Training for IRONMAN UK 2013

 

 

Gary Bradwell Ironman UK 2013 – My Big Day!

After a very impressive race briefing and registration at the Reebok Stadium I was quickly reminded why Ironman is so iconic and why it is held in such high regard.

Sunday 4^th August 2013 was the day that over 3000 training miles had hopefully prepared me for. Continual 6 day training weeks for the last 9 months, fighting the worst of winters dark, cold, wet, windy, icey and snowy mornings and the hot sticky weather of more recent months.

The alarm was set for 0200 in the hotel room I was sharing with my dad for the Ironman weekend. We didn’t get to bed until after 2200 the night before after good feed at a local Italian. My dad was straight off to sleep but I laid awake thinking about the next day that was now only 4hrs away, the more I thought about it the more my heart raced but finally I gave in and the buzz of the alarm marked the start of the longest day ever.

We was both straight out of bed, I immediately continued trying to hydrate and we headed for the special breakfast put on by the hotel for the ironman event. We joined a number of other anxious competitors who hadn’t slept much either and I smashed a large bowl of sugared porridge and jam on toast and was ready to roll.

We arrived at the starting point at Pennington Flash at about 0345 and it was pitch black. The transition for the bikes opened at 0400 and I was first in, pumping my tyres to optimum levels, double checking gears and brakes and oiled the chain. I decided I would leave it there and not fiddle with the bike any more like others would do up until the last minute – I pulled myself away and sat by the lake side with my dad – still dark – allowing perfect cover to pee without queuing at the portaloos. I was pleased the lake was a little more tranquil than the waves on it the day before but I couldn’t help but think the turning buoys on the route looked a long way away.

At 0520 ish I started to put the wetsuit on and used some body glide on the parts of the body that normally chafe – it did nothingfor my neck that got carved up within the first half a lap and left me with a nice burn on my neck by the end. At 0545 we started to get in the water – all 1650 of us – a lot of people in a very short space of water – The water felt fairly warm for a big deep lake and weed tickled my feet at the deep water start. Following the national anthem and the elite professionals entering the water and fronting the start line the starter horn sounded – I had by default found myself upfront in the swarm of swimmers – something not recommended unless you’re a swim shark. I was quickly into a fight for space and everybody exchanged accidental blows but I kept the body relaxed and everybody just rolled on.

I started to swim off on a random tangent to those swimming direct for the large orange buoys in the distance and soon found some decent open water to get into a steady long stroke- only broken when another swimmer amusingly got disorientated and started swimming sideways – no angry words are exchanged you just sight some new space and crack on – for most people it’s not a race against others around you it’s about the a monster personal challenge.   I felt very relaxed, I kept looking behind me and I was way in front of  quite a lot so that was reassuring – I continually reminded myself it was 2.4 mile / 3.8km swim and there was no need to panic or burn myself out at this stage – something I was luckily able to tell myself and act on all day long.

There was quite a bit more bustling for space on the turns around the buoys at half way but I was still feeling pretty good with the exception of the wetsuit starting to eat into my neck – but you don’t worry too much about the little things when your chasing a dream.

When the first of two laps of the lake were complete it was great to hear the commentator announce my name on the tannoy and even happier to see the clock at 36mins for 1.2 miles. The second lap felt even comfier than the first opting to handrail the main stream of swimmers and again apart from the buoy turns was in clear water. I ended up with a little slower time in 42 minutes – cramp in the hamstring and calf vaguely threatened a couple of times but a few stretches while floating on my back, slowing the pace and adapting my stroke helped keep it at bay.

I was ahead of my race plan so when I got into transition 1 I got my bag of the numbered hook and found a chair to settle myself on, I necked a hydration drink whilst removing my wetsuit with the help of the amazing volunteers who couldn’t do enough for everyone all day long.  I put my bike gear on fairly smoothly with the exception of forgetting to put a sock on my right foot  - only noticed when I had put my cycle shoes on and was starting to head out the change tent!?! – that’s adrenaline for you!

I found it surprisingly easy to find my bike in the mass of racks and headed out to the cheering crowds that had massed at the bike mount line. My dad was waiting in a perfect position for a quick snap as I was able to smile and let him now I was ahead of schedule and feeling good. I mounted the bike without falling off so that was another fear avoided. I started to nibble on my jelly babies straight away reminding myself I had a very, very long day ahead of me.

Within the first mile I counted at least 5 people who had stopped with punctures or mechanical problems – my worst nightmare at any point never mind mile 1 of 112! – this pattern continued for the rest of the cycling stage -  I was very fortunate that I avoided any such problems but I saw many competitors with head in hands, bikes upturned, bikes being carried in admittance of defeat although I also witnessed the mechanical support vehicles whizzing about the course working overtime so I am sure they helped rescue a number of these defeated athletes.  

The bike course started with a 14 mile point to point from the flash towards Rivington – on driving the course the day before I realised there was a fair bit of uphill but the adrenaline is still thick in your blood and it really isn’t that bad at all. By the time your onto Chorley New Road after Lostock you can enjoy the first long rolling road and can get into some sort of comfortable pace and it wasn’t long before we had started the first of 3 x 33 mile ish laps of the cycle course and was greeted by lots of noisy support that is just what you need especially by lap 3 when I was beginning to fade. 

Everybody talks about the ‘hilly part’ of the Ironman UK  loop – you can see it all weekend long and have just spent nearly an hour riding towards it – In my opinion if respected, and you keep to a steady but continual pace, its just another hurdle on the journey to becoming an Ironman – it shouldn’t trip you up physically if you don’t try hammer up it or mentally freak you out if you let your anxieties make you believe its worse than what it is – seriously if you include any form of hills in your training you will not have any problems with this hill – it comes in stages and plateaus to allow brief rest bite – by the top you are puffing and panting and maybe straining a little but you quickly sober yourself round when you see the stack of race photographers zooming their lenses on your top of hill race face! – nobody chasing Ironman status wants to look tired or nearly beaten do they?! :)

After the hills, you are treated to a scenic and technical roll down-hill to Belmont and more amazing crowd support and a fairly quick rolling stretch of road that helps pick your average pace up significantly after the climbing stage. The route on the lower plains of Bolton / Wigan include a number of picturesque villages, quiet country lanes and more great local support that is very humbling when you see the same people stood in the same place all day long cheering every athlete just as enthusiastically every time one passes – this is exactly what my dad did – having been up just as long as me and burning as much nervous energy as I was physical energy was waiting at Coppull moor lane turn all day and only saw me flash past for a matter of seconds, not to return for a further 2 hours – Dad would then update my family who were following me on Ironman live tracker to let them know whether I was smiling or not!

I broke the bike into 4 stages in my head the point to point, lap 1, 2 and the final lap. After the first lap I felt pleased I knew the course and could plan feeding, fuelling and pace around this but it also dawns on you that you have 2 laps(70+ mile) still to push! On  the start of the second climb phase up from Rivington reservoir my most recent training injury stung back to life in my knee, manifesting itself with a painful burning behind the knee cap as it bent and got painfully worse when climbing – this sort of niggle /pain would stop a training session dead out of fear of making it worse and not being able to train but this was ‘ the big day’ and I wasn’t going to stop unless my leg fell off and even then I would have seen how far I could have crawled before giving in. For every right footed pedal for the next 62 miles and every right footed step of the 26.2 run miles I also had a very uncomfortable knee pain to contend with – I diced over taking my ibuprofen but was also worried it may upset my stomach that was just starting to feel a little tired of the energy drinks, bars and gels I was filling it with.

During the second lap, my meticulously structured nutrition plan started to waiver, it wasn’t that I forgot or got tired or lazy but I was struggling to eat the nutritious powerbars and every gulp of energy drink made me gag, fortunately the issued bananas and jelly babies in my jersey pocket did offer me some flow of energy and mentally tweaked my plan to ensure I would keep fuelling reminding myself I wasn’t just trying to survive the rest of the bike stage, I was also fuelling ready for a marathon stage up next! I switched from energy drink to plain water but the chlorination from the water bowsers didn’t offer a more palatable alternative so I prioritised and switched back at the next feed station. Some people I saw had taped their own nutrition – normally gels onto the bike or attached to race belts but many had belts / bikes full of gel in the final miles so can only guess the light, quick option they had also planned may have failed them too – some of the older vets had mini rucksacks which I am sure made some of the aero freaks laugh at the start but these ladies and gents were having picnics on route with the sandwiches and bagels coming out on the steadier parts. I’m sure they were left happier than many of us afterwards.

During part of the 2nd lap I had the pleasure of seeing the elite pro's fly past us - you could hear the whirring of their wheels and their pace was a step above the age groupers carving up the field until they could no longer be seen. The camera crews followed the lead men and women and this only stood to highlight the enormity of the event I was taking part in.

A combination of the niggle and difficulty in consuming what I needed meant I started to fade a little in the second half of the bike – I was still moving past some people but the majority felt like they were slowly starting to pass me – unlike an Olympic distance event I didn’t let this worry me – I knew there was still the run to come and was something I was looking forward too – not just because my arse was starting to kill now – many athletes opted to get straight into tri-suits with minimal if any padding where as I opted for a fairly substantially padded cycle short – the difference in comfort over 112miles must have been massive so I took small comfort in seeing many of these with both arse cheeks perched to one side of the seat as they rode.

The volunteers at the feed stations were brilliant, they shouted what it was they were holding and tried their best to track you as you passed them on the move and if your attempt failed e.g you nearly crashed into them and everything ended up on the floor they would shout to friends further down the line and sure enough by the end of the short feed station runs you were left with full bottles and pockets of energy supplying snacks. As these points were every 15 miles I couldn’t see why some people had fancy hydration systems carrying 4 bottles.

On the final lap there is a sense of progress and knowing you won’t face the same climbs again and everything you encounter is for the last time – one enthusiastic supporter shouted keep going only a few miles to go – and then sarcastically said under his breath…..and then a marathon in a lowered tone – it was a sobering thought but you are definitely on a high when you are into the final minutes on the bike turning right to roll down to Rivington and Blackrod school instead of climbing Sheep House Lane again on the loop. Hundreds of spectators still lined transition 2 waiting for their dearest to come home from the bike stage and I was more than happy to hand my bike over to the volunteer to rack.

 

I walked into transition 2 changing area – my knee still hurt but didn’t give way so I took that as a positive – I saw the clock had just reached 9 hours so I had completed the bike in 7hrs 30mins which I was relatively happy with too and some quick maths later reassured myself I had 8 hours to complete my marathon and I had worked hard until this point to set myself up for this.

I again found an empty changing seat and sat down and took in the transition changing area – some people were still flapping about like it was a sprint distance and were obviously chasing PB’s or had a train to catch – I took on board a hydration drink and removed my bike shoes shorts and jersey and just sat in my speedos feeling pretty pleased with myself. I slowly changed, drying myself with a towel as I went and even decided I would give myself the luxury of 5 minutes on a portaloo before I started the run. This is my refuge at home – the only place where you can find peace, think clearly and just breathe away from any of life's demands – I enjoyed this 5 minutes rest – in total I had 17 minutes in transition and felt great at the start of the marathon and to be on foot as I started the trundle in the sun down towards the streets of Bolton and my awaiting wife and family.

I had my Garmin watch on to ensure my pace was realistic, due to the continued niggle on my knee this was never going to be a problem but I was able to accept the pain knowing I was chasing my dream and slowly catching it up. I was also moving away and past a number of people in front of me – something I also noticed in my last Olympic distance triathlon in the heat at Ripon – I’d spent a lot of time on run training and shouldn’t have been surprised I felt comfortable. My first mile was 9 minutes – comfortable yes but doing the maths in my head I knew that this was going to bring me round the marathon in under 4 hours and was probably not sustainable in my state of hydration, energy levels and niggling pain – and anyway – the winner had already finished before I even started the run so what was the rush – the crowds were massing – the distance to the end was still ticking down and I was going to enjoy the final stage – at this early point the clouds opened and torrential rain continued for the rest of the day and night – I wasn’t at all bothered about this and continued to thank every spectator that shouted my name or offered encouragement – this was the least I could do – I could tell that many were at the end of their own garden but they didn’t have to be there and there energy was needed and very important in my journey to becoming an Ironman.

I found it particularly significant when a young girl similar age to my eldest girl would be shouting or wanting a high five – when you are physically tired you become a lot more mentally sensitive and couldn’t help but smile but also feel a little emotional during these times but still gain pockets of strength from it. After 2 miles I also saw my first work colleague and a further mile later a girl who was at the same high school as me now living on route – later in the day I would see further work colleagues and family and each time I passed them I would ensure I talked to them and offer thanks for their support – this bemused many wondering why I was stopping – taking time out was the least I felt I could do to repay them for their support in the horrible rain and what was seconds in a 17 hour day!

The feed stations on the run offer greater variety of nutritional drinks and snacks – I found the flat cola to be a god send and the strawberry gels just about acceptable after nearly gagging on my initial choice of gel that was far worse than the worst of holiday shots

After 5 miles of relatively pleasant terrain you come off the canal bank and see a hill – a long and steep one – surely the signs are wrong you don’t have hills like this on marathons – I quickly reminded myself this is an Ironman and I crack on. A fast walk / shuffle is all I can muster and the knee pain accentuates during the change of gradient – I can hear bagpipes and see streams of runners passing the top of the hill – I had now got to the loop stage of the run – masses of spectators, support, entertainment and another mile closer to the finish.

 

The loop takes you away from the town centre initially downhill before looping back towards the city uphill at first then a long downhill into the town centre where the streets are packed with even more amazing spectators and was where I saw my wife, dad, father in law, sister and her fella in bark street the only part of the route where you can get be passed anything you require – motorbikes not allowed though -  they were all looking more worried than me and anxious to know how I was doing whilst snapping photos of me probably looking like I was about to die -  Its not long after this you run past the finishes strip and can hear the announcer telling the athletes they are now an IRONMAN – it is a slight kick in the nuts but those that have got there already have earnt there moment and it spurs you on to know that with each step your own time on the red carpet is getting nearer.

The hill out of Bolton Town centre is awful – short ish but sharp and I didn’t see anybody running it – at the top you can see back up the long linear street that offers you a further continued climb but this I always ran – I did this because its not a walk in the park, nobody has ever said becoming an Ironman is easy and for the spectators who urge your every step it is again the least you can do and use it to power your momentum – a shuffle is what I can muster – short but continual slides – after a mile or so I pick up my first armband which signifies I have completed 1 of 3 run loops – its a green one – then a red one and finally on the 3^rd loop you get a yellow one and you can enter the finishers strip in Bolton Town Centre and achieve your dream of completing an Ironman.

At the start of my 3^rd lap my father in law informed me I was way ahead of my target time of under 15hours – I had not done any further maths on the run as the miles clocked up - I just concentrated on moving and what I could stomach at the next aid station to keep this movement going so I was very pleased to see I had only 6 miles to crack and was at a little over 13 hours into my race.

My last 6 mile loop felt better than any others just a little more painful but the memories of the day seem very distant and you are continually reminded by every spectator who notices your 3 bands that you are very  nearly there – some make comments personal and say Gary I have stood here all afternoon watching your loops its been great supporting you - they look you in the eye and smile and they convince you that they are supporting you like my closest family were – it’s a very humbling experience that I truly can’t give enough thanks to the people of Bolton for.

As I approach the town centre of Bolton in my final mile I speed up, my pains disappear, I have an extra spring in my step I smile bigger and thank every spectator louder than on the laps before – I high five every kid who has their hands held out – this is my special moment I have earnt from grafting through 140 swim-bike-run miles, this is what over 3000 training miles have boiled down too, this is what my amazing family, friends and colleagues have donated £2500 to the Make A Wish Foundation for but aside from all this – This was my ultimate training goal, my dream come true and as I approached the red carpet I spotted my Dad first, surrounded by brother, sister in law, sister and fella, Father in law and right at the front my wife who I gave a massive kiss too before making my way down the red carpet in front of hundreds of spectators, high fiving the commentator announcing …..Gary Bradwell You Are an IRONMAN!!

I ran over the line with a big smile on my face in a very pleasing 14hrs 23 minutes. The finishers medal is put over your neck after the volunteers grab both your hands and look you in the eye like a boxing referee and ask if you are ok – a man lies in the gutter surrounded by paramedics next to me and I understand why – it is an unbelievable physical and mental challenge that puts the human body and all of its systems through its paces – and when you finally stop it lets you know – I was fairly lucky and after a 2 person leg massage and vomiting about 3 litres of energy solution in front of my family, a few coppers and a number of spectators I felt ready for a Big Mac meal in view of the finisher straight and fish and chips on the way back to the hotel within the same hour with my Dad – The hot bath I had longed for all day identified every chafe and friction burn on my body but as I climbed into bed I couldn't help but smile as the comfort and complete lack of any activity is such a contrast to the longest day in your life ever it almost feels unreal you have made it.

I would thoroughly recommend an Ironman to anyone who respects the life changing challenge ahead of them. The banner that is displayed from the Bolton Town hall highlights the Ironman ethos – ‘Anything is Possible’ – it is….. but it doesn’t come easily and it won’t come and find you – you have to be willing to sacrifice significant time and energy that only at the very end of an Ironman race, if you are able or lucky enough to complete, achieves you the end goal that has been the fuel for everything that has gone before the big day.

Finally I would like to thank my wife who has played second fiddle to Ironman training, researching and planning for almost a year now and to my family and friends who have supported me throughout my Ironman journey in so many ways.

Thanks finally to Leisure Lakes Bikes (www.leisurelakesbikes.com) who donated me an awesome bike to train and prepare on and also compete with - without such an amazing gesture this dream would not have even been possible. 

If anybody reading this thinks I can offer them any advice in their Ironman adventures then please get in touch at g.bradwell@bradfordcollege.ac.uk

Ironman UK Taper - Final 2 training weeks!
 

The Taper was a part of my training I was looking forward too in that it now meant I was very near to the big day and on paper I should start my gentle winding down of training in preparation for the main event that I had grafted my arse off for the last 9 months or so.

I looked at a few Ironman taper plans online and used a bit of my own initiative and preferences to come up with a rough plan.  I had ridden 62 miles the day before the start of the taper and it began with a photo shoot with the local paper on the canal bank side. The added motivation that a bit of local interest would bring gave me an extra spring in my step and I smashed out 10km in a fairly rapid 41 minutes with a consistent mile pace around 6mins 30secs. The route was flat along the canal although I took a gob full of flys every few hundred metres or so which kept knocking me off my stride but was nice to not have a hill on my route for the first time ever!

Tuesday was to be my last ride on my road bike before the big day and used the opportunity to seek some excellent support and advice from a work colleague / bike expert. We changed both of my tires, both my inner tubes, replaced the break pads and amended the set up slightly to try and reduce some back pain I had experienced on many of my rides. With the new changes made we headed out on a 60km ride into the hills above Ilkley – now this was my first ride with my mate who is a lot smaller than me and a quick, experienced cyclist but having watched me train over the last 9 months he was probably expecting a run for his money – despite having cycled 60 odd miles a few days before my legs felt like lead straight away on the bike and he disappeared off into the distance. The first half hour was uphill and I really did not feel strong or like I had even been on a bike before – I was racking my brain as to what it could be and after half hour of struggling I called my mate back to check my bike over – this is when he noticed that one of the back break pads was locked onto my wheel!!! – Despite my legs feeling like they had just squatted a landrover I was relieved that I could put a finger on the difficulty I was experiencing – after this I felt myself again and enjoyed the ride past the Cow and Calf rocks above Ilkley along to Bolton Abbey returning the loop through the market town of Skipton and back along to Bingley and the rising canal locks. In total we racked up 55km averaged 15.5mph and took in nearly 3000ft of ascent on route. I was also treated to a good bike cleaning after the ride and the bike was all set up and gleaming ready for the big one.

Wednesday was my last LONG swim and for the 2^nd time in as many weeks I completed the full ironman swim distance in the pool managing 152 x 25metres lengths totalling 3.8km /2.4 miles. The swim was completed in a pleasing 1hr 40 mins but included a fair bit of wall time in the busy lanes so hope to go quicker on the big day.

On Thursday I got the heart rate monitor back out for a run and headed out into the hot afternoon  sun with the intention of trying to keep a pace that would keep my heart rate of below 150b.p.m which is about 75% of my maximum recorded – this being the top of the intensity ladder for sustainable distance running after the swim / bike leg of Ironman. I found it frustratingly easy and was still running 7mins 50secs miles comfortably at 150b.p.m – I wont get carried away with the fact it wont be this easy on the day having swam 2.4 miles and cycled 112 miles but I did reassure myself that pacing myself accordingly could still bring me round in a respectable time with less risk of burning myself out completely. I also got the chance during this run to wear my tri suit which my missus only just let me go out of the house in due to it being exceptionally skimpy but it is what ironmen will wear and what I will have on during the run leg of Ironman so I will look the bollocks on my finisher photos I am sure haha (fingers crossed)

Friday I got onto the spinning bike for a steady 50 min ride but still included 5 x 1 minute high gear intervals and 5 x 1 minute high cadence (above 100rpm) intervals with a 10 minute brick run at the end of it. I also benefitted from some time on the foam roller ironing out my tight and bumpy muscles! My press release featured in the local paper today and was given a fairly generous sized picture and article and was nice to see my efforts in black and white – nearly 3000 training miles logged and over 2 grand raised for the Make A Wish Foundation!

