Cowman Report

A race I really enjoyed last year it didn't feature quite as highly in my race calender this year. It was to form a really high quality training session during a rather big block of intensity and it certainly served that purpose.

Despite scorching heat on Saturday they ended up delaying the start by 15 minutes as we couldn't see the buoys for the fog! My swim was crap, despite 7 weeks of swimming 14k a week, drills and coaching I am now officially slower than last year. Nearly a minute over the same distance. As I headed out on the bike I felt pretty despondent especially as I spent the entire time trying to send the message to my legs that my HR needed to be higher than 145. My bike was relatively consistent and despite never really feeling like I was motoring I came into T2 4 minutes quicker than last year in around 2:31 in 13th place.
T2 was speedy and as the sun came out I found it had a positive effect on my running. I left transition hoping to run four 19 minute laps and with the exception of lap 1 I was close to that target. On lap one the top 15 or so followed a duff sign which had been altered by some pesky kids. They recalculated our run splits based on the average time out other 3 laps so I don't think it effected the results to much. I kept running just waiting to blow, much as I had done last year, but it didn't happen. I managed to even split and moved from 13th to 4th with the second fastest run of the day! Only a "back to fitness" Joel Jameson was quicker. Never finished a run wishing I had another lap to do.All in all not bad, really not pleased with my bike as I can't help but feel if I'd been on form I could have been pushing the 2 guys above me but the run is really promising. Experience has taught me that you can run down almost anyone in 26.2 miles so we'll just have to see what Bolton holds.Thanks to my parents for coming to support, Fusion for some nifty racing gear at the finish line and Big Cow for another great event.

You can have a day off when you're dead!

Happy Father's day padre... yes, yes its technically 6 hours and 50 minutes late but I also rang him during the allotted 24 hours in which its socially acceptable to tell you Dad how great they are as long as its done subtly with minimal emotion and certainly no touching, except possibly a hand shake.

My Dad has taught me many things but two particular memories will always stick in my mind and continue to influence me today.

1. When I was about 6 living in Sheffield we had snow, not nancy London snow where everything stops because there is a foot, proper Northern snow, the kind global warming has killed off. I remember the railings of the school opposite just showing over the top and they were 6 foot high (in those days to keep the kids in rather than undesirables out!). Nothing was working and everything was closed. Being 6 and having no where to be this was officially the greatest day ever and I was up at about 4am. I'll never forget the image of my Father, climbing up the snow with his bike to cycle to work at 7:30! To give you an idea of how bad it was they had to send a JCB to plow us out at around 3pm. My Dad worked the whole day...

2. Aged 17 I was feeling lazy when my Dad (whose job it was to walk me and my brother) came in at 7:30 (which seemed early at the time) and told us with all the sympathy he could muster it was time to get our arses in gear. "I don't feel well, can I have a day off?" I whined. "You can have a day off when you're dead." Came the response. That was me told. I now try and live my sporting life by these words. Never miss a session, never give in, and if you have a rest day planned, you better make sure you kill yourself on the day before...

126mile bike @ IM wattage + 10mile run at 7:08 miles - JOB DONE!

Happy Father's Day!

My Interval Workout

To all those who dislike me talking shop stop reading now.

No blood but a descent set. 5x10min (2:30 rest) descending. 5:58, 5:53, 5:48, 5:42 5:31. Managed to hit 302w/307w on the 2x20m as well. Currently 2 weeks ahead of schedule on the bike, lets hope it carries over to the longer stuff. Only 135 miles will tell...

The Interval Workout

"Eighteen was a shambles. Nineteen required all his effort to keep the pace from slipping down to a stumble...He staggered about, tightly grabbing his knees, eyes clenched shut, painfully, for tears could not get out while the sweat seemed to seep in easily... Cassidy awoke once during the night, filled the toilet with bloody urine (something Denton told him might happen) and went back to bed."

"The trial of miles; miles of trial."

Once a Runner, John L. Parker, JR.

My interval work outs have yet to produce bloody urine (clearly not working hard enough) and my coach has (half) joked that he needs to ban this book from my reading list. Just an idea of what it takes. I ain't going to be running a 3:57 miles any time soon but AT LAST seem quality mileage is starting to be produced CONSISTENTLY! Logged 45 miles of running last week and will log 50 this week. My first proper long ride (5:30) and another planned this week(6:00).

Managed to negative split my 20 miler last night, 2x20m tonight (aiming at 295w avg.) and a track session on Friday - will it produce bloody urine? Only time will tell but I'm hoping not... this week anyway!

No Go (rdo)

TYR Sayonra - review should be on Tri247 within the week

Unfortunately the meeting with Gordo has had to be cancelled due to logistical issues however when life gives you lemons, which seems to have been happening alot recently, make lemons. Yesterday, my first ride not on the turbo in 16 days, ended after 40 mins when my rear tyre split. Cue a long walk to Amersham and a reverse charge call to Mum. Nearly 2 hours later I was on the turbo (again) trying to fit in the session before 10pm!

On a positive note I'm now fully over the stomach virus and nailing the training. A fantastic 2x20m and some proper running at last! All I need now is to get through a 5:30 ride without crashing, mechanical failure, being struck down by plague or some kind of natural disaster (anything seems possible at the moment).

7 weeks until IMUK now and the training gets serious, the ingredients have been mixed and now the time has come to bake the cake. It'll be coming out the oven only one week shy of the race (no 3 week taper this time) and we'll see if sucker has risen, (I haven't used and extend metaphor in a while...) a lemon based icing seems apt.

A Sunday in Hell

This was always going to be title of this week's post but unfortunately the "hell" has been very different to the one I was preparing myself for. 6 hours on the bike was penciled in but instead I have found myself in bed for those 6 hours struggling with a bit of a stomach upset.

Started yesterday morning and I knew something was wrong during my run. I felt flat and hungry but also very bloated. Things just got worse as the day went on and despite 10 hours sleep last night I feel no better today. Haven't eaten in about 24 hours and feel very, very tired. It's a shame as this week has had some big positives in terms of 2x20m on the turbo and a very strong track session. Ah well, such is life.

IMUK is still 8 weeks away so plenty of time to log some big miles, fingers crossed next week my "hell" will be training rather than stomach related.