The Triathlon thread - Ironman, 70.3, Olympic, Sprint
Discussion
Scabutz said:
Got to get to up at 3 am to fly to lanza for a training camp. Get to do lots of the bike course and swim the course. Nice to do some solid training without having to worry about cooking,kids,work,life etc.
Have an awesome time!I don't know where you're staying, but definitely practice pacing Famara to Haria and on to Mirador (via some epic switchbacks!) and if you can, Arrieta to La Geria (35km of spirit sapping work, especially if the island is making things even tougher for you). If you fancy some more climbing practice, the Tabayesco is a must as well
Also have a look at the road into Nazaret. When I competed there, I knew nothing about this section and it was a complete shock - it's a long way into the bike and just the worst surface you could possibly imagine, right when you really don't want it - it's about 4ish k long and no different to riding over cobbles. Forewarned is forearmed, etc
Scabutz said:
Great training camp done in Lanza. Cycled all the major parts of the course, swam down in PDC, and did the run course. Practiced my power pacing on the course, all felt good.
Good effort mate - how was the weather/wind whilst you were out there?Scabutz said:
How's everyone's training going?
My training's actually going to plan for once - am now into double figure hour weeks and feeling lean and strong - far stronger than I'd ordinarily be at this time of the year, that's for sure. My shoulder injury seems to be healing well and I'm almost pain free now, so have kept off the swimming whilst that sorts itself out - also, the sea temperature here is 9°C, so I'm not rushing into that just yet!!!I'm still 18 weeks out so have a little way to go yet, but keeping my fingers well and truly crossed that progress continues!
craig r said:
I have discovered the wattbike! Bloody brilliant piece of kit for when I just can't face getting out on the road. All of the data appeals to my not so inner geek!
3 weeks to go!
Wattbike's are fantastic! Have you bought one? All of my bike sessions have been done indoors so far this season - I've got a smart trainer setup and I've got to say it's awesome - peeing down outside/dark/1°C? No worries, bang on some tunes, line up the drinks and get suffering!!3 weeks to go!
What event are you training for, btw?
sammyboy said:
Mallorca 70.3 next week
Best of luck for tomorrow sammyboy - have a good one!!!By the way, how're you feeling for Lanzarote Scabutz as well? I had a "Who can't wait for IRONMAN Lanzarote 2018?? - 15 days to go!!" message pop up on my Facebook feed today from La Santa!
I take it they mean 15 days until IM week as I'm sure race day is the 26th?
How's the build up and more importantly, what's the weather looking like for race day Scabutz?
I've been getting the facebook posts from La Santa and been watching them with more than a little bit of envy!!!! It's such an iconic race over an amazing course with brilliant support. Getting goosebumps just thinking about it
I hope your race goes well - enjoy it and make sure you get yourself into Route 66 on Sunday evening!!!
I've been getting the facebook posts from La Santa and been watching them with more than a little bit of envy!!!! It's such an iconic race over an amazing course with brilliant support. Getting goosebumps just thinking about it
I hope your race goes well - enjoy it and make sure you get yourself into Route 66 on Sunday evening!!!
FredClogs said:
We'll, i did mine last weekend. Beautiful weather and a great day (morning). Kids had a great time although my eldest lost her timing tag on the bike ride and my son ran back to the start half way round the run in a panic he was lost.... And I did 87minutes which I'm sort of happy about but aiming to beat at the next one in September.
Excellent work . . . you busted your 90min target and what's more you didn't have to cycle 20k in a pair of nuthuggers! How did you find the whole thing? How did the running feel after jumping off the bike?
Scabutz said:
Utter disaster. Prep was going brilliantly then just over a week ago I ended up in hospital with an skin infection. Spent 5 days in hospital and had to have an op. Drs told me not to do IM. Thankfully I was out in time to at least go on holiday. My hotel is full of triathletes though.
Real bummer. Especially as I didn't injure myself training which is an occupational hazard.
Will probably take a punt at Outlaw so as not to waste the training. Will do Lanza next year or year after.
Aww man, sorry to hear that - what a proper ballache! I know exactly how it feels - had a rotator cuff tear/AC joint injury 3 weeks before IMCH in 2016. Such a blow after all that training.Real bummer. Especially as I didn't injure myself training which is an occupational hazard.
Will probably take a punt at Outlaw so as not to waste the training. Will do Lanza next year or year after.
