Given that my last race was Auckland 70.3 at the end of January I appreciate that this is long overdue. Since then other priorities have been keeping me busy and the enthusiasm to write this hasn’t really been there…
It is with a sad but content heart that I’ve decided to retire from racing triathlon; at any level for now at least, but certainly for good as a ‘Pro’ (in the loosest sense of the word – more on that later). Auckland was the final “test” to see what condition my body was in and what kind of performance level I was able to achieve with the heart, lungs and legs that have served me so well for nearly a decade in triathlon. Sadly though, the answer I got was a very clear “no” in terms of reaching anything like or beyond the levels I’ve seen in the past. I’m simply not able to compete at the world class level anymore… not even close!
Having finally got to the bottom of my health issues, allergies and such I had strung together a very strong and solid 5 months of training under the fantastic guidance and support of my coach Tom Bennett (from T2 Coaching). I was hitting PB’s in the water, as strong as ever on the run and working consistently and hard on the two wheels. However, despite all of this I just wasn’t able to get anywhere near previous performance levels, in particular on the bike (stagnating at roughly 60-70 watts lower than I’ve previously hit). The sessions were spot on, the work was being done, the guidance from Tom was world class but the body simply wouldn’t respond… and to be honest as time passed by, the heart began to weaken too. The desire slowly began to dissipate and the motivation became harder and harder to maintain.
I’m not saying I’ll never race again, I still LOVE the sport and will be keeping myself more than fit in the gym and in the pool; but in terms of dedicating myself to it full-time and trying to earn a living from it, that journey has ended. I’ll still be coaching with Windrush Tri Club and frequenting the Surrey hills on a bike too.
I’m happy to say that I’m very content with the decision. It is only sport after all and has never formed my identity or self-worth. Win or lose, train well or not, I’ve always known it need not affect who I was and what’s most important in life. Whilst I genuinely know that there is a lot more that I believed I could have achieved in racing, I’m immensely proud of what I have achieved in the last 10 years, even just finishing my last race in Auckland. I’m also eternally grateful for the incredible lifestyle I’ve had during this time; the amazing places it’s taken me and especially the people I’ve met along the way.
I’d like to take this opportunity to extend an enormous “THANK YOU!” to my amazing sponsors that have supported me for so long and in particular, stuck by me over the last 2 years of ups and downs. Powerbar, CompresSport, VO2 Performance Bikes, Profeet, Greepers, The Athletic Edge, FreeSpeed Bike Fit and my amazing coach & manager, now friends Tom Bennett and Luke. I wish I could have done more performance wise in the last two years to repay your support, but thank you!
And finally as a parting vote of support for the struggling Pro’s out there and maybe more importantly, some very important advice for anyone considering ‘going Pro’, a little note on that word ‘Pro’… ha… how to keep this short?
It is nigh on impossible (especially as a male triathlete) to earn a decent living from this sport. Very, VERY few do. Prize money is rare in the UK (though this would be easy to change at most races I believe) and where it is, it’s simply not enough to live on for more than a few weeks with the diet, travel and training required of a Pro. Even if you head abroad it’s difficult to turn a profit, unless you’re consistently placing top 3 in every race you enter; and that’s bearing in mind that at most 70.3’s nowadays the men’s field is at least 35 deep and sometimes 20+ of those men are truly world class. Any… ANY sub-top class performance and you’re nowhere other than a negative investment in going to and doing the race.
As an (excited) soon to be husband, I simply don’t want to be “Peter Pan in lycra”, and not accept my responsibilities, living off my wife’s income whilst I struggle to achieve results. I accept that I’m not (as already stated) able to perform at that level anymore; hence why I’m calling it a day. I have a great amount of respect for those who can and do earn a decent living from triathlon, but for the majority it’s simply not a viable “job”. Only the very few can call this a job when you compare it to other jobs, even sports-based ones. To give a little perspective, I’ll earn more in a month at my job now than I would have done if I’d WON in Auckland, beating Olympic medallists and world champions in the process. After tax(es), exchange rates and expenses, you’re left with nothing more than a below average month’s wage… and that’s for beating the best!!! I’ve never been here for the money and I’ve been in the sport long enough to know I’d never be able to afford to buy my fiancé an Aston Martin, but we can all hit a point where we consider or question just how fruitful and satisfying our work is and when it feels like you are voluntarily killing yourself at ‘work’ whilst actually earning so little. Then you know it’s definitely time to make some changes.
But rather than go on anymore, I’ll let two other great athletes put it better than I:
Rachel Joyce in a recent tweet wrote “At my US visa interview “you’re telling me you came 11th at the world champs and won nothing? I know people who win more in carpet bowls”
And Matty White wrote a great blog about it all which can be found here: http://firstoffthebike.com/news-and-features/its-not-just-about-the-t-shirt/
And just as if to ram the point home… this rather timely news broke this week..
http://www.trizone.com.au/20130403/hy-vee-professional-prize-purse-halved-to-500000/
Triathlon is a great, great sport filled with wonderful and inspiring people. But its potential is nowhere near being realised which is a real shame for all involved, at every level and age.
@JonHotchkiss
Friday, April 05, 2013
Friday, June 15, 2012
70.3 Switzerland - Fed up with feeling fragile
Training leading into Switzerland 70.3 had in general, been going really well. Some great, solid sessions had been logged and both Tom (my coach) and I were looking forward to progressing in terms of result in my next 70.3 of the season.
Race morning arrived grey and damp but nothing too bad for us Brits. The only surprise for me was just how many Pro's there were lining up on the start line... Nearly 100! As the start gun went a pretty hectic and rough first 500m then ensued but I felt ok as things settled down and was happy with where I appeared to be (2nd main pack I thought). I stayed there until about 300m from the end where I seemed to drop off the back for some reason; I didn't loose too much time though and by the time I was through transition and on to my VO2 Victory TT I'd caught up the guys just ahead.
We all settled in after the first 5km or so and I tried to stick to my planned wattage goal that Tom and I had discussed. It was however, harder to do that it should have been, but I pressed on.
