A 247,456 yard long journey - my recount of the Outlaw

As you probably know I signed up to race the Outlaw triathlon and this race was my A race for 2013. I have already blogged about the reasons for completing this race so early in my triathlon career. If you would like to recap on these reasons the blogposts can be found by clicking the links below.

http://smoker2triathlete.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/why-outlaw.html
http://smoker2triathlete.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/7-days-to-go.html

Friday

On Friday I packed for my trip to Nottingham and prepared a list of all the stuff I'd need.

This list was remarkably similar to the on I did for Mallorca which means nothing was forgotten.

My list

All packed up.

I also adorned my bike with mantras and competitor numbers of people from Twitter so I could say hello to people during the race. A lot of people liked this idea, some even borrowed it.

People from Twitter who I might see on the bike

These mantras would help maintain my focus on the bike and were personal for the following reasons

#CompleteNotCompete - this has been my personal mantra since the outset of this quest and reminds me that I am only in this to get to the finish line.

#ShutUpLegs - this was written on my bottle for Mallorca to get me up the climb and reminds me of my wife who wrote it on my bottle for Mallorca.

#MakeFamProud - this is a reminder that I am making my family proud by completing this quest. I was going to have it as MakeMumProud in honour of my Mum but my family are just as important and my Dad, Sister, Niece and Wife came to support me.

#YouCanDoIt - I entered this race because I can and no matter how dark my thoughts got on the bike this would remind me that I possess the heart and desire to get to the finish line.

#HHHO - a reminder that I am not just doing this for me but also to raise funds for Help Harry Help Others

Saturday

My bike ready for the Outlaw in its accidental patriotic colours

Myself and the Mrs travelled down to Nottingham on the Saturday so that I could register, rack my bike   and transition bags and do some shopping. We arrived at the National Watersports Centre aka Holme Pierrepoint and I went to register. The registration process was very simple. After registration I went back to the car and unpacked the box from yesterday so I could repack things into their respective transition bag.

I always stress when packing for a triathlon as if you forget something for a triathlon it could be the end of your race so packing for a triathlon out of the back of my car in the middle of a field really caused me distress.

I'll freely admit to being fairly unorganised in my life apart from when it comes to triathlon where I almost suffer OCD with my writing of lists.

After the transitions bags had been packed, I went to drop my bike off in transition and then onto the race briefing. The race briefing was informative and well organised, the only complaint I had was that it was held in a gymnasium which thought it was a sauna due to the 30 degree temperature outside. In the briefing I bumped into the following Twitfriends @boarderstu, @aboutwild and @Neily_wilko

I then dropped my bags off in transition and made my way over to the Outlaw Expo. I love going to expos at triathlon as you can get some bargains. I'd decided I wanted a two piece triathlon suit to make going to the toilet in races easier. Now there was a decision to be made over the manufacturer. I'd narrowed it down to three in my head before the expo.

Huub as they make wonderful wetsuits and their trisuits are meant to be as good quality.
Zerod as their O suit comes in multiple colour combinations
Compressport as their two piece has a t shirt for the top which will come in useful in both hot conditions (protecting skin) and cold conditions (more coverage)

In previous tri's I have worn a trisuit and put other t shirts on top for the bike and run so ultimately I decided on the two piece from Compressport. I was really impressed with the top and shorts and also thought the compression would help my quads on longer runs.

After I'd splurged on my new trisuit, we went to the hotel where I tried to relax. What a surpirse I couldn't really relax so instead rechecked everything I had to take tomorrow. I filled all my water bottles and put them in a bag for the morning.

wetsuit was present and correct

I tried my new kit on

My race number for the Outlaw

After tea I went to bed with the alarm set for 03:30 which would mean we could be at the venue for 04:30 which would give us loads of time.

Race day

I woke up before my alarm went off at 03:00. I guess I was suffering with nerves which is understandable. I ate my breakfast and rechecked everything again! I then got dressed into my kit. Me and the Mrs were on the road by 04:00 and the first stop was McDonalds so she could get some brekkie and coffee. Except it wasn't because the 24 hour McDonalds wasn't open. Funny 24 hours if you ask me. We then set off for the venue. About 3 miles away from the venue I remembered that I hadn't picked up my nutrition bag. Cue blind panic as we went back to the hotel to get the bag which contained all my water bottles.