Saturday was another hot day and was to be my last long run session – I planned on 10 miles but whittled it down to 8 reminding myself that Ironman was only 7 days away now! I went out with the heart rate monitor on again and managed to keep to consistent 8 minute miles for 8 consecutive miles which felt easier to do this time although still having to put the reins on myself occasionally to slow the pace down to my fastest allowed marathon race pace.

 Monday marked the start of my taper proper having felt that my first apparently lighter taper week was still fairly busy. I started with a swim and stopped at 76 lengths which is half ironman distance (1.2miles) and although not particularly quick I concentrated on long efficient strokes and being comfortable in my swimming .

Tuesday I got back on the spinning bike and kept the intensity down and spun out 45 minutes with 5 x 1 minute higher cadence  and gear efforts and finished with a short 5 minute brick run. Back on the foam roller and mulled over the need to go get a sports massage as parts of my quads and calves feel very knotted and in need of a good kneeding!!

Tomorrow I will put in another paced run of about 5 miles keeping at a steady intensity and Thursday (my final training day) I aim to have a 30minute spin on the bike and swim about 1 mile in the pool.

Friday I register for Ironman UK 2013 and pick up my race number, arm and leg tattoos, transition bags and attend the first of 2 x 45 minute race briefings at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton. I will then head home for the final time, pack my transition bags and head back to Bolton to rack my bike, drop off my transition bags at the different locations and get my head on for the big day itself.

The week has also got me prepping my kit, packing my tablet packs in case of any dramas on the bike / run containing Imodium, salt tablets, ibuprofen. Buying in pre-race nutrition for my weekend in the Bolton Hotel, reviewing the routes on google earth and trying to establish in my own mind where the hill sections are and where I maybe able to up the pace. I have reviewed my nutrition plan, picked my newest and comfiest anti blister and ankle socks, packed my bike under seat pouch for general bike emergencies (spare tube, quick repair patches, tire leavers, powerlink in case of snaped chain, Co2 cartridges and Co2 pump and bike multi-tool) and generally done as much pre race prep as possible.

My next blog will be my last – I will review the Ironman UK weekend build up and give my personal account on the Swim, Bike and Run stages of the 140.6mile event.

Feel free to wish me luck, everybody’s help and support so far has been a massive boost during my demanding training regime and in my recent mental preparation for Ironman UK and want to thank you all for such humbling interest in my Ironman journey. 

 

2 weeks until Ironman UK 2013 (scroll down for more weekly blogs)

After finding my first Triathlon in the scorching heat very hard going I knew I needed to have a good last full on training week before my tapering off for Ironman UK

I started another boiling hot Monday morning with a 40 minute high cadence spin with regular 60 second efforts. I wanted to focus more on a triathlon session so after the 20km on the bike I went straight into a brick run totalling 3.5 miles at a steady pace to try improve the conditioning of my legs when making the transition from the bike to the run leg….something I found frustratingly difficult on Saturdays Triathlon…..I finished 300 out of about 700 athletes who actually finished but despite finding the run tough my run time was 250^th quickest which although way off the elite field I did produce a good run in the conditions and after the swim / bike legs in comparison to those around me.

Tuesday started a little apprehensively as with all recent long run days it has been the trigger for consecutive injuries / niggles that have annoyingly disrupted the last few training weeks. The day was warm and muscles felt loose, I stopped after a mile for a gentle stretch to try and reduce any further problems and I was very happy to get to the top of Thornton Road at the half way point of my half marathon run with no problems…the second half of the run was downhill and whilst bounding down off 3 consecutive kerbs as I crossed a number of side roads I felt a sudden warm burning pain behind my knee cap….It wasn’t muscle pain or tightness but it was definitely hurting and not going away.....It felt like the sensation you get when a wasp stings you….and was hoping when I looked I would see a bite….but I didn’t….every stride I got a nip and a strong burning sensation and soon knew it wasn’t going to go away….I found I could still run just dealing with the pain every other stride….I got from 10 to 12 miles shaking my head in disbelief at yet another, different niggle and when I started to run uphill towards the college I got a painful twinge and knew it was time to stop and walk.

So with another pain I consulted my knowledgeable physio  friends and iced the knee regularly throughout the day alongside some ibuprofen and it eased but still wasn’t great when fully bent. I managed a swim which didn’t aggravate it at all and cracked 80 lengths before I gave my body a rest and it was time to ice again.

Wednesday I was unsure what to expect…I’d planned on a good spin session on the bike to take any pressure off my knee but after a minute on the bike the same pain returned to my knee and I feared that this injury was not going away quickly….I stopped and accepted I wasn’t going to be able to train today and was left wondering when I was going to be able to train again. ….more icing and anti inflammatorys for the rest of the day and night and I planned to start again on the bike the next day.

 Thursday came and I gingerly got on the bike and set it to a fairly light resistance and began to spin…no pain at all after a minute, 2 minute, 3 minutes until I was sure I had somehow recovered from another worrying niggle…I put the resistance up and got a little nag on the knee so quickly switched back and cruised for 65 minutes on level 15 and racked up 30km on the bike and was absolutely soaked in sweat and had 2 puddles underneath me either side of the bike at the end!

Wanting to make up for the forced rest day on Wednesday I went to the pool again and was chuffed to swim 152 x 25m lengths which is equivalent to the Ironman swim distance of 3.8km / 2.4 miles. I suffered no cramps and completed in 1hrs 35 minutes of steady but continual swimming.

Friday I wanted to test the knee with my higher tempo run – I took the first mile steady and again was relieved that the pain did not show itself. I didn’t run as quick as usual but got in 1200ft of ascent in on the hilly and twisty park pathways and finished with two long hill efforts before feeling a little niggle in the knee and immediately returned to work having completed a pleasing 7 miles in the very warm morning sun – it was likely to be my last park run in Bradford before the big day and smiled as I recalled the many different crazy beings, animals and harsh weather conditions I had experienced in the last 9 months training – the final entertainment was fitting in that a big black crow was again seen trying to take off with a shiny beer can in its beak!

Sundays endurance ride was to be the last long one in my local area before I start my tapering off in the final two weeks. I finished with a 62 mile ride, averaging 14.7 m.ph (38mph fastest speed) but considering I took in 5,300ft of ascent it was a pleasing pace but it wasn’t without incident, First thing I woke upto rain! –cant remember the last time I saw any of this but it would make the roads slippy. I headed over Saddleworth moor and dropped into Oldham before heading back through Marsden to Slaithwaite and up the very steep hill to complete a 27 mile loop. Half way up this cheeky hill I turned a sharp bend and my back wheel slid from under me and left me sprawled out on the road….the good citizen driver who watched me cream in……just drove straight past me while I was laid out with bike and water bottles splayed across the road…what was the damage…to me a few bruises and scratches…to my bike….a torn seat,  more scratches to the pedals and a missing handlebar cap….but the worst vicim was the newly bought present from the wife…the iphone …..shattered on impact despite being on the opposite side of my body to the fall! A few moments of reflection later and once the sicky feeling of shock had moved on I was back on with the ride…at the top of the hill I nearly flew off the road again as a farmers landrover came past me with the token little yapping terrier hanging out the window and barked within cm’s of my ear at head height!!.  25 miles later coming up the same hill my chain came off and left me spinning in mid air but this time auto pilot kicked in and I quickly snapped my feet out of the clips before I was chewing the floor again!

With 2 weeks now until the big day I will start tapering off for Ironman UK tomorrow….I will train all week again but bring down some of the training volume while increasing the intensity of the sessions – in a nutshell shorter but sharper but just as frequently. I will also be meeting a photographer from the courier during my morning run as they want to put an article in next Fridays courier....will have to get my hasslehoff running style weighed off for that one :-)

3 weeks until Ironman UK 2013

After Sundays cheeky 43 mile ride Monday I was keen to test the progress on my nagging tight calf and was pleased to get through a steady 3 mile run with no pain from the calf – The week should have marked the start of a tapering off in line for my first triathlon on the Saturday and although the volume was reduced slightly because of this I couldn’t lose sight of my main goal in the Ironman which was now only 3 weeks away so each day I put in an intense effort to ensure I stayed on the boil for both.

On Tuesday I halved my usual distance and ran a quick 6.2 mile / 10km park run with the calf still feeling ok I was able to average out 7mins 25secs miles consecutively and fairly comfortably completing the 10km in 44 mins 30 secs on the hilly and twisty course that added to the intensity.

On Wednesday I kept a good distance on the spin session but lowered the resistance (level 15-16) for the majority allowing me to carry out 60-120 second high cadence intervals throughout with just 1 high gear hill simulation on level 19 towards the end. I kept with the usual short run off the bike to shake the legs out and added another mile to my training total, which is now over 2700miles. In the afternoon I headed for some more open water swim practice and notched 1800m in Gaddings Dam with my work / triathlete buddy Nigel after the laborious climb to the top of the hill that it sits on, but the graft is definitely worth every step, the dam is just perfect.

Thursday I couldn’t resist one more session before the rest and carbing up for Ripon triathlon. I did a quick 10km spinning session in in 20 mins on level 14 continuous high cadence keeping over 100rpm and finished with a slightly longer run off the bike totalling 2.5miles. With all training for the week now done I did my best in the hot sticky heat to eat and drink as much as I could for Saturday’s first test.

Saturday – Was the hottest day of the year  AND also my first triathlon – It was an Olympic distance which equated to 1.5km lake swim, 40km bike route and finishing with a 10km run. The event did not start until 1400 so the sun was already at full strength by the time it kicked off. With lots of tweaking and changing of kit in the busy transition area and help from my dad running to and fro from my car for missing kit in the morning, I was already sweating like mad in the baking sun and knew then it was going to be a tough afternoon. The event took place at Ripon Racecourse and attracted over 800 triathletes, many from triathlon clubs, all looking the part. Due to the lake temperature creeping into the early 20’s the wetsuits were removed and I was one of few triathletes to be left in just speedos!

The lake swim started without too many fights and was quickly into rhythm alternating between some breastroke and crawl to find pockets of free water where I could get my head down and get back into front crawl. The water  was ‘soupy’ – green and murky and quite a bit of light weed wrapping around the face,legs and hands but nothing to cause too much distress.

I’d made a good start amongst those in my wave and it wasn’t too long before I had caught some swimmers from the apparently faster wave who had set off 5 minutes before, at this point it became a little more congested but I was feeling very comfortable in my stroke and the swim finish became clearer with every stroke. I was helped out the water and ran up the steep ramp cheered on by the massing spectators and despite my legs feeling very heavy and tired I was pleased with the swim time of 32 mins and was into my first transition – I had meticulously laid everything out but as with the adrenaline and rush of changeover the pile soon became a clump of mess with my salt tablets and energy chews flinging onto the floor out of the pocket of my cycle top as I tried to drag it on over my wet skin. Quick energy gel, socks, shoes on, clips tightened,cycle shorts on over the speedos and glasses helmet on and I was ready to go….jogged out of transition with bike in hand and mounted into my clips without any calamity performance or dropped bottles like a number around me did.

Straight onto the road and I was overtaking people within the first minute and feeling good – I started doing the maths in my head as I noted my pace on my garmin watch and was buoyed by the fact I was into a comfy yet fast pace which if sustained would bring me round in a swift time. I tried to remain thoughtful of not blowing myself out on this part of the triathlon but did get excited by putting the hammer down and overtaking people from previous waves, I had a few cyclists around me who took it in turns in taking over each other for most of the race, the course was fast but rolling and against a cheeky wind on the dual carriageways at the side of the A1(M). I averaged 19.23 m.p.h for 25 miles, which was very quick for me, and got me round in an impressive  1hr 18 mins.

 I dismounted safely and was again met by the cheering crowds who roared us into the final transition. I racked the bike, ripped my helmet glasses cycling shorts and shoes off and replaced them with my elastically laced run trainers and some shorts to cover my speedos up – we then headed out onto the country lanes, canal banks that were all sun beaten and immediately after two very comfortable legs, I felt tired and almost on empty  with painful stitch for the first 20 mins of the run BUT I was seeming to do better than those around me as I was slowly taking over the field and I honestly don’t think anyone came past me until about 7or8km when I really started to tire and at no point did I give in to walking even though it was probably needed it was a mental thing for me.

Locals volunteered their sprinklers for the runners and provided much needed encouragement – KM markers did not do any favours for me and only acted as thorns in my feet when I hoped I had run further. The sound of the racecourse tannoy eventually got louder and I sensed an end to this very difficult leg. It was brilliant to see my wife, girls, dad and parents in law who had waited patiently on the finishers strip for over an hour for me to come in – I high fived the excitable youngsters on the finishes run including the father in law – I  had successfully completed my first Olympic distance triathlon in 2hrs 47mins, some 13 minutes under 3hrs that I would have been really happy with at the start and on the hottest day of the year in many parts of the uk – even happier - after 20 minutes collapsed in the shade amidst compliments from the family and also a refreshingly  cold shower I was just about back to part of my normal self.

I was reassured to hear that even the seasoned triathletes and comments on local tri club blogs suggested everybody had struggled on the run in the heat so I  didn’t take it as personally then but if the weather was to be the same on Ironman UK day in 3 weeks time I will definitely have to be smarter with pace and also review fluid intake as despite doing what I thought was enough on days like today it simply wasn’t.

Next weeks training will be my last full on blast before my final two week taper for competition – on Saturday I said I would give myself a ‘Hell Week’ if my body holds up to it that is what I will do – two sets of training kit packed each day along with my speedos I will be trying to simulate training in tired conditions that I learnt on Saturday I am going to have to get used too very quickly!

4 weeks until Ironman  UK 2013

This week I moved house, got another training injury and sweated my nuts off in this uncomfortably hot weather. My Ironman is just 4 weeks away and my first triathlon is 6 days away (Ripon Olympic Distance -32miles / 51km ish) My mind set of late is pretty different to that of the last 9 months – training is becoming more of a chore especially the weekend rides which clashes with time I would rather spend with my two little girls and wife right now – I am glad that Ironman is near as I have just enough focus and motivation left to get me to this end point but I am having to accept that physically and mentally the ironman journey I have relentlessly been on  is reaching the end of the plateau and am looking forward to the day itself and hoping that I can achieve my dream of completing Ironman UK and then putting this very demanding chapter of my life to bed….so I can relax, sleep in, have more daddy time, be a better husband, get pissed with my mates, go walking with my dad or go watch Sheffield Wednesday again, see more of my family, put some weight on so my clothes fit me, and generally not have the whole of my life revolve around Ironman UK – yes I put myself here and wouldn’t change that for the world - believe me or not – but only the people who take on such enormous challenges will be aware of the sacrifice, devotion, discipline and energy you need for such a fete.

Monday – The start of the training week involved moving house – a rest day on paper but not anywhere near in reality – good prep for being on my feet for over 17hrs on Ironman UK despite the help of my dad and father in law who also felt the strain of a long day’s work.

Tuesday – Off the back of 4hrs sleep and very poor fluid and nutrition prep I was wary of getting my training back on point and jumped back in at the deep end with another half mary (half marathon /13.1 mile) before work! After 3 miles my right calf tightened n only seemed to tighten more as I stretched and as I stupidly carried on  moving further away from my starting point at 6.5 miles I was in pain- no money, no phone, 6.5 miles away from work and unless I got a shift on – I was going to be late for work – So I plodded in with the calf tightening all way, then starting to twinge and was forced to walk by the 12.5 mile point  walking until the end and this caused a deal of pain and worry for the rest of the training week-  another niggle in different muscle – 20 minutes on the foam roller made some difference but it soon tightened again

Wednesday I had only gained a further 4 hour sleep working late into the night trying to get the new house straight – my calf was still painfully tight and chose to wake myself up and try loosen the muscles with a swim that totalled 80 lengths in the time I had free before work – I went at a comfortable pace although it turned out to be pretty slow time wise

Thursday the calf was still not perfect so chose not to put too much pressure on it so got a 50 minute spinning session in on a steady level 15 offering enough resistance without too much strain –I racked up nearly 16 miles with regular 30 to 60 second high cadence intervals throughout the whole session with similar break between intervals.

Friday I accompanied some of our students to Blackpool Pleasure Beach as an end of term treat and also marked the start of the very hot sticky but nice sunny weather. Sensing the opportunity to train on a new, flat and more exciting environment I took my training kit in the hope I would get chance to try my calf out – Late in the warm afternoon I got the nod from the other staff to slip away for an hour and paid into a seafront hotel with health facilities including a gym, pool and Jacuzzi and used this as my starting point for a 6.2mile / 10km run up the busy sea front – the footpaths were flat, well tarmacked and a pleasure to run on.

I started out well, no pain in the calf and notched my first 2 miles at 6mins 30 pace dodging dogs, loose kids and doodling tourists. At about 2.5 miles my calf started to tighten again and this changed my gate to a fast run/limp and despite stretching it wasn’t giving in. My pace slowed by 30 seconds a mile but more distressingly the niggle was still showing itself. I still finished my 10km in a fairly respectable 43 minutes and jumped straight into the warm Jacuzzi for a stretch and self-massage which I hoped would help relax the muscle – it did a bit but my problem was not solved – using the rolling pin and deeper rubbing before bed seemed to have a greater effect.

Sunday was endurance ride day and starting from my new house I had new routes to explore – as I have now dropped 500ft in altitude at the new address I was always going to start with a climb and went from 300ft to 1500ft and the road leading to the highest section of motorway in England.

I went through loads of pretty villages, close enough to the border of the peak district to see some amazing scenery and just as pleasingly cars with Sheffield Wednesday stickers in the back of them. I had planned the route on my phone the night before not knowing what each turn would reveal and when I saw signs saying Impassable during snow and not suitable for heavy goods vehicles I got a clue and would soon find out the reason why

The route was a cheeky one taking in 3800ft of ascent (including some of the steepest hills I have climbed so far) and totalling 42.5 mile which on the warmest day of the year was pretty good. I made sure I coated myself in sun cream as I rode through the hottest part of the day and finished the ride looking like a lorry windscreen coated in flys and bugs that ploughed into me on route.

Next week I will have my first triathlon to report on and internet resumed back in my new house and hope to start getting some more focus in on my final preparation for Ironman UK itself. Happy training J

34 days until Ironman UK 2013

With 34 days to go until Ironman UK (140.6 miels) and 13 days until my Olympic distance warm up triathlon in Ripon (51.5km) its fair to say I am at the pointy end of my training. By the end of this training week I had smashed out nearly 2600 dedicated training miles and keeping with equivalent distances this equates to the distance between London and Baghdad in northern Iraq!! – The month of June also included the most cycled and run miles since my training began.

I feel like I am in a slightly uncertain stage of my training both mentally and physically – I know I have done as much as a busy working, married man with two young children can do but I am also very aware that I should have done more – after all I am training for a FULL Ironman – I feel my training would be perfectly suited  for a half Ironman (70.3 miles)in all honesty but I know that I could complete that…. So…. I wanted a bigger, harder and more uncertain challenge that bordered on the upper limits of not just my own endurance but also the limits of human endurance….it’s also not a certainty, even in my trained state and mindset that I will definitely complete Ironman….but I will! ;-)

I am buoyed by the support of people around me who are amazed at my demanding training schedule and not disrespecting the time and energy I have put into my training - I remind myself that this reassurance is often being said in comparison to a normal training regime  – it is far far more than that – training has worn me down a little of late – maybe it’s the culmination of the months back to back progressively longer training sessions – I still don’t think I’m over training or certainly wont admit it….. but the stresses it has put on my body has started to manifest itself physically with a couple of niggles which have not been evident for 8 months and mentally in feeling low and for no reason regularly irritable. I guess it’s a natural reaction just like when you are ill to feel crap after all my immune system is lowered every time I hammer a long session!....I know my regime is less than normal and if the body could naturally soak this sort of routine up then we would all be ironman fit and competitions like this would not exist.

The word Tedium is something I keep using when people ask how I am feeling at the moment….Ironman training on the surface is very simple –swim – run – bike – there is many ways to make this fancy but it boils down to the same activity day in day out and when you have to put in many many miles of these 3 activities day in day out to get anyway near the fitness levels required in not one, but 3 disciplines…. monotony does start to take its toll….. especially after 9 months…If you have read this blog regularly don’t worry where all this deepness and negativity has come from….I’m just sharing my thoughts for those who maybe going through the same thoughts as me….I am still extremely motivated and focused on my ultimate goal / dream and completing Ironman Uk 2013 and if I wasn’t I wouldn’t able to get out of bed at 0530am, 6 days a week and carry out my training routine never mind get through the 140.6 miles on the Ironman day itself!

Monday I did an upper body resistance session and a good stretch in the morning and then after the kids were in bed I headed out into some perfect evening weather with the intention of hitting as many steep hills as possible until it was dark and I had to head home….2hrs 15mins and 32 miles later I had averaged 14.3mph and climbed 2400ft – a good intense ride and the best I could muster in the time I had. Nutritionally I kept with the plan I posted in last weeks blog and felt fine with that too. 

Tuesday was endurance run day but instead of the 16+miles like the previous week that may have contributed to a bit of a hamstring strain, I opted for a very moderate 10.5 mile run which was very comfortably achieved in 1hr 24mins averaging 8 min miles on the gradual 600ft of continued ascent up Thornton road. My hydro energy gels were taken on the run and continue to provide a welcomed blast of energy with no tummy issues.

Wednesday was swim day but as seems to have often been the case, I am working man with Ironman training fitting in around work where possible so asmy meetings extend and students demand more of your support the swim fell victim and I was again left annoyed and frustrated by this. My nephews 13^th Birthday party gave me chance to eat until I couldn’t fit any more chicken and cake and ice cream in me. Despite only leaving a few hours to try and digest it I wanted to get some training in and went out in to the darkening skys and trundled out a 5 mile run late on Wednesday night even though I felt absolutely toppers with food the whole way round and developed a small niggle on my Achilles while doing it.

