2021 - A new approach

 
Having plodded through lockdown with some gentle trots mixed with some trail and hilly stuff, my running was going fine for health & fitness purposes, but not for keeping any kind of race speed up.

In contrast, my cycling was the polar opposite. Gone was outdoor cycling, initially to comply with Covid restrictions and later just because it suited my schedule and allowed more time for life stuff to get in the way / take over even more time... 

In its place was Zwift, a computer game that mixed exercise with some social interaction by cycling on an interactive home trainer attached to your own bike - you've probably seen the TV ad's by now. Basically, Peloton for actual first claim cyclists... Actually nowt like Peloton, their adverts annoy me terribly, probably because I'm in denial about being anything like those guys!

So, my Zwift experience involves joining an organised race, time trial, long ride or fast group ride, twice or three times a week for a total of around 100k. You (depicted by an avatar that you can choose to look like you or look completely unlike you, depending on your sense of humor) are joined on screen by similar people on screen from all over the world, racing together via the power signals detected by your laptop from your bike trainer, sent through the internet all in a fraction of a second, including your speed, heart rate etc. etc. It works pretty well, not faultlessly as there are glitches galore, especially when you're a newbie, but you soon learn how to get a clean session in. 

Each rider is classified in order to race against similar abilities so as to keep each race as close as possible. I am classed as a B rider, from Aplus to D. It means I'm a squidge above average, and if I'm tactical and only burn my matches (throw some big power down on the pedals) at the exact crucial moments, i can sometimes stick with the A guys or strong B guys when I'm in those situations.

I initially joined a club on Zwift and raced each Tuesday and Thursday, Tuesday being a Team Time Trial, and a road race on Thursday. The TTT was superb, featured live on YouTube by Zwift in which my team were sometimes featured as we often qualified for the 'Premier League' which was the ten fastest teams in each ability category. The premier league was tough, and our best position i think was 2nd or 3rd. We were often in the top 5.
The race involved just your team racing together (max 8 riders) for around an hour or so depending on the course, against up to 200 or so other teams. Your time would be counted on your 4th rider across the line. So that was a good consistent effort each Tuesday. 

Thursday would be a road race league (same organisers). I was placed in a league just below the top league (think Championship in English football). This was slightly out of my comfort zone, especially the super-fast starts which would often see me struggle as i never had time to warm up correctly and would often come good later in the race when it was too late, but it was fun to mop-up the stragglers.

















I felt that after almost a year, it was time to try something new. Thursdays were not enjoyable, simply too hard with what seemed like 4 or 5 ringers every week who would tear the race apart early on. 

Tuesdays were great but my regular team seemed to get disbanded, and riders spread amongst other teams from the same club due probably to a few quiet weeks where we weren't getting enough entrants or a change of team coordinator, who knows. My last race was with a completely new set of people and the fluidity had inevitably gone and so it was an ideal time to go back to one of my first dabbles on Zwift - the DCG! 

The Doncaster Chaingang is widely known in UK cycling circles as the toughest IRL (in real life!) training ride/group in the country. Maybe they play a little on the 'It's grim up North' theme, and make sure that it ain't easy each week, but in terms of a sensible workout from the traditional heartlands or 'cycling clublands', then the DCG is far more like an IRL riding experience for online cycling than anything else I've experienced. 

The ride has a group leader, and a red beacon (last man) who everyone listens to. The ride is live on YouTube and commentary is both fun and informative and so you always know what's going on. 

The format is again based on an hour up to one hour and 20 mins of riding, but crucially starting at a low power output (2.5 watts per kg of bodyweight to get geeky), and gradually ramps to 3.5 w/kg until anywhere between 22 and 10 kilometers to go when a GOGOGO is signaled and it's every man for himself, frantically trying to tag into the fastest group they can in the blink of an eye to take them to the finish line in as high a position as possible. 

All abilities seem to get their money's worth. It may not be ideal to 'just' ride DCG in any given week, but when working full time, it's an easy session to quickly get ready for, jump on and follow the pace, with a guaranteed max effort 20-minute blowout to finish off. Seems to work for me as my power output has seen slight all-time gains in recent months. Not bad for 100km per week! 

My usual DCG ride, depending on the choice of course, will involve me using my short punchy ability to enable me to tag in with the lead guys when the GoGo is signaled - usually a 450-watt effort for around 45 seconds. It then quickly becomes apparent that these guys are strong, and as they begin to fight it out by trying to break away themselves from the group, the weaker guys (i.e., me) begin to struggle with the efforts required to close each gap down as the kilometers pass by towards the finish line. 

On rare occasions, i hang on. It's a terrific training session, in which i should probably forget about the lead group and tag in with the chasers (who i usually end up being caught by further down the road in any case), but the aim is always to win and so I'll always try and last as long as i can with the top guys. Human nature, i guess!

My best ride was high summer, with a limited field due to the gorgeous weather outside, and a flat course. I managed to hold on and contest the sprint, gauged my effort late, with almost everyone else going too early. As they all waned as the line approached, i rolled through to take 3rd place.
Probably my greatest e-sporting achievement LOL!

Onto running and again, a change of focus. I accidentally stumbled across a new group and new coach in the local area whose main area is sprinting and neuro pathway development. Sprinting was probably lowest in my list of running priorities before May 2021. One, it hurts to do. Two, it hurts afterwards (injuries), and three, all the hanging around doing warm-ups seems a huge waste of time..but it was a change.Change is as good as a rest, so they say.