The bike in Rapperswil is a fantastic 2 lap course with two serious climbs including some pretty solid 15%+ sections. After Majorca 70.3 we'd agreed it was worth pushing a little harder on the climbs and so I upped the effort considerably as we hit the first climb and again, although this felt harder than it should, I stuck with it and pressed on staying nicely with the 4 other guys I was riding with. Having ascended the 2nd and longer hill, gone down the other side and headed back towards the turn around I was fully expecting to see Michael Raelert fly last any time soon; much to my surprise it wasn't until about 2km from the turn that he went passed in the other direction. The gap to him was only 6minutes and the rest of the bunch were less than 5minutes up the road. Considering how I felt I was riding, this was a nice boast to me... But I've learnt not to gauge my performance by others so I out it out my mind and got stuck into the 2nd lap. We caught several other guys during this time, but personally (and sadly rather forebodingly I was increasingly finding it harder to hold my target power levels. On the plus side (ALWAYS look for a positive) my fellow competitors weren't dropping me... But it also meant that I SHOUKD have been dropping them if I was riding properly.
The rest of the bike leg passed in thus vein... Not feeling great, but not loosing time to my competitors. By the time 2 approached my legs felt nicely spent and I was very interested to see how I'd run given the effort level I'd felt on the bike. Hopping off the bike and the signs weren't good... But once the shoes went on and I headed out transition I was delighted to feel some.serious spring in my step.
Give how I've been running recently in training, we had some serious targets for the run and I was pleased to see that I was actually ticking along nicely and a fraction faster than this; I backed off a touch and focused on the physical queues Tom and I have worked on... Relax, how can can hold this speed for less effort? Very quickly 3 of my fellow bikers were passed and it was now just me and an Australian guy who’d finsihed 3rd at Majorca to my 14th... this was a good place and pace to be. We maintained this pace up until about 7km when I began to struggle to hold the effort... My failure to properly fuel in the latter stages of the bike and the start of the run had caught up with me and I began to slow. Determined not to stop and walk I set my sights mentally on making it passed halfway and the 1st aid station thereafter. It's amazing how long these few K's can feel when you're hurting and by the time I eventually hit that aid station, I was seriously struggling; my "easy speed" was now sluggish jog.... But, I determined myself to deal with it properly and walked the aid station and took on as much as I could continuing to walk for 500m beyond too just to ensure the stomach could absorb it as much as possible. This was hard to do and I hard to let a number of my competitors pass me. However it paid off as soon as I started to run again; the legs felt much better and I was able to hit close to planned pace again. I began to catch back some of those lost positions, but I was running out of road and the damage had been done. At this level, these kind of mistakes can't be fully recovered from and my little jog/walk mid-race period had cost me dearly. I held on just about to the end crossing the line as 20th.
So where on earth does the title of this report come into it... where’s the fragility i’m fed up with? Well...
Asside from a shockingly bad week at work leading into this race, I've been struggling with my allergies for about 2-3 weeks. The fatigue, physical and especially mental impact this has on my is huge. Consistent training is hard, but in a race of this nature my bodies ability to function properly is drastically reduced. However the frustration lies not in this any more, as i’ve been dealing with this for a number of years now; its now in the fact that i seem less able to control it. Sticking to a strick gluten free diet nolonger appears to be enough to keep the symptoms at bay and despite my best efforts before the race even started i knew i was going to struggle immensely to just even finish. Its proving very difficult to keep going when we’re all working so hard and making some really great improvements, only for things to be completely de-railed by something that i now feel is completely out of my control. I’d just like to, for once, have a race where my body actually turns up even at 80%.
On the positive side though, in times gone by, I'd have quit... possibly not even bothered starting but now i dont quit and i do push through it. The mental improvements that working with Tom has given me this season are certainly helping and thats the only way i got to the finish line at all on Sunday. I’m looking forward to a race where i can use these tools agressively though, instead of damage limitation and survival.
Thanks for reading and see you at the start line soon!!!
Race morning arrived grey and damp but nothing too bad for us Brits. The only surprise for me was just how many Pro's there were lining up on the start line... Nearly 100! As the start gun went a pretty hectic and rough first 500m then ensued but I felt ok as things settled down and was happy with where I appeared to be (2nd main pack I thought). I stayed there until about 300m from the end where I seemed to drop off the back for some reason; I didn't loose too much time though and by the time I was through transition and on to my VO2 Victory TT I'd caught up the guys just ahead.
We all settled in after the first 5km or so and I tried to stick to my planned wattage goal that Tom and I had discussed. It was however, harder to do that it should have been, but I pressed on.
The bike in Rapperswil is a fantastic 2 lap course with two serious climbs including some pretty solid 15%+ sections. After Majorca 70.3 we'd agreed it was worth pushing a little harder on the climbs and so I upped the effort considerably as we hit the first climb and again, although this felt harder than it should, I stuck with it and pressed on staying nicely with the 4 other guys I was riding with. Having ascended the 2nd and longer hill, gone down the other side and headed back towards the turn around I was fully expecting to see Michael Raelert fly last any time soon; much to my surprise it wasn't until about 2km from the turn that he went passed in the other direction. The gap to him was only 6minutes and the rest of the bunch were less than 5minutes up the road. Considering how I felt I was riding, this was a nice boast to me... But I've learnt not to gauge my performance by others so I out it out my mind and got stuck into the 2nd lap. We caught several other guys during this time, but personally (and sadly rather forebodingly I was increasingly finding it harder to hold my target power levels. On the plus side (ALWAYS look for a positive) my fellow competitors weren't dropping me... But it also meant that I SHOUKD have been dropping them if I was riding properly.
The rest of the bike leg passed in thus vein... Not feeling great, but not loosing time to my competitors. By the time 2 approached my legs felt nicely spent and I was very interested to see how I'd run given the effort level I'd felt on the bike. Hopping off the bike and the signs weren't good... But once the shoes went on and I headed out transition I was delighted to feel some.serious spring in my step.
