Historically, I am what I tend to refer to as a 'binge-trainer,' I would train like mad for a few weeks at such an unsustainable rate I would invariably fall ill or go off the boil, things had to be different for this challenge. All the training plans I looked at began building a base of consistent training volume which then moved into a phase of building up the distances over several weeks before a lower training volume week.
Journey to 70.3 Ironman!
The training window.
I entered this event in that special week between Dec 25th and Jan 1st where dreams and goals take formation. April seemed so far away and like any guilty internet shop, it took just a few moments to fire off my online registration and payment. Reality soon set in when counting back from the race date of April 13th to my start of training, it 4 month window was actually made up of only 14 weeks. Now you are going to be hard pushed to find a training schedule for a half ironman in just 14 weeks, but that was the time I had, so that was the time I was going to use!
I set about by dividing the weeks I had available into clear sections. I had a base building phase at the start where I tried to maintain 4 hours of training volume per week for the first 4 weeks. Then I had a phase where I increased the volume of several weeks before having a lighter training week. Now pacing is something that I have never been good at, I have always been either on or off with not much in between but while training for this event, I came to terms with the fact that every session can not be all out and that that most importantly, is ok.
After these weeks, I then wanted to have a building phase where I gradually increased the weekly volume in an effort to get into double figures. This was the first time I had tried to do such a medium term plan for myself rather than just record what I had done along the way and yes there were weeks when I didn't hit the targets but I felt it was important to listen to my body during these faces, particularly as I had set some tough figures for myself. Yet I had some key goals in mind that I had to achieve;
Swim - well this is my best discipline and is where my bank of hours in the past has mostly been spent. I just wanted to keep this ticking over, maintaining good technique, I did most of my swim work in the early hours before work, reasoning that swim into a day at work would put that side in good stead.
Bike - I wanted to ride 90km plus on just two 750ml drinks bottles, and get used to the heat (I've been living in Brunei on the island of Borneo since Sept '13). When I started riding in the tropics, I was needing two drinks bottles by 30km, this had to change if I was to be sustainable, over the 14weeks I gently pushed the distance on my weekend ride from 30k - 60km - 75km - 80km - 90km and a couple of centuries.
Run - This was my chink in the armour. Being heavier than streamlined traditional triathlete, with a history of ankle strains and sprains, I ran very sparingly I based most of my running around 5km and 8km but had intended to run a half marathon distance to satisfy my mind that I could run that far in the heat - this did not happen and yes I rolled an ankle about 3 weeks prior to the race! A big changer and meant I couldn't run anywhere near as much but I worked on rehabbing the ankle through self treatment and in the final weeks I was walking 8km-10km on it with minimum discomfort.
The week leading up to the race was very nerve-wracking, as someone who has the habit of over thinking every turn unless kept in check, I checked and rechecked by gear before getting it packed up. I finished work at noon on the Friday and after more fuzz I got myself to the airport and untook the 2hour or so flight to KL, Malaysia. I arrived at my hotel at around 8pm on the Friday night. This was the first time I had travelled overseas with a bike and I must say building a bike in a hotel room felt quite special - like a travelling athlete! It also made me realise how lonely it must be for professional athletes as I sat looking at my assembled bike alone in my room. This did not last long as my stomach grumbled and reminded me I needed to eat and get bottled water for the next day. Walking around Cyberjaya (my hotel location), I found a pizza restaurant and this went down well. I then got my self to bed.
The day before the race.
I slept well and got myself ready and went for breakfast in the hotel breakfast room. People didn't stare too much at me in my gear! After that, I cycled across the district (about 10km) to the practise swim and race registration. After spending time around the stalls, watching the race briefing video and listening to the athlete interview with Crowe, I racked my bike in transition and headed back to the hotel on foot. For a late lunch at around 3pm, I had two main courses, a chicken and rice dish and a fillet steak and chips back to back. I stopped in at the shop I bought water the day before and bought some more water and some baked beans and sliced bread for my race breakfast. I had some cheese sandwiches for my evening meal that night before retiring to bed around 8pm after laying out all my race gear and packing up my suitcase.
Race day!