Half of the Vorsprung session is preparing the brain for the task ahead. For short sprinting sessions, this means faster drills, and for more measured efforts, the drills are adjusted accordingly. Furthermore, the neuro pathways are also awakened by challenges during the drills and also by some other challenges. This might be a short game of football and rugby at the same time... 

All athletes stand in a circle and kick one football and throw one rugby ball to each other at random at the same time.
The brain then has to concentrate on two things at once and coordinate arms & legs separately - harder from men than women I'm convinced of ;-)

Despite the obvious slant towards running (actually sprinting in our case), the Vorsprung Project actually lends itself to everyday activities and chores to help improve the brain & body relationship - especially helpful for Dyslexia and Dyspraxia. 

To quote from their website "Vorsprung isn’t about sport, nor exercise, nor even about movement. It is about improving brain-to-body and body-to-brain communication pathways".

Think of that party trick where you pat your head whilst rubbing your stomach with your other hand. That's similar to the drills that we do in prep for running. After a morning of slouching in the office chair with blood like treacle, it certainly seems to do just as good a job of warming the body as would a 2-mile slow jog, if not better, as you feel more attentive.

The brain is taxed to make arm movements go very slowly whilst speeding up leg strides at the same time, and whilst concentrating on breathing. 

The aim is for everything to become second nature - the conscious to become the subconscious - just like clutch control of a car!
In my case, Vranek soon saw that i don't move my shoulders when i run, and i also run very upright with my back arched and chest out. My arms were static like a Thunderbirds puppet.

After a few weeks of vocal reminders and drill work, the conscious effort of moving them and thus creating a bigger range of arm movement with my stride became subconscious. Has it improved my running? My sprinting splits have improved dramatically in three months.  I haven't yet raced long distance so time will tell, but at least I will be more efficient.

Secondly, sprinting, at age 47, with arthritic knees? It does sound mad and to be honest, the first 6 weeks were difficult as the extra load was making my knees hurt. The sessions are on grass, and the aim is to spend as much time in the air as possible, and so on. The end result is that the body adjusts, and the knee pain is now no different, certainly no worse than previous years. I'd actually go as far as to say it is slightly better. 

Once the problem was identified, Vranek introduced a third weekly session of strength work which included medicine ball work and some specific balance work (a bit like Yoga mixed with Ballet) which has made a difference. Apologies to all the passersby to Victoria Fields on a Wednesday lunchtime.

The running element is certainly tough. Interval training at its best. Maybe not in terms of qty of efforts, but maximum effort on the amount we do in the one session, and a more consistent effort across all reps on the other session. The aim is to improve and in time, the best time from week one, is now the worst time as our body adapts. My 300 metre time is now 51 seconds, down from a previous best of 58! 

To sum up Vorsprung, it should be added to your weekly training program. My coordination is improved, and my previous running gait and arm swing issues are being addressed. The strength sessions have improved my core stability in a far gentler way than HIT or Circuits would do, which could cause injury. The drills are improving my horrendous memory retention issues that I've always had, and so the training goes deeper than simply physical improvement, but the mental also.

On November the 7th, I am racing at the World Duathlon Championships in Aviles, Spain! The aim is to arrive injury free, focussed and able to push myself to the next level with a bit of help from the DCG & Vorsprung! 

800 metre efforts - 3 year comparison

For 2021 reference, here's a look back at some 800 metre track efforts in 2018 prior to Ibiza, compared to the Vorsprung 800's on Vicerage Fields in 2021!

2018 

2021

2019 - Worlds Qualification and an injury diagnosis

6 months on from my last competitive event and I've finally been told what i half expected about my knees, which have been aching, cracking and creaking for most of the year. I have arthritis in both knees, with the left showing more deterioration.

The last blog was from the World Duathlon Qualifier race in Stockton, where i ignored the onset of knee pain and took to the start line, had a decent race and managed to gain selection for the GB team in the 45-49 Age Group category. I've since learned that the race will take place near Amsterdam in Holland in September 2020. Plenty of time to sort my injury out? The problem is that arthritis is not a curable condition, and is actually degenerative. How long has it been eating away at my cartlidge? Who knows. My kneecaps are showing as tracking to the outer edge of where they should be, thus further narrowing the gap between the femur and the kneecap, which explains the worse pain on the outside of the left kneecap.

In the downtime between limping into A&E after Stockton, waiting on an MRI Scan (12 weeks) and follow up appointment, the resulting tendonitis from running at Stockton eventually subsided and i started some light running, albeit too early in my recovery. The knee would eventually warm up and I'd be pain free on runs, but the initial subconscious limping was putting a toll on my right hip and the TFL muscle over the pelvis. Within 2 weeks of starting some Glucosomine, Chondroytin and MSM supplements, the knee pain was nowhere near as bad when running. I still had the tendon cracking noise, but now it was almost pain free, the swelling was gone and the action of running kinda felt ok.

The issues were now around re-adjustment, which i am still dealing with. The body needs to now re-track itself and the muscles in the thighs, hips and quads are having a tough time. I am not helping as i have not had much massage nor stretch or do any strength exercises. The hip continues to breakdown so weekly running mileage is restricted to around 20 miles a week. I've managed around 2 months now and have started to lose some weight and not feel like I'm drowning when running 7.30 pace!

