on Cat’s face, and knew exactly what she was thinking.  Cramp this early in a triathlon was very bad news indeed.

Limping into Transition

I hobbled into transition, whipped off my wetsuit fairly easily, helmet on and I was off.  My bike shoes were already clipped onto my pedals, so I jumped on the bike, wrestled to get my very wet feet into my very wet shoes, and then started on my way.  25m into the bike, my calf cramped again and I fell off sideways.  It was blowing a gale, raining heavily, and I was lying at the side of the road rubbing my calf.  Bushy caught me up at this point and asked me if I was OK.  How he was behind me I had no idea, he must have been out of the water ahead of me in the swim as I was definitely one of the last out.  Anyhow seeing him spurred me on, I jumped on the bike and off we went.  Bushy had to stop to re-attach his race number properly, meaning I went ahead of him on the way out of Swanage.  

As regular blog readers will know, I enjoy the bike element of triathlons.  I feel comfortable on the bike, know I am strong enough to ride fairly quickly, and due to the fact that cycling is not load bearing I do not suffer from the cramps that can plague me during the run.  All that being said, on this occasion I felt terrible.  I could barely pedal, my calf had calmed down a bit but was still aching.  Bushy quickly caught me and overtook. I seemed to be pedalling through treacle.  Very soon after this I was sick.  It was pure sea water.  Clearly I had swallowed more than I thought.  As soon as this lovely experience was over I felt instantly better, had a quick energy gel and some water, then I was off.  Perversely I quite enjoy cycling in the bad weather as it forces you to focus and get on with things.  Arriving in the picturesque village of Corfe I caught Bushy up and overtook him.  I was desperate to make up for lost time on the swim and pushed hard through the awful weather.  Approaching a roundabout after a downhill section the competitor in front of me slid across the road and crashed into the roundabout.  There must have been a patch of oil on the road, as I almost lost control but managed to keep upright and push on.  Reaching the turning point at Wareham, where we started back the way we came, I felt very good indeed.  There was a nagging pain in both hamstrings, but this was due to pushing hard rather than anything else. As I sped back up the bypass road I went past Bushy going the other way.  We exchanged fist pumps and loud shouts, then head down, I pushed even harder.  I was over halfway and riding well.

The second half of the ride took us up onto the hills around Swanage and past the stunning Isle of Purbeck Golf Course, although there was not much of a view on the day.  Usually from this vantage point you can see the entire of Poole harbour, but today all you could see was grey clouds and rain.  Finally I finished on the hills and started the descent into Swanage.  I overtook quite a few people on the downhill section which I was pleased about.  Whether this is just down to me being a bit more fearless than most, or brilliant bike handling skills I do not know.  Let’s opt for the latter though hey 🙂

Heading out of T2

Into the second transition, I jumped off the bike and racked it, shoes on, helmet off and into the run.  Surprisingly I felt good and set off at a very respectable 5min/km pace.  This is quick for me; however I knew that the first 2k of the run was uphill after about 200m on the flat, so I wanted to get my legs loose before the climb.  Unlike most I do not seem to suffer from the “jelly legs” that people get swapping from the bike to the run and I really was feeling OK.  We then got to the climb, and almost instantly both of my quads locked.  This was yet more cramp, and it was crippling.  I had to stop and stretch and after a quick chat with some marshalls (mostly me assuring them I was OK), I carried on up the climb.  Sadly I was walking, but I was making progress.  After about 1km of walking the legs started to loosen and I managed a very slow jog.  Getting to the turning point I headed downhill.  Unfortunately running downhill is a killer on the quads, so I was slow.  Bushy caught me up and very kindly ran with me whilst giving me a bit of a pep talk.  I was obviously in pain and his kind words helped me to ignore this for a while.  Eventually he kicked on and left me to slowly jog the final 1.5km on my own.  I felt awful, but knew I could make the finish.

The look on my face says it all

After what seemed like an age I got back to Sandpits and crossed the line.  It had taken me almost 30 minutes to run 4.6km,this was not a good time at all.  Never the less I had done it.  Immediately my legs cramped.  Quads and Hamstrings killing me I was reduced to lying on the ground, moaning in pain.  


It was hardly the most gracious finish to a race; however my family around me offering support was a great comfort indeed. An especially lovely moment was when my beautiful daughter Niamh came over, in her all-in-one rain suit, to give me a well deserved cuddle. 

