Ouch!

Uh oh .... just when you think the going's good, injury issues strike again. Had a great 8-mile speed session, on Wednesday evening, hitting good splits and feeling strong. Cue the old achilles problem rearing its ugly head. Aaargh. It's so frustrating.
Out of the three elements of this triathlon, the one that really holds my heart and worries me the least, is running. I've been doing it for years, I can post some respectable times if I train well, and I just love it! On road, off-road, up hills, cross-country, even a wee veteran's track 3k ... you name, I'll do it. The trouble is, my body isn't as keen as me any more and I'm always having to rein back from where I really want to be.
A few year's ago I had to pull out of my Edinburgh Marathon training with this problem. I trained with it to destruction and had to stop. It took months of appointments with just about everybody, to discover that other than surgery, there was no hope! Then, it eventually went away. Gone, but not forgotten. It really is my 'achilles heel' and this time I'm determined to treat it with respect. So I'm literally having to put the run training on ice. It's not too bad at the moment, but I've learned my lesson the hard way in the past, so I'm not taking any chances.
There is an awful lot of run mileage in this training schedule and I'm trying to balance out what my body can do with what I'd like it to do. I envy those runners who can knock out marathon after marathon with seemingly little injury issues, whereas to maintain any semblance of hope I virtually live on ice-packs, foam roller, physio, strength and conditioning exercises and sports massage to get me through. Why - it's so unfair?!!
IronPhil, has been telling me to stop doing the speedwork. He's probably right, speedwork + high mileage = this! Except, I enjoy a bit of speedwork and it really makes a difference to your overall run time. Also, it's probably the only discipline in which I can be reasonably competitive. In fact, if I hadn't been able to complete all my early triathlon's with a good run, I might have quit some time ago. It was a good feeling to reel back all the folk who'd passed me on the bike and swim. They were labouring, even walking, something my runner's pride won't let me do! (IMUK - may well be different).
Anyway, with a wee sprint triathlon coming up at the weekend, I will have a sensible week. If you see me out pounding the streets - stop me and send me home!

To lube or not to lube?

Cheers! I don’t often drink beer, but today is definitely a day for it. The sun’s shining; week 17’s training is complete, much of it in the sunshine; bike maintenance done – looking forward to spending the rest of the Easter weekend with my long-suffering family!

The weather makes such a difference, that and being on holiday makes this training lark a breeze. Up early, swim sesh in pool, back for a second breakfast. Do some work (to get ahead of the game for next term); back out for a run or a bike, or both. Home, eat, work some more, few glasses of wine, bed … repeat!

Ok, it’s not what I'd call a rip-roaring holiday either, but it’s a hell of a lot easier than next week’s going to be. Anyway, I’m beginning to wonder what I would be filling my time with if I wasn’t doing all this training. Maybe providing some TLC to the rest of the house?

The TLC is all going on the bike at the moment, as I lovingly caress it’s carbon tubes with my J-cloth, the house and car both scream …. what about us, you just don’t care about us any more! It’s not just the financial investment, I mean, the car cost more. It’s the fact that I rely on it so much. I can’t afford to neglect it in case it lets me down when I need it most. So I wash it, dry it, lube it and generally lavish it with love.

Which reminds me of something I learned this week – about lube. Rooting around in IronPhil’s bike box I found two new tubes of lube (as you do). Wet Lube and Dry Lube. I read the instructions and was non the wiser.

You see, Wet Lube had a little diagram basically saying 'use me when the roads are damp to wet', while it’s twin, Dry Lube had the same diagram showing damp to dry. I looked out of the window, it was definitely dry, but the forecast for the next few days was damp. Dilemma – do I dry lube it or wet lube it? Does it make any difference? Surely lube is lube?! After a quick game of Ip, Dip, Dash, I generously applied the winning lube, and smiled at my handiwork –  a gleaming chain and other random bits of the bike lubed for luck, I felt quite pleased with my efforts. Until I asked the guru later that night, over a glass of wine: “So tell me, what’s the difference between Dry Lube and Wet Lube?” He politely stifled his laughter, in the same way that a parent stifles a snort at a toddler’s feeble attempts to speak, and explained. So it turns out, dry lube does a fine job in the dry, but wet is more viscous and lasts longer, repelling water and protecting the chain. However, in the dry, wet lube attracts lots of road crud. So if in doubt dry lube it, ‘cos you can add wet over the top, but not the reverse … get it?!

So, along with a small nutrition blog, I may also start a ‘get to know your lube’ clinic!

