Slack Richard ... 

Did not do an update on UKIM. I'll add one shortly. For now, I have started training for Ironman New Zealand in March. I am not looking forward to the long rides during an English winter, but then, I'll be back home (Wellington) in January. 

Just under 4 months to go, and I have injured myself twice already. I am a walking (well, limping) example of why you should a) gradually ease your mileage up, and b) don't do a 2 hour run and a 5 hour ride in the same weekend. It hurts. A lot. 

More later ... 

The last supper

13 hours to go. I am sitting in the hotel room relaxing, fretting over the fact that I have done nothing other than a swim practice today. Ridiculous though that may seem given what lies ahead of me, it is encouraging that I have the energy (nervous energy) to think about going for a bike/run at this stage. I think I can safely rule out any decent sleep tonight, but I was fully expecting that. Also on the plus side ... the swim is looking good. I was a little concerned, as my focus has inevitably shifted away from the swim in the last 1-2 months, but the 20 mins I spent in the drink was smooth and relaxed. I felt comfortable and the course easy to navigate, so fingers crossed, I should exit the water tomorrow sub-1 hour. 

I am mostly concerned about the peripheral stuff, rather than finishing the 140 odd miles. Are my spares and tools adequate ? Is my bike set up OK ? Have I packed the right gear in my Bike/Run bags ? Is my nutrition plan OK ? I know my preparation was right, and I can go the distance, but I am starting to think more about times. I am fending off the inevitable goal inflation. Stick to the original plan ... you are aiming for sub-12 hours. That's 12, not sub-11, definitely not sub-10 and most definitely no where near a Hawaii qualification ;-) 

Dinner in 1 hour. The last big meal before the race, and with any luck the last time I will go anywhere near pasta for a long time. 

3 point something days to go ...

Half way through race week, and I have hit the first (and hopefully only) minor hitch. Car has gone into the garage, turns out it needs a bit of work and they need to hold on to it for a while. Great considering I am heading south tomorrow ! 

Anyway, minor hitch, as I have already hooked up a replacement motor in the form of a rental. The odd times I do have a rental car for hauling kit to events are the only occasions when the motor is actually more expensive than it's contents (normally about 4:1 in favour of my Isaac, over my sub-£1000 toyota).

Aside from that, all is good so far. Finished work on Monday, so I have had plenty of time to get my gear together, change the tires on my TT bike, muck about with the bike setup for the weekend, all with far too much time to spare. It's funny ... I am "tapering", and feel like I am sitting around getting flabby, yet I am still doing about as much training as I probably did when I first started out a few years back :-) 

I am looking forward to the weekend ahead. No real signs of apprehension or nerves. I am sure they will kick in soon enough. After all, it is to be expected with 140 miles or so ahead of me, not to mention with over 2000 meters of climbing on the bike split ... and a marathon ... oh god, what have I got my self into ! 

Culford Triathlon

I decided to do this sprint distance race as a bit of a loosener before the big event (only three weeks away!). Did it a couple of years ago, so was familiar with the course and the setup of the race, so it was a good low key, low stress event to do, and always enjoyable. 

Culford is a little village just north of Bury St Edmunds. The village is fairly quiet, and the roads used for the bike course are almost completely flat and sheltered, making for a pretty fast course. The race is based in the grounds of Culford school, which largely dominates the village. 

The official format of the race is 300m swim/21 km bike/4 km run. 

The swim is a nice easy 300 meters in the school pool. The reason for the slightly odd distance is due to the length of the pool and the number of lanes, coupled with the decision to go with a duck under the lanes type system (up and down each lane once, then duck under the lane ropes). This is apparently to help avoid people mis-counting lengths, although how people lose count on the way to 12 lengths is beyond me!

Following the swim, there is 500 meter dash to the transition area for T1 and the bike split. 

As noted earlier, the bike split is quite flat, on quiet sheltered roads. The only real factor is wind, which was not particularly strong on the day (in fact, despite the forecast, it turned out to be almost perfect conditions). The course is 3 laps of a 7 km circuit. The only tricky bit is negotiating the foot down junction. The last turn of the bike course makes it's way from a small side road onto a slightly busier B road. Due to the increase in traffic, the marshals require you to stop and place your foot down at this junction, before setting off again. The only thing I can say about this is make sure you change down before you hit the junction. I made the mistake of being in my largest gear when I hit the junction and nearly killed myself getting moving again ! This junction is the only downside to an otherwise nice fast course - I had to stop twice for cars coming through. 

T2 is unremarkable. Dismount the bike when you mounted it, a quick dash through transition (which is nice and small, quite refreshing when compared with the likes of the Eton Super Sprints), and on to the run. 

The run is around 4km, entirely within the grounds of the school. The run is a 2 lap course, comprised of a lap around the school field in a clockwise direction (on grass), followed by short run up and down a tarmac path off the side of the field. Despite rain overnight, the field was fine to run on, although, using the pose technique, I use racing flats with a waffle sole, which gives me plenty of traction. With a decent bit of rain, I suspect the run could be a little hairy with a pair of traditional running shoes. 

All in all, I enjoyed the race again. The marshals and organizers as always, were absolutely great, and the whole thing went smoothly. In terms of my performance, I was happy, although the run could have been a little faster. Still, not a bad effort considering my preparation has been purely for going long (long slow runs of more than 2 hours don't exactly constitute preparation for the 4km 'sprint'). 

I can only recommend this event, particularly to anyone wanting to make a start into triathlons. 