Oh well, at least you've got a holiday to recover with and I guess you managed to soak up some of the atmosphere - it'll be there for when you're ready and I highly recommend it . . . may even look at it myself for next year
As RichW mentioned, I'd definitely have a look at Wales as well - different sort of challenge, but another BIG event!
SouthHamsGaz said:
The sister in law absolutely smashed it on Sunday in Nice.
Over 15 minutes ahead of 2nd place and a new course record. Not bad for someone in her 40's
Fair play, that's a Over 15 minutes ahead of 2nd place and a new course record. Not bad for someone in her 40's
performance! Is she taking her Kona slot?1983slow said:
Signed up for a super sprint in a few weeks and also for lakesman half next June to give me something to work towards.
It’s not about pace for me. Just the achievement of finishing after spending most of my life at nearly 20stone.
Top work! That's the thing to do though - get your entry in and then you'll have something to motivate you . . . it seems a long way off at the moment, but all those autumn & winter mornings/days/evenings when it's sooo easy to veg out, because it's wet/cold/dark, you'll have something to focus upon that gets you out there doing stuff.It’s not about pace for me. Just the achievement of finishing after spending most of my life at nearly 20stone.
Before you know it, it'll be 2019, you'll have lost another 2 or 3 stone and smashing 15k runs & 70k bikes
As promised, a race report from my Swedish adventure!
I'm afraid it goes on a bit so I'll split it into several sections and if you can't be arsed to read it all, I'll finish with a TLDR!
TRAINING
I entered this race after NOT getting in to Norseman at the fourth attempt! Xtri emailed me saying that this race was being held for the first time and because of that, I was more likely to get a place. Entered the ballot and sure enough, got in! That was back at the tail end of last November.
I didn't really start training until March (17hrs), had a belting April (42hrs), but as usual work then got mad busy and I only managed 20, 17 & 18hrs respectively for May - July. The vast majority of my training was bike & run - mainly because I'm still recovering from a shoulder injury, but also because I knew the bike was likely to be reasonably tough (2300m of elevation gain) and the run was in the mountains (2000m of elevation gain) so that wasn't going to be easy either. In total I only completed 4 swims before the event, because I was worried about exacerbating my injured shoulder (and last time it "went" was 3 weeks before IMCH which meant I had to forfeit that race).
All in all, I felt OK going over - not in stellar condition, but not too shabby. I don't think I've ever felt I've done "enough" training before an event, but my run has improved massively this year (I'm 10 - 12% quicker than I have ever been in my life, knocking on the door of low 40's 10k pace) and although every one of my rides was indoors in preparation, my bike legs felt OK too. The only thing I was worried about was my shoulder for the swim and I was praying for an easy one - it was in a lake with the gun going off at 5am, so I had visions of a glassy surface and with only 200 or so in the water (compared to 2,500 normally!!), hopefully there was likely to be far less aggro than you'd normally experience.
I'm afraid it goes on a bit so I'll split it into several sections and if you can't be arsed to read it all, I'll finish with a TLDR!
TRAINING
I entered this race after NOT getting in to Norseman at the fourth attempt! Xtri emailed me saying that this race was being held for the first time and because of that, I was more likely to get a place. Entered the ballot and sure enough, got in! That was back at the tail end of last November.
I didn't really start training until March (17hrs), had a belting April (42hrs), but as usual work then got mad busy and I only managed 20, 17 & 18hrs respectively for May - July. The vast majority of my training was bike & run - mainly because I'm still recovering from a shoulder injury, but also because I knew the bike was likely to be reasonably tough (2300m of elevation gain) and the run was in the mountains (2000m of elevation gain) so that wasn't going to be easy either. In total I only completed 4 swims before the event, because I was worried about exacerbating my injured shoulder (and last time it "went" was 3 weeks before IMCH which meant I had to forfeit that race).
All in all, I felt OK going over - not in stellar condition, but not too shabby. I don't think I've ever felt I've done "enough" training before an event, but my run has improved massively this year (I'm 10 - 12% quicker than I have ever been in my life, knocking on the door of low 40's 10k pace) and although every one of my rides was indoors in preparation, my bike legs felt OK too. The only thing I was worried about was my shoulder for the swim and I was praying for an easy one - it was in a lake with the gun going off at 5am, so I had visions of a glassy surface and with only 200 or so in the water (compared to 2,500 normally!!), hopefully there was likely to be far less aggro than you'd normally experience.