I held my entry for Lake Vyrnwy in September, after all, how hard can a half marathon be? I soon found that a diet of 5 miles is not sufficient and my early miles of 6.30 were soon slowing until i hit 10 miles where i was down to 9 minutes per mile - goes to show that mileage is what you need for fending of fatigue in the big races.

Some days i run and am pretty much pain free. Its the best i can hope for - one run in several that goes ok. The majority of my body is freshly prepped to run, but the knees feel 80 years old which make the experience miserable. The hip compounds the experience and so I'm pressing reset, having a few days off (whilst still biking, biking is good! No pain!) and starting the exercises given to me by the physios at Bronglais hospital which aims to track kneecaps back straight - if they ever were straight. That should buy me a few more years. The specialist says to avoid anything that hurts, and says its unfortunate to get arthritis at my age (46) but that it can happen, but how would stopping help? Running is a great focus, healthy for the mind as well as most of the body, great friends and social environment. I think I'd like to run for as long as i can. The routine suits my job/lifestyle, with the steps done from running being only significant steps that i do daily!

There may be a surgical answer to tracking my kneecaps, but that may start a whole new can of worms. I'm not sure if running is the reason for my issue. I've been running regularly since 2005, but have never been a mile eater. My average weekly mileage has been around 25 miles, with some 35-40 mile weeks during marathon training. Before that i was cycling around 6000 miles per year from 1990-2004 with a few slower years mixed in there. Before that was endless football matches both at school breaktime, after school, and real matches for the village team, between 1983-1991. So maybe the answer is there. Always active at something or another. My feeling is that its genetic with my Grandmothers side of the family hit hard by the condition. It seemed to miss a generation!!





 

Stockton Duathlon - World Championships 2020 Qualifier

After a pretty surprising 5th place in the 2018 Standard distance Euros in Ibiza, i decided to try for a World's spot on the British team in 2020 which means racing in one of three allocated qualifiers this spring.

The only date available to me was the final qualifier in Stockton, so no pressure.. With four slots up for grabs, ideally a top four finish in my age category was required, although due to the complex qualification system, sometimes a top 6 or 7 can also be enough to seal a spot at the championships.

So, 6 months on from that sunny day in Ibiza (seems like 6 weeks), i dug the time trial bike out and headed north for a rare solo race weekend away.

I entered Stockton way back in December to give myself a training focus through the winter, basking in the delight that all my training partners were prepping for spring marathons and i was not. Marathon training requires a fair commitment in terms of mileage, something I've always struggled with, plus I'd done London for the past three years and so fancied a different focus this year.

Despite repeated self reminders all winter, that the event was on the horizon, my brick sessions never happened, and my race bike lay in its post Ibiza bike box up until a week before Stockton!
At the other end of the scale, I was far too interested in racing on Zwift on my road bike, and doing probably a bit too much running. Ironically I'd done more running mileage this winter than any of my previous marathon winters, not so much in terms of long runs, but consistent daily running. I guess this was partly due to running with the guys who were doing some killer weekly mileage, but also because I had a grand experiment on the go to see if more road miles would result in faster running times. Every week since the new year, I've packed out a training week with plenty of 8 mile easy runs in addition to the key sessions.

So back to race week. A hastily bike rebuild and some new pedals was followed by a couple of sessions on Zwift 'assuming the position', followed by a local 10 mile time trial in race day kit. All went well, and i was pleasantly surprised with my time which was around 45 seconds faster than my usual time at this time of year. I wouldn't say flying, but race effort and breathing all felt fine, with possibly a slight wattage deficit as a counterbalance. Maybe Zwift had been worth it after all?

Roll back a few days and I ran a Parkrun at race effort followed by a longer recovery run a day later. On that recovery run, both knees felt very heavy, aching just below the kneecap. I'd had this pain before and just put it down to a heavy training load. A couple of days off had sorted it. The following day i ran 7 miles with the lads. The knee pain was worse. I almost stopped after 2 miles and should have, but after loosening up, decided to carry on. Bad move! The next day i was limping with the left outer kneecap throbbing with pain.

A day off followed by the time trial on the bike which involved some pain in the knee when pressing hard at the start, and a couple of easy running days, and the knee was not much better. Decision time. I spoke with the lads who said that the pain would be forgotten once the race starts, and so i decided to go. I'd already spent a fair amount of cash on the race, and it was the only chance to qualify for the Worlds. Even if it rendered me useless afterwards, phase one of the sporting year would then be complete with only Vyrnwy and Eryri as other races entered for 2019 which were not until September and October.

A short run on grass in the 3 day lead-up to Stockton was the only exercise, and the knee was a tad better. A short 6 hour drive did wonders for the joint, and i arrived at a lovely 9 week old hotel in plenty of time to catch a decent evening meal and lights out at a reasonable hour.

The hotel was bang in the middle of the race area, and I even had a Grandstand view of the start line from my huge fifth floor room. Nobody blinked an eyelid at me wheeling my bike through reception and into the lifts. Times have certainly changed.

My own race was the Standard distance duathlon, a 10km run, a 40k non-drafting bike, and finally a 5k run was not until 1pm meaning i had the morning off to relax, prepare and register with ease in plenty of time. I also watched the Sprint and Super-Sprint races to check out the entry and exit to transition - more about that later...

