So, lets just say that my swimming has been rather slack as of late. The last time I swam was on 2nd May and here we are seven and a half weeks later and I seem to have entered an aquathlon! This (the same as the one I did in 2009) is a reverse-aquathlon – i.e., a 5km run followed by a pool swim (426m).

I got a last minute entry and shortly before registration was dragged into a bit of a ‘smackdown’ with some friends (James, Danny and Stefan). Excuses were flowing strongly amongst us (Danny: “I can’t swim” — David: “I’ve not swum for weeks” — James: “My knee hurts”) but (multiple Ironman Lanzarote finisher) Stefan was keeping quiet.

The four of us registered in a pre-arranged order as this dictated your starting time (everyone was set of at 15 second intervals). Stefan, James, myself and then Danny, the fastest runner.  This would hopefully ensure that there’s a bit of overtaking of one another during the run – and as for the swim… this is anyone’s guess!

After the race briefing we headed to Bushy Park for the run start. The race was set to start at 7:30pm and based on our running numbers we’d be starting just before 7:40pm. Danny requested a final toilet stop so I followed went with him for a bit of a warm up and thought I may as well go to the toilet as well. We jogged across to the toilets at the cafe in Bushy Park hoping they’d be open – thankfully they were. We both scrambled in, struggled out of our one-piece triathlon suits and did what grown men do in public toilets!

As we left Danny said we had 10 minutes to get to the start line. Plenty of time. We started jogging through the park and then I saw some of the runners who had started. Perhaps the race had started a few minutes early. Either way we needed to get to the start quickly as we were starting in positions 38 and 39 (with Stefan and James 36 and 37). We certainly pushed a bit to get to the start to find that we were almost late! Danny said we had plenty of time and showed me his watch that said 7:33pm. I then checked mine that said 7:38. We were off within a minute of arriving at the start, much to the amusement of some of the competitors behind us.

So… after a quick team (smackdown) photo we were off, in the planned order.

After about 1km I had caught up with James (who started 15 seconds ahead of me) and at the same time Danny (who started 15 seconds behind me) came past – in what is known officially (at least if you listen to Marathon Talk) as a ‘three way pass’ – albeit we were all going in the same direction.

A little hurling of encouragement abuse at one another we pushed on… and were running a little too quickly for comfort!  About 1.25 miles in I caught up with Stefan and slowly edged ahead.  I needed to gain as much as possible on Stefan and James as they’re better swimmers than I am.

I pushed pretty much as hard as I could all the way to the end of the run leg.  I had my goggles stuffed down the top of my tri-suit about 30 seconds before the end of the run I got them out and put them on ready for the swim.  At the end of the run it was just a case of quickly getting my shoes and socks off and getting in the water for the 12 lengths of Hampton Open Air swimming pool.  My 5k time (including ‘transition’) was 18:45 and was 6th fastest.  The fastest run was 18:03 (by Danny).

I had a very uneventful swim.  I passed Danny before not too long and only caught up with one other swimmer.  During the second half the swim it got tough.  I also had the added distraction of knowing that I was being chased down by James and Stefan.  In fact I could see the blue of James’ triathlon suit in the lane beside me.  This spurred me on to push even harder and I happily got to the end of the 12 lengths (and thus the race) before them (actually I could have lost 15 seconds to Stefan or 30 to James because of our staggered starting times).

Within about two minutes of me finishing we were all out of the pool absolutely shattered from a great little race.  With the final results in my overall times were 18:45 for the run (6th fastest) and 7:51 for the swim (17th fastest).  My overall finishing time was 26:36 which was 6th overall out of 70 finishers.

I’m happy with this performance and may well have another go next year.  The added challenge of the ‘smackdown’ with friends made it even more enjoyable.

In 2009 and 2010 I took part in the excellent Chiltern 100 cycling sportive event. It’s not a race – just a good organised ride over a rather challenging route (read more about it in my ’09 and ’10 reports).

