IM – 4: The Peak Period.

The beginning of the end

This week marks the start of the second last period of training (before the final taper week): the Peak Period. From November to April, I built up strength to sustain long sessions. From March to June I turned this strength into sport specific endurance. Now it’s time to turn sport specific endurance into Ironman performance.

In an ideal world, I would have adequate endurance built up to comfortably complete all three distances easily. I feel I’m there with the swim and the bike but injuries meant I ran late with building up running miles - I never reached the top of the build phase (running 40+ km a week) - and so I will forego the peak running workouts in favour of building up as many marathon pace miles as I can.

Peak workouts are typically shorter and at a constant, high intensity. On Saturday, I went out with a short distance triathlete and did 105km on the bike between a flat session out to Wicklow/Kildare and a 30km time trial. It’ll mean sacrificing some endurance in the hope of boosting race performance and freshness. Fewer sessions over all, and working on 4 hour muscular endurance sessions rather than 8 hour slogs. The same in the pool - 2km at a faster than race pace rather than long race pace swims.

The peak phase starts with a rest week after the Build period (and the Half Ironman last Sunday).I took Monday off and worked on active recovery on Tuesday and Wednesday. I went to the physio also, for a dry needling session. This is basically acupuncture where short needles are used to relieve tight points in muscles (it sounds worse than it is!). It can be a good compliment to deep tissue massage which physios often use for the same ends. It relieves tension with more accuracy but can mean longer recovery time afterwards – my hip was still sore as of Sunday, which was a bit annoying.

Doing four less sessions this week has left with some time I forgot existed. I’ve used this to train for the mental side of the IM the best way I know, reading Dean Karnazes:

“The [race] would be primarily about one thing: not giving up.  It really didn't matter how long it took to get the job done; what mattered was getting it done.  This was an exploration into the possibilities of self.  Being a champion meant not quitting, no matter how tough the situation became, and no matter how badly the odds were stacked against you.  If you had the courage, stamina, and persistence to cross the line finish line, you were a champion.”

IM – 5: Ironman 70.2 UK

This week I took to the seas to compete in my first “M-dot”, official Ironman race. It was the Half Ironman UK, or Ironman 70.2 as they are now called (because they it totals 70.2 miles), over the distances of 1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21km run (a half marathon).

Some stats:

• Swim (1.9km): 36:26
• Bike (90km): 3:21:11
• Run (21km): 2:05:03
• Total Time: 6:12:33
• Nutrition: 2l of electrolyte, 3l of water, 5 powerbar gels, 1 powerbar, 2 banannas, 3 meusli bars, 2 cups of gatorade
• Calories burned: 4378

Several people seemed to have bad encounters at the race previously, so I was braced for the worst but it turned out to be an exceptionally well organised race. Probably the best organisation of any triathlon I’ve ever competed in.

I arrived over on Friday, via the ferry. I set up the tent on a camp site right beside the location for the race, which was hugely handy. To say that the race, at Wimbleball Lake, is in the middle of nowhere would be an understatement. Don’t expect roads wide enough for two cars or phone reception, but do expect a beautiful location and a laid back few days. Registration opened on Friday. There was a small tented village created for registration, tri shops and some other things there, as well as the large transition and changing tents.

I arrived after 6 so I was too late to register on Friday so I simply relaxed for the evening.

On Saturday morning, the buzz was beginning to grow around the camp site and the venue. I swam about 1km of the swim course in the organised swim, which was hugely useful. It was a lake swim, which is my favourite type of swimming. No salt and no chlorine. I registered at 11:30, sorted out my gear and checked in my bike. They operate a “clean transition” there (and maybe in all M-dot events). This means nothing is allowed around the bike in transition. You are given three bags to sort your gear. On exiting the water, you collect your “Swim to Bike” bag containing helmet, bike cloths, sun glasses etc. and change in a big tent, putting the wetsuit into the bag. After the bike leg, you grab your “Bike to Run” bag from the numbered hooks with runners etc. and change into them before dumping the bag (which is rehooked by voulenteers) and legging it off. The bags:

The was a Q&A with the pros in the afternoon before the race briefing at 4pm. It was mildly interesting to hear from the pros although it didn’t seem like they were too pushed to be there. The race briefing was where the excitement started, I think. There was about 1000 (of the 1400 competitors) crammed into a big tent and I was surprised to hear that IM 70.2 UK is considered to be the toughest 70.2 course in the world (of Mdot 70.2s that is). After the race briefing, we drove some of the bike course before getting quite lost on the very, very rural roads and we settled for dinner in a pub we stumbled upon. I was there with a friend from London who had driven over to register on Friday after a rowing race. She was driving back for the finals on Saturday morning before driving back over to race on Sunday.. and I thought I was hardcore).