The knee felt bad, but better than it had done on the previous Monday, as i warmed up on the course. As the first 10k began, i decided to start slower than usual, just in case something popped!

Mile 1 was still the fastest of the day despite it feeling like half the field had sped off in front of me. What it did mean though was that i picked my way through the field as some others began to fade. My splits were pretty consistent with only one being slower than expected, mile 4 where i was in no mans land between groups. The knee pain did indeed fade just like James has said it would, but towards the end of the 10k, it reared its ugly head once more, not enough to put me off my stride or slow me down as i came in with an estimated 10k time of a low 37. T1 was pretty solid although a guy I'd spent ages catching in the 10k did get out ahead of me which was a bit frustrating.

I'd struggled in Ibiza with the first few k's of the bike as the legs adjusted and today was no different. With this experience, I didn't panic and just waited until the green light came on. The bike course was pretty special.. a 4 mile circuit which contained three U-turns and a fair few sharp roundabout turns was both challenging and enjoyable. It was better for technical & punchy riders like road racers rather than all-out time trial specialists. For that reason, the gaps between the stronger riders and the slower ones was not as big as they would normally be, in my opinion. I put myself in the slower rider category as some of the specialist TT guys passing me looked very sharp but could not take full advantage due to all the dead stops and tricky corners.

My bike leg ended up being ok, 4th in category, which was enough for a qualification place on its own. I held a solid pace, perhaps not as fast as i could maybe do later in the biking season, but its the same for everyone. It was also cold and windy - typical northern English weather. I raced in a skinsuit and was fine apart from fingers not really working properly in T2.

T2 was a disaster. I hadn't practised since Ibiza and had even forgotten the procedure. Feet out of shoes, on top of shoes and hop off the bike from a standing position on the pedals. I did the opposite. Foot out of one pedal, let show hand roadside down whilst turning cranks to opposite foot. Bike rattles in disagreement, eventually get other foot out and again hit the road with said shoe, correct all of this whilst totally missing the dismount line. Instant penalty. What would it be? 2 minutes was what i thought of, and so I racked my bike and headed out on the 5k run thinking that i may already be out of contention. It ended up only being 10 seconds thankfully.

The knee, having had time to seize up a little on the bike, was now hurting properly. I hobbled into the run and coupled with the usual 'duathlon shuffle', i was not in a great place. I looked up and saw a competitor i had again spent an age catching on the bike, pass me with ease in the early run stages. I used him as a gauge. He was faster than me, but not by much by now. My legs were coming to, and the knee has loosened up a little. My stride was back to normal. All systems go in terms of trying to peg back the guys ahead and also hold off some threats from behind.

The front guys were gone but i managed a final surge to creep home in 20.01 for 5k, which is not far off the norm for me in a final run duathlon 5k. Certainly work to do here as when i came to see the results, i had come 6th in category with the runs and transitions letting me down for a top four position rather than the bike!

I'll put that down to the knee and lack of brick training sessions. I felt sooo fresh in run 1, and was probably in 3rd or 4th place in my category at the time.

That evening as i drove home, i stopped for fuel half way and literally fell out of the car as my knee had swollen up massively. A guy at the next pump accused me of being drunk. I somehow managed to limp to the kiosk to pay, and at the time of writing one week after the race, i am still incapacitated with a semi swollen knee, nightly icing and lots of limping. Was it worth the sacrifice? We'll see when i get a diagnosis and when the qualification is announced for the 2020 Worlds.

It looks like my time will be good enough to earn a place on the team. Let's just hope that all the grinding metal hasn't ruined the knee beyond repair!








 

Racing in Ibiza

The European Duathlon Championships. The biggest race of the 2018 season for me after last year 's qualification for the British Age-Group team, a bucket list objective i set myself around 18 months ago. Every training session and every other race in 2018 had been planned around this day!

I'd be racing in the 45-49 year category having hit 45 just prior to the event, so i was at least a young gun in this category if nowhere else.

Just to recap on the journey so far, four athletes from Ceredigion had qualified for this week of multisport European Championship events, with a fifth joining us late on, Gareth Hodgson of Kona IronMan fame. Gareth had decided to throw a couple of late season events into his schedule after a very successful IronMan Wales in September where he came 11th overall. Actually a sixth local also joined the party late on - Ollie Thorogood, from the Thorogood sporting dynasty who was doing the Aquathon. The other lads were Dylan Lewis (Cross Duathlon), Steffan Owens & Andrew Poole who would join Gareth in competing in the Long Course Triathlon event. At the time of writing, all these event were later in the week, as I was already on the way home after my Standard Distance Duathlon which had been on day 2 of the competition. 

Myself, Dylan and Pooley have been generously supported in our preparations by two local businesses - Safety Net Services and Alexanders Estate Agents. Their financial input has contributed towards paying for the compulsory Team GB race wear, the entry fee and the travel costs. We've all discovered (as Team GB Age-Group first timers) that this level of competition is a very expensive business!

We'd also received some extra help from Cambrian Tyres (Continental race tyres for the bikes), and Ceredigion County Council (free passes for use of leisure facilities for all of 2018). 

Frankly my main concern was not to embarrass myself on the day. I missed automatic selection by not quite gaining a top four position in my qualifying race back at the end of 2017, but scraped in by being best runner-up of the three separate qualifying races. This meant that on paper at least, i was 'not the bookies favourite'.