Thursday morning my achilles was tight but not worryingly so and a 13.5 mile spin session on level 16 to level 20 mixing up 30 to 90 second increased cadence efforts with varying levels throughout, seemed to have had no worsening affect and a good stretch and self-massage after left me feeling fairly confident it wasn’t going to be another concern in consecutive weeks.

Friday I drove past the park that was taped off by the police the week before and this on top of last weeks training injury postponed the session so was looking forward to this weeks higher intensity / tempo run. The park has consistently provided me with entertaining moments and this week witnessing a guy coming out of the bushes pulling his pants up from his ankles was this weeks…one can only guess he was caught short after a hot curry the night before…but as this park seems to have its own rules and life forms like no other nothing surprises me and he didn’t look the least bit bothered stumbling across me!  I averaged a good consistent pace on the hilly twisty course but the downhill sections seem to give my achilles a bit of pain and increased stiffness so decided I would leave the hill sprints off but still managed 6.3 miles.

The afternoon gave me chance to get in a 100 lengths / 2.5km / 1.56 mile swim in a quiet uni pool and swam with the intention of keeping off the walls on the 100 or so turns I went through. Cramp struck at 100 lengths but I had not nutritionally prepped as well as I could and had also ran in the morning so wasn’t too concerned. My times were better than average but have not made as significant improvements with my swimming as I had hoped but I then again I have not given it as much dedication as I have my running. I need to hit the open water more in the final month as technique feels very different especially in a wetsuit and offers a far more exciting training environment than a 25 meter pool!

Saturday was normally a rest day but as I was moving house the next day I sneaked a long ride in and despite the head wind for the first 20 miles I was treated to some nice fine weather. At the 20 mile point I turned onto one of my favourite roads from Colne towards Haworth and spotted a cyclist ahead of me, from a distance he looked the part in his jazzy cycle gear and as I slowly caught the guy I was feeling pretty proud of myself and when I realised I could overtake the guy I took my chance, as I passed him and said my customary ‘alright lad’ I clocked he was in his mid to late 60’s and looked like something off the last of the summer wine, so feeling less pleased with myself I laughed and thought well I wont be seeing you again today and belted off up the hill and when on the next steep climb I was having a painful moment of reflection I opened my eyes to the old boy at the side of me smiling like Houdini… I shouted ‘Go On lad’ and pretended not to be embarrassed then out of politeness he slowed and started talking to me and telling me he rides nearly every day of the week and set off to Morecambe at midnight last weekend and cracked 140 miles and was back in time for his breakfast….maybe not so much of an embarrassment…don’t judge a book by a cover and all that eh…anyway the gent showed me some great new routes and was politely pacing himself so he could ride with me despite starting to feel a little strained at his pace. 

Whilst riding part of the Tour de France route over the moors towards Hebden we was riding side by side and occasionally single file as some cars impatiently beeped and whizzed past us but at the 40 mile point I was lucky not to be killed as my new mate cut in front of me as a stream of traffic approached us from behind and I swerved his back wheel and lost control of the bike and trying to fall with my feet clipped in to the side of the road my bike was going the other way and spat me across the road landing on my knee and elbow in the middle of the road…luckily the powerful BMW estate  was able to quickly stop along with the two cars behind him and they plucked me from my clumped state on the road….I felt sick with shock but incredibly lucky and once I had put a brave face on my pain and the cars that had stopped had gone I had to reflect for 5 minutes on the close call I had just had as well as feeling terrible….my new matey who’s wheel had nearly caused my premature death….was completely oblivious and eventually turned round and came back to see me asking if I was stopping for some dinner! Following this mini drama I went on my way…without matey and clocked 53 miles averaging 15mph and climbing 3500ft. It was nice to get back to the wife , my girls and tea at the in laws after this one!

40 days until Ironman UK 2013 

Monday –  Despite the previous days hilly and challenging 51 mile ride I wasn't convinced it was enough and did a further spin session on the bike first thing on a mid-level gear throughout that still offered a fair resistance and I alternated between 5 minutes of sustained spin with 3 x 1minute high cadence sprints over 5 minutes and repeated both these intervals 4 times.

Tuesday – I continued the progression of the endurance run on my newly favoured linear route out of the city and back but with a few extra loops and extensions thrown in I clocked my longest run distance so far totalling just over 16 miles in 2hrs 12 mins. Despite feeling pretty strong over the run and managing to keep a much steadier pace in mind throughout my main concern revolves around what I wear short wise as yet again I was left with some very painful, red raw chaffing on my thighs. I appear to have found the perfect combination for my feet having not suffered a blister or any hot spots in months despite running up to 30 miles a week but when using tight cycling short styles I get chaffing on the seams on my arse and in shorts it’s the top of my thighs that suffer. Really need to sort this issue soon or Ironman UK will be an even more painful day than it will be anyway!

Wednesday I knew I needed to rest the legs despite them feeling totally fine but following a work colleague backing out of a charity walk I was the obvious replacement and ended having to walk 6.5 miles and 2500ft of ascent up Ingleborough one of the peaks  on the 3 Yorkshire Dale peaks – not the best way for the legs to repair themselves, instead of my usual recovery swim and this walk on top of the 16 mile run the day before was the trigger I think for a strain / painful tightness in one of my hamstrings that very frustratingly gave me my first training injury on my journey towards Ironman UK

Thursday morning I woke up with tightness in the hamstring but didn’t think too much of it and went into my planned spinning session expecting it to loosen and cause me no more problems..... 50 minutes of high gear endurance spinning later progressing up a level every 5 minutes starting at 16 and moving all the way up to the top resistance level 25 including some standing efforts to get some movement in the very stiff pedals didn’t have the effect I desired and the hamstring soon tightened even more – another bad move –so I hobbled angrily back to my desk still hoping it was not going to be anything major to set me back having  had no problems at all in the last 8 months -  I was pissed off and everybody around me knew it!

Friday I was due to do my high intensity run and I got up at 0530 am as per usual routine and got rigged for the run but still not having much improvement in my hamstring I knew it may not be the best idea to push it – I drove to work debating my planned session and when I drove past the park I used for this run and it was all taped off by the Police it was a welcome message from above that I should leave the running alone today – Instead I went to see a colleague who is a sports physio and asked for his opinion – a few pokes, squeezes and prescribed stretches later we came to the conclusion that the eccentric contraction of coming off the steep peaks on already fatigued legs was likely to be the cause and that should frustratingly let it rest and ensure I focused on some specific hamstring stretches across all 3 strands not just the main one –something else that appears to have contributed to the tightness of the muscle. Despite not being able to run I knew it was for the best and after a stretch and foam roller session on the muscle it felt a little easier........ but soon tightened up again :-(

I had not swam all week so when I finished work I spied an opportunity to get a swim in half hoping it would also have some benefit or at least no further effect on my tight hamstring. As the sun was shining nicely outside I was pleased to find the uni pool almost empty and squeezed in 76 lengths / 1.2 miles, included a few stretches along the way and had no ill-effects from the swim so was pleased I still managed some training but still conscious of the fact I was injured, had trained less than I wanted too all week and generally wasn’t happy with this.

I rested and stretched my tight hamstring all day Saturday and was still getting tightness when walking but it was slowly recovering which gave me hope. I filled my road bike tyres and loaded my bottles onto my bike late Saturday night with the possible intention of testing out the hamstring and hopefully getting back into my training and rescuing something from a disappointing end to the week. On sunday I awoke at 0545 to both my girls completely awake and full of energy, this along with strong winds and rain outside made me quickly wondered whether this was another sign  from above to give it another day… the wife convinced me to 'sack it off' and reminded me I had 2 wardrobes to take down in record time!?!.......I bargained with the fact that riding for up to 4 hours in the wind and rain wouldn’t help my tight hamstring even if it did hold out but desperately wanted to get out and see if I was able to train with no pain and further tightness. I decided I would head out into the driving rain  on a run and despite getting soaked and blown all over it wasn’t cold and I had NO pain, twinges or concern in my hamstring and not wanting to push my luck settled for a 5 mile run and finished with a good stretch....happy again! :-)

In a week where I comfortably recorded my longest run so far (16 miles) the intended training was decimated by my hamstring strain…I am going to be grateful for the fact it wasn’t a more serious injury but definitely a warning shot and something I am going to learn from in the focus / technique of my stretches and also that 16mile runs without appropriate rest could be detrimental  to my progress with just 40 days left before Ironman and 20 days out from my warm up Olympic distance triathlon event in Ripon...its too late in the day for risks and gambles.

For those interested reading my blog this is MY current Ironman UK nutrition plan which I have based on internet research from various websites and trying to come to a generalised consensus which seems to be about 90grams of carbs per hour (more if slightly larger for me about 115g!? - apparently) and between 800-4000mg of sodium depending on how much you sweat as an individual (for me a lot) and temperatures on the day (probably warm!)

Breakfast – 0300am Jam on white toast about  - 500ml Lucozade sport  – Banana in some porridge

Pre-race - Sports drink to sip before swim during bike set up – maybe an energy gel or energize powerbar half hour prior to swim depending how my tummy feels.

Swim – Maybe a Hydro energy Gel (26g of carbs / 310mg of sodium) up sleeve for half way point when exiting the water before returning into it for the final lap??

Swim to Bike Transition –If swallowed a lot of water – FLAT coke in bottle to kill off any nasties  – 2 x Thermotab salt tablets then probably an energize powerbar ) (40g carbs / 200mg sodium) or a ripe banana (50g carbs)

Bike (per hour) -  2 x 500ml+ iso-active drink (given at feed stations in slightly larger bottles) (2x 30g+ carbs / 2 x 410mg+ sodium) + 1 x full powerbar energize (given in halves at feed station) (40g carbs / 200mg sodium) 3 x shot blocks chews (not issued) (24g carbs / 70mg sodium) 1 to 2 Thermotabs salt tablets (1-2x 180mg sodium)

Extra Bike options:- + half banana (issued at feed stations) (half = 26g carbs)

Bike to Run Transition – Hydration drink already made up in bottle / maybe sports energy drink to sip on while changing

Run (per hour)- 3xpowerbar gel with caffeine (1 every 20 mins/2 mile feed station) (3x26grams carbs / 3 x 310mg sodium) / Isoactive drink cup every 2miles /15mins (30g carbs / 420mg sodium if consume 1 bottle amount over the hour) + Thermotab salt tablets (not issued) (2 an hour at feed station with water.)

Extra Run options:- + flat coke later in run + salt snacks if feel okay later in run (available at feed stations)

Tablet Pack in pocket during bike and run containing –Pepto Bismol tablets, Immodium plus, Thermotab salt tables, ibuprofen, plasters, Vaseline and  maybe some Vit B6 for energy processing.

Sure it will change slightly and although it appears complicated it really is not and doesn’t involve me having to carry a picnic in my pockets all day as most is available on route. Most web sites don’t stick there neck out and give any specifics  on race nutrition and even the interviewed professionals seem to sit on the fence so hope it helps people with some ideas or just relaxes your minds.

I’m hoping the next training week is niggle free and is a big one I finish the week happy with. Happy training everyone J

7 weeks to push!

Before I go into my usual breakdown of my training week I’m going to start spouting off a thought  which increasingly crosses my mind when training recently. As my fitness / performance has developed my overall training aim flirts with the 'next level' of competition. My initial objective was to complete Ironman UK on 4^th August 2013 however as my confidence has grown as a result of experiencing the relentless hardship I put myself through on a daily basis, the completion concept now has an element of competing about it.

I’m not talking about a podium finish or even a high placing amongst my age group elite, I’m talking about making a good account of myself, not just finishing with one minute to spare in 16hrs 59mins 59 seconds, I’m talking about achieving a time that reflects my level of fitness and the effort I have put in to prepare me for this event for the last 9 months, I’m talking about beating, catching, overtaking the individual just ahead of me, I’m talking about achieving my potential which I believe is an ironman finish and in a respectable time but I won’t forget I am a first time triathlete who has had to sacrifice family time, personal time, sleep time and many thousand miles during my day in day out training and hours of internet research into technique, tips and nutrition etc to ensure I respect the extraordinary challenge I face. My number 1 priority has to be to finish and wont let this slip from the focus of my mind - Most professional guidance constantly includes going too quick at any stage could spell trouble later in any of the later 140.6 miles……50 days we will see how this dream unravels.

Monday I was conscious I had not ridden as far as I’d like on the Sunday so got back on the bike for a mixed high gear / high cadence spin session with the following routine – 5mins  warm up. High Gears - 3 mins on level 18 & 2 mins on level 19 then 5 mins High Cadence 1min on 1minoff all on level 15 and above 100rpm. High gears - Level 18 &19 for 2.5 mins each then 5 mins high cadence as before then high gears again on level 19 for 3 mins and 2 mins level 18 finishing with 5 mins high cadence minute intervals total 35 fairly intense minutes.

Tuesday (endurance run day) I decided I would change the recent long route for a slightly steadier but still hilly route and aim to run for longer than the half marathon distance I had generally done for the last couple of months in this session. I was happy to have achieved a 14.5 miles run  in 1hr 55 mins whilst still taking in 1100ft of ascent – the run involved a gradual 7 mile incline for the first half and a gentle downhill for the final half taking in the full length of Thornton road out of the city and back. As I had planned to run for longer and always talked about how nice it would be to have a drink stop on route I took a quid with me to get a drink on route so at 9 miles I went into a co-op and quickly realised I could get the best part of f##k all with a quid these days…the only option in a large fridge of soft drinks was a very small bottle of water or coke…I went with the tastier option only to sit down outside the shop and realise it was coke ZERO….as in zero sugar as in almost zero benefit to my run apart from the caffeine so I threw a gel into the carbonated fluid and nearly blew it up. The distance felt like any other run, steady and comfortable but obviously ready to go and eat all my packed lunch in less than 30 seconds when I got back to the changing room at work!

Wednesday I rested the legs, that felt fine despite the previous days pounding, and cracked an upper body resistance session including press ups, dips, sit ups, bicep curls, tricep extensions with rope handle. My afternoon meeting finished in good time f or once and I shot straight off to put in another 2 mile / 128 length swim in 1hr 20mins. I was pleased the cramp stayed away again and with the exception of getting sick of counting lengths and feeling very hungry I felt stronger as the swim went on …much prefer the open water in every aspect though except the warm shower and chocolate bar from the vending machine after!

Thursday  I was back on the bike for another spinning session but all in progressively high gears with 5 minutes each on level 16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23 then 2.5 mins each on 24 and 25 finishing on 5 mins level 16 spin to bring some feeling back to the legs before I ran a mile off the bike to keep the legs reminded that after I get off the bike the party is not over. The bike I use for any following what I do is the lifestyle fitness one common in most UK gyms and has a high gear max of 25 but anything over 16 requires a fair old effort to keep moving.

Later that day I got out for a 5 mile steady run at 2200hrs after my tea had digested and the housework / college work had been cracked. The route was a rolling one with a few cheeky hills but despite the plan to go very steady with a more intense run planned in less than 9 hours’ time I still averaged out just under 8 minute miles consecutively with fastest being about 7 minutes. The run gave me a good excuse for a second tea and a slightly later bedtime but the shoes were still damp with sweat when I was up at 0530am to run again….

……Friday - having only ran 9 hours before I felt relatively fresh during Fridays higher intensity run totalling 7.4 miles in 58mins taking in 4.5 hilly park laps and a further 5 x 85m hill sprints one 250m hill sprint which in total took in 600ft of ascent. The bizarreness experienced in this park never ceases to amaze me and today’s highlights included a young Asian lady running in full sari, head scarf and a thick  ¾ length leather jacket, this was in contrast to the man walking round in a bin bag and crow that was trying to fly off with an empty beer can in its mouth…..every lap the crow would be about 50m from its last spot still trying to lift off with it….at one point it had the can tilted in its beak like a pure alcy if only I had my phone camera I reckon I could have made a fortune with that shot…..’if birds drank lager it would probably be Carlsberg’ or summat like that J

Sunday was Father’s Day but as with every other weekend training session that impinges on rare family time I hatched a deal with the wife and dragged my arse out of bed early and threw myself into a wet, windy but fortunately mild ride. I had not planned a route but just went with the intention of racking up some miles and trying to include some good climbs to ensure I am less phased by anything the Ironman UK routes throws at me.  I smashed out a fairly challenging 51 mile ride, taking in 4000ft of ascent and averaging just under 15m.p.h. Despite the shit weather it’s always a pleasure riding on the rolling country roads of the South Pennines many of which will be used by the big names on the tour de France when it visits our area soon.

I have been busy working on my race day nutrition plan and as it is very nearly finalised I will post it in my next blog to give people a view on what I hope to consume during the bike and run stages - I have worked out fluid, carbohydrate and sodium intake based on generalised reccomendations so should be helpful to those int he same boat as me until then....

Happy training everyone, keep enjoying the discomfort zone and remembering anything is possible!

I
8 weeks to push! (Scroll Down for more blogs)

Monday started with some more great warm sunny weather but as I had got my endurance ride in on the Sunday the focus of today was the bike. So before work I cracked a spinning session which totalled 13.75 mile in 5o mins that included 5 min each on high gears 18-19-20 and 21 which is the equivalent of riding with flat tyres pulling an elephant! I finished with 4 x 5 min intervals high cadence 1 min on 1 min relaxed on a more manageable lower gear.  I ran for 10 mins straight off the bike to shake the legs out. Not for the first time recently  the persistent training programme had me shaking my head, maybe because of the monotony of routine that has embedded itself daily now for the last 8 months but despite this I still remain motivated and 100% focused on IMUK….less than 60 days to push!

Later in the evening the inviting sunshine got me out on the road after the kids were in bed and blasted out a sharp 23 mile ride in in 1hr 28 beating my previous best time for the route by ten minutes!! I averaged 15.5m.p.h with fastest speed being 37.6mph although this was harnessed by the mass gob full of flying creatures bouncing off my face any time I flew down a hill. With over 1700ft of cheeky hill ascents the route had a good mixture of challenges and opportunities to give it some hammer and was also able to further practice feeding and fuelling on the move.

Tuesday morning and more marvellous sunshine so at 0700 I was at work in Bradford and ready to start yet another Half mary- (13.1 mile run) I decided I would run the same half marathon route I had done the previous week but try a little more consciously to think about realistic pacing especially since the first 6 miles takes in 1150ft of continual ascent but the final half is a steady downhill and was able to maintain consistent 8 minute miles completing the route in 1hr 46…I took a few energy gels on route which as always provide a boost but will feel spoilt rotten when I finally run and have some drink station support - to say I was parched was the understatement of the year. In addition to a dry gob I also rubbed my nipples raw and chaffed my arse cheeks similarly on the seams of my cycling shorts!

Wednesday I had a swim planned for the afternoon so did an upper body resistance session first thing involving press ups, dips, curls, seated pulls but it was the swim that provided me with some pleasing training progress having completed  2 miles / 128 lengths in the pool in about 1hr 20mins with no signs of cramp that has spoiled some of my previous longer swim sessions. I did take some thermotab salt tablets before the swim and I did try not to push too hard off the sides on each of the 128 turns so despite tired legs from the day before it was a relief to get out the pool with no ill effects. I was asked by a colleague at work what I thought about when I swim that many lengths….as with anyday the Ironman event itself is never far from my thoughts…this reminds me why I am paying nearly a fiver a time to bore my way up and down a mega grotty pool…..it is also a task in itself to maintain focus and count each length to ensure accuracy of distance covered however for the only time in life maths is a pleasant distraction. I generally count 1 for every 2 lengths and break each mile down as 32 counts (64 lengths) and then start again….it doesn’t appear as mammoth then…..you may just have to believe me on this! ;-)

By Thursday my chaffed arse cheeks had just about stopped stinging enough to get back on the well padded spin bike seat and racked up 15.6 miles /25km in 50 mins on the following routine - 3mins on level 15 high cadence minimum 100rpm and 2 mins off x 4 then 3mins on 2 off level 18 level 19 level 20 level 21 final 10 mins alternating 1 min high cadence 1 min off 1 min very high gear.

Having spent all day in the class room being told how nice it was outside I decided I would sneak a run in on the way home from work so into the gorgeous sunshine I went…without visor…to get a bit of sun on the face and completed a very steady  5mile run with the aim solely being on running in the sun at an enjoyable pace…not sure I have done one of these runs before!?

Friday morning was my higher tempo run day and decided I would up the distance again slightly but as the route includes a figure 8 loop of cheeky hills it still has a good intensity too it. 7.1 miles / 54 minutes later I had completed 4 park figure 8 laps including 5 x 75m hill sprints and managed to average a consistent  7mins 36 miles over 7 consecutive miles which was pleasing in the discipline of maintaining pace sense.

Saturday was my rest day and it involved time with my girls, McDonalds, BBQ, cheesecake, beers etc etc

Sunday was a good day for a number of reasons, it marked the long awaited start of my Open Water Swim season with a brill morning swim in Gaddings Dam with my triathlete mate Nige from work who was also being introduced to this amazing place for the first time. It was reward for the steep climb upto the dam which sits pretty at over a 1000ft on the moors above Todmorden.  I guessed the water temp was in the mid-teens and we comfortably spent about 70 minutes swimming, chatting, peeing in our wetsuits and enjoying the tranquil nature of the place.