The alarm beeped once at 4:45 am and I jumped out of bed after sleeping in running compression tights to try and rest legs as much as possible. Race number transfers put on and some beans on raw toast eaten with a banana. My taxi arrived and I checked out of the hotel and headed across to the race start at 5.45am. The taxi could only get so close to the transition due to road closures so I had a short walk to the transition. Immediately it hit me how dark it was, I hadn't even considered it would be that dark and that it would not be well lit. My advice to any one is take a head torch or something to help you see setting stuff up for your transition. I was quite lucky with my racking location and I found my bike easily. With my bike ready, I put my bag into storage and heading across to the swim start. It was a wave start and my age group entered the water closely after the professionals.
The swim started and straight away it was a bustle of limbs and splash, I worked hard to find some clear water and soon had some space to breathe. Lots of people seemed to surge forward, I just let them get on with on, figuring I'd have someone to catch later. 4 white buoys marked the corners of the loop swim course with another, only having buoys on the corners means that you need to be careful to spot them, to do this, I try to fix my view on some part of the landscape just beyond the buoy as this is easier to focus on when you look up: that's what I did, and I think it paid off and I swam a straighter line than many of the other swimmers that day. I finished the swim in 38 minutes, even catching a few red swim caps from the wave before. I was careful not to over kick during the swim as this was something I had done on an Olympic distance a few years ago and had had jelly legs on the exit. This did not happen and I ran out of the water strong.
The bike leg
My transition was quite quick for me, around 3 minutes. I made an effort to dry my feet and wear socks but next time I will train and try it without socks. As soon as I got on the bike my glutes were tight, like I had never experienced before and it was difficult to stay in the saddle. I just went steady, never did quiting cross my mind. The bike route is mostly on highways with some really good surfaces, but the sudden climbs on highway slip roads as you moved between roads took some getting used too. Strava shows I climbed 200 plus metres during the ride, as each slip road was no more that a minute or two, you get the idea of some of these short gradients. The heat was already getting hotter but thankfully there was a breeze while pedalling. By the end of the second lap, I had got much more successful at catching bottles and gels from the enthusiastic rest top volunteers. I finished the two laps in 3hours14minutes and headed out on the run.
I managed to run well for the first 1km receiving much, 'Looking strong' comments from spectators. Running alongside the lake I had an idea, if I could splash water over myself I could cool myself down. But as a crouched down I cramped in both hams and these forced me to walk until the pain eased. After that, I adopted a run/walk strategy. I had kept my cycling gloves on when offered ice at the food points, I eagerly filled them up with ice and also inside my hat. This ice became so integral to my run segments that I became to look forward to the next opportunity for ice. The aid stations were very well stocked!
I completed the half marathon in 2 hours 43, with a total time of 6 hours 43 minutes. There was a queue for the massage tent but once they brought out some chairs, I'd have sat there as long as it would take. Once I felt more human, my thoughts turned to getting back to my hotel and catching my flight home. I packed up and tried to walk out of the closed road section to see if a taxi would take me and my bike. They would not, so I ended up ride another 10km back to my hotel, via a certain drive through restaurant for a feast! I got to the hotel, packed my bike, changed clothes and it was time to head back to the airport and back to Brunei with the 6am alarm call for work not far behind!
As I write this blog a week on, I can say it was an amazing experience, it took a lot of planning and was much more than just training. I am lucky to have such a supportive wife and although our son might not have been aware, I was very grateful for him sleeping through the night on those first few nights after the race… All done on an average over the last 10 weeks training volume of 4.5 hours per week, with total time from entry to race just 14 weeks.
Resting heart rate is down to 52bpm and the aches are subsiding as are the blisters so hopefully, you will see me out on the road again soon…
Thank you for reading, if you are interesting in hearing more please get in touch. Can I add that I am not a coach, and that I in no way promote or recommend following my training program, I'm just a man, trying to fit it all in, to have a go, but what I do have is a determination and iron will that failure was not going to be an option. My advice is train, listen to your body and coach, know that it will hurt and get the job done. REMEMBER, THAT LAKE, LOOP OR TRACK WILL BE THERE ANOTHER DAY, MAKE SURE YOU ARE… ENJOY X
