The Week

Firstly, Sastre did it !!! Really pleased with the result. He deserved it and ultimately his aggression won him the race. Cadel Evans was I am afraid a let down, on the bike and with the press. Yes he must have been under immense pressure but he did his PR no good at all. Also, although 2nd on GC he didn't really 'attack'. He defended all along and maybe on Alpe D'Huez when he needed to be aggressive he had nothing left? CSC controlled the race and cleared up the results with 'yellow', best team and best young rider. If the Schleck brothers can learn to time trial they will be an awesome force for the future. Kohl also is a future winner maybe? Next year it will be good to have Contador back. To be honest I don't think anyone will come near him.... finally, a big 'up' for Cavendish. Four stage wins; awesome!!

This week for me has seen a slow and progressive return to training.. On Monday I just ran an easy 3 miles. Tuesday was 4 miles in the morning and 3 in the evening. Wednesday 5 miles in the morning and 3 in the evening. Thursday my legs finally start to feel normal again so I upped the miles and pace. Still nothing too fast but it was good to stretch out and cover just under 8 miles. Physio and a rest Friday and then a swim, bike, run Saturday followed by 12 miles steady run  on Sunday. 

I have a trail marathon 2 weeks today so I plan to build my volume up to this race with no reduction or tapering. This process will continue through August and then I have some 'ultras' planned for September. One a 40 mile trail run and then a 'two' day on the Thames Path covering 64 miles. October 5th I take on the Loch Ness Marathon. If I feel good I hope to have a go at PB. It's probably not the best course for a fast marathon but I will have a go...

Tour de France

It's Wednesday 23rd July. D-Day in the Tour as we hit Alpe D'Huez. Never has the top ten of the Tour been so close together.... I wonder if a lack of drugs has anything to do with it !! Certainly the playing field seems so much more even than in previous years. No dominating force. No one going off the front to power to a multi minute victory. It's good. This Tour has had it's problems but in general it seems as though everyone is beginning to learn that 'you will get caught'.

Anyway, today and the Alpe!

As expected,  an early break went looking for possible glory. They were brought back in time for the 'real' action on the Alpe. I predicted a quick attack by Menchov and Sastre. This would force Evans to respond setting up Frank Schleck for a counter. It so happens that Menchov blew and Evans made a BIG tactical mistake. He let Sastre go! Maybe he couldn't respond but he let them time gap stretch out and out for Sastre. He gave away 2min 13 sec. Yes, okay, the time trial is to come on Sunday and Sastre was 41 secs behind him anyway. But the yellow fleece can bring a rider to life. The Saturday Time Trial is not a foregone conclusion and I think Evans may have made a big mistake today.... he should have reduced that gap!

Ironman Fallout

It has been a week since the Ironman. It's funny, in the weeks and months building up to events you devote so much time to training. Up at 6am to train before work. A full day at work. Train after work and then it's family time. It's relentless. Don't get me wrong, I love it. My life would not be my life without the training and racing. Very often though in those final few weeks before a race you are tired. You look forward to the taper as it means you can ease back on the training, get some more rest, spend more time with your family and basically just chill out. The race comes and you either have a good or bad day. For me, Austria was a good day. I raced well. My strategy was perfect and to top all this off i had my folks there to watch. Many of you will be aware that my dad has recently had a very serious operation for stomach cancer. The last few months have been a rocky road. To have him in Austria to see me cross the line means so much. He has been my biggest fan and without him, my achievements mean nothing, so, thanks Dad!! Don't get me wrong, thank you all my family. At the moment though, dad gets a special mention.

So for the last 7 days I have been twiddling my thumbs. No training and boy do I miss it... I have decided to start training again today, Monday. Nothing hard just a nice easy jog to get things moving. I plan to do that all this week and gradually start to build again from next week. I have loads of races planned for the remainder of 2008. All of them running. I have also entered two 'Ultras' for January and February 2009. I need focus and I need targets.

I have also entered a new Ironman Distance race for October 2009. It is organized by the 'Challenge Roth' team and it will take place on the coast, north of Barcelona. Yes, a race in Oct 2009.... now that is forward planning.