You gotta admit, my Dad has got some style


I would like to say a huge thank you to all those who came to support Bushy and I at this triathlon.  You stuck it out in appalling conditions and I am very grateful for the support.  Extra thanks to Curry for being official photographer on the day.

Finally an extra special thank you to my wife Cat.  She remains ever patient with all these triathlon antics and waking up a 16 month old at 5am, then entertaining her whilst her Dad messes about in a Triathlon is nothing short of a Herculean effort.  Cat, thank you for your ongoing support.  I really couldn’t do all this without you.

Chichester Olympic Distance Triathlon is next, with Curry and I competing together.  It’s also the debut of our Grazing Saddles teammate Andy Matthews in the Sprint distance.  Rumours are that perhaps Neil Perry could be persuaded into this event too, so it should be a great day.

Fingers crossed for dry weather, and a lot less cramp.

TTFN

James




This wetsuit’s made for walking……….and that’s just what I’ll do.

On By 00snookIn beach, open water, Southsea, swimming, training, wetsuitsLeave a comment

Last Thursday Bushy and I decided to go for a swim after work.  Most normal people swim in a swimming pool, where the water is a reasonable temperature, they have changing rooms for your use, lockers, and hot showers.  There is a great pool near where we live in Portsmouth.  In fact more than one.  We decided to go for a swim in the sea.

I picked him up after work and we drove to the beach.  After parking the car, we got our stuff out and started to get changed into our wetsuits when I realised, “what am I going to do with the car key?”  In the not too distant past you could have just swum with the key in your pocket, but my car has a fancy zapper style key, which would surely not take well to being submerged in salt water for an extended period of time.

There was no choice, what we had to do was obvious.  We drove to my house, put on our wetsuits and then walked through the middle of Portsmouth to the beach.  It’s about a 15 minute walk, and takes in part of Albert Road (a popular Portsmouth nightlife area), so as we strolled along, two middle aged men in wetsuits that are probably a little bit too small for them, goggles in one hand, swimming cap in the other we had more than a few funny looks.  One cheeky young lady even took a picture of us.  I mean, as if it is that unusual to see two men walking around in wetsuits at 8pm on a Thursday evening.

Southsea Beach


Arriving at the beach we walked into the sea, and off we set.  It is about an 800m swim from where you get in to the submarine blocks, which is the route favoured by the Pompey Triathletes on the Saturday morning swim, so we stuck with that.  Once you get to the blocks you turn around and come back, for a total of 1600m (which by happy coincidence is also exactly 1 mile).

Bushy and I both swim fairly strongly.  Neither of us is super quick, but we can hold our own in the water and are both confident swimmers.  What seemed strange is that we were making very very slow progress.  There is often a current off of Southsea beach, and tonight was no exception.  The current was strong, so strong in fact that it took us almost 50 minutes to swim the 800m to the blocks, which is not quick at all.  The way back was a vast improvement, and we both took the chance to work on our sighting on the swim back.

Sighting is where you raise your head out of the water to try and make sure you are going the right way.  This has obvious uses.  Firstly, you make sure you are pointing the right way and secondly, it stops you from swimming some sort of exaggerated meandering route, rather than the more direct A-B route that would be favourable.  I am terrible at sighting, and need all the practice I can get.  On a normal 800m swim I reckon I swim closer to 1000m because I seem to be constantly either pointing at the beach, or the Isle of Wight (neither of which are ever in the right direction).

To prove the strength of the current, the swim that took us 50 minutes on the outward leg took 10 on the way back, and we were soon out of the water and walking back to my house.

A very successful swim, great company, great fun.  

So if you are a resident of Portsmouth, and you see two men in slightly too small wetsuits walking towards Southsea beach one evening, don’t just gawk at us and laugh, come over and say hello.  More than likely it will be me and Bushy, as I doubt anybody else is mad enough to wander around in their wetsuits.

TTFN

James



Henley Sprint Triathlon – very much a mixed bag

On By 00snookIn 5k, competition, cycling, Henley, running, swimming, triathlonLeave a comment

It’s 6.30am on Sunday 22nd June.  My alarm has just gone off.  Must be time for the Henley Sprint Triathlon.

I took the executive decision not to follow my usual pre Triathlon preparation of going out drinking and getting less than 3 hours sleep, and awoke after a relatively decent nights sleep.  I had already loaded the bike into the car, and was in definite danger of being close to being prepared.  That being said I had prepared nothing other than the putting the bike in the car the night before; however even this small step is a huge improvement in my normal organisational levels.