As I’m not racing an Ironman distance race this year I chose not to do the full 100+ miles (which is now 111 miles due to a change of race HQ) but instead opted for the ‘medio’ route – a mere 75 hilly miles! This would be my longest ride since Challenge Roth (112 miles) from July last year (I’ve ridden no more than 60 miles in one ride since then) so was sure to be a good little endurance test.  Although I’d been cycling a lot on my mountain/commuting bike into London for about 6 months or so – endurance was the main thing I don’t think I have – so this would be a good test.
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Bank Holiday Monday’s mean one thing if you live in South West London – it’s the day of a Thames Turbo Triathlon race – which run every bank holiday. Last week I was watching and took a few photos (see my photography blog) but this week I was on the start line…

I’d not planned to be racing today but earlier in the week I managed to ‘win’ a place through the good people at For Goodness Shakes.  The trouble was that I’d run a 5k on Friday, one on Saturday, ran a 10k PB (personal best) on Sunday and here I was today, er, slightly non-rested for a triathlon!

It was windy – very windy today (the Met Office observations had the wind speed at 17mph but gusting to 31mph) so the bike was going to be fun, with the entire second half of the ride (as its an out-and-back course) being directly into the wind!  What joy.

I was up at 5:20 having my coffee and porridge and shortly after 6 cycled the 4.5 miles down to the pool.  I got everything set up in transition and awaited my start (which was at about 8:25am).  This gave me a chance to catch up with friends and watch the first ‘wave’ of swimmers start the race.

Photo by Grant Russell

I must say I wasn’t particularly prepared for the swim – the last time I went swimming was on 25 February and all I did was float around and chat with Danny for an hour.  Well, I did manage about 10 or 12 lengths but that was it!

So… my plan for the race was to just get through the swim, ride my little heart out (even though my legs had taken a right punishment over the past few days of running) and as for the 5k run – just treat it like a parkrun – I can do those with my eyes closed!

The swim was uneventful – which I was happy about.  No carnage whatsoever.  The only trouble I had was getting water in my right goggle about four times.  Once out of the water it was a quick transition and then onto the bike.  My swim time including transition to bike was 9:06 (8:50 in August 2010 and 9:17 in May 2010).

Photo by Grant Russell

I knew the bike was going to be tough but it made no difference to my strategy – push hard – and when it gets tough push harder (incidentally this is probably what Sharon says to her pregnant women at work when they’re giving birth!).  Heading to Hampton Court roundabout I got a feel for the headwind.  Bloody horrible.  After turning 180 it was the long (fast) run to the far end of the course (about 8.2 miles into the 13.4 mile(ish) route.  At the traffic lights into Lower Sunbury I saw the lights in the distance had just turned red.  I eased off ever so slightly and by the time I got to the lights they’d gone green again.  The marshal on the corner shouted out ‘good timing’ to me :)

As I turned at the lights I went past a man who’d previously sped past me (and had been caught at the lights).  Once he got back up to speed he came past me again.  He slowly raced off ahead of me and I couldn’t keep up with his pace.  Nobody else caught me up on the bike and I overtook a good 5-10 or so other cyclists who were ahead of me.

The last few miles of the bike were into the strong headwind which at times really pushed you all over the road.  It was hard hard going but I knew there would be the ’7 minute non-compete zone’ at the end of the bike which would give me a chance to relax and prepare for the 5k run.

My final bike split was 35:20, which I was really impressed with considering the windy conditions.  This was the 22nd fastest bike split of the day (or 21st if you discount the one relay team that was faster).

Comparing some stats for the bike leg…

For the geeks out there… finally, I have some actual power data from todays ride.  I need to continue reading this power training book to make full sense of all of the data but the overall stats are that my normalized power (NP) for the bike leg was 310 watts.  My peak 20 minutes gives an NP of 313 and peak 30 minutes is NP 311.  My average speed was 23 miles per hour.  Getting there…

After getting to the end of the bike you have seven minutes to fight the traffic and traffic lights to get back to the transition area.  It was an easy ride back where I took on some sports drink and got ready for the run.  As you head back into transition the clock starts ticking again and its back to full effort.  A quick change into my running shoes and I was off!