The alarm went off early on Sunday morning, at 5am. Derude and other 90’s dance were blaring from the finish line a few hundred meters away and the camp site was already buzzing in equal measure with bike tires being pumped up by eager looking competitors and sleeping bags being around worn by people with that “why do I do this?” early morning pre triathlon look. Amazingly, it dropped below freezing overnight and everything was iced up. It had warmed up by the 7am start.

At 6:45, everyone assembled at transition before the walk over to the swim start. This was a mass swim start with 1400 people starting at once. I was assured it would be rough and I wasn’t disappointed. I’ve become quite comfortable in the scramble at the start of triathlons at this stage. Here is the one thing I’ve learned: don’t stop swimming. If someone elbows you, keep swimming. If someone swims over you, keep swimming. If you swim on top of someone, keep swimming. It’s that simple.

One thing I remember in the race briefing is that they said it’d start right after we hear the national anthem. I thought this was a joke, but it wasn’t. At 6:59am, God Save the Queen serenaded 1400 people threading water in Winbleball Lake. I’ve never been fired up before for a swim start, but I was for this one. The hooter went and all hell broke loose. I was about a third of the way back and towards the centre. As I said above, the first 50 meters is a scramble where you feel like you’re in a washing machine. It settled down surprisingly quickly though and I got into a relaxed stoke quickly. I took two elbows during the race, one at the start and one at the big squeeze around the first bouy. Both times my goggles were knocked off. It didn’t bother me too much, I just fixed them and went on. I had my strongest swim to date, I swam it in 36:26.

The run to transition was up a steep hill and at the top, I found my racked Blue bag with my cycling gear in it. There was a big tent with seats to change in and volunteers to help anyone who wanted it, which made a big change from the open transitions of shorter races – 2 minutes in transition makes less of a difference in a 6 hour half ironman than a 1 hour sprint.

After the change, I unracked the bike and started the cycle. I noticed then that the day had warmed a lot from before the swim. I checked my watch then to see my faster than expected swim and felt strong. From driving the bike course, and from the fact that I spend almost all of my time training on the bike in the mountains, I knew it was going to suit me a lot – very hilly, with some tough climbs. The first 30km or so on the bike, I spent getting my legs into cycling mode and reminding myself of the plan – to hold back slightly on the first (of two 45km) lap on the bike and to take on plenty of food. I did this, and stuck in the vicinity of a few other strongish cyclists on TT bikes. I took mental note of the climbs – where they ended, how steep they were, and how hard I could push the descents. On the second lap, I somewhat put the hammer down and pushed hard. On the first of the steep climbs, it felt great to leave the TT bikes behind. I noticed the biggest difference in my descents. Perhaps most are unused to cycling in steep hills, or perhaps because I train in mountains more than most, but I was able to push it a lot harder on the descents that most others and it was here that I gained most time.

Two things of note were the extremely well stocked aid stations along with the nicest volunteers I’ve experienced (I dropped a power bar that was handed to me from one and he ran 30-40 meters at full tilt to catch up and hand it to me), and the oasis’ of 50-100 supporters who gathered at the tops of the hardest climbs with cow bells, whistles, drums.. and generally made as much noise as possible. It created a fantastic atmosphere. I got a few grins of acknowledgement from people waving gigantic English flags for the fact that I was wearing an Ireland cycling jersey (it had to be done).

By the end of the cycle, I was still in good shape. I finished it in 3:21:11. The second transition was more of the same, with the bags and the volunteers – mostly dispending sun cream. It had turned into a scorcher and was, I guess, about 25C at that stage.

