Where most would have a few days off after a 70.3 Half Distance Triathlon there was not a let-off for me this week. More sessions and more races as part of my Barcelona build-up just keep coming. If someone was to tell me a year ago that I would be doing this the week after completing my first Half-Ironman distance event I would’ve spat my sugar puffs out! But here we are….
Yesterday saw me compete at the Fritton Triathlon Weekend, Marcus Nichols – a good friend from Beccles Tri Club asked only a few weeks ago if I was interested in being the bike-part of the Olympic Relay. With his improving swimming week-by-week and Marcus Sladden as the run leg this was a team I very much wanted to be part of. The fact these guys are at the top of their game in their disciplines meant there was quite a bit of pressure on me – in fairness I tried to put it at the back of my mind by distracting myself with life and training and anything else but Sunday morning here I was, standing in T1 trying “not to be sh#t” as I tell others! (A phrase borrowed by a fellow Beccles Tri Club member).
Doubts started to set in on the morning, I had raced the Godric 10 Mile Time Trial the afternoon before and had ridden the fastest ever time on that course (22:50) which actually matched performances set on faster “dragstrips”. I had also run 9-miles on Saturday morning in my constant build up to Barcelona. So either I was on-form or completely spent! I was also convinced something was to happen on the bike leg – a dreaded puncture. So many people commented on the “p-word” earlier that day and one fellow competitor said me tyres looked a little worn so this didn’t help.
Nonetheless, here I was waiting for Marcus to come out of the water. His estimated time over the 1500m course seemed to suggest that he would come out first…he didn’t. Instead I saw a young girl come out about 60 seconds in front and this threw me for a bit and I then took note of the race number so I could hunt them down on the bike leg. Marcus came out, dryheaving and wretching so I knew he’d put in every effort to get to me!
Off I went, down the Fritton Lake lane, bunny hopping all the speed bumps and onto the course in search for that lead rider. In fairness I wasn’t paying much attention to the heart rate or power, all I was concerned about was that 237 number on that guy’s back! Looking at my data after the event this was quite evident as my heart rate was quite high going up Herringfleet Hill and into Somerleyton where I got him. I was leading the relay event – a rare thing for me these days, I usually fall back into a default position to help team mates out in a bike race or just become one of the also-rans in running & triathlon events but there I was…..leading.
True to form my legs weren’t the best and the previous day’s events had taken a little “edge” off them and I was struggling to accelerate over the climbs and after junctions etc but I was still going “ok”.
I tried to settle down into some form of a tempo pace but the undulating course made it quite difficult to get into one. I picked off quite a few of the solo lead riders on lap 1 and on lap 2 flew past some backmarkers of the event some 30 minutes down on the leaders already. Completely emptying the tank in the last 3 miles along an exposed main road where the wind was quite strong I pulled into Fritton Lake, bunny hopping again and handed over the baton (tag actually) to Marcus Sladden to finish it off for us. Time splits indicated that the team we had predicted as out closest rivals – Lowestoft Road Runners were a shade over 3 minutes down on us at T2. Their anchor leg runner – Carl Prewer was rapid but only managed to gain 1 minute back on this leg so we won with a 2 minute margin – as my Instagram post said “#winnerwinnerchickendinner”!
This week….
Monday was my day off as we were travelling back from Belgium. In fairness it seemed a good idea as I was ever-so-slightly broken from the previous days’ efforts!
Tuesday was number 6 race at Lotus, I travelled there with Titch and warmed up knowing I didn’t have the legs for it but kept a brave face and decided to try and be smarter for the first 30 minutes at least. The race split up almost immediately and a break looked like it was gone never to be seen again. Somehow a few got themselves organised in the peleton and it was brought back. Again it broke up and this time in groups of 5’s & 6’s for the rest of the race. I found myself in the 2nd group on the road and rolled in happy to have finished in around 15th place with an average speed of 26.5mph.
Wednesday saw me do 1600m swim in the pool early in the morning followed by a visit to Wroxham in the evening for the 2nd 5K series race held by Norwich Road Runners. My legs were sore, Suzy said hers weren’t feeling great so we both decided to just run by feel without any expectation. I ran the 5k course before the race started as I had it in my plan to do at least 10k. My legs were shot to be honest so I was hoping for some kind of a miracle to get them going for the actual event. I started ok and Suzy said she was also ok so I wound it up a bit and found it manageable, so I wound it up again, and again, and again until I was full-on race-mode in the last kilometer and managed to get only a couple of seconds off my previous result there. Suzy came in about 40 seconds behind me, saying my pacing was really bad….as always!
Thursday was a 1hr 45min 85-90% tempo session on the bike, followed by a new 5-6km brick run which will see me through to Barcelona. I only just managed the bike as I had convinced myself it was only 90 minutes long and when I saw the extra 15 minutes added I almost spat my dummy out and quit the session but I persevered. On top of this I had all the intentions of a 1600m pool swim but decided last-minute to go to Fritton Lake and swim the 1900 course – I was curious to see what my time was WITH a wetsuit – 40 minutes so it happens!
Friday was a 1hr run at dinnertime with a small effort of 7 minutes in the middle.
Saturday was the 9-mile run I mentioned earlier in this blog, finishing with Lowestoft Park Run with William. Suzy was officiating at the Sprint event at Fritton in the morning leaving us to fend for ourselves! She returned and we both rode the 10-mile TT event in the afternoon – a super-fast slightly longer leg to the turn due to the winds only to follow with a slog back to the finish. Several smaller riders commented on the wind blowing them about alot – I knew there was a reason I had a bit more timber – to keep me in a straight line on windy time trials! Suzy took the new machine out and suffered in the wind on the turn leg to record her 2nd fastest time on that course.
Sunday was the Fritton Olympic Bike Leg of the Relay. My plan had dictated a 3hr 45min steady ride so this event didn’t really fit well with that so in the afternoon I set out to Bannatynes and sat on the Wattbike for two and a half hours at 50-80% to get the endurance in. On several occasions I felt like sacking it off but kept to the plan….listening to Triathlon and True Crime Garage podcasts on the way (Thanks to Joe Skipper for that)!!!
Training Peaks info……a rather large week….
961 TSS. 13hrs training time. 4100m swimming. 300km biking. 39km running.
108 Fitness. 140 Fatigue. -24 Form.