This resulted in me getting to the venue later than envisaged and the next 45 minutes were a bit of a maelstrom of epic proportions. I went to the toilet, loaded my bike with bottles, pumped up my wheels, searched for my wife, put my wetsuit on, put my kit bag in the kit tent and left my gear with my wife and had a full 2 minutes to spare when I got into the water. Not the best of preparations but on the plus side I did manage to bump into a Twitfriend. I bumped into @Sidowski (who was attempting to complete Outlaw in a morphsuit to raise money for his niece), I gave him a good luck man hug which I'm not entirely sure he was comfortable with.

Swim

The swim started at 6am and we were allowed in the water from 05:45 which was just as the sun was rising. What an amazing sight it was having the sun rise as you start a journey of 140.6 miles using your body as the engine.

The photographer Robert Rathbone has allowed me to use his stunning photograph on my blog which depicts the beauty that greeted the athletes and spectators who witnessed the start.

I opted to go in pen 2 and manoeuvred my way to the front of the group. This pen was for those swimmers aiming to complete the swim between 60 minutes and 75 minutes. The gun went off at 6am and we were underway. All 992 athletes / teams set off together. The mass start was a bit fighty. I didn't get punched but some people did. After about 200m I managed to find clear water, it involved me swimming close to the buoys but I don't swim well with other so clear water is preferable to having my feet touched.

At one point I found myself swamped by other swimmers. A quick sprint soon sorted this out. I never really settled into my swim. I had hoped to be half way through the swim when my alarm signalling I had been in the water for 30 minutes went off. This would equate to a sub 1 hour swim. I hadn't even reached the turn though. Never mind. I knuckled down and got on with the job at hand. Left arm, right arm repeat countless times. When my alarm went off again after one hour I still hadn't reached the hut which was marked 500m. I picked out my sighting point and made my way to the volunteer on the far right of the exit pontoon. As I exited the water the clock read 01:10:19 and the volunteer unzipped my suit.

This swim was 251st quickest out of 922 athletes who completed the swim which was in the top 25% of all swimmers. I was over the moon with this considering I have only been swimming once per week.

I had read somewhere that to safeguard goggles and prevent scratches pull them off your head and hold them in your hand while you remove your arm and the goggles get caught in the arm. This was a superb tip. After I'd stowed my goggles I slowed to remove my suit. For some reason this took longer than usual but it was a new suit.

I entered the change tent and proceeded to well I don't know what I did but I spent 12 minute and 30 seconds in T1. I don't remember watching half an episode of The Simpsons but maybe I did, thats how much time I'd spent doing not a lot. I know I thoroughly applied suncream though which was necessary because of the heat.

Bike

I saw another Twitfriend (@JayneMitchell22) as she was leaving T1. I shouted after her but she didn't hear me. I felt really good on the bike, the course was flat and there was no wind which plays more to my strengths than hills and headwinds. The course consisted of one 30 mile long Southern loop followed by a 34 mile long Northern loop and another lap of the Southern loop. I can honestly say I have never drunk so much whilst on the bike. I think I had over 4 litres to drink during the ride. I even had to stop for four toilet breaks. I applied suncream every time I stopped and realised that I had suffered wetsuit burn because suncream and friction burns do not mix very well. Ouch. I caught up with Jayne in the village of Car Colston and we had a little natter.

I played a game of cat and mouse with another rider and each time we passed each the passer shouted out the next number. I think we got to 11. It's the little things that help keep you in a happy place on such a long ride.

On the way back though the village of Car Colston there was a crowd of supporters and for one moment I got to appreciate what the riders in the Tour de France get to hear daily. Cow bells were rung, encouragement was received and it genuinely gave me a lift. The support along the bike route was immense. The feed stations were manned by triathletes who were helpful. It was really superbly run. I saw my family on my fourth visit to the the village of Car Colston and they got some pictures of me.

Chasing down @JayneMitchell22 for another chat.