I had a look at some of my twenty six fellow British, Spanish and Dutch competitors previous results and it did look a tough ask and so i set myself a hard but achievable goal of coming in the top half of the results - so 13th place would be ok by me.

The race would see a mass start of 250 or so athletes, structured in age and sex related waves. I'd be off with all the other males between the ages of 40+. I believe there was an 84 year old in there somewhere! The 39 years and younger would start 4 minutes before us, which was a neat way of splitting things up to avoid a congested 10k run course. 

Rolling back to the start of the trip, family responsibilities and flight options meant that we'd arrive almost a week before race day, and leave the morning after the race. Not ideal in terms of a couple of days to relax afterwards, but as it turned out, we enjoyed ourselves and relaxed a lot during the build up. Our accommodation was, by pure luck, pretty central to the race course and so we decided not to hire a car and got everywhere by bike and a few times by taxi.

A couple of days of long bike rides (with the obligatory cafe stops), followed by a recce day of the bike and run course and then a rest day lead right up to the day of the Sprint distance competition. We made sure we got to see this as the transition area would be the same as our Standard distance race the following day and this was essential viewing for Mr 'In one ear, out the other' to see exactly where the entry and exit points were. I had possibly neglected my running a little during the week, managing just three 3 mile potters with some token strides thrown in for good measure.

Onto the race and all the usual prep had been done on the day. My start time was an unusual 3.34pm. Most events back home start in the morning or no later than lunchtime, so a small spanner in the pre-race prep works was to factor in a second meal to top up the morning's porridge and banana. The choice - scrambled egg on toast, washed down with some black coffee. 

I decided to do the race 'dry'. This basically meant no water bottle on the bike. I'd reduced the among of clutter on my bike to try and get as aerodynamic as possible. No gizmo's on the handlebars, no bottle cage on the frame, and the only accessory avoiding the cull was a small saddlebag containing a spare tube, levers and a Co2 canister in case i punctured.

Sod's law reared its head and gave us the hottest day of the week. Gone were the intermittent grey clouds and bursts of rain, replaced by 26 degree sun. Looking around and i saw almost everyone with either a handlebar mounted drinks bottle or one on the frame. Breaking this down to justify my choice, i had 37 odd minutes of the initial 10k run ahead, with 8 water station options. I then had a bottle in transition to take a swig from in T1 before a waterless 1 hour bike ride. For T2, i could grab the remaining bottle and take it with me on the 5k run, which itself had 4 chances of taking on water.

I'm a tad old school on this subject, often running 16-20 mile training runs on no liquid or food (just a gel or two), same goes for my immediate training partners back home in Aber. My only concern was the heat. The race would take around two hours to complete. All the other competitors were going overkill on hydration or were they...?

As it turned out, my throat did run a bit dry towards the end of the bike leg, but the bottle in T2 sorted this out and i didn't even take the emergency gel I'd also stored. Hopefully the missing bottle saved me a few seconds on the climbs and on the fast descents!

The first 10k was my winning hand, or so i thought. After a weird year of running, where i was posting some pretty virus affected slow times all the way up to around 6 weeks prior to race day, finally cracked with an 'out of body' 5k PB at the local Parkrun, and a decent 6 minute mile paced Oulton Park Duathlon, things seemed back on course.

Unfortunately I'd gone off too fast, or at least at the top end of my pace strategy. The heat soon got to me, as did the twisty (yet very flat) course and the seven dead turns started to take their toll. The map below says it all (mile splits from start to finish fltr).

I had had a cheeky eye on a 10k PB here, but as things worked out, it was more like a late 37 (the actual course was 0.2 miles short). 

Onto the bike and transition was ok. I was not the fastest as i stopped to swig some water, but i wasn't far off the pace. My potentially ball breaking bike mount thankfully worked out well, with a full set of 10/10 from the four judges. This saved me a fair few seconds as i saw lots of other athletes stopping to mount the bikes and clip into the pedals.

Transition had been moved off the beach and into town due to a storm and the last minute change of instructions meant i hadn't been 100% sure of the directional route of entering and exiting T1 & T2. There was no need for the panic in the end as during the race, the marshals and other competitors made it pretty easy to figure it all out.

I was feeling pretty wiped out after running above threshold for a good 10 minutes towards the end of the run, and so the first 5k on the bike was horrid. I pressed the accelerate pedal to no response, none. I was passed by a few riders and couldn't push out more than 200 watts. The first 5k was into a headwind and up a gradual climb too, so all in all, this wasn't looking too clever at the moment.

At the turn, i was able to tuck in, and concentrate on my position rather than battle the bike, and I started to up my pace and pick some riders off.

Lap two of four saw me increase pace and feel a bit more human. Lap three and I was flying. 300 watts and above. All situations normal. I had now passed many riders. It was tough to work out who they were and whether they were in my category by now, as the younger guys and the girls had merged with us on this four lap course. Nevertheless, i thought that by passing as many riders as I could, I was bound to catch up with a few oldies at some point.

At the start of the final climb, I noticed a shadow behind me, another rider. The rules are strict and no drafting in another riders slipstream is permitted. I waited a few seconds before looking back again. Two red suited Spaniards, directly on my wheel. I remembered passing them on lap three.

 They looked about the same age as me, so a few expletives were thrown at them to no avail. I was sure that a draft busting judge would side with the locals on this one if it came to it, and so I slowed up after a few attempts to snake away from them to shake them off.

