Rightzone Triathlon

New SRM cranks

// January 18th, 2011 // No Comments » // Races

I’ve been wanting some SRM’s for years and finally I purchased a some for more money than seems right for just a set of cranks. I didn’t purchase the head unit (saving £600) and intend to use with my Garmin 310XT. The model is the SRM Professional with 180mm (yes 180) cranks. Being 6ft 7 I’m probably one of a handful of people who needs or even would benefit from cranks this long.

Not the first time I’ve dabbled with crank options. Below is a see of Powercranks (which I still have in my shed – send me an email if you want to make me an offer for them!) I used for 6 months in 2004. Completely independent and an excellent way to strengthen hip flexors. I didn’t notice any improvements in my cycling but the benefits to running were significant.

Another 50 mile ride

// August 29th, 2010 // No Comments » // Races

So far I’ve averaged 4.25 hours of training per week. A way off the 10 hour average needed for the Ironman but I’m very much trying to ease back into things without getting injured and without getting mentally jaded. I’ll be pushing for 6 sessions next week (2 of each) which might be a little challenging given I’m going to Edinburgh next weekend for the World Duathlon Champs (to watch Victoria Gill compete).

Last week I rolled out on the Thames Turbo club ride led by Martin Walsh. We followed a fantastic route out to Windsor avoiding all the usual roads. So this week I joined the Turbos again and led them round the route once again (with only one missed turning…quickly rectified). Still not feeling too strong but I think this is the 5th ride back so I’m not too worried. This ride culminated with an all out effort behind Richard Legge at 33.4mph until I exploded BIG TIME. I’m still feeling the effects over 1 hour later. Managed to hit 182 on the heart which is a road record. I once hit 187 in a max test but have never seen anything like it since.

3rd Swim…..

// August 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // Races

Managed to swim once a week so far (don’t want to over do things right!).

I’ve been wearing the Garmin 310XT for swimming as well and picked up some interesting GPS data…

Much more interesting the 2000m swimming I actually managed. Arms knackered so there’s a way to go yet.

Back in the saddle

// August 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // Races

One year till Copenhagen. Back but not actually in the saddle. First proper session in the tank though and a marker for the weeks and months to come. Am currently doing a two week trial at David Lloyd Twickenham. It was 9pm on a Saturday and there was nobody else in the whole pool. The pool at this facility is probably too warm for lap swimming but I pushed out 20 x 100m off 1.50 and hitting 1.33s mainly. So that’s 18s slower per 100m than when I was in my prime. It’s a start I suppose. Short ride planned for tomorrow.

10 hours to a sub 10 hour Ironman

// July 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Races

For years I’ve believed that it’s possible to go under 10 hours off only 10 hours training per week. I used to read Ray Britt’s blog entries and followed his progress in 2003 and 2004 when he qualified for Hawaii at IMLP off less than 1o hours per week. The key point to note is that by 10 hours I mean 10 hours average over the course of 1 year. So within the last 12 weeks I’d imagine there would be some bigger weeks. But even then I think 14 hours is plenty.

I’ve signed up for Challenge Barcelona (Ironman Distance) and with over 50 other Thames Turbo triathletes will aim to finish my 3rd Ironman. What a day out that’s going to be. I’m not going to train to get the best possible time but simply to strike a good balance between family, work and training. I fully intend to have every Sunday off. I also fully intend to take a few days off during the week in the 12 weeks prior to the race.

So I picked up a few interesting links for the t’interweb

http://www.10hoursaweek.com/wordpress/

http://petemetz.blogspot.com/…009-race-report.html

http://ironmanin10.blogspot.com/

Now the dust has settled..

// May 12th, 2010 // No Comments » // Races

It’s 17 days since the marathon and finally I feel like writing something. So why haven’t I done the race report? The answer is I just didn’t want to, not because I’m really down on myself about it but probably simply because I wanted to be writing about how great it was to cruise down the Mall with the clock still showing 2.43 but that didn’t happen. So it didn’t seem like there was any point writing a boring race report with no glory ending. I ran 2.47.04, it was a personal best by 12 seconds but it wasn’t the sub 2.45 I’d hoped for.

So what news on the 30 mins a day? The news is that I’m still rolling with that and today will be the 132nd consecutive day of running at least 30 mins a day. Post marathon it’s been hard……very hard. It’s easier when there is a big goal and you know you need to knock in the big mileage for an event like the marathon. Now the goal is simply to run 30 mins a day it becomes more of an obstacle and a hinderance to a good day. But that period has passed now and I’m setting a few running goals that will hopefully provide some much needed motivation. The good news is all this running and a complete break from golf has result in my handicap dropping to 14.0 after an excellent performance in this weekends Fulwell Golf Club Spring Meeting (our of our majors). So maybe 30 mins a day is the secret of good golf.