Give how I've been running recently in training, we had some serious targets for the run and I was pleased to see that I was actually ticking along nicely and a fraction faster than this; I backed off a touch and focused on the physical queues Tom and I have worked on... Relax, how can can hold this speed for less effort? Very quickly 3 of my fellow bikers were passed and it was now just me and an Australian guy who’d finsihed 3rd at Majorca to my 14th... this was a good place and pace to be. We maintained this pace up until about 7km when I began to struggle to hold the effort... My failure to properly fuel in the latter stages of the bike and the start of the run had caught up with me and I began to slow. Determined not to stop and walk I set my sights mentally on making it passed halfway and the 1st aid station thereafter. It's amazing how long these few K's can feel when you're hurting and by the time I eventually hit that aid station, I was seriously struggling; my "easy speed" was now sluggish jog.... But, I determined myself to deal with it properly and walked the aid station and took on as much as I could continuing to walk for 500m beyond too just to ensure the stomach could absorb it as much as possible. This was hard to do and I hard to let a number of my competitors pass me. However it paid off as soon as I started to run again; the legs felt much better and I was able to hit close to planned pace again. I began to catch back some of those lost positions, but I was running out of road and the damage had been done. At this level, these kind of mistakes can't be fully recovered from and my little jog/walk mid-race period had cost me dearly. I held on just about to the end crossing the line as 20th.
So where on earth does the title of this report come into it... where’s the fragility i’m fed up with? Well...
Asside from a shockingly bad week at work leading into this race, I've been struggling with my allergies for about 2-3 weeks. The fatigue, physical and especially mental impact this has on my is huge. Consistent training is hard, but in a race of this nature my bodies ability to function properly is drastically reduced. However the frustration lies not in this any more, as i’ve been dealing with this for a number of years now; its now in the fact that i seem less able to control it. Sticking to a strick gluten free diet nolonger appears to be enough to keep the symptoms at bay and despite my best efforts before the race even started i knew i was going to struggle immensely to just even finish. Its proving very difficult to keep going when we’re all working so hard and making some really great improvements, only for things to be completely de-railed by something that i now feel is completely out of my control. I’d just like to, for once, have a race where my body actually turns up even at 80%.
On the positive side though, in times gone by, I'd have quit... possibly not even bothered starting but now i dont quit and i do push through it. The mental improvements that working with Tom has given me this season are certainly helping and thats the only way i got to the finish line at all on Sunday. I’m looking forward to a race where i can use these tools agressively though, instead of damage limitation and survival.
Thanks for reading and see you at the start line soon!!!
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Majorca 70.3 Race report
There’s something very amusing about travelling to a race on a 6:30am flight, all concerned about compression, hydration and stretching whilst half the passengers are already getting boozed for a stag or hen do. Powerbar drink or double vodka… hmm?!
The season proper (post the San Juan 70.3 test race) kicked off for me at the 2nd 70.3 Majorca and I was not only looking forward to the race, but just to get some warm sun on my back. My girlfriend Jen had also travelled out with me (and organised travel/accommodation for us) so short though the trip was, it was exciting to be heading to the beautiful port of Alcudia for the race.
I knew the course from a previous training trip back in 2008 and was looking forward to a hard fought race in a big and strong men’s pro filed that included the current Ironman distance WR holder, Michael Raelert. Everything leading up to the race had gone well (ignoring the previous weeks food poisoning) and my coach and I were very happy with where we were at physically. The mysterious leg shut down of San Juan had been resolved and power on the bike was returning. It was time to see exactly what I could do.
The swim was reasonably un-eventful, with me sitting towards the back of the second pack. I’m swimming averagely at the moment and there’s more to come, but I felt comfortable all the way and possibly on reflection should have pushed a little harder to at least try to be further up the bunch.
We exited the water and made our way from the golden beach to the 2nd longest transition area I’ve ever raced in (Galway 70.3 being the longest). I’d made the choice to put my helmet in the Bike transition bag and not leave it at my bike (unlike ALL the other Pro’s) and was able to use the 500m run from tent to bike to don my helmet and simply grab my bike and go… 15s advantage to me right there!!!
Out onto the bike course and the first 15km we had to cover was flat and fast before we hit the major mountain of the course up to the St Luc Monastery. I was feeling great sitting on the watts we’d targeted for the ride and once my breathing and stomach settled down after the swim, I got two Powerbar gels inside me well before we hit the foot of the mountain. A group of about 8 of us were together when this happened, but very quickly this broke apart. The upper limit for my watts meant that I dropped off the back of the front 4 guys but my legs felt good, so I decided to adapt the plan a little and allow a slightly harder effort on the way up hoping that I’d recover sufficiently on the long technical descent. I still ended up climbing entirely on my own, but caught and passed 3 other guys on the way up. About 45mins of solid climbing later and I took the left turn to begin the descent.
One of the great things about Majorca, is that the road are all perfect. The surface is immaculate and you never have to worry about pot-holes or loose gravel; nice to know as you’re going round the endless switch backs down the mountainside. The views are stunning if you can take your eyes off the road for a second, or more importantly the edge of the corners and what you CAN’T see over the edge!!! This section of the race was the killer for me however. I’m not too bad at descending…I thought, but 2 of the guys I’d passed on the way UP the mountain, caught me back and despite my best efforts to follow their routes around the corners, they steadily pulled away and by the time I’d got to the base of the mountain, they’d put another 90s into me. I’d probably lost over 3minutes to them (and the leaders) on the way down!!! Not good! But thankfully, the point of leg failure in San Juan came and went without all power disappearing and I was once again back sat at race pace watts and feeling fine. The rest of the ride was largely flat and fast, but it took me till 75km to catch back to anyone and by the end of the 91km I’d only gained back about 5 places. I was happy though as I was right at the point where I wasn’t sure if I’d ridden too hard or not… the run would tell, but I knew at least I’d been able to ask the question.
Jumping off the VO2 Victory TT as I headed into T2 and the legs felt pretty average, but not shocking and certainly not dead. I had plenty of time to “gently” ease them in between my bike and the T2 change tent that’s for sure! Trainers on, I grabbed my visor and two PowerBar gels and headed out onto the flat but now pretty HOT run course; Time to see how the great recent training form could translate into a tired half marathon.
