Time to relax

The family vacation came at just the right time. Even though the ankle held up during the race, as the following days sped by, it began to ache, creeping around in the background subtle as you like. 

However, a full 5 days of rest was ahead of me on a lake in northern Minnesota, totally isolated from the world and more importantly my bike and running shoes (I did manage to sneak up my wetsuit). Although there was still some work to be done on the boat, it was relaxation abound in the most brilliant environment. Lush wooded areas with otters, beavers and plenty of fish (fish, the majority of which chose not to take our bait, although some did)

It was a very welcome break. No workouts to concern myself with. A complete lack of time management. Just the release from organized life that was needed and a lot of napping on a fishing boats. A lifestyle that could easily become addicting. 

I did sneak in a swim, albeit a short one. Despite my open water fears abounding, the wetsuit was thrown on and the icy waters were disturbed by the neoprene clad body. All in the interests of child amusement, as four young kids thought it a great idea to hang on as I swam the dark waters. Could be a great new craze in strength training!

Sadly all vacations must end and the vacation blues came on strong when we arrived back in to The Cities. Immediately back running and among the everyday life stresses. Time to start wasting away those candy induced calories and back to the time management that can be so exhausting. 

A trip to NYC quickly followed with a dungeon swim, two floors below ground at Bally Fitness. A gloomy, yet unique swim site, but little wonder why Bally's has found bankruptcy. A dirty dungeon it was. The week was back in full flow, with a run test tomorrow and a four hour bike later in the week. Where's that lake again???

Good luck to us all!

Liberty Half Iron Race Report

Twas the night before Liberty and the sky was lit up with lightening bolts and the ground sodden with rain. I know what you are thinking, perfect conditions for a race, right?! Who doesn't love swimming in the middle of the lake and having the pretty view of lightening overhead!!?

Well, despite my sarcasm, race morning arrived and we began the day with a somewhat dry early morning drive  along highway 12 to Delano, MN. A small town just 30 miles NW of Minneapolis and on to Lake Rebbecca. Locals say that our city lakes are dirty. Well, when you swim in these "dirty" city lakes I can see 3 feet. In Lake Rebbecca the cloudy visibility was about 1/2 a foot! The good news about this particular fact is there is no psychological battle with the weeds to be had, because you can't see them!

Anyway, back to the point. After setting up transition, surrounded on all sides my unintended lakes of water from the flooding in the area and a quick check of the beach and route back, we were unceremoniously told to run for the cars. At which point we through everything back in to the bags and high tailed it back to the warmth of the borrowed Scion (thanks Bryan!).

It couldn't have been a poorer choice for Mother Nature to show up on this one day of the week. 80 degrees all week, yet today She decided to plump down 60 degrees for a high and sodden us the entire day! Eventually, her anger subsided enough to allow us out of the cars, back to the quagmire of mud known as "transition" and made ready for the one hour delayed start. Now, Napoleon had generously offered to come and support me in this race, despite not training one little bit. I know...he's French. Make sense! However, his valiant offer was much appreciated and despite the fact that we all know he secretly misses triathlon dearly, the hour delay cost him the run. He had a deadline to finish and sadly could not. So, as they do in triathlon, they unceremoniously and lacking any emotion, gave him a DNF. To be honest, there were multiple times this eventual outcome crossed my mind.

The Swim: The water was a very pleasant 71F. Very welcome warmup compared to the 55F OAT. Once in, the swim was fantastic. Well designed and simple course, with little traffic and lots of space to get in to a rhythm. Despite being 3 minutes slower than the previous year, the effort was quite relaxed. A good sign for me as I know a greater effort could have been put in. The benefit realised once T1 is left behind and the bike leg begins. Much fresher and relaxed than in previous years. That said, I left the water with a 34 min swim, which equates to 1min 39sec per 100 yard. Very relaxed.

Now for the miserable part. The Bike! It was absolutely lashing it down again (no lightening this time) and the early miles set the tone for the next 3 plus hours. Roads were soaked and covered in debris, as became abundantly clear on mile 3 where I looked down to find the front tire flat. Queue greased filled tire change (much worse when wet. You end up looking like you just changed the oil on a car). However, a relatively easy and fluid change it was and we were back under way in less than a few minutes. Disappointing in some respects, as I was looking for an excuse to stop - smiley face, hashtag, hashtag.