RACE DAY
The alarm went off at 3.10am which gave me a good half hour to get my kit together and get down in to the hotel foyer where we were meeting, before being coached the 30 odd kilometres to a remote beach at Öster-Noren lake. When I got up though, there was a noise coming from outside which I had to investigate - opened the doors to my balcony and immediately discovered the weather was horrendous. The sound I could hear was the wind absolutely ROARING. I can remember saying "Holy s
t!" - it was an easterly and straight away I knew that would mean the swim wasn't going to be the straightforward event that I was hoping.
Worse still, it meant a LOT of the bike was liable to be straight into the teeth of it. Ever being the optimist, I told myself, it's OK, it'll pass over and come 5am it'll all be fine.
SWIM
After jumping on the coaches, we were dropped off on the remote beach at 4.30am. It was dark, cold and the wind was still roaring. I didn't even want to look at the water, but the minutes passed and at 4.50am, we all made our way to the water's edge for the beach start. It didn't look good. Big waves & white horses. After a brief song by a women in Swedish traditional costume (which you could barely hear over the noise of the wind!), we were off!
Good news was the water wasn't the 12°C that it could have been - it was about 16°C apparently and actually quite pleasant. That was the extent of the good news though. First few strokes went something like, bubble, bubble, breathe, mouthful of water, cough and splutter, repeat. Very unpleasant. Not too much argey bargey, but the water was totally unpredictable - no swell frequency that you could time like you get in the sea, just waves breaking everywhere and most of them seemingly breaking when I went to breathe.
This was the first time of the day where I had to have a word with myself. I'd probably only covered about 200m, had probably kopped about 5 mouthfuls of water, didn't really know in what precise direction I was supposed to be swimming (it was that windy they couldn't put any buoys out), hadn't remotely established a rhythm, my left shoulder was tweaking trying to keep me stable in the very choppy water and I was acutely aware there was a CHUFFING long way to go. I did something I've never done in a race and switched to breaststroke - it worked. My breathing became more controlled, I could sight a lot easier and most importantly I could just relax.
Kept the breaststroke up for about 500m, by which time we were in some slightly calmer water approaching the lee side of the lake - still choppy, but nothing like what was behind us. Switched back to freestyle and from then on, actually began to enjoy a lovely swim in gin clear water. After what seemed an age (always does!), I caught my first sight of Tannforsen falls (Sweden's highest waterfall) at my 1 o'clock and knew I was nearly home and dry.
Exited the swim just downstream of Tannforsen over some big rocks (very inelegantly, with plenty of help from the marshalls!) and started the 400m uphill run to T1 . . . swim time 1:20ish
The alarm went off at 3.10am which gave me a good half hour to get my kit together and get down in to the hotel foyer where we were meeting, before being coached the 30 odd kilometres to a remote beach at Öster-Noren lake. When I got up though, there was a noise coming from outside which I had to investigate - opened the doors to my balcony and immediately discovered the weather was horrendous. The sound I could hear was the wind absolutely ROARING. I can remember saying "Holy s
t!" - it was an easterly and straight away I knew that would mean the swim wasn't going to be the straightforward event that I was hoping.Worse still, it meant a LOT of the bike was liable to be straight into the teeth of it. Ever being the optimist, I told myself, it's OK, it'll pass over and come 5am it'll all be fine.
SWIM
After jumping on the coaches, we were dropped off on the remote beach at 4.30am. It was dark, cold and the wind was still roaring. I didn't even want to look at the water, but the minutes passed and at 4.50am, we all made our way to the water's edge for the beach start. It didn't look good. Big waves & white horses. After a brief song by a women in Swedish traditional costume (which you could barely hear over the noise of the wind!), we were off!
Good news was the water wasn't the 12°C that it could have been - it was about 16°C apparently and actually quite pleasant. That was the extent of the good news though. First few strokes went something like, bubble, bubble, breathe, mouthful of water, cough and splutter, repeat. Very unpleasant. Not too much argey bargey, but the water was totally unpredictable - no swell frequency that you could time like you get in the sea, just waves breaking everywhere and most of them seemingly breaking when I went to breathe.