Next stop Holme Pierrepoint

I started to struggle on the bike in the last 15 miles when I noticed that my pace slowed considerably. My pace fell from around 18mph to around 15 mph. The last 15 miles broke me mentally. The thought of getting off the bike was all that kept the pedals turning. My hips were starting to hurt at the Pirate feed stop at around 80 miles. It was there that a very nice Pirate told me that the run would be a welcome relief from the monotony of the bike. In that last 15 miles I knew what @Mousicles meant. Mousicles was really friendly and bike sat my bike while I went to the toilet and applied suncream to my neck, arms and face. the friendliness and advice is why I bloody love triathlon. It is the only sport I have known where each person shares the common goal and help each other along the way.

The last 2 miles into Holme Pierrepoint were awful with gravel tracks and speed humps. Just what you need after over 110 miles of cycling.

I got off the bike in a respectable time of 06:37 which meant my average speed was 16.8 mph. During the ride I set some new PB's for 50 miles on the bike and also this was the longest ride I have ever completed by some 27 miles.

I got back to Holme Pierrepoint and dropped off my bike to one of the volunteers. I then jogged to the change tent and proceeded to watch another half episode of The Simpsons i.e. spend 12.5 minutes farting about. I only had to apply suncream, change my shoes and apply Chamois Butr to my feet. How did that take over 12 minutes. I know I cracked a joke about having 9 hours to run the marathon but this was just the worst procrastination ever known. I saw @TheBaldyGit leaving T2 and said hello.

Run

Well what can I say I only had 26.2 miles to go to get my shiny. Thats 42.2km or approximately 42200 steps. What could be so hard about that?

Well as it turns out all 26.2 miles of the run was difficult in the oppressive 30 degree heat. I started jogging but couldn't settle into a rhythm and was soon walking. I felt a familiar niggle during the start of the run in my peroneal tendon but rulked it off. I then set up run walk alerts so that I could run for 3.5 minute periods before walking for 1 minute periods. This worked fine for most of the first 13 miles. I completed the first half of the marathon in just over 3 hours.

Running at the end of the 2nd lap and holding good form. Thanks to a Twitter stalker @smuffie for the pics

During the first half of the marathon I bumped into two more Twitfriends @NicolaClareFox and @donendusted. We had brief chats and then went our separate ways The second half of the marathon however was a completely different story. My feet were in pieces. I was struggling to walk let alone run. It wasn't through blisters just general pain.  At least that was a relief. 13 miles in and blister free. If you'd offered me this 4 weeks ago, I'd have bitten your hand off.

So I can't really complain.

At this point I remembered something Chrissie Wellington wrote in her book A Life without Limits

“If you can't fly, run; if you can't run, walk; if you can't walk, crawl.-Martin Luther King”

I couldn't run but I could walk and if it took me 21100 painful steps I would get to the finish line. I still had just under 6 hours to complete 13 miles. 

So walk I did. I plodded for 2 hours and completed 7 miles before boredom set in. I argued with myself and decided to give running another go. I set my run/walk alerts again with periods of 3.5 minutes and 1.5 minutes. I was starting to make some real progress for all of one mile when something happened.

I was passing an aid station where a woman was crying. I stopped and asked if she wanted company as she was on her own. We started to walk and I soon surmised that she was suffering from heatstroke because she was delirious and coudn't walk straight. During our walk to the next aid station, I managed to come across another person who was suffering from heatstroke. I had managed to pick up two waifs and strays and had now commited myself to ensuring their safety.

I had seen so many people fall over and need medical help during the run that I couldn't just leave them. I walked them to the next aid station which had more staff than the previous one and in doing so I sacrificed my goal of completing the Outlaw in under 15 hours. It was only a goal I had formulated recently as the main goal was completion. But when I was running I was feeling okayish and believe I could have gone sub 15 had it not been for my good deed.

After I had dropped them off at an aid station I set off run walking again. I had 3.9 miles to go and managed to run walk 2 miles of it.

Struggling with 2 miles to go

I bumped into my Wife and Dad with two miles to go and tried to continue run walking. I managed one more repetition before fatigue well and truly set in. It took me over 34 minutes to walk the last 1.8 miles but I kept moving forward and with each passing step got closer to the finish line.

My family decided they wanted to cross the finish line with me. I had mixed feelings about this at the time but this was because I was in a dark place after racing for over 14 hours. In hindsight I'm glad they were there for me.

So after my final lap of the lake my family were there waiting for me. I had imagined this moment so many times and couldn't decide how I was going to cross the line. I set off running with my family behind me and when I crossed the line I shouted COOOOMMMMMEEEEEEE ONNNNNNNNN!, this was filmed by the cameraman who was filming for Channel 4 who then interviewed me. I can't remember much of the conversation but one question was

"Why have you done this?"

