it's a sprint not a marathon

This was always going to be a busy week, I'm back teaching again and my coursework is due often meaning panic stations for the students. Proposals for our PhD students are due and to really stick the boot in we're due to have annual reviews, they're already 18 months late, meaning filling in lots of forms about what I'm doing, what I will be doing and how I will be doing it. That being said, I've been working on a conference proposal for MIMS 2016 in Amalfi.  We're developing some models for non-linear elastic helical lattice systems, it similar to the work I published earlier this year, but is basically allowing us to tailor the way a structure deforms.  I also went up to Manchester for my Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. I'm not a huge fan of the Royal family, I think the French had the right idea, but they received a letter similar to what you get for turning 100. 

Royal Endorsement

The road bike replacement saga continues. It's taken my lawyers a month to fill in one form and post it to the other parties insurance company, clearly they are an efficient bunch. Its probably cost a ridiculous amount in legal costs to get this far - My "litigation expert" is paid about £15k p/a and is being charged out at £175 per hour (£364k p/a) .... somebody is getting rich out of this, it isn't me and it isn't her.

The BADTri club championship kicked off with the Burnham-on-Sea super sprint - 250m (pool), 10km, 2.5km. These races are just a bit of fun, and while I want to do well I'm not really breaking my training to compete in them. Driving up and down the M5/6 probably wasn't the best way to prepare for a race, meaning I was pissing around with my bike putting elastic bands on my shoes and elastic laces in my runners the night befre - I think this really does go against the nothing new on race day. Still, getting to carb load with pies is a plus.

You can take the man out the north...

The race at Burnham was a success. The lane swim worked well as all three of my wave were pretty much on the same split,  I might invest in a full tri-suit as my half-and-half seemed to be a bit draggy in the water. I was out the water in about 3:40ish and out the pool building in 3:52. I think my top is probably a size too big,  when I bought it my fat gut was poking out and I went for modesty rather than tightness, its fine under a wetsuit and on the bike, but you notice it in the water on its own. Allegedly I had the fastest swim split for my age category, I don't know how, but if it was true I'll take that as a mini sign of success.

Into T1, I know the routine, belt, helmet, glasses, bike. Then I hear HELMET, HELMET, HELMET FIRST! The guy next to me from  my wave is saving me,  I'd gone to unrack my bike without putting anything else on. Fuck! Concentrate! So on the second attempt I'm on my way and out of transition, jump on the bike and get pedalling - flying squirrel - that went better than expected. First foot in, good keep pedalling, next one now. NOOOOOO! What have I done that for! I'd pulled the strap out of the buckle - idiot.  Stop stop stop, shoe off, nearly fall over, foot in shoe, strap on and go. Dammit, that cost me a minute or so, ah well back on the rivet and keep pedalling. The bike route was three times up and down the esplanade, a flat mile route and felt good. My elbow is still sore from my bike accident, but the adrenaline kicked in and I managed to hang onto the tri-bars.  I was passed by a couple of people on TT bikes, but managed to pass quite a few people myself. Three laps later and 19:27, dismount was good and into T2. 

T2 was better than T1, but running with my bike I couldn't find my mount point as we were running the opposite way from the way out. Simple tasks seem so much more complicated when your running! Elastic laces worked well and I was off and away for the run. The legs felt a bit like jelly but I was feeling fairly good. Round the corner the off down the beach. Success I just overtook someone - that never happens. OK, just keep going, stay relaxed, its only 2.5km. My run felt slow but I ran under 4:40  per km.  I also wasn't being passed like usual, picking the right spot in the sand helped and before I knew it I'd hit the end of the beach and was up onto the esplanade. Right almost there, as the finish came into view I saw a couple of people ahead of me. Bit of a kick and I'd chased them down - Water! Haribo! Medal! 

BADTri colours and first tri medal of 2016

I finished in the top half for my category I thought I'd be somewhere around the 35 -37 min mark and I finished in 37:27 so I'll take that given the fucking about I had on the bike and in transition. I really enjoyed the race and I felt a lot more competitive over this distance, I think a flat bike and a relatively short run works in my favour. I also like the fact that its more about hammering it than pacing along with no worrying about food, drink. 

