Austria 70.3

Last weekend Chris and I raced the 70.3 St Polten Ironman in Austria. I was using the race as a preparation for the upcoming European IM Championships in Frankfurt and didn't really taper for the race, but wanted to go hard and check my form.

The race was held in a small town town 1 hour drive from Vienna in a rural location. We stayed in a local guesthouse 10km from the start in a rural location. It was basic, but comfortable and adequate..

Leading up to the race I wasn't feeling well and felt tired and sluggish with some hayfever. In the last 2 days we all slept a lot and managed to avoid the usual pre-race nervousness, despite the fact that we arrived in transition 5 minutes before it closed.

The race course is quite unique with the swim starting in one small lake and finishing in a different lake with a 300 meters run in between. The bike course is on good roads, completely closed to traffic and contains a nice and fast motorway section as well as 2 significant climbs with some technical descending.

The swim went quite well, I got to a clean start immediately from the gun and felt quite relaxed all the way to the exit. I thought the run might affect the rhythm of the swim, but after the run and a jump into the second lake (in my case I just fell in) I still felt good and I came out of the water in just over 33 minutes, which I was happy with.


Onto the bike I was feeling quite strong and passing lots of cyclist. A couple of strong bikers came up and we rode together until we hit the hills and I just didn't have the power to stay with them. I came into transition in just over 2:20, which again I was happy with, but as I tried to run my legs were very tired and didn't want to cooperate.

Here is the power date from the bike:
Duration: 2:24:54 (2:26:38)
Work: 1796 kJ
TSS: 204.4 (intensity factor 0.92)
Norm Power: 221
VI: 1.07
Pw:HR: -22.31%
Pa:HR: -8.35%
Distance: 87.008 km
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 621 207 watts
Heart Rate: 34 178 149 bpm
Cadence: 29 101 82 rpm
Speed: 9.8 70.8 36.0 kph
Pace 0:51 6:07 1:40 min/km
Crank Torque: 0 121 24.8 N-m
Temperature: 15 25 18.0 Celsius

After a few kilometers of the run was feeling a little bit better and tried to hold 4 min kilometers, which was reasonably comfortable, but couldn't go any quicker. I finished the run in just over 1:26 for a total time of 4:31 and 143rd place overall which gave me a 17th place in my age group.
Overall I was happy with my performance, but a little bit annoyed that I didn't have the power to stay with the strong bikers on the hills or run a little bit quicker as 5 minutes quicker overall time would put me in the top 5 in my age group. Something to work on over the new few weeks before the Ironman.

Oh, and a week before the race in Austria I raced a sprint triathlon at Eaton and won my age group. Good start to the season.

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London Marathon

Another London Marathon done and dusted for this year. I finished in 2:57:36 which is my personal slowest time. The result is slightly disappointing as I thought my preparation actually went reasonably this year. I felt well rested and capable of going under 2:50, but just didn't have it on the day – no excuses

In the last days leading to the race day went well and I was feeling good and loose. The weather was good and it looked like it was going to be a hot race day. What a change on the race day – when I woke up the sky was overcast and with it my legs felt quite sore somehow. By the time we got to the start it was raining and it felt quite cold.

This year I was starting from the red “good for age” start which follows a different route for the first 3 miles. Despite being late I managed to get right to the front and was in the first line. Soon enough the gun went and we were off.

The first 5 miles, as usual, were quite quick, perhaps a little bit too quick, but felt very comfortable. After 5 miles quite suddenly my hamstring locked up and the pace immediately dropped by 30 seconds per mile. Just like this, no warning, no gradual slow down, it just happened and the race for time was over. From that point I knew it was going to be a long 20 miles to the finish, shuffling along. I think Jim passed me at about 10 miles, but I was in a world of pain and didn't even recognise him.

I got to 20 miles in 2:14 and had to pick up the pace to make sure I got in under 3 hours. Why? No reason really but 2 things I really didn't want to do was to drop out or finish outside 3 hours. The last few miles were not so bad and even actually quicker than last time I run the marathon. Seeing Big Ben and then Alex at 800m to go and eventually the finish was a welcome relief. It was over for another year, I didn't drop out and was in under 3 hours!

Very sore now on the plane to China for some well deserved rest. On reflection happy to have finished and I think the training done and completing the marathon is going to pay off later in the season. I've made some mistakes in the lead up to the race, for example slightly low on mileage, not enough race pace preparation and only completing one half marathon in spring. Something to learn from for next year.

Easter 3-day

The official annual Easter 3-day Surrey League cycling race was cancelled this year. To avoid disappointment I created my own version of the 3-day event. It comprised of
- Surrey League race at Milland Hill on Saturday

- Surrey League race at Cutmill on Sunday

- The Steying Duathlon on Monday.

Due to my lack of bike fitness it was always going to be a difficult challenge but it turned out to be a real lesson in suffering.