 

Straight from the swim I drove over to Bolton and navigated my way around one loop of the Ironman UK bike course. As I approached the route I started to get butterflys having only read reviews on it and stared at it countless time on google maps…so finally on the route and it was a fairly long continual climb from the M65 motorway junction and I guessed this would be a taste of what was to come however I was pleasantly surprised how quick the course looks apart from the climb from Rivington reservoir onto the moorland. Some parts appear a little technical in that fast ascents meet twists and bends in the roads and a number of sharp turns off main routes to navigate but overall I am relieved in what I saw today (with the exception of some clumps of tyre spoiling pot holes around the course)…this doesn’t take away from the magnitude and part of the immense challenge of riding the route for 112 miles!

With the enthusiasm of driving amongst many professional looking cyclists trying the course out I drove back home and attacked a local hilly route taking in nearly 3000ft of ascent as I searched for hills to blast the legs on the 35 mile ride. Weather has been awesome all week and has made training tougher but more enjoyable, a distant memory from the horrible winter I trained in day in day out – think I deserve every ray of sunshine we are getting! :-)

9 weeks to push!

Monday was the start of a new training week and after the sports massage and childless night in the spa hotel I was feeling pretty fresh and ready to get my money’s worth out the hotel gym so leaving the wife in bed I took advantage of some quality spin bikes and a refreshingly new training environment  in the health club. The 50 minute spin achieved 12.5 miles and included 5 x1 min high cadence intervals 5 x 2mins high gear intervals with a minute and 2 minutes between respectively, all above 100rpm then finished on 8 mins on a very high gear to blow the legs out before the short brick run off the bike for about 1 mile on the roads around the hotel before eating my bodyweight in fruit, yoghurt, meat, eggs, bread etc etc…perfect start to the half term week!

Tuesday…endurance run day or is it should really be named half mary day…as it is becoming fairly standard I bang out a half marathon every Tuesday morning and for some this sounds pretty extreme but the goal posts need to be moved soon and the increasingly comfortable half marathon distance needs to be extended so that I can learn to enjoy the discomfort zone that is undoubtedly experienced in miles that follow up to 26.2!? A message from a Royal Marine pal telling me he had just ran 20 mile in prep for his ironman distance has only fuelled my mind to step things up….looks like the alarm clock maybe getting moved even earlier to accommodate these progressions!!! As I was off work it was nice to choose a NEW and local route but purposefully made it a tough 13.1 miles that included some long uphill stretches totalling 1150ft of ascent and was pleased to average 8 minute miles throughout this finishing in a steady 1hr 45 mins. I took two gels with me as a treat at the 6 and about 9 mile point….although I have opted for the SIS hydro gels I am getting a little ‘pissed off’(to put very politely)  with the easy tear lids to get me access to the much needed energy….when you are sweating your balls off with snot on your hands etc etc trying to tear a lid off down the scribed line is frustratingly slow and messy …apparently Powerbar hydro gels have an easy tear off lid you can crack with one hand!...lets hope so….i do put a small cut in the line to help but it doesn’t have much benefit when your hands are pissed wet through with sweat.

Wednesday – I had a very strong intention of hitting the hopefully quiet uni pool and aim for the full ironman swim distance of 3.8km or 152 lengths of a 25metre pool…..physically this was going to be tough but mentally focusing and keeping  yourself motivated swimming up and down a horrendously boring pool is becoming unhappily boring….despite this I know it is something I need to start getting ready for and when the pool started to fill with grannies I presumed there must have been a voucher in readers digest and when I had just notched my first mile / 64 lengths in 37 mins the pool attendant got my attention and informed me half the pool was being closed for water aerobics and I was unable to swim lengths…I was politely rude to as many people as I could having not been told of this when I paid an extortionate £4.50 to swim in a shitty little scummy pool full of gremlins….I think they felt the wrath of my frustration when any of my training Is interrupted or affected…it wasn’t long before the manager and every man and his dog had apologised and came to give me my money back...wouldn’t say it was a result as I was 88 lengths short of my aim but better than nowt!

Thursday I cracked a 7 mile run in 52.36 ave 7.31 mins per mile with a few 630-640 miles thrown in there on the rolling route taking in nearly 1000ft of ascent. Changes in pace were generally down over the recorded mile on my watch but using lampposts as the markers for increasing pace to higher intensity generally 2 lamp posts high pace and maybe 3 or 4 more controlled before repeating.

Friday was the start of the nice warm weather and decided I would try get out in the heat of the afternoon to give myself some more experience of the difference from the usual cool early morning training hours. I need to crack more brick sessions so planned the session around bike / run Olympic distance on new route that turned out to be very cheeky with some very steep sharp hills, which in the heat and alongside quite a lot of commuting traffic slowed the average pace down to a still respectable 14.35mph over the 23.5miles (including 1700ft of ascent) I wore sunglasses for the first time which helped keep the bumble bees out my eyes when I was flying down the hills but blurred my vision with sweat streaming down them on the climbs. I also used some fingerless gloves and was able to feed fairly well from the bite size chunks I had cut and rolled my powerbar energize bars into from my back pockets…..a much shorter distance than I have had previously recorded but was happy with the quality of the miles covered.

Straight from the bike I got straight into my elastically laced trainers and threw on my ‘Visor’ much to the amusement of the wife and children and said she probably won’t be able to watch me during Ironman looking like I do when I swim, run and train….guess they all border on gimp rig! I went out up the steep hill from the house and the legs felt heavy but recorded the first 2 miles in under 7mins 30 so obviously not affected too much by the short ride!

Saturday  was my Brothers UK wedding day  and enjoyed the rest and a rare opportunity to enjoy some cider and be reminded how skinny I now am from every family member and friend who saw me……I did ensure I ate as much of the buffet as I could AND more so people didn’t think I am just smashing out a 100+ training miles a week and not eating!!

Sunday I was supposed to be conducting a recce of the Ironman UK bike route but with my car being several miles away, the sun shining, cider in the system, children at grandma and grandads etc etc I knew Bolton and a long ride on the bike would have to wait ANOTHER week….I did however have a good excuse to run to get my car at the wedding venue and decided I would go as long a route to it as possible which got me in just under 5 miles which on no breakfast, ale in the system I averaged 7mins 28 secs miles with s couple being around 6mins 30….This run also brought my training week total upto a record 29 miles which was pleasing despite the poor weekly swim / bike distances

With days ticking away towards the big day I am conscious that swim distances need to pick up, I am pencilled in to start the open water swims next Sunday so this should help and also feel I need to take advantage of these light nights to get on the bike little more and hit the cheeky hills and up the bike miles aswell as the consistency in running off the bike. As always I look forward to the new training week with intentions of attacking it so I can be in some way satisfied when I write my blog and review the training week next Sunday…hope this blog is entertaining some of ya cos it’s a pain in the arse to write and could rack up a half marathon or 152 pool lengths or a 30 mile ride in the time it takes me to produce it each week!?! Happy training and keep enjoying the dis-comfort zone!

10 Weeks To Go!

After the snapped chain on the previous days ride I was conscious that I needed to make up for it during this training week. I continued with progressing the high gear endurance session and grafted out 10 mins each on level 16, level 17, level 18, level 19 and 5 mins level 20 with a relieving 5 mins spin at the end on level 16 before the usual short run off bike. The only exercise / spinning bike at my work gym is getting some hammer and the pedal cracks every revolution which pisses me and every other gym user off during the 50minute spins session…I regularly have to put up with the unfunny comments from other gym users who want to let me know that I am hogging the bike from with shit like you can get off now you’ve got to London and do you need a hand getting the glue of your arse…..I think I have earnt the right to be selfish with over 2000 training miles racked up so far and millions of disciplined sacrifices made to ready myself for Ironman UK…so don’t have any qualms about looking them in the eye and telling them they wont be using the exercise bike anytime soon when I am on it!

I also got a swim in on Monday afternoon and eased 76 lengths / 1.2 mile swim at a steady pace but was always swerving and avoiding the annoying group of asylum seeker type beings who were quite simply fucking me off getting in my way, pestering any female who got in the pool and basically having a water fight for the 50mins I was in the pool…as usual lifeguards remain completely passive to the annoyance they were causing and I just bit my lip and got on with it and got out of there as soon as I could.

Tuesday was endurance run day and as the weather was good and I had got to work early I set out on a slightly new route with the intention of trying to keep a steady pace I was comfy with instead of constantly trying to push the pace and not record a slower mile….something that will not do me any favours on Ironman event day. Instead I generally recorded negative splits with 8min to 8.20 min miles recorded for the first 5 miles that were all uphill and settled into an increased pace of about 7mins 30-40secs on the final half of the run which was very steadily downhill. So another half marathon (half mary J) distance notched up before work taking in 900ft. My 13 mile runs are done with no support so take in no water which in the later miles would be a real treat but do carry a couple of gels which I take as I flag later in the run. When I finish this half distance I feel okay but quads / joints are a little beaten up and often reflect on the fact that during Ironman I would have to do the same all over again to achieve the 26.2 mile run AFTER my 112 mile ride and 2.4 mile swim!!!….yes I’m training hard and doing all I can but I expect the whole experience to be a pretty honkingly painful one!

After Tuesdays half mary I decided I would give my legs chance to repair even though they felt completely fine and relatively fresh so opted for an upper body resistance session with focus on endurance with light weight with reps of about 20 for 4 sets. Ive noticed that despite a number of previous years training solely focusing on resistance sessions when I am in the pull phase of the free style swim stroke my triceps feel a little fatigued and so sessions thrown in like this certainly won’t do me any harm. I had intended to get another swim in to flush the legs out but due to another hideously long and extended meeting at work yet another planned session had to be cancelled.

Thurs 14.1 mile in 50 mins Level 16 1min on 1 off high cadence for 10 mins. Level 17 same intervals. Level 18 n level 19 high gear spin for 10 mins each. Level 17 for 5 doing 1 on 1 off high cadence finishing 5 mins level 16 same interval routine.

Friday was tempo run day and as in previous weeks I increased the distance but maintained the intensity by running 3 ¾ hilly park laps and finished with 6 increased pace hill sprints of about 75metres each and finished with a full hill of about 250metres. Each interval was carried out with active rest light jogging and no stopping despite being ball bagged each time. The session totalled 6.7 miles and lasted 52 mins.

Saturday was endurance ride day and following the snapped chain the previous week I went out on a new shiny shimano ultegra chain despite the chain actually coming off on one gear change. It was the first time I did not wear my skins under my cycle shorts.o a steep hill the chain / gear changing felt slick and much improved on the new chain. The sun was shining and due to a late start to the ride it was also pleasantly warm. The ride route was a new one and linked west Yorkshire, Yorkshire dales and Lancashire in the large loop going from Halifax to skipton to colne to Haworth via an amazing country road passing lots of inviting reservoirs on a rolling good surfaced route and back up on a steep climb out of Haworth to oxenhope to hebden moor at 1400ft on the route the visiting tour de france riders will take. The ride notched up 52.5 miles taking in 3800ft of ascent, averaged 14.8m.p.h with a top speed recorded at 38.8 m.p.h. 

Sunday involved a birthday night away in a Spa in Manchester with the wife and was treated to a much needed deep tissue sports massage. So while the wife enjoyed a tranquil facial on the bed next to me I had the sick pleasure of the full weight of the masseurs elbows, forearms and claws on every muscle. I expected the legs to be in pretty bad shape due to the mass of miles and stress they have had placed on them in the last 8 months and it didn’t take much contact for me to start whimpering like a girl but knew it was doing me good. I have spent a fairly decent amount of time stretching at the end of every training session and giving attention to the little niggles by rubbing the tennis ball into tight areas but if your reading this….a sports massage or session on a foam roller would definitely prove beneficial to relaxing general tightness and ironing out the knots that could lead to niggles especially when training intensifies or in later miles of swim, rides and runs.

11 Weeks to go!

Following the soaking I got on the 50 mile ride and 5 mile run the previous day and having also racked up over 140 training miles in the last week I treated myself to a rest day on Monday but was back to it first thing Tuesday and woke to yet another cold, windy morning and for the first time in a while struggled to get out of bed. As I started the training day later than I had hoped the sneaky desire to bang out another half marathon before work or ‘half mary’ as my workmate Nige likes to call them I opted for a crazy ‘city maze’ run and despite having to cross several roads on each of the 4 repeated double figure 8eightloops I kept a good continuos pace that averaged at 7mins 47secs for 11.3 miles and took in nearly 1000ft of ascent. I took on two SIS Blackcurrant hydro gels on my run to give me a lift in the later miles and despite them having an annoyingly frustrating tear off lid, which is ninja to remove with sweaty fingers, the flavour is far better than the cheap ‘holiday shot’ orange and has given me no ill side effects as yet.

On Wednesday I aimed to follow up on the previous weeks decent paced swim with another good session. I had a lane to myself and reached 100 lengths without any dramas but whether it was the pushing off the wall or shit diet / fluid prep I started to get cramp twinges in the arch of the foot and despite the odd stretch and also alternating freestyle with breastroke to shake the legs out I was forced to stop at 114 lengths / 1.75 miles when I cramped in my hamstring…..still pleased with the longer swim I had achieved but a bit concerned at experiencing cramp as I neared the end of a longer swim!?

On Thursday I got back on the bike for a high gear endurance spin which in the slow and at times gruelling grind of 5 mins on level 16, 10 mins on level 17, 10 mins on level 18 and 10 mins on level 19 before a final killer 5 mins on level 20 I still managed to achieve nearly 11 miles whilst sweating my nuts off.

Friday I was able to continue with the progression in terms of distance / intensity on my tempo run and blisterless this week I  ran 3.5 hilly figure 8 laps of Horton Park and ended with 5 short ish hill sprints and one long hill sprint / effort which together achieved a 6.5 mile run in 50 mins including 500ft of ascent.

Saturday I watched the rain lash against the windows and was a ‘family day’ but was left a little restless at the lack of training and almost unheard of 2^nd rest day of the week! I did however get my elastic knot laces delivered which I was able to lace into my run trainers to satisfy my itch. 

Sunday morning I had earnt some time on my bike and all fuelled up and in near perfect conditions I energetically jumped onto the bike, clipped my feet in to the pedals and after 0.3 miles attacked my first hill and…..BANG….the chain snapped clean off the bike and I was left spinning the pedals like a cartoon character and only just managed to release my feet from the pedals before I creamed into the floor. Despite the quick realisation that this meant my endurance ride session was over I was very relieved at the fact I was still close to my house and not fifty miles away and that if this had of happened during Ironman UK it would have been game over and all my training, sacrifices and dreams shattered in a moment.

So….with a shocked grin on my face I quickly swapped my padded cycle shorts for run shorts and cycle jersey for my t-shirt and blasted out a 9.6 mile run in 1hr 16 with 7min:55secs average mile pace including over 1000ft of ascent. After stopping a few times to adjust the elastic knot shoe laces but they were bang on after that and for 2 quid are fully recommended for any triathlete reading this.

This week I went over 2000 logged dedicated Ironamn training miles which is the equivalent distance from London to Cyprus or London to Algeria and back…....almost impressed myself…I also ran a record 27 miles this week in addition to the swim / bike sessions but still feel I have another level to step up to and need to incorporate more brick session and / or days with double training sessions to start to prepare more specifically for the main event.... Ironman UK …watch this space….

12 Weeks to go!

After a birthday full of feeding and  fuelling up and some rare good weather I took advantage of the early hours of Bank holiday Monday and clocked 57 miles in 3hrs 28 mins heading up to Gargrave in the nearside of the Yorkshire Dales and back via Bingley and the cheeky hills through Cullingworth. I had a pocket full of mars bars / bananas and plenty of fluid on the bike having learnt from the near burnout on the last long 80 mile ride. I was very happy to average 16.5 m.p.h throughout the half ironman distance and took in 2500ft of ascent and also managed to record my fastest speed to date at 38.1mph and this was only interrupted by a suicidal squirrel that saw me and instead of bombing off it just stood on its back legs and froze forcing me to slam on and almost lose control of my bike – I now know why so many are splattered on the road – they are solid!

After a previous nights Birthday curry with the wife in the curry capital of the UK- Bradford - I spent a large portion of the night and day dehydrating myself for want of a better word…..and delayed the endurance run until later in the day but this indirectly proved beneficial in that it was a warm day (likely to be the case for Ironman in August), I had a bad tummy / arse (possibility after eating sugary shit for 8 hours on the bike during Ironman) and started the run about the same time as I would be during Ironman – something I don’t often get chance to do so with a final emptying of the bowels I set off into the hills and back roads of Queensbury taking in exactly 11 miles / 1000ft+ in 1hrs 26 mins with some very positive mile splits considering all conditions.

Wednesday I had packed my swimming gear with the intention of following the long endurance ride and run with a longer than normal swim but a meeting scheduled to finish at 2 didn’t finish until 5 and that completely ruined any chance of that and I wasn’t shy in letting everybody know in the meeting how unhappy I was about missing this session.

Thursday I continued my upward progression with the high gear endurance spins and started out on Level 16 for 15 mins then upto Level 17 for 15 mins, Level 18 for 15 mins and Level 19 for 5 mins totalling 50 mins of continual high gear work that blasted the legs almost numb but was still able to achieve a distance of 13.75 miles despite the very stiff pedal resistance. I had somehow developed a pressure blister / spot from the bite of the pedal on the under arch of my foot…..the thought of any delay / cancellation of future training because of this made me a pretty angry bear for the rest of the day but a bit of self-administered first aid I was hopeful to avoid this.

The Friday run went ahead despite a bit of un-comfort from the blister and added an extra loop to the higher tempo park run and did 3 hilly figure park loops  and one lower hill sprint averaging 7.45min mile pace and 5.5 miles in 43 mins.

After a late night to bed and giving some overnight feeds to my little girl I was less than ready to spring out of bed when the alarm went off at 0500am on Sunday so I treated myself to another hour or so in my pit and headed out on to a fast paced but quite challenging and hilly 5 miles looped run. I took 2 minutes off my fastest time for this route and clocked 37mins 23 secs including 700ft of ascent with an average pace of 7min 29secs miles with the fastest one being 6mins 28secs. My Garmin watch that continually informs me off my performance makes it very hard to have a steady run these days as I feel that as the clock is ticking and the miles are rising up I have to beat my previous times or speed up if the average mile split is slow……its certainly helped to push me to higher intensity but not sure the OCD of continually beating previous splits/ route times is perfect for Ironman pacing!

Following the earlier run and my nieces 1^st birthday party and plenty of cake I ignored the wet and windy weather and headed out on my second endurance ride of the week.  3hrs 22mins and 50 miles later I was soaked through to the bone having battled through driving rain which was exceptionally grim and raw at 1500ft on the moors above Hebden Bridge. I went out of my way to take in some long challenging hills that totalled 3030 ft of ascent and was pleased that I averaged a respectable 14.9mph over the ride and achieved my new fastest speed of 38.5 mph on a very quick and winding downhill stretch off the moors where I seemed to have my wet brakes jammed on continually to avoid flying off the road. I also got the chance to trial the Powerbar Energize bars that will be available on the Ironman route and was particularly impressed with the taste of the berry blast flavour and the ease of consumption and feel afterwards.

Despite no swimming this week I have achieved my furthest bike miles notching 121 miles on the bike and 21.5 miles running….tomorrow I will start the training week in the pool and keep a watchful eye on the weather and the possibility of getting into the training lake for my first open water swim of the year on the weekend all being well. J

My nights are currently spent trawling the internet, reading various articles about Ironman Kit lists, Ironman Nutrition (pre-race and during) and general tip for Ironman virgins like myself. Lots of good stuff out there but the internet is a very big place and have tried not to take any one article as gospel and noted down what each say and tried to come up with a happy medium. I will post my nutrition plan / kit lists based on my ongoing research AND testing in the weeks to come for any one reading this in the same position as me! 

3 months to go!

After feeling pretty fresh from my mere 36 mile ride and 5 mile brick run off the bike the day before I decided I needed to get back on the bike having dropped nearly 50 miles from the previous weeks endurance ride. I carried out a high gear pyramid spin starting on a pretty resistant Level 16 for 5mins upping to level 17 for the next 5 mins then level 18 for 10 mins back to level 17 for 5 mins and finishing level 16 for final 5 mins. It simulated an 8 mile cheeky hill climb and defo left my legs feeling like lead so as with all my bike sessions now I ran the stiff legs off to let them now that the jobs not done when I crawl off the bike and remind them that it marks the start of what will be an epic run.

Tuesday was my endurance run day and  had gone out with the intention of running my 3^rd half marathon distance in as many weeks but settled for a comfy 11 mile run on a very nice day that allowed me to wear my shorts and t-shirt with no top or skins for the first time in yonks. I took the long challenging hills out of bradford city again that gave me over 1200 ft of ascent by the end and with good mile splits throughout between 7mins dead and never more than 8 min miles I was happy with the progress being made. I also got chance to wear the birthday trainers (adizero ace 4’s) that felt great and far lighter and more comfortable than my last pair.

Wednesday morning I decided I wouldn’t try fight for space in the small uni pool at 0630 so opted for some leg weights and some upper body resistance exercises in an attempt to get some air back in the shrinking muscles. The afternoon was the nicest of the year so far and left just me and one other person in the pool…perfect. I made a big attempt to limit time spent on the pool wall and make turns as quick as possible to try and get a good split for the first mile and was pleased to go through 64 lengths in 35 mins and 100 lengths in under an hour. I kept a steady but persistent pace throughout and was great to see a very long awaited improved time…..I was starving afterwards and remembered I had a pack of 7 mars bars in my glove box…shame it was the warmest day of the year so far….but didn’t put me off squeezing a few of them down mi neck on my way home!