Had this been a sunny day, this would have been a lovely ride. Lots of smooth shoulders and roads, with rolling countryside. It was a very pleasing ride with a solid wind from the NW to compliment and distinctly hinder your speed depending on the direction. Naturally, this was a hindrance headed back to T2, at your lowest point, knackered and cold, with no sign of your feet feeling anything at all. That's triathlon and in a sick way, why we love it. Despite the early flat, the ever soggy T2 was reached in 3hrs 20mins. A 20 minute improvement over Kansas last year. Pretty happy and despite the frozen feet, the body felt in good shape.

Leaving T2 after my mud treatment (people pay lots of money to have this put all over them to make their skin lovely. A good roll around T2 would have the same outcome) I was shot in to the State Park of Lake Rebecca and a very pleasant trail run. A simple out and back, albeit a very hilly one. Note to self, check out run elevations before next race. The pace was very relaxed and as usual the mood becomes very upbeat when I am off my trusty Blue stead and running under my own power. Relief of no longer pedaling combined with the realization that the end is insight.

The pace was slow to begin with. My foot and ankle were a concern going in, although physical therapy in the week had helped. The strategy was 10 minutes running followed by 1 minute walking. This seem to work very well indeed. The ankle only complaining when the body began to fatigue and my form started to fail on the downhill portions. The left knee was the unexpected party crasher, causing some pain in the latter stages. In fact, the whole right leg felt like it had been doing all the major lifting for the last 5 hours. The left side felt good. Possible signs again of my "imbalance" and hopefully will be highlighted in a Full Functional Assessment in the coming weeks.

As has been the case the last few half iron distance races, the pace was upped considerably in the last 3 miles. It's as if the the body is a horse caught in the starting gate and demands "why have you been holding me back???" and off it goes. Upping the pace by a min/mile. Smash fest! If I could only figure out how to trust my body in to running an improved and even pace throughout the run portion. However, it does feel good to catch all the runners who passed you, in the final miles.

Lots of high fives and "good jobs" later and the modest, local finish line was crossed and a good couple of hot dogs later and I was in the car headed home. The local races are always the best, for me. The relaxed feel. The casualness of it all. The personal approach to the race. It's great. Challenge get close to that with their races. WTC do put on a heck of a race, but a very impersonal one. However, they do draw the crowds and that is a big plus. Running through the park yesterday, the only cheering section were the other runners coming the other way.

All in all, in hindsight, a challenging, yet satisfying race was had. A race I will definitely enter again. Now for some much needed rest!

Good luck to us all!

The Good, the bad and the ugly...

The always say you should start with the good first. In true against-the-grain fashion, I will do the opposite. What a shit week!

The are those weeks during training for a long distance endurance race that are a joy. You jump out of bed to the singing of early morning bird song, think the world is just swell and bolt out of the door. This was not one of those weeks. It was truly ironic. Perhaps some of the most bike worthy days of the year. Yet, the idea of heading out the door and going for a ride longer than 1 hour was not at the highest on my list. Although I will gladly admit that, once out there, it was a joy and I was glad I had struggled out the door.

No matter what though, I would wake up wishing to hear a monumental boom from Mother Nature indicating that today I just might be able to get away with a slow morning and a large cup of coffee. This training robs you of many things and sacrifices are made, both by yourself and others. It is these small little things that you elect to give up - breakfast at a normal hour with your wife. Reading the paper and drinking a seriously over sized coffee that Starbucks doesn't have a name for yet - the things that one weeks like these, you miss dearly.

However, during these weeks, you tend to find yourself pleasantly surprised. The mood that clouds your outlook. Then the warm sun occasionally breaks through and reminds you that life really isn't all that bad. That sun broke through during the first open swim of the season. It was truly wonderful. It is easily forgotten, from one year to the next, what you have experienced the year before. The first open swim is one of them. Yes, I hate the open water. It is not my favourite place to be. However, when you get in that water, when the visibility is up, the fish are gloriously unaware of any human interference and the water is just about warm enough, you wade out into the shallow waters of the lake and dive in. Yes, there are many times I can be heard whimpering between breaths as I swim out in to the lake. It is not lost on me, however, how this particular swim is a special one.