One came past and shouted something. I saw red and rode to a stop, forcing the smaller of the two to also come past me. Once they were gone (by now we were on the fast last 5k down to T2), i built up my speed and burnt a huge match to speed past them again. This was not something I thought I'd need to be doing in this race!

Approaching T2 and as I slowed to take my feet out of my shoes, the Spaniards came past me and into T2 ahead! I actually had a good T2, and came out just behind them. As anyone who's done a Duathlon will tell you, your legs simply do not work at the start on run two. You have to waddle out of transition and wait for them to come good. It took mine about half a kilometre before i started to catch people up. I got into a good stride and ended up having a much more consistent run that the first 10k.

It was tough though, as I'm sure it was for everyone. I did notice the 'Spanish two' coming into view as I approached the last kilometre. I managed to pass one, the one that mattered as he was also in my age category. I also passed a few other runners as I approached the line, for what was probably my fastest 1km split of the day. Theresa held out the Ddraig Goch on the finish straight and i though it would be rude not to grab it and hold it aloft as I came across the line in the once in my lifetime experience.
After finishing, we were treated like pro athletes, with a recovery area, supplying melon quarters, orange halves and sandwiches, plus recovery drinks. I wish there had been a photographer there as a few of us just sat against the fence, eating melons, and staring into space for what seemed ages.

Eventually i picked myself up and headed back to Theresa and to the nearest cafe for a well earned shandy - actual shandy which i ordered by mistake but was definitely the best choice of drink at that time.

I later discovered that I'd come 5th in my age group, for ahead of the 13th that I'd aimed for, and also 29th overall, out of all age categories. This result was pretty satisfying as it was not expected at all. I was just under two minutes away from a bronze medal, gladly, as i think i'd have cried if it was only a handful of seconds. I'll now have to study the splits, do some homework and see if those two minutes can be gained back, possibly from that dodgy first run.

 This was a thoroughly good experience which i feel almost anyone could qualify for. I am just an average club rider/runner. Picking the best distance and event to suit your abilities and talents, choose your qualifying event, do your homework on your competitors and most importantly train HARD, and you could be the next athlete at the World or Euro Multisport Championships.

Fifth and Final....London Marathon 2018

Never say never, but this year's race was not part of the season's plan which is to prepare for the European Duathlon Championships in October. As that's October, the 26.2 plod wouldn't really affect things that late in the year and so having qualified for this at last year's London marathon with a 'good for age' time, the honour of achieving that whilst so many runners face the frustration of missing out in the regular 'ballot', meant that i felt obliged....

It really is my last marathon though, honest, unless i rise to the challenge of unfinished business at Snowdon in the future. I have no beef with London. Four attempts so far, attempts at a sub 3 hour time. Two successful, two failures. A hat trick would be nice i guess. 

Training for a sub 3 for me, is pretty hard. I never manage huge mileage, due to both time and fatigue constraints - my body doesn't really like more than 35-40 mile weeks without some old war wounds rearing their heads, plus I'm not getting any younger. A couple of 20 milers bolted onto my duathlon schedule was about all i did to prep for London. I knew this wasn't enough, despite some assurances that I'd be good. 20 miles every Sunday in the winter we just had? No thanks!

The first 20 mile training run involved a 10 mile straight out the door - dead east, into the Beast of the East, at night, with snow and ice all around. My partner Theresa decided to bike along side me for company in that weather. Guess who was the colder at the end?! With 17 miles done, i was also getting cold and commanded Tez to ride on home, put the bath on and order a curry. That's what pretty much got me through the last 3 miles. The minute she left, my pace went from 7.30 to 9 minute miles. It's all in the head they say ;-)


Straight through the door, up the stairs and into a lovely warm bath, whilst eating Poppadoms with mint dip.. It doesn't get much better than that!

The second 20 went better. It was after a rough bout of flu and was one of my first runs back. The first 17 were a measured plod with a marathon pace final three. It felt good.

On race day, despite 6 months of continuous shite (i mean weather, the kind of weather Bishop had to deal with in Aliens in order to get a signal to the backup craft in orbit, to rescue Sigourney Weaver), the sun decided to come out on marathon week, and baked the country in a heatwave. This was mainly good, but nobody except those flush enough to afford multiple foreign training camps (cough 'Mo), had any time to acclimatise between British Winter 2018 and this instant 24 degree heat.

I spent a few days in London pre-race but stupidly left registration until the Saturday. It was a low point in my life, and also a kind of busmans holiday. I've spent many an expo working at Excel and now the shoe was on the other foot. It was super busy, busier than any show I'd worked at there, and it seems we caught the lunchtime rush. London was packed that weekend and after a busy morning of doing Highbury Parkrun and eating a fry up, it took the rest of the day to get to the expo on packed, hot trains, register, look around the expo and get back to central London. Lesson learned. I was ratty and had to take a siesta in the early evening and even then, the legs were heavy. Kids - don't leave it til Saturday to register for the London Marathon!

Worse still, i missed an invite for a curry on Oxford St with my training partner Ed Land, and back at Expo, I'd paid for some new gear but left it on the counter. Like i said - low point!