Wednesday night I entered Ripon Olympic Distance Triathlon (1.5km lake swim, 40km bike, 10km run) as prep for Ironman UK that is only 3 weeks after….can’t wait to attack it.

 Thursday I continued to progress the intensity on the bike spinning session and carried out a high gear endurance spin which started on level 16 and kept turning for 10 mins then the same 10 minute blocks going upto level 17, level 18 and finally level 19, which I can only liken to trying to ride through deep sand…uphill….but I went up one more to Level 20 of 22 levels for 5 mins finishing with a leg sobering level 16 for 5 mins. I went straight into the routine 5 min steady run off the bike and just about got an ambled response from the legs.

Friday was my shorter / higher intensity run day and managed 4.5 mile of the sharp twisting hills in Horton Park…purposefully pushing the pace at regular intervals in the session….I had a distant idea that I would try get the very popular Huddersfield 5km run in on the Saturday morning so decided I would leave the hill sprint part of the session…just in case!

So the wife was about to depart to Newcastle on my birthday weekend so decided it wasn’t too unfair to inform her she was not getting her usual Saturday morning lie in and I was off to race in the wind and rain instead. I had not ran a competitive 5km for nearly 6 months and was pleased to come in 7th out of 415 runners (mix of club and social runners) in 19mins 15 seconds notching my 4^th consecutive PB and beating my previous one by a pleasing 40 seconds on a twisty rolling course. Some random snapper caught my relief at the finish line…see below…

Sunday should have been endurance ride day but as it is my 33^rd Birthday and I am home alone with my two beautiful daughters I am going to enjoy their great company, eat my body weight in shit food and at some point decide how far I am going to ride into the Dales and back the next day! Happy bank Holiday Weekend to you all. Peace. 

13 Weeks To Go!

The day following my first 80 mile ride I expected to be feeling sore in the legs and pretty whacked so decided I would give myself a bonus rest day although when I woke up I felt pretty fresh with no tightness or aches from the ride....but with an inspection at work and the lesson observation window being open I swapped the early morning exercise for a 0630 start at my desk and started the carbing up for the next days planned half marathon distance run.

My weekly endurance run saw me achieve 13.1 miles on a testing route I had attacked the week before that was cut short by an immediate desire to s##t! The 4.5 mile continual uphill that ascends nearly 1000ft  at the start ensures the legs are blasted for the later miles. An energy gel at the 8 mile point saw me fairly comfortably through this run and despite a half marathon being the top end distance I have run in training, I think I will be lifting the lid on this soon and testing myself slightly beyond this point...after all it is only half the Ironman run distance! As I run early in the morning and probably resemble a lanky shipwrecked student when I do I shouldnt have been suprised when I approached a pensioner withdrawing money from a post office cash machine and obviously wasnt expecting anyone to be about never mind me running at him and was shocked to see him try and outrun me thinking I was about to mug him and when he realised I was already on his shoulder he cuddled his withdrawn cash and huddled against the wall....poor guy....I just shook my head in disbelief and a lady at the lights in her car was far more amused by it all.

With more Youtube freestyle tutorials making up my bedtime entertainment I hit a very busy pool at 0630 on Wednesday morning and shared a swim lane with a good number of quick efficient swimmers. I managed 1.56 miles / 100 lengths before I had to get to my work desk but despite my efforts I was getting lapped fairly regularly by a few of the other lane swimmers....I watched them whilst I gathered my breath between 50m intervals and attributed some of their length speed down to the tumble turns they carried out with ease but apart from that they effortlessly displayed great technique and continually flew up and down the lanes....plenty to aspire too but im trying and I am getting there....might have to wait for a very quiet pool before I try execute my first tumble turn though!?!

My arse had bone was no longer tender from sundays 80 mile ride so on Thursday I pushed out 16 mile / 24km of lower cadence high gear intervals comprising of 5 minute continual high gear on level 18 x 4 intervals with the last interval doubling to10 mins and with the last minute of this on level 20, For the rest of the time / distance I did 1 minute on and 1 minute off high cadence / rest x 4 intervals on level 15. The high gears aimed to simulate efforts on long flats and the resistance of the uphills nicely. I have been trying to lengthen the time spent on these higher gears and progress has been pleasing to date and defo helping on sections of the endurance ride.

This weeks high intensity / tempo run was in jeopardy as I shopped at 0600 for 50 students dinners who were representing college at a sports olympiad, the pain of selecting individual sandwhiches etc for every fussy kid meant I didnt think I would even get my run in but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I strode out of the college door on my run I bumped into a colleague who wins runs for fun all over the country and joined him on the way to the park and his steady paced really pushed me and  ended up banging out a 6mins 36 and 7.10 mile on a twisty and hilly route which left me well goosed but very happy for the mornings beasting. I left him after 3 miles and did my usual hill sprints (5 x 75m) and 1 x 250m sprint before returning to college with an overall distance of 5.7 miles averaging 7.30 min miles. 

The endurance ride totalled 35.5 miles and was fairly 'light' in comparison to last weeks 80 mile but it was shortened on purpose to facilitate a brick run. The route still took in nearly 2800ft of ascent and with mega windy conditions slowing my drive especially at 1400ft the average of just under 14mph was something I had to work very hard for. Helmet off I got straight into my 5 mile brick run in a very pleasing a quick time of 39mins 41 secs considering the ride before, the strong head wind and the 700ft of ascent on the route averaging 7mins.56secs miles with the fastest one being 7mins 05 secs in my new early bithday present trainers from the wife (adidas adizero ace 4's) far far lighter than my adidas duranos which have served me well but with 3 months to go I was anxious to get a pair worn in ready for the big day!

14 Weeks To Go!

Been a busy week all round....so the blog is a little summarised.....sorry for those who enjoy the less diluted versions.

- 15.8 miles Spin Session on the bike involving 5 min interval high gears x 5 plus 1-2 minute high cadence spins x 10

- 11 mile endurance run that starts with a 4 and a half mile incline from bradford city centre to the hihest outlying village of Queensbury where I was rewarded with the distracting smells of cafes and bakeries which forced me into an early grab for my hydro gel like a hungry bear which resulted in me splitting the pouch and getting half my gel down my leg and only half the energy I could have done with....a few miles later I experienced an instamatic desire to get to the toilet and ended up having to make a direct line at an interrupted pace down to college to solve the problem!! I still avergaed 8 min miles including over 830ft of ascent  on a mega windy day....not bad and liked the new cheeky challenging route too!

The following day I swam 1.2 miles / 76 lengths and did a 10 mile cycle / spin including 3 x 2.5 mins high gear intervals 3 x 2.5 mins high cadence intervals 1 x 5 min high gear and 5 mins of 1min on 1 off high cadence final minute very high gear / standing spin!

The higher tempo run was stepped up this week and managed a 6.5 miles high intensity run including 2 hilly figure 8 park laps 2 half laps, 2 full hill sprints of about 300m and 5 lower hill sprint intervals of about 75metres

On Friday I got on the bike and for the first time in a while I wasnt feeling it and cracked just  a 4 mile spin before I got off and did some leg weights instead....I did however have in my mind that the weekend was going to involve a long endurance ride and the 80 mile ride fromHalifax to Settle and back via Bingley and the hills into Cullingworth adding to the 3600ft of ascent totalled over the distance with an overall avergae speed of 15mph coming down from the 17mph I racked up on the way out BUT  running out of fuel / water is something I have preached the importance about since starting blogging and I soon realised that despite my continued desire after 5 hours of continual cycling no matter how hard / fast I wanted to drive the pedals I just had no energy to power the legs the same. 

15 Weeks To Go!

Following a days rest after the 52 mile ride I went into the first of 3 brick sessions during the training week having not really had the opportunity to run off the back of  a bike session or get the feel for training after a swim. The first session I did a high intensity spin that totalled 16km in 30 mins on level 15  for 1 minute at a steady pace followed by level 15 high cadence spin for 1 minute and finished  with a level 18 high gear for 1 minute and repeated this 3 minute interval 10 times....not my longest ride but my intention of blasting my legs to an element of fatique before I did a run was definately achieved....so straight off the bike into a fairly hilly run that I worked hard in throughout to keep an average 7mins 45 mile pace over the 5 mile route. Considering I had just run off a cheeky bike session and with me pushing the pace, including on each of the 3 long hills, I felt happy with the way I handled the session although I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't breathing out my arse and feeling a little heavier in the legs.

The next brick training session started in the pool after watching a few more youtube tutorials on free style technique I tried to incorporate yet more improvements to my style....it definately helps....In my mind I am clearer in what I should be trying to do and for some lengths I feel I execute a fluent and efficient style I'm almost chuffed with but as I tire and when the mind starts to wander....which it always does knocking out 100 lengths ....my technique becomes sloppy again.....but will settle for progress still being made....I'm not making massive impact on pace at the moment  but its difficult to gauge in the pool as all those people who start to swim after a guilty xmas in January and who normally run out of motivation / discipline etc etc and finish in February..... appear to have stayed a little longer this year....so lanes are choccer with the equivalent of sunday drivers who float along not wanting to get there hair wet........the outdoor training lake has shot from 1 to 4 degrees centigrade this week....won't be long before its finally time to have the freedom of the lake!!

So following the 2.5km swim  and a can of cola to blast the germs out of my belly from swalowed pool water I went straight into an 11.25 mile run which was done at an overall avergae pace of about 8 mins miles which I was happy with. The course was flat but this meant I had to continually keep momentum up and got no rest from any downhill section. It was hard to tell if the swim had taken anything out of me...I was sure it must have done but I really didnt notice anything obvious to suggest it did. I enjoyed the benefit of an energy gel at 7 miles and gave me the usual boost for a short while and provided me with the fix of energy needed to escape the snapping jaws of a massive goose that decided it would try nibble on my knee despite trying to take the widest birth as possible....I was flattered that it saw enough meat on my body to have a go at!!

The 3rd brick session of the week involved a 24km high intensity spin that mixed up high gear intervals and high cadence spins of between 1-3 mins in length with limited rest and back to back at times with the intention of blasting the legs and targeting the higher level training zones. I was putting in maximum effort for a solid 50 minutes and had lost a load of sweat in the process but a change of top later I was heading from the centre of halifax up the cheeky long hill upto queensbury and although the run was only 2 miles,...it was a graft the whole way and was a good transition session for the legs off the bike.

My brothers stag do in York was the well earnt rest / distraction from any weekend training although the pub crawl and carrying my wasted brother about meant it wasn't a complete stand down! The end of the Easter holidays and back to work proper next week.....need to get back to the leg weights and upper body resistance exercises and keep up with the higher intensity routines alongside the increasing distances of the endurance sessions.  Ironman UK feels closer than ever now and in additon to the relentless training, viewing internet articles, watching youtube videos all with an ironamn focus I was caught talking to myself while vaccing the house the other day and saw the wife laughing at me and asked what I was taking about....and of course..... there was only one answer...:-) !

16 Weeks To Go!

With less than 4 months to the big day, the changing of the clocks and the first signs of snow melting signified a glimour of hope that my training could be stepped up a notch BUT the man flu extended its stay in the Bradwell household for another week to prolong the disruption to my training routine however I couldn't let it have its own way for long......starting with a half marathon!?!?

A days forced rest due to illness on Monday should have set me up nicely for a calder valley half marathon distance run on Tuesday except I was still feeling crap when I woke up and after googling the pro's and con's of training when your ill I went against most advice and decided I would still do the 13.1 mile run anyway!?.....just a bit more steadily and well wrapped up.....good compromise...or so I thought!?....within a few hundred metres I was feeling pretty shit and questioned how good an idea this was going to be but then tried to put my mindset into context as come Ironman event day I am definately going to be feeling weak and pretty terrible by the time I am into my run stage so saw it as a bit of strength of mind training aswell as  a good blow out for the legs.

I comfortably kept a decent pace throughout the run until the 2 mile gradual ascent to the finish but while achieving the half marathon distance I was rewarded with some memories from the past as I ran along the canal bank where I grew up, passing where I had fallen in on a way to a football presentation, where me and my mates used to drink cider on our nights out at school, past the canal lock we used to swim in and the places we used to spin for pike....certainly made miles 6-8 pass by with a smile on my face.

Following a small deterioration in my health following the previous days exertions I settled for a walk round Tropical World at Roundhay Park and the Royal Armouries in Leeds and resumed training on Thursday with a 7 mile run completed at a good sub 8 minute mile pace on a looped route along the canal / river / lake banks of Elland, Brighouse and West Vale....The route was a refreshingly new one for me and also flat throughout which was again very strange for myself and was chosen by a mate who I had dragged around a 'hilly' 7 mile route of my choice on the Sunday but whilst on the run we discussed that despite being flat you actually have to work hard to keep a pace at all times on a flat where as on my hilly and challenging 7 mile route the downhill stretches allowed some almost effortless secctions where momentum of the ascent takes away the physical and mental requirements of having to continually put a shift in.....so in a nutshell we agreed that flat is not as easy as you may think.

The 7 mile run on legs that still felt a bit damaged from the impact of the 13 miler 2 days before were treated to an almost immediate shake out in the swimming pool and following 20 lengths / 500metres at a steady pace I put in 10 x 50m (20 lengths) increased speed intervals that spoilt the tranquility for an old dear not wanting to get her hair wet who was swimming a line next to me. The  final 24 lengths that brought me to a 1 mile swim in 40 mins were done fairly swiftly and without any breaks or intervals while looking at technique, which I am still tweaking and playing with, and breathing rate having got into a habit of right side breathing every 2 strokes I changed to a 4 stroke right side breathe and into the unfamiliarity of a 3 stroke breathe and finished with a 2 stroke - 4 stroke-2 stroke combination which seemed to work well. The more strokes I can do between breaths appears to allow me to get strokes on both arms more effective but know when the heads in cold water, tensions are high in the fight with 1500 others to complete the swim as fast as possible 2 strokes will probably be preferred.

This time last year I was preparing for my first open water outdoor swim of the year at Gaddings Dam with the Dove Dippers swim group invitingly lead by Rebecca Jarre and gang ......the water temp of the lake was just over 9 degrees which for those not in the know is still 'refreshingly cheeky' but still swimmable for a 2 season swimmer like myself and warm to the nutters who swim all year round BUT the current temp of my training lake is 1.4 degrees centigrade and thats probably the warmest its been for months so frustratingly this suggests that the migration from pool to the lake which I am really looking forward too is not yet in sight.....but with forecast suggesting double figure air temps for the first time this year hopefully it wont be too much longer!

Sunday morning I managed a very long awaited endurance ride in and despite getting brain freeze on a few of the quick descents early in the ride I could finally say that SPRING had arrived with pleasant sunshine and hadly a breeze making the 52 mile route extremely enjoyable. I took a new route today going out as far as Skipton and enjoying the long flat dual carriageway that took me from the West Yorkshire town of Keighley to the edge of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire. This new route inspired me to a new fastest average moving speed of 15m.p.h which although quite straight forward still took in 2,500ft of ascent over the 3hrs 28 minutes and 52 miles of riding. Similar to that of the run the long flats on route enabled me to achieve a good average pace but still required a fairly arduos continual effort in the high gears.

17 Weeks To Go!

After a weekend of immense snowfall and fighting off man flu my forced rest days gave me an itch to have a good training week but with very heavey snow / drifts / ice covering every footpath and training run / cycle routes I knew this was going to be a challenge in itself... I was forced into the work gym and cracked 26km / 16 miles on the exercise bike going through intervals of 5 mins on level 15 - 4 mins on level 18 and 1 minute on level 19. This cycle of work intervals was repeated 5 times and was a good blow out on the legs and progressively more intense than previous spin sessions.

Tuesday (endurance run day) is a day I strangely look forward too and with runs on this day being no less than about 11 miles long and taking in the finest delights bradford has to offer(!?)....the realisation that I was going to have to execute this session on a treadmill was depressing to say the least....running for 72 minutes was as much torture as I could mentally endure so with 9.5 miles achieved on a pace between 12.5 to 14 kmph on a slight incline throughout average 7mins 35 seconds was a fairly slick pace but this was only brought on by my desire to get to the end of my 15km run as fast as I possibly could and get off the b##tard treadmill! I was left with a nice friction burn from my shorts rubbing to remind me how painful staring at the paint on the gym wall was! 

Wednesday I had another sharp blast spin session on the bike alternating between 2.5 mins on level 15 on a high cadence spin to 2.5 mins on a high gear / resistance level 18, repeated 5 times over and upped the intensity for the last interval by doing 2.5 mins on level 16 and 2.5 mins on level 19. The session only achieved 16km but at times I was forced to stand to keep the pedals turning due to the demanding resistance my quads were painfully trying to overcome. Following a short ten minute run after the bike to shake the legs out I did some leg weights (calf and leg extensions and seated press) to bring more fatigue on the lower limbs. My intention was to swim later in the afternoon but back to back dog s##t meetings spoilt that much needed plan.

Thursday was my high intensity run day and I could not bear to see the treadmill again so donned my skins and successfully  avoided the many mindless drivers Bradford houses while running on the roads to avoid the icey / snowey footpaths to get to Horton Park which was full of snow which offered me some grip and was like running on crusty sand...except there was defo no warmth to accompany this! I did two hilly mile long loops of the park as fast as I could and went into a series of hill sprints each about 250 metres long with active rest jogging to start the interval again, repeated 6times over before skating my way back to work achieving a high intensity 6.15 mile run.

The bank holiday easter weekend and the return of man flu forced more unplaned rest days but after scoffing some of my daughters easter eggs on sat night whilst I supposed to be hiding them I was ready for a run sunday morning and took in a 7 mile tour of the best snow drifts and icey roads Queensbury had to offer.

This last week I surpassed my fundraising target and having now achieved nearly £1500 for my chosen charity 'The Make A Wish Foundation' I really am truly humbled and eternally thankful for the donations and kind words of support and encouragement that my amazing friends and family are giving me - Your all stars and are making each of the 1500+ training miles far less painful......I have big plans for the next training week starting with another early morning half marathon Tuesday..... lets hope Spring is on its way to meet me some time soon!

18 Weeks To Go!

The day following the 53 mile ride I woke upto yet another dusting of snow so that along with some tight muscles lead me into a gym session with the usual press ups, sit ups,plank, pull ups and dips etc. I also used the foam roller to massage and iron out the lumpy knots in my leg muscles. It wasnt until I put my weight on to the roller that I realised how lumpy they were.....so will definately be including this into my routine more and taking advantage of the sports massages offered in addition to my regular stretch routines to keep the well worked lower limbs in condition so they dont cause me any uneccesary tightness or avoidable injury! 

Tuesday saw further snow and this spoilt my pre planned route onto some of Bradfords higher surrounds but I still managed 11 miles of some of bradfords more used routes /gritted pathways....the first 2 miles of the run saw a challenging continual climb of about 500feet before I took in the delights of the city estates again and raised a smile as I ran past a burnt out car right next to the 'Welcome To Bradford' council sign that I had also seen posted on facebook as a further piss taking of the city that employs me. I had forgotten my energy gels which usually provide me with a welcomed boost when  I start to flag but still managed to keep a pretty consistent 8 minute mile average split...the last two miles of the run was on a fairly steep decline and was the most uncomfotable and least enjoyable part of the run yet again despite it being at the end of the 90 minute run....I did however eat all my lunch within 5 minute of hitting the changing room....as per normal!

Wednesday morning I got to the university pool for 0630 and battled against the mass of uni lecturers who all seemed to lack the basic comprehension of personal space and etiquette as despite swimming a continual line at the very side of the pool people continued to get in and swim exactly the same line as me which to put politely...pissed me off especially when I had to swerve at the last second for a rotund muppet and I whacked my ankle onto the metal steps! Despite the ignorance of so many apparently intelligent people I still managed 100 lengths / 2.5km / 1.5 miles of free style....It was at a continual pace and without any higher intensity intervals which I feel I need to start introducing to improve my speed and overall times as they appear to be pretty stagnant despite improving fitness levels for the other disciplines of running and cycling.

On Thursday I did a 60 minute high intensity spin session that totalled 29km that broke down to 10 minutes level 16, 4 minutes at level 18 and a minute at level 19. This was repeated 4 times and the high level gears provided a monster resistance session for my legs throughout but I have found whenever I step upto more demanding sessions I always manage to soak up the challenge....just a little bit more painfully and with more sweat lost....but working higher level physiology has definately benefitted my progress on the bike.

Despite a couple of hours digging some of the worst snow I have ever experienced on the Friday this was the end of my training week as a combination of some atrociously disruptive weather, a family wedding in Wales and trying to fight off man flu I couldnt squeeze in another session. The family wedding brought home the change in my physical appearance as seeing family for the first time since my Ironman training took over my life many people could clearly see the weight that I had lost in the process....most of my wardrobe no longer fits me...my students, friends and wife constantly comment on the weight that I am losing BUT I quite simply point out the fact that I am training like a man posessed for an ultra distance triathlon event which this week saw me go past 1500 logged training miles that I have clocked up since starting my Ironman training some 7 months ago...put into perspective thats the distance between London and Moscow, Russia!! So losing weight is inevitable especially when some of my recent sessions burn 5000 calories a time (almost 2 days worth of calorie intake) but I am currently 14stone 9lbs which is a heavyweight for Ironman and am eating as much good and shit stuff as I can possibly ram inside me to try maintain some body!

I dont expect this s##t weather to be going away very quickly but hope the new training week is slightly more productive than the last! 