	Time	Split	Behind (cat)	Pace (min/km)	Place (cat)	Place (race)	Place (gender)
Swim	3:52	3:52		15:26	1	22	19
T1	5:12	1:21	+0:01	13:24	3	28	25
Cycle	24:39	19:27	+2:17	1:54	7	31	29
T2	25:48	1:09	+2:24	11:24	7	33	32
Run	37:27	11:40	+4:07	2:19	8	36	33

So what to do after a race? Recovery drink? Healthy meal? Not according to Ironman.  Clearly all I need is the Ironman sandles and I'll be as quick as the pro's! Who buys this crap? 

"Recovery sandals that will take your training to the next level" What utter bollocks!

Back to BUSiness

Ah Bristol buses, the reason I commute by bike. Well why I did until my bike got flattened. Having taken my bike to the shop the Bianchi is no more, a crack in the fork and frame means I am without something to commute on which SUCKS! Rather than a 25 min commute my journeys into work are now at least 1hr. I don't mind running home, but running in is a pain in the arse. When will I get my bike replaced, who knows? I'm not eligible for a replacement as its not a vehicle ... apparently, even though I commute and if I buy something without an agreement in place I could end up without getting my money back, or two bikes (n+1)? Hopefully my case will be sorted soon but with an estimate of 3-6 months I probably shouldn't hold my breath. In the mean time maybe I should just buy a replacement. 

Replacement Bike?

Having begun to feel closer to normal following my bike accident I've been trying to get back into the swing of proper training.  I'm still not 100%, I'm having trouble getting comfortable on the tri-bars, which is annoying as before I was quite happy sitting on them for extended periods. I also noticed I can't do squats without my knee hurting, so I've had to cut that out of my weight training for the time being, no point pushing it. Hopefully these things will resolve themselves soon, unfortunately it's not going to be in time for my first race next Sunday.

The race on Sunday is a super-sprint at Burnham-on-Sea, whilst this isn't an "A" race for me I'd still quite like to put in a half decent effort. I've bought some tri-shoes and elastic bands, so we shall see if the flying squirrel mount works or, more likely, I just end up making a tit of myself. Either way it will be a bit of fun. I just hope the weather warms up a touch before hand. Hopefully I'll get my splits and an idea of where I'm at. 

Last Thursday I got a pb for 5000m but only because it's not a 5k. 12.5 laps of the track... Sounds easy enough. I'd hoped to run sub 21, ideally sub 20, but in the end I only managed to scrape under 22 min. My splits were fairly consistent, 

0:46 - 200m

1:40

1:44

1:44

1:44

1:48

1:49

1:47

1:46

1:48

1:49

1:46

1:39

much more even than the fast 5k in November but a touch slower. I don't think I was ready to race as my legs felt pretty rubbish even at the start. The next fast 5k is coming up soon so I might try and run that again to see if I can actually get under 21. I've also bought a Sufferfest FTP video, so I'm hoping to have a crack at that sometime soon, then I can compare after more solid cycle training.  I got my first bit of silverware for the year having won the Engineering Departments Watt-bike Challenge 5 mins maximum distance, I think I averaged 330 Watts. I'd like to think I can get this quite a bit higher with some training. I need to do it when I'm not tired or planning to race which seems like never at this point in time.

First silverware of 2016

 

Taxi-ing times

Choosing an appropriately pun-tastic name now appears to be an essential part of blogging. Fortunately I’ve had a bit of time to think up a good one for Dr Buckney, unfortunately this means my cycle training plans have been somewhat curtailed. This week I’m in Tenerife and the plan was to do a week of hard cycling, up Tiede with my friend John, well I usually crawl, John speeds off like a man possessed. There is supposed to be some running and open water (sea) swimming and mocking John for not being able to get into the “freezing water”. Unfortunately for me two days before I left I got knocked off my bike.

Taxi drivers aka cockwombles

I commute into work by bike every day, and while I try not to get complacent, I’ve sussed where most of the shitty junctions are on my route. I could fill an entire blog with my general distaste for piss-poor driving in Bristol, but I hold a particular disregard for the driving of many of the cities taxi drivers. I hate generalising, as I know not all cyclists ride on the pavement and jump red lights, and in the same way not ALL taxi drivers are dangerous, but far too often on my commute into work, I see taxi being driven at best carelessly and often dangerously.  Given these people are “professional” drivers, I think many of them should check to see if they actually demonstrate any of that professionalism.