About 750m into the run I could hear footsteps closing in behind me.  I had to dig deep to keep the chap at bay and was happy to be able to maintain my pace throughout (and not get overtaken).  I now think that being in the second wave of starters at the Thames Turbo races appeals to me as I get to see (and overtake) many people on the run – which is great for motivation.

Photo by Grant Russell

The run was hard work and I clocked a time of 19:33 for the 5k run including transition.  This was the 15th fastest run split of the day.  In August last year my time was 19:56.  Heart rate wise my average was 170 and the max was 179.  In August last year the numbers were 167 and 177.

As I crossed the line the clock stopped and my time was 1:03:59.  Somehow in these challenging conditions I pulled out a 38 second personal best!  Result.  I was 20th overall (19th if you discard relay teams) and 9th in my age group (Male 30-39).

Here’s how my times have improved over the four years that I’ve taken part in these races…

• 8/05/07 – 1:20:27 (using my mountain bike)
• 27/08/07 – 1:07:51 (on a borrowed road bike)
• 25/08/08 – 1:06:33 (using my recently purchased road bike)
• 31/05/10 – 1:04:55
• 30/08/10 – 1:04:37
• 02/05/11 – 1:03:59

I firmly believe that my recent regular bike commute into central London has really helped me with my cycling and my recent marathon training helped with my running.  My lack of swimming hasn’t held me back too much, but with the news that my local pool has just re-opened after being closed for over a year this means I can get a few more swim sessions in for the triathlon season ahead.

Finally I will quickly thank all the marshals and supporters who were out on the course today, especially Danny, Kirsty, Roger, Gill, Nicola, Stuart, Grant and Guy.

I first competed at the Vitruvian middle distance triathlon (1.9k swim, 85k bike, 21k run) in 2008, shortly after getting the longer distance triathlon bug!  It was a great event and I was seconds away from dipping under five hours for the distance (a chain coming off and a dodgy T2 were partly to blame).  This year if all went to plan I expected to finish comfortably under 5 hours, especially after a good race at Bala in June.

Breakfast time

Sharon and I camped on site this year – it was lovely being so close to the race area.  At 4:15am on race morning I was up in the dark and boiling the kettle for my coffee and porridge.

It had been a clear night and was fairly cool and when we arrived at transition to rack my bike there was a mist over the reservoir (Rutland Water).

Down on the beach at around 6:30am I was able to watch the first couple of swim waves start.  Because of the mist/fog it looked fantastic – even if you couldn’t see more than about 50 feet in front of you!

I was in the adult male 35-39 age group and around 150 of us set off into the mist shortly after 6:50am.  I started close to one end of the line and did very well to stay out of trouble during the swim.  Sighting the buoys was impossible so you just had to follow the mass of people ahead of you.

At the start of the second lap of the swim (after coming out the water, running along a short section of beach) I dived back into the water and managed to scrape my does on my right foot against the ground.  Ouch, it really hurt.  A few seconds later I did stop, turn round and look at my foot to see if it was bleeding – as from the pain I really thought it should be!  It wasn’t.  I turned back round and continued the swim.

After about 32 minutes I finished the swim and ran up to T1.  I didn’t have a towel with me in transition to dry my feet (I’d not used one in the last couple of triathlons I’d done) but this was a big mistake today – not because my feet were wet, but because of all the gravel I managed to pick up all over my feet on the run up from the water.  I brushed as much as possible off before putting on my socks and running out with my bike.

Swim time: 32:28 (32nd in age group, 116th overall).

Transition 1: 1:55 (38th in age group)

It was incredibly misty out on the bike.  My plan was to try and pace things steadily (as always) and not hammer the hills – this is something that my power meter has told me – it hasn’t told me much yet as I’m still slowly setting it up and calibrating my zones – but I do know how easy it is to push too hard on the hills.  I do have to remember to push a little harder on the flat/downhills though.