To DONATE / SPONSOR ME -

Please visit my justgiving page at: https://www.justgiving.com/Gary-Bradwell1

OR
TEXT ‘IMUK66’ and amount ‘£1’, ‘£2’, ‘£3’, ‘£4’,‘£5’ or ‘£10’ to 70070

To DONATE / SPONSOR ME -

Please visit my justgiving page at: https://www.justgiving.com/Gary-Bradwell1

OR
TEXT ‘IMUK66’ and amount ‘£1’, ‘£2’, ‘£3’, ‘£4’,‘£5’ or ‘£10’ to 70070

19 Weeks To Go!

With a weekend of rest behind me I was looking forward to a good session before work on Monday. Despite waking upto snow…yet again….…..I was pleased to see that it was now light before 0630am and in this welcome light I managed a 5 mile run while waiting for the work gym to open but had to battle through continuing heavy snow showers and an ice cold wind that forced me to run with my hands up my top like a soft school kid for a large proportion of it. From the run I went straight into a cycle spin session and banged out 25km / 16 miles on Level 16 minimum spin which included 3 x 60 second higher cadence spins and 3 x 60 second level 18 higher gear spins (alternating between these every 4 minutes for first 30 mins) then 3 x 30 seconds single foot  drives and 30 seconds both feet high cadence, 3 x 30 seconds level 19 high gear followed by 3 x 60 secs level 18 efforts every 4 mins for the last 18 minutess…SO…… in a way…. I had made up for a lazy Sunday!

Tuesday was my endurance run day and following the previous weeks half marathon effort I decided I would just go out and run with the intention of achieving at least 10 miles before I considered stopping and gave myself the freedom to run anywhere and spontaneously venture onto any road, street, park until my Garmin GPS watch showed me I had run far enough…this along with more snow showers and very icey paths lead to an interesting session. Whilst racking up 12 miles I ran through some of Bradfords inner city estates and saw more sofas in gardens and on roadsides than a DFS warehouse and whereas in a typical household you may occasionally see a dog in a garde, horses tied to fence posts and quads and horse carts on driveways in place of family cars appeared to be the norm!?….an absolute eye opener but all part of the entertainment on my run. I provided some entertainment to commuters when running up to a busy city roundabout where I had sped up knowing people were watching and while cornering I ended up with both my feet / legs shot at waist height in a karate kick style move as I hit an iced puddle under the blanket of snow and remarkably landed back on my feet only to slip again the other way and somehow my footing….Kungfu Bambi on ice would have been a good description… Despite the laughter that I could see through many car windows I was more relieved to have survived the acrobatics without injury and the adrenaline surge from this got me through the next mile better than any energy gel could.

Wednesday morning was a gym session and included press ups, sit ups, planks, pull ups, leg press, leg extensions, shoulder press, tricep dips and bicep curls and with the intention of swimming later in the afternoon I enjoyed a session where I wasn’t sweating my balls off for a change. Two back to back frustratingly long meetings prevented me from getting the swim session in before family duties at home called but this will only propel me into a longer / harder session next time. The day ended with an email back from Yvonne McGregor MBE who in her day was an Olympic, World and Commonwealth medalist cyclist who I had the pleasure of receiving my graduation certificate and a very inspiring speech from. It was nice to hear her appreciation and respect for the challenge I had set myself having overcome so many physical and mental ones herself in her lifetime. I also watched the live online interview with double olympic medalist Rebecca Romero who trained for Ironman UK off the back off her olympic success and qualified in 6^th position for the world Ironman competition in Kona Island Hawaii. Her advice as with the other Ironman champions on the facebook site is brilliant and to be able to ask such legends direct questions and get supportive acknowledgement is helping lots of first timers out like myself.

My Thursday session and future sessions will be inspired by Rebecca Romeros advice in that training your upper end physiology e.g working on your limits will make you faster and stronger even over endurance distances instead of just plodding comfortably like I had started to do at times I am going to step some things up and see if my body welcomes it and if I show any negative signs take a smaller bite and progress slower. In todays bike spin session I racked up 28km / 17.5 miles in a good time but with a Minimum level 16 spin throughout with 3 x 5 min intervals at level 18 (4 minutes longer than normal at each interval) every ten mins finishing with 5 mins at level 19 (a resistance level higher than normal) – This routine was suggested by Rebecca as simulation for the 3 major hill climbs on Ironman UK – level 18 was carried out at about 70rpm and level 19 at 60rpm but the pedals are very stiff and it is more like a leg resistance workout blast than a cycle ride.

I took the same intensity in to Fridays Park Run and put a good shift in on the two hilly park laps and in the 5 x 300m long hill sprints at the end – the session totaled just over 5 miles but the focus was a good pace and high intensity blasts on the hills. This weeks park entertainment came in the form of a squirrel and a crow having a full on scrap over some food and when I bumped into the same weed smoking freak who had laughed at me the week before while getting stoned at 0630am in the morning he didn’t even acknowledge me as I went past….but…. on the second lap….he was smoking weed and laughing his head off at me again….magic…idiot….would rather eat my own shit than crack his routine. All that remained of Friday was to thrash  my students in the sports hall and ensure that I out planked every single one of them and ensure that the arms bend and stretch routine left them all know that there is still life in my ever shrinking upper body muscles too!

My Sunday endurance ride day started as every other Sunday ride day has this year…with snow on the ground….our new baby provided me with a 0500 wakeup call and with tyres pumped up, chain oiled, bottles filled and nutrition (mars bars, bananas) stuffed into my pockets the night before I was on the road at first light….very quiet but bitterly cold…..I got into a good rhythm early and put into practice all the good things I had learnt on previous rides… trying to maintain high gears on flats, descents and as high as possible on ascents while keeping off the brakes and having the confidence to let the bike roll, ensuring good lines on bends especially at speed and avoiding drain covers and loose grit to ensure I didn’t cream in!....I completed a 53 mile ride in 3hrs 41 minutes including 3,800ft of ascent averaging 14.3 m.p.h overall which was pleasing and a reflection of the effort I put in on the course and in my training.

The entertainment on route included a cordoned off / well-guarded crime scene in Denholme, a massive dead sheep on the roadside of the A650, completely white over roads with snow on the moors above Hebden (@1500ft) which on my whippet wheels was pretty wild BUT one of the toughest things I endured on route…trying to find somewhere to piss in peace and without risking arrest for exposure! As if the 53 mile ride was not enough the wife asked why I wasn’t going for a run when I got in!?....obviously not thinking I had done enough she dragged me around both levels of the Trafford Centre…..twice… in the afternoon to complete a pretty pleasing training week with 88 miles cycled and 23 miles ran.

20 Weeks To Go!

Following my 36 mile cycle and 4 mile run straight off the bike on Sunday I opted to rest my legs again Monday and hit the gym and blasted out the press ups, sit ups, planks, dorsal raises, pull ups, incline chest press and shoulder press – In a way I call this a stocking filler between the main events of swimming, cycling or running but resistance sessions are included in every Ironman programme I’ve researched and also recognise the benefits to muscular endurance / strength in all 3 disciplines. It also allows a day for my energy stores to be re-filled before I almost completely wipe them out with my endurance sessions in the week and allow my joints a break from what must be a fair old pounding on the longer runs.

During Tuesday mornings session I did what some aspire to do in a lifetime or what people train all year for and use as a culminative measure of fitness – A half-marathon (13.1 miles) – What I guess makes this slightly more crazy was that I did it BEFORE work and off the back of one of the most broken nights sleep we’d had since our baby girl had been born. The route I had pre-planned was around the city streets on a 2.5 mile loop which involved several road crossings and plenty of twists and turns but this aside the course was relatively steady with gradual inclines and declines making for 600ft of ascent over the whole distance. I achieved a 7mins 57 average mile split with 10 of the 13 miles under 8 minute miles coming in at 1hr 43 mins which I was pleased with but was aware that this pace wont be possible or adviseable on IRONMAN UK competition day but the desire to measure my fitness against previous half marathon times and also trying get the session over and done with as quick as possible, took over.

The session was fuelled by a minimal breakfast of jam on toast and treated myself to a hydro energy gel at about 6 and 10 miles which provided the usual burst of refreshment to my flagging energy levels. I would have loved a water supply on route but no puddle looked appetising enough and so it will come as a treat when I have IMUK volunteers handing me refreshments as I negotiate the Ironman routes. Whilst running I had plenty of time to take in the usual delights of Bradford…..people getting drunk, smoking drugs etc etc but it was at around 8 miles that I passed a junior school that was queuing in files to go into start the day when a dance track belted out on the playground tannoy and all the children including teachers at the front of each file broke into an energetic dance…it was awesome and couldn’t think off a better start / wake up to a day….dont think I could get away with that as a) I cant dance and b) my students would need dynamite in their underwear before they showed any signs of life at that hour…..I was also shit on by a bird ….it hit my left knee and exploded as I ran into it….I vaguely remembered an old saying that being plopped on by a bird on the left side was good luck….lets hope so.

Wednesday I hit the gym and had a good stretch off the calves, hamstrings, hip flexors, glutes, quads, groin and IT bands but as with most training days I was relatively ache free and feeling pretty good considering my efforts the day before. I did more core exercises and wandered around the resistance machines working upper body muscles to fatigue using drop sets but fairly light resistance levels requiring high reps to achieve this. I managed to get a 1 mile swim / muscle flush out in during the afternoon in the quiet university pool and was another good opportunity to play with different stroke techniques. I mixed the 64 lengths up with blocks of continual lengths and some quicker 50-100m efforts with short rests between intervals.

Thursdays session I managed to get on the only exercise bike in the work gym and span out 28km / 17.5 miles in 55 minutes and with the resistance on the ‘lifestyle fitness’ bike at level 16 as a minimum throughout alternating between higher cadence 1 minute efforts and going up to level 18 higher gear efforts every 4 minutes for the first half hour and then adding an extra 30 seconds on level 17 to the high cadence spin and up to level 19 for 30 seconds on the higher gear spin. The resistance throughout the 55 minute spin was more than enough to give the leg muscles a good workout along with the added CV benefit…I hobbled off the bike with my legs feeling as hard as granite and pumped up so went straight into a slow steady jog to continue my progress into conditioning the legs into run mode following the exertions on the bike.

There is never a lot to stimulate me on the gym bike and the only thing that strikes me while I continually pedal away is the sweat streaming off me and how drenched I get. The gym is air conditioned and windows are open slightly but guess the temp is still about 18 degrees and reminds me of the possible conditions I may experience in Augusts Ironman or maybe worse!?….I drink about 1.5 litres of water while on the bike in the hour but with about 7-8 hours of cycling anticipated during IMUK it gives you a guide of the volume of sweat (fluid/salts) I need to be replacing during my cycle stage to set me up for the marathon to follow!

Friday was park run day….after another rubbish nights sleep my high intensity run was the perfect recipe for preparing me for my busiest teaching day. I also bumped into a legend run colleague in the first few mins of the run and as he was also heading to the park I benefitted from advice he gave and faster pace he set on the first 3 miles of the run....good job he was only out for  a ‘steady run’…..he still thinks I am mad for what I am gearing towards and as he left the park to return to work I hit the tarmacked hills of the park and did a series of 5 long continual hill sprints that by the end of each of the inclines I am at maximum heart rate, just about out of breath and almost out of energy….a good bit of spice to my endurance training programme.

With the Ironman training still being executed in between trying to achieve some quality time with family / friends and in particular my new born baby the mothers day weekend needed to be flexible….with MORE snow / poor weather forecast and Ironman still over 4 months away I decided to enjoy Mothering Sunday with my wife, two girls and our families so the usual endurance ride / run off the bike was sacrificed this week but Monday morning I plan to start early and run 5 miles and spin out 30km on the bike before work to make up for this.

For those that are reading this who are also training towards Ironman UK or Ironman events across the world you will understand the large number of sacrifices that preparing sensibly for the demands of an Ironman have on your life with such large transitions in training and lifestyle required, even more so when it is your first!

For anybody who is reading this with an interest in taking on the challenge of an Ironman event  in futureyou must consider the potential enormity of such a commitment in terms of both physical and mental energy expended on a daily basis, weekly training time, training ‘planning’ time, time spent cleaning and carrying out mechanical repairs etc on the bike, money you expend on event itself (entrance fee, hotels etc) training facilities (gym,pool etc) clothing / equipment for swim, cycling and running, footwear and training nutrition to name only a few things.

If there is a legitimate shortcut whilst still respecting the Ironman challenge I am taking it as I have little spare money, minimal training time compared to what is potentially required to achieve an Ironman in a respectful manor, a very demanding job, a wife who feels neglected by the impact of such an event. I have two girls who only really get chance to see their Daddy on a weekend and this inhibits two of the most important training days of any ironman programme Saturday and Sunday….I make up for this by getting up early and making the absolute most of the working week.

21 Weeks To Go!

The day following my first 50 mile ride was my first day back after my paternity leave and decided against a planned run and hit the gym to give my legs a brief rest with my endurance run session planned for the next day. I carried out a good leg stretch and smashed out 150 press ups in blocks of 25, 20 overhand pull ups in sets of 5, 3 x 1 minute body hold planks and 4 x 40 sit ups (combination of styles). I also did some straight arm dumbell lateral raises, incline chest press and some cable arm curls.

Resistance sessions like this were originally left out of my transition programme from a regular gym weight lifter to endurance athlete starting to appreciate the need to have some good foundations of a strong core for swimming, cycling and running and strength/endurance in the upper body muscles for the swim and lower limbs for the cycle and run. It also provides a much needed rest opportunity for my knees and body systems as my training volume / distances steadily increase and due to the fact I am starting to look like Marlon Dingle out of Emmerdale a few weight sessions will do me good!

Tuesday was my Endurance run day and as enthusiastically as normal I planned my 11 mile run route the night before and all was set……apart from my alarm…so after a long night with our 3 week old daughter my alarm didn’t go off and I woke up at the time I hoped to start running following breakfast, commute to work etc etc….the run still went ahead and it forced me into a more realistic IRONMAN fuel plan (running on near empty!)… I carried 2 SIS energy gels on the run to help fuel me to the finish after only having a banana in the car on the way to work. I took the gels at the 5 mile and 8.5 mile mark and they gave me the usual increased energy rush and incentive to plod on. The SIS nutritional products I have used on my bike and runs have been brill but as POWERBAR are to provide nutrition for IRONMAN UK I am aware of the need to switch to the products they will provide on the day to ensure I can tolerate them during prolonged and intense exercise and also remove the need to load myself up with my own preferred supplier on the day….looking at the POWERBAR products online they do look equally impressive but not as easily available off the shelves of UK stores.

My run totalled 11 miles and started in the city centre before running as far out of it as possible before it was time to loop around. It felt fairly comfortable for the majority of the run with some good mile splits being recorded on my Garmin run watch but when I start to drop down the steep hills I run up in the early miles of the run I talk myself into believing running uphill is more enjoyable than the discomfort of down-hills….sure this bizarre mind set will change but once the muscles become fatigued joints start to ache and hot spots on your feet start to nag the downhill sections just accentuate all these factors so you start to run like a rickety old man.

Wednesdays session involved a 25km spin on the exercise bike on a minimal level 16 intensity with increased cadence for 5 x 1 minute intervals and 5 x 1 minute level 18 intervals which forced me to ride standing due to the stiff resistance on the pedals. The intervals were not carried out at any set time, just when I got bored or felt the need to give it some hammer!

Thursday was my higher intensity run day and woke up to a cold, frosty morning but was very pleased to see that my Park Run was going to be sunlit…massively contrasting to complete darkness of my run only weeks before. The suns heat provided relief from the biting frost whenever I broke the cover of the trees shadows and it seemed to energise me nicely…..hopefully spring is finally on its way! The beauty of the morning in the almost desolate park was broken by a scallywag of a man walking through the park smoking drugs and laughing at me….what contrasts ……..it was like coming across a turd on the red carpet….this shouldn’t surprise me though…I have refrained from mentioning this many times before for fear of digressing from my training blog but the amount of people who appear at first site to be enjoying the outdoors like I am when I train but as I get nearer are actually smoking drugs at the same time is getting increasingly common….as I was already gagging for air during this faster pace run, which included a series of 8 hill sprints (5 at 100m) and 3 at about ¼ mile distance all run at good pace, it was not the most welcoming cloud of air to be running through!

On Friday I had another gym session – 150 press ups, 4 x 40 sit ups, leg press and leg extensions on drop sets to failure / fatigue and did a 14km spin on the exercise bike on a high gear throughout with even higher gear spins for 1 minute every 4 mins which resulted in a good half hour blast / sweat. I also got back to the university pool for the first time in a long while after experiencing a bad tummy every time I have ever swam there but as its closer to my desk than where I park my car its convenience cannot be ignored….I managed to catch it at a quiet time and had a lane to myself in which I blasted off 100 lengths / 2.5km in record time and suffered no stomach cramps afterwards….maybe its because I have just stopped swallowing as much water as I once did!

Saturday was a rest / family day in prep for my endurance ride and run off the bike on the Sunday which was due to start 0630 am but due to another broken nights sleep…not due to my little girl…..but the all night party going on next door I started a little later but even at 0730 little traffic was on the road and there was a definite feel of spring in the air. I completed a 36 mile / 58 km loop taking in 2,900 feet of ascent and a good mix of flats and descents thrown in too. Each ride I carry out I am feeling more confident of my ability and understanding of the discipline. During todays ride I tried to keep off the breaks and have more confidence in the bike and my handling, decided not to panic and shift to my lowest gears every time I hit a slight incline which simply increases your cadence so you look like your trying to sprint on ice and don’t actually get anywhere…instead I kept in a higher gear which means a lower cadence at the expense of a little more push required in the pedals but you tear up the hills much quicker like this. My hands / triceps didn’t feel like they had been drilling through steel all day as I had relaxed a lot more and tried not to hold on as hard for dear life every time the wind started to whistle through my hair and I crept over 30 m.p.h.

The intense spins I carry out in the shorter cycling sessions in my training week definitely help simulate the parts of the ride that require an increased effort from myself. The high gears is typical of whats used on flats and downhills and the higher gear / standing intervals simulate the increased force required to shift the pedals up cheeky inclines. My legs are feeling fresher each time I ride and the mars bars, bananas and energy / hydration juice I consumed on the ride went down well and  definitely set me up for my run off the bike….

……As soon as the bike was secured in my house I quickly changed to my run gear and said hello and bye again to my girls and was out the door….so quick that I forgot my energy gels!!.....I cracked on regardless and did a fairly cheeky 3.7 mile run to get the legs used to firing off the back of the bike stage. Today felt much better / easier than my last brick run once I was a mile or so into my run although as mentioned before I still don’t seem to run with the same conviction as I do on a normal day but guess that’s to be expected and atleast many other beginners will look just as uncomfortable on Ironman UK competition day.

On reflection of where I am at with 5 months to go…..most  IRONMAN training programs generally start now so I have got about a 1500 mile of training head start on some beginners…..I am still learning about styles, techniques, skills of running, cycling and swimming but that is good and what is keeping me hungry and motivated. The combination of my desire to learn and improve and my hard work and commitment to my training is hopefully setting me up nicely for the journey towards Ironman UK. I am buoyed by the fact that spring is starting to manifest itself in milder temps, more daylight hours etc and this will surely only facilitate a better and more flexible training environment / schedule for me.

With nearly 800 hits on my training blog I want to thank my family, friends and supporters once again for the kind words, emails and donations it really is mind blowing and catapulting me in to my training with even more focus and desire. Please feel free to comment with whatever you like and if you are an intrigued beginner like me reading this please ask me any questions you like as I have millions that I google every week……Happy training to you all!

22 Weeks To Go!

Last Sundays Olympic triathlon distance bike (40km) straight into Run (10km) gave me a small taster of the demands IRONMAN will have on my body when it wiped every last ounce of energy from me but it also cracked the hard skin on my heels all the way through to the dermis and made every step since feel like I was walking on glass – so…. I had a well earnt rest day on Monday and spent some time rubbing the tennis ball into my tight and achy muscles / ligaments something which is proving to be a godsend in my training routine and significantly improving recovery.

I donned the trendy Speedos for a swim on Tuesday. It was particularly enjoyable as the pool was quiet, no lane ropes were out jamming people together into tight lanes so it had a slight feel of open water as my lengths went across the deep dive pool. I notched up 100 lengths / 2.5km whilst continually toying with my technique to see what seem to propel me through the water best and most effortlessly – This along with YouTube videos is how I have gone from someone who couldn’t do front crawl 8 months ago to someone who can confidently bang out length after length – a challenge in itself but one that I know will make long open water distance swimming much quicker and more efficient.. To break the boredom of continual length swimming I often race other swimmers (not that they now they are in a race…..which helps me win every time! ha) and also moan to myself in my head about how filthy the pool floor is how annoying that hair clip is that still shines at me every time I swim past it in the depths of the dive pool – yes its still there!

With the heal on the mend but still painful to even walk on I got on the Spinning Bikes and clocked up 25.5km on a continual high gear / low cadence ride trying to simulate requirements of flat and downhill road sections. I included about 6 x 1 minute highest gear spins which involved me standing for parts to move the pedals through the high gear and to add an extra blast to my leg muscles. I finished the session with some drop set leg weights (leg press and leg extensions) on a fairly light weight doing between 10-15reps on a set weight before fatiguing and lowering the weight and repeating until the legs are fully zapped.