Then the clouds began to dominate again, the sun went in and another lonely 3 plus hour ride presented itself.  This discipline has been hard this year. Absent are the training partners of yesteryear. The rides have been increasingly rides of one. This is, in fact, a good thing for Ironman distance training as it is a lonely place out there and anyone who partakes in this tomfoolery needs to be ready for that. That said, it is nice to get out on the sunny days with a few friends to distract you away from the monotony.

The long run of the week epitomised monotony itself. 11 miles run on a treadmill can be a brutal experience. This one was no different. However, the positives must be gained and recognised. The mental training on an experience like this are invaluable. Chrissy Wellington, to whom I am certainly not comparing my meagre self, wrote in her book that her coach, Brett Sutton, would often make her run an entire marathon on a treadmill in a small dungeon. This was by no means a dungeon, in fact a wide open street mall gym, but the psychological effects were the same. Glad the choice was made to do it. And why on earth did I decide to undertake such lunacy? The city was Jackson, Mississippi. A remote area. I think that's all I need to say on that! 

The week is concluded and behind us. A positive  week lies ahead. More open water swimming this evening with the fishes (and the savage weeds). What also will present itself is the first race of the season, followed by a long relaxing week on a houseboat in Northern Minnesota! The ankle will be tested and the body stretched.

Good luck to us all! 

Bumpy Roads and intensity

At the corner of Autopilot and Aviation Drive, the long run of the week commenced. Appropriate considering the run was planned to circumnavigate the northern portions of Washington Dulles Airport. It was the culmination of a productive week of training during a "recovery week".

There was shorter periods, but with more pain. The good kind. The plan that is to be followed during the lead up to Boulder IM completes a 3 weeks on 1 week off cycle. During the one week off the plan has you do tests of varying degree in order to test your progress. It's sadistic nature can be enjoyable. The much reduced length of training time is traded for vomit inducing intensity, just to see how you do.

The tests went well and showed improvement. Thank goodness. Followed by a promising long ride with a couple of handy roadies throughout the winding local roads of Minneapolis. The great thing about the roadies is that they know where all the smooth roads are. The downside is that they love their hills and they have a real knack at finding them where you least expect it. I now have some good new routes to follow when we next head out.

It was a good 8 miler today. Slightly hazardous first mile or so, being threatened by fatigued airport cabbies and early morning rental car returners. Once out of the mish mash of the airport roads, the run expanded in to a quite loop through the woods that was quite enjoyable. Nice end to the week with the sun on my back and the London Philharmonic in my ears. 

The anti is on the up this week. Two weeks out from the first race of the season, a half iron distance local race beginning in the calm, chilly waters of Lake Rebecca. Combined with a visit to the sporty doc, this should be another interesting week on the bumpy road to Boulder.      

Hope, random and forgetfulness

Frankly, although I probably don't have the most solid set of ankles of all time, I still have a little hope on my side. Today, 9 miles were completed as part of the long run portion of this weeks long arduous training. Coupled with a complete and somewhat tortuous hilly long bike yesterday, it made for my first complete week of training for the first time this year. 

If I am ever completely honest with myself, I would perhaps acknowledge that the ankle isn't at 100%, to say the least. The doc will tell more come the end of the week and suspicions remain as within the inner most subconscious that fluid remains in the ankle joint. The deployment of heat/ice methodology (one far more welcome than the other) has made an impact. The re-deployment of the ice bath, championed by the likes of Paula Radcliffe, has also contributed to a positive week. It's amazing how it is so easily forgotten from one season to the next, all the tricks that helped so much last season. A simple conversation with "Constitution" on the long hilly ride around St Paul yesterday sprang in to action the much needed stop at the local BP for two 20 pound bags of ice and a wobbly bike back the house. This was shortly followed by by some debatably girlish screaming and some inquisitive looks from the dog and cat as I entered the first ice bath of the season.

There are numerous debates about the impact of the ice bath. All I could say, as far as my tortuous self experimentation goes, is that it appears to have a positive impact on my ever complaining body.....

....This is what I love about triathlon! As I write this week, I was in flight on my way to work and spotted the tell tale sign of the Transition Bag as a carry on. I struck up a conversation and as it turns out this lady specializes in sports injury for triathletes. For the next hour I continued to receive some free medical advice on my ankle. Winner. Found out there is some serious work to do on my ankle mobility and hip flexors.