The run was a 3x7km lap course and the course itself was quite hilly and mostly offroad (which I liked a lot – I much prefer running offroad on uneven tracks to monotonous roads, there’s less time to think about how hard the run is when you’re concentrating on not breaking your ankle with the next step). I was very conservative on the first lap of the run. Owing to all the trouble I’ve had with tendonitus, I really didn’t want to inflame it early. On the second lap, I pushed it a bit harder and when coming one of the bigger hills around the 10km mark, I felt it start to get sore. I think this was inevitable (I’d been making good progress at the physio to loosen out the hip, but the program I was following was still just at 2-3km runs). It ebbed and flowed for the rest of the run and never really threatened to prevent me from finishing. I followed a strategy used by the current IM world champion, which is to walk through every aid station to take on water, food and energy drinks. It worked well and I will follow this for Ironman Switzerland. There really is no point in trying to drink on the run, it just ends up all over your face.

I found the last lap of the run very tough. I’d put this down to the low volume of running I’ve been able to do for the last 5 weeks. The finish line was both welcome and great fun. It was lined with people making a great bit of noise. It’s this Razzmataz that makes the Mdot races worth racing.

I finished the run in 2:05:03 and the whole race in 6:12:33. This put me in 431st place out of the 1450 entrants and 16th out of 61 in the 18-24m age group. I was really happy with my time, even though I know from the 1:36 half marathon I ran two months ago that I could break 6 hours with some more running. Not just completing, but actually racing the swim and the bike make me a lot more confident about Zurich. I’ll move more towards maintenance mode for these two disciplines in the remaining 4 weeks and do everything in my power to prepare for a marathon. It’s going to be tough as hell. But it’s going to be possible.

Week IM – 6:The Wicklow 200;The IM Cycle

I’m writing this over a very, very large meal. It’s gone on for the last hour and shows no signs of abating.

Today, I did the Wicklow 200. It was a 200km cycle through the Wicklow Mountains and the towns that surround them. It started in Greystones . This was the first full IM cycle I have completed this year. Here’s how it went:

0km – 50km: (Sally Gap) (The race started in Greystones and climbed up to the Sally Gap before the long descent to Kilbride. The weather started off fine but out across the Sally Gap, it was strong winds and heavy rain. That’ll toughen us up! I started cycling with a fellow triathlete, Noel, and we set a very fast pace. We started a bit later then many others (you could start any time between 6:30 and 8:30). We both felt strong as we passed the 50km but Noel summed it up well by saying “Don’t get carried away.. this is still very much the honeymoon period”. The descent was fast and it really needed a lot of concentration in the rain and wind. I’m quite a fast descender but in rain, I tend to under steer on corners, so I was a bit more conservative than normal.

50km – 110km (Donard): We flew through the first water stop at the 50km mark without stopping. We continued to set a good pace on what were at times very difficult road surfaces. We stopped then for 20 minutes at the first main pit stop in Donard at 80km. We set a good pace after Donard and I tagged onto a group of strong cyclists for a fun 15km of fast, interesting ascents and descents between Donard and Brockna.

110km – 185km (Slieve Maan, Shay Elliet climbs): It was at some point during the ascent of the punishing Slieve Man climb that the honeymoon period ended. I struck out on my own soon after Donard to essentially simulate the Ironman as much as possible,  using the tri bars and pushing it hard. I passed many pentalons. Before Slieve Man, there was a smaller ascent and fast descent before the real thing. And it was obvious when it arrived. It’s a long ardius climb that reduced several people to walking with their bikes. I grinded up most of the climb with an American chap, passing a lot of people on the way up. And it was tough. It lasted a long time and seeing the tips of the big flags errected at the summit was like an oasis in the desert of pain. The descent from Slieve Maan is long and fast. My speedometer tells me the maximum speed I hit was 67Kmph, but it underestimated the race distance by about 30%, so I imagine it also underestimated that max speed.

At the bottom of Slieve Man, there was little mercy as the Shay Elliet Climb begins almost immediately. It was another tough one. It’s a shallower climb but almost as long. The Tour of Ireland King of the Mountains markings were on the road on the way up. 3km to the top.. 2km.. 1km.. 500 meters.. There were a group of people cheering on the last 100m of the ascent so it seemed apt to sprint it. It’s quite amazing how much better people cheering can make you feel. Or at least how much better you perform so you look like you feel better to them.