One of the many particularly shite bits of road to cycle near is the corner of station approach outside Temple Meads station, and unfortunately this is where I got knocked off. A taxi driver tried to partially overtake me then immediately turned left as I was still halfway along his car, with no warning and with nowhere to go I hit the left side of his car and subsequently hit the deck. He drove off, I guess he couldn’t possibly inconvenience his paying customers, and only came back because a witness went and took a photo of his licence plate…. Fortunately I walked away with what I hope are some temporary cuts, bruising and stiffness.  He admitted that he didn’t check his mirrors and that it was all his fault.  Brilliant, but surely if he tried to overtake me he must have known I was there….?!?!  Anyway, I got interviewed by the police and they suggested it was “Careless” but who knows if they will actually do anything.  I have to say a big thanks to the staff at Temple Meads, they were brilliant and Tim and Neil for getting me and my bike home. 

Anyway, I’m sore, my bike is sore too, but there is nothing I can do about it now. I got told not to do any strenuous activity for two weeks by the doctors at the minor injuries unit so I should officially sit on my bum all week. Hopefully a bit of sunshine will do me good regardless of the amount of cycling I can actually do. First race is April 17^th – Burnham-on-Sea super sprint. Let’s hope things are back to normal by then!

Marching Forwards

Turbo of Suffering

Winning coffee cake

For a variety of reasons I've not had time to write a blog post but I figured I should put something together to sum up February/March. I lost a solid week of training due to Real (Not-Man)Flu, but overall it took me 2-3 weeks to get back to full fitness but these things are somewhat unavoidable. Overall my current plan for early season seems to be going reasonably well, the aim is to have a session I do every day of the week and when the inevitable missed session per week happens I get that as a rest day  - Not perfect but it fits my schedule. I have 3 key sessions, a hard bike 1-2 hour turbo intervals, a hard run - intervals  and a fast club swim.  I've been doing Sufferfest videos on the turbo which have been keeping me pretty motivated, I think they're brilliant. But I'm looking forward to a week of outdoor cycling in Tenerife watching my friend John whiz up volcanoes before Easter.

BADTri have announced the races for this years club championships, I've entered the Burnahm-on-sea supersprint, so will be good to see how I'm going. I might run the Bristol 10k.... Hmm too many races and not enough time. On a slightly less athletic note, I came joint winner of the BADTri bake off with my coffee cake with coffee cream chocolates. The savoury bread/pretzl entry that also came top was amazing. To be fair everyone's cakes were awesome, and nothing like training to justify tasting all of them. Although too much of this cake debauchery and I won't be fit for racing anywhere.

At the moment I'm a bit concerned with my long runs I've been gradually building up my longer runs on a Sunday, but I'm quite aware that I'm not in as good a shape (for distance) as I have been in the last couple of years where I've ran the Manchester marathon in April.  I'm not doing it this year simply because its taken me too long to recover in the past and I don't want to lose a month of training. I'd like to think if I take it slowly I can build up to running for 3hrs without my legs feeling like shite over the summer I'll be in reasonable shape for Iroman.

Last Thursday was particularly brutal tack session, 3x450 m, 5x300 m, 3x450 m 5x300m. Why do I never learn don't go too hard too soon. When I started the second round of 450s my legs felt like they were running through jelly. Its good to keep doing these sessions as they are improving my fitness but I'm also getting a better feel for how hard I can run sustainably - I still want to get a sub 20 5k at some point this summer.

Despite the tough run, I managed to hobble into the pool.  Friday is normally a long steady swim as its normally fairly quiet and the pool is at full length and I've decided doing hard interval swims after a hard run the night before is a recipe for bad cramp.  It turned into a bit of an Ironman Swim timetrial as I did 3.8 km in 64:46 - I'm pretty pleased with this considering I've still got six months to improve and my splits are fairly steady I was not looking at my watch except to count the number of laps.

I think that there is a lot to be said for structured sets but  doing one long continuous swim per week is also useful.  Particularly if I'm not killing myself I can focus on maintaining a smooth stroke right to the end. Its also good to see how my legs turn to rubber when I jump out the pool at the end :)



 My splits at 200 m @ 3:24  avg
3:11 - Always too fast on lap 1!
3:21
3:31
3:18
3:20
3:23
3:24
3:25
3:27
3:24
3:22
3:26
3:24
3:39 - Traffic
3:27
3:31
3:28
3:27
3:20
 



 

Training begins

January was the start of ``proper'' training, although I'm still not following a race specific training plan I'm trying to establish a good base. With that in mind I've been trying to get into a more regular training routine. In a perfect world, from a training perspective, I could plan knowing every session I write down will happen however other important priorities in my life mean that just isn't going to happen. Inevitably at least one session each week won't work out which means I don't plan in a rest day. One rest day involved my attempt to make a Battenburg birthday cake for Elisa. It tasted really good but I think I need to be more patient with my cake assembly.