This was the first time of the day where I had to have a word with myself. I'd probably only covered about 200m, had probably kopped about 5 mouthfuls of water, didn't really know in what precise direction I was supposed to be swimming (it was that windy they couldn't put any buoys out), hadn't remotely established a rhythm, my left shoulder was tweaking trying to keep me stable in the very choppy water and I was acutely aware there was a CHUFFING long way to go. I did something I've never done in a race and switched to breaststroke - it worked. My breathing became more controlled, I could sight a lot easier and most importantly I could just relax.
Kept the breaststroke up for about 500m, by which time we were in some slightly calmer water approaching the lee side of the lake - still choppy, but nothing like what was behind us. Switched back to freestyle and from then on, actually began to enjoy a lovely swim in gin clear water. After what seemed an age (always does!), I caught my first sight of Tannforsen falls (Sweden's highest waterfall) at my 1 o'clock and knew I was nearly home and dry.
Exited the swim just downstream of Tannforsen over some big rocks (very inelegantly, with plenty of help from the marshalls!) and started the 400m uphill run to T1 . . . swim time 1:20ish
BIKE
Met my guys at T1 and they were amazing. What is it with T1 and losing all motor control/brain function? Tried to put my bike gloves on inside out and basically looked like Bambi trying its first steps. Eventually managed to get my kit sorted and on my bike. First kilometre, 6% climb - cheers Xtri!!
Got out onto the main road towards Åre (heading West) and with the wind on my back, felt I was flying. Just needed to rig a sail - this was all good! Even 2 - 3km inclines were despatched without any significant loss in speed or even realising the road was going up hill. Many times I looked down at my Garmin and saw 60 - 65kph on the flat. Despite a fair amount of elevation gain, I saw off the first 70k in a fraction over 2 hours. Naturally, I also convinced myself that the wind was either going to die off or switch and blow me all the way back to Åre Björnen.
Naturally, that wasn't at all what happened. At 70k we turned North and the tailwind became savage sidewinds. I didn't hear of anyone crashing, but I was amazed that didn't happen (there were several people running discs) - also had a deluge of rain during this period and then at 100k'ish the sidewinds became headwinds.
Now normally I can deal with a headwind. I wouldn't really class myself as a strong cyclist, but I'm OK. This was utterly ridiculous though. I have no idea of the official windspeed during the day - I know for a fact that it was 60mph on the mountain, so I'm guessing it was at least 30mph on the bike. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it were more though. It was horrendous. At 105km, the bike morphed into physical and psychological torture. I know that sounds like hyperbole, but that's exactly how it felt. There was no escape from the wind, no rest anywhere. You had to fight and work hard for every km/h on the flat let alone when the road started to rise (which it did a fair amount of).
The bike leg was unsupported, so I had to liaise with my support guys and we arranged a pitstop at 70km, 110km, a quick one at 150km (as my rear tyre had decided to deflate to 45psi!) and a last splash and dash at 180k. From 180k onwards I was WILLING the kilometres down, but my God they were slow in disappearing! The last 20 odd k back to Åre Björnen went uphill a fair amount and were proper hard graft. My Garmin signalled that we had finally completed
205k and I could see the signs for the right hand turn off the E14. I felt overjoyed, this torture was finally over! Made the right turn expecting to see T2 and instead looked up another hill. To be precise, it was a switchback road, 2.5k long @ 7%. The final kick in the nuts. After everything beforehand it hurt - an awful lot!
Met my guys at T1 and they were amazing. What is it with T1 and losing all motor control/brain function? Tried to put my bike gloves on inside out and basically looked like Bambi trying its first steps. Eventually managed to get my kit sorted and on my bike. First kilometre, 6% climb - cheers Xtri!!
Got out onto the main road towards Åre (heading West) and with the wind on my back, felt I was flying. Just needed to rig a sail - this was all good! Even 2 - 3km inclines were despatched without any significant loss in speed or even realising the road was going up hill. Many times I looked down at my Garmin and saw 60 - 65kph on the flat. Despite a fair amount of elevation gain, I saw off the first 70k in a fraction over 2 hours. Naturally, I also convinced myself that the wind was either going to die off or switch and blow me all the way back to Åre Björnen.
Naturally, that wasn't at all what happened. At 70k we turned North and the tailwind became savage sidewinds. I didn't hear of anyone crashing, but I was amazed that didn't happen (there were several people running discs) - also had a deluge of rain during this period and then at 100k'ish the sidewinds became headwinds.