Between 150 and 175km, things got tough. I forwent the second sandwich stop at around 145km and in hindsight, it would have been a good idea. At that point, I was still pushing hard on the tri bars and averaging a good 32-33kmph. Around 155km, I felt my stomac beginning to reject food. It was probably sick of energy gels and salted isotonic (4:1). My cycling became more sparadic – pushing too hard for a while then needing to ease off a lot. I was passed by many pentalons.

After the climb just outside Avoca, I realised I was flagging a lot and it was really tough. When you’re on your own, when things are going badly, it seems your mind focuses every single neuron in your brain on the reasons you should stop. I reached for a HyperBoost bar that we had received in the race goody bag. It’s a dark chocolate covered brick of pure, caffinated energy. It could feel my tummy think about it for a while before deciding to moodily crank back into action. I was back over the bars and making good pace by about 175km.

175km – 200km: Having been through the somewhat of a wall (although still not out of the woods), I ran into a follow boards.ie person (Buffolo). I recognised the boards.ie top. He was a good cyclist and we did about 10km together before he went ahead. This really made things a lot easier for this period. Around 185km, things were getting tough again (although I knew I would finish at this stage regardless of whether I could eat any more or not). One thing I noticed as time went on was that the pentalons were getting bigger. These large globuals of cyclists were swallowing people up and they were sticking with them. I too suffered this sticky fate around 185km. I heard a whirring from behind and thought it was an electric car. It was actually a 25 man pentalon. It was travelling about 20% faster than I was and the first 6 or 7 riders went around and moved in front of me. At this point, they began breaking the wind and I sped up by exactly 20% so the rest of the riders filed in behind me. I had been subsumed by the pentalon.

If I was to put a figure on the effort needed to cycle inside a tight pentalon against cycling in wind alone, It’s probably about 50% of the effort. That’s a huge difference. After about 3km, as tired as I was, I thought to myself - “This is a good cycle, but it’s not an Ironman cycle”. I knew I had to finish this thing alone so I dropped off the end of the now very large group and faced the wind alone for the last 13km. I’m glad I did. These were those last few Km when I knew I had the course beaten and I hit the tri bars for the last jaunt back into Greystones.

Getting off the bike at the finish line was a strange affair. I couldn’t straighten up for about 30 seconds. I didn’t feel like I could run a marathon. Eventually I loosened up and had a plate of pasta, which went some way to settling my stomac. Once I had the bike in the car, I went for a short run. I was suprised that my legs were fine, they were tight but not tired at all. I think on race day, it’s going to come down to settling my stomac enough to eat sufficient calories to make the marathon possible. This may mean a large salty meal in T2. If this is what it takes, then that’s what I’ll have waiting there.

After I drove back to Dublin, I went for an 8km slow jog / fast walk. I felt good. Maybe I will be able to do a marathon after all.

Some stats:

• Distance: 200km
• TIme from start to finish: 7:59:58
• Time cycling: 7:32:30 (27:28 at stops)
• Calories burned: 4581
• Calories consumed: ~1900: 1 Chicken Sandwich, 2 caffeinated energy gels, 2.5 litres of isotonic, 2.5 litres of water, 2 Meusli bars, 1 jam sandwich, 1 HyperBoost cafinated energy bar.
• Max HR: 82%. Average HR: 66%
• Max speed: 67Kmph. Average speed: 26.5Kmph

The main lesson for Zurich is a lot more solid food is required. I’ll have several sandwiches, flap jacks, muesli bars and a pasta dinner at both transition and the bag drop at the half way point on the cycle. If I need them, they’ll be there.

On Monday, I did a tough 120km mountain cycle to get ready for the WW200. I went over the Sally Gap, through Laragh, Over the Wicklow Gap, through Blessington and back over the Sally Gap. The weather was really bad – driving rain and wind - and it took everything I had to make the last climb up to the Sally Gap into the wind. I also managed to leave my phone and keys in the coffee shop in Laragh (although I assumed I’d dropped them out of my pocket somewhere), and this didn’t add to the pleasure of the cycle! Luckily, someone handed them in and my kind girlfriend picked them up without me knowing. I was glad to be home, but also glad to have done such a tough cycle.