Birthday Battenburg

My ideal training for the next few ``build'' weeks looks something like this:

Monday: Swim 400 m or 200 m repeats and an evening run. 

Tuesday: Turbo Intervals and weights. 

Wednesday: BADTri Swim - Speed work

Thursday: BADTri Run - Intervals 

Friday: Long continuous swim 33m pool. 

Saturday: Turbo/BADTri Bike (endurance)
Sunday: Run (endurance)

I think I need to add some flexibility work as I used to do Yoga weekly and I've noticed that my legs are a lot tighter than they have been the last couple of years. Either that or its old age! I think the interval run sessions I'm doing are also taking a lot out of my legs, and there is only so much the foam roller can do to fix that. One thing that does wonders for recovery is pizza!

Delicious home-made pizza!

As a swim benchmark I decided to do a 3 km steady swim. Unfortunately I can't count when I'm swimming so only managed to do 2.8 km. The plan was to go at a comfortably steady pace, to vaguely simulate an IronMan swim, i.e not being completely broken at the end of this. I finished it in 47:30, and felt I'd held a comfortable pace.
My 200s:

3:05, 3:17, 3:23, 3:38, 3:11, 3:24, 3:26, 3:30, 3:28, 3:27, 3:27, 3:27, 3:29, 3:15
these were fairly consistent despite the usual joys of public lane swimming. I'm pretty confident I could hold this pace for another km without too much trouble giving me about a 65 min 3.8 km swim. The last 200m @ 3:15, didn't seem like I was in the red. I'll try and do another benchmark in a few weeks and see if I can hold something a little quicker.  I'd like to think with 8 months to go I can get my average pace closer to 3:10 giving me a sub 60 swim.... Lets see what happens. 

  

  

the whale's vagina?

German Pancake - 300mm+  of sugary goodness

San Diego - discovered by the Germans in 1904 named after a whales vagina...Given the wet weather I'm sure there is a joke in there somewhere...

Having had a brutal packed flight from London to Phoenix where my neighbour tried to share my seat with me I arrived in San Diego at the Lafayette hotel surprisingly awake. I was up at 6am the next day and seemed to have dodged the jet lag thanks to my NYE partying. I picked this hotel based on its `full sized' swimming pool, now either the Christmas diet has worked wonders or this pool was a touch short as my pace picked up significantly. I managed a 6 hours walk round San Diego, Balboa park has some awesome trails and I've been kicking myself that I didn't go for a proper run round them when I had the chance. On the Sunday I managed a trip up to La Jolla cove before the conference started on the Monday and my free time dissipated completely.

For the conference week I was sharing an Air B&B place nearer the venue. My hopes of some glorious Californian weather, weren't to be realised as some much needed El Nino rain was pouring in.  The conference was a success from a work perspective. However, being on expenses meant we were eating out for most meals, which although tasty certainly took its toll. I'd hoped to get a few runs in during the evening but in the end it just wasn't possible. I managed to get a 1 hour run in at the end of the week jogging round the waterfront, but the boozing/over eating/lack of vegetables really has taken its toll and I need to get back into the routine of regular runs soon.

For the last couple of days of my trip I've been at the 500 West Hotel San Diego. It was the old YMCA place, so I've had to refrain from bursting into song. I think its better days may have been behind it and although I've stayed in some pretty grim hostels over the years this one has been pretty terrible. Shabby rooms are pretty much a given, but they could at least keep the bathrooms half clean. Though the pissed up guests probably aren't doing them any favours.

Still, with the weather somewhat improved I've hired a bike to explore around the city. I managed a four hour bike although I think I was probably going in circles for the most part. I found it really hard to follow the bike routes mainly because the signage would just stop. But also because I wasn't really sure where I was going. Still random exploring works wonders. The bike I got was an aluminium Giant Defy 105 with disk brakes. Its the first time I've ridden disks on a road bike and I was a bit worried about the juddering sensation under breaking. I've been reliably informed that this is normal, but to be honest I didn't get any sense of improvement over my rim brakes on my bike at home. Anyway, hopefully a quick blast tomorrow morning before I spend the best part of a day trapped on a plane back to London. Bristol is getting snow this week? Not looking forward to the cold.... But hopefully time to get back into training.