There’s a couple of hills on the route, including one what is known as the ‘Rutland Ripple’ – well, because of the fog I couldn’t see how long they went on for so you were never demoralised by the sight of a long climb!

I took a PowerBar gel around every 20-22 minutes during the bike, whether I wanted one or not.  Drink wise I had two 500ml bottles of Lucozade Sport and at the half-way point I took a bottle of High-5 from the feed station.

My first lap was slightly quick (1 hour 10) compared with the second (1 hour 13) and certainly during the second lap it felt tougher.  I think I paced things pretty well, but not quite as good as I’d like as I certainly started to tire during the second lap.  For the 85k (just over 50 miles) I averaged 21.2 mph.

Bike time: 2:23:40 (29th in age group, 81st overall).

Coming in off of the bike I lost a handful of seconds trying to make sure I found the right racking spot for my bike – this is very important as my run shoes were there!  Once I found the spot, it was a case of just getting my run shoes on and picking up my ‘supplies bag’ – which consisted of three gels and my Garmin.

Transition 2: 00:56 (18th in age group)

I always run well straight off of the bike – actually a little too well most of the time.  During the first km of the run I sorted out my gels, got my watch on and settled in to a comfortable pace.  The trouble was, when I got to the 1km marker I’d run through it at about 3:46.  This is sub 1:20 half marathon pace.  This wouldn’t last – that’s for sure – especially as my standalone half marathon best time is 1:27:40!

I eased off the pace and just settled down to a strong but controllable run.  From a morale point of view I love the run – as I’m a lot quicker than most of the people around me.  In fact, during the entire 21k run I was overtaken by one person.  I overtook plenty of runners myself.  The run is just over 5km out, then back – twice.  It’s a good course for spectators and also for the runners as you get to see lots of people around you and can give each other support.

Pushing hard during the final km of the half marathon

Time wise I was looking like a 1 hour 30+ half marathon was achievable and at the final turnaround I remembered what I did in Challenge Roth during the Summer – dug in deep and pushed as hard as possible – make or break time!  I only had 5km to go, and it was touch and go whether I could break 4 hours 30 for the race.  There was no point getting to the end and regretting not trying my best so I just got on with it.

Sharon and Kirsty gave me a cheer about about 600m to go and I just put my head down (not literally though, as that would be bad running form!) and pushed on to the finish.  There was no sprint finish – I didn’t have anything left in me at this point but I was chuffed to bits to finish in an overall time of 4 hours 28 and 1 second.

My half marathon time was 1 hour 29 minutes exactly.  This was great considering I ran the same course in 1 hour 38 two years ago.  Unfortunately I don’t have any heart rate data for the run as my GPS decided to play up on me – big time.  It worked fine during the run but decided not to save any data.  Ho hum.  Nutrition wise I had maybe 4 gels on the run and sipped High-5 energy drink at most of the aid stations.  I didn’t have any water at all during the entire race (other than the reservoir water I accidentally drunk during the swim!).

Run time: 1:29:00 (12th in age group, 43rd overall).

Back to my overall finishing time I was just under 33 minutes faster than two years ago.  My finishing position reflected this as well as two years ago I finished 200th out of 699 finishers.  This year I was 46th out of 790 finishers.  What I like about this the most is that I have the same wetsuit and same bike (the only change being that I no longer have a compact chainset but that shouldn’t make any difference).  I am just stronger overall – especially on the bike and run.  This is great to know, especially when I know that I can do better with more (and more structured) training.

Overall time: 4:28:01 (16th out of 147 in age group, 46th overall).

Looking at the winners time, he finished in 3:45:51 with a swim of 26:39, bike of 2:04:13 and a 1:12:58 run.  Superb.

Putting in a race of this length a few weeks after an Ironman seems to work well and the Vitruvian is a great final triathlon of the season for me.  It was good to come back to the race after a years absence and its highly likely that I’ll be back there again in 2011 – not just for the great racing but the excellent support and socialising with the ‘pirates.’

The other thing I love about this race is that I’m finished by lunchtime so I don’t miss any meals!  Result!