The first race started with me arriving late after a drive in torrential rain and making the start line with a minute to spare. Luckily once the race started the rain eased up and the conditions were reasonable. I felt quite comfortable in the bunch until we got to The Hill, which turned out to be a fairly short climb but topping out at 25%. I got over the hill in the bunch but I knew straight away that I didn't have the legs to do it 6 more times on each lap. I tried to get away from the bunch with a couple of riders on the descent to get to the hill with some time to spare, but we were caught before the hill and sure enough I couldn't hold the wheel on the climb and got dropped. Unable to get back on the descent I rode hard for the next 5 laps on my own with nobody from behind catching me. In summary: a tough day and a big mistake even entering.

The next day was another Surrey League road race, this time held on the Cutmill course. This time the hill wasn't as steep but it was quite a bit longer and the course was dotted with big potholes in many places and featured a nice hairpin bend covered with gravel. Even before the start I knew that I didn't have the legs to race this after the previous day, but decided to give it a go and try to stay in the bunch for as long as possible. This time it turned out to be 4 laps as I got dropped on the 5th ascent of the hill and this time it was like someone just turned the lights off - darkness and I couldn't even go steady anymore. I've managed to ride easy for 2 more laps on my own without being caught by the bunch to make sure I finished what I started, but it felt like a very long 14 miles. To add insult to injury I was marked as the dreaded DNF in the official results. Another mistake to even enter this.

Easter Monday featured the Steyning Duathlon. After 2 days of racing I knew this was going to hurt. Right from the gun my legs refused to cooperate, I tried my best but my pace just wasn't there. Onto the bike hoping that things might improved and straight away I made a mistake and my velcro strap in one of the shoes came out loose and I couldn't put it back in so I had to resign to riding with one shoe open. The course was quite windy with some rolling hills and I never really got into a rhythm. My power was down by about 30W to what I expected, so I just had to try to do the best I could with what I had left. Coming into transition I was so tired that the lights switched off again and I couldn't see my run shoes for about a minute. Strangely enough this probably gave me a little bit of much needed rest and I felt better on the second run. I was even able to pick up the pace a bit and was finally passing some people. To little too late though and eventually I ended up finishing in 44th place overall an 6th in my age group.

Very hard weekend , but I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Now a little bit of rest and putting in some final touches to my preparation for the London Marathon.

Winter Training

Training has been going so-so since Ironman Florida. I took 2 weeks recovery and started getting back into the swing of things slowly.

By mid- December I was actually getting into quite a good shape. Chris and I did our usual "Ballbuster" training session, named after the infamous duathlon race held typically in November. The course consists of an 8 mile run followed by a 24 mile bike time trial and finishes with another 8 mile run. Taking in the fearsome zig-zag climb 5 times the course features over 1500 meters of climbing and then descending and the last run is usually particularly strength-sapping. This time I felt good on both runs, and despite suffering a bit in the hands (or should I say legs) of Chris who is a much better cyclist I was happy with completing the whole course and within a reasonable time of 3h 30min.

Unfortunately due to work commitments things have not been going so well since. I've been spending a lot of time travelling on business and I found being away from a familiar surroundings not very conducive to training. I had a good 5 days of training when Alex and I went to Lanzarote during the Christmas break, covering about 400km cycling, 12km swimming and about 50km running. Since the return from Lanzarote, however, things have not been going so well with work commitments and travel again. While away my objective is to do "something" every day. It may be a yoga class, a short run, a gym session or sometimes even a longer run. It keeps the fitness at a reasonable level, but I don't count it as training.


Hopefully things will get better now as the weather is improving, days are getting longer and if I can only reduce the amount of travel the motivation and form is bound to return.

Chris and I are due to do another "Ballbuster" session on Sunday and this will give me a better idea of where I am fitness-wise, but I'm not looking forward to it - it will be painful. Pain is only temporary though and you can learn to accept it and deal with it. Hopefully I will on Sunday...

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Ironman Florida

Yesterday I finished Ironman Florida in a personal best time of 9:28:08, but I'm leaving with mixed feelings as I've not achieved my goal of qualifying for the 2010 World Championships in Hawaii.

My pre-race preparations have gone well, but I knew coming into the race that I was short of training as I've only managed 3 good weeks of high volume training, yet I was hoping that this will get me through the race in a reasonable form.

We arrived in Florida on Saturday and the week before the race had gone very quickly and was unusually relaxing with just enough training to keep loose and no last-minute disasters except for a swollen foot 3 days before the race.

By the time we realised the race morning was upon us and I was feeling well an had my whole support crew behind me.