I had another rare rest day as I enjoyed the final days of my paternity leave and my heels were pretty much ready for a run. I had spied an opportunity while the wife was talking babies with her sister in law and quickly launched myself out the door for an 8 mile run on a new route taking in a good number of hills on the way. The heels were forcing a slightly un natural run style which made the calves quite tight and painful throughout but mile splits stayed into the 7-8 minutes and only into 8 mins plus on the ascents so was pleased the time off had not had too much affect. I took on-board an energy gel at the 5 mile point and this seem to give me an extra boost to finish the final 3 miles, most of which was uphill, fairly strongly. I remembered that a run the week before was my first in just shorts and t-shirt for ages but today we was back to flurries of snow and full skins, hat and gloves – not spring just yet.

As per the norm this winter whenever I plan to ride the s##t weather kicks in so as I awoke from another night of broken sleep courtesy of my gorgeous new daughter I wasn’t surprised to see the floor white with the fine snow that was also still falling….but I wasn’t rolling over too easily today and set out regardless with the aim of a long quality ride so 3hrs 30 mins later I had cracked my longest ride so far in my my IRONMAN quest at 50 miles, climbed over 3,500ft in this distanceand recorded my fastest recorded speed at 36.5 m.p.h and highest average speed of 14.3 m.p.h I was a tired but happy man…my shorter training rides / spinning sessions appeared to reaping some reward. Similar to my new strokes learnt with the swimming it wasn’t until last month that I had actually sat on a bike since I was at school and again I’m developing fitness for a new activity that I need to take from scratch to extreme in a less than a year – another challenge in itself.

 For those that think sitting on a bike is as simple as it sounds I have also learnt that it is more than just fitness that will ensure I achieve 112miles in 8 hours during IRONMAN UK, keeping myself on my bike clipped into my pedals is an art form in itself for a beginner like me,  the importance of the right gear choice on ascents, descents and flats makes the difference between good speeds and the end of my IRONMAN dreams on the say, route choice on the many roads I endure due to surface dangers ,which today included, snow, ice, a dead cat, numerous items of rubbish, millions of pot holes that have left my hands feeling like a miners and still painfully numb from the 210 minutes of vibrations and this on top of learning to anticipate the disregard of other road users / pedestrians is a real eye opener for this discipline – each ride I am learning more and improving – I even took over another rider going up a hill today- woohoo – haha

I want to finish by thanking the continued generosity of those donating to my chosen charity the Make A wish Foundation and also for your kind words of support on my justgiving page or when I bump into you in the supermarket etc etc . Despite this being a challenge I am also doing for myself I have a lot of time to think when I am banging out the many training miles each day of the week and it is you special people that share a space in my thoughts when I am looking for that extra ounce of energy on the hills and who make getting out of bed in the dark and training in the snow and ice cold winds even more worthwhile.

Tomorrow I am back to the grind and an even more demanding routine…..paternity leave ends, the alarm is set for 05:30am and I aim to run about 7-8 miles before the gym opens for a resistance session.....

23 Weeks To Go 

The latest training week following on from the birth of my second daughter involved slightly more training whilst still trying to be a good daddy/husband and despite 2 further days disruption caused by SNOW on the training routes around my house. I did however manage to clock up  43 bike miles /19 run miles and 1.5 miles swim miles.

The first training session of the week was in the pool and involved a steady 100 lengths (2500m/1.5 miles) in my trendy speedos completed in the hour - during this session that was classed as 'length swimming' on the pool programme - no slow/fast lane or swim direction signs were placed so it doubled as good prep for IRONMAN in that I was constantly overtaking, dodging and steaming straight into other swimmers - one particular guy seemed to be enjoying this a little too much - not only was he swimming a very broad breastroke, he also had a neck wider than my waist and seemed to be taking up the whole of the swimming lane and flinging his legs and arms into me every time we passed - the anger building inside me after 3 full on collisions only made me swim harder and after lapping the monster several times he accepted he wasnt the pool daddy and stopped kamikazying into me! My crazy open water swim friends started swimming at my open water training lake this week but despite eagerly wanting to join them - with water temps still only just above freezing at the lake thats 1200ft above sea level - I will be leaving it a few more weeks / months / seasons yet ;-)

I had gone 4 days into the training week and had only managed to train once (and that was in the pool) due to the s##t weather - Thursday marked the start of some unusually fine and mild weather and a 7 mile run was the perfect remedy to ease my restlessness. It was the first run for aslong as I could remember where I didnt need to wear my skins to keep me warmer. I avergaed 8 minute miles on a rolling route which was pleasing and felt fresh and strong on the cheeky ascents. I never stop or walk or gather my breath or relieve the pain from my muscles on any runs unless it is to stretch a niggle, this is more of a mental strengthening thing for me and learning not to give in or question my own bodies abilities - not disrespecting the need to listen to the body but the human body is an amazing machine and it will keep going aslong as your mind tells it too - the Royal Marines instilled such qualities into me when I was younger and will continue to be relevant in todays physical and mental challenges towards IRONMAN UK.

I managed to get onto my Road Bike for the first time in over a month and banged out 18 miles on a local 2 looped route involving some sharp ascents and descents and a mix of short rolling stretches which all got my bikehandling / gear choices back up to scratch and was definately good for my confidence in averaging 14.1 m.p.h which is a better pace in working towards whats needed to ensure I meet IRONMAN UK time cut offs. I also managed to achieve my highest recorded speed at 33.6mph which is not that rapid BUT as I have said before on a very light bike where you feel every bump on your arse and when you have the wind whistling into your face you feel like evil kanievel!

The final training day of the week I spied a belting opportunity on a rare family free afternoon in some beauty weather to get a good session so I decided I was going to replicate the Olympic Triathlon Bike and Run Distances back to back.... so with my arse still killing from the ride 2 days before I set off to achieve 40km/25miles on the bike - averaging a good pace again and getting used to hydrating and fuelling on the move I completed the bike in 1hr 43mins taking in 2000ft of ascent - I then went straight into my 10km /6.2 mile run after a quick change and necking of a SIS hydro-energy gel - This was the first time I had run at any distance off the bike and it was a fairly big learning curve - The first mile felt like I was on another planet - I wasnt out of breath but my body felt very very heavey and almost like gravity was trying to push me into the floor - very strange feeling but something I will have to deal with on a far greater scale and for a longer amount of time during IRONMAN UK for sure. I also noticed that as little niggles (most of them phantom pains) manifested themselves and muscles tightened my natural running motion typical of normal runs was just not as easily possible as I adapted to try and make each step more comfortable and less painful!

The 6 mile course had a fair share of climbing in it and when I crawled to the finish after 51 minutes I was made very aware of how far I still have to go to become IRONMAN ready -The wife showed no sympathy and said if this is how tired I am after 50km then I had no chance in my IRONMAN -Thanks Wife- BUT By my own admission I was pretty knackered and the 3 hours of continual physical and mental exertion had definately taken a lot out of me but looking at the bigger picture I realise that this is not even a quarter of the distance required of me on IRONMAN UK - At this stage of my training and with 6 months to push alarm bells are not ringing but today I got very small taste of the endurance required to achieve the immense challenge I have set myself. 

To end on a positive note completing the bike/run stage of an Olympic Distance triathlon was an excellent training session in itself and in the words of Robert Collier Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out - I will be ensuring that the sums in question add up to IRONMAN success and that the days ahead are geared towards preparing as effectively as possible to ensure I give myself the best possible chance of doing this.

24 Weeks To Go / Birth of Isla-Rose Bradwell!

This training week was light on the miles but was all about the dramatic arrival of my second beautiful daughter making it a very memorable training week to remember on my IRONMAN journey. 

The training week started on a dark Monday morning with a steady 5 mile run in a very strong ice cold wind that made each gust painful to bear. Due to the 45km I had done on the bike the day before I decided to leave the exercise bike alone after the run and following a good stretch, 150 press ups, some core exercises (planks), I did some light resistance weights on the legs in its place doing drop sets to fatique the muscles as much as possible.

Tuesday was my endurance run day and started with the usual routine of the alarm going off at 05:30am and peering out of the window to check the weather..... it was white over with snow and heavey snow was still falling - I should have got the message and taken the hint at this point.....most people would have got back in bed but I cracked on to work regardless but soon realised the paths / roads and weather would not accomodate the 10.4 mile route I had planned. I decided I would put myself through the mental torture of running 15km on the treadmill in the gym BUT 10km into my run the mobile phone started to ring...... now emergency / actions on procedures had been put in place for the birth of our next baby - I had been running about with a 'discrete' bum bag for my phone incase she should go into labour when I was out  training and my wife was strictly informed only to ring me if she was actually going into labour.......SO in a slight panic I answered my phone whilst running fairly quickly on the treadmill which resulted in me being completely spun about and spat off the back of the machine to the amusement of the other gym goers....The wife then told me to get home quick as she was in labour and contractions were close and strong already! 

I battled rush hour traffic and falling snow to make it home to find the wife screaming her way through another contraction in the bath and her sister Jane on the phone to the hospital and telling me to prepare the bed for a home birth!?!....luckily....we somehow managed to get her from the bath - dress her and get her to hospital without the need for my delivery skills....my attempts to settle the wifes anxiety in the car with classic FM was quickly met with "Turn that S##t off too!'" haha. On arrival at hospital, unbelievably there was a free parking spot right next to the maternity ward door and a good job too as a couple of contractions in the lift later my wife was on the hospital bed with babies head already showing - moments later my wonderful wife had given birth to our second gorgeous daughter Isla-Rose Bradwell.

I treated myself to a single days from rest from exercise before I enjoyed a rare afternoon run in a some even rarer tranquil weather conditions - I cracked 7 miles in the hour on a linear loop which is similar to that of that final 18 miles of IRONMAN UK. A number of family and friend visits to see our girl had meant I was well fuelled up with biscuits and cakes for a long awaited road bike ride on the weekend but AGAIN...the snow and sleet re-appeared to frustratingly get in the way of this. Instead I chose to run on the slushy roads in the falling snow / sleet and battled my way along the valley road from King Cross to Mytholmroyd AND Back in exactly an hour and another 7.5 miles of good mile splits logged.

The weeks training only consisted of 26 miles of running which in comparison to any other training week was very tame. But this week was all about the birth of my new daughter and she will certainly add to my mental strength and energy while I reflect on life during my long runs and rides and especially so on IRONMAN UK competition day. All my family, friends support and sponsors mean a lot and continue to fuel my hunger to succeed and endure the dark, miserable winter mornings.

With a new addition to the Bradwell family training time is going to have to be even more carefully and considerately planned to ensure a healthy balance for all but as Herbert Swope once said "the recipe for failure is trying to please everybody"..... I have already realised I will have to be selfish at times and this can't change because I am still chasing my dreams but the day I hope to catch up with them by completing IRONMAN UK 2013 is getting nearer and nearer!

25 Weeks To Go! 

Following on from last weeks blog where I was in debate about whether to don the old school speedos for my endurance swim session or not ......well......I decided I would go with the performance option and put the speedos on in a packed changing room and as nobody started laughing I kept them on and wandered to the shower area where 3 young ish lads were just coming out from the fun swim and the more vocal of the lads looked at me and shouted 'Speedo's' in a piss taking manor - It was too late to turn round and he was too young to be given a clip so I walked out into the busy pool like it was my usual swim attire - I never got arrested for wearing them - Nobody complained and I felt extremely slick during the 132 length / 3300metre swim and will definately be wearing them for all future swims - Beware!

Monday morning started with the usual 5.5 mile medium intensity run quickly followed by a 10 mile continual intense cycle on level 15-16 throughout with no speed / higher gear intervals. It would definately be more beneficial to do these disciplines the other way round Bike to Run but as my work gym doesn't open until 0730 and I'm up ready to train chomping at the bit way way before then this is my best alternative.

 I continue to push the disance on my Tuesday endurance run and clocked 10.5 miles this week in relative ease - It also included a couple of thousand feet of ascent taking in both steep and long gradual hills aswell - I had my usual wee stop at Buttershaw Tesco's and zig zagged my way through many of Bradfords housing estates where I had a good little race with a young lad who took over me while I had stopped to guzzle my SIS hydro energy gel at the 6 mile point and to the young lads despair this stuff is like giving popeye spinach and I painlessly but very cooly caught him back up then procedded to leave him in my wake  - good to see some of the youth of today getting involved in phys at stupid hours too though!

 The near half marathon distance was completed BEFORE work and as I steadily jogged back towards college where many students were making there way to the different campuses I was rewarded for my mornings efforts by mis-timing running past one horrible unaware youth who spat as I approached his shoulder and I got treated to a splattering of morning greb down my arm - if it wasnt for the fact I was in a good mood being in the last hundred metres of this monsterous run I would have rinsed the sweat off my socks into his mouth :-)

On my Thursday 6 mile high tempo park run I achieved my highest recorded heart rate so far at 187 b.p.m during some repeat hill sprints - I was purposefully trying to achieve maximum heart rate and was monitoring my Garmin watch to see how high I could get it but trying to achieve such intensity levels is not very pleasant believe me but to work out my own personal heart rate training zones such activities are part of the IRONMAN journey in ensuring I dont over exert myself in the wrong zones or it could spell a painful and premature end to my IRONMAN dreams.

I am becoming aware of the fact I don't want to burn myself out too quickly or peak too early in my prep for IRONMAN UK and have benefitted form some sports massage experts at work who have given me stretches and self-massages to do with my new best friend...the tennis ball...and it has relieved many little nags and twinges I have felt during training sessions. Ive not really mentioned much on my training blogs but I spend a good ten to 15 minutes stretching all major muscles and more each day to reduce muscle tightness, risk of injury and increase flexibility. As part of my ongoing routine to ensure no training days are lost I regularly remove hard skin from my feet to reduce incidences of blisters and this along with my Nike anti blister socks and karrimor ankle run socks I have not had one single blister from my hundreds of miles running so far!

I did however recieve my first injury of the IRONMAN training schedule this week....whilst executing 4 x 50 sit ups on a skimpy floor mat I gave myself a large friction burn on my arse that has made sitting down feel like ive got a thistle in my grots....good job I dont sit down much!! I have included a few hundred press ups, tricep dips, pull ups and leg weights into my schedule this last week and aim to keep this up to ensure a new angle to muscular endurance training (high reps / low resistance)

Due to the recent deluges of snow over the last few weekends I was really looking forward to getting on the road bike today but waking upto my windows being rattled by the wind and rain I admitted defeat yet again despite the wife mocking me for being scared of a bit of wind!....this is rich from the same lady who sat in her car for an hour waiting for me to get home from work to walk her into the house as it was too windy to walk on her own the other day!!..this aside......I have totalled nearly 70 miles / 112 km on the EXERCISE bike this week which is a torturing test of boredom / endurance in itself - This broke down to a 45km endurance cycle on level 12 of 16 throughout and some 10 mile spins onwith intervals of sprints, single legs and high gear combinations.

The next training week will be taking one day at a time with it coinciding with the final week of the missus pregnancy - she has just informed me that my routine will have to change when our baby girl arrives.....I agreed in principal....but ended the conversation with yes it probably will...but NOT MUCH! ;-)

Quote and words of inspiration for the week from BRUCE LEE via Paul Scott.......

'If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life, There are no limits, there are only plateaus...but you must not stay on these plate...you must go beyond them'

26 Weeks To Go!

After giving it massive last Sunday night about the weeks poor weather barely getting in the way of my training I woke up to the most snow I could ever remember on Monday morning. The first selfish thought on seeing this was obviously around how I was possibly going to be able to train!? The quick realisation that I wasn't going to be able too was softened by an almost unheard of email from work to say it was closing for the day...so an unexpected extension of the weekend...bonus time with the family and no option but to rest....but as I can't sit still for very long these days and after building my little girls first snowman I was in the mood for some phys and as my little girl was posted through the front door to thaw out I got the shovel and cleared the whole streets paths / steps....good deed done for the day and a cheeky blast on the hammys and lower back at the same time especially since the shovel I mentioned was more like a dust pan!

 So by Tuesday there was just as much snow about but as the snow ploughs had piled more snow on to the road verges and the footpaths were still deep in snow, to achieve my scheduled endurance run the only place to run was in the middle of the road....not the safest option especially so in Bradford city centre so this lead to the infliction of the most boring and emotionally draining 75 minutes of running on the treadmill....clocking up 9 miles / 14.5km. I had to try my best not to put the speed too high to get the distance achieved as quick as possible as I was way getting way above the heart rate zone for most of the session which was defeating the aim of the training session. The gym treadmill was faced directly into a plain gym wall and this coupled with the  pain of watching the red treadmills time and distance counters tick by was nothing short of torture. The ONLY bit of satisfaction came from watching several gym users complete their pitiful run sessions on the treadmill next to me as I my session outlasted them all - not there was competion like that on any of their minds but it felt like the weak battery v Duracell advert and I knew which one I was!

I gave up on waiting for the snow to melt by Thursday and attempted my 6 mile higher tempo run in the completely untreated Horton Park which was fairly challenging - like running on a frozen lake in places and in thick sand in others when I got the untrodden snow filled paths - I tried where possible to pick the pace up and also managed 3 long uphill 'efforts' (attempted sprints) under the interesting gaze of a young fox that was sticking out of the snow like a tomatoe in sugar...It scratched the snow and laid down to hide everytime I ran passed it only 15metres away and was obviously getting as much entertainment out of watching me as I was the fox - our world is very different if you get up and out to train early this is just another example.

 My road bike remains gleaming and oiled in my hallway for another week due to the weather but as the snow melts today I'm already excited about racking some long awaited hilly road miles next weekend if the white stuff doesn't return...so for another week my arse was glued to the exercise bike....still boring but in racking up 23 miles / 37km I cranked up the intensity and did intervals pretty much trhoughout the two sessions minimising the rest (easy spin) time and went through the  high sitting gear, high gear standing, single leg medium gear, and some high cadence spins on a fairly steady gear some of these intervals done alone some back to back and in combination with each other - it certainly makes the clock tick faster and gives you a more effective blast of the legs....Ive also tried to incorporate a short steady jog to get the legs firing after each bike session...not a brick run as such but need to build more bike to run sessions in during coming weeks / months as ultimately this is what I am going to be expectd to do for IRONMAN on a massive, massive scale!

Today is going to be an endurance swim after what seems like weeks of short technique sessions in the pool I am hoping to sustain efective technique and long efficient strokes for about 2 miles / 3.2km or 128 lengths of Halifax pool -  The only debate about this session is 'Do I' or 'Will I' wear my speedo trunks...Kat says she is not letting me in the baby pool after if I do and will pretend she doesnt know me!....once upon a time I would have laughed at the prospect of donning such 'pest' like attire BUT they dont fall down on every push away from the wall, have limited drag and are what crazy IRONMEN wear...surely?? Will let ya know how brave I was in next weeks blog!

Lets see how many of those extremely keen people at the start of January, feeling guilty about over indulgences at Xmas, are still going to the pool today! ha. For those reading this with a smile on their face who fall into this category - words of wisdom from Confucius:-

 'It doesn't matter how slow you go so long as you don't STOP!

27 Weeks To Go!

Despite experiencing the worst weather winter has thrown at me yet, it only got in the way of one training session.....all other sessions I threw myself headlong into and despite skating my way on many icey routes and trudging through tons of snow I achieved everything I would have of on a warm sunny week and remained unscathed with the exception of some chapped lips!

The week started with a steady 6 mile  run on the streets of Bradford on a route which is becoming too familiar...same people at the bus stops getting in my way....same workmen staring at me in disbelief as I trundle past in my shorts as they sit in their workvans hoods up, gloves on not wanting to start their days....same smells of asian cuisine oozing from the Mumtaz restaurant as I pass...tomorrow I may do something totally crazy....and do the route in reverse....trying to rack miles up in a city is a challenge in itself and like being trapped in a rabbit warren at times.

The monotiny of what I see,smell or hear was broken on my Thursday morning higher tempo run when at 0630  when I was only minutes into my run when I heard some crazed man trying to kick / punch / elbow / knee a terraced house door down whilst shouting wildly in polish...the excitement of such unexpected entertainment on my run actually made me stop to be nosey...the door eventually opened and the even less happy occupant dragged the outraged guy down his garden path and launched him back through his already open van door.....the guy stopped shouting and the tennant fairly calmly returned to his house.....completely bemused by witnessing this bizarre episode I could only guess this man was providing some kind of unwelcome morning alarm call OR he got the wrong house and wasnt expecting a big monster to answer the door. I continued my session and achieved highest recorded heart rate on my 3x 250m hill sprint interval section of my run at 185 b.p.m...not a zone I hope to visit on IRONMAN but all part of my push for improved performance. 

My 9 mile endurance run this week was completed within 80 mins at a steady and continual 8-9 minute mile pace up some big climbs and without a lie achieved relatively enjoyably and easily. Due to the intensity of my training week Im not going to push the distance of these runs much futher than this at the moment but my run progress to date I am very happy with.

My weekly endurance bike session was the only one to fall victim to the weather I decided I want to live to see the birth of my imminently expected girl and didnt want to risk the combination of ice,slush, snow, puddles and sunday drivers so I racked up 25 miles / 40km on the indoor bike with a combination of seated high gear 1 minute intervals, standing high gear 1 minute intervals, 30 second individual leg high gear intervals and the rest on steady gear spin....this session I also repeated 3 other times this week totalling a further 30 miles.

My training week broke down to 55 miles cycling, 23 miles running and a mere 0.5 miles swimming....resistance sessions (press ups, sit ups, pull ups, leg press, calf raises, leg extensions / curls) are also finding there way into my already hectic and increasing training schedule...every little helps. My resting heart rate has now been recorded as low as 46 b.p.m and have lost the best part of a stone in weight 9 (fat :-) and muscle :-( lost). Visual proof training is taking its toll on my changing body and its systems.