Quickly whizzing round the house gathering up my stuff, my ever supportive and beautiful wife Cat and bidding the dog a fond adieu, I jumped in the car and headed off to Henley.  It’s a long drive to Henley despite it being only 60 miles away from Portsmouth, and as usual the sat nav on the car took us a weird and wonderful route down some very picturesque country lanes.  We arrived around 9am, which was in plenty of time for my 9:56 start time in the swim.

Having not factored in that it was a 15 minute walk from the car park (well car parking field) to the triathlon venue, Cat and I arrived and wandered to the registration tent.  “Still plenty of time” I was thinking to myself.  By the time we had registered and procrastinated a bit more I realised it was only 20 minutes till I was due to start. I still had to put my bike in transition 1 (us cool triathlon people call this T1), my shoes in transition 2, get changed into my tri-suit and then get to the swim in time for my pre-race brief, which happens 10 minutes before your start time.  Essentially I was running very short on time.

I work in a pressurised environment Monday to Friday, so of course I am used to tight deadlines and having to do things at the last minute.  Naturally, rather than reacting like I would at work, with steely determination, I opted for the opposite and went into full on panic mode.  Mostly I just complained to Cat that I didn’t know what to do, where to put my shoes, where to put my bike, how to attach my race numbers to my race belt, where the pool was, what my name was and that I had forgotten how to walk.  Fortunately for me she calmed me down, took control, pointed out where T2 was (for the shoes), walked me to T1, sent me off to get changed whilst she did my race belt etc and I made it into the swim about a minute before my start time.

The Henley Tri was a 400m swim in a pool.  4 laps are swum in 4 consecutive lanes, and you move from one lane to another after completing the 4 laps until you jump out after 16 laps of a 25m pool.  With pool swims it is essential that you get the right starting group, as if you are in a group of swimmers that are too fast for you then they will be slowed down and this is very bad form.  Likewise if you are in with a group of swimmers who are slower than you then you are slowed down, which naturally affects your swim time.

Artist Impression of the pool during my swim

We were asked for our predicted 400m swim time when booking up the Triathlon.  I didn’t have a clue what time I put, but knew that Mike, Bushy and Curry had all started before me (meaning that they had put down faster swim times than me).  The fact is that I am probably a better swimmer than both Bushy and Curry, so my starting position being later than those meant I was most likely in a far too slow swim group.  When I saw the other swimmers in front of me my worst fears were realised.  Most of them were swimming breaststroke – VERY slowly.

Despite all this I jumped in the pool, was given the count and was off.  I overtook the slower swimmers when I could, but was horrendously held up at the end of at least 5 of the laps.  Finally getting a bit of open water on my last 4 laps I swam like I had never swam before.  I wouldn’t be surprised if some people thought that I might have been Michael Phelps I was swimming so fast.  Just kept thinking how I had to make up for lost time.

Leaping out of the pool I instantly realised my sprinting the last 4 laps was a mistake.  I was dizzy and very out of breath.  I stumbled out of the pool exit, saw Cat, remember saying something bizarre to her like “see you later”, and then staggered into transition.  My hands were shaking like mad from the swimming exertion, and it took me an age to put my socks and bike shoes on.  I eventually got my race belt, helmet and sunnies on and was off out of transition.  

My view during the ride

The bike leg was two laps of 12.5km each for 25km in total.  I polished off the first 12.5km in 24 minutes and was happy that this was a good time.  I am strong on the bike, enjoy it and felt good.  The second lap was not so good.  I got stuck behind a Range Rover that simply could not overtake a slower rider up one of the climbs, which meant I had to grind my lowest gear super slowly just to get up the hill.  About 5 minutes later I got stuck behind another car which was doing a very bad job of overtaking some slower riders ahead, and then to cap it all off on the only decent downhill on the course a caravan overtook me at the top, then proceeded to ride the brakes the entire way down, sapping all my speed and causing me to say a swear word or two (sorry Mum).

Anyway I eventually rolled into T2 after 55 minutes on the bike, which I was very disappointed with after a quick first lap of only 24 minutes.  Continuing my poor transition form, I ran the wrong way towards where I thought I had left my running shoes, doubled back, found the shoes, on they went and I was off on my 5km run.