Finally, I hope you like the new 'blog' format. The trainingtrips blog was adequate, however, I hope this new format will be better to view, more informative and also it allows you all to interact and post comments. Be great to hear from you all. Keep training. Ian

IRONMAN AUSTRIA

IRONMAN AUSTRIA

July 13th 2008

The alarm went off at 4am and surprisingly I had slept quite well for a night before a race. Our hotel has mostly Ironman competitors and supporters staying so the atmosphere at breakfast was quite quiet and thoughtful. It’s always a struggle squeezing the calories in at this time of day. For an Ironman I like to get in about 800-1000 cals, so that is quite a lot of food. Black coffee is really important too.
I was back in my room at 5am to get into race clothing and make sure I went through my pre-race checklists. I arrived at race transition at 5.30am. I checked my bike over, made sure everything was okay and pumped up the tires. Bottles on the bike, gels in my bento box and then it was a case of focusing on the day ahead.
Standing on the lakeside at 6.40am with 2500 other athletes always puts the day into perspective. I was nervous but focused on the day ahead. Before I knew it the horn blew and we were off…. I got battered for the first 400 m or so but then I found space and had a relatively trouble free swim. My biggest problem was my goggles. They just kept steaming up; a real pain. We swam out into the lake about 1800m turned left and went across the lake to finally return back to the beach and finish with the final 800m in the canal systems. The sun was in our eyes for all the return leg so that made sighting harder however when we got in the canal it was just a case of following feet. I had been worried about my swim as my neural leg problem can cause real problems in my calf’s resulting in really bad tightness and spasms. My plan had been not to kick in the swim and remain relaxed. It worked! I started to get a few twitches in the final 400m but it caused no problems. I had anticipated my swim to take longer and I was prepared to exit the water in around 1:15. I was really pleased to cover the distance in 1:06.
Into transition and it was a case of be quick but don’t rush. Wetsuit off and I just made sure I had everything I needed; helmet on, glasses on, bike gloves on and gels in my pocket. I quickly found my bike and was on the road in no time, transition was roughly 3 mins.
The bike course is two laps of excellent closed roads. All road surfaces are smooth and fast. Many believe the bike route to be easy but that is misguided. It’s undulating with a couple of tough climbs on each lap, total gain is appx 800m per lap. Gearing you need a 39x25 for the climbs.
Within 10 mins the rain came and it turned the road very slippery. As we approached any bend it was important to reduce speed. Those that didn’t hit the deck… I saw at least 4 crashes. My bike has been my strength due to my 20yrs cycling experience; however, in Ironman it has been my downfall. I normally ride too hard and then can’t run. My strategy therefore was to ride slower and run well. I did lap 1 in appx 2:38 and lap 2 in 2:42 giving me a 5:20 bike split. My back really bothered me on the bike and I had to keep stretching to reduce the fatigue. It worried me as I was unsure how it would influence the run.
I had another quick transition in T2 and was on the run course in less than 4 mins. As I started the run, the heavens opened; perfect. We had temperatures in the mid 20’s and a thunderstorm. I felt great on the run. I actually started too quick and had to adjust my pace at half way. The final 6 miles my hamstrings tightened and I had to adjust my running accordingly. It was pretty painful but one thing that running 8 marathons in 8 days taught me was how to run through the pan. I crossed the MDOT finish line in a PB 10:21. Completely elated.
I had approached this Ironman so different to previous times and the strategy worked so well (for me). Basically, I just ran and ran lots… up to 120 miles a week. I only started triathlon training 8 weeks before the Ironman relying on my running endurance. Cycling comes to me naturally and that soon came back. Swimming was a struggle but I was getting the feel back in the final few weeks. My swim split was actually only 2-3 mins slower than previous years when I have swum specifically for 6 months. It’s interesting. Certainly for myself, a run specific programme has made the difference between being ‘close’ to actually finally achieving my potential. Next time, maybe I can put the run potential with my bike potential and go sub 10 !!!

I am in my final 2 week taper now before Austria Ironman on July 13th. All is going well, I think. It's nice to get some extra rest and a little extra free time, but do I miss the training....

I have been swimming in my wetsuit every other day (Mon, Wed & Fri) and doing a specific brick session on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Tuesday I did a 90min bike followed by 7 mile run. Thursday was 75min bike followed by 5 mile run and Sunday will be 2hr 15min bike followed by 4 mile run. 

All my other sessions are low key and very easy. Just ticking over. I still have 'issues' with my calf problems. More physio planned but nothing at this stage will change. I just have to be prepared and manage it on the day. Apparently 2700 people are on the start list. That is going to be one busy swim !!!