The race prep was fine. Another packed train ride to Maze Hill, but that was expected and the communal anticipation of all the competitors was great to be part of. I got to my start area with 30 mins to spare, and queued for the toilet before dropping my bag off (i hadn't forgotten anything). Actually i had forgotten something, the most important piece of race day kit that all athletes need (jointly holding the honour with safety pins) - BOG ROLL!! The portaloo was devoid of it. I looked at my spare Mavic socks in my bag (take note Anita Worthing - i do own more than one pair), they looked back at me. I took a minute to decide their fate. There was no bin in the loo... What to do? Luckily Tim Lawson of Secret Training (the nutrition brand) had sent me a race day bag at the start of the year, containing no toilet paper, but a host of products designed to help you at the races - Vaseline, pre-race rub, post-race wash, suncream, pins, flannels, moisturiser AND a pack of baby wipes. Tim, you are a saviour.

I quickly lined up for the start and we were off. I was in the first wave and so the road should have been easy to navigate. It wasn't, and as our green start merged with red and then blue, it became very cluttered and difficult to keep pace. I guess this is only going to get worse at major marathon events as they accept more and more competitors. The sub 3 hour pacer was ahead of me, but he'd started about a minute ahead and i was only about 20 seconds behind him. Whilst i physically couldn't move up to him without swiping vast swathes of runners out the way like a Giant Orc, i was in a fairly good place. Mile one was a tad slow, mile two was fast, mile three super fast (downhill) and then miles 4,5,6 were stable at 6.45 pace. I didn't feel as fluid or fresh as previous London races/ I put it down to the heat, age and my Saturday experience. 

Twice i spurted up to the pacer when the opportunity arose, using up valuable energy. 30 second surges helped me latch onto the group trying to stay with him, and as my watch verified but kept drifting back ever so slightly, to a more comfortable pace. I overheard someone discussing our pace, saying that we were 5 minutes up, and so heading for a 2.55. That also confirmed what my watch was telling me. I knew a 2.55 was not an option, but it was good to know i had the buffer, at least for a short while.

The first 10 miles seemed to go on for ever, and i was getting a tad bored waiting to hit the halfway mark. When it finally arrived, i was lagging a bit further back than I'd like, and i later found out that Mr Green pacer had pulled out with fatigue! The blue pacer came past a bit later and i had trouble latching on to him too, so the writing was on the wall. At 15 miles i saw Theresa, but she didn't see me. I could only muster one syllable and not the required three, and so "OOOiiii" it was.


By 16 miles my pace was fading into the 7.10's but i still had time in hand. Being honest, i didnt have the urge to hurt myself as much as in the past. My quads were tight and screaming. Other muscles were fine. My ankle joint has been a bit dodgy recently and it flared up again on the day. Mile 17 was 8 minutes and after that i stopped trying as the time was gone. I settled into a shorter stride that didn't hurt. My pulse immediatly got lower and i started to enjoy the last 10 miles, looking around the landmarks and taking in the atmosphere whilst being overtaken by a Camel, Penguin, a man on the toilet and numerous other Guinness world fancy dress record attempts. So I stopped to chat to Theresa at mile 20, yet she was shocked and told me to finish and not waste time!

The heat was well, hot, but it wasn't the reason for my demise. I reckon I'd have had a similar result in the cold - just lack of miles. I saw many people suffering and i started to pick a few off in the last 4 miles which made a change. I had drank well, and had had a couple of gels. My fueling was fine but the fish n chips and a couple of beers at the end were most welcome.

That's it for me in what was the busiest London Marathon I've done in terms of crowds & competitors. Next year I'll be supporting Theresa at the side of the road if she is lucky enough to get in. It's shorter races for me from now on with possibly another go at Snowdon one day.

London Marathon Summary
2011 - 3.12
2013 - 2.58
2016 - 2.56
2017 - 3.14
2018 - 3.25

Once again thank you to our Three_GB local sponsors Alexanders Estate Agents, Safety Net Services & Huw Lewis Tyres for their support in helping us get to Ibiza for the European Duathlon Championships later this year, also to Andrew Poole who looks after our social media activities for this.

The socks have been sealed for retirement.

Don't waste time at the bar, order two pints.

 

On the road to Ibiza with Team GB

The blog is back, mainly due to a coming together of circumstances which has meant that I'm off to Ibiza in October to represent Team GB in Age-Group Multisport - the European Duathlon Championships!

Added to that, another two local lads from Ceredigion have also qualified, and so we've decided to group together to attract some sponsorship by branding up as 'three_GB' on social media. Enter Andrew Poole and Dylan Lewis, both far younger and more attractive than me, but together we intend to have an eight month journey through training, get togethers, blogs, kit reviews etc and share this via social media channels and to anyone who bumps into us along the way.

'Three_GB' - f.l.t.r Dylan Lews, Shelley Childs, Andrew Poole

Having worked at IronMan Wales for a few years, its always been a bug for me to get into multi-sport. Cue the kids, life, work balance and the time is just not there to get enough training into any given week. Alas I can go some weeks with only a couple of sessions done of one sport, never mind three! 

Fast forward to 2017 and it was time to give Duathlon a go, finally. Although smaller fry than triathlon, they have similar World and European championship structures, often sharing locations and dates with Tri. The UK has three events where you can qualify for your age group, with the top twenty, yes twenty (!) from each category getting the nod for the following years major event.

Let's be honest here, this is a completely accessible road for any serious amateur club athlete to represent their country at. It is not eilte level professional sport and for that reason, its really popular not to mention financially lucrative for the relevant governing bodies to organise. Everyone's a winner i guess?