My answer

"Because I can."

I then collected my medal, finishers t shirt and bags and made my way to see my family.

The total time was 15:19:00. Thats 55140 seconds of moving forward towards my goal. Was I pleased? I was elated. I can't describe the sense of pride I felt.

Nine months ago I was a 20 a day smoker but on Sunday 7th July 2013 I completed one of the longest single day endurance events there is. I did this 50 weeks after completing my first triathlon and proved that a overweight ex smoker can do whatever he THEY sets his THEIR mind to providing he has THEY HAVE the heart, determination and desire to suceed.

I'd like to thank each and everyone one of my blog readers and Twitter followers for the support I have received. My Wife for being patient with me during the hours of training I have undertaken.

Is this quest over. In a word. No! There's lots more space on my medal hanger.

If you're feleing inspired by this story and would like more information, please contact me via Twitter (@smoker2ironman)

If you're new to this blog, I have not done this just for personal achievement I am also raising money for charity. My chosen charity for this year is HHHO. If you would like to sponsor me you can via my Justgiving page at the following address www.justgiving.com/triathlon4harry  

Thanks for reading this long blogpost,

#AnythingIsPossible
#CompleteNotCompete

Michael
An ex smoking Ironman

7 days to go

So in 7 days I will be attempting to push my body further than I have pushed it before.

The goal is to travel 140.6 miles under my own steam in an iron distance triathlon and in doing so raise some money for HHHO, if you're feeling generous please visit my Justgiving page to donate and help fund much needed research into cancer.

I have hinted before into what is driving me to complete an iron distance triathlon in this blogpost. In that post I left out one important fact which I will divulge now.

When I was growing up aged 14 I suffered from a chronic slipped upper femoral epiphysis.

A chronic slipped upper femoral epiphysis occurs when the femur moves away from the ball joint along the growth plate. This can be seen in the diagram below.

To prevent this condition getting worse the femur is pinned to the ball joint through the growth plate.

The diagnosis of this took approximately nine months to transpire and during this time I walked with a limp despite numerous trips to the hospital. According to the Consultant at the time I had put a lot of pressure and wear on my ball joint and had a 90% chance of developing arthritis of the hip by the time I was 30.

So here I sit aged 31 and 11 months and there is no sign of arthritis yet but I don't know how much longer I can say this for and this is the reason I have decided to go long so early into my triathlon journey. This could be my only chance to complete an iron distance triathlon, I hope it isn't but unfortunately I do not have a crystal ball.

Training recap

Have I done as much training as I should have done?

• Erm in a word no. I have been unlucky with numerous illnesses during the previous 20 weeks, I've suffered from laryngitis, a pulled muscle in my neck and a severe case of diarrhoea. I have made the best of what I have been dealt and trained as much as I think was possible.

Am I ready for the Outlaw?

• You bet I am. I can't bloody wait to push my body to the limit. I know I will complete the swim, I know I will complete the bike (it will be a struggle but I'll get there) (unless I suffer from a mechanical problem or a crash) and I know I will have enough time to rulk (run/walk) the run. BRING IT ON.
• I've swum over the distance by completing a pool swim of 4km.
• I've biked over 1000 miles in the last 20 weeks with the furthest single ride being 85 miles. I should have completed the 100 mile ride to prepare better but I am where I am now.
• I've run the longest scheduled run from my training plan which was 18 miles so think I have done as much preparation as possible. The run won't be pretty but I will get the job done. I am sure the support form the crowd and my family will play a big part in getting me to the finish line.

My race number is 288 so if you see me make sure you say hello. I will be wearing these so you have no excuse for missing me. 

See you all when I am an Outlaw.

Thanks for reading,

Michael

#stupidfeet3 and 13 days to go

Well where does the time go?

It doesn't seem two seconds ago the I booked my place at Outlaw and I sit here writing with 13 days to go. 13!!!!!!

I booked my place at the Outlaw when they went on sale on the 13th September. That gave me 298 days of grace. Well where have the last 285 days gone? It's a good job I'm not panicking as it would be quite easy to get caught up in the moment.