My results (6th, bike split includes T1 and T2): 

Sprint 

Pos. Name No. Club Cat Swim Cycle Run Total BTA no. 

1 Oliver Milk 196 Tri-Anglia ME 4:04 5 33:22 1 13:40 4 51:06 16165 

2 David Bettinson 186 Cambridge Tri MF 4:42 12 34:16 2 13:36 1 52:34 120007 

3 Graham Perks 182 Essex Police Tri MG 4:24 9 35:14 5 13:55 7 53:33 120865 

4 Harry Smith 200 East Essex Tri MB 3:39 1 36:22 8 13:36 1 53:37 120979 

5 Phil Jarvis 187 Triathlon Essex MH 4:54 17 34:26 4 14:59 13 54:19 118253 

6 Richard Woodward 194 Ipswich Tri MF 3:47 2 34:25 3 16:15 32 54:27 0 

7 Gabe Lowrie 198 Cambridge Tri MB 3:59 3 36:52 12 13:41 5 54:32 14914 

8 Mark Nowell 191 Tri-Anglia MH 4:20 8 36:11 7 15:36 19 56:07 0 

9 Jason Ridgeon 122 MH 5:10 34 36:55 13 14:20 8 56:25 14996 

10 Keith Tilley 117 MG 5:34 51 56:34 0 

1 month to go ...

Last week of build period ! (thank god) 

Scouted out the bike course on the weekend. Did a couple of laps of the 37 or so mile course (the race has 3 laps plus a bit at either end). Started at six am to avoid the forecast heavy rain (thankfully the BBC forecast go it wrong as usual). Half asleep, and used to the speed bumps we have for hills in suffolk, I made the mistake of using my usual aggressive tactics for tackling "hills" by hitting the hill at full tilt, straight out of the saddle, big chain ring. Normally this is ok. Less than a minute or so, and I am shooting over the crest ... except the hill did not finish. So ... half asleep, I am a quarter of the way up the hill, in big gear no mans land. Talk about shock to the system. Thankfully, when I finally managed to drag my sorry arse over the top of the first hill, it was largely flat rolling with a tail wind down to Dorchester. It was looking good again, so back into a big gear, TT style to the Dorchester turn off, and on to the C road up the giant. I then proceeded straight into a headwind, and an almost entirely uphill stretch to the top of the giant. I am guessing it was atleast 5-6 miles worth. I must admit, I was questioning the wisdom of doing the UK Ironman at that point! Thankfully, the second lap was somewhat easier with a slightly less crazed, sensible, calm approach, the hilly sections are not so bad, although not overly quick, and the 14% downhill off the top of the giant is damn fun. I was coasting downhill on my slower road bike at close to 50mph! 

All in all not a bad idea trying it out before the race, as that was one surprise I did not want on race day. 

Last big session tomorrow ... the brick session from hell: 

Bike (5 hrs) ... 

• 30 mins easy warmup
• 40 mins steady paced riding 
• 20 mins big gear 3 min repeats (1 min rest) 
• 40 mins steady paced riding 
• 20 mins high cadence fast 3 min repeats (1 min rest)
• 40 mins steady paced riding (see a pattern forming here ?) 
• 20 mins fast 5 min repeats (1 min rest) 
• 40 mins steady paced riding 
• 20 mins hard 
• 30 mins easy

run (90 mins) ...

• 30 mins easy 
• 30 mins steady  
  
• 30 mins tempo finish 

... and die :-) 

First time trial of the year

I always dread doing my first bike time trial of the year, as they are usually slow affairs with your legs getting a sharp reminder that you have been neglecting the hard yards in your training. I usually put them off until as late as I can blaming all manner of things for my inability to get out on the time trial bike. Weather, Poor light, too busy at work, Kate said she would leave me if I don't stay home and cook her dinner, clean the house, mow the lawns ... 

Some how, it was different this year. I actually managed a 10 mile TT in 24.00 mins, which, although gutting, since I came painfully close to ducking under 24 mins, is a PB by over half a minute, and is a fair bit more than a minute faster than my first TT last year. 

What was different from last year ? I guess the heavy mileage of the IM training is giving me good time trial strength anyway, but it typically leaves my legs feeling pretty heavy during my off weeks, and I did put in longer sessions last year as well, although not quite in the same league as this year. 

On surprising item of note is the new aero helmet. It is amazing how much of a difference changing your helmet can make. I reckon (and this is purely anecdotal), switching from my road helmet to an aero helmet could have been accountable for some or even all of the difference between my previous PB and my new one, which would be 30 secs or so ! I am obviously stronger than last year, but earlier in the year, when I was not as well prepared, I also had a surprising bike split at the Eton Super Sprints, managing just under 31 mins for the 20km bike split. 

It is not like I a box for helmet before either. My road helmet is a pretty decent giro road racing helmet, but the new Bell aero helmet really seems to be the business. As modeled below by the legendary Mr Cancellara .... 

Run, Bike, Swim ... a lot.

I have created this blog so I can share my thoughts on all things run, bike and swim in my life (of which those of you out there who have been doing multi-sport for a while, particularly long course events will know - it pretty much is my life). 

I will be competing in my first Ironman event this year. IMUK, Sherbourne, Dorset, UK, 19th August, 2007.

First things first. being a substantial challenge, I have decided to do it for more than personal pride, so if you can, dig deep and head on over to my fundraising page - all funds will go to the British Red Cross, who help those most in need. 

Thanks for your donations.