This cycle meant I broke 400km on the bike this week (and gave my biggest training week so far). A total which gives me a lot of confidence and I can feel myself getting stronger over long distances. Next week I will return to running and compete in Half Ironman UK.

Today’s IM cycle was the second of the boxes checked (Swim and Cycle) and I really feel like I achieved something today. As I’m frequently reminded, it’s not the destination that’s important but the journey. Amen.. But the destination is looming.

IM – 7: TriAthy Olympic. Race 2 of 4

On Saturday, I did the TriAthy Olympic Distance triathlon in Athy, Kildare. The weather was good and everything went smoothly in the morning (long registration queue aside). The race was set off in waves starting with the eldest groups. The aim was probably to have everyone finishing as close to each other as possible. It must be disheartening to be passed be loads of people though.

The swim went well. I started in the first third or so of the swimmers and finished the 1.5km in 31:14. The swim was 600m against the current of the river Barrow and then 900m with it. The majority of the swimmers swam close to the bank against the current. I stayed a little farther out in a group of 3. After rounding the bouy and turning downstream, the groups broke up and everyone powered down with the current. I had a goggle break for the first time in a triathlon. After trying to fix it a few times, I gave up and just swam with the one eye that worked. It didn’t actually make much difference.

The cycle was quite fast. There were a lot of people on the course due to the aforementioned wave setup but the roads were wide so this didn’t cause too many problems. I changed the gearing setup on my bike last week for two upcoming races: the Wicklow 200 and Half Ironman UK. Both have some tough climbs, and so I changed to a compact crank set (this gives smaller front chain rings). This essentially took away some of the “hardest“ gears and put in some “easier” gears.

I won’t try and explain much about gear ratios, because frankly, I don’t know much about it over the simple math: engaging a smaller chain ring at the front means each turn of the cranks turns the wheel less, and so it requires less effort. The opposite is true also – bigger front chain rings, or smaller back ones mean each turn of the cranks is harder, but gets you further. Here’s an article on Compact Crank sets.

I wondered if I’d loose power on the bike at the higher end because I’ve sacrificed the harder gears for easier mountain climbing but I didn’t. I have a high cadence compared to most cyclists anyway, probably because I grew up beside the mountains. The cycle was a two lap course of the 20km loop. There were no turns or hills to speak of so it was simply a matter of keeping a good aero position and powering for the full distance. I finished the cycle in 1:11:19 which I was very happy with. The fact that I wasn’t tired at all made it very, very difficult not to do the run – I was on to set a good time.. But after the injury problems during the Velentia run, I’d been advised to take 10 days off running. Knowing that tendonitis has the potential to go on forever if I keep inflaming it, I resisted the temptation and called it a day there.

When I got back to Dublin on Saturday evening, I went out on the bike into the mountains for a while. I felt like I had a lot more to give so it was worth using it.

I Sunday, I completed my first full, straight IM swim of 3.8km in the 50m Westwood pool in Clontarf. It took 1hour 24. I’m happy with this considering I generally swim about 10% faster in races, owing to the extra buoyancy of the wet suit and the other competitors. That would mean translate to about 1:17 – 1:20. I was a small bit stiff afterwards but not too tired. I hit the sauna afterwards again for some “heat training”. For the week, this was by far the biggest swimming week of my training so far – 10.25km.

After the swim, in lieu of being able to train for running by actually running, I walked the 15km home with a heavy rucksack. I figure it might do at least something to keep the running muscles ticking over. I actually found a lot more tiring than a 15km run.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday were composed of an AM: Swim and PM: Bike. My morning weights sessions have now all been replaced by swims. I think I benefitted hugely by the 6 months I worked on Strength, but now it’s time to spend the last 6 weeks concentrating solely adapting the body to the very long distances of the IM race.

This was weekend number 1 of 3 competing - I’ll be doing the Wicklow 200 next Sunday and Half Ironman UK the following Sunday, June 20th. I think I’ll get the first real picture of how prepared I am come the finish line of HIM UK. I’ll be wearing my Ireland cycling jersey and I’m hoping for some good signs.