After all I am about to undertake the biggest challenge I have ever attempted. A 2.4 mile swim to be completed in two hours followed by a 112 mile bike ride to be completed in 8 hours followed by a 26.2 mile run to be completed in 7 hours. The events starts at 6am and you have to have completed by 11pm the same day, a full 17 hours later.

This potentially means I will be racing for 1020 minutes. The race will be only against myself as my mantra is #CompleteNotCompete.

For those of you who are new to my blog, the swim and bike do not faze me. I used to swim for my hometown and will be aiming to complete the swim in as close to 60 minutes as I possibly can.

The bike doesn't really bother me. Although I am by no means an excellent cyclist I have been putting the miles in and my average speed has been slowly improving but is in excess of the 13.7 mph needed to complete the bike leg before cut off.

The run however has had me petrified since I booked my place in this race. I started this quest having not run since I was forced to at Secondary School. I struggle with running the most but I am improving.

Last year was a disaster as I was injured from February until May. I really struggled to complete the 10km run of the London Triathlon because of this. It is only really since December 2012 that I have started to notice any improvement in my running.

I have been detailing my problems and successes with running and it has had more ups and down than the Big Dipper at Blackpool Pleasure Beach

The positive posts can be seen here: -

http://smoker2triathlete.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/running-and-me.html
http://smoker2triathlete.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/i-am-runner.html

The negative posts can be seen here: -

http://smoker2triathlete.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/illness-injury-and-stupidfeet.html
http://smoker2triathlete.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/stupidfeet2.html

In the last month there have been a lot more negatives than positives with my running. I thought I had found some trainers which had cured my blister problem, however on an 8 mile run the familiar rub appeared in my new trainers and it was a case of back to the drawing board.

I then went on another 8 mile run wearing Compeed before I set off this time and managed to suffer a total of five blisters. I was so frustrated by this I nearly gave up in my quest to complete the Outlaw. My wife knew something was seriously wrong and off we went to Meadowhall to see what could be done. Here I was 21 days away from my A race of 2013 and the furthest I had run was 8 miles, I only had to find another 18 come race day.

Following a trip to Meadowhall I came up with a plan to hopefully get more miles out of my sensitive feet. I purchased some Strutz Pro and thought these may be able to be placed as an extra layer between my feet and trainers.

This wasn't what they are designed for but I was really struggling for ideas and desperate. In 21 days I had to run a marathon and the furthest I could run was 30% of this distance

One of my friends recommended the following product to act as a lubricant for my feet. Trislide by SBR sports.

Fast forward one week and there was an 18 mile run scheduled on my plan. This would be my last big run before Outlaw and was some 225% further than I had been running. It is said you should never increase distance by more than 10% per week. What I was about to attempt was nothing short of running suicide. This was do or die time. If I failed to complete this run, the thing I had been ignoring would come to fruition. I would have to drop out of the Outlaw.

I used Trislide and coated the bottom of both my feet with it. I wore my new trainers and as an extra measure used the Strutz Pro coated in Chamois Butr. The Strutz lasted a full two miles before they started irritating me. I quickly removed them, coated the bottom of my feet in more Chamois Butr and set off running again. I managed to maintain 11 min/mile pace through the next 11 miles. This meant I had now completed a half marathon in a time of 02:27 which was a new PB (well it had to be as it was the first time I had ever run this far), I was thrilled. I managed another 5 miles but my pace dropped to over 12 min/mile and I really started to struggle. Whereas I had mostly managed to run the last 13 miles, now I was rulking (the art of run walking that I have perfected on this quest)

I completed the 18 mile distance and was blister free, I was also injury free, which was a relief. I was overjoyed. It wasn't easy or pretty but I bloody did it. I would still be able to enter the Outlaw. As I have stated previously I would not turn up at the Outlaw if I didn't believe I could get to the finish line.

I AM NOT A QUITTER!

I'm half nervous and half excited. I can't believe it is just round the corner. I'm relishing the challenge. BRING IT ON. If you're racing the Outlaw, don't panic. Believe in your training and you will smash it.

I'm competitor 288 so if you pass me on the bike or run as I'm sure many of you will, remember to say hello.

Good luck in your tapers. Don't overdo it.