One of the hardest runs I did was the day after the marathon. Now that was tough mainly from a physical perspective. Naturally I was beat and my legs we’re very stiff. They would have been a lot less stiff if it hadn’t had been for the lovely Aurélie Heasman from www.thetritouch.co.uk who gave me a rub after the marathon.

So what went wrong in the marathon itself?

Here are the splits:

5K     00:19:04
10K     00:38:34
15K     00:58:11
20K     01:17:34
HALF     01:21:45
25K     01:36:58
30K     01:56:50
35K     02:16:41
40K     02:38:01

So fairly realistic to half way but I simply didn’t have the stamina at mile 22 onwards. Could be because I started running in January having had the whole of 2009 off exercise. I’ll be keeping the running going now until November and then we’ll crank into another big and probably final campaign. April 2011 Virgin London Marathon!

2 days to go…

// April 23rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Races

2 days to go till the 2010 Virgin London Marathon. I was going to write about the last week and how it’s been pretty textbook. Then I reaslied I already wrote the post in April 2008 (before the last London Marathon).

See – click me

So without looking at the article I already wrote…..

1) Sore knee – yep, just went for a 30 min (what else!) run and was convinced I was developing a right knee injury. It cleared up when I forgot to think about it!

2) Skinny legs – yep, I’ve got em and boy do they look weak. But only in certain lights. Funny how you convince yourself that 4 months of training will suddenly disappear off your legs as rapid muscle atrophy sets in.

3) Worries about not doing enough miles – even though I know I did as much as I physically could this time I have still had a few niggling doubts that I haven’t done enough. Silly boy.

4) I’m ill – I’m not ill but I was convinced yesterday that a frog in the throat was the beginnings of a serious cold. Today…..there’s no cold but there’s still time right?

5) General feelings of tiredness – I was so tired on Mondays 30 min run that I had to stop. That was running @ 8 mins per mile too!!!

6) Self doubt – this is a strange one. I haven’t really got the self doubt this time quite as bad. The self doubt has been replaced by nerves. That’s right, I’m nervous. You lay it all on the line, you put the work in, you tell everyone, you publically blog about it……you don’t want to fail right?

If you can think of any other classic last week before a race things then let me know. I’m sure I’ve had them too!

Off to pick up my number soon. Roll on Sunday, whatever happens, I’m going to give it my all.

Kingston Breakfast Run….the 16

// April 12th, 2010 // No Comments » // Races

More analysis! With only 2 weeks to go till the London Marathon I ran the Human Race Kingston Breakfast run 16 miles. Results can be found here. Main goal of this race was to run within myself, not hurt myself and to try and run at marathon pace. Racing this race would be disastrous for a good result at London. Could I resist the chase?

So the gun went and I tried my best to hold back. With the new super lighweight Asics Gel Hyperspeed 4 running boots on I was feeling great and went through the first mile too fast. Thankfully it really did feel like I was holding back though so I wasn’t too concerned. I gradually eased back down through the field from 8th to 14th over the next 15 miles. I resisted the temptation to go with people as they came past and went through half way in just a shade over 47 mins.  I averaged 157 on the heart rate (about Marathon pace), averaged a shade under 6 mins per mile and finished with a time of 1.35.55. A time I wouldn’t be happy with if I was racing but given it was a restrained effort I’m more than happy. Leg’s felt great at the end and the only problem was the soles of my feet. Badly blistered from the new running shoes. So I’ll be wearing my training shoes in the marathon itself. Not worth risking the whole thing for 100grammes (the difference in weight between the racers and the training shoes).

In 2008 I ran this race 3 weeks out from the marathon and only managed a short 1.35 when going flat out. I believe for sure I could have raced close to or under 1.34 (my time from 2006). So happy with the result and very little soreness the day after which is exactly what the Dr ordered. I gained a lot of confidence from this run and am chuffed to be able to run this fast whilst holding back. I’m not going to change my marathon race strategy of going out on 6 mins 10s per mile though. I just want to get to 20 miles ready to run the last 6 miles properly.  The marathon is basically a 6 mile race that starts at mile 20. If you can arrive in good shape at that point you stand a chance of achieving your goals. Any other approach is madness. Not to say it’s not possible to PB but doing a massive positive split….but generally it doesn’t work out. See previous marathon results from yours truly.