Now normally I can deal with a headwind. I wouldn't really class myself as a strong cyclist, but I'm OK. This was utterly ridiculous though. I have no idea of the official windspeed during the day - I know for a fact that it was 60mph on the mountain, so I'm guessing it was at least 30mph on the bike. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it were more though. It was horrendous. At 105km, the bike morphed into physical and psychological torture. I know that sounds like hyperbole, but that's exactly how it felt. There was no escape from the wind, no rest anywhere. You had to fight and work hard for every km/h on the flat let alone when the road started to rise (which it did a fair amount of).
The bike leg was unsupported, so I had to liaise with my support guys and we arranged a pitstop at 70km, 110km, a quick one at 150km (as my rear tyre had decided to deflate to 45psi!) and a last splash and dash at 180k. From 180k onwards I was WILLING the kilometres down, but my God they were slow in disappearing! The last 20 odd k back to Åre Björnen went uphill a fair amount and were proper hard graft. My Garmin signalled that we had finally completed
205k and I could see the signs for the right hand turn off the E14. I felt overjoyed, this torture was finally over! Made the right turn expecting to see T2 and instead looked up another hill. To be precise, it was a switchback road, 2.5k long @ 7%. The final kick in the nuts. After everything beforehand it hurt - an awful lot!
RUN
I can remember my first words in T2 - "Jesus Christ!!". Now I had the task of making T2A (a second transition zone at Husa, 31k away) in 3hrs 30min in order to finish on the high course or 5hrs 30min for a low course finish. In any normal Iron distance race, 3hrs 30min would be an absolute breeze to accomplish, but as I had discovered, this wasn't any normal Iron distance race. I had a mountain in the way of me and Husa and I had no idea of the terrain or how long it'd take to get over it.
Set off on VERY dead legs, as usual, uphill. Had the plan of walking until my legs came back to me, then running the flats and downhills and walking the gradient. Got 1k in and my phone (in my backpack along with a bunch of other mandatory stuff we had to carry) went off. My bruv telling me I'd left my GPS tracker in transition!! Had to backtrack and meet him back up the trail. Set off again and within no time at all, we were climbing through the trees - steeply, over narrow tracks with loose stones, tree roots and mud slowing you down. How on earth you were supposed to RUN in this terrain, God alone knows. This went on and on and the kilometres were once again being ticked off very slowly. 6k in and at the start of the mountain, there was a small aid station where I had a delicious piece of cinnamon bun. Looked at my Garmin - it had taken me 60 minutes to do 6k!!!!
Pressed on and we were now above the treeline - over rocks, mountain streams, pools and peaty bogs. The wind was ripping into the mountain and it was freezing cold. Almost stopped to put on gloves, beanie and another layer, but didn't. Mustn't stop. The gradients increased to 25 - 30% and these sections were like a gym session, doing single leg squat after single leg squat over and over again. Finally made the summit of Lillskutan and started the descent. This was no easier to be honest. My legs had no spring in them at all. Tried running twice, ended up on my arse twice. The second time supermanning after tripping on some gorse roots. Looked at my Garmin - 12k in 2hr 5mins. fking ridiculous!! 19k to go until Husa and I had about 1hr 25mins to do it. Not remotely possible. At this stage I was with a Swedish guy and we both said fk it, lets just enjoy it, get off the mountain in one piece and go for the finish - that gave us an extra 2 hours to make Husa. The section after the mountain descent was over undulating moorland, thick with gorse, criss crossed by streams and with very narrow trails. Absolute nightmare to try and run on if you've never practised it (and I hadn't). Made me appreciate that fell running is indeed an art.
There was another small aid station at 19k on the edge of a forest (more cinnamon buns!) and we made that one in just over 3 hrs. Kept up the brisk walk through more gradient, more narrow trails and on the lower lying ground, massive bogs . . . ended up submerged up to my waist in several, having to literally drag myself out by clutching at plants and grass!!! By 22k my legs had finally come back to me and the trails through the forest were slightly easier to negotiate. My Swedish buddy was feeling a lot better too, so from here on in, we actually started to run (shock, horror!) a lot more. I had my Garmin so could reel off our kilometre splits and he had a conventional watch so could keep us appraised of the time.