If you're new to this blog, I am not doing this just for personal achievement I am also raising money for charity. My chosen charity for this year is HHHO. If you would like to sponsor me you can via my Justgiving page at the following address www.justgiving.com/triathlon4harry  

Thanks for reading,

Michael

Rother Valley Sprint

I know it's taken a week but thought it rude not to detail my foray back into a sprint triathlon last weekend.

I picked the Rother Valley Sprint triathlon as it was close to home and would not involve staying away.

The race took place on Sunday 9th June and it was recommended by the organiser OneStepBeyond that you register on Saturday. I decided to drive over to Rother Valley on the Saturday so that I could drive the bike course and register. I had heard some bad things about the road quality on the bike course so thought it prudent to check it out before the race got underway.

Oh how glad I was I went on a reconnaissance mission pre race. For the first half of the two lap loop the road surface was fine but for the second half it was atrocious. Thankfully the organiser had marked all the potholes and dangerous sections with neon spraypaint. Due to the amount of potholes I decided against using my race wheels as I didn't want to damage them. Instead I decided on using my standard wheels. This left me with a dilemma as the tyres on these wheels aren't in the best of nick. Cue a trip to Planet X to purchase some Vittoria tyres. An unplanned expense. Never mind. Better to be safe than sorry.

Another thing I noticed about the bike course was how hilly it was. I really should look more closely at course profiles when I pick races. Hills and me don't really get along as I am not very good at climbing. It isn't easy lugging 15 stone of idiot up a hill along with 1.5 stones of bike and an extra 0.5 stone of liquid in bike bottles. That makes a total of 17 stones being ridden albeit slowly up a hill. Its not really any wonder I say I climb like an elephant on rollerskates. This meant that for the third triathlon on the bounce I had a lot of hills to contend with. Oh joys.

I'm glad I recced the course as I knew what I had to contend with.

I got up on Sunday and didn't have any nerves to speak of. I know I could complete this distance as I had been training for the Outlaw. The only downside was my start time of 08:34. I set off for Rother Valley and immediately made my way to transition to rack my bike. While in transition I met a fellow twitteree (@aboutwild) who I knew was racing. It was his first triathlon and he looked nervous. He is also doing the Outlaw so it was good to put a face to the name. We had some general banter which seemed to relax him. I'd put on Compeed before the race as a trial to see if they could survive the swim and then be in place for the run. This was to hopefully cure my blister problem.

Once my bike was racked, it was time to don my wetsuit in advance of the start.

Swim

I was expecting the water to be colder than it actually was. It was stated as being 15 degrees but this was comfortable in my Huub Aerious wetsuit. I manoeuvred my way to the front of my wave rather than having to swim past people like I did in Mallorca. The start gun went off and we were underway. I couldn't get clear water on the first straight but after the first turn I noticed a gap to my right. I swam into this and proceeded to swim in my own space. I much prefer this to being in a group. I can't stand locking arms with people. Once in my own space I proceeded to overtake some swimmers who were on my left. At the second turn I think I overtook a couple more. Then we were on the home straight and it was plain sailing for the last leg. There were no other swimmers round me. I exited the water in 13 minutes and 12 seconds. I can live with that. I even smiled on exiting the water and the Mrs caught it on film. One of my Compeed blister plasters came off during the swim. Not a lot I can do about that.

Exiting the swim

T1

My jog to T1 didn't go as planned. I struggled getting my wetsuit off. I forgot it had two bits to undo before you can break the zip. In T1 I dried my feet and put on my socks. I then put on my helmet, glasses, gilet and number belt. I jogged to the mount line.

Bike

Leaving on the bike

My watch had stopped working at some point in T1 so I have no idea how fast I was going. After I had mounted my bike I set off on the 15 mile route. I cycled out of Rother Valley at an easy pace as I knew there was a hill to contend with as soon as we left the park. I slogged my way up the first hill. This was the steepest part over and done with. The course contained two loops and these were hilly and the second half was riddled with potholes and road damage. I took my time on the first loop to acclimatise with the hills and the damage and decided to push the second loop as I knew what to contend with. I even managed to overtake some people on the second loop. I saw some amazing sights during the bike ride which I thought I would share with you all.

• One cyclist wearing a TT helmet on a mountain bike although with skinny tyres, seriously what is the point?
• One cyclist with aerobars on a mountain bike again with skinny tyres but I have to ask why?