Running is my weakest discipline, and for the fist about 400 metres I felt OK.  Then things went downhill.  It was very, very hot.  I was not hydrated enough.  My mouth was a dry as Ghandi’s flip flops.  I knew there was water at the end of each 1.25km lap, so jogged round past Cat and the rest of the support crew, grabbed a cup and swigged it down.  This just gave me stomach ache, so on the second lap I decided not to drink and to keep on running.  The run felt very, very slow to me.  My stomach hurt, and once again, for the second triathlon in a row I knew I was facing a slow run.  After slogging out 2 more laps I crossed the line, to see my Grazing Saddles teammates waiting for me at the finish.  They all looked a lot better than I felt.

Waiting around for a while the results appeared on the main screen at the event, and I crossed the line in 1:35:16.  Amazingly this was exactly the same time as Curry, about 5 minutes behind Bushy and well over 20 behind Mike, who finished a very impressive 12th place.

If I am being honest I was disappointed with my performance.  The slow swim group did not help, and I could have gone at least 1-2 minutes faster in the pool.  Both of my transitions were poor.  The second lap on the bike was a disaster (although not really my fault) and because I did not hydrate properly on the ride my run suffered.

That being said this is only my second ever Triathlon, and I have learnt a lot.  It was great to compete with the team, superb to be so well supported by Ellie, Tymms, and the relevant WAG’s (remembering of course that Bushy’s girlfriend is not actually his girlfriend).

Next Triathlon is the Swanage Olympic Distance, which I am determined to put in an excellent performance at.  Onwards with the training.

TTFN

Snooky

19 days to go! Am I prepared????

On By 00snookIn cycling, running, swimming, triathlonLeave a comment

In 19 days time I will be competing in my first ever triathlon, and as I sit in a hotel bar in Leeds drinking a pint of Budweiser and waiting for my dinner, I am wondering to myself if I am as prepared as I could be.  

The event on the 25th May is the Arundel Lido Triathlon, and I am competing in the standard distance.  800m swim (in a pool), 40k on the bike and then a 10k run.  Firstly, lets see where I am with this.

  • Can I swim 800m – Yes, with ease.  Am off for a swim tomorrow after work just to double check 😉
  • Can I ride a bike 40k – Yes, and I should be half decent over this distance I hope.
  • Can I run 10k – Errrrr, hopefully.  I have been seeing the physio for a while now, and have managed to run 3k twice without any shin pain, so fingers crossed this will be “alright on the night” as they say.
The $64,000 question is can I do all of these things consecutively?  Of this, I have absolutely no idea.  I can imagine that the transition from the swim to the bike should be simple enough, and as long as I hydrate fully during the ride and maybe take on a couple of energy gels then I should be in half reasonable condition for the run.

There is one major thing standing in my way though, and that is my competitive spirit (which is a part of my personality that  I absolutely love, but can get me into trouble).  A sensible man, competing in his first ever triathlon, would probably take it fairly easy on the swim, not go too hard on the bike and make sure to leave plenty in the tank for the run.  This would be sensible, as all he really wants to do with his first Tri is complete it, learn about the transitions and what his body can do, and move forwards for future events.  Now I would dearly love this to be me; however somehow I feel my race will go a bit more like this.

Arrive late for the event, have to set up in a rush then make my way to the pool. Swim 800m as fast as I possibly can.  Be absolutely knackered upon leaving the pool, jump on the bike and ride 40k as fast as possible, paying absolutely no attention to hydration or taking on any fuel.  Get to the run and try to emulate Sebastian Coe as I run as fast as my legs will carry me, running out of beans after 2k and staggering the rest of the way like a Friday night drunk.  Cross the line, feel OK then 2 hours later feel like death and complain to Cat (my beautiful wife, who loves nothing more than talking about Triathlon) that I am getting too old.

Well at least that is my race plan sorted anyway.  Hopefully I will be able to relax and hold back, concentrating on just finishing rather than beating any of the Brownlee Brother’s records on the first attempt.
Next I need to buy a Tri Suit.  If you haven’t seen one of these before, they are a rather fetching all-in-one outfit, with a bit of padding between the legs to protect your gooch when you are riding.  The sort of outfit that looks great on men with 3% body fat (see picture).

These wonderful pieces of lycra sell for around £100 a go, which seems a little bit steep to me, so I am scouring Ebay for a suitably cheap second hand alternative.  If anybody makes Tri Suits for men with “a bit extra padding” then I feel this may well be the brand for nme.

Lastly I need to keep the training up.  Now on this front I am doing OK.  I rode almost 100k with Mike at the weekend, have been for a run tonight, swim tomorrow, gym the day after and then hopefully another ride on Friday evening.  

All things being well and good I should get to my first triathlon in OK (ish) shape, and ready and raring to go.

To quote a great man “How hard can it be”.