Ok so my plan to write a training blog really didn't happen but hey, I've been busy - ok!
Right, well the London Triathlon was just over a week ago so I've had time to recover and reminisce.
As per usual, the training time flew by. What was once 10 weeks to go swiftly became 10 minutes to go and true to form I decided that it wasn't difficult enough completing an Olympic distance triathlon and so put my back out 7 days before the event. The knock on effect of this was a severe lack of training for 11 days prior to the event and a small (but noticable) loss of stamina and aerobic capacity on the day.
And that wasn't all. I put my back out on the day I was going to go for my first open water swim. As a result I never did do any open water swimming and only tried on my hired wet suit the day before I left for the race. It was a few sizes too small.
lastminute.com
Oh and the bike carrier/holder thing that goes on the car? That doesn't take one person 10 minutes. I takes 3 people 45 minutes. And manufacturers: please make sure that the "assembly instructions" included are not a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy. It makes very hard reading and understanding.
So my race (or wave) was on Sunday 3rd August in the afternoon so I packed the car and headed up to London on the Saturday. My Ibis hotel sat right opposite the Excel in London and for all intents and purposes appeared to be perfectly placed. That was until I realised that the speaker for the DLR announcer was close to my window and all I could hear all night was "the train now arriving at platform 2 is for ...". Anyway upon arrival I popped over to the Excel, found TriUK, swapped my small wet suit for the correct size and generally got my bearings before getting some dinner and heading to bed.
It wasn't the best nights sleep, despite half a Sominex and I woke up a bit tired. It's to be expected on race day though. I followed my days planned nutritional routine until Gem, Reece and Lincoln arrived shortly followed by my in-laws and Gem's aunt and her boyfriend. It was a good crowd.
Before I knew it it was time to get into my wet suit (for the first ever time) so I headed over to where I had stationed my bike in the transition area. I oiled up and squeezed in. And when I say squeezed.... jees. After a rousing and motivational speech by one of the race organisers me and the guys headed down to the water and jumped in.
Now I've been used to swimming in the pool in just my trunks. Once I was in the docks I realised that the water was actually brown and the wet suit, despite keeping me warm, was restricting my breathing. There was nothing I could do - our wave of 300 guys was split into 2 and before I knew it we were off on our 1.5k lap.
It was fine though - I did a mixture of front crawl and breaststroke. It didn't go as well as I had planned and within 5 minutes I felt knackered but then again that's exactly how I had been feeling in training. Once I got my breathing right and into my rhythm then I was ok. It's just strange not to have a real point of reference as to how fast you may be swimming. I only way I knew that I was actually going somewhere was because the bloke in front of me was still the same distance away.
Finally the end of the swim arrived and I hobbled out of the water (hobbled with a small bit of cramp in my left foot) before waving to Gem and the kids as I ran past desperately trying to remove my wetsuit whilst looking as epic as possible.
My transition didn't exactly break any records. I actually sat down and towel-dried my feet before applying talc, then socks and trainers, t-shirt, glasses and cycle helmet. Little did I know that my transition was being watched by my supporters, all probably wondering what the hell I was doing sitting on the ground when everyone else was running in and straight back out on their bikes.
The bike ride was reasonably good. When you first come out of the Excel centre you go down this steep slope down to the road. I forgot about that on the way back so had a nasty surprise when after 26 miles I had to climb back up that same hill - bastards! But in general it went ok. Pretty much all my training had been on a static bike in the gym so it was nice to be out in the open air. I thought I was going pretty fast at times but then the elite guys go past at 10 times your speed - it's very impressive if not a tad depressing. Anyway I did my first lap, saw Gem and everyone twice (which was great) before heading back out. The second lap was better, probably just because I knew where I was going and how far I'd left to go.
Back at the Excel centre it was time to dismount and that's where it started to unravel I think. I had been told that when you get off your bike that you need to stretch your hip flexors or you may have trouble walking but throughout all my training I never had even the slightest problem. That was until now. I couldn't walk but somehow managed to drag my beaten corpse to transition where I somehow managed to pull myself together for a 10k run.
The 10k run is basically 3 laps of a route but as I started I really wondered how the hell I was going to do it. I was physically exhausted, my arse was on fire from the hot devils poker of a bike seat and I'm sorry Shakira but my hips were lying. As I ran down the hill from the Excel centre and into my first lap I saw Gem and the kids and it gave me a mental boost. After the first lap and climb up the hill back into the Excel centre I got a massive dose of cramp in my inner thighs. The pain was shocking and I really thought my race was over. I stopped, stretched, moaned, whined and swore and then it began to pass. Another lap but this time with the added bonus of Reece running with me part of the way there and back - what a lift. Back at the Excel centre I got another sharp stab of cramp, this time in my right quad but it didn't last long. And then my last lap.
Reece was an absolute diamond. He's only 7 yet ran a few hundred yards on the other side of the fence constantly shouting "come of daddy, you can do it, you're amazing, you're doing great, you're nearly there, I'm so proud of you" - I was so inspired. At the furthest point away my right hamstring twinged and I wondered if there was any part of my body that wasn't going to give up. But I dug deep and headed back to where I knew Reece would be. Again he ran with me but this time all the way back to the Excel centre including the hill. What a star.
Before I knew it I was crossing the finish line in a semi-respectful 3hrs 29min 4sec made up of;
Swim (1.5k) 00:41:22
Bike (40k) 01:28:06
Run (10k) 01:07:44
It was a great day and I reckon that IF I was to do it again I reckon that I could manage a sub 3 hour but hey, I did it!