Another bit of advice for any trainee bikees out there – practice changing an inner tube on the wheels you’re actually riding on race day. I say this with red, raw thumbs having replaced the inners in my racing wheels today (yep, racing wheels – I now have two sets – oooh get me!). I know HOW to change an inner; did it repeatedly last year coming up to the Outlaw Half. IronPhil thought it was great sport to time me and making whooshing noises in the background. When I finally yelled “Shut-up. What is that goddam noise anyway?” His smug reply was: “It’s all those other cyclists whizzing past you while you're still faffing!” Anyway, today it turned out that knowledge is only one small part of changing an inner tube - brute strength is also a pre-requisite. I battled and grizzled with my wheel, but could I get the tyre off. In the end, with raw thumbs, I had to swallow my female pride and ask for help. Turns out the wheels have deeper rims which makes it a bit trickier. If I’d been making a short “How To Change an Inner Tube” film, people would have turned it off and gone to bed by the time I was finished. Looks like more time practising with IronPhil's whooshing stopwatch is on the cards.

So that beer is more than well-earned. Jeez, this triathlon mularky will make an Ironman of me yet!

Perfer et Obdura

Perfer et Obdura ... the theme of weeks to come. Latin for persist and endure - that's what I've got written on my top tube. The thinking being that as my head drops with the effort, I'll read it and dig a bit deeper. The reality may be, that when it really counts I'll spit on it and curse the motivational thinking that ever got me into that mess in the first place!
Well, this week has been eagerly awaited for some time, it was time to recce the IMUK bike route. The new two-lap course was officially published some weeks ago. Having read several reviews by people who had already sampled its delights and complained of steeper, tougher hills; rough road surfaces, tight, technical bends and hairy descents that could have you off your bike, I was a tad apprehensive to say the least.
The Lancashire countryside is my home turf. Born and bred in Blackburn, this route should have been more familiar than it actually was. In truth, while I know the names of all the towns and villages and was never further than 30-minutes by car from where I grew up, I could have got lost at any given point!! That getting lost started at 5.30am when it took IronPhil & I a ridiculous length of time to drive from my sister's house in Blackburn to the Reebok Stadium in Bolton. This will be T2 on the day, that means it's where I'll finish the bike and start my marathon.
So, we finally set off, armed with 6 A4 pages of directions all stuffed into a polypocket - yep 6! Good job Ironphil's bike handling is good enough to read map directions on the go. It was grey, windy and cool as we headed out of the city onto the winding country roads, surprisingly busy with traffic for so early on a Saturday morning. The first big climb comes quite early on the course - Sheep House Lane - this is the notorious Alpe d'Huez of IMUK Bolton. In previous years, triathletes have had to climb this beast three times on the 3-lap course, it's now twice. I'd heard and read so much about it, that I felt the need to get off my bike at the bottom and make some kind of reverential sacrifice to the gods of Ironman to ease my passage on the day. I couldn't spare any inner tubes though so I decided to sit tight and spin on. It was a long and steady climb, but early in the day, on fresh legs, it was not a problem, in fact I was sorely tempted to say: "Is that all you've got to throw at me?". But I kept that thought intact. I was slightly in awe of those who'd gone before me, whose names where spray painted on the tarmac, motivational messages from previous races that had weathered the winter. I could imagine the hill, lined with supporters on the day and how it would feel to be cycling up there. I got a flutter of excitement, fear, nerves and then I was at the top. Not so bad, but as IronPhil warned, you wouldn't be saying that 3rd time round with around 80 miles of cycling in your legs!

The new addition, Hunter's Hill was a different story though. No bravado here, this is a proper hill, shorter, but much steeper, about 17%. No tougher than anything I regularly encounter on my weekly rides, but the effort needed to keep up the momentum is certainly one to sort the men from the boys. Especially when I hit this monster at about 80 miles - just hope I have it in me to stay in the saddle by then! As for the bits in-between these hills, well it's undulating and exposed to the wind in parts. So the verdict is - keep up the training and you'll be fine. I've not had a pleasant surprise - it's not going to be a walk in the park. But, I've got no fear either. I know that I can handle it, and although I was glad to
finish, I wasn't running on empty, I wouldn't have broken down and wept if another lap was on the cards.
 http://www.220triathlon.com/news/new-ironman-uk-bike-route-a-tough-nut-to-crack-says-tester/8480.html
We met quite a few other guys out on the course too, no doubt some were training for the day, judging by the Mdot tattooed calfs that passed me. However, we did befriend a fellow cyclist for a short while who was a veteran of last years IMUK and was going for it again this year. He joked that having been so pleased with finishing it last year, he'd gone to McDonalds and not come out. Hence, he was finding the training tough this year. As we dropped him on the climbs, I selfishly thought: "at least there's somebody else in this race who cycles slower than me!"
I am a bit daunted by how long it took me, I'm not sure how much faster I will get between now and then on the bike and am definitely bracing myself for 8-hours in the saddle. OMG - 8-hours of non-stop cycling .... perhaps I should superglue Perfer et Obdura to my backside right now to build up an ass of iron, what have I let myself in for?!!