The race morning started with a fairly warm temperature, but unlike the previous few days there was a bit of a chop in the Bay of Mexico where the swim was taking place. It actually didn't look too bad from the shore, but as soon as I got in the water it was up and down all the time and you couldn't see the buoys. I decided to start far on the right hand side of the anti-clockwise rectangular course and I had a fairly clean start until the first turn-around buoy where I got kicked a few times, but overall the swim was fairly clean. I exited the water in 1:08, which was disappointing, but as I later discovered the conditions made the swim 5-4 minutes slower than usual for everybody.

The bike is flat with some long straight sections typically with some strong head and tail winds. As soon as I got on the bike I tried to get into a good rhythm and keep a steady pace. Unfortunately he nature of the course meant that drafting was always going to be a problem and soon enough large packs of riders started forming. It's pretty impossible to drop a large pack of drafting athletes of similar abilities on such a flat course so I decided to stay on the back of the group with a legal distance of 10 meters, which still gives you enough benefit to be faster that riding solo. I had to work a little too had on some rolling sections up the small hills and then coast downhill to stay legal. I came into transition with a 4:50 bike split which I was happy with, but my legs felt tired.

Starting the run I didn't feel too good, but decided just to keep it steady and see what happens. I had to walk through some aid stations to make sure I get enough fluids on board. A few people passed me and I've had to let them go. I finally started to feel a little bit better after about 10 miles and started to pass people back. the last 3 miles were difficult but my support crew gave me a lot of encouragement along the route and there was good crowd support in the last 2 miles which kept me going. I finished the marathon in 3:18, very tired and with nothing more to give in the tank.

My time of 9:28:08 was good enough for 62nd place overall and 18th place in my age group, some 12 minutes short of the last Kona place. I was happy with my performance and given my training I don't think I could have done any better. I wonder what the result would have been if everybody was riding solo because as soon as a marshal pulled alongside our cycling group and started giving out warnings the gaps opened and I found myself off the front the he group. Unfortunately I don't think enough penalties were given out. There is no point in dwelling on it, though, I'm happy with how I performed, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to get a qualifying spot. Maybe next year in Germany.

That's it for this year. Time for some R&R...

Mike.

My travel blog: http://alexmike-travel.blogspot.com

London to Brighton

This year again I joined a few mates from work for the off-road London to Brighton ride. The ride is mostly flat with a couple of gentle hills and I've even managed to convince Alex to join us. We all had a really good time and the good weather definitely helped. It took us 10 hours in total with about 6.5 hours riding time and a few stops. Hopefully we can do that again next year.

The next day was the Run to the Beat half marathon in Greenwich. I did some pacemaking for this race last year and as a result had a free entry into the "elite" field. Unfortunately my performance was nothing but elite. I felt OK at the beginning but after 4 miles my legs completely sized up. Eventually I ended up somewhere around top 50 in 1:27, some 25 minutes behind the Kenyan winners. I was a good training day though.

The week after Chris and I did a mini-Ballbuster brick session on Saturday and on Sunday I joined some of my teammates for the annual Ride of the Falling Leaves. We were lucky with the weather with clear skies and little wind as it usually rains during this ride. I missed the 4-hour gold standard time on both of my previous attempts so I was hoping that finally I might be able to finish in under 4 hours. Things were going well, we were keeping a good pace and my legs felt good. Unfortunately when the hills started our group got split up and we were in danger of missing the 4 hour mark again. Jim and I decided to press on and eventually made it back in 3:54 after some strong riding. Another good training day.

It's 4 weeks to Ironman Florida now and I'm getting a little anxious that I've not really done enough training to race it properly. Whatever happens I just want to go and have fun. It's been a long year.

The Vitruvian Middle Distance Triathlon

I competed in the The Vitruvian triathlon last weekend trying to get some more racing done before the UK season comes to a close.

It was a tough day for me. It started off OK and even a 4am wake up time on a chilly September morning and a swim in the murky waters of The Rutland Water were not as bad as they may seem. I was off in the water at 6:40 in the mens AG35-39 wave and had a reasonable good swim. As soon as the gun went off I found some clear water and got to the turn buoy with the leaders. Unfortunately I lost them at the turn and swam the rest of the 2 lap course on my own exiting in 32min 40sec, which I was happy with.

I went off reasonably hard on the bike hoping to catch some people. Surprisingly there were a few tough hills on the bike which I didn't account for and after the first lap the wheels came off. I must have lost about 10 minutes on the second lap and was not able to raise my effort, heart rate or power.

On the run I immediately felt that my legs didn't have anything more to give so I just cruised through the 2 lap course walking through some of the aid stations to get some drinks and gels on board. It was great to have the support from Alex and Jim's wife .... In the end I finished in 4:33, in 21st place in my age group and 53 overall - disappoining result. To top it off I had some alergic reaction after the race - not quite sure what caused it.

Jim went like a rocket and won his age group with a speedy bike and a fantastic run. Very impressive.

Now it's time to recover and change things for the Florida IM, although I'm not to hopeful now...

Onwards...