After completing the second loop it was downhill back to Rother Valley. When I got back to the park there were so many people applauding it was very enjoyable. Sometimes (well most of the time) I love the triathlon community as they are so supportive. My time for the bike including the 400m of climbing was one hour and nineteen seconds. It was outside the 55 minutes I had hoped to complete it in but I hadn't comprehended how difficult the road conditions were.

I approached the mount/dismount line and managed to lose a shoe as I dismounted. Cue stopping to retrieve it. I then jogged into T2 at some speed. Running on gravel in socks is not very comfortable.

Entering T2

T2

In T2 I quickly racked my bike and put on my trainers. Given the short run I had decided to run in my Skechers trainers as I do run better in them than any other shoe. As I was exiting T2 I had to use the facilities. Given I stopped for a pee I am amazed by my T2 time of 2 minutes and three.

Run

Starting the run

I decided before I started that I wanted to run the 5km in under 30 minutes as I had not managed this before in a triathlon. I pushed through the pain barrier and averaged over 11km/h for the just under 5km. I was thrilled that the race organisers had two water stops on the run. It was starting to heat up and I don't think I could have maintained my speed without water. I came home with a run time of 27 minutes and 44 seconds and was elated by this. I had gone sub 30 for 5km in a triathlon. I even managed to overtake two people on the run. What's that about? I offered encouragement to these runners as I passed continuing what I started in Mallorca.

Crossing the line. Note both my feet are off the floor

My total time for the triathlon was 01:44:37 which I was really pleased with. I wonder what I could achieve on a flat course with a 20km bike route rather than a 25km route with 400m of climbing? Could I go under 01:30? I think I could.

My times from Rother Valley 2013

Now its time for some retrospective comparison. In 2012 I completed a similar distance triathlon in a time of 01:51:03, that triathlon had a shorter bike with no climbing.

In comparison my swim time was over a minute quicker, although the bike was slower it had 7 times as much climbing but the run was a full TEN MINUTES QUICKER. This getting fitter lark is good fun.

How I have improved in under a year.

That means I have now completed two of the five different triathlon distances in 2013. Next up is the iron distance on the 7th July and this will be the biggest challenge I have ever undertaken.

Rother Valley Sprint triathlon review

Pros

• Excellent organisation
• Superb marshalling
• Good crowd support
• Beautiful surroundings
• Nice T-shirt

Cons

• Poor road condition on the bike leg
• No medal

Will I race this again. At some point.

Thanks for reading,

Michael

#stupidfeet2

So it's long run day and I've completed my run. I was feeling strong until my old friend pain made an appearance. The pain arrived in the form of rubbing to the sole of my left foot behind the ball of my foot. I had completed half of my planned 16 mile run and was back at home.

I'd gone on a 4 mile out and back course and decided to stop at home to apply some Compeed to my rub spots so that I could continue my run. The pacing was good and I managed to run at 11 minutes / mile for the whole run.

When I sat down to apply the Compeed they wouldn't stick to my sweaty feet. I thought I had managed to get them to stick and put my socks and trainers back on and set off running again but alas they hadn't stuck and were soon mobile. I decided to head for home. When I took my trainers and socks off, the Compeed were in the middle of my arch rather than behind my ball. They hadn't stuck. This presents a slight problem. I have to run just over 3 times what I ran today in 5 weeks.

There are a number of solutions that I will endeavour to try over the next 5 weeks.

Putting Compeed onto dry feet like I did in Mallorca. This seemed to limit any further damage. I could either put them on in T1 or T2 come race day but will need to ensure a towel is packed to thoroughly dry my feet. I will try a training run with Compeed to see how they perform.

Putting KT tape onto my feet. Like Compeed this will have to happen in T1 or T2. I don't think this will work as I don't think the tape is sticky enough to last 26 miles but it is worth a try.

Putting Vaseline onto my feet to attempt to limit the rubbing effect. Again I don't think this will work but I will try it for one run.

I will restart the daily application of surgical spirit in an attempt to toughen the soles of my feet.

Finally the last solution is to #MTFU and deal with the pain. I'll freely admit to being not good with pain so this will be the last resort.

Some of my twitfriends have suggested that I try Chamois But'r on the soles of my feet. This seems like a good idea as it removes friction from saddles.

Thanks,

Michael