What should also focused upon is my memory. A solicitous email just crossed my inbox congratulating on a fine race! Naturally curious about one successfully races whilst not actually being there, an expeditious search of the results led to the discovery of my very first DNS. Unsurprising really. Would have been nice to have to have remembered. Ironically, there is a slim recollection of signing up during half price Black Friday thinking a duathlon would be good practice for the forthcoming season. I was even off! Oh the irony!

Plenty to work on this week. 

Good luck on this all!

 

Réflexion: Training camp?

To reflect upon the part of the airline industry that I work for and their lack of action over the previous few days would be unhelpful and fruitless. Simply, it must be recognized that their failures have provided an opportunity to reflection or réflexion! 

To find myself stranded in yet another hotel may seem frustrating and annoying in the grand scheme of things. However, even though it is as tempting as a chocolate covered strawberry, to see this as a hindrance is unproductive. I have been stranded in the French speaking city of Quebec in Canada. The hotel has a free espresso machine. The city is a veritable hub of training opportunity. What's not to like?? Indeed, the town is somewhat of a challenge regarding communication, but is that not what Ironman training is all about - The Challenge? We wouldn't keep doing it if it got easier. As Napoleon always says, "it always f*@!king hurts!"

I don;t necessarily see Quebec as painful, mind you. Just a fresh challenge to keep things interesting. As we enter our second day of marooning, I see a pool out of my window and a chance to go for a run in the beautiful old city of Quebec. Challenge accepted!

The ankle had somewhat of an off day yesterday. Grumbling about the effort put in over the weekend. It appears to have bounced back today and may even enjoy a good swim to sooth it's disgruntled tendons. The cold/heat method seems to generate a very good response from "the ole fella" (as I have now named that appendage) The homework must been done well this week. The doctor is due for a visit this week and I must convince him the "old" body isn't done yet!

One of the things that has been reflected on all this week is how I came to have this grumbling ankle. Yes, there was the over zealous football from youth to present - dismissing the aging in between. Yet, it never complained in training previous. Which brought my mind to the ever challenging, completely inappropriately selected footwear run of  Challenge Henley. The brutal, hardened and slippery field that we ran through for 3 miles of each loop of the run portion. Did that finally beat the "ole fella" in to a state of such fatigue that when I finally kicked a ball with it again the jig was up?
One particular personality trait I possess is analysis - excessive analysis. Or, as my wife describes it, "flogging it to death". So, finding the root cause of this has been dancing around my thoughts. Could this painful, yet glorious day be the origins? For Pete's sake, I fell down a drainage ditch in 2012, buggered the ankle beyond what I thought was repair and still managed an entirely successful (read: good enough) completion of France. Yet, France's course was the flattest smoothest run known to man. The polar opposite of Henley. Ah, I shall ponder some more. Better get some more espresso!

Good luck to us all!

Working on my "menu French"

Morning sunrise over my of my favourite places to run.

Back in the gym

It's been a tough three weeks. The love of running and the freedom it gives you is contagious. To be presented with some of the favourite runs in the nation over the last 3 weeks and not able to run them was a form of torture. The chance to run around Flushing Meadows was missed. The first beautiful day of spring was missed. Many of my favourite times.

Yet, something was indeed gained. A new element to training. A new recovery tool. Aqua jogging. Water running. Whatever is the term you choose. Mocked as being an old people's game, this pool time jovial-ness has afforded a new outlet for recovery. When the muscles are sore or the foot is being temperamental, a new option to slap the incredibly bouyant float belt on and start running. It's liberating in a way. Perhaps even meditative. You're not going to go anywhere fast. Many will look at you with a cocked head and wonder why such a youthful, good looking guy is trying to tread water for so long. Isn't that for the old folks? Even the old folks (of whom I met a few during my aqua jogging) will look at you with an arms length stare. "What is this fella doing??"

However, the reward for the muscles is there. The ability to maintain that level of fitness and let the body avoid the constant jarring of outdoor running that is indeed detrimental to damage recovery. Many a runner thinks that those running in the water are suffering from stress fractures and more serious injuries. However, I for one, will be using it in the future when the week is catching me up and I need a little bit of a backward step in order to keep moving forward. 

The foot still has it's days, but the time is right to slowly begin to fun again. The ankle has stopped complaining. The foot can be "irritating", yet a balanced recovery should put me back in good stead. Should.

The weeks are beginning to get more demanding, from a training perspective. The now familiar jump to 3 hour rides and transition runs. The ending of the base and the beginning of some serious time management.

Good luck to us all!

Throw back!