West 500 - At least there is space for a bike!

An Xmas Pudding

Pre-Christmas Christmas Dinner with Elisa

With the students away the pool was so much quieter, bliss! This meant less interruptions and chance to do some slower drills, kicking (which I hate) and some paddle practice. I don’t like swimming with paddles when the pool is busy as lane etiquette is pretty terrible and I’m afraid I’ll smash someone in the face. Just ask my friend Sean Baxendale, I took him out doing fly in the team medley at a school gala and I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten.  Despite the emptiness of the pool there was the muppet who got into the lane with myself and another triathlete (I should probably find out who he is) to swim breaststroke in the wrong direction. Why you would choose to do this in a practically empty pool is a mystery to me. Being British I just passively grumbled to myself, but fortunately the other tri-guy kicked them out and we got on with our respective sets.

Anyway, I’ve noticed my pull set times are pretty consistent with my swim which should be a bit of a warning. I think my body position is probably a bit crap at the moment, I typically swim with a minimal effort six beat kick, but I may need to look into something different. I’d rather not just assume a wetsuit will solve all my problems. From Jan onwards I’ll attend some of the BADTri swim sessions on a Wednesday evening, that way I can get a coach to have a look at me and point me in the right direction. Either way, I need to work on my speed a bit, as I’d like to go sub 1 hour in the Ironman swim. This means I need to be hitting 3:00-3:10 for my 200s, I’ve definitely got the pace to do this, but at the moment my endurance simply isn’t up to it. 

Our last Thursday run session left me feeling pretty broken. With a week of work parties and “networking” which involves unavoidable amounts of alcohol I was definitely sweating ethanol. I’m not sure if it was my debauchered state, or that Robbie was trying to make up for a couple of weeks off, but the next day my legs were ruined. As I keep saying here, intervals at the track are really good sessions, and I really appreciate the work Robbie puts into organising them, as I think they’ve definitely helped my form and pacing. I’d like to think I can hit a sub 20 5K and 45 10K, and at a push maybe a sub 40 10K, at some point in the next year. Speed is great, but, I also need to start building up my long runs again to get my body used to being out there for 3+ hours (This may be wishful thinking and more like 4/5). I’m not running Manchester this year, as it cost me a month of training to properly recover, however I’m probably going to build the miles in a similar manner from now until April. 

So Christmas arrived with the opportunity to eat way more cake and chocolate than normal. I know a lot of serious triathletes are super strict with their nutrition and there are plenty of blogs talking about the dangers of overeating at Xmas but where is the fun in that. While I’m well aware of the logic behind this, I’m not competing at a level that necessitates such attention to detail all the time. I eat relatively healthily year round and I’m not going to make any drastic changes to my diet for Ironman, however I might need to keep a watchful eye on the amount I’m eating going into 2016. When I ran the Manchester marathon in 2014 my weight just before it was 88 kg, this is the least I’ve weighed in a very long time. I’m not built like an endurance athlete so getting a BMI close to 20 is never going to happen, I’ve been clinically obese in the past (based on my BMI), but I suspect I may have been a lot fitter than many skinnier people.  Before 2015’s marathon I was 92 kg but I’d been doing much more varied training, more biking, more swimming over the winter and I wasn’t logging the same volume of miles. I ran an overall faster time, although terrible second half, so I can’t see that the extra weight was a sign of lack of fitness.  I seemed to stay about 92 kg until the Cardiff half. However between October and now I’ve put on 5 kg, so I’m currently a touch over 97 kg which is a bit of a worry. I’ve upped my swim sessions and turbo training plus I’ve been doing weights much more regularly, this, together with the possibility of some Christmas podge, could explain the gain. The trouble is, if I am going to stand a chance of getting over the hills in Wimbleball and Tenby I need to get my weight down significantly and at the moment I’m going in the wrong direction. So, my plan, I’m going to start tracking my weight more regularly and see if I can find out what’s actually going on. If I do this with a log of my morning heart rate I’ll have a good idea of what my body is up to over the next year.