One of the great things about this race is that it's so popular with British athletes and the crowd support on the 3 lap course was awesome! Jen had found a great sport where she could walk a short 200m between the road and the path of two parts of each lap of the run course, meaning she could see me loads and give great updates and support too… much needed as the mercury started to hit the 30 degree mark.
I’d started the run as planned -nice and steady. The plan was 5k like this, then raise it slightly for the next 10k, then look to increase and hang on as much as possible for the last 6km. The guys I’d left T2 running side by side with were now no longer within earshot which always helps you relax that little bit more. Focussing on the technical pointers my coach Tom has been helping me with, I felt pretty good as I headed out towards the turn around point at about 4km. This out and back section was a great chance to gauge my position, but I was slightly confused to only pass by the bikes leading 2nd and 3rd place males… then it sunk in –WOW Raelert was clearly MILES (literally) in front of everyone!!!
One of my pre-race goals was to finish 1st Brit and I could see that Mark Threlfal was having a great race and currently running in 4th place, about 6minutes in front. I’d have to work HARD to achieve that target, but I was still feeling pretty good and focussing on my lean and depth as I ran was giving me a pace that was slowly reeling guys in front in. Passing Jen at about 6km, she said I was in 17th. Clearly a lot of guys were having great days! Out onto the 2nd lap and the heat was starting to hit home to lots of us, but my pace was holding, just, and I was gaining on guys in front. Mark was now just over 2minutes in front and I’d passed a couple more guys by the end of 14km and was hanging onto 1h15min pace. The last lap however and the pain started to tell. I was holding my form together, but just couldn’t quite hold the same pace. I caught and passed 2 more guys, but then with only a km to go, I was caught napping myself and passed before I could respond and try to go with him. Mentally I gave it a shot at catching him back, but the legs wouldn’t respond. However, this is a good sign as the mental side of things last year was something I’d realised had begun to weaken, so I was pleased to see some fight returning when things got tough.
The last turn and a short run along the beach, beside all the bars and cafes with willing supporters tucking into full English breakfasts and early lunch Paellas took us up and over a short foot bridge and down the packed finishing shoot. I crossed the line, totally spent and a full 20minutes behind Raelert… but more importantly less than 8 minutes down on 2nd place. Raelert aside, it had been a close race in the top 20 and I was delighted to have been able to execute a solid race. Though not the result I was looking for, it was a race I’m happy with. The plan was followed, the body held strong and there’s a lot more fitness and strength to come. I’m excited about racing again, which is a good sign and the improvements made with my “team” so far can only continue to bring increasingly positive results.
A huge thanks as always to those who help and support me so much: Jen for being amazing both at organising me and cheering for me. VO2 Performance Bikes, Powerbar, CompresSport, Greepers, Tom from T2 Coaching, the guys at “The Athletic Edge” and Luke my manager.
The season proper (post the San Juan 70.3 test race) kicked off for me at the 2nd 70.3 Majorca and I was not only looking forward to the race, but just to get some warm sun on my back. My girlfriend Jen had also travelled out with me (and organised travel/accommodation for us) so short though the trip was, it was exciting to be heading to the beautiful port of Alcudia for the race.
I knew the course from a previous training trip back in 2008 and was looking forward to a hard fought race in a big and strong men’s pro filed that included the current Ironman distance WR holder, Michael Raelert. Everything leading up to the race had gone well (ignoring the previous weeks food poisoning) and my coach and I were very happy with where we were at physically. The mysterious leg shut down of San Juan had been resolved and power on the bike was returning. It was time to see exactly what I could do.
The swim was reasonably un-eventful, with me sitting towards the back of the second pack. I’m swimming averagely at the moment and there’s more to come, but I felt comfortable all the way and possibly on reflection should have pushed a little harder to at least try to be further up the bunch.
We exited the water and made our way from the golden beach to the 2nd longest transition area I’ve ever raced in (Galway 70.3 being the longest). I’d made the choice to put my helmet in the Bike transition bag and not leave it at my bike (unlike ALL the other Pro’s) and was able to use the 500m run from tent to bike to don my helmet and simply grab my bike and go… 15s advantage to me right there!!!
Out onto the bike course and the first 15km we had to cover was flat and fast before we hit the major mountain of the course up to the St Luc Monastery. I was feeling great sitting on the watts we’d targeted for the ride and once my breathing and stomach settled down after the swim, I got two Powerbar gels inside me well before we hit the foot of the mountain. A group of about 8 of us were together when this happened, but very quickly this broke apart. The upper limit for my watts meant that I dropped off the back of the front 4 guys but my legs felt good, so I decided to adapt the plan a little and allow a slightly harder effort on the way up hoping that I’d recover sufficiently on the long technical descent. I still ended up climbing entirely on my own, but caught and passed 3 other guys on the way up. About 45mins of solid climbing later and I took the left turn to begin the descent.
One of the great things about Majorca, is that the road are all perfect. The surface is immaculate and you never have to worry about pot-holes or loose gravel; nice to know as you’re going round the endless switch backs down the mountainside. The views are stunning if you can take your eyes off the road for a second, or more importantly the edge of the corners and what you CAN’T see over the edge!!! This section of the race was the killer for me however. I’m not too bad at descending…I thought, but 2 of the guys I’d passed on the way UP the mountain, caught me back and despite my best efforts to follow their routes around the corners, they steadily pulled away and by the time I’d got to the base of the mountain, they’d put another 90s into me. I’d probably lost over 3minutes to them (and the leaders) on the way down!!! Not good! But thankfully, the point of leg failure in San Juan came and went without all power disappearing and I was once again back sat at race pace watts and feeling fine. The rest of the ride was largely flat and fast, but it took me till 75km to catch back to anyone and by the end of the 91km I’d only gained back about 5 places. I was happy though as I was right at the point where I wasn’t sure if I’d ridden too hard or not… the run would tell, but I knew at least I’d been able to ask the question.