The plan from here was to build up as much as a buffer as poss, so just in case there were some nasty surprises in terms of terrain, we could still walk those sections and not have to worry. The next 9k was actually really enjoyable - my legs felt OK (subjectively!!!), the kilometres were passing more quickly and I was pretty darn sure I was going to finish this thing!! Knocked off the last 2 kilometres with successive 5:30's (whoop, whoop!) and made T2A with time to spare
Finished the last out and back 10k with my support runner, applauding the guys we passed and high fiving the ones who were coming in the other direction. Crossed the line 16hrs 33mins after I started and to be completely honest I couldn't have cared any less about the time!!! That finish felt like a victory - 20% of the field didn't manage it.
I can remember my first words in T2 - "Jesus Christ!!". Now I had the task of making T2A (a second transition zone at Husa, 31k away) in 3hrs 30min in order to finish on the high course or 5hrs 30min for a low course finish. In any normal Iron distance race, 3hrs 30min would be an absolute breeze to accomplish, but as I had discovered, this wasn't any normal Iron distance race. I had a mountain in the way of me and Husa and I had no idea of the terrain or how long it'd take to get over it.
Set off on VERY dead legs, as usual, uphill. Had the plan of walking until my legs came back to me, then running the flats and downhills and walking the gradient. Got 1k in and my phone (in my backpack along with a bunch of other mandatory stuff we had to carry) went off. My bruv telling me I'd left my GPS tracker in transition!! Had to backtrack and meet him back up the trail. Set off again and within no time at all, we were climbing through the trees - steeply, over narrow tracks with loose stones, tree roots and mud slowing you down. How on earth you were supposed to RUN in this terrain, God alone knows. This went on and on and the kilometres were once again being ticked off very slowly. 6k in and at the start of the mountain, there was a small aid station where I had a delicious piece of cinnamon bun. Looked at my Garmin - it had taken me 60 minutes to do 6k!!!!
Pressed on and we were now above the treeline - over rocks, mountain streams, pools and peaty bogs. The wind was ripping into the mountain and it was freezing cold. Almost stopped to put on gloves, beanie and another layer, but didn't. Mustn't stop. The gradients increased to 25 - 30% and these sections were like a gym session, doing single leg squat after single leg squat over and over again. Finally made the summit of Lillskutan and started the descent. This was no easier to be honest. My legs had no spring in them at all. Tried running twice, ended up on my arse twice. The second time supermanning after tripping on some gorse roots. Looked at my Garmin - 12k in 2hr 5mins. f
king ridiculous!! 19k to go until Husa and I had about 1hr 25mins to do it. Not remotely possible. At this stage I was with a Swedish guy and we both said fk it, lets just enjoy it, get off the mountain in one piece and go for the finish - that gave us an extra 2 hours to make Husa. The section after the mountain descent was over undulating moorland, thick with gorse, criss crossed by streams and with very narrow trails. Absolute nightmare to try and run on if you've never practised it (and I hadn't). Made me appreciate that fell running is indeed an art.There was another small aid station at 19k on the edge of a forest (more cinnamon buns!) and we made that one in just over 3 hrs. Kept up the brisk walk through more gradient, more narrow trails and on the lower lying ground, massive bogs . . . ended up submerged up to my waist in several, having to literally drag myself out by clutching at plants and grass!!! By 22k my legs had finally come back to me and the trails through the forest were slightly easier to negotiate. My Swedish buddy was feeling a lot better too, so from here on in, we actually started to run (shock, horror!) a lot more. I had my Garmin so could reel off our kilometre splits and he had a conventional watch so could keep us appraised of the time.
The plan from here was to build up as much as a buffer as poss, so just in case there were some nasty surprises in terms of terrain, we could still walk those sections and not have to worry. The next 9k was actually really enjoyable - my legs felt OK (subjectively!!!), the kilometres were passing more quickly and I was pretty darn sure I was going to finish this thing!! Knocked off the last 2 kilometres with successive 5:30's (whoop, whoop!) and made T2A with time to spare
Finished the last out and back 10k with my support runner, applauding the guys we passed and high fiving the ones who were coming in the other direction. Crossed the line 16hrs 33mins after I started and to be completely honest I couldn't have cared any less about the time!!! That finish felt like a victory - 20% of the field didn't manage it.TLDR:
The Swedeman course would be incredibly tough in good weather. We didn't have that luxury - exceptionally high winds all day long. I underestimated just how tough this would be, but managed to be an official finisher in this inaugural event. Mega chuffed with that!