Like a phoenix from the ashes

Today the unimaginable happened. All things being equal, I beat IronPhil to the top of the Glen Fruin hairpins! Now, while I obviously take it and place it on the marital mantelpiece as a victory, it's actually more of a marker that I must be doing something right. For months I've joked that one day, when he's least expecting it,  IronPhil will turn around and find me right on his back wheel, breathing down his neck. I've also joked that after spending the whole winter training on my heavy Giant, come the spring I would rise like a phoenix from the ashes and kick ass on my lightweight carbon Trek.
So this morning, with the spring sunshine finally breaking through the rain clouds, we took the big boys out to play. Phil on his Cervelo, me on the Trek. I couldn't believe the difference, straight away I was effortlessly keeping pace with my guru. We hit the first gentle rise and before I knew it, I was overtaking him,  worked hard to keep the distance to the top. Hmm, nice one, I thought, as IronPhil asked whether I'd been really working hard. "Yeh, a bit," I replied. Good job he  couldn't see the gritted teeth!
Then the totally unimaginable happened, we hit the bottom of the Glen Fruin hairpins and I found a pair of legs that didn't seem to belong to me, so I decided to use them. Pedal for pedal, I matched IronPhil, round the corners, up the incline, out of the saddle, back in the saddle, he just wasn't getting away and I wasn't dying either. Then over the last cattle grid, onto the last really tough pull, he started to take the lead. Yet again, I cranked up a notch, up a few gears, more gritted teeth and I was past him. I knew victory was mine when yelled: "Go for it!" Not only had I closed the gap, I'd positively shut the gate and mowed the grass too!

Now, the competition between us is just good-natured fun (a bit like the Brownlees!) but I have followed him up that route so many times, dropping further and further behind as the hill climbs higher and higher. So today is a sign that all that tough winter training is paying off. Just looking at my electronic log, over the last few months I've climbed higher than Mount Everest - over 32,000ft of climbing in my legs. It's definitely not 'all about the bike' but it maybe 'all about the breakfast'.
For a short while, the unimaginable is creating a smug wee smile on my face; tomorrow it will be the unmentionable, and next week, if IronPhil has his way, it'll be the unrepeatable! After a proud pat on the back, my husband has already been consumed with concern, his male pride has taken a right old bashing and he's already analysing what went wrong out there this morning. A few comments along the lines of: "You got up earlier than me & you'd had breakfast," have been passed. OK - so if a bowl of muesli is all it takes to knock over 30 seconds off a PB - I'll be starting my own nutrition blog next - watch this space!

I'm half way there & livin' on a prayer!

Reached a milestone today - I'm halfway through the training programme which means that 15-weeks today is race day. It's now 8.25pm and I can't help but wonder if I'll still be out on the course or if I'll have finished! If I'm still out on the course I'll have been going for about 14 & a half hours. God, that's enough to bring on a flutter of panic. This week's been my highest mileage to date and is probably on a par with my peak training weeks for the Outlaw Half. So to give you a flavour of where I'm at at the halfway stage - this week I've logged about 90-odd miles of cycling, 28 miles of running and 6k of swimming. In truth, the swimming is less than it should be but I'm doing my best, and frustratingly I've had to cut back my running a bit and knock all the speedwork on the head for now as an old achilles problem has reared its ugly head.
I'm often pretty shattered after each session, but the restorative effects of sleep are amazing, and although I go to bed thinking I can't possibly get up at 6am and do another hour, the alarm goes off and I do!
I really love my rest days though. I don't have any problems not training for a day, maybe it's my intrinsic lazy streak coming out. Yesterday, bouyed up by the fact that I'm also on holiday for two weeks,  I happily turned off my alarm and pottered around in PJ's, drinking coffee and eating chocolate biscuits, until late morning - not a trace of guilt.
It was also time to go shopping for new running shoes, my old ones have plenty of miles in them so I splashed out on the coolest-looking trainers I've ever had. Yep they were expensive, but I figured that as I'm running 5 times a week they work out at just 20p a run - bargain! After that extravagance it was time for home, except that we were passing a bike shop and it would have been rude not to have dropped in. IronPhil's face lit up when I said: "Shall we pop into Evans?" He really has married a woman who is not only a willing participant, but is actually suggesting an idle wander around a bike shop to touch carbon and lycra that we know we'll never buy. The only thing that could've made the day better was if I'd suggested going for a beer instead of a coffee!
So I have a much-needed recovery week ahead, which gives me a chance to re-build and repair with a slightly reduced training load, which will set me up nicely for next weekend's trip to Lancashire to recce the new Ironman bike course. Aaaargh!