The question of why a person gets themselves involved in an ultra distance triathlon like IRONMAN has been a question posed to me so many times by many different people from my cheeky nephews to some very athletic individuals who just cannot comprehend taking on the physical and mental challenge of completing an IRONMAN - In my own mind it is simple....it is something I dreamed of doing in my lifetime.........and it is something I just have to do now....I have never been so focused and committed to achieving this goal.

I recently watched a youtube clip called Cycle Dreams about some crazy guys competing in a monster endurace cycle event across America and it is suggested in this that Ultra endurance athletes often have something missing from their lives......well despite the inspiration I got from watching the video....I can certainly confirm that nothing is missing from my life and have little more than 5 seconds in any day in which to actually sit on my arse...reflect on life before its bed time and another family/ work/ training day begins...so in short I could definately do with chilling out more....not taking on a training commitment which exceeds more hours per week than an additional part time job. Time management has never been so active in my life right now.

I also watched an advert for a new sitcom this week where some guys wife was mocking her husband about showing signs of mid-life crisis and commented 'You will be telling me your going to complete an IRONMAN next'!ha....my wifes head and mine instantly snapped towards each other and she smirked before I told her to politely F.Off....I'm defo not middle aged.... yet....defo not in crisis...yet and I'm doing this for ME and to satisfy my desires I seek challenges in life....this one is just a BIG example!

28 Weeks To Go!

Todays training week finished with a 40 mile endurance ride taking in some monster hills between Halifax and Keighley onto Haworth then over the moors to Hebden Bridge along the valley road to Halifax then back upto the very top of Mount Tabor through Mixenden back up to Queensbury and back down to the very welcome sight of home.

Despite having a massive amount of self belief and confidence in what I am hoping to achieve in August 2013 I found that every time my watch bleeped to tell me another mile was complete  I was asking myself would this speed / effort be good enough for Ironman UK???...when I was zooming downhill holding on for dear life and cracking 2 minute miles I was buzzing at averaging 30m.ph when I was climbing out of Haworth to the very top of the world above Hebden Bridge I was nearer to 9 minute miles (7 miles an hour)for what seemed like ages I was debating getting off my bike, putting on my shoulder and running as I reckoned I would have been quicker!!

To meet the Ironman UK splits I have to average about 14 m.p.h for 112 miles for over 8 hours and in this their is 5,300 feet of climbing to combat!?!...so back to today...I wanted to try ensure that I was continually fuelling / hydrating whilst on the move and whilst battling against hills and desperate attempts to improve my average speed to an Ironman level that at many points today was on another planet light years away. I did to an extent practice this process fairly well for the first hour or so but then let the focused mind wander onto going as fast as I could downhill off the cold moors onto the valley road back towards home and I definately was made to pay...by king cross I was feeling fairly blown...and then decided to climb back upto the very top of Mount Tabor and out of Mixenden to the the A650 and by this point I found my energy levels quickly diminishing and the onset of pain / fatigue in the quads setting in....I had neglected the things that would have prevented this...replacing lost fluid... replacing lost calories and keeping a pace / effort / gear that doesn't brink on anaerobic activity...all of these factors could very easily put an early end to my Ironman dreams on that all important day in August remembering todays ride was only 1/3rd of what I will do on the day AND I will have to be hydrated, fuelled and as ready as practically possible to attack a FULL 26.2 mile MARATHON RUN!

Tomorrow is Gods day of rest....I intend to do just that.......for most of the day...a swim at 0900 in the morn, big breakfast at mums and a 2 hour sports massage for volunteering to be the guinea pig on a training course should set me up nicely for the new training week.

This week I have ran over 20 miles and cycled over 80 miles - sounds impressive but its not any where near the total Ironman distance I must complete in one 17hour day.

Today I learnt that I still have a very long way to go despite the stupid amount of time and effort I have and will continue to put into my training schedule that includes hours of spinning each week and all out efforts, high gear efforts and single leg sprints on the bike...but on the plus side if Ironman was easy it wouldnt be held in the prestige that it is and I for one wouldnt be working my arse off now to achieve something so easily achieveable.

Today was also the first time I did not fall off my bike! :-)

I want to thank the people who have sent supportive emails / messages and sponsors this week it really does make all the early mornings, litres of sweat, pain when I train much easier to bare and the Make A Wish Foundation are doing well out if it too. I am glad to hear that I am inspiring others to exercise, sign up for events they also thought were beyond them but I am just working very hard to achieve one of my personal dreams........every body dreams ....most wait for them to hopefully come their way one nice sunny day......but some people actively hunt their dreams down and beat them into merciless submission......Im still chasing mine but when I catch it up, Im going to do exactly that!

29 Weeks To Go!

During the last week of my xmas hols I finally got on the Road Bike that had been sat in my hallway for the last 2 months while I finally got all the equipment needed to hit the roads..it took me nearly 2 frustrating hours to put 2 new 4 season tyres on despite the assistance of youtube tutorials and less than helpful comments from the missus at the side of me saying IRONMAN would be over before you managed to change your tyre if you got a flat!!..Once fitted the CO2 air fill pump inflated my tyres in a fraction of a second......and following a number of sizing adjustments by a bike whiz colleague Mark Barker I was ready for the 'intro ride'....which felt very much like my first driving lesson due to not being on a bike since I was about 10 and with 30 gears to play with and new clip in pedals to get my head round which only release feet in a less than natural movement...I quickly found out the hard way as I tried to put my foot down following a stand off with an oncoming vehicle I hit the deck in a clumsy pile outside a pub landing on my knee before my feet released from the clips....a few seconds too late....yes it hurt ....but as I was now attracting a load of bemused onlookers so I got up and off as quick as possible!

2 days of icing my knee and ZERO phys I set put on my first solo road and decided I would start with the longest uphill stretch in England that totals 5 miles which took me from an overcast day at the bottom through fog /cloud half way up to bright sunshine and blue skies above the cloud line as I got on to the moorland road. Then it was time for 3 miles downhill where I quickly learnt that your arse soaks up every bump on the road and that you go very fast very quickly on the whippet shaped bike....I definately nearly died after a mile but fortunately came across a lorry parking bay which allowed me a few valuable inches of extra road to bring the bike under control...at nearly 33 m.p.h...which sounds a trickle for a car....but believe me I felt like I was flying and I had very limited control of the bike whilst trying to corner on a gritty eroded road surace! - 2 miles later on turning on my loop I tried to turn around on a hill and realised the high downhill gear was defo the wrong one to go back up it and couldnt actually move my feet and repeated the drop to the floor act like a bag of s##t  - fortunately landing on to a traffic free road...another lesson learnt....was this the point I also lost my bank card out my pocket???....probably! 25 Miles, 2,300ft of climbing and 2 long hours later I arrived back at the car....the planned brick Run straight after was put on hold.....until next time!

I used my Garmin 110 forerunner watch and heart monitor which was mint and also practiced the fuelling / hydrating drills on a regular basis which will be absolutely essential on IRONMAN event day. (Bananas, Snicker Flapjacks and SIS Electrolyte/Energy Juice gave me no problems stomach wise and was averaging some intense heart rates so these could well get a play on IRONMAN day if training continues to go well fuelling / hydrating off them.

I also cracked a 7 mile and a 10 mile run both on new fairly hilly routes using my calf guards for the first time and these felt fine despite feeling really tight when I put them on and looking a little bit camp with long socks on...hopefully these will assist the venous return up my lanky legs on IRONMAN competition day.

Quote of the week sent to me by Paul Scott the sisters man very poignant to anyone training for a crazy goal / dream.....taken from Rocky IV

'Your going to have to go through hell to get there, worse than anynightmare you've ever dreamed of but when its over I know you will be the one still standing....you know what you have to do...DO IT!'

30 Weeks To Go!

The day following my solo calder valley half marathon was xmas eve and I celebrated this with 120 lengths of Halifax Pool - My main concern before this session was wether or not swallowing the pool water would affect my ability to eat as much as humanly possible on xmas day. Necking a can of coke immediately after this pool slurping session ensured stomach aches / s##ts were avoided after this session! -thank god!

The pool session was purely endurance based and included no specific intervals just focus on continual length swimming and trying to make my technique as efficient as possible. The only barriers to this session seemed to come from the excitement of xmas creating a complete disregard among other swimmers for the slow-medium-fast lanes of the pool - I can only liken this effect to the M62 were people just get comfy in there preferred lane and just aimlessly crawl along without any regard for anybody elses purpose in trying to get somewhere as fast as they can. Now despite training to become part of the endurance elite I am certainly not a speed demon (yet! ;-) but there are many a swimmer who impersonate what I can only describe as 'massive jelly fish' that sink between pulses of movement and dont actually seem to get anywhere!? - pure entertainment but frustrating at the same time!

I followed this swim up with another 100 lengths on Saturday morning where I swam a mile continually then broke the final half mile or so down in to 5 x 100m interval efforts and 10 x 50m interval efforts with about 20-30 secs rest between intervals- This broke the boredom of the first 40 minutes swimming but technique became a bit sloppy as I tried to thrash my way down the pool whilst fatigued and this only lead to bouts of cramp and more pool water being swallowed.

Following a big fuelling up on xmas day I cracked a 9 mile run boxing day and a 7 mile run a couple of days later with some good times / paces on some hilly routes around queensbury and north halifax. The wife got me a Garmin Forerunner 110 GPS watch and heart monitor for xmas (but due to accidentally purchasing the womens pink version) I have not had the pleasure of using yet but according to run legend Matty Nowell this training tool will only make me even more obsessed with training miles but will massively improve training intensities and accurate logging of run / bike miles. - I currently use RunKeeper on my phone to log runs and although this has proved excellent the app has failed on me mid session a number of times now which has quite simply pi##ed me off!

This week I spent '0' hours on the bike which didn't actually bother me....50 miles a week on an exercise bike to date is not easily missed!...however...... I did spend several hours gearing myself up to attack my bike training by shopping at the very impressive leisure lakes bikes in Bury (www.leisurelakesbikes.com) - Massive thanks to Mark Noy (Company Director) who has kindly provided me with an awesome road bike to sample / introduce me to the road - In return I racked up a big finance bill and left the shop with everything needed for the winter/spring and summer season leading upto IRONMAN UK in August 2013 and a massive appetite to get into the lycras and get some serious road training miles racked up.

I will finish with an inspiring quote for the New Year for aspiring athletes amongst you:-

'Impossible is just a big word thrown around by people who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing'

31 Weeks To Go!

It has been a much 'better' training week - firstly the world didnt end on Friday so IRONMAN UK 2013 is still on the cards...... I also survived 'Mad Friday' by being suprisingly sensible despite going out at 11am - very different to the disgraced mess I got myself in only a year before! I continue to lose weight - almost a stone now - butnas I have said before this is not the plan I am simply burning more than I can shovel down my throat - not just fat loss though - the 16years worth of weight lifting muscle is also being cannabilised by my endurance training much to my displeasure but there is no going back now and no real regrets in my attempts to become an IRONMAN...yet.

With a number of planned festivities over xmas I wanted to put in a good shift this week and I definately did. Today I completed my own Half-Marathon(13.1 miles) - King Cross to Hebden Bridge AND back again before most of the world had opened its eyes - I paid no money to do it and I got no medals at the end of it and I was only cheered on by myself . I treated myself to a 0600 lie in but had been half awake waiting to get up since 0200 - the wind had been rattling the windows all night but nothing was going to stop what I had rather sadly looked forward too all weekend.  The sky was black and menacing after days of relentles rain when I started and the streets were dead. I felt pretty good for the first 6 miles with a few welcomed downhill sections -despite running into 50m.p.h gusts and the many flooded areas along the valley.

At the 6 mile point I decided to trial an SIS Isotonic Energy Gel -  something that will no doubt become my staple diet as my training runs,swims and cycles become longer and longer. The tropical flavour didnt stop me gagging as I bolted it down my neck - it tasted like a cheap shot you get when you arrive at an 18-30's hotel (Gopping)- however despite it not giving me a new pair of legs it didnt cause me any stomach issues and did feel the benefit for the next 5 or so miles as I ran uphill back towards Halifax.

I also did one more endurance run this week at 7.6 miles taking in some of Bradfords longest and steepest hills something I am finding strangely comfortable as I shed more body weight and my fitness improves. I keep a steady pace throughout but do try to put in an 'effort' on all the uphills and never stop or walk at any stage of my runs. Trying to achieve an endurance distance in a city centre is not easy and planning involves many figure of eight loops and a bit of homework on google maps.

I also head to Horton Park in Bradford for a higher intensity run each week. This park is a jewel of nature in an otherwise urban Bradford jungle - Matty Nowell a local run legend and work colleague introduced it to me however it is not uncommon for me to see burnt out furniture on my runs and there was even a VW Beetle hanging out of the duck pond recently. I run around the pitch black maze of paths and wouldnt be surprised coming across anything in there - it feels like that sort of place at that time of the day! - There is some regulars who frequent the park at this ungodly hour - an oriental couple who always walk about 15m apart - male always in front and a tall strange looking eastern european man with a big handlebar moustache who carries out the craziest of exercises likened to a warm up for the 100m sprint in the 1900's! and he does this in the bleakest part of the park - I try to be sociable but nobody ever acknowledges my enthusiasm at this hour. Each session I do here totals about 5 miles including some 200m increased speed intervals at 3-4 parts of the run and also finish with a series of hill sprints comprising 5 x 50m, 1 x100 and 1 x200m sprint / efforts.

I have achieved the highest total of biked miles this week - 53 miles - not  a lot in the scheme of Ironman Training but on an exercise bike in a small work gym - it is becoming a mental challenge to sit on a bike, hold my wee in, sweat like mad to the point I get cold whilst listening to the un-oiled pedals grate round a 100 times a minute. I typically cover about 30km an hour and try to keep 100 R.P.M switching between levels 11 and 15 and set the bike on a 'hill interval' session with a minute on dead flat and one minute on the highest grade hill - I go through phases of putting in increased 20-40second sprints on the bike over the hour on both flat and hill intervals.

Thanks to leisure lake bikes who have temporarily sponsored me a mint road bike it wont be long before I can stick 2 fingers up at the gym and start mixing it on the crazy roads of Bradford. Xmas Eve tomorrow and 128 lengths of Sowerby Pool is on the cards :-) Merry Xmas to you all.

32 Weeks To Go!

This training week 'in my own mind' was not good enough....thats what the new ironman routine has done to my mindset...... I have had 2 consecutive rest days and not been on the bike or ran for 3 days....almost unheard of in my new regime but there wass wise words often spoken during my time in the Marines....'Rest is a weapon' and I am now primed and fully loaded to attack the new training week tomorrow full of energy, enthusiasm and a nag in my mind to make up for this weeks days off.

So what did my rest days consist of......On friday I was trying my hardest to get to work.....priority being that this is where I train, but black ice / freezing fog on top of the world where I live made this virtually impossible at silly o'clock in the morning and watching my neighbour crash his car on our drive confirmed I wasn't going to be training today.....sulking over... I got a few bonus hours with my little girl!

Saturday I spent 8 hours moving the brother in law out of his house and with this dominating another training day I charged for the biggest boxes I could see as an indirect way of throwing some bonus resistance training in.....this rest period aside... I have still managed to run over 30 miles (including a 10 mile run from Queensbury to Elland....and Back!....easier to route plan in the mind than physically do and often far longer!), cycle over 30 miles and swim over 2 miles - not bad considering this was a 'bad training week!

The week finished with 100 lengths (2500metres) in Halifax Pool - my intention was 128 lengths (2 miles) - but the sound of my little girl in the neighbouring baby pool was enough to call it a day early - when people ask how far I have swam they see 100+ lengths in a pool as uncomprehensible but physically I dont seem struggle to achieve this distance in the pool - new techniques I have taught myself from watching youtube videos / tutorials and supportive words from the likes of Chris Jones pool side mean I am know a confident front crawler and this means my knees no longer hurt after hours swimming breastroke in the pool and open water and I am now faster in the water and use far less energy than ever before.

This confidence aside, I have got a long way to go with the swimming in terms of speed in the water and need to remember I will be competing with 1500 other eager IRONMAN swimmers on event day in a lake in what will probably feel like being in a washing machine once all these arms and legs start swinging wildly in very close proximity.

Mentally swimming over 100 lengths of a pool is more of a challenge - first of all its boring as hell - the glisten of a hair clip in the sun on the bottom of the diving pool and a plaster that floated by the goggles between lengths was as entertaining as it got today - in open water - fish, plant life, divers, shopping trolleys are far more enlightening and make the swim far more enjoyable but for now it is still winter and my favourite outdoor training lake is showing at 0.2 degrees centigrade and has a crust of ice around its shores so Halifax pool will be my home until early spring when water temps crawl in to double figures.

THE FIRST 5 MONTHS TRAINING

In 230 days I will be competing in IRONMAN UK 2013 - As this is a massive life impacting endurance event to train and prepare for physically and mentally I am going to keep a blog to record the key moments of craziness and hardship in the build up to event day on August 4th 2013.

I made a sub-concious decision to get myself ready for an IRONMAN event at the end of July 2012 when IRONMAN UK 2012 was held. I thought maybe a half ironman would be the most sensible option but then soon convinced myself that the time, energy, pain, sweat, money,stress and illness I would put myself through  to prepare for such an endurance event may as well be for the biggest of them all......IRONMAN UK 140.6 SWIM-BIKE-RUN miles in 17hrs!

With 5 months of training behind me already an attempt to summarise this time boils down to nearly 650 recorded training miles including 2 x half marathons, 2 x Yorkshire 3 Peak challenges (25miles each) Swimming the length of the deepest lake in England Wastwater (5km) and across the River Humber in the shadow of Humber Bridge (1.2miles). I love open water swimming - why many ask - well firstly its free........ and Im a tight sod..... at nearly a fiver a trip to the swimming pool austerity can do you some favours and in my opinion is similar to the difference between running on a treadmill in a gym and running in the open countryside - it simply doesnt compare.

Despite having to get myself ready to cycle 112 miles on event day I have only just started to train on the bike believe it or not.....AND its only the work exercise bike! - I'm currently totalling 50 training miles a week for the last few weeks and many gym users are starting to give me the death stare at the hogging of the only bike in the staff gym but I'm training for IRONMAN and I need to be on that bike and any smart comments about me being stuck to the bike are quickly met with a returned burst of blunt wit which generally lets them know I am on a mission and no you cant have this bike until I need a wee or I reach my goal for the session.

Many of my miles to date have been completed running around the city roads and parks of Bradford where I work and the quieter lanes around Halifax and Queensbury on a weekend. I am naturally starting to get myself into a 'zone' whilst running where I strangely switch off from the distances I am achieving and how much longer I have to run, swim or cycle for and just think about the day ahead , mull over lifes little issue and put the world to rights in my head. Between all this harmony I sweat like a madman and slag off careless drivers or pedestrians who offer no sympathy to my momentum.

I get up at 0530 everyday of the week so I can train before work - Mornings are currently always dark and normally cold, wet, windy or icey - for many, this would be enough to put you off already, but this is my favourite and most productive time of the day. I never curse or feel I have to drag myself to any of my training sessions - Hats, gloves, skins, fleeces and a desire to become an IRONMAN are currently allowing me to fight the worst winter is throwing at me and I am loving banging out the training miles. 

At this godly hour people I encounter on the streets are either homeless, returning home drunk from being out or keen commuters equally shocked to see me in my shorts. I have had punches swung at me in Horton Park after a man of the night thought I was about to mug him, Ive had many a drunk tramp shout encouragement at my efforts and the simplest words from the drunkest of them all near Halifax Parish Church said 'run up the hills that will get you fit lad'...like I say simple but true...and I am certainly doing a lot of that - nothing wrong with advice!

I have lost about 3/4 of a stone already - not from any crazy diet - I have and always will eat as much of whatever I want...and more - except now calories are being burnt far quicker than I can humanly possibly shovel it down my throat - but this doesn't neglect from the fact that I have to prepare for my endurance training with care in my diet as this will be just as important a factor on event day than the thousands of miles of training I will complete before hand.

IRONMAN UK will be competed in by professional athletes, olympians and dedicated amateurs like myself. I am full time college lecturer, married to a demanding young wife, father to one (soon to be two) girls and the time spent inbetween eating, sleeping and shi##ing is dedicated to my training which will over the months nearing the event get longer and more intense.

Competing and completing IRONMAN UK 2013 would be fulfillment of a lifetime ambition and achievement of something that truly tests the limits of human physical and mental endurance - something mirrored in my desire once upon a time to seek similar challenges in employment when I joined the Royal Marines 13 years ago.

I am also hoping to raise a lot of money for a charity I have personally chosen which is the 'Make A Wish' foundation who try to make dreams come true for terminally ill children. Having raised over £800 last year for swimming 2 miles in open water for Martins House Childrens Hospice my aim is to exceed this figure with an endurance challenge far far bigger scale than the last and anything out there in the UK.

Financially IRONMAN UK is a big hit - £400 to enter - and in working out the cost of clothing, equipment, training and nutrition the eventual cost will easily trickle into the £000's.

I will continue to update the blog as the weeks progress but in the meantime if you think my efforts and story deserves a quid then I would greatly appreciate any donation you make to my chosen charity. (see below)

To DONATE / SPONSOR ME -

Please visit my justgiving page at: https://www.justgiving.com/Gary-Bradwell1

OR
TEXT ‘IMUK66’ and amount ‘£1’, ‘£2’, ‘£3’, ‘£4’,‘£5’ or ‘£10’ to 70070