Brilliantly organised. Terrific atmosphere. Beautiful, unforgiving terrain. Great camaraderie. Extremely high standard - there really was a high proportion of exceptional athletes in the field.
This event has raised the bar for me - I've come back supercharged Must improve my bike. Must introduce trail running into my schedule.
Highly recommend this event - don't skimp on training for it though, this one will expose you!
The Swedeman course would be incredibly tough in good weather. We didn't have that luxury - exceptionally high winds all day long. I underestimated just how tough this would be, but managed to be an official finisher in this inaugural event. Mega chuffed with that!
Brilliantly organised. Terrific atmosphere. Beautiful, unforgiving terrain. Great camaraderie. Extremely high standard - there really was a high proportion of exceptional athletes in the field.
This event has raised the bar for me - I've come back supercharged
Must improve my bike. Must introduce trail running into my schedule.Highly recommend this event - don't skimp on training for it though, this one will expose you!
Gargamel said:
Hey nice write up, dangerous. Sounds entertaining. The lake swim in particular. I have done a fair bit of trail running so know not look at the time to closely, you can make it back coming downhill.
Congrats on finishing, especially when so many others didn’t
Cheers! It's a great event - 3 weeks later I still haven't forgotten how tough it was Congrats on finishing, especially when so many others didn’t
I've been for my first trail run since though and they're now going to be a permanent part of my training - fortunately I live in a decent area for them, but it's a lot lot different to pounding the tarmac/track!
Already starting to look at 2019 events
ED209 said:
I make that 9 podium finishes in last 10 races!
It's just showing off really, isn't it? oddman said:
Did Sundowner yesterday - great event
My first at 70.3 5hrs 21 fell apart on the run after a good swim and bike. Food for thought.
Doesn't sound at all shabby to me, especially if your run wasn't so good!My first at 70.3 5hrs 21 fell apart on the run after a good swim and bike. Food for thought.
briangriffin said:
The other side of our discussion is which is the easier gain/improvement to make? Is it easier to add those 2moh in the bike or that 1 minute a mile running?
You'll probably find gains will be harder to achieve on the discipline that you least favour - I used to hate running with a passion, so only used to do it when I absolutely had to. It's only in the last couple of years where I've forced myself to love it (and genuinely do now) that I've seen appreciable improvements.If you wanted my advice in which discipline to focus upon to reduce your time, like everyone else, I'd say bike - do the maths on how long you spend on each discipline during the race and you'll probably find you spend at 50 - 60% of your time on the bike, so time spent training on two wheels will pay you back quicker when it comes to races.
However, bike aside, don't let that detract from focusing upon your weaknesses - if you're an OK rider and fall apart on the run then perhaps have some focused blocks of run training in your build up to an event.
The same goes with swim training - I know a guy who's a pretty strong swimmer (in a wetsuit) who focused on his bike & run for a specific event (IM Vichy) and did next to nothing on his swim as he was pretty confident with it. Come race day it was super hot (35ºC or so) and the water temp was 26ºC, so no wetsuits. Worse still, Vichy is a river swim so freshwater. He'd never competed in a skins race and it absolutely ruined his day. 1k in he genuinely worried about making the swim cut he told me afterwards (he did, but played catchup for the rest of the day).
New IM race announced for Spain - up in the Basque region, beautiful part of Spain
http://eu.ironman.com/triathlon/events/emea/ironma...
May have to have a "good news/bad news" conversation with my girlfriend - race day is her birthday
http://eu.ironman.com/triathlon/events/emea/ironma...
May have to have a "good news/bad news" conversation with my girlfriend - race day is her birthday
For anyone that interested, here's the race in Sweden I competed in:-
https://www.facebook.com/swextri/videos/1217520758...
Beautiful location and brilliantly captured. Absolutely fab event - the film can't convey the wind we had to battle though!!!
https://www.facebook.com/swextri/videos/1217520758...
Beautiful location and brilliantly captured. Absolutely fab event - the film can't convey the wind we had to battle though!!!
blade runner said:
I quite fancy that one. Finished Ironman Barcelona on Sunday, but the sea swim was ridiculously choppy. A nice flat lake swim would be good for the next one.
Got to compare notes with my training buddy for next year, but it does look a great option.Well done on the Barcelona finish, by the way - I competed there in 2016 and the swim was exactly the same, probably a 5ft swell. Plenty of people throwing up after about 3k!!!
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