One of the great things about this race is that it's so popular with British athletes and the crowd support on the 3 lap course was awesome! Jen had found a great sport where she could walk a short 200m between the road and the path of two parts of each lap of the run course, meaning she could see me loads and give great updates and support too… much needed as the mercury started to hit the 30 degree mark.
I’d started the run as planned -nice and steady. The plan was 5k like this, then raise it slightly for the next 10k, then look to increase and hang on as much as possible for the last 6km. The guys I’d left T2 running side by side with were now no longer within earshot which always helps you relax that little bit more. Focussing on the technical pointers my coach Tom has been helping me with, I felt pretty good as I headed out towards the turn around point at about 4km. This out and back section was a great chance to gauge my position, but I was slightly confused to only pass by the bikes leading 2nd and 3rd place males… then it sunk in –WOW Raelert was clearly MILES (literally) in front of everyone!!!
One of my pre-race goals was to finish 1st Brit and I could see that Mark Threlfal was having a great race and currently running in 4th place, about 6minutes in front. I’d have to work HARD to achieve that target, but I was still feeling pretty good and focussing on my lean and depth as I ran was giving me a pace that was slowly reeling guys in front in. Passing Jen at about 6km, she said I was in 17th. Clearly a lot of guys were having great days! Out onto the 2nd lap and the heat was starting to hit home to lots of us, but my pace was holding, just, and I was gaining on guys in front. Mark was now just over 2minutes in front and I’d passed a couple more guys by the end of 14km and was hanging onto 1h15min pace. The last lap however and the pain started to tell. I was holding my form together, but just couldn’t quite hold the same pace. I caught and passed 2 more guys, but then with only a km to go, I was caught napping myself and passed before I could respond and try to go with him. Mentally I gave it a shot at catching him back, but the legs wouldn’t respond. However, this is a good sign as the mental side of things last year was something I’d realised had begun to weaken, so I was pleased to see some fight returning when things got tough.
The last turn and a short run along the beach, beside all the bars and cafes with willing supporters tucking into full English breakfasts and early lunch Paellas took us up and over a short foot bridge and down the packed finishing shoot. I crossed the line, totally spent and a full 20minutes behind Raelert… but more importantly less than 8 minutes down on 2nd place. Raelert aside, it had been a close race in the top 20 and I was delighted to have been able to execute a solid race. Though not the result I was looking for, it was a race I’m happy with. The plan was followed, the body held strong and there’s a lot more fitness and strength to come. I’m excited about racing again, which is a good sign and the improvements made with my “team” so far can only continue to bring increasingly positive results.
A huge thanks as always to those who help and support me so much: Jen for being amazing both at organising me and cheering for me. VO2 Performance Bikes, Powerbar, CompresSport, Greepers, Tom from T2 Coaching, the guys at “The Athletic Edge” and Luke my manager.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Thames Turbo Sprint Race 1
After San Juan 70.3 a couple of weeks ago, we’d (my coach Tom Bennet) and I had sat down to talk about what it meant for the first main goal of the season, Ironman South Africa. We decided that one good way to check up again on the body would be another short race such as the first Thames Turbo Sprint, which would be two weeks before IM SA, on the Easter Bank Holiday Monday. These races are local to me and always fantastically well organised by Thames Turbo Tri club. They offer a great way for novices to dip their toe into the water (literally speaking, in the nice and warm Hampton Lido swim) as well as attracting plenty of local high calibre athletes too. I’d raced it at the same time last year too and won, so I’d have a great marker against which to compare my race this year.
It was a pretty cold and drizzly morning, but with me going in the 2nd wave of the race for the 426m swim, things had warmed up a little… at least that’s what I convinced myself of before the start. I was 7th to start in this wave, with a 10s gap between each swimmer. The ZeroD ‘O’ tri suit was made for this and I settled into a comfortable but solid pace and caught the swimmer in front by about half-way. Without exerting myself too much and trying more to focus on a solid tech, I hit the steps at the end of the swim in a comfortable 6mins. Not the fastest of the day and I knew this, but I wanted to see what this kind of effort gave me and was happy enough and now ready to open the legs out properly once if was aboard my VO2 Victory TT.
I’d already decided however, that today wasn’t a day to get too cold and therefore make myself sick, so plenty of time was taken in transition to put on arm-warmers and a gillet. A small sacrifice I thought… it would come back to bite my in the butt later on however.
Out onto the flat (in terms of profile at least) 20k bike course that includes a small part of the 2012 Olympic cycling TT course too and I started off strongly but again, kept it measured. Once I was happy I felt properly warmed up I started to open up the legs, but the numbers on the power metre were not showing good things. The legs felt OK… but only OK, certainly not strong and I was seeing this in my pace as I rode parallel to the Thames out towards Chertsey. Now whilst the profile might be “flat” the road surface is rougher Dan Dares chin… thankfully my VO2 bike is super comfortable, but the road surface continually saps all the speed from you the moment you switch off any power. Despite the cold and how my legs were feeling, I was pushing myself hard, which is something I’d mentally struggled to do last year and proof that much of Tom’s work with me was having benefits on the mental side too. However at about the 13km point, I got a shock… I got over-taken! This is something that hasn’t happened to me in any race in the UK for… well as long as I can remember, and hardly ever in big Ironman or 70.3 races even; the bike has always been somewhere that I’ve gained time and places, not lost it! But, again, mentally, it was nice to see I took it onboard and used it in a positive way, targeting the guy who’d just caught me and determining myself to stay with him (at a legal distance of course) to the end of the bike leg… I felt sure I’d gain the time back on the run at least. This I managed to do and so once the 20k bike was over, I span back towards the transition area to prepare for the run (N.B. this race is slightly different to most other triathlons in that after you complete the bike, because of traffic lights and junctions, you have a 2km “dead” zone which you can take your time to ride through and wont count in your “total” race time.)
My plan to spin those 2km’s quickly changed however, when within a minute of finishing the bike, I was already seriously cold and shaking like a washing machine on super-spin cycle. I got myself back to transition ASAP and started with my now arctic like numb fingers to slowly put my socks and trainers on.