So at the end of 2016, James Cracknell had run a cracking London Marathon that year, and up until that point, I'd been tracking him in terms of race times within a couple of minutes. I dug a bit deeper and found out that he'd also been down the Duathlon age-group route and had represented GB. I dug a little deeper and checked out the kind of times that were being recorded by others my age and realised that individually, i was (or at least had been) close to some of them. The seed was sewn and i checked out which event i could do. It would be the final qualifier of 2017 in Bedford, during mid-October, although judging from the dawn chorus shot below, you'd never had of imagined it.

Who knew Bedfordshire could look so good?

I ran an extra couple of hundred miles in 2017 (about 1300 in total), averaging 25 miles a week, and then fast tracked some cycling into the equation from mid-August, just as normal cycling folk were winding down from a hard season. My first attempt at joining with the local club chaingang resulted in a Johnny NoMates solo ride as the official rides had ended the week previously. I soon found the underground chaingang Thursday night movement, and got my arse handed to me on a plate for the eight weeks leading up to race day.

This was great training and i loved being back on the bike but i later found out that a weekly FTP test via the strength of others perhaps wasn't the best for specific solo time trial events. I'd done a couple of open TT's in July and loved them, but was evidently lacking in power and grace. I wasn't a million miles from where i wanted to be compared to my all-time strongest cycling times in the mid-nineties, but times had moved on and everyone had got faster and more aero, and so i was pretty much a million miles from where i needed to be!

The trusty steed. It may be 8 years old, but it still turns heads at races (when I'm not aboard)

Bedford came along and it was my first big Duathlon I've done, with only the Tregaron Duathlon for previous experience. For that reason i didn't even try to use elastic bands to create pre-attached easy-to-enter cycling shoes in transition, after a less than successful trial run at Tregaron a year earlier, neither had i bothered to learn how to since. These time saving transition processes will probably need some research for Ibiza.

The race went well, i just ran in cycling shoes through transition before mounting the bike. I was doing the Standard Distance event which is a 10k run, 40k bike and 5k run. There is a Sprint option at 5/20/2.5 but i thought for the distance from Aber to Bedford, it would be better value for money to do the longer one. That said, 'Pooley' and Dylan are putting me to shame by qualifying for the Half IronMan and Offroad versions of the championships respectively.

The first run - mixing it up with previous Team GB athletes, judging by their race kit

I was racing under the thinking that i was competing in the 40-44 category, which I was, but for qualifying for the Euro's, I would be considered under the 45-49 category - my age on race day later this year. When it came to check my results, confusion ensued and so i had to actually read the small print for once to get some clarity on what qualifying was looking like.

As it turned out, it made no difference. I was 5th old bloke in both categories, and with only the first 4 qualifying automatically, i had a nervous couple of weeks wait until i heard that my 'first loser' placing was actually 'fastest loser' out of all three qualifying events and therefore was fast enough to qualify.

Back to the drawing board and it was evident that it had been my cycling that had let me down, losing around 3 minutes to qualifier 4 over 40k, despite having what i felt was an ok ride within my current limits. I'd gained around two minutes back on the runs, but fell short of qualifying automatically due to the dodgy bike leg. My time was 1 hour three mins on a 3 mile circuit, compared to a 56 minute PB over the same distance on a dual carriageway course back in 2004 or 5...

Matt Botrill has since given me a more aero position. We'll see how it fairs in 2018!

The plan for 2018 is to ride more and have a bit of a racing season on the bike. I haven't started well, due to the god awful weather that we've had, which has resulted in me buying the indoor cycling software Zwift - a craze which is sweeping the annexes and sheds of every cycling enthusiasts household this winter. It has meant that I am riding more again, and so three rides a week are planned from March through to August, ramping it up a bit in September ready for the big day. I'm not sure a 56 minute time is again possible, but with some tips from multi-UK champion Matt Botrill, anything could happen!

Pooley has been busy and has taken the mantle of 'team' coordinator, gaining us valuable sponsorship from local businesses Safety Net Services, Alexanders and Huw Lewis Tyres. Ok, Huw is Dylan's dad, but nevertheless, Pooley will be looking for the credit for that one as well. I've chipped in with some fast racing rubber from my employer Cambrian Tyres, another perennial benefactor of local sportsmen and women representing the area.

The help will go towards making the trip a reality, with mutual friends / previous qualifiers stating that the trip will cost each of us in excess of £1500. I intend to use my share of the money to pay for my bike to be transported to Ibiza (and maybe back, see how it goes), plus the costs of training shoes never goes away..

Derek from Alexanders Estate Agents has kindly offered to pay for our GB Tri-suits. Yes, age-groupers do not receive free attire and all garments are only available to buy from the official supplier who i presume has the license from the governing body. This means that we'll all be racing in official Team GB kit on race day, plus a training / podium T-Shirt which will sport all contributors logos. I'm banking on the other two in terms of making any podium appearances but in all seriousness, i will be hoping to mix it up on race day and try to pull out PB's in both the 10k run and 40k bike before the much anticipated final 5k shuffle that every multisport athlete suffers with.

We'll keep the blogs going, and next time I'll talk about some of the new kit that I am starting to use for this 'bucket list' year of Championship Duathlon preparation!  

My latest race - the Welsh 10k Championships. 32nd overall and 7th over 40.