As soon as I started the run however, it all slotted nice back into place. All the work on running form of the last months has recently really felt like it was falling into place and I felt great as I left the pool car park and headed up towards the entrance to the Royal Bushy Park for the 5km run. I knew I needed to put a very fast time in to claw back my swim time and terrible bike time too, but the way I was feeling, this seemed possible. Shoulders back, arms relaxed, hips “proud” and with “depth” to every stride I felt great as the first 3k’s flew by, even on the bumpy, un-even surfaces of some parts of the course, I kept the rhythm and was enjoying really burying myself into the “hurt-box”. I maybe pushed this a little too far though, as with about 400m to go, the legs seemed to switch to resembling more jelly-like properties than strong Ironman runners, but with the finish in sight I dug deep to the line. I turned quickly to check to see where my cycling assailant was and watching him cross the line, I knew it would be close. I’d not had a great race, but I hadn’t expected it to be this close.
Little did I realise that actually my pursuer, was the least of my worries. When the results came out, it wasn’t even a battle between me and him… I’d ended up 4th!!! On reflection, my OAP like desire to wrap up warm had cost me 3 places, though this didn’t hide the fact that I’d ridden like a toddler on a tri-cycle. My bike split was about 4 minutes slower than I’d expect and over such a short race, this is night and day!
Whilst the result means nothing in terms of goals for me, it was a shock to perform so badly. However, I shouldn’t deflect high praise from the guys who finished ahead of me; they all raced hard and fast and thoroughly deserved their brilliant results.
For now, it's a case of figuring out what has happened to my bike fitness in the last 8 weeks. The watt’s I was hitting on the bike back in February are nothing like what I am now and we need to try and work out why. For an Ironman bike leg, I can’t afford to give 3-4minutes per 20km to my rivals, especially when it's ordinarily a strength and weapon to use instead of a weakness to try and limit. But this is the beauty of both sport and the body. We don’t always get what we expect or even sometimes deserve, but we can always keep working harder until we do. It's not simply about results, but about being the best I can be and being happy with that.
It was a pretty cold and drizzly morning, but with me going in the 2nd wave of the race for the 426m swim, things had warmed up a little… at least that’s what I convinced myself of before the start. I was 7th to start in this wave, with a 10s gap between each swimmer. The ZeroD ‘O’ tri suit was made for this and I settled into a comfortable but solid pace and caught the swimmer in front by about half-way. Without exerting myself too much and trying more to focus on a solid tech, I hit the steps at the end of the swim in a comfortable 6mins. Not the fastest of the day and I knew this, but I wanted to see what this kind of effort gave me and was happy enough and now ready to open the legs out properly once if was aboard my VO2 Victory TT.
I’d already decided however, that today wasn’t a day to get too cold and therefore make myself sick, so plenty of time was taken in transition to put on arm-warmers and a gillet. A small sacrifice I thought… it would come back to bite my in the butt later on however.
Out onto the flat (in terms of profile at least) 20k bike course that includes a small part of the 2012 Olympic cycling TT course too and I started off strongly but again, kept it measured. Once I was happy I felt properly warmed up I started to open up the legs, but the numbers on the power metre were not showing good things. The legs felt OK… but only OK, certainly not strong and I was seeing this in my pace as I rode parallel to the Thames out towards Chertsey. Now whilst the profile might be “flat” the road surface is rougher Dan Dares chin… thankfully my VO2 bike is super comfortable, but the road surface continually saps all the speed from you the moment you switch off any power. Despite the cold and how my legs were feeling, I was pushing myself hard, which is something I’d mentally struggled to do last year and proof that much of Tom’s work with me was having benefits on the mental side too. However at about the 13km point, I got a shock… I got over-taken! This is something that hasn’t happened to me in any race in the UK for… well as long as I can remember, and hardly ever in big Ironman or 70.3 races even; the bike has always been somewhere that I’ve gained time and places, not lost it! But, again, mentally, it was nice to see I took it onboard and used it in a positive way, targeting the guy who’d just caught me and determining myself to stay with him (at a legal distance of course) to the end of the bike leg… I felt sure I’d gain the time back on the run at least. This I managed to do and so once the 20k bike was over, I span back towards the transition area to prepare for the run (N.B. this race is slightly different to most other triathlons in that after you complete the bike, because of traffic lights and junctions, you have a 2km “dead” zone which you can take your time to ride through and wont count in your “total” race time.)
My plan to spin those 2km’s quickly changed however, when within a minute of finishing the bike, I was already seriously cold and shaking like a washing machine on super-spin cycle. I got myself back to transition ASAP and started with my now arctic like numb fingers to slowly put my socks and trainers on.
As soon as I started the run however, it all slotted nice back into place. All the work on running form of the last months has recently really felt like it was falling into place and I felt great as I left the pool car park and headed up towards the entrance to the Royal Bushy Park for the 5km run. I knew I needed to put a very fast time in to claw back my swim time and terrible bike time too, but the way I was feeling, this seemed possible. Shoulders back, arms relaxed, hips “proud” and with “depth” to every stride I felt great as the first 3k’s flew by, even on the bumpy, un-even surfaces of some parts of the course, I kept the rhythm and was enjoying really burying myself into the “hurt-box”. I maybe pushed this a little too far though, as with about 400m to go, the legs seemed to switch to resembling more jelly-like properties than strong Ironman runners, but with the finish in sight I dug deep to the line. I turned quickly to check to see where my cycling assailant was and watching him cross the line, I knew it would be close. I’d not had a great race, but I hadn’t expected it to be this close.
Little did I realise that actually my pursuer, was the least of my worries. When the results came out, it wasn’t even a battle between me and him… I’d ended up 4th!!! On reflection, my OAP like desire to wrap up warm had cost me 3 places, though this didn’t hide the fact that I’d ridden like a toddler on a tri-cycle. My bike split was about 4 minutes slower than I’d expect and over such a short race, this is night and day!
Whilst the result means nothing in terms of goals for me, it was a shock to perform so badly. However, I shouldn’t deflect high praise from the guys who finished ahead of me; they all raced hard and fast and thoroughly deserved their brilliant results.
For now, it's a case of figuring out what has happened to my bike fitness in the last 8 weeks. The watt’s I was hitting on the bike back in February are nothing like what I am now and we need to try and work out why. For an Ironman bike leg, I can’t afford to give 3-4minutes per 20km to my rivals, especially when it's ordinarily a strength and weapon to use instead of a weakness to try and limit. But this is the beauty of both sport and the body. We don’t always get what we expect or even sometimes deserve, but we can always keep working harder until we do. It's not simply about results, but about being the best I can be and being happy with that.
Friday, March 30, 2012
70.3 San Juan 2012 Race Report
They say in life that “when you get lemons, you shouldn’t be “sour” but instead make yourself some lemonade”. But what happens when you make sure you buy apples and oranges and then you open the bag back at home, you’ve still got lemons!?
San Juan 70.3 was a bit of a last minute race choice. After a long winter of working full time and training as much as this would allow (circa 18hrs a week), both my coach (T2 Coaching) and I wanted to race to see exactly where we were at in our preparation for the first important race of the season, Ironman South Africa at the end of April. It was a long way to go for a “test” but we needed a decent standard or racing and a 70.3 distance race to really ask and answer some questions. We had worked very hard in the previous 3 months and expected to see some fruit from this labour.
The week leading into the race went pretty well with the exception of having my credit card details stolen and ripped off!!! But physically, everything over in Puerto Rico was good. A recky of the swim, bike and run aspects of the course told me it would be a hot and fast swim and bike, with a brutally hard and hilly run; the perfect test for me!
Race morning came and went with no fuss and I was soon lined up on the shore of the lagoon ready for the non-wetsuit 1.9km swim to kick things off.
As the hooter sounded for the 25 or so Pro men to start the pace was solid, but nothing beyond my comfort zone and I was quite happy to settle into a good pace at the back of the main pack. My new ZeroD tri kit was super comfy and fast in the water; helping me without the normal wetsuit we have in most races. The first turn point at 700m, however, proved to be the point where I answered the first question of the winter’s training. The pace didn’t increase, but I just started to drop off the back of the group. Nothing felt different; I simply wasn’t holding the same speed. My swim time all winter has been most affected and 50-60min swims just wasn’t enough to give me the race pace and speed endurance I needed to swim well for the duration. I swam most of the remaining 1km on my own, still feeling comfortable, but losing serious time with every stroke.
As I climbed the steps from the tropical lagoon and looked at my watch I knew it hadn’t been a great swim. 28mins non-wetsuit 2 years ago would have been good for me, but nowadays it didn’t cut it and I knew I must be at least 3 minutes down on the main group. A long run to transition, helmet on and I grabbed my VO2 Victory TT and was running out towards the exit still quite happy to see how things would pan out; there was over 3hrs of racing left and lots can happen.
My coach and I had a very set plan for the bike and I was to look to average a certain power level (watts) for the ride, without ever exceeding serious “spikes” in this effort. We knew I could hold this level and then run well so we just wanted to see how this placed me in a big race.
Things were going well up to the half-way point. My watts were solid and I felt really comfortable. I wasn’t gaining on the lead 2-3 guys but the rest were slowly being caught. I knew if I could hold this for the rest of the bike and then unleash the run we expected to then we’d have some great answers to our questions. However, this very quickly changed from being the situation. I started to lose all power in my legs and the effort that had felt comfortable 5 miles earlier now felt hardly reachable. My watts started to drop and I was losing time considerably; this certainly wasn’t part of the plan. It felt like I limped back to T2 having ridden nearly 10minutes slower for the 2nd half of the 56mile ride than the first. The run was going to be interesting…but I was still keen to see if the new run speed would still turn up even if the bike legs hadn’t.
As soon as I jumped off the bike we got that answer too. The lack of power and energy from the bike was still there once I was upright on two feet too. I racked my bike, pulled on the CompresSport compression and running shoes, grabbed the caffeinated PowerBar gel and set off out onto the run with the hot sun beating down.
Mentally, I felt pretty good and I focussed on the technical work we’ve done on running form; “Lean, drive with the hips, depth…” I’d simply run at what felt like the right effort and see what my split was after the first mile. We knew what I was capable of running and I had a very firm figure in mind. Glancing at my watch as I passed the 1mile marker I was disappointed but, (given how my legs actually felt) not entirely surprised to see my split nearly 50s slower than we’d expected. But… it's so often about context and 1 mile isn’t always the same as another, especially on a race course I hadn’t been on before. I wanted to see how things compared the other guys on the course; it was possible of course that this simply was a very slow hard run and actually I wasn’t going that slowly compared to my competition. The 3.1mile turn around point was the next target. So I just got back to focussing on me and my form.
The run course, was two 10.5km laps, which went up to the historical and beautiful old fort area of San Juan, including two seriously steep and cobbled hills that both needed to be ascended and descended each lap. Though never feeling like I was striding along like I have in training, I still felt pretty good in terms of run form and as the turn around point approached and I clocked each of the guys in front of me, I could see that other than the lead 2-3 guys, I wasn’t in bad shape at all and was running as quick as the rest. As I turned and headed back up one of the cobbled hills to start the journey back to the end of the first lap, I knew I was both out of the money and the World Champ qualifying points. The poor swim and bike had left me too far back and though I was gaining some time on lots of the guys in front, it wasn’t significant enough.
I made the call to simply run the rest of the first lap well and then call it quits. The final 6.5 miles that the 2nd lap contained wouldn’t tell me anything I didn’t know by now and wouldn’t see me break back into the top 10, but it would sap a lot of energy out of my legs that would take additional time to recover from. We’d asked and answered the questions… and now clearly had more that needed to be answered too (like why had I so suddenly lost my power and energy on the bike and not performed even close to my training levels); so the race had served it's purpose.
I never like quitting a race and especially after working so hard in the last few months, it hadn’t been an expected outcome at all. In this case though, as a professional, it was the right thing to do in the circumstances. We like to think in life that we get what we deserve when we work really hard for something, but life’s not always like that. Though on paper, the actual “result” of the race would suggest it a failure, as an exercise to prepare for IM SA, it had in a weird way, been a success. There’s a lot still to be done over the next 5 weeks to finish getting ready for South Africa and clearly a few things that need to be cleared up so that we do reap the rewards of the hard work, but that’s part of the beauty and value of achieving anything - the harder you have to work the more satisfying the outcome is. As my current favourite saying goes “Think relentlessly positive!”.
San Juan 70.3 was a bit of a last minute race choice. After a long winter of working full time and training as much as this would allow (circa 18hrs a week), both my coach (T2 Coaching) and I wanted to race to see exactly where we were at in our preparation for the first important race of the season, Ironman South Africa at the end of April. It was a long way to go for a “test” but we needed a decent standard or racing and a 70.3 distance race to really ask and answer some questions. We had worked very hard in the previous 3 months and expected to see some fruit from this labour.
The week leading into the race went pretty well with the exception of having my credit card details stolen and ripped off!!! But physically, everything over in Puerto Rico was good. A recky of the swim, bike and run aspects of the course told me it would be a hot and fast swim and bike, with a brutally hard and hilly run; the perfect test for me!
Race morning came and went with no fuss and I was soon lined up on the shore of the lagoon ready for the non-wetsuit 1.9km swim to kick things off.
As the hooter sounded for the 25 or so Pro men to start the pace was solid, but nothing beyond my comfort zone and I was quite happy to settle into a good pace at the back of the main pack. My new ZeroD tri kit was super comfy and fast in the water; helping me without the normal wetsuit we have in most races. The first turn point at 700m, however, proved to be the point where I answered the first question of the winter’s training. The pace didn’t increase, but I just started to drop off the back of the group. Nothing felt different; I simply wasn’t holding the same speed. My swim time all winter has been most affected and 50-60min swims just wasn’t enough to give me the race pace and speed endurance I needed to swim well for the duration. I swam most of the remaining 1km on my own, still feeling comfortable, but losing serious time with every stroke.
As I climbed the steps from the tropical lagoon and looked at my watch I knew it hadn’t been a great swim. 28mins non-wetsuit 2 years ago would have been good for me, but nowadays it didn’t cut it and I knew I must be at least 3 minutes down on the main group. A long run to transition, helmet on and I grabbed my VO2 Victory TT and was running out towards the exit still quite happy to see how things would pan out; there was over 3hrs of racing left and lots can happen.
My coach and I had a very set plan for the bike and I was to look to average a certain power level (watts) for the ride, without ever exceeding serious “spikes” in this effort. We knew I could hold this level and then run well so we just wanted to see how this placed me in a big race.
Things were going well up to the half-way point. My watts were solid and I felt really comfortable. I wasn’t gaining on the lead 2-3 guys but the rest were slowly being caught. I knew if I could hold this for the rest of the bike and then unleash the run we expected to then we’d have some great answers to our questions. However, this very quickly changed from being the situation. I started to lose all power in my legs and the effort that had felt comfortable 5 miles earlier now felt hardly reachable. My watts started to drop and I was losing time considerably; this certainly wasn’t part of the plan. It felt like I limped back to T2 having ridden nearly 10minutes slower for the 2nd half of the 56mile ride than the first. The run was going to be interesting…but I was still keen to see if the new run speed would still turn up even if the bike legs hadn’t.
As soon as I jumped off the bike we got that answer too. The lack of power and energy from the bike was still there once I was upright on two feet too. I racked my bike, pulled on the CompresSport compression and running shoes, grabbed the caffeinated PowerBar gel and set off out onto the run with the hot sun beating down.
Mentally, I felt pretty good and I focussed on the technical work we’ve done on running form; “Lean, drive with the hips, depth…” I’d simply run at what felt like the right effort and see what my split was after the first mile. We knew what I was capable of running and I had a very firm figure in mind. Glancing at my watch as I passed the 1mile marker I was disappointed but, (given how my legs actually felt) not entirely surprised to see my split nearly 50s slower than we’d expected. But… it's so often about context and 1 mile isn’t always the same as another, especially on a race course I hadn’t been on before. I wanted to see how things compared the other guys on the course; it was possible of course that this simply was a very slow hard run and actually I wasn’t going that slowly compared to my competition. The 3.1mile turn around point was the next target. So I just got back to focussing on me and my form.
The run course, was two 10.5km laps, which went up to the historical and beautiful old fort area of San Juan, including two seriously steep and cobbled hills that both needed to be ascended and descended each lap. Though never feeling like I was striding along like I have in training, I still felt pretty good in terms of run form and as the turn around point approached and I clocked each of the guys in front of me, I could see that other than the lead 2-3 guys, I wasn’t in bad shape at all and was running as quick as the rest. As I turned and headed back up one of the cobbled hills to start the journey back to the end of the first lap, I knew I was both out of the money and the World Champ qualifying points. The poor swim and bike had left me too far back and though I was gaining some time on lots of the guys in front, it wasn’t significant enough.
I made the call to simply run the rest of the first lap well and then call it quits. The final 6.5 miles that the 2nd lap contained wouldn’t tell me anything I didn’t know by now and wouldn’t see me break back into the top 10, but it would sap a lot of energy out of my legs that would take additional time to recover from. We’d asked and answered the questions… and now clearly had more that needed to be answered too (like why had I so suddenly lost my power and energy on the bike and not performed even close to my training levels); so the race had served it's purpose.
I never like quitting a race and especially after working so hard in the last few months, it hadn’t been an expected outcome at all. In this case though, as a professional, it was the right thing to do in the circumstances. We like to think in life that we get what we deserve when we work really hard for something, but life’s not always like that. Though on paper, the actual “result” of the race would suggest it a failure, as an exercise to prepare for IM SA, it had in a weird way, been a success. There’s a lot still to be done over the next 5 weeks to finish getting ready for South Africa and clearly a few things that need to be cleared up so that we do reap the rewards of the hard work, but that’s part of the beauty and value of achieving anything - the harder you have to work the more satisfying the outcome is. As my current favourite saying goes “